Five things to know to start your Friday

Terrorists launch another attack in the FCT, shooting at a military checkpoint

A few hours after President Buhari met with security chiefs to discuss deteriorating security, terrorists allegedly engaged the military in a gunfight at a checkpoint in Zuma Rock Madalla, along the Kaduna-Abuja highway, on Thursday night.

Around 20 minutes after the terrorists left the scene of the attack, soldiers from Zuma Barracks arrived and took complete control. The attack happened around 7 p.m. Whether there were any casualties is not yet known.

The attack took place during a time of increased anxiety in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) regarding unexpected terrorist attacks.

Residents of Abuja have been worried about their security since the invasion of Kuje Prison in the nation’s capital on July 5.

President Muhammadu Buhari expressed serious concern on Thursday over the current security challenges facing some parts of the country and said he would stop at nothing to change the tide.

Violent attacks rise by 47% in Nigeria as over 6,000 persons killed in six months

Despite assurances of safety from government and efforts of security forces, Nigeria’s security deteriorated in the last six months. No fewer than 6,698 persons were killed in violent attacks across the country in the last six months, a new report has revealed.

According to the report titled “The Nigeria Security Situation and released on Tuesday by Beacon Consulting, a security risk management and intelligence consulting company, the number of fatalities increased by 35.9 percent in the first half of 2022 (January to June) compared to the 4,927 fatalities recorded in the first half of 2021.

The report also showed that more citizens were kidnapped in 2022 compared to 2021. At least 3357 persons were abducted compared to 2540 perosns abducted within the same period last year, representing 24.3 percent increase.

Also, there were 2357 cases of violent attacks; this, again represents a 47.5 percent increase from the 1235 attacks witnessed last year.

Flooding: death toll in Kentucky may reach double digits – Governor

Andy Beshear, Governor of Kentucky, said that flooding in the eastern part of the state has resulted in at least eight fatalities; the number is predicted to rise to double digits as the water level continues to rise.

The governor issued a statement saying, “We are currently experiencing one of the worst, most devastating flooding events in Kentucky’s history.”

Beshear, who on Thursday morning declared a state of emergency in six counties, said a series of storms drenching the eastern part of the state have dropped water that has yet to crest, leaving damage that could take years to repair.

23,000 homes were left without electricity due to the flooding, and “a few people” were still missing, he said.

As a response to the emergency situation, the state activated the national guard and the state police to use helicopters and boats to rescue people marooned among the floodwaters.

State parks and other locations opened up as evacuation centres, but Beshear cautioned that some of the facilities may not have power or certain amenities because they were severely damaged by the storms.

Fresh water will also be difficult to find in parts of the flooded region, and so trucks will be bringing in drinking water, according to the 44 years old governor.

Read also: Fish farmers lost N500m worth of investment to flood in Ogun

China’s property crunch cost Asia’s richest woman more than half of her fortune

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Yang Huiyan, the richest woman in Asia, has seen her wealth decline to $16 billion from nearly $34 billion this year as China’s real estate crisis worsens.
The biggest sales-based real estate developer in China, Country Garden Holdings, is run by the 41-year-old billionaire. Her father, Yang Guoqiang, who founded the business in Foshan, Guangdong province, in 1992, transferred most of his ownership interest to her.

As the nation’s real estate industry has struggled with declining home prices, waning buyer demand, and a debt default crisis that has engulfed some of its largest developers since last year, Country Garden’s stock has lost more than half of its value this year.

Yang nevertheless continues to be the wealthiest woman in Asia, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, despite having lost more than half of her fortune.

The decline in her net worth has narrowed the wealth gap between her and other female billionaires in China, leaving Yang just $143 million short of surpassing Fan Hongwei, a chemical fibre producer who chairs Hengli Petrochemical.

Inflation takes a slice of Apple, Amazon’s profits

Tech giants Apple and Amazon saw dips in profits but still exceeded expectations as the US economy hovers on and around the edge of a recession.

The results came after Apple, the world’s largest technology company, warned that revenue would be impacted due to supply chain issues and pandemic-related factory shutdowns in China.

Apple, with a $2.08 trillion market cap, is dealing with manufacturing issues and inflationary pressures, and its profit fell by 10% in the last quarter, although revenue increased by 2%.

However, the company announced on Thursday that part shortages are easing and that demand for iPhones remains strong despite consumers’ cutting back on other purchases, allowing it to outpace market expectations and forecast faster sales growth in the future.

Meanwhile, e-commerce titan Amazon reported its second consecutive quarterly loss, but revenue exceeded Wall Street expectations. The results come as the company tries to balance shifting consumer demand and rising costs while reducing the glut of warehouses acquired during the COVID-19 pandemic.