The National Archives has asked former U.S. presidents and vice presidents to re-check their personal records for any classified documents following the news that President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence had such documents in their possession, two people familiar with the matter said Thursday.
The Archives sent a letter Thursday to representatives of former presidents and vice presidents extending back to Ronald Reagan to ensure compliance with the Presidential Records Act. The act states that any records created or received by the president are the property of the U.S. government and will be managed by the archives at the end of the administration, according to the two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about investigations.
The Archives sent the letter to representatives of former Presidents Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, and former Vice Presidents Pence, Biden, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle.
The letter was first reported by CNN.
Spokespeople for former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and former vice presidents Mike Pence, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Biden’s lawyers came across classified documents from his time as vice president in a locked cabinet as they were packing up an office he no longer uses in November. Since then, subsequent searches by the FBI and Biden’s lawyers have turned up more documents. Former Vice President Mike Pence, too, this week, discovered documents and turned them in after saying previously he did not believe he had any.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment but the searches by Biden’s attorneys and the FBI appear to fulfill the Archives’ request.
Handling of classified documents has been a problem off and on for decades, from presidents to Cabinet members and staff across multiple administrations stretching as far back as Jimmy Carter. But the issue has taken on greater significance since former President Donald Trump willfully retained classified material at his Florida estate, prompting the unprecedented FBI seizure of thousands of pages of records last year.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate Trump’s handling of the documents, and also Biden’s.
Speaking Thursday at an unrelated news conference, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that though he could not discuss any specific ongoing investigation, “We have had for quite a number of years any number of mishandling investigations. That is unfortunately a regular part of our counterintelligence division’s and counterintelligence program’s work.”
He said there was a need for people to be conscious of laws and rules governing the handling of classified information. “Those rules,” he said, “are there for a reason.”
Nigeria Central Bank Hikes Rates by More Than Expected on Prices
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which measures interest rate from 16.5% to 17.5 percent to tame inflation.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele announced this after the apex bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.
The MPC raised the monetary policy rate by 100 basis point to 17.5% and kept the asymmetric corridor at +100/-700 basis points around the MPR.
The MPC retained Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 32.5% while liquidity ratio is kept at 30%.
The CBN also said its January 31, 2023 deadline for the validity of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes remains.
The CBN on October 26, 2022 had announced its plan to redesign the three banknotes. President Muhammadu Buhari subsequently unveiled the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes on November 23, 2022, while the apex bank fixed January 31 deadline for the validity of the old notes.
The CBN also pegged its weekly cash withdrawal limits to N500,000 for individuals and N5m for corporate firms.
There have been concerns from many Nigerians over the slow spread of the three new naira notes as the January 31 2023 deadline approaches but the apex bank has insisted that the date stands.
The CBN also recently directed commercial banks to halt over-the-counter payment of the new notes and load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) with the redesigned naira notes to boost circulation.
The apex bank also launched a cash swap programme nationwide to enable those in the unbanked areas to exchange their old notes for new notes before the deadline.
Following the circulation of a video on social media showing an individual failing to wear a seat belt while a passenger in a moving car in Lancashire we have today (Friday, Jan 20) issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of fixed penalty.
Lancashire Police are "looking into" Rishi Sunak after he was filmed not wearing a seat belt while a passenger in a moving car.
The prime minister has apologised for the incident, saying it was an "error of judgement" to take his seat belt off to film a social media clip.
Not wearing a seat belt carries a maximum £500 fine.
Mr Sunak "fully accepts this was a mistake and apologises", his spokesman told reporters.
The BBC understands the prime minister was in Lancashire when the video was filmed, during a trip across the north of England.
The video - to promote the government's latest round of "levelling up" spending - was posted on Mr Sunak's Instagram account earlier.
In the clip , which lasts around a minute, Mr Sunak can be seen addressing the camera while the car travels along, with police motorbikes briefly appearing in the background.
Passengers caught failing to wear a seat belt when one is available, unless covered by a valid exemption, can be given an on-the-spot £100 fine. The fine can increase to £500 if the case goes to court.
Nigeria is scheduled to hold national and state elections between 25 February and 11 March. The risk of election related violence is high. You should avoid all political gatherings and election related sites in the lead up to, during and after this period. We've reviewed our travel advice for Nigeria and now advise 'reconsider your need to travel' to Abuja. We continue to advise 'reconsider your need to travel' to Nigeria overall. Higher levels apply.
We advise:
Reconsider your need to travel to Nigeria overall due to high threats of terrorist attack and kidnapping, the volatile security situation, possible violent civil unrest and high levels of violent crime.
Political rallies, protests and violent demonstrations can occur with little notice throughout the country. International news events can sometimes trigger anti-Western demonstrations. There is the potential for increased tension on Fridays. Nationwide elections will take place in Nigeria in February 2023, and there is a heightened risk of protests during this period.
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has said she is resigning, in an unexpected announcement that came as she confirmed a national election for October.
At the party’s first caucus meeting of the year on Thursday, Ardern said she “no longer had enough in the tank” to do the job. “It’s time,” she added.
“I’m leaving, because with such a privileged role comes responsibility – the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not. I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It’s that simple,” she said.
Her term as prime minister will conclude no later than 7 February but she will continue as an MP until the election this year.
“I am human, politicians are human. We give all that we can for as long as we can. And then it’s time. And for me, it’s time,” she said.
Ardern said she had reflected over the summer break on whether she had the energy to continue in the role, and had concluded she did not.
Ardern became the world’s youngest female head of government when she was elected prime minister in 2017 at 37. She has led New Zealand through the Covid-19 pandemic, and a series of disasters including the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, and the White Island volcanic eruption.
“This has been the most fulfilling five and a half years of my life. But it’s also had its challenges – among an agenda focused on housing, child poverty and climate change, we encountered a … domestic terror event, a major natural disaster, a global pandemic, and an economic crisis,” she said.
Asked how she would like New Zealanders to remember her leadership, Ardern said “as someone who always tried to be kind”.
“I hope I leave New Zealanders with a belief that you can be kind, but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focused. And that you can be your own kind of leader – one who knows when it’s time to go,” Ardern said.
Over the past year, Ardern has faced a significant increase in threats of violence, particularly from conspiracy theorist and anti-vaccine groups infuriated by the country’s vaccine mandates and lockdowns. She said, however, that the increased risk associated with the job were not behind her decision to step down.
“I don’t want to leave the impression that the adversity you face in politics is the reason that people exit. Yes, it does have an impact. We are humans after all, but that was not the basis of my decision,” she said.
Ardern said she had no future plans, other than to spend more time with her family.
She thanked her partner, Clarke Gayford, and daughter Neve, whom she gave birth to while holding office, as “the ones that have sacrificed the most out of all of us”.
“To Neve: Mum is looking forward to being there when you start school this year. And to Clarke – let’s finally get married.”
The prime minister’s announcement came as a shock to many New Zealanders. During a brief flurry of speculation over Ardern’s possible resignation in late 2022, the prime minister said she had no intention of doing so. In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s announcement, there were no clues or leaks to suggest her resignation was on the cards.
The news arrives as New Zealand enters a closely fought election year, with the date of the vote announced for 14 October. Polling over recent months had placed the Ardern-led Labour party slightly behind the opposition National.
Ardern said her decline in the polls did not prompt her decision to leave.
“I’m not leaving because I believe we can’t win the election, but because I believe we can and will, and we need a fresh set of shoulders for that challenge,” she said.
Who will replace Ardern is not yet clear: the deputy leader and finance minister, Grant Robertson, who would be considered a frontrunner, said on Thursday that he would not be seeking the position.“I am not putting myself forward to be a candidate for the leadership of the Labour party,” he said.
The Labour caucus has seven days to find out whether a new candidate holds more than two-thirds of support within caucus to become the new leader and prime minister. A caucus vote for a new leader will take place on 22 January. If no one meets that threshold level of support, the leadership contest will go to the wider Labour membership.
The National leader, Christopher Luxon, said Ardern had “made a significant contribution to New Zealand, in what is a difficult and demanding job” and called her a “strong ambassador for New Zealand on the world stage”.
“Her leadership in the aftermath of the Christchurch terror attacks was simultaneously strong and compassionate, and is something she can be proud of,” he added.
The prime minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, paid tribute to Ardern, saying she “has shown the world how to lead with intellect and strength … She has demonstrated that empathy and insight are powerful leadership qualities.”
Denys Monastyrsky, 42, a trained lawyer, had served as Ukraine's interior minister from July, 2021.
He was a key member of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's party and was married with two children.
Eighteen people including #Ukraine's interior minister were killed in a helicopter crash near a nursery and a residential building in the town of Brovary outside #Kyiv on Wednesday morning.
Interior Minister Denys #Monastyrskyi, his deputy Yevhen Yenin and State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yurii Lubkovych were among those killed, according to police.
Two children were also among the dead, and several more casualties are in hospital.
Russian and Ukrainian forces fought for control of #Brovary in the early stages of the invasion until Russia's troops withdrew in early April
However, there was no immediate word on whether the crash was an accident or a result of the war.
As a result of a helicopter crash in Brovary Minister and Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine died. Emergency Service helicopter crashed at local kindergarten. 16 dead, two of them children. Terrible tragedy. pic.twitter.com/KiKR5ItDoI
Video has emerged of the aftermath of the helicopter crash in Brovary near Kyiv that killed many including the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine,Minister Denys Monastyrskyi,his deputy Eugene Yenin,and State Secretary Yurii Lubkovich.pic.twitter.com/CdzHC4NbJP
Fellow #Gambians, it is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing away of my #VicePresident, His Excellency, Badara Alieu Joof. The sad event took place in India after a short illness. May Allah grant him Jannahtul Firdawsi.
Normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually across the U.S. following an overnight outage to the Notice to Air Missions system that provides safety info to flight crews. The ground stop has been lifted.
We continue to look into the cause of the initial problem
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) is mourning former Mufulira Wanderers and Zambia national team midfielder Philemon Mulala.
The 60-year-old was mauled to death by his three dogs at his Lichtenburg home in the North West on Saturday afternoon.
Police spokesperson Capt Sam Tselanyane confirmed Mulala was the victim of the dog attack.
Mulala arrived in South Africa to play for Kaizer Chiefs in 1988, Pule Iniesta Jakkals shared on the NPSL, NSL, NFL, FPL & PSL ex-Pros page on Facebook. He also played for Cape Town Spurs and Lenasia Dynamos.
The association said Mulala was notably part of the 1984 Zambian squad that won the East and Central Africa Challenge cup under coach Col Brightwell Banda.
FAZ general secretary Adrian Kashala said the football fraternity had lost a gallant soldier.
“We remain with wonderful memories that the late Philemon honoured us with on the pitch. There is a lot that today’s players can learn from the deceased’s generation,” Kashala said.
Over 400 people have been arrested after thousands of protesters in support of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed multiple government buildings in an event similar to the Jan. 6, 2021, invasion of the US Capitol
The founder of DAAR Communications Plc High Chief Raymond Dokpesi (Ph.D) has been released after an incident which saw him delayed on arrival at the London Heathrow airport on Sunday January 8, 2023.
Dokpesi arrived via Frankfurt from Abuja on a Lufthansa airlines flight and was invited off the plane, before other passengers were disembarked.
Dokpesi was delayed at the airport for some hours before his passport was stamped and he was cleared by British Immigration officials for entry into the country.
His visit to the United Kingdom is not unconnected to the invitation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar by the British government to share perspectives on issues around the 2023 presidential elections.
The media founder is the Deputy Director-General, Technical & Systems of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council. Chief Dokpesi wishes to thank all for their outpour of love, prayers and support following the news of the incident and to reassure that he is hale and hearty.
Prince Harry says he’s been forced to make his concerns about the royal family public. In a clip from his forthcoming interview on 60 Minutes, Prince Harry explained he and his wife Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, have spoken out to combat the tabloids.
“Every single time I’ve tried to do it privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife,” he tells host Anderson Cooper in the clip. “You know, the family motto is never complain, never explain, but it’s just a motto.”
“There’s a lot of complaining and a lot of explaining,” Cooper interjects, “being done through leaks.”
“They will feed or have a conversation with the correspondent,” Prince Harry continues. “And that correspondent will literally be spoon-fed information and write the story. And at the bottom of it they will say that they’ve reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. But the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting. So when we’re being told for the last six years, ‘We can’t put a statement out to protect you.’ But you do it for other members of the family. It becomes… there becomes a point when silence is betrayal.”
Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, has called on countries around the world to name one of their stadiums after Pele, the late Brazilian football legend.
Lawmakers and staffers must delete TikTok from any House-issued mobile phones and are prohibited from downloading the popular app on such devices, according to an internal memo obtained by NBC News.
The memo, sent Tuesday by Catherine L. Szpindor, the chief administrative officer of the House, said the ban comes after her office’s cybersecurity unit found TikTok to be a "high risk to users due to a number of security risks."
All lawmakers and staffers were directed to delete the app from their phones.
"House staff are NOT allowed to download the TikTok app on any House mobile devices," the memo said. "If you have the TikTok app on your House mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it."
A representative for TikTok declined comment.
A measure banning TikTok on some government devices was included in the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill Congress passed last week. The provision included a ban of the app and of any application provided by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, based in Beijing, on all executive Branch devices; it did not apply to members of Congress and their staffs.
The directive from the House does not apply to the Senate, where some members, including Marco Rubio, R-Fla., have called for the app to be completely banned in the U.S.
FBI Director Christopher Wray warned members of Congress after the midterm elections that the Chinese government could use TikTok to control users’ devices for influence or espionage purposes.
The company said last week it was working to "meaningfully address any security concerns that have been raised at both the federal and state level. These plans have been developed under the oversight of our country’s top national security agencies — plans that we are well underway in implementing — to further secure our platform in the United States, and we will continue to brief lawmakers on them."
Users of Apple’s old smartphone models, iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c, will not be able to use WhatsApp after December 31, 2022.
The end of WhatsApp support will also affect 45 old models of Android devices, according to the instant message platform.
The affected Android phones include several models of several Huawei, LG, and Samsung smartphones. WhatsApp said users of the phones will be sent an alert before it stops working.
Why support is ending: Explaining why it would have to end its support for the affected devices, WhatsApp said:
“Devices and software change often, so we regularly review what operating systems we support and make updates.
“To choose what to stop supporting, every year we, like other technology companies, look at which devices and software are the oldest and have the fewest number of people still using them. These devices also might not have the latest security updates, or might lack the functionality required to run WhatsApp.” List of affected phones: The phones that will no longer be able to use WhatsApp from January 1, 2023, include:
iPhone 5 iPhone 5c Archos 53 Platinum Grand S Flex ZTE Grand X Quad V987 ZTE HTC Desire 500 Huawei Ascend D Huawei Ascend D1 Huawei Ascend D2 Huawei Ascend G740 Huawei Ascend Mate Huawei Ascend P1 Quad XL Lenovo A820 LG Enact LG Lucid 2 LG Optimus 4X HD LG Optimus F3 LG Optimus F3Q LG Optimus F5 LG Optimus F6 LG Optimus F7 LG Optimus L2 II LG Optimus L3 II LG Optimus L3 II Dual LG Optimus L4 II LG Optimus L4 II Dual LG Optimus L5 LG Optimus L5 Dual LG Optimus L5 II LG Optimus L7 LG Optimus L7 II LG Optimus L7 II Dual LG Optimus Nitro HD Memo ZTE V956 Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 Samsung Galaxy Core Samsung Galaxy S2 Samsung Galaxy S3 mini Samsung Galaxy Trend II Samsung Galaxy Trend Lite Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 Sony Xperia Arc S Sony Xperia miro Sony Xperia Neo L Wiko Cink Five Wiko Darknight ZT
Employment of women in national & international NGOs is banned by #Taliban
The Taliban has banned Afghan women from working at non-governmental organisations in the country.
It was not clear if the ban, announced in a letter and confirmed by the economy ministry, also applied to foreign women or those working for the United Nations, which has a significant presence in the country.
The letter said female employees would not be allowed to work for NGOs until further notice because some had not adhered to the Taliban's interpretation of the Islamic dress code for women.
The economy ministry said it had received "serious complaints" about female staff not wearing the "correct" headscarf or hijab.
This ban comes days after Afghan women were stopped from going to university by the Taliban, a move that drew international condemnation.
Taliban bans women from working in NGOs. َAccording to this letter issued by minister of economy all national and International NGOs are required to terminate their female employees.
I am told that female employees who works in health section are also said that they are not allowed to work.
Museveni, who was first sworn-in as President on January 29, 1986 is Uganda's longest-serving leader.
He has been Interacting with media representatives and journalists from the different Ugandan Media Houses at Nakasero State Lodge. #M7Presser
We have our problems with Facebook and we have expressed them. If they are worked on, we have no problems opening Facebook. At least, life has not stopped because of it; Boda Bodas are moving well, and commuter taxis are making their trips as usual. Life goes on. #M7Presser
The Uganda government blocked Facebook after the social media giant deleted hundreds of accounts of National Resistance Movement (NRM) supporters it suspected to be fake during the General Election last year.
The NRM is the ruling Party.
There have been several attempts to negotiate the unblocking of Facebook, but without tangible results. Facebook refused to comply with the government demands to restore deleted accounts.
Mr Meddy Kaggwa, the Ag Director of Industry and Content Development at the Government-owned Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) said the negotiations with Facebook need to be handled on a continental level.
“Many of us have recommended that we have to approach them (Facebook) as a continent. …When we speak to Facebook as Africa, Facebook will be keener to listen,” he said.
Mr Kaggwa said currently, they don’t know how much money Facebook makes from Uganda and the social media giant isn’t willing to reveal details.
“In fact, when you tell them to explain the aggregate revenue they earn from Uganda as a country, they will tell you it is negligible,” he said.
Many start-ups and online businesses have suffered since the ban.
Prior to its suspension by government about a year ago, Facebook was the most used social media platform in Uganda. Since then, many users have since quit or use Virtual Private Networks to access the platform.
The Cameroon and Internazionale Goalkeeper Andre Onana has announced his retirement from international football.
He was left out of the Cameroon squad for his country’s second game of the World Cup after having a disagreement with manager Rigobert Song over tactics.
Higher education ministry issues indefinite order three months after thousands sat entrance exams
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have ordered an indefinite ban on university education for the country’s women, the ministry of higher education said in a letter issued to all government and private universities.
“You all are informed to implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females until further notice,” said the letter signed by the minister for higher education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Ziaullah Hashimi, who tweeted the letter, confirmed the order in a text message to Agence France-Presse.
The ban on higher education comes less than three months after thousands of girls and women sat university entrance exams across the country, with many aspiring to choose engineering and medicine as future careers.
After the takeover of Afghanistan by the hardline Islamists in August last year, universities were forced to implement new rules including gender-segregated classrooms and entrances, and women were only permitted to be taught by female professors or old men.
Most Afghan teenage girls have already been banned from secondary school education, severely limiting university intake.
The Taliban adhere to an austere version of Islam, with the movement’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and his inner circle of Afghan clerics opposed to modern education, particularly for girls and women.
But they are at odds with many officials in Kabul and some of their rank and file, who had hoped girls would be allowed to continue learning following the takeover.
Women have been pushed out of many government jobs or are being paid a slashed salary to stay at home. They are also barred from travelling without a male relative, and must cover up outside the home, ideally with a burqa.
In November they were prohibited from going to parks, funfairs, gyms and public baths.
In a cruel U-turn, the Taliban in March blocked girls from returning to secondary schools on the morning they were supposed to reopen.
Several Taliban officials say the secondary education ban is only temporary, but have given a litany of excuses for the closure, from a lack of funds to time needed to remodel the syllabus along Islamic lines.
Since the ban, many teenage girls have been married off early, often to much older men of their father’s choice.
Coupled with economic pressure, several families interviewed by AFP last month said that securing their daughters’ future through marriage was better than them sitting idle at home.
The international community has made the right to education for all women a sticking point in negotiations over aid and recognition of the Taliban regime.
“The international community has not and will not forget Afghan women and girls,” the UN security council said in a statement in September.
In the 20 years between the Taliban’s two reigns, girls were allowed to go to school and women were able to seek employment in all sectors, though the country remained socially conservative.
My thoughts are with all those affected by the awful incident at Brixton Academy.
Eight people were taken to hospital, with four in critical condition.
An urgent investigation is underway and I remain in close contact with the Met Commissioner since last night.
I'm heartbroken that this could happen to young Londoners enjoying a night out in our city and urge anyone with any information to contact the police on 101.
I won’t rest until we have the answers their loved ones and the local community need and deserve.
The world's only nonuplets - nine babies born at the same time - have safely returned home to Mali after spending the first 19 months of their lives in Morocco.
The babies broke the Guinness World Record for the most children delivered in a single birth to survive.
Ahead of the birth in May 2021, the mother Halima Cissé, now 27, was flown to Morocco for specialist care.
Before returning they had been living with medical support in Casablanca.
After arriving back in the Malian capital, Bamako, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the father Abdelkader Arby thanked the Malian government which he said had been helping the family financially.
"It's a lot of work but Allah, who gave us this blessing, will help us in their upbringing and taking care of them," he added.
Health Minister Diéminatou Sangara said the government will continue to support the family.
The babies - five girls and four boys - were born by Caesarean section at 30 weeks, according to the Malian authorities last year.
The girls - named Kadidia, Fatouma, Hawa, Adama and Oumou - and the boys - named Mohammed VI, Oumar, Elhadji and Bah - weighed between 500g and 1kg (1.1lb and 2.2lb) at birth, Prof Youssef Alaoui, medical director of the clinic where they were born, told the AFP news agency.
There were risks that they could have developed health problems due to their premature birth and they spent the first months of their lives in hospital.
They were then moved to an apartment where they received round-the-clock care from the Ain Borja clinic.
Earlier this year, on their first birthday, their father said that each one has a unique personality.
"They all have different characters. Some are quiet, while other make more noise and cry a lot. Some want to be picked up all the time. They are all very different, which is entirely normal."
Mr Arby also said that they had become famous in Mali and people were "very keen to see the babies with their own eyes".
Foreign Affairs › US: Fmr Presidents, VPs asked to Submit Classified Docs In Their Possession by HonNL(op): 8:31pm On Jan 26, 2023
