Edo state Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has approved a restructuring that will reduce the number of government’s ministries, departments and agencies by over 31 per cent. Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Andrew Emwanta, disclosed this on Wednesday while briefing reporters after the State Executive Council Meeting. The measure, Emwanta said, is to cut wastages in government and eliminate duplication of functions, but did not state if it will lead to job loss. Under the new arrangements, the state government has slashed the number of ministries from 22 to 18. Also, government departments and agencies, otherwise known as MDA, have been reduced…

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demanded a special United Nations tribunal impose "just punishment" on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, including financial penalties and stripping Moscow of its veto power in the Security Council. Hours earlier, president Vladimir Putin had ordered Russia's first wartime mobilisation since World War Two. DIPLOMACY/POLITICS * Russia and Ukraine carried out an unexpected prisoner swap, the largest since the war began and involving almost 300 people, including 10 foreigners. * Putin's thinly veiled threat to use nuclear weapons was "dangerous and reckless rhetoric", NATO's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said. * "If the territorial integrity of our…