Oil Prices Slide On Shattered Demand, Stocks Rise
Oil prices plunged Monday to an 18-year low as the number of novel coronavirus cases worldwide surged past 700,000, reinforcing worries about the impact of the pandemic on the global economy. US and European stock markets moved higher despite the prospect of much of the world remaining in confinement for weeks to come. Crude oil […]
Hungary’s Orban Gets Sweeping New Powers In Virus Fight
Hungary’s parliament endorsed a bill on Monday giving nationalist premier Viktor Orban the sweeping new powers he says he needs to fight the new coronavirus pandemic. Critics at home and abroad have condemned the “anti-coronavirus defence law”, saying it gives Orban unnecessary and unlimited power and is a means of cementing his position rather than […]
Global Lockdown Tightens As Coronavirus Deaths Mount
Harsh lockdowns aimed at halting the march of the coronavirus extended around the world on Monday as the death toll soared past 35,000 despite slivers of hope in stricken Italy and Spain. In a symbol of the scale of the challenge facing humanity, a US military medical ship sailed into New York to relieve the […]
North Korea Slams Pompeo: ‘We Will Walk Our Way’
Nuclear-armed North Korea on Monday warned it could cut off dialogue with the United States, but Washington’s top diplomat said the US still looked forward to talks, even after the North called his insistence on sanctions “ludicrous”. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week told nations to “stay committed to applying diplomatic and economic pressure” […]
Kenya: Uproar Over Police Brutality During Virus Curfew
Uproar has greeted the manner in which police officers executed curfew orders on Friday, with some rights groups calling for civic education for them and the public. In Nyanza, lobbies said the government must protect civilians’ rights in effecting the indefinite 7pm-5am curfew aimed at curbing spread of the deadly coronavirus. In an update on […]
Our Experience In Lagos Centre – Coronavirus Survivors
Two coronavirus survivors who were discharged on Monday from the Infectious Disease Centre, Yaba, Mainland Hospital, Lagos, have recounted their experience at the isolation centre. Though they did not mention their names, they spoke of hope and that the virus could be defeated. They were grateful to God for saving their lives from the deadly […]
UK Coronavirus Outbreak Shows Early Signs Of Slowing Down
The UK could remain under coronavirus emergency measures for as long as six months, a top health official has said, even as one expert said there were early signs that the outbreak was slowing in Britain. Curbs on normal life may need to continue through the summer and into the autumn in order to avoid progress […]
Operations To Continue At The Ports – NPA
Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on Monday said that operations would continue at the ports in spite of the two-week lockdown of Lagos State to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Mr Adams Jatto, General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications of NPA, made this known in a press statement in Lagos. “Consequent to the directive of President Muhammadu […]
Boko Haram Commander, Usamah, Killed In Borno
The Military has said that one of the top Commanders of the Boko Haram terror group, Abu Usamah, has been killed by troops in Gorgi, Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State. Usamah according to a statement by the Acting Director Defence Media Operations, Brigadier General Benard Onyeuko, was among the terrorists killed by troops […]
Journalists’ Movement Not Restricted During Lockdown – FG
The Nigerian government has advised journalists and other media staff to use their Identity Cards to access their places of work and assignment venues during the 14-day lockdown in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States. Recall that the President on Sunday ordered a lockdown in three states with the highest number of Covid-19 cases In a statement on […]
South Africa: Treasury Announces COVID-19 Tax Measures
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni on Sunday announced exceptional tax measures to counter the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. “The Minister of Finance has announced the following exceptional tax measures as part of the fiscal package outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 23 March 2020 in his speech on the Escalation of Measures to Combat […]
Uganda: Police Shoot Two for Defying COVID-19 Order
Police in Uganda have shot and injured two people reportedly caught defying a presidential directive on public transport. President Yoweri Museveni recently banned all public transport in the country for two weeks in a move aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the neighbouring country. The affected mode of transport includes commuter […]