Category: Foreign

Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has congratulated Kenyan opposition leader, Raila Odinga, for declaring his intention to contest for President of Kenya.

In a video message specifically requested by Odinga, which was played to delegates of the Orange Democratic Movement at the weekend convention, Saraki congratulated his friend for taking the “bold step” to contest for his nation’s Presidency.

The former President of the Senate said: “As you take the bold step today to declare your bid for the Presidency of your great country Kenya, under the Orange Democratic Movement, I am excited for you, your country, your forbears, and your family – encouraged by the bright future you are committed to delivering for the good people of Kenya.

“You have shown over the years that you are a man that will stand up, to build bridges of peace, for democracy, human rights, and security – for what is right. Across the African continent, I am not alone in respecting and recognising that you have also demonstrated by your actions that no sacrifice is too much to make— and you are determined to make— towards improving the lives of the people of Kenya.

“As you begin this journey, I wish you, your family, and your supporters across Kenya, a peaceful and successful campaign. Good luck and Godspeed, my brother and my friend,” Saraki said.

Odinga, who first visited Saraki in 2016 while he was the Senate President, yesterday announced at his party’s convention that he would make his fifth bid for Kenya’s presidency in next year’s election. Before the declaration, he had written to Dr. Saraki requesting that the former Senate President record a video testimonial of his friendship with Odinga — which was shown to Orange Democratic Movement delegates at the convention in Kenya.

KENTUCKY Governor Andy Beshear in United States (U.S.) said no fewer than 80 had died in his state alone, bringing the confirmed death toll across ravaged states to 94.

Authorities yesterday spoke of the vast devastation across multiple states in the wake of a burst of deadly tornadoes this weekend that ravaged communities and levelled towns.

Rescuers picked up through the splintered ruins yesterday after several tornadoes wrought devastation on several southern U.S. states and the lower Midwest on Friday.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the death toll in his state alone rose to at least 80 overnight, bringing the overall death toll across several states to at least 94.

Most of the confirmed deaths in Kentucky were of workers at a candle factory, where 110 were working round the clock to fulfill Christmas demand at the time the twister hit.

Authorities on Saturday reported rescuing 40 of the workers who were in the building at the time, but by yesterday, hope of finding anyone else alive had all but evaporated.

The governor said that it would be “a miracle” if more people are rescued. “It’s now 15 feet deep of steel and cars on top of where the roof was.”

“I’ve got towns that are gone,” Beshear told CNN. He added, “My dad’s home town, Paxton, isn’t standing. It is hard to describe.”

“You think you can go door to door to check on people and see if they’re OK – there are no doors,” Beshear said.

Many towns appeared levelled, with television showing drone footage virtually indistinguishable from a war zone where the munitions are mother nature.

But the director of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Deanne Criswall, said “there is still hope” of finding survivors in the vast wreckage.

Yesterday, Pope Francis extended prayers “for the victims of the tornado that hit Kentucky.”

In Edwardsville, Illinois, six workers were dead after the partial collapse of an Amazon warehouse where they were working the overnight shift processing orders ahead of Christmas.

The Omicron variant is reaching more countries in Africa, while weekly Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the continent surged by 93 per cent, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.

It noted that signs of hope as preliminary data indicates that hospitalisations across South Africa remain low.

10 different African countries, including South Africa, currently account for 46 per cent of the nearly 1,000 Omicron cases reported by 57 countries across the world.

WHO said emerging data from South Africa indicates that Omicron may cause less severe illness.

It said that the ICU occupancy in South Africa between Nov. 14 and Dec. 4 was only 6.3 per cent, which is very low compared with the time when the country was facing the peak linked to the Delta variant in July.

In spite of the widespread global presence of Omicron, more than 60 countries have imposed travel bans that are mainly targeting southern African countries, some of which have yet to report any Omicron case.

READ ALSO: Omicron: IATA urges countries to comply with WHO directive on travel ban 

Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, said with Omicron now present in 60 countries globally, travel bans that mainly target African countries are hard to justify.

“We call for science-based public health measures to counter the spread of COVID-19.

“Travel restrictions, which come at the height of the end-of-year tourist season is ravaging Africa’s economies, with a knock-on impact that is potentially devastating to the health of Africans.’’

To ramp up the response to the Omicron variant and the rise in cases, WHO is supporting countries to improve genomic surveillance to track the virus and detect other potential variants of concern.

According to WHO, Africa has so far received more than 372 million COVID-19 vaccine doses and administered 248 million.
Although the pace of vaccination has increased in recent months, only 7.8 per cent of Africa’s population is fully vaccinated.

“What we do know is that uneven distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally is creating an ideal environment for COVID-19 variants to emerge and spread explosively and regions with the least access to vaccines seem likely to suffer the most.

“With the end-of-year travel and festivities upon us, limited vaccination, rising COVID-19 cases, and the new variant paint an ominous picture for our region.”

(Xinhua/NAN)

The founder of the disbanded pro-democracy Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, Jimmy Lai, has been found guilty for taking part in a banned Tiananmen vigil, local media reported on Thursday.

Lai, lawyer and co-organiser Chow Hang Tung, and activist Gwyneth Ho were all convicted on charges of unlawful assembly.

Authorities charged 24 former politicians and activists over the candlelight vigil held on June 4, 2020, in commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

All 24 were convicted.

According to the South China Morning Post, 10 of them have received prison sentences of up to 10 months and three have each received suspended sentences.

The sentences for everyone else were due to be announced on Monday.

READ ALSO: New COVID-19 variant detected in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong

Lai, 73, is currently serving a prison sentence on separate charges for his role in unauthorised assemblies during the 2019 anti-government protests.

For the past two years, the Police have banned the candlelight event, which draws large crowds, citing health risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason.

Critics, however, saw the ban as part of a wider crackdown on dissent in the city, following anti-government protests earlier in 2020.

The protests have since been stamped out following the imposition of a national security law by Beijing.

Hong Kong’s security law frequently targets pro-democracy opposition and opposes activities that Beijing considers subversive, separatist, terrorist or conspiratorial.

In the view of critics, it serves to silence the opposition and cements the power of the Communist Party.

(dpa/NAN)

Pfizer Inc and BioNTechon on Wednesday reported results from an initial laboratory study showing that serum antibodies induced by the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine neutralised the Omicron variant after three doses.

“Although two doses of the vaccine may still offer protection against severe disease caused by the Omicron strain, it’s clear from these preliminary data that protection is improved with the third dose of our vaccine’’ said Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chief executive.

READ ALSO: Omicron: Govt weighs options on ban as pressure mounts on UK

The companies noted that these results are preliminary and they will continue to collect more laboratory data and evaluate real-world effectiveness.

(dpa/NAN)

Police in the city of Wuzhong, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, have dismantled a money-laundering ring connected to more than 200 telecom and online fraud cases.

According to the Police, more than 40 suspects were arrested in a raid on Dec. 3.

The local police began an investigation in October after a suspect with the surname Ma was discovered to have conducted illicit money transfers for fraud rings.

READ ALSO: Senegal urges China to help Sahel countries fight terrorism

Following a two-month investigation, police established a task force to crack the money-laundering ring that layered and transferred funds involved in fraudulent activities across the country involving over 20 million yuan (about 3.14 million U.S. dollars).

Further investigation into the case is ongoing.

(Xinhua/NAN)

The Russian state commission (Roscosmos) has authorised the launch of a Soyuz-2.1, a rocket with a Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft, which will carry two Japanese space tourists.

Roscosmos on Tuesday said Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano, along with famous Russian cosmonaut, Alexander Misurkin will leave for orbit on Wednesday.

Roscosmos in a statement said “the State Commission has appointed the prime and backup crews of the Soyuz MS-20 manned spacecraft.

“In addition, the readiness of the Soyuz-2 rocket and ground infrastructure has been confirmed for launch on Dec. 8’’.

The launch of the spacecraft with businessman Maezawa, his assistant Hirano and the professional Russian cosmonaut is scheduled for 10.38 Moscow time (07.38 GMT) on Wednesday.

Docking with the International Space Station will take place at 16.41 Moscow time (13.41 GTM).

The crew is expected to return to Earth on Dec. 20.

The tourists will participate in the scientific programme on the station, as well as carry out assignments from the list of “100 Things You Want MZ To Do In Space!”

Merzawa and Hiran will film everything they do and upload it to YouTube.

READ ALSO: Nigeria, Russia trade volume hit $600 in three years

The crew will also bring to the station New Year’s gifts for the Russian crew members, prop for their missions, as well as dishes of Japanese cuisine adapted for consumption in space.

Maezawa and Hirano will become the first tourists in 12 years to fly to the ISS in a Soyuz spacecraft.

In 2001-2009, Soyuz spacecraft delivered seven tourists to the ISS under contracts with the American space tourism company, Space Adventures.

The crew twice included the American entrepreneur, Charles Simonyi.

According to various sources, the tourists paid between $20 million to $40 million for their space flights.

In September, Sergey Kostenko, the head of the Russian office of Space Adventures said that the flight of Japanese tourists on a Soyuz spacecraft will cost around $50 million.

Nowadays, tourists can also get into space on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft or the New Shepard by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.

(Sputnik/NAN)

The former boss of Japanese carmaker Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, claims he remains a “hostage’’ of the Japanese legal system, some two years after his spectacular escape from Japan to Lebanon.

Speaking remotely from Lebanon to members of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo on Monday, Ghosn said that Japan had refused to hand over the indictment against him to the Lebanese authorities so that he could face a fair trial there.

He said that by maintaining its Interpol request against him, Japan was attempting to extend its hostage justice beyond its borders and that the country wasn’t really interested in injustice at all.

The architect of the French-Japanese Renault Nissan Mitsubishi car alliance was arrested in Tokyo on Nov. 19, 2018, and charged with violating stock market rules, among other offences.

READ ALSO: Japan urges citizens to leave Ethiopia amid mounting tensions

He was released on bail in April 2019, subject to strict conditions, but then managed to flee the country by private jet hidden in a crate.

Two Americans who had helped Ghosn to escape were extradited to Japan earlier this year and had been sentenced to two years in prison by a Tokyo court.

Ghosn had repeatedly denied the accusations made against him in Japan, believing himself instead to be the victim of a conspiracy in which the Japanese authorities attempted to prevent Nissan’s further integration with Renault.

(dpa/NAN)

The father of a family found dead in a home outside Berlin at the weekend, is thought to have been responsible for the crime, investigators said on Monday.

A suicide note pointed to the 40-year-old as the culprit, according to a statement by the police and the public prosecutor’s office.

The man was found dead on Saturday alongside his 40-year-old wife and three children, aged 4, 8 and 10, in the town of Koenigs Wusterhausen.

READ ALSO: Nigerian kid shinning with Berliner AK 07

There were no signs of forced entry into the house, and no signs of a fight or the presence of third parties at the time of the crime, the statement said.

The autopsy of the five bodies would take several days, investigators said.

(dpa/NAN)