Day: July 5, 2021

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Huya-owned Nimo TV Wins Arbitration Award against Moroccan Livestreamer’s Contractual Breach

GUANGZHOU, China, July 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Nimo TV, HUYA Inc.’s (“Huya”, NYSE: HUYA) international live streaming platform, recently initiated an emergency arbitrator (EA) procedure at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) against a Moroccan streamer for breaching an Exclusive Cooperation Agreement with Nimo TV. As a result, an interim injunction has been issued to the streamer by the SIAC. By taking swift legal action, Huya has demonstrated that the Chinese Internet company is determined and capable of defending its interests when going global.

The injunction by the SIAC directs that the Moroccan streamer is restrained from carrying out live streaming on platforms, websites, and applications that are not operated by Nimo TV. Additionally, the streamer is prevented from participating in any commercial or promotional activities by any competing platform, including Nonolive, Douyu’s overseas live streaming branch, and the alternative platform that the streamer threatened to switch to. The streamer is also responsible for tens of thousands of dollars of fees, which include the EA fees and Nimo TV’s legal fees.

The international live streaming industry often faces issues when streamers breach contracts by switching platforms. As transnational legal procedures are typically complicated, costly and difficult to execute, many international streamers take advantage of such situations and view their Exclusive Cooperation Agreements as non-binding. Once streamers are offered a higher price, they’ll risk breaching the contracts without worrying about the legal consequences. Contrary to this belief, live streaming platforms, including Nimo TV, highly value the commercial potential of streamers and view them as important partners in content production. In that regard, when going global, it’s crucial for live streaming platforms to ensure that streamers of different nationalities honor their obligations and do not breach contracts.

The EA procedure initiated at the SIAC represents an important milestone for Nimo TV. It only took 14 days from filing the relevant documents to receiving the interim order, which may deter future streamers from breaching their agreements. In addition, the injunction against the Moroccan streamer is likely the first case from the live streaming industry that the SIAC has processed and could provide insights for international live streaming platforms when dealing with the breach of contracts. Nimo TV is now seeking recognition and enforcement of the arbitration decision in the court of Morocco, the streamer’s home country, to secure its interests by legal means.

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Zimbabwe Villagers Fight Chinese Coal Mining Project Near Wildlife Reserve

Conservationists in Zimbabwe are trying to rally opposition to a Chinese coal mining project planned in a district within the country’s biggest national park. Critics say locals and wildlife will be affected and are urging authorities to move away from coal production toward renewable energies.

Most Dinde villagers in Hwange district say they are opposed to the coal mining project by Beifa Investments, but many are unwilling to speak up for fear of retaliation.

One of the few willing to express his concern was Morris Sibanda.

“My fears are – one: we shall be evicted. Secondly, we have a river called Nyantuwe [where] we get water. That’s our main source of water. Definitely, if this mine succeeds, my fear is that toxic acids maybe found in the river. We don’t have boreholes; we have no anything,” Sibanda said.

About 600 families fear being displaced if the coal project goes ahead. Other villagers are worried that the project will take away grazing land for their cattle and wildlife.

But Beifa Investments continues with its exploration project. Zimbabwe’s government says Dinde’s people were consulted before the company was allowed to start mining.

Amkela Sidange, the education and publicity manager for the government’s Environmental Management Agency, says an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report addressed and cleared all of Dinde’s concerns.

“An EIA for exploration was done and public consultation was also done. Their fears are all taken care of. In fact, as long as the EIA was done, it is being monitored by the agency. So, nothing is going to be done which is outside what the agreement was in the EIA for exploration,” Sidange said.

Farai Maguwu is the director of the Centre for Natural Resource Governance, a local NGO opposed to the Dinde coal mining project, partially because there are no clear plans on where the villagers will be taken if they are displaced. Maguwu said there are also environmental concerns.

“Zimbabwe is intending to have a green economy by 2030. We are also aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 33% by 2030. But that will not happen as long as the country continues to invest in dirty energy as what is about to happen in Dinde. We will not allow the government to be talking left and walking right,” Maguwu said.

Sibanda, like most villagers around here, says he does not know what tomorrow will bring.

The villagers fear that more coal projects will be approved and encroach onto Hwange National Park, also the country’s largest wildlife sanctuary.

Source: Voice of America

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140 Students Abducted in Northwestern Nigeria?

Armed kidnappers have taken 140 students from their boarding school in northwestern Nigeria, local officials announced Monday.

Attackers opened fire on the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state early Monday, abducting most of the 165 pupils boarding there overnight.

Teachers at the school told reporters they don’t know where the students were taken.

Police in Kaduna state said they have rescued 26 people, including one teacher.

Monday’s abduction is one of many recent kidnappings, usually for ransom, that have hit schools in northern Nigeria.

Late last month, gunmen attacked a school in the northwest state of Kebbi, abducting at least 80 students and teachers.

Amnesty International reports about 600 schools in northern Nigeria have closed as a result of persistent attacks since late last year.

Earlier this year, the government promised more security deployment to schools. But teachers and activists in the country say their schools remain poorly protected.

Nigerian authorities have faced increased criticism over the kidnappings, one of the country’s many security challenges including the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, and a growing separatist movement in the southeast.

Source: Voice of America

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Ivory Coast Cashew Processors Seek Government Aid Against Asian Competition

Cashew nut processors in Ivory Coast have asked for government aid and protection from competition coming from deeper-pocketed Asian exporters that they say are driving them towards bankruptcy, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

The Ivory Coast Cashew Industry Group (GTCI), which represents 15 cashew processors, said in a letter to the sector regulator on June 23 the companies have only purchased around 37,000 tons this season, or around 15% of their capacity.

It attributed this to Asian exporters’ ability to offer higher prices to farmers because of their scale, lower cost of production and access to state aid. It did not name specific companies.

Asian exporters, many in Vietnam and India, export about 80% of Ivory Coast’s roughly 800,000 tons of annual cashew output.

The multinationals “have a virtual monopoly on purchases and exports of raw cashew nuts, leaving a small portion to local actors who are squeezed out of the supply chain,” the letter said, warning that several companies face bankruptcy.

The companies, which have an annual processing capacity of around 250,000 tons and employ 2,300 people, asked the government to give them exclusive rights to purchase the first two weeks of the season’s harvest in order to access the best quality raw nuts.

They also asked the regulator to help domestic companies export premium quality almonds, which are highly prized in Western markets, and to make available additional financial aid announced for exporters in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ivory Coast’s cashew sector regulator declined to comment.

Alex Guettia, a member of an industry group that represents 40 companies that buy nuts for Asian exporters including Vietnam’s T&T Group, acknowledged the companies have benefited from state aid during the pandemic but emphasized their success securing outside funding.

“We don’t know how the [domestic] processors work, but if they can’t buy the cashew, it’s not because of us,” Guettia told Reuters. “Unlike processors, we know and master trading so it’s easier for us to know how to avoid problems.”

GTCI president Lucman Diaby said many domestic companies are nearly bankrupt or in severe financial difficulty because of the competition from Asian exporters.

“Our Asian competitors … have much lower production costs. It is impossible compete with them,” Diaby said.

Aboubacar Toure, the director general of the Novarea processing firm, told Reuters domestic processing was unprofitable because of the high cost of production, including energy, industrial equipment and maintenance.

“For each kilo processed, we lose 160 francs CFA,” he said, urging the government to double certain subsidies.

Source: Voice of America

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Gunmen Kidnap Staff and Baby from Northwest Nigerian Hospital

Gunmen kidnapped up to eight people, including the one-year-old child of a nurse, from a hospital’s staff residential quarters in northwest Nigeria, while assailants simultaneously attacked a nearby police station, police and hospital officials said.

Kaduna state has been hit by a wave of kidnappings for ransom by armed men. Zaria, where the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Centre hospital is located, has been particularly hard hit, and the attack was the third on the hospital.

The attack in the early morning hours of Sunday lasted for roughly an hour, hospital spokesperson Maryam Abdulrazaq told Reuters.

She said six people had been abducted: two nurses, one with her one-year-old child, a laboratory technician, a security guard and one other staff member. Police gave the number of hostages as eight.

“So far, [there was] no ransom demand,” Abdulrazaq said. “We have not heard from the bandits since they took them away.”

In a separate statement, Kaduna police spokesman Muhammed Jalige said that a “large number” of armed men from the same group attacked the divisional police headquarters at roughly the same time “in an attempt to overrun the officers on duty.”

Jalige said police repelled the attack after a heavy exchange of gunfire, injuring some of the attackers. Police recovered dozens of shell casings from rifles and machine guns.

He said officers from tactical, anti-kidnapping and other units were working to rescue those kidnapped from the hospital.

Kidnappings for ransom have become endemic in northern Nigeria. More than 800 students have been abducted since December, at least 150 of whom remain missing.

Source: Voice of America

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