GboyegaD:
Congratulations to them. May their love never go cold.

Why is it on Nigerian Navy Secondary School letter head?

Because that's her unit (Where she is serving)

The armed forces in Mali have ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta from power and declared their intention to set up a transitional government ahead of new elections.

It follows the president’s appearance on state television to say he had resigned from office.

He and his prime minister were taken at gunpoint from the capital to a military camp.

The United Nations and African Union have denounced the military takeover.

The regional organisation, Ecowas, announced a blockade along the country’s borders and have suspended financial links.

The UN Security Council will meet later on Wednesday.

Read Also:

- Breaking: Mali president resigns after detention by military
- Mali protesters say detention of president ‘not a military coup but popular insurrection’
- Mali President Keita arrested by mutinying soldiers, say security sources

Microsoft has finally killed Internet Explorer. The browser will be finished on 17 August, 2021, the company said.

In a blog post, Microsoft explained that the Microsoft Teams web app will no longer support Internet Explorer 11 – the most recent and final iteration of the browser – from November 30, 2020.

The remaining Microsoft 365 apps and services will end support for the browser next year.

Replacing the browser is Microsoft Edge, the computer giant’s new browser which relies on Chromium open-source software, developed by Google for Google Chrome. That gives Edge more features than Internet Explorer.

Read Also: Toshiba shuts the lid on laptops after 35 years

There is an older version of Edge which does not use Chromium; that version will also be phased out on 9 March 2021.

With many websites and applications still using Internet Explorer, Microsoft is trying to avoid having two active browsers at once.

Instead, Microsoft Edge’s Internet Explorer Legacy mode means that users can stay on one browser – to “seamlessly experience the best of the modern web in one tab while accessing a business-critical legacy IE 11 app in another tab”, the company says.

The closure of Internet Explorer, and Microsoft’s non-Chromium browsers, has been on the cards for years. Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10 were discontinued in 2016, while Microsoft Edge was introduced one year before, in 2015.

Related: Telegram launches one-on-one video calls on iOS and Android

The move towards Chromium for Microsoft’s browser, compared to its previous proprietary browser, has larger ramifications for the future of the open internet. Those concerns have become more pressing in recent months because of, among other things, the fallout between the US government and TikTok.

Chromium is now the basis of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, Avast Secure Browser, and Opera.

This means that Google has greater influence when it comes to what features are developed, practises accepted, and which usability concerns are deemed vital.

Nonetheless, the new Edge browser includes a range of features that differentiate it from others like Google Chrome.

This includes turning on tracking protection by default, which blocks both advertisements and almost all third-party tracking code.

Read Also: Trump gives nod to Oracle buyout of TikTok in US

Kaduna State University has invited candidates who applied to the university through UTME and DE to commence online screening from Monday the 17th of August, 2020.



However, based on recent directives from the admission body, JAMB, the Post-UTME Online Screening will now commence on Monday 7th September, 2020 and end on Friday 16th of October, 2020.

Read the PRESS RELEASE below:

UPDATE ON KASU POST-UTME SCREENING EXERCISE FOR 2020/2021 ACADEMIC SESSION

Kaduna State University wishes to invite candidates who applied for admission into the University through UTME and DE to register for online screening exercise through the University PUTME Screening Portal.

Based on the recent JAMB directives, registration for the Post-UTME Screening will now commence on Monday, 7th Septemter, 2020 and end on Friday 16th October, 2020.

REQUIREMENTS

a. Prospective candidates must have a minimum of Five (5) relevant passes at Credit level in the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by recognized Examination Bodies in not more than Two (2) sittings, including a pass at credit level in English and Mathematics.

b. Prospective candidates must have sat for the UTME Examinations, chose KASU as first choice, and must have scored an aggregate of (See table below) or higher in the relevant subjects.

SN FACULTY CUT-OFF POINTS
1 Allied Health Sciences: 200
2 Arts: 170
3 Agriculture: 170
4 Education: 170
5 Environmental Sciences: 170
6 Management Sciences: 180
7 Science: 180 for Biochemistry, Computer Science and Microbiology, and 170 for other programmes
8 Social Sciences: 180
9 Medicine: 200
10 Pharmaceutical Sciences: 200

c. Eligible candidates must upload their O’ Level Results on KASU website before consideration for admission.

d. Direct Entry (DE) candidates shall in addition to the minimum Five (5) O’ level relevant credits (including English and Mathematics) in relevant programmes applied, shall also obtain the minimum ‘A’ Level points for the programme.

Read Also: KADVS arrests ‘notorious’ kidnapper in Kaduna

REGISTRATION GUIDELINES

Eligible candidates are to pay the sum of N2,000.00 (all charges inclusive) for the screening and aptitude test through the payment options provided on the University’s website.

1. Visit https://forms.kasu.edu.ng from your computer OR any Mobile Device OR simply use KASU Android Application (available on Google Play store).

2. Click on the Login Button (Green Button).

i. Username is your JAMB Number (For Example 12345678BG).
ii. Password is your JAMB Number excluding the First and Last Character (For Example 2345678B).

3. Click on the link “Proceed with Payment” to generate your payment details.

i. Click “Pay via Interswitch” i.e. green at the top of the page.
ii. Proceed with payment.

4. After successful payment, Logout of your account & wait for 10 minutes, then log in and continue your registration.

For any enquiry or complain, please send a mail to: putme@kasu.edu.ng and support@kasu.edu.ng

Click Here to Register Now or Visit https://forms.kasu.edu.ng

Signed
Samuel S. Manshop
REGISTRAR

Read more: Kaduna State University releases new date for post-UTME screening

APC has extolled the virtues of its former National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who will celebrate his 81st birthday on Aug. 12



The All Progressives Congress (APC) has extolled the virtues of its former National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who will celebrate his 81st birthday on Aug. 12.

APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary Yekini Nabena, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to Nabena, APC rejoices with Chief Odigie-Oyegun, his family, friends and associates for the good health, exemplary life and good tidings the Almighty God has granted him.

He said that Odigie-Oyegun was undoubtedly a man of many achievements because he was the country’s youngest permanent secretary and first elected governor of Edo State.

“He was the first National Chairman of the APC, who led us as then opposition party to presidential victory in 2015 after defeating the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“Indeed, there is much to celebrate as Odigie-Oyegun clocks another year in an illustrious life journey.”

He said that the APC Caretaker Committee, led by Gov. Mai Mala Buni of Yobe, would continue to count on the support of Odigie-Oyegun and other party leaders to achieve its goal of repositioning the party and ensure peace and unity across the party ranks.

He prayed for Odigie-Oyegun’s long, healthy and fulfilled years in service to the party and country.

Related: Should change of Military Service Chiefs be the Cardinal Concern?

The former wrestler reportedly earned $87.5m (£67m) between 1 June 2019 and 1 June 2020, including $23.5m for the Netflix thriller Red Notice.

He also made money from his fitness clothing line, Project Rock.

The 10 top earners combined made $545.5m this year – more than a quarter of that from Netflix, Forbes said.

Johnson’s Red Notice co-star Ryan Reynolds was the second-highest paid actor, with earnings of $71.5m. Among his movie deals were $20m, also for Red Notice, and $20m for Six Underground, another Netflix film.

Third on the list was actor and producer Mark Wahlberg, who earned $58m, while Ben Affleck came in fourth and Vin Diesel fifth.


Akshay Kumar was the only Bollywood actor in the top ten

Indian actor Akshay Kumar was the only Bollywood star in the top 10. He came in sixth place with earnings of $48.5m, which Forbes said mostly came from product endorsement deals.

Also on the list were Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, actors Will Smith and Adam Sandler, and veteran movie star Jackie Chan.

The highest-paid female actors for the same period are released as a separate list, and are yet to be announced.

Last year, Scarlett Johansson topped the list with an income of $56m – less than that year’s seventh-placed male actor.

Featured: Private Schools: Nigeria's Exploitative Ground

The platform will provide access to market intelligence, a host of mentors with diverse experience, while assisting with access to funding opportunities



AUDA-NEPAD (the African Union Development Agency) has announced the launch of the MSME Academy, in partnership with Ecobank Group.

Spearheaded under the AUDA-NEPAD “100,000 MSMEs by 2021” programme for Africa’s Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, the Academy provides easy access to practical training and resources on financing opportunities in various countries, materials on how to build digital presence for businesses and how to adapt business operations in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The platform will also provide access to market intelligence, a host of mentors with diverse experience, while assisting with access to funding opportunities.

The MSME Academy has three components:an informational webinar with invited speakers,a series of virtual instructor-led training programmes and mentorship for the MSMEs.

The Academy has country specific content with world-class pan-African design to ensure the right balance between local realities (challenges and opportunities of the MSMEs) with a structured pan-African approach for the sustainability and scalability of the initiatives.

AUDA-NEPAD Chief Executive Officer Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki declared: “In this continent where the majority of the countries are low income and middle-income economies, where youth account for almost 60% of all of Africa’s unemployed, the contribution of MSMEs and informal enterprises to the GDP growth and employment creation is fundamental.

“As the continent faces the socio-economic uncertainties brought about by the outbreak of COVID-19, the AUDA-NEPAD MSME Academy which is delivered in partnership with Ecobank, aims to foster resilience and the survival of MSMEs’ in these critical times.”

Ade Ayeyemi, Ecobank Group CEO, commented: “The impact of COVID-19 continues to be felt across Africa with serious challenges and uncertainties for our MSMEs. The MSME Academy comes at an appropriate time to provide the right level of support to this vulnerable and important business segment in Africa.

“We have leveraged on the expertise of our globally recognised Ecobank Academy to develop country specific content tailored to MSMEs in Africa and therefore encourage MSMEs to register and participate in the various available virtual training programmes.”

Africa’s Micro Small and Medium Enterprises are invited to join the informational webinars to learn about tips on access to finance and on building digital presence from speakers. Registration for the MSME Academy can be done here: https://msmeacademy.nepad.org

The first wave of countries includes:

Ghana – August 21st

Togo – August 25th

Kenya – September 1st

Nigeria – September 3rd

Côte d’Ivoire – September 8th

Niger – September 15th

Rwanda – September 17th

Chad – September 23rd

Read More: AUDA-NEPA launches Academy for Africa’s MSMEs

A court in northern Burundi has sentenced two men and a woman to 30 years in prison for attempting to assassinate new President Evariste Ndayishimiye after they threw stones at his convoy.

The prosecutor requested the court in Kayanza province to jail the three to seven years for causing insecurity for the president, but the court decided to convict them of trying to kill him and sentenced each of them to 30 years in prison, local radio station Isanganiro reported.

The three, who were employed at Engen petrol station in Kayanza town, were accused of stoning the convoy from their work place when Mr Ndayishimiye visited the area last Wednesday.

They denied the charge.

“Many people were arrested after the incident, some were released afterwards but a woman and two men who work at a petrol station remained in jail and were sentenced this Sunday,” a resident in Kayanza told BBC Great Lakes.

President Ndayishimiye was due to take power on 20 August after he won elections in May. However, he was inaugurated in June after the sudden death of his predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza.

Read More: US election: Biden picks Kamala Harris as running mate

Sultan Saad Abubakar made the call on Saturday while receiving the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar in his place in Sokoto.



The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has urged the federal government to recruit more personnel and properly fund security agencies to tackle insecurity in the country.

Abubakar made the call on Saturday while receiving the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar in his place in Sokoto.

The Sultan decried the increased cases of banditry, kidnapping and other security challenges leading wanton loss of lives and properties.

The Sultan expressed concern with the recent killings of 74 persons in Sabon Birni in Sokoto State and called for more measures to end the menace.

He also appealed to the federal government to provide law enforcement agencies with modern gadgets to promptly track down the criminals.

He advised the security agencies to strengthen their coordination and synergy for a more efficient result, adding that government response would improve citizens’ hope on security.

Read Also: Bandits’ logistics warehouse in Zamfara bombarded by the military – DHQ

The Chief of Air Staff said he was in Sokoto to assess the situation and scale up operations in the area.

Abubakar said the visit was also to introduce more suitable security techniques to end the security challenges in the area.

He said the operations against banditry and insurgency were going on in Katsina and Sokoto states as directed by the President.

He underscored the importance of residents volunteering intelligence information to security agents for the success of the fight against banditry and other challenges in the area.

Meanwhile, the Air Chief met with Gov. Aminu Tambuwal behind closed doors at Government House as well as held a meeting with heads security personnel.

He was briefed on the situations in the affected areas and also inspected facilities at the Sultan Abubakar International Airport Sokoto.

Read Also: The US cannot lecture Africans on human rights

England forward Jadon Sancho was among a number of sports stars adding their voice to worldwide protests against racism on Sunday.



Protests have been held after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died while being restrained by Minneapolis police.

Sancho unveiled a ‘Justice for George Floyd’ T-shirt after scoring for Borussia Dortmund against Paderborn.

Earlier, Marcus Thuram took a knee after scoring for Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Sancho, who scored a hat-trick as Dortmund thrashed Paderborn 6-1, was shown a yellow card for the gesture.

Sancho later wrote on Instagram: “Delighted to get my first career hat trick, a bittersweet moment personally as there are more important things going on in the world today that we must address and help make a change.

“We shouldn’t fear speaking out for what’s right, we have to come together as one & fight for justice. We are stronger together! #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd.”

Floyd died in police custody on Monday after white officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes to pin him down.

Chauvin has since been charged with his murder and sacked.



Read All: Athletes protest after George Floyd death

Roger Federer is the first tennis player to top the annual Forbes list of the world's highest paid athletes, overtaking footballer Lionel Messi.



Federer, 38, moved up four places after earning £86.2m in the past year – about £81m of it in endorsements.

Cristiano Ronaldo (£85m), Messi (£84m) and Neymar (£77.5m) come next, while American basketball player LeBron James (£71.5m) completes the top five.

Boxer Tyson Fury was the highest earning Briton in 11th (£46.2m).

Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton came 13th with earnings of £43.7m.

Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka was revealed to be the highest paid female athlete earlier this month. She is 29th overall on the list, which was released on Friday.

“The coronavirus pandemic triggered salary cuts for soccer stars Messi and Ronaldo, clearing the way for a tennis player to rank as the world’s highest-paid athlete for the first time,” said Kurt Badenhausen, senior editor at Forbes.

“Roger Federer is the perfect pitchman for companies, resulting in an unparalleled endorsement portfolio of blue-chip brands worth $100m a year for the tennis great.”

Last week, two-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, 22, ended Serena Williams’ run of four years as the highest paid female athlete after earning £30.7m, £1.15m more than 38-year-old Williams.

Read More: Forbes: Roger Federer top Messi, Cristiano as world’s highest paid athlete

The white officer who pinned down an unarmed black man with his knee is charged with third-degree murder, manslaughter.



The white police officer who was seen on video kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died in custody after pleading that he could not breathe, was arrested Friday and charged with murder in a case that sparked protests across the United States and violence in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Derek Chauvin, the officer seen on a bystander’s mobile phone video kneeling on Floyd’s neck on Monday before the 46-year-old man died, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman told a news briefing.

“He is in custody and has been charged with murder,” Freeman said of Chauvin. “We have evidence, we have the citizen’s camera’s video, the horrible, horrific, terrible thing we have all seen over and over again, we have the officer’s body-worn camera, we have statements from some witnesses.”

The mobile phone footage showed Floyd repeatedly moaning and gasping while he pleaded to Chauvin, kneeling on his neck, “Please, I can’t breathe.” After several minutes, Floyd gradually grows quiet and ceases to move.

The arrest and charges come after three days of protests, which escalated in violence as demonstrators torched a police precinct that had been abandoned by officers.

Residents welcomed the charges, but said the other three officers involved must also be arrested and charged.

Freeman said those officers were still under investigation.

With smoke drifting over Minneapolis, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Friday acknowledged the “abject failure” of the response to this week’s violent protests and called for swift justice for police involved in Floyd’s death.

Walz said the state would take over the response and that it’s time to show respect and dignity to those who are suffering. The US National Guard had arrived in Minneapolis by midday Thursday.

“Minneapolis and Saint Paul are on fire. The fire is still smouldering in our streets. The ashes are symbolic of decades and generations of pain, of anguish unheard,” Walz said, adding, “Now generations of pain is manifesting itself in front of the world – and the world is watching.”

His comments came the morning after protesters torched a police station that officers abandoned during a third night of violence.

Livestream video showed protesters entering the building, where intentionally set fires activated smoke alarms and sprinklers. US President Donald Trump threatened action, tweeting “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”, which prompted a warning from Twitter for “glorifying violence”.

The governor faced tough questions after National Guard leader Major General Jon Jensen blamed a lack of clarity about the guard’s mission for a slow response. Walz said the state was in a supporting role and that it was up to city leaders to run the situation.

“You will not see that tonight, there will be no lack of leadership,” Walz said.

Dozens of fires were also set in nearby Saint Paul, where nearly 200 businesses were damaged or looted. Protests spread across the US, fuelled by outrage over Floyd’s death, and years of violence against African Americans at the hands of police.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Trump terminates US relationship with WHO

Trump tweeted 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts', referring to protests about deadly arrest of George Floyd.



Twitter has, for the first time, flagged and hidden a tweet by United States President Donald Trump, saying he violated Twitter’s rules about glorifying violence.

Trump took to Twitter on Friday, saying “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”, in reference to nationwide protests that followed the deadly arrest of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, in Minneapolis.

More:
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- Coronavirus: Trump terminates US relationship with WHO
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Floyd died on Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer used his knee to pin Floyd’s neck to the ground for several minutes.

On Thursday night, protests erupted across the US as anger over Floyd’s death intensified, with some demonstrators gaining access to a police precinct in Minneapolis and setting sections of the building on fire.

Trump responded to the protest on Twitter, saying: “I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right…..”

He then replied to his own tweet, saying: “….These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”

Twitter flagged the second tweet with a disclaimer saying: “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible,” allowing the public to still view the tweet by clicking on “View”.

In a thread, Twitter said it had taken the action “in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit violent acts”. People will still “be able to retweet with comment, but will not be able to like, reply or retweet it”.

It also added a link to its rules and policies, in which Twitter defines what it deems to be in public interest. Twitter also slapped the warning label on the official White House account, which had retweeted Trump’s earlier warning.

The move followed Twitter’s decision to apply fact checks to two of Trump’s earlier tweets about voting, prompting the US president to sign an executive order on Thursday challenging the liability protections in US law that serve as a bedrock for unfettered speech on the internet.

Trump said the fact checks were “editorial decisions” by Twitter and amounted to political activism. He said it should cost those companies their protection from lawsuits for what is posted on their platforms.

Trump and his allies, who rely heavily on Twitter to attack their foes, have long accused the tech giants of targeting conservatives on social media by fact-checking them or removing their posts.

“We’re fed up with it,” Trump said, claiming the order would uphold freedom of speech.

On Friday, Trump’s supporters in Congress ramped up the attacks on Twitter, with one prominent congressman reportedly asking the US Department of Justice and the Treasury Department to launch a criminal investigation of the company.

Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz said Twitter may be violating US sanctions against Iran by allowing top officials in that country to maintain accounts on the platform, according to the Axios news site.

“I believe that the primary goal of (the International Emergency Economic Powers Act) and sanctions law should be to change the behavior of designated individuals and regimes, not American companies,” Cruz said in the letter. “But when a company willfully and openly violates the law after receiving formal notice that it is unlawfully supporting designated individuals, the federal government should take action.”

In Premier League, strict conditions are to be imposed for training under lockdown, according to a new protocol.



Premier League players will be prohibited from tackling and pitches will have to be disinfected when clubs return to training as part of plans to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

READ ALSO: German football league Bundesliga to resume on May 16

Citing an official protocol sent to Premier League players and managers outlining conditions for returning to training, the BBC’s report said pitches, corner flags, cones and goalposts would have to be disinfected after each session.

Players will be tested twice a week for the virus and take a daily temperature check, while they will also be forbidden from congregating together or travelling to or from training with teammates, the report added.

The Premier League did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the BBC’s report.

English football has been on-hold since March along with most leagues across Europe due to the pandemic.

Yet, while clubs across the continent have begun training again and set dates for restarting their seasons, England’s top-flight has yet to confirm plans for returning to training or matches.

READ ALSO: La Liga hopes for June 12 restart

Germany’s Bundesliga is set to become the first of Europe’s top five leagues to start up again when matches resume on Saturday, while the Polish, Austrian and Portuguese leagues have also confirmed start dates.

Clubs in Spain’s top two divisions have returned to individual training and while no date has been set for matches to restart, La Liga president Javier Tebas has said he hopes action will resume from June 12.

Engineering students in Senegal have joined their country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic with inventions such as automatic sanitiser dispensers and medical robots.

The students attending a top engineering school in the capital, Dakar, have turned their technical skills towards easing pressure on the wards – and they are already in talks with hospitals over some of their innovations.

One example is a small robot, dubbed “Dr Car”, which will be able to measure patients’ blood pressure and temperature, according to students from Dakar’s Ecole Superieure Polytechnique (ESP).

The university is considered one of West Africa’s best for engineering and technology, and is highly selective, with 28 nationalities represented among its 4,000 students.

Lamine Mouhamed Kebe, one of the students who conceived the robot, said the machine would reduce the exposure of doctors and nurses to infected patients and use of expensive protective gear.

“At a certain point … we realised that medical equipment was limited,” the 23-year-old told AFP news agency. “We can do something.”

Guided by a mounted camera and controlled via an app, doctors will also be able to communicate with patients through the robot, Kebe said, potentially allowing them to treat people isolated in hard-to-reach rural areas.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqKBNQzEROc

Senegal’s coronavirus outbreak pales in comparison to the situation in virus-stricken Europe and the United States.

But after a slow start, confirmed cases in the nation of some 16 million people are increasing. And as with other poor countries in the region, there are fears that Senegal is ill-equipped to handle a large outbreak.

Authorities have recorded more than 1,700 cases to date, including 19 fatalities. Hospital staff in Dakar are also beginning to contract COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Faced with an increased threat, frontline Senegalese doctors are taking the young engineers seriously.

An initial prototype designed by the students was essentially a small mobile trolley, designed to carry equipment or meals to patients.

But Abdoulaye Bousso, the head of an emergency ward in a Dakar hospital, asked to redesign it to include mechanical arms capable of conducting medical tests – an upgrade the students are working on now.

“It’s a whole process,” Bousso said, adding that the robot could cut down on their use of expensive bibs and gowns, which must be thrown away.



Read full article

The deal, agreed on Sunday via video conference, is the largest cut in oil production ever to have been agreed.

Opec+, made up of oil producers and allies including Russia, announced plans for the deal on 9 April, but Mexico resisted the cuts.

Opec has yet to announce the deal, but individual nations have confirmed it.

The only detail to have been confirmed so far is that 9.7 million barrels per day will be cut by Opec oil producers and allies.

On Monday in Asia, oil rose over $1 a barrel in early trading with global benchmark Brent up 3.9% to $32.71 a barrel and US grade West Texas Intermediate up 6.1% to $24.15 a barrel.

Shares in Australia jumped 3.46% led by energy exporters, but Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.35% on continued concerns of poor global demand because of the spread of the coronavirus.

“This is an unprecedented agreement because it’s not just between Opec and Opec+… but also the largest supplier in the world which is the US as well as other G-20 countries which have agreed to support the agreement both in reducing production and also in using up some of the surface supply by putting it into storage,” Sandy Fielden, director of Oil Research at research firm Morningstar, told the BBC.

US President Donald Trump and Kuwait’s energy minister Dr Khaled Ali Mohammed al-Fadhel tweeted the news, while Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry and Russia’s state news agency Tass both separately confirmed the deal on Sunday.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1249422044564992001

“By the grace of Allah, then with wise guidance, continuous efforts and continuous talks since the dawn of Friday, we now announce the completion of the historic agreement to reduce production by approximately 10 million barrels of oil per day from members of ‘OPEC +’ starting from 1 May 2020,” wrote Dr al-Fadhel in a tweet.

https://twitter.com/Dr_Alfadhel/status/1249393253704761346

Global oil demand is estimated to have fallen by a third as more than three billion people are locked down in their homes due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Prior to that, oil prices slumped in March to an 18-year-low after Opec+ failed to agree cuts.

Talks were complicated by disagreements between Russia and Saudi Arabia, but on 2 April oil prices surged after President Trump signalled that he expected the two countries to end their feud.

The initial details of the deal, outlined by Opec+ on Thursday, would have seen the group and its allies cutting 10 million barrels a day or 10% of global supply from 1 May. Another five million barrels were expected to be cut by other nations outside the group such as the US, Canada, Brazil and Norway.

It said the cuts would be eased to eight million barrels a day between July and December. Then they would be eased again to six million barrels between January 2021 and April 2022.

‘A rehashed deal’

Independent oil market analyst Gaurav Sharma told the BBC that the deal agreed on Sunday was “marginally lower”, compared to the 10 million barrels per day that was originally announced on Thursday. Mexico had balked at making these production cuts, which delayed the deal being signed off.

Then on Friday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that Mr Trump had offered to make extra US cuts on his behalf, an unusual offer by the US president, who has long railed against Opec.

Mr Trump said Washington would help Mexico by picking up “some of the slack” and being reimbursed later, but he did not detail how the arrangement would work.

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“Now a rehashed deal placating Mexico has resurfaced to calm the market, yet, look closer and the doubts surface,” Mr Sharma said.

“The bulk of the output cuts are predicated on Russia and Saudi Arabia cutting 2.5 million barrels per day from agreed – and somewhat inflated – levels of 11 million barrels per day. More importantly, for most of 2019, Russia displayed very poor form in complying with previously agreed Opec+ cuts. So the market is unlikely to take the announced cut at face value.”

He added that forecasts for a drop in demand in the summer appear to be “dire”, with even the most optimistic forecasts pointing to a reduction of 18.5 million barrels per day.

Mr Sharma said: “The announcement can stem the bleeding, but cannot prevent what is likely to be a dire summer for oil producers with the potential to drag oil prices below $20 (£16; €18).”

As Italy struggles to pull its economy through the coronavirus crisis, the Mafia is gaining local support by distributing free food to poor families in quarantine who have run out of cash, authorities have warned.

In recent weeks, videos have surfaced of known Mafia gangs delivering essential goods to Italians hit hard by the coronavirus emergency across the poorest southern regions of Campania, Calabria, Sicily and Puglia, as tensions rise across the country.

“For over a month, shops, cafés, restaurants and pubs have been closed,” Nicola Gratteri, antimafia investigator and head of the prosecutor’s office in Catanzaro, told the Guardian. “Millions of people work in the grey economy, which means that they haven’t received any income in more than a month and have no idea when they might return to work. The government is issuing so-called shopping vouchers to support people. If the state doesn’t step in soon to help these families, the mafia will provide its services, imposing their control over people’s lives.”

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The ramifications of the lockdown in Italy are affecting the estimated 3.3 million people in Italy who work off the books. Of those, more than 1 million live in the south, according to the most recent figures from CGIA Mestre, a Venice-based small business association. There have been reports of small shop owners being pressured to give food for free, while police are patrolling supermarkets in some areas to stop thefts. Videos of people in Sicily protesting against the government’s stalled response, or people beating their fists outside banks in Bari for a €50 (£44) loan are going viral and throwing fuel on the crisis; a fire the mafia is more than willing to stoke.

From the first signals of mounting social unrest, the Italian minister of the interior, Luciana Lamorgese, said ‘‘the mafia could take advantage of the rising poverty, swooping in to recruit people to its organisation’’. Or simply stepping in to distribute free food parcels of pasta, water, flour and milk.

In recent days, the police in Naples have intensified their presence in the poorest quarters of the city, where men tied to the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia, have organised home delivery of food parcels. Magistrates have already begun an investigation against a group of people who were questioned while distributing food to local residents.

In Palermo, according to La Repubblica, the brother of a Cosa Nostra boss allegedly distributed food to the poor in the Zen neighbourhood, an area with an established mafia presence. When the news broke, the man defended himself on Facebook, claiming that he was only doing charitable work and attacking the journalist who first reported the news.

“Mafias are not just criminal organisations,’’ Federico Varese, professor of criminology at the University of Oxford, said. “They are organisations that aspire to govern territories and markets. Commentators often focus on the financial aspect of mafias but they tend to forget that their strength comes from having a local base from which to operate.”

The question of distributing food parcels is a tactic as old as the mafia itself, where in the south of Italy bosses have customarily presented themselves to the people as benefactors and local power brokers, initially without asking for anything in return.

“Mafia bosses consider their cities as their own fiefdom,” Gratteri said. “The bosses know very well that in order to govern, they need to take care of the people in their territory. And they do it by exploiting the situation to their advantage. In the people’s eyes, a boss who knocks on the door offering free food is a hero. And the boss knows that he can then count on the support of these families when necessary, when, for example, the mafia sponsors a politician for election who will further their criminal interests.”

Dozens of investigations in the south have led to the arrests of politicians who have aided and abetted the mafia, and who were elected with the support of local Mafiosi who forced citizens to vote for them in exchange for services, such as a simple food parcel.

Varese said: “These handouts by the mafias are not gifts. The mafia does not do anything out of its kind heart. They are favours that everyone will have to pay back in some form or another, by aiding and abetting a fugitive, holding a gun, dealing drugs and the like.”

“Consider what happened to El Chapo, the Mexican narco,” said Gratteri. “He trafficked tons of cocaine and commissioned the murder of hundreds of people but in his hometown he was known for his benevolence, because people said that he provided medicines to families or built roads. The same thing happens here.”

This week, Itay’s antimafia prosecutor’s office said bosses would offer their virtually endless criminal capital to businesses in need, and then swallow them up. Then, they will use those businesses for money laundering profits from the criminal activities.

Varese said: “The mafias might be able to benefit in other ways from the current lockdown and especially from the future, when Italians will all be able to return to work, spend more money, and get the economy on its feet again. But surely the story exemplified by the handouts of food parcels in Palermo and Naples shows their true nature, and it tells why they are so dangerous.”

Rejoice football fans - for there is something else to watch in the absence of live sport!



A new documentary – ‘Sadio Mane: Made in Senegal’ – about the Liverpool and Senegal forward, has been released today for free on Rakuten TV.

It’s a reminder of what life was like before football took an indefinite break, and we dare even the most ardent Manchester United fan not to be moved by the story of Mane’s incredible journey.

We liked it a lot anyway. And here are just a few things we learned.

1. Mane had to run away to play football

Perhaps you already know this story, but, as a boy, growing up in a small village called Bambali in Senegal, Sadio Mane’s family weren’t actually that keen on him kicking a ball about for a living.

His father died when he was just seven and he was raised largely by his uncles. He came from a family of imams – Muslim prayer leaders – for whom education was the priority.

“My uncle didn’t want me to play because he thought school was more important. Things got tricky because he didn’t like that,” Mane says.

Mane describes his obsession, playing with objects including grapefruit and stones as a child, when footballs weren’t readily available. In his village, as the best player, his nickname was ‘Ballonbuwa’, or ‘ball wizard’.

In 2008, when he was 16, Mane actually ran away to Dakar in secret, to try out for a team there. He was eventually found and brought home, but he made a deal with his family that the next year, there would be no more school and only “football, football, football,” in Mane’s words.

2. His hero growing up was El Hadji Diouf

Sadio Mane would have been 10 years old when Senegal reached the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals and Africa Cup of Nations final, with a team that included stars like Aliou Cisse, Khalilou Fadiga and El Hadji Diouf.

“That was the era of the most epic Senegalese football,” says Mane.

His best friend growing up, Luc, explains that Sadio had two idols: “At the time, Sadio liked Ronaldinho, but also El Hadji Diouf, who really spurred us on to play football.”

Luc adds that Mane told him: “One day, I’ll be at their level.”

One could argue that Mane has already surpassed Diouf – at least in terms of club success at Liverpool. He’s certainly created a better legacy with the Reds than his hero El Hadji, who has developed a bit of an ongoing feud with his former employers in recent years.

Read Full Post: Made in Senegal: five things we learned from the Sadio Mane documentary

WhatsApp is tightening its limits on message forwarding even further, in a bid to stem the spread of misinformation amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Facebook-owned messaging app is expanding on global measures it put in place last year which restricted the number of times people could pass on frequently forwarded messages to five chats at once.

The company has now reduced the amount of chats to which users can share frequently forwarded content to just one at a time. It announced the new changes in a blog post Tuesday.

“We know many users forward helpful information, as well as funny videos, memes, and reflections or prayers they find meaningful,” said WhatsApp. “In recent weeks, people have also used WhatsApp to organize public moments of support for frontline health workers.”

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“However, we’ve seen a significant increase in the amount of forwarding which users have told us can feel overwhelming and can contribute to the spread of misinformation. We believe it’s important to slow the spread of these messages down to keep WhatsApp a place for personal conversation.”

It comes after bogus conspiracy theories linking 5G mobile networks with COVID-19 appeared to inspire people to set fire to cell phone masts in the U.K. Facebook told CNBC on Monday that it’s started deleting content encouraging attacks on cellular towers and 5G masts.

The attacks resulted in the U.K. government urging social media platforms to take action to combat the spread of such false claims. British Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden is due to meet with tech companies this week to grill them on 5G and coronavirus-related misinformation. CNBC understands that Facebook is set to attend the meeting.

It’s not the first step the company has taken to combat misinformation about the disease. Similar to some other social platforms, Facebook has for instance been working with the World Health Organization and other health institutions to provide accurate information to its users.

But it’s proven harder to rein in the spread of fake news on WhatsApp. That’s because Facebook isn’t able to actively view and moderate content on WhatsApp due to the app’s end-to-end encryption. WhatsApp says its labeling of messages that have been frequently forwarded can help users identify rumors and false information.

WhatsApp said that its previous limits on message forwarding also “led to a 25% decrease in message forwards globally at the time.” The platform began imposing curbs on content sharing after the spread of online rumors in India led to a wave of killings and lynching attempts in 2018.

According to Kantar, the app saw the greatest gain in usage among social networks as the coronavirus outbreak forced people to stay at home due to global “shelter in place” measures.

The virus, which originated from Wuhan in China but has fast spread to other countries across the globe, has claimed the lives of at least 74,856 people, according to Johns Hopkins University figures, while a total of 1,350,523 have been infected.

The season has been halted indefinitely amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Some club have placed non-playing staff on temporary leave, while talks continue over the salaries of players.

“Many communities could lose the clubs at their heart with little chance of resurrection,” said Clarke.

Speaking at an FA Council meeting, he said: “In the face of this unprecedented adversity, all the stakeholders within the game from players, fans, clubs, owners and administrators need to step up and share the pain to keep the game alive.

“It is time for the stakeholders to agree common cause to save our game. Contribute. Football is a team game and now is the time for teamwork.”

The Premier League proposed a 30% pay cut for players, but the Professional Footballers’ Association says it would harm the NHS.

Top-flight players are set to start negotiations on a club-by-club basis over proposed wage cuts after talks broke down without resolution over the weekend.

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With no games being played, Football League clubs are struggling with cashflow issues without ticket sales, as well as matchday and merchandise income.

On Monday, England men’s manager Gareth Southgate and women’s boss Phil Neville said they would take a 30% pay cut.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said the financial impact of postponements, including England fixtures, FA Cup matches and Wembley events could be as high as £150m.

Clarke said: “We are committed to finishing the professional football season as this resolves the issues of promotion and relegation together with title winners on merit.

“However, we may not be able to finish the season as football is not our priority – human life is – and we will do as the government directs as the pandemic unfolds.

“Further down the football pyramid, our leagues have requested that the season is curtailed and that decision rests with the FA Council.

“The pandemic will be followed by its economic consequences and all business sectors will suffer.

“We face the danger of losing clubs and leagues as finances collapse.”

WUHAN, China (AP) — The lockdown that served as a model for countries battling the coronavirus around the world has ended after 11 weeks: Chinese authorities are allowing residents of Wuhan to once again travel in and out of the sprawling city where the pandemic began.

As of just after midnight Wednesday, the city’s 11 million residents are now permitted to leave without special authorization as long as a mandatory smartphone application powered by a mix of data-tracking and government surveillance shows they are healthy and have not been in recent contact with anyone confirmed to have the virus.

The occasion was marked with a light show on either side of the broad Yangtze river, with skyscrapers and bridges radiating animated images of health workers aiding patients, along with one displaying the words “heroic city,” a title bestowed on Wuhan by president and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. Along the embankments and bridges, citizens waved flags, chanted “Wuhan, let’s go!” and sang a capella renditions of China’s national anthem.

Traffic moved swiftly through the newly reopened bridges, tunnels and highway toll booths, while hundreds waited for the first trains and flights out of the city, many hoping to return to jobs elsewhere.

Restrictions in the city where most of China’s more than 82,000 virus cases and over 3,300 deaths were reported have been gradually relaxed in recent weeks as the number of new cases steadily declined. The latest government figures reported Tuesday listed no new cases.

While there are questions about the veracity of China’s count, the unprecedented lockdown of Wuhan and its surrounding province of Hubei have been successful enough that countries around the world adopted similar measures.

During the 76-day lockdown, Wuhan residents had been allowed out of their homes only to buy food or attend to other tasks deemed absolutely necessary. Some were allowed to leave the city, but only if they had paperwork showing they were not a health risk and a letter attesting to where they were going and why. Even then, authorities could turn them back on a technicality such as missing a stamp, preventing thousands from returning to their jobs outside the city.

Residents of other parts of Hubei were allowed to leave the province starting about three weeks ago, as long as they could provide a clean bill of health.

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Prevention measures such as wearing masks, temperature checks and limiting access to residential communities will remain in place in Wuhan, which is the capital of Hubei.

In an editorial, the ruling Communist Party’s flagship People’s Daily warned against celebrating too soon.

“This day that people have long been looking forward to and it is right to be excited. However, this day does not mark the final victory,” the paper said. “At this moment, we still need to remind ourselves that as Wuhan is unblocked, we can be pleased, but we must not relax.”

In anticipation of the lockdown’s lifting, SWAT teams and staff in white hazmat suits had patrolled outside the city’s Hankou railway station, while guards attended a security briefing under the marble arches of its entrance.

Tickets for trains out of Wuhan to cities across China already were advertised on electronic billboards, with the first train leaving for Beijing at 6:25 a.m. A line designated for passengers headed to the capital was roped off, while loudspeakers blared announcements about pandemic control measures, such as keeping safe distances and wearing masks.

Wuhan is a major center for heavy industry, particularly autos, and while many major plants have restarted production, the small and medium-sized businesses that provide the most employment are still hurting from both a lack of workers and demand. Measures are being instituted to get them back on their feet, including 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) in preferential loans, according to the city government.

China blocked people from leaving or entering Wuhan starting Jan. 23 in a surprise middle-of-the-night announcement and expanded the lockdown to most of the province in succeeding days. Train service and flights were canceled and checkpoints were set up on roads into the central province.

The drastic steps came as the coronavirus began spreading to the rest of China and overseas during the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, when many Chinese travel.

The exact source of the virus remains under investigation, though it is thought to be linked to an outdoor food market in the city.

In preparation for the end of the lockdown, Party Secretary Wang Zhonglin, the city’s highest-ranking official, inspected the city’s airport and train stations Monday to ensure they were ready. The city must “enforce prevention while opening up, maintain safety and orderliness and the assurance of stability,” Wang said.

Mission one: to make sure the epidemic doesn’t resurge, he said.

SultanOfAbia:


That's All I Ever Wanted To Hear
Long Story Short SEX IS OK during this time..

Sex, you are a Sultan oh!

What are the risks associated with intimacy in the time of coronavirus? Three experts weigh in



With countries on lockdown and millions being made to stay at home, it’s unsurprising many couples and single people are wondering what coronavirus means for their sex lives. With this in mind, we asked three experts five of the most pressing questions about intimacy during the pandemic.

Is Covid-19 sexually transmissible?

Dr Jessica Justman: We’re not seeing patterns that indicate sexual transmission. It’s primarily spread through respiratory droplets. And touching contaminated surfaces is thought to be the secondary mode of transmission.

Dr Carlos Rodríguez-Díaz: There is no evidence that the Covid-19 can be transmitted via either vaginal or anal intercourse. However, kissing is a very common practice during sexual intercourse, and the virus can be transmitted via saliva. Therefore, the virus can be transmitted by kissing. There is also evidence of oral-fecal transmission of the Covid-19 and that implies that analingus may represent a risk for infection.

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So its OK to have sex?

Justman: If you or your partner is a Covid-19 case, the advice is to steer clear of each other as much as possible.

Dr Julia Marcus: But for people who don’t have symptoms and don’t have any recent likely exposure and have been staying close to home, I think that, if it’s within your own household, it’s a different story. If you live with a regular sexual partner and you don’t have any symptoms, or likely exposure, sex might actually be a really great way to have fun, stay connected and relieve anxiety during this potentially stressful time.

What about new partners?
Marcus: The recommendation right now is that we try to stay home as much as we can and really only interact with people for things that are essential, like groceries. And even when we do that, try to keep some physical distance of about 6ft from other people. That would definitely make sex a challenge.

Rodríguez-Díaz:Sexual intercourse may decrease during the next few weeks, but other forms of expressing eroticism, such as sexting, video-calls, reading erotica and masturbation will continue to be options.

How can someone keep intimacy gadgets clean?

Rodríguez-Díaz: Just use soap and water.

We don’t know how long this pandemic will last. What do you say to someone who’s single now and doesn’t want to wait months before they can be intimate with someone?

Rodríguez-Díaz: If you’re concerned about practicing social distancing for too long, make sure that you and the people you know practice social distancing now. The sooner we do it, the sooner we’ll see a decline in new infections, and the sooner we will be able to change our practice of socializing. Rather than focusing on the future, we need to focus on the present.

Use these couple of weeks to channel your energy, explore yourself, maybe think about what it is that you’re looking for. And you can do that by yourself. It can be a great opportunity to explore other ways of engaging with new sexual partners that you can meet online by sexting or using video calls.

Experts:

- Dr Jessica Justman is a professor and attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center
- Dr Carlos E Rodríguez-Díaz is a professor at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health
- Dr Julia Marcus is an infectious disease epidemiologist and professor in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School

England and Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has apologized for “letting people down” after it was claimed the football star hosted “a sex party” with two call girls during the coronavirus lockdown.

Walker, 29, and a male friend are reported to have invited 21-year-old local escort Louise McNamara and a 24-year-old Brazilian call girl to his luxury apartment in Cheshire last week, where they spent three hours for an alleged lockdown romp.

Photos circulating on social media, taken by escort McNamara, show Walker stripped to his underwear and appearing to count out money for the call girls.

The next day, Walker took to social media to urge fans to follow government advice and stay home during the Covid-19 crisis.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-SBZ--B_9g/?utm_source=ig_embed

City full-back Walker, who is said to rake in around £150,000 (US$185,000) a week, appeared to acknowledge the reports in an apology issued on Saturday night.

“I understand that my ­position as a professional footballer brings the responsibility of being a role model,” he said.

“As such, I want to apologize to my family, friends, football club, supporters and the public for letting them down.

“There are heroes out there making a vital difference to society at the moment, and I have been keen to help support and highlight their amazing sacrifices and life-saving work over the past week.

“My actions are in direct contrast to what I should have been doing regarding the lockdown,” he added.

Club bosses at Manchester City have expressed “disappointment” at the claims and are believed to have launched an internal disciplinary investigation.

Walker made headlines during the summer for his performances away from the pitch when it emerged he had split from girlfriend Annie Kilner after getting model Lauryn Goodman pregnant.

Read More: England ace Kyle Walker apologizes after ‘hosting lockdown sex party’

If people continue social distancing, coronavirus cases may level off by the end of April, Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Bill Gates said on “Fox News Sunday.” But he added that life still won’t return to “truly normal” until a vaccine is distributed.

It’s also critical that the country test “the right people,” which has not been happening, Gates told host Chris Wallace. In a Washington Post op-ed published last week, Gates said health-care workers and first responders, high-risk people with severe symptoms and those who are likely to have been exposed to infected people should be prioritized.

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Gates also suggested in the op-ed that if the United States implements a consistent nationwide approach to shutdowns, increases testing and uses a data-based strategy to develop treatments and a vaccine, a second wave of the epidemic could be avoided.

In a prescient speech in 2015, Gates had warned that an infectious virus could spread globally and cause mass deaths and catastrophe.

“If anything kills more than 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus, rather than a war,” he said then. “Not missiles, but microbes.”

The White House has released estimates that the new coronavirus could kill between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans. Gates told Wallace that he was glad that the White House released those figures because it was likely to alert people who weren’t taking the virus seriously enough.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is putting funds towards the fight against the coronavirus.

He is directing his money through his foundation towards the development of a vaccine, putting money behind factories for seven of the most promising vaccines being worked on.

“Of all the vaccine constructs, with the seven most promising of those, even though we’ll end up picking at most two of them, we’re going to fund factories for all seven of them,” he said in an interview with The Daily Show.

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“It’ll be a few billion dollars we’ll waste on manufacturing for the constructs that don’t get picked.

“But a few billion in the situation we’re in, while there’s trillions of dollars being lost economically, is worth it.”

It feels like an eternity ago, but the world only became aware of the coronavirus in December.



Despite incredible efforts by scientists around the world, there is still much we do not understand, and we are all now part of a planet-wide experiment trying to find answers.

Here are some of the big outstanding questions.

1. How many people have been infected.

It is one of the most basic questions, but also one of the most crucial.

There have been hundreds of thousands of confirmed cases around the world, but this is only a fraction of the total number of infections. And the figures are further confused by an unknown number of asymptomatic cases – people who have the virus but don’t feel ill.

Developing an antibody test will allow researchers to see whether anyone has had the virus. Only then will we understand how far or how easily the coronavirus is spreading.

2. How deadly it really is.

Until we know how many cases there have been, it is impossible to be certain of the death rate. At the moment the estimate is that around 1% of people infected with the virus die. But if there are large numbers of asymptomatic patients, the death rate could be lower.

3. The full range of symptoms.

The main symptoms of coronavirus are a fever and a dry cough – these are the ones you should be on the look out for.

A sore throat, headache and diarrhoea have also been reported in some cases and there is mounting speculation that a loss of sense of smell may affect some.

But the most important question is whether mild, cold-like symptoms, such as a runny nose or sneezing, are present in some patients.

Studies have suggested this is a possibility and that people could potentially be infectious without knowing they are carrying the virus.

4. The role children play in spreading it.

Children can definitely catch coronavirus. However, they mostly develop mild symptoms and there are relatively few deaths among children compared with other age groups.

Children are normally super-spreaders of disease, partly because they mix with lots of people (often in the playground), but with this virus, it is not clear to what extent they help spread it.

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5. Where exactly it came from.

The virus emerged in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019, where there was a cluster of cases at an animal market.

The coronavirus, officially called Sars-CoV-2, is closely related to viruses that infect bats, however it is thought the virus was passed from bats to a mystery animal species that then passed it on to people.

That “missing link” remains unknown, and could be a source of further infections.

6. Whether there will be fewer cases in summer.

Colds and flu are more common in the winter months than in the summer, but it is not yet known whether the warmer weather will alter the spread of the virus.

The UK government’s scientific advisers have warned it is unclear whether there will be a seasonal effect. If there is one, they think it is likely to be smaller than that for colds and flu.

If there is a major dip in coronavirus over the summer, there is a danger that cases will spike in winter, when hospitals are also having to deal with an influx of patients with the usual winter bugs.

7. Why some people get much more severe symptoms.

Covid-19 is a mild infection for most. However around 20% go on to develop more severe disease, but why?

The state of a person’s immune system seems to be part of the issue, and there may be some genetic factor too. Understanding this could lead to ways of preventing people from needing intensive care.

8. How long immunity lasts, and whether you can get it twice.

There has been much speculation but little evidence on how durable any immunity to the virus is.

Patients must have built up an immune response, if they successfully fight off the virus. But as the disease has been around for only a few months there is a lack of long-term data. Rumours of patients being infected twice may be down to tests incorrectly saying they were free of the virus.

The question of immunity is vital for understanding what will happen in the long term.

9. Whether the virus will mutate.

Viruses mutate all the time, but most alterations to their genetic code do not make a significant difference.

As a general rule, you expect viruses to evolve to be less deadly in the long run, but this is not guaranteed.

The concern is that if the virus mutates, then the immune system no longer recognises it and a specific vaccine no longer works (as happens with flu).

Since the early days of the coronavirus disease pandemic, we have been hearing about ventilators, their shortage and importance. But what are ventilators, and how do they help in the fight against the coronavirus disease?



For patients with the worst effects of the infection, a ventilator offers the best chance of survival.

What is a ventilator and what does it do?

Simply put, a ventilator takes over the body’s breathing process when disease has caused the lungs to fail.

This gives the patient time to fight off the infection and recover.

Read Also: Premier League players will be told to stop training amid doubts over restart

Various types of medical ventilation can be used.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), some 80% of people with Covid-19 – the disease caused by coronavirus – recover without needing hospital treatment.

But one person in six becomes seriously ill and can develop breathing difficulties.

In these severe cases, the virus causes damage to the lungs. The body’s immune system detects this and expands blood vessels so more immune cells enter.

But this can cause fluid to enter the lungs, making it harder to breathe, and causing the body’s oxygen levels to drop.

To alleviate this, a machine ventilator is used to push air, with increased levels of oxygen, into the lungs.

The ventilator also has a humidifier, which modifies adds heat and moisture to the medical air so it matches the patient’s body temperature.

Patients are given medication to relax the respiratory muscles so their breathing can be fully regulated by the machine.


People with milder symptoms may be given ventilation using facemasks, nasal masks or mouthpieces which allow pressurised air or mixtures of gases to be pushed into the lungs.

Hoods, where pressurised oxygen is pumped in via a valve, are also being commonly used to treat Covid-19 patients, partly because they reduce the risk of airborne transmission of the virus from droplets in the breath.

These are known as “non-invasive” ventilation, as no internal tubes are required.

However, Intensive Care Units (ICUs) would generally put patients suffering acute respiratory distress on mechanical ventilation quickly, to ensure oxygen levels in the body stay normal.

Dr Shondipon Laha, from the Intensive Care Society, told the BBC most patients with Covid-19 would not need a mechanical ventilator and could be treated at home or with supplementary oxygen.

But although there were risks when using ventilators, such as not knowing who would suffer long-term effects, he said, sometimes a ventilator was “the only way of getting oxygen into the patient”.

Another issue, Dr Laha explained, was having enough of the right staff in place to manage all the ventilators expected to be needed.

“A ventilator is a complex beast – it can cause a patient trauma if not set up properly,” he said. “The technical aspects are challenging. People have knowledge – we can use anaesthetists – but the knowledge base is different.

“They are used to preparing relatively healthy people for theatre. ICU patients are much more fragile.”

How many ventilators does Nigeria have – and how many might we need?

There is no accurate information on how many ventilators we currently have in Nigeria, but according to a report by Punch, Nigeria has less than 500 ventilators.

The FG will release N6.5 Billion to the NCDC according to the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed has said. Ventilators are believed to be among the things to be acquired by the NCDC to boost the fight against the novel coronavirus disease.

Lack of adequate testing kits has been highlighted by some experts as the reason why we have low number of coronavirus cases in Nigeria, as the NCDC was able to conduct only 152 tests as of 22nd March, 2020.

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The pontiff urges the world to see the coronavirus pandemic as a test of solidarity and a reminder of basic values.



Pope Francis has held a dramatic, solitary prayer service in St Peter’s Square of the Vatican, urging the world to see the coronavirus pandemic as a test of solidarity and a reminder of basic values.

Speaking into an eerily empty square before delivering an extraordinary “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing, the pontiff said on Friday that the health crisis put everyone “in the same boat”.

“It has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air … We find ourselves afraid and lost,” he said.

The Vatican called the service “An Extraordinary Prayer in the Time of Pandemic”, a sombre echo of an announcement by Italian officials minutes earlier that the coronavirus death toll in the country had surged past 9,000.

Francis walked alone in the rain to a white canopy on the steps of the basilica and spoke sitting alone before a square where he normally draws tens of thousands of people, but which is now closed because of the pandemic.

“We have realised that we are in the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other,” he said.

Francis said the virus had exposed people’s vulnerability “to those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules”.

He praised doctors, nurses, supermarket employees, cleaners, caregivers, transport workers, police and volunteers, saying they, and not the world’s rich and famous, were “writing the decisive events of our time”.

The leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Roman Catholics said God was asking everyone to “reawaken and put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of giving strength, support and meaning to these hours when everything seems to be floundering”.

He prayed before a wooden crucifix which is normally kept in a Rome church and brought to the Vatican for the special service.

According to tradition, a plague that hit Rome in 1522 began subsiding after the crucifix was taken around the streets of the Italian capital for 16 days in 1522.



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We explain the jargon surrounding COVID-19 to help you understand the pandemic and how the world seeks to contain it.



The news has been dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, with advice flying around about “social distancing”, the dangers of “COVID-19” and why it is a great idea to “flatten the curve”.

You may be wondering what it all means, so we have broken it down for you in a list of the most commonly used terms and phrases:

Coronavirus: A family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases, including SARS and MERS.

SARS-CoV-2: The name given to the “novel” coronavirus that was first detected late last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

COVID-19: An acronym created by the World Health Organization (WHO) that stands for the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). It stands for “coronavirus disease of 2019“.

Close contact: Also referred to as “direct contact”, this is when one person is physically close enough to an infected individual to come into direct contact with their bodily fluids, including respiratory droplets through which COVID-19 is believed to be spread. In order to avoid being in direct contact with someone who may be infected, it is important to practice “social distncing”, see below.

Flattening the curve: Slowing a virus’s spread to lower the peak number of cases and related demands on hospitals and infrastructure.

Immunocompromised: People who have weakened or impaired immunity due to a chronic health condition, medication or malnutrition. Read more here

Incubation: The incubation period is the time it takes for symptoms to appear after a person is infected. According to the WHO, most estimates of the incubation period for COVID-19 range from 1-14 days, most commonly around five days.

Pandemic: An epidemic that has spread over several countries/continents, usually affecting a large number of people.

PPE: Personal Protective Equipment, it includes, but is not limited to, medically approved gowns, aprons or coveralls, gloves, respirators, face shields and masks.

Quarantine: Separating and restricting the movement of people exposed (or potentially exposed) to a contagious disease.

R-naught or R0: An epidemiologic metric used to describe how contagious an infection is. In the case of COVID-19, research is still in its early stages, but indications suggest its R0 is between 2 and 2.5, which means an infected person will pass the infection on to a minimum of two other people.

Self-isolation: Isolation, as opposed to quarantine, is what someone who is confirmed to be ill with a communicable disease has to do to separate themselves from healthy people around them.

Self-quarantine: Staying home and away from other people as much as possible after exposure or potential exposure to an infection.

Social distancing: Any number of measures taken to increase the physical space between people to slow the spread of the virus. They include staying home more often, catching up with loved ones online instead of in person, strictly limiting the number of visitors to your home, and staying away from other people when you are in a public space. The WHO recommends being more than one metre (three feet) away from the nearest person, while some health experts have suggested maintaining a distance of at least two metres from others.

Read more here.

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