Tunisia’s tourism sector has collapsed, officials warned on Saturday, with earnings plunging 60% and swathes of hotels at risk of closing permanently. LIVE | All the latest coronavirus and lockdown updates The sector, a major employer that accounts for 14% of the North African nation’s GDP, has been hit hard by restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. “There has been a drop in tourism activities of 60%, and we could reach 70% by the end of 2020,” Tourism Minister Habib Ammar told reporters. Tunisia’s income from tourism this year has totalled just 1.56 billion dinars ($563 million), officials statistics showed. Total bed nights – the number of nights visitors stayed in hotels – dropped by 79.5%. “The current tourism situation is very bad – if not catastrophic,” sai...
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the ambush on entourage of Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno, which led to the death of security men and some operatives of Civilian-JTF. The President made the condemnation in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Saturday. He described the attack, on Maiduguri-Baga route, as an orchestrated sabotage against long planned return of displaced persons to their local communities. Buhari noted, with deep sympathy, the loss of lives of security men on the convoy, ahead of the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), commiserating with their families and loved ones. The president advised the government of Borno, working with security and intelligence agencies, to remain firm in their determinat...
About three days after a tanker accident sparked an explosion that claimed 30 lives in Lokoja, a fresh tragedy has struck the city. The biggest electrical trading complex in the city Peelinks went up in flames over night. The fire disaster which an eye witness blamed on suspected electrical malfunction started around 11 pm Friday night and continued till the early hours of Saturday. From a little spark in a section of the two story building the fire quickly spread to other parts of the complex and became uncontrollable. Goods worth millions of naira were lost in the unfortunate incident. The building is located on the popular Murtala Mohammed Way in the city and the State fire service office is less than two kilometres away. No help came from the service as it is said to lack equipment. Th...
The increasing number of air force incursions from China is starting to fray nerves among ordinary Taiwanese, who wonder if their heavily armed political rival finally plans to attack after decades of threats, polls and analysts say. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force has increased the frequency and number of flights over a median line between the two Asian neighbors in the past four months, according to reports from Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense. Eighteen Chinese military aircraft passed through Taiwan’s airspace Friday followed by 19 on Saturday, the ministry said. Saturday the planes flew in a formation designed to attack from the front, rear and both sides. Some aircraft were sighted in Taiwanese airspace over waters about 80 kilometers from Taiwan itself, according to maps...
Crystal Palace attacker Wilfried Zaha has englightened the public on the incident leading to replacing Ghana striker Jordan Ayew in retaking a missed penalty during Saturday’s Premier League triumph over Manchester United. The Eagles have made it two away wins over Manchester United in a row as they registered a 3-1 triumph at Old Trafford, and taking three points for the second straight time in this term. With Palace 1-0 up, Ayew won a penalty for his side and elected himself to take the resultant kick which was saved by goalkeeper David de Gea. Palace were, however, spared by a video assistant referee (VAR) decision which ordered for a retake of the kick, judging De Gea to have moved off his line before the kick was taken. Surprisingly, Ayew did not step up for the retake, which was this...
The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, on Saturday turbaned 15 new District Heads in Sokoto State. Newsmen report that the ceremony followed the demise of the District Heads of the respective areas. Mr Abubakar congratulated the newly turbaned Heads and urged them to ensure the best representation for their communities in the Sultanate Council. “Your turbanning is an added responsibility and opportunity to serve the society, as such I urge all of you to remain focused in ensuring sustainable development to the people. “You are all expected to continue to work closely with your community in ensuring sustainable peace and unity in the state,” he said. The Sultan further prayed for the new district heads and for peace and prosperity in the country. Newsmen report that those turbaned includ...
The Centre for Democracy and Development on Saturday condemned the high incidence of vote-trading recorded in the Edo State governorship election. The organisation said reports from its observers on the field showed that politicians, in an attempt to circumvent the electoral process, used young girls as their contact with the voters for the trading. It lamented that votes were traded for cash gifts from N1,000 to N15,000. The Director of CDD, Idayat Hassan, who said these during a press briefing on the preliminary report on the election said it was quite worrisome that “young girls were used for indirect vote-buying during the election.” She said, “We saw largely vote-buying in the Edo election, the most worrisome trend in this election is the level of sophistication at which politicians e...