The Portuguese Government seized shares owned by Angola’s Isabel dos Santos in the Efacec Power Solutions SGPS SA Company, in a bid to help the company find new owners.

Isabel Dos Santos has been battling a corruption probe both home and in Portugal. She is being accused of embezzling over $ 1 billion from Angolan state-owned firms.

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Dos Santos owned a 72% stake in the company through a Maltese registered company called “Winterfell 2”. Angola’s Finance Minister, Pedro Vieira said on Thursday that the Angolan government has started plans to sell the stake and already has interest from interested bidders.

Efacec has annual sales of $449 million, according to the Minister.

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Efacec announced back in January that Isabel dos Santos had planned to sell most of her majority stake in the company.

Isabel dos Santos had her assets frozen in December 2019 by Angolan courts, she claims the corruption probe against her was based on a fake passport signed by late Hollywood star Bruce Lee.  Portugal also froze her assets in February. 

READ ALSO: Portugal blocks Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos’ bank accounts

President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, is set to sign an order temporarily halting access to several employment-based visas, and issuance of green cards for the rest of the year.

This decision, which comes as a result of the 13.3% unemployment rate caused by the coronavirus pandemic, will restrain hundreds of thousands of people seeking to work in the U.S. However, workers who are already in the United States will not be affected by this order.

According to a senior administration official quoted on Bloomberg, the order will freeze new H1-B, H2-B, H-4, L and most J visas through the end of the year, the official said.

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The only exceptions are the food processing workers who will still be allowed to access H2-B visas.

In a Saturday interview with Fox News, Trump had stated that he wanted Americans to take the jobs that would otherwise go to those granted the visas.

“We have plenty of people looking for jobs,” he told Fox. “I think it’s going to make a lot of people very happy. And it’s common sense.”

Trump had earlier hinted at plans to temporarily suspend migrations to the US, amid concerns from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Information Technology Industry Council, that such moves could disrupt business.

READ MORE: U.S. publishes names of 6 Nigerians charged with internet fraud against Americans

Employment based visas

H-1B visas cover temporary work authorizations for people with highly specialized knowledge, while H-4 visas are issued to immediate family members of H-1B visa holders.

The H-2 visas allow temporary work in agriculture, construction, forestry and many other industries.

L visas are for temporary intracompany transfers for those who are in management positions or have specialized knowledge, while J visas are for work- and study-based exchange visitor programs.

Although the American technology industry has relied on H-1B visas to hire foreign talent, particularly in the fields of science and engineering in the past years, critics say some companies have abused the program to displace American workers.

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Bloomberg reports that there are plans to restructure the H1-B program to rewrite rules in which applicants will get priority for H1-B visas, giving reference to would-be immigrants with the highest salary offers.

In the 2019 fiscal year alone, the US issued more than 900,000 visas in these categories.

The United Nations General Assembly has elected Nigeria and 17 other countries into the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN.

The new ECOSOC members will serve for three years, effective from January 1, 2021.

NAN reports that the election held on Wednesday in New York.

Of the 14 seats usually reserved for African Countries on the council, only 5 were vacant and those seats went to Nigeria, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar and Zimbabwe, following their endorsement and the presentations by their respective sub-regional organisations

To represent the Asia-and Pacific states were Indonesia, Japan, and the Solomon Islands, while Bulgaria was elected to represent the Eastern European Group.

Argentina, Bolivia, Guatemala and Mexico were elected to represent the Latin American and Caribbean Group on the council; while Austria, France, Germany, Portugal, and the United Kingdom were elected to fill five vacant seats reserved for “Western European and other” states.

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ECOSOC is considered the heart of the United Nations, established by the UN Charter in 1946. It is responsible for the coordination, policy review, policy dialogue, and recommendations on the economic, social, and environmental agenda of the UN.

This will be Nigeria’s third time of serving on the ECOSOC since 2012, and is coming within two years after its last term in the council.

This membership positions Nigeria to advance the interest of the African continent as a whole. Under the UN Charter, the ECOSOC is also responsible for promoting higher standards of living, employment and economic and social progress.