#MerryMen2: Pictures, movie premiere, opening week, Makuns celebrate

The Makuns celebrates the opening week of #Merrymen 2 with a dance video that was posted on Instagram on Saturday,21st of December as a follow up for the Movie premiere that took place in Film House, Lekki, Lagos State on Friday, 20th December.

Also read: Twitter removes thousands of ‘spam’accounts linked to Saudi government

Merry Men 2: Another Mission is a 2019 Nigerian film and a sequel to Merry Men: The Real Yoruba Demons. The film is a production spearheaded by Ayo Makun popularly known as AY.

Celebrities came out in numbers to show support for one of their own by attending the Red carpet event. Here are some fabulous looks from the red Carpet


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Twitter removes thousands of ‘spam’ accounts linked to Saudi government

Twitter says it has removed nearly 6,000 accounts it deemed tied to a state-backed information operation in Saudi Arabia.

In a blog post Friday, Twitter said the removed Saudi accounts were amplifying messages favorable to Saudi authorities, mainly through “aggressive liking, retweeting and replying.” While the majority of the content was in Arabic, Twitter said the tweets also amplified discussions about sanctions in Iran and appearances by Saudi government officials in Western media.


The 5,929 accounts removed are part of a larger group of 88,000 accounts engaged in “spammy behavior” across a wide range of topics. But Twitter isn’t disclosing all of them because some might be compromised accounts.

Twitter began archiving Tweets and media it deems to be associated with known state-backed information operations in 2018. It shut 200,000 Chinese accounts that targeted Hong Kong protests in August.

Social media companies have been trying to tackle misinformation on their services, especially ahead of next year’s US presidential elections.

The efforts followed revelations that Russians bankrolled thousands of fake political ads during the 2016 elections. Twitter’s announcement Friday underscores the fact that misinformation concerns aren’t limited to the U.S. and Russia.

The Saudi Arabian Embassy in the US did not immediately return a request for comment.

In September, Twitter suspended the account of the crown prince’s former top adviser, Saud al-Qahtani, who also served as director of the cybersecurity federation.

As with Friday’s announcement, Twitter said that account had violated the company’s platform manipulation policy.
The Saudi government has used different tactics to control speech and keep reformers and others from organizing, including employing troll armies to harass and intimidate users online. It has also arrested and imprisoned Twitter users. Vanguard
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Libya’s instability is destabilising W/Africa – President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari says instability in the State of Libya is a recurring threat to the Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa, and expressed concern over the growing effect of the crisis on many lives.


The president stated this at a bilateral meeting with the President of Cote d’Ivoire, Dr. Alhassan Quattara, on the margins of the 56th Ordinary session of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS).


The 56th Ordinary session of ECOWAS was held at the State House Conference Centre.
A statement by the President’s spokesperson, Malam Garba Shehu, quoted President Buhari to have said that the crisis in Libya had perpetuated instability in the West Coast, with many of the trained fighters in the country now surviving on violent crimes and terrorism.


The President said the Libyan fighters, who were trained for the 43 years Muammar Gaddafi ruled the country, were armed with deadly weapons and had been roaming the Sahel and sub-Sahara sub-region, with no other skills for survival ‘‘but to shoot and kill.’’


He expressed happiness that neighbouring countries were supporting Nigeria in tackling the menace of the fighters who had teamed up with Boko Haram.
President Buhari, however, stressed the need to do more by the West African countries, both under the ECOWAS platform and at bilateral levels.


In his remarks, President Quattara said he came to brief the Nigerian leader on the progress of the ECOWAS mandate given to him to negotiate exit of Francophone West African countries from their currency union with France and the European Union.


The Ivorian President said he was pleased to report that he received the full support of the French government, under President Emmanuel Macron, and that the West African States were free to leave the union and join the ‘‘Eco’’, the new currency designated for the West Coast.


President Buhari expressed delight that France did not stand in the way of the “Eco’’.
On the ongoing debate in Nigeria on foreign borrowing, President Buhari said it was necessary to fund infrastructure projects, adding that ‘‘without roads, rail, and power, investors will not be encouraged to invest in the country.’’


At another bilateral meeting with the President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, President Buhari said he was impressed with the ongoing efforts of the administration to secure and stabilize the country.
‘I am happy that your policies and plans are holding on. I assure you that we will continue to support you.

”A problem in the neighbourhood is our problem. I will keep in touch with our officials to see how we can support,’’ he said.


Earlier in his remarks, the President of Sierra Leone recalled the level of cooperation between his country and Nigeria, appreciating President Buhari for various forms of support to his country, including the provision of teachers, nurses, technicians, and engineers.


He said more support was needed in the economic sector to ease the growing hardship among lower segments of the country’s population.


At a bilateral with President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré of Burkina Faso, President Buhari commended the country’s leader for sustaining investment in infrastructure in spite of distractions from terrorists.


President Buhari and President Kaboré agreed to convene a meeting of the two states to discuss in greater detail issues pertaining to security and economy.


While describing Nigeria as a ‘‘powerhouse that drives economic growth and development in the region’’, Kaboré said his country had high expectations of their “excellent relations’’ with Nigeria.


President Buhari also had a meeting with Liberian President, George Manneh Oppong Weah and President of Benin, Patrice Talon, at the ECOWAS summit. Vanguard.
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Turkey fined for fan behaviour, players warned over salutes

UEFA on Friday fined Turkey’s football federation 50,000 euros ($55,360) for their supporters’ behaviour and warned several players following military salutes performed during two Euro 2020 qualifiers.

Turkey fans caused crowd disturbances in the 1-1 draw with France on October 14, while Hakan Calhanoglu and Cenk Tosun were among a number of players reprimanded for “manifestations of a non-sporting nature”.

In their two October qualifiers against Albania and France, The players made salutes — seen as supporting their military operation in Syria — as they celebrated late goals.

The country reached Euro 2020 after finishing two points behind World Cup winners France in their group. They will face Switzerland, Wales and Italy in next year’s finals. Vanguard
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Oil declines but set for third weekly rise

Oil prices fell slightly on Friday but were still set for a third straight weekly gain after easing U.S.-China trade tensions lifted business confidence and the outlook for global economic growth.

Brent LCOc1 was down 7 cents at 66.47 dollars a barrel by 0954 GMT, equivalent to a weekly rise of around 2 per cent
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was down 10 cents at 61.08 dollars per barrel, a gain of around 1.5 dollars on the week.

Progress in a long-running trade dispute between the United States and China, the world’s two biggest oil consumers, has boosted expectations for higher energy demand next year.

China on Thursday announced a list of import tariff exemptions for six oil and chemical products from the United States, days after Washington and Beijing announced an interim trade deal set to be signed at the beginning of January.

Most major economies have likely averted recession for now but growth will remain subdued in 2020, according to Reuters polls.

Also read: Idris Elba given Sierra Leone citizenship on

“The energy sector as a whole looks set to end 2019 with a solid year-on-year gain. This is due solely to the oil market,” Barbara Lambrecht, an analyst at Commerzbank, said.

Brent is 23 per cent more expensive than it was at the start of the year. Oil prices fell almost 20 per cent in 2018.

UBS lifted its oil price forecast for 2020 but also expects the oil market to be oversupplied by 0.3 million barrels per day next year.

“Our end-of-quarter Brent price forecasts are 60 dollars per barrel for 1Q20 and 62 dollars per barrel, 64 dollars per barrel, and 64 dollars per barrel for the following three quarters,” UBS analysts Giovanni Staunovo and Dominic Schnider said in a note.

UBS’s previous forecast for the four quarters of 2020 was 58, 55, 58 and 60 dollars per barrel respectively.

A U.S. weekly drilling report by energy services firm Baker Hughes Co is due to be released on Friday. U.S. drilling firms added four oil rigs in the week to Dec. 13, bringing the total count to 667.

Analysts say an expected fall in U.S. drilling activity should support oil prices.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a meeting between the two on Friday to stick to commitments made by Tehran in a landmark 2015 nuclear deal and said Japan, a U.S. ally, would do what it could to ensure stability in the Middle East. Vanguard

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