US approves arms sale to Nigeria despite human rights concerns

 The approval comes after years of concerns about human rights abuses by Nigerian security forces.

The United States has approved a nearly $1bn weapons sale to Nigeria after legislators had put a hold on the deal over concerns about possible human rights abuses by the Nigerian government.

In July, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee put a hold on the sale of 12 AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopters made by Bell.

On Thursday, the US Department of State made the determination that it would approve the sale of the attack helicopters worth $997m.

“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a strategic partner in Sub-Saharan Africa,” a statement about the sale said.

Nigeria has been battling rising armed robberies and kidnappings for ransom in places where thinly deployed security forces have struggled to contain the influence of armed gangs.

Analysts have also said that the continuing invasion of Ukraine could lead to Nigeria sourcing arms imports from China due to sanctions on Russia and Belarus, which have had military partnerships with the West African state previously.

US officials have complained of “excessive force” by Nigerian military forces on unarmed civilians and called for restraint after soldiers in October 2020 opened fire on protesters demonstrating against police brutality in Lagos.

SOURCE: REUTERS

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Safaricom Finally Offers Portal To Self Update Sim Details Ahead Of Deadline

 NAIROBI, Kenya, April 15 – Telco service provider, Safaricom has finally provided an online portal where its customers can update their sim card details, a relief for many who risked having their sim cards switched off

The Communication Authority of Kenya had set April 15 as the deadline for the ongoing exercise it says seeks to enforce the SIM card registration regulations of 2015 and subsequently combat cybercrime and fraud in the digital space.

Long queues have been witnessed at Safaricom shops across the country as Kenyans rushed to beat the deadline.

CA Director General Ezra Chiloba said the Communication Authority will not extend the ongoing SIM card registration deadline and urged unregistered mobile subscribers to do so in the remaining days.

He asked all mobile network operators to speed up the data cleanup exercise and said that no more time will be added upon the expiry of the grace period noting that unregistered sim cards have security implications.

 

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A second “Adomi Bridge” – for trains – nearing completion

 A 300-meter “suspension bridge” across the Volta Lake which is part of the Tema/Mpakadan eastern rail line is nearing completion according to Yaw Owusu, CEO of Ghana Railway Development Authority.

Overall, the 97 kilometer Tema/Mpakadan stretch estimated to cost almost “half a billion dollars” forms part of an ambitious railway network planned by the Nana Addo administration and projected to be 500 kilometers in all by the end of 2024.

In an interview on Diaspora Weekly on DNT that aired on Saturday, Yaw Owusu also revealed that this is the first time since independence that a concerted rail revolution has been embarked upon by any administration.

“During the colonial times, the rail industry was thriving,” said Yaw Owusu. “But post colonial times, Ghana put the brakes on maintenance an investment” in the railway industry leading to its demise.

Owusu further pointed out that “throughout history, railway is the bedrock of any socio-economic transformation anywhere you go.”

But beginning from independence, that sector had been ignored by virtually all governments until 2017 when the Ghana Railway Development Authority under the auspices of the recreated Ministry of Railway Development was empowered and resourced to begin what promises to be a railway revolution with a 3,840 kilometer master plan to touch all of Ghana’s 16 regions.

DNT News, Accra.

 

 

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Russia loses iconic warship in the Black Sea

 Ukraine says, its missile sunk it; Russians says an on board fire cause the sinking

A Russian warship that was damaged by an explosion on Wednesday has sunk, Russia’s defence ministry has said.

Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, was being towed to port when “stormy seas” caused it to sink, according to a ministry message.

The 510-crew missile cruiser was a symbol of Russia’s military power, leading its naval assault on Ukraine.

Kyiv says its missiles hit the warship. Moscow has not reported any attack – it says the vessel sank after a fire.

The blaze caused the explosion of the warship’s ammunition, Russia says, adding that the entire crew were later evacuated to nearby Russian vessels in the Black Sea.

After saying initially the warship was afloat, late on Thursday the Russian defence ministry announced that the Moskva had been lost.

The 12,490-tonne vessel is the biggest Russian warship to be sunk in action since World War Two.

“While being towed… towards the destined port, the vessel lost its balance due to damage sustained in the hull as fire broke out after ammunition exploded. Given the choppy seas, the vessel sank,” the Russian defence ministry said.

Ukrainian military officials said they struck the Moskva with Ukrainian-made Neptune missiles – a weapon designed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the naval threat to Ukraine in the Black Sea grew.

The ship’s sinking was described by the US as a “big blow”, but American officials were unable to confirm whether Ukrainian Neptune missiles were responsible.

“It’s certainly plausible and possible that [Ukraine] did in fact hit this with a Neptune missile or maybe more,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said to CNN.

A senior Ukrainian official said as many as 510 crew could have been on board the Moskva.

On the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, the Moskva gained notoriety after calling on a small garrison of Ukrainian border troops defending Snake Island in the Black Sea to surrender – to which they memorably radioed an expletive-laden message of refusal.

Originally built in the Soviet-era, the Moskva entered service in the early 1980s. The vessel was actually laid down in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv, which has been heavily bombed by Russia in recent days.

Sinking of Moskva a blow to national pride

By Jenny Hill, BBC News, Moscow

This is a significant and humiliating loss for Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly insisted that his “special military operation” in Ukraine is going according to plan.

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Russian state media are not dwelling on the loss of the pride of the Black Sea fleet.

Morning TV bulletins limited themselves to briefly reporting the statement issued by the authorities, who claim the ship sank in stormy seas after fire and explosions on board caused significant damage to its hull.

Some newspaper commentators appeared to support that, arguing that the fire extinguishing systems on board the forty-year-old warship were out of date and inefficient but several writers agree that the development won’t change the course of war.

It is however a blow to national pride; the Moskva, once a symbol of Russian might and ambition, now lies at the bottom of the sea.

While one TV talk show host didn’t speculate on Ukraine’s claims that it had struck the ship, a clearly emotional studio guest – film director and ex-MP Vladimir Bortko – said the fate of the Moskva was grounds for war.

Operational impact

“It’s more about psychological damage than material damage,” Mykola Bielieskov from Ukraine’s National Institute for Strategic Studies told the BBC.

“It won’t remove Russia’s naval blockade on Ukraine completely,” he said. “But it’s a powerful symbol that we can employ sophisticated weaponry effectively.”

But Mr Bielieskov, who advises the Ukrainian government on military strategy, did predict that “Russian ships will now be forced to move further from the Ukrainian shore, where they can no longer feel secure.”

The Moskva didn’t itself fire missiles at Ukrainian land targets, but military experts told the BBC that it offered crucial support to other vessels that did.

The remaining vessels in Russia’s Black Sea fleet will now be more vulnerable to aerial attacks – although it’s not clear that Ukraine’s depleted forces have the resources to take advantage of this.

“The Moskva was the only ship in the fleet which had long-range air defences on board,” said Sidharth Kaushal, a sea power expert at the Royal United Services Institute.

“While smaller vessels were conducting bombardments of Ukrainian cities, the Moskva was providing them with wide-area air cover.”

Moskva’s battle record

The guided missile cruiser was previously deployed by Moscow in the Syria conflict where it supplied Russian forces in the country with naval protection.

It is the second major vessel Russia has lost since the start of its invasion.

Admiral Lord West, former First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, said that as well as being a military blow the vessel’s loss was “very embarrassing”.

“This has a huge impact,” Lord West said, speaking to BBC Radio 4’s PM before confirmation that the Moskva had sunk.

“Putin loves the navy. When he came into power, the first bit of the old Soviet forces that he put effort into was the navy. He’s always had a soft spot for it.”

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Ronaldo won’t be a threat to Ghana in 2022 FIFA World Cup – Yaw Preko

Former Ghana’s international star Yaw Preko has advised Ghanaians especially the handlers of the national team to desist from focusing exclusively on Christian Ronaldo.

According to Preko, the players around Ronaldo can cause more damage to the Black Stars if we focus too much on the five-time Balon D’Or winner.

Preko observed that Ronaldo is not the same and seemed to suggest that age may be catching up on him lately. But those around him are younger and hungrier, and can sneak surprises on the Black Stars.

But some say Ronaldo is still Ronaldo when the stakes are high. In the Stars’ lost to Portugal in Brazil, it was Ronaldo who score the winning goal to put the nails in the stars’ coffin.

The Black Stars have qualified to the World Cup later this year and have been placed in Group H with Portugal, Uruguay, and South Korea.

Both matches against Portugal and Uruguay will be rematches with the latter being the more painful one. In South Africa, the Stars’ Stephen Appiah headed into the net with Uruguay’s goalie beaten only for Suarez to save the ball with his hands resulting in a penalty in the 120th minute which Asamoah Gyan missed.

The game ended immediately and went into penalty kicks where Uruguay eliminated the Black Stars for their ticket to the semi-finals. Ghana would have been the first African country to make it that far in the World Cup.

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Twitter’s Board adopts “Poison Pill” to avert Musk’s Hostile takeover bid

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Twitter said Friday that its board of directors has unanimously adopted a “poison pill” defense in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s proposal to buy the company and take it private.

Twitter said the move, formally called a “limited duration shareholder rights plan,” aims to enable its investors to “realize the full value of their investment” by reducing the likelihood that any one person can gain control of the company without either paying shareholders a premium or giving the board more time. Poison pills are often used to defend against hostile takeovers.

Twitter’s plan would take effect if Musk’s roughly 9% stake grows to 15% or more. Even then, Musk could still take over the company with a proxy fight by voting out the current directors. Twitter said the plan doesn’t prevent the board from engaging with parties or accepting an acquisition proposal if it’s in the company’s “best interests.”

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Online Tactics Stoked Xenophobic Killing in South Africa – Report

South Africa pledges to cooperate with UN court in arrest of genocide 

The killing of Elvis Nyathi, a Zimbabwean citizen who lived in Diepsloot, Johannesburg has prompted the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC) to unpack the online tactics that resulted in his death.

The CABC released a report highlighting how online posts stoked xenophobic tensions between South Africans and migrants.

A spate of several murders in Diepsloot had already strained relations between local and non-South African residents with Nyathi’s killing culminating after a series of anti-crime protests in the area spurred by Operation Dudula, a “self-appointed watchdog on the issue of illegal immigrants”, according to the CABC.

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