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Interpol raises the alarm over fake coronavirus vaccines
The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has alerted Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and 190 other countries of threat from organised criminal groups during the upcoming COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, including fake vaccines and the theft of supplies. The alert came as the UK yesterday became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for widespread use. The need for a vaccine has become more urgent globally and nationally with Nigeria recording over 67,000 COVID-19 infections and over 1,000 associated fatalities, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has so far identified 49 “candidate vaccines” at the stage of clinical trials in humans. Hopes are high ...
Qatar supports Nigerian Armed Forces, Police with $1 billion
Reuters The Republic of Qatar has released $1billion to provide scientific equipment and build an ultra-mordern hospital for officers and men of the Armed Forces including the transformation of Nigerian Police training schools and colleges. The oil rich nation released the funds through a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), Africa Global Empowerment and Development Network (AGED-Network). The organisation, AGED-Network, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rear Admiral Mackson Kadiri-led National Defence College through its Center for Strategic Research and Studies for the advancement of security sector reforms, said it also received a grant of $500 million from its partners, G20 and ASHTROM to build an ultra-modern hospital for officers and men of the armed forces. S...
Mikel Arteta expects difficult January transfer window
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the club do not have much room to manoeuvre in the January transfer window and may have to offload players before they can add to the first-team squad. Arsenal are reportedly looking for a creative midfielder, with RB Salzburg’s Dominik Szoboszlai and Olympique Lyonnais’ Houssem Aouar among the options being considered, while Arteta would also like to improve his defensive options. “We are planning, talking with (technical director) Edu and with the club about the things we can do in January,” Arteta told reporters. “But at the moment it’s pretty difficult, unpredictable as well. In terms of places, we are very restricted in the moment. “We will need to do something knowing the limitations of that market in January and the limitations we have as well to si...
Roddy Ricch Dominates Apple Music’s Year-End Charts
As the year’s top album on Apple Music, Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial additionally spawned three more tracks that earned placement on the service’s top songs of 2020 chart: “High Fashion”, “Start Wit Me” and “Bacc Seat.” Ricch was additionally featured on the fourth most-streamed song of 2020, DaBaby’s “ROCKSTAR.” The year’s second most-streamed song on Apple Music, “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, had an even broader reach than “The Box” worldwide, charting in the top 5 on Apple Music’s Top 100 songs charts in 92 countries and reaching No. 1 in 62 of them. While “Blinding Lights” had fewer streams than “The Box,” it racked up the most listeners overall. One notable facet of Apple Music’s end-of-year charts this year is the inclusion of two new...
Former Zamfara deputy governor dumps APC for PDP
Mr Ibrahim Wakkala, immediate past Deputy Gov. of Zamfara, has announced his decision to dump the All Progressives Congress (APC) and join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Wakkala made his decision known at a news briefing on Wednesday in Gusau. “There were several speculations making the rounds for about two years now over where I politically belong; hence I feel this is the right time to put the records straight. “I want to inform you that all this while, whether as a member of G8 group or not, I have remained a full card-carrying member of the APC. “Even though since the time of our crisis in 2019, the party did not consider us relevant as demonstrated, by not inviting or informing us of any of its activities. “I want to formally inform the general public that I have finally thrown t...
Ogun governor presents N339 billion 2021 budget proposal
Gov. Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, on Wednesday, presented a budget proposal of N339 billion for the 2021 fiscal year to the state House of Assembly, with N177 billion earmarked for capital expenditure. Newsmen report that the budget, christened “Budget of Recovery and Sustainability,” also has N162 billion proposed for recurrent expenditure. The governor said that an estimated N119 billion was projected as internally-generated revenue for the state, with statutory allocation expected to be N59 billion. He stated that capital receipt, which included internal and external loans as well as grants and aids, stood at N142 billion. The governor stated that personnel cost remained the largest single item of expenditure, adding as at Oct. 31, it accounted for 35.5 percent of the total government spending...
2023: Kogi lawmakers endorse Yahaya Bello for the presidency
Less than one year into his constitutional four-year second tenure mandate as Governor of Kogi State, members of the Kogi State House of Assembly have called on Yahaya Bello to seek a higher office. The 25-member house made the unanimous call at plenary on Wednesday, 2 December, in Lokoja. Bello had on Tuesday presented a budget proposal of N130.5bn for 2021 to the lawmakers. The document was expected to gain attention of the lawmakers when they reconvened Wednesday. They however chose to delve into the uncertain waters of 2023 Presidential politics, asking the governor to throw his hat into the ring. The House in its plenary described Bello as fit for the office in view of his outstanding performances as Governor and in view of the fact that the North Central Zone has also not had the opp...
Mercedes replaces Lewis Hamilton with George Russell for Sakhir Grand Prix
British race driver, George Russell, will take Lewis Hamilton’s place at Mercedes for this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix after the seven-time champion tested positive for coronavirus. Mercedes has backed Russell’s career since 2017 and he is effectively on a three-year loan at Williams, where he has posted some impressive races since making his F1 debut last season. Jack Aitken, a 25-year-old British-Korean, will race in Russell’s place at Williams for his F1 debut while Russell is away at Mercedes. Mercedes had approached Williams to see if a deal to release Russell was possible as soon as it became apparent that Hamilton’s absence from the first race of his career was confirmed after the positive COVID-19 test and retest. And the confirmation of an agreement arrived on Wednesday morning. T...
Biden top economic adviser facing accusations of mismanagement, verbal abuse
The Biden transition team declined to comment or make Boushey available. But Dinetta Parrott, who reported directly to Boushey as Equitable Growth’s director of development from 2017 to 2020 before leaving for the Brookings Institution, said the criticisms of Boushey don’t match her experience. “I just don’t think it’s an accurate depiction,” she told POLITICO. “The Heather Boushey that I worked for did not create toxicity and wasn’t demoralizing. Did we have our disagreements? Absolutely, but it was always respectful.” The revelations resurfaced Tuesday night, just hours after the president-elect publicly introduced Boushey as a member of his Council of Economic Advisers. Biden said at the event in Wilmington, Del., that he relied on Boushey’s cou...
Spotify Shares Jump 16% to All-Time High
On a related note, information about podcasts could have reinforced some investors’ belief that non-music content can improve both growth and margins. Spotify’s run-down of most popular music and podcasts revealed The Joe Rogan Experience, exclusive to Spotify as of Tuesday, is its top podcast. Its popularity suggests the controversial podcast is going to be worth the $100 million Spotify is spending to license the show from Rogan. Owned and licensed podcasts give Spotify a chance to differentiate itself from its competitors. In the last two years, Spotify has purchased podcast producers The Ringer, Gimlet and Parcast and has landed exclusives with Michele Obama and Kim Kardashian West, among many others. It has also launched proprietary, music-focused franchises such as Sound Stories: Wom...
Donald Trump’s bias hawk FCC nominee one step closer to confirmation
On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance the nomination of Nathan Simington, a Republican in favor of greater government oversight of speech on the internet, to the Federal Communications Commission. Simington’s nomination now awaits a floor vote for final approval. President Donald Trump nominated Simington to be the next Republican FCC Commissioner in September. If approved, Simington would fill Republican Commissioner Mike O’Reilly’s seat, leaving the agency at 2-2 deadlock when Chairman Ajit Pai steps down on January 20th. Without a Democratic majority at the FCC, the Biden administration will likely have difficulties rolling through any major policy measures until another nominee is vetted and approved. In August, Trump abruptly withdrew O’Reilly’s renomination for...
FEC approves N117 billion for rehabilitation of major roads in Nigeria
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved N117.6 billion for the rehabilitation of some major roads across Nigeria. Wednesday’s FEC meeting was chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari. The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this while briefing journalists at the end of the meeting. “The Ministry of Works and Housing presented three memoranda, two relating to roads and one relating to a banking application. “The first set of roads is for a total sum of N18,923,846,198.47, and it is with respect to roads and bridges as follows; rehabilitation of 26 km road linking Kano, Jigawa and the Katsina States, N8.767 billion, Omo-Umulokpa road in Anambra and the Enugu States, N1.712 billion, rehabilitation of Oye-Oranta road in Anambra, N2.504 billion, Okpoko bri...
