Author: straightnewsng.com

South Africans white and black celebrated wildly on Saturday and expressed hopes that the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup win, inspired by black captain Siya Kolisi, would bring the nation together. The significance of Kolisi lifting the trophy after a 32-12 victory over England in Yokohama resonated across South Africa. During the years of apartheid, rugby was clearly identified as the sport of the country’s white minority. When Kolisi was made South Africa’s first black Test captain last year, it felt as if a barrier had been broken down — and in Yokohama on Saturday his achievement, and the team’s gradual…

The death toll from one of the deadliest “terrorist attack” on a military post in northeast Mali Friday has risen to 53, Communication Minister, Yaya Sangare, said on Saturday. Thirty-five soldiers were killed on Friday in the attack on the spot in Indelimane, Mali about 70 kilometres west of Menaka near the border with Niger, according to the army, which has dubbed the incident a terrorist attack. A civilian was also killed at the outpost close to the border with Niger, the country’s communication minister Yaya Sangare said on Twitter. “The situation is under control. A search and the process…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted Manchester United had taken a “step back” after their mini-revival came to a crashing halt as Josh King’s strike earned Bournemouth a 1-0 win in treacherous weather conditions on England’s south coast. Solskjaer’s men had not won away from home since March until 10 days ago, but three consecutive wins on the road at Partizan Belgrade, Norwich and Chelsea to book a place in the League Cup quarter-finals in midweek hinted at a turning point for the Norwegian. Instead, the failings that have characterised their season were back in evidence as a lack of goal threat…

By Rowland Udoh The decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to instigate reform in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by the appointment of an Interim Management Committee (IMC), has been greeted with a cacophony of voices. The committee is made up of three persons – Dr. Joi Nunieh, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, and Mr. Ibanga Atang – to oversee the period of the forensic audit of the NDDC covering the period 2001 to 2019. The attacks seem to be more directed at the member of the Federal Executive Council in charge of the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio…

Swaziland, the poorest but tiny African country, is on the news again as its King has fallen in love with profligacy and ostentatious lifestyle. Nationally, 58.9% of Swazis lived below the national poverty line in 2017. This follows a decline from 63% in 2009, and 69.0% in 2001. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Swaziland was worth 4.70 billion US dollars in 2018. The GDP value of Swaziland represents 0.01 percent of the world economy. GDP in Swaziland averaged 1.52 USD Billion from 1960 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 4.82 USD Billion in 2011 and a record…

A Federal High Court Lagos, Thursday, further adjourned hearing in the alleged N1.4 billion fraud case filed against President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Paul Usoro. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), charged Usoro before Justice Rilwan Aikawa on 10 counts bordering on fraud. Usoro was first arraigned before Justice Muslim Hassan in December 2018, but the case was re-assigned to Justice Rilwan Aikawa. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges before Hassan, and also maintained his not guilty plea before Aikawa, and was granted bail. The continuation of trial which was earlier fixed for Thursday, has…

By Akanimo Sampson United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has come under the hammer of Human Rights Watch. The global rights group is accusing the CIA-backed Afghan forces of committing summary executions and other grave abuses without accountability, Human Rights Watch claimed in a report that the strike forces have unlawfully killed civilians during night raids, forcibly disappeared detainees, and attacked healthcare facilities for allegedly treating insurgent fighters. Civilian casualties from these raids and air operations have dramatically increased in the last two years. The 53-page report, “They’ve Shot Many Like This’: Abusive Night Raids by CIA-Backed Afghan Strike Forces,” documents 14 cases from late…

An Indonesian man, who worked for an organisation that drafted strict adultery laws, has been publicly whipped for being caught in an affair with a married female. Mukhlis bin Muhammad of the Aceh Ulema Council (MPU) was flogged 28 instances. The girl he experienced the affair with was caned 23 moments. Mukhlis is from the deeply conservative Aceh region, the only area in Indonesia which practises the rigid Islamic legislation, Sharia. Gay sexual intercourse and gambling are also punishable by public caning in Aceh. “This is God’s regulation. Everyone ought to be flogged if proven guilty, even if he is…

By Akanimo Sampson Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State in Southern Nigeria, has flushed out 40 lawyers from the state Ministry of Justice into the exploding labour market, claiming that the sacked law officers were wrongly employed. In Nigeria, unemployment rate jumped to 23.10 percent in the third quarter of 2018 from 22.70 percent in the second quarter of last year. From 2006 until 2018, unemployment rate in the country averaged 12.31 percent, reaching an all time high of 23.10 percent in the third quarter of 2018, and a record low of 5.10 percent in…

Fear-stricken residents of Eket local government area and their environs in Akwa Ibom State have cause to smile as some kidnap suspects in the oil-rich city had met their Waterloo. The Akwa Ibom Police Command is said to have dismantled a kidnap gang that terrorised the area and ferried victims to their hide-outs to bargain for ransoms. Straightnews reported on October 26 that Mrs. Glory Ekerenam, the wife of an ExxonMobil’s staffer in Eket had abducted by unidentified gunmen. The Akwa Ibom Police-Public Relations Officer, SP Odiko MacDon in a press release dated November 1 said “On 17th October, 2019,…