Facebook Monday launched Avatars in Africa to give people new ways to express themselves online.
Avatars are digital personas that enable people to engage across Facebook and Messenger in a more personal and dynamic way.
Avatars include hundreds of global sticker packs and integrations with GIF providers and can also be shared across Facebook and Messenger by: setting as Profile Picture; sharing to News Feed; and using on Gaming Profile.
You can also use your personalised avatar to share a range of emotions and expressions via a digital persona that is unique to you.
There are many ways you can use your avatar including in comments, stories, messenger and soon, text posts with backgrounds too.
With so many emotions and expressions to choose from, avatars let you share your authentic reactions and feelings with family and friends across the app. You can customise your avatar with hairstyles, complexions, outfits, COVID-19 support stickers and more.
“To create your avatar, go to the Facebook or Messenger comment composer, click on the ‘smiley’ button, and then the sticker tab. Click ‘Create Your Avatar.’
“Facebook is home to some of your most personal content and we want to allow people to share and react to that content in the most personalised way possible.
“We’re excited to give people more options to convey their identity on Facebook, allowing them to share in a more personal, light-hearted way,” said Regional Director, Facebook Africa, Nunu Ntshingila.
Israeli and United Arab Emirates flags line a road in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, on August 16, 2020. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Telephone calls began ringing Sunday between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, marking the first concrete step of a US-brokered diplomatic deal between the nations that required Israel to halt plans to annex land sought by the Palestinians, AP has reported.
Direct telephone calls have been blocked in the Emirates, a US-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, since its founding in 1971. That backed the standing position of Arab nations at the time, that Israel must first grant concessions to the Palestinians before being recognised — one of their few points of leverage.
Since Thursday’s announcements, Associated Press journalists have tried to make calls between the nations without success. But around 1:15 p.m. Sunday, AP journalists in Jerusalem and Dubai could call each other from both landline and cellular phones registered to Israel’s country code +972.
Over an hour later, Emirati officials acknowledged that Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan had called his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi. The Israelis later acknowledged the call as well, saying the block had been lifted from the Emiratis’ side.
Israeli Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel issued a statement “congratulating the United Arab Emirates on removing the blocks.”
“Many economic opportunities will open now, and these trust-building steps are an important step toward advancing states’ interests,” Hendel said.
Also Sunday, Israeli news websites that had previously been blocked by UAE authorities, like the Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post and YNet, could be accessed without using means to bypass internet filtering in the Emirates.
In the UAE, a recorded message in Arabic and English would typically play prior to Sunday, saying calls to +972 numbers could not be connected. The advent of internet calling allowed people to get around the ban, although these too were often interrupted.
Some in Israel used Palestinian mobile phone numbers with +970 numbers, which those in the UAE could call.
Anger over the deal however continued as well, with protesters in Pakistan criticising UAE and Iran making new threats about the accord, which would see the Emirates become only the third Arab nation to currently recognise Israel. The UAE responded by summoning Iran’s chargé d’affairs to criticise earlier comments by Iran’s president it described as threatening.
But for Dubai’s small expatriate Jewish community, which has worshipped for years at an unmarked villa in this city-state, the calls represented so much more than just the convenience of being able to directly dial loved ones in Israel.
“There’s a sense of a miracle upon a miracle upon a miracle, as all of these hurdles fall away and people at last can come together and start talking,” Ross Kriel, the president of the Jewish Council of the Emirates, told The Associated Press.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced Thursday they were establishing full diplomatic relations in the US-brokered accord. The historic deal delivered a key foreign policy victory to President Donald Trump as he seeks reelection, and reflected a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about archenemy Iran have largely overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians.
Palestinians maintain it puts a just resolution of the Middle East conflict even farther out of reach. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu contended Sunday that the deal with UAE shows Israel doesn’t need to retreat from occupied land sought by the Palestinians in order to have diplomatic ties with Arab states.
Deals between Israel and the UAE are expected in the coming weeks in such areas as tourism, direct flights and embassies. Early Sunday, the Emirates’ state-run WAM news agency announced a UAE company had signed an agreement with an Israeli company for research and study of the coronavirus pandemic.
The move has sparked anger among some who see it as a betrayal of longstanding efforts to establish an independent state of Palestinians. In Pakistan, hundreds of Islamists rallied Sunday to denounce the Emirati-Israeli deal. The Jamaat-e-Islami party chanted slogans against the United States and burned effigies of Trump. They also set ablaze American and Israeli flags.
Those protests mirror others by Palestinians that have seen images of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan burnt, torn and trampled upon. That enraged some in the UAE, a nation of autocratic rulers where speech is strictly monitored. Emiratis online encouraged fellow citizens to report comments critical of the country to law enforcement.
The deal also has enraged Iran and Turkey, regional rivals to the UAE.
On Sunday, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces called the UAE’s decision a “disaster.” Mohammad Hossein Bagheri urged Abu Dhabi to “revise” its position or the Iranian military may take a different approach to the nation. He did not elaborate on what that approach would entail.
“If an incident happens in the Persian Gulf and violates the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran, even a tiny bit, and we see it from the UAE, we will not tolerate it,” Bagheri said.
On Sunday, the WAM news agency also reported the Emirates summoned Iran’s top diplomat in the country to complain about speeches by officials in Tehran it said were “unacceptable and inflammatory and had serious implications for security and stability in the Gulf region.”
The UAE reminded Iran its duty to protect its embassy in Tehran, where protesters had gathered the day before. Diplomatic posts have been overrun in the past in Iran, including in the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis.
For Dubai’s small but growing Jewish expatriate population, the UAE’s move toward diplomatic ties represents a new achievement. Alex Peterfreund, a cantor for the community, read a passage of the Torah for visiting AP journalists.
“To start from scratch is quite exciting, to know that you start a community where there was actually almost no Jews in all those centuries, it’s motivating you also,” Peterfreund said. ”We feel (like) pioneers.”
A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, Monday met with President Muhammadu Buhari in State House, Abuja.
Speaking with journalists after his meeting with the President, Oshiomhole debunked allegations recently made by the Director-General of the Progressives Congress Forum (PGF), Salihu Lukman, accusing him of scheming to return as APC national chairman.
Oshiomhole, who ia also a former Edo State Governor, described Lukman as a tool allegedly foisted on PGF as director-general by the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Kayode Fayemi.
According to him, “You want me to engage in a fight with a pig? If you engage in a fight with a pig, the pig already is stained by its nature and you will wear your white garment, and in my own case, khaki to go and wrestle with a pig? I will not.
“You see, what I want the media to interrogate, how does winning Edo State governorship election translates to returning as the APC national chairman. When I was removed as national chairman, Edo State was APC. So, do I have to win Edo State to become the national chairman? Do I look so unemployed? I’m 68.
“What they don’t understand is that it is not the office of chairman that made me who I am.
“So, it takes an empty brain to suggest that Oshiomhole wants to stage a comeback to become the national chairman. For what? To go and do a resit?
“So, my attitude is not to reply the noise, which is coming from somebody who says he is an employee and appointee of Progressives Governors Forum.
“He is just like the cowards that are using him that are not able to come out. Otherwise, you should ask this guy, who is now an election expert.
“He contested for Senate against Makarfi, he lost. He even contested against Governor Nasir el-Rufai during the primaries and he lost before Fayemi unilaterally appointed him the DG.
“So, if he is now the spokesman abusing me and all of that, you want to drag me to his level? No!
“A gentleman does not wrestle with a pig, if you do you will always be stained”, the self styled Oshiomhole said.
Nigeria Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila. Monday, August 17, 2020. Photo- Office of the Speaker.
• Nigeria to host maiden Conference of African Speakers and Heads of Parliament
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila on Monday convened a meeting of some African Speakers of Parliaments where it was agreed that there is an urgent need to push for debt cancellation for the continent from their multilateral and bilateral partners.
At the virtual meeting, the Speaker’s proposed initiative to establish the Conference of African Speakers and Heads of Parliament (CoSAP), a body that will facilitate increased collaboration between Speakers, Heads of Parliament and National Assemblies across Africa got a boost.
The African Speakers will also seek to advance the African development agenda within and outside the continent in conjunction with both the executive arms of government as well as African regional institutions.
African Heads of Parliament who participated in the meeting include Hon. Tagesse Chafo, Speaker, House of Peoples Representatives, Ethiopia; Rt. Hon. Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, PhD, Speaker of Parliament, Ghana; Hon. Justin Bedan Muturi, Speaker, National Assembly, Republic of Kenya; Rt. Hon. Donatille Mukabalisa, Speaker, Chamber of Deputies, Rwanda; and President Moustapha Niasse, AFP, President, National Assembly, Senegal.
In his opening remarks, Gbajabiamila said there was an urgent need to join local and global efforts to push for the cancellation of external debt owed by various countries on the continent.
He submitted that development across the continent has become stunted due to the heavy burden of the debts, noting that the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has compounded the issue for the continent, considering the socio-political and economic consequences of the disease.
“We all agree that Africa’s debt burden has become an existential threat to our societies, our economies and the future; we leave to posterity, and we need to do something about this and treat it as a continent-wide priority.
“It is safe to say that the burden of debt servicing, vis-à-vis spending on education and health care for example, is a threat to our continent’s stability and development, especially in the era of Covid-19.
“When we find ourselves having to make policy choices between paying debts or saving lives, we know something is not morally right. And as democratically elected representatives of our people, we cannot be silent. We must speak up and we must act. And the time to act is now.
“Furthermore, is the need for us to reflect on, the processes that led to Africa’s heavy indebtedness in the first place, the role parliamentarians can play to address this going forward and what assurances we as parliamentarians can give our borrowers that if our debt is cancelled, the freed-up resources will be invested in social and economic development of our citizens.
“If we want debt cancellation, we must be able to build the confidence of the borrowers that the cancellation will indeed save lives and livelihoods across the continent, and we, as Speakers and Heads of our parliaments, will ensure that is indeed the case”.
On the need for the establishment of the Pan-African Speaker’s Conference, Gbajabiamila noted that collective efforts at tackling challenges facing the continent have become expedient.
He said: “The motive behind this initiative is that each year we identify a theme, issue, or challenge that is pan-African in scope and we meet to deliberate on how we can work together across parliaments in Africa to tackle these continental issues and challenges.
“As heads of our respective parliamentary entities, it will also be a good platform to share experiences and expertise in different aspects of our legislative duties pertinent to the growth, development and sustenance of our economies and our societies; and on ways to enhance the capacity and impact of our parliaments on our democracies and the lives of the peoples we all represent.
“We have spent decades learning from the rest of the world, now we must begin to learn from one another”.
Throwing his weight behind the two initiatives, Hon. Tagesse Chafo, Speaker, House of Peoples Representatives, Ethiopia, noted that though almost every government on the continent has been trying to seek debt forgiveness, this should not, however, stop the parliaments from contributing to the efforts through a platform such as this.
“As representatives of our people, we are to come together, advise and campaign about the issue, we don’t have to keep quiet because debt cancellation would be good for the resuscitation of our economies that have been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
In the same vein, Rt. Hon. Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament, Ghana noted that the debt burden is essentially a common challenge on the continent, as most African countries have to depend on foreign loans to execute their national budgets.
He, however, noted that the Speaker’s group, in its efforts to push for debt cancellation must be able to convince the creditors about accountability if they hope to succeed.
He said: “Donor agencies are interested in accountability because they are confounded about the issue of corruption, and we must be able to give the assurance and that is why the Speakers Conference is critical. And if nothing is done, there may be no economy to service the loans”
Hon. Justin Bedan Muturi, Speaker, National Assembly, Republic of Kenya also emphasised the need for the initiative, adding that, the coronavirus pandemic has undermined most African economies because conditions attached to most of the loans have been eroded by the consequences of the novel pandemic.
On her part, Rt. Hon. Donatille Mukabalisa, Speaker, Chamber of Deputies, Rwanda, while noting that African countries depend on and are heavily burdened by loans even before the pandemic, however, added that the group must be clear about the kind of debt it is seeking to address and from which partners.
While President Moustapha Niasse, AFP, President, National Assembly, Senegal also regretted that the pandemic has affected all economies on the continent negatively, he, however, suggested that opinions of members of the forum must be sought on how to solve the issues between suspension or cancellation of debt
“We must be convinced that we have a job to do at the level of parliament,” he added.
It was also agreed that a Communique would be released in the first week of September 2020, while the campaign for implementations of the plan of action would begin in the second week of September 2020 as well.
According to the forum, the third week of September would be devoted to the planning for the 2021 conference by the Secretariat.
While it was decided that Nigeria would host the maiden edition of CoSAP, chaired by Nigerian Speaker the Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, the new body is expected to meet again in the first week of September to approve the plans and swing into action.
Nigeria Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila. Monday, August 17, 2020. Photo- Office of the Speaker.
Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos
The President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government Monday announced August 29 as the resumption date for international flight operations, months after the aviation space was shut due to global novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who announced the date on behalf of the Federal Government, explained that international flights would first resume at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and Nnamidi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
“Protocols and procedures will be announced in due course.
“We thank you for your patience.”
Meanwhile, the management team of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has commenced inspection of facilities at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos to ensure preparedness ahead of reopening.
File: A collage photo of Presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church and Nigeria's President, Muhammadu Buhari.
An aide of President Muhammadu Buhari, Lauretta Onochie on Monday condemned statements credited to the presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners Chapel), David Oyedepo, for rejecting a section of the Company and Allied Matters Acts (CAMA) on churches.
The Social Media Aide to the President, criticised Oyedepo for kicking against CAMA which was signed into law by Buhari on August 7, 2020. She told the cleric to go ahead and create his own country where he would apply and impose his own rules.
Oyedepo had, on Sunday in his sermon, questioned the application of CAMA in churches, criticising the rationality of the law which permits the Registrar-General of Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and a supervising minister to strictly supervise religious bodies and charity organisations.
CAMA also gives the commission power to suspend the trustees of an association or a religious body and appoint an interim manager or managers to coordinate its affairs where it reasonably believes that there has been any misconduct or mismanagement, or where the affairs of the association is being run fraudulently or where it’s necessary or desirable for the purpose of public interest.
“The church is God’s heritage on earth. Molest the wife of somebody and you will see the anger of that person. The church is the bride of Christ. You know how a strong man is when you tamper with his wife. The church is the body of Christ. We are under obligation to give warnings to wicked rulers so we could be free from their blood.
“Who was Paul persecuting? The church! Who said, ‘I’m the one you are persecuting?’ Jesus! This country is going too far and it’s a risk. I saw something on CAMA and they put religious bodies there that Registrar-General can remove trustees without a recourse to the court. Don’t try it! You can’t gag anybody. We own this country together.
“The church works on the pattern delivered by God not the pattern of man. Government has no power to appoint people over churches. This is a secular nation. The church is the greatest asset of God in this country. Please be warned. Judgment is coming. The Lord says I have been still but now I will arise. Anybody that is in this deal is taking poison. This will never work. I am waiting for a day when anybody will appoint a trustee over this church.
“It is only in Africa that people who are over 80 years still run around to become president. I know that it is the prosperity of the church that is making them jealous. But I am going to live to see an army of many winners soar greater. In this church shall emerge one of the largest concentration of giants on earth,” Oyedepo said.
But, reacting to Oyedepo’s position, Onochie said: “I hope this is not true. If it is, Oyedepo will have to manufacture his own country and live by his own laws.
“As long as he lives and operates within the entity called Nigeria, he will live by Nigerian rules and laws. He will do as he’s told by the law.
File Photo: Senator Duoye Dickson. Image Credit- Channels TV
Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has said he would appeal Monday’s ruling of the state election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja and has consequently instructed his lawyers to file the necessary papers.
The tribunal, in a majority judgment delivered by Justice Yunusa Musa in the petition brought before it by the Advanced National Democratic Party (ANDP), held that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) unlawfully excluded the party from the November 16, 2019 governorship election in the state.
Reacting to the ruling, Diri said he has implicit confidence in the judiciary that he would triumph in the end.
According to him, “We trust in the judiciary and we are appealing the judgement. With God on our side, we will get justice.
“This is a court of first instance and I have instructed our lawyers to file an appeal. We have a right of appeal even up to the Supreme Court.”
The governor, who spoke shortly after the ruling by the tribunal, urged members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his supporters not to panic and to continue to remain calm and law-abiding.
Meanwhile, the immediate past Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has urged Bayelsans not to be perturbed by the judgment of the tribunal which annulled the state governorship election on Monday.
He described the judgment as a temporary setback which does not in law affect the status quo until appeal processes are exhausted.
The former governor, in a statement by his Media Advisor, Fidelis Soriwei, said PDP and Bayelsa State Government would appeal the judgement.
He noted that there was no vacancy in Bayelsa State Government House as Diri remains governor until a final decision on the issue was reached at the Supreme Court.
Dickson urged Bayelsans to go about their lawful duties without any disturbance because of the judgement on the suit filed by ANDP against its purported exclusion in the election by INEC.
“I urge Bayelsans to remain calm. They shouldn’t misinterpret what took place at the tribunal today.
President Muhammadu Buhari meets ex-National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole.
President Muhammadu Buhari is meeting with former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in the State House, Abuja.
According to information gathered by Echotitbits, Oshiomhole, who was recently sacked as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party by an Appeal court in Abuja, was sighted dressed in his traditional khaki suit, in company of the Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, walking towards the President’s office.
As at the time of publishing this report, the purpose of Oshiomhole’s meeting with the President is not established.
File: Photo of Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Kano State Governor, Abdullah Umar Ganduje has challenged the State’s Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate and prosecute anyone found culpable of corrupt practice including members of his cabinet if the need be.
During an inspection of construction work at the Commission’s headquarters on Sunday, the Governor emphasised that the agency has his nod and insisted that “no comprise should override any priority” in a bid to purge the state of corrupt tendencies.
While he reiterated that the commission has full independence, Ganduje, vowed never to interfere in the operations of the commission – investigations and prosecutions of persons complicit in wrongdoings.
“We urge you not to spare or compromise any case no matter who is involved. The commission is independent of its responsibility and it has the duty to trap and prosecute any suspect.
The Governor seized the occasion to also challenge the Federal Government to replicate its fight against corruption across states and local government, if truly determined to nip the pandemic in the bud.
“With the way corruption is fighting back in the country, the federal government need to prepare to fight hard with establishment of similar corruption commission across the states and even at the local government areas”. Ganduje noted.
In his remark, Chairman of the commission, Muhuyi Magaji Rimin-Gado applauded the Ganduje-led government’s political will to support the commission’s determination to fight corruption in Kano state.
Muhuyi promised that the commission will not compromise on its principle, founded on benchmark and standard on mission and vision, to rid Kano of corruption.
It was reported that Muhuyi had recently led the commission to recover over N300,000 allegedly siphoned by a special adviser on religious affairs, Ali Babba.
One of the previous operations carried out by the commission is the prosecution of deposed Emir of Kano, Mohammadu Sanusi, for alleged misappropriation of emirate funds, a case that has caused Ganduje’s government wide criticism over “undue interference”.
File: A collage photo displaying an officer of the Department of State Security (DSS) and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba.
The President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government Monday distanced itself from the allegations that it’s the brain behind the invitation extended to the former Speaker of House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba, by the Department of State Service on account of his alleged comments at the President.
Na’bba was invited by DSS for questioning, four days after he made critical comments about the Buhari administration.
The former speaker, who is also a co-chairman of the newly formed National Consultative Front (NCFront), had, in a television broadcast, described Nigeria as a failed state, listing unemployment, insecurity, economic hardship as some of the factors which indicated that the present government “is incompetent.”
But, Buhari, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said preliminary feedback indicated that Na’bba’s invitation was in no way connected to his utterances regarding the state of affairs of the country.
The statement reads in part: “The Presidency distances itself from the allegations that it has anything to do with the invitation extended to Ghali Na’Abba by the Department of State Service on account of his alleged comments at President Buhari.
“Preliminary feedback received by the Presidency seem to indicate that the invitation of Umar Ghali Na’Abba, was in no way connected to his utterances regarding the state of affairs of the country. Mr. President realises the value of having an active opposition party having emerged through that process as well.
“Mr. President has consistently made it his wish to deliver an electoral process that is free and fair that ensures that the electorate are given a free hand for their votes to count. Anything short of such a process would be counter-productive.
“As the nation continues to pull together to confront this common enemy that has no regard for race, religion, language or ethnic grouping, we once again encourage citizens to engage in discourses that can help support our vision of a United Nigeria, that maintains food security. secures it citizens and provides a pipeline of opportunities to our teeming youthful population.”
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