By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production make known to you the questioning of Bollywood star Deepika Padukone by India’s narcotics board in an investigation linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Padukone is among six people to be summoned – two other actresses will also be questioned on Saturday.

BBC said, Rajput’s girlfriend, Rhea Chakraborty, was arrested earlier this month for allegedly buying drugs for him – claims she has denied.

The case has fuelled months of media coverage and speculation in India.

Actresses Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor are among those who will be questioned on Saturday, according to news reports. Another actress, Rakul Preet Singh, was questioned on Friday.

Rajput, 34, was found dead in his flat in Mumbai on 14 June. Police at the time said he had killed himself.

But his family later registered a police complaint against Chakraborty, accusing her of abetment to suicide and other crimes, all of which she has denied.

The case is now being investigated by three federal agencies.

With investigators drip-feeding nuggets of information to the media, rumours and conjecture over what happened and who is responsible have been rife.

What is the case?

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seems to be pursuing two investigations – the first into Rhea Chakraborty, her brother and Rajput’s former house manager.

All three were arrested for allegedly organising and financing the actor’s alleged consumption of cannabis. They have denied any wrongdoing.

The second investigation, which followed on from the first, is into claims of widespread use of drugs in Bollywood, according to local media.

Sources___ Reteurs, BBC

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production unveil the decision to be taken by Swiss voters on Sunday whether to abandon their free movement of people agreement with the EU.

According to BBC, supporters say the move will allow Switzerland to control its borders and select only the immigrants it wants.

Opponents argue it will plunge a healthy economy into recession, and deprive hundreds of thousands of Swiss citizens of their freedom to live and work across Europe.

The justice minister says that would create a situation “worse than Brexit”.

Why does non-EU member Switzerland need to bother with free movement?

Switzerland decided long ago not to join the EU, but it does want access to Europe’s free-trade area, and it wants to co-operate with Brussels in areas like transport, the environment, and research and education.

The price for this is to sign up to the EU’s major policy “pillars” including free movement, and Schengen open borders.

The EU has consistently told the Swiss there will be no cherry-picking: leaving free movement would mean leaving those lucrative trade arrangements too.

Why now?

The proposal comes from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), and is a successor to a referendum held in 2014 (also from the People’s Party) to introduce quotas on immigrants from the EU.

That passed by a whisker (50.33% said yes, 49.67% said no), obliging the Swiss government to find a deal Brussels would accept. In the end a compromise was agreed: Swiss employers had to prioritise workers permanently resident in Switzerland, in job sectors where unemployment is already high.

The SVP dismissed the deal as so weak as to be virtually meaningless, and are now back with a second demand to get out of free movement altogether.

So what are the pros and cons?

Thomas Aeschi of the SVP believes abandoning free movement will bring all sorts of advantages, from “being able to select the highest qualified immigrants” to “less land speculation, lower house prices, and lower rents”.

Source___BBC

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production disclose to you the knife attack in Paris which led to detainment of seven people in connection with the attack.

A man armed with a meat cleaver wounded two people in the attack on Friday.

The main suspect, identified as an 18-year-old man of Pakistani origin, was arrested near the scene. Police said six others were in custody and being questioned.

The attack is being treated as a terrorist incident.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said it was “clearly an act of Islamist terrorism”. He said police had underestimated the threat level in the area.

The attack came as a high-profile trial was under way of 14 people accused of helping two jihadists carry out the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people were killed.

What do officials say happened?

According to BBC, in their interview with state broadcaster France 2 late on Friday, Mr Darmanin described to then stabbing as “a new bloody attack against our country, against journalists”.

“It’s the street where Charlie Hebdo used to be. This is the way the Islamist terrorists operate,” the interior minister said.

He said he had ordered security to be stepped up around synagogues this weekend for Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

The main suspect has not been named, but Mr Darmanin said he arrived in the country three years ago “as an isolated minor” of Pakistani nationality.

The minister added that the suspect was not known for being radicalised, but had a previous arrest for carrying a screwdriver – and gave no details.

Source___BBc

PARTIES CLASH OVER REJECTION OF DRAFT CONSTITUTION

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production make known to you the rejection made by Gambian political parties concerning the draft constitution.

According to Standard, at least six political parties have reacted to the sensational rejection of the draft constitution at its second reading at the National Assembly after it failed to secure the backing of 42 members.

A total of 23 lawmakers yesterday voted against the draft constitution after days of debate that will be remembered for its bitter wrangling.

A ‘YES’ vote would have paved the way for a referendum and possibly a new constitution that could give birth to a new Gambian republic.

UDP

In his reaction, the spokesperson of the United Democratic Party Almamy Taal said the 1997 constitution was perfectly designed for “a day like this where the majority will want one thing but the small minority will scuttle that process. If 50+1 was the threshold in the 1997 constitution, this constitution would have passed but now everybody has seen it. All the political parties are on one side apart from the APRC and NRP and the MPs that were expelled from the UDP one side making a lot of noise.”

GDC

The Gambia Democratic Congress leader, Mamma Kandeh said the decision of the lawmakers who rejected the draft acted based on politics and not national interest.

“It is very disappointing that the lawmakers have rejected the draft. But this is not a surprise to me because, frankly, there is no transition because the government has never taken the reforms very seriously. It is very sad that we have spent D116 million in vain,” he said.

APRC

The APRC spokesperson Musa Amul Nyassi said: “When I said I was going to reject the draft constitution I meant it. I am glad some of my colleagues at the chamber have listened and they tried to find out why I came up with that conclusion and thank God when they followed the concerns, they came back to me to say there is nothing that will make them pass this draft.

GMC

The leader of the Gambia Moral Congress, Mai Ahmad Fatty said: “As expected, the bill has been rejected by a negative vote of 23, with 3 abstentions. Some 116 million Dalasi just thrown into the toilet by 23 MPs, along with more than money’s worth. The draft will not proceed and the 1997 Constitution rules. I am bereft of words.

Source___ Standard News Paper

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production make known to you the United State’s drastic increasing in the pandemic, surpassing 200,000 deaths on Wednesday from the coronavirus, is indeed a record-breaking wave of new infections which forces authorities in Europe to reimpose lockdown restrictions.

The world’s most powerful nation hit the figure just 41 days before a presidential election, and as the World Health Organization warned that new cases worldwide have risen to record highs.

US President Donald Trump — who faces a tough re-election fight and is trailing Democrat Joe Biden in the polls — said the 200,000 milestone was “a shame” and deflected blame onto China.

Trump used a video address to the annual United Nations General Assembly to attack Beijing for not stopping the spread of what he called the “China virus.”

“We must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague onto the world — China,” he told the UN’s diplomatic showcase event, which is being held almost entirely online because of the pandemic.

Trump has repeatedly played down the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis, even as the United States has suffered one of the world’s highest death tolls.

According to an AFP tally, worldwide more than 31 million people have been infected and nearly 962,000 have died from Covid-19 since the virus emerged in the eastern Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

The World Health Organization reported late Monday that almost two million infections were recorded around the globe in the single week to September 20.

Source___Reuters

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production unveil to you the Wednesday tanker explosion in one of the state’s in Nigeria that have killed at least 23 persons and many others injured.

According to Channels TV, over five vehicles were completely burnt in the road crash and eyewitnesses say some of the victims include students of Kogi Polytechnic.

Confirming the casualty figure to Channels Television, the sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Kogi State, Idris Fika says at least 23 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage.

The accident occurred after a truck laden with Premium Motor Spirit lost control following a brake failure and rammed into five other oncoming vehicles.

Eyewitnesses however say over 50 people may have been killed in the blaze, including some residents who were waiting to board commercial vehicles by the roadside.

As at the time of this report, there is tension around the area, after law enforcement officials left the scene, with students of nearby Kogi Polytechnic protesting the frequent road accidents in the area.

Reacting to the explosion, the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, expressed shock and sorrow.

Source___Channels TV

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production unveil the undergoing plans of Britain to host clinical trials where volunteers are deliberately infected with the new coronavirus to test the effectiveness of vaccine candidates, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people involved in the project.

So-called “challenge trials” are expected to begin in January at a quarantine facility in London, the report said, adding that about 2,000 participants had signed up through a US-based advocacy group, 1Day Sooner.

Britain said it was working with partners on the potential for human challenge trials without commenting on a specific plan.

“We are working with partners to understand how we might collaborate on the potential development of a COVID-19 vaccine through human challenge studies,” a government spokeswoman said.

“These discussions are part of our work to research ways of treating, limiting and hopefully preventing the virus so we can end the pandemic sooner.”

The FT reported that the studies will be government-funded, although 1Day Sooner said it would also launch a petition for public funding of a biocontainment facility big enough to quarantine 100 to 200 participants.

Open Orphan, a pharmaceutical services company cited in the FT report, confirmed in a statement early on Thursday that it is in “advanced negotiation with the UK Government and other partners for a coronavirus challenge study in the UK”.

“There can be no certainty that these discussions will lead to a new contract,” it added.

Imperial College London, cited by the FT as the academic lead on the trials, did not confirm the report.

“Imperial continues to engage in a wide range of exploratory discussions relating to COVID-19 research, with a variety of partners,” a spokeswoman said, asked about the possibility of challenge trials.

Any trials conducted in the UK would have to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the healthcare regulator which looks into safety and protocol.

Source___Aljazeera

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production confidently disclose the calling of prominent rights group on the European Union to reconsider its cooperation with Libya over “horrific abuses” being committed against refugees and migrants in the North African country.

In a new report published on thursday, Amnesty International criticised the EU and its member states for supporting the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and its coastguard in its efforts to intercept refugees and migrants at sea and take them back to Libya.

Oil-rich Libya has become a key route for refugees and migrants wanting to reach Europe in the chaotic years since the 2011 overthrow and killing of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising.

The International Organization for Migration and many others have long warned that it is not safe for migrants to be returned to the conflict-ridden country.

“Instead of being protected, they are met with a catalogue of appalling human rights abuses,” said Diana Eltahawy, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“Even in 2020, the EU and its member states continue to implement policies trapping tens of thousands of men, women and children in a vicious cycle of abuse,” she added.

“The EU and its member states must completely reconsider their cooperation with Libyan authorities, making any further support conditional on immediate action to stop horrific abuses against refugees and migrants.”

In its report, Amnesty also provided detailed accounts of cases involving the unlawful killings of migrants and refugees in Libya, as well as enforced disappearances, torture, rape, arbitrary detention and “forced labour and exploitation at the hands of state and non-state actors in a climate of near-total impunity”.

Source___BBC

By Amie T. Camara

Afrinity Production disclose to you the charges put forward in the death of a black woman who was killed while sleeping at her apartment in Kentucky.

The city of Louisville, Kentucky, will pay $12 million to the family of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman shot dead by police in a botched raid on her apartment in March, to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit, Mayor Greg Fischer said on Tuesday.

The settlement will be accompanied by reforms of the Louisville Metro Police Department, including a requirement that commanders approve search warrants before they are put to a judge, Fischer said at a news conference, alongside Taylor’s family.

“I’m deeply, deeply sorry for Breonna’s death,” Fischer told reporters. “My administration is not waiting to move ahead with needed reforms to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.”

Taylor’s shooting by police serving a narcotics warrant at her home has sparked months of protests in Louisville and calls nationwide for the officers to be charged in her death. The state’s attorney general, Daniel Cameron, is investigating police actions in the March 13 shooting.

The lawsuit, filed in April by her mother, Tamika Palmer, alleged the police used flawed information when they obtained a “no-knock” warrant to enter the Black woman’s apartment in March. Taylor, 26, was shot multiple times and police found no drugs at her home.

The suit accused three Louisville police officers of blindly firing into Taylor’s apartment the night of the March raid, striking Taylor several times. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was in the apartment with her and fired a single shot that struck an officer in the leg. Walker said he did not hear police announce themselves and said he thought he was guarding against an intruder.

“We won’t let Breonna Taylor’s life be swept under the rug,” said Ben Crump, an attorney for Taylor’s family, on Tuesday.

Source___Aljazeera

Congratulations Your Excellency Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki and the people of Edo state, thanks for your tenacity, steadfastness and consistent courage to defeat godfatherism in Edo state Nigeria 🇳🇬.