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Hundreds of thousands protest in Myanmar as army faces crippling mass strike
Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Myanmar for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations on Sunday, as the new army rulers grappled to contain a strike by government workers that could cripple their ability to run the country. People surround a police vehicle as they protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar February 12, 2021 in this still grab obtained by Reuters from a video on February 13, 2021. Trains in parts of the country stopped running after staff refused to go to work, local media reported, while the military deployed soldiers to power plants only to be confronted by angry crowds. A civil disobedience movement to protest against the Feb. 1 coup that deposed the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi started with doctors. It now affects a swa...
Security forces burst arms stockpile in Ebonyi
Nigerian security forces have burst arms stockpiles at Effium in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State after a joint security operation. An intelligence source told PRNigeria that a combined team of security forces recorded the huge success in a major sting operation carried out by the Department of State Services (DSS) in collaboration with the Nigerian Army in the early hours of 12th February, 2021 at Effium. Items recovered during the operation included: an AK-47 rifle; One (1) G3 rifle; a pump action rifle; double barreled Dane gun; five single barreled Dane guns; two locally made pistols; locally made revolver pistol and 592 different calibers of ammunition including those for General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) and AK-47 rifles. Though the DSS Spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, whe...
NSA, Northwest governors to meet in Kaduna over rising insecurity
The National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (Retd) and all the seven governors from the North-West region of the country have scheduled a town-hall meeting for Monday in order to address growing insecurity in the region. It was gathered that the meeting, which will hold in Kaduna, was convened on the heels of recent disagreements among some of the governors which border on whether to give amnesty to bandits or not. Newsmen report that Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai said that his administration was at war with bandits and so cannot negotiate with them. The governor, in an interview with BBC Hausa radio as monitored on Monday, also ruled out the issue of forgiveness and compensation for bandits being advocated by the state based Islamic Scholar, Dr Ahmad Gumi. But Kano S...
Insecurity: Nigerian governemtn to hold nationwide town hall meetings
In view of the security challenges confronting the nation, the Federal Government is set to convene town hall meetings in the six geo-political zones. Government is expected to confer with state chief executives, religious leaders, women and youth groups in a bid to find lasting solutions to the spiralling, multiple security threats in the country. A statement issued by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said the move was in furtherance of Federal Government’s commitment to address multiple security threats facing Nigeria. It said the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd) convened a meeting of the General Security Appraisal Committee (GSAC) on 11th February, 2021. The meeting, which was attended by the service chiefs and heads of law enforcem...
Iran’s president warns of coronavirus ‘fourth wave’
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani warned Saturday of a Covid-19 “fourth wave” as cases rise in certain areas of the Middle Eastern country hardest hit by the pandemic. “This is a warning for all of us,” Rouhani said in televised remarks. He said some cities in the southwestern province of Khuzestan were now “red” — the highest on Iran’s colour-coded risk level — after weeks of low alert levels across the country. “This means the beginning of moving towards the fourth wave. We all have to be vigilant to prevent this,” Rouhani added. The country of more than 80 million people has lost close to 59,000 lives out of more than 1.5 million cases of Covid infection. Iran has officially registered less than 7,000 daily infections since late December, but the number has crossed this level since early ...
Senate asked to probe public hearing on medical council bill
The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), the umbrella body of health workers in the country, has demanded that Senate probe the recent public hearing of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) Bill as it accused Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, of disenfranchising its members. JOHESU Chairman, Comrade Joy Bio Josiah flayed what he called “vindictive and discriminatory” attitude of Dr. Oloriegbe against other medical professional bodies as he gave his constituency, MDC and NMA more time to canvass their views on the contentious bill. “We challenge Oloriegbe and the NMA to produce video and audio evidence contrary to this. The point here is Oloriegbe does not understand the philosophy and basics of running Public Hearings because he pointedly domina...
Which Taylor Swift Re-Recorded Album Are You Most Looking Forward To? Vote!
Taylor Swift announced Thursday that Fearless is the first of six albums she’ll be re-recording — but which one are you dying to hear? Those albums — which were released between 2006 and 2017 by Big Machine Label Group, which Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings purchased in its entirety (including Swift’s master recordings) in June 2019 — include her self-titled debut, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and Reputation. The country-pop crossover star is only one of two female artists (along with Adele) to win album of the year at the Grammy Awards twice for her solo recordings, earning the major accolade in 2010 for Fearless and again in 2015 for 1989. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are loo...
U.S. says North Korea an urgent priority for the United States
North Korea’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs are an urgent priority for the United States and Washington remains committed to denuclearization of the country, the U.S. State Department said on Friday. The Biden administration’s lack of direct engagement with North Korea should not be seen as an indication that the challenge posed by its weapons programs was not a priority, department spokesman Ned Price said. “It in fact very much is,” he told a regular briefing. North Korea continued to make progress in its nuclear and missile programs in recent years “which makes this an urgent priority for the United States and one that we are committed to addressing together with our allies and partners,” Price said. “And … the central premise is that we remain committed to denuclearizat...
Myanmar police fire rubber bullets, wounding three, as hundreds of thousands protest
Supporters of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi clashed with police on Friday as hundreds of thousands joined nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations in defiance of the military junta’s call to halt mass gatherings. The United Nations human rights office said more than 350 people, including officials, activists and monks, have been arrested in Myanmar since the Feb. 1 coup, including some who face criminal charges on “dubious grounds”. The U.N. rights investigator for Myanmar told a special session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva that there were “growing reports, photographic evidence” that security forces have used live ammunition against protesters, in violation of international law. Special Rapporteur Thomas Andrews urged the U.N. Security Council to consider imposing sanctio...
Ex-Eagles boss faults Desire Oparanozie’s exclusion from Falcons squad
Former Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh has berated the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for excluding Super Falcons captain, Desire Oparanozie, from the list of players that will be representing Nigeria at the Turkish Women’s Cup. Recall that on Thursday, the NFF released a 23-man list and shut the door on the team’s dependable striker Oparanozie on the ground that she has not been playing since a sit-in protest over unpaid bonuses and allowances at the 2019 World Cup. In his words, NFF’s spokesman, Demola Olajire said: “Oparanozie is still part of the team’s plans, and her non-inclusion has nothing to do with that protest in France because she was not the only one involved,” Olajire told BBC. “Selection of players is predominantly the prerogative of the coaches and not the NFF. “She re...
Anger over arrests in Myanmar at anti-coup protests
Opponents of Myanmar’s military coup sustained mass protests for an eighth straight day on Saturday as continuing arrests of junta critics added to anger over the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Thousands assembled in the business hub, Yangon, while protesters took to the streets of the capital Naypyitaw, the second city Mandalay and other towns a day after the biggest protests so far in the Southeast Asian country. “Stop kidnapping at night,” was among the signs held up by protesters in Yangon in response to arrest raids in recent days. The United Nations human rights office said on Friday more than 350 people, including officials, activists and monks, have been arrested in Myanmar since the Feb. 1 coup, including some who face criminal charges on “dubious grounds”. Anger in...
First Country: New Music From Florida Georgia Line, Blake Shelton, Ryan Hurd & Maren Morris, Lily Rose, More
Hurd and Morris have sung on each other’s records before but this is their first official duet and it’s a beauty. The sultry tune, written by Brinley Addington and Jerry Flowers, perfectly describes the vicissitudes of a burgeoning relationship and the inability to stay away. Bring on a full album of duets! Blake Shelton, “Minimum Wage” Directed by Todd Stefani, brother of Shelton’s fiance, Gwen Stefani, at Shelton’s Ole Red venue in Tishomingo, Okla., the performance clip of Shelton’s rising hit about being love rich even if money poor is a straight ahead performance clip that will make Shelton and concert fans sorely miss both. As for all those fans seemingly shoulder to shoulder in the video, Shelton said in a statement it’s an optical illusion: “Of course, everyone had to be pre-tested...
