Obire Efe Blog

CORONAVIRUS-HIT ARIZONA TURNS AROUND COURSE ON REVIVING ECONOMY ARIZONA HAS ABRUPTLY REVERSED COURSE ON REOPENING ITS ECONOMY AS CORONAVIRUS CASES SPIKE THERE AND NATIONWIDE. The state’s governor has ordered the closure of bars, nightclubs, gyms, cinemas and water parks. Florida and Texas have also performed U-turns on relaxing restrictions as the whole US Sun Belt region becomes a new virus epicentre. At least 16  US states have paused or rolled back reopenings  as their infection caseloads balloon. Some jurisdictions are shutting down for the looming Independence Day weekend amid fears that packed beaches and bars could fuel new outbreaks. Governor Doug Ducey’s directive – which will apply until at least 27 July – also prohibits gatherings of more than 50 people in Arizona. The order came a day after the state set a single-day record for new coronavirus cases at 3,858. “Our expectation is that our  numbers next week will be worse ,” Governor Ducey, a Rep

US TOP COURT STRIKES DOWN LAW RESTRICTING ABORTIONS. THE US SUPREME COURT HAS RULED THAT A LAW RESTRICTING ABORTIONS IN LOUISIANA IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. In a landmark decision, the justices said a law requiring that doctors who provide abortions have the right to admit patients at a local hospital placed an undue burden on women. Chief Justice John Roberts joined liberal justices in the 5-4 decision in a blow to anti-abortion groups. The court struck down a similar policy in Texas in 2016, the opinion noted. This was the first major abortion case ruling from the Supreme Court during the Trump presidency. The 2014  Louisiana law said that doctors must hold so-called admitting privileges  at hospitals within 30 miles (48km) of their practice. But critics said the controversial law would limit the number of providers in the state, violating a woman’s right to an abortion. WHAT WAS THE CASE ABOUT? June Medical Services v Russo asked the Supreme Court to rule on wh

BELGIAN KING EXPRESSES ‘GIGANTIC REGRET’ FOR DR CONGO COLONIAL OPPROBRIUM. BELGIUM’S KING PHILIPPE HAS EXPRESSED HIS “DEEPEST REGRETS” TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO FOR HIS COUNTRY’S COLONIAL ABUSES. The reigning monarch made the comments in a letter to President Félix Tshisekedi on the 60th anniversary of DR Congo’s independence. Belgium controlled the central African country from the 19th Century until it won its independence in 1960. Millions of  Africans died during Belgium’s bloody colonial rule. There is a renewed focus on the European nation’s history after the death of George Floyd in police custody in the US and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed. Thousands of Belgians have demonstrated in recent weeks and statues of Belgium’s colonial leader King Leopold II have been vandalised.  Authorities in Antwerp have removed a statue of him from a public square. More than 10 million Africans are thought to have died during his reign. King Ph