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Syrian President Bashar Assad and his wife have tested positive for the coronavirus, the president’s office said Monday
According to AP, both are having only mild symptoms of the illness.
In a statement, Assad’s office said the first couple did PCR tests after they felt minor symptoms consistent with the COVID-19 illness and will return to work after spending between two to three weeks in isolation in their home.
Both were in “good health and in stable condition,” it added.
Not less than 20 people have been killed while 600 were injured after four powerful blasts hit the Nkoa Ntoma military camp in the economic capital Bata in Equatorial Guinea on Sunday, the state television reported.
The TVGE channel broadcast footage of wrecked and burning buildings, with people, including children, being pulled from the rubble and the wounded lying on a hospital floor.
The first blast reportedly occurred in the early afternoon and in the early evening with the TVGE referring to heavy “casualties” but said it had not determined whether there were any fatalities.
We heard the explosions and we saw the smoke, but we don’t know what’s going on,” one local resident, Teodoro Nguema, said on television.
The camp houses, among others, elements of the army’s special forces and the paramilitary gendarmerie, a journalist said.
Bata is the largest city in the oil and gas-rich nation, with around 800,000 of the nation’s 1.4 million population living there, most of them in poverty.
While it sits on the mainland, the capital Malabo is on Bioko, one of the country’s islands off the West African coast.
Equatorial Guinea has been ruled by 78-year-old President Teodoro Obiang Nguema for nearly 42 years while his son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, described as jet-setter, the vice president with responsibility for defense and security, often appearing on television accompanied by his Israeli bodyguards.
In December last year, the UN’s top court found in favor of France in a bitter battle over a swanky Paris property seized in a corruption probe into Teodorin.
Opposition figures and international organizations regularly accuse Obiang of committing human rights abuses.
The authoritarian leader has seen off at least half a dozen assassinations or coup attempts to become Africa’s longest-serving leader.
She narrated the ordeal that pushed her into the national struggle saying that as a teenager she hated injustice, corruption, poverty ravaging the country.
A human rights activist and co-convener of BringBackOurGirls, Aisha Yesufu, has said she joined the national advocacy shortly after her 40th birthday.
She narrated the ordeal that pushed her into the national struggle saying that as a teenager she hated injustice, corruption, poverty ravaging the country.
Yesufu said this during the International Women’s Month Special on Rubbin’ Minds programme on Channels TV, monitored by SaharaReporters Sunday.
While she said she had been fearless and making demands from life since age 4 despite the environment she grew up in, Yesufu thought she was going to be hit by a bullet and die during the #EndSARS protest last October.
“I have always been at the advocacy work. Remember my demands at the age of 4. That was actually advocating for myself. Anywhere I saw injustice, I never would look the other way.
“And so in 1992, was when I had my first protest and I was in the university. That was my year at the university and I can’t even remember what the protest was all about. There were others and that as far back as 1992.
“On the 10th of October during #EndSARS and that picture that went viral. That was not even the most moment at that event, we were protesting and the police started shooting teargas canisters, everybody ran away.
“I refused to run away, I raised my hand and walked slowly and the police were shooting at me and I could hear the bullets flying. I could see the teargas canister.
“At that moment, I thought I was going to die literally and I said to God, I said look, let it be one single shot and be gone. Because I didn’t want a situation whereby I would be on the floor in pain and some policemen would stand over me and be gloating.”
Speaking on the courage that she has garnered for her to be at the forefront of battles against the excesses of government, she attributed it to reading a lot of books from childhood. She also talked about her financial freedom which has contributed to her voice in society.
“Maybe it was from the books I read because I used to be an avid reader. I was extremely stubborn. Maybe the children called stubborn children, I was one of them. I do not fear any man, I only respect. I was less than 10 when I said to myself that the worst thing any human being can do to me is to kill me and I’m going to die anyway, so that’s not really the worst thing.
“But in the case of national advocacy, for me, it came after my 40th birthday. I turned 40 on the 12 of December, 2013 and I realised I had become the problem of Nigeria. As a teenager I hated Nigeria, I hated the injustice, I hated the corruption, I hated the poverty, I hated the fact that adults were doing nothing while our country was going this way. And one day, I was 40 and I realised I had become the adult who was also doing nothing and there were also children that were my age who were going through so much right now and I said to myself from now on, I am going to focus on national issues.
“But before I focused on a national issue, I have to work on something and that was my financial independence. Remember, I grew up poor. When you’re poor in Nigeria, you are faceless, nameless, and voiceless. You are seen as nothing. You’re cancelled already and I never wanted that for my life. So, all through up to 40, I worked on my financial independence. I’m a trader, I’m a businesswoman. I buy and sell.
“On that 40th birthday, I said to myself I’m going to give Nigeria the next 40 years of my life if God gives me another 40 years and four months after, Chibok girls happened. And when that happened, I joined the protest, and Nigerians heard me loud and clear.”
Contrary to reports concerning a fire outbreak in Aso Rock, the nation’s seat of power, on the night of Saturday, March 6, 2021, the presidency has said there was no such incident.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu in a statement on Sunday said, ‘there was no fire inside the Presidential Villa.”
Garba, however, clarified that what was speculated to be a fire outbreak around Aso Rock was a bush fire in the area between the Villa and the Barracks, towards Asokoro.
He said, “People in the country and even abroad have been expressing concerns over reports of a fire incident in Aso Rock Villa, the seat of the Nigerian government. I would like to clarify that there was no fire inside the Presidential Villa.
“In the evening of Saturday, March 6, a fire broke out, burning shrubs between the outer wire fence and walls surrounding the Villa, precisely in the area between the Villa and the Barracks, towards Asokoro.
“The fire, as being speculated, might have started from a passerby dropping a burning cigarette. The Federal Fire Service will ascertain the reason for it when they complete their investigation.
“It suffices to say that this bush fire, which started and ended outside the perimeter walls of the Villa, was seamlessly contained by fire stations of the State House and the one nearby from the Federal Fire Service. No loss of life, no loss whatsoever to building and property was recorded.”
The incident comes nine months after a fire incident near the Aso Rock villa chapel in 2020.
The Presidency has promised to investigate the “Bush fire incident recorded outside villa perimeter” on Saturday night.
Contrary to the claim made in a viral video that the fire incident was recorded inside the Presidential villa, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said the incident was no where near the villa.
In a statement on Sunday, Shehu said the fire that broke out “between the outer wire fence and walls surrounding the Villa.”
He added that the “bush fire” started and ended outside the perimeter walls of the Villa.
“People in the country and even abroad have been expressing concerns over reports of a fire incident in Aso Rock Villa, the seat of the Nigerian government.
“I would like to clarify that there was no fire inside the Presidential Villa.
“In the evening of Saturday, March 6, a fire broke out burning shrubs between the outer wire fence and walls surrounding the Villa, precisely in the area between the Villa and the Barracks, towards Asokoro.
“The fire, as being speculated, might have started from a passer-by dropping a burning cigarette. The Federal Fire Service will ascertain the reason for it when they complete their investigation.
“It suffices to say that this bush fire, which started and ended outside the perimeter walls of the Villa, was seamlessly contained by fire stations of the State House and the one nearby from the Federal Fire Service. No loss of life, no loss whatsoever to building and property was recorded.
“We thank well-meaning Nigerians for expressed concerns.” the statement read.
If you’re daydreaming of future travels while stuck at home during the pandemic, why fantasize about the beaches of Bali or the canals of Venice when vacationing in space could be in your future?
Back in 2019, Californian company the Gateway Foundation released plans for a cruise ship-style hotel that could one day float above the Earth’s atmosphere.
Then called the Von Braun Station, this futuristic concept — comprised of 24 modules connected by elevator shafts that make up a rotating wheel orbiting the Earth — was scheduled to be fully operational by 2027.
Fast forward a couple years and the hotel has a new name — Voyager Station — and it’s set to be built by Orbital Assembly Corporation, a new construction company run by former pilot John Blincow, who also heads up the Gateway Foundation.
In a recent interview with CNN Travel, Blincow explained there had been some Covid-related delays, but construction on the space hotel is expected to begin in 2026, and a sojourn in space could be a reality by 2027.
“We’re trying to make the public realize that this golden age of space travel is just around the corner. It’s coming. It’s coming fast,” said Blincow.
President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo took COVID-19 vaccine at the presidential villa in Abuja on Saturday.
They took the vaccine in the presence of some of their family members and aides.
Below are pictures
Below are pictures 
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday said he did not feel any pinch while being vaccinated against Coronavirus.
President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Osinbajo got the jab on live TV, a day after the COVID-19 national vaccine programme started with the vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers at the National Hospital, Abuja.
Laolu Akande, Spokesman of the Vice-President, quoted Osinbajo to have said: “The thing was not painful at all. I didn’t even feel the pinch.”
On his part, Buhari called on all eligible Nigerians to present themselves and be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Personal Physician to the President, Dr Sanusi Raafindadi, administered the vaccine to him while that of the Vice President was done by his Personal Physician, Dr Nicholas Audifferen.
Buhari said his decision to take the vaccine in public was ‘‘a demonstration of leadership and faith in the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.’’
‘‘I have received my first jab and I wish to commend it to all eligible Nigerians, to do same so that we can be protected from the virus,’’ he said.
Buhari said since the beginning of the year 2020, humanity has remained under the burden of COVID-19 pandemic, an unseen but very potent enemy around the world.
‘‘Infection from the virus has resulted in over two million and five hundred thousand fatalities and destroyed several global and national systems.
‘‘The response in Nigeria and the ECOWAS sub-region has been robust, collaborative and united. It was driven by a collective knowledge of the fact that ‘no country is safe until every country is safe.
‘‘The speedy development of the COVID-19 vaccines is quite significant and underscores the collective resolve of humanity to overcome the pandemic.
‘‘Similarly, the collaborative effort to ensure equal access has brought relief to poor and developing countries,’’ he said.
President Buhari spoke of the assurance by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF) that the AstraZeneca vaccine which Nigeria has accessed would arrive in batches beginning with the four million doses already received.
He said the roll out and administration plan would cater for over seventy percent of Nigeria’s population in 2021 and 2022.
In his remarks, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said the jab is painless as a narrow gauge syringe was used with small quantity injected in the upper arm, adding that the after effects are mild and little discomfort follows in the area that was injected.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, said with the memorable event, vaccine hesitancy had given way to the reality.
Grammy Award-winning British singer, Adele has finalized her divorce with her husband, Simon Konecki two years after they separated.
The estranged couple went public about their split about two years ago.
The judgment packet submitted by Adele and Konecki has now been signed by a judge on Thursday, March 4th.
The multiple Grammy award winner filed the packet in which both ex-lovers chose to determine rights to community property and debts through mediation.
Adele and Konecki represented themselves in the case.
The ‘Hello’ crooner and her ex announced their separation in April 2019.
This was after a quiet wedding ceremony in the previous year.
They have a son together named Angelo.
At least 20 people were killed and 30 wounded by a suicide car bomb just outside a restaurant near the port in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu late on Friday, an emergency services official said.
The blast sent plumes of smoke into the sky and triggered gunfire, witnesses and state-owned media reported.
“So far we have carried 20 dead people and 30 injured from the blast scene,” Dr. Abdulkadir Aden, founder of AAMIN Ambulance services told Reuters.
The blast occurred at the Luul Yemeni restaurant near the port, witnesses said.
“A speeding car exploded at Luul Yemeni restaurant. I was going to the restaurant but ran back when the blast shook and covered the area with smoke,” resident Ahmed Abdullahi, who lives near the site, told Reuters.
Somalia’s state-controlled Radio Mogadishu reported there was also destruction of property and that police had cordoned off the area.
No one claimed responsibility for the blast.
Islamist group al Shabaab frequently carries out such bombings in Somalia and elsewhere as part of its campaign to topple the Horn of African country’s central government and establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
A 7-year-old from Alabama – faced with the daunting cost of upcoming brain surgeries – has helped her family raise more than $315,000 to help pay for the procedures.
Liza Scott was determined to alleviate some of the financial burdens off of her mother after finding out last month that she needs to have multiple surgeries to treat three rare brain malformations.
So, she put her homemade lemonade stand to use.
That stand, coupled with her online fundraiser, “Lemonade for Liza – Zest for Life w/ Brain Surgery” helped pave the way for her upcoming surgeries at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Liza’s mother, Elizabeth Scott, told Fox News that her daughter has always tried to “lift a bit of the burden” around the house. This is the latest example of that.
When Elizabeth Scott is not running the family business, Savage’s Bakery, she is taking care of Liza and her 3-year-old brother, Finnley.
“Liza has always shown the initiative to step up and take part in helping with things around the house or at the bakery even when it’s not expected or asked,” Elizabeth Scott said.
“Liza has always shown the initiative to step up and take part in helping with things around the house or at the bakery even when it’s not expected or asked,” Elizabeth Scott said.
After the 7-year-old suffered a grand mal seizureat the end of January, doctors at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham uncovered multiple cerebral malformations in her brain that need “immediate attention”
The surgeries are to help prevent Liza from having any further seizures as well as possible brain bleeds, hemorrhages or strokes, according to her fundraising page.
Liza had insisted that she help raise funds necessary to cover some of the costs and within a matter of days she set up shop inside her family’s bakery in Homewood.
Source: Fox News
Large protests have hit Senegal for a third day as demonstrators burnt cars and clashed with police after the arrest of an opposition leader on Wednesday.
Ousmane Sonko appeared in court on Friday accused of disrupting public order. He also faces a rape allegation.
He denies the allegations and his supporters say the accusations are politically motivated.
At least one person has died in the rare nationwide unrest.
Senegal is one of West Africa’s most stable countries.
On Friday police fired tear gas at Mr Sonko’s supporters in the capital Dakar where some shops and schools closed during the protests.
Police also blocked motorbikes and mopeds, which are popular among Mr Sonko’s young supporters, from the city’s streets.
Demonstrators have gathered in the city’s surrounding areas and in the southern city of Bignona, a stronghold of Mr Sonko.
Two private TV channels that covered the protests have been suspended for 72 hours by the government.
On Thursday Internet monitor NetBlocks said access to social media and messaging apps was restricted.
Senegal’s government has condemned the protests as a “flagrant violation” of the state of emergency put in place to tackle coronavirus.
The United Nations’ special envoy for West Africa Mohamed Ibn Chambas has appealed for calm.
Mr Sonko, 46, was accused of rape in February by a woman who worked in a beauty salon.
Following an investigation he was arrested on Wednesday and taken to court accompanied by a group of supporters.
Police said they then arrested him for disrupting public order when he refused to change his route to the court.
Mr Sonko says the allegations of rape are fabricated. He accuses Senegal’s President Macky Sall of trying to remove potential opponents ahead of the 2024 election. Two other opposition leaders were excluded from the 2019 election after being convicted on charges which they say were politically motivated.
There are reports that Mr Sall may seek to change the constitution to allow him to run for a third term.
Mr Sonko is the president’s only remaining serious challenger, BBC Afrique’s Ndèye Khady Lo in Dakar says.
She explains that the opposition politician is particularly popular with young Senegalese for his promise of radical opposition to what he calls “the system”.
In 2014 he founded his own political party, Nastef, and came third in the 2019 presidential election with 15% of the vote.
In a video recorded and shared on social media in 2018, Mr Sonko told activists: “There is enormous potential in this country. It is unacceptable to see suffering of our people” adding “our politicians are criminals. Those who have ruled Senegal from the beginning deserve to be shot.”
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday revealed that he tested positive for the Coronavirus.
He broke the news in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, while speaking at a colloquium put in place to celebrate his 84th birthday.
The programme held within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library(OOPL), Abeokuta.
Obasanjo, who said he was a bit concerned about it, added that he had to put a call to his daughter, Dr. Iyabo Obasanjo – Bello, an epidemiologist.
Obasanjo said, “It will surprise you that I tested positive for COVID-19. I called them to come and test me, they came on a Saturday, I didn’t get the result till Wednesday and it came out positive but I didn’t see any symptoms.
“When they came three days after, they tested me and said I am negative, that is three days after I tested positive.
“My daughter, Iyabo is an epidemiologist and I called her to explain, she said maybe they tested me at the later stage of being positive.
“I told her I had no symptoms and she said it could be a faulty result. But I tested positive. Since then I have been tested three times and the test came back negative. So, if you want to come near me, you can come near me.
“It is nothing to worry about, when I tested positive, my household ran from me, I told them to stay in their place while I stayed in mine.”
Pope Francis has arrived in Iraq for the first ever papal visit there, and his first international trip since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Covid and security fears have made this his riskiest visit yet, but the 84-year-old insisted he was “duty bound”.
He will try to reassure the dwindling Christian community and foster inter-religious dialogue – meeting Iraq’s most revered Shia Muslim cleric.
The Pope will also celebrate Mass at a stadium in Irbil in the north.
About 10,000 Iraqi Security Forces personnel are being deployed to protect the Pope, while round-the-clock curfews are also being imposed to limit the spread of Covid.
Iraq’s PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi greeted the Pope at the airport. On the plane, Francis said he was happy to be travelling again, adding: “This is an emblematic trip and it is a duty towards a land that has been martyred for so many years.”
He had earlier said Iraqi Christians could not be “let down for a second time”, after Pope John Paul II cancelled plans for a trip in 1999 when talks with then-President Saddam Hussein’s government broke down.
In the two decades since then, one of the world’s oldest Christian communities has seen its numbers plummet from 1.4 million to about 250,000, less than 1% of the population.
Many have fled abroad to escape the violence that has plagued the country since the US-led invasion in 2003 that ousted Saddam.
Tens of thousands were also displaced when Islamic State (IS) militants overran northern Iraq in 2014, destroying their historic churches, seizing their property, and giving them the choice to pay a tax, convert, leave or face death.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church aims to embolden persecuted Christians and call for peace in meetings with political and other religious leaders, reports the BBC’s Mark Lowen, who is travelling with him.
Addressing the Iraqi people in a video message on the eve of his trip, Pope Francis said he was “coming as a pilgrim, as a penitent pilgrim, to implore from the Lord forgiveness and reconciliation after years of war and terrorism”.
He continued: “I am coming among you also as a pilgrim of peace… seeking fraternity and prompted by the desire to pray together and to walk together, also with our brothers and sisters of other religious traditions, in the steps of Father Abraham, who joins in one family Muslims, Jews and Christians.”
Ahead of the visit, Christians who fled to Irbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan region after the IS invaded the Nineveh Plain to the west in 2014, urged the Pope to help them.
Alla Hana Shaba told the Rudow network: “We want the Pope to help the displaced find a place to settle. We have lost our houses and money.”
Another Christian from the north, Saad al-Rassam, told AFP: “We’re hoping the Pope will explain to the government that it needs to help its people. We have suffered so much, we need the support.”
Due to security concerns and a sharp rise in Covid-19 infections, the Pope will have limited exposure to the public, our correspondent says.
The Pope himself has had two shots of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, and his entourage will have been inoculated, but there are fears the trip could become a super-spreader event given the large crowds expected.
On Friday, Francis will meet bishops and other clergy at a Syriac Catholic church in the capital, Our Lady of Salvation, where 52 Christians and police were killed in an attack by jihadists from a precursor group to IS in 2010.
On Saturday, the Pope will fly south to the Shia holy city of Najaf, where he will visit Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The 90-year-old is the prime marja, or spiritual reference, for millions of Shia in Iraq and elsewhere.
Pope Francis will then attend an interreligious meeting at the ancient site of Ur, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham.
Sunday will see him travel to the northern city of Mosul. He will say a prayer of suffrage in Church Square for the victims of the war with IS, which left tens of thousands of civilians dead.
The Pope will also visit nearby Qaraqosh, where Christians have returned since the defeat of IS in 2017 to restore the town’s church and rebuild their homes.
That afternoon, he will celebrate Mass at a stadium in Irbil, which thousands of people may attend.
The government of Senegal has suspended the licences two private TV stations after it accused authorities of focusing too much on protests triggered by the arrest of an opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko.
Local media reported on Thursday that the two stations affected by the decision of the National Audiovisual Regulatory Council (CNRA) are Sen TV and Walf TV channels.
“The stations were accused of broadcasting “in loop” images of the unrest after Mr Sonko’s arrest,” an opposition member who declined to be named said in the capital of Dakar.
Mr Sako has been accused of has been accused of raping a woman at a salon where he went to get massages but the opposition leader maintains that the case is politically motivated and an attempt by President Macky Sall’s allies to ensure he can’t run in the next election.
In a related development, police clashed with supporters of Mr Sonko in Bignona town in the southern Casamance region on Thursday with the government confirming that one person was killed in the violence, which followed the arrest of the opposition leader in Dakar a day earlier.
President Jair Bolsonaro has told Brazilians to “stop whining” about Covid-19, as he criticised measures to curb the virus despite a surge in cases and deaths.
His comments came a day after Brazil saw a record rise in deaths over a 24-hour period.
Brazil is facing its worst phase of the pandemic yet, leaving its health system in crisis.
In response some cities and states have imposed their own restrictions.
Brazil’s health ministry says more than 260,000 people have died with Covid-19, the second-highest pandemic death toll in the world after the US.
On Thursday, another 1,699 deaths were added to that tally, a slight decrease on Wednesday’s record 1,910. Meanwhile, a further 75,102 cases of coronavirus were reported, the second-highest daily rise on record.
The explosion of cases has been attributed to the spread of a highly contagious variant of the virus thought to have originated in the Amazon city of Manaus.
Yet on Thursday Mr Bolsonaro continued to downplay the threat posed by the virus.
“Stop whining. How long are you going to keep crying about it?” Mr Bolsonaro said at an event. “How much longer will you stay at home and close everything? No one can stand it anymore. We regret the deaths, again, but we need a solution.”
The comments were met with a furious response from São Paulo’s governor, João Doria, who has been particularly scathing of Mr Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Doria called President Bolsonaro “a crazy guy” for attacking “governors and mayors who want to buy vaccines and help the country to end this pandemic”.
“How can we face the problem, seeing people die every day? The health system in Brazil is on the verge of collapse,” Mr Doria said.media captionMr Doria described President Bolsonaro as “a crazy guy”
President Bolsonaro has consistently opposed quarantine measures introduced by governors, arguing that the collateral damage to the economy will be worse than the effects of the virus itself.
“Unfortunately, Brazil has to fight, at this moment, two viruses: the coronavirus and Bolsonaro virus. This is a sadness for the Brazilians,” Mr Doria said.
Concerned about the strain on hospitals, mayors and state governors have taken matters into their own hands in recent days.
Rio de Janeiro is the latest city to announce a partial lockdown, placing restrictions on bars, restaurants and beaches.
The measures, which will take effect on Friday for one week, will require bars and restaurants to shut early and suspend commercial activity on the city’s famed beaches.
The measures come after São Paulo state – Brazil’s largest, with 46 million people – declared a “code red” situation, ordering non-essential businesses closed for two weeks starting Saturday.
Frustrated state governors announced on Tuesday that they would join forces to buy vaccines directly from manufacturers rather than wait for the federal government to deliver them.
Brazil, the worst-affected country by Covid in Latin America, has lagged behind in its roll-out of Covid vaccines.
Researchers from the University of São Paulo working with their colleagues at Imperial College London and Oxford University think that the second wave may be linked to the emergence of a new variant of coronavirus which has been traced to the city of Manaus.
The new variant, named P.1, was first detected in people who had travelled from Manaus to Japan in January. The researchers studying it think it first emerged in Manaus in early November and has been spreading there quickly since.
Their data – which is still preliminary – suggests that the P.1 variant could be up to twice as transmittable as the original version of the virus.
It also suggests that the new variant could evade immunity built up by having had the original version of Covid. They put the chance of reinfection at between 25% and 60%.
Manaus, in the Amazon region, was one of the hardest hit cities in the first wave of the pandemic.
One study of blood donors suggested that three quarters of the city’s population had been infected with Covid by October.
It was expected that the people infected in the first wave would have acquired some degree of protection or immunity. And yet, the city has seen a second wave of infections.
Researchers think this may be because a new variant has emerged which may be evading immunity provided by past infections.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai, on Thursday, inaugurated the Board of the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency where the deposed Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido, will serve as vice chairman.
El-Rufai, while inaugurating the board, charged the agency to redouble its efforts in making the state the topmost investment destination in Nigeria by improving its ease of doing business ranking.
The governor formally welcomed the former Emir to the board as vice chairman and thanked him for accepting to serve the people of the state.
El-Rufai said, “The KADIPA has been a very important and successful vehicle in the investment drive of the state, helping since 2015 to attract over$2.1bn in actual and pledged investments.”
Responding on behalf of other members, the Deputy Governor of Kaduna State and the Chairman of the board, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, assured the governor of members’ commitment to improving on the record of KADIPA.
Also speaking, Sanusi expressed delight at attending its first meeting since he was made a member.He also gave his commitment to make inputs in the overall policy of Kaduna State Government.
Seoul, South Korea’s first transgender soldier, who was discharged from the military last year for having gender reassignment surgery, was found dead in her home on Wednesday, authorities said.
Byun Hui-su, 23, who was a staff sergeant before being discharged after she had the operation in Thailand while on leave, was found by emergency officials at her home in the city of Cheongju, south of Seoul. There was no immediate word on the cause of her death.
“Seoul, South KoreaSouth Korea’s first transgender soldier, who was discharged from the military last year for having gender reassignment surgery, was found dead in her home on Wednesday” , authorities said.
Byun Hui-su, 23, who was a staff sergeant before being discharged after she had the operation in Thailand while on leave, was found by emergency officials at her home in the city of Cheongju, south of Seoul.
There was no immediate word on the cause of her death.
A local counseling center, at which Byun was registered, reported to emergency officials that she could not be contacted since February 28, the local fire department said.
Cheongju police confirmed the dead body they found in Byun’s home Wednesday was the former soldier. Authorities said it appeared she had been dead for a few days.
Byun, who had expressed hope of continuing to serve in the military’s female corps, had been pursuing a lawsuit contesting her dismissal, with a hearing expected in April, according to a spokeswoman for military advocacy group Center for Military Human Rights Korea that had worked with her.
A total of 43 graduating students bagged First Class in Faculty of Technology, University of Ibadan, while 112 made Second Class Upper Division, the Dean, Faculty of Technology, Prof. Olaosebikan Fakolujo, disclosed on Thursday.
Fakolujo spoke at the induction of 293 2018/2019 graduates of the faculty as members of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
He said, “I am highly excited to inform this gathering that 43 of them, which constitute 14.7 per cent, graduated with First Class honours. Two are from the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, one is from the Department of Civil Engineering, 18 are from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 10 are from the Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, nine are from Department of Mechanical Engineering and three are from the Department of Petroleum Engineering.
“A total of 112 graduated with Second Class Honours, Upper Division; while 127 of them graduated with Second Class Honours, Lower Division; 10 with Third Class Honours and one graduated with a pass.”
The Italian government has blocked the export of an Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine shipment to Australia.
The decision affects 250,000 doses of the vaccine produced at an AstraZeneca facility in Italy.
Italy is the first EU country to use the bloc’s new regulations allowing exports to be stopped if the company providing the vaccines has failed to meet its obligations to the EU.
The move has been backed by the European Commission, reports say.
AstraZeneca is on track to provide only 40% of the agreed supply to member states in the first three months of the year. It has cited production problems for the shortfall.
In January, then Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte described delays in vaccine supplies by both AstraZeneca and Pfizer as “unacceptable” and accused the companies of violating their contracts.
The EU has been widely criticised for the slow pace of its vaccination programme.
Under the EU vaccine scheme, which was established in June last year, the bloc has negotiated the purchase of vaccines on behalf of member states.
There has been no official comment on the Italian move by Australia, the EU or AstraZeneca.
Australia began its vaccination programme last week using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. It was due to start inoculations with the AstraZeneca jab on Friday.