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Four finalists compete for Time’s Person of the Year for 2020
Time Magazine names its Person of the Year for 2020 on Thursday, choosing the winner from nominees that include healthcare workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic, the racial justice movement and two U.S. presidential election winners. The news magazine will reveal at 10 p.m. Eastern its selection for the title that signifies “who affected the news or our lives the most, for better or worse,” Time said on its website. Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg last year became the youngest individual winner of the accolade. The 16-year-old Swede inspired young people to take action in 2019 against climate change, grabbing headlines when she regularly skipped school to demonstrate outside Swedish parliament in a push for her government to curb carbon emissions. The Person of the Year is usually...
FDA: Independent committee recommends authorization of coronavirus vaccine
An independent committee of experts recommended Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration authorize the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people over the age of 16. Now, the FDA will decide whether to follow that recommendation. The agency could announce a decision within days. If they do authorize the vaccine, health care workers could begin receiving the shots almost immediately. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) met all day to review data on the vaccine, discuss plans for distribution, and outline plans for continued research. FDA scientists published a report about the vaccine on Tuesday, which analyzed data from the pharmaceutical companies and found that the vaccine was safe and 95 percent at preventing symptomatic COVID-19. Data fro...
NCDC: Many health workers still doubt existence of coronavirus
Oladipo Ogunbode, assistant director, department of prevention programmes and management, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), says it is surprising that health workers still doubt the existence of COVID-19. According to newsmen, Ogunbode stated this on Thursday in Abuja while speaking at a conference to mark the 2020 health week, themed: “Outbreak of Disease in Nigeria: Are We Ready?” Ogunbode said it is hard to understand how health workers who had come in contact with victims of COVID-19 in the line of duty, still doubted the existence of the virus. “Health workers should create awareness on COVID-19, but many of them still doubt its existence. We must work hard to remove such doubt,” he said. “It’s amazing and inexplicable for medics to doubt the fact that the pandemic was a real...
Appeal court upholds Brazil striker Robinho’s rape conviction
Veteran Brazil international striker Robinho on Thursday had a nine-year sentence for the rape of a young woman upheld by a court in Italy. Judges of the Milan Court of Appeal confirmed the sentence for both Robinho and one of his friends for group sexual violence dating back to January 2013. Robinho was playing for AC Milan at the time of the attack and was tried in absentia in November 2017. The pair were among a group of six men accused of taking part in the gang rape of a 22-year-old Albanian woman in a Milan nightclub. They were both ordered to jointly pay the woman damages of 60,000 euros ($ 73,000). The case against the four other accused has been suspended. Robinho, 36, who has denied the charges, has the right to again appeal the sentence within 90 days. Robinho was forced to pull...
Profit taking persist on NSE, market capitalisation loses N232 billion
Nigerian stock market closed on a negative note for the fourth straight session on Thursday with the market capitalisation losing N232 billion. Specifically, the market capitalisation which opened at N18.304 trillion dipped N232 billion to close at N18.072 trillion. Also, the All-Share Index lost 464.00 points or 1.32 per cent to close at 34,557.26 compared with 35,021.26 achieved on Wednesday. Accordingly, month-to-date loss increased to 1.3 per cent, while year-to-date gain moderated to 28.8 per cent. The downward trend was also driven by price depreciation in medium and large capitalised stocks amongst which are; Lafarge Africa, Guinness Nigeria, Zenith Bank, Dangote Sugar Refinery and MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN). Market breadth was strongly negative with 40 laggards, in relative ...
Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal transfer European form into Premier League
Mikel Arteta has demanded Arsenal transfer their Europa League form into the Premier League, where he says his side need to start winning matches “immediately”. Goals from Eddie Nketiah, Mohamed Elneny, Joe Willock and Folarin Balogun helped the Gunners ease past Irish side Dundalk 4-2 in Dublin on Thursday to finish top of Group B with a 100 per cent record – the first time they have won six successive European matches since 2005. That fine European form is in sharp contrast to their domestic struggles, where the club have lost six out of their last nine matches to slump to 15th in the table. With the Europa League now finished with until February, Arsenal can focus all their attention on domestic competition, with Arteta stressing the urgent need to pick up positive results, starting wit...
NHRC: Ending gender-based violence is responsibility of all
In commemoration of the International Human Rights Day, the National Human Rights Commission, Ebonyi State Chapter, Thursday, called on all citizens to join hands to put an end to all forms of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, SGBV. The Commission in collaboration with other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO)/Community and Social Organizations (CSOs) made this call at a seminar organized at Pinnacle Hotels, Abakaliki, to mark the world’s Human Rights Day and the end of the 16 days of activism of campaign against violation of human rights. Speaking on the year’s theme “Recover better – Stand Up for Human Rights,” the National Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu (Esq) said the selection was made considering the need to recover fully from COVID-19 pandemic and restore the sit...
Minister presents draft national biosecurity policy to stakeholders
The Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, formally presented zero draft National Biosecurity Policy to stakeholders. The Minister, who made the presentation in Abuja today, said the Zero draft National Biosecurity Policy has been developed with the full recognition of Biosecurity as a multi sectoral discipline, with all efforts geared towards a one health approach, collaborative approach and an understanding of the responsibilities of various sectors which include governments, NGOs, CSOs, communities and individuals. The honourable Minister said ” to maintain Biosecurity, significant attention should be paid to strategies for the prevention and early detection of, as well as rapid response to, harmful and potentially harmful organisms. She noted that to afford true protection,...
Diego Toro Celebrates Two Years of Toro Music Group With Yotuel Romero Signing
Below, Toro elaborates on the company’s anniversary, growing success and plans for 2021. What was the biggest life lesson working at Sony that you walked away with? It is very difficult to mention a single teaching in a lifetime of experiences with music, songs, artists and colleagues. But the “opportunity” that Sony gave me to demonstrate with passion, to think “outside the box,” to believe that you can break schemes, trusting music production from the heart, and being loyal to your principles and values are an inspiring route that will always pay off. What inspired you to launch your own marketing and management company two years ago? In a company, you live the musical stages of the artists, the releases, campaigns, and strategies according to the season. But in managem...
How the Academy’s New Black Music Collective Is Dismantling the ‘Disconnect’ With Its Community
Butterfield Jones: We are also shifting our thoughts around to equity and inclusion — making sure that once you are part of the Recording Academy, you have the opportunity to break that ceiling and get into leadership roles within the academy. We want to get more folks into the room. But we also want to make sure there’s a pathway to leadership once they get in the door. Which goals can the BMC accomplish immediately, and which will be more long term? Butterfield Jones: The North Star is to earn the trust of the Black music community. Being able to move that needle in one year and have more Black representation in the room will be progress. I’m here because many different powerful Black women paved the way. We’re focused on making sure that people that look like us have a seat at the table...
The Rolling Stones Tap BMG for Global Neighboring Rights, Extend Publishing Deal
BMG has signed up The Rolling Stones to represent the band globally in pursuing collections of master recording performance rights royalties when their songs are played on radio and television, also known as neighboring rights. While in the U.S., master recording performance royalties are only paid when music is played on digital and satellite radio — and not when tracks play on terrestrial radio or TV — in most other countries those rights receive royalty payments for that kind of play in addition to digital. This signing gives a big boost to BMG’s neighboring rights service, launched only six months ago. “If you are in the business of selling services to artists and songwriters, these are the kinds of client you dream of attracting,” BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said in ...
Ghana election: President Akufo-Addo to soon start work in his second term – minister
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will start work in his second term in office after he was re-elected as president of Ghana in the December 7 general elections. Mr Akufo-Addo polled a total of 6,730,413 votes, representing 51.59 per cent to beat closest contender John Dramani Mahama, who polled a total of 6,214,889 votes, in Monday’s presidential elections. Returning Officer of the 2020 Presidential Elections, Jean Adukwei Mensa, who is also the Chair of the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC), declared the incumbent president winner of the polls. In a tweet on Thursday December 10, Mr Oppong Nkrumah who was also re-elected Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi constituency said “The last 36hours have been hectic. In the end Ghana won. ...
