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298 Nigerians Leave from UAE As 17 Others Arrive Abuja From Senegal
Two hundred and ninety eight Nigerians have departed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the country with 17 others arriving Abuja from Senegal.
This is according to a series of tweets, on Monday, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama.
According to Mr Onyeama, the Nigerians will arrive at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos via an Emirates Airline.
The Minister explained that upon their arrival from the UAE, they will undergo the mandatory 14-day isolation as prescribed by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.
Source___Channels TV
Corona Virus Top Nine Million As WHO Says Pandemic ‘Escalating’
Global coronavirus cases topped nine million as the World Health Organization warned the pandemic was escalating and Saudi Arabia make known it would scale back the hajj Islamic pilgrimage next month.
Europe has already eased its travel restrictions in recent weeks, and France on Monday took its biggest step back to normality by allowing millions of children to return to school.
But many parts of the world, including Latin America and South Asia, are only beginning to feel the full force of the pandemic, while other regions are being hit with second waves.
“This is not what a gradual end to the lockdown looks like,” said Dr Gilbert Deray.
“I understand that the Festival of Music is something of a liberation, but did we really have to have it this year?”
‘Swimming pools and cinemas also reopened while children up to the age of 15 returned to school.’
In England authorities said cinemas, museums and galleries would reopen on July 4 in the next phase of easing lockdowns as infection rates there also slow.
Source___BBC
Saudi limiting the number of people performing Hajj due to pandemic -Minister
Saudi Arabia will be allowing only around 1,000 pilgrims based in the kingdom to perform the hajj this year, a minister said Tuesday, after it make known the ritual would be scaled back due to coronavirus escalation.
“The number of pilgrims will be around 1,000, maybe less, maybe a little more,” Hajj Minister Mohammad Benten told reporters.
“The number won’t be in tens or hundreds of thousands” this year, he concluded.
Source___Channels TV
Young actor’s suicide discloses Bollywood’s mental health setback
The recently committed suicide by popular Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput has discloses the pressures faced by those who work in Mumbai’s film industry.
The 34-year-old was found hanging in his residence on June 14 2020.
From celebrities to the professionals behind the scenes, the occurrence as drawn attention to the fragility that lies beneath the glamorous veneer of the industry. In particular, it has brought focus on the topic of mental health – an area that is often stigmatised or misunderstood in India.
“The very idea of depression or anxiety is treated as a foreign concept, we don’t have a vocabulary for such things in India,” says Nikhil Taneja, CEO of Yuvaa, a youth media organisation.
“That’s why many parents treat them as fads or excuses, which leads to stigma and absence of family support for young people seeking help.”
Not long ago, there have been attempts to counter such stigma, including by top actress Deepika Padukone, who shared her own experience of living with depression.
Despite such efforts, says Taneja: “We are in the midst of a mental health crisis.”
Within the film industry, well-known actors and directors face a different set of pressures, including being unable to reach out for help, says psychiatrist Dr Dayal Mirchandani.
Often, his celebrity clients would ask him if he could come to their homes for sessions. “There is a pressure to keep up appearances, coupled with very little stability. You could be in a good position one day and then be nowhere the next,” he says.
Bollywood actors also face a ticking clock, with a relatively short window to achieve success, which makes it an intensely competitive industry. The wide reach of social media has added to the feeling of living under constant scrutiny, says Amit Behl, film and TV actor. “It’s like always being on high alert.”
Source___Aljazeera
Seattle to stop police-free protest zone after shootings
Seattle’s mayor has make known the city opinion to take back a district that is being occupied by armed protesters, after three people were shot at the weekend.
Mayor Jenny Durkan said the violence had become “increasingly difficult” for businesses and residents.
Further stating that, the city would work with the demonstrators to end the so-called Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone.
The city centre zone was taken over by protesters on 8 June after police removed following violent impasse.
Mayor Durkan, who has been under growing pressure to crack down on the protest zone, told a news conference on Monday the city police department would return to its precinct “peacefully and in the near future”.
“The cumulative impacts of the gatherings and protests and the night-time atmosphere and violence,” she said, “has led to increasingly difficult circumstances for our businesses and residents.
“The impacts have increased and the safety has decreased.”
‘Her announcement followed a shooting on Sunday night at the edge of the zone in the Capitol Hill neighbourhood.’
The 17-year-old victim, who was shot in the arm, refused to speak to the police.
Mayor Durkan was asked during an interview on CNN earlier this month when the authorities might retake the zone.
She replied: “I don’t know, we could have the summer of love!”
Source___BBC
Trump pick out foreign workers with new visa freeze
US President Donald Trump has increase a pause on some green cards and hang visas for other foreign workers until the end of 2020.
High-skilled tech workers, non-agricultural seasonal helpers, au pairs and top executives will be affected.
The White House said the move will create jobs for Americans hurting economically due to the pandemic.
But critics say the White House is exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to tighten up immigration laws.
In a briefing for reporters, the administration said the freeze, in place through the end of the year, would impact about 525,000 people.
That embodied an estimated 170,000 people blocked by the decision to extend a ban on some new green cards – which grants permanent residence to foreigners. The White House first announced it was halting those visas in April, an order that had been set to expire on Monday.
Living visa holders in US are not expected to be affected under the new restrictions announced on Monday.
The suspension also applies to H-1B visas, dozens of which are granted to Indian tech workers. Critics say these visas have allowed Silicon Valley companies to outsource American jobs to lower-paid foreign employees. Last year, there were about 225,000 applications competing for 85,000 spots available through the H1-B visa programme.
Source___BBC
Newborn Mexican triplets test positive for Corona Virus
Newborn triplets in Mexico have tested positive for Covid-19 in an “uncommon” case, according to local health authorities.
Medical specialist are making their findings on whether the disease could have been transferred through the mother’s placenta during pregnancy.
Two of the babies, one boy and one girl, are in a stable condition in a hospital in San Luis Potosí state.
But the second boy is still receiving care for a respiratory condition.
A spokesperson for the state’s Health Safety Committee said contagion in multiple births had not been detected anywhere globally and so the case would be investigated.
A very small number of newborn babies have been known to pick up the virus after birth, but health officials say they do not believe this is what happened in this case.
State Health Secretary Mónica Liliana Rangel Martínez said: “It would be impossible for them to have been infected at the moment of birth.”
Nonetheless, the parents are presently being tested, with authorities saying they may have been asymptomatic.
Mexico has confirmed more than 185,000 coronavirus cases and 22,584 deaths since the country’s first case on 28 February.
Source___BBC
A 5-YEAR-OLD US SIERRA LEONEAN GIRL ALLEGEDLY RAPED TO DEATH
Kadijatu Saccoh a 5 year old Sierra Leonean has been allegedly raped to death in Freetown. FirstLady Fatima Jabbe Maada Bio expressed shock and anger on allegations that Choithram hospital initially refused to treat the victim.
“The battle is now between us and the alleged rapist “, she said.
The president of Sierra Leone is very angry and anxiously waiting on all the information from Khadija’s family, Fatima added.
Human rights activists across the country have condemned the act.
At age Five, Kadijah was very smart and outspoken, and thus became, a center of attraction among her peers, and she will forever be remembered.
Fatima Jabbe Maada Bio further wrote on her timeline.
“Today as We where busy with our National Food Basket distribution around Freetown my attention was drawn to the public outcry informing me about the issue surrounding Khadija’s death.
“While I was shocked and very angry to read on social media that Choithram Hospital refused to treat her when taken to the hospital but that is not compared to what I am feeling right now.
“I have reached out to Khadija’s father, whom I have asked to send me the relevant informations I needed to know. I am waiting on him to furnish me with the facts as soon as that is done the battle is now between us and the RAPIST.
“His Excellency the president is very angry and anxiously waiting on all the information from Khadija’s family.
“While we await let me take this opportunity to extend our sincere sympathy to the Saccoh Family and all sympathizers around the world.
“Rest In Peace my dear daughter,” she concluded.
Grade 9 pupils to restart classes Wednesday the 24th of June
The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) has make known the restarting of classes for grade 9 pupils this Wednesday.
Education minister Claudiana Cole disclosed this to the press at her office in Banjul on Friday that the restarting date for grade 12 pupils will be announced at a later date.
This development came exceeding the closure of all schools in the country due to the Corona Virus pandemic.
‘Minister Cole said the closures have affected about 674,300 students in conventional and recognised madrassa schools from early childhood to senior secondary school levels, thus resulting to an said the closures thwarted the annual target of 880 school contact hours.
Two weeks ago, government relaxed the state of emergency restrictions in order to open and extend business operations and reopening of schools.’
Minister Cole said the resumption was in response to the concerns brought forward by parents.
“In keeping with the WHO measures and the Ministry of Health guidelines, my ministry will be closely working with our regional education directorates to ensure compliance on the social and physical distancing and availability of Covid-19 personal protection equipment,” she assured the public.
Source___Standard Newspaper
UDP is not in support of homosexuality practice in the Gambia– Party Leader
The UDP leader Ousainu Darboe has make known that his party is against the legitimization of anti-homosexuality laws in The Gambia.
“Homosexuality cannot be decriminalised in this country. UDP will be among those who will fight against it. No matter what. We will not accept that law and whosoever advocates for it we will fight you with our tongues to ensure that you don’t succeed,” Darboe told UDP online Bantaba TV over the weekend.
The discussion over the issue of homosexuality and the rights of LGBT persons have leads to all sorts of condemnation from Gambians following attempts by the EU representative to promote LGBT rights in The Gambia.
The UDP leader, a well known lawyer, added: “If you want to help us based on these issues, then you are not helping us, you want to enslave us. But the UDP will not take support from somebody because you want to promote homosexuality. That will not happen in this country.
“Those who are saying I once advocated for the repealing of anti-gay laws – is it that they have not listened to Almami Taal’s comments or my koriteh message? Those who know me know very well that I don’t condone ungodly things.”
Mr Darboe said the duty is on the government whether to decline or accept the NHRC recommendations for the protection of gay rights.
“But I don’t think there will be any government in this country that will take that. This is a religious country comprised of Muslims and Christians. We will not accept that act of dogs in this country. It is anti-God,” he added.
Darboe, nonetheless, welcomed the NHRC recommendation for the criminalisation of torture.
“Obviously torture should not happen anywhere and whosoever tortured people whether privately or as an agent of the state should be prosecuted. In this modern age, torture doesn’t have space in this country. Government has the right to arrest people and investigate them but they do not have the right to torture anyone,” he concluded.
Source___Standard Newspaper
D5 Creation