Rave News Digest: Ahmed Lawan Emerges Senate President, Botswana Scraps Gay Law, Kylie Jenner + More
The members of the All Progressives Congress will be happy, Lawan secured the Senate president seat. Meanwhile, Kylie Jenner is in the news again. Find out in our Rave News Digest which summarizes some of the hottest global news you need to catch up on, saving you time and energy. Consider it your daily news fix.
Here is a rundown of five of the hottest news topics…
1. Clean sweep for APC in Senate house elections
Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, APC’s Yobe North senator-elect, has been elected as Nigeria’s Senate President. The election was held during the first session of the Senate on Tuesday.
A secret ballot voting saw Mr Lawan poll 79 votes, defeating his closest rival Ali Ndume, had only managed 28 votes.
The clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori announced the results which drew a cheer from the senators present.
Meanwhile, Ovie Omo-Agege, APC’s Delta central senator, has emerged as the Deputy Senate President. He defeated immediate past Deputy senate president Ike Ekweremadu by 68 votes to 37 votes.
With a total of 281 votes, APC’s Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila has been elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 9th Assembly. He defeated Honourable Umah Bago who got 76 votes.
2. Botswana abolishes law criminalising gay-sex relations
Botswana High court has overturned a law which criminalises same-sex relations in the country. The court on Tuesday unanimously ruled that the legislation was discriminatory, unconstitutional and against the public interest.
The case was brought to court in March by a 21-year-old student of the University of Botswana, Letsweletse Motshidiemang, who argued that society had changed and homosexuality was more widely accepted than it used to be when the laws were made.
While it would come as a welcome boost to the LGBT community in the country, the country and region as a whole have severally been found culpable of discriminating against same-sex.
Many countries in Africa still carry severe punishment which includes several years’ imprisonment and in some cases death for the perpetrators.
The ruling comes barely a month after criminalising same-sex laws were upheld in Kenya. According to a survey, out of 54 African countries, at least 31 of them have enacted laws that criminalise gay sexual relations.
Botswana’s President, Mokgweetsi Masisi has however signalled his support for the LGBT people following a brutal attack on a transgender woman last November.
He had said that just like other citizens, “they deserved to have their rights protected.”
3. One dead in helicopter crash on NYC skyscraper
The pilot of a helicopter died after it crash-landed on top of a skyscraper in Manhattan.
The incident sparked a rooftop fire, which was quickly extinguished. Some workers were evacuated from the tower, but no one was hurt.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the office building close to Times Square shook from the impact.
He said after preliminary reports, that there was no indication of foul play.
“There was a helicopter that made a forced landing, emergency landing, or landed on the roof of the building for one reason or another,” he told reporters at the scene.
The impact on the building drew a comparison with the 9/11 attacks by the governor and some of the occupants of the building.
“If you’re a New Yorker, you have a level of PTSD, right, from 9/11. And I remember that morning all too well.” the governor added.
“So as soon as you hear an aircraft hit a building, I think my mind goes where every New Yorker’s mind goes.”
Speaking at the White House on Monday, US President Donald Trump said the crash was “a big tragedy” and “a very sad event”.
4. Kylie slammed for Handmaid Tale party
Actress and cosmetic line owner Kylie Jenner has received a major backlash following a Handmaid’s Tale themed party she threw for her friend Anastasia Karanikolaou.
The billionaire mother of one shared photos and videos of her and her friends in red robes and white bonnets worn by handmaids, the oppressed female characters in Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel that has been adapted into a show.
The novel tells the story of the patriarchal United States where fertile women are subjected to a life of sexual servitude by an authoritarian government. The handmaids are forced to have children for the rich and powerful following the decline of fertility rates in the country.
Social media users were largely unimpressed, with some of them accusing the reality TV star of celebrating the slavery of women. Some others called her ignorant and were quick to point that she had not done anything about the recent protests against certain laws on abortion.
However, some fans have come to the star’s defence, saying people were reading too much into it, pointing out it was “just a party.”
5. FIFA Women’s World Cup continues
The FIFA Women’s World Cup is heating up but sadly, the African representatives have failed to make an impact thus far.
With every team having played a match each, the African representatives Nigeria, Cameroun and South Africa all lost their opening games.
Nigeria’s Super Falcons lost their match against Norway in humiliating fashion as they failed to score in the 3-0 loss. South Africa’s Banyana Banyana would have felt hard done by in their tie as a red card and two penalties proved costly against Spain. Cameroun was also unlucky as they were narrowly edged out 1-0 by Canada.
The African teams now face an uphill task of qualifying for the knockout stages but anything is possible with two matches each remaining.
The Super Falcons are scheduled to play against South Korea on Wednesday, South Africa will face China on Thursday and Cameroun will face the Netherlands on Saturday.
6. See the 6-year-old girl winning over celebrities like Marc Jacobs
And a little something to warm your heart. A 6-year-old from Cape Town, Ivanah Campbell, is fast becoming an international sensation after a video of her dancing caught some celebrities’ eyes and has swiftly gone viral.
Ivanah’ s dancing skills has got me questioning my 6-year-old self. When she moves, one would think she has been dancing for decades.
After quickly gaining fame in Mzansi the talented Grade 1 pupil who started attending formal lessons at the age of 3 has now caught the attention of Hollywood stars all the way in the States. From Will Smith, Jada Pinkett, Chris Evans, Stefflon Don to Lizzo and others have all fallen in love with her.
With the attention, Ivanah has garnered over 160 thousand followers on Instagram. According to an interview with The Herald, she said “I love music, it does something inside my heart. When a song plays my body gets this itching feeling. I just want to dance.”
Check out her latest video here.
Muslihat Shaka reporting
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