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FG Invites IAEA to Assess Nigeria’s Nuclear, Radiation Safety Framework

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Federal government, said it has invited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to conduct an assessment of Nigeria’s nuclear and radiation regulatory framework and also undertake a review of the safety and preparedness of the country as regards such issues and emergencies.

Officials of the IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Services (IRRS) are currently on a mission to Nigeria to undertake a review of the country’s regulatory framework and infrastructure as regards nuclear energy and radiation.

The IRRS team is led by Mr. Lambert Matteochi and the IRRS Coordinator, Mr. Teodros Haliu. In the course of the assessment, the team would visit three facilities of interest in the country; identify best practices that can be shared with other regulators and provide suggestions and recommendations on Nigeria’s nuclear and radiation safety. The team would conclude their assessment July 12, 2017 and is expected to present an exit report to the Federal Government at the end of the programme.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the IRRS Mission to Nigeria, hosted by the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Agency, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, minister of State for Petroleum Resources disclosed that the IAEA review team’s visit to Nigeria was at the instance of the Federal Government.

Kachikwu, who was represented by his Senior Technical Assistance on Technical Matters, Mr. Adegbite Adeniji, said the IAEA was invited to undertake a peer review evaluation of Nigeria’s regulatory infrastructure and preparedness for nuclear and radiation emergencies.

He explained that as a strong partner of IAEA in implementing its ‘Atoms for Peace and Development’ mandate, Nigeria commitment and efforts towards ensuring greater security of nuclear materials and maintaining a balance between nuclear non-proliferation obligations and balancing nuclear energy and technology for social economic development remains unwavered.

He declared that Nigeria would continue to live up to its responsibility of ensuring nuclear security whilst collaborating with international agencies such as the IAEA for the provision of tactical assistance, expert advice, with active equipments and training.

 He said “As an important and respected member of the IAEA, we have signed and implemented a number of binding international treaties, agreements and conventions. It is worthy of note that specific national regulations have been developed to domesticate these conventions and treaties while existing regulations are been reviewed and benchmarked with international standards.”

Also speaking, Mr. Lawrence Dim, director general/chief executive officer, NNRA, said nuclear regulations international and only international best practices are recognized, hence, the invitation to the IAEA for the assessment.

He said the mission to Nigeria provided an opportunity for peer review, adding that at the end of the review, the outcome, containing identification of best practices, suggestions and recommendations would be forwarded to the Federal Government for implementation.

Also speaking, Mr. Tayo Alasoadura, Senate Committee chairman on Petroleum, Upstream, said the review was timely and important to the country, in view of the need to prevent a recurrence of nuclear and radiation disasters that happened in some countries over the years.

On his own his part, Mr. Victor Nwokolo,  House Committee chairman on Petroleum, Upstream, said the review was apt in the sense that operators should be aware of the latest and best ways of moving these kinds of materials in or out of the country, to ensure they do not fall into wrong hands.

He said, “In a nutshell, we want these materials to be properly secured, especially with the issue of bomb blast in some parts of the country. The same materials used in our mining sector and quarry are still the same materials used by the terrorists in bombing.

“That is why this review is very timely, to ensure they do not go to wrong hands. As the days pass by, the criminals in our society device more sophisticated methods of getting their evil aspirations carried out.

“That is why I said they should also teach our own people here on how to safeguard these things. Particularly, with our porous borders, how do they ensure that anytime these things are coming in, that they have proper census of the number and quantity of the nuclear material, if not, our lives and that of the country would be in danger.”


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Trump Threatens More Strikes in Nigeria

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President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could carry out further military strikes in Nigeria if Christians continue to be killed, reigniting a sensitive debate over religious violence and foreign intervention in Africa’s most populous nation.

Trump Threatens More Strikes in Nigeria

President Donald Trump

Trump made the remarks in an interview with The New York Times, published on Thursday, while responding to questions about a US military strike carried out in Nigeria on Christmas Day.

At the time, the US military said the operation targeted Islamic State militants in north-west Nigeria and was conducted at the request of the Nigerian government.

Nigeria, however, described the operation as a joint counterterrorism effort, stressing that it was aimed at armed groups designated as terrorists and “had nothing to do with a particular religion”.

“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Trump was quoted as saying. “But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”

Pressed on comments by his own Africa adviser that extremist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram have killed more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria, Trump acknowledged that Muslims were also victims but insisted that Christians were being targeted disproportionately.

“I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians,” he said.

Trump has repeatedly raised alarms about the safety of Christians in Nigeria, beginning in late October when he warned that Christianity faced what he described as an “existential threat” in the country. He has accused Nigerian authorities of failing to adequately protect Christian communities and has openly threatened US military intervention if the violence continues.

Nigeria has firmly rejected claims of systematic persecution of Christians. The government maintains that the country’s security challenges are complex and largely driven by insurgency, banditry and criminal violence rather than religious targeting.

With a population of more than 230 million people, Nigeria is almost evenly divided between Christians, who are concentrated mainly in the south, and Muslims, who predominate in the north. Islamist insurgencies, particularly Boko Haram and its offshoots, have plagued parts of northern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands and displacing millions.

Nigerian authorities have repeatedly pointed out that militant attacks have claimed the lives of both Muslims and Christians, arguing that framing the violence along religious lines oversimplifies the crisis and risks inflaming tensions.

Following Trump’s earlier threats, the Nigerian government said it was willing to continue cooperating with Washington in combating terrorism but rejected language suggesting that Christians alone were under threat.

The latest comments are likely to strain diplomatic relations further, as Nigeria balances its partnership with the United States against concerns over sovereignty, security cooperation and the portrayal of its internal conflicts on the global stage.


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OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Health

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OpenAI maker of ChatGPT is rolling out a health-focused feature to the generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool that’s used by nearly a billion users.

Named ChatGPT Health, the new feature aims to provide users with health and wellness information. This, as health is one of the most common ways people use ChatGPT, according to OpenAI.

In a blog post, Microsoft-backed OpenAI says de-identified analysis of conversations show that over 230 million people globally ask health and wellness-related questions on ChatGPT every week.

ChatGPT Health will also “securely” connect medical records and wellness apps to ground conversations with a user’s own health information, making responses more relevant and useful.

“Designed in close collaboration with physicians, ChatGPT Health helps people take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness – while supporting, not replacing, care from clinicians.”

According to OpenAI, health information is often scattered across portals, apps, wearables, PDFs, and medical notes making it hard to see the full picture, and people are left to navigate a complex healthcare system on their own.

“ChatGPT Health builds on these so responses are informed by your health information and context. You can now securely connect medical records and wellness apps – like Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal – so ChatGPT can help you understand recent test results, prepare for appointments with your doctor, get advice on how to approach your diet and workout routine, or understand the trade-offs of different insurance options based on your healthcare patterns.”

According to the company, ChatGPT Health is designed to support, not replace, medical care, adding that it is not intended for diagnosis or treatment. “Instead, it helps you navigate everyday questions and understand patterns over time – not just moments of illness – so you can feel more informed and prepared for important medical conversations.

“To keep your health information protected and secure, Health operates as a separate space with enhanced privacy to protect sensitive data. Conversations in Health are not used to train our foundation models. If you start a health-related conversation in ChatGPT, we’ll suggest moving into Health for these additional protections.”

OpenAI adds that access to ChatGPT Health has started with a small group of early users to learn and continue refining the experience, adding that users with ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans outside of the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK are eligible.

“As we make improvements, we plan to expand access and make Health available to all users on web and iOS in the coming weeks.

“Medical record integrations and some apps are available in the US only, and connecting Apple Health requires iOS.”


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Kaspersky Shares AI Cybersecurity Predictions for 2026

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Kaspersky experts outline how the rapid development of AI is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape in 2026, both for individual users and for businesses. Large language models (LLMs) are influencing defensive capabilities while simultaneously expanding opportunities for threat actors.

Deepfakes are becoming a mainstream technology, and awareness will continue to grow. Companies are increasingly discussing the risks of synthetic content and training employees to reduce the likelihood of falling victim to it. As the volume of deepfakes grows, so does the range of formats in which they appear.

At the same time, awareness is rising not only within organisations but also among regular users: end consumers encounter fake content more often and better understand the nature of such threats. As a result, deepfakes are becoming a stable element of the security agenda, requiring a systematic approach to training and internal policies.

Deepfake quality will improve through better audio and a lowering barrier to entry. The visual quality of deepfakes is already high, while realistic audio remains the main area for future growth.

At the same time, content generation tools are becoming easier to use: even non-experts can now create a mid-quality deepfake in just a few clicks. As a result, the average quality continues to rise, creation becomes accessible to a far broader audience, and these capabilities will inevitably continue to be leveraged by cybercriminals.

Online deepfakes will continue to evolve but remain tools for advanced users. Real-time face and voice swapping technologies are improving, but their setup still requires more advanced technical skills. Wide adoption is unlikely, yet the risks in targeted scenarios will grow: increasing realism and the ability to manipulate video through virtual cameras make such attacks more convincing.

Efforts to develop a reliable system for labelling AI-generated content will continue. There are still no unified criteria for reliably identifying synthetic content, and current labels are easy to bypass or remove, especially when working with open-source models. For this reason, new technical and regulatory initiatives aimed at addressing the problem are likely to emerge.

Open-weight models will approach top closed models in many cybersecurity-related tasks, which create more opportunities for misuse. Closed models still offer stricter control mechanisms and safeguards, limiting abuse.

However, open-source systems are rapidly catching up in functionality and circulate without comparable restrictions. This blurs the difference between proprietary models and open-source models both of which can be used efficiently for undesired or malicious purposes.

The line between legitimate and fraudulent AI-generated content will become increasingly blurred. AI can already produce well-crafted scam emails, convincing visual identities, and high-quality phishing pages.

At the same time, major brands are adopting synthetic materials in advertising, making AI-generated content look familiar and visually “normal.” As a result, distinguishing real from fake will become even more challenging, both for users and for automated detection systems.

AI will become a cross-chain tool in cyberattacks and be used across most stages of the kill chain. Threat actors already employ LLMs to write code, build infrastructure, and automate operational tasks.

Further advances will reinforce this trend: AI will increasingly support multiple stages of an attack, from preparation and communication to assembling malicious components, probing for vulnerabilities and deploying tools. Attackers will also work to hide signs of AI involvement, making such operations harder to analyse.

“While AI tools are being used in cyberattacks, they are also becoming a more common tool in security analysis and influence how SOC teams work. Agent-based systems will be able to continuously scan infrastructure, identify vulnerabilities, and gather contextual information for investigations, reducing the amount of manual routine work.

“As a result, specialists will shift from manually searching for data to making decisions based on already-prepared context. In parallel, security tools will transition to natural-language interfaces, enabling prompts instead of complex technical queries,” adds Vladislav Tushkanov, Research Development Group Manager at Kaspersky.

 


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