IYANDA'SBLOG

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A ceremony meant to showcase a peaceful power transfer turns into a dark day. Here are the key moments.

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Activists say their worst fears about the Beijing-imposed national security law have been confirmed.

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Lawmakers meet to certify Joe Biden's election win as officials confirm four deaths at the Capitol.

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The online game maker is now pushing ahead with a shares debut after securing fresh funding.

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Twitter says if he does not delete three tweets he will not be allowed back on the platform.

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The Kani brothers presided over a reign of terror in the Libyan town of Tarhuna - now their crimes are being revealed.

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A strange coalition of former enemies has joined forces to oust Central African Republic's newly re-elected leader.

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Has the coronavirus pandemic hurt America's fragile urban revival - or killed it?

The US Senate suddenly recessed on Wednesday after protesters incited by President Donald Trump invaded the Capitol.

According to NBC, Vice President Mike Pence was ushered quickly out of the Senate chamber as it recessed and the debate between senators had to stop mid-speech. The House also recessed.

Pro-Trump demonstrators breached the barricades and crowded on the Capitol steps, which is normally only accessible to lawmakers. People jumped the barricades surrounding the Capitol and police began running around the hallways and telling people to get away from the windows.

A police officer on the third floor began shouting that protesters had got inside the building and that people should take shelter. 

Senators were locked inside their chamber on the second floor of the Capitol building and protesters wearing Trump "Make America Great Again" hats and carrying flags were seen gathering outside the chamber doors. 

"Immediately seek shelter in the closest office," an announcement over a loudspeaker said across the Capitol, which told people to lock doors as well. “Remain quiet and await further directions.”

Earlier on Wednesday, President Trump told a rally of his supporters outside the White House that he would never concede that he lost the election, as Congress readied to certify Joe Biden’s victory.

“I will never give up. We will never concede,” Trump told the cheering crowd. “We will stop the steal.”
 

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Boko Haram terrorists in several gun trucks are presently attacking Geidam community in Yobe State, forcing many residents to flee for safety into nearby bushes.

A source told SaharaReporters on Wednesday that the insurgents attacked the community around 6:00pm and began to fire sporadically at anything within sight.

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The source said they were still there till when our correspondent filed the report. 

He added that the people were presently running into nearby bushes to avoid being killed or kidnapped. 

“Geidam is currently under Boko Haram attack, when they came into the town around 2pm, we called the security operatives about sighting them but no action was taken, exactly 6pm, they started shooting sporadically and they are still around till now,” the source said.

Geidam is about 200km from Damaturu, the Yobe State capital.
 

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The Nigerian government has said it is planning to start administering the COVID-19 vaccine on Nigerians before the end of March.

Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, disclosed this in a letter sent to media executives, inviting them to a sensitisation meeting on the COVID-19 vaccines. 

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According to Vanguard, the letter reads, “The management of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency NPHCDA wishes to express profound gratitude for your unflinching support to the ongoing effort to stop COVID-19 transmission in Nigeria.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency NPHCDA with the support of our development partners, is planning to introduce COVID-19 Vaccine from the 1st quarter of 2021, to protect the citizens and stop further spread of the virus in the country. 

“This is to inform you that as part of the preparatory activities, NPHCDA has scheduled a sensitisation meeting with media gatekeepers as critical stakeholders in this plan.” 

The meeting, which would be done via Zoom, is slated for this Friday. 

Shuaib had at a briefing of the Presidential Taskforce (PTF) on COVID-19 on Tuesday said Nigeria would take delivery of 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech approved COVID-19 vaccines by the end of January. 

He said; “In the first phase through the COVAX facility, we expect to receive approximately 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and bioNtech vaccine by the end of January”. 

According to him, Nigeria expects to receive free 42 million doses of vaccines in the second phase through the COVAX facility being administered by 10 Global Vaccines Alliance, GAVI. 

“The second phase will be a combination of all the available approved vaccines currently in the market but this will cover only about 20 percent of Nigeria’s population,” he said. 

Shuaib also disclosed that to completely eradicate the pandemic, about 70 per cent of the total population needs to receive the vaccines, adding that only about 40 per cent will be vaccinated in 2021, while the remaining 30 per cent will be covered in 2022.

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The World Health Organisation has stated that China blocked its team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, from entering the country.

WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, made the announcement on Wednesday, January 6, saying two scientists on the United Nations team had already left their home countries for Wuhan.

Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Google

But they were told that the Chinese government had not approved the necessary permissions required for them to enter the country.

WHO said the arrangements had been jointly agreed with China in advance.

"I am very disappointed with this news," Tedros told a news conference in Geneva.

"I have been in contact with senior Chinese officials and I have once again made it clear that the mission is a priority for WHO and the international team."

Tedros said WHO was "eager to get the mission underway as soon as possible" and that he had been given assurances that Beijing was speeding up the internal procedure for "the earliest possible deployment."

Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO's health emergencies programme said one team member had already returned home while the other was waiting in transit in a third country.

Ryan said the team hoped it was "just a logistical and bureaucratic issue" that could be resolved in "good faith in the coming hours and recommence the deployment of the team as soon as possible."

WHO said it wanted its team of global scientists to have access to key sites to investigate the origin of the virus, first detected in Wuhan in December 2019, and its likely jump from an unidentified host species to humans.

In May, WHO agreed to hold an inquiry into the pandemic after more than 100 countries signed a resolution calling for an independent probe.

In a press briefing on Wednesday January 6, spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hua Chunying, said China had "always held an open, transparent and responsible attitude" on tracing the origin of the virus.

Hua said that China had previously welcomed WHO experts into the country and said that the UN investigation team and Chinese experts have "maintained frequent interactions" including four video meetings between October and December.

"In order to ensure that the international expert group that comes to China can work smoothly, it is needed to fulfill the necessary procedures and make relevant specific arrangements. The two sides are still negotiating about this," said Hua.

US President, Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed China for the global pandemic and announced that the US would terminate its relationship with WHO, saying that China had not properly reported information it had about the coronavirus and had pressured WHO to "mislead the world."

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Jacqueline Veyrac, 80, will give evidence in France over a botched attempt to kidnap her for ransom.

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An Alaska state agency emerged as the main bidder at the sale, which was opposed by environmentalists.

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The BBC asks people in Beijing whether they think their economy's recovered from the Covid pandemic.

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The cub, named Nieves (Snow), is being raised by humans after it was rejected by its mother.

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He wrote 30 novels about relationships and adventures involving young African American characters.

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The hip-hop star and producer says he is "doing great" and "getting excellent care".

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Avian flu was has so far been detected in wild geese, crows and ducks in various parts of the country.