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South African main opposition party elects new leader
South Africa’s largest opposition party on Sunday elected John Steenhuisen as their leader, who vowed to take the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) to greater heights after a slump in electoral support. Steenhuisen, who has acted as interim party leader since its first black leader Mmusi Maimane quit over a year ago, has also served as party chief whip in parliament. The triumph will see him lead the DA in the 2024 presidential elections against the ruling African National Congress (ANC). In his acceptance speech, Steenhuisen said under his leadership “people power” would be the order of the day, promising to “fight to give power and opportunities to every law-abiding, honest and hard-working citizen, regardless of their background”. Securing a whopping 80 per cent of the historic virt...
Nigerians embrace British Council digital library
As part of efforts to restore and encourage a reading culture among Nigerians, the UK embassy’s British Council in Nigeria has launched a globally renowned digital library following temporary closure of its physical libraries. The newly launched digital library is to facilitate self-paced convenient learning, make educational and entertainment resources available and also provide access to numerous IELTS preparation content to support a large number of Nigerian youth and test takers. According to the British Council Country Director, Nigeria and West Africa Lead, Lucy Pearson, for many years, the British Council has been renowned all over the world for its libraries and the closure of its physical libraries in Nigeria was a sad one. Lucy said she is delighted to see the launch of the new B...
#BBNaija: Laycon names his favourite housemates
Big Brother Naija lockdown housemate, Olamilekan Agbeleshe, popularly known as Laycon, has named his three favourite housemates in the 2020 edition. Laycon listed his best housemates while playing table tennis with fellow housemate, Dorothy on Sunday morning. The Lagos-born rapper, said had it been he was one of the viewers of this year’s event, he would opt for Kiddwaya, Dorothy or Neo. The 26-year-old who is seen as one of the frontline competitors for the N85 million grand prize, had earlier cried out that he was being distracted by his feelings for Erica. Speaking to Dorothy, Laycon said, “If I was actually watching this show from the outside, you’d be my favourite housemate. You, then Kidd.” Asked, “Why Kidd” by Dorothy, Laycon explained that “Kidd is nonchalant about everything and I...
Egypt female social media influencers get two-year jail terms
An Egyptian court Monday sentenced five female social media influencers to two years in jail each on charges of violating public morals, a judicial source said. The verdict against Haneen Hossam, Mowada al-Adham and three others came after they had posted footage on video-sharing app TikTok. “The Cairo economic court sentenced Hossam, Adham and three others to two years after they were convicted of violating society’s values,” the judicial source said. The ruling, which can be appealed, included a fine of 300,000 Egyptian pounds ($18,750) for each defendant, the source noted. SOCIAL DIVIDE Hossam was arrested in April after posting a three-minute clip telling her 1.3 million followers that girls could make money by working with her. In May, authorities arrested Adham who had posted satiric...
