In an announcement made on Wednesday, China’s official Xinhua News Agency will issue its first series of nonfungible token (NFT) collectibles. The move is a thumbs up to blockchain technology previously shunned by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In an official notice, Xinhua plans to publish 10,000 copies of 11 photos taken by journalists in 2021. The stride into NFTs is puzzling in light of recent events in the world’s second-largest economy. Following a nationwide crypto crackdown where Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) mining was banned, China has recently taken aim at NFTs and metaverses and proposed that they should be heavily monitored. Despite the anti-crypto sentiment, tech giants Tencent and Huawei were not discouraged from pursuing trademarks in the metaverse. Elsewhe...
Somali National Army (SNA) said its forces killed 24 al-Shabab terrorists after a foiled terror attack on its military base in the southern town of Diinsoor on Saturday night. The SNA said in a statement on Sunday that al-Shabab terrorists tried thrice to launch an attack on the army base in Bay region but the troops successfully repulsed them and instead killed 24 terrorists. The army added that its forces recovered weapons used by the al-Shabab to kill and maim people during an operation which was conducted after the foiled terrorist attack. Diinsoor district, a strategic town, is approximately 100 km from Baidoa and is located on the border of Bay where the army has strong defensive units. Meanwhile, SNA says it has captured al-Shabab base in Orshe village about 50 km east of Dhusamareb...
Water has many values that are just not priced, Sasha Koo-Oshima, the Deputy Director, Land and Water Division, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), told Xinhua ahead of the World Water Day on March 29. The official highlighted that with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a large part of the world population still lacks access to handwashing facilities at home. “This is the first line of defence against this virus and the value of water is very evident in this progression. “The first thing we realised is handwashing. Many countries just don’t have clean water to even just wash hands,” she said. The UN on Monday warned that more than two billion people do not have direct access to water, the “blue gold” which is essential in defeating the pandemic. In its World Water Development Re...
Zambian President Edgar Lungu has removed 246 inmates who were on death row and commuted their sentences to life sentences, a government official said on Wednesday. Minister of Home Affairs, Stephen Kampyongo, said that among the inmates includes 225 males and 21 females. He announced the commuting of the sentences during an event held at Mukobeko Maximum Prison in central Zambia’s Kabwe town which was streamed live on Facebook. Mr Kampyongo said this made the clemency of death to life sentences over 500 after 332 inmates had their sentences commuted in 2015. He said the commutation of sentences of inmates would help to congest the section of condemned inmates at the prison which was meant for 50 people but now has over 400 inmates. The move, he said, was also meant to protect inmates from...
The epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak in China, Wuhan says over 3 million residents have been tested for the pathogen since April. The State Media stated that tests will continue and this time will be focused on the rest of its 11 million population. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that the test, upon completion, is to help give the authorities a clear indication of the number of asymptomatic cases as businesses and schools reopen. Priority will be given to residents who have not been tested before, people living in residential compounds that had previous cases of infection, as well as old or densely populated estates, Xinhua said, citing a Wuhan government meeting. Fears of a second wave of infections flared over the weekend after Wuhan reported a cluster of infections, t...