President-elect Joe Biden says will inject $1.9 trillion into the US economy when he takes office next week. The ‘American Rescue Plan’, proposal, which was announced on Thursday, includes measures aimed at revitalizing the world’s largest economy. In the proposal, Biden aims to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, help struggling state and local governments, safely reopen schools, roll out a massive Covid-19 vaccination campaign and raise the size of stimulus checks Congress approved last month. “The return on these investment in jobs, racial equity will prevent long-term economic damage, and the benefits will far surpass the…
Author: Editor
Amazon.com Inc was slapped with a class-action lawsuit on Thursday accusing the e-commerce giant of inflating the prices of ebooks in collusion with some publishers. The lawsuit alleges that Amazon and the five largest U.S. publishers, collectively called the ‘Big Five’, agreed to price restraints that cause consumers to overpay for eBooks purchased from them through a retail platform other than Amazon.com. The lawsuit comes a day after Connecticut said it was investigating Amazon for potential anti-competitive behaviour in its business selling digital books. Amazon declined to comment. About 90 per cent of eBooks are sold through Amazon, the largest…
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to improve on public health infrastructure in Nigeria. Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, said the vice-president held a virtual meeting with top government officials and some Nigerian scientists working on public health dimensions of the pandemic. The vice-president said the pandemic also offered a platform for the training of required experts, adding that governments should be doing more in the area of funding. The interaction which focused on Nigeria’s response and the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, featured presentations by one of Nigeria’s leading…
Nigeria recorded 23 fresh COVID-19 related deaths and 1,479 new infections on January 14, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said. The NCDC made this known on its official website on Thursday night. The agency said that the 23 new deaths brought the nation’s death toll to 1,405. It said the 1,479 newly registered infections were reported in the last 24 hours across the country, adding that the nation’s confirmed cases now stand at 105,478. NCDC said the 1,479 COVID-19 new infections were reported from 24 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). According to NCDC, Lagos takes…
The Port Harcourt zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, arraigned Michael Uwachukwu (a.k.a Rodrigo), an undergraduate of Federal University of Technology Owerri, before Justice J. K Omotosho of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers state. The student was arraigned on four -count charges bordering on impersonation and obtaining money by false pretence. One of the counts read: “That you Uwachukwu Michael (a.k.a Rodrigo) on or about 17th November, 2019 at Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud did obtain the sum of Eleven Thousand,…
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and security agencies in the country to ensure that Bishop Matthew Kukah of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese is safe. It also warned that Kukah’s safety must not be compromised. This is contained in a statement the General Secretary of the association, Joseph Daramola and made available to news men on Thursday. The Muslim Support Forum on Tuesday threatened Bishop Kukah to apologise for his Chrisatmas message, which it said was aimed against Muslims and Islam or vacate the state. “We have been watching the unfolding scenario since Bishop…
Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh has been given new appointment by Guinea Bissau President, Umaro Sissoco Mbalo to lead a team at Africa Peace Awards. In a post sighted on her Instagram page on Thursday, the thespian shared the good news of her new appointment as a team leader at Africa Peace Awards, 2021. She shared photo of the program venue and date including the speakers. Dikeh also told her fans that she had been chosen by the President of Guinea Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Mbalo to lead the team at the awards ceremony. “President Umaro Sissoco Mbalo of Guinea Bissau set…
Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez will take the stage at U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony in Washington next week alongside others in what his transition team said would showcase a diverse America. The two will perform at the Jan. 20 event for the incoming 46th U.S. president, which will also feature remarks from a black firefighter from Georgia, a former Youth Poet Laureate, a Catholic priest, and a pastor from Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. Lady Gaga will sing the national anthem and Lopez will give a musical performance. “They represent one clear picture of the grand diversity of…
South African president and African Union (AU) Chairperson, Cyril Ramaphosa, on Thursday confirmed that the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), which he established, has secured a provisional 270 million vaccine doses for the continent. At least 50 million COVID-19 doses supplied by Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca will be available between April and June 2021, the AVATT noted. The Serum Institute of India is overseeing the process. President Ramaphosa said “our focus as a continent has been on collaboration and collective effort. We have not only campaigned vigorously for changes through all the available international forums, but we…
By Jacinta Nwachukwu Educationists observe that few female students engage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in learning institutions across the country. According to them, females only account for 13 per cent of roles in engineering and 25 per cent of computer and mathematics. This is because, they note, many girls may be interested in mathematics and science but eventually lose interest due to lack of encouragement. They call the attention of the public to somewhat staggering ratio of females to males involved in mathematics and science departments in tertiary institutions. They also insist that it is fundamental development…