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Chaos in Gambia Action Party
A moving political drama on tuesday ended in chaos in the leadership of the Gambia Action Party, GAP.
The party make known it has expelled flag-bearer Gen Lamin Bojang, who had addressed a press conference to say he was charting his own way and alleging a conspiracy among his colleagues in the party.
The party leader, whose alleged nude video was circulating on social media, said he was a victim of scammers and conspirators who targeted him to destroy his reputation and by extension his growing political career.
He further added that ever since the ugly occurrence, a robust investigation was mounted by Interpol to trace the scammers who wanted to blackmail him into paying $5000. He said the trace led to people in Benin, UK and Senegal adding that they used a Facebook account of a Gambian.
“But what shocks me is that this video was first circulated by senior members of the Gambia Action Party who did not stand by me or show any solidarity,” Bojang said, adding that he would chart his own way and would let his supporters know what next. “I am today more resolved to push on and I am stronger today than ever before. I thank my wife, family and friends for standing by me and the media for not exploiting the situation with gory headlines. I am innocent and I will go to the bottom of this to prove my innocence,” he said.
Nonetheless, when contacted for comments over his supposed expulsion, Gen Bojang said he had not been served with any expulsion letter nor was he heard by the party. “This is just a cover-up by the party. The message of expulsion cannot come without the party hearing from me. The party’s modus operandi doesn’t conform with the normal administration procedure. There is a meeting that is supposed to take place tomorrow with them and if that meeting is not held, they are not supposed to take any decision,” Gen Bojang said.
Source___Standard Newspaper
Brazil’s President Tests Positive For Coronavirus Again
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro disclosed yesterday that he still has the coronavirus, after undergoing a new test the day before.
“I’m fine, thank God. Yesterday morning, I took the test, and in the evening the result was that I am still positive for the coronavirus,” the far-right leader said in a Facebook Live broadcast from the gardens of his official residence in Brasilia.
Bolsonaro said he is not experiencing symptoms and that his use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which he said he has been taking since he was diagnosed last week, is working.
“I am not recommending anything. I recommend that you talk to your doctor. In my case, a military doctor recommended hydroxychloroquine, and it worked,” he said.
The presidential press office said in a brief statement that Bolsonaro, who at 65 is in a high-risk group, will remain in quarantine at the official Alvorada Palace residence, where he will continue to work by video conference.
The far-right president, who has caused huge controversy in Brazil for repeatedly flouting lockdown measures in place to curb the spread of the virus, first tested positive a week ago.
He admitted on Monday by telephone interview with CNN that he “can’t stand this routine of staying at home” and said he was waiting “anxiously” to be given the all-clear to leave the house.
Source___Channels TV
Suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria, Ibrahim Magu has been released from police custody.
Magu has been in detention since the presidential panel probing the EFCC commenced investigations into the activities of the agency under him about a fortnight ago.
The embattled suspended chairman of the EFCC is being questioned following allegations of fraud against him by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
Mr Magu was invited by the panel headed by Ayo Salami, a retired President of the Appeal Court in the Presidential Villa in Abuja on July 6.
He was later moved to Area 10 Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) of the police in Abuja where he has since been detained.
On June 11, President Muhammadu Buhari affirmed the suspension of Mr Magu and it took effect immediately.
According to a statement from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the presidential directive was to allow for an unhindered inquiry by the Presidential Investigation Panel under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act and other relevant laws.
The Presidency also said that those who see the investigation as a signal that the fight against corruption is failing, have failed to see the point.
Source___Channels TV
Trump removes campaign manager as Biden continue leading in polls
US President Donald Trump has removed his longtime campaign manager amidst his loosing of poll numbers that showed him trailing further behind Democratic candidate Joe Biden with less than four months to go before the November 3 election.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Trump said campaign manager Brad Parscale would be replaced by Bill Stepien, who has been the deputy campaign manager. Parscale will shift to a role focused on digital and data strategy, the president said.
In his statement, Trump credited both Parscale and Stepien for their involvement in his 2016 victory in the US presidential election and predicted that he would glide to a second term in office.
“This one should be a lot easier as our poll numbers are rising fast, the economy is getting better, vaccines and therapeutics will soon be on the way, and Americans want safe streets and communities,” Trump wrote.
Source___Aljazeera
Friends and family gather around the coffin of Jakelin Caal, a seven-year-old girl who died after developing a high fever while in the custody of US Customs and Border Protection.
Many claims that the death of Jakelin Caal and Felipe Gomez could have been averted.
Felipe Gomez Alonzo, age eight, and Jakelin Caal, age seven – both from Guatemala – died shortly after being detained by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the US-Mexico border.
“Available records make clear that Jakelin and Philippe both suffered terrifying and painful deaths that could potentially have been prevented by timely access to paediatric medical care,” said Fiona Danaher, a paediatrician at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Danaher appeared before the Homeland Security Committee of the House of Representatives, where Democrats are pursuing an investigation of a policy of the administration of US President Donald Trump: separating migrant children from their parents. Felipe and Jakelin were among six minors who died in US border patrol custody between September 2018 and May 2019.
Caal “died of septic shock which, because it went untreated over many hours, cascaded into multiple organ failure,” Danaher said. Alonzo died from “untreated influenza complicated by pulmonary haemorrhage in the context of bacterial pneumonia and sepsis”, she said.
By detaining children in crowded conditions without adequate access to medical care, the CBP is “perpetuating systems that place children at risk for medical neglect”, Danaher told the committee. And the emergence of COVID-19 adds new risks.
Source___Aljazeera
Iran judiciary stops protesters’ executions after social media backlash
The Iranian authorities are reported to have stopped the ongoing executions of three anti-government protestors, following a social media campaign.
The Persian hashtag #do_not_execute was used 7.5 million times after it was announced on Tuesday that the Supreme Court had upheld their death sentences.
Many celebrities backed the campaign.
A retrial has now been ordered. The three men had been arrested during street protests last November in which hundreds of demonstrators were killed.
Lawyers for the three men also were reportedly told that they could for the first time examine the court papers and evidence against their clients.
Amirhossein Moradi, Mohammad Rajabi and Saeed Tamjidi, who are all reportedly in their 20s, were arrested during November’s unrest, which was triggered by the government’s decision to raise the price of petrol.
Iran is the world’s second most prolific state executioner after China.
Despite having to deal with the Middle East’s biggest outbreak of Covid-19, which has killed more than 13,000 people and deepened an economic crisis, the Iranian authorities have not stopped trying capital cases and carrying out death sentences.
Source___BBC
With 595 New Infections, Nigeria’s COVID-19 Cases Surpass the 33,000 mark
The COVID-19 cases in Nigeria surpassed the 33,000 mark following the confirmation of 595 new infections in the country.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed this on Monday night.
As per the agency, the new infections were confirmed in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Lagos maintained the lead position with a total of 156 new infections, followed by Oyo with 141 and the FCT with 99 new cases.
Other states with registered cases include Edo – 47, Kaduna – 27, Ondo – 22, Rivers – 20, Osun – 17, Imo – 13, and Plateau – 10.
While Nasarawa and Anambra each have 8 new infections, other states like Kano, Benue and Borno each reported 5 cases.
On a positive note, the country has been able to discharge 13,671 people who recovered from the virus.
Unfortunately, a total of 744 persons have succumbed to COVID-19 after being confirmed as fatalities from the infection.
Source___Channels TV
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) boss says there are possibilities that coronavirus (COVID-19) can be transmitted through the air.
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control Director-General, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed this on Monday at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, attributed it to new evidence.
According to him, the disease is known to only be be contracted through droplets thatcomes from the nose and the mouth and fall to the ground.
The NCDC boss said, “Over the past few weeks, increasing evidence has emerged that in addition to droplet infections; we cannot rule out that airborne transmission is also possible as a mode of transmission of COVID-19.
“Understanding the modes of transmission of any new virus is very critical for defining response strategies. For COVID-19, from the very beginning, our understanding based on other coronaviruses that spread was primarily through droplets.”
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control boss also noted that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has also updated its guidelines with the same position on the mode of COVID-19 transmission.
He, therefore, called on Nigerians to act in a precautionary way and assume that the virus could be transmitted through the air.
Source__Channels TV
China faces worst floods in decades
Floods across large herbage of central and eastern China have killed more than 140 people, impacting 38 million others and destroying 28,000 homes, according to government records.
‘It is the worst floods in China in more than 30 years, as regions across the country brace for another “grim” week of torrential rain.’
The coronavirus ground zero of Wuhan, through which the powerful Yangtze River winds, is on an expanding list of areas warily watching the rising waters.
The river also crosses it’s third-highest levels and is forecast to increase through the week, according to state-controlled media.
Not less than 33 rivers have reached record highs, while alerts have been issued on a total of 433 rivers, officials from the Chinese water resources ministry said.
The worst-hit provinces were Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan in central China, Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangsu in the country’s east, and the southwestern mega-city of Chongqing, authorities said.
Amid growing alarm, President Xi Jinping on Sunday called on authorities in affected areas to mobilise to help stricken residents, urging them to be “courageous”.
Source___Aljazeera
Sailors and fire crew injured as US Navy ship fire continues
A fire continues to erupt on a US naval ship in a dock in San Diego, California.
Dozens of firefighters combats the flames from the air, land and water for a third day as the USS Bonhomme Richard remained secreted in thick smoke.
The fire, lead by at least one large explosion, blazed Sunday morning in the lower cargo hold of the ship, docked for routine maintenance.
Source___BBC
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