Initial applications for US jobless aid dipped again last week, falling to a new pandemic low, according to government data released Thursday.
New unemployment claims fell 6,000 to 290,000, seasonally adjusted, in the week ended October 16, the lowest level since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. That was before the spread of Covid-19 sent them surging into the millions amid mass layoffs, the Labor Department reported.
The number of workers seeking aid moved higher last month amid the spread of the Delta variant, but have been falling this month.
There were just 2,338 applications, not seasonally adjusted, filed last week for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the federal program created for freelance workers not normally eligible for benefits, which ended in early September.
But even with the end of the pandemic benefits and as businesses report struggles to fill open positions, there were still nearly 3.3 million people receiving some form of jobless assistance as of October 2, the latest week for which data is available.
President Muhammadu Buhari (right); his Turkish counterpart, Recep Erdogan and members of his delegation during their arrival in Abuja…yesterday. PHOTO: PHILIP OJISUA
Visiting Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has raised the alarm over presence of a terror group hibernating in Nigeria, Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO), as both nations, yesterday, signed eight critical bilateral agreements on energy, defence and hydrocarbon, among others.
Erdogan, who is on a two-day official visit to Nigeria, made the revelation at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he met with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Specifically, FETO, an atypical, armed terror group, exploiting religious sentiments of the people, was said to be behind the failed 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.
Recall that Turkey had accused the coup leaders of being linked to the Gulen Movement, led by Fethullah Gulen, reported to have about 17 schools in Nigeria.
Addressing a joint press conference during the visit, President Erdogan, accompanied by the First Lady, Mrs. Emine Erdogan, solicited cooperation from Nigeria as his country battle terrorism, stressing that his country has been battling terrorism for many years.
“Turkey has been fighting against terrorist organisations for many decades, such as the PKK, PYD, FETO, DASH and other terrorist organisations.
“The perpetrator of the heinous failed coup of July 15, FETO, is still illegally active in Nigeria, and we are continuously sharing our intelligence with the Nigerian interlocutors and authorities. I hope and pray that our Nigerian brothers will forge a closer solidarity in this field with us, the Republic of Turkey. I hope and pray that our visit will yield the most auspicious results and I would like to thank my distinguished brother, President Buhari, for being such a gracious host for me and for my delegation.”
President Erdogan, who departs for Togo today, said Turkey was keenly following developments in Nigeria and expressed the readiness of his country to share capabilities with the West African nation to fight terrorism to a halt.
Commiserating with Nigeria on the attack in Goronyo Council of Sokoto State, which claimed over 40 lives, the Turkish leader pledged that his country would further cooperate with Nigeria on counter-terrorism as well as in the fields of military, defence and security.
On the economic front, he stressed that Turkey was determined to improve relations with Nigeria to ‘’higher levels on all fields,’’ revealing his country’s readiness to expend about $5 billion dollars to increase the trade volume between the two countries.
“We hope and pray that the relations between the two nations would be further developed on the basis of a win-win situation and on the basis of mutual respect.”
“We shall be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two nations, and Nigeria hosts one of the oldest diplomatic missions of the Republic of Turkey on the African continent. Nigeria is one of the outstanding members of international organisations such as the G-8, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), ECOWAS and the African Union.
“We should appreciate the tremendous efforts of Nigeria with eventual goal of bringing peace, stability, and economic development to the entire African continent. Nigeria holds the manufacturing position of the entire continent, and trade volume between the two nations reached $2 billion last year. Thus, Nigeria became our most outstanding and biggest trade partner in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Responding, President Buhari heaped praises on President Erdogan for opening his country’s borders to accommodate millions of refugees in dire need of humanitarian support, saying that his Turkish counterpart has set an example to the rest of the world on how to treat refugees.
‘’I commend Your Excellency for your leadership and generosity in receiving and accommodating four million refugees fleeing conflict areas, particularly in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.”
He noted that it was the second time he was receiving the visiting president in Abuja.’
On the accomplishments from the visit, President Buhari said: “We held very useful discussions on a number of bilateral issues, aimed at strengthening this cordial relationship between Nigeria and Turkey. The key issues we touched on included a series of Bilateral Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding that had been finalised.
‘’As a positive outcome, eight major Agreements/MoUs on a number of the key sectors including energy, defence, industry, mining and hydrocarbons among others were signed today (Wednesday). We have agreed that implementation is to commence immediately.
‘’In the course of our discussions, we also reviewed the travel ban list based on the revised COVID-19 protocols and removed Turkey from Nigeria’s travel ban list.’’
THE 2016 coup, largely blamed on the exiled and acclaimed Muslim scholar, Fetullah Gulen, struck the nation like a tremor, when about 10,000 soldiers staged attacks against government institutions, and after hours of action, 251 people were killed and over 2,000 were injured, many of who confronted the rampaging coup plotters.
The coup was eventually quashed but the scar was deep and indelible. The Turkish Government has since embarked on extensive purges. In the last five years, over 10,000 education staff were suspended and the licenses of over 20,000 teachers working at private institutions were revoked for alleged links to Gülen even though the U.S.-based cleric has denied any involvement in the coup and condemned it. Turkey has arrested nearly 40,000 people and dismissed some 110,000 public servants since the coup attempt.
Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Hidayet Bayraktar, in his remarks in July during the ceremony to mark the fifth anniversary of the coup in Abuja, in the presence of Nigeria’s Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Musa Bello and members of the Diplomatic Corps, said: “The perpetrators of the hideous undertaking actually consisted of the disciples of Fetullah Gulen, whose aim is to take control of the Turkish State to reinstitute it according to their perverted religious ethos.”
He warned Nigeria and other countries where Gulen may have opened institutions and businesses to be wary of the Gulen Movement, describing FETO “as a mafia-like cultish terror group, with clandestine political aims.”
He added that FETO “is a threat not only to Turkey but also to all countries where they still run their operations. Their actions in Turkey should be considered as a wake-up call for other countries.”
The warning from the Turkish envoy in the face of lingering war against Boko Haram insurgents and bandits was reechoed by the Turkish President yesterday.
Reacting to the Turkish President’s statement, a criminologist, Albert Uba, said: “The visit of Edorgan and revelation that the dreaded FETO had infiltrated the country like it did to India and other countries can be viewed from two perspectives. First, it underpins the porosity of our borders and the inertia with which the issue of the exacerbating insecurity is being handled. Secondly, it sadly underscores the fact that the country is sitting precariously on a keg of gunpowder that can explode any time soon.”
According to former Director, Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Mike Ejiofor, “this is a very serious allegation if I must call it allegation. Is Nigeria government aware of it? Fighting terrorism requires international cooperation. I am surprised if the Nigerian government is not aware there is FETO in Nigeria.”
Security expert, Christopher Oji, said: “The meeting is one of the best things that had happened in Nigeria lately. It shows that our President has been warned and to be forewarned is to be forearmed. The FG seems to be sympathetic to terrorists.
“With the arrival of FETO combined with active presence of ISWAP, Boko Haram and bandits, the burden will be too much for our soldiers currently fighting armies of agitators. It is my advice that the FG should sit tight and stop paying lip service to issues of security. Let President Buhari, as a matter of urgency, seek foreign assistance or Nigeria will soon be captured by terrorists.”
Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, has asked the Federal Government to declare bandits in the Northwest geo-political zone of the country as “insurgents” or “terrorists”. The declaration, the governor said, would enable the Nigerian military to attack and kill “these bandits without any major consequences in the international law.”
The governor, who spoke shortly after receiving the third quarter security report from the Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna, yesterday, also said the recruitment of 1,000 youths each across the 774 local government areas of the country would deal a deadly blow to bandits and other criminal elements in the land.
Backing the National Assembly’s resolution to declare bandits as terrorists, the governor said the state government had since 2017 written to the federal government on that, pointing out that “bandits don’t deserve mercy and they should not be allowed to live.
“We in the Kaduna State government had always urged for the declaration of bandits as insurgents and terrorists. We have written letters to the Federal Government since 2017 asking for this declaration because it is this declaration that will allow the Nigerian military to attack and kill these bandits without any major consequences in the international law.
“So, we support the resolution by the National Assembly and we are going to follow up with a letter of support for the federal government to declare these bandits and insurgents as terrorists, so that, there will be fair game for our military,” the governor added.
The Commissioner had earlier in his report, said bandits killed no fewer than 343 and abducted 830 persons as well as injured 210 persons among them women and minors within the third quarter of the year in the state.
He said: “the operations against the bandits that began in this last quarter are degrading bandits, but are not yet simultaneous across all the affected states in the North-West region. That explains the limitations that our personnel and other resource deficits have imposed on federal security agencies.
“There are simply no enough boots on the ground to have credible deployment to most places, deter crime, and restore order. That is the reality that we face.
“Many state governments in the North-West and North-Central have adopted a non-conventional approach to help the security agencies to better protect our communities. In our own case, we have about 900 trained and vetted vigilantes personnel working with the security agencies.
“However, we still observed that there is no alternative to launching simultaneous operations in all states.”
The Central Bank of Nigeria has said it will support youths in tertiary institutions with grants to promote entrepreneurship and reduce unemployment.
The CBN disclosed this on Wednesday in a report, titled ‘Guidelines for the implementation of tertiary institutions entrepreneurship scheme’.
“Five top Nigerian polytechnics and universities with the best entrepreneurial pitches/ideas shall be awarded as follows: first place – N150m; second place – N120m; third place – N100m; fourth place – N80m; and fifth place – N50m,” it said.
It added that activities to be covered under the scheme would include innovative start-ups and existing businesses owned by graduates of Nigerian polytechnics and universities in areas such as agribusiness, information technology, creative industry, as well as science and technology.
The CBN said agribusiness would include production, processing, storage and logistics, while information technology would include application/software development, business process outsourcing, robotics and data management.
It said the creative industry would include entertainment, artwork, publishing, culinary/event management, fashion, photography, beauty/cosmetics; while science and technology would include medical innovation, robotics, ticketing systems, traffic systems, renewable energy, and waste management.
According to the report, the interest rate will be five per cent per annum and nine per cent effective from March 1, 2022 or as may be prescribed by the CBN.
The beneficiary must apply on the dedicated online portal and provide all requisite documentation to support the application, the CBN said.
It noted that priority would be given to innovative entrepreneurial activities with high potential for export, job creation and transformational impact.
Former US President, Donald Trump, announced plans Wednesday to launch his own social networking platform called “TRUTH Social,” which is expected to begin its beta launch for “invited guests” next month.
The long-awaited platform will be owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which also intends to launch a subscription video on-demand service that will feature “non-woke” entertainment programming, the group said in a statement.
“I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech,” Trump, who was banned from Twitter and Facebook in the wake of the Capitol insurrection carried out by his supporters on January 6 this year, was quoted as saying in the statement.
“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favourite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable,” he continued.
The Trump Media & Technology Group will merge with blank check company Digital Acquisition Corp to make TMTG a publicly-listed company, the statement said.
“The transaction values Trump Media & Technology Group at an initial enterprise value of $875 Million, with a potential additional earnout of $825 Million in additional shares (at the valuation they are granted) for a cumulative valuation of up to $1.7 Billion depending on the performance of the stock price post-business combination,” it stated.
Ever since he was banned from the world’s dominant social networks as punishment for stirring up the mob that ransacked Congress on January 6, Trump has been looking for ways to reclaim his internet platform.
In May he launched a blog called “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump,” which was touted as a a major new outlet.
But Trump, who was also banned from Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat in the wake of the Capitol mayhem, canceled the blog just a month later.
Former Trump aide Jason Miller launched a social network called Gettr earlier this year, but the former president has not yet joined it.
Policemen escort Zahir Jaffer (second left), a Pakistani-American man who went on trial accused of raping and beheading his girlfriend, the daughter of a former ambassador, after his court hearing in Islamabad on October 20, 2021. (Photo by Farooq NAEEM / AFP)
A Pakistani-American accused of raping and beheading his girlfriend, the daughter of a former ambassador, went on trial on Wednesday in the capital, Islamabad.
The brutal murder of Noor Mukadam, 27, in July sparked protests across the country and calls for reform to Pakistan’s gender violence laws.
Zahir Jaffer, 30, from a wealthy industrialist family, has denied killing Mukadam.
“The trial has formally started. Our first witness was examined today and we will produce five more witnesses at the next hearing”, Shah Khawar, a prosecution lawyer told AFP outside the court in Islamabad.
The 27-year-old was attacked after refusing a marriage proposal, attempting repeatedly to escape Jaffer’s sprawling mansion in an upscale neighbourhood in Islamabad but blocked each time by his staff, a Police report said.
Jaffer raped and tortured her with a knuckle duster before beheading her with a “sharp-edged weapon”, it added.
“Her life could have been saved had the accomplices acted otherwise,” the report said, which was presented to the court in a previous hearing.
Eleven others have also been charged in connection to the murder, including some of Jaffer’s household staff, his parents, and others who were allegedly asked to conceal evidence.
Mukadam’s murder received nationwide attention due to a growing, youth-driven women’s rights movement in the country where victims of violence are often discouraged from speaking out and blamed for the abuse.
According to a government survey conducted between 2017-18, 28 percent of women aged 15-49 have experienced physical violence in Pakistan. However, experts believe the figure is expected to be higher because of underreporting.
The murder of Mukadam, whose father served as Pakistan’s ambassador to South Korea and Kazakhstan, is one of the most high-profile cases of violence against women since the government introduced new legislation designed to speed up justice for rape victims.
It is typical for court cases to drag on for years in Pakistan, but Prosecutor Khawar said he expected the trial to be concluded within eight weeks.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has pledged that the accused would not escape justice for being part of the Pakistani elite and a dual national.
Founder and Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre, Pastor Sam Adeyemi, has commemorated with youths on the first anniversary of the shooting of protesters at Lekki Toll Gate during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.
The clergy, via his Instagram page on Wednesday, urged Nigerian youths to keep pressing forward in their fight for a better future for the country and continent at large.
“Dear young Nigerian, we adults will not hold the stage forever, you own the future. Keep moving to fulfill the dream of a Nigeria and Africa that empower all without discrimination, creating political, economic, and cultural development. Your efforts will not be in vain, ” he wrote.
In his post, Adeyemi also advised the older generation of leaders to set aside prejudices, and create an atmosphere where potentials can be allowed to flourish.
“Those of us in the older generation need to think ahead about our legacy,” he said. “Africans have suffered a lot through history. We have a duty to rise above prejudice and selfishness, to create an environment where potential can flourish, and where leadership is accountable and poised for service.”
Pastor Sam Adeyemi was one of the notable voices in support of the #EndSARS protests which rocked several states in Nigeria and some parts of the world last year.
He, alongside others like, musicians Burna Boy, Davido, and Falz; comedians, Mr Macaroni and Taaoma; and activist, Aisha Yesufu, was sued in November 2020 as vocal supporters of the #EndSARS protests.
Social media giant, Facebook, is making efforts to rebrand itself with a new name next week in a bid to distance itself from a series of embarrassing scandals.
The firm’s original social media site, Facebook, will likely keep its appellation, but Facebook Inc., the parent company which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, will rebrand. The Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, plans to reveal the parent company’s new name at its annual Connect conference on October 28, but it could be unveiled sooner, the Verge reported.
The change is expected to position Facebook’s social media app as one of many products under a parent company, which will oversee products like Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and more.
It will also help dissociate the firm’s flagship social media brand from future bad publicity, with recent whistleblower testimony from former worker, Frances Haugen, managing to contaminate the reputations of Facebook and Instagram.
The plan could also bring positive results to the company’s reputation which has suffered various damages in recent years.
It was accused of facilitating the spread of misinformation during the 2016 US Presidential election, prompting a series of congressional hearings and policy changes, including the introduction of third-party fact-checkers and further transparency in political advertising.
In 2019, the Federal Trade Commission fined Facebook $5 billion for allowing 87 million US profiles to be harvested for information used for political advertising by British firm, Cambridge Analytica.
Some of the advertising was used to help the 2016 campaign of former American President Donald Trump.
Most recently, former Facebook employee Frances Haugen released a trove of documents dubbed the ‘Facebook Files’ to the Wall Street Journal.
The internal research suggests that Facebook promoted divisiveness as a way to keep people on the site. It also showed that the company knew Instagram harmed young girls’ body image and even tried to brainstorm ways to appeal to toddlers by ‘exploring playdates as a growth lever.’
Haugen, who anonymously filed eight complaints about her former employer with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, told 60 Minutes earlier this month: ‘Facebook, over and over again, has shown it chooses profit over safety.’
She claimed that a 2018 change prioritizing divisive posts, which made Facebook users argue, was found to boost user engagement.
That in turn helped bosses sell more online ads that have seen the social media giant’s value pass $1trillion.
“You are forcing us to take positions that we don’t like, that we know are bad for society. We know if we don’t take those positions, we won’t win in the marketplace of social media,” Haugen said.
She also blamed Facebook for spurring the January 6 Capitol riot.
Haugen, who spent two years at Facebook after working at Google, Yelp and Pinterest, testified in Congress on October 5.
Armed security operatives have blocked Nigerians youths protesting in memory of those killed and brutalised at Lekki tollgate in Lagos State and around the country during the #EndSARS protest on October 20, 2020.
The protest tagged #EndSARSMemorial kicked off from the Unity Fountain with demand for end in Police brutality in the country.
The protest, led by the human rights activists, Omoyele Sowore, Deji Adeyanju, and Pelumi Olajengbesi, was abruptly disrupted shortly after take-off in front of Ministry of Justice by a combined security operatives including; the Nigerian Police, the Army and the Department of State Services.
The protesters insisted on marching to the National Assembly and the demand for justice for the victims of Lekki massacre but they were prevented by the security operatives led by the FCT Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Ben Igweh.
The police and security operatives asked the protesters to return to the Unity Fountain and continue with their protest leading to an altercation as the protesters stood their ground.
As at time of filing this story the stand-off continued as protesters remained on the road and vowed not to leave until their demands were met.
The Federal Government has claimed that one year after the shooting at Lekki tollgate by soldiers, there is no evidence to show that any protester died.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known during a press conference on the first anniversary of EndSARS on Wednesday.
In the text of his press conference, the minister said the Federal Government was yet to get any evidence for the alleged killing.
Amnesty International had claimed that no fewer than 12 protesters were killed in Lagos State by security operatives during the EndSARS protest.
But the minister described the claim as a “phantom”, noting that “One year later, and despite ample opportunities for the families of those allegedly killed and those alleging a massacre to present evidence, there has been none: No bodies, no families, no convincing evidence, nothing. Where are the families of those who were reportedly killed at the toll gate? Did they show up at the Judicial Panel of Inquiry? If not, why?
“Recall, gentlemen, that after bandying different figures, Amnesty International finally settled at about 12 people killed. On its part, CNN went from 38 people killed to two to just one, after a supposed global exclusive even when the network had no reporter on ground at the Lekki Toll Gate on Oct. 20th 2020.”
The minister also claimed that soldiers did not shoot at protesters at the Lekki tollgate on October 20, 2020.
Mohammed said, “On Oct. 20th (2020), members of the security forces enforced curfew by FIRING SHOTS INTO THE AIR (emphasis mine) to disperse protesters, who had gathered at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos to protest abusive practices by the Nigeria Police Force Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)
“Accurate information on fatalities resulting from the shooting was not available at year’s end. Amnesty International reported 10 persons died during the event, but the government disputed Amnesty’s Report, and NO OTHER ORGANIZATION WAS ABLE TO VERIFY THE CLAIM (emphasis mine).”
“With the preponderance of evidence against any massacre at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20th 2020, we are once again reiterating what we said one year ago, that:
“The military did not shoot at protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20th 2020, and there was no massacre at the toll gate. The only ‘massacre’ recorded was in the social media, hence there were neither bodies nor blood.”
Real Madrid forward, Karim Benzema, goes on trial in France on Wednesday accused of complicity in the attempted blackmail of former international teammate, Mathieu Valbuena, a case known as the “sextape affair”.
Benzema, 33, is suspected of helping a group of alleged blackmailers approach Valbuena in an attempt to extort money. Four other men are also on trial.
The case cost both Benzema and 37-year-old Valbuena their places in the French national team, though Benzema was restored to the squad for this year’s European Championship.
The case centres on the role that Benzema is suspected of playing in the murky affair six years ago, which started when Valbuena handed his smartphone to Axel Angot, a man connected to footballing circles in the southern port city of Marseille, with the request to transfer its contents to a new device.
Angot, now on trial for breach of trust, came across sexually explicit footage on the phone involving Valbuena.
Prosecutors says he then explored ways — together with a friend, Mustapha Zouaoui — to approach Valbuena and threaten publication of the footage unless he paid them.
Valbuena received several calls in June 2015 warning of the potential exposure of the footage, which he reported to police.
What followed is an imbroglio involving several shadowy middlemen, one of whom turned out to be an undercover agent called “Luka” placed by police who were trying to get proof before taking action against the protagonists.
Eventually the presumed blackmailers went to one of Benzema’s old friends, Karim Zenati, who prosecutors say enlisted Benzema’s help to reach Valbuena.
‘Very Heavy Criminals’
On Oct 6, 2015, Benzema went to see Valbuena in his room at the French national team’s training centre at Clairefontaine, west of Paris.
He told his teammate that he could introduce him to a “trustworthy person” to help him “manage” the possible publication of a compromising video.
In what Benzema later claimed was an attempt to help his teammate out of a difficult situation, he told him: “Be careful, ‘Math’, these are very, very heavy criminals.”
Benzema then called his childhood friend Karim Zenati, who was by then acting as an intermediary for the alleged blackmailers, and told him in a conversation wiretapped by police: “He’s not taking us seriously.”
Prosecutors say that the word “us” proves that Benzema saw himself as part of the blackmail scheme.
Valbuena said later that the conversation left him with the feeling that he was “being played for a fool”.
“If he doesn’t want us to handle this for him, he’ll have to deal with the piranhas,” Zenati said, claiming later that all he wanted to do was alert Valbuena to the existence of the video.
Benzema replied that “they will piss on him”, and in a subsequent conversation referred to Valbuena with a derogatory term for a homosexual, which he said later was meant “in a friendly way”.
The maximum sentence for complicity in attempted blackmail is five years in prison and a fine of 70,000 euros ($81,000).
Benzema has argued that the undercover police officer used dishonest methods to draw him into the affair.
The sextape case caused Benzema to be exiled from France’s national football team for years — a decision he called ‘racist’.
France coach, Didier Deschamps, said this month that “he’s no longer the same person, he’s matured”.
