The chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, has said he will resume his trial only when his doctor gives him a clean bill of health. Maina, who claimed to be suffering from knee injuries, spoke in a recorded video clip which circulated online on Thursday.
The about six-and-a-half-minute-long video clip showed him fielding questions from an unseen “journalist” who claimed to have embarked on an “independent investigation” to verify if Maina had jumped bail as being speculated in the media.
Maina was shown lying in a bed as he fielded questions, with his son, Faisal, who is also being prosecuted for separate charges, seated beside him.
The left knee, which he claimed was injured, was not shown in the clip, Punch reports.
Maina, who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for allegedly laundering N2bn, has been absent from court on seven consecutive occasions since September 29, 2020, when his trial was scheduled to have resumed.
On October 2, Borno South Senator Ali Ndume, who stood surety for Maina to enable him to get bail, told Justice Okon Abang that he could no longer find the defendant.
But Maina, who was in hiding for about two years before he was re-arrested by the EFCC last year, said in the video clip that he had not absconded from his ongoing trial.
Asked when he would resume his trial, he said, “The doctors are here. You need to ask the doctors. But what they told me was that I would need six to seven weeks for recovery.”
But when asked further if he was ready for his trial, he said, “Of course I am ready, as soon as I am healed.”
“They told me that the next knee cap, they may not be able to do it here,” Maina added.
Asked to respond to specific allegations that he had jumped bail, Maina said, “You have done your independent investigation. You were able to get my location Punch reports.
“Now, you have seen me. You have seen the situation , and you can tell whether or not I am running away from my trial.”
Maina also alleged that the judge had in the course of the trial shown bias against him, citing an occasion when the judge asked him to stop gazing at him.
He said, “My lawyer asked him why, and he said ‘I don’t want him to look at me because I have a wife and children, and I want them alive’. Does that suggest that looking at him would kill his wife and children?”
At a news conference, RKI President Lothar Wieler said Germans must be wary of what he called the “prevention paradox” – the feeling that measures were no longer needed because case numbers were relatively low.
“The current situation worries me a lot. We don’t know how the situation in Germany will develop in the coming weeks. It’s possible we’ll see more than 10,000 new cases a day, it’s possible the virus will spread out of control,” he said.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn praised the German people for their “prudent actions” in integrating the rules into their day-to-day lives, but added: “We must not gamble away this achievement.”
He pointed the finger at large groups of socialising young people, who “think they are invincible”, for failing to follow the rules on social distancing and hygiene and welcomed the curfews on evening entertainment introduced by Berlin and Frankfurt.
As the autumn school holidays get under way in Germany, rules for domestic travel have also been tightened and include a ban on overnight stays in hotels or holiday apartments for anyone coming from “risk zones” where infection rates top 50 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Germans have also been urged to avoid travelling abroad during the holiday period.
There are already bans on large gatherings in areas with high infection rates, testing at airports for people arriving from high-risk countries and fines for anyone failing to wear face coverings in shops or on public transport
Protests have been held in several cities in Algeria to demand action to stop violence against women following the rape and murder of a teenager.
The charred body of Chaïma, 19, was found in a deserted petrol station in Thenia, 80 km (50 miles) east of the capital Algiers, this month.
Her killer confessed to the crime and is under arrest, local media say.
There are also reports that the charred body of another woman was found in a forest overnight.
Women held sit-in protests in Algiers and Oran, chanting Chaïma’s first name and calling for an end to gender-based violence. Activists also took to social media with the hashtag #JeSuisChaima (I am Chaïma).
Activists say there was a heavy police presence despite the small protests.
Chaïma’s body was found burnt
“This government offers no shelters or mechanisms to protect the victims from their torturers, this government says it has laws, but in reality women are asked to forgive their aggressor, be it their brother or their father or whatever,” one woman at the rally in Algiers said.
“Women file a complaint and wait three or four years for it to be resolved and for a judgement to be rendered. These are unacceptable conditions. Algeria is for Algerian men and women.”
Chaïma’s mother said the suspect had attempted to rape her daughter in 2016, when she was 15, but the case was dropped.
Femicides Algeria group, which tracks such killings, says 38 women have been killed on account of their gender in the country since the start of the year. They recorded 60 in 2019, but believe the actual number is far higher as many such killings go unreported.
The FBI says it has thwarted a plot to abduct and overthrow Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Mrs Whitmer has become a target of coronavirus sceptics after enacting strict mitigation measures that were overturned by a judge last week.
Officials say the kidnapping plot involved six men who planned to hold a “treason trial” for her.
“Hatred, bigotry and violence have no place” in Michigan, Mrs Whitmer said, describing the accused as “depraved”.
According to a sworn FBI affidavit, an undercover law enforcement source attended a June meeting in Dublin, Ohio, where a group of Michigan-based militia members discussed overthrowing state governments “that they believed were violating the US Constitution”.
Media captionOfficials say the alleged plot involved kidnapping Mrs Whitmer from her holiday home
“Several members talked about murdering ‘tyrants’ or ‘taking’ a sitting governor,” the charging document states. In one video, a suspect denounced the state’s role in deciding when to reopen gyms during the coronavirus lockdown.
Those arrested include Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, Brandon Casert and Ty Garbin, whose home was raided by authorities on Wednesday.
The group wished to gather about “200 men” to storm the capitol building and take hostages, including the governor. They hoped to enact their plan before the November presidential election. If that failed, they planned to attack the governor at her home, officials say.
The accused “co-ordinated surveillance of the governors’ vacation home”, said the US Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, adding that they also planned Molotov cocktail attacks on police officers, purchased a taser, and pooled their funds to purchase explosives and tactical equipment.
The six men – five of whom are from Michigan and one from Delaware – allegedly planned to hold a “treason trial” against Mrs Whitmer.
Media caption Michigan protesters
The accused held weapons training in several states, and at times attempted to create bombs, the FBI says, adding that their training was captured on video.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, said that separate to the kidnapping charges, seven members of the “wolverine watchmen” militia will be charged by the state with gang affiliation and providing material support to terrorists. Mrs Nessel said the arrested militia members hoped to start a civil war.
“Michigan law enforcement officers are united in our commitment to rooting out terrorism in any form and we will take swift action against anyone seeking to cause violence or harm in our state,” Colonel Joe Gasper, director of the Michigan State Police, said in a statement announcing charges against the “wolverine watchmen”.
In a press conference on Thursday, the governor tied the plot against her to the rhetoric of President Donald Trump, who she said has spent the last several months “stoking distrust, fomenting anger and giving comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division”.
The governor pointed to Mr Trump’s failure to condemn white supremacists at the first presidential debate, calling his remarks a “rallying cry” for hate groups. He later disavowed such organisations in an interview with Fox News.
Numerous violent incidents have been linked to citizen militia groups across the US in recent years. Adherents, who are often white men, sometimes brandish weapons during protests. The Department of Homeland Security warned this week in an annual report that violent white supremacy was the “most persistent and lethal threat in the homeland”.
Mrs Whitmer’s lockdown orders drew thousand of protesters to the state capitol, where many compared her to German dictator Adolf Hitler. In April, Mr Trump cast support for the protesters, tweeting “LIBERATE MICHIGAN”.
In May, armed protesters opposed to lockdown stormed the state capitol.
“None of us has faced a challenge like Covid-19,” Mrs Whitmer said on Thursday. “We are not one another’s enemy. This virus is our enemy, and this enemy is relentless.”
Last Friday, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that Mrs Whitmer did not have the legal authority to issue emergency executive orders and that that responsibility belonged to the state’s legislature.
Following the ruling, the attorney who argued the case before the top court advised citizens to “burn your masks”, which health officials say are necessary to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Spain abortion: Government works to repeal parental consent rule
Equality Minister Irene Montero
The Spanish government has said it wants to change the law to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to seek an abortion without parental permission.
Equality Minister Irene Montero said women should have the right to “decide about their bodies”.
In 2015, the ruling Popular Party (PP) changed Spain’s abortion laws and mandated parental consent for those aged between 16 and 18.
It is important to know that abortion is legal in Spain in the first 14 weeks of a woman’s pregnancy.
On Wednesday, Ms Montero said the reform was “more than necessary”.
She added that other measures would be introduced, including a greater focus on sex education which she described as a “vaccine” in the fight against gender violence.
The law change would also include the right to the “newest forms” of contraception, the minister told a parliamentary commission.
The government is aiming to repeal the reform – introduced by the PP in 2015 – which established the obligation of parental consent in the case of girls between 16 and 18-years-old who wanted to end their pregnancy.
But to be able to change that rule they would need the backing of an absolute majority in parliament, which is 176 votes
Abortion was first legalised in Spain in 1985 in cases of rape or physical damage to the mother or child.
The scope of the law was broadened in 2010 by the last socialist government, which allowed abortion up to 22 weeks in cases of foetal deformities.
In 2014, then Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dropped plans to limit abortion to cases of rape or where the mother’s health was at serious risk.
The proposals drew widespread opposition and prompted dissent in Mr Rajoy’s Popular Party, despite being part of its election programme in 2011.
The government instead changed the law to stop 16 and 17-year-olds having an abortion without parental consent.
Nicola Sturgeon announces tougher restrictions for pubs and restaurants
All pubs and restaurants across central Scotland are to be closed under new measures aimed at tackling a surge in coronavirus cases.
The new rules will apply to licensed premises across the central belt, including Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Pubs and restaurants will be able to open in other parts of Scotland – but can only serve alcohol outdoors.
The new rules, which will be in force from 18:00 on Friday until 25 October, apply to about 3.4 million people.
They cover people living in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Forth Valley, Lothian and Ayrshire and Arran health board areas.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the restrictions were “intended to be short, sharp action to arrest a worrying increase in infection”.
She warned that without taking action, the country risks “returning to the peak level of infection by the end of the month”.
But she admitted that the new rules would be disruptive to many businesses and would be unwelcome to many people.
The Scottish Hospitality Group, which includes many of the the country’s best known pubs and restaurants, accused the first minister of “effectively signing a death sentence” for many businesses.
And the Federation of Small Businesses said the move would have a major knock on impact across other parts of the economy, including tourism.
Opposition parties have called for more detail on a £40m support package for affected business that was announced by Ms Sturgeon, and have questioned the need for the blanket closure of pubs and restaurants.
The new rules for the five central belt areas are:
all licensed premises – with the exception of hotels for residents – will be required to close indoors and outdoors, although takeaways will be permitted
cafes which do not have an alcohol licence will be able to stay open until 18:00
snooker and pool halls, indoor bowling alleys, casinos and bingo halls will also close in the five health board areas for two weeks from 10 October
contact sports for people aged 18 and over will be suspended for the next two weeks – with an exception for professional sports
indoor group exercise activities will not be allowed, although the current rules will remain in place for under 18s and gyms can remain open for individual exercise
outdoor live events will not be permitted for the next fortnight.
There will be no travel ban in any of the areas, but people in the central belt have been urged to avoid public transport unless it is “absolutely necessary”.
And they have also been advised not to travel outside of the health board area they live in if they do not need to.
Throughout the pandemic Scotland has tended to adopt a slightly more cautious approach than England.
It has imposed more restrictions and lifted them more slowly in general. The latest move is in line with that trend.
There is little difference in overall infection rates. Scotland has seen 85 cases per 100,000 in the past week, compared to England’s 109.
The measures imposed by the Scottish government are focussed on areas with the highest infection rates.
But those places are some way below the levels seen in England’s hotspots.
Cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle have seen around 500 cases per 100,000 people over the past week – that is more than twice the level of infection in Glasgow for example.
But the differences between the two nations should not mask the growing concern there is in England about the infection rates, particularly in the north of country.
Senior ministers and their advisers are today discussing whether extra steps are needed south of the border.
The problem is action to supress the virus has negative consequences too.
In other parts of the country, pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes will be able to open indoors until 18:00 – but only to serve food and non-alcoholic drinks.
However, they will be able to serve alcohol in outdoor settings such as beer gardens until 22:00, with the current rules on no more than six people from two households remaining in place.
And the existing rules will continue to apply to weddings that have already been booked, and funerals, in all parts of Scotland.
Ms Sturgeon said regulations would be introduced to extend the mandatory use of face coverings in indoor communal settings such as staff canteens and workplace corridors.
Shops across Scotland will be asked to return to 2m physical distancing from this weekend, and to reintroduce measures such as one-way systems.
It comes as Scotland recorded more than 1,000 new confirmed cases of the virus in a single day for the first time – although the country is doing far more testing now than at the height of the pandemic earlier in the year.
The R number is currently believed to be higher in Scotland than in other UK nations, and the number of people dying or in hospital with the virus has increased over the past week.
The number of UK cases rose by 14,162 on Wednesday. This was a slight drop on Tuesday’s figure, but the seven-day rolling average is still pointing upwards.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, Ms Sturgeon said the “vast majority” of pubs and restaurants had worked hard to ensure the safety of their staff and customers.
Beer gardens outside of the central belt will be able to serve alcohol until 22:00
But she added: “Indoor environments, where different households from different age groups can mix, inevitably present a risk of transmission.
“That risk can be increased in some hospitality premises if good ventilation is difficult, and if it is hard to control the movement of people.
“And the presence of alcohol can of course affect people’s willingness to physically distance.”
Scottish Conservative group leader Ruth Davidson criticised a lack of detail over the £40m support package that was announced by the first minister.
Ms Davidson said: “These businesses deserve better. They need to know how much they can apply for, when they can apply for it and how long they will have to wait before support reaches them.
“Those answers could have been provided today, but Nicola Sturgeon failed to do that.”
And Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said the government should target premises which break the rules “instead of shutting down every single business”.
The daily coronavirus death toll is on the worrying trajectory in Iran, where a record 239 died with Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
That increase brings Iran’s overall death toll to 27,658 since the pandemic began, the country’s health ministry reported on Wednesday. It has the highest official death toll and confirmed number of infections in the Middle East, according to Johns Hopkins University.
A further 4,019 cases were also registered on 7 October, pushing the total number of people who have officially tested positive in the country to 483,844. Today’s rise in infections is the second highest since the outbreak began, the highest being 4,151 a day earlier.
Authorities have attributed the rise in cases to an increase in testing and people flouting social-distancing rules.
After a trial lasting more than five years, the leadership of Greece’s neo-Nazi party has been convicted of running a criminal organisation.
Big crowds gathered outside the court in Athens as the judges gave verdicts on 68 defendants.
The criminal inquiry into the party began with the murder of an anti-fascist rapper in 2013.
Leader Nikos Michaloliakos and six colleagues were convicted of heading a criminal group. Supporter Giorgos Roupakias was found guilty of murdering an anti-racist musician and 15 others were convicted of conspiracy in the case.
Some 2,000 police were deployed around Athens Appeals Court as thousands of protesters demanded long jail terms, carrying banners that read “fear will not win” and “Nazis in prison”, Greek media reported.
Tear gas was fired into the crowd as some of the protesters clashed with police and threw petrol bombs.
image captionThousands of people crowded outside the court building in the centre of Athens
Eleven of the defendants were in the court when the verdict was read out, journalist Dmitris Parras told the BBC, along with 50 attorneys and 50 journalists.
Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou said the verdict was an important day for the country’s democracy.
Hundreds of witnesses gave evidence in the trial, which was delayed this year by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Who was on trial?
At the centre of the trial are Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos and 18 ex-MPs who were elected in 2012 when the neo-Nazi party came third in national elections on an anti-immigrant, nationalist platform. Golden Dawn no longer has any MPs in parliament.
image captionGolden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos, an admirer of the Nazis, formed the party in the 1980s
After they won almost 7% of the vote in May 2012, emboldened supporters attacked political opponents and migrants.
Golden Dawn supporter Giorgos Roupakias had already confessed to the murder of rapper Pavlos Fyssas. The musician was chased down by thugs and stabbed in Piraeus in September 2013.
As the verdict was delivered, Fyssas’s mother Magda cried out, “Pavlos made it, my son!”.
What were the verdicts?
The key verdict on Wednesday was that Golden Dawn – Chrysi Avgi in Greek – was a criminal group. Its leadership was found guilty of running it.
They included Michaloliakos and six former MPs – Ilias Kasidiaris, Ioannis Lagos, Christos Pappas, Artemis Matthaiopoulos, Ilias Panagiotaros and Giorgos Germenis. The other ex-MPs were found guilty of joining a criminal organisation.
image captionMagda Fyssa, the mother of murdered anti-fascist musician Pavlos Fyssas, reacted to the verdicts in courts
The three judges, led by Maria Lepeniotou, were due to deliver sentencing later.
As well as the deadly stabbing of Pavlos Fyssas, defendants in the trial were also convicted of other violent attacks on migrants and left-wing political opponents.
image captionPavlos Fyssas died after he was set upon by thugs outside a cafe in Keratsini in Piraeus
Five Golden Dawn members were convicted of the attempted murders of Egyptian fishermen and four of the attempted murder of communist activists in the PAME union.
Who is their leader?
Nikos Michaloliakos founded the movement in the mid-1980s and was admirer of Nazism and a Holocaust denier, giving the Hitler salute at party rallies.
But he had always denied any knowledge of the Pavlos Fyssas murder. When police raided his home in 2013, they found weapons and ammunition.
Golden Dawn officially denied being a neo-Nazi movement, but its badge closely resembled a swastika, some senior members praised Adolf Hitler, and the clothing of choice at anti-immigrant protests was black T-shirts and combat trousers.
Witnesses told the trial that members were trained to handle weapons and used Nazi symbols.
Last December, chief prosecutor Adamantia Economou prompted uproar, with a call for the party officials to be cleared, arguing there was no evidence they had any part in planning or carrying out the series of attacks.https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.35.13/iframe.htmlmedia captionMourners laid tributes after Pavlos Fyssas’s death, as Mark Lowen reports
How has Greece reacted
There has been disgust at Golden Dawn across the political spectrum in Greece. The verdict was praised as “just” and “historic” by Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who was president of Greece until earlier this year.
Centre-left political leader Fofi Gennimata said the decision sent a strong message to Europe that “fascism has no place in our lives”.
At the weekend, centre-right Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote of Greece’s “traumatic, painful, and unfortunately, very bloody” experience of Golden Dawn, while ultimately praising the country’s democratic success in getting rid of it both in parliament and daily life.
Left-wing opposition leader Alexis Tsipras was adamant that “members of this criminal gang must go to prison”.
Nils Muiznieks of Amnesty International said the trial had been a serious test for Greek justice but that a “clear and unequivocal message” could help deter future racist violence.
Meanwhile, the Jewish cemetery in Athens was daubed this week with anti-Semitic graffiti and Nazi slogans, prompting condemnation from Greek ministers and the Jewish community
The anti-cybercrime department of the Cambodia Police has arrested two Nigerians, Makcava Femi Wisdom, 28, and Spark Onwa, 33 over an alleged online scam.
Also arrested was a 33-year-old Cambodian woman, Thon Sarem.
General Lieutenant Neth Savoeun, the director of National Police, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
According to Savoeun, the arrest was carried out by officers led by lieutenant Chea Pove, and coordinated by the Phnom Penh court prosecutor, on October 1.
He said they were brought to the Department of Technology Crimes for processing and later sent to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for legal action following a complaint.
The PM made a speech at the virtual Tory party conference and even ardent supporters would have to join in with Government critics and agree there was an awful lot of wind in the speech as the Prime Minister pledged a new concentration on creating clean energy sources, mainly wind.
Mr Johnson at one point stated: “As Saudi Arabia is to oil, the UK is to wind.”
With almost Trumpian bravado, Mr Johnson challenged the naysayers to physical jousts to prove his point, saying: “I could refute these critics of my athletic abilities in any way they want: arm-wrestle, leg-wrestle, Cumberland wrestle, sprint-off, you name it”
In a wide-ranging speech full of ambition but, as ever, lacking in detail he also promised to “fix the injustice of care home funding” by “bringing the magic of averages to the rescue of millions”, although aides were unable to set out what he meant.
He wanted to explore the use of one-to-one teaching for gifted pupils or those in danger of falling behind, saying it could be “transformational”.
Johnson also attacked “lefty human rights lawyers and other do-gooders” who had “hamstrung” the legal system.
Drivel
He shook off any doubters that he was too physically unfit for the job, saying “and of course this is self-evident drivel, the kind of seditious propaganda that you would expect from people who don’t want this Government to succeed, who wanted to stop us delivering Brexit and all our other manifesto pledges.”
Then the PM discussed his own experience with Covid. Johnson said he was “too fat” and had lost 26 pounds since he had the disease. The he went revealed himself to be a fan of 90s dance and soul band M People
He referenced one of the band’s biggest hits Search For The Hero, saying: “I am going to continue that diet, because you’ve got to search for the hero inside yourself in the hope that that individual is considerably slimmer.”
As you can imagine this comment left many on social media bemused.
One half of the award went to the American mathematician and physicist Roger Penrose who had in 1965 shown that Einstein’s theory of relativity led to the formation of black holes that engulf everything, including light because of the massive gravitational pull. Not even Albert Einstein thought that black holes could actually exist.
One half of the award went to the American mathematician and physicist Roger Penrose. The other half of the prize was shared by the German astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel and American astronomer Andrea M Ghez whose groups have been focussing at a region called Sagittarius A* at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy. (AGENCIES.)
One half of the award went to the American mathematician and physicist Roger Penrose who had in 1965 shown that Einstein’s theory of relativity led to the formation of black holes that engulf everything, including light because of the massive gravitational pull. Not even Albert Einstein thought that black holes could actually exist.
To prove that black hole formation is a stable process, Penrose needed to expand the methods used to study the theory of relativity with new mathematical concepts. It is still regarded as the most important contribution to the general theory of relativity since Einstein.
Earlier this year, researchers from Glasgow University used a ring of speakers and a sound-absorbing disk to practically demonstrate how energy can be obtained from a black hole as predicted by Penrose in 1969.
The other half of the prize was shared by the German astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel and American astronomer Andrea M Ghez whose groups have been focussing at a region called Sagittarius A* at the centre of Milky Way galaxy.
With this, Ghez became the fourth woman to have received the award since 1901 when it was first given out. The other three are Donna Strickland who got it in 2018, Maria Geopperts-Mayer in 1963, and Marie Curie in 1903. Curie is also the only woman and one of four people to have received a second Nobel Prize; she received the Chemistry prize in 1911.
By mapping the orbits of the brightest stars in the region, both the groups observed that there was something both invisible and heavy forcing the stars to swirl around. This object has a mass of four million suns squeezed in a region not larger than our solar system. According to the current theory of gravity, there is only one candidate fitting the description – a supermassive black hole.
“The discoveries of this year’s Laureates have broken new ground in the study of compact and supermassive objects. But these exotic objects still pose many questions that beg for answers and motivate future research. Not only questions about their inner structure, but also questions about how to test our theory of gravity under the extreme conditions in the immediate vicinity of a black hole”, said David Haviland, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics in a release.
Mikhail Mishustin PRIME MINISTER OF RUSSIA contracted the virus in late April, forcing him to step down and hand over power to his deputy at the peak of coronavirus infections in Russia. Mr Mishustin, 54, had only been appointed four months previously and had been overseeing Moscow’s handling of the pandemic at the time of his positive test. His sickness — alongside a handful of other cabinet members and president Vladimir Putin’s spokesman — came as Russia’s virus cases grew at the fastest rate outside the US, undercutting Kremlin assurances that the situation was under control.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has recovered from coronavirus, a week after testing positive for the infection. Pashinyan on June 1 said that he and his family members have been tested for COVID-19.
The Armenian leader, in a Facebook post, said he and his family members’ test results have come negative.
“We have just received the results of repeated tests on members of my family. The results of all of our tests were negative.
In a Twitter post she wrote: “After testing negatively consistently, including every day since Thursday, I tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday morning while experiencing no symptoms.”
“As an essential worker, I have worked diligently to provide needed information to the American People at this time.”
McEnany added that she will quarantine and will “continue to work on the behalf of the American people”.
McEnany said she tested positive on Monday.
“As an essential worker, I have worked diligently to provide needed information to the American People at this time,” she wrote. “With my recent positive test, I will begin the quarantine process and will continue working on behalf of the American People remotely.”
She attended a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House late last month when Trump introduced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court. That was a common event for many of those who tested positive. Very few people were wearing masks that day.
McEnany last briefed at the White House on Thursday, however she held an informal gaggle with reporters on Sunday after appearing on Fox News. She was not wearing a mask in either instance.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett walks to the microphone after President Donald Trump, right, announced Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday, Sept.26,2020.
When asked, McEnany refused to give an update on the number of White House staff members who have been infected
Against a drop in the number of Covid-related deaths and daily cases in Peru one Latin American country where infections continue to rise is Argentina.
Though sad but true, Health Authorities registered their highest number of daily cases so far on Friday with 14,687 confirmed infections. While the figures were lower on Saturday and Sunday, Argentina looks set to pass the 800,000 cases mark later on Monday.
Recent Statistics
The worst affected area is the capital, Buenos Aires, and its surroundings.
Argentina was one of the countries which imposed a strict lockdown early on but, as it has loosened restrictions, the number of infections has jumped up.
Experts warn that because the number of coronavirus tests being carried out in Argentina is very low, the real figure could be much higher.
Mr Trump waved to well-wishers from behind the glass of a sealed car after tweeting that he would leave Walter Reed hospital, near Washington, to pay a “surprise visit” to “patriots” outside. Inside the car, at least two people could be seen wearing protective gear in the front seats, with Mr Trump sat in the back.
Experts say the president’s short car trip broke public health advice to quarantine when seeking treatment for the virus, and may have put Secret Service agents inside the vehicle at risk of infection.
Those inside the president’s car would now need to quarantine for 14 days, he said.
Democrats have also criticised the trip, with House of Representatives Hakeem Jeffries tweeting: “We need leadership. Not photo ops.”
But the White House’s Judd Deere defended the move, saying “appropriate precautions were taken in the execution of this movement to protect the president and all those supporting it, including PPE [personal protective equipment]”.
Meanwhile, NBC News reports that Melania Trump, who has remained at the White House with mild symptoms, decided against visiting her husband in hospital because of the risks to staff.
“She has Covid,” an unnamed official told NBC on Saturday. “That would expose the agents who would drive her there and the medical staff who would walk her up to him.”
It emerged the president’s condition was more serious than previously reported when he went to hospital on Friday evening.
The White House had said Mr Trump was experiencing “mild symptoms” of Covid-19, but then it was confirmed that he had received extra oxygen after his levels dipped twice in two days.
He was also given the steroid dexamethasone, which is normally reserved for serious cases, according to experts.
Remain glued to Naijapremiumgist for updates on president Trump and other news
MORE WORLD LEADERS THAT HAVE CONTRACTED COVID19. Naijapremiumgist brings to you popular and influential leaders around the world that have contracted COVID19. Some of them have been declared healthy and fit to continue ruling recently. The countries include:
Iranian leaders
Iran, the epicentre of the Mideast’s initial coronavirus outbreak, has seen several top officials test positive. Among them are Senior Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri and Vice-President Massoumeh Ebtekar. Cabinet members have tested positive, too.
Eshaq Jahangiri
Massoumeh Ebtekar
Indian leaders
Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, 71, recently tested positive but his office said he had no symptoms and was quarantined at home. Home Minister Amit Shah, the No. 2 man in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, was hospitalized for COVID-19 last month and has recovered. Junior Railways Minister Suresh Angadi last week was the first federal minister to die from COVID-19.
Venkaiah Naidu
Amit shah
Suresh Angadi
Israeli leaders
Israel’s then-Health Minister Yaakov Litzman tested positive in April and recovered. Litzman is a leader in Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, which has seen a high rate of infection as many have defied restrictions on religious gatherings. The minister for Jerusalem affairs, Rafi Peretz, tested positive over the summer as cases surged in the country and recovered.
Rafi Peretz
Yaakov Litzman
South African leaders
The country’s Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi were infected as cases surged in June and July.
Mantashe Gwede
Thulas Nxesi
South Sudanese leaders
From South Sudan, Vice-President Riek Machar was among several cabinet ministers infected.
Riek Machar
Naijapremiumgist also observed the Canadian space and here is the information on Canadian politicians and COVID-19
Canadian politicians from federal party leaders down to the municipal level have also been personally affected by COVID-19. Here are a few who have either tested positive or needed to isolate themselves after possible exposure.
Erin O’Toole
The federal Conservative leader and his wife tested positive for the virus last month, not long after O’Toole won the leadership of the party. It’s believed he contracted the virus from a staffer who was in his immediate circle. He emerged from quarantine to deliver his official reply to the Liberals’ throne speech. “We all have to be very cautious,” he said upon his return.
Yves-François Blanchet
The Bloc Québécois leader and his wife also tested positive for the virus last month. He returned to Parliament the same day as O’Toole, saying he was lucky to have caught a mild case of the illness. “Some people go through it much more painfully than I did,” he said. “I was very, very, very lucky. Some people die of that thing.”
Justin Trudeau
The prime minister’s wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, tested positive for COVID-19 on March 12 after a trip to the United Kingdom. The prime minister subsequently went into a 14-day isolation at home with his three kids, just as the pandemic lockdown was beginning in Canada. Trudeau remained in isolation for almost a month, not returning to Parliament Hill until April 8. He never developed symptoms and never got tested for COVID-19, but says he will take an antibody test when they are widely available.
Bill Morneau
The former federal finance minister was one of at least eight MPs who were tested for COVID-19 and self-isolated after meeting with United Nations World Food Program executive director David Beasley in Ottawa on March 11 and March 12. Beasley met privately with Morneau, attended a reception and appeared at a House of Commons committee. Beasley tested positive for COVID-19 about a week later.
Kamal Khera
Kamal Khera
The Brampton-West Liberal MP tested positive for COVID-19 on March 25. She was one of the MPs who met with Beasley, although her office said it was not clear where she contracted the virus.
Seamus O’Regan
The federal minister of natural resources was tested and self-isolated in early March after developing a bad cold. He had gone to a mining conference in Toronto attended by more than 23,000 people from around the world. At least three people at the conference tested positive for COVID-19, but O’Regan was not among them.
Sylvie Parent
The mayor of Longueuil, Que., on Montreal’s south shore, tested positive for COVID-19 last month. Her positive test led to the isolation and testing of at least seven other Quebec politicians, including three provincial cabinet minister
Pastor Enoch Adeboye,the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), prayed that all terrorists and their sponsors will not see 2021 yesterday.
Adeboye also assured Nigerians that the Almighty God will arise against those pretending to be the country’s friends while planning to enslave the nation.
In his prayer, he said:
“Where they say there is no way, God will arise and make a way for Nigeria and everyone. Any form of stagnation in Nigeria will come to an end and every terrorist and their sponsors will not see the New Year in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
Claiming that God has given the country victory over the Coronavirus pandemic, Adeboye admonished everyone to always praise God at all times.
He made a statement;
“We thank God for the victory over Coronavirus and we pray that the victory will be total and permanent.”
He said further;
“We also pray that God will help us to be united and let our tomorrow be alright.”
The RCCG General Overseer, who took his reading from the book of Psalms 68: 1 to 4, also said;
“God will fight for us, arise and make a way where there is no way.”
Another employee at the White House has tested positive for coronavirus as the number of confirmed infections among Trump’s inner circle continues to rise.
This time, it is Trump’s personal assistant, Nick Luna, that tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday.
Luna, whose official title is the Director of Oval Office Operations, travels frequently with the president.
He attended the first presidential debate in Cleveland on Tuesday as well as other more recent events.
Nicholas Luna (Personal Assistant)
ANY UPDATE ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S STATUS?
We have the following to learn from Trump’s medical team, Dr Conley’s update especially.
Trump is being treated with dexamethasone, a steroid that’s given to patients with severe or critical Covid-19, in order to help their lung function
Despite this, Dr Sean Conley says the team was planning for Trump to potentially be discharged from Walter Reed Medical Center as early as Monday, to continue his course of treatment at the White House
The president has had two dips in his oxygen saturation level since Thursday – one episode where it fell below 94% and another where it was below 93%
Dr Conley recommended the president be given supplemental oxygen. Although Trump was adamant that he didn’t need it ,he was given oxygen
On Friday Trump was up and out of bed, but it was decided that he should go to Walter Reed
Asked why he didn’t reveal Trump had received oxygen earlier, Dr Conley said: “I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude of the team… The fact of the matter is, he’s doing reall ry well.”
Naijapremiumgist wishes president Trump speedy recovery.
More than two people have died and up to 20 are still missing after a powerful storm hit south-eastern France and north-western Italy.
The storm brought fierce winds and torrential rain.
A number of villages north of Nice in France suffered serious damage from floods and landslides, with roads, bridges and homes destroyed.
What’s the latest in France?
French Prime Minister Jean Castex has deployed the army and released emergency funds to tackle the worst floods for decades in south-eastern France.
Up to 20 people are either missing or have not checked in with relatives.
“There are very many people of whom we have no news,” Mr Castex said.
Bernard Gonzalez, prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes region, said: “Just because their loved ones haven’t been able to get in touch doesn’t mean that they have been taken by the storm.”He said the prospect of more rain was “a worry”.
Meteorological agency Météo-France said 450mm (17.7in) of rain fell in some areas over 24 hours – the equivalent of nearly four months at this time of year, reports Reuters news agency.
The southern Alps region appeared the worst hit, with serious damage in the Roya, Tinée, Esteron and Vésubie valleys.
The villages of Saint-Martin-Vésubie and Rimplas were cut off, with roads inaccessible.
A collapsed bridge after heavy rains hit the village of Roquebillière in southern FranceA road in Roquebillière was partially washed away during the storm
One 29-year-old resident of Roquebillière told Agence France-Presse: “I lost everything but we are alive. There must be one room left in my house.”
Two elderly people were swept away as their house collapsed in the village and their fate is unknown.
On Friday, the storm also buffeted France’s western Atlantic coast, causing tens of thousands of homes to lose power.
Winds of more than 180km/h (112mph) were recorded in Brittany on Thursday and Friday.
LATEST IN ITALY
In north-western Italy, flooding was described as “historic”. A section of a bridge over the Sesia river collapsed
The two fatalities were a 53-year-old firefighter in the Aosta Valley who died during a rescue operation, and a 36-year-old man whose car was swept into a river in the Piedmont region. His brother managed to get out of the car.
A section of a key bridge over the Sesia river in Piedmont’s Vercelli province collapsed shortly after it had been reopened on Saturday afternoon.
Damaged caused to a road near Cuneo in Italy’s Piedmont region
In the rest of Piedmont, several villages were cut off after the rains made roads impassable. The situation there was described as “extremely critical” by officials.
Piedmont President Alberto Cirio told La Stampa that 630mm of rain had fallen in 24 hours, an amount “unheard of since 1954”.
Hundreds of aid workers have been sent to help rescue efforts in the cut-off villages.
The storm also affected the north-western regions of Lombardy and Liguria. The Roja river in Ventimiglia has also flooded.
Flood alerts remain for sections of the Po river which have swollen by 3m in 24 hours.
One good piece of news was the rescue of about 20 people reported missing by Italian authorities just over the border in France.
Venice’s newly built Mose flooding system
The city of Venice, which had been braced for high waters after suffering violent storms in August, was successfully protected by a flood barrier system recently declared fully operational.
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
