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Danish military kills four pirates off Nigeria coast

Nigeria

Henry Williams

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November 25, 2021

Danish military kills four pirates off Nigeria coast

The Danish military says the crew of one of its warships operating off West Africa have killed four pirates in a gun battle.

A statement said the frigate Esbern Snare accompanied by a helicopter approached a speeding motorboat south of Nigeria on Wednesday.

There were eight men on board with ladders and other tools often used by pirates to board ships.

After warning shots were ignored the suspected pirates opened fire on Danish troops.

The military said four of the pirates died and one was injured; there were no Danish casualties.

Several countries have deployed ships to the region after more than 130 sailors were taken from vessels in the region last year.

Samuel Eto’o: Ex-Barcelona star cleared to stand in Cameroon FA polls

Sports

Henry Williams

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November 25, 2021

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Samuel Eto’o: Ex-Barcelona star cleared to stand in Cameroon FA polls

Former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o has been cleared to stand in elections to be the next president of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot).

A total of six candidates, including incumbent Seidou Mbombo Njoya, have been approved by Fecafoot’s electoral committee to stand in the polls on 11 December.

Another former international Jules Denis Onana is also eligible for the elections, however his 1990 World Cup team-mate Emmanuel Maboang Kessack was ruled out as he owes Fecafoot $7,600.

The other three names on the list of eligible candidates for president are Crepin Soter Nyamsi, Justin Tagouh and Zacharie Wandja.

One other person, Manuel Boyomo, has also been prevented from taking part in the polls because he failed to provide the required number of endorsement letters.

When Eto’o, 40, first announced his intentions in September it was amid controversy in Cameroon after candidates with dual nationality had been told they could not stand in the elections.

Eto’o, who also had spells with Inter Milan and Chelsea, was granted dual Spanish nationality during his time at Barcelona.

Tanzania to scrap ban on pregnant schoolgirls

Africa

Henry Williams

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November 25, 2021

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Tanzania to scrap ban on pregnant schoolgirls

A 19-year-old rule that banned pregnant students from attending school in Tanzania is to be scrapped, a minister says.

Education Minister Prof Joyce Ndalichako said on Wednesday that primary and secondary school students who drop out of school due to various reasons, including pregnancy, will now be allowed to return to the formal school system.

The government had set up a parallel education system for pregnant schoolgirls with officials saying this would protect other students from “bad influence”.

The late Tanzania President John Pombe Magufuli reinforced the law initially passed in 2002 which allowed for the expulsion of pregnant schoolgirls.

Magufuli warned that “after getting pregnant, you are done”.

He also announced that men who impregnate schoolgirls should be imprisoned for 30 years.

Ugandan journalist and politician targeted by spyware

Africa

Henry Williams

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November 25, 2021

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Ugandan journalist and politician targeted by spyware

A top Ugandan investigative journalist and an opposition politician have said that their phones has been targeted by Pegasus spyware.

The software can infect both iPhones and Android devices, allowing operators to extract messages, photos and emails, record calls and secretly activate microphones and cameras.

In a series of tweets, journalist Raymond Mujuni highlighted the warning that he received from Apple saying that his phone may have been targeted by “state-sponsored attackers”.

He added that he was not the only investigative journalist to have received the message:

NLC rejects proposed N5,000 stipend to replace petrol subsidy

Nigeria

Henry Williams

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November 25, 2021

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NLC rejects proposed N5,000 stipend to replace petrol subsidy

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected the proposed N5,000 for 40 million poor Nigerians when the subsidy on Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) is removed.

NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said in Abuja last night that there are no ongoing talks between labour and the Federal Government, as negotiation was adjourned sine die many months ago.
NLC accused government of adopting monologue in arriving at its conclusion on subsidy removal, stressing that it will continually reject a deregulation that is anchored on importation of petroleum products.

It also said constant devaluation of the naira wouldn’t guarantee a realistic pump price of petrol.

Red and Green Traditional Christmas Colors…Why?

Lifestyle

Olasunbo Okoromi

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November 25, 2021

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Red and Green Traditional Christmas Colors…Why?

What comes to mind when you think of Christmas? For some, it’s brightly-wrapped presents sitting under the Christmas tree. Others think of special time spent with friends and family members celebrating the birth of Jesus.

If you were to put your mental images of Christmas onto paper in the form of a drawing, chances are there are two crayons you’d use more than any others: red and green. For hundreds of years, red and green have been the traditional colors of Christmas. But why is that?

Although Christmas trees are green and Santa’s suit and Rudolph’s nose are red, these modern holiday decorations and characters weren’t the inspiration for the colors we associate with Christmas. To find their root, we have to go much farther back in time.

Although no one knows for certain how and why red and green became so closely associated with Christmas, there are a few popular theories. Many Christians believe red and green were inspired by the life of Jesus, whose birth Christians celebrate on Christmas. Green, for example, represents the eternal life of Jesus Christ, just as evergreen trees remain green the whole winter long. Likewise, red represents the blood shed by Jesus Christ during his crucifixion.

Some scholars date the tradition of red and green at Christmas back to the 1300s, when churches would present Miracle Plays, religious plays that were meant to educate a largely-illiterate public who could not read the Bible.

One popular Miracle Play performed on Christmas Eve was called The Paradise Play. It told the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Those familiar with the story know that God instructed Adam and Eve not to eat fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil. They did so anyway and were banished from paradise.

Since apple trees were barren in winter, churches would instead bring in pine trees and fasten apples to their branches to represent the Tree of Good and Evil. Over time, people began to duplicate this practice in their own homes, developing the tradition of the Christmas tree and using red and green as Christmas colors.

Report sees Nigeria’s exports hit $112 billion by 2030

Business

Henry Williams

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November 25, 2021

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Report sees Nigeria’s exports hit $112 billion by 2030

A new research by Standard Chartered has projected that global exports will almost double from $17.4tn to $29.7tn over the next decade, with Nigeria topping the volume for Africa.

At 9.7 per cent yearly growth rate, the report sees Nigeria’s export volume peaking at $112 billion by 2030.

The report reveals 13 markets that will drive much of this growth, identifies major corridors, and five trends shaping the future of global trade.

Commissioned by Standard Chartered and prepared by PwC Singapore, the trade report is based on an analysis of historical trade data and projections until 2030, as well as insights from a survey of more than 500 C-suite and senior leaders in global companies.

The report noted that global trade will be reshaped by five key trends: the wider adoption of sustainable and fair-trade practices; a push for more inclusive participation; greater risk diversification; more digitisation and a rebalancing towards high-growth emerging markets

53rd Asoju Oba Cup begins Dec 1 at Teslim Balogun Stadium

Sports

Henry Williams

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November 25, 2021

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53rd Asoju Oba Cup begins Dec 1 at Teslim Balogun Stadium

Hostilities will begin at the 53rd Asoju Oba Molade Okoya Thomas Cup Table Tennis Championships from December 1. The tennis tourney, which ends on December 7, holds at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

Nine titles will be competed for in this year’s tourney. They include, the singles (men and women), doubles (men and women), mixed doubles, para-singles standing (men and women) and para singles sitting (men and women).

Speaking on the championships, Deji Okoya-Thomas said God has been in the driving seat of the continuous sponsorship of the contest, which is in memory of their late father, Molade Okoya-Thomas.

Nigeria’s oil production rebounds as Shell lifts force majeure on Bonny Light exports

Business

Henry Williams

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November 25, 2021

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Nigeria’s oil production rebounds as Shell lifts force majeure on Bonny Light exports

Nigeria’s hope of improved production may have been re-ignited as a result of the lifting of force majeure on crude exports by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) from Bonny Light terminal following repairs to a leaking pipeline.

Operational issues have hampered Nigeria’s crude production throughout the second half of this year, with disruption at several other terminals, including Qua Iboe, Forcados, Erha and Brass River.

Nigeria’s production in the last few months has been below budgetary benchmark, dropping to 1.37 million barrels a day in October, 261,000 bpd below its OPEC+ quota.

NDLEA intercepts cocaine worth N2.7bn at Abuja airport

Nigeria

Henry Williams

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November 25, 2021

0

NDLEA intercepts cocaine worth N2.7bn at Abuja airport

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 9.30 kilograms of cociane worth over N2.7 billion at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja.

The NDLEA spokesperson, Mr Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, said a 32-year-old drug trafficker based in Liberia, Maduabuchi Chinedu, was arrested with the consignment.

Babafemi said the suspect who hailed from Obaha Okigwe village, Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo state, lived in Liberia where he worked as a miner.

He said the suspect was arrested during an inward joint search of Ethiopian Airlines flight 911 at the Abuja airport on Nov. 24.

He said the drug, which weighed 9.30kg cocaine, was wrapped in candies wraps and concealed in the suspect’s luggage.

According to him, during his preliminary interview, Chinedu claimed he left Nigeria in 2018 to settle in Liberia where he now has a residence permit