Heavy
US Democrat Senate wins push stocks higher despite Capitol chaos
Clean sweep by Democrats allows them to enact big-spending policies likely to benefit the economy, investors say. Global stock markets rose and bonds nursed losses on Thursday in anticipation of a big-borrowing and big-spending Democratic administration driving growth, following runoff elections that gave the party control of both houses of the United States Congress. On Wednesday, US Treasury bonds had suffered their steepest selloff in months after Democratic Party victories in two races in the state of Georgia handed them narrow control of the Senate and the power to pass their agenda. US S&P 500 futures rose 0.6 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.9 percent as markets seemed to shake off a late fade that pulled Wall Street indexes back from fresh record peaks when chaotic protest...
NLC demands end to medical tourism by government officials
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Thursday called for an end to all forms of medical tourism especially by elected and appointed government officials. The NLC also said that with the quantum of resources available to government, Nigeria can afford to build and effectively equip some of the best hospitals in the world, with global best practices and personnel. President of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, stated this in Abuja in his address on this year’s Global Day of Action on Care. Briefing, Wabba reiterated that the government must be ready to invest heavily in the health sector, saying no country survives without effective health care. He lamented that apart from the open fact that the country’s health care sector has been neglected for too long, health care workers have been subjected...
Policeman, Boko Haram insurgents killed in Yobe shoot-out
A policeman and six members of the Boko Haram terrorist group have been killed in a gunfight in Yobe State. The spokesman for the State Police Command, Dungus Abdulkarim, confirmed the incident and those killed to newsmen on Saturday, hours after it occurred. He, however, said the police were gathering more information (at the time of this report) to give a definite number of casualties. This followed an evening attack by the insurgents on Babban Gida community – the headquarters of Tarmuwa Local Government Area of Yobe State. Local sources told newsmen that the assailants drove into the community in four Toyota Hilux vehicles around 4pm and started shooting sporadically. Although the military has yet to speak about the incident, newsmen sighted the mobilisation of heavy military hardware ...
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...
