February 2020

Bayelsa: BMO Demands PDP Apology To CJN

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its leaders should apologise to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Tanko Mohammed over the invectives they poured on him, the Supreme Court and the judiciary whenever court decisions went against them.

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) made this call in reaction to PDP’s muted response to the Supreme Court decision that awarded the Bayelsa governorship election to the party after invalidating the electoral victory of David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Read Also: Action Alliance Gets New National Chairman, Secretary

In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and …

South-East

Why South-East Governors Dumped Regional Security Idea

Indications have emerged that the need to avoid confrontation with the Federal Government may have necessitated the dumping of the idea of establishing a joint security outfit by governors of the South-East zone.At the height of insecurity in the zone last year, the governors who met in Enugu on July 28 had resolved to set up a regional security outfit to be co-ordinated by its joint security committee headed by Maj.-Gen. Obi Umahi (rtd).

At another meeting held in Enugu on February 9, this year, the governors had reassured on the planned joint security outfit, when they declared after

Fake News Alert: Buhari Not Going On 20-Day UK Visit

Nigeria’s presidency has issued a red alert about purveyors of fake and concocted news who it said are on overdrive, spreading all manners of fake news about the President Buhari and his family.

Presidential adviser, Femi Adesina urged Nigerians to be careful about what they consume as news, and also share with others, particularly from the social media.

One of the news stories making the rounds, he said was Buhari’s planned 20-day visit to the UK.

Read Also: Buhari’s Stranglehold On Southeast Governors

“An unfounded information has been making the rounds that President Muhammadu Buhari is billed to travel to

Amazon Boss Bezos Launches $10bn To Combat Climate Change

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon and the world’s richest man, said Monday he was committing $10 billion to a new fund to tackle climate change.

In a post to his 1.4 million followers on Instagram, the e-commerce tycoon said the Bezos Earth Fund would “fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world.”

“Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet,” said Bezos, whose net worth is estimated to be around $130 billion.

“I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and …

Battling Clijsters Loses First Match In Tennis Comeback

Four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters lost her first match in her second tennis comeback on Monday following a 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) defeat to Garbine Muguruza in the opening round of the WTA event in Dubai.

Former world number one Clijsters, 36, had been out for seven years before the clash with world ranked 16 Muguruza, who reached the final of the Australian Open last month.

Spain’s two-time Grand Slam winner Muguruza will play one of Veronika Kudermetova and Dayana Yastremska in the next round after having to fight off a determined Clijsters in a tight second set following a …

Porto’s Marega Suffers Racist Abuse

Portugese football and the country’s politicians were divided on Monday after Porto forward Moussa Marega was targeted with racist chants during his side’s weekend win at Vitoria Guimaraes.

Mali international Marega, 28, walked off the pitch in disgust after being subjected to a torrent of monkey chants after scoring the winner in the 2-1 victory against his former club on Sunday.

In the 71st minute, Marega signalled to his bench he was leaving the field in protest, as his coach Sergio Conceicao, teammates and some Vitoria players tried to make him stay on the pitch.

“We should all express our …

Facebook Meeting: EU Okays Tougher Rules On Hate Speech

A top EU official for digital policy warned Monday that big tech companies could face tougher rules and penalties in Europe if they failed to adequately curb hate speech and disinformation.

European Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton remarks followed talks with Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, who was in Brussels urging officials to not go too far in punishing platforms for carrying hate speech.

“If all the platforms operating on the European continent do not respect the conditions that I have just outlined, yes, we will be forced to intervene in a stricter way,” Breton told reporters.

Read Also: Trump Threatens Intelligence

Sprint Queen Fraser-Pryce Eyes Track Farewell At 2021

Jamaican sprint queen Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, currently preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, says the defence of her women’s 100m sprint gold at the 2021 world championships could be her farewell from athletics.

The 33-year-old surged to an unprecedented fourth women’s 100m gold at the worlds in Doha in September on her return to major competition after the birth of her son Zyon in 2017.

“After Tokyo, I am the defending champion at the world championships in Eugene and that is so close to home,” Fraser-Pryce, who has won two Olympic and nine worlds gold medals over the last 12 years, …

Rukutana Warns ‘Idle Ugandans’ Over Social Media Misuse

 

Minister of State for Labour, Mr Mwesigwa Rukutana has warned ‘idle youths’ against what he described as increased tendencies of misuse of Social media platforms by posting hate and sectarian information aimed at frustrating government projects.

According to the minister who is also the MP Rushenyi County, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were designed to help people keep up with friends, unite those with distinct ideas and help government where there are some loopholes.

However, social media users in Uganda have a tendency of spreading propaganda and sensational information, according to Mr Rukutana.

He said this

S’Africa: Confusion Over Tax Status As Amendments Loom

 

Taxpayers who will be most affected by the legislation are those in the Middle East or in countries where there is no double taxation agreement.

As South Africans working outside the country prepare themselves for the new amendments to the Income Tax Act, set to come into effect from March 2020, many don’t know their tax status or what the changes will mean for them.

Dubbed the “Expat Tax”, the amendments mean that South African tax residents working abroad will be exempt from paying tax only on the first R1-million they earn abroad. Thereafter, they will be required to

HIV

Africa: The Search For An Effective HIV Vaccine Continues

 

An HIV vaccine trial that started in 2016 in South Africa was halted in February 2020. The study sponsors made the call after interim results showed that the vaccine, known as HVTN 702, did not prevent HIV. This result was disappointing, but the search for an effective HIV vaccine continues. Anatoli Kamali speaks to The Conversation Africa’s Ina Skosana about other developments in the field.

Why do we need an HIV vaccine?

HIV remains a dangerous pandemic. The number of new infections remains high – about 1.7 million new cases every year. Young people, particularly young women, account for

Government

Zimbabwe: Government Reduces Farm Sizes

Government has streamlined the sizes of all individual farms in the country’s five ecological regions, in a move that will see more people having access to land.

The reduction in farm sizes will also boost capacity utilisation of land following concerns that some farms were unnecessarily big and underutilised.

Government compulsorily acquired over 12 million hectares of arable land previously occupied by white farmers, resulting in some black beneficiaries getting vast swathes of land they cannot put to effective use.

The downsizing of farms, which has been ongoing, starts with recommendations from the respective provincial lands committees.

The Ministry of