Author: straightnewsng.com

More than 1.5 million have died from Coronavirus worldwide from nearly 65 million cases, according to an AFP tally on Thursday based on official statistics. There have been 1,500,038 fatalities from 64,774,705 cases since the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in China in December. The worst affected region is Latin America and the Caribbean with 452,263 deaths, followed by Europe (430,060) and the United States and Canada (286,946). Since late November, there have been more than 10,000 virus deaths globally per day on average, the highest toll rate since the pandemic began. More than half the Covid-19 deaths registered over…

Former US Presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton have pledged to receive Coronavirus vaccine on camera to help promote the safety of the vaccine. The effort comes as the Food and Drug Administration prepares to meet next week to decide whether to authorize a COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech. In an interview with SiriusXM host Joe Madison, Obama said that he would trust Anthony Fauci if the infectious disease expert declares a Coronavirus vaccine to be safe. “People like Anthony Fauci, who I know, and I’ve worked with, I trust completely,” Obama said. “So, if…

More than 32 million persons will live in extreme poverty by the end of 2020 due to COVID-19, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said in a report released on Thursday. COVID-19 has had a catastrophic economic impact on the least developed countries (LDCs) where the poor has been most affected. UNCTAD siad between October 2019 and October 2020, the economic growth forecast for LDCs was revised sharply downwards from 5 to -0.4 per cent. “This revision is expected to lead to a 2.6 per cent reduction in per capita income in LDCs in 2020, with 43…

Paris Saint-Germain took a huge step towards avoiding an embarrassing early exit from the Champions League and left Manchester United with work to do to reach the last 16 as Neymar scored twice in a 3-1 win at Old Trafford. PSG, United and RB Leipzig are now all tied on nine points at the top of Group H with one game to go. But the French champions are in the driving seat as they host eliminated Istanbul Basaksehir on Tuesday, while United need a point when they travel to Germany. “Winning at Old Trafford is one of the biggest challenges…

Olivier Giroud scored four goals in Seville as Chelsea breezed past Sevilla 4-0 to secure top spot in Champions League Group E on Wednesday. Giroud delivered left-foot, right-foot and headed finishes for the perfect treble – and then whipped a spot-kick into the top corner for good measure. Chelsea will host Krasnodar at Stamford Bridge next week, but sealed top spot with their win in Spain, and a potentially easier tie in the last-16. Giroud put the squeeze on Blues boss Frank Lampard to hand the France striker a Premier League start against Leeds on Saturday, once again proving his…

Again, Kaduna State has become the epicentre of COVID-19 as Nigeria recorded 122 new infections on Wednesday. Of the new figure, Kaduna has 37 confirmed cases while Lagos and Plateau have 29 and 25 cases respectively, according to Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. “On the 2nd of December 2020, 122 new confirmed cases and 1 death were recorded in Nigeria. “The 122 new cases are reported from 11 states- Kaduna (37) Lagos (29), Plateau (25), Ekiti (9), Rivers (5), Ogun (5), Edo (4) Kwara (4), Bayelsa (2), Bauchi (1), and Kano (1),” NCDC tweeted. According to the health agency, “Till…

Efforts by the Federal Government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to end the nine-month-old strike have taken a new twist. This is as Federal government has inaugurated a new committee to renegotiate the 2009 agreements with lecturers and others. Before now, ASUU said Tuesday it was consulting with relevant organs of the union concerning the Federal Government’s offers when to call off the strike. Recall that the lecturers who are currently on strike are demanding for funding for the revitalization of universities, earned allowance, the constitution of visitation panels, payment of shortfall in salaries of lecturers, and a stop to…

Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been announced as the recipient of the 2020 African of the Year award. The Forbes Africa-CNBC award is the latest honour clinched by the multi award winning development economist and former Managing Director of the World Bank. Reacting to the news, Okonjo-Iweala, expressed her delight at the recognition and dedicated the award to Africans facing the health and socio-economic challenges of COVID-19 during a very difficult year. “It is a great honour to serve Africa in different capacities,” said Okonjo-Iweala, who was one of the African Union Special Envoys appointed to mobilize…

Gunmen have killed an Assistant Commissioner of Police in the early hours of Wednesday in Calabar, Cross River State capital. Mr Egbe Edum before his murder was the Borno State Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP). Speaking with Channels Television in Calabar, Irene Ugbe, the police spokesperson of Cross River Police Command, said the ACP came to Calabar to see his family after being away for a long time before the ugly event occurred. Ugbe noted that Edum was attacked while he was waiting for his wife to pick him up after his car broke down along the Murtala Mohammed Highway…

Federal Government  has directed car owners in the country to pay N250,000 for conversion of their cars to autogas. The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari on Tuesday, December 1, had said that one million cars are to be powered by Autogas free of charge. Justice Derefaka, Technical Adviser on Gas Business and Policy Implementation to Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva who appeared on a Channels Television programme on Wednesday, December 2  stated that vehicle owners will have different payment plans to covert their cars to autogas. Dereka said, “The cost varies. So in terms…