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Skynewsafrica As strike drags on, French government to unveil pension plan details
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As strike drags on, French government to unveil pension plan details

Kate Howard -
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Skynewsafrica Nigerian electricity workers begin strike
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Nigerian electricity workers begin strike

Uzo Kingsley -
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Skynewsafrica The Pentagon announced Tuesday it was temporarily suspending operational training for Saudi military students in the United States following a shooting rampage last week by a Saudi air force officer. Saudi Arabian military students in the United States will continue classroom instruction but operational training is halted pending a security review, senior Defense Department officials said. Mohammed Alshamrani, a 21-year-old lieutenant in the Saudi Royal Air Force, opened fire in a classroom at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida on Friday, killing three American sailors and wounding eight other people before being shot dead by police. Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist ordered a review to be completed within 10 days of policies for screening foreign students, Pentagon officials said. The move applies to all Saudi military students currently undergoing training in the United States. "The ones that are pilots will be grounded," an official said. Alshamrani, who was armed with a lawfully purchased Glock 9mm handgun, is reported to have posted a manifesto on Twitter before the shooting denouncing America as "a nation of evil." White House National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien has said the FBI investigation was ongoing but "to me, it appears to be a terrorist attack." The shooting struck a nerve in the United States with its echoes of the September 11, 2001 attacks, in which Saudi citizens accounted for 15 of the 19 hijackers that flew airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
World News

Pentagon suspends training of Saudis for security review

Jaden Brinley -
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Skynewsafrica At least 250 journalists are jailed around the world, with the largest number held in China, amid a growing crackdown by authoritarian regimes on independent media, a press watchdog group said Wednesday. Many of those imprisoned face "anti-state" charges or are accused of producing "false news," according to the report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists which also cited Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Eritrea, Vietnam, and Iran for their jailing of journalists. The press freedom watchdog said it counted at least 48 journalists jailed in China, one more than in 2018, as President Xi Jinping ramps up efforts to control the media. That put China ahead of Turkey, which has 47 imprisoned journalists -- and the largest number over the previous three years. The report said the situation in Turkey, which had 68 journalists jailed last year, is not really an improvement but "reflects the successful efforts by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stamp out independent reporting and criticism." AFP/File / BULENT KILIC Journalist and writer Ahmet Altan (C) is led to a car by Turkish police after he was detained on November 12 in Istanbul The CPJ said the Turkish government has shut down more than 100 news outlets and lodged terror-related charges against many of their staff, putting many reporters out of work and intimidating others. "Dozens of journalists not currently jailed in Turkey are still facing trial or appeal and could yet be sentenced to prison, while others have been sentenced in absentia and face arrest if they return to the country," the committee said. The report said authoritarianism, instability and protests in the Middle East led to a rise in the number of journalists locked up in the region, with Saudi Arabia on a par with Egypt as the third worst jailer worldwide, each with 26 imprisoned. In Saudi Arabia, no charges have been disclosed against 18 of the journalists behind bars, and CPJ expressed concern over reports of "beating, burning and starving political prisoners, including four journalists." Several of the arrests in Egypt came ahead of protests against corruption in September, which included calls for President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to resign. Campaigners say the global total of 250 remains disturbingly high even if it is slightly below the 255 counted in 2018 and the record 273 in 2016. AFP/File / KHALED DESOUKI Egyptian photographer Mahmoud Abdel Shakour, known as Shawkan, released in March, 2019, pictured during his trial in Cairo in 2016 after covering the police dispersal of an Islamist protest camp in the city "CPJ believes that journalists should not be imprisoned for doing their jobs," the group said in its report. It cited the case of Chinese freelance journalist Sophia Huang Xueqin, arrested in October after writing about marching with pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. It also highlighted the case Egyptian economics reporter Mohammad Mosaed, detained after tweeting during an internet shutdown intended to suppress news of protests against high fuel prices. Globally, the number charged with 'false news' rose to 30 compared with 28 last year. This charge is used most frequently in Egypt but has also been leveled against journalists in Russia and Singapore.
News

China, biggest jailer of journalists, as press dangers persist

Wang Ruo -
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Son of ex-Angolan president in court over corruption trial
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Son of ex-Angolan president in court over corruption trial

Andrew Mbeki -
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Skynewsafrica Pollution: Begin medical audit of Ogoni people, group charges Nigerian govt
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Pollution: Begin medical audit of Ogoni people, group charges Nigerian govt

Uzo Kingsley -
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Skynewsafrica Somali presidential palace attacked by al-Shabaab militants
Crime

Somalia forces kill 5 in Al-Shabaab attack on presidential palace

Samia Gazala -
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Skynewsafrica JED moves to end electricity estimated billing
Business

Nigeria’s electricity coy ‘JED’ moves to end electricity estimated billing

Uzo Kingsley -
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Skynewsafrica Over 100m Nigerians lack Identity
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Over 100m Nigerians lack Identity

Prince Ebuka -
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Nigerian Unijos University Don charges graduands to shun ethnicity, tribalism
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Nigerian Unijos University Don charges graduands to shun ethnicity, tribalism

Uzo Kingsley -
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