Year
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...
Court refuses to order Femi Fani-Kayode’s arrest for not attending trial
A Federal High Court in Abuja declined on Wednesday the application for the issuance of bench warrant against former aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, being tried for alleged money laundering related offences. At the mention of the case on Wednesday, lawyer to the prosecution, Mohammed Abubakar, noted that Fani-Kayode was absent. Abubakar recalled that Fani-Kayode had been absent in court on two other days and argued that the defendant was scheming to evade trial. He then applied to the court to revoke the bail granted the defendant, issue bench warrant for his arrest and order the issuance of summons on his surety to show cause why he (the surety) should not forfeit the bail bond he endorsed. Defence lawyer, Wale Balogun, objected to the request made by the prosecution and argued that ...
EU criticises ‘hasty’ UK approval of coronavirus vaccine
The European Union criticised Britain’s rapid approval of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, saying its own procedure was more thorough, after Britain became the first western country to endorse a COVID-19 shot. The move to grant emergency authorisation to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has been seen by many as a political coup for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has led his country out of the EU and faced criticism for his handling of the pandemic. The decision was made under an ultra-fast, emergency approval process, which allowed the British drugs regulator to temporarily authorise the vaccine only ten days after it began examining data from large-scale trials. In an unusually blunt statement, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which is in charge of approving COVID...
United Nations, Ethiopia reach aid pact for war-hit Tigray
Ethiopia and the United Nations reached an agreement on Wednesday to channel desperately needed humanitarian aid to a northern region where a month of war has killed, wounded and uprooted large numbers of people. The pact, announced by U.N. officials, will allow aid workers access to government-controlled areas of Tigray, where federal troops have been battling the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and captured the regional capital. The war is believed to have killed thousands, sent 45,000 refugees into Sudan, displaced many more within Tigray, and worsened suffering in a region where 600,000 people were already dependent on food aid even before the flare-up from Nov. 4. Aid agencies had sounded the alarm about a growing humanitarian crisis and been pressing for access, after hundred...
South Korea coronavirus outbreak adds new stress to gruelling, eight-hour exam
From avoiding family members to skipping extra study at “cram schools”, the coronavirus has forced nearly half a million South Korean test-takers and proctors to rethink their strategies ahead of a hyper-competitive university entrance exam this week. The gruelling, almost eight-hour test on Thursday is seen as a life-defining event for high school seniors. A degree from a prestigious university is seen as a minimum requirement for securing one of the coveted but limited corporate jobs in Asia’s fourth-largest economy. This year teachers, proctors and students drastically changed their study and teaching practices to try to ensure those taking the test don’t ruin their chances by getting sick. “We take caution not just in classes but also during lunch, sitting facing the walls, eating alon...
FCTA spent N29 billion on coronavirus during lockdown – minister
The Senate has been told that the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA spent a total sum of N28.5billion on some activities within the Federal Capital Territory, FCT during the outbreak of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the lockdown. Speaking yesterday in Abuja when he presented the revised 2020 budget before the Senator Abubakar Kyari, All Progressives Congress, APC, Borno North led Senate Committee on FCT, Minister of the FCT, Mallam Mohammed Musa Bello explained to the Committee that the fund was spent on provision of security services, provision of palliatives for indigent residents, as well as assisting neighbouring States who were distressed. According to him, the FCT health facility supported residents from States where the level of government assista...
‘Electronic voting, best option for credible polls’
An Oyo State politician, Olayinka Oladimeji Segelu, has called for the adoption of electronic voting in Nigeria’s electoral process. Segelu, who aspired for House of Representatives in 2015, said the plan by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to commence electronic voting with Anambra State governorship election next year was a good move. He said: “Honestly, the only way we can ensure transparency and reliability in the conduct of elections in Nigeria is to embrace electronic voting as it is done in some other countries of the world. “We must understand that establishing an independent body to manage and supervise elections is not enough to guarantee free and fair elections devoid of an efficient and reliable system. “To start with, the cost of adopting the electronic bal...
Chinese embassy says Australia ‘misread’ offending social media post
China’s embassy in Australia said politicians there had “misread” a tweet showing a digitally-altered image of an Australian soldier holding a bloodied knife to the throat of an Afghan child, and were trying to stoke nationalism. Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday called the tweet posted by China’s foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, “truly repugnant”, and called for an apology. On Tuesday the tweet was pinned to the top of Zhao’s social media account, and China’s Global Times newspaper, known for nationalistic views, interviewed the Chinese artist who created the image. “The rage and roar of some Australian politicians and media is nothing but misreading of and overreaction to Mr Zhao’s tweet,” the Chinese embassy in Canberra said in a statement on Tuesday. Australia...
US braces for continued surge in coronavirus cases, hospitalisations
As newly reported cases of the coronavirus continued to spike across much of the United States, breaking records for hospitalisations, some local leaders are moving to enact more stringent restrictions. US officials had pleaded with Americans to avoid travel and limit social gatherings as the nation entered its winter holiday season. But many appear to have disregarded those pleas over the long Thanksgiving weekend as the Transportation Security Administration screened nearly 1.2 million airline passengers on Sunday, the highest since mid-March. That number is still about 60 percent lower than the comparable day last year when 2.88 million passengers were screened, the highest ever recorded by the agency. Health officials say they are now preparing for a wave of cases over the next two or ...
Austin Okocha: Super Eagles don’t have natural offensive midfielders
Former Super Eagles captain, Austin Okocha, has revealed that the current team lacks ‘natural’ offensive midfielders, newsmen report. Okocha believes the Eagles need midfielders who can get on the ball and pick a pass as well as drive at the opposition consistently. Gernot Rohr in the last one year played Alex Iwobi and Joe Aribo in the No.10 role for the Eagles but both players have not been convincing in recent games. “What the Eagles need now are natural midfielders who can create chances and change the course of a game. “We need midfielders who can run at defenders and a pick their teammates with good passes,” Okocha said during a radio programme ‘No Holds Barred’ on Brila FM. “We have good midfielders but not in at that level at the moment. Some of them are just scared and the fact th...
UN: Over 110 people killed in attack on Borno rice field
United Nations (UN) has revealed that not less than 110 civilians were killed by Boko Haram in the attack on a rice field in Borno State. Earlier reports had put the death toll of Saturday’s deadly Boko Haram attack on rice field in Borno at 43 while several others were said to be missing. A statement by the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, on Sunday, while describing the attack as horrifying, said not less than 110 people were killed with many other persons injured in one the deadliest attack by the terrorist group, who have laid siege to the Northeast for over a decade. Kallon said: “I am outraged and horrified by the gruesome attack against civilians carried out by non-state armed groups in villages near Borno State capital Maiduguri. “At least 110 ...
Nigerian government given N81 million bill to cut Abuja stadium grass – minister
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has said the Federal Government was given a bill of N81 million to cut the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja. He said this in a series of tweets on Sunday. According to Dare, the sports ministry rejected the bill. The minister explained that fund was not available, adding that there would be an outcry if Nigerians were told that N81 million was used to cut grass. He tweeted, “The ministry was given a bill. The Ministry did not accept. It will be detrimental to spend such an amount. And it can be better invested. “If we tell Nigerians we used N81m to cut grass, which is not even available, there will be an outcry. “The funds are not really there for us and that is why we are partnering with private investors to bring back the...
