Oil theft: Nigerian Navy has failed, must be disbanded now -HURIWA

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December 7, 2022

About 25.3 million people will face food insecurity across Nigeria between June and August 2023, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.

The FAO in a statement warned if actions are not taken to avert the crisis, 4.4 million people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States will be affected.

The UN food agency in its October 2022 food and nutrition analysis said about 17 million people in the country were already facing food crisis.

These include IDPs and returnees in 26 states including the Federal Capital Territory. The report said 3 million of these are living in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

In a bid to assist the victims, the government of Norway has renewed its funding cooperation with the FAO.

The funds are aimed at helping the most vulnerable populations in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe and Taraba states.

The three-year intervention will benefit 43, 990 households (about 307, 930 individuals), with at least 45 per cent of them being women, who will receive agricultural inputs, livestock assets, energy-saving stoves and other products.

The ambassador of Norway to Nigeria, Knut Eiliv Lein, said his country remains committed to supporting the efforts to restore the conflict-affected livelihoods in northeast Nigeria.

“This project we are signing here today is part of Norway’s larger support to Nigeria in general including humanitarian efforts specifically targeting those in need in the northeast region,” Mr Lein said.

“We have partnered with many organizations in addressing several issues including health, food security, democracy, gender equality and more.”

Credit: premiumtimesng.com

We have constructed 947km of asphalt overlay in G/A -Veep

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December 7, 2022

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia inspecting the architectural plan

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has cut the sod for construction works to begin on Phase Two of the Tema Motorway Roundabout improvement project, with a revelation that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has constructed a total of 947 kilometres of overlay in the Greater Accra Region since 2017.

Estimated at a cost of US$26 million, the project would provide a third-tier interchange on the existing two-tier interchanges, bringing to over 12, the number of interchanges completed or ongoing under the Government.

This phase will involve the construction of a viaduct to link the Tema Harbour Road to the Ashaiman Roundabout on the Akosombo Road.

It is expected to be completed within 30 months. The JFE Engineering Corporation of Japan is the contractor, with the CTI Engineering Corporation as the project supervisor.

Other major construction works to be undertaken include a flyover/overpass on the Tema intersection, mechanical stabilisation wall, signal-controlled at-grade intersection and ancillary works.

Also to be added is 142 metre span continuous composite steel-girder bridge, 2,820- metre steel concrete composite slab, steel box section frame pier, 1.8km bridge and ramps and ancillary road works, while the existing traffic lights would be redesigned.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is providing grant funding for the project, which forms part of the Accra-Abidjan transnational corridor highway to improve trade within the West African sub-region and ease traffic flows from Tema to Accra and other surrounding communities.

Vice President Bawumia, cutting the sod on Monday, urged the contractor to ensure adequate traffic management during the construction period to ease traffic flow and minimise the inconvenience to the motoring public.

The government, he said, had constructed a total of 947 kilometres of overlay in the Greater Accra Region since 2017.

The Tema Motorway Interchange Phase 1, Obetsebi Lamptey Interchange Phase 1, Pokuase Interchange (first four-tier interchange) and Tamale Interchange are examples of projects the government had done.

Other ongoing ones are; the Obetsebi Lamptey Phase 2, Takoradi PTC, Nungua, Adjiringanor, Kpone, Savana, Dawhenya, Prampram and Suame interchanges.

As part of measures to improve traffic flow between Tema and Accra, the Vice President said the Accra-Tema Motorway would be upgraded into a 10-lane facility.

The Phase 1 of the project would be between Tema Roundabout and the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange.

The works would include a four-lane-concrete pavement expressway; three-lane asphaltic concrete service roads on either sides; construction of Lashibi, Community 18 and Teshie Link interchanges and the re-modelling of the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange.

He said financing arrangements were being finalised for works to commence soon.

Dr Bawumia said aside those projects, the Government was also undertaking critical road works in the Greater Accra Region, including the the Tema-Aflao Road (17km) Phase 1, which involves the provision of service lanes and four interchanges between the Tema Roundabout and Miotso, on the Tema-Aflao Road.

Another one is the construction of the Tema-Akosombo Road (64km), involving the dualisation of the road and construction of two interchanges at Ashaiman and Asutsuare.

The rest are the dualisation of the Beach Road Phase 1, between Osu and Nungua, with the provision of bridges over the Kpeshie and Songor Lagoons ongoing.

The Phase 2 involves dualisation of the Beach Road from Nungua to Tema Community Three and includes the construction of a three-tier interchange at Nungua and widening of the railway bridge towards Sakumon, which is at 82 per cent complete.

Ongoing rehabilitation works include the 23km Dome-Kitase road, involving the provision of access to Ashesi University and construction of the Borteyman Road (from School Junction to Nungua Farms), involving the dualisation of the road between School Junction on the Ashalley Botwe Road and the Accra Tema Motorway will provide access to the proposed stadium for the All-African Games.

Also, 413.20 km of asphaltic overlay had been laid in Greater Accra from 2021 to date.

This brings the total asphalt overlay works completed in the region to 947.80km.

On behalf of the President, Dr Bawumia thanked the Government and people of Japan who, through JICA had provided grant funding for the entire works.

He urged the Ministry of Roads and Highways, the Consultant, as well as the Contractor to ensure adequate traffic management measures were in place to reduce the inconvenience the works would cause to the travelling public and residents.

From Godwill Arthur-Mensah, Tema

Source: GNA

Peter Kay moved to tears in live comeback concert

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December 7, 2022

Comedian Peter Kay was moved to tears as he was given a standing ovation at the start of his first tour for 12 years.

The crowd chanted his name as he took to the stage at Manchester’s AO arena.

He had to compose himself before telling fans: “How am I supposed to do comedy now? You’ll have me in bits… I can’t believe you made me cry.”

It was the first of 110 arena dates that the Bolton star will perform over the next two-and-a-half years.

He had been due to go on tour in 2018, but cancelled that due to “unforeseen family circumstances”.

On Friday, he showed about 20,000 fans in Manchester that he was still the king of making us laugh at seemingly ordinary stuff that we all remember and recognise – and pointing out the ridiculous things about real life.

“It’s stuff that people relate to, but he just makes it so daft. It’s so funny,” said Calum Burns, 23, from Manchester, who was seeing Kay in person for the first time.

Olivia Matthews, also 23, added: “There’s nothing too serious. Everything’s light-hearted. That’s what we like about him.

“His last tour was 12 years ago and we were 10 or 11, so we’re a new audience coming into it. I’ve always known him and always liked him, growing up. We’ve got to see his material, but never live.”

Credit: bbc.com

John Travolta pays tribute to Kirstie Alley: ‘We’ll see each other again’

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December 7, 2022

John Travolta and Kirstie Alley promote the 1989 movie -Look Who's Talking.

The death of Kirstie Alley, the Emmy-winning actress best known for her roles in TV sitcom Cheers and the Look Who’s Talking movies with John Travolta, shocked Hollywood and beyond late Monday.

Her family said that she died from cancer that was “only recently discovered.” Alley was 71.

“She was surrounded by her closest family and fought with great strength, leaving us with a certainty of her never-ending joy of living and whatever adventures lie ahead,” her adult children, True and Lillie Parker, said in a statement. “As iconic as she was on screen, she was an even more amazing mother and grandmother.”

Travolta, who along with Alley was one of the most prominent faces of Scientology, was quick to comment that “Kirstie was one of the most special relationships” he has had.

“I love you Kirstie,” Travolta wrote. “I know we will see each other again.”

Jamie Lee Curtis, who co-starred with Alley in the second season of Ryan Murphy’s horror series Scream Queens in 2016, posted her own kind remembrance.

“She was a great comic foil in @tvscreamqueens and a beautiful mama bear in her very real life. She helped me buy onesies for my family that year for Christmas,” Curtis recalled. “We agreed to disagree about some things but had a mutual respect and connection. Sad news.”

Credit: yahoonews.com

Man who shot Lady Gaga’s dog walker gets 21-yr prison sentence

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December 7, 2022

Lady Gaga is often accompanied by her dogs

A man who shot and wounded Lady Gaga’s dog walker during a dog theft has been sentenced to 21 years in prison.

James Howard Jackson pleaded no contest – similar to a guilty plea – to attempted murder.

Ryan Fischer was walking the singer’s three French bulldogs in Hollywood in February 2021 when Jackson shot him in the chest, the court heard.

Mr Fischer said he had to have part of his lung removed after the attack.

He attended Monday’s court hearing and said the shooting had changed his life forever, CBS News reported.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office called the attack “a cold-hearted violent act”.

Several other charges Jackson faced were dismissed as part of a plea deal.

Jackson and one of four other accomplices took two of the dogs, Koji and Gustav, following the shooting.

A third bulldog, Miss Asia, ran away and was later found by police.

At the time, police said that they thought the dogs were targeted because of their breed – and not because of who their owner was.

The two stolen dogs were returned unharmed two days later after Gaga offered a $500,000 (£359,000) reward.

One accomplice, Harold White, pleaded guilty on Monday to breaking the law that prevents former convicts from possessing firearms. He is due to be sentenced next year.

White’s son, Jaylin Keyshawn White, and Lafayette Shon Whaley both pleaded guilty last year to second-degree robbery and were sentenced to four and six years in prison respectively.

The person who returned the dogs, Jennifer McBride, was later charged with being an accessory to attempted murder and her case remains pending, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Jackson’s day in court was delayed after he was wrongly released from prison in April in what the US Marshals Service described at the time as a “clerical error”. He was re-arrested the same month.

Credit: bbc.com

Harry & Meghan’s Netflix trailers criticised over ‘misleading’ clips

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December 7, 2022

Netflix has so far released two trailers promoting the Harry & Meghan docuseries

Two trailers for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s new Netflix docuseries have been criticised for allegedly using footage and photos in misleading ways. The trailers show archive clips and pictures as Prince Harry and Meghan talk about being sidelined by the Royal Family and hounded by the media.

However, it is thought at least three such images were taken from events that had nothing to do with the couple.

Netflix and the Sussexes’ production company Archewell have not commented.

There are further allegations that an image was cropped to suggest the couple were left on the edge of a royal event, when they were in fact front and centre.

There is also a suggestion that another photo has been used to illustrate press intrusion, when it was taken at an event with a small number of photographers whose attendance was controlled and agreed upon in advance.

On Tuesday, veteran royal correspondent Jennie Bond reportedly criticised the trailers for their “extremely sloppy production values”, after ITV host Lorraine Kelly described the use of the images and footage as “bizarre”.

Here are five instances that have been highlighted from the first teaser trailer, released last week, and the more fulsome trailer, released on Monday. The first three episodes from the series will come out on Thursday.

Credit: bbc.com

US, allies ‘welcome’ Sudan initial pact to end post-coup crisis

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December 7, 2022

Sudan sign agreement to end post-coup crisis

The United States and allies have welcomed the signing of an initial deal between Sudan’s military and civilian leaders to end a political crisis sparked last year by a coup.

Monday’s agreement comes just over a year after Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power in October 2021, derailing a rocky transition to civilian rule that had started with the 2019 overthrow of autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.

Over the past year, Sudan has seen near-weekly protests and a crackdown that pro-democracy medics say has killed at least 121 people, a spiralling economic crisis and a rise in ethnic violence in several remote regions.

The deal was signed by Burhan, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and multiple civilian groups, most notably the Forces for Freedom and Change – the main civilian faction that was ousted in the coup.

The deal – based on a proposal by the Sudanese Bar Association – was negotiated in the presence of officials from the United Nations, Norway, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to the FFC.

The signing was attended by UN special representative Volker Perthes and AU ambassador Mohamed Belaish.

Credit: rfi

Protesters in Mongolia try to storm state palace

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December 7, 2022

People endured the extreme cold to gather at Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Thousands of people have braved freezing temperatures in Mongolia’s capital to protest against alleged corruption in the country’s coal industry and soaring inflation, with some later attempting to storm government house.

Protesters, many of them young people, rallied in Ulaanbaatar’s central Sukhbaatar Square in -21C (-6F) temperatures on Monday, demanding “justice” against corrupt officials and calling for the country’s parliament to be dismissed.

Protesters are frustrated with the country’s ailing economy, with inflation soaring to 15.2 percent in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and closed borders affecting trade with neighbouring China.

People are “suffering incredibly economically,” Jana Zilkova, country director for the aid group Caritas Czech Republic in Ulaanbaatar, told Al Jazeera.

Whistleblower claims that a group of legislators with ties to the coal industry had stolen billions of dollars have added to the discontent.

Credit: Aljazeera.com

Indonesia passes law banning sex outside marriage

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December 7, 2022