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Showing posts from April 4, 2018

World markets dive as Trump sparks trade, North Korea worries

Global stocks sank Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said he was not satisfied with talks that are aimed at averting a trade war with China. Equities were also dented by poor eurozone economic data, and as Trump cast doubt on a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “Trump (is) continuing to drive uncertainty over global trade,” said analyst Joshua Mahony at trading firm IG. “European markets are following their Asian counterparts lower, as a pessimistic tone from Trump is compounded by downbeat economic data,” he added. Markets had surged Monday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said they had agreed to pull back from imposing threatened tariffs on billions of dollars of goods, and continue talks on a variety of trade issues. However, Trump has declared that he was “not satisfied” with the status of the talks, fuelling worries that the world’s top two economies could still slug out an economically pain

Facebook’s Zuckerberg sets Congress date..

Mark Zuckerberg agreed to appear before a congressional panel next week, putting a spotlight on the Facebook chief executive and social networking giant pressured by a massive breach of private data and misinformation on the platform. The House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee announced Wednesday what appeared to be the first congressional appearance by Zuckerberg since the scandal broke on the hijacking of data on tens of millions of users. The April 11 hearing will “be an important opportunity to shed light on critical consumer data privacy issues and help all Americans better understand what happens to their personal information online,” said the committee’s Republican chairman Greg Walden and ranking Democrat Frank Pallone in a statement. “We appreciate Mr. Zuckerberg’s willingness to testify before the committee, and we look forward to him answering our questions.” Zuckerberg will likely face multiple congressional hearings as his social media giant

America remembers Martin Luther King Jr, 50 years on.

Americans on Wednesday marked 50 years since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, a day seared into the national consciousness that transformed the civil rights leader into a symbol of the fight for racial equality. In a country still torn over issues of race and class demonstrators rallied in Memphis, Tennessee where the pastor and Nobel Peace Prize Winner was slain aged 39 on the balcony of his motel by a white supremacist sniper on April 4, 1968, as well as in Washington where he delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech. “When we look at the state of race relations, we’ve made dramatic progress in 50 years — but we’re nowhere near where we need to be,” King’s activist son, Martin Luther King III, told ABC’s Good Morning America from Memphis, where he was taking part in a symbolic march. “I think he’d be disappointed with some of the discourse that we see,” said King III, although he added that his father would “be very excited” by today’s activist movement

Ex-England, Chelsea and Man Utd star Ray Wilkins dies after cardiac arrest.

The former midfielder and coach sadly passed away on Wednesday after he had been hospitalised having suffered a cardiac arrest Former England international Ray Wilkins has died aged 61 following a cardiac arrest at the end of March. Wilkins, who played for both Chelsea and Manchester United during his playing career, was being treated at St George's Hospital in London in an induced coma. In a statement, the Professional Footballers' Associations (PFA) said: "It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we have learnt that former England midfielder Ray Wilkins has passed away, aged 61. "The thoughts and condolences of everyone at the PFA are with his family and friends." Wilkins' family released a statement via  BBC Sport  where they wanted to "thank St George's staff for the amazing work they have done to care for our beloved Ray". They added: "We would also like to say thank you for the many goodwill messages we have re

"Black Easter" Nigeria military losses 29 personal, Boko Haram crossfire..

It was a black Easter in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, as no fewer than 29 persons were feared killed in a crossfire between the Boko Haram insurgents and the military on Sunday. The confrontation ensued when the Boko Haram insurgents launched a coordinated attack on a military camp and the adjoining Bale Shuwar and Alikaranti communities on the outskirts of Maiduguri in a move to infiltrate the state capital. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report, echoes from sporadic gunshots and multiple explosions which lasted for hours on Sunday evening were heard from the outskirts of the city. The insurgents attacked the military base in the Cashew Plantation area at the entrance to the city with suicide bombers, mortars and guns, leading to a prolonged battle. An officer, who did not want to be mentioned, said while 18 terrorists on foot attacked the military base, firing at the troops, seven suicide bombers targeted the residents of the nearby Bale Shuwar

Wenger hopes Britain-Russia tensions don’t affect Arsenal tie.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said Wednesday he hoped "complicated" political relations between Britain and Russia would not spill onto the football field when his side face CSKA Moscow in a European tie in London. Britain has suspended high-level diplomatic contact with the Russian government after a former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent in the southern English cathedral city of Salisbury on March 4. UK authorities have said the Skripals were poisoned with the Soviet-designed nerve agent Novichok and that it was "highly likely" the Russian government was behind the attack. The crisis has led to a further deterioration in already strained relations between Russia and western nations, with both sides expelling scores of diplomats. Even before the poisoning incident, concerns had been raised over the safety of England fans at this year's World Cup in Russia. Russian hooligans were involv

Fresh hope for economy as CBN’s policy committee resumes meeting.

The nation’s economy may be exiting a six-month apathy and cautious mode imposed on it by the standoff between the federal legislature and the executive, as the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will be ready today. President Muhammadu Buhari had in November 2017 sent a list of five nominees to the Senate for confirmation to fill the vacant positions in the MPC. Two of them are also to serve as deputy governors of CBN. But the list was caught in the web of political standoff, which delayed the lawmakers’ action on it for about six months. Within this period, which analysts have described as characterised by uncertainty, both local and foreign investors transacted in the nation’s financial market with caution. Updates on policies appeared static, particularly the local debt refinancing and long-speculated interest rate cut. But two weeks ago, the lawmakers sheathed their sword and confirmed the nominees, giving a

Four women with kids by the same deadbeat father take a family photo and it goes viral for so many wonderful reasons.

It's not often that you see women who share the same man get along, especially not if three of them were pregnant by the man at the same time. But four women have gone viral for managing that. The women, who have the same baby daddy, took a family photo together with all their kids and it went viral after it was shared on social media. A lot of social media users praised them for stepping up and not letting their baby daddy cause enmity between them. Others praised them for coming together to ensure their children can be at peace with each other. The kids in the beautiful photo look so alike, one wouldn't need a soothsayer to know they are siblings. All the kids in the photo, except for the little girl, have the same father - Coro Ingram Sr. In fact, three of the women, at some point, were pregnant at the same time. But they put everything aside, avoided drama, and came together for their kids.  Baby daddy "I hope he’s taking care of them... caus

The Weeknd Helps Apple Music Top Spotify In Streams.

The lead song of the The Weeknd's new  My Dear Melancholy  album "Call Out My Name" tallied 6 million streams during its first 24 hours on Apple Music. On Spotify, the same song drew 3.5 million streams during the same period. The numbers come despite Spotify boasting over 120 million more users. The Weeknd also released two exclusive music videos to the streaming service from the EP. The Verge also points out that this is the third time Apple Music has outperformed Spotify on a major release in the past 13 months. Overall,  My Dear Melancholy  brought in 26 million streams in its first day on Apple Music.

World Health Workers Week: Celebrating the heroes that keep us healthy.

Going through the health system there are several stops, from the midwives to the counselor through the pharmacist, from the community health workers to nurses and doctors through the laboratory scientists working at various levels to offer care to those in need. These health workers are the backbone of effective health systems and often times are the only access to healthcare for millions of people. Frontline health workers are the first respondents to deadly diseases, battling to ensure endemics, epidemics or pandemics are properly managed and combated. They educate, treat, heal and sometimes comfort us through difficult times. The World Health Worker Week, a week to celebrate the crucial impact of frontline health workers, and to recognize and appreciate the challenging conditions they face in order to provide care where it’s needed most. The World Health Worker Week holds from April 1 to April 8, 2018 in celebration of the health workers who brave various dangers t