Friday
Security forces head off anti-government protests in Zimbabwe
Streets were deserted and businesses shut in Zimbabwe’s two main cities on Friday after security forces were deployed to prevent anti-government marches called by activists over corruption and economic hardship. Protesters stayed away. Job Sikhala, an opposition lawmaker and one of the protest organisers, said the heavy security presence showed a state afraid of its citizens. He added: “Protracted demonstrations will be the way forward.” He is among more than a dozen activists who are in hiding and who police say they are seeking for promoting Friday’s protests. In Bulawayo and central Harare, the capital, businesses were shut as police and soldiers patrolled the streets. Shops also stayed shut in some Harare townships, including Mbare – a hotbed of past protests. President Emmerson Mnanga...
OECD: South Africa economy could contract 8.2% if second coronavirus wave hits
South Africa’s economy could contract 8.2% this year, and grow just 0.6% in 2021, if a second wave of COVID-19 cases hits the country and its main trading partners, the OECD said on Friday. If a second wave of infections is avoided, the economy will contract 7.5% in 2020 before rebounding 2.5% next year, the OECD said in a report on Africa’s most industrialised economy. South Africa was in recession before the pandemic struck, with recurring power cuts by struggling state utility Eskom and weak business confidence dampening economic activity. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government has promised to fast-track reforms to raise economic growth potential, but some investors are becoming restless about the pace of change. “South Africa cannot afford to delay reforms. It is essential to undertake...
Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga arrested during banned protests
Police in Zimbabwe on Friday arrested internationally-acclaimed novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga as they enforced a ban on protests coinciding with the anniversary of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s election. Dangarembga, 61, was taken away in a police truck as she demonstrated in the upmarket Harare suburb of Borrowdale alongside another protester, an AFP photographer saw. Streets in the centre of the city were largely deserted as police and soldiers set up checkpoints to prevent entry. Opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume, head of a small party called Transform Zimbabwe, had called for demonstrations against alleged state corruption and the country’s slumping economy The protests were timed to coincide with the second anniversary of Mnangagwa’s election, which the opposition says was a fraud...
Eid-ul-Adha: Kwara Speaker tasks Nigerians on perseverance
Speaker, Kwara House of Assembly, Mr Yakubu Danladi, has felicitated Muslim Ummah and entire Nigerians with a call on them to imbibe the spirit of perseverance, which is one of the symbols of Eid-el-Kabir celebration. Danladi made the call in Ilorin on Friday in his Eid-el-Kabir message signed by his media aide, Sheriff Ibrahim. “I congratulate our Muslim brothers and sister all over the country, as we live to witness and celebrate another Eid-ul-Adha. “This year has been a challenging one, but we must persevere and empathize with ourselves, during and beyond the festive period, as Allah (SWT) dictates. “Eid-ul-Adha commemorates the trial and triumph of Prophet Ibrahim (ASW), the holy prophet sailed through, because of his perseverance and strong will to sacrifice his personal comfort,” Da...
212 stranded Nigerians return home from Egypt
File Photo At least 212 Nigerians stranded in Cairo, Egypt due to the coronavirus pandemic have returned home, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission has said. Announcing via Twitter on Friday, NIDCOM said the evacuees arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. It explained that the 212 evacuees tested negative for coronavirus before departing Khartoum, adding that they would undergo another Covid-19 test in the country. It added that the returnees would undergo 14-day isolation in line with the guidelines of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control as well as the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19. EVACUATION UPDATE 31/07/2020. .@EGYPTAIR conveying 212 Stranded Nigerians arrive Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at exactly 1350HRS today 31st of July, 2020 from Cairo...
Nigerian government declares Thursday, Friday public holidays to mark Eid-el-Kabir
The Federal Government has declared Thursday 30 and Friday 31 July, as public holidays to mark 2020 year’s Eid-el-Kabir. The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government, through a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, ministry of Interior, Mrs Georgina Ehuriah, on Tuesday in Abuja. Aregbesola congratulated Muslim faithful and all Nigerians both at home and abroad on the occasion. He called on Muslims to continue to imbibe the spirit of love, peace, kindness and sacrifice, as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him). The minister also called on Muslims to use the period to pray for peace, unity, prosperity and the stability of the country especially as the world is witnessing global health challenges cause...
Real Madrid star tests positive for coronavirus
Real Madrid have confirmed that forward Mariano Diaz has tested positive for coronavirus. Reports emerged earlier this afternoon which revealed that an unnamed Real Madrid player had come down with the virus. And now it has been confirmed by Los Blancos that Diaz is the player that has contracted coronavirus. It means he will miss the club’s Champions League clash with Manchester City next Friday. There is no news yet however, as to how this latest development will affect Madrid’s plans to fly to Manchester next week. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatti...
MASSOB urge police to release arrested members
FIle Photo The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra has called on the police to release its members arrested on Friday in Imo State. MASSOB’s National Director of Information, Sunday Okereafor, who condemned the mass arrest of the movement’s members, said they did no wrong and did not deserve to be apprehended by the police. Four persons had been shot when the police operatives clashed with MASSOB members at Orji axis of Owerri, the Imo State capital, while those injured were rushed to the hospital. The State Police Public Relations Officer, Orlando Ikokwu, who confirmed the clash, alleged that MASSOB members attempted to snatch firearms from policemen. Ikokwu said the MASSOB members also inflicted machete cut injuries on two policemen in the New Owerri area of t...
Nigerian government partially shuts Third Mainland Bridge after stakeholders meeting
Getty Images The Federal Government, on Saturday, partially closed the Third Mainland Bridge, Nigeria’s busiest bridge, for rehabilitation works after site inspections for traffic architecture assessments. The work began at midnight on July 24 as workmen use crash barriers to barricade the outbound mainland traffic on Adeniji Adele junction. They went on to line more barriers and signage on various other sections blocking off a section of the Oworonshoki bound carriageway. Supervising the closure, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr. Olukayode Popoola, said that the traffic management and diversion architecture had been perfected at an earlier stakeholder meeting on Friday. Popoola explained that vehicles outbound the Lagos Island, at peak periods in the morning, would use alterna...
Chad army officers sentenced to prison for drug trafficking
Chadian army officers and intelligence officials were sentenced on Friday to up to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking, the state prosecutor and their lawyer told AFP. In January, a vehicle carrying 246 cartons of the opiate painkiller Tramadol, with an estimated value of 12.3 billion CFA francs (18.8 million euros, $21 million), was seized on its way to neighbouring Libya, a judicial source said. An army general, two colonels and a head of the National Security Agency were among 10 people sentenced in the capital N’Djamena. “Of the 11 defendants, six were sentenced to 10 years in prison and four to five years in prison, and one was released,” prosecutor Youssouf Tom told AFP. Those sentenced were also ordered to pay between $25,000 and $50,000, the prosecutor said. “The judge followed...
Former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa passes on at 81
Former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa has died age 81 in a Dar es Salaam hospital, the government announced Friday. He was the country’s third president after independence from Britain in 1962 and ruled from 1995 to 2005. “I’m saddened by the death of the third president of Tanzania and that is a big loss for us as a country. Let’s pray for him and more information will follow later,” said President John Magufuli in a short televised speech. He did not reveal the cause of death. Mkapa was born in 1938 to a poor family in south-eastern Mtwara. He earned a degree in English in Uganda and later worked as a journalist before being appointed the press secretary for the country’s first president Julius Nyerere. He held several cabinet posts, such as foreign minister and information minister ...
Sultan declares July 31 Eid-el-Kabir
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar, has declared Friday 31st July 2020, as the 10th day of Zulhijia 1441 and the day of Eid-el-Kabir. Abubakar, who is also the President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, also advised on how to observe prayers across the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic. This is contained in a statement issued signed by the Chairman, Sultanate Council Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs, Sambo Junaidu. “In view of the current situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Sultan hereby advises all the District Heads and Imams in Sokoto State to observe Eid prayers in their Jumu’at mosques in their respective towns and villages and not at Eid grounds. “Also, the council advises the muslim communities throughout the country to obser...
