Lagos (AFP) Feb 4, 2021 Three Chinese employees have been abducted and their police escort killed following a dispute with local labourers at a gold-mining site in southwest Nigeria, police said Thursday. The incident which happened at the Atakumosa area of Osun state on Monday was under investigation, state police spokeswoman Yemisi Opalola told AFP. “The three Chinese nationals were abducted following a dispuhttp://dlvr.it/RsDCDl Continue reading Three Chinese kidnapped in Nigeria mine dispute: police

Libreville (AFP) Feb 4, 2021 Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Cameroon army on Thursday of killing nine civilians, including a six-year-old girl, in a raid last month on a village in the troubled English-speaking west of the country. The accusation relates to an incident on January 10 that the army, which is fighting armed separatists in the region, says was a fight with “terrorists.” … Continue reading Cameroon army killed nine civilians in anglophone west: HRW

Wuhan, China (AFP) Feb 6, 2021 Thousands of Chinese social media users paid tribute to Li Wenliang on Saturday, marking the one year anniversary of the death of the doctor who first blew the whistle on the coronavirus outbreak. Li, one of a group of doctors in Wuhan who shared posts on social media warning of a SARS-like virus spreading in the central city in … Continue reading Chinese social media tributes mark anniversary of whistleblower doctor’s death

Washington DC (UPI) Feb 5, 2021 Few nations have escaped the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, but new research suggests low- and middle-income countries have been hit the hardest, suffering sharper declines in standard of living and food security. To account for the scope of economic shockwaves triggered by the pandemic, researchers conducted several thousand phone surveys in Burkina Faso, Colombhttp://dlvr.it/Rs9Pf1 Continue reading COVID-19 pandemic’s economic shock hit less-developed countries hardest

Budapest (AFP) Feb 5, 2021 Hungary plans to begin administering the Chinese-made Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine to its citizens later this month, the government said Friday. Hungary broke ranks with the EU last month by becoming the first bloc member to approve and order both Sinopharm and Russia’s Sputnik V jab, in quantities of five million and two million doses respectively. The Chinese shipment “is enough … Continue reading Hungary says first Chinese jabs can be given this month

At the start of 2020, it’s doubtful that anyone would have guessed how much the pandemic would change almost everything. With that mindset, it almost seems ironic to make predictions. Still, some clear trends in B2B payments have emerged from the events of the past year that are likely to unfold over the next twelve months. Here are some payment automation trends to watch for … Continue reading B2B Payments Industry Trends to Watch in 2021

Washington DC (UPI) Feb 3, 2021 Pursued by poachers and pushed out by development and deforestation, many of the planet’s terrestrial mammal species are increasingly threatened by human activities – including air travel. According to a new study, published Wednesday in the journal Mammal Review, mammals are being killed and maimed by aircraft at greater rates than ever before. Every year, planes strike thousanhttp://dlvr.it/Rs2v5g Continue reading Mammals are getting hit by airplanes at greater rates than ever before

Beijing (AFP) Feb 2, 2021 A second Chinese lawyer involved in defending a Hong Kong democracy activist charged with illegally leaving the territory said Tuesday he had lost his license. Ren Quanniu, who represented one of 12 people caught attempting to flee Hong Kong to Taiwan by boat last August, showed AFP a court notice revoking his right to practice. Lu Siwei, who was served … Continue reading Another ‘Hong Kong 12’ lawyer has license revoked

New Delhi (AFP) Feb 1, 2021 Twitter on Monday temporarily blocked scores of accounts and tweets in India at the government’s request, including those of a prominent news magazine and farmers staging mass protests in the capital. An IT ministry source told AFP the government had directed the social media giant to act against about 250 Twitter accounts and tweets that posed a “grave threat … Continue reading Twitter blocks accounts over India farm protests on gov’t order

Amazon gets a new chief executive this summer. Jeff Bezos plans to step down from that role and transition into a new job — executive chair of Amazon. The chief of Amazon’s cloud computing division, Andy Jassy, will become Amazon’s new chief executive. Jassy served in that post in a temporary capacity along with another Amazon executive in recent years. The change will be effective … Continue reading A New Era of Leadership on the Horizon at Amazon