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A woman, Vera Blakeney spent a month in a coma after contracting coronavirus, and she was in a hospital for three more months recovering.

Vera Blakeney, 69, said doctors told her the fact that she pulled through was a miracle.

“I could not lift my arms,” the Piedmont Airlines gate agent said. “I could not get out of bed. I could not walk, and I could barely talk. It was a very scary situation.”

Now, Blakeney is back home.

“I’m doing really well,” she said. “My doctors all call me a miracle.”

Blakeney said she was in good health, walked five miles a day and was not on medication.

“It really sent chills through my body to know that I was that close to death,” Blakeney said.

She claimed she began experiencing allergy-like symptoms in March, which soon led to serious shortness of breath.

The family rushed her to the hospital where she was put into a medically induced coma and hooked up to a ventilator for nearly a month before doctors woke her up.

“When they told me the date, I was confused,” Blakeney said. “I was rattled. It was just overwhelming to know that many days had passed, and I had no memory of that.”

She woke up and realized coronavirus had ravaged her body attacking her lungs, blood and kidneys.

She underwent three blood transfusions.

“Normal kidney function is 1 or less. In intensive care, mine was 8.3. I was dying,” Blakeney said. “They told my children that I was dying. They had to wait until my kidneys were normal and blood was normal before I could go home.”

The United Kingdom has on Tuesday reversed on agreed plans to give Chinese telecommunications company Huawei a role in the U.K.’s new high-speed mobile phone network amid security concerns fueled by rising tensions between Beijing and Western powers.

United Kingdom said it has decided to prohibit Huawei from working on the so-called 5G system after U.S. sanctions made it impossible to ensure the security of equipment made by the Chinese company.

The U.S. had also threatened to sever an intelligence-sharing arrangement with Britain because of concerns that Huawei’s involvement could allow the Chinese government to infiltrate U.K. networks.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told Parliament the decision would delay the rollout of 5G technology and increase costs by up to 2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion), but that it had to be done.

“This has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one,” he said.

The decision forces British telecommunication operators to stop buying 5G equipment from Huawei by the end of this year but gives them until 2027 to remove Huawei gear that has already been used in the network, which is currently under construction.

Fifth-generation, or 5G, networks are expected to usher in a new wave of wireless innovation, with super-fast speeds and low signal delay that will help the development of self-driving cars, remote surgery and factory robots.

Critically for telecom operators, the government opted not to order them to rip out equipment manufactured by Huawei and used in earlier systems, such as the existing 4G network. Such a decision might have caused havoc in U.K. telecoms systems.

Still, the decision marks a major retreat for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who in January sought to balance economic and security pressures by agreeing to give Huawei a limited role in the 5G network. Under the earlier ruling, Huawei would have been limited to providing 35% of equipment such as radios and antennas, with the company barred from supplying core components of the system.

But the move set up a diplomatic clash with the U.S., which is involved in a wide-ranging trade dispute with China and threatened to cut off security cooperation unless Britain dumped Huawei. Amid continued pressure to remove Huawei from communication networks entirely, the U.S. in May imposed new sanctions that will bar companies around the world from using American-made machinery or software to produce chips for the Chinese company.

U.S. officials claim that under Chinese law the government could force Huawei to give it access to foreign networks it has helped build. Huawei denies this, saying that countries such as Britain have already developed oversight procedures to ensure there are no security breaches.

President Donald Trump’s national security adviser applauded Britain’s decision.

“The reported U.K. action reflects a growing international consensus that Huawei and other untrusted vendors pose a threat to national security, as they remain beholden to the Chinese Communist Party,” said Robert O’Brien, who is in Europe this week. “We look forward to working with the U.K., as well as our many other partners and allies, to spur innovation, promote vendor diversity in the 5G supply chain, and ensure 5G security free from dangerous manipulations.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that with the ”decision, the UK joins a growing list of countries from around the world that are standing up for their national security by prohibiting the use of untrusted, high-risk vendors.“

Johnson also came under pressure from rebels in his own Conservative Party who criticized China’s new Hong Kong security law and its treatment of ethnic Uighurs in China’s far west Xinjiang region, as well as Huawei’s links to the Chinese government. Two weeks ago, members of Parliament debated Huawei’s entanglement in Xinjiang following an Associated Press report on forced birth control measures in the region, pressing the government to cut ties with the company on human rights grounds. Ten Conservative lawmakers this week sent a letter to Johnson demanding that he remove Huawei from “the U.K.’s critical national infrastructure.”

The Labour Party’s spokeswoman on communications issues, Chi Omwurah, decried the government’s flip-flop approach and said it would have a dire impact on the future.

“It has been clear for some time that there are serious questions over whether Huawei should be allowed to control large sections of our country’s telecoms networks, yet the government refused to face reality,” she said. “Their approach to our 5G capability, Huawei and our national security has been incomprehensibly negligent.”

Huawei expressed disappointment, saying that the decision threatens to move “Britain into the digital slow lane, push up bills and deepen the digital divide.”

“The American motive for these activities is one of protecting American jobs,″ Huawei UK Vice President Jeremy Thompson told The Associated Press, arguing that the United States., despite its global might, is behind the curve when it comes to wireless technology.

“The U.S. have under-invested in wireless consistently since the second generation. Here we are in the fifth,″ he said. “They’ve under-invested. And as a result, they’re behind the rest of the world.”

The controversy has put Huawei at the vortex of tensions between China and Britain.

Last fall, the U.K. called on China to give the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights free access to Xinjiang.

More recently, Johnson’s government has criticized China’s decision to impose a sweeping new national security law on Hong Kong. Britain accused the Beijing government of a serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration under which the U.K. returned control of Hong Kong to China in 1997, and announced it would open a special route to citizenship for up to 3 million eligible residents of the city.

China’s ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, last week decried what he described as “gross interference” in Chinese affairs.

“Britain can only be great,” he said, when it has an independent foreign policy, adding that it sets a bad precedent to “make your policy in the morning and change it in the evening.”

“It also sends out a very bad message to the China business community,” Liu said, suggesting Chinese companies might think twice about investing in Britain. “They are all watching how you handle Huawei.”

Rana Mitter, an Oxford University history professor specializing in China, said that the security law — combined with broader resentment about the way China handled information about the coronavirus — created increased wariness among Britain’s politicians and the public.

But for China, it’s the way Britain has handled the Huawei issue that is the major problem. Even if Britain decides that buying Huawei isn’t a good idea, this could have been done more discreetly, Mitter said.

“I think the immediate reaction from China is going to be pretty incandescent,” he said. “They’re going to be very, very angry about the reversal of the decision, not just because of the decision itself, but because in a sense, it has made them lose face.

“Having said yes, back in January, the British government has now done a pretty exact U-turn and said absolutely no. But I think that China will maybe make to feel as if it’s been made essentially to suffer the consequences of that U-turn in public.”

In late June, when India banned 59 Chinese apps, including global sensation TikTok, the short-video platform stopped working for its 200 million local users. Within hours, an avalanche of new sign-ups pushed the servers of one of its Bangalore-based rivals, Roposo, to breaking point.

Two weeks on, Roposo, which also offers short videos, says it's peaking at 500,000 new users an hour and expects to have 100 million by month's end. That's almost double the 55 million it had before the ban and puts Roposo among a profusion of Indian startups to benefit from TikTok's troubles in the country.

Xu Zhangrun, a scholar at one of China’s most prestigious tertiary education institutions, Tsinghua University had been teaching law until he was suspended and put under investigation in March 2019 following the publication of an essay criticizing Xi’s concentration of power and crackdown on dissent.

Gao Yu, a journalist and friend of Xu Zhangrun confirmed the former professor had been fired by Tsinghua University, although she didn’t know when the decision was taken.

However, Tsinghua University authorities are yet to publicly comment on the present situation.

Xu made the confirmation in an interview with Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK published Tuesday. According to RTHK, he said he was being punished by the university for “corrupted morals,” and that he will not appeal the decision.

Xu’s alleged dismissal appears to be the latest example of increasing censorship and restrictions on academic freedoms in China under Xi, whose administration has cracked down on dissenting voices

Despite the risks to his career and his personal freedom, Xu has frequently criticized the Chinese government and Communist Party leadership in recent years.

Recall, in 2018, Xu Zhangrun published a lengthy essay in response to the decision by the Communist Party to remove presidential term limits, effectively allowing Xi Jinping to remain in power indefinitely.

“Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, we had a ‘supreme leader’ with no checks on his power; how could people not have all kinds of strange imaginings and new fears?” Xu Zhangrun asked in his essay.

Xu’s suspension from Tsinghua in 2019 did not stop Xu from criticizing the Chinese government.

In an essay published in February 2020, amid China’s coronavirus outbreak, Xu blamed Xi, who the author refers to as ‘The Axle,’ “and the cabal that surrounds him” for the crisis. “The political life of the nation is in a state of collapse and the ethical core of the system has been rendered hollow,” Xu wrote.

The essay was initially published in Chinese by Matters, a news and commentary site popular with liberal intellectuals that are banned in China. It was translated into English with Xu’s permission by China scholar Geremie Barme.

On July 6, police officers arrived at Xu’s Beijing home and took him into custody, according to the two sources. Gao said the former professor was held for six days before being released on Sunday.

“He’s resting at home. So far there is no more information available (on his case),” Gao said.

Smoke Rises from Nigeria's World Trade Centre in Abuja

vegafbs:
I slapped him. He tried to come on me. I am an Ogoni woman and nobody jokes with us.

https://theupdates.net/breaking-i-am-the-only-nigerian-woman-who-slaps-akpabio-joi-nunieh/

I slapped him. He tried to come on me. I am an Ogoni woman and nobody jokes with us. - Joi Nunieh

Ahead of next season Premier League campaign, Peter Crouch, a former Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur striker believes Liverpool remain the team to beat.

Recall Liverpool were crowned Premier League champions for the first time in 30 years after Manchester City’s 2-1 loss against Chelsea FC at Stamford Bridge.

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Alleged Corruption: FBI “Kidnapped” Hushpuppi from Dubai – Gal Pissetzky



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“He is a social media influencer with millions of followers, with millions of people that respect and loved him, and he loved them, and that’s what he did. In today’s society, that’s a business,”

"My client was arrested and convicted of drinking alcohol for the sixth time. Of course, there was also the issue of driving without a license and having alcohol," Hossein Habibi Shahri told IHR.

Akeredolu vs Agboola: Chief Judge Rejects Ondo Assembly's Request

Following the renewed communal clash in some communities, the Adamawa State Government has imposed a dusk to dawn curfew on the entire Guyuk Local Government Area.

The curfew also affected Lafiya town in Lamurde Local Government Area, according to a statement released on Thursday by the Press Secretary to Governor Umaru Fintiri, Mr. Humwashi Wonosikou.

Governor Ahmadu Fintiri who is said to be saddened by the breach of peace in the areas had approved the imposition of a curfew from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am.

Recall scores of residents died and an even higher number of homes were destroyed last month when communal clash(es) occurred in communities around both Lamurde and Guyuk LGAs, throwing hundreds of people into hurriedly established camps.

The curfew is expected to take immediate effect.

The statement read;

“I’m worried that the warring communities have refused to sheath their swords despite the government’s peace-building initiative.”

“Government requires residents to abide by this directive until further notice, to restore normalcy to the areas,” the statement said.

It also added that the security agencies had been directed to enforce the curfew, and urged residents of Guyuk Local Government and Lafiya community in Lamurde Local Government areas to shun rumour-mongering and provide relevant information to security agencies to ensure peace.

The Senate has uncovered the disbursement of the sum of N1billion among staff by the Interim Management Committee, IMC of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

The reports by Daily Trust said that Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC also handed the Nigeria Police N475 million.

The sum was doled out as a coronavirus relief package and used for the purchase of some items.

The Senate, Thursday, commenced a probe into allegations of misappropriation of N40 billion by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC Interim Management Committee.

The Chairman, Senate Ad hoc Committee on Investigation of the alleged Financial Recklessness, Olubunmi Adetunmbi gave a breakdown of how the fund was disbursed.

The senator said N10 million was shared with one staff, N7 million each to two staff and N5 million each to three staff.

While N3 million each was handed to 148 staff, N1.5 million each to 175 staff, N1 million each to 495 staff.

N600,000 each was given to 464 staff and N475 million to the Nigeria Police to buy face masks and hand sanitizers.

Speaking, Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC Acting Managing Director, Kemebradikumo Pondei, explained that the money was for coronavirus relief.

According to Pondei, they had to “take care of the staff, who are also the representatives of the people from the nine states of the Niger Delta region”.

Pondei noted that the money handed to the police to buy the items was on request.

“We work very closely with the police. Without them, we can’t work. A request from the Police high command was made to us and the management looked at it and approved.”

A member of Board Trustees (BoT) of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA Hon. Abdullahi Sani Shinkafi has frontally challenged the former governor Abdulazeez Yari of Zamfara State over the alleged diversion of the state fund.

Shinkafi, a former National Secretary-General All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA said the former governor should submit himself over to Anti-graft agencies and defend himself of alleged diversion of fund.

The former governorship candidate under APGA was reacting to claims by a former Attorney General of the state, Hon. Sani Takori who eventually became Yari’s spokesman in a petition filed at the nation’s anti-graft agencies.

Recall a group, Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development had officially urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to arrest, investigate and prosecute Yari over alleged corrupt practices and misappropriation of public funds running to over N900 billion belonging to the state during the eight years he was the Zamfara State governor.

“The former governor is just moving freely in Abuja as if nothing happened. Let his sins find him out” the former national scribe of APGA lamented

The Updates reliably gathered that a group in a petition addressed to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU promised to head to court to obtain an order of mandamus compelling the anti-graft agencies to investigate the former Governor, Yari in line with the laws setting them up.

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