9th November 2022 |
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Good Morning. Would you work 14hours shifts for a 3-day work week? Justin Lindsey, owner of Florida's Chik-fil-A restaurant has offered employees a chance to work full 40hours per week for 3 days. He said apart from a quarter of staff that has opted into the schedule, they received 400 applications for a single job opening.
This might actually improve work-life balance, burnout, career growth, and retention.
India. 5,300 bridges in the country are in need of repair, according to an estimate by the Indian Bridge Management System center.The collapse of a bridge in Gujarat that left 135 people dead has prompted concerns over the safety of thousands of other colonial-era structures across India.
United States. Elon Musk urged voters to support Republican candidates in the midterms. The request has made the billionaire, who recently acquired Twitter, the first CEO of a major social-media company to choose a side in today's congressional elections. Forecasters expect Republicans to win back the House of Representatives from the Democrats but there is no consensus on which party will win the Senate.
Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused Beijing of playing "aggressive games" with Canada's institutions. The accusation comes after local news reported that intelligence officials warned Trudeau that China had provided funding for a "clandestine network" of candidates in Canada's 2019 election. Officials reportedly told Trudeau that China supported at least 11 candidates in the country's elections in 2019.
1938 Nazis launch Kristallnacht
In an event that would foreshadow the Holocaust, German Nazis launch a campaign of terror against Jewish people and their homes and businesses in Germany and Austria. The violence, which continued through November 10 and was later dubbed “Kristallnacht,” or “Night of Broken Glass,” after the countless smashed windows of Jewish-owned establishments, left approximately 100 Jews dead, 7,500 Jewish businesses damaged and hundreds of synagogues, homes, schools and graveyards vandalized. An estimated 30,000 Jewish men were arrested, many of whom were then sent to concentration camps for several months
NIGERIA
Barred from Contesting
The Story
The People's Democratic Party (PDP) will not be featuring in the 2023 gubernatorial election in Zamfara state.
Why?
In a ruling by a Federal High Court sitting in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, the PDP's gubernatorial candidate, Dauda Lawan-Dare, saw his election as the party's candidate nullified, and the party disqualified from the 2023 governorship race. Justice Aminu Bappa read the court's decision to nullify Lawan-Dare's candidacy on Tuesday, marking the second time that the court would nullify the PDP governorship primary over credibility issues, and resulting in the disqualification of the party.
How did they get to this point?
There has been disagreements within the party since its primary election earlier in the year. Ruling in September, in a suit filed before the court by Ibrahim Shehu and two other aspirants challenging the credibility of the party's primary, the court nullified the initial election of Lawal-Dare and ordered a fresh primary election. In the re-run primaries, Lawal-Dare again emerged as the winner but his opponent, Ibrahim Shehu, would have none of it and headed to court again to challenge the election.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has lamented the number of court cases relating to the forthcoming 2023 general elections. INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu said the commission has been joined in about 600 cases relating to the conduct of recent primaries and nomination of candidates by political parties for the 2023 election. "The implication is that we are still dealing with issues of nomination of candidates thereby eating into vital time for preparation of and procurement of sensitive materials for the election. It also means that the Courts will be dealing with the same issues long after the General Election", Yakubu said on Monday. SOURCE
AFRICA
Operation Halt In The Sahel
The Story
France has announced the end of its Barkhane operation in the Sahel, with an official statement to be made by President Emmanuel Macron today, November 9, 2022.
What's Barkhane operation?
The Barkhane operation is the French government's anti-jihadist military engagement in the Sahel. The announcement, by the Elysee Palace, comes about three months after the withdrawal of French soldiers from Mali. At its peak, the Barkhane operation had up to 5,500 soldiers working with various national security forces in the region, against jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group.
Has the region been rid of the jihadists?
Not yet. The French were forced out of Mali following the Malian junta's capture of power in 2020. Although it denies it, the junta has been working with the Russian paramilitary group, Wagner, leading to the final withdrawal of the French army in mid-August, after nine years of operating there. "In the field of perceptions, Barkhane continues to occupy a very important presence on social networks. It is necessary to put a clear end to it in order to switch to another logic", the Elysee Palace said in the announcement.
However, the end of the operation will have no impact on the French military presence in the Sahel, with about 3,000 French troops still deployed in Burkina Faso, Chad, and Niger. The purpose of calling off the operation, according to the Elysee Palace, is "to reduce the exposure and visibility of our military forces in Africa, to focus on cooperation and support, mainly in terms of equipment, training, intelligence, and operational partnership when the countries wish it". SOURCE
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EUROPE
Confession Is Not Enough
The Story
Prosecutors in Marseille, France, have told Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, a high-ranking Catholic prelate, that confession of wrongdoing is not enough.
What wrongdoing?
Announcing withdrawal from his religious duties on Monday, Ricard had confessed to abusing a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago. The letter was read on Monday, during a conference of French bishops. "Thirty-five years ago, when I was a priest, I behaved in a reprehensible way with a young girl aged 14”, Ricard said in the confession, adding that, “My behavior has inevitably caused serious and lasting consequences for this person”. In reaction to the confession, the prosecutor’s office in Marseille has now opened a preliminary investigation for “aggravated sexual assault” against Ricard.
What are the charges against him?
No charges have been made against Ricard, as “no complaint” has yet been filed against the cardinal, according to Dominique Laurens, the Marseille prosecutor. Ricard, 78, was the archbishop of Bordeaux, in southwestern France, from 2001 until his retirement in 2019 when he moved to his home diocese of Dignes-les-Bains. At the time of commiting the abuse, Ricard was a priest in the archdiocese of Marseille.
Ironically, Ricard is a member of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which makes him a voting member of the Vatican office that adjudicates sexual abuse cases involving the clergy. A study released last year by an independent commission estimated that as many as 330,000 children were victims of sexual abuse by priests or other church-related figures in France, over a 70-year period. SOURCE
LIFE EXPERIENCES
Most Embarrassing Airplane Experience?
Nitasha Jayamohan: The year was 2004. My father, a bank officer, had just got transferred to Chandigarh. I was really excited to move to Chandigarh.
1. Because I loved moving to new places.
2. More importantly, I had never travelled by flight.
On the day, I was beyond myself, hardly able to contain my excitement. We get into the flight, I jump to the window seat, and wait for the flight to take off. As soon as the flight takes off, and its safe to take off your seat belts, flight attendants come around carrying tiny blue and yellow coloured shoulder bags. The small bags filled with goodies (colours, colouring books and stickers) were given to kids.
I was excited to see that, but soon realised I wont be getting one, as they were giving to small kids (Literally kids below 4 years). And I was 14 at that time. The flight attendants finish giving away the bags and start to leave. Suddenly I hear my Dad calling out “Excuse me!” I am curious and wonder why my Dad has called her. As soon as she approaches my Dad asked
“Why is my daughter not getting a bag?” She looked at me, smiled and replied “Sir, we give away bags only to young kids. Not to teenagers”. My Dad looked confused “No, I am not asking for a teenager. I am asking for my little girl”.
By now, almost everyone in the flight was turning back and looking curiously at us. I was down in my seat looking purposefully at my feet, as though this conversation had nothing to do with me. She looked a bit uneasy, trying to figure out the best way to handle the situation; she smiled again and said “Sorry Sir. We made a mistake. I’ll be back with a bag”.
Soon she returned and my Dad looked elated. I tried to look happy, but was really really embarrassed. Half the flight was looking at me with judgement in their eyes. But within a few minutes, I didn’t care anymore, and was busy playing with my new bag!
Moral of the story : In your father’s eyes, you are always gonna be his little girl!
P.S : I am 27 now, and love being my Father’s little girl!
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Uganda shortens school term to curb Ebola
Sepp Blatter says awarding Qatar 2022 World Cup was a ‘mistake’
Puma's CEO becomes Adidas new boss
US midterm election results roll in as polarised nation watches
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COUNTRY PROFILE
Bahrain
Official Name: Kingdom of Bahrain
Region: Western Asia
Government: Unitary Islamic Parliamentary Semi-Constitutional Monarchy
Country Calling Code: +973
Capital City: Manama
Independence Day: 14 August 1971
Population: 1,463,265 (2021 estimate)
Currency: Bahraini dinar (BHD)
Official Language: Arabic
King: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
GDP Per Capita: $57,142 (2022 estimate)
MOBILE TECH
Where Your Airtime Goes; Why You Cannot Browse
This happens a lot of times to the Mobile Network Operator (MNO); notification of an urgent mail or disturbing email from an embittered subscriber.
This article is also about those times when it appears the mobile service provider uses a very long fat straw to suck your data with legs crossed, over freshly-popped corn and a sizzling on-demand Netflix movie. We hope to provide some respite for those times you loaded 3k (or less, or more) worth of recharge vouchers, and boom! "You have insufficient call credit to make this call" –to that crush of your life who finally agreed to give you an answer at exactly 9 pm.
Because metrics do not lie, here are 10 things to ensure before you blame your mobile service provider.
TRIVIA
Can you name the country this arrow is pointing to on the map?
INTERNET GIGGLES
| ANSWER |
|
Trick question—it doesn’t exist. Or rather, it does exist in people’s imaginations. Ever since a Twitter user posed this question on Oct. 30 to troll Americans, it’s gone viral as the made-up country Listenbourg. Listenbourg historians have given it a backstory, a flag, and a national anthem. |
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Written by Seun, Mercy, Kingsley, and Tosin.
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