Kioo17 Journal

Egyptian soccer superstar Mohamed Salah’s devastating performance for Liverpool in the Champions League has brought him an unexpected fan — the Israeli defense minister. Avigdor Lieberman born on 5 July 1958, is a Soviet-born Israeli politician who serves as the Defense Minister of Israel .  Image: JPOST. “I will be calling the chief of staff immediately to tell him to hire Mohamed Salah to the Israeli army,”  Israel Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman wrote on Twitter after Salah inspired Liverpool to a 5-2 victory over Roma in the first leg of the Champions League semi final. MK Ahmad Tibi, of the Joint (Arab) List, was also watching the match. Ahmad Tibi born on19 December 1958 is an Arab - Muslim Israeli politician and leader of the Arab Movement for Change (Ta'al), an Arab party in Israel. He has served as a member of the Knesset(Israel Parliament) since 1999, and currently serves as the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, representing the Arab Israeli...

Child labour remains at very high levels in the cocoa sector, with an estimated 2.1 million children working in cocoa fields in the Ivory Coast and Ghana alone, the Cocoa Barometer report 2018 has revealed. The report attributes the high levels of poverty, increased cocoa production, and a lack of schools and other infrastructure, among others. “Not a single company or government is anywhere near reaching the sector-wide objective of the elimination of child labour, and not even near their commitments of a 70 percent reduction of child labour by 2020,”  the report published by a number of cocoa sector civil society organisations including Solidaridad, Oxfam and Green America, noted. The engagement of children in hazardous activities on the farm harms their health, education and social development. The report called for increased efforts to deal with the menace. “It is important to stress that child labour is a symptom of deeper problems; without tackling sy...

A European court has ruled that Lionel Messi, the world's top earning footballer, can trademark his own name. The Barcelona and Argentina striker fought a seven-year fight to be able to use his name on sports goods. His original application was challenged by the Spanish cycling brand, Massi, which argued that the names were too similar and would cause confusion. But the EU's General Court ruled that the footballer was too well known for confusion to arise. The ruling comes days after France Football magazine reported Mr Messi had overtaken Cristiano Ronaldo as the highest earner in football, with an income of €126m (£108m). Mr Ronaldo is making €94m, the magazine said. Mr Messi's application to trademark his name was made to the European Union Office for Intellectual Property (EUIPO) in 2011. It ruled against the footballer, saying the names were similar, because their dominant elements, "consisting of the terms 'Massi' and ...

For not seeking National Assembly’s approval before withdrawing $496million used for the purchase of aircraft from the United States, some senators have called for President Muhammadu Buhari’s impeachment. Section 143 of the Nigerian constitution provides for the removal of the president from office. Moving a motion on the issue on Thursday, Matthew Uroghide, Edo State, said President Buhari’s move was a violation of the constitution and thus, he should face the consequences. He prayed the Senate to invoke Section 143 to start the impeachment process of the president. Seconding the motion, Chukwuka Utazi spoke in support of the move. “This is an impeachable offence,” an obviously angry Mr Utazi, said. President Buhari had said he gave approval for the withdrawal of the fund because he believed the National Assembly would have no objection to his action. His explanation was conveyed in a letter read at the Senate on Wednesday. A copy of the letter had e...

Sao Paulo, BRAZIL:  Thousands of indigenous Brazilians from across the country have rallied in the capital, Brasilia, to call authorities to protect their land rights. Organisers of the annual "Free Land Camp" in Brasilia said more than 3,000 people reached the city this week to denounce what advocacy groups say is a continuing and unprecedented rollback of indigenous rights in the country. "We are here to demand our rights," Jailson dos Santos, leader of the Kariri-Xoko tribe from Bahia, northeastern Brazil, told Al Jazeera from the protest outside the attorney general's office on Wednesday. Indigenous people's right to their traditional lands is enshrined in Brazil's constitution. In practice, however, this right is rarely respected and their lands are often targeted by loggers, land grabbers and wildcat miners. Since last year, experts say, an already dire situation got considerably worse with increased invasions of ...

Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has raked in $350 million (N107 billion) in just 24 hours for selling 3.23% stake to foreign investors. According to market reports, the cement maker sold 550 million shares at N225.7  each in a one-off stock market deal valued at $350 million (N107 billion). Although details of the investor(s) are currently not available, but the buying offer was coordinated by CSL Stockbrokers Ltd. Dangote Cement Limited (DCL) is the biggest company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Its stock value is one-third of the market’s total capitalization. The shares of DCL was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in October 2010 at a price N135 per share. As at close of trade on December 19, 2017, its price stood at N238.99 per share. Also, the business accounts for over 75 percent of Dangote’s wealth. Within the last five years, Dangote Cement has expanded to nine other African countries. Related Post The deal is expect...

This is yet another terrifying reminder of the ocean's plastic pollution problem: a dead sperm whale has been discovered with 29kg of plastic waste inside its stomach. Tap to Watch the Video: Plastic bags and rubbish sacks were among the waste items discovered inside the 32ft mammal's digestive system which washed up on a beach in Spain. After the whale was found in southeast Murcia in February 2018, the El Valle Wildlife Rescue Centre carried out an investigation and has now concluded that the mammal died because it couldn't digest the huge amount of plastic waste in its stomach and intestines. The investigation also confirmed that the whale weighed seven tonnes. This is in shocking contrast to the 45-tonne weight of an average male sperm whale, which regularly feeds on large squid, fish, and sharks. The eye-opening discovery has prompted a campaign that highlights the dangers of dumping rubbish in the ocean. The campaign by the regional Mur...

Residents of Mazamazama in the Shiselweni region in Swaziland are reportedly being forced to drink water with human waste, just a few metres away from the Royal Palace of Africa's last absolute monarch, King Mswati III. According to Swaziland News, villagers said that they were using water from a pond surrounded by human waste for domestic purposes. The report said that water challenges existed in the area despite the availability of a borehole "that cannot be utilised by residents as it is strictly reserved to provide water to the king's palace".  A representative for the constituency, Lucky Mkhwanazi, confirmed that the residents could not benefit from the borehole.He, however, said that the problem was being addressed. "We have a water crisis at Mbangweni, however, I can assure you that this is being addressed. The new borehole cannot be used to provide clean water to the residents as it is strictly reserved for the palace,"  M...

After being named PFA's Player of the Year, Mohamed Salah is in line to receive an incredible - and we mean incredible - gift. Salah returned to England by signing a deal with Liverpool in the summer, and he's quickly become a fan favourite following his heroics for the Red's. He's weighed in with an absurd 43 goals in all competitions including 31 in the Premier League (!!), that's five ahead of Spurs' Harry Kane. And on Tuesday night, he made it 10 goals in the Champions League, netting a superb brace against his former side AS Roma. His match-winning performance on Europe grandest footballing stage preceded Salah bagging the PFA Player of the Year award. Salah with the PFA Player of the Year trophy.  While Salah is adored in Liverpool, he's viewed as a god by Egyptians not to mention across the Arab nations. And it now seems like he could get his own piece of land in the holy city of Mecca. Fahd Al-Rowky, the vice pr...

Caster Semenya will need to reduce her natural testosterone levels with immediate effect, by use of daily hormonal contraceptives, if her future times on the track are to be valid for record purposes – or if she intends on defending her Olympic and World titles over 800m. The IAAF, the governing body of world athletics, have approved new eligibility regulations for a separate female classification to be known as an Athlete with Differences of Sexual Development (or DSDs), which will directly impact on Semenya and likely bring an end to the South African woman’s dominance over the shorter middle distance events in recent years. For now, the new regulations will only apply to women’s international track events from 400m to the mile, and doesn’t necessarily ban women with DSDs from competing: they will still be free to race in national competitions, in events other than 400m to the mile, and in male or ‘intersex’ classified races. For all global times and record purposes ho...