Bitcoin, Ethereum plunge amid regulatory crackdown on crypto transactions in China
Cryptocurrency markets plunged on Wednesday after Chinese regulators signaled a crackdown on the use of digital currencies.
The news from China has sent Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency, further down at $38, 193 losing 11 percent today. It is down more than 30 percent in a week.
Bitcoin had already been under pressure from a series of tweets from Elon Musk, Tesla chief executive officer.
Musk had announced that Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin as a form of transaction.
“Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel,” Musk had tweeted.
NDLEA intercepts 4.9m tramadol capsules at Onne Port
Efforts by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to block access and availability of illicit substances have again led to the interception of a container bearing 4,996,200 capsules of tramadol weighing 2,498.2 kilogrammes at the Onne Port, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The seizure of the illicit drug concealed in 1,387 cartons on Tuesday, 18th May, 2021 followed a joint examination by NDLEA operatives and customs personnel on a container marked MRKU 0764717, which had since been on the agency’s watch list.
$189m clinical trial, others ground local COVID-19 vaccine production
Lack of funds is stalling efforts being made by the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Ede, Osun State, to develop a locally made COVID-19 vaccine.
The centre’s Director, Christian Hapi, confirmed this to journalists in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
Hapi, who said the process had started, added that the centre could not proceed to the stage of clinical trials because of a lack of funds.
“There are activities for development (of local COVID-19 vaccine). We are at the stage for clinical trials.
“We have not done the clinical trials because we are looking for funds to proceed,” he said.
When asked how much is the will the centre require to proceed to the clinical trial stage, Hapi said, “The amount required for the clinical trial is $189m.”
When further asked if the centre had approached the Federal Government and what the response was, he said, “Yes, we approached the Federal Government and we are still waiting for a response.”
Onne Multipurpose Terminal opens for operations
The Onne Multipurpose Terminal has opened its doors for operations.
It commenced container operations at Onne Port, in Port-Harcourt thereby doubling Eastern Nigeria’s modern container handling capacity and providing to the region’s economic growth, the company said in a statement.
The statement said, “MSC Floriana, a vessel belonging to the world’s biggest shipping line, Mediterranean Shipping Company berthed at OMT located at Berths 9-11 at Federal Ocean Terminal, Onne Port.
“OMT offloaded 1297 containers. MSC Floriana’s call marked the culmination of more than one year of preparations and investments by OMT.”
Head of Operations, OMT, Robert Uljan, said, “We are all very proud of the successful operation of the vessel. Our advanced cargo handling systems worked well and our operations and technical teams, all recruited from Rivers State, hit the ground running and performed very successfully.
Intel accuses ICTSI of trespassing
Intels Nigeria Limited has accused International Container Terminal Service Inc. of disregarding a court order that grants its permission to the Berths 9/10/11 at the Federal Ocean Terminal, Onne, Rivers State.
Intels in a public statement claimed that a High Court of Rivers State issued an order which ring-fenced it from being ejected from the berth, and allowed it to maintain status-quo.
It said the High Court of Rivers State in November 2020 extended an order of interim injunction restraining the Nigerian Ports Authority, its agents and employees from taking over Berths 9, 10, and 11 at the Federal Ocean Terminal, Onne Port Complex from INTELS Nigeria Limited.
According to Intel, ICTSI is occupying its land and has demarcated a substantial area of it. The company also accused the authorities of complicity.
Intel in the statement claimed that ICTSI had taken some of its property at the port too.
Although the company said it had initiated legal proceedings against ICTSI, it made a subtle appeal to the Federal Government to come to its aid.
