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President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to leave for London on a 10-day vacation, Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, has confirmed.

The vacation is expected to begin from August 3, 2018.

The working leave is coming amidst gale of defections that recently hit the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

A statement by the presidency noted that a letter to that effect has been transmitted to the President of the Senate, and the Speaker, House of Representatives.

He said the letter was transmitted to the legislature in compliance with section 145 (1) of the 1999 constitution, noting that while the president will be on vacation, the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, will be in acting capacity as president.

Although the statement was silent on whether the president was going on a medical vacation to London, the first time the president proceeded on such short vacation was in February, 2016, during which he met with E.N.T. specialist for a persistent ear infection.

A chronicle of his trips to London on health grounds, reveals that on February 5, 2016, Buhari embarked on a six-day medical vacation to London.

Then on June 6, 2016 he took another 10-day medical vacation also to deal with a “persistent ear infection”.

On January 19, 2017, Buhari left again for London on a medical vacation; on February 5, 2017, he wrote the National Assembly, asking the lawmakers to extend his London medical leave.

On March 10, 2017, he returned to Nigeria after spending several months in London but didn’t resume work immediately as he preferred to work from home.

On May 7, 2017, he took another trip to London and returned after 104 days on August 19, 2017.

On May 8, 2018, he left again for “medical review” but delayed slightly to return to Nigeria due to technical hitches on his flight.

It was later uncovered that while on his way back from the United States where he met with President Donald Trump, he stopped by in London to have a brief medical checks on his health.

The president was quoted to have said in April, 2016 that he wasn’t a fan of medical tourism and that he won’t encourage the political class to take to the skies for medical reasons either.

Buhari was quoted to have said, “While this administration will not deny anyone of his or her fundamental human rights, we will certainly not encourage expending Nigerian hard-earned resources on any government official seeking medical care abroad, when such can be handled in Nigeria”.

The Reformed APC, a breakaway faction of the ruling party in its reaction to the president’s latest vacation said it is clear that President Buhari no longer has the capacity and strength to continue to govern the country.

Speaking with Daily Independent, Prince Kassim Afegbua, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, said the president can no longer continue to hold 180 million Nigerians to ransom over his health.

“We have said it repeatedly that the president should perish the thought of seeking reelection because Nigerians do not have the patience for this back and forth movement.

“The best thing for President Buhari is to take a deserved rest, travel overseas with members of his family, immediate and extended and go and enjoy like one year with all expenses paid for by the government.

“He should go and rest and recuperate very well. He should allow us elect a new breed of leadership. The man is not just tired, he is old and no longer strong enough to withstand the rigours of governance in Nigeria.

“But because power is a crazy aphrodisiac, everybody want to stay put in power even when they know the competence to discharge their responsibility is no longer there. For Buhari, the strength is no longer there and the nation suffers.

“You can see it in the widespread insecurity in the country, there is no efficiency in leadership.

“This country needs a stronger, younger element that can unify us, go around the country and build bridges of understanding and begin the process of healing the wounds in the land.

“There are wounds in the hearts of people either at the tribal or religious level and it wasn’t like this before. So, we are pained that those who are promoters of Buhari, because of reelection are not honest with Nigerians and they are not patriotic enough to tell the president the truth that his health can no longer carry him and that Nigeria is appearing to be less governed.

“This country needs a man who is awake when the country is sleeping. We need a man who will walk within the pace of the country and not the country walking at his own pace. One man cannot continue to hold 180 million Nigerians to ransom” he said.

News gotten from https://wstreams.com/buhari-leaves-for-uk-on-10-day-vacation/

Determined to ensure effective service to its customers, First Bank of Nigeria on Thursday unveiled its chat banking on WhatsApp.

Mr Chuma Ezirim, the bank’s Group Head, E-Business, said the application would enable customers leverage the real-time messaging
capabilities of the WhatsApp Business Solution to check their account balance.

Ezirim said that customers would also leverage on the solution to perform simple banking queries.

He said in a statement in Lagos that the launch which took place on Aug. 1 was at its pilot phase and would be available to a select
group of customers after which it would be made available to all customers.

Ezirim said additional details on the solution would be provided in the coming weeks as customers are encouraged to keep interacting
with the bank on its various social media channels for updates.

“Customers expectations are constantly changing and it is our duty as a customer-focused bank to ensure that our customers are
provided with the means to carry out banking services through any channel they desire.

“We are constantly seeking new ways and opportunities to meet customers at their preferred touch points and we understand our
customers are actively engaged on WhatsApp.

“With First Bank chat banking on WhatsApp, it is not just about staying connected with friends and loved ones, but also keeping in
touch with your bank anytime and anywhere you are,” Ezirim said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that First Bank is the premier bank in West Africa with about 14 million customer accounts and also provides a comprehensive range of retail and corporate financial services with over 750 business locations.

It has international presence through its subsidiaries, FBN Bank (UK) in London and Paris, FBNBank in the Republic of Congo, Ghana,
the Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Senegal as well as a representative office in Beijing.

News gotten from https://wstreams.com/first-bank-launches-chat-banking-on-whatsapp/

Kovacic to Old Trafford?
Will Manchester United’s hopes of landing Real Madrid star Mateo Kovacic rest on the future of Luka Modric?

Rumours suggest former Tottenham playmaker Modric is a target for Inter Milanand could join Cristiano Ronaldo in Italy, and if he does that might mean a change of plan for Kovacic.

The 24-year-old Croat didn’t get much game time in Madrid last season, and he made plain his disquiet at warming the Bernabeu bench.

Behind Modric, Casemiro and Toni Kroos in the pecking order, Kovacic, who joined Real in 2015, was widely expected to move on this summer having made just ten starts in La Liga last season.

Chelsea are also known to be interested in the midfield maestro, reports The Sun, but Jose Mourinho is reportedly ready to table a £54m bid for Kovacic, a member of the Croatia squad that reached last month’s World Cup final.

But if Modric moves to Inter, that could scupper United’s plan with Kovacic likely to remain at the club for at least another season to see if he can become a first-team regular under new Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui.

Napoli swap
Might United be able to strike a deal with Napoli before the transfer window closes next week? According to the Daily Star the Red Devils “are considering a late summer swoop for Napoli star Dries Mertens”.

Reports suggest that Napoli may be “willing” to let the 31-year-old go, and although Italian outlet TMW says the Belgian could be Mourinho’s if “an offer in excess of £35m came in”, there may be an alternative.

Calciomercato.com reports that Sky Italia claim Napoli are “looking to sign” a defender in the coming days and it’s a choice between United’s Matteo Darmian and Tottenham Hotspur right-back Serge Aurier.

Ivorian Aurier’s problem concerns his non-EU player restriction, so Darmian is looking the likeliest option and that would fit nicely into Mourinho’s wish to sign Mertens.

Closing in on Mina
Finally, the Metro is one of several newspapers to report that United are close to sealing the deal for Barcelona defender Yerry Mina.

The paper states that the club’s transfer negotiator, Matt Judge, has “touched down in Spain to iron out a £35m move”. Barca are ready to offload their Colombian blocker, and have told Judge that they will drop their initial asking price of £44m in order to clinch the deal.

News gotten from: https://wstreams.com/man-utd-transfer-news-mateo-kovacic-dries-mertens-yerry-mina/

Google is planning to launch a censored version of its search engine for China that will block websites and search terms about human rights, democracy, religion, and peaceful protest.

Citing internal Google documents and people familiar with the plans, The Intercept reports that the project – code-named Dragonfly – has been underway since spring of last year, and accelerated following a December 2017 meeting between Google’s chief executive Sundar Pichai and a top Chinese government official.

The Intercept says the move “represents a dramatic shift in Google’s policy on China” and will mark the first time in almost a decade that it has operated its search engine in the country.

Google withdrew its service from China in 2010 amid claims the Gmail accounts of several Chinese human rights activists had been compromised.

The web is heavily censored by Beijing, with the country’s so-called Great Firewall preventing citizens from accessing many politically sensitive sites, and even references to George Orwell.

Campaigners report that censorship in the country has increased under President Xi Jinping, extending beyond the web to social media and chat apps, reports The Verge.

“The problem,” says Motherboard, “is that China is a goldmine for internet companies. The country has twice as many people online as America has citizens and apparently the temptation may be too much to resist for Google”.

Under the new agreement, Google could roll-out its new censored search engine through a Chinese android app within six months. The product would reportedly block Western services already outlawed in China, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even Wikipedia, and also scrub results for sensitive terms, such as the Tiananmen Square massacre, and international media including the BBC and The New York Times.

One Google employee who worked on Dragonfly told the Intercept: “I’m against large companies and governments collaborating in the oppression of their people, and feel like transparency around what’s being done is in the public interest.”

Warning it could set a dangerous precedent, the employee added: “What is done in China will become a template for many other nations.”


News gotten from: https://wstreams.com/google-to-launch-censored-search-engine-in-china/

Australian universities have announced a ban on sexual and romantic relationships between PhD students and their academic supervisors.

The new guidelines were introduced on Wednesday by Universities Australia, an umbrella organisation of the country’s universities.

“A student’s academic progress must never depend on consenting to a sexual relationship with their supervisor or a member of staff,’’ the guidelines said.

The new policy came exactly a year after a report by the Human Rights Commission on sexual assault and harassment on Australian university campuses.

It found half of Australia’s students were sexually harassed at least once in a year and 7 per cent were sexually assaulted once in two years.

The new guidelines said academics must replace themselves if their relationship with the students they are directly supervising goes beyond learning and research.

It said an unequal power dynamic can make students vulnerable to exploitation.

Catriona Jackson, the chief executive of Universities Australia, said supervisors have power over their students and a romantic or sexual relationship between them is “a clear conflict of interest.”

“A sexual or romantic relationship that develops in that context also raises questions about the capacity for consent and academic integrity,’’ she said.

Tanya Plibersek, the opposition Labor Party’s deputy leader, said it was “extraordinary’’ that the formal policy was not already in place.

“It’s a sensible thing to clarify it, although it amazes me that it hasn’t been clear to people,’’ Plibersek told newsmen.

News gotten from https://wstreams.com/australian-universities-ban-romance-between-phd-students-supervisors/

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