GLOBAL COMMUNITY REPORTERS

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte holds a vial of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac as the first shipment of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine arrives in the country, at Villamor Air Base, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez/File Photo By Karen Lema Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday people who have not taken COVID-19 shots will be arrested if they disobeyed stay-at-home orders as infections hit a three-month high. Duterte in an televised address to the nation said he was asking community leaders to look for unvaccinated people and make sure they were confined to their homes. "If he refuses, if he goes out his house and goes around the community, he can be restrained. If he refuses, the captain is empowered now to arrest recalcitrant persons," Duterte said. Daily coronavirus infections in the Philippines hit the highest since Sept. 26 at 17,220 cases on Thursday, the health ministry said, including those caused b...

An aerial photo taken on September 5, 2021 of the Nanquan section of the just-opened Taihu tunnel in east China's Jiangsu Province. Credit: Li Bo/Xinhua via Getty Images BY Yong Xiong and Karla Cripps,  After nearly four years of construction, China's longest underwater highway tunnel is now open to vehicle traffic. At a length of 10.79 kilometers (6.65 miles), the Taihu tunnel stretches under Lake Taihu in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, about 50 kilometers east of Shanghai. According to government officials in Jiangsu, the tunnel was built at a cost 9.9 billion yuan (about $1.56 billion). Construction began on January 9, 2018. Over 2 million cubic meters of concrete were used to build the two-way tunnel, which has six lanes and is 17.45 meters wide, reports China's official news agency, Xinhua. The ceiling of the tunnel has been outfitted with colorful LED lights, designed to prevent driver fatigue. A view of the LED ceiling installed in the 10.79-kilometer tunnel u...

Independence fighters in Indonesia’s Papua province have released the first photos and videos of a man they say is the New Zealand pilot they took hostage. Thank you for reading. Kindly share also.

By SOREN OLESEN Becoming an American citizen is mostly about following the process and educating yourself. First, you have to apply and make sure you submit all the relevant documents. For example, I had to provide proof that I had signed up for Selective Service back in 1989 when I got married and applied for my first green card or Resident Alien card as they call them. I kinda hope that I haven’t scared any little children too much, on my school bus over the years when I showed them my official alien card and told them I was a real alien and they better sit in their seats facing forward or else. After your application is approved, you are scheduled for a biometric appointment and at that appointment you are provided with some study materials for your citizenship test. You have to know the answers to 100 questions, but they only ask about 10 at the test. If you provided the documentation and your biometrics didn't turn up any violations you are scheduled for a citizenship test wit...

By Annie Nwosu The FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has warned FCT residents to avoid flooded areas to avert the dangers of becoming victims of flood. The Director-General of FEMA, Alhaji Idriss Abbas, gave the warning in a statement on Sunday, NAN reports. Abbas said most of the deaths recorded in the past from flood in the FCT were as a result of non-compliance to instructions and early warnings. He also emphasized the need for residents to adhere strictly to instructions and early warnings from relevant authorities. He further revealed that the Search and Rescue team of the agency recently discovered the body of one Mr Garba Joseph, 43-year-old from Akoka-Edo of Edo State, after two days search from a flooded river around TradeMore Estate, Lugbe, in Abuja “Narrating the incident, an eyewitness account said one of FEMA’s volunteers, Kenneth Chima who captured the incident on video explained that they were four men that tried walking through the water. “He said they were war...

A man has died of the coronavirus in the Philippines, the first confirmed fatality outside China. The death was confirmed shortly after the Philippines halted the arrivals of foreign travellers from China The patient was a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan, in Hubei province, where the virus was first detected. He appeared to have been infected before arriving in the Philippines, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. More than 300 people have died in the outbreak so far, the vast majority from Hubei. More than 14,000 people have been infected. The US, Australia and an increasing number of other countries have barred the arrival of foreigners from China and are requiring their own citizens to be quarantined. The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has overtaken that of the similar Sars epidemic, which spread to more than two dozen countries in 2003. But the mortality rate of the new virus is much lower, suggesting it is not as deadly. The man travelled t...

The Kabiyesi Alahun of Imoore and Apapa Kingdom, Oba Taofeek Adegboyega Akeju (Awojo III), has appealed to all governors ruling riverine states in the country, especially Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to provide necessary infrastructure to all riverine communities. He said the residents living within the riverine areas are in need of infrastructure that could make life more meaningful and bearable. The Kabiyesi said constructing motorable overhead bridges across the rivers would further boost the Lagos State economy and Nigeria at large. Oba Alahun disclosed this while handing over a recognition certificate of Baaleship to the newly appointed Baale of Kirikiri town, High Chief Babalola Babatunde Shabi, at Oriade Local Council Development Area of the state. Oba Akeju described the Baale as a very amiable, transparent and God-fearing man with a high sense of humility. In his response, High Chief Shabi assured inhabitants within the Kirikiri town and its environs that he wou...

Taliban has declared the war in Afghanistan over after taking control of the presidential palace in Kabul as Western countries scrambled to evacuate their citizens. The Taliban has declared the war in Afghanistan over after taking control of the presidential palace in Kabul as Western countries scrambled on Monday to evacuate their citizens amid chaos at the airport as frantic Afghans searched for a way out. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday as the Islamist militants entered the capital virtually unopposed. He said he wanted to avoid bloodshed while hundreds of desperate Afghans flooded Kabul airport. “Today is a great day for the Afghan people and the mujahideen. They have witnessed the fruits of their efforts and their sacrifices for 20 years,” Mohammad Naeem, the spokesman for the Taliban’s political office, told Al Jazeera TV. “Thanks to God, the war is over in the country.” It took the Taliban just over a week to seize control of the country after a lightning sweep...

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Following the sad and unfortunate killing of Onyedikachi Nwogu right in front of his house in Umuokpo Umuokoro village of Obingwa LGA of Abia State, we were shocked to read a statement attributed to the Akwa Ibom State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Mr Samuel Fadeyi, seeking to absolve the Command and the suspected murderer, NSCDC Officer Robinson Otobong, of blame. According to Commander Fadeyi, who apparently was not at the scene of crime and has not bothered to visit the scene to date, the deceased died as a result of gunshot wound sustained when struggling to disarm the officer who was on a security escort with two Chinese expatriates. The statement from Fadeyi reminds one of another incident on the 15th of April, 2020, involving another NCDC officer who shot and killed a bus driver conveying tomatoes at Umuikaa, Isiala Ngwa South LGA axis of Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway which was also attributed to accidental discharge as a result of the dead...