One of the pristine truths about being a writer is that even when you are on a self-imposed writing hiatus and deliberately cut off from the world of 24-hour news cycle online, there are some news items that arrest your attention; whether you are hibernating in the Hollywood movie sets competing with sand dunes of the ancient city of Ouarzazate in the South of Morocco; navigating and conquering the stubbornly hilly and cold mountains in East Africa; breaking delicious coconuts and drinking palm wine in the tropical hinterlands of West Africa’s Nigeria; or reading Joe Garba’s Diplomatic Soldering whilst the Atlantic Ocean serenades and slaps you with melodious waves which are only synonymous with Swakopmund in Namibia. One such news item was the announcement that the Presidential election in Namibia was won by Mrs Ndemupelila Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah on Tuesday, the third of December 2024. I was glad for several reasons and I will highlight two of these reasons in this concise piece. The SWAPO veteran politician secured victory with 57 per cent of the electorate votes (638,560 votes) whilst the incoming President’s contender Panduleni Itula, from the Independent Patriots for Change secured 26 per cent of the votes (284,186 votes). The first time I was in Namibia (fondly referred to as The Land of The Brave) was in 2022 and did I have a great time in a few days? Yes, I did. One of life’s lessons which I endeavour to execute when I can, was gleaned in Namibia during several conversations with a dear friend (Dr Carmen Nibigira, the foremost tourism expert whom I was sure I first met in Lagos several years ago but later encountered in Kigali when I moved to the East African country) whose demise on Saturday, November 16, 2024 shocked me to my core as it did her friends and family members. My first time in Namibia reverberated, so much so that four months after the visit (professional and personal), I could still sense the Namibian enthusiasm in my system. There is something Namibia does to you, the genuine happiness and jolly good disposition of the people whether wealthy, rich, average, managing or poor is infectious. This happy disposition which I was baptised with, had me writing a long article which spanned ten parts and written in rapid successions. Most importantly, my first trip to Namibia culminated in being invited to the State House in Windhoek, to interview the late President Hage Gottfried Geingob whose mentor for forty years was Nigeria’s Professor Adebayo Adedayo (the man behind the blueprint for ECOWAS, NYSC, the post-civil war blueprint amongst others. He was the Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) from 1975 to 1991. He joined the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the early 1970s as the Cabinet Minister responsible for the economic development and reconstruction of post-civil war.) Like I have stated in all the Namibian pieces I have written, there was a Pan-African clarity that was illuminated to me during the off-the-record conversation with President Geingob which has stayed with me. Due to my first impressions of Namibia right at the airport where the immigration officials were able to converse in Nigerian pidgin English with me, and the genuine warmth of the people, that singular experience before other amazing experiences have endeared me to The Land of The Brave called Namibia. The second reason is pragmatic and professional. Writers look for brilliant stories to write about. Stories not yet captured or told or perspectives of stories not told yet. As a writer and a global strategic communications consultant who travels within Africa looking for countries with the right and stable economic policies which African investors and Africans in Diaspora can invest their funds in; Namibia is one of the few countries I had pencilled down years ago and I had been watching. One of the early lessons I have quickly understood as a founder of a global strategic communications firm is that investors, especially African investors, always look at the political stability of a country before they move funds to set up businesses in the said country. No matter the positive economic indices of a country, no matter the positive spin of the mouthpieces of the Governments, African investors always look and ask questions hovering around political stability vis-à-vis economic stability. One of the lessons learnt from investors who are all about the figures and statistics and who are looking to invest in Africa; is that when a country’s political stability isn’t toyed with or truncated during a transfer of the reins of power (from one political party to another) or during general elections; that country buys herself country/nation branding capital that ricochets and resoundingly reverberates amongst the players and members of the financial world. This is termed investors’ confidence. Now, when the electorate decide to elect a Female President as Namibians have done (investors’ confidence are on steroids), the economic ramifications are better left off this concise piece. In a world where a former Female Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton) was not elected in 2016. in a world where one of the most qualified candidates (female or male) to ever run for Presidency in the world (more qualified than Barack Obama), check Kamala Harris’ resume; was not elected in 2024. Africans need to realise that highly educated and highly qualified women have been Heads of State on the African Continent. Read about Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who was President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018, she was Africa’s first elected female head of state. Joyce Banda who was President of Malawi from 2012 to 2014. Sahle-Work Zewde who was the President of Ethiopia from 2018 to 2024 and Ethiopia’s first female President. Read about Ameenah Gurib-Fakim who was President of Mauritius from 2015 to 2018. Catherine Samba-Panza who was Acting President of the Central African Republic from 2014 to 2016. Rose Francine Rogombé who was Acting President of Gabon in 2009. Agnes Monique Ohsan Bellepeau who was Acting President of Mauritius in 2012 and 2015. Sylvie Kinigi who was Acting President of Burundi in 1993. And as 2024 ends and 2025 begins, Africa will be having two serving Female Presidents: Samia Suluhu Hassan who is the President of Tanzania since March 2021. And Namibia’s incoming President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah known as NNNN. Coincidentally, I have been reading Joe Garba’s Diplomatic Soldiering (The Conduct of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy 1975-1979) for an extended period of months and I had just commenced chapter six which was about Nigeria’s role in South Africa via ANC and Namibia via SWAPO (circa 1975 -1987) when the elections in Namibia played out. Joseph Nanven Garba was a Nigerian General, former Foreign Affairs Minister, diplomat, and politician who served as President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1989 to 1990. In 1975, he became Nigeria’s representative to the UN General Assembly and was president of the UN Security Council from January 1978, but he was recalled after Chief Olusegun Obasanjo transitioned to civilian rule, and he was head of the military academy for two years. In 1989, he resumed his political career as President of the UN General Assembly for its 44th session, and he spoke out against Apartheid. Joe Garba’s extensive report on Namibia commenced on page 112 in chapter six. Considering what the country had to go through to get her independence from the Apartheid-run South Africa back in the day, to electing a Female President in 2024 (not paying just lip service to women empowerment in all its ramifications), one has to chorus “It Is Not Easy”; a popular hit song released by the Nigerian group Ofege which was formed in the early 1970s by a bunch of teenage secondary school students at the prestigious St. Gregory’s College in the Obalende area of Lagos, Nigeria. From a Nigerian who sees where Namibia is going to, congratulations to Namibia and Namibians. The Land of The Brave. They get it. Dolapo Aina, a Nigerian writer and global strategic communications consultant and founder of The Write Communications, who is based in Kigali, Rwanda.Tahj Brooks shines in final home game as Texas Tech routs West Virginia 52-15
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Trump selects longtime adviser Keith Kellogg as special envoy for Ukraine and Russia
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes drifted lower in the runup to the highlight of the week for the market, the latest update on inflation. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% Tuesday and marked its first back-to-back losses in three weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite also fell 0.3%. Oracle dragged on the market after reporting weaker growth than analysts expected. Treasury yields rose in the bond market ahead of Wednesday’s inflation report, which will be among the final big pieces of data before the Federal Reserve’s meeting on interest rates next week. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are drifting lower Tuesday in the runup to the highlight of the week for the market, the latest update on inflation that’s coming on Wednesday. The S&P 500 dipped by 0.2% in late trading, a day after pulling back from its latest all-time high . The index is on track for its first back-to-back losses in more than three weeks, as momentum slows following a big rally that has it on track for one of its best years of the millennium . The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 7 points, or less than 0.1%, with roughly an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. Tech titan Oracle dragged on the market and sank 7.8% after reporting growth for the latest quarter that fell just short of analysts’ expectations. It was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500, even though CEO Safra Catz said the company saw record demand related to artificial-intelligence technology for its cloud infrastructure business, which trains generative AI models. AI has been a big source of growth that’s helped many companies’ stock prices skyrocket. Oracle’s stock had already leaped nearly 81% for the year coming into Tuesday, which raised the bar of expectations for its profit report. C3.ai fell 2.1% despite reporting a smaller loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The AI software company increased its forecast for how big a loss it expects to take this fiscal year from its operations. In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher ahead of Wednesday’s report on the inflation that U.S. consumers are feeling. Economists expect it to show roughly similar increases as the month before. That and a report on Thursday about inflation at the wholesale level will be the final big pieces of data the Federal Reserve will get before its meeting next week, where many investors expect the year’s third cut to interest rates . The Fed has been easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high since September to lift the slowing jobs market, after bringing inflation nearly down to its 2% target. Lower rates would help give support to the economy, but they could also provide more fuel for inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.22% from 4.20% late Monday. Even though the Fed has been cutting its main interest rate, mortgage rates have been more stubborn and have been volatile since the autumn. That has hampered the housing industry, and homebuilder Toll Brothers’ stock fell 5.2% even though it beat analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. said the luxury builder has been seeing strong demand since the start of its fiscal year six weeks ago, an encouraging signal as it approaches the beginning of the spring selling season in mid-January Elsewhere on Wall Street, Alaska Air Group soared 13.6% after raising its forecast for profit in the current quarter. The airline said demand for flying around the holidays has been stronger than expected. It also approved a plan to buy back up to $1 billion of its stock, along with new service from Seattle to Tokyo and Seoul . Boeing climbed 5.2% after saying it's resuming production of its bestselling plane , the 737 Max, for the first time since 33,000 workers began a seven-week strike that ended in early November. Vail Resorts rose 2.7% after the ski resort operator reported a narrower first-quarter loss than expected in what is traditionally its worst quarter. In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in China after the world’s second-largest economy said its exports rose by less than expected in November. Stocks rose 0.6% in Shanghai but fell 0.5% in Hong Kong. ___ AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed. Stan Choe, The Associated PressRahul Gandhi does not have faith in Constitution: Gourav Vallabh slams Cong over remarks against ECI
The last sack the Bears gave up Sunday had all the hallmarks of the problems that have plagued the franchise this season. They had six players — all five linemen plus tight end Cole Kmet — blocking only four 49ers edge rushers. They had just one receiver open: Keenan Allen, who was over the middle but could only watch as his quarterback didn’t throw the ball. The reason: left tackle Braxton Jones, who has long been susceptible to the bull rush, was being pushed into rookie Caleb Williams. When Williams was pulled to the ground by 49ers edge rusher Yetur Gross-Matos, he made history. It was the 56 th sack Williams took this season, the single-season Bears record. And he still has four games left to play. Remember Justin Fields failing to throw the ball away in 2022? He took 55 sacks in 15 games. Or the lasting image of Jay Cutler always being on the ground? He was never sacked more than 52 times, and that happened during 15 games in 2010. Williams is on the wrong side of history. Time will tell how much harm it does to his career. He could not play another snap this season and he’s still be tied for 17th in NFL history in sacks taken in one season. He’s on pace to finish with 72, which would tie him for the second-most ever. The Texans’ David Carr holds the sacks record, with 76 in 2002. The Eagles’ Randall Cunningham is second, with 72 in 1986. Carr — the first pick in 2002 and a cautionary tale for how a franchise can hamper a quarterback — also ranks third with 68 in 2005. He went 23-53 in five seasons as the Texans starter from 2002-06. He started four games for the Panthers in 2007 and none the rest of his career. Williams’ sack total is partly a function of the Bears’ eagerness to throw — he’s on pace to set the franchise record with 567 passes. The percentages are still brutal, though — he’s been sacked on 11.4% of his dropbacks, the third-most of any Bears quarterback with 300 passes in a season. Fields’ 14.8% in 2022 is the Bears’ record. This is not what the Bears envisioned when they surrounded Williams with a roster that some thought was the strongest one ever bestowed to a No. 1 overall pick. Or when they paired him with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who was fired two-and-a-half months into the season. And with head coach Matt Eberflus, who was canned three games later. Thomas Brown, who replaced Waldron and then Eberflus, was left to answer for Sunday’s performance in which the Bears gave up seven sacks —five on third down. He sounded a lot like Eberflus. Third down success starts with playing well on first and second down, he said. “To me the common theme is all of us,” Brown said Monday. “That’s probably not the response you were hunting up. But I think again, me being critical from a play calling standpoint of how I sequence plays throughout the flow of the game. Trying to figure out how to stay a step ahead of the defense. “Also, it all comes together in how we protect the quarterback, his rhythm and timing, pocket movement, when the ball is distributed – also us being able to win in the rhythm and timing so the ball can come out on time.” The ball’s not coming out fast enough. Williams isn’t being decisive enough, either. He hasn’t thrown an interception in more than two months, and it’s fair to wonder if such caution has made him hesitant. One of his two sacks that didn’t come on third down Sunday came when he looked to throw left, tried to stop his throwing motion and fumbled the ball away. “The timing was a little off,” Williams said.ENGLEWOOD – Broncos defensive end Zach Allen apparently suffered a heel injury Friday in practice and was listed as questionable for Sunday's game at Las Vegas. Allen had been listed as a full participant in Thursday's practice and there was no designation of a heel injury. However, he was listed as limited in Friday's workout due to such an injury. The Broncos on Friday listed no injury designation for safety Brandon Jones, who missed last Sunday's 38-6 win over Atlanta with an abdomen issue. So, he will return against the Raiders. The Broncos also announced that wide receiver Josh Reynolds will not be activated off the injured list and linebacker Drew Sanders won't be activated off the physically unable to perform list (PUP) for Sunday's game after both had been full participants all week in practice. Reynolds suffered a fractured finger Oct. 6 against the Raiders and sustained minor injuries as a victim of an Oct. 18 shooting in Denver. Sanders has been on the PUP list all season after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in a workout last April. The Raiders listed as out cornerbacks Jakorian Bennett (shoulder) and Nate Hobbs (ankle), as doubtful running backs Alexander Mattison (ankle) and Zamir White (quad) and as questionable tight end Harrison Bryant (ankle), center Andre James (ankle), cornerback Jack Jones (back) and guard Cody Whitehair (ankle).
Trump transition says Cabinet picks, appointees were targeted by bomb threats, swatting attacks
Minor league pitchers Luis Moreno, Alejandro Crisostomo suspended after positive drug testsWashington Commanders release 2023 first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes
Trump selects longtime adviser Keith Kellogg as special envoy for Ukraine and RussiaANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio (AP) — Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s home was broken into during Monday Night Football in the latest home invasion of a pro athlete in the U.S., authorities said Tuesday. No one was injured in the break-in, but the home was ransacked, according to a report provided by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies weren’t immediately able to determine what items were stolen. A person who is employed by Burrow arrived at the Anderson Township home Monday night to find a shattered bedroom window and the home in disarray. The person called their mother, and then 911 was contacted, according to the report. Deputies reached out to neighbors in an attempt to piece together surveillance footage. “Our investigators are exploring every avenue,” public information officer Kyla Woods said. The homes of Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce were broken into in October. In the NBA , Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis had his home broken into Nov. 2 and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley Jr.’s home was burglarized on Sept. 15 while he was at a Minnesota Vikings game. Portis had offered a $40,000 reward for information. Both the NFL and NBA issued security alerts to players after those break-ins, urging them to take additional precautions to secure their homes. In league memos previously obtained by The Associated Press, the NFL said homes of professional athletes across multiple sports have become “increasingly targeted for burglaries by organized and skilled groups.” And the NBA revealed that the FBI has connected some burglaries to “transnational South American Theft Groups” that are “reportedly well-organized, sophisticated rings that incorporate advanced techniques and technologies, including pre-surveillance, drones, and signal jamming devices.” Some of the burglary groups have conducted extensive surveillance on targets, including attempted home deliveries and posing as grounds maintenance or joggers in the neighborhood, according to officials. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflSuspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggles, shouts while entering courthouse
Iceland votes for a new parliament after political disagreements force an early electionDrinks and other food items are toppled on the floor inside Hoby’s Market and Deli after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Scotia, California. (Dylan McNeill/The Times-Standard via Associated Press) SAN FRANCISCO — A 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook a large area of Northern California on Thursday, knocking items off grocery store shelves, sending children scrambling under desks, and prompting a brief tsunami warning for 5.3 million people along the US West Coast. The quake struck at 10:44 a.m. west of Ferndale, a small city in coastal Humboldt County, about 130 miles (209 km) from the Oregon border, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was felt as far south as San Francisco, some 270 miles (435 km) away, where residents felt a rolling motion for several seconds. It was followed by multiple smaller aftershocks. There were no immediate reports of major damage or injury. The tsunami warning was in effect for roughly an hour. It was issued shortly after the temblor struck and covered nearly 500 miles (805 km) of coastline, from the edge of California’s Monterey Bay north into Oregon. “It was a strong quake, our building shook, we’re fine but I have a mess to clean up right now,” said Julie Kreitzer, owner of Golden Gait Mercantile, a store packed with food, wares and souvenirs that is a main attraction in Ferndale. READ: Magnitude 4.4 earthquake strikes Southern California “We lost a lot of stuff. It’s probably worse than two years ago. I have to go, I have to try and salvage something for the holidays because it’s going to be a tough year,” Kreitzer said before hanging up. The region — known for its redwood forests, scenic mountains and the three-county Emerald Triangle’s legendary marijuana crop — was struck by a 6.4 magnitude quake in 2022 that left thousands of people without power and water. The northwest corner of California is the most seismically active part of the state since it’s where three tectonic plates meet, seismologist Lucy Jones said on the social media platform BlueSky. Shortly after the quake, phones in Northern California buzzed with the tsunami warning from the National Weather Service that said: “A series of powerful waves and strong currents may impact coasts near you. You are in danger. Get away from coastal waters. Move to high ground or inland now. Keep away from the coast until local officials say it is safe to return.” READ: California readies communities for next big earthquake South of San Francisco in Santa Cruz, authorities cleared the main beach, taping off entrances with police tape. Numerous cities urged people to evacuate to higher ground as a precaution, including Eureka. “I thought my axles had fallen apart,” said Valerie Starkey, a Del Norte County supervisor representing Crescent City, a town of fewer than 6,000 about 66 miles (106 km) north of Eureka. “That’s what I was feeling ... ‘My axles are broken now.’ I did not realize it was an earthquake.” Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . Gov. Gavin Newsom said he has signed off on a state of emergency declaration to quickly move state resources to impacted areas along the coast. State officials were concerned about damages in the northern part of the state, Newsom said.