AFCONQ: CAF confirms new date for Sierra Leone vs Benin clash
The Confederation of African Football has announced the postponed Africa Cup of Nations qualification encounter between Sierra Leone and Benin Republic will now take place during the June international window. The Group L fixture initially billed for Tuesday, March 30, at the National Stadium, Freetown did not take place owing to a Covid-19 controversy. However, both teams will now square up against one another in three months’ time – a game that will determine the last team to secure a place for Cameroon 2022. “The Africa Cup of Nations organizing committee has decided to postpone the above-mentioned match to the next Fifa international window scheduled for June 2021. We thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding,” a post from Benin Football Federation Facebook page read....
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry to quit social media
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has vowed to remove himself from all social media from tomorrow until platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram take more serious action against racism and other abuses. Henry suggested that, as things stand, the companies are quicker to take action against copyright infringements than they are to the toxic behaviour poisoning the platforms. In a statement posted online, Henry said: “From tomorrow morning I will be removing myself from social media until the people in power are able to regulate their platforms with the same vigour and ferocity that they currently do when you infringe copyright. “The sheer volume of racism, bullying and resulting mental torture to individuals is too toxic to ignore. “There HAS to be some accountability. It is far too eas...
Dagrin’s duet partner Lala passes on
A Nigerian music star, Alayande Lola Oladapo Quam, better known as Lala, is dead. Lala became popular following his released hit single, “Idi Nla,” which featured the late rapper, Dagrin, in a duet by the duo. According to a Facebook post by his brother, Alayande Tunde Adisa, Lala died on Tuesday. Adisa, however, didn’t disclose the cause of his death. Lala was a graduate of Project Management at Lagos State University. He also obtained his Master’s degree from the same institution. The death of the singer is coming just a few weeks after the death of music producer, Dokta Frabs, who produced “Idi Nla.” Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. G...
Russia calls U.S. allegations over Putin-directed election meddling ‘baseless’
Russia on Wednesday described U.S. intelligence allegations that President Vladimir Putin had likely directed efforts to try to swing the 2020 U.S. presidential election to Donald Trump as baseless. A 15-page American intelligence report, released on Tuesday, added heft to longstanding allegations that some of Trump’s top lieutenants were playing into Moscow’s hands by amplifying claims made against then-candidate Joe Biden by Russian-linked Ukrainian figures in the run-up to the Nov. 3 election. “The document prepared by the U.S. intelligence community is another set of baseless accusations against our country for interfering in American domestic political processes,” Russia’s embassy in the United States said in a statement on Facebook. “The conclusions of the report on Russia conducting...
Facebook Launches a Paid Events Tool for South African Content Creators
Facebook has launched a Paid Online Events tool that will allow content creators in South Africa to earn extra money. Paid Online Events is available in 20 countries and is expanding to 24 additional countries in the coming weeks, with South Africa being the first country in Africa where the tool is launching. “Since launching Paid Online Events in August 2020, it has grown tremendously, providing creators and businesses with another valuable way to earn money on Facebook,” says Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Head of Strategic Media Partnerships for Sub-Saharan Africa. “Many conference organisers, musicians, trainers, theatre producers, creators and businesses are losing revenue during the pandemic due to social distancing measures. Paid online events will help them to reconnect with their fans, mo...
Ugandan President says ‘Facebook Will Fail’
Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda, claims that Facebook is biased after a number of his governments’ supporter’s accounts were closed for ‘spreading false information’. “Facebook will talk but we shall move, they are not God. Recently, I heard people who came here for the first time…they were from the USA. When they reached, they asked me, where is war? I answered, which war? They told me that they had seen on Facebook that there is a war in Uganda. Therefore, for such things, Facebook will fail,” says Museveni. “They deleted our people’s accounts under the guise, but we can see the bias, the discrimination standards they used. You cannot say that these were doing wrong, what about the other group (opposition) that have been spreading all forms of wrong information and inciting our peop...
Facebook’s New App Bars Lets You Rap Over Premade Beats
The follow-up era to SoundCloud rappers may well be upon us. As noted by TechCrunch, Facebook is releasing an app that will let users rap over premade beats and share a video of it with their community. It’s called Bars, and it’s currently available to download in closed beta form. From the sound of it, Bars is an app geared towards beginner rappers and freestyle pros alike. Users can choose from a rolodex of beats already available to use on the app, rap over them for 60 seconds, and then post the video to a “TikTok-style feed” where fellow Bars users can watch it and mark it as “fire” if they like it. Bars reportedly offers “studio quality vocal effects,” including everybody’s favorite AutoTune feature, too. Those in need of a creative boost should be pretty pleased with Bars because it ...
Australia’s competition chief claims victory after Facebook standoff
The architect of Australian media reforms being watched around the world claimed victory on Wednesday, even as critics said concessions to the laws forcing Big Tech to pay for news content have given Facebook and Google a get-out clause. The Australian government made late changes to the laws after Facebook last week blocked news content in Australia, escalating a dispute over the proposed legislation and catching international attention. The amended legislation is expected to pass the Senate this week, despite opposition from some minor opposition parties and independent politicians who argue it disadvantages smaller news companies. Rod Sims, the chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), told Reuters the bargaining power imbalance he was tasked with correcting...
Appeal Court strikes out Facebook’s appeal against trademark judgment
The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos, Tuesday, dismissed Facebook’s appeal challenging the judgment of a Federal High Court, Lagos, which awarded N10 million against it (Facebook) in favour of a Nigerian firm, Double Paws Enterprise, as damages for unlawfully interfering with the use of the firm’s trademark. The appellate court justices that decided the matter were Justices Haruna Tsammani, Oluwayemisi Williams-Dawodu, and Abdullahi Bayero. Justice Bayero read the lead judgment. Facebook had appealed the lower court judgment through its counsel, Jackson Etti. However, counsel to the respondent, Double Paws Enterprise, was Mr Gideon Okebu. Facebook challenged the competence of the appeal and urged the Appeal Court to dismiss the same for being fundamentally flawed. Justice Bayero in the lea...
Nigerian lady convicted in US for online fraud
Oyindamola Akinrinola, 23, a Nigerian resident of Lawrence, Kansas, has pleaded guilty in federal court for her role in online fraud schemes that targeted victims in the United States. U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister announced her conviction Monday night, saying she will now face time in federal prison for her crime. “Akinrinola and her co-conspirator in Nigeria victimised individuals, several elderly, through a variety of online scams,” he said. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prioritise the investigation and prosecution of fraud schemes like these, no matter where they originate. “I also take this conviction as an opportunity to reiterate to all Kansans the vulnerability of our senior citizens to scams and con artists, who prey upon them. “We must all be v...
Nigerian lady convicted in US for online fraud
Oyindamola Akinrinola, 23, a Nigerian resident of Lawrence, Kansas, has pleaded guilty in federal court for her role in online fraud schemes that targeted victims in the United States. U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister announced her conviction Monday night, saying she will now face time in federal prison for her crime. “Akinrinola and her co-conspirator in Nigeria victimised individuals, several elderly, through a variety of online scams,” he said. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prioritise the investigation and prosecution of fraud schemes like these, no matter where they originate. “I also take this conviction as an opportunity to reiterate to all Kansans the vulnerability of our senior citizens to scams and con artists, who prey upon them. “We must all be v...
Facebook to Lift Its Australian News Ban
Facebook blocked Australian users from accessing and sharing news last week after the House of Representatives passed the draft law late Wednesday. Initially, the Facebook news blockade cut access — at least temporarily — to government pandemic, public health and emergency services, sparking public outrage. The Senate will debate amended legislation on Tuesday. Frydenberg described the agreed upon amendments as “clarifications” of the government’s intent. He said his negotiations with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg were “difficult.” “There is no doubt that Australia has been a proxy battle for the world,” Frydenberg said. “Facebook and Google have not hidden the fact that they know that the eyes of the world are on Australia and that is why they have sought to get a code here tha...
