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UK Sends Navy Ships To Jersey As French Fishing Row Escalates

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday sent two Navy patrol vessels to Jersey over concerns that French fishermen could blockade its main port in an escalating post-Brexit row.

France warned Tuesday it was weighing its response after the UK imposed rules governing access for French fishing boats near the Channel Islands, and said it could involve the electricity supply via underwater cables.

French fishermen also plan to converge on the island’s main port St Helier on Thursday, although authorities have said they do not intend to block access.

But Johnson announced on Wednesday that he was sending two patrol vessels “as a precautionary measure”, adding that a blockade “would be completely unjustified.”

British MP Tobias Ellwood accused France of “shameful behaviour,” saying “it would be wise to dispatch” a Royal Navy vessel.

French maritime minister Annick Girardin accused Jersey, the largest Channel Island, of dragging its feet over the issuing of licences to French vessels under the terms of Britain’s post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels.

Jersey, a self-governing British Crown dependency off the coast of France, has said it will require boats to submit further details before the licences can be granted, and pleaded for patience.

Johnson spoke to Jersey Chief Minister John Le Fondre on Wednesday, when the pair “stressed the urgent need for a de-escalation in tensions,” according to a statement from Downing Street.

“The Prime Minister underlined his unwavering support for Jersey,” it added.

A spokesman for Johnson’s government earlier called threats over Jersey’s electricity supply “unacceptable and disproportionate.”

Blue Origin To Fly First Crew To Space July

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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will send its first crew to space on July 20 and is offering one of the seats to the winner of an online auction, the company said Wednesday.

The trip will last a total of ten minutes, four of which passengers will spend above the Karman line that marks the recognized boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space.

“We’ve been perfecting our ability to launch, land and repeat,” a video accompanying the announcement said.

“Our next launch will be the first time astronauts will fly aboard New Shepard.”

The reusable suborbital rocket system was named after Alan Shepard, who sixty years ago on Wednesday became the first American in space.

New Shepard has successfully carried out 15 uncrewed test runs launching from its facility in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas.

After lift-off, the capsule, which carries up to six crew members, separates from its booster, then spends four minutes at an altitude exceeding 60 miles (100 kilometers), during which time those on board experience weightlessness and can observe the curvature of Earth from space.

The booster lands autonomously on a pad two miles from the launch site, and the capsule floats back to the surface with three large parachutes that slow it down to about a mile an hour when it lands.

Blue Origin said the bidding will be unsealed on May 19 before a final-stage live online auction on July 12 when the winner is announced.

The proceeds will go to the company’s foundation, Club for the Future, which aims to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM.

Blue Origin has not yet published its prices but its clientele is expected to mainly be wealthy individuals.

Virgin Galactic, the company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, is also developing a spacecraft capable of sending clients on suborbital flights. Some 600 people have booked flights, costing $200,000 to $250,000.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is planning orbital flights that would cost millions of dollars and send people much further into space.

Graft Scandal: South Africa’s ANC Party Suspends Top Official

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South Africa’s governing ANC party has suspended its secretary general, Elias “Ace” Magashule, over graft charges in a move seen as a political victory for President Cyril Ramaphosa in the divided party.

But a defiant Magashule, who is the first top party official to be temporarily forced out under a new policy aimed at turning the page on a litany of graft scandals, said he was not going anywhere.

Instead, he said he was suspending Ramaphosa from his position as ANC president.

Magashule, 61, was given a 30-day ultimatum on March 30 to step aside after being charged with embezzling public funds while he was premier of the Free State province.

He ignored the deadline and refused to resign voluntarily, forcing the party to suspend him.

“You are hereby temporarily suspended with effect from 3 May 2021 until the final outcome of your court proceedings,” his deputy Jessie Duarte informed Magashule of his suspension in a letter.

The letter, dated Monday and leaked to the media on Wednesday, said the decision to suspend him would be “in the best interest of the organisation”.

But Magashule, countered in a letter Wednesday night sent to Ramaphosa and Duarte, saying he was “appealing this unconstitutional suspension” and that until the appeal was heard he would keep his job.

In a dramatic and strange outburst, he said he was invoking powers vested in him as the secretary general of the ANC, to “summarily” suspend Ramaphosa.

But the ANC immediately issued a statement saying its resolution stands and asked Magashule to “respect” the party’s decisions and “subject himself to the discipline of the organization”.

Magashule has been indicted on charges of corruption and fraud, or theft and money laundering, along with around a dozen other co-accused.

The African National Congress (ANC) of Nelson Mandela, which has been ruling the country since the end of white minority rule in 1994, has been at pains to clean up its image, marred by years of graft.

South Africa’s Newly Appointed Deputy Directors-General To Bring Stability In Higher Education

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The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology has commended the appointment of three new Deputy Directors-General (DDGs), saying it will ensure stability at senior management level in the department.

Committee chairperson, Philly Mapulane, said the committee had noted that the positions of the three DDGs had been vacant for a long time, and their filling will see the achievement of the commitments and the vision of the department.

The department appeared before the committee virtually recently to present its revised strategic plan for 2020-2024 and its annual performance plan for the 2021/22 financial year.

The committee said that due to the constrained fiscus and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country’s economy, the department had to make difficult choices in order to ensure that the commitments made by the government for the Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector are realised.

Some of the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) targets had to be adjusted down due to budget shortfall, mainly in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Community Education and Training (CET) programmes.

Head count enrolment for the TVET and CET colleges has been adjusted down and capped at 620 000 and 388 782, respectively.

Mapulane added that the committee was concerned that university enrolments will continue to grow, and the current inverted pyramid will not be changed.

He said reducing the budget of colleges in the midst of high youth unemployment and the three million youth that are not in education, employment and training is very concerning.

The committee in the meantime, commended the department for introducing skills that are fit for purpose in the TVET and CET colleges, saying these interventions will go a long way in addressing the local economic skills needs.

Mapulane said interventions to support the establishment of disability units at TVET colleges is very progressive as this will ensure access of students with disabilities to education and training.

The committee also commended the interventions made by the department to support the Presidential Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan by ensuring that the relevant skills to grow the economy are offered at PSET institutions.

The committee bemoaned the budget cuts within the department’s budget over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period.

The budget is projected to decrease by R20.8 billion over the MTEF. The department’s budget in the 2021/22 MTEF period, when inflation adjusted, will decrease.

Of great concern to the committee is the risk that student funding continues to grow at the expense of university subsidies, and if this trend is maintained, student funding will overtake the subsidies to universities.

Afrobeats put Ghana back on international music scene

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Ghana Afropop musician, Stonebwoy, looks on during a recording session at his studio in his house in Accra, Ghana, on March 25, 2021. - In a music scene long ruled by giant neighbour Nigeria, Afrobeats from Ghana are now finding favour not only in Accra's clubs but in a thriving international market even beyond West Africa. Afrobeats takes its name from the afrobeat, a musical genre of the 1970s popularized by the music icon Fela Kuti, was born and exploded in Nigeria. Western audiences were discovering the afrobeats scene in 2016 thanks to the hit "One Dance", featuring Canadian superstar Drake and Nigerian Wizkid. It became the most played song of all time on Spotify, surpassing the billion streams. (Photo by CRISTINA ALDEHUELA / AFP)

On Saturday night at the Purple Pub in Ghana’s capital Accra even the pandemic and an official shutdown of bars and clubs can’t stop the music.

In the bustling Osu district, early revellers laze on plastic chairs emptying local beers as speakers cranked to full volume drown out their voices.

After midnight, the chairs empty, whether it is Sarkodie or Stonebwoy, the kings of Ghanaian Afrobeats soon have the whole street swinging.

In a music scene long ruled by giant neighbour Nigeria, Afrobeats from Ghana are now finding favour not only in Accra’s clubs but in a thriving international market beyond West Africa.

“Not only is Afrobeats hyper-popular here in Ghana, it’s now gaining real recognition on the international stage,” says Stonebwoy in his Accra recording studio, which is lined with international accolades.

“We are seeing Afrobeats festivals appear in Europe, I am happy to see West African music go so far. I even have hardened fans in India and Bangladesh,” says the singer who counts 3.6 million Instagram followers.

Afrobeats takes its name from the Afrobeat musical genre of the 1970s popularised by the music icon Fela Kuti and which exploded in Nigeria.

Western audiences were discovering the Afrobeats scene in 2016 thanks to the hit “One Dance”, featuring Canadian superstar Drake and Nigerian Wizkid.

The tune soared in popularity to secure a place as the most played song of all time on Spotify, surpassing one billion streams.

  • Nigeria’s shadow –

Now, alongside Nigerian stars with millions of social media followers — Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido — Ghanian musicians are emerging to take their turn.

Gyakie and Joey B boast hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers while KiDi has 1.6 million, Sarkodie 4.4 million and Shatta Wale 3.2 million.

Shatta Wale’s “Already” featuring Beyonce and Major Lazer was one of the hits of the summer of 2020, securing Ghana a place among the countries which now count on Africa’s pop scene.

Jefferson Seneadza, co-founder of the Ghanaian music streaming platform Aftown, which aims to promote African music, has noted “a massive interest in Ghanaian music”.

“Our music industry is finally being taken seriously,” he says, saying the country can now take its talents to the international stage.

Stonebwoy’s latest album, for example, has been listened to over a million times in a week on the platform.

“And a lot of those tapping came from abroad,” Seneadza said.

Young singer Gyakie signed a contract with US giant Sony Music earlier this year, shortly after a delegation from the label travelled to Ghana to scout the local market.

“In Afrobeats, Ghana is now in a position to compete with Nigeria,” said Jim Donnett, public relations manager of Sony Music West Africa.

“But it’s healthy competition.”

Musicians attribute this success to the mixture of genres.

“My music is Afro-dancehall influenced by Caribbean music,” says Stonebwoy, a bright red cap resting on his braided hair.

“I borrow from Jamaican dancehall, reggae, and cook it all in the big pot of African music, adding the rhythms and melodies unique to the continent.”

  • The Highlife –

The result: contagious rhythms which, served by a powerful voice, form irresistibly catchy pieces.

But the Ghanaian Afrobeats stand out from their Nigerian big sister in one particular way: the legacy of “Highlife”.

The genre appeared in colonised Ghana, then called Cote-de-l’Or, at the beginning of the 19th century, by adapting the traditional rhythms of the Ashanti people to Western instruments brought by the colonists.

It was thanks to Highlife that Ghana enjoyed its first success on the international music scene.

“By the 1970s, big Highlife groups like Osibisa were already filling entire stadiums,” recalls Ghanaian-Romanian musician Wanlov the Kubolor, avant-garde cultural icon and author of an offbeat album called ‘Afrobeats LOL’.

“But the recent popularity of Afrobeats is of a different nature.”

Thanks to the internet, young Ghanaian artists can achieve viral success very quickly, he said.

But Ghana’s scene now faces another challenge: the Covid-19 pandemic and the strict health restrictions put in place by the government since March 2020 that have been a blow to the music sector across the world.

The cancellations of festivals and concerts, which represent the bulk of income for African artists, have further weakened a sector where funding was already fragile.

“All eyes are on Africa right now, and we, the young Ghanaian creators, feel that it is the right time to emerge,” says young talent Sofie on the sidelines of a shoot for a new video in a private villa in Accra.

“What we lack now is a real industry, structured and funded with the help of the state.”

French reporter’s kidnapping in Mali: what we know

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(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 14, 2020 French journalist Olivier Dubois is photographed while reporting in Nioro, Mali. - A missing French journalist said he was kidnapped in Mali by a jihadist group with links to Al-Qaeda, according to a video circulating on social media May 5, 2021, the latest foreigner to be taken hostage in the West African country. The video of Olivier Dubois, who worked with several French media, could not be immediately verified independently, although Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and an official at the French foreign ministry confirmed he was missing. In the undated video, which lasts about 20 seconds, Dubois, 46, said he was abducted on April 8 in Gao, central Mali, by the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), the biggest jihadist alliance in the Sahel. (Photo by Michele Cattani / AFP)

Missing French journalist Olivier Dubois says he has been kidnapped in Mali by a jihadist group with links to Al-Qaeda, according to a video circulating on social media on Wednesday.

Here is what we know about the latest kidnapping of a foreigner in the war-torn West African state.

  • Why was the journalist in Gao? –

Olivier Dubois has worked as a freelance journalist in Mali since 2015, covering the country’s jihadist conflict for French weekly Le Point, as well as the left-of-centre daily Liberation.

In the undated hostage video published on Wednesday, the 46-year-old said he was abducted on April 8 in Gao, northern Mali, by the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), the biggest jihadist alliance in the Sahel.

According to military officials and diplomats interviewed by AFP, as well as Dubois’ local help — called a “fixer” in journalism — the Frenchman had travelled to Gao to interview GSIM commander Abdallah Ag Albakaye.

Named only as Souleymane for security reasons, the fixer has often helped journalists navigate high-risk areas of the country.

He comes from Talataye, a region where Abdallah Ag Albakaye is active, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of Gao, and helped Dubois arrange the interview.

  • The kidnapping –

Olivier Dubois landed in Gao by plane from the capital Bamako on the morning of April 8.

He had an appointment with Abdallah Ag Albakaye in an apartment in the town, and left several items, including his passport, in his hotel room before going to the meeting.

Souleymane said he accompanied Dubois to a street, where he saw the journalist get into a car with several men.

Dubois has not been seen in public since.

Officials discreetly put out an alert to a small group of people after he failed to show up for his return flight two days later.

Initially, there were hopes that the journalist had missed his flight because of a simple change of schedule or itinerary.

But those hopes were dashed after the hostage video came to light.

French military officials questioned Souleymane for several days in Gao, where the French army has its main base in the Sahel region, before they handed him to Malian officials.

Souleymane has since been taken to Bamako, according to Malian security officers. Police are still questioning him.

  • The context –

Mali has been battling a jihadist insurgency since 2012, when Islamist fighters first emerged during a rebellion by ethnic Tuareg separatists in the north.

France intervened to crush the rebellion, but the jihadists scattered and regrouped, taking their campaign into central Mali, an ethnic powderkeg, in 2015 and then into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians have died, hundreds of thousands have fled their homes and swathes of the Sahel lie outside of government control.

Several armed groups operate in the area around Gao.

Some are former rebels who signed a peace agreement with Mali’s government in 2015.

But others are affiliated with al-Qaeda, or the Islamic State group, and are waging a brutal war against Malian and foreign troops.

The town of Gao is plagued by instability and crime, and much of the countryside remains in jihadist hands.

Journalists working in the Sahel, both local and foreign, risk being killed or kidnapped. Liberation, in a statement Wednesday, said that it had refused in advance Dubois’ proposal of the interview.

Several governments — including France’s — advise against all travel to most parts of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger because of the danger involved.

Two Spanish journalists were killed in mid-April while on assignment in eastern Burkina Faso, for example. Two French radio journalists were also killed in northern Mali in 2013.

With kidnappings, militants often take their captives to remote desert redoubts, where security forces struggle to mount effective rescue operations.

Governor Emmanuel urges U.S to delist Akwa Ibom from list of unsafe states

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Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has urged the U.S. Government to delist the state from the list of unsafe states in Nigeria.

Mr Emmanuel made the request during a courtesy visit by U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Leonard, at Government House, Uyo, on Wednesday.

According to him, listing Akwa Ibom among the unsafe states in Nigeria was pushing away investors, hence, inimical to the industrialisation drive of the state government.

He said such categorisation was at variance with the decisions of several security agencies that place Akwa Ibom as one of the safest states in the country.

He expressed delight over the partnership between America and Nigeria in the provision of “critical facilities” in the state.

He appealed to the American Government to partner with Akwa Ibom for transparency and effective projects monitoring.

Breaking: Day after massive protest at NASS, 29 Afaka students regain freedom

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The remaining 29 students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna state have been released.

One of the parents, Malam Usman Abdullahi Tumburke, confirmed their release to Blueprint on Wednesday evening.

The released students were part of 39 students kidnapped whisked away by gunmen from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna about two months ago.

About a month ago, 10 of them were released in two batches of five each.

But the remaining 29 continued to languish in captivity until Wednesday when they were finally freed to join their parents and families.

Though details were sketchy as to how much ransom was paid to secure their release, reports suggested that the release was facilitated by the Sheikh Abubakar Gumi dialogue committee with the support of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The kidnappers had initially demanded a N500 million ransom from the Kaduna state government in a viral video that showed them maltreating and flogging the students to press home their demand but Governor Nasir el-Rufai ruled out the option of negotiation with the bandits.

Teachers’ Registration Council Registrar Says Nigerian Teachers Have Become Globally Recognised

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The Registrar of Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria, Prof Josiah Ajiboye, made this known during a one-day Capacity Training Workshop for Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN).

The Registrar also said that since the beginning of 2021, he has signed about 100 letters for qualified Nigerian teachers who secured teaching jobs in Canada and other parts of the world.

He stated that teachers trained in Nigeria are becoming highly competitive, adding that government at all levels should do its best to attract them to stay back home.

Prof. Ajiboye who emphasised that the approvals given by President Muhammadu Buhari on repositioning teaching profession in the country, called for adherence by the State government as well saying, States are the largest employers of the teachers.

He said that with the approvals given by the President and with its full implementation across the country with the cooperation of states, more qualified teachers will be retained in the system.

Also speaking at the event, Assistant Director in the council, Dr Abimbola Okunola, said that the teaching profession has been rated more critical than any other profession in the world, hence the need to attract the best brains for the practice of teaching in the country.

He, therefore, emphasised the need for professionalism as the secret behind the success or collapse of any vocation, hence the need to critically take professionalism seriously in the teaching profession.

On his part, Assistant Director, Department of Planning, Research and Statistics in TRCN, Dr Magaji Waziri, said that the country has been flooded with unqualified manpower which had lowered the quality of teachers in the system.

Waziri maintained that there was therefore the need to set standards at all levels while ensuring quality teaching and learning through monitoring and supervision of teacher education programmes.

Also speaking at the event, Chairman of ECAN, Chuks Ukwuatu, called on journalists to ensure adequate reportage of education stories to foster development in other sectors.

Ukwuatu commended TRCN for its role in ensuring excellence in the professionalism of teachers as well as maintenance of teachers’ quality.

Ekoexcel Empowerment Programme: Lagos State UBEB Empowers 14,000 Teachers Digitally

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No lesser than 14,000 public school teachers in Lagos State have benefitted from the EkoExcel phase III empowerment programme, aimed at expanding their knowledge through technology and ensuring that they are globally competitive.

Speaking at the graduation ceremonies held at Vetland Primary School, Agege and CMS Primary School, Bariga, respectively, the Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Wahab Alawiye-King, congratulated the teachers while appealing to them to explore new opportunities by getting out of their comfort zones and expanding their frontier of knowledge.

He described EkoExcel as the complete transformation of the basic education sector and a total departure from the traditional way of teaching in the classroom, designed to instill discipline and make teaching and learning more interactive and engaging using technology.

He said “It is about empowering the teachers to make them globally competitive. The important aspect is about integration of technology in our classroom by making the teachers more productive and efficient. We get to monitor the time of arrival and performance indicators”.

He added that empowerment goes beyond capacity building, but instilling discipline in and rewarding them.

Speaking on his expectations from them, Alawiye- King said, “if we don’t have teachers who are academically qualified, there is no way we can reach our goal which is to transform the sector.”

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Abosede Adelaja also congratulated the teachers, while advising them to change the face of education and the narrative in the state which is one of the transformation agenda of the present administration.

The Permanent Board Member in charge of EkoExcel, Bayo Adefuye appealed to the teachers to be the star that will change the next generation for the better, adding that the governor is raising the standard of education to ensure that they become digital.

He said “We want you to rewrite the Nigerian story. We want you to make our children great. You are the one we are trusting with this great task. Let our children be great by raising them as your own children”.

A primary six teacher at Vetland Primary School, Sarah Abiodun Oladipo, who spoke on behalf of the teachers, promised that no matter what comes her way in the state, she would ensure that every child in her custody becomes the best.