Sanwo-Olu doubles life insurance for health workers (ThisDay)
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State yesterday during the May Day anniversary to appreciate frontline health and emergency workers, whom he described as heroes, for sacrificing their personal well-being for the efforts at combating the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In appreciation of the sacrifices made by health workers in the state who he described as frontline officers against the pandemic, said “we approved a 400 per cent increment in the Hazard Allowance of Health Officers in the state for the month of April.
“We have also introduced a COVID-19 Allowance for all our frontline workers, which is a very generous amount that takes cognisance of the heightened risks of the jobs they have to do. All these are intended to appreciate the dedication of all our Health Officers in the fight against COVID-19,” he said. Read more
Lagos discharges Polish, Filipino, 24 Nigerians after testing negative for coronavirus (Tribune)
Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday announced that 26 more patients have been discharged from isolation centres in the state having tested negative twice consecutively to coronavirus.
He said those discharged included 14 males and 12 females, including two foreign nationals – a Polish and a Filipino.
The governor, who is the Incident Commander, revealed this on his twitter handle, saying the 14 of them were discharged from the Mainland Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba and 12 from the Onikan Isolation Centre. Read more
One dead, 16 injured in Lagos petrol tanker fire (Punch)
A yet-to-be-identified person died on Friday when fire gutted a petrol-laden tanker in Obalende area of Victoria Island, Lagos State.
16 persons, including an official of the Lagos State Fire Service, were reportedly injured during the fire incident.
THE PUNCH gathered that the yet-to-be-identified driver lost control of the vehicle while navigating a bend in the area.
The tanker later fell and its content spilled on the road, causing a fire incident in the process. Read more
May Day: Labour, employers rally to prevent mass job losses after COVID-19 lockdown (Leadership)
As part of this year’s May Day celebration, organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Comgress (TUC) as well as employers of labour under the aegis of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) have challenged the federal and state governments to take measures to revamp the economy after COVID-19 with a view to preventing mass loss of jobs.
In his May Day address yesterday, NLC president, Ayuba Wabba said there was genuine reason to worry about possible threats to job retention both in the public and private sectors of the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more
COVID-19: Dokpesi, daughter-in-law, six other family members test positive (Tribune)
Founder of DAAR Communications Plc, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi and his daughter-in-law along with six members of his family have tested positive for coronavirus.
This is coming three days after his son and Chairman of the board of the company, Raymond Dokpesi Jnr, also tested positive for the virus.
A test conducted by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on the Dokpesi family came out positive for eight members of the family. Read more
Nigeria’s oil, gas exports to fall by $26.5bn -IMF (Punch)
The International Monetary Fund has said Nigeria’s oil and gas exports are expected to fall by at least $26.5bn this year as a result of the coronavirus-induced sharp drop in prices and demand.
The IMF, on Tuesday, approved the country’s request for emergency financial assistance of $3.4bn on Tuesday.
In a detailed report regarding the request, released late on Wednesday, the Washington-based fund warned that Nigeria remained exposed to rising risks, particularly in oil markets. Read more
COVID-19: Why we can’t reduce VAT now -FG (DailyTrust)
The Federal Government has said that the calls for the reduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 would not be workable now. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said this on Friday in Abuja at the 24th joint national briefing of the committee. According to him, the goverment is particularly concerned about the need to ease up the lockdown, so that businesses can come upstream. Read more
COVID-19: NCDC records highest daily test of 2000 samples on April 30 (Guardian)
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said it tested 2000 samples on April 30, the highest daily test recorded since the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus pandemic outbreak in the country.
Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General, NCDC, disclosed this while fielding questions from journalists at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) briefing on COVID-19 on Friday in Abuja.
The NCDC boss said that the agency now have 18 Molecular Laboratories activated across the country and more were coming on stream. Read more
May Day: Labour demands reduction of petrol price to N60 (Sun)
Organised Labour yesterday demanded further downward review of prices of petroleum products in the country, saying Nigerians should not pay more than N60 for a litre of petrol.
This is even as it has advocated that an investment of 20 percent of the entire donations received by the Federal Government towards mitigating the coronavirus pandemic, should be used to fund the activities of various research institutes across the country.
Addressing the media as part of activities to commemorate the International Workers’ Day amid global COVID-19 pandemic yesterday, the President of the United Labour Congress of Nigeria (ULC), Joe Ajaero said the present prices are a rip-off of the people and indeed not justified by any known market parameters. Read more
Trevor Noah goes off on Elon Musk for ‘insane’ lockdown rant (DailyBeast)
“We’re going on six weeks of lockdown and it’s clearly starting to wear on some people’s nerves,” Trevor Noah said on Thursday’s episode of The Daily Show. He was talking about Tesla CEO Elon Musk and it was a massive understatement.
“He’s never been a fan of the shutdown in the first place, but last night, he pushed the button for insane mode,” the host added of Musk, who ranted against the “fascist” stay-at-home orders during an earnings call with investors this week.
After tweeting “FREE AMERICA NOW,” Musk said on the call, “The expansion of shelter-in-place, or as we call it, forcibly imprisoning people in their homes, against all their constitutional rights, is, in my opinion, breaking people’s freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong, and not why people came to America and built this country. What the fuck?”
“Yes! Elon! Finally!” Noah replied. Read more
Russian military church scraps plan for Putin mosaic (BBC)
A controversial mosaic featuring Russian President Vladimir Putin will no longer be displayed in a new Russian military church after the president himself objected to it.
Mr Putin was depicted alongside his defence minister, the head of the FSB security service and others.
The bishop in charge of the mega-church near Moscow said the mosaic was now likely to be dismantled.
Another mosaic shows women in front of a sign reading “Crimea is ours”.
Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014. Read more
Tesla stock price is too high’: Elon Musk sends shares into freefall with deluge of tweets (RT)
Elon Musk has stirred up a new Twitter controversy by claiming that the shares of his electric car company were priced “too high.” The remark sent Tesla stock downhill and summoned a horde of angry shareholders into Musk’s feed.
The billionaire unleashed a series of perplexing tweets on Friday, vowing to sell “almost all physical possessions” and to “own no house.” He also apparently took yet another jab at the anti-coronavirus measures he’s previously spoken out against, tweeting “Now give people back their FREEDOM,” as well as posting lyrics from The Star Spangled Banner.
The strongest reaction, though, was provoked by another of Musk’s posts, in which he suggested the Tesla shares were actually overpriced. Read more
FDA issues emergency approval for coronavirus treatment drug (HuffPost)
The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that it approved the experimental drug remdesivir for treating coronavirus patients.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading official on infectious diseases, touted an international study of more than 1,000 people earlier this week that supported the drug’s use to help patients recover faster. An independent data monitoring board that works with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which Fauci leads, determined that the drug was effective. Read more
Coronavirus: Target reached as UK tests pass 100,000 a day (BBC)
The UK provided more than 122,000 coronavirus tests on the last day of April, passing the government’s target, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
Mr Hancock said the target of 100,000 tests per day was an “audacious goal”, but testing was necessary “for getting Britain back on her feet”.
The figure includes home test kits counted when they were dispatched, which may not yet have been taken.
Mr Hancock set the goal on 2 April, when the UK was on 10,000 tests a day.
Some 27,510 people have now died in UK hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus. Read more
Women, minorities shoulder front-line work during coronavirus pandemic (NYPost)
As America tentatively emerges from weeks of lockdowns, it is becoming clear that the pandemic has taken its toll on workers who have been on the front lines all along.
They have been packing and delivering supplies, caring for the sick and elderly and keeping streets and buildings clean.
They have also watched their co-workers fall ill. Thousands have gotten sick themselves. Many have died. Read more
Drake announces his first new album in 2 years — and throws in a mixtape for good measure (CNN)
Some people are finding themselves unusually productive in this period of isolation, catching up on work and investing time into hobbies. And then there’s Drake.
On Thursday, the Canadian rapper took to Instagram to reveal not one but two treats for his fans — a mixtape and a new album in the works.
First up, the singer dropped the mixtape — “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” — made up of 14 songs, and featuring guest appearances from Chris Brown, Giveon, Young Thug and Playboi Carti.
The mixtape features guest appearances from Chris Brown, Playboi Carti and others.
Released at midnight on Thursday, the mix is made up of previously leaked tracks, releases from SoundCloud and “new vibes,” the musician said.
But the announcement that really got fans excited? The news that Drake will be releasing his latest album this summer.
The new offering will be his first studio album since “Scorpion,” which came out in 2018.
It’s been a busy few months for Drake. In April, Billboard announced that the rapper had become the first male artist to have debuted three songs at No. 1 on its Hot 100 songs chart. Read more
Jinkam, Daniel optimistic Team badminton will qualify for Tokyo Olympics (DailyTrust)
Nigeria and Africa’s number one badminton player, Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan Although qualifying series in some sporting events billed for the 2020 Summer Olympics were abruptly suspended due to the ravaging effect of the coronavirus, Nigerian badminton legends, Ephraim Jinkam and Grace Daniel are optimistic that the country will still qualify for the games which have been shifted to next year. After reviewing the situation on ground and health hazards should the games hold as scheduled, the International Olympics Committee, IOC, in collaboration with the host country Japan on March 24 announced the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games. In addition, on April 7 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Qualification Task Force approved a series of amendments to the Tokyo 2020 Qualification System Principles. Read more
I had no issues with Keshi – Uche (Punch)
Ex-Super Eagles striker, Ikechukwu Uche, says he had no issues with Stephen Keshi during his time as coach of the national team.
The player, in an interview with Brila.net monitored by our correspondent, said he approached the late gaffer and asked him if there was any issue between them.
According to him, the late Togo national team coach told him that there was no issues between them. Read more
LeBron James shoots down report stating NBA execs want to SHUT DOWN season (RT)
As the biggest star in basketball, LeBron James has his finger on the pulse of the NBA, and says a recent report suggesting NBA execs and player agents want to cancel the 2019-20 NBA season is simply not accurate.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar James reacted to a report from US outlet CNBC, which stated that multiple anonymous sources, including player agents and NBA executives, are “pushing for an outright cancellation of the season so everyone can focus on safely resuming play next season.”
The report follows the news that the NBA had announced that players would be allowed to return to training bases in states where social distancing measures have been eased. It means players are able return to the practice court, and starts the ball rolling on a potential return for the sport later this year. Read more
Premier League clubs told neutral venues essential to plans to complete season (BBC)
The Premier League has been suspended since 13 March
Neutral venues will be the only way to complete the season, Premier League clubs were told during a video conference on Friday.
“Up to 10 stadiums” would be used to resume the 2019-20 campaign.
The Premier League would also need up to 40,000 tests for players and staff if plans to play the 92 outstanding games behind closed doors are pursued.
Clubs reiterated a commitment to resuming the season “when safe and appropriate to do so”. Read more
Virus shutdown could impact mental health of ‘at-risk’ footballers, warns doctor (Guardian)
Scottish football’s medical chief has warned that the coronavirus pandemic could exacerbate mental health problems among “at-risk” players.
Global players’ union FIFPro last month warned of a sharp rise in the number of footballers reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression since the game was suspended worldwide.
A study in 2015 found that 64 percent of players in Scotland reported that they or a team-mate had experienced issues with their mental health. Read more
US women’s national soccer team’s unequal pay claim tossed (NYPost)
The US Women’s National Team
The US Women’s National Team celebrates winning the 2020 SheBelievesCup after beating Japan.
Getty Images
A federal judge threw out the unequal pay claim by players on the US women’s national soccer team in a surprising loss for the defending World Cup champions but allowed their allegation of discriminatory working conditions to go to trial.
Players led by Alex Morgan sued in March 2019, claiming they have not been paid equally under their collective bargaining agreement to what the men’s national team receives under its labor deal. They asked for more than $66 million in damages under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In a 32-page decision Friday, US District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted in part a motion for partial summary judgment by the US Soccer Federation. He threw out the Equal Pay Act allegations but left intact the Civil Rights Act claims. Read more