business
Alexander Wang responds to sexual assault claims
Fashion designer Alexander Wang is facing accusations of sexual assault, prompted by claims from Owen Mooney, a male model who, in early December, shared an encounter on TikTok that he’d had with Wang in 2017 at a nightclub. In the video, Mooney said: “I was by myself at one point, and this guy next to me obviously took advantage of the fact that no one could fucking move, and he just started touching me up, like, fully up to my leg, in my crotch. And then I looked to my left to see who it was, and it was a really famous fashion designer, and I just couldn’t believe that he was doing that to me.” Though Mooney initially did not disclose a name, in a subsequent post he revealed the person to be Wang. Soon after, eight men and trans women also shared stories of lewd behavior by Wang, accordi...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Evermore’ Set For Return to U.K. No. 1
Styles, meanwhile, could earn a new chart high with Fine Line (Columbia), up 10-2 on the sales blast. The former One Direction singer’s sophomore album is enjoying a boost thanks to the release of “Treat People With Kindness,” the video for which features Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge. At the midway point in the chart cycle, the top five is rounded out by titles from Dua Lipa (Future Nostalgia via Warner Records), Little Mix (Confetti via RCA) and Queen’s Greatest Hits (Virgin) juggernaut, which has logged 276 weeks on the chart and is recognized as the U.K.’s best-selling album of all time. The late British-born hip-hop artist MF Doom could enter the Top 40 for the first time with his 2004 album Madvillainy with Madlib (Stones Throw), which currently sit at No. 30. Doom (re...
The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ Rules U.K.’s 2020 Year-End Chart
The Canadian artist was aggrieved to have been overlooked from the shortlist for the 2021 Grammy Awards, but he’s clearly embraced by music fans on the other side of the Atlantic (nominations for the 2021 Brit Awards, set to take place on May 11, have yet to be announced). Another artist who’s warmly received in the U.K. is Tones And I, the Australian singer and songwriter whose 2019 hit “Dance Monkey” swung in at No. 2 on The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2020. Tones (real name Toni Watson) ruled the chart for 11 weeks with “Dance Monkey,” setting a new record for a solo female artist. The one-time busker’s viral hit was also the No. 2 most-streamed song of the year, behind only “Blinding Lights,” the OCC reports, and the fifth-ranked digital download. SAINt JHN’s “Roses” comes in at N...
Craig David Recognized In Queen’s New Year Honours List
The 39-year-old singer is one of Britain’s most successful male solo artists of the millennium, with 23 U.K. top 40 singles, including two No. 1s (“Fill Me In” and “7 Days”), and a pair of No. 1 albums. In the U.S., David has twice cracked the Top 40 on the Billboard 200 and he has landed three songs on the Hot 100 chart, including a career-best No. 10 with “7 Days”. Among his career trophies are three Ivor Novello Awards and a brace of MTV Europe Music Awards. Meanwhile, Lester is made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE), a British order of chivalry rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations, and public service outside the civil service. Based in London, the JEM Artists founder and CEO receives the ...
UMG Beefs Up Leadership in Africa, Promoting Sipho Dlamini to CEO Role
All three executives will work closely with UMG’s French-speaking operations principally in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Cameroon, which are overseen by Franck Kacou, directeur général, Universal Music Africa. The strengthening of its Africa leadership team is the latest move in Universal’s big bet on the continent. With an emphasis on A&R, UMG has been aggressively expanding its operations in Africa. Rather than licensing or distributing existing indie labels, Universal has invested in building lasting local infrastructure, including establishing divisions in Nigeria and South Africa, such as Def Jam Africa, which is focused around hip-hop, Afrobeats and trap. In 2018, UMG became the first major label to license its catalog to Boomplay, Africa’s largest local streaming platform. (In Sub...
Rivers governor orders closure of Creek road, Bonny-Bille Jetty
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has reaffirmed the closure of Creek road in Port Harcourt to vehicular and human traffic beginning from midnight (Monday) to January 9, 2021. Governor Wike has also barred boat operators from using the Bonny -Bille Jetty during the same period. He stated this during inspection of the multi-million naira ultra modern Bonny-Bille jetty on yesterday. Governor Wike bemoaned the conversion of the dualised Creek road to market by traders and the filthiness of the Bonny-Bille jetty that is due for commissioning this Saturday. The governor while addressing residents of the Bonny-Bille waterfront, explained that the State government would from Monday midnight, close Creek road and temporarily shutdown the jetty for a thorough sanitation of the area. Governor Wike...
Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ Completes 36-Year Journey to U.K. Chart Summit
“Last Christmas,” which until now had never gone better than No. 2, chalked up 9.2 million streams over latest frame. And it did so on the fourth anniversary of George Michael’s death. “I am delighted, somewhat amazed & profoundly pleased that Wham!’s iconic Christmas classic Last Christmas has finally achieved the accolade of becoming a No 1,” wrote Wham founding member Andrew Ridgeley on social media. “It’s a fitting tribute 2 George’s songwriting genius and 1 of which he would’ve been immensely proud & utterly thrilled.” Now, “Last Christmas” can shake off the unwanted title as the U.K.’s best-selling single to never reach No. 1, with 1.9 million combined sales since its release. That record is now passed onto Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” featuring Christina Aguilera, which ha...
Coronavirus: FCT threatens to shut markets, malls
The FCT Administration has told shop owners to choose between complying with COVID-19 guidelines or having their business premises shut as part of measures to contain the pandemic. Head, Media and Public Enlightenment of the FCT Ministerial Enforcement Task team on COVID-19 Regulations, Ikharo Attah, issued the warning while monitoring the level of compliance in some shopping malls and business premises across the city. He said the administration will “not hesitate to shut down shopping malls, Maitama farmers’ market and business premises in the city that fail to comply with the COVID-19 protocols and guidelines. “From what we observed, there is high compliance by costumers and visitors to these malls and business premises, sadly, same cannot be said of the workers and operators of shops a...
Report: Jack Ma’s Ant Group considers overhaul due to regulatory pressure
Chinese financial technology giant Ant Group plans reorganisation that would allow it to be regulated more like a bank, Bloomberg reports. Jack Ma’s besieged Ant Group Co. is planning to fold its financial operations into a holding company that could be regulated more like a bank, according to people familiar with the situation, potentially crippling the growth of its most-profitable units. The fintech giant is planning to move any unit that would require a financial license into the holding company, pending regulatory approval, said the people, who asked not be named because the matter is private. The plans are still under discussion and subject to change, the people said. Ant declined to comment. The operations that Ant is looking to fold into the holding company include wealth managemen...
House of Reps member petitions army over ‘unlawful dismissal’ of soldiers from Ebonyi
The member representing Ezza South/Ikwo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Chinedu Ogah, has petitioned the Nigerian Army over the ‘unjust’ dismissal of soldiers from Ebonyi state . Ogah said that the soldiers were sacked unjustly from the military and that a petition has been submitted against their dismissal , expressing confidence that they would be reinstated very soon. The federal Lawmaker disclosed this while addressing thousands of members of his constituency who paid him Christmas visit at his Amagu country home, Ikwo in Ikwo local government area of Ebonyi state Ogah however, used the occasion to intimate them on his activities for the one year he has been in office as their representative in the National Assembly, saying that he had submitted petition agai...
Kebbi governor empowers 205 women vegetable sellers with N6.15 million
The Kebbi Governor, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, on Sunday, donated N6.15 million to 205 women vegetables sellers in the state as part of efforts to encourage them to be self-reliant. Newsmen report that each of the 205 women received N30,000 from the donation, in order to boost their vegetable businesses. Gov. Bagudu, who announced the donation at the graduation of the benefitting women in Birnin Kebbi, said that all the women who benefitted from the program had received training in preservation of perishable items. “The comprehensive training of the women traders was conducted by the state chapter of the Kebbi State Vegetables Sellers Association,” he said, lauding the association for the unparalleled gesture that was worthy of emulation by other groups. “The association needs to be commended fo...
Ever-present Boko Haram threat casts shadow in Niger
Seven years after the first Boko Haram attacks in southeastern Niger, people in the city of Diffa, dare not even speak the group’s name. Residents live in a state of siege, frightened and struggling with the economic impact of the Islamist threat. For fear of reprisals, people speak of “insecurity”, of the “problems” or the “current situation”. The fear is well-founded, according to one security source who says Boko Haram sympathisers in the city pass on information to the group. Among the poorest countries in the world, Niger, which is holding presidential elections on Sunday, faces jihadist groups from the Sahel in the west and Boko Haram in the east. “I don’t have 1,000 CFA francs (1.5 euros) in my pocket. I have been unemployed for four years,” says Abdou Maman, 46, who has two wives a...
