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Miami signs 10-year deal to host Formula One grand prix

Tobi Sangotola
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Miami will host a Formula One race from next year as part of a 10-year-deal announced on Sunday.

The Grand Prix has been in the pipeline for a number of years following American conglomerate Liberty Media’s acquisition of the sport in 2017.

But after a series of setbacks, a 10-year deal to race at the Hard Rock Stadium – home to NFL team Miami Dolphins and where the Miami Open tennis tournament is held – was confirmed ahead of Sunday’s Emilia-Romagna GP

The round in Miami, the first in the sport’s history, becomes the second F1 race to be staged in the United States, with Austin’s Circuit of the Americas a permanent fixture on the calendar since 2012.

New F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said: “We are thrilled to announce that Formula One will be racing in Miami beginning in 2022.

“The US is a key growth market for us, and we are greatly encouraged by our growing reach in the US which will be further supported by this exciting second race.

“We will be working closely with the team from Hard Rock Stadium and the FIA to ensure the circuit delivers sensational racing but also leaves a positive and lasting contribution for the people in the local community.

“We are looking forward to bringing the greatest racing spectacle on the planet to Miami for the first time in our sport’s history.”

The new track will be 3.36 miles long and is set to incorporate 19 corners and three straights.

A date for the race is yet to be announced, but its introduction could see the number of rounds increase to a new record of 24.

Twenty-three Grand Prix have been scheduled for this season, but it is expected that some of those could fall by the wayside given the precarious nature of the Covid-19 pandemic.

chief executive of the Miami Dolphins Tom Garfinkel said: “The Hard Rock stadium entertainment campus in Miami Gardens exists to host the biggest global events to benefit the entire greater Miami region and Formula One racing is as big as it gets.

“We have worked with specialist designers to create a racetrack that we, Formula One and the FIA believe will provide great racing and we hope to create best-in-class unique fan experiences that are reflective of the diverse and dynamic nature of Miami.”

 

Humanitarian Ministry disburses grants to vulnerable women in Cross River

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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Two thousand, eight hundred (2,800) rural women have received 20 thousand naira cash grant from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social development in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, south-south Nigeria.

The women, who were drawn from the 18 local government areas of Cross River, converged on the main bowl of the Cultural Centre Complex in Calabar to receive the grant of 20,000 naira cash from the Minister Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq represented by the Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme, Dr. Umar Bindir.

Bindir said that the grant was part of the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s social inclusion programme to lift 100 million people out of poverty through the National Social Investment Programme, which comprises N-Power, National Home Grown School Feeding Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, GEEP.

He stated, “the Grant for Rural Women Programme was introduced in 2020 to sustain the social inclusion agenda of President Buhari’s administration. It is designed to provide a one-off grant to the poorest and most vulnerable women in the rural and peri-rural areas.”

According to Bindir, a cash grant of 20 thousand naira would be disbursed to rural women across the 36 states in the country, noting “our target in Cross River is to disburse the grant to over 2,800 rural women across the 18 local government councils.”

The National Coordinator further stated that as the largest social protection programme in Africa with over One Billion US Dollars earmarked annually to positively change the lives of the poor and vulnerable, NSIP had produced other results in Cross River State.

“Over 12 million household nationwide have benefited from the intervention schemes in the last five years. In Cross River State, 11,995 households are receiving the Conditional Cash Transfer of 5,000 naira monthly and 362,870 school children get one free meal a day prepared by more than 3,000 cooks that supply the food for the school feeding programme,” Bindir hinted.

Bindir explained that the grant is expected to increase the income and productive assets of the beneficiaries and advised them to utilise the cash grants judiciously so as to improve their current living standards.

He commended the Governor Ben Ayade led administration for the commitment and collaboration with President Buhari’s social inclusion programme to uplift the core poor out of poverty.

Empowerment Programme
In a message, Governor Ben Ayade expressed profound appreciation to the Nigerian Government for initiating the women empowerment programme aimed at lifting the poor and vulnerable out of poverty and improving their standard of living.

Governor Ayade, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Tina Agbor, said the programme was in tandem with his humanitarian posture and policy thrust, which is to elevate the socio-economic status of women, children and less privileged in the society.

“This is timely and most welcomed. This grant will accord the beneficiaries the opportunity to invest in their petty businesses. The future of this nation lies in the hands of the women. I expect that the beneficiaries would invest these monies in their various businesses and manage that trade to grow like they have always done,” he said.

Some of the beneficiaries including Mrs. Etim-Effiom, expressed gratitude to President Buhari for driving the programme, noting “this is the first time that we are ever receiving money like this from our government. We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for remembering women, widows, and single parents like us. This will help me in my business. I can now buy more palm oil because I retail palm oil in bottles.”

Earlier, the Cross River Commissioner for Humanities and Social Welfare, Blessing Egbara disclosed that the governor established the ministry to synergize with Federal Ministry to implement the President’s intervention schemes.

She assured of the ministry’s preparedness to ensure beneficiaries effectively utilize the grants to improve their means of livelihood.

 

Nnenna.O

Highlights: Ziyech goal sends Chelsea to FA cup final

Tobi Sangotola
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Chelsea ended Manchester City’s quadruple bid as Hakim Ziyech’s goal secured a 1-0 win at Wembley to send Thomas Tuchel’s side through to the FA Cup final.

Ziyech converted Timo Werner’s squared pass after Chelsea sprang the Manchester City offside trap 10 minutes into the second half and the goal proved decisive in a game of few chances

City could yet face Chelsea again in the Champions League final after both sides advanced in Europe earlier this week, but they were well below par at Wembley and their problems were compounded by an apparent ankle injury to Kevin De Bruyne.

 

 

Tobi Sangotola/Skysports/Chelsea FC

S.Africa regulator recommends lifting pause on J&J vaccine

Mosunmola Ore
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South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), has recommended that the government lift the pause on administering Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccines, given that certain conditions are met.

“These conditions include, but are not limited to, strengthened screening and monitoring of participants who are at high risk of a blood clotting disorder,” the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) said.

“In addition, measures are to be implemented to ensure the safe management of any participants who develop vaccine-induced thrombosis and thrombocytopenia (VITT),” the statement added.

Just recently, South Africa suspended the rollout of the J&J vaccine in the “implementation study” on Tuesday, after U.S. health agencies recommended pausing its use because of rare cases of blood clots in six people inoculated with it, out of some 7 million people who have received the shot in the United States.

A U.S. panel will meet again next week to discuss whether the pause on the use of the vaccine should continue, after delaying a vote on the matter earlier this week.

 

MTO/Reuters

Daughter of jailed Kremlin critic Navalny says he needs a doctor

Bilkisu Halilu Pai
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The daughter of hunger-striking Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny called on Russian authorities on Sunday to allow a doctor to treat her father in prison, a day after a group of medical professionals warned he is at risk of kidney failure.

“Allow a doctor to see my dad,” Navalny’s daughter Dasha, a student at Stanford University, wrote on Twitter.

Navalny, a fierce opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, started refusing food on March 31 in protest at what he said was the refusal of prison authorities to provide him with proper medical care for acute back and leg pain.

Prison authorities say they have offered Navalny proper medical care but that the 44-year-old opposition politician has refused it and insisted on being treated by a doctor of his choice from outside the facility, a request they have declined.

A medical trade union with ties to Navalny said on Saturday he was in critical condition, citing medical tests that it said showed that Navalny’s kidneys could soon fail, which could lead to cardiac arrest.

A group of actors, writers, historians, journalists and directors, including Jude Law and J.K. Rowling, wrote an open letter to President Vladimir Putin on Friday urging him to ensure Navalny gets medical care.

A group of opposition regional lawmakers also called on Putin on Saturday to make sure Navalny is properly treated.

In a television interview with the BBC, Russia’s ambassador to Britain accused Navalny of attention-seeking.

“He will not be allowed to die in prison, but I can say that Mr. Navalny, he behaves like a hooligan, absolutely,” Ambassador Andrei Kelin said in the interview, which was recorded on Friday and aired on Sunday. “His purpose for all of that is to attract attention for him.”

Navalny has said prison authorities are threatening to put him in a straitjacket to force-feed him unless he abandons his hunger strike.

Russia jailed Navalny for 2-1/2 years in February for parole violations he said were fabricated.

He was arrested in January when he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning attack he blamed on Putin.

The Kremlin has said it has seen no evidence he was poisoned and has cast Navalny as a U.S.-backed subversive on a mission to destabilise Russia.

Reuters

India’s capital under siege from COVID-19

Bilkisu Halilu Pai
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India’s capital New Delhi recorded 25,500 coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period, with about one in three people tested returning a positive result, its chief minister said.

Less than 100 critical care beds were available in the city of more than 20 million people, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday, as social media was flooded with people complaining about lack of beds, oxygen cylinders and drugs.

“The bigger worry is that in last 24 hours positivity rate has increased to around 30% from 24% … The cases are rising very rapidly. The beds are filling fast,” Kejriwal told a news briefing.

In a separate statement, the city government said it had informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s federal administration about “the dire need of beds and oxygen” and beds were now being set up in schools.

New Delhi, which has imposed a weekend curfew, is among the worst hit cities in India, where a second major wave of coronavirus infections is straining health infrastructure.

Nationwide, India reported 261,500 new cases on Sunday, taking the total number of cases to nearly 14.8 million, second only to the United States, which has reported more than 31 million infections.

The country’s deaths from COVID-19 rose by a record 1,501 to reach a total of 177,150.

As cases rise across India, criticism is mounting over how Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has handled the health crisis, as religious festivals and election rallies attended by thousands continue.

India’s government relaxed almost all lockdown curbs of last year by the beginning of 2021, although some regions including New Delhi and the state of Maharashtra, home to financial hub Mumbai, have introduced localised restrictions.

While Mumbai remains under curfew on all days as per state guidelines, New Delhi has allowed cinema halls to operate at 30% capacity and people to move freely during weekdays.

Amid reports of severe shortage of oxygen supplies and critical medicines such as the anti-viral drug Remdesivir, Modi on Saturday asked authorities to pull out all the stops to ramp up production of COVID-19 vaccines and asked his teams to work closely with local governments.

But opposition parties, including the Congress party, criticised Modi for addressing large election rallies to help his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the state assembly election in the eastern state of West Bengal.

Amit Shah, the government’s interior minister and Modi’s close aide, addressed an election rally in the state on Sunday which was attended by thousands of people, few of whom followed social distancing norms, according to a video on his Twitter account.

Adding to the crisis, at least five coronavirus patients died in a hospital fire late on Saturday in Raipur, the capital of the central state of Chhattisgarh.

Reuters

SEC sets April 30, deadline for CMOs licence renewal

Hauwa Abubakar Anaja
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The Securities and Exchange Commission, (SEC), has given Capital Market Operators, April 30, 2021, as deadline to renew their operation licences.

Director General of SEC, Mr. Lamido Yuguda said while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the first virtual quarter Capital Market Committee meeting licence renewals will now be periodical.

He explained that the “rationale for this is to ensure that operators in the market are fit and proper at all times and to strengthen the supervision and monitoring activities of the Commission. The renewal process is electronic and the deadline for 2021 renewal is 30th April, 2021”.

Yuguda therefore advised all registered CMOs to “refrain from providing any form of support to unregistered entities operating unlawfully within our market, as such action would not be condoned. Furthermore, we urge CMOs to improve on their level of compliance, timeliness and correctness of disclosures and other filings made to the Commission”.

He addd that at April 8, 2021, there were still 4,012,311 accounts with incomplete know your customers, KYC, information, reminding CMOs to update their KYC information

“This exercise is critical to deepening the participation of retail investors and we direct all CMOs to accord it the highest level of priority”, he stressed.

He also stated that the Nigerian Stock Exchange has concluded the Demutualization process.

“As a result of this, the Organisation would now be known as the Nigeria Exchange, NGX, Group Plc. While NGX has informed us that a formal launch of the Group would be made at the end of April, we used the platform of the meeting to congratulate the new management of the Group. The Shares of NGX Plc have also been admitted on the NASD platform for trading.

“As part of measures to support the development of the commodities ecosystem, the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) revalidated its 59.9% holding in the Nigerian Commodities Exchange (NCX) to ensure its appropriate positioning for effectiveness. This addressed the funding problem plaguing the NCX and several engagements are ongoing with relevant authorities to promote trading on the Exchange”.

 

 

Vanguard/Hauwa Abu

 

 

 

 

 

Magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits southern Iran

Bilkisu Halilu Pai
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A magnitude 5.9 earthquake has struck Iran’s southern province of Bushehr, where a nuclear power plant is located, but there were no immediate reports of considerable damage.

At least five people were injured, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported. The epicentre of the earthquake on Sunday was the town of Rig.

Hospitals in nearby cities and provinces were put on alert with rescue teams and 50 ambulances sent to the area, a regional official told state TV.

Electricity and landline telephone and internet in the regional city of Gonaveh were cut off “and people are taking to the streets for fear of earthquakes”, semi-official news agency Tasnim reported.

An Iranian government official told Reuters news agency there were no reports of damage at the Bushehr nuclear complex, situated on Iran’s Gulf coast.

The earthquake was centred 100km (60 miles) away from the plant and was relatively shallow – only 10km (6 miles) deep, according to Iranian media which also reported nine aftershocks and posted pictures that showed collapsed mud-brick walls in some villages.

Two people were injured in Gonaveh and were being taken to hospital, state media quoted the head of the Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Saeed Kashmiri, as saying.

Crisscrossed by major fault lines, Iran is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world.

In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Kerman province killed 31,000 people and flattened the ancient city of Bam.

Aljazeera

EU to discuss alleged Russian link to 2014 blast in Czech

Bilkisu Halilu Pai
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The Czech Republic said on Sunday it had informed NATO and European Union allies about suspected Russian involvement in a 2014 ammunition depot explosion and the matter would be addressed at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday.

The central European country expelled 18 Russian embassy staff on Saturday over the issue and said investigations had linked Russian intelligence to the explosion, which killed two people.

Responding to the expulsions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova told Russian media on Saturday: “Prague is well aware of what follows these types of games.”

Russia’s Interfax news agency cited Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Russian upper house’s international affairs committee, as saying Prague’s assertions were absurd and Russia’s response should be proportionate.

The expulsions and allegations by the Czechs have triggered its biggest dispute with Russia since the 1989 end of Communist rule, when Prague was under Moscow’s domination for decades.

The incident comes amid Western concern over a huge Russian military build-up on Russia’s Western borders and in Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, following an increase in fighting between Russian-backed separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine.

On Sunday, the EU’s executive commission confirmed remarks by acting Czech Foreign Minister Jan Hamacek on Twitter that the dispute with Russia would be addressed during a previously scheduled EU foreign ministers’ video conference on Monday.

Separately, Czech police said they were searching for two men in connection with serious criminal activity who were carrying Russian passports in the names of Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, and that the men were in the country in the days leading up to the 2014 explosion.

Those were the aliases used by two Russian military intelligence (GRU) officers who British prosecutors charged with the attempted poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with the nerve agent Novichok in the English city of Salisbury in 2018. Moscow denied involvement in that incident.

The United States and Britain said they stood in solidarity with the Czech Republic in the dispute with Russia.

British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab said on Twitter the Czechs “have exposed the lengths that the GRU will go to in their attempts to conduct dangerous and malign operations,” referring to Russia’s military intelligence agency.

The U.S. Embassy in Prague said in a statement on Saturday that Washington appreciated the Czech Republic’s “significant action to impose costs on Russia for its dangerous actions on Czech soil”.

The United States imposed sanctions against Russia on Thursday for interfering in last year’s U.S. election, cyber hacking, bullying Ukraine and other alleged malign actions, prompting Moscow to retaliate.

Last month U.S. President Joe Biden said he thought his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was a “killer” and Moscow recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations.

Reuters

US, China agree to tackle climate change crisis

Bilkisu Halilu Pai
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China and the United States, the world’s two biggest carbon polluters, have agreed to cooperate with other countries to fight climate change.

The joint statement on Sunday followed two days of talks between Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and his US counterpart, John Kerry, in Shanghai.

“The United States and China are committed to cooperating with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the seriousness and urgency that it demands,” their statement said.

The two countries will also continue to discuss “concrete actions in the 2020s to reduce emissions aimed at keeping the Paris Agreement-aligned temperature limit within reach”, it said.

In the Paris accord, countries agreed in 2015 to keep rising global temperatures to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

China and the US are the world’s top carbon polluters, pumping out nearly half of the fossil fuel fumes that are warming the planet’s atmosphere.

Their cooperation is key to the success of global efforts to curb climate change, but frayed ties over human rights, trade and China’s territorial claims to Taiwan and the South China Sea have been threatening to undermine such efforts.

Kerry’s trip to Shanghai marked the highest-level travel to China by a US official since President Joe Biden took office in January.

Biden, who has said fighting global warming is among his highest priorities, had the US rejoin the Paris climate accord in the first hours of his presidency, undoing the withdrawal ordered by his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Biden has also invited 40 world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, to a virtual summit to discuss the issue on April 22 and 23.

The US and other countries are expected to announce more ambitious national targets for cutting carbon emissions before or during the meeting, along with pledging financial help for climate efforts by less wealthy nations.

When Kerry was still in Shanghai, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng signalled on Friday that China is unlikely to make any new pledges at next week’s summit.

“For a big country with 1.4 billion people, these goals are not easily delivered,” Le said during an interview with The Associated Press news agency in Beijing. “Some countries are asking China to achieve the goals earlier. I am afraid this is not very realistic.”

On whether Xi would join the summit, Le said, “The Chinese side is actively studying the matter.

During a video meeting with German and French leaders on Friday, Xi said climate change “should not become a geopolitical chip, a target for attacking other countries or an excuse for trade barriers”, though he called for closer cooperation on the issue, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Xi pledged last year that China would achieve “carbon neutrality by 2060” and ensure its greenhouse gas emissions peak before 2030.

The top emitters of greenhouse gases are also preparing for the next United Nations climate summit taking place in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in November. The summit aims to relaunch global efforts to keep rising global temperatures to below 1.5C as agreed in the Paris accord.

According to the US-China statement, both Washington and Beijing “intend to develop” their respective long-term strategies to achieve carbon neutrality by the Glasgow meeting.

Other moves in the near term include boosting “international investment and finance” to support the transition to green energy in developing countries, as well as phasing out production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons, gases used in refrigeration, air conditioners and aerosols.

Longer-term actions that need to be taken to keep the temperature goals of the Paris accord “within reach” include reducing emissions from industry and power generation while stepping up renewable energy, clean transportation and climate-resistant agriculture.

Aljazeera

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