Sex workers demand Germany's brothels reopen

Prostitutes demonstrated in Hamburg's red light district late on Saturday evening demanding that Germany's brothels be allowed to reopen after months of closure to curb the spread of coronavirus.

With shops, restaurants and bars all open again in Germany, where prostitution is legal, sex workers say they are being singled out and deprived of their livelihoods despite not posing a greater health risk.

"The oldest profession needs your help," read a notice held up by one woman in a brothel window in the Herbertstrasse, which was flooded with red light after being dark since March.

Some protesters wore theatrical masks while one played folk songs on a violin in the street just around the corner from the Reeperbahn, famous for its nightlife.

The Association of Sex Workers, which organised the protest, says the continued closure of licensed premises is forcing some prostitutes onto the streets, which is illegal and a far more dangerous and unhygienic way of working.

It said brothels could easily incorporate pandemic safety measures adopted by other industries, including face masks, ventilating premises and recording visitors' contact details.

"Prostitution does not carry a greater risk of infection than other close-to-body services, like massages, cosmetics or even dancing or contact sports," the association said in a statement. "Hygiene is part of the business in prostitution.

Reuters

Nigeria: 11-year old dancer challenges ballet stereotypes

A recent video of 11-year-old Anthony Mmesoma Madu dancing in the rain went viral with the likes of Hollywood superstar Viola Davis and other celebrities sharing the video.

Anthony is one of the 12 students at the Leap of Dance Academy in Lagos.

The academy, founded in 2017, is the brainchild of Daniel Ajala Owoseni who has been been teaching ballet for free without a dance space.

BBC News

UFC 251: Nigeria Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman defeats Jorge Masvidal at 'Fight Island'

Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman retained his title with a unanimous decision victory over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251 in Abu Dhabi.

The emirate's Yas Island had been transformed into 'UFC Fight Island', a closed-off region where four UFC events are set to be held during July.

The first main event of the four-event run saw Nigerian Usman, 33, successfully defend his belt with a gritty display to earn scores of 50-45, 50-45, 49-46 from the three judges after five gruelling rounds.

Masvidal, who was drafted in to face Usman at just six days' notice after the Brazilian Gilbert Burns tested positive for Covid-19, ultimately couldn't find an answer to Usman's powerful wrestling game.

The 35-year-old American found a home for his strikes early on as he started the faster of the pair. He had a clear speed and accuracy advantage in the striking department and he stung the champion with multiple shots during the opening exchanges, while nullifying Usman's early takedown attempts.

But Usman exerted constant pressure on the challenger as he denied Masvidal the time and space to throw his strikes. Usman looked to use his clinch work to wear on Masvidal, with much of the second round spent against the cage in a lengthy and gruelling exchange. The legacy of the round was a nasty cut above Masvidal's right eye, courtesy of an accidental clash of heads.

A huge slam takedown from Usman was the biggest moment of the third round as the champion continued to smother Masvidal's striking.

That pattern repeated through the final two rounds as Usman shut down Masvidal, who had earned his shot at the title with a trio of stoppage victories over Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz in 2019.

Usman's victory improved his record to 17-1 and extended his winning streak to 16 fights in the UFC.

"Jorge is a tough guy and I give him credit for that," said Usman.

"They call him 'Gamebred' for a reason - he's always game to fight. I'm just a level better. I have more tools in the toolbox."

BBC News

30-year-old dies after attending 'COVID party' thinking virus was a 'hoax'

"I think I made a mistake. I thought this was a hoax, but it's not."

Those were the final words of a 30-year-old patient who died at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio this week after attending a so-called "COVID party," according to the hospital.

Dr. Jane Appleby, chief medical officer for Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital, said in a recorded statement that the unidentified patient told nurses about the party, which she said is hosted by someone diagnosed with COVID 19"The thought is people get together to see if the virus is real and if anyone gets infected," Appleby said.

Appleby said she shared the story not to scare people, but to make sure they understand that the virus can affect anyone.Bexar County, where San Antonio is located, currently has 18,602 confirmed cases, with an increase of 923 on Friday, according to the Department of Health.

The age range with the most cases were in people aged 20 to 29, making up 24%, and 30 to 39, making up 20%, according to the department.

ABC News

Govt approves Chinese firm to build N43b Ibadan dry port

After over 15 years of lacklustre approach, the Federal Government and other stakeholders have selected a firm to build the Ibadan Dry Port that will cost N43.24 billion.

A statement by the Head of Public Relations, Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mrs Rakiya Zubairi on Saturday disclosed that the China Railway Construction Corporation Limited has emerged the preferred bidder for the construction of the 80,000 TEU capacity dry port on the basis of Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

Zubairu noted that the NSC would be the guarantor to the concession of the project.

Hushpuppi's lawyer says FBI 'kidnapped' Nigerian Instagrammer from Dubai

A Nigerian man accused of multimillion-dollar fraud and money laundering by the United States was kidnapped by the FBI from Dubai, his lawyer says.

Ramon Olorunwa Abbas - known to his 2.5 million Instagram followers as Ray Hushpuppi - and another cyber-heist suspect Olalekan Jacob Ponle (aka Mr Woodberry) were arrested in Dubai, where they lived, in June.

They then appeared in a Chicago court on 3 July.

The United Arab Emirates has no extradition treaty with the United States but Dubai police said they had been extradited to the US.

A spokesman for the US Department of Justice told the BBC that Hushpuppi was expelled from Dubai and was not extradited. He did not answer how he ended up in US custody.

What does Hushpuppi's lawyer say?

Mr Abbas' lawyer Gal Pissetzky told the BBC that his client, who posts on Instagram about his extravagant lifestyle, was not a criminal and had made his money legitimately.

"He is a social media influencer with millions of followers, with millions of people that respect and loved him, and he loved them, and that's what he did. In today's society, that's a business," he said.

Mr Pissetzky admits that he is not "100% familiar" with social media and his children consider him too old but he knows "that's how people make money today.The Chicago defence lawyer's argument that Hushpuppi was paid by designer brands for promotion has set the stage for what promises to be a long trial in American courts.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accuses Mr Abbas, 37, of conspiring to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from frauds known as Business Email Compromise (BEC) and other scams.

Did the US act legally?

It is the latest high-profile fraud case involving a Nigerian national in the United States but his lawyer says the US had no authority to transport him from Dubai.

"In my opinion, the FBI and the government here acted illegally when they kidnapped him from Dubai without any legal process to do so," Mr Pissetzky told the BBC.

"There was no extradition, there were no legal steps taken, there were no court documents filed, it was simply a call to the FBI. He is not a citizen of the United States, the US had absolutely no authority to take him," his lawyer says.

But the Dubai police said in a Facebook post that the FBI director had thanked them for extraditing the two men.

"You'll have to ask them about why they called it an extradition," the US Department of Justice (DoJ) spokesman responded in an email.

 The DoJ said "FBI special agents earlier this week obtained custody of Abbas and brought him to the United States" without giving any further details.

Mr Pissetzky is not convinced.

"If Dubai wanted to expel him, they should have expelled him back to Nigeria. I've never heard of anything like that. That is the real story here."A complaint against him filed in court accuses Mr Abbas of leading a transnational network of cybercriminals whose targets included a US law firm, a foreign bank and an English Premier League football club.

Email scams typically try to steal an individual's personal information, or to defraud them by impersonating a legitimate business contact and tricking the target into sending money into a wrong account.

They're sometimes called 419 scams, after the relevant article in the Nigerian Criminal Code.

BBC

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has Covid-19

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan says he has tested positive for coronavirus.

Writing on Twitter, the 77-year-old veteran actor, who has appeared in more than 200 films, confirmed his diagnosis and encouraged anyone who had been in contact with him in the past 10 days to get tested.

He was transferred to Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai, according to local media.

BBC