South Africa Celebrates Nelson Mandela Day: 18th of July 1918 was the birth date of South Africa’s first democratically elected President and international Freedom Icon – Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Born this day in the small rural village of Mvezo, a small rural village just outside Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape South Africa. Every year The citizens of South Africa take time out of their day to help those in need and celebrate the memory of the great man who brought a divided country together in unity peacefully.
African /European Migration Crises Talks: Representatives from 28 African and European countries have met in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, to discuss ways to address irregular migration. In his opening speech at the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum on Wednesday, Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah commented that “countries have a moral responsibility” towards the people “who cross the desert and the sea” in the hope of reaching Europe. It is estimated that around 2 million refugees are in Libya seeking a way into European states and this is creating a humanitarian crisis for the North African State. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stressed the importance of fighting against human trafficking. “There are people making lots of money using the desperation of the fragile persons. And we cannot allow it, for these organizations are becoming very powerful, but they do not care about those human rights and human beings.” She commented.
Interpol Announces Massive Anti-Crime Operation: An operation targeting West African organized crime groups across five continents, reportedly resulted in 300 arrests and $3 million blocked over 720 bank accounts, according to an Interpol report. Operation Jackal III, which ran from 10 April to 3 July in 21 countries, targeted financial fraud and the West African syndicates behind it, he agency said in a statement. The operation was launched due to increased fraud activities in West Africa and underscores the need for international law enforcement collaboration to combat these extensive criminal networks.
The United Arab Emirates lifts 21-month long visa ban on Nigerians: Nigeria’s information minister Mohammed Idris announced this week that the UAE’s decision to lift the ban that has been in place since October 2022 came after “mutually beneficial negotiations” between both governments. He referred to “updated controls and conditions” that prospective Nigerian visitors to the UAE must abide by.
Google eye’s massive acquisition: Google’s parent company Alphabet is considering its biggest acquisition ever – Wiz Cloud Security. The Wall Street Journal reports that Alphabet is in advanced talks in a deal that is reported to be in the region of $23 billion. While not finalized, the WSJ says it could come together soon. Wiz, the company that was only started in 2020, by Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Roy Reznik, and Ami Luttwak, all of whom previously founded Adallom, offers an all-in-one approach to cloud security, ingesting data from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and other cloud platforms, then scanning it all for security risk factors. Wiz recently in May 2024, announced it had raised $1 Billion in funding with a view to an initial IPO and had claimed to have reached $350M in ARR, with a 40% market share of Fortune 100 companies in February of 2024. Google’s cloud business, which grew 28% to $9.57 billion in the first quarter of 2024, is likely to be looking to consolidate its position in the Cloud Tech arena and should this deal materialize it may put Google way ahead of its competitors.