Basketball legend (Kobe Bryant) dies in helicopter crash

The indefatigable Legend of our time, Kobe Bryant

Bryant, 41, and daughter (Gianna, 13), were travelling in a private helicopter when it came down and burst into flames.

The LA county sheriff said there were no survivors.

Bryant, a five-time NBA champion, played for the LA Lakers throughout his career and is considered one of the greatest players in the game's history.

Tributes from celebrities and fellow sports stars have been pouring in, many expressing shock at his sudden death.

Moments of silence have been observed at basketball games across the US.

Swarm of Locusts hovering round East Africa; UN calls for international aid in East Africa

Swarm of Locusts attacking a vegetation

Thick clouds of locusts are hovering the skies of East Africa from Ethiopia and Somalia into Kenya due to extreme weather changes.

Experts warned Friday that the insect infestation could have disastrous effects on a region still recovering from recent drought and aggressive flooding. 

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that one locust invasion in Kenya covered around 2,400 square kilometers (930 square miles) and contained up to 200 billion locusts which descend to feed off plants and vegetation.

People in Kenya have been seen shooting in the air, waving sticks, banging cans and running around trying to chase the locusts away, according to the Associated Press news agency.

For Ethiopia and Somalia, the infestation is the biggest in 25 years, and for Kenya it is the greatest swarm in 70 years, according to the FAO.

Several deaths recorded, hundreds hurt as quake hits eastern Turkey

Rescue Team at work

Shockingly, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked a sparsely populated part of eastern Turkey on Friday, leaving at least 18 people dead, injuring more than 500 and leaving some 30 trapped in the wreckage of toppled buildings, Turkish officials said.

Rescue teams from neighbouring provinces were dispatched to the affected areas, working in the dark with floodlights in the freezing cold, and Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said troops were on standby to help.

Hundreds of residents were left homeless or with damaged homes.

China confirms human-to-human transmission of coronavirus

Medical staff carry a patient into a hospital in Wuhan where patients infected with the coronavirus are being treated

China’s health ministry has confirmed human-to-human transmission of a mysterious Sars-like virus that has spread across the country and fuelled anxiety about the prospect of a major outbreak as millions begin travelling for lunar new year celebrations.

Zhong Nanshan, a respiratory expert and head of the national health commission team investigating the outbreak, confirmed that two cases of infection in China’s Guangdong province had been caused by human-to-human transmission and medical staff had been infected, China’s official Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

Haiti Marks 10-Year Anniversary of Devastating 2010 Earthquake

St. Christophe memorial at Titanyen, north of Port-au-Prince,

where thousands of earthquake victims were buried in mass graves

 

To some, it’s a 'Lost Decade' as Haiti Still Struggles To Recover 10 Years after the Massive Earthquake.

The earthquake's main shock lasted almost 30 seconds. A series of aftershocks soon followed. An estimated 220,000 died, though Haiti's official estimates are higher. Some 1.5 million people were displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration. About 300,000 were injured, and large parts of the country were buried under tons of twisted metal and concrete.

JAMB suspends use of NIN for 2020 exams

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has suspended the use of the National Identification Number for registration for the 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination UTME. 

The registrar of JAMB, Ishaq Oloyede, who stated this while briefing journalists in Abuja today (Saturday) said the move was to provide more time for candidates to get their national identification numbers.

He said the suspension was also to address the technical challenges experienced at some centres.

He asked candidates to disregard the use of NIN for the 2020 registration and strictly comply with other procedures for the registration. He however said that JAMB will consider the use of NIMC for 2021 exams.

The board last year said from 2020, candidates will register for its examinations with their national ID number to solve the challenges of multiple registration.

Iran Says It Unintentionally Shot Down Ukrainian Airliner

After maintaining for days that there was no evidence to show one of its missiles had struck the plane, the Iranian military said it was an accident caused by human error.

Ukrainian jet crash – kills 176

The crash of a Ukrainian jetliner that killed 176 people in Iran touched off mourning Wednesday in both Ukraine and Canada (where many of the victims were from or were headed). A lot of questions have been raised about what went wrong. But U.S. intelligence officials said there was no immediate evidence it was shot down.

Crash Scene

The jetliner, a Boeing 737 operated by Ukrainian International Airlines, went down on the outskirts of Tehran during takeoff just hours after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at U.S. forces. While the timing of the disaster led some aviation experts to wonder whether it was brought down by a missile, Iranian officials disputed any such suggestion and blamed mechanical trouble.

“The rumors about the plane are completely false and no military or political expert has confirmed it,” Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesman for the Iranian armed forces, was quoted by the semiofficial Fars news agency as saying. He said the rumors were “psychological warfare” by the government’s opponents.