The wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the international community to do more to ensure the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia illegally during the current war.

Olena Zelenska said this on Thursday at a two-day international conference in Riga entitled ‘Russia’s War on Children’.

“All countries and all international organisations could help to recover children abducted to Russia. We have to do more,” she said.

According to Daria Herasymchuk, Mr Zelensky’s representative for children’s rights and rehabilitation, Ukraine has identified 20,000 children who were taken to Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.

They have data on the children, of whom only a few hundred have been returned to date.

Ms Zelensky said Ukraine would fight for each of its stolen children, irrespective of the resources required.

Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs accused Russia of destroying the identities of Ukrainian children and causing severe emotional and psychological trauma.

These acts represented a violation of human rights under international law and could be seen as war crimes, he said.

Nine Ukrainian children who had returned to Ukraine from Russia since the start of the war were at the conference, detailing their experiences to the participants.

“I am here today to help bring back all children as soon as possible with my story,” one said.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, in connection with the disappearances.

Dozens of farmers who descended on a food market outside Paris have been arrested, as tensions over protests for better conditions escalated.

The French government had warned that disruption at Rungis, a food distribution hub which feeds 12 million people, would cross a red line.

About 91 farmers who converged the market are in custody, police said.

Farmers are aiming to stop food deliveries reaching supermarkets, in a call for better pay and less red tape.

Rungis, located on the southern edge of the capital, is known as “the belly of Paris”, providing much of the fresh fish, fruit, meat and vegetables the region consumes each day. It is the second largest market of its kind in the world.

In anticipation of their arrival, police units with armoured vehicles had been deployed along the A6 motorway to the market, and police checkpoints were set up around its access points.

The protesters entered the market’s storage area and caused damage before they were taken out by security forces, a source told AFP news agency.

Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said authorities “cannot tolerate disturbances to public order”, BFMTV reported.Earlier, 18 people who were trying to blockade Rungis had been arrested for “interfering with traffic”, police said.

Prosecutors said 15 of them were then taken into custody.It comes as convoys of farmers’ tractors have been blocking key roads into the French capital – dubbed the “siege of Paris” – over the past week.

France has been at the centre of a growing dispute across Europe, with tens of thousands of farmers across Germany, Poland, Romania, Belgium and Italy also staging demonstrations.

Arnaud Rousseau, head of FNSEA, France’s main agricultural union, said there are “huge expectations” among farmers, but that not all of their demands could be immediately met.

“I’m trying to call for calm and reasonableness,” he added.The protests have created a crisis for French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who is only three weeks into the job.

Mr Attal said on Tuesday that his government stood ready to resolve the crisis and praised the agriculture sector as “our force and our pride”.

He said Attal “new support measures” would be announced in the coming days.

On Wednesday, Oluwatoyin Gafaar, the Lagos State Sports Commission director-general, said the ultra-modern netball court and Olympic-size swimming pool built by the state government at Rowe Park, Yaba, Lagos, were ready to be inaugurated.

Gafaar said this in an interview on the sidelines of the African Sitting Volleyball Championships at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

Mr Gafaar noted that Lagos was investing heavily in sports infrastructure to cater to its surging population and to arrest youth restiveness.

“Lagos state, with its new status as the ninth biggest state, needs a lot of attention, especially in infrastructure and, most importantly, sports infrastructure.

“In this wise, the Lagos state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has deemed it fit as part of his all-inclusive sports drive along with his THEME plus agenda to invest heavily in sports infrastructure to cater for the needs of the state,” he stated.

Mr Gafaar noted that the state had invested in sitting volleyball post-COVID-19 pandemic, stressing that “our next sport is netball.”

“We now have a befitting Netball court constructed at Rowe Park, Yaba, ready. The netball sport will be our next catch and we are making everything ready to make it appealing to our youths who will want to explore the sport,” he said.

A shop owner was burnt to death on Tuesday while recovering his property from his store at the Gusau Central Market, the Zamfara Fire Service said on Wednesday.

Abdullahi Dauran, director of Zamfara Fire Service, confirmed the incident.

“We received a report of the fire outbreak and deployed our men to the scene. We were able to put the fire under control, but one person lost his life while trying to remove his property from his shop.

“We are investigating to ascertain the cause of the incident and to determine the actual extent of damage,’’ Mr Dauran said.

A 90-day state of emergency has been declared by officials in Portland as part of an effort to tackle the use of fentanyl in Oregon’s largest city.

A synthetic painkiller 50 times more powerful than heroin, fentanyl has been blamed for a rise in US drug deaths.

In Oregon, the rise coincided with a move to decriminalise the use of most drugs, including fentanyl.

But on Tuesday, senior state and city officials said Portland was being damaged by open use of the drug.

The city has been struggling from homelessness and drug use in recent years, causing several major businesses and some residents to move out of the city.

According to Multnomah County – where Portland is located – the number of overdose deaths involving fentanyl increased by 533% between 2018 and 2022.

Governor Tina Kotek, announcing the state of emergency, conceded that the city was suffering “economic and reputational harm” from the ongoing fentanyl problem.

“Our country and our state have never seen a drug this deadly addictive, and all are grappling with how to respond,” she said in a statement.

Accompanied by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson on Tuesday, Gov Kotek announced a new “tri-government” action to tackle the issue.

The order establishes a temporary “command centre… where state, county and city employees will convene to coordinate strategies and response efforts,” the officials said in a joint statement.

The plan also calls for the state health department to launch an advertising campaign on billboards, public transit and online which will promote drug prevention and treatment.

It also calls for more peer outreach and resources for addicts, and for police to crackdown on open drug dealing.

Gov Kotek said the three leaders will act with “urgency and unity across our public health and community safety systems to make a dent in this crisis”.

“The next 90 days will yield unprecedented collaboration and focused resources targeting fentanyl and provide a roadmap for next steps,” she added.

In 2020, residents of Oregon passed Measure 110, which decriminalised most drug use. Under the law, police encountering fentanyl users are meant to refer addicts to treatment centres, however many ignore the referral.

Opioid deaths in the state jumped from 738 in 2021, the first year the law was in effect, to 956 in 2022, according to state data.

Ms Kotek has previously called on state lawmakers to pass legislation that criminalises public drug use, similar to “open container” alcohol laws in the US.

But moves to roll back the state’s liberal drug laws could face opposition from addiction-treatment groups, who say re-criminalisation will drive people to take fentanyl in private, possibly increasing overdose rates.

Myanmar has handed over three Chinese warlords to Beijing, who were notorious for trafficking thousands of foreign nationals to forcibly run scams.

Bai Suocheng, Wei Chaoren and Liu Zhengxiang led three of four families which ruled Laukkaing on Myanmar’s north-eastern border with China.

They were were taken to China on a chartered flight, with seven others.

This is the latest twist in the stunning downfall of the military-backed Chinese mafia in Myanmar.

And it’s yet another blow for Myanmar’s military regime, whose power is waning.

Myanmar’s army, which had been locked in a brutal stalemate since it sized power in early 2021, is now losing as it battles well-organised ethnic armies on more than one front.

General Min Aung Hlaing is known to have supported the Chinese mafia in Laukkaing. For years, China had been pressing his regime to rein in the scam centres, where people are trapped and forced to run telephone and online scams targeting victims everywhere.

China’s unease at what was happening across its border encouraged three insurgent armies to launch coordinated attacks against the military in late October last year – and it hastened the fall of the mafia families.

The four families took over control of Laukkaing in 2009. Liu Guoxi, who led the fourth family, died in 2020.

Over the years, their reign turned a poor Burmese border town into a den of criminal activity, especially for lucrative scam centres. The UN estimates that hundreds of thousand of people have been trafficked into these centres across South East Asia.

“For a long time, multiple criminal groups… in northern Myanmar have openly organised armed fraud gangs and carried out fraud crimes against Chinese citizens,” China’s Ministry of Public Security said on Tuesday.

They are also accused of “multiple and severe violent crimes”, the ministry said, such as murder, assault and illegal detention.

In December, Beijing issued a public reward for these men and others in their network, describing them as “ring leaders” and sent a team to Myanmar to work with local authorities there.

A vulnerable Myanmar army allowed China the opportunity to crack down on the scam compounds in Laukkaing.

About 44,000 people suspected to be involved in the scam centres have been handed over to China from Myanmar so far, the Ministry of Public Security said.

But China called Tuesday’s development – the arrest of the three heads of the mafia families – a “landmark achievement”.

Footage aired on Chinese-language TV channels show dozens of Swat (Special Weapons and Tactics Unit) officers escorting suspects down the plane in Kunming and into police vans.

Goods from the Republic of Ireland are now subject to new post-Brexit border controls when entering Great Britain.

The new controls began on Wednesday morning as part of a long-delayed UK plan to apply more checks on EU imports.

The changes do not apply to Irish goods going to Northern Ireland.

Trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland is covered by the Windsor Framework meaning there are no new checks or controls.

The UK government said the new controls will “sharpen the competitive advantage of Northern Ireland businesses” as it will be easier for Great Britain importers to buy goods from Northern Ireland compared to the Republic of Ireland.

Republic of Ireland goods cannot simply be shipped through Northern Ireland ports to avoid the new processes – only “Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods” are allowed unfettered access to Great Britain.

The government said Northern Ireland goods going to Great Britain via Republic of Ireland ports will continue to have unfettered access.

A spokesperson said: “Northern Ireland goods will benefit from full and unconditional unfettered access, regardless of whether they move indirectly via Ireland.

“This will further bolster Northern Ireland’s place within the UK’s economic union and more squarely focus the benefits of unfettered access on Northern Ireland traders.

“When the UK left the EU in 2021, goods from Great Britain going to the EU were immediately subject to the customs and regulatory processes applied to the imports from any non-member state.

However, the UK government was not ready to apply controls on EU goods and the introduction of those controls has been delayed on five occasions in the subsequent years.

Now EU goods arriving in Great Britain require full customs processes and the pre-notification and official certification of some agri-food products.

This will add a significant administrative burden to EU to Great Britain agri-food exports and Ireland will be particularly affected as the UK remains its single biggest market for food exports.

It is understood that the Irish government is not anticipating significant problems with the new arrangements as large exporters are well prepared and UK authorities are expected to take an initial approach of “education not enforcement”.

It is still unclear when Irish agri-food products will start to be physically inspected at Great Britain ports.

Goods from the rest of the EU will start to face physical checks from April, but goods from Ireland will not be subject to checks any earlier than October.

The government is yet to clarify how it will discriminate between Irish and Northern Irish goods arriving from Northern Ireland ports without imposing any new bureaucracy on Northern Ireland businesses.

Afghan caretaker government’s Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, has emphasised Afghanistan’s positive engagement and good relations with different nations.

“We are calling upon the world community, upon all countries, far-flung countries to have positive relations with Afghanistan,” Mr Muttaqi said at a press conference after the conclusion of a regional conference on Afghanistan.

The conference titled ‘Afghanistan’s Regional Cooperation Initiative’ was hosted by the Afghan caretaker government.

All the participants stressed that a peaceful and progressive Afghanistan is in the region’s interest, Mr Muttaqi said.

All the conference participants have underscored Afghanistan’s role in linking Central Asia to South Asia, Mr Muttaqi said.

He added that participants agreed to be cooperative in implementing major development projects.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it has launched a project “to reduce the alarmingly high number of child deaths related to pneumonia and diarrhoea in Somalia.”

The project was launched in collaboration with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), which is set to equip 28 health facilities across ten selected drought- and pneumonia-affected districts with solar-powered oxygen concentrators.

The world body said in a joint statement in the Somali capital of Mogadishu that “the Every Breath Counts project aims to increase access to medical oxygen and set up mother and child healthcare.

“The project also aims to establish oral rehydration centres and provide integrated health facilities in fragile humanitarian settings in Somalia.’’

Child mortality from all causes in Somalia was among the highest in the world, according to the WHO.

It was noted that a child born in Somalia today is about 16.5 times more likely to die before the age of five than a child born elsewhere.

The UN health agency also stated that “Every Breath Counts aims to reduce pneumonia and diarrhoea-related morbidity and mortality among children less than five years of age in the project’s target districts.

“The project will also provide 90 oxygen cylinders, 15 baby incubators and four ambulances in total to the selected health facilities and help set up 15 triage and oral rehydration centres.”

According to the WHO, an estimated 230,127 children under five years of age and more than 3.3 million community members will benefit from the project interventions.

It said over 700 health workers would be trained on screening, outreach, and treatment procedures during the project.

“KSrelief is investing in the future of Somalia by providing self-sustainable and environment-friendly solutions and ensuring that selected health facilities can run various medical procedures.

“This is especially for children and women without power interruptions,’’ said the supervisor general of KSrelief Abdullah Al Rabeeah.

The under-five mortality rate in Somalia currently is 117 per 1,000 live births, which is higher than the sub-Saharan African average of 76 deaths per 1,000 live births, the WHO said.

Approximately 21 per cent of these deaths among children less than five years of age in Somalia were attributed to pneumonia.

Eighteen per cent to 20 per cent of the deaths were attributed to diarrheal diseases.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Los Angeles has dismissed Ramon “Hushpuppi” Abbas’s appeal to review and ostensibly reduce his 11-year sentence, citing his sterling behaviour during his stay in jail.

Mr Abbas, convicted in 2022 for money laundering and a series of online scams in tens of millions of dollars, raised the motion to appeal the sentence after reappraising his chances of success, Peoples Gazette learnt.

The motion was filed in November 2022, two weeks after Judge Otis Wright sent him to jail.

The convict had enrolled in prison educational courses and also taken an active role in cleaning prison facilities, becoming one of the correctional facility’s top toilet cleaners, in a bid to earn a lighter sentence.

Still, the appellate judges remained implacable in their decision to deny his appeal.

The judgment was made on January 19. It was announced by Molly Dwyer, the court’s clerk, on behalf of the appellate judges.

It was not immediately clear whether he would file a fresh case to keep the hopes of his early release alive since his lawyers, John Iweanoge and Louis Shapiro, had already pulled out prior to the dismissal.

The denial for sentence appeal came days before Nigerians were dismayed by a viral video that seemingly showed someone believed to be Mr Abbas holding a feast with others inside what was reported as his detention facility at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Although The Gazette did not report the video, several online commenters said the dominant voice matched the convicted fraudster’s.

Fort Dix also did not return a request for comment clarifying whether or not it is standard protocol for inmates to throw parties with friends behind bars, film such events and then circulate the video on social media.

Similarly, Mr Abbas’s ally, Olalekan Jacob Ponle alias Mr Woodberry, convicted for scamming several individuals and businesses of millions of naira, has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals to reduce his eight-year sentence, claiming it was wrongly calculated in that he was made to suffer for both the crimes he planned and the ones he actually committed.

The air component of Operation Whirl Punch has eliminated no fewer than 30 terrorists and kidnappers in an air strike along Kwiga-Kampanin Doka axis, in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The Director, Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, AVM Edward Gabkwet, revealed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

Gabkwet said that the strike followed intelligence received on the movement of the criminals along the axis.

He further disclosed that the intel also revealed that the same syndicate was responsible for the ambush on troops at Kwanan Mutuwa on Jan. 27, as well as several attacks and abductions of innocent civilians in Birnin Gwari.

Gabkwet added that a deliberate and detailed scan revealed a trail of terrorists moving in a convoy of about 15 motorcycles, each with at least two armed terrorists.

“Accordingly, the terrorists were trailed to a location where they converged before they were engaged and neutralised in a precision strike.

“The aftermath of the air strike revealed that several of the terrorists were eliminated as a result of the strike,” he said.

Social media platform X has blocked searches for Taylor Swift after explicit AI-generated images of the singer began circulating on the site.

In a statement to the BBC, X’s head of business operations Joe Benarroch said it was a “temporary action” to prioritise safety.

When searching for Swift on the site, a message appears that says: “Something went wrong. Try reloading.

“Fake graphic images of the singer appeared on the site earlier this week.

Some went viral and were viewed millions of times, prompting alarm from US officials and fans of the singer.

Posts and accounts sharing the fake images were flagged by her fans, who populated the platform with real images and videos of her, using the words “protect Taylor Swift”.

The photos prompted X, formerly Twitter, to release a statement on Friday, saying that posting non-consensual nudity on the platform is “strictly prohibited”.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy towards such content,” the statement said. “Our teams are actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate actions against the accounts responsible for posting them.

“It is unclear when X began blocking searches for Swift on the site, or whether the site has blocked searches for other public figures or terms in the past.

In his email to the BBC, Mr Benarroch said the action is done “with an abundance of caution as we prioritise safety on this issue”.

The issue caught the attention of the White House, who on Friday called the spread of the AI-generated photos “alarming”.

“We know that lax enforcement disproportionately impacts women and they also impact girls, sadly, who are the overwhelming targets,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during a briefing.

She added that there should be legislation to tackle the misuse of AI technology on social media, and that platforms should also take their own steps to ban such content on their sites.

“We believe they have an important role to play in enforcing their own rules to prevent the spread of misinformation and non-consensual, intimate imagery of real people,” Ms Jean-Pierre said.

US politicians have also called for new laws to criminalise the creation of deepfake images.

Deepfakes use artificial intelligence to make a video of someone by manipulating their face or body. A study in 2023 found that there has been a 550% rise in the creation of doctored images since 2019, fuelled by the emergence of AI.

There are currently no federal laws against the sharing or creation of deepfake images, though there have been moves at state level to tackle the issue.

In the UK, the sharing of deepfake pornography became illegal as part of its Online Safety Act in 2023.

Animal rights activists have protested against the return of bullfighting to Mexico City after almost two years.

The city held its first bullfight since 2022 on Sunday.

A judge had ordered the indefinite suspension of the practice – which dates back to the 16th Century in Mexico – agreeing with animal rights activists who had filed a suit.

The Supreme Court revoked the decision last month, but a legal battle between supporters and opponents is likely.

Local media reported that the judges ruled only on technical aspects and have yet to decide on the case’s merits.

“Torture is not art, it is not culture,” demonstrators shouted near the Plaza de México bullring, the largest bullfighting arena in the world.

People waved banners with slogans, including “no more deaths of innocents”. Others wore bull masks and painted themselves in red.

But inside the venue, thousands celebrated its return, with chants of “long live freedom”.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has proposed a referendum on the future of bullfighting in Mexico City.

Around 250,000 bulls are killed in bullfights globally each year, according to Humane Society International.

Bullfighting is still legal in many areas of Mexico, which is one of the few countries that still allows the practice.

Other countries include France, Portugal, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador.

While also legal in Spain, some cities have outlawed the practice.

A Russian man who boarded a flight from Denmark to Los Angeles last November without a ticket, passport or visa has been found guilty in a US federal court of being a stowaway on an aircraft.

Sergey Ochigava, 46, was convicted by a jury in a California court on Friday.

Officials arrested Ochigava at the LA airport after they could not find any record of him being booked on a flight or of him applying for a visa.

He has been in custody since November, and faces up to five years in prison.

Prosecutors said Ochigava got through security at Copenhagen Airport in Denmark without a boarding pass by tailgating a passenger through a turnstile gate.

The next day, he passed through a boarding gate undetected and boarded a Scandinavian Airlines flight to Los Angeles.

According to Ochigava’s indictment documents, members of the cabin crew noticed him on the plane because he was moving between multiple unassigned seats.

He also “asked for two meals during each meal service, and at one point attempted to eat the chocolate that belonged to members of the cabin crew”.

One flight attendant said he “was trying to talk to other passengers on the flight, but most of the passengers ignored him”.

Ochigava was met by US border agents when the flight landed in LA on 4 November. The agents were unable to find any official record of him on the Scandinavian Airlines flight or any other flight.

He was also unable to provide a visa, a passport, or any other travel document needed to enter the US. After searching his bag, officials found both Russian and Israeli ID cards that belonged to him.

Officials accused him of giving “false and misleading information about his travel to the United States”, including initially telling border agents that he had forgotten his passport on the plane.

Ochigava told border agents that he “might have had a plane ticket … but was not sure”, according to his indictment.

He also said he had no memory of how he got on the flight, claiming he had not slept for three days.

Ochigava will be formally sentenced on 5 February.

Former chairman of the Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, Samuel Ohiri has stated that the police did not secure his release from his abductors.

The traditional ruler was kidnapped in Orodo Mbaitoli LGA of Imo State on June 6, and was released after 12 days.

The Imo Police Command had claimed it secured the victim’s release in collaboration with other security agencies.

However, speaking with newsmen on Friday, the monarch explained that “Contrary to what the police said about my release, there is no hiding the fact that they never played any role.

“I actually don’t want to speak on this but I’m doing it just to set the records straight. I’m not disputing the fact that the police may have made efforts towards my release but I’m talking about what I know.

“It was my relationship with God and the help from my family people that made it possible. Although, that was after we paid a ransom.”

Recounting his ordeal, Ohiri said “I was coming back after visiting my friend around 8:30pm, when I met able-bodied men in front of my palace gate who came in their vehicle.

“They double-crossed me and forced me into their vehicle. My cousin brother smartly introduced himself as my driver and they set him free. They now blindfolded me and zoomed off to an unknown destination.

“I saw hell within the twelve days I spent in their den. Negotiations began between my people and the kidnappers and I was eventually set free after the payment of first and second ransom was made.”

Japan’s National Police Agency (NPA) said it would install around 1,000 security cameras to prevent burglaries and other crimes in the quake-hit areas in central Japan.

The NPA, as well as Ishikawa and other prefectural police forces, would contribute about 600 cameras, the local media reported on Friday.

Kyodo News reported that the agency planned to procure the remaining 400 using ¥135 million (about $915,000) from reserve funds in its fiscal 2023 budget.

The police had confirmed 32 criminal cases in the hardest-hit prefecture of Ishikawa as of Wednesday evening, including burglaries at evacuated homes and thefts in evacuation centres.

The police had already increased the number of security cameras in the cities of Wajima and Suzu.

The earthquake on New Year’s Day caused severe damage to several places, with magnitudes reaching up to 7.6.

In Ishikawa, 41,834 houses were damaged in the earthquake, while the number of evacuees has topped 14,000.

This is according to a prefectural tally released on Thursday.

While remaining lent on the question of an immediate ceasefire, the International Court of Justice in The Hague has directed Israel to take actionable steps to prevent acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip.

On Friday, President Joan E. Donoghue of the ICJ affirmed the court has jurisdiction to entertain allegations of genocide filed against Israel by South Africa in light of the ongoing war against Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, in Gaza.

But the court failed to order an immediate stop to the military incursion in the Strip, quenching hopes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would give in to international pressure and obey a higher authority to halt the war in the enclave.

Ms Donoghue said it was too early to rule whether or not Israel had violated the provisions of the Genocide Convention but that the court would make a decision as the matter progressed.

“The court is not required to ascertain whether any violations of Israel’s obligations under the Genocide Convention have occurred,” Ms Donoghue stressed on Friday. “That will happen at a later stage of the process.”

Israel had staged a war against the Strip as a retaliatory response to the Hamas invasion that killed and abducted hundreds of civilians, including women and children, on October 7.

The strong support that Israeli authorities enjoyed from allies, including the U.S., at the initial stages of the war has begun to wane, with many global pundits calling for a ceasefire.

Still, it is unclear how the ICJ intends to enforce its judgement and whether or not there would be consequences for disobedience if any at all.

China plans to increase imports this year to share the business opportunities arising from its ultra-large market with the world, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said on Friday.

Mr Wang said in a press conference that China would expand the imports of high-quality consumer goods, advanced technologies, important equipment, key components, energy and other resources, and agricultural products in short supply in the country.

According to him, China will move to diversify import channels and streamline the process.

The country will continue to host the China Import and Export Fair, the China International Fair for Trade in Services and the China International Import Expo, as well as support Chinese enterprises in attending exhibitions abroad.

We will further facilitate cross-border trips for businesspeople to create opportunities for face-to-face communication,” he said.

Mr Wang said that in April 2023, the State Council issued a guideline on stabilising the scale of foreign trade and optimising its structure, which had produced a positive result.

While continuing to ensure the implementation of the guideline, the Ministry of Commerce is now considering additional measures in this regard.

It is also trying to roll them out as soon as possible to complement the existing policies, Mr Wang added.

Nigeria’s Health Sector Reform Coalition (HSRC) has urged the U.S. government to continue its leading role in tackling healthcare challenges in Africa.

HSRC coordinator Chika Offor, on Thursday in Abuja, made the call as the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, embarked on a diplomatic visit to Africa.

She said the continued U.S. support was for two successful initiatives – the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI).

Ms Offor said PEPFAR has been one of the most impactful foreign policy initiatives by the United States in Africa, playing a crucial role in combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

“With over US$7 billion invested, PEPFAR has ensured that almost two million Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS have comprehensive access to quality prevention, care, and treatment services.

“Similarly, the U.S. leadership in GAVI has significantly improved health outcomes in several African countries. Through direct financial contributions, governance, and technical assistance, GAVI has been at the forefront of efforts to improve access to new and under-used vaccines.

“Their work has reached over 360 million African children and prevented more than 8 million deaths,” she explained.

She emphasised the transformative power of initiatives like PEPFAR and GAVI in improving healthcare across Africa.

She highlighted the progress made in combating diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria, thanking the U.S. for its support.

However, she also stressed the need for continued funding for PEPFAR and increased backing for GAVI, saying sustained financial support from the U.S. would strengthen the progress made so far and play a crucial role in further advancing healthcare outcomes throughout the continent.

She urged the U.S. government to collaborate with African governments and other stakeholders to sustain these initiatives that directly impact millions of African lives.

She said the coalition believed that by continuing to support PEPFAR and increasing support for GAVI, the U.S. could strengthen health systems and make significant strides in improving healthcare in Africa.