Edo government is to clinch a chunk of the $60 billion proposed Chinese governments financial support for the African continent.

Mr Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser, media and communication to Governor Godwin Obaseki, confirmed in a statement on Monday.

He said Obaseki is currently attending ongoing 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) where he is formalising partnership with Chinese investors on the states critical projects..

Osagie quoted the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, that in the next three years China would float eight major initiatives with African countries, to realise a closer China-Africa community of shared destiny.

The Chinese President noted that the fields of interest for China included industry, investment, trade, infrastructure, health, culture, environmental protection and security.

Obaseki, with representatives of the federal government in Beijing, has engaged representatives of the Chinese government and top officials of the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) Limited.

Osagie said the discussions were the last lap of talks to secure final investment decisions and commence full scale development of the Benin River Port project, the Benin Industrial Park and the Modular Refinery.

The project is expected to open the state for foreign trade and boost local production, leveraging the states strategic location to attract investment and grow manpower.

Before leaving for China, Obaseki approved the release of N700 million for the Benin Refinery project, which the state government is executing partnership with a Chinese consortium.

With the initial investment capital approved, experts conversant with the project, say the state government is well placed to seal the deals for the projects so that development work can commence in earnest, Osagie said.

According to Osagie, the governors investment drive is to steer the state away from dependence on oil and set it on the path of prosperity anchored on a solid industrial base.

We are excited about the Modular Refinery project and are certain that with our Chinese partners, we will begin work on the project in no distant time.

The project is going to transform the states economy and position us as a hub for fabrication of refinery parts with the setting up of SIPS fabrication yard to groom local capacity in that sector.

Source: NAN

Democratic Republic of Congos top court has definitively excluded opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba from Decembers presidential election because of a witness tampering conviction at the International Criminal Court.

Bemba, a popular former vice president, was tipped as one of the leading candidates to replace outgoing President Joseph Kabila. His exclusion from the race could spark a violent reaction by his supporters.

His defeat to Kabila in the 2006 election touched off deadly clashes in the capital Kinshasa between his supporters and state troops. He then spent a decade in prison in The Hague before his war crimes convictions for murders and rapes committed by his militia in Central African Republic were quashed in May.

In a judgment broadcast on national television on Monday, the constitutional court said the election commission had rightly invalidated Bembas candidacy last month, finding that witness tampering is a form of corruption as stipulated in the electoral law.

The Dec. 23 election is due to usher in Congos first democratic transition of power after Kabila agreed last month to respect constitutional term limits and step aside in favour of close loyalist Emmanuel Ramazani Shadarys candidacy.

That announcement has calmed tensions that exploded into deadly street protests when Kabila refused to step aside at the end of his constitutional mandate in December 2016.

But fears persist of further violence with Kabilas opponents accusing him of trying to rig the vote to ensure Ramazanis victory.

Congo has fallen very low! the secretary-general of Bembas MLC party wrote on Twitter after the judgment.

Kabilas camp denies that it is improperly trying to influence the election.

Besides Bemba, opposition leader Moise Katumbi was barred from re-entering Congo last month to register his candidacy after two years in exile.

Katumbi placed joint first in a rare public opinion poll in July with 19 percent of the vote. Another opposition leader, Felix Tshisekedi, also received 19 percent, while Bemba placed third with 17 percent.

Ramazani did not receive enough votes to be included in the results.

The constitutional court also on Monday upheld the invalidation of former prime minister Adolphe Muzitos candidacy but reinstated another former prime minister Samy Badibanga as a candidate.

Source: NAN

A 20-year-old Instagram star died after being found in critical condition on a billionaire's superyacht in Greece.

Australian Sinead McNamara, who was working on the six-storey $140 million boat, was found on Thursday on the island of Kefalonia where it was docked, according to the BBC.

She died while being airlifted to hospital in Athens.

Sunkissed little munchkin 🕊 W/ @ecotan

A post shared by Salt Bby 💦 (@sineadmcnamara) on Aug 9, 2018 at 12:33am PDT

The circumstances of her death remain unclear, and Greek authorities have reportedly launched an investigation while the coast guard has ordered the yacht to remain docked at the port of Argostoli.

Authorities told The Times that McNamara was found by a crew member hanging on the rear deck of the yacht, with initial evidence pointing to a possible suicide.

A senior officer with knowledge of the investigation told The Times: "By the looks of it, she took her life. We expect the autopsy to verify this in the coming days."

The happiest of happy little mountain goats 🐐

A post shared by Salt Bby 💦 (@sineadmcnamara) on Aug 5, 2018 at 10:38am PDT

The Mayan Queen IV superyacht is owned by Mexican mining magnate Alberto Bailleres.

Bailleres and his family had reportedly left the yacht, which had been sailing around Europe, days before McNamara was found, according to Greek media, and only members of the crew were left on board.

McNamara, who had over 22,000 followers on Instagram, had posted a number of photos of her time in Greece calling herself "the happiest of happy."

In early August, she posted a photo stating: "I can't believe this fairy tale is almost over. I don't want to leave."

My head is all over the shop today 🌪🌋 take me back to this where my only worry was not cracking my skull open 💉

A post shared by Salt Bby 💦 (@sineadmcnamara) on Aug 19, 2018 at 6:07am PDT

However, just two weeks ago she captioned this photo of her on a quad bike: "My head is all over the shop today… Take me back to this where my only worry was not cracking my skull open."

According to Australian news, McNamara's mother and sister were on their way to Greece to meet her for a holiday when they heard of her death.

She posted on Facebook on August 26: "Happy birthday to the most amazing big sister I could ever ask for, 5 days till I get to see you!!! Excitement is an understatement."

Three local government chairmen of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have lost their lives in an auto crash in Saudi Arabia.

The party chieftains who died on Friday are Alhaji Jafaru Gidan-Sambo, (Kaura-Namoda), Malam Mudi Mallamawa, (Shinkafi) and Alhaji Abdullahi Ruwan-dorowa (Maru).

In order the cushion the effect of the deaths, the Speaker of Zamfara state House of Assembly, Alhaji Sanusi Rikiji and Senator representing Zamfara West, Alhaji Ahmad Sani, have donated N6 million and 120 bags of rice to families of the deceased.

Presenting the items to families of deceased in Kaura-Namoda, Shinkafi and Ruwan-Dorowa towns on Sunday, Rikiji described their death as a great loss to the state in particular and the country at large.

He said the donation was aimed at assisting the families of the three deceased APC chairmen.

“I personally donated one million Naira and 20 bags of rice to each of the affected families.

“Also our leader, the former governor of the state and Senator representing Zamfara West, Alhaji Ahmad Sani asked me to present similar amount and quantity of rice to the families”, Rikiji said.

Meanwhile, the state government’s delegation led by the state Acting Governor, Malam Ibrahim Wakala, has condoled the families over the loss.

The delegation, comprised the Secretary to the state government, Prof. Abdullahi Shinkafi, Commissioners, Special Advisers and other top government functionaries in the state.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it had set aside N220 billion to be disbursed as loans to cooperative organisations under Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF).

Mr. Isaac Okorafor, Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, announced the plan while addressing newsmen in Gombe on Monday during the bank’s programme on Promoting Financial Stability and Economic Development.

He said the loan was set specifically aside to encourage artisans, including people into vulcanising works, hair dressing and barbing among others, especially those who employed others to work with.

“If you empower this group of people, the economy will move faster because they will also employ others,” he said.

He added that they were discouraged to apply for the loan because they would not be able to access such in commercial banks, where they needed to have a collateral.

“This is the reason why we made the provision for this loan for them to access through their cooperative organisations. All they need to do is to open an account with a bank, operate it for sometime and apply.

“The loan is without collateral and the interest is only nine per cent.” he said.

Okorafor also called on the youth to embrace farming activities and make money out it.

“In CBN, we do not give grant to people, but we show you the way to follow and make money,” he said

In his presentation, Mr Oludaramola Atanda, Assistant Director, Consumers Protection Department at the apex bank, added that customers should know their right to be served better by their banks.

Atanda implored them to always report any case of strange transactions concerning their account.

He, however, urged them to desist from giving their ATM pin and BVN numbers to others, because they could be defrauded.

Cristiano Ronaldo is locked in a race to be crowned FIFA men’s world player, alongside former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah.

If Ronaldo wins on 24 September, it will his sixth FIFA award.

But Lionel Messi — who has dominated the award along with Ronaldo over the past decade — has been omitted from the shortlist after featuring in the top three for 11 straight years.

Ronaldo, who like Messi is a five-time winner of the award, lifted a fourth Champions League title in five years before joining Italian champions Juventus in July.

France’s World Cup-winning manager Didier Deschamps, Zlatko Dalic and Zinedine Zidane were nominated as the finalists for FIFA’s coach of the year award.

Deschamps became just the third man to win the World Cup as a player and coach with victory over Dalic’s Croatia in Russia while Zidane led Real Madrid to a third consecutive Champions League win in May before stepping down.

The Best FIFA Women’s Player award is certain to change hands. Lyon duo Ada Hegerberg and Dzsenifer Maroszan, who enjoyed an unbeaten Division 1 Feminine season and lifted the UEFA Women’s Champions League, are joined by Brazil’s triumphant Copa America Feminina captain Marta in contending for the honour.

Netherlands’s tactician Sarina Wiegman both in contention for the Best FIFA Women’s Coach, along with Lyon’s Reynald Pedros and Japan’s Asako Takakura, the latter having guided her side to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

The Best FIFA Goalkeeper Award will be contested between a trio who shone in Russia, namely Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois, France’s Hugo Lloris and Denmark’s Kasper Schmeichel. Meanwhile, the shortlists for the FIFA Puskás Award and FIFA Fan Award were revealed, with voting now open for supporters to help decide the winners.

All seven awards, as well as the FIFA Fair Play Award and FIFA/FIFPro World 11, will be handed out on 24 September in front of football’s biggest names amongst the impressive surroundings of London’s Royal Festival Hall, FIFA.com reported.

A new interactive monument honouring African American, Althea Gibson and set to be revealed at the 2019 US Open will capture the spirit of an iconic pioneer.

While the exact design and placement on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center will be determined at a later date, renowned sculptor Eric Goulder is planning a larger-than-life bronze figurine that will feature a combination ofdigital media and augmented reality, a nod to both the past and the future.

Gibson was the firstAfrican-American player to break the colour line in international tennis and, in 1956, she became the first person of colour to win a Grand Slam title.

Now she will be immortalised alongside Arthur Ashe, who is honoured with a statue outside the stadium that bears his name, and Billie Jean King, after whom the tennis centre was renamed.

The monument was commissioned by the USTA in collaboration with Sothebys. The USTA also sought the input of Fran Gray, one of the committee members and long-time friend of Gibson whoruns her estate.

Katrina Adams,chairman of the board and president of the USTA, saidapproval was granted in December to erect a monument to celebrate her greatness.

She is an historic icon, said Adams. In our sport of tennis, she was the one that really broke the colour barrier. She is the Jackie Robinson of tennis.

Shes very important to our society, in our sport, particularly back in the 50s, to be able to pave the road and provide pathways for others like Arthur Ashe, Zina Garrison, Lori McNeil, Chanda Rubin, Venus, Serena, myself and others, to be where we are today. Its a proud moment to be able to say that we will be putting a monument on the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center premises next year.

Goulder said the monument will probablybe made in clay, cast in bronze and feature an element of stone.

It really got me thinking of how I could approach a sculpture of a sporting figure in a new way instead of just a figurine, and also to make something that doesnt just memorialize her, but tells more of her story, which I think is really important, Goulder said.

Added Sotherbys chairman Ben Doller: I think Eric is one of the best sort of figurative and modernist sculptors out there. I think Erics project and proposal combines something that will have a magic, a genius of capturing a personality, and then also has a concept of having something be traditional, but really looking forward, as well.

Born in 1927 in South Carolina, Gibson won the U.S. National Championship in 1957 and 1958, in addition to two Wimbledon titles and a French Open crown. Gibson, also won the 1957 U.S. National Championship mixed doubles and five womens doubles titles and became the world No. 1 in 1957. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971.

For her to grace us, to grace our sport with her talents and to be able to have the accomplishments that she did, is one of the main reasons why we are celebrating her, and we have in our own way, but now the world will be able to see it, Adams said.

*Written by Ashley Marshall for UsOpen.org

Source: NAN

Serena Williams daughter Alexis Olympia kept social media users busy over the weekend as her first birthday picture shared on Instagram by her father Alexis Ohanian, received more than 75,807 likes and 1,361 comments.

Alexis Ohanian shared a snap of Olympia, his daughter with his wife, professional tennis player Serena Williams, on Instagram for the girls first birthday Saturday.

Since it was posted, the image of his adventure princess has received comments from fans of the family.

Kids humble us. The other day on a flight home Olympia had so much energy and insisted on running up and down the aisle. When I finally got her to calm down and sit still, she threw up all over me and in the aisle. #ThisMama wants to remind all mothers the importance of supporting one another through the highs, lows, laughs and tears. _ Share your own stories of motherhood with hashtag #ThisMama. I’d love to hear them!

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Aug 26, 2018 at 1:12pm PDT

And down in the comments section, the 35-year-old father took time to respond to an Instagram user.

Its so sad that Olympia will not have a first BD party, the person wrote.

Williams recently shared at a news conference that the toddler wouldnt be celebrating the big occasion.

The countdown is on for New York! I’m so excited for my first pop-up shop in NYC from Friday - Sunday @Tictail, a female-run business like mine. If you can’t make it in person, you can still shop our exclusive NYC tee that launches this Friday.

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Aug 21, 2018 at 6:12am PDT

Olympia doesnt celebrate birthdays, the 36-year-old athlete was quoted as saying by a media outlet People. Were Jehovahs Witnesses, so we dont do that.

Other commenters offered their own takes and tagged the Instagram user.

No its not. Lol. Sad for who? She will not even remember it, one person said.

Another wrote, who remembers that anyway? Respect their beliefs.

She was ready to go!!!! @olympiaohanian

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Aug 11, 2018 at 6:49am PDT

Im sure her parents make her feel special every day and she doesnt need one day out of the year to be celebrated, someone else said.

The remark also drew the attention of Ohanian himself.

Im not a Witness, but I considered how made up it all is: the purpose of celebrating a birthday is to celebrate life with the people who love you (and to eat cake), he told the user.

Ohanian added, This baby is loved and will get to celebrate life with people who love her plenty of times, with plenty of parties (and eat cake in moderation) throughout her life.

Source: NAN

The structures of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue were on Monday handed over to Gov. Samuel Ortom.

Former President of the Senate David Mark handed over the structures at the partys stakeholders meeting in Makurdi.

Mark further said that the stakeholders meeting was the first of the harmonised PDP since Ortom came back to the party.

He said that with the calibre of the people that had come back to PDPs fold, it could win any election in the country.

He said that both the old and new members of the party had equal rights in the party, stressing that it was on that basis that the partys executive positions had to be reviewed so as to accommodate the people that just defected to it.

As they joined us we need to give them some positions thereby giving them a sense of belonging.

We have constituted an Integration Committee which will work 24/7 to ensure proper harmonisation right from the council ward upwards, he said.

Also, Ortom promised that all the political leaders of the party in the state would continue to work together and it would be sustained.

The governor said that in politics there was neither permanent enemy nor friend but what was permanent was interest.

Our coming together was for the interest of the state and that was what brought them together, he said.

He commended the partys leadership for agreeing to review the partys structure in order to accommodate the people that defected with him to PDP.

He said that other governorship aspirants of the party should not be worried because even as a leader of the party now he could not compromise the rules and constitution of the party.

There will be a level playing field for all the aspirants, he said.

Former governor of the state, Mr Gabriel Suswam, informed the people that the officers whose offices were affected by the review would be given immediate appointment by the state government.

Suswam said that the decision was arrived at for the best interest of the state, stressing that the party was considering the future; and all affected should accept the decision in good faith.

Earlier, the state Chairman, Mr John Ngbede, warned local government chairmen against preventing people from joining the party at the local government level.

You do not have the right to deny anybody membership card of the party, he said.

He expressed optimism that Ortom would move the party to lofty heights now that he assumed leadership of the party.

Source: NAN

The jailing of two Reuters journalists shreds what remains of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyis reputation as a rights champion, critics say, after she failed to come to their defence or speak up for the persecuted Rohingya minority.

Suu Kyi was once a staunch advocate for the free press and a darling of the foreign media.

During her long years of house arrest under the former junta which choked the media inside Myanmar it was foreign correspondents who carried her message of peaceful defiance to the outside world.

Glowing profiles burnished her image, with comparisons made to the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King.

Suu Kyi remains adored inside Myanmar. Supporters of her democracy battle say she has limited control over the military, which ceded full control in 2015 after almost 50 years in power.

But her response to the Rohingya crisis has sent her international reputation into a tailspin.

Former friends and supporters have looked on aghast at her lack of criticism of last years military campaign against the Rohingya.

UN investigators last week said that campaign was pursued with genocidal intent.

Mondays conviction of two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, and their seven-year sentence has sent a chill through Myanmars already embattled press community.

Yet throughout the trial Suu Kyi has been unmoved by calls to intervene, or even criticise the court case.

Bill Richardson, a US diplomat and until recently a Suu Kyi confidante, alleges that she denounced the two journalists when he tried to raise their plight in person.

Suu Kyis response was filled with anger, referring to the journalists as traitors, the former New Mexico governor told AFP.

Shortly after the set-to in January, Richardson quit his position on an international advisory body into the Rakhine crisis, labelling it a whitewash.

Another person at the same meeting said there was shouting and a charged atmosphere.

In that heated exchange I wouldnt dismiss that the word was used, said retired Thai lawmaker and ambassador Kobsak Chutikul, who was secretary for the panel and who also later resigned.

It would have fitted the emotions and sentiments at the time, he added.

Since sweeping to power three years ago, Suu Kyis relationship with the press has been fraught.

Prosecutions of journalists and media intimidation more redolent of the junta years have been common.

Around 20 journalists were prosecuted in 2017, many under a controversial online defamation law.

At the same time Suu Kyi has been accused of backing misinformation and distorted reports about the Rakhine crisis.

State media published by the Suu Kyi-controlled Ministry of Information has continuously echoed the military line, rejecting allegations of atrocities against the Rohingya as fake news.

That has put her at odds with a mountain of evidence and an international community calling for justice.

To say that Aung San Suu Kyis star has faded is a massive understatement, said Matthew Burgher from free speech advocacy group Article 19.

Suu Kyis defenders say her hands are tied by an army that still controls all security matters as well as 25 percent of parliamentary seats.

The stateless Rohingya are also a deeply unpopular cause among the Buddhist-majority public in Myanmar, where Islamophobia has surged in recent years.

That reality gives Suu Kyi little political incentive to defend the Muslim minority or reporters who write about their plight.

But some analysts note a transformation in Suu Kyi in recent months, from trying to avoid talking about them to supporting the militarys kickback against terrorists

Source: NAN