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Mali coup: Ghana to host Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit in Accra
Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has stated that the country will on Sunday, May 30, host an Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit in Accra. Addressing the press, Saturday, Mrs. Ayorkor Botchwey noted that the purpose of the meeting is to enable several heads of state, led by Chairman President Akufo-Addo to address the current political tensions in Mali. “In line with the ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance, the President of the Republic, Nana-Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo in his capacity as chair of the ECOWAS authority of heads of state and government, following due consultations with his peers decided to convene this extraordinary summit. “The purpose of the Summit is to enable the authority to deliberate and take consequential decisions on the evolving polit...
Nigeria records 63 new coronavirus cases
Nigeria on Friday recorded 63 new coronavirus infections in seven states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The new figure raised the total number of infections in the country to 166,254, an update published by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Friday night indicates. According to the update, no new death was recorded from the virus, which has already claimed 2,071 lives in the country. The data shows that the new COVID-19 cases were reported in seven states and Abuja. Lagos recorded 25 cases, closely followed by Ondo with 22. Rivers State reported six while Akwa Ibom and Kaduna reported three each. Also, Kwara State reported two while Ebonyi and FCT reported one each. A breakdown of the data shows that 11 people were discharged on Friday after testing negative for the vi...
APC group: Six years of President Buhari better than PDP’s 16 years
The group operating under the auspices of All Progressives Congress (APC) Legacy Awareness & Campaign, made this remark on Friday in Abuja while reeling out some of the achievements of the APC-led government led by President Buhari. Addressing journalists, group’s national coordinator, Barr. Ismail Ahmed, said the group has commenced a national campaign to promote some of the initiatives of APC-led government. Ahmed said: “As committed members of the APC, we are convinced that since May 29, 2015, when the government of President Muhammadu Buhari was inaugurated, landmark initiatives have been; and are being implemented. “In comparative terms, President Buhari’s government has recorded more achievements within six years than all the previous governments under the PDP between 1999 and 20...
Garth Brooks Remembers Dewayne Blackwell, ‘Friends in Low Places’ Songwriter: Exclusive
Blackwell, who also wrote songs recorded by The Fleetwoods, Conway Twitty and David Frizzell, died May 23 at 84. Songwriter Dewayne Blackwell, who, with Earl Bud Lee, wrote “Friends in Low Places,” the rowdy standard that catapulted Garth Brooks to stardom 30 years ago, died Sunday (May 23), Mark Ford, executive director of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, confirmed to Billboard. The Hall inducted Blackwell, 84, in 2017 for penning “Friends,” as well as pop hit “Mr. Blue,” which The Fleetwoods took to No. 1 in 1959, and country staples “Honkytonk Man” by Marty Robbins and David Frizzell’s “I’m Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home.” Acts ranging from Roy Orbison to Bobby Vinton, The Everly Brothers and Conway Twitty cut Blackwell’s songs. “Friends in Low Places” was the first...
NCS: Nigerian government to inaugurates Funtua inland dry port November
The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, will in November inaugurate the ongoing Funtua Inland Dry Port project in Sokoto State. Also the French government has indicated its interest in collaborating with its Nigerian counterpart and therefore hinted that it will assist the government in form of financial assistance to the sector. The Executive Secretary/CEO Nigerian Shipper’s Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello, made this known Thursday in Abuja during a meeting between the Council, Concessionaires for the Inland Dry Ports and the French Embassy. NSC ES, while highlighting the successes so far recorded by the Council stated that the federal government thought it necessary to bring shipping closer to the people by establishing ports in the hinterland. Hassan told the audien...
PDP congratulates Edwin Clark at 94
The Peoples Democratic Party has congratulated elder statesman and former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, as he marks his 94th birthday. The party’s felicitation was contained in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Thursday in Abuja. Ologbondiyan described Clark as an unrelenting patriot who had remained unshaken in his commitment toward the unity, stability and development of the nation. He said: “Our party salutes Chief Clark for his steadfastness and outspokenness toward the entrenchment of democratic tenets of rule of law, justice, fairness, and equity in the context of true federalism in our country. “Indeed, Chief Clark’s contributions to nation building form a strong pedestal upon which our nation is striving to find solutions to the my...
Ex-President Obasanjo visits Chicks market in Ibadan, promises improved system
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday assured members of the Day Old Chicks Merchant Association of Nigeria (DOCMAN) of improved system and the backing of the government. Obasanjo gave the assurance during his surprise visit to the market, Obasanjo Day Old Chicks Market, located at Oluyole Estate in Ibadan. The former president, who arrived at the market at about 9.20 a.m, was conducted round the congested market by Deacon Sunday Agusa, the General Manager of Obasanjo Farms, Ibadan. Newsmen report that there was massive turnout of traders at the market to welcome the former president amidst pomp and pageant. Obasanjo said that his attention was drawn to the existence of the market by his staff member and the use of his name to grow the market to an international standard on day-ol...
House invites CBN governor on recovered loots
The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the assessment and status of recovered loots has invited the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, to appear before it. The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Adeogun Adejoro, who extended the invitation on Thursday in Abuja said that it was necessary for the committee to know the number of recovered loots and where they were being kept. The Minister of Finance, Hajia Zainab Ahmed had told the committee that she had no idea of the number of accounts being used to keep the recovered loot. She, however, said that the ministry had a record of what had been recovered and the amount that had come into the account. She stated that N50 billion was provided from recovered loot to fund the 2020 budget, adding that the...
Iran bans cryptocurrency mining for four months
Iran is temporarily banning cryptocurrency mining after some of the country’s major cities experienced repeated blackouts. President Hassan Rouhani said that the ban would last until September 22nd. The country has experienced summer blackouts in years past, and while the current round of outages is mostly being blamed on a drought that’s affecting the country’s ability to generate hydroelectric power, it seems that the Iranian government is eager to cut down on any aggravating factors. Power-hungry cryptocurrency mining operations, for instance. According to the BBC, Iran operates a program where Bitcoin miners must register with with the government, pay extra for electricity, and sell their coins to the central bank. President Rouhani stated that the legal mining operations in the countr...
Gunman kills at least 8 in mass shooting at California rail yard
At least eight people were killed when a transit employee opened fire at his co-workers at a light rail yard in San Jose, California, on Wednesday morning, the county sheriff’s office said, in the latest in a string of mass shootings this spring. The gunman, who like the victims was an employee of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), was also dead, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputy Russell Davis said at a news conference. He did not say how the gunman died or whether police officers fired their weapons at the scene. The name and age of the suspect were also not disclosed. The first emergency calls reporting the shooting at the VTA light rail yard near the city’s main airport came through shortly after 6:30 a.m. Pacific Time (1330 GMT). A bomb squad was searching the yar...
Facebook report: U.S. a top target for foreign and domestic influence operations
The United States topped a list of the countries most frequently targeted by deceptive foreign influence operations using Facebook between 2017 and 2020, the social media company said in a new report released on Wednesday. It also came second on a list of countries targeted by domestic influence operations in that same time period. Facebook Inc said one of the top sources of coordinated inauthentic behavior networks targeting the United States in the year leading up to the 2020 presidential election was domestic campaigns originating in the United States itself, as well as foreign operations from Russia and Iran. The tallies were based on the number of “coordinated inauthentic behavior” networks removed by Facebook, a term it uses for a type of influence operations that relies on fake acco...
Taiwan says request to drop word ‘country’ preceded BioNTech vaccine deal collapse
Germany’s BioNTech asked Taiwan to remove the word “country” from an announcement they planned to make on a COVID-19 vaccine sale to the island, its health minister said on Thursday, giving details of the deal whose axing was blamed on China by Taipei. Taiwan and China are engaged in an escalating war of words after Beijing offered the shots to the Chinese-claimed island via Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd, which has a contract to sell them in Greater China. Taiwan Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told a daily news briefing the government had signed and sent back a “final contract” agreed with BioNTech after months of negotiations, and the two sides were on the verge of issuing a press release on Jan. 8. But four hours later “BioNTech suddenly sent a letter, saying they strongly ...