The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • Coronavirus: California becomes hardest-hit U.S. state

    Coronavirus: California becomes hardest-hit U.S. state

    Agency Reporter

    California has become the U.S. state hardest hit by the coronavirus disease, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.

    The statistics shows that there were no fewer than 409,000 confirmed cases in the state as of Wednesday morning.

    This is 1,000 cases higher than those of New York, the former national epicentre, which had no fewer than 408,000 infections since the outbreak of the virus.

    Out of 66,169 tests conducted in New York on Monday, only 855 came out positive, representing 1.29 per cent positivity rate.

    According to the state governor, Andrew Cuomo, two deaths were recorded on Monday, representing a significant drop in the daily fatality figure from close to 1,000 in April.

    The John Hopkins data indicate that the U.S. has become the worst-affected country, with no fewer than 3.9 million confirmed cases and 142,090 fatalities.

    For the first time on Tuesday, President Donald Trump acknowledged the severity of the pandemic, warning that it “will probably get worse before it gets better”.

    READ ALSO: COVID-19 pandemic `will probably get worse’ – Trump

    “It is something I don’t like saying about things, but that’s the way it is,” Trump said at a White House news briefing.

    He canvassed the use of masks, especially by young people, where physical distancing is impossible.

    The Director of the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr Robert Redfield, echoes the advice, saying masks were the “most powerful tool” against the coronavirus.

    “This is the greatest public health crisis that our nation has faced in more than a century.

    “If all Americans would embrace masks as part of their personal responsibility to confront this outbreak, we could actually have a very significant impact on the outbreak that we’re seeing across the country in the next four, six, eight, 10, 12 weeks,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has warned that coronavirus cases in children is steadily rising and nearing the level of 65-year-old or older patients.

    Local media reports cited internal FEMA memos indicating that children between the ages of 12 and 17 appeared to become infected at a higher rate than younger kids.

    (NAN)

  • Pakistan bans streaming app Bigo, issues warning to TikTok

    Pakistan bans streaming app Bigo, issues warning to TikTok

    Agency Reporter

    Pakistan has banned live streaming app Bigo and issued a “final warning” to Chinese social media app TikTok over content deemed immoral or obscene.

    “On complaints of immoral, obscene and vulgar content, streaming app Bigo has been blocked in Pakistan.

    “TikTok has also been served with final warning on same grounds,’’ Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said in a statement on Tuesday.

    The authority said it had issued notices to these social media companies to moderate the content within legal and moral limits but “the response of these companies has not been satisfactory.”

    The Chinese video sharing app TikTok has often been criticized for its content but its popularity and outreach continues to grow.

    READ ALSO: FG evacuates 65 Nigerians from Europe, Pakistan

    The PTA said impact of the apps, particularly on youth, had been “negative.”

    Recently, a petitioner asked the Lahore High Court to ban the app for spreading pornographic and immoral content.

    Hareem Shah, a Pakistani girl, who became a social media celebrity with over three million followers of her videos on TikTok, told broadcaster Geo TV that “she supports the government’s decision.”

    Earlier this month, Pakistan temporarily banned access to the popular online game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) after reports of suicides and mental health issues among young people.

    The PTA said the decision was taken after numerous complaints by parents, police and doctors, saying that the game had made children addicted.

    YouTube and other sites have also faced periodic blocks in Pakistan over content that is deemed to be blasphemous.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • Buhari sends ‘get well soon’ message to Saudi King

    Buhari sends ‘get well soon’ message to Saudi King

    From Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday sent a passionate “get well message” to Saudi ruler and custodian of the two holy mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, who has been hospitalised.

    King Salman, 84 years old, was admitted to hospital in the Saudi Arabia capital, Riyadh, for the treatment of a condition that has been identified as the inflammation of the gall bladder.

    A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, quoting President Buhari, described the king as a true friend of Nigeria, who has always identified with the country.

    “On behalf of myself, government and people of Nigeria, I pray for speedy and full recovery of the Saudi King, one of the finest leaders I have ever met in the course of my interactions with world leaders.

    “King Salman is a true friend of Nigeria, who has never failed to identify with us at all times through important collaborations and cooperation.

    “As the king receives medical attention, I send my best wishes and prayers for his speedy recovery”, Buhari said.

     

  • Côte d’Ivoire ruling party asks president to run again

    Côte d’Ivoire ruling party asks president to run again

    CÔTE d’Ivoire’s ruling party yesterday asked President Alassane Ouattara to stand for a third term after the death of his chosen successor.

    Ouattara, 78, had said he would step down and named his close ally, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, as the RHDP party’s candidate for the October 31 ballot.

    However, Gon Coulibaly died on July 8, leaving the party without a candidate in the run-up to an election that is expected to test political stability in the world’s top cocoa producing nation.

    The vote is expected to be the most hotly contested since 2010, when Ouattara’s victory over incumbent Laurent Gbagbo sparked a brief civil war in which 3,000 people died.

    Coulibaly’s death, less than a week after he returned to Ivory Coast from an extended medical leave in France for heart issues, had raised fears of a scramble for power.

    “A majority of our supporters have turned to President Alassane Ouattara. He is our solution, and I have explained this to him,” the party’s executive director, Adama Bictogo, told RFI radio.

    Bictogo added that Ouattara’s candidacy would help avoid bitter succession battles.

    “Why should we take the risk when we have this certainty?

    “If Ouattara refuses, we then we’ll look into it and make a decision. For now, I have no other candidate in mind.

    “Ouattara would announce his decision in the next few days,’’ Bictogo said.

    Ouattara has previously said he would prefer to hand over power to a new generation, although he also says he has the right to run again under a new constitution adopted in 2016.

    Octogenarian ex-president Henri Konan Bedie of the former ruling PDCI party has declared that he will run in the election.

  • UNODC, EU pledge support to Nigeria, others over maritime crimes

    UNODC, EU pledge support to Nigeria, others over maritime crimes

    By Bola Olajuwon, Assistant Editor

     

    The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have pledged their continued support to strengthening the criminal justice response across West Africa within the framework of a project titled, “Support to West African Integrated Maritime Security (SWAIMS)”.

    This is coming as Nigeria pressed ahead with the first ever trial of a piracy case under the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act of June 2019.

    On May 14, 10 persons allegedly hijacked the fishing vessel Hailufeng 11.  On May 16, the Nigerian Navy carried out a rescue operation 140 nautical miles south of the Lagos Fairway Buoy. The 18 crew members were rescued, and the 10 suspects arrested.

    On July 13, 2020, the suspects were arraigned at the Federal High Court in Lagos and the court case is progressing.

    Outreach and Communications Officer of UNODC Nigeria Country Office, Abuja Sylvester Tunde Atere, in a statement, said piracy and other maritime crimes have continued to increase in the Gulf of Guinea.

    According to him, most attacks, nowadays, are kidnappings for ransom.

    He said a recent report by the International Maritime Bureau indicates a surge in kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea, with the region accounting for 90 per cent of the maritime kidnappings committed worldwide.

    Pirate groups involved have grown more sophisticated and are now capable to operate far off the coast and to project themselves across the entire Gulf of Guinea.

    Considering the importance of this trial, Atere said specific actions planned by the UNODC and the EU under the project to further support the implementation of the ECOWAS Maritime Strategy in the coming months include providing comprehensive e-learning training platforms to maritime crime practitioners; and donating video teleconferencing (VTC) and hardware equipment to ameliorate the quality of current and future trials of piracy and maritime crime cases.

    Others are sharing technical expertise in drafting and applying legal procedures for maritime crimes and assisting in mitigating the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the maritime criminal justice systems in Nigeria and the other West African countries.

    He added that the UNODC and the EU are committed to the fight against piracy and other maritime crimes in West Africa and will continue to support Nigeria’s criminal justice response to maritime crime.

  • UK don’t need another coronavirus lockdown – Boris Johnson

    UK don’t need another coronavirus lockdown – Boris Johnson

    Agency Reporter

    The UK won’t be in a position to need another national lockdown, according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

    Johnson likened a nationwide shutdown to a “nuclear deterrent,” telling the Sunday Telegraph that he doesn’t want to use it. “And nor do I think we will be in that position again,” he added.

    Johnson’s comments came after the announcement of plans for local authorities to have new powers to implement local lockdowns to respond to increases in coronavirus cases.

    Despite worldwide criticism of the U.K.’s response to the pandemic, Johnson defended the government, insisting that “lots of things … went very, very well.”

    He pointed to the quickly-built Nightingale hospitals across the country, the U.K. trial that led to dexamethasone becoming a possible treatment for coronavirus and the country’s extensive furlough scheme.

    In the wide-ranging interview, Johnson also spoke of his plans to shake up the university education system.

    Specifically, he said that the pricing of university courses would be reviewed.

    Read Also: Boris Johnson announces six new lockdown rules

    “In reality, it would have been much more sensible if courses had been differently priced. We are certainly looking at all that.”

    An increased focus on technical education would also support the U.K.’s production of new technology, argued Johnson, in a reference to the U.K. banning the Chinese firm Huawei’s 5G gear.

    “Let’s start doing some of this stuff ourselves, working with … like-minded countries, and getting the stuff installed.

    The potential is enormous, whether it’s 5G or full fiber or gigabit or superfast broadband, the U.K. can really excel in all those,” he said.

    (Newsnow.co.uk)

  • China discovers 16 new virus cases in Xinjiang

    China discovers 16 new virus cases in Xinjiang

    Our Reporter

    A China’s western Xinjiang region saw a spike in coronavirus cases in the last one week, with 16 new cases reported by midnight Friday, according to China’s National Health Commission.

    Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang and home to 3.5 million people, has been on lockdown since Thursday after one patient tested positive midweek and four were found to be asymptomatic, according to Chinese news outlet ‘The Paper’.

    Since then, a handful of cases have emerged.

    Transportation, including flights and trains in Urumqi, has also been suspended, the Paper said.

    READ ALSO: Bubonic plague rears head again in China

    China has largely brought the coronavirus pandemic under control, but a small number of infections continue, according to official government figures.

    There are currently 252 active cases nationwide, according to the NHC.

    The new cases in Xinjiang were the only local reported transmissions in China on Friday, which also reported six imported cases the same day.

    China is currently in the midst of mass surveillance and internment campaign against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, including ethnic Uyghur and Kazakh Muslims.

  • U.S. Kills ISIS ‘Second in Command’

    U.S. Kills ISIS ‘Second in Command’

    Our Reporter

    U.S. Special Operations forces believe they killed ISIS’ “second in command” in an operation inside Syria, according to a senior defense official.

    Haji Imam, whose real name is said to be Abd ar-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, is a senior religious leader of the self-proclaimed Islamic State and had been considered to be next in line to succeed “caliph” Omar al-Baghdadi, though some ISIS watchers say his Turkoman background ruled that out.

    The official says U.S. forces killed a high-ranking official—who they believe to be Haji Imam—in a raid on his vehicle, after they tracked him for several days.

    Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford will announce the operation this morning at the Pentagon.

    Carter will also confirm the reported killing of ISIS’s “minister of war” in a strike this month. Tarkhan Batirashvili, better known as Omar al-Shishani or “Omar the Chechen,” was reported to be badly wounded by an airstrike, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

    READ ALSO: Iran will develop oil industry despite U.S. sanctions – Zanganeh says

    That makes two major hits by the U.S. special operators inside Syria, and a fiery coalition riposte to the ISIS-claimed attacks in Belgium on Tuesday that claimed the lives of 31 people, including two Americans. Arrests continued across Belgium and also in France in the wake of the attacks, unearthing a network of European citizens who are part of what Belgian officials say is a wider network than they originally believed was linked to the Paris attacks of last November that claimed 130 lives.

    Around 50 special operators from the Joint Special Operations Command are operating throughout northern Syria, helping guide local forces’ military movements, teaching them how to share intelligence, and call in airstrikes that have become increasingly more effective, and also carrying out a number of their own mostly undisclosed operations to degrade the ISIS network, U.S. military officials said, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to describe the actions publicly.

    A Pentagon spokesman reached Friday morning declined to comment.

    (www.newsnow.co.uk)

  • Gokada’s ex-PA arrested for alleged murder

    Gokada’s ex-PA arrested for alleged murder

    By Samuel Oamen

    Tyrese Haspil, a former Personal Assistant to Gokada founder and Chief Executive Officer, Fahim Saleh, has been arrested.

    Saleh was murdered by a yet-to-be-known assassin earlier this week, who left his decapitated and dismembered body inside his Lower East Side apartment, in New York City.

    Haspil, 21, is in police custody and expected to be charged with the murder of Saleh, according to New York Post.

    Haspil once worked at Saleh’s venture capital firm, Adventure Capital.

    Police gathered that Haspil allegedly stole $100,000 from the late 33-year-old tech entrepreneur but rather than handing him over to law enforcement agents, the late Gokada CEO brokered a repayment plan with him.

    However, Haspil allegedly reneged on the deal at some point.

    Read Also: Detectives hunt for killer of Gokada CEO

    “This was an act of charity that turned into an act of murder,” a source told New York Post.

    Security footage from inside the elevator shows Haspil using a portable vacuum to try and cover his tracks, the source said.

    Closed Circuit Television video from Saleh’s East Houston Street apartment building shows the businessman and a smartly dressed Haspil riding together in the elevator — which opens straight out to his apartment — on Monday afternoon.

    Saleh’s ride-hailing start-up provided thousands of jobs in Lagos State before the government banned motorcycle operations from major routes in the West African economic hub.

  • Shark pulls 10-year-old from fishing boat

    Shark pulls 10-year-old from fishing boat

    Agency Reporter

    A shark “grabbed” a 10-year-old boy from a fishing boat off Australia on Friday but swam off after his father jumped in to save him, officials said.

    The boy was taken to hospital in stable condition with lacerations and cuts after the attack off the coast of the island state of Tasmania, the local government reported.

    The child was accompanied by his father and two other men fishing three miles from shore when the shark “grabbed him from the boat,” it said in a statement.

    “The boy, who was wearing a personal flotation device, suffered lacerations to his arm, and other cuts to his chest and head,” Ambulance Tasmania said in a statement posted to Facebook.

    Australia has one of the world’s highest incidences of shark attacks and there have been five fatal maulings in the country so far this year.

    The most recent was a 15-year-old surfer killed last week off the country’s eastern coast. In April, a shark fatally mauled a 23-year-old Australian wildlife workeron the Great Barrier Reef.

    Earlier this week, a 29-year-old woman was taking a dip off Queensland when she was set upon by an unidentified creature in the water, suffering cuts and a possible broken ankle.

    (www.newsnow.co.uk)