CONVERSATIONS
2nd December 2022 |
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Good morning. An unnamed pilot recently crashed a twin-tailed pusher-propeller plane before hiking about 10km to call for help. Fire Chief remarked, “He just kind of got out of his plane, dusted himself off, and walked himself down this ATV road until he got into cell phone range.”
Who is this guy? Something tells us this wasn’t his first crash.
Angola. Interpol issued a "red notice" requesting law enforcement worldwide to locate and arrest Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos, who was once considered the richest woman in Africa. Dos Santos is the daughter of former Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country for 28 years, until 2017. The Angolan government alleges that during her father's presidency, dos Santos and her husband embezzled $1B+ in state funds.
Entertainment. Parler, the right-leaning social media platform, will no longer be sold to Ye, its parent company said, hours after the rapper formerly known as Kayne West praised Adolf Hitler. The announcement came hours after Ye made an extraordinary appearance on Infowars, the talk show hosted by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, during which he repeatedly expressed admiration for Hitler and the Nazis. During the hours-long appearance, Ye, wearing a black mask over his face, said he likes Hitler several times and claimed the Nazis did “good things too”. “We gotta stop dissing the Nazis all the time… I love Nazis,” Ye said.
World Cup. Four-time champions Germany have crashed out of the football World Cup in Qatar in the group stage, despite a 4-2 victory over Costa Rica. The elimination on Thursday came as Japan stunned Spain 2-1 in the other Group E match, a result that handed those two teams a spot in the Round of 16. It is the second World Cup in a row in which Germany have been eliminated in the group stage. Germany finished third in the Group E standings, behind Spain on goal difference, with Japan top following their 2-1 win over the Spaniards. The result left Japan facing Croatia in the last 16, while Spain will take on Morocco.
2001 Enron files for bankruptcy
The Enron scandal was an accounting scandal involving Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Upon being publicized in October 2001, the company declared bankruptcy and its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen – then one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world – was effectively dissolved. In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in U.S. history at that time, Enron was cited as the biggest audit failure.
NIGERIA
Two Million Cases Too Much
The Story
The World AIDS Day (WAD), marked yesterday, December 1, 2022 again drew attention to the disease and highlighted the need for accelerated efforts in its control.
What do the records say?
Although it claims a reduction in HIV/AIDS deaths and new infections across the country, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) estimates that there are about 1.8 million cases of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. It, however, noted that these are only the known cases who have been tested and receiving treatment. “We have an estimate of about 1.8 million and we are working with our data to know the actual number that is now very active, that is, they are alive and receiving medications", said Dr. Gambo Gumel Aliyu, the Director General of NACA. This year's World AIDS Day also highlighted Africa's battle with the deadly disease.
How many cases are there in Africa?
Data from the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) says that, in 2021, 650,000 lives were lost to AIDS, while there were 1.5 million new cases of HIV infection globally. According to the UNAIDS data, out of the estimated 38.4 million people living with HIV at the end of 2021, more than 66% (25.6 million) were in Africa. While NACA said that the Federal Government had spent more than N18b in three years on HIV capital projects, the Guardian reported finding out that persons living with HIV still pay some fees for supposedly ‘free’ treatment offered by the Federal Government.
Reiterating the need to eliminate the inequalities that have slowed the fight against the disease, the World AIDS Day 2022 was tagged "Equalise". The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also said there were 110,000 youths under age 19 who died last year from AIDS. On Nigeria's chances of ending HIV infection in 2030, Aliyu downplayed that possibility since there's still no cure for the disease. He, however, expressed hope that the manifestation into AIDS might be stopped by the year 2030. SOURCE
AFRICA
Short-lived Truce
The Story
Hostilities have resumed in eastern DR Congo between Congolese army and the M23 rebels, only five days after a truce was reached in the Luanda summit on November 23.
What were the terms of the truce?
The summit had resolved on a ceasefire beginning on Friday, which would be followed by the rebels' withdrawal from the North Kivu province they had long occupied. Though the M23 rebels remained opposed to the militias - including on Tuesday in a village in the Bambo region, about 70 km north of the provincial capital Goma, where many civilians were reportedly killed - no withdrawal was visible. However, fighting between the army and the M23 had stopped since Saturday morning, only to resume on Thursday.
What caused the resumption of hostilities?
According to security sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, fighting resumed as the M23 rebels violated the ceasefire and continued to loot and fight. "The fighting is violent, we are using heavy artillery" against the M23, a Congolese army officer told AFP, anonymously. When contacted by AFP, the military spokesman of the M23, Willy Ngoma, confirmed the fights with the FARDC. SOURCE
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ASIA
Daring Beijing
The Story
The U.S and China have been at each other's neck again this week, in what observers tagged one of the world's potential military flashpoints.
What's the latest between them?
The U.S. Navy had conducted a "freedom of navigation operation” on Tuesday near a Chinese-held island in the South China Sea. In reaction, China called the action illegal and said it mobilized naval and air assets to issue warnings and drive off the ship, an account of the event that was disputed by the Navy and Pentagon. “I know that there has been some reporting that China essentially ejected our ship from the area, that is not true", the Pentagon said through its spokesman, Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder.
Is this a deliberate attempt to trigger Beijing?
China argues that the U.S. Navy's action “seriously violated” its sovereignty and security, describing it as a "further ironclad evidence of its pursuit of navigational hegemony and militarization of the South China Sea". “China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters", said Tian Junli, the spokesperson for the Southern Theater Command, Air Force Col. On its part, the Navy insists that its guided missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands, consistent with international law.”
What does the U.S. want in the area?
To stop China's continued expansion in the area. Adm. John C. Aquilino, the commander of the United States' Indo-Pacific Fleet, revealed to The Associated Press in March that China has completely militarized at least three of the numerous islands it constructed in the disputed waters, outfitting them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, lasers, and jamming gear. He described it as a move that is getting more and more aggressive and poses a threat to neighbouring countries. And in July, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged China to abide by a 2016 arbitration decision that invalidated Beijing's extensive claims in the South China Sea due to historical considerations. SOURCE
Intelligent People Doing Unintelligent Things?
Quora Question:What is the evidence that highly intelligent people do not always do highly intelligent things?
Luise: This.
In 1983 Steve Job wrote politely to a certain Varon that he could not fulfill his request for an autograph.
He signed the letter precisely.
The letter was sold last year for nearly half a million dollars.
Depots sell N220/litre, marketers project N350/litre pump price
FG: Mother tongue to be used for teaching in primary schools
Court remands student who said Aisha Buhari ‘ate poor people’s money’
Akwa Ibom YPP guber candidate sentenced to 42 years imprisonment
Buhari blows hot, accuses governors of misappropriating LG allocations
Gunmen kill Labour Party women leader in Kaduna
Buckingham palace aide resigns over ‘racist’ comment to Ngozi Fulani
S’Africa president accused of stealing over ‘$580,000 stolen from his farm’
Malawi begins world’s first large-scale malaria vaccination
As many as 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed in war
World Cup 2022: Who has progressed? Who is out?
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
OPEC Young Professional Development Program
The OPEC Fund for International Development is a multilateral development finance institution established in 1976. Its 12-Member Countries are: Algeria, Ecuador, Gabon, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
The OPEC Fund’s Young Professional Development Program (YPDP) is a structured two-year program designed to prepare young professionals from the OPEC Fund’s member countries for a career in global development. They are currently seeking applicants with a passion for and commitment to international development who demonstrate academic excellence and relevant professional experience.
Application Deadline: December 15, 2022. APPLY HERE
This year's highest-paid dead celebrities. IndiaTimes
The most iconic hotels from every US state. FiftyGrande
Hanging Onto a Rudder to the Canary Islands. Medium
Peecycling. FreshlyPressed
FOOTBALL KNOWLEDGE
World Cup Trivia
Germany 2006 remains the only world cup tournament where no hattrick was scored.
TRIVIA
This is a compilation of quiz questions like you've ever answered! It contains fun facts and a little bit of November. We hope you enjoy smashing this quiz as much as we did while creating it.
Q: What is the name of the day after Thanksgiving?
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Written by Seun, Mercy, Kingsley, and Tosin.
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