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Kano Govt of Nigeria Approves N490m To Avert Collapse Of Bridge
The Kano State Government of Nigeria has approved N490 million to avert the collapse of a bridge in the state.
According to Channels Television, the money is meant for the extension of Shimar Bridge along Karfi-Rano Road to avoid total cut-off of the road in the face of heavy downpour being confirmed during this rainy season.
The State Executive Council also gave way for the proposed construction and establishment of an ultra-modern and Multi-Purpose Shopping Mall at former Daula Hotel premises, located at Murtala Muhammad Way by Mudatex Mudassir and Brothers Ltd.
Briefing journalists on the conclusion of the meeting which held at the Government House on Friday, the Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, said N338.9m has also been approved as the counterpart fund for the implementation of the 2020 Health Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Work Plan for improving healthcare delivery.
He explained that the council also made other approvals including the release of funds for the award of contract for the revised estimated cost of N724.1m for quantity adjust upward of the Underpass and Flyover at Dangi Roundabout along Zaria Road among others.
Meanwhile, the state government brought forward N27m for the production of two million assorted seedlings for venue, departmental and institutional planting, and distribution to farmers.
Source___Channels TV
Federal Government of Nigeria Evacuates 324 Nigerians From US
The Federal Government if Nigeria has evacuated another batch of 324 Nigerians who are stranded in the United States of America.+
This was rmake known by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama on Saturday via Twitter.
According to him, the Nigerians coming from US are being expected into the country from Newark Airport, New Jersey.
Onyeama noted that the flight left the American soil on Friday and is due to arrive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at about 15:35 pm today.
Onyeama noted that the flight left the American soil on Friday and is due to arrive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at about 15:35 pm today.
The Minister explained that following the development of the third evacuation of these citizens, two more evacuation flights are expected from the country on July 28 and 31 respectively.
Source___Channels TV
Civil rights icon and congressman John Lewis dies aged 80
Rep John Lewis, a well known leader in the civil rights movement and later US congressman, has died at the age of 80.
Lewis was one of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders, which included Martin Luther King Jr, and helped organise the historic 1963 March on Washington.
As a congressman he was a Georgia Democrat, and represented an area which covered most of its capital Atlanta.
In December 2019 Lewis announced that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
“I have been in some kind of fight – for freedom, equality, basic human rights – for nearly my entire life,” he said in a statement released at the time. “I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now.”
During the civil rights movement, Lewis was one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and then became its chairman from 1963 to 1966.
Lewis was the last surviving speaker from the march.
He co-organised and spoke at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the rally at which Dr King delivered his historic I Have a Dream speech.
Source___BBC
Indian actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan taken to hospital with Covid-19
Famous actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been taken to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 earlier this week.
The Indian actress, a former Miss World and one of Bollywood’s most known faces, is being treated at Mumbai’s Nanavati Hospital, ANI agency reports.
Her daughter Aaradhya has also been taken to hospital, PTI agency confirms.
Aishwarya’s husband Abhishek and father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan, both also famous actors, have been in hospital since Saturday with the virus.
On Sunday, 77-year-old Amitabh Bachchan – a Bollywood superstar who has achieved global fame during his long and illustrious career so far – tweeted that he had tested positive for the virus.
Another series of tweets from his son Abhishek, also a famous actor, confirmed that he, his 46-year-old wife Aishwarya and eight-year-old daughter Aaradhya had also tested positive.
Jaya Bachchan, also a famous actress and Amitabh Bachchan’s wife, tested negative.
Source___BBC
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
D5 Creation