Welcome to Olamama's blog!!!: April 2021

Friday, 30 April 2021

Israel: At least 44 killed after stampede at religious bonfire festival attended by tens of thousands

At least 44 people were crushed to death at an over-crowded religious bonfire festival in Israel on Friday, medics said, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a "heavy disaster".
The crush occurred as tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews thronged to the Galilee tomb of 2nd-century sage Rabbi Shim Bar Yochai for annual Lag B'Omer commemorations that include all-night prayer, mystical songs and dance.
Witnesses said people were asphyxiated or trampled in a tightly packed passageway, some going unnoticed until the PA system sounded an appeal to disperse, as crowds packed the Mount Meron slope in defiance of COVID-19 warnings.
Helicopters ferried injured people to hospitals and the military said search-and-rescue troops were scrambled.

Former German professional footballer, Christoph Metzelder at the start of his trial on Thursday April 29 admitted to sharing graphic illicit images of minors online. Prosecutors accused the 40-year-old former Germany and Real Madrid defender of passing on 29 pornographic files to three women via WhatsApp, including one featuring a toddler in a “highly sexualised pose”.
According to the case against him, 297 files with sexual content featuring children or teens were found on Metzelder's mobile phone.
The footballer in court, said that the fascination for him had been in "crossing boundaries" rather than in the depictions of serious sexual abuse themselves.
He said;

Oxford scientists behind the Covid-19 vaccine reveal breakthrough vaccine against malaria which is more than 75% effective

Researchers from the University of Oxford have developed the world's most effective malaria vaccine, making them the first to achieve the World Health Organisation-specified 75 percent efficacy goal.
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by Plasmodium parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of mosquitoes - specifically infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
The Oxford researchers who are behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca Astrazaneca Covid-19 vaccine, have reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated 77 percent efficacy over 12 months of follow-up.

A Norwegian climber has confirmed that he tested positive for COVID-19 at the base camp on the south side of Mount Everest in Nepal, in a blow to the South Asia country ahead of the bumper mountaineering season on the world’s highest peak.
The pandemic crumbled last year’s season but Nepal has eased quarantine rules in an effort to attract more climbers.
“My diagnosis is COVID-19,” Erlend Ness told the AFP news agency in a Facebook message. “I am doing ok now … The hospital is taking care (of me).”

Arsenal winger, Bukayo Saka wins Young Player of the Year at 2021 London Football Awards

Arsenal youngster, Bukayo Saka has been named Young Player of the Year at the 2021 London Football Awards. The English winger, 19, saw off strong competition from Mason Mount, Declan Rice, Emile Smith Rowe, and Reece James to win the award at a virtual ceremony on Tuesday night, April 27.
Accepting his award, the four-cap Three Lions international said: "I'm really happy to win this award.
"I want to say a big thank you to everyone for your support and of course another big thank you to everyone who voted for me.
"I promise to keep giving my all on the pitch to make you happy and keep you entertained."

Tottenham striker, Harry Kane has been crowned Premier League Player of the Year at the London Football Awards. The England international, 27, beat off competition from team-mate Heung-Min Son, West Ham duo Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek and Chelsea's Mason Mount to win the award after scoring an impressive 21 goals and 13 assists in the league this season.
With five matches remaining, the England captain is leading the race for the Golden Boot with 21 goals and has the most assists in the top-flight with 13.
If he maintains both leads, he would be the first player to be complete the double in the Premier League era.
Kane's award was one of 10 announced on Tuesday night at a virtual ceremony hosted by Harry Pinero and Alex Scott.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku fined for £7,000 for 'unsportsmanlike behaviour with provocative phrases' during their Milan Derby bust-up

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku have been fined for unsportsmanlike conduct after the pair clashed during January's Milan Derby at the San Siro. The strikers, who play for AC Milan and Inter respectively, had a bust-up during the Coppa Italia quarter-final, which Inter won 2-1 after Ibrahimovic was later sent off.
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said on Monday that Ibrahimovic had been fined 4,000 euros (£3,477), Lukaku 3,000 euros (£2,608), AC Milan 2,000 euros (£1,738), and Inter 1,250 euros (£1,086).

UEFA has launched an investigation into allegations that football star, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a financial interest in a betting company. In sports, it is a very big crime for sports men, coaches or managers to have betting companies or be involved in betting and if found guilty such a person could be banned from the sport or given a hefty fine.
Ibrahimovic, 39, signed a a new deal with AC Milan last week. However, UEFA has appointed an inspector to look into the allegations that he's financially involved with a gambling company.

Anthony Hopkins won the Best Actor honor at Sunday's Academy Awards for his starring role in The Father. The 83-year-old Welsh actor made history on April 25, with his second Oscar victory, becoming the oldest star to win an Academy Award for Best Actor award after becoming the oldest Best Actor nominee when the 2021 Oscar nominations were announced in March.
He beat out fellow nominees Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), Gary Oldman (Mank), and Steven Yeun (Minari).
Presenter Joaquin Phoneix, who won the category last year for his performance in Joker, accepted the award on an absent Hopkins' behalf.
Anthony Hopkins won his first at the 64th Academy Awards, earning the Best Actor award for his iconic performance as an expert psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the 1992 psychological thriller The Silence of the Lambs.

President Joe Biden tells U.S. Embassies to fly Gay Pride Flag on same pole as US flag, revoking Trump's policy

The US government under Joe Biden has communicated to its embassies all over the world to fly the Gay Pride flag on the same flagpole as the U.S. flag in support for LGBTQ rights. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a blanket authorization for U.S. diplomatic outposts around the world to fly the Pride flag, a move that is in start contrast to Trump's administration State Department which was run by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In diplomatic cables sent to diplomatic posts around the world, Blinken gave authority for diplomats to fly the Pride flag before May 17, which marks the international day against homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia, as well as June, which in the United States and many other countries is Pride month.

Slavia Prague defender, Ondrej Kudela has been banned for 10 matches by UEFA after being found guilty of racist behaviour towards Rangers’ Glen Kamara, who will serve a three-game suspension.
Kamara accused Kudela of racially abusing him during their Europa League last-16 match on March 18 in Ibrox.
Kudela had been provisionally suspended for one match as UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings, which ruled the Czech Republic international out of Slavia's 1-1 draw at Arsenal last week. He will now be ineligible for the next nine games played by either Slavia in Europe or his country, including this summer's European Championship.

The UK government is exploring the possibility of creating a new digital currency that could be known as Britcoin".
The Bank of England and the Treasury said on Monday, April 19, that they will work together to assess the benefits of a central bank digital currency amid reports cash payments are generally on the decline, partly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The bank said the new currency if it comes to pass, would be a new form of digital money for use by households and businesses and would exist alongside cash and bank deposits, rather than replacing them.

The European Super League has officially been suspended after all six English clubs formally withdrew following furious backlash from fans and footballers. On Sunday, April 18 six English clubs -- (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur) alongside three teams from Italy (AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Juventus) and three from Spain ( Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, and Real Madrid) disclosed their plans to form a controversial breakaway competition, which they referred to in the announcement as the Super League.
One of the reasons for the breakaway was because the top clubs feel cheated by the current champions league format which does not give them enough financial protection.

Over the weekend, as fans and music lovers gathered to pay their last respects to DMX, the sale of commemorative shirts honoring the Dark man was announced. The custom shirts — a collaboration between Kanye West’s Yeezy imprint and Balenciaga — have since raised $1 million, all of which will go to X’s family.
The $200 tops — which feature an image of the Yonkers native on the front, the words “in loving memory” on the back, and his birth and death date on the right and left sleeve respectively — appeared on the X’s Instagram page moments before his Celebration of Life memorial began on Saturday (April 24).

Hundreds of Japanese towns and cities have been forced to rethink plans to host Olympic teams because the coronavirus will prevent public appearances and require costly safety measures.
The western town of Okuizumo spent more than $5 million preparing to welcome India’s hockey team for a pre-Games training camp, only to scrap the visit because of Covid-19.
After sinking money into upgrading sports facilities, Okuizomo balked when it became clear it would have to provide bubble-like biosecurity measures with regular virus tests and medical care.
“We wanted to have one of the world’s top tier teams visit our town and show their skills to local children,” town official Katsumi Nagase told AFP.
“But that seems impossible now.”

Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer were on Monday named as the first players inducted into the official Premier League Hall of Fame in recognition of a combined 435 goals and seven Golden Boot awards.
Arsenal’s all-time top scorer Henry won two Premier League titles under Arsene Wenger and was part of the “Invincibles” team that went unbeaten throughout the 2003/04 title-winning campaign.
France’s record goalscorer and 1998 World Cup winner scored more than 20 Premier League goals in five consecutive seasons between 2001/02 and 2005/06.
“To be inducted alongside Alan Shearer as the two first inductees into the Premier League Hall of Fame is more than special,” said Henry.

Two Australian cricketers have become the latest players to pull out of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is taking place despite the country battling a devastating coronavirus surge and rising death rates. The IPL has attracted criticism for continuing even as the country’s healthcare system reels from more than 350,000 daily infections and almost 3,000 deaths a day from the virus.
On Monday, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson’s franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore tweeted that the players are “returning to Australia for personal reasons and will be unavailable for the remainder of #IPL2021”.

Amazon to open African headquarters in South Africa

Amazon, an American multinational technology which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming and artificial intelligence, has announced that it will be opening its African headquarters in South Africa with a real estate investment of over $279 million (R4 billion).
The 15-hectare parcel of land is located at a new development in River Club, a prime section of the Cape Town and it includes two precincts. The first precinct of 60,000sqm will occupy different layers of development; while the second section of 70,000 will hold Amazon headquarters in Africa.

Former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin was last night taken to a maximum-security prison and placed on suicide watch after being found guilty on all three counts of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts Tuesday, April 20 in the Hennepin County courtroom, where jurors spent three weeks listening to testimony about the day Floyd died under the weight of the 45-year-old officer's knee during an arrest on May 25, 2020.
Judge Peter Cahill thanked the jury on behalf of the state of Minnesota for not only jury service but 'heavy-duty jury service'.

In the aftermath of the death of President Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled Chad for three decades, his 37-year-old son has taken over as president, according to a charter released Wednesday by the presidency.
The charter states that Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno has been named transitional leader as head of a military council following his father’s death and will "occupy the functions of the president of the republic" and also serve as head of the armed forces.
Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno immediately took charge of a transitional military council and appointed 14 of the most trusted generals to a junta to run Chad until "free and democratic" elections in 18-months time.

Kenyan teachers ordered to get Covid vaccine

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered all teachers to have a Covid-19 vaccine irrespective of their age. The country has been vaccinating school managers and those aged above 50, elderly citizens and front-line workers.
More than 500,000 people have had the AstraZeneca jab out of the more than one million doses delivered to the country.
All teachers and non-teaching staff in schools should have the jab before schools reopen on 10 May, the president said.
According to the head of Kenya's Teachers Service Commission, Nancy Macharia, 15 primary teachers, three deputy headteachers and eight headteachers have died of Covid-19 during the pandemic.

Liverpool striker, Mohamed Salah confirmed as new captain of the Egyptian national team

Liverpool striker, Mohamed Salah has been named as the new captain of the Egyptian national team, the EFA announced on Monday. The national team captaincy has been an issue for a long time now, with many football fans and pundits urging Egypt coach Hossam El-Badry to hand Salah the armband and move away from the tradition of giving the armband to the most senior player in the squad.
Salah, 28, is not the oldest in the national team but the Egyptian Football Association disclosed in the statement that the coach met with older players in the squad who supported the move.
"Hossam Al-Badri, the coach of the national football team, has decided to award the captain's armband to Mohamed Salah," the Egyptian Football Association said in a statement on Monday.

Manchester United and Arsenal football club of England have confirmed they have left the European Clubs Association (ECA) while United chairman, Ed Woodward and Arsenal CEO, Vinai Venkatesham have resigned from their positions with UEFA in staunch moves to show they are intent on going ahead with plans to set up their own European Super League. A statement released on Sunday night confirmed 12 clubs, including United and Arsenal, had agreed to form a breakaway league which would be run by the founding clubs.
United’s executive vice-chairman Woodward was appointed to UEFA's Professional Football Strategy Council as an ECA representative in September 2017.

Brooklyn’s Barclays Center has been confirmed as the venue to host a public memorial for DMX on Saturday, April 24. The Hip Hop Icon, real name Earl Simmons, died on Friday, April 9, at the age of 50 after he suffered a drug overdose that triggered a heart attack on April 2.
He will be honored by family and friends on April 24, with a private funeral service to take place the following day at a New York City-area church, the rapper’s manager, Steve Rifkind told TMZ.
Ticketing and COVID-19 logistics are still being worked on, according to the report. The arena has a potential capacity of 19,000.

Chad President Idriss Deby dies on front lines, says army spokesman

Chad’s President Idriss Deby has died while visiting troops on the front line of a fight against northern rebels, an army spokesman said on Tuesday, the day after Deby was declared the winner of a sixth term in office. Deby’s campaign said on Monday that he was headed to the front lines to join troops battling “terrorists”.
Rebels based across the northern frontier in Libya attacked a border post on election day and then advanced hundreds of kilometres south across the desert.
Deby, 68, came to power in a rebellion in 1990 and is one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.
The cause of death was not yet clear.

Tyson Fury's former opponent Tom Schwarz could be sent to jail for up to 10 years, with shock reports in Germany claiming the heavyweight boxer broke his ex-fiancee's jaw in three places.
Schwarz, 26, who was beaten inside two rounds by WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury back in June 2019, is now on trial for the alleged attack that happened in May 2020.
Schwarz has been accused of punching his former partner Tessa Schimschar in a restaurant car park in Germany, with German reports claiming she filed a charge for grievous body harm after being taken to a local hospital with horrendous injuries.

UEFA president, Aleksander Ceferin has stated that clubs and players involved in the proposed breakaway European Super League could be banned 'as soon as possible' from all of its competitions and the World Cup. Addressing an emergency meeting on Monday, April 19, after 12 of Europe's top clubs announced the European super league the European Super League, Ceferin launched a scathing attack on the plan, which could change the game of football forever.
Ceferin has now refused to rule out that players could be banned from the Euros. When asked about when the ban would begin, he said: 'I do not know when.'
'We're still assessing with our legal team but we will take all the sanctions that we can and we will inform you as soon we can,' he said.

12 European football teams to form breakaway 'Super League' throwing elite game into turmoil

Twelve of Europe's top soccer clubs have announced plans to form a so-called European super league, in a move that looks set to rock the foundations of the sport's top competitions, including preeminent leagues in England, Spain and Italy and extending all the way up to the World Cup.
In a joint announcement Sunday night, six English clubs -- Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur -- alongside three teams from Italy -- AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus -- and three from Spain -- Atlético Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid -- laid out plans to form a breakaway competition, referred to in the announcement as the Super League.
The group plans to add three additional clubs before the Super League's inaugural season, which is "intended to commence as soon as is practiceable," according to the announcement posted on the 12 clubs' websites.

Turkey has so far administered more than 20 million coronavirus vaccine jabs across the country, the Health Ministry data showed on Monday, according to Anadolu Agency.
More than 12.2 million people to date have received their first doses, while second doses have been given to over 7.79 million, according to the data.
In the commercial hub Istanbul, home to nearly one-fifth of Turkey’s population, over 3.17 million coronavirus vaccine jabs were administered, including more than 1.97 million first doses and 1.2 million second doses.

Manchester City legend Yaya Toure has confirmed he wrote a letter of apology to Pep Guardiola in order to find peace. Toure, 37, is regarded as one of the club’s greatest ever players winning three Prem titles, the FA Cup and two League Cups during his eight-year stint at Man City but left almost unsung. While City built a statue of David Silva and also planning to build one for Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure feels he is not welcome back at the club.
The midfielder’s exit at the Etihad in 2018 was tarnished with comments accusing Guardiola of having a problem with African players in an explosive interview with France Football.
He is now trying to repair his relationship with the club but Guardiola and owner Khaldoon Al Mubarak did not reply to his letters of apology.

European football governing body, UEFA has slammed plans by some top clubs in European top leagues for plans to break away from the normal league and champions league format to set up their own European super league while also thanking French and German clubs for refusing to sign up to the scheme.
According to the Premier League and UEFA, the plans to create a European Super League, are anti-competitive and will undermine the integrity of the sport.
Reports of a rival competition known as European Super League emerged on Sunday April 18, just a day before UEFA were to hold a meeting to ratify the current Swiss model being used for the Champions league.

A senior Japanese ruling party official said canceling this year’s Olympics in Tokyo remains an option if the coronavirus crisis becomes too dire, as the fourth wave of infections surges less than 100 days from the planned start of the Games.
“If it seems impossible to do it any more, then we have to stop, decisively,” Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, said in comments to broadcaster TBS.
Cancellation is “of course” an option, Nikai said. “If the Olympics were to spread infection, then what are the Olympics for?” he added.

Media Tycoon, Jimmy Lai sentenced to one year in prison for pro-democracy protests

Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon, Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after being found guilty of unauthorized assembly. Lai was among nine of Hong Kong's most prominent democracy campaigners found guilty of organizing and participating in one of the city's biggest-ever protests in 2019.
Organizers say 1.7 million people, almost one-quarter of Hong Kong's population turned out for a huge rally that formed the backbone of demonstrations that wracked the city throughout 2019.
Nine activists were sentenced for participating in the demonstration on 18 August 2019. Another three received sentences in relation to a separate protest on 31 August.

A Mississippi man who experienced a blood clot after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, has been left paralyzed on one side and unable to talk, his family said. Brad Malagarie, 43, of St. Martin, suffered a stroke after he received the one-dose shot of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine last week, news station WLOX reported.
This father of seven had spent the morning at his D'Iberville office before heading to get a Johnson and Johnson vaccine. When he returned back to work, within three hours, his co-workers noticed he was unresponsive at his desk.

PSG star, Neymar Jr, has confirmed he is set to renew his contract with the club after helping them eliminate Bayern Munich from the Champions League on Tuesday night, April 13. Bayern won the quarter-final second leg 1-0, but PSG reached the semi-final on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate result.
After the game, Neymar, whose current deal expires in 2022, said his renewal was "no longer an issue" due to his comfort level at PSG
Speaking to ESPN Brazil after the game, Neymar said: "This (renewal with PSG) is no longer an issue. Obviously I feel very comfortable and at home here at PSG. I feel happier than I was before."

Tottenham have sacked Jose Mourinho after 17 months in charge, the club have confirmed.
Spurs announced the decision on Monday morning, less than 12 hours after confirming they will be founder members of a new European Super League alongside five other English clubs including Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said: "Jose and his coaching staff have been with us through some of our most challenging times as a club. Jose is a true professional who showed enormous resilience during the pandemic.

Microsoft Corp and Nuance Communications, Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Nuance for $56.00 per share, in an all-cash transaction valued at $19.7 billion, inclusive of Nuance’s net debt, Report informs referring to a press release on Microsoft website. Nuance is a trusted cloud and AI software leader representing decades of accumulated healthcare and enterprise AI experience.
Microsoft has accelerated its efforts to provide industry-specific cloud offerings to support customers and partners as they respond to disruption and new opportunities.
Nuance is a pioneer and a leading provider of conversational AI and cloud-based ambient clinical intelligence for healthcare providers.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Nuance builds upon the successful existing partnership between the companies that was announced in 2019.

Manchester United change seat covering colors to improve home form after players complain

Whether it be baying fans, a particularly colorful outfit or even a pitch invader, it's not unheard of for football players to suffer distractions. The latest apparent distraction are empty seats. When asked about its poor home form, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said the color of the seat coverings had been a problem for some of his squad as they play in empty stadiums due to Covid-19 restrictions.
United has won 13 and lost six of its 24 home games in all competitions this season. In contrast, it won 17 and suffered three defeats from 26 matches away from Old Trafford.
As a result, the club has changed the color of the seat coverings in Old Trafford from red to black in an attempt to improve matters.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen won a chaotic and crash-halted Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on Sunday, with Lewis Hamilton second for Mercedes and retaining the lead in the championship by a single point. The win, by a commanding 22 seconds at the chequered flag, was the 11th of the Dutch youngster's career.
"It was very challenging out there, especially in the beginning to stay on track to be honest, it was very slippery," he said of a race that started with most drivers on intermediates but some on full wets.
"I think we managed everything well."
Hamilton, winner of the Bahrain season-opener, took a crucial bonus point for fastest lap on a rollercoaster afternoon for the seven-time world champion, whose race was almost wrecked by a rare mistake.

A group of lawyers want oil companies banned from advertising on television and social media unless they include "tobacco-style health warnings" about the dangers fossil fuels pose to the future of the planet. In new research published Monday, environmental law non-profit ClientEarth accused some of the world's biggest oil firms of misrepresenting the role their businesses play in the climate crisis and overstating the speed at which they are transitioning to clean energy sources.
"The companies most responsible for catastrophically heating the planet are spending millions on advertising campaigns about how their business plans are focused on sustainability," ClientEarth lawyer Johnny White said in a statement.

One of France's biggest export industries is facing a devastating blow after an unusually severe frost earlier this month damaged vineyards across the country, heaping pain on winemakers already reeling from the pandemic and US tariffs. The frost has affected 80% of vineyards in France's primary wine growing areas, according to the European Committee of Wine Companies. "This is expected to cause a yield loss ranging from 25% to up to 50% in some regions," the trade body told CNN Business on Wednesday.
The destruction spread across the Rhone Valley, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Provence and the Loire Valley, said Anne Colombo, president of the Cornas appellation, a wine-growing area in the Rhone region.

For the first time in six seasons, there will be a new Women's Champions League winner. Paris Saint-Germain's stunning quarterfinal comeback against perennial champion Lyon finally ended one of the most dominant dynasties in modern football.
Lyon has won the last five Women's Champions League titles and during this season's competition had looked in imperious form, making itself favorite to win a sixth consecutive crown.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, PSG got off the worst possible start imaginable in Sunday's second leg as Catarina Macario gave Lyon the lead inside five minutes.
PSG now had a mountain to climb, but this side has been inching gradually closer to Lyon both domestically and in Europe over recent seasons.

As offices reopen, Uber says its employees can work from home if they choose — but only for two days a week. Starting in September, the ride-hailing company will shift to a "hybrid model" for its employees "with a clear expectation that they also come into the office 3 days a week," Nikki Krishnamurthy, the company's chief people officer, said in a blog post Wednesday.
Internal company data showed that two-thirds of Uber (UBER) employees prefer a mix of working from the office and from home, Krishnamurthy added. Several of Silicon Valley's biggest companies are slowly starting to reopen offices after being among the first to close them last year, offering a potential road map for what office work looks like in year two of the coronavirus pandemic.

CNN host, Chris Cuomo has opined that police and gun reform won’t happen until "White people’s kids start getting killed."
The U.S. has faced multiple major shootings over the past month, most recently in Indianapolis where a gunman opened fire at a FedEx facility, killing eight. Also, tensions have grown in some parts of the US where protesters and rioters are on edge as they await the verdict of the Derek Chauvin trial and demand justice in the police-involved killing of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota and 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago, among others.
Cuomo, however, feels the problem of police shootings will end when white kids start getting killed.

This week, Domino's is rolling out a robot car delivery service to select customers in Houston. For those who opt in, their pies will arrive in a fully autonomous vehicle made by Nuro.
Here's how it works: Customers in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston can choose robot delivery and receive texts with updates on the car's location and a numerical code that can be used to retrieve the order. Once the car arrives, the customer enters the number on the bot's touchscreen, and the car doors open up to serve the food.
Nuro's robot car was the first completely autonomous, human-free on-road delivery vehicle to receive regulatory approval from the US Department of Transportation last year, Domino's said.

Barcelona routed Athletic Club 4-0 in Seville on Saturday night, April 17 to win the Copa del Rey, their first trophy of the current season. Lionel Messi struck twice, after goals from Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong, to claim a record 31st Copa del Rey, and their newest Copa title since seeing their bid for five in a row ended by Valencia in 2019.
Barcelona's new president, Joan Laporta could be seen smiling watched his side pick up the first trophy of his second reign on a huge night for the club in Seville who are still hoping to convince star player Lionel Messi to remain at the club beyond this season.
Messi put on a show to become the all-time record goalscorer in Copa finals, with 10, as he lifted the trophy for a seventh time.

Bernie Madoff, Wall Street financier and mastermind behind largest Ponzi scheme in history, dies in prison at 82

Bernie Madoff, the Wall Street financier who masterminded the largest Ponzi scheme in history and defrauded thousands of investors out of billions of dollars, has died in prison. He was 82. The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed Madoff's death on Wednesday, April 14. He died at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina.
The bureau did not specify a cause of death, saying in a statement that the cause will be determined by a medical examiner.
Madoff was serving a 150-year sentence at the prison, where he had been treated for what his attorney called terminal kidney disease.

Eight people were killed in a mass shooting at an Indianapolis FedEx facility on Thursday night, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Genae Cook said. Authorities were aware of multiple other injured victims in hospitals, one of whom was in critical condition, she said during a media briefing early Friday.
Police believe the shooter took his own life and there is "no active threat to the community at this time," Cook said.
It is unclear what motivated the shooting, but investigations are ongoing and will continue into most of the day Friday, she said.
Police arrived at around 11:00 p.m. local time to an active-shooter situation and entered the facility without hesitation, Cook said.
"The officers responded, they came in, they went in and they did their job," Cook said. A lot of them are trying to face this because this is a sight no one should ever have to see."

TB Joshua’s TV suspended on YouTube

YouTube has suspended popular Christian television channel, Emmanuel TV, owned by Pastor TB Joshua of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations. The suspension was announced by the pastor on his Twitter account on Wednesday. He said the channel was suspended over a video said to contain hate speech.
“Emmanuel TV YouTube suspension: Our mission is to share the love of God with everyone – irrespective of race or religion – and we strongly oppose all forms of hate speech! We have had a long and fruitful relationship with YouTube and believe this decision was made in haste,” he tweeted.

Former heavyweight champion, Evander Holyfield 'to return to boxing ring for the first time in a decade to face Kevin McBride

American boxing legend, Evander Holyfield is reportedly set to make a return to boxing for the first time in a decade to face Kevin McBride. Sports Illustrated reports that the former undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight boxing champion will face McBride in an eight-round exhibition on the undercard of Triller's June 5 pay-per-view event, which will feature Teofimo Lopez defending his unified lightweight titles against George Kambosos in the main event.
The 58-year-old, whose last fight in the boxing ring came in May 2011 will be hoping to defeat Kevin McBride after Mike Tyson recently revealed his plans to fight him and Lennox Lewis this year.

Friday, 30 April 2021

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