COVID-19
The NBA Season Might Be A Wash Due To COVID-19 Says Commissioner Adam Silver
Source: Harry How / Getty One of America’s favorite pastimes might not have a run in 2020. Coronavirus is making the National Basketball League resuming its 2020 season very doubtful. In the recent weeks several professional ballers have contracted COVID-19. While the confirmations are alarming the timing of these cases is also putting an spotlight of uncertainty on basketball as a whole. So much so that the season might be scrapped. As spotted on TMZ NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is expressing some concern about commencing with the 2020-2021 schedule. On a recent appearance on TIME 100 Talks he revealed that he has some serious concerns about the current climate. “Certainly if we had a lot of cases, we are going to stop. You cannot run from this virus” he explained. “We and our p...
Nick Cave’s ‘Idiot Prayer’ Virtual Concert Will Feature ‘Rare Tracks’
Nick Cave, like the rest of us, is stuck in lockdown and waiting for the (coronavirus) cloud to lift. He’s not been sat idle. Just last month, the veteran Australian singer, songwriter and bandleader shot Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at London’s Alexandra Palace, footage from which will stream in full on July 23. The ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted artist performed songs from his back catalogue, including early Bad Seeds and Grinderman, through to the most recent Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds album, Ghosteen, and “rare tracks that most fans will be hearing for the first time,” reads a statement. Idiot Prayer was filmed by the acclaimed cinematographer Robbie Ryan (The Favourite, Marriage Story, American Honey) in Ally Pally’s cavernous West Hall, a venue he filled out 15 years ago, well before...
No Laughing Matter: D.L. Hughley Says He Unknowingly Spread The Coronavirus To His Team
Source: Michael S. Schwartz / Getty It turns out there were more consequences to D.L. Hughley testing positive for COVID-19. The actor/comedian had fans worried when he suddenly passed out during a standup show at a Tennessee comedy club. He provided us with an update that he fainted due to exhaustion and dehydration but also learned that he tested positive for COVID-19. Hughley didn’t experience any symptoms and is considered an asymptomatic carrier of COVID-19. Hughley revealed in an exclusive interview with TMZ, that he has a pretty good idea where he caught the coronavirus and that he unknowingly spread the virus to his radio show team and son. He jokingly referred to himself as a “regular Typhoid Mary.” Per TMZ: “Hughley says he was in Dallas for a few days — where COV...
Socially Distanced Festival to Take Place in Northern Ireland in August
The organizers behind Northern Ireland’s Stendhal Festival have announced plans to host an impending socially distanced music festival called “Unlocked.” Billed as “the first of its kind in the history of Northern Ireland,” the fest is scheduled to occur over the course of two weekends at Ballymully Cottage Farm in Limavady from August 21st to 22nd and August 28th to 29th, respectively. According to the official event description located on the festival’s microsite, fans can “expect special performances from some of the very best talent the island of Ireland has to offer, beer gardens, delicious food and perhaps best of all, over 20 acres of outdoor scenic countryside to enjoy.” As promoters and event planners continue to painstakin...
Nigerian government activates all FCT public hospitals for coronavirus sample collection
The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), has said that all government hospitals in FCT would become COVID-19 sample collection sites so that walk-in cases could have samples taken for testing. The Minister of Health, Mr Osagie Ehanire, who announced this during the PTF briefing on Thursday in Abuja, said that the move was geared towards scaling up the number of daily tests conducted in the country daily. “This assures users and caregivers of reduced bottlenecks and improved efficiency in our response. We intend to scale this up to other states of the federation,” he said. Ehanire said that all health workers would be trained and retrained on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and issued PPEs and materials required for discharge of their duties. The minister also directed the deployment a...
South Africa’s GDP Falls by 2% During First Quarter of 2020
Sourced from Finance Monthly. According to Statistics South Africa, the country’s economy decreased by 2.0% in the first quarter of 2020. Extending the technical recession the country found itself in in the last quarter of 2019. Stats SA’s latest quarterly GDP figures come only a week after SA’s finance minister Tito Mboweni tabled a supplementary budget in part of the country’s response against the COVID-19 pandemic. South Africa is the worst affected country in the continent. Treasury now expects the country’s GDP to contract by a record 7.2% by the end of the year, while tax revenues are expected to fall over R300 billion shorter then what was estimated in February’s budget. Fin24 reports that the global economy is likewise looking dour. The UK is reporting a 2.2% contraction between Ja...
Christians, Muslims declare fasting, prayer against coronavirus
File Photo President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Samson Ayokunle, in conjunction with the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar Mohammadu III, have called for a three-day fasting and prayer (tagged NINEVEH) from July 3 to 5 throughout the country. The prayer is to seek total defeat of COVID-19 in Nigeria and all over the world. The Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) has been calling on all Christians and Muslims to take part in the national weekly prayer conducted online every Thursday in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation (OSGF) and other stakeholders. According to a statement issued by the General Secretary of CAN, Mr. Joseph Daramola: “The NIREC leadership appreciates the efforts of the Presidential Task Force on COVID...
10 Customs officers contracted coronavirus at Lagos ports – comptroller
File Photo The Controller of the Apapa Customs Command of the Nigerian Customs Service, Comptroller Mohammed Abba-Kura, on Thursday, said ten of his officers contracted the COVID-19 disease and were treated at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). This is even as the Controller stated that any vessel Red-Flagged for issues with health or safety concern will not be boarded by his officers until cleared by relevant government agencies. Addressing maritime journalists in his office, on Thursday, Comptroller Mohammed Abba-Kura explained that there is no way the Command can stop physical examination of cargoes for now because of the fear of COVID-19, that rather, it is important for individuals to observe physical hygiene while carrying out port activities. According to Abba-Kura, “Whe...
Novak Djokovic, wife recover from coronavirus
Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena, who last week both tested positive for coronavirus following his exhibition tournament in the Balkans, have now tested negative, his press service said Thursday. Neither the 33-year-old player nor his partner felt any symptoms, the statement said. The couple had been self-isolating since returning to Belgrade from Zadar in Croatia, the town which hosted the second leg of Djokovic’s ill-fated Adria Tour. Four players — Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki — tested positive for the virus after the event which saw little social distancing and packed stands. The world number one’s coach Goran Ivanisevic also contracted COVID-19. Players had embraced across the net, played basketball and even danced in a nightclub during the week of the f...
Jay-Z Made In America Festival 2020 Officially Cancelled
Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz You knew this was going to happen. Jay-Z’s annual Made In America Festival had been cancelled this year due to the coronavirus. Roc Nation issued a statement on Wednesday (July 1) announcing that it was officially grand opening, grand closing. “2020 is a year like no other,” reads part of the statement. “We are in a pivotal time in this nation’s history. Collectively, we are fighting parallel pandemics, COVID-19, systematic racism, and police brutality. Now is the time to protect the health of our artists, fans, partners, and community as well as focus on our support for organizations and individuals fighting for social justice and equality in our country. Therefore, the Made In America festival will be rescheduled for Labor Day Weekend 2021.” The MI...
Microsoft and LinkedIn to Bring Digital Skills to 25 million People Worldwide
Microsoft has announced a new global skills initiative aimed at bringing more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide by the end of the year. The announcement comes in response to the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Expanded access to digital skills is an important step in accelerating economic recovery, especially for the people hardest hit by job losses. This initiative, detailed on the Official Microsoft Blog, includes immediate steps to help those looking to reskill and pursue an in-demand job and brings together every part of the company, combining existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub and Microsoft. This includes: /* custom css */ .tdi_3_d1c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_d1c.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The use of data to ...
Vanilla Ice to Perform In Texas Despite Surge in Virus Cases
Robert Matthew Van Winkle, best known by his stage name Vanilla Ice, is scheduled to perform at the Emerald Point Bar & Grill in Austin, Texas on Friday, according to a social media post from the venue. The concert, dubbed “Independence Day Throwback Beach Party,” will celebrate the Fourth of July holiday on an outdoor stage. This event arrives amid the surge in COVID-19 cases across Texas. According to The Texas Tribune, the number of COVID-19 cases has nearly quadrupled since Memorial Day. As of Wednesday, the state reported 8,000 new cases and 21 additional deaths. 2,481 people in Texas have died from COVID-19, with 168,062 Texans testing positive. There were 3,000 hospitalized in the Houston region, with 800 in intensive care. “We are looking forward to a fun and ...
