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US ambassador to UK Woody Johnson denies making any racist comments
The US ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson has denied reports that he made “insensitive” remarks about race and gender to US embassy staffs.
CNN said Woody Johnson had been investigated by US officials after making “generalisations about black men” and “cringeworthy” comments about women’s looks.
But the diplomat tweeted that the claims were “totally inconsistent with my longstanding record and values”.
Mr Johnson was named ambassador to the UK by President Donald Trump back in 2017.
CNN also reported Mr Johnson had sought to promote the president’s business interests in the UK by asking politicians if the Open Championship golf tournament could be played at Mr Trump’s Turnberry course.
But Mr Johnson, who is part-owner of NFL team the New York Jets, denied that claim too.
“I have followed the ethical rules and requirements of my office at all times,” he wrote on social media.
When questioned about the allegation at a White House press conference on Wednesday, President Trump said he had never spoken to Mr Johnson about the matter.
Source___CNN
Canada court rules US ‘not safe’ for asylum seekers
Canada’s federal court has ruled that an asylum agreement the country has with the US is invalid because America violates the human rights of refugees.
The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) was in place since 2004 and it requires refugee claimants to request protection in the first safe country they reach.
But on Wednesday, a judge declared the deal unconstitutional due to the chance that the US will imprison the migrants.
The Safe Third Country Agreement is a policy implemented to better manage refugee claims and to avoid so-called “asylum shopping” between countries.
Lawyers for refugees who had been turned away at the Canadian border had challenged the agreement, arguing that the US did not qualify as “safe” for asylum seekers.
“We’re all too familiar with the treatment that the US metes out to asylum seekers,” Maureen Silcoff, president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, told Reuters news agency.
Source___BBC
Gambia confirms 19 new Covid-19 cases
The Gambia has confirmed 19 coronavirus cases yesterday, taking the total number of Covid-19 cases to 112.
This is the third consecutive time the country registers record daily confirmation of cases.
According to the health ministry, 6 healthcare workers contracted the virus, 5 from EFSTH and 1 from the MRC Gambia.
The ministry also disclosed that the source and chain of infection of about 58% of the new cases could not be established which is evidence of the existence of community transmission.
There are also 3 confirmed cases still on the run.
The country currently has 668 people in quarantine; 47 active and 4probable cases, while a crude case fatality rate of 3.6%.
Source___Standard Newspaper
IEC VICE CHAIRMAN RETIRES
The vice chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission in the Gambia has retired from the job, according to The Standard.
Malleh Sallah, has been working with the electoral body for about 20 years, he submitted his letter requesting to be retired since on 24 June, according to Standard.
Mr Sallah is still waiting for official response to his decision.
The Standard last night contacted Mr Sallah, who confirmed his decision to retire. “I have retired after 20 years or more with the Commission since when it was called PIEC. I strongly believe that I have done enough and it is time for the young ones to take over,” he said.
Asked by the Standard if his decision has anything to do with not agreeing with his colleagues over principles and conduct, as The Standard was tipped, Mr Sallah replied in the negative.
For now, according to various political parties quoting the law governing the IEC both Mr Sallah and his boss, Alieu Momarr Njai are due for retirement from the commission after serving two terms in office.
Their retirement is due next month. The Standard tried contacting the IEC’s director of communications on these issues without success.
Source___Standard Newspaper
President Buhari Mourns ‘Longtime Friend’ Isa Funtua
President Muhammadu Buhari has put forward his sadness over the death of his longtime friend Malam Isa Funtua.
Malam Isa Funtua passed away on Monday, aged 78 with President Buhari in a statement by his media aide, Garba Shehu, saying the development has created a huge gap in his life.
“President Muhammadu Buhari received with deep sadness on Monday evening information on passing of his longtime friend and associate, Malam Isma’ila Isa Funtua, who was Life Patron of International Press Institute and Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN),” a tweet from Buhari’s aide read.
“President Buhari believes the demise of the publisher and businessman has created a huge gap as Malam Funtua consistently stood by him in his political journey.”
Source___Channels TV
Nigeria’s COVID-19 Death Toll surpass 800
More than 800 Nigerians have now died from the novel Corona Virus, the latest data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control showed.
In a tweet late yesterday, the NCDC put Nigeria’s death toll at 801, reflecting 12 more deaths from the dreaded pandemic. Nigeria’s death toll had stood at 789 on Sunday.
In addition to the 12 deaths recorded on Monday, 562 fresh infections were confirmed in 20 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The FCT had 102 of the cases; Lagos reported 100; Plateau, 52; Kwara, 50; Abia, 47; Kaduna, 35 and Benue, 35.
Other states were infections were confirmed on Monday are Oyo (26), Ebonyi (24), Kano (16), Niger (15), Anambra (14), Gombe (12), Edo (11), Rivers (6), Nasarawa (5), Delta (5), Borno (3), Enugu (2), Bauchi (2) and Kebbi (1).
Source___Channels TV
Only 1,000 people will be able to take part in the pilgrimage and will need to be quarantined after the event.
This year’s Hajj, which has been set back to include only about 1,000 Muslim pilgrims because of the coronavirus pandemic, will begin on July 29, Saudi authorities said on Monday.
Some 2.5 million people usually participate in the ritual of several days, which is centred on the holy city of Mecca.
“The stand of pilgrims on Mount Arafat, the peak of the Hajj ritual, falls on Thursday,” the official Saudi Press Agency cited the Supreme Court as saying, indicating that Wednesday would be the first day of the annual event.
The timing of the Hajj is determined by the position of the moon, in accordance with the Islamic lunar calendar.
Last month, Saudi Arabia announced it would hold a “very limited” Hajj, a decision fraught with political and economic peril as it battles a surge in coronavirus cases that now exceed more than 250,000.
Source___Aljazeera
The Muslim leader has emerged as the leader of an opposition movement seeking the Malian president’s departure.
A longing campaign of dozens of protests in Mali has presented the most formidable challenge to the presidency of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita since he came to power in 2013.
The discontentment has stemmed from economic woes and perceived government corruption, as well as from the government’s drastic failure to contain a worsening security situation that has seen various armed groups jockey for power and has rendered vast swathes of the country ungovernable.
The multilayered conflict broke out in 2012 and has since killed tens of thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands, while an increasingly unpopular French military intervention and 15,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force have failed to stop the violence from spilling out to neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.
Leading the calls is not a seasoned politician but an imam – Mahmoud Dicko.
Mali protesters wants Keita to stop down despite winning the election.
Source___Aljazeera
Sudan’s Bashir on trial over 1989 coup that brought him to power
Sudan’s ex President Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown last year by the military in the face of mass protests against his rule, is about to undergo trial over his role in a coup that brought him to power more than 30 years ago.
If convicted, the 76-year-old, who is already in prison for corruption, could face the death penalty.
Al-Bashir came to power in 1989 after he led a military coup against democratically elected Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi
Al-Bashir, 76, is scheduled to appear in court in the capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday to face charges of undermining the constitution, violating the Armed Forces Act and fomenting a coup in 1989 against the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.
Al-Bashir, who has been jailed in Khartoum since his overthrow, will be in the dock with 10 military personnel and six civilians, including his former vice presidents, Ali Osman Taha and Bakri Hassan Saleh, as well as former ministers and governors.
Source___Aljazeera
Trump threatens to send officers to more US cities
President Donald Trump of US has threatened to send more law enforcement officers to more US cities to control ongoing protests of black killings.
Mr Trump on Monday also criticised a number of cities run by “liberal Democrats”, including Chicago and New York, saying their leaders were afraid to act.
Democrats accuse Mr Trump of trying to rally his Conservative base.
Trump also said officers sent to Oregon had done a “fantastic job” restoring order amid days of protests in Portland.
President Trump, a Republican, has been trailing in opinion polls behind his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, ahead of November’s election.
Just the past month, Mr Trump declared himself the “president of law and order” in the wake of widespread protests over the death in police custody of African-American man George Floyd.
Speaking at the White House on Monday, Mr Trump reiterated his call for law and order.
Source___BBC
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