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Senate President congratulates new NBA president
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, congratulates Olumide Akpata on his election as the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). Lawan also congratulates the other newly elected members of the executive and the entire members of the Association over the smooth conduct of their elections. The Senate President notes that Akpata and his team had convinced their learned colleagues that they possess the experience, integrity and capacity to lead their revered Association and must now strive to live up to the high expectations. He describes the NBA as a pillar of democracy given the pivotal role of the legal profession in ensuring order and justice in the polity. Lawan says the National Assembly and particularly the Senate looks forward to working with the NBA under its new leaders...
President Trump Says He Will Ban TikTok From U.S.
The president made the remark on Air Force One on Friday evening. President Donald Trump said he will take action as soon as Saturday (Aug. 1) to ban TikTok, a popular Chinese-owned video app that has been a source of national security and censorship concerns. Trump’s comments came after published reports that the administration is planning to order China’s ByteDance to sell TikTok. There were also reports Friday that software giant Microsoft is in talks to buy the app. “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump told reporters Friday on Air Force One as he returned from Florida. Trump said he could use emergency economic powers or an executive order to enforce the action, insisting, “I have that authority.” Reports by Bloomberg News and the Wall...
Landmark Fed business rescue struggles amid economy’s woes
The Main Street program’s struggles — which stand in stark contrast to the popular Paycheck Protection Program that offered hundreds of billions of dollars in forgivable loans to small businesses — have sparked concern that many firms will be left without a lifeline as the economy increasingly shows signs of backsliding. “The longer this pandemic goes and the more hot spots that flare up — it’s not a very rosy picture,” said Brian Crawford, executive vice president of government affairs at the American Hotel and Lodging Association. The program is one of nearly a dozen that the Fed has rushed to put together as the coronavirus pandemic has rocked the economy, shuttering businesses throughout the country and forcing tens of millions of Americans to lose their jobs. For the most part, the ce...
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...
French World Cup star refuses to quit Barcelona
France and Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti does not want to quit the Camp Nou this summer and will fight for his place to stay at the club. According to Diario Sport, the central defender wants to see through his current deal at the club through to the summer of 2023 and attempt to force his way back into the starting XI. Umtiti has had decreasing prominence at the club in recent seasons, primarily due to injury issues surrounding a recurring knee problem. The Cameroon-born defender has lost his place in the France international side with Clement Lenglet – his Barca teammate – often preferred in both line-ups, while Gerard Pique is still first choice central defender at the Camp Nou. Umtiti’s contract at Barcelona runs through to the summer of 2023 and he is still keen to fight for his fi...
Lille wish Victor Osimhen best of luck at Napoli
French club, LOSC Lille have issued an official statement to wish former player, Victor Osimhen, the very best of luck after the Nigeria striker completed his move to Napoli. Napoli signed Osimhen from Lille in a €80million deal after the Italian side fended off competition from Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea to land the Nigerian international. The 21-year-old was in stellar form for the Ligue 1 side with the forward scoring 13 goals in 27 appearances as Lille finished the 2019-20 season in fourth place. Lille owner, Gerard Lopez revealed getting ‘multiple offers’ for the Super Eagles ace before manager, Christophe Galtier, confirmed last month that Osimhen will be moving on. Osimhen only signed for the French Ligue 1 club last year from Sporting Charleroi after impressing on loan at the B...
OECD: South Africa economy could contract 8.2% if second coronavirus wave hits
South Africa’s economy could contract 8.2% this year, and grow just 0.6% in 2021, if a second wave of COVID-19 cases hits the country and its main trading partners, the OECD said on Friday. If a second wave of infections is avoided, the economy will contract 7.5% in 2020 before rebounding 2.5% next year, the OECD said in a report on Africa’s most industrialised economy. South Africa was in recession before the pandemic struck, with recurring power cuts by struggling state utility Eskom and weak business confidence dampening economic activity. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government has promised to fast-track reforms to raise economic growth potential, but some investors are becoming restless about the pace of change. “South Africa cannot afford to delay reforms. It is essential to undertake...
AI-Driven Rights Management Agency Muserk Forms Joint Venture to Reduce Piracy of Japanese Content
Muserk, the AI tech-driven global rights management agency for music and video, has partnered with leading Japanese marketing and media research company Video Research on a new joint venture designed to cut down on piracy of Japanese content worldwide. Dubbed Muserk V.I.D., the venture “will service, manage and protect the online rights of the major broadcasters, networks, and production companies of Japan, around the world,” according to a release announcing the deal. Through the partnership with Muserk, Video Research – which provides marketing, media and TV audience research for leading media firms and advertisers in Japan – will utilize Muserk’s AI technologies, M-Match and M-PAC, to manage and protect its clients’ online video rights. Founded by CEO Paul Goldman – who will serve as CE...
Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga arrested during banned protests
Police in Zimbabwe on Friday arrested internationally-acclaimed novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga as they enforced a ban on protests coinciding with the anniversary of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s election. Dangarembga, 61, was taken away in a police truck as she demonstrated in the upmarket Harare suburb of Borrowdale alongside another protester, an AFP photographer saw. Streets in the centre of the city were largely deserted as police and soldiers set up checkpoints to prevent entry. Opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume, head of a small party called Transform Zimbabwe, had called for demonstrations against alleged state corruption and the country’s slumping economy The protests were timed to coincide with the second anniversary of Mnangagwa’s election, which the opposition says was a fraud...
NDDC warns job seekers to beware of scammers
Pool Photo The Management of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, is once again compelled to alert members of the public of the activities of scammers offering placements in non-existent empowerment programmes purportedly being run by the Commission. In a press statement by Charles Obi Odili, Director, Corporate Affairs said: “We have received several inquiries from potential victims, who were deceived into believing that the NDDC was currently running different training and skill acquisition programmes. The hapless job-seekers are being asked by these scammers to pay some enrollment fees into fake accounts. “These criminals, who claim to be representing officials of the NDDC, deploy all sorts of devious means to dupe innocent people seeking for means of earning a living. Members ...
COVID-19: Nigerian government receives second Batch medical supplies of UN basket fund
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has joined other stakeholders to receive 2nd Batch Medical Supplies purchased with UN Basket Fund for COVID-19 Response on behalf of the Federal Government. Mr Olujimi Oyetomi, Director, Information, Media and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health, said this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja. Oyetomi said Ehanire joined the National Coordinator, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr. Sani Aliyu at the Cargo Section of Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja to receive medical supplies from EU contributions worth N26 Billion. Ehanire said this 2nd Batch of medical supplies would allay the fears of the health workers, especially the frontline health workers, who thought that Nigeria might be running short of supplies and were thre...
Attah-Igala urges promotion of values, development of Igala land
Attah-Igala and President, Kogi Council of Chiefs, Dr Michael Idakwo, Ameh-Oboni II, on Friday urged the Igala Cultural Development Association (ICDA) to remain committed to the promotion of values and development of the land. Idakwo made the call while receiving the newly inaugurated 20-member Interim National Working Committee of the ICDA, the apex socio-cultural association of the Igala nation, at his palace in Idah. Newsmen reports that the National Executive Council of the association was dissolved on Thursday by the Board of Trustees at the Stephen Achema Sports Complex, Idah. The royal father urged various associations and groups of the Igala extraction to collaborate and come up with productive initiatives and ventures that would promote the values and development of the area. He a...
