Politics
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Mastercard and Microsoft Partner to Empower Fintech Innovation
Mastercard and Microsoft have partnered to shape the future of digital commerce, drive startup innovation and enable financial inclusion. Capitalizing on Mastercard’s global network and leveraging Azure’s global reach, the collaboration will enable Mastercard’s ecosystem of partners to explore the use of emerging innovations and new commerce capabilities such as devices that enable digital payments in new ways. Through access to Azure technologies, augmented and virtual reality and Internet of Things, fintech partners will be empowered to create new user experiences to advance how consumers, businesses and governments exchange value. “We are thrilled to deepen our longstanding relationship with Microsoft by advancing the research, development and scaling of new technologies and business mo...
Huawei Overtakes Samsung and Apple in Worldwide Smartphone Shipments
Huawei has shipped more smartphones worldwide than any other tech manufacturer – marking the first quarter in nine years that Samsung or Apple has not led the market. According to a report by Canalys, “Huawei shipped 55.8 million devices, down 5% year on year. But second-placed Samsung shipped 53.7 million smartphones, a 30% fall against Q2 2019.” “This is a remarkable result that few people would have predicted a year ago,” says Canalys Senior Analyst, Ben Stanton. “If it wasn’t for COVID-19, it wouldn’t have happened. Huawei has taken full advantage of the Chinese economic recovery to reignite its smartphone business. Samsung has a very small presence in China, with less than 1% market share, and has seen its core markets, such as Brazil, India, the United States and Europe, ravaged by o...
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...
Microsoft in Talks to Purchase TikTok
Amid threats that TikTok could soon be banned in the US because of its Chinese ownership, Microsoft has entered into negotiations to purchase the popular video sharing platform, according to the New York Times. Earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indiciated that the Trump Administration was considering banning TikTok, citing security and privacy concerns. On Friday, Trump himself confirmed as much, telling reporters that “We’re looking at TikTok, we may be banning TikTok. We may be doing some other things. There’s a couple of options. But a lot of things are happening, so we’ll see what happens. But we are looking at a lot of alternatives with respect to TikTok.” One possible option under consideration, according to Bloomberg, is to force TikTok to sell off its US opera...
Microsoft Appoints Official Surface Notebook Distributor
Microsoft South Africa has appointed Tarsus Distribution as an official distributor for its Surface notebooks and hybrid devices. Tarsus Distribution will initially supply the Surface Laptop 3 and Surface Pro 7 models, partnering with limited retailers to bring the products to market from August. This marks the first time that Microsoft Surface products are available in South Africa through official channels. Designed with a premium look-and-feel and tight integration with Microsoft 365, the Surface Windows 10 devices are aimed at discerning professional users and consumers looking for a device that balances security, aesthetics, speed and versatility. “We’re excited to introduce the Surface Laptop and Pro products to the South African market, offering a new, Windows-powered alternative in...
Sony Announces New Addition to Alpha 7S Series
Sony has introduced the long-awaited addition to its acclaimed Alpha 7S full-frame mirrorless camera series — the Alpha 7S III. “The Alpha 7S III is the ultimate representation of Sony’s passion to solve the pain points of customers in the Middle Eastern region,” said Murat Gebeceli, Head of Digital Imaging at Sony MEA. “We are always listening to our customers’ feedback, pushing hard to deliver innovation that goes far beyond their expectations. There is no better example than this new camera. Combining classic S series sensitivity with a feature set, performance level and user experience that is simply unmatched in the market today — at any price level — the Alpha 7S III opens up a new world of possibilities for today’s creators.” Sony Alpha 7S III key specifications: /* custom css */ ....
Safaricom Appoints New Board Chairman
Sourced from CGTN. Safaricom has appointed Michael Joseph (the telco’s former CEO) as new board chairman, he succeeds Nicholas Ng’ang’a who has retired. Joseph will take up this position effective 1 August 2020. “Mr Ng’ang’a took up the leadership reins at a time when the government was starting the process of offering 25 per cent of its shares to the public through the Nairobi Securities Exchange in 2008. He has managed to grow shareholder value by 607 per cent since listing,” says Safaricom CEO, Peter Ndegwa. “At the time of his appointment as chairman, Safaricom had slightly over six million customers, 1,000 employees and only eight Safaricom shops across the country. Mr Ng’ang’a retires from the telco that now serves over 35.6 million customers, across 50 shops and hundreds of service ...
Twitter Blames Major Hack on Human Vulnerabilities
Sourced from Wired. Twitter has confirmed that on 15 July 2020 the company fell victim to a phone spear-phishing attack which saw hackers use employee credentials to gain access to 130 Twitter accounts, ultimately Tweeting from 45, accessing the DM inbox of 36 and downloading the Twitter Data of 7. The attack is ‘one of the most widespread and confounding hacks the platform has ever seen’, reports The Verge. The social media company says that the successful attack required the hackers to obtain access to both its internal network as well as specific employee credentials that granted them access to its internal support tools. “Not all of the employees that were initially targeted had permissions to use account management tools, but the attackers used their credentials to access our int...
President Barack Obama Delivered Eulogy For John Lewis, Slams Trump & GOP In The Process
Source: Pool / Getty Barack Obama will live on in the hearts of many as one of the best living presidents of all time, with many giving him the lifetime title each time he makes an appearance. While delivering the eulogy for the late, great John Lewis, President Obama made use of the moment to blast President Donald Trump and the GOP in eloquent fashion. The memorial service for Rep. Lewis took place this past Thursday (July 30) in Atlanta, Ga., a city that the congressman found his political roots and continued to fight for until the end. From the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Obama rightly hailed Lewis for his heroics but shifted tone in the midst of Trump daring to undo the constitutional right to vote on the day one of voting rights’ greatest advocates was laid to rest. “Bull Conn...
