Month: May 2020

Aerospace giant, Boeing, fires 7,000 workers

Efe Wellington

  Plans to break bad news to workers before weekend   Aerospace super major, Boeing, has fired about 7,000 employees as economic crunch in the global aviation industry worsened. The company, which announced this, said that it plans to notify the affected workers this week that their jobs would be eliminated as part of a 10 per cent companywide staff reduction that targets the aerospace giant’s commercial aircraft business. Flight Global reported that the layoff notice followed Boeing’s announcement last month that it would reduce its 160,000-strong global workforce by…

Read More

Hundreds defy Coronavirus, queue hours as brewery gives away beer it can’t sell

Tim Bauer

    Hundreds of people defy lockdown for Coronavirus to queue hours as brewery gives away beer it could not sell. Unable to deliver to hotels and restaurants closed due to coronavirus restrictions, a German brewery on Thursday gave away some 2,600 litres (690 gallons) of beer. The people who thronged the venue despite the restriction of movement, stood in different dozens patiently in line outside a brewery, wearing masks and keeping to social distancing recommendations. Many took full buckets and boxes back home, a report by Reuters read. Rather…

Read More

Testing Tanzania: Another look at coronavirus kits after goat, pawpaw test positive

ADEOLA YUSUF

  Dar Es Salaam – Coronavirus test kits used in Tanzania were dismissed as faulty by President John Magufuli, because, according to him, they returned positive results on samples taken from a goat and a pawpaw. Magufuli, whose government has already drawn criticism for being secretive about the coronavirus outbreak and has previously asked Tanzanians to pray the coronavirus away, said the kits had “technical errors”. The Covid-19 testing kits had been imported from abroad, Magufuli said during an event in Chato in the north west of Tanzania, although he…

Read More

Nigeria suffers highest single-day COVID-19 infections, reports 553 new cases

Efe Wellington

  Country nears 10,000 mark   Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, suffered highest single-day COVID-19 infections on Saturday, May 30, with 553 cases reported by the country’s Centre for Disease Control (CDC). The new cases were confirmed by the specialist agency, the NCDC on Twitter on Saturday night. This takes the country near 10,000 mark. Already it has a total infections of 9,855, out of which 2856 have been discharged with 273 losing their lives. Data from the NCDC showed that the cases were spread across 14 states and the…

Read More

COVID-19: Brazil’s cases near 500, 000, deaths hit 27,787

Chris Asiogwu

  Country behind US, has more coronavirus deaths than Spain   Chris Asiogwu Brazil has now suffered more deaths from the novel coronavirus than Spain, according to new statistics released by Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. The Health Ministry said the total number of people who have died of the new coronavirus in Brazil has risen to 27,787. The total number of confirmed infections rose to 465,166, the second-highest tally globally, behind the U.S, reports dpa. The number of undetected cases and deaths is likely to be much higher…

Read More

How Baru, NNPC’s 18th GMD, died 3 years after losing son, sister, mother

Efe Wellington

  Buhari, Sylva, Kyari mourn   The immediate-past Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Maikanti Kachalla Baru, died three years after losing a son, mother and sister. He was 60. His successor, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, who announced this in a Tweet, stated that Baru died at an Abuja hospital on the night of Friday, May 29. He has been sick before then but an accompanying statement from NNPC stated that he died after a brief illness. His death has attracted condolences from President Muhammadu Buhari and the…

Read More

128 print newspapers shut down, fire thousands of journalists in 24 hours

Tim Bauer

  Of these numbers, News Corp announces end of 112 Australian print newspapers in one day   Thousands of journalists and media workers lost their jobs as about 128 print newspapers closed shops globally within 24 hours. Of these numbers News Corp Australia alone confirmed that more than 100 local and regional newspapers will disappear entirely or become digital only, and there will be a significant number of job losses. The executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, Michael Miller, who made the anouncement on May 28, thanked the departing employees for their…

Read More

BREAKING: NNPC ex-GMD, Maikanti Baru, dies at 60

Efe Wellington

  Kyari, others mourn   The immediate-past Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Maikanti Kachalla Baru, is dead. He was 60. His successor, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, who announces this in a Tweet, stated that Baru died on Friday. He extolled the virtues of the deceased. “My brother, my friend and my mentor, Dr. Maikanti Kachalla Baru, immesiate past GMD of NNPC died late last night. “He was an exemplary character and disposition. May allah forgive him and have mercy upon him,” Kyari said.   Baru who, Kyari,…

Read More

AfDB crisis: 15 ex-African leaders send strong signal to US, back Adesina

Tim Bauer

  Fifteen concerned African leaders, mainly former presidents across the continent, have sent a strong signal to the United States (U.S) against its call for an independent probe of the President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina. They unanimously called on all the shareholders of the Bank including the US to respect its rules, procedures and governance structures. In a joint statement issued Friday, they also warned against distracting the AfDB President, Dr. Adesina. Adesina, who is bidding for a second five-year term as president of the bank, had been under…

Read More

Another death looms in Aso Rock, Gambari’ll run into crisis — Nigeria’s Primate Ayodele

Efe Wellington

  Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari’ll lose another aide as another death looms in Aso Rock, the seat of power. A prominent Christian cleric and leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, who declared this in a new series of prophesies, warned that unless President Buhari engages in fervent prayer, his Presidency would be struck by this tragedy. It should be recalled that the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, died in April after falling ill due to the Coronavirus Disease. Ayodele, who also predicted winners of…

Read More