Coronavirus
Juventus in talks with Dybala over contract renewal – director
Juventus are in talks to renew Paulo Dybala’s contract, but managing director Fabio Paratici revealed the club’s coronavirus scare made negotiations difficult. Dybala has two years remaining on his existing deal in Turin but an extension has long been mooted, with the Bianconeri said to be discussing an agreement until 2025. But no clarity has been forthcoming in the opening weeks of the 2020-21 season. Paratici is not overly concerned, though, explaining the reason for the delay. “We’re in talks to extend Paulo’s contract,” he told Sky Sport Italia . “He wants to stay and we want to keep him – he’s part of our future. “It has been a tricky period because we were locked in the hotel for two weeks due to the Covid scare and not allowed to meet anyone. “But we’ll continue the negotiations to...
Tool’s Maynard James Keenan Has a Not-So-Nice Message for Coronavirus Deniers
Keenan, whose musical project Puscifer is releasing new album Existential Reckoning on Oct. 30, did later note that prior to hopping on the flight, he got a mask to wear. After arriving in New Zealand, the musician said that he stayed in his hotel for four days because the band had a few days off. “So I was just drinking water, hot showers, taking care of myself, hot tea. Just trying to get through it. It sucked!” he said. “But you didn’t know yet how bad this thing could’ve been; if I had known how bad this thing could’ve been, I would’ve been freaking out! So we isolated pretty well.” But because of his illness — which a doctor in New Zealand told him wasn’t COVID-19 — Keenan says that the band had to tweak their sets a bi...
Nigeria seeks to halt looting amid fury over ‘food warehouses’
Nigerian security forces are struggling to contain increasing cases of looting on government-run warehouses across the country, in the latest incident of unrest following widespread, youth-led protests against police brutality. The storage facilities hold tonnes of relief materials including food meant for distribution during lockdowns previously enforced to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. While the distribution programme had been temporarily halted across several states in the country in recent months, it emerged this week relief items were still stored in some of these facilities, as well as the private homes of politicians. The news angered many in the country with the biggest number of people living in extreme poverty globally. “The food items belong to Nigerians. Why are the...
Italy closes theatres, gyms as virus cases mount
Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte tightened nationwide coronavirus restrictions Sunday after the country recorded a record number of new cases, despite opposition from regional heads and street protests over curfews. Cinemas, theatres, gyms and swimming pools must all close under the new rules, which come into force on Monday and run until November 24, while restaurants and bars will stop serving at 6pm, the prime minister’s office said. Italy, the first European country to be hit hard by the pandemic and impose a nationwide lockdown, on Saturday clocked nearly 20,000 new cases in a 24-hour period. “Semi-lockdown for a month,” said the Repubblica daily, noting Conte had done little to appease regional heads who had appealed for much softer measures to save ailing businesses devastated ...
England Women cancel Germany friendly after positive test
England Women have cancelled Tuesday’s friendly in Germany following a positive coronavirus test. The fixture, which was due to take place behind closed doors at the Brita-Arena in Wiesbaden, was to be England’s first competitive fixture since the SheBelieves Cup in March. Phil Neville and the squad met up for a training camp at St George’s Park this week are were set to fly to Germany on Sunday but those plans have been shelved at the last minute. As hosts of the delayed 2021 European Championships, which will now take place in July 2022, England have not had any qualifying games to play. England have been set a target of winning the World Cup or European Championship by 2024 and have been keen to return to competitive action. Neville’s side disappointed at the SheBelieves Cup earlier thi...
President Trump Storms Out Of ’60 Minutes’ Interview, Blasts Journalist On Twitter
Source: Array / WENN During a taping of a joint interview with Vice President Mike Pence for CBS’s 60 Minutes, President Donald Trump reportedly cut things short due to a line of questions about the coronavirus. Trump then took to Twitter and jabbed at journalist Lesley Stahl while deeming the interview “fake” and “biased.” According to a report from CNN, sources tell the network that Trump was grilled on his handling of the coronavirus epidemic among other concerns. Around 45 minutes in, Trump ended the discussion saying that the network had enough footage and soon after began tweeting missives in the direction of Stahl, including one tweet featuring a video of Stahl not wearing a mask. “Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes not wearing a mask in the White House after her interview with me. Much mor...
Gold rises on renewed US stimulus hope, dollar falls
Spot gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,910.56 an ounce at 3:37pm, New York time, after falling as much as 0.5 percent. Gold rose on renewed optimism for a preelection aid package in the U.S., while the dollar fell to a one-week low. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a bill for a compromise stimulus package is being written as she awaits a key phone call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his chamber would take up a comprehensive coronavirus package if an accord is struck. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index headed for the third straight decline. Pelosi said in a Bloomberg Television interview that while there are areas where more work is required to get a compromise, she was pleased with the Trump administration’s latest position on coronavirus testing ...
Even Miami’s Uber Popular Club LIV Is Facing Uncertainties About Reopening
Source: Paul Morigi / Getty One of the most beloved party destinations in Miami remains closed leaving thousands of partygoers and many rappers no place to call home in South Beach. The brains behind Club LIV is discussing his game plan. As spotted in Billboard Magazine, David Grutman conducted in an in-depth interview with the music industry periodical. Since March the nightlife hotspot, which in the last ten years has become a must-visit for any rapper that is in town, has been closed since March due to the pandemic. In June, the city gave the green light for restaurants to reopen but for many the move was premature. The events guru revealed that he too thought that the coronavirus wasn’t going to be a concern for long. “We thought the world was back,” he explained. “I was naïve enough t...
Foo Fighters to Headline #SOSFest in Support of Independent Music Venues
In an effort to save independent music venues impacted by the pandemic, YouTube Music is teaming up with the National Independent Venue Association for #SOSFest. Taking place October 16th-18th, the three-day virtual festival will feature 35 original performances recorded live from 25 independent concert venues across the United States. Scheduled performers include Foo Fighters, Miley Cyrus, Dave Matthews, Demi Lovato, Phoebe Bridgers, The Roots, Brittany Howard, Portugal. the Man, Rise Against, Black Pumas, FINNEAS, Nathaniel Rateliff, The Lumineers, Leon Bridges, and more. Reggie Watts will host the festival. See the full schedule below, and stream the event via NIVA’s YouTube channel (below). During the livestream, viewers will be encouraged to donate to the NIVA Emergency Relief Fund, w...
Promoters Behind The Chainsmokers’ Packed Hamptons Concert Fined $20,000
Over the summer, The Chainsmokers threw COVID caution to the wind with a “drive-in” concert in the Hamptons. VIP tickets cost upwards of $25,000, which is just $5,000 more than the promoters behind the event will now have to pay in fines to state of New York. Videos from the concert — thrown during peak pandemic back in July — immediately sparked backlash when they started spreading on social media. More than 3,000 attendees had arrived in over 600 vehicles, and they clearly weren’t staying within their designated parking perimeters. Even worse, most appeared to be gleefully flouting mask requirements. The New York State Department of Health launched an investigation into the concert over violations of its COVID-19 safety regulations. Today, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the event’s...
The Flaming Lips Actually Performed Their First Bubble Concert
Those crazy SOBs actually did it. On Tuesday night, The Flaming Lips performed their first concert for a live audience that was entirely protected in inflatable space bubbles. Taking place at the Criterion in the band’s hometown of Oklahoma City, the short gig was half test run for future concerts, half music video shoot (via Brooklyn Vegan). Setlist.fm notes The Flaming Lips performed a dance remix of “Assassins of Youth” as well as “Brother Eye”, both tracks from their latest LP, American Head. Frontman Wayne Coyne posted video of the event, which showed him singing in his familiar bubble, only this time it was rolled atop a number of fans in inflatables of their own. Another image showed a floor decal that read, “The Flaming Lips ask you to please wear masks when not in the space bubble...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘Everybody’s on the Extreme End of Being Tired’
How did Record Store Day go on Saturday? It went really well. The same sort of pattern that we had with the first date worked well and seamlessly, and people were happy. And we did a give away five cases of New Belgium beer, [which] made people happy as well. What were some of your big sellers? Brandi Carlile is this year’s Record Store Day ambassador, and she had a 12-inch that had two covers of Soundgarden songs. That was a really big seller for us. The Bill Evans was a big seller. There was the release by the Yardbirds that did really well. One of the last times we spoke, we talked about how we couldn’t see businesses including retail getting shut down again given that people are so used to having more freedom now. But Wisconsin is becoming a really big hotspot for the ...
