BOTSWANA & ZAMBIA ALLAY FEARS OF DIPLOMATIC ROW OVER THE REGIONAL BRIDGE.

Botswana’s Minister of Transport and Communications Dorcus Makgato has allayed fears that her country and neighbouring Zambia were headed for a diplomatic row over the suspension of construction of a bridge that links the two neighbouring countries and the region, APA can reveal here Saturday.In a statement, Makgato said the adversity which recently affected the Kazungula Bridge Development has been resolved– further that the project is expected to be completed in 2020.

“It is a fact that the Contractor–Daewoo International, recently issued a contractually-enforceable notice to suspend works on the bridge project. This was as a result of delayed or non-payment of amounts due from the Employer who, in this case, is a joint and 50/50 partnership between the governments of Botswana and Zambia,” she said.

Makgato said Zambia which was yet to contribute its share of funds for the construction of the bridge has moved swiftly to correct by paying all the arrears, and obtaining the Contractor’s agreement and lifting the prevailing suspension of construction of the project.

“As part of resolving the problem, a required minimum amount of US Dollars 16.62m, which has hitherto been overdue is in the process of being transmitted to the Contractor (Daewoo International),” said Makgato.

She added that “The Botswana is pleased with the cooperation, which has been received from both the Zambian and the Contractor in expeditiously and amicably dispensing of the risk, which the project has been facing.”

Makgato concluded that because of its strategic importance to the SADC Region, and wider trade-facilitation across Africa and beyond, both Botswana and Zambia recognize and wish to reiterate their mutual commitment to having the Kazungula Bridge Project completed soonest and most cost-effectively.

SOURCE:Journal du Cameroun.

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CUBA CLAIMS CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER IS FIDEL CASTRO'S SON.

The suicide note left by Fidel Castro’s eldest son has rocked the Cuban nation this week, with the most astonishing revelation being the claim that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was his half-brother and the son of the late Fidel Castro. The handwritten note left by Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, 68, the eldest of Fidel Castro’s children, appears to confirm the longstanding rumor in Cuba that Fidel Castro fathered Justin Trudeau after a public tryst with Margaret Trudeau in 1970. “ Castro Diaz-Balart, who had been attended by a group of doctors for several months due to a state of profound depression, committed suicide this morning ,” Cubadebate website reported. The death of the high-profile government nuclear scientist, also known as “Fidelito”, or Little Fidel, because of how much he looked like his father, stunned the nation, however it is his “ explosive ” suicide note that has set tongues wagging in Havana. Amid a wide-ranging barrage of compl...

A 26-YEARS-OLD WOMAN ADOPTS 14 AFRICAN ORPHANS.

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LETHOTO'S PRIME MINISTER FACES IMPEACHMENT MOTION OVER HIS WIFE'S ACT.

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MALARIA VACCINE PROVES HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IN BURKINA FASO.

A vaccine against malaria has been shown to be highly effective in trials in Africa, holding out the real possibility of slashing the death toll of a disease that kills 400,000 mostly small children every year. The vaccine, developed by scientists at the Jenner Institute of Oxford University, showed up to 77% efficacy in a trial of 450 children in Burkina Faso over 12 months. The hunt for a malaria vaccine has been going on the best part of a century. One, the Mosquirix vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, has been through lengthy clinical trials but is only partially effective, preventing 39% of malaria cases and 29% of severe malaria cases among small children in Africa over four years. It is being piloted by the World Health Organization in parts of Kenya, Ghana and Malawi. The Oxford vaccine is the first to meet the WHO goal of 75% efficacy against the mosquito-borne parasite disease. Larger trials are now beginning, involving 4,800 children in four countries. Prof ...

MINERS IN NAMIBIA DISCOVER SHIPWRECK LOADED $13 MILLION WORTH OF GOLD.

Image: Dieter Noli. Diamond miners working off the coast of Africa were beyond surprised when they discovered a 500-year-old shipwreck teeming with gold worth $13 million and other treasures. The ship, aptly named ‘Bom Jesus’ or ‘Good Jesus,’ was like a miracle to the miners. Bom Jesus was first identified and discovered by geologists working for the mining company De Beers in 2008. It was found off the coast of Namibia near Oranjemund. Image: Dieter Noli. According to experts, Bom Jesus is from the Golden era of Portuguese explorers who set sail in all directions in search of new lands to colonize. The ship left Lisbon in 1533 under the supervision of Sir Francisco de Noronha. But on its way to India, it mysteriously vanished. Before the discovery, the miners were draining an artificial salt lake. As the lake dried out, many lost ships were found at the bottom of the lake. Bom Jesus was among them, and it is considered the oldest of all ...

NIGERIAN-BORN TO BE FIRST BLACK DEPUTY TREASURY SECRETARY OF U.S

Washington DC, U.S: Speaking at a Washington think tank in the summer of 2016, Adewale Adeyemo, President Barack Obama’s international economics adviser, warned about the perils of protectionism, explained how a growing Chinese economy was good for the world and talked up the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal he helped negotiate that Democrats ultimately rejected. Four years later, such talk might sound out of touch with a Democratic Party that has become even more hawkish on China and increasingly wary of sprawling international trade deals. But that was not a concern for President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who this week tapped Mr. Adeyemo to be deputy Treasury secretary, solidifying his team with another stalwart veteran of the Obama administration who would bring center-left economic ideas, deep experience and diversity to Mr. Biden’s top ranks. Adewale "Wally" Adeyemo (born 1981) is a Nigerian-born American attorney and political advisor serving as the first presi...

BEES 'ARRESTS' SUSPECTED THIEVES IN UGANDA.

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THE TRIBE THAT WORSHIPS PRINCE PHILIP AS 'GOD'

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