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With the holiday season upon us and many adventure seekers preparing for December road trips, father-and-son team Kingsley and Ross Holgate offer some valuable pointers for those hitting the open road.
South Africa is one of the hardest-hit countries in Africa with over 740,000 infections.
The country recorded 60 more virus-related deaths on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 20,011.
My Government is committed to providing support for survivors and the First Lady, myself, and my Government urge every Sierra Leonean to join in raising awareness, advocating, and standing up to rid this country of this menace.
With the support of international and development partners, traditional and religious leaders, civil society, the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, and various community stakeholders, our COVID-19 preparedness and response measures have been robust.
To every Sierra Leonean who has complied with healthcare protocols, public-safety directives, and also communicated awareness of the virus, we thank you immensely.
Our anticipation and timely responses, contact tracing and surveillance, well-considered economic response, social safety support, and other measures have been praised and well-supported by our multilateral and development partners.
I urge every citizen to strictly comply with healthcare and public safety protocols — from handwashing, using face masks, social distancing, travel restrictions, and all other restrictions on public gatherings in public spaces.
- Chakwera (r) with Obasanjo and Mills showing 'Democracy Works' Malawi vice president Saulos Chilima (r) is seen here with Obasanjo and Lesotho's Finance Minister Dr Morketsi Majoro at the Olusegun Obasanjo library in Nigeria
We failed the people of Malawi when Africa, through its observers, gave the election of 21 May 2019 its blessing.
The African Union election observer mission reported that \"the elections took place in a peaceful, transparent and orderly manner, and thus met national, regional, continental and international standards for democratic elections... \".
Fortunately, the people of Malawi were saved by their courageous Constitutional Court which declared in a unanimous judgment the election null and void and ordered that a new election be held in free and fair circumstances that would guarantee a democratic outcome that would reflect the will of the people.
The legitimacy and success of Malawi's election is essential if we are to strengthen the movement towards democracy and legitimate governance on the African continent.
We should start by making sure that the Malawian election is free, fair and the result reflects the will of the people as an example of how democratic practices should unfold under this pandemic.
SOUTH AFRICA-BASED Zimbabwean musician Enock “Nox” Guni said his recent smash-hit song My Melody, featuring South Africa’s Master KG, saved his career at a time he was contemplating quitting music after going through a rough patch. BY KENNEDY NYAVAYA Nox, who rose to fame in the early 2000s, has continued to sing since relocating to Mzansi albeit without much following back home. In an interview with NewsDay Life & Style, Nox said he was relieved that what started off as a final trial had revived his career. “When this year started, I had told myself that if I do not make it in this industry, I was going to quit, but I am glad it has all paid off and it is all because of this track so I give thanks to Master KG,” he said. “Master KG was never really in my plans initially because he does house music, but I am glad we were in touch with him earlier this year before he had become the world sensation he is now.” The song had amassed over 1,4 million views as of yesterday, a first for the Ndinonyara singer whose music career stretches close to two decades. “Having a collaboration of this magnitude is a dream for every artiste because it instantly unifies fans from both sides which widen one’s support base and for us it has made it easier to organise more collaborations with big artistes,” he said. Nox said he would be releasing two more songs with Master KG as well as singles with a Tanzanian and two Nigerian artistes. The 37-year-old singer said he had also lined up collaborations with South Africa’s Zanda Zakuza, Makhadzi, DJ Maphorisa and DJ Tira. Turning to the rough patch that saw him mired in controversy, particularly involving multiple affairs that almost jeopardised his career a few years ago, the now married Nox said it had all worked to his advantage as he drew life lessons from the experience. “To be honest, my brand has been attacked from all angles. I have been unfortunate, but that did not stop me from dreaming and wanting to achieve more. So when attention was on me for all the negative reasons I continued to work,” he said. “I might have brought it on myself by making some mistakes, but I am one person who has survived. It is just fate and God’s favour because had it been someone else they might not have endured.” He advised local musicians to take time to understand how the music industry functions as well as in dynamic teams which push their brands if they are to make it beyond the borders. “Talent alone can only take you so far, but there is a lot that our artistes need to learn such as how the music business works. They also need to invest in having a good diverse team to work on their brand because without that they will continue to do good music and it will end there,” he said.
Police said officers responded to reports of a shooting at a plaza in Burlington, a suburb of Toronto, around 1 p.m. Friday and found two people with gunshot wounds.
Pasquale \"Pat\" Musitano, 52, of Hamilton died at the scene, police said. The second victim was not identified but remains in a hospital in serious condition, police said.
CBC described Musitano as the leader of the Musitano crime family in Hamilton. His brother, Angelo Musitano, was fatally shot outside his home in Ontario in May 2017, according to CBC.
The Musitano brothers pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in the 1997 slaying of Carmen Barillaro, a lieutenant to Johnny \"Pops\" Papalia, CBC reported. In a deal with prosecutors, charges against them in connection with the killing of Papalia were dropped, CBC reported, and the Musitano brothers were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Pat Musitano survived a shooting outside his lawyer's office in May 2019, the CBC reported.
Witnesses in Friday's fatal shooting told Halton Regional Police that a male suspect had fled the scene immediately following the shooting and authorities are now searching for gray four-door sedan similar to an Infiniti Q50 with a sunroof.
The post Canadian mobster killed in shooting, police say appeared first on L.A. Focus Newspaper.
Not everyone knows what’s even considered “normal” for the human bladder. For example, did you know that the regular volume of urine created by the human bladder in a 24-hour period is between 800 and 2,000 milliliters? Here are some other things you may not have known about your urine.
(Reuters) - This year’s Asia Cup tournament, originally scheduled for September, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) said yesterday.
The article Asia Cup postponed due to COVID-19, Sri Lanka swap hosting rights with Pakistan appeared first on Stabroek News.
While the ANC welcomed the move to Level 1 lockdown, it said South Africans must work hard to ensure its gains are not reversed.
West African countries that had imposed travel restrictions to combat the spread of Covid-19 are contemplating coordinating efforts to allow travelers from countries within the region to enter to conduct cross-border trade.
In a video meeting with the 15-member regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) foreign and trade ministers, a new proposal was tabled to allow cross-border trade within the country bloc by the first two weeks in July.
The ministers' proposal is a three-phased solution that will be discussed at the next heads of state ECOWAS summit.
For the next phase, land, sea, and air borders within the 15-country bloc would be open by 15 July.
Phase three would allow the region to open to outside countries \"with low and controlled levels of Covid-19 contamination rates\" by 31 July, but this would depend on how the pandemic plays out.
GoPro recently revisited their top 10 human flight moments which includes people skydiving and wingsuit pilot Ben Dicko flying through a narrow hole.
The thought of car troubles during winter, can send cold shivers down the spine of even the bravest among us.
FILE PHOTO | NMG
In terms of new thinking and ideas on how to rescue the private sector from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, I must say that the government has scored very poorly.
When we were coming up with measures to save companies from the impact of the coronavirus, we didn’t think about specific sector interventions.
Had we even as much as debated , injected new and fresh thinking about the impact on some of the most affected sectors such as travel, hotels and tourism, Norfolk wouldn’t have suspended operations.
If you have been following the news from Britain, you must have come across the news that the government there is thinking about establishing a $25 billion taxpayer funded sovereign wealth fund to buy out and inject long-term equity into struggling family-owned companies whose collapse would disproportionately harm the economy.
We need to come up with specific sector interventions where companies in specific sectors are supported by being given long-term capital after being assessed in terms of employment, pre-Covid 19 turnover, and tax compliance.
BY FIDELITY MHLANGA LISTED supplier of electrical products and service provider, Powerspeed has expressed concern over Zimbabwe’s economic prospects, describing it as “uncertain like never before”. The country is experiencing multifaceted economic problems punctuated by runaway inflation, eroded earnings, currency volatility and policy inconsistences which it said were an albatross on business. “Zimbabwe has been through periods of extreme uncertainty in the past. However, we are possibly facing even greater uncertainties than ever before, which makes it extremely difficult to predict the future performance of the Group,” said Powerspeed company secretary Martin Gurira in a statement accompanying the firm’s trading update for the quarter to June, 2020 “Having said that, we will continue to focus on growth of shareholder value, with the confidence that we have the resources to survive short term business disruptions such as those that we had in April of this year.” The firm said the economic difficulties facing Zimbabwe had been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, but now a shrinking economy which was already expected would now be even greater than anticipated. This will have a negative impact on almost all businesses in Zimbabwe as consumer spending declines further. “The trading environment remains extremely difficult with regulation changes without notice or consideration for the consequences. Travel restrictions have made it difficult for staff to travel to work and in many instances, the group has had to provide contracted transport at a substantial additional cost. Despite these challenges we have been able to keep most operations operational to maintain customer service,” Gurira said. But volumes during the quarter have been erratic, weighed down by the national shutdown in April which reduced throughput to almost zero for the greater part of the month. Volumes have recovered, but there have been substantial changes in product mix. “Overall, volumes were marginally higher than the same quarter last year because of increased market share in a number of product groups. While revenue rose substantially both in historical and inflation-adjusted terms, profitability remains difficult to assess because of rapidly changing exchange rates and distorted indices,” the company said. During the quarter, revenue grew to $1 billion from $882 million. “Margins continue to be under pressure while expenses are rising with inflation and devaluation. Based on assessment of the balance sheet, we believe that we are continuing to build shareholder value in real terms,” Gurira said.
Yesterday, in a damage limitation exercise, the country’s National Tourist Board issued a statement in an attempt to correct what it says is an “erroneous report about Sierra Leone” published in a Global tourism guide – ‘Travel Safe Abroad’.
This is what the National Tourist Board said:
“The attention of the National Tourist Board, Sierra Leone, has been drawn to a misleading assessment report of the country on a travel advisory blog – ‘Travel Safe Abroad’.
“Such reports have the tendency of undermining the gains already made in the Sierra Leone tourism sector and has the propensity to scare away potential tourists and investors to destination Sierra Leone.
Though the Tourism Board’s statement could go a long way to ameliorate the huge damage the president’s terrorism speech may have caused the country’s economy – especially tourism sector, there are fears this effort may be too little too late, as Sierra Leone faces a huge task ahead in rebuilding its economy after COVID-19.
You can read the ‘Travel Safe Abroad’ report that prompted the Tourist Board’s statement here:
You can read the Tourist Board’s Press Statement here:
For information on the work of the Sierra Leone National Tourist Board – please visit the Website: https://ntb.gov.sl/
Despite the gloom, fear and uncertainty engendered by the pandemic, the launch of the trade deal negotiations signal a future after the damage wrought by the novel virus.
Photographers returned to scenes they photographed before 2020. This multimedia project highlights contrasting images, reminding us of a way of life that once was.
Not all Stormers players are keen on a possible move to Europe, with South Africa's Super Rugby future still up in the air.
The Dominica government says it is prepared to close the island until December even as it announced plans to reopen its borders to international travel in August.
Dear Mr Brown,My study permit was granted and I would like to thank you for your assistance. Based on all that's going on with COVID-19 and Canada's travel ban, when will I be able to travel to Canada to begin my programme, which starts in September?- NC�Dear NC:
Félicien Kabuga, who was arrested this month in France for crimes related to the Genocide against the Tutsi after 26 years on the run, will be transferred to Arusha, Tanzania once conditions allow, a judge has ruled.
William Sekule, the duty judge at the Arusha branch of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, made the ruling on Thursday following a motion by prosecutors to temporarily transfer Kabuga to The Hague.
Judge Sekule reiterated that the rules reflect that accused persons indicted by the ICTR, such as Kabuga, will be transferred to and detained at the Arusha branch of the Mechanism from where proceedings will be conducted.
The judge also contended that the motion didn't demonstrate that Kabuga's anticipated transfer to Arusha was an actual or likely impediment to his transfer into the custody of the Mechanism.
The same call was recently reiterated by the African Court for Human and People's Rights, which said in a statement that justice would be better served if Kabuga's case is referred to the national jurisdiction in Rwanda.
The airline sector saw indications of recovery in passenger traffic in May, as domestic demand and business confidence in key markets rose for the first time since the economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
For Africa, traffic fell by 98.7 per cent in April, and the average passenger load factor was 7.7 per cent.
International airline lobby Iata now says daily flights rose 30 per cent between April 21 and May 27, 2020, while demand fell 94.3 per cent year on year, the sharpest decline in the 30 years that Iata has been publishing monthly traffic data.
According to Iata, governments in 75 per cent of the markets it tracks had banned all entry by the first week of April.
Searches for air travel on Google were up 25 per cent at the end of May compared with the low point in April.
Domestic tourism a key growth driver for hospitality sector
Wednesday, June 24, 2020 0:01
By HASNAIN NOORANI |
Domestic air travel, which has been one of the key growth multipliers for the travel and hospitality industry, will be impacted by the new norms.
After months of no travel, people need that well deserved break and the sense of wanderlust will influence the desire to be keen to explore destinations within the country.
While domestic travel contributed over 30 percent of Kenya’s leisure travel in 2019, it will grow with renewed vigour and the demand from domestic travellers will mark the beginning of a new era of travel in the coming months.
Driven by the desire to travel post Covid-19, people will embark on domestic travel characterized by road trips to less tourist-centric destinations; thereby leading the rediscovery of unique and secluded locations.
Domestic air travel, which has been one of the key growth multipliers for the travel and hospitality industry, will be impacted by the new norms, and the effect on pricing will only be seen once travel slowly resumes over time.
