Bill Gates transferred another $2 billion worth of stock to ex-wife Melinda

   

   Despite their divorce, Bill Gates seems to be keeping to the promise he made on Wednesday, August 4, when he told CNN that he and Melinda French Gates would try to keep working together on their foundation after their divorce.

   Bill Gates transferred more than $2 billion in stock to Melinda French Gates on Thursday, August 5, according to Bloomberg. This takes total transfers from Bill Gates to Melinda French Gates since they announced their divorce in May to about $6 billion. Cascade Investment, Gates' investment vehicle, transferred 3.3 million shares, collectively worth $387 million, of the automotive retailer AutoNation to French Gates, an SEC filing showed, according to Bloomberg.

Jacob Zuma hospitalised after spending time in jail

   The Department of Correctional Services “can confirm that former president Jacob Zuma has today, 6 August 2021, been admitted to an outside hospital for medical observation,” it said in a statement.

    Zuma began serving the prison sentence on July 8 on the order of the Constitutional Court after repeatedly snubbing a call to appear at the commission of inquiry into state capture. He is classified as a “short-term low-risk inmate”. Two weeks ago, he joined his family for the funeral of his brother Michael, in Nkandla, after he was granted compassionate leave.

Man detained for taking girlfriend's exams while dressed as a woman

 

    A Senegalese student has been detained after he disguised as a woman to sit for national examinations on behalf of his girlfriend.

   The student who enrolled in a university in the northern part of the country and his girlfriend "were placed under arrest on Monday evening." The student whose age was not disclosed, had moved to Diourbel to take the exams for his girlfriend, a student in a high school in this city, according to the prosecution.

Biden Asks New York Governor To Resign After Damning Harassment Report

 

  US President Joe Biden joined leading Democrats Tuesday in calling on powerful New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign after an independent investigation concluded that he sexually harassed multiple women.

   Cuomo, who drew praise nationwide for his early pandemic response, denied inappropriate conduct and resisted immediate calls to quit after the probe found he harassed current and former New York state employees. But his position was looking increasingly untenable late Tuesday after Biden and House speaker Nancy Pelosi said the three-term governor should step down and state lawmakers moved to impeach him. “I think he should resign,” Biden told reporters in Washington.

Trafford General Hospital set ablaze by lightning strike

 

  Patients and staff had to be evacuated from Trafford General Hospital in Greater Manchester after a lightning strike caused fire to break out at the hospital. The blaze erupted during a freak storm on Wednesday afternoon, July 28.

French president Emmanuel Macron's phone number found in list of spying targets along with WHO chief and presidents of South Africa and Pakistan

   

     French president, Emmanuel Macron's phone number has been found among potential targets of a huge international spying operation. 

   According to Mail Online, Macron is among 50,000 politicians, journalists, and human rights activists around the world said to have been identified as 'people of interest' by clients of Israeli firm NSO, developer of a surveillance system called Pegasus. President Imran Khan of Pakistan and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa as well as World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. are also among potential targets found on a list of numbers leaked to Amnesty and the Paris-based journalism nonprofit Forbidden Stories.

Russia passenger plane goes missing in Siberia

   

    A Russian Antonov An-28 passenger plane carrying up to 17 people has gone missing in Siberia outside the city of Tomsk. This is the second similar incident this month.

  According to the regions governor, two helicopters had been dispatched to search for the plane, which was flying from the town of Kedrovy in the region to the city of Tomsk.

At Least 42 Dead In Germany As Storms Ravage Europe

   

    Heavy rains and floods lashing western Europe have killed at least 42 people in Germany and left many more missing, as rising waters led several houses to collapse on Thursday. Unusually heavy rains also inundated neighbouring Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium, where at least four people were reported dead.

South Africa- Ex President, Jacob Zuma In Police Custody

   The Constitutional Court, the nation’s highest judicial body, had sentenced Zuma to 15 months in prison for failing to appear before a commission investigating corruption accusations against him.

   Zuma had ignored an order to appear subsequently after one appearance at the inquiry into corruption, what has become known as “state capture.” While Raymond Zondo, South Africa’s deputy chief justice and the head of the inquiry, had sought to have him jailed for his defiance.

Dubai- Large explosion after Container ship catches fire

   A container ship anchored at Dubai's huge Jebel Ali port caught fire late Wednesday, July 7, the Emirate's media office has reported.

   

According to the report the fire caused an explosion that sent tremors across the commercial hub of the United Arab Emirates.

Dubai's state-run media office said that a team of firefighters was working to control the blaze and there were no immediate reports of casualties. The extent of the damage caused by the explosion to the port and surrounding cargo as at press time is not clear.

Haiti President Assassinated At Home, Wife Wounded

 

 

   Haiti President Jovenel Moise was assassinated and his wife wounded early Wednesday in a gun attack at their private residence, tipping the impoverished and crisis-hit Caribbean nation into a renewed state of political uncertainty.

   Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph declared a national “state of siege” and said he was now in charge of the country, urging people to remain calm while insisting the police and army would ensure public order. As international outrage and shock spread over the killing, the airport was closed in the capital Port-au-Prince, but witnesses said the city was quiet on Wednesday with no extra security forces on patrol.

Djokovic, wife recover from COVID-19

 

  Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena, who last week both tested positive for coronavirus following his exhibition tournament in the Balkans, have now tested negative, his press service said Thursday. Neither the 33-year-old player nor his partner felt any symptoms, the statement said.

  The couple had been self-isolating since returning to Belgrade from Zadar in Croatia, the town which hosted the second leg of Djokovic’s ill-fated Adria Tour.

  Four players — Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki — tested positive for the virus after the event which saw little social distancing and packed stands. The world number one’s coach Goran Ivanisevic also contracted COVID-19.

  Players had embraced across the net, played basketball and even danced in a nightclub during the week of the first leg played in Belgrade. Djokovic was widely criticised for hosting the tournament. The Serbian star issued an apology, saying he was “so deeply sorry” that the tournament “caused harm”.

On Wednesday, the player donated more than 40,000 euros ($45,000) to Serbian town Novi Pazar which has been badly affected by the pandemic. Serbia, with a population of about seven million people, has registered nearly 15,000 coronavirus infections and 281 deaths.

Dubai Police Extradites ‘Hushpuppi’ To United States

 

   Criminal mastermind Raymond Igbalode Abbas, known as ‘Hushpuppi’ has been extradited from the United Arab Emirates to the United States.

   This was revealed in a statement by the Dubai Police on Thursday in which the US Federal Bureau of Investigations extended its gratitude to the UAE crime watchdog for its role in apprehending and extraditing ‘Hushpuppi’.

Zimbabwe increases fuel price by 150 per cent

 

  Zimbabwe on Wednesday announced a 150 per cent rise in the price of fuel following the launch of a forex auction system which eroded the value of the local currency.

The price of a litre of diesel jumped 152 per cent to ZW$62.77 ($1.12) from ZW$24.93 while petrol shot up 147 per cent to ZW$71.62, the country’s Energy Regulatory Authority said in a notice. The central bank re-introduced forex auctioning on Tuesday, the first in 16 years after a long battle to stabilise its currency and fight hyperinflation.

The auction saw the local currency losing more than half of its value from 1:25 to 1:57 to the greenback by the end of trading. Zimbabwe has been facing fuel shortages since October 2018. The scarcity prompted President Emmerson Mnangagwa to increase the price of fuel by 150 per cent in January 2019, sparking countrywide demonstrations.

At least 17 people were killed and scores injured after soldiers deployed to quell the strike opened fire on protesters. The government said at the time the prices were lower than in other countries in the region, and that some foreigners were buying fuel in bulk in Zimbabwe for resale in neighbouring countries.

Despite the price increase which was aimed at ending shortages, the scarcity persisted with motorists sometimes spending nights in queues for fuel pumps, stretching for kilometres. After years in international isolation, Zimbabwe’s economy has been on a downturn for more than a decade.

  Mnangagwa, who took over from long-time leader Robert Mugabe at the back of a military coup in 2017, pledged to mend the economy but things have only got worse with shops running short of basic commodities like bank notes, sugar and the staple cornmeal.

Trump Campaign Blames Protesters For Poor Rally Turnout

 

  President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign on Sunday blamed the disappointing crowd at his Tulsa rally on protesters creating a hostile atmosphere and blocking supporters from getting into the arena.

  The White House had promised the much-hyped event — Trump’s first rally in three months — would be flooded with up to 100,000 people, but television images showed large sections of empty seating in the 19,000-capacity BOK Center.

  A outdoor event for the overflow crowd was canceled because no one showed up, despite the campaign hyping huge interest ahead of time, with more than a million ticket requests. Senior Trump campaign aide Mercedes Schlapp told “Fox News Sunday” that attendees were unable to get into the BOK Center.

“There were factors involved, like they were concerned about the protesters who were coming in. There were protesters who blocked the (attendees),” Schlapp said. “And so we saw that have an impact in terms of people coming to the rally.”

  Schlapp went on to say there were families that “didn’t want to bring — couldn’t bring — their children because of concerns of the protesters.” Schlapp was echoing an explanation first offered Saturday night by Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh, who said protesters were “even blocking access to the metal detectors, which prevented people from entering.”

  But reporters on the ground said they saw no problems for people trying to get in. Reports have been circulating in the last week that teen users of social media platform TikTok were block-booking tickets in a bid to embarrass the campaign.

4 Minneapolis officers now charged in George Floyd’s death; Mugshots released

 

 

   The mugshots of all the officers involved in the death of an African American, George Floyd, have been released.

  Their mugshots were released after Senator Amy Klobuchar disclosed that Minnesota Attorney General, Keith Ellison is increasing charges against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to second-degree murder. The Star Tribune, citing multiple unnamed law enforcement sources, said Derek Chauvin who had his knee pressed into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, would face the more serious charge in the death of George Floyd. 

   Sen. Amy also said that the three other officers at the scene Thomas Lane, J. Kueng, and Tou Thao are also going to be charged for their involvement in the incident following calls for their arrest. The Star Tribune reported that the three officers are to be charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. 

   The new charges will be officially announced by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.  Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Floyd’s family, called it “a bittersweet moment” and “a significant step forward on the road to justice.” Crump said Elison had told the family he would continue his investigation into Floyd’s death and upgrade the charge to first-degree murder if warranted.

George Floyd tested positive for coronavirus- Full autopsy report

 

   A full autopsy of George Floyd, was released on Wednesday and provides several clinical details, including that Floyd had previously tested positive for Covid-19.

  The 20-page report released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office came with the family’s permission and after the coroner’s office released summary findings Monday that Floyd had a heart attack while being restrained by officers, and classified his May 25 death as a homicide.

  Bystander video showing Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck, ignoring Floyd’s “I can’t breathe” cries until he eventually stopped moving, has sparked nationwide protests, some violent. The report by Chief Medical Examiner Andrew Baker spelled out clinical details, including that Floyd had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 3 but appeared asymptomatic.

  The report also noted Floyd’s lungs appeared healthy but he had some narrowing of arteries in the heart. The county’s earlier summary report had listed fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use under “other significant conditions” but not under “cause of death.”

   The full report’s footnotes noted that signs of fentanyl toxicity can include “severe respiratory depression” and seizures. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Wednesday upgraded charges against Chauvin to 2nd-degree murder, and also charged the three other officers on the scene with aiding and abetting.

   Floyd family attorney, Ben Crump, earlier decried the official autopsy as described in the original complaint against Chauvin — for ruling out asphyxia. An autopsy commissioned by the Floyd family concluded that he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression.

US BANS Chinese airlines from operating flights to US

 

 

  The United States announced Wednesday that Chinese airlines will be suspended from operating passenger flights to and from the US. The move is reportedly a tit-for-tat retaliation for China’s inaction to approve American airlines from conducting passenger service to China amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

  The US Department of Transportation said Chinese authorities have “failed to permit” US air carriers to operate routes previously flown.

“The Department will continue to engage our Chinese counterparts so both U.S. and Chinese carriers can fully exercise their bilateral rights,” the agency said in a statement. “In the meantime, we will allow Chinese carriers to operate the same number of scheduled passenger flights as the Chinese government allows ours.”

Man who brought bombs to US protest to throw at police and light up buildings is arrested

Matthew Lee Rupert, 28, travelled from Galesburg, Illinois, about 300 miles (500 kilometres) south of Minneapolis with the intent of causing damage and looting, according to charges filed in Minnesota federal court Monday.

In a May 29 self-taken video he posted online, Rupert “can be seen passing out explosive devices he possessed, encouraging others to throw his explosives at law enforcement officers, actively damaging property, appearing to light a building on fire and looting businesses in Minneapolis,” the Justice Department said.

“They got SWAT trucks up there … I’ve got some bombs if some of you all want to throw them back … Here I got some more…light it and throw it,” he says in the video.

In another video posted on May 31, he says, “let’s start a riot” and “I’m going to start doing some damage,” the charges allege.

Rupert was charged with one count each of civil disorder, rioting and possession of an explosive device. There was no indication in the indictment of Rupert’s political leanings.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr said they were going to target the leftist “Antifa” group for allegedly driving the rioting and looting around the country during protests sparked by the police killing of a Minneapolis African American man, George Floyd.

Rupert appears to have been in legal trouble in the past.

According to news reports, a Matthew L. Rupert of Galesburg was arrested in 2018 on charges related to trading in stolen guns.

The Galesburg police department also issued a warrant for his arrest on February 7 this year for possession of methamphetamine.

NBA legend, Michael Jordan speaks on George Floyd’s death

 

   NBA legend Michael Jordan expressed his sadness and anger on Sunday over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died last week after being pinned down by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

  "I am deeply saddened, truly pained and plain angry. I see and feel everyone's pain, outrage and frustration. I stand with those who are calling out the ingrained racism and violence toward people of color in our country. We have had enough," he said.

  The Chicago Bulls legend called for restraint and empathy amid clashes between protesters and police following Floyd’s death. "We must listen to each other, show compassion and empathy and never turn our backs on senseless brutality. We need to continue peaceful expressions against injustice and demand accountability," he added.

  Jordan, 57, invited everyone to stand shoulder to shoulder in order to become part of the solution. "Our unified voice needs to put pressure on our leaders to change our laws, or else we need to use our vote to create systemic change. Every one of us needs to be part of the solution, and we must work together to ensure justice for all."

  He also expressed his heartfelt condolences to the family of George Floyd. "My heart goes out to the family of George Floyd and to the countless others whose lives have been brutally and senselessly taken through acts of racism and injustice," he added.