Italy signs Angolan gas deal amid Russia tensions

 Italy and Angola have signed an energy cooperation agreement as European countries seek to reduce dependence on Russian gas.

The deal aims to “increase the export of Angolan gas and reduce the dependence of the European country on the Russian gas supply”, privately owned Angola24Horas says.

It was signed by Angolan Mineral Resources Minister Diamantina Azevedo and Italy’s Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani in in Luanda, Angola’s capital.

Italian multinational Eni is a major player in the Angolan oil and gas sector.

On Monday, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi struck an agreement with Algeria to buy more of its gas in a further sign of Italy’s attempts to reduce dependence on Russia.

Italy gets about 40% of its gas from Russia.

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De Beers praises reforms in Angola

 Luanda - De Beers CEO Bruce Clever Wednesday praised the reforms carried out over the last four years which, according to him, ensure greater comfort for investments in Angola.

The boss of the world’s leading diamond company was speaking to the press at the end of an audience granted by the president of Republic, João Lourenço. 

Bruce Clever said he was "very impressed with the reforms introduced in the last four and a half years under the president João Lourenço" and " which offer more comfort to  working in Angola. 

He also said he informed the Head of State of the signing of the two contracts with the diamond firm “Endiama” and the Angolan government on exploitation of two different concessions.

Bruce Clever said that the 35-year contracts provide for exploration in two separate areas, totaling about 20,000 square kilometers. 

He underlined that the exploration and prospecting activities have begun, adding that the total amount to invest will depend on the discoveries to be made. 

The agreements mark the resumption of the De Beers activities in Angola, after 10 years.

AU donates $150,000 for South Africa flood victims

The African Union (AU) has donated $150,000 (£115,000) towards relief efforts following the devastating floods in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province.

More than 400 people died in the floods which swept through the province last week.

The floods also caused massive damage to infrastructure

Announcing the donation, AU commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat said the body reaffirmed its support with South Africa during “this difficult time”.

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US announces global Covid summit May 12

Russia, Ukraine set for further peace talks, as Mariupol faces catastrophe 

A global summit to chart an end to the Covid-19 crisis and plan for future upheavals will occur May 12, the White House said Monday, even as President Joe Biden struggles to get vital pandemic funding from Congress.

The virtual gathering will be co-chaired by the United States, along with current G7 president Germany, G20 president Indonesia, African Union chair Senegal, and Belize, the current chair of the CARICOM Caribbean grouping.

“The summit will redouble our collective efforts to end the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic and prepare for future health threats,” the countries said in a joint statement.

This will be the second global huddle on the pandemic, which has killed more than six million people and triggered profound disruption to leading economies and trading patterns in the two years since it began to spread.

Biden hosted a similar summit last September, at which he urged partners to surge vaccines and ensure that 70 percent of every country has been vaccinated by September this year.

Although death rates are plummeting world wide, the virus continues to spread, preventing many leading countries from fully lifting restrictions, while Shanghai in China is in the midst of a draconian lockdown.

Summit hosts appealed for maintaining the sense of urgency.

“In advance of the May 12 summit, we are calling on world leaders, members of civil society, non-governmental organizations, philanthropists, and the private sector to make new commitments and bring solutions to vaccinate the world, save lives now, and build better health security — for everyone, everywhere,” the joint statement said.

“The emergence and spread of new variants, like Omicron, have reinforced the need for a strategy aimed at controlling Covid-19 worldwide,” it said.

And while the latest variants are less lethal, the summit statement stressed there must be a focus on stopping similar future catastrophes from taking the world by surprise.

“We know we must prepare now to build, sustain, and finance the global capacity we need, not only for emerging Covid-19 variants, but also future health crises,” the statement said.

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Zanzibar Commission for Tourism begins investigations into near rape incident involving Nigerian tourist

The Zanzibar Commission for Tourism has commenced investigations into an alleged near-rape incident involving a Nigerian during her vacation at Warier Beach Hotel.

Zainab Oladehinde in a tweet on April 16, recounted how she was almost raped during a vacation in Zanzibar for her 23rd birthday, a year ago.

According to Zainab, while in bed one night, she started to feel a strange hand touching her breast. Later, “I started to feel my hands stroking someone’s penis,” she narrated.

The tourist noted that to prevent being raped, she faked having the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). In her narration, Zainab accused the Nungwi Police Station of failing to get to the bottom of the incident.

In reaction to her story, the Zanzibar Commission for Tourism has noted that it takes seriously, the allegations by the female Nigerian tourist.

In a press statement dated April, 16, signed by Executive Secretary, Hafsa Mbamba, the Commission stated that it is, “shocked and disappointed to learn of this incident and take these allegations seriously.”

The Commission further noted how it has a zero tolerant policy to activities that threaten the safety of tourists.

“On behalf of the Ministry of Tourism & Heritage, we would like to inform our visitors that the Ministry abhors any ill treatment of any persons on the isles as this is not the Zanzibari hospitality nor the treatment we want our visitors to receive,” the Commission added.

The Commission assured that it is following the issue “closely” and will report of its findings.

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Fans congratulate Nollywood icon Rita Dominic on wedding

Nigerian film fans have taken to social media to congratulate Nollywood icon, Rita Dominic, on her wedding day.

Pictures have been posted on Instagram showing the bride in traditional Igbo clothing ahead of the ceremony.

Dominic, 46, is a veteran of the Nigerian film industry and has starred in countless movies.

Her husband, Fidelis Anosike, is a publisher, according to local media.

The wedding is taking place in the south-eastern Imo state, according to Nigeria’s Vanguard news website’  and is being attended by several of her famous colleagues like Joke Silva, Uche Jumbo, Kate Henshaw, and Ini Edo, the site reports.

Online fans had warm words.

“Congratulations Rita Dominic. My childhood was fun with you on my everyday screens. May God bless your union”, one person wrote.

“It’s never too late to find love”, another person wrote.

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Shanghai allows 4 million out of homes as virus rules ease

Shanghai allowed 4 million more people out of their homes Wednesday as anti-virus controls that shut down China’s biggest city eased, while the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast of Chinese economic growth and warned the global flow of industrial goods might be disrupted.

A total of almost 12 million people in the city of 25 million are allowed to go outdoors following the first round of easing last week, health official Wu Ganyu said at a news conference. Wu said the virus was “under effective control” for the first time in some parts of the city.

Under the latest changes, more than 4 million people are included in areas where the status shifted from closed to controlled, said Wu. He said some are not allowed to leave their neighborhoods and large gatherings are prohibited.

Meanwhile, the IMF reduced its forecast of Chinese growth this year to 4.4% from 4.8% due to the shutdowns of Shanghai and other industrial centers. That is down by almost half from last year’s 8.1% growth and below the ruling Communist Party’s 5.5% target. China’s case numbers in its latest infection surge are relatively low, but the ruling party is enforcing a “zero-COVID” strategy that has shut down major cities to isolate every case.

On Wednesday, the government reported 19,927 new cases in China’s mainland, all but 2,761 of which had no symptoms. Shanghai accounted for 95% of the total, or 18,902 cases, of which 2,495 had symptoms.

The Shanghai city health agency reported seven people who had COVID-19 died Tuesday but said the deaths were due to cancer, heart disease and other ailments. All but two were over 60.

Shanghai shut down businesses and confined most of its population to their homes starting March 28 after a spike in infections. That led to complaints about lack of access to supplies of food and medicine. People in Shanghai who test positive but have no symptoms have been ordered into quarantine centers set up in exhibition halls and other public buildings.

Official data this week showed economic growth in the first three months of this year declined compared with the final quarter of 2021.

The lockdowns in China “will likely compound supply disruptions elsewhere” and might add to pressure for inflation to rise, the IMF said in a report.

The ruling party has promised tax refunds and other aid to businesses but is avoiding large-scale stimulus spending. Economists say that strategy will take longer to show results and Beijing might need to spend more or cut interest rates.

Chinese leaders have promised to try to reduce the human and economic cost of anti-disease controls by shifting to a “dynamic clearing” strategy that isolates neighborhoods and other smaller areas instead of whole cities. However, many areas appear to be enforcing more stringent controls after Shanghai officials were criticized for not acting aggressively enough.

Also Wednesday, the Ministry of Agriculture ordered local officials to avoid any measures that might interfere with spring planting by farmers who feed China’s 1.4 billion people. The order followed warnings that production of wheat and other crops might be disrupted, which would boost demand for imports and push up already high global prices.

The government reported 26,760 people who tested positive but had no symptoms were released Wednesday from observation. That included 25,411 in Shanghai, where some residents of quarantine centers have complained they are unsanitary.

Other industrial and trading centers including Changchun, Jilin and Shenyang in the northeast, the port of Tianjin east of Beijing and Shenzhen and Guangzhou in the south have closed businesses, imposed travel restrictions or told told residents to stay home.

Global automakers and other manufacturers reduced or stopped production because suppliers couldn’t deliver.

This week, Volkswagen AG announced its Changchun factory resumed production and the automaker was considering when its Shanghai facility would reopen. BMW AG said its factory in Shenyang reopened.

While some cities were easing controls, the the government of Harbin, a city of 5.3 million in the northeast, suspended bus and subway service on Wednesday and barred the public from moving between districts.

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