Near the wreckage of Beirut’s port, a charity is bringing Christmas cheer to a city hammered by a devastating explosion, rising coronavirus infections and the worst economic crisis since Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war. The Solidarity Christmas Village, decked out with flashing fairy lights and glittering trees, has been offering visitors free entry to watch concerts and pick up drinks and snacks, lifting the mood of families who can’t afford seasonal luxuries. People dressed in giant polar bear costumes and others in Santa Claus outfits offer some festive spirit to a country that is a patchwork of Christian and Muslim sects. “We need to make our children happy …. even if we are tired,” said Toni Hossainy, who had brought her son. The Christmas village has been set up in a temporary warehous...
Herald The Ken Nnamani groups in the diaspora have nominated former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, as the most desirable candidate from South East to run for 2023 Nigerian President. The coalition said that Nnamani was most qualified because of his antecedent and experience of leadership in national administration. The groups cited Nnamani’s role in the country’s critical era of alleged third term agenda of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and how he scuttled it, as a test case of his strong and unwavering character to preside over the country’s affairs. The groups’ Chairman, Lawrence Odoemelam, in a statement said that with the Igbos clamouring for a Nigerian President from the southeast, Nnamani fits into the cap for different reasons. He said that Nnamani ensured the stabilization of ...
The First Lady of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, has called on rich Nigerians to stop seeking medical treatments abroad, saying the multi-system nature of Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) can rival any hospital in the world. Fayemi added that ABUTH is well equipped with personnel and instruments with indisputable capacity to offer quality healthcare delivery that any hospital in India, United States of America, Britain and other advanced nations could offer. The state first lady stated this at her office in Ado Ekiti yesterday, while playing host to the family of Miss Precious Sodeinde, who suffered brain tumour, and was taken to the hospital by her for treatment. The operation done on Precious, who had gone partially blind before the issue was reported to the first lady,...
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter vehemently denies an allegation against him of criminal mismanagement relating to a museum project set up under his leadership, his lawyer said on Tuesday. “The accusations are baseless and are vehemently repudiated,” Lorenz Erni said in statement. Mr Blatter, 84, has continued to deny any allegation of financial impropriety against him by the world football association. Recall that according to documents reportedly seen by the PA news agency, FIFA had stated that, “Following a detailed review of historic facts and circumstances concerning the construction and on-going operational costs of the FIFA Museum, FIFA has become aware of many serious irregularities regarding this project, which raise strong suspicions of criminal misconduct on the part of variou...
Fed officials might no longer have to fear presidential tweets calling them “boneheads,” as President Donald Trump did last year in one of many missives mocking Chair Jerome Powell. But with millions out of work and the economic recovery beginning to falter, the stakes are much higher for the central bank to help the economy without running afoul of Congress. How much blowback the Fed gets will depend on how quickly the economy is able to recover, which will in turn drive how aggressive Powell and former Fed Chair Janet Yellen, now nominated for Treasury secretary, feel they need to be in their economic intervention. The Federal Reserve building is seen in Washington, D.C. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo “This is a shot across the bow” by Republicans, said Ed Mills, Washington policy analys...
The people of Ogbe-Ijoh Community, an Ijaw ethnic group in the Warri South Local government area of Delta State, on Tuesday, protested the new electoral Wards creation by the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC). The Protesters, who alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission failed to incorporate their ethnic group into the new wards in the local council; said that their proposed ward has met all DSIEC’s requirement for ward creation in the state. They accused DSIEC and Delta state government of sidelining them in favour of the Urhobos and Itsekiris of Warri South Local government area. Earlier, the Ogbe-Ijaw Youths had in a position paper signed by Comrade Nathaniel Oronomoni, chairman Ogbe-Ijoh Concern Youths Warri Kingdom; Comrade Lot Loyibo, Coordinator ...
Bandits on Monday night kidnapped the village head of Kaigar Malamai, Kabir Muhammed Ajiya, his two wives and 14 other peasant farmers in Danmusa Local Government Area of Katsina state. The bandits were said to have also ransacked the entire village, injuring six other persons and rustled unspecified cows in the village. A survivor of the attack, Umar Abdulsalam, who spoke to newsmen in a telephone interview on Tuesday, said the villagers had relocated to Dan-Musa town and other nearby villages in the local government. Newsmen report that bandits had earlier kidnapped 80 pupils of Hizburrahim Islamiyya School in Mahuta village of Dandume Local Government Area of the state but were rescued by a team of security operatives. He said, “yesterday (Monday) at about 9pm some armed Fulani people r...
Mr Anthony Okungbowa, Edo state Head of Service (HoS), who was abducted on Saturday evening along Oza Road, in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of the state, has regained his freedom. The HoS was released by his abductors on Monday night according to a family source, who pleaded anonymity. The source said that Okungbowa was set free after payment of an undisclosed amount as ransom demanded by his kidnappers and that the HoS was hale and hearty since his release. The family source disclosed that the ransom was paid through a collaboration between the family and the State government. “We just want to thank God that our brother has been set free and in good health condition,” said the source. The source, however, lamented that the Police orderly attached to the HoS, who was shot during the pr...
A new strain of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that grounded the global economy for all of 2020, has been identified in Nigeria. The mutant variant was first identified in the United Kingdom (UK) and has caused several countries to ban flights from the UK. It has also led the UK government to announce a slew of fresh restrictions and lockdowns. Newsmen report that this new strain has been identified in Nigeria by scientists at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), at the Redeemers University in Ede, Osun State. In a publication in Virological, a website for the global Genomics community, the scientists say they found the same variant “lineage B.1.1.7” in Osun State, Southwest Nigeria since August 3, 2020, when the first sample was collected...