Trump administration approves start of formal transition to Biden
Since the win of president-elect, Joseph R. Biden, current American president, Donald Trump did not concede and vowed with efforts to change the votes.
President Trump’s government, however, on Monday authorised the president-elect to begin a formal transition process after Michigan certified Biden as its winner and Trump lost another court decision in Pennsylvania.
The President said on Twitter that he has accepted the decision by Emily Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration, to allow a transition to proceed.
The transition process will provide the incoming Biden administration with federal funds and resources and will clear the way for the president-elect’s advisers to coordinate with Trump administration officials.
Nigerian army admits to having live rounds at the Lekki toll gate shooting, despite previous denials
After several weeks of denying that they were at the protest ground that night, to admitting that they were there but did not use live bullets, the Nigerian army has admitted that they were at the Lekki tollgate on October 20 and they were given both live and blank bullets.
According to Brig. Gen. Ahmed Taiwo, being that they saw that the protests had been infiltrated by some hoodlums, soldiers were given both live and blank bullets.
All these confession is coming after the same Taiwo had previously told the Lagos judicial panel that soldiers were firing blank ammunition into the air and not at the protesters.
Nigeria is currently facing its second recession in five years
The Nigerian economy which has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic has slipped into its second recession in five years.
The economy which had recorded a 6.1 percent contraction in the second quarter of the year 2020 has again recorded another negative growth rate of 3.62 percent in the third quarter of 2020.
The decline in the GDP for Q3 2020 is not unconnected with low activities both at the domestic and international levels which hugely affected the economic growth during the quarter as a result of several lockdown measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic all over the world.
Nigeria’s monetary policy rate has remained unchanged at 11.5 percent
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday kept its Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) unchanged at 11.5 percent after a two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja.
This comes not as a surprise as analysts in the financial service sector had expected a hold following the uptick in inflation rate and weak growth that has translated into a recession for the second time in five years.
By vote of all members of the committee, the CBN also retained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 27.5 percent, Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30 percent as well as the Asymmetric Corridor around the MPR at +100/-700 basis points.
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U. S to distribute 6.4 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the first tranche by year end
The United States which has recorded a total of 259,600 COVID-19 deaths plans to distribute 6.4 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the first week after it has been cleared for emergency use.
General Gustave Perna, chief operations officer for the government’s Operation Warp Speed, told reporters some 40 million doses of vaccine would be available by the end of December.
That figure includes another vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institutes for Health, which announced some preliminary efficacy results last week and is also close to applying for emergency approval.
The federal government will issue recommendations for who should be prioritized, likely the elderly, high-risk, and frontline workers, but local authorities will make the final decision for themselves.
Aisha Yesufu, Angelique Kidjo, Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim named in BBC’s 100 women 2020 list
The BBC has released its 100 Women list for 2020, which celebrates 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world. On this list are Africa’s Aisha Yesufu, Angelique Kidjo, and Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim.
The 2020 list highlights women who are “leading change and making a difference during these turbulent times.” Also, “in an extraordinary year – when countless women around the world have made sacrifices to help others – one name on the 100 Women list has been left blank as a tribute.” according to BBC.
The BBC’s 100 Women team drew up a shortlist based on names gathered by them and suggested by the BBC’s network of World Service languages teams. They looked for candidates who had made the headlines or influenced important stories over the past 12 months, as well as those who have inspiring stories to tell, achieved something significant or influenced their societies in ways that wouldn’t necessarily make the news.
The pool of names was then assessed against this year’s theme: women who led change, and measured for regional representation and due impartiality, before the final names were chosen.
Nigeria’s Umar Dangona emerges first runner up at world chemistry competition
Umar Dangona has emerged theirst runner up in the most recent world chemistry competition.
He is an indigene of Yobe state, Nigeria and he obtained his NCE in Chemistry Education from the Yobe state Umar Suleiman College of Education.
Dangona took the second position after representing Nigeria, beating candidates from several countries, making it to the top five and scaling to the final round, in the World Chemistry competition which was tagged “Imagine Chemistry International Akzo Nobel Competition 2020/2021”.
At the end of the competition, Adalet Adam from Turkey came 1st position and won $600 thousand after scoring 398 aggregated to 659 with a percentage of 85%, while Dangona Usman Umar of Nigeria scored 392 aggregated to 647 with a percentage of 76% which put him in second position, and won $400 thousand.
Coast clears for Nigeria’s Okonjo Iweala as South Korean rival to step down
The coast seems to be clear for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to emerge as the next Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as her only opponent, South Korean Yoo Myung-hee is set to withdraw from the race.
A report by Washington daily stated that South Korea has decided to withdraw its candidate from the race and is expected to make this announcement public in a few days.
Analysts link the situation to the United States’ election which saw the defeat of Okonjo-Iweala’s opposition base in Washington DC as Donald Trump was defeated by Joe Biden.
The U.S had earlier blocked Iweala from being the WTO head despite garnering over 104 countries’ support for the position, including China and the European Union.
Scotland becomes the first country to make tampons and pads available for free
Scotland has passed a bill that has made period products such as tampons and pads free to all who need them.
“That’s right, Scotland has become the first country in the world to make period products free for all,” the country’s official account tweeted. “Because in Scotland, we believe it’s fundamental to dignity, equality and human rights.”
The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill, which passed unanimously, requires local authorities to ensure that period products are generally obtainable free of charge.
Also, schools and colleges must ensure period products are freely available to students, and designated public places must also make the products available.
The Scottish government has estimated the measure will cost 24 million pounds a year – about $32 million.
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