₦airaland Forum

Macsjebs:
Really bad, I am still in shock at how much loss I have to bear to these attacks

I can't believe despite all the reviews on the thread on my signature, I am still yet to get a patronage so as to regain all loss incurred

Why are you always complaining and lamenting?

Say something positive to yourself and to your business.

Always send faith to God for your blessing to be claimed.

Complains, worries and lamentations can not claim your blessings for you but only faith.

Jerryembassy91:
Opinion is free but wisdom is expensive..
Learn how to hide your stupidity in public also learn how to read but I see you won’t,
I caused all this by replying you.
I wish this same thing to your father and loved ones.

I can see that you are very uncivilized and frustrated. Poverty kill you there.

babag93:
See how those pictures look like the scene from some hollywood apocalyptic movie.

Dear youths.. GET YOUR PVC!!

"The walking dead" comes to mind

babag93:
See how those pictures look like the scene from some hollywood apocalyptic movie.

Dear youths.. GET YOUR PVC!!

The walking dead comes to mind

Jerryembassy91:
Learn how read very well pls..
He is not James Nwafor,
An Innocent man was beaten you are here saying shit..
Pray for Wisdom.
Did he kill your family member ?

If he is innocent, why are they attacking him?
He may not be the SARS they are looking for, but I'm convinced beyond reasonable doubt that this very man must have done something evil to attract this sort of treatment.

You are only supporting him because he is rich and maybe he is the one sustaining your wretched family from the crumbs falling from his table.

Jerryembassy91:
Good morning,
This video went viral yesterday with the caption as “James Nwafor of Awkuzu SARS caught and Beaten” the man in the video was mistaken to be the wanted JAMES NWAFOR of Awkuzu SARS.
He was attacked almost to death for no reason. He is a well respected man, his name is GABRIEL OKONKWO the owner of GBO plaza in Alaba int’l market Lagos.

He is in pain fighting for life in the hospital, his family members are getting a lot of bashing and death threat from the public.
Please help the family push this to the front page. Thank you.



See Video


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXjEj2qfDZ4

Lalasticlala mynd44 Dominique pls help push this to the front .. the family want people to see this, this is my dad’s friend and a church member too.

So because he is your dad's friend and a church member, then he should be allowed to go unpunished after killing innocent citizens.

lexy2014:
I didn't ask if there are different factions among d protesters. This is what i asked:

If u say criminals are masquerading as protesters, who then are d thugs attacking d protesters?

As far as I'm concerned, I have answered your question.

lexy2014:
If u say criminals are masquerading as protesters, who then are d thugs attacking d protesters?

There are different factions among the protesters

They got what they deserved.
What were they doing in the midst of notorious criminals masquerading as protesters?

Them never see anything.

Chii59:
The second chance that cost Opay's CEO his life. Just be careful sha.

Keep your advise to yourself.
You women finds it hard to forgive. We men are not like that

Xavierolla:
Saw it on Twitter

Abeg drop woman matter

LordNicvuitton:
Yes I understand your stance, however I'm old enough to date and I would love to settle down in a few years.

Since you are old enough to date and settle down, then why are you complaining of the financial burden on you?

I'm sure the man was only defending himself from the murderous woman.
Women of nowadays like attacking their partners with deadly weapons at the slightest provocation, hence the man has the right to engage in self defense.

Uganda boda boda rider sets himself on fire 'over bribe'

A 29-year-old motorbike taxi rider in Uganda has died after setting fire to himself inside a police station.

Hussein Walugembe's bike was seized in the south-western district of Masaka, about 135km (85 miles) from the capital, Kampala, on Monday.

Some riders allege that officers had demanded a $40 (£32) bribe from Walugembe to release his vehicle.

A police spokesman says the entire traffic department is now under investigation for bribery.

It is also reported that Walugembe had been living in police quarters and been supplying food to the force.

Riding motorbike taxis - or boda bodas as they are known in Uganda - is a common source of income for unemployed young men in countries across Africa.

But in Uganda they have been banned from carrying passengers as part of efforts to control the spread of coronavirus.

Boda boda riders are only able to operate between 06:30 and 17:00 local time and can only transport cargo.


What happened?
According to the police, Mr Walugembe had lent his motorbike to a friend, who was caught ferrying a passenger on Monday.

Mr Walugembe reportedly became frustrated with the police after visiting the station several times to demand they release his bike.

On Thursday, he locked himself into a room at the station and set himself alight using petrol concealed in a water bottle.

Officers at the station ferried water in jerrycans to put out the fire.

An officer who was with him at the time suffered minor injuries and several files and computers were destroyed.

Regional police spokesperson Paul Kangave said an investigation had been launched into the self-immolation and into the conduct of the entire traffic department.

He said the force's Professional Standards Unit would be looking into allegations that the officers were demanding bribes after vehicles were impounded for flouting lockdown restrictions.
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Italian police seize over $1 billion of 'ISIS-made' Captagon amphetamines

Police in Italy has confiscated a huge shipment of 14 metric tonnes (15.4 US tons) of amphetamines which they say was produced by ISIS in Syria.

Officers tracked three suspect containers to the port of Salerno in southwest Italy and found 84 million pills with a market value of €1 billion ($1.12 billion) inside paper cylinders for industrial use, the Guardia di Finanza financial police said in a statement Wednesday.

Investigators said the bust is the largest drug haul in the world in terms of both value and quantity.
Commander Domenico Napolitano, head of the financial police for the city of Naples, told reporters that the drugs were well hidden and the scanners at the port didn't detect them.

"We weren't able to see them but we knew it was arriving because of the ongoing investigations we have with the Camorra (Italian organized crime group)," he said.

"We intercepted phone calls and members, so we knew what to expect."
The Camorra bring the drugs to Italy and take a cut for helping to distribute them, Napolitano added.
The pills carried the "Captagon" logo, which "distinguishes the 'drug of Jihad,'" according to the statement.

"It is known that ISIS/Daesh finances its terrorist activities in large part with the trafficking of synthetic drugs produced largely in Syria, which has become the leading world producer of amphetamines in recent years," police said.

"According to the DEA (US Drug Enforcement Administration), ISIS makes wide use of these drugs in all the territories over which it exerts influence and controls its sale."

The group is also able to easily produce large quantities of synthetic drugs to sell on global markets, raising huge amounts of money, added police.

The investigation and bust were carried out on a decree from the Naples public prosecutor, the statement added. Police believe the drugs were intended for distribution in Europe by various organized crime groups.

"The hypothesis is that during the lockdown, due to the global epidemiological emergency, the production and distribution of synthetic drugs in Europe has practically stopped and therefore many traffickers with different organized crime groups have turned to Syria, where it does not seem to have slowed down," police said.

Brigadier General Gabriele Failla, head of the financial police in Naples and the surrounding province, told reporters that he believes a number of criminal groups may have banded together to buy the huge shipment.

Traffickers don't normally send so many drugs at once because it's too risky, said Failla, and no single group could deal with so many pills at once.

"This is remarkable evidence of the 'nexus' between terror financing and organized crime interests," he added.

Captagon was originally the brand name for a medicinal product containing the synthetic stimulant fenethylline. It is no longer produced or used, but drugs carrying the Captagon name are regularly seized in the Middle East, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

The drug is a common stimulant in the Middle East, and is also used in some countries bordering the European Union, the organization said.

"In addition, some recent media reports have linked this drug to perpetrators of terrorist acts in Europe or terrorist groups based in areas of conflict in the Middle East," the EMCDDA added.

In 2015, the media reported on a US official who believed that some jihadist fighters were using Captagon, which can cause a surge of energy and a euphoric high.

In addition to reportedly taking the drug themselves, militants in Syria on both sides of the fighting may also be profiting from the production and trafficking of the pills, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

"(Islamic State) and al Nusra Front is also believed to facilitate the smuggling of chemical precursors for the production of Captagon," UNODC chief Yury Fedotov said at a press conference in June 2015.

The counterfeit Captagon tablets contain amphetamine as well as other chemicals, according to the UNODC.
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Hong Kong police make first arrests under new security law

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong police made the first arrests Wednesday under a new national security law imposed by China’s central government, as thousands of people defied tear gas and pepper pellets to protest against the contentious move on the anniversary of the former British colony's handover to Chinese rule.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-xP9eHvFY

Police said 10 people were arrested under the law, including a man with a Hong Kong independence flag and a woman holding a sign displaying the British flag and calling for Hong Kong's independence — all violations of the law that took effect Tuesday night. Others were detained for possessing items advocating independence.

Hong Kong police said on Facebook that they arrested some 370 people on various charges, including unlawful assembly, possession of weapons and violating the new law, which was imposed in a move seen as Beijing’s boldest step yet to erase the legal firewall between the semi-autonomous territory and the mainland’s authoritarian Communist Party system.

The law, imposed following anti-government protests in Hong Kong last year, makes secessionist, subversive, or terrorist activities illegal, as well as foreign intervention in the city’s internal affairs. Any person taking part in activities such as shouting slogans or holding up banners and flags calling for the city’s independence is violating the law regardless of whether violence is used.

The most serious offenders, such as those deemed to the mastermind behind these activities, could receive a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. Lesser offenders could receive jail terms of up to three years, short-term detention or restriction.

Wednesday's arrests came as thousands took to the streets on the 23rd anniversary of Britain's handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. For the first time, police banned this year's annual march. Protesters shouted slogans, lambasted police, and held up signs condemning the Chinese government and the new security law.

Some protesters set fires in Hong Kong's trendy shopping district, Causeway Bay, while others pulled bricks from sidewalks and scattered obstacles across roads in an attempt to obstruct traffic. To disperse protesters, police shot pepper spray and pepper balls, as well as deployed water cannons and tear gas throughout the day.

Hong Kong’s leader strongly endorsed the new law in a speech marking the anniversary of the handover of the territory — officially called the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

“The enactment of the national law is regarded as the most significant development in the relationship between the central authorities and the HKSAR since Hong Kong’s return to the motherland,” chief executive Carrie Lam said in a speech, following a flag-raising ceremony and the playing of China’s national anthem.

“It is also an essential and timely decision for restoring stability in Hong Kong,” she said.

A pro-democracy political party, The League of Social Democrats, organized a protest march during the flag-raising ceremony. About a dozen participants chanted slogans echoing demands from protesters last year for political reform and an investigation into accusations of police abuse.

The law’s passage Tuesday further blurs the distinction between the legal systems of Hong Kong, which maintained aspects of British law after the 1997 handover, and the mainland’s authoritarian Communist Party system. Critics say the law effectively ends the “one country, two systems” framework under which Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy.

Britain’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, told reporters Wednesday the law “is a clear and serious violation” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the agreement that paved the way for the former British colony’s handover to Chinese rule.

The law directly targets some of the actions of anti-government protesters last year, which included attacks on government offices and police stations, damage to subway stations, and the shutdown of the city’s international airport. Acts of vandalism against government facilities or public transit can be prosecuted as subversion or terrorism.


Pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo said in a news conference that the security legislation does not follow the rule of law and is a dire warning to the free press.

“This would tell you that they want not just to get us, but to intimidate us into inaction, into a catatonic state,” Mo said.

Hong Kong's police force said they would consider any flag or banner raised by protesters calling for Hong Kong's separation from China to be illegal as well as an expression of support for independence for Tibet, Xinjiang, or the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan that China claims as its own.

Police will use a new purple flag to warn protesters if they display banners or shout slogans that may constitute a crime under the law.

Concerns have also been raised over the fate of key opposition figures, some of whom have already been charged for taking part in protests, as well as the disqualification of candidates for Legislative Council elections scheduled for September.

In Beijing, the executive deputy director of the Cabinet’s Hong Kong affairs office, Zhang Xiaoming, said Hong Kong people are allowed to criticize the ruling Communist Party but cannot turn those complaints “into actions.”

“What happened recently in Hong Kong has shown a deviation from the right track of the ‘one country, two systems’ (framework),” Zhang told reporters Wednesday. “To some extent, we made this law in order to correct the deviation ... to pull it closer to ‘one-country.’”

Schools, social groups, media outlets, websites, and others will be monitored and their national security awareness will be raised, according to the law, while the central government will have authority over the activities of foreign non-governmental organizations and media outlets in Hong Kong.

The law says central government bodies in Hong Kong will take over in “complicated cases” and when there is a serious threat to national security. Local authorities are barred from interfering with central government bodies operating in Hong Kong while they are carrying out their duties.

Security legislation was mandated under Hong Kong’s local constitution, but an earlier attempt to pass it in the city’s legislative body in 2003 was shelved because of massive public opposition. Beijing finally decided to circumvent the Hong Kong legislature and have the law passed Tuesday by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament.

President Xi Jinping signed a presidential order putting the law into effect, and it has been added to the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitution.

The law’s passage comes after Hong Kong’s legislature in early June approved a contentious bill making it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem.

On Wednesday, Raab, the British foreign secretary, announced the UK would extend residency rights for up to 3 million Hong Kong residents eligible for British National Overseas passports to five years from the current six-month limit. After five years, they could apply for settled status and then apply for citizenship 12 months later.

The U.S. is moving to end special trade terms given to the territory. The Trump administration has also said it will bar defense exports to Hong Kong and will soon require licenses for the sale of items that have both civilian and military uses.

The U.S. Congress has also moved to impose sanctions on people deemed connected to political repression in Hong Kong, including police officials.

China has said it will impose visa restrictions on Americans it sees as interfering over Hong Kong.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced the threat of a visa ban as a sign of “how Beijing refuses to take responsibility for its own choices" and said the law's adoption “destroys the territory’s autonomy and one of China’s greatest achievements."

Beijing’s “paranoia and fear of its own people’s aspirations have led it to eviscerate the very foundation of the territory’s success," Pompeo said in a statement.

Taiwan on Wednesday opened an office to facilitate migration from Hong Kong.
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My hatred for women is waxing stronger on daily basis.

I hate those creatures with reckless abandone.

Flu virus with 'pandemic potential' found in China

A new strain of flu that has the potential to become a pandemic has been identified in China by scientists.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hty05mTN1eE

It emerged recently and is carried by pigs, but can infect humans, they say.

The researchers are concerned that it could mutate further so that it can spread easily from person to person, and trigger a global outbreak.

While it is not an immediate problem, they say, it has "all the hallmarks" of being highly adapted to infect humans and needs close monitoring.

As it's new, people could have little or no immunity to the virus.

The scientists write in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that measures to control the virus in pigs, and the close monitoring of swine industry workers, should be swiftly implemented.


Pandemic threat
A bad new strain of influenza is among the top disease threats that experts are watching for, even as the world attempts to bring to an end the current coronavirus pandemic.

The last pandemic flu the world encountered - the swine flu outbreak of 2009 - was less deadly than initially feared, largely because many older people had some immunity to it, probably because of its similarity to other flu viruses that had circulated years before.

That virus, called A/H1N1pdm09, is now covered by the annual flu vaccine to make sure people are protected.

The new flu strain that has been identified in China is similar to the 2009 swine flu, but with some new changes.


How worried should we be?
The virus, which the researchers call G4 EA H1N1, can grow and multiply in the cells that line the human airways.

They found evidence of recent infection in people who worked in abattoirs and the swine industry in China when they looked at data from 2011 to 2018.

Current flu vaccines do not appear to protect against it, although they could be adapted to do so if needed.

Prof Kin-Chow Chang, who works at Nottingham University in the UK, told the BBC: "Right now we are distracted with coronavirus and rightly so. But we must not lose sight of potentially dangerous new viruses."

While this new virus is not an immediate problem, he says: "We should not ignore it."

In theory, a flu pandemic could occur at any time, but they are still rare events. Pandemics happen if a new strain emerges that can easily spread from person to person.

Although flu viruses are constantly changing - which is why the flu vaccine also needs to change regularly to keep up - they do not usually go pandemic.

Prof James Wood, head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge, said the work "comes as a salutary reminder" that we are constantly at risk of new emergence of pathogens, and that farmed animals, with which humans have greater contact than with wildlife, may act as the source for important pandemic viruses.

A World Health Organization spokeswoman said: "Eurasian avian-like swine influenza virus are known to be circulating in the swine population in Asia and to be able to infect humans sporadically. Twice a year during the influenza vaccine composition meetings, all information on the viruses is reviewed and the need for new candidate vaccine viruses is discussed. We will carefully read the paper to understand what is new.

"It also highlights that we cannot let down our guard on influenza; we need to be vigilant and continue surveillance even during the COVID-19 pandemic."
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COVID-19: Edo Frontline Workers To Get Outstanding Allowances

The Edo State Government has said the frontline workers temporarily engaged in screening and testing for coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state would be paid their outstanding allowances upon the conclusion of the vetting of their payroll.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, in a statement on Tuesday, said the task force was demobilized after the state exceeded its target to screen and test over 500,000 and 5,000 persons respectfully.

“The screening exercise was massive and crosscutting. The officials were inundated with lists of persons, who were said to have participated in the exercise. So, we are carefully vetting the lists before making the final payment. The outstanding allowances would be paid before the end of the week,” he said.

According to him, “The task force for the screening exercise was set up in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The government, upon the outbreak of the pandemic in the state, based its response on the data polled from an epidemiological study done in partnership with the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH). This led to the setting up of a taskforce to embark on a massive screening and testing of 500,000 and 5000 persons across the state.

“The target has been achieved and surpassed. This has led to the modification of our response to the pandemic. With this, the taskforce was demobilized across the screening centres at mobile posts, borders, and several other locations.”

He assured the workers that the delay in payment of their allowances was as a result of the vetting of the list of volunteers and other frontline workers, which would be resolved within the week.
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BREAKING: Ondo Governor Tests Positive For COVID-19

Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). Governor Akeredolu announced this on Tuesday in a Facebook post.

He disclosed that his sample had been collected to test for COVID-19 and the result came back positive earlier before the announcement.

The governor, however, noted that he was asymptomatic and has yet to show any symptoms of the disease.

He also revealed that following the positive test result he received, he has gone into self-isolation while his case would be managed by a team of health officials at the state Infectious Disease Hospital.

Governor Akeredolu said, “Earlier today, I got confirmation of a positive result for Covid-19. I am asymptomatic and not displaying any symptoms.

“I am currently self-isolating and supervised home management will be administered by the wonderful team at our Infectious Disease Hospital. I ask that we all stay safe and be well.”
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Hachalu Hundessa: Popular Ethiopian protest singer shot dead

Demonstrations have broken out in Ethiopia following the shooting of musician Hachalu Hundessa, well known for his political songs.

Two people have died during protests in one town, a doctor told the reporters.

Hachalu's songs often focused on the rights of the country's Oromo ethnic group and became anthems in a wave of protests that led to the downfall of the previous prime minister in 2018.

The 34-year-old had said that he had received death threats.

The police are now investigating the killing, which took place on the outskirts of the capital, Addis Ababa.

Thousands of his fans headed to the hospital in the city where the body of the singer was taken on Monday night.

To them, he was a voice of his generation that protested against decades of government repression, he says.

Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Gunshots have been heard in Addis Ababa and people set fire to tyres.

In the eastern town of Chiro, two people were shot dead during protests, a medic at the local hospital reporters.

In another town - Adama - one person was injured and government buildings have been set ablaze.

The internet has also been shut down in parts of the country as the protests spread in Oromia regional state.


'More than an entertainer'
Hachalu was more than just a singer and an entertainer.

He was a symbol for the Oromo people who spoke up about the political and economic marginalization that they had suffered under consecutive Ethiopian regimes.

In one of his most famous songs, he sang: "Do not wait for help to come from outside, a dream that doesn't come true. Rise, make your horse ready and fight, you are the one close to the palace."

The musician had also been imprisoned for five years when he was 17 for taking part in protests.

Many like him fled into exile fearing persecution but he remained in the country and encouraged the youth to struggle.

Hachalu's body was being taken to his hometown, Ambo, about 100km (62 miles) west of the capital, but protesters have insisted that he is buried in Addis Ababa.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has expressed his condolences saying in a tweet that Ethiopia "lost a precious life today" and describing the singer as "marvelous".

The musician's death and the protests come as political tensions are rising following the indefinite postponement of elections, on account of the coronavirus pandemic, that was due in August.

They would have been the first electoral test for Mr. Abiy after he came to power in April 2018.


What were the Oromo protests about?
The Oromo, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, have long complained of being side-lined.

Demonstrations erupted in 2016 and pressure built on the government.

The ruling coalition eventually replaced then-Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn with Mr. Abiy, who is Oromo himself.

He has brought in a series of reforms which has transformed what was considered a very oppressive state.

He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 primarily for making peace with long-time foe Eritrea, but his efforts in transforming Ethiopia were also recognized.
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Driver bags 15 years jail term for raping employer’s daughter

An Ikeja Special Offences Court has sentenced a driver, Francis Apai, to 15 years imprisonment for raping his employer’s 17-year-old daughter in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Sherifat Solebo sentenced Apai after finding him guilty of a one-count charge of sexual assault by penetration.

“The defendant, Francis Apai, is hereby sentenced to 15 years imprisonment without an option of fine,” the judge said.

The Prosecutor, Ms Iyabode Oshodi, had told the court that the driver, who resides at No. 129, Aina street, Isheri, Lagos, committed the offence on Nov. 19, 2014, at the complainant’s home in Lagos. During the trial, five witnesses, including the complainant, her father and a medical doctor, testified for the prosecution, while Apai testified solely in his own defence.

While being led in evidence by the prosecution on Jan. 7, the complainant gave a harrowing account of how she was violently attacked and raped by Apai, who was her mother’s driver.

“My mother is a businesswoman; he (Apai) also usually drives my father whenever my mother was not around and he takes me and my younger brother to school,” she said.

The complainant said that on the day of the incident, she was at home alone because her parents had taken her younger brother, who had fallen ill at about 3 am. that morning, to the hospital.

She told the court that while she was preparing a meal in the kitchen, the driver approached her with a knife and threatened to harm her if she refused to accede to his sexual demands.

She said that when she put up a resistance, the driver dragged her to a bedroom in her home where he continually punched, strangled and raped her.

The victim told the court that she had to run out of her home stark naked to escape her attacker. “When I ran out naked, my neighbour downstairs saw me and asked me to come into her house but I refused because Francis was with a knife and I was scared that he might come into the house and attack me.

“I ran across the street to another neighbor, with blood streaming down my legs and they gave me a wrapper to cover myself up.

“My neighbours took me to the police station and the hospital,” she narrated. Also testifying on Jan. 7, the complainant’s father, a clergyman, said that after hearing the news of his daughter’s rape, he returned home.

He said that he noticed that Apai, while fleeing after the attack, had left his boxer shorts (underwear), his pair of slippers, a wrap of sweet and half-smoked cigarette in the home. A medical doctor, Dr Olusegun Bankole of Alimosho General Hospital, while giving evidence on Nov. 21, 2019, had said that the complainant lost her virginity as a result of the forced penetration.

The doctor said that the physical examination conducted on the teenager revealed that she had also suffered multiple bruises around her neck and defensive wounds around her two hands.

While being led in evidence by the defence counsel, Mr Qudus Mumuni on Jan. 8, Apai denied raping his employer’s daughter. He said that the complainant had, through three phone calls, invited him to her home.

Apai said that when he got to his employer’s house, the complainant made a meal for him and while he was eating the meal, she showed him some photos and videos she had downloaded on her new mobile phone.

“While I was done with the food, she told me to take a proper look at the photos she had downloaded. While I was looking at the photos and films, I got to a part where I saw Bleep, which were porn videos.

“When I decided to look at one of the porn videos, she snatched the phone playfully that she did not want me to see the videos.

“After a while, someone opened the kitchen door and I left through the front door. Because that day was a work-free day for me, I went back to my house and later the day, I went to a viewing centre,” he said. Apai told the court that while he was at the viewing centre, he was informed by another driver that he was accused of rape and was arrested on Nov. 20, 2014, by a group of youths.
Continue reading...

Confirmed coronavirus cases are rising faster than ever

New cases of the novel coronavirus are rising faster than ever worldwide, at a rate of more than 100,000 a day over a seven-day average.

In April, new cases never topped 100,000 in one day, but since May 21, there have only been less than 100,000 on five days, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Newly reported cases reached a high of 130,400 on June 3.

The increase in case rates may be partially explained by increases in testing capacity, but there's still not enough testing to capture an accurate picture in many countries.

Different nations' epidemics have followed different trajectories. The number of new cases has slowed in many of the countries that were hit hard earlier on in the pandemic, including China, the US, the UK, Italy, Spain, and France.

But many countries, particularly in South America, the Middle East, and Africa, the rate of transmission still appears to be accelerating, according to media of Johns Hopkins University data.

In Libya, Iraq, Uganda, Mozambique, and Haiti, the data shows the number of known cases is doubling every week. In Brazil, India, Chile, Colombia, and South Africa, cases are doubling every two weeks.

"The Americas continue to account for most cases. For several weeks, the number of cases reported each day in the Americas has been more than the rest of the world put together," said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday.

"We are especially worried about Central and South America, where many countries are witnessing accelerating epidemics."

Dr. Mike Ryan, WHO executive director of Health Emergencies Program, said he did not think Central and South America had reached their peak in transmission.

The share of global deaths is also still rising in South America and the Caribbean.

Brazil recorded more than 30,000 new cases on Thursday, bringing it to almost 615,000 in total, along with 1,473 new deaths, taking its total fatalities to more than 34,000.

Its case numbers are second only to the US, where just under 1.9 million cases have been reported and 108,211 deaths. At its peak, the US was seeing an increase of more than 30,000 new cases a day; as of Friday, it was registering about 21,000 news cases and 942 daily death per day over a seven-day average.

A number of countries that passed their initial peak -- such as South Korea, Germany and China -- have since seen new clusters of infections after restrictions on movement were eased, raising fears of a second wave.

Authorities in 214 countries and territories have reported about 6.6 million Covid-19 cases and 391,000 deaths since China reported its first cases to the WHO in December.
Continue reading...

Hmmm this is interesting

Humans are fallible...don't let anyone tell you otherwise

Black light experiment shows how quickly a virus like Covid-19 can spread(video)

A viral video from Japan aims to show how easily germs and viruses can spread in restaurants when just one person is infected.

The experiment simulates the atmosphere at a buffet restaurant or on a cruise ship. It was conducted by the public broadcasting organization NHK in conjunction with health experts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGQEuuv9R6E
The video shows 10 people coming into the restaurant, with one singled out as the "infected" person. Each participant goes about the buffet as they normally would, not considering potential contamination.

At the end of the video, the participants are cast under black lights illuminating where the "infection" has spread.

The substance, used to signify the germs, can be seen on food, serving utensils and platters, and even on the faces of some of the participants.
Japan has had 16,049 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 678 deaths. More than 4.3 million cases of Covid-19 have been recorded worldwide, including at least 297,000 deaths.


Here's what the experts have to say
While these kinds of experiments are not new, John Nicholls, a clinical professor in pathology at Hong Kong University, said they demonstrate how quickly a virus can spread, especially when hand washing is not performed.

"What the video demonstrated, is that it will spread to surfaces and to people very efficiently," Nicholls told reporters, "and I think it really highlights the need of what people have been saying about hand hygiene to stop the spread of disease."

However, Nicholls said that the situation is "artificial" because so much emphasis is placed on the touching alone.

Kentaro Iwata, an infectious disease specialist at Kobe University, agreed.

"The experiment just described the possibility of the spread by contact, and that is not proof of what happened, so the distinction has to be clearly made between what could happen and what did happen," Iwata told reporters.

But both experts said the experiment is a good way to show the importance of handwashing.
For the sake of science, Nicholls said it would be even more effective to see the experiment done after the "infected" person washes their hands for five and then ten seconds.

"So the general public gets some concept of the mechanism of how much the use of handwashing can actually reduce the transmission of potentially infectious material," Nicholls said.
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UK health body approves coronavirus antibody test(video)
Britain has approved a coronavirus antibody test developed by pharmaceutical company Roche and is now working towards acquiring enough kits for widespread testing.

UK health officials determined the tests were "highly specific," with an accuracy of 100%, in an independent evaluation, Public Health England (PHE) said in a statement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyQVWoKZQTg
“Last week, scientific experts at PHE Porton Down carried out an independent evaluation of the new Roche SARS-CoV-2 serology assay in record time, concluding that it is a highly specific assay with specificity of 100%,” said Professor John Newton, national coordinator of the UK Coronavirus Testing Programme.

“This is a very positive development because such a highly specific antibody test is a very reliable marker of past infection,” he said.

“This in turn may indicate some immunity to future infection although the extent to which the presence of anti-bodies indicates immunity remains unclear.”

Scientists believe antibodies provide a degree of immunity from future coronavirus infection, though it has not been determined how long such immunity lasts.

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Edward Argar, a UK health minister, said Roche's test “appears to be extremely reliable” and “has the potential to be a game-changer” in a television interview with the BBC.

The British government had entered discussions with Roche about acquiring the tests, Argar said. He added that the government was not in a position to roll out the tests yet, but was working on distributing them as quickly as possible.

Roche has previously said its antibody test can provide a result in approximately 18 minutes. It is an in vitro test, using human serum and plasma drawn from a blood sample, and must then be run in a Roche analyzer.

The company's antibody test has also been authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration.
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