The story of Romeo and Juliet came to life in a Soviet factory in Ukraine.
A theatre in Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankivsk reinvented William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, staging it in the industrial halls of an old Soviet factory.
Before the play begins, interested spectators are given hard hats and a map to navigate through the factory’s workshops and on to the theatre’s basement.The map also helps the audience follow the actors through different locations as the performance unfolds, watching from different angles.
Head of Ivano-Frankivsk drama theatre, Rostyslav Derzhypilsky thought to give the play a twist and script the first scene at a club instead of the a ball at the Capulet’s house.
“This location is extremely difficult. But it perfectly fits to illustrate the collision of spirituality, faith and the love of Romeo and Juliet and the world that surrounds them,” Derzhypilsky said
The actor who plays Romeo, Oleh Panas, said he was daunted when he saw the improvised factory stage for the first time. He expressed how the stage swallows the actor but adds value to the performance concept and to the actor’s emotions.
Pathe Ouedraogo the Ivorian Fashion Icon and native of Burkina Faso recently celebrated 50 successful years in the industry.
Pathe’O as he’s referred to said he left his home in Burkina Faso to neighbouring Ivory Coast in 1969, in search of greener pastures. At the time, “The most accessible job at the time was to be an apprentice tailor.”
He caught his big break in 1994 when former South African president Nelson Mandela wore one of the four shirts gifted to him by singer Miriam Makeba. Mandela mentioned Pathe’O’s name during a trip to Paris, publicity that sparked a rush of orders and propelled him to the forefront of the fashion scene.
He marked his five decades with a glitzy show and the launch of a new boutique in an upmarket Abidjan neighbourhood, whose walls are adorned with pictures of him with famous people including Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.
pathe’o – 23 , image by – Brahilm Taougar
Ouedraogo says he now sees his mission as doing more to promote African fashion. “Africans themselves are still adverse to wearing what is made in Africa. That’s the real problem … This is the real fight today”.
Only 9% of students studying to become advocates passed exams for the 2019/2020 academic year in Uganda, prompting calls to scrap the bar course.
1474 students wrote the exam but only 145 passed while 1329 students or 90.1% failed.
It is not the first time that the relevance of the bar course and the competence of the Law Development Centre (LDC), the sole provider of the postgraduate diploma in legal practice have been questioned.
Ugandan law requires those who graduate with a degree in law to enroll for an 8-month training at the LDC if they wish to work as advocates.
A lawyer cannot practice as an advocate of the High Court in Uganda without the diploma.
Uganda has more than 10 universities accredited to teach law and churn out hundreds of graduates every year.
However, only a small fraction of those end up at the centre due to equally restrictive pre-entry examinations. An even smaller portion manages to graduate.
The pre-entry tests have since been scrapped.
The LDC director, Frank Nigel Othembi said this is the first group of bar course students admitted without undergoing pre-entry examination adding that a number of them were unable to cope with the academic demands of the course. He said they did not give it due focus.
But his defence was swiftly dismissed by people on social media. Some called for an investigation into the high failure rates at the centre, while others called for an end to the centre’s monopoly.
Opposition party Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) also weighed in, saying it would ‘continue standing with students affected’.
The Management of the National Youth Service Corps has refuted media reports currently trending on the social media on the mobilization of Corps Members for war in the country.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Deputy Director (Publications) for Director, Press and Public Relations of the NYSC, Emeka Mgbemena and made available to Journalists in Abuja Nigeria’s capital.
He said the Director-General of the NYSC, General Shuaibu Ibrahim, had stated that in line with the National Defence Policy, Corps Members are like soldiers on reserve, because their education, exposure and sophistication, can make them easily adaptable to military training.
Mgbemena said the Director General in his statement also advised corps members to remain focused and patriotic; for the spirit of NYSC to live in all Nigerians.
According to Mbenemene, General Ibrahim never at any point said that Corps Members are being mobilised to fight war.
He added that the Scheme shall continue to safeguard the interest of Corps Members at all times.
The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, says efforts are ongoing to get the Federal Government’s approval for the establishment of a Trust Fund for the scheme.
He said the fund will help provide funding supports for Corps Members to start their businesses after undergoing the NYSC Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) training.
Ibrahim stated this while addressing Corps Members during his visit to the Federal Capital Territory Orientation Camp in Kubwa, Abuja.
He said part of the fund would also be used to maintain camp facilities and finance other needs of the Scheme.
To this end, he urged Corps members to embrace the SAED Programme which was designed to expose them to vocational training that would make them business owners and wealth creators and not seekers of salaried jobs.
While citing scarcity of job opportunities, the DG advised corps members to identify the needs of their host communities and initiate laudable projects that would improve their standard of living.
He advised them to adhere to the rules in their places of Primary Assignment and to be good ambassadors of the NYSC Scheme and use the Social Media responsibly.
Manchester City Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has expressed his regret over the club’s involvement in the ill-fated European Super League – but insisted they will continue to ‘disrupt’ to become the best in the world.
City were left reeling in April after announcing they were one of the founder clubs of the doomed breakaway – and the furious condemnation from across the football world eventually forced the 12 members into a U-turn.
And now, several weeks on and with City having won the Premier League once again, Al Mubarak admitted the decision was a mistake and that the Etihad giants plan to use it as a ‘learning experience.’ “Regret, yes, a big learning experience. We go on and we will continue,’ Al Mubarak told the club’s website.
“It was a decision based on a view, which was a mistaken view, this will improve and strengthen our position as a club. What it missed was an important aspect which is how the fans felt about it.
“We will learn from it, I have no doubt. Our fans appreciate the heart and spirit of everything we do. Our fans, I hope, will understand when we make such a mistake like this our heart was in the right place. Our assessment was wrong.
“We took a decision, I took a decision on this and I take full responsibility, it was a mistake.”
In the wake of the fierce backlash, City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal all revealed they would pull out – with most of the clubs then issuing an apology to their fanbases.
The two Milan teams, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus were also involved in the competition – which has now been suspended.
As a result of the Super League’s collapse, the Premier League have introduced measures to prevent a similar incident from happening again in the future through an owners’ charter.
The owners of all 20 top-flight sides will be required to sign up to the charter, which enforces the principles of the division.
Al Mubarak says that City will make more errors in the years to come as they bid to become a global force, but believes these chastening experiences are all part of their journey to the top.
He added: ‘We will continue to push the envelope in everything we do. We want to be the best club in the world and to do so, we have to disrupt and we will disrupt.
“In being disruptive, sometimes you make mistakes. We have made mistakes in the past, we will make mistakes in the future, but we will do more right than wrong.
“We will be better, stronger and more successful. What I tell the fans on this is, to get to where we are today we have done a lot of things right and we have made a lot of mistakes. It’s part of growing and improving.
“You need to have the courage to make mistakes and to own up to these mistakes to go forward.
“If you go back 12 years ago where we started, to where we are today, we couldn’t have done the leaps we have made over the years without taking risks and without making mistakes, learning and coming back and constantly improving.”
Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus are still on board with the Super League, meanwhile, and FIFA has begun disciplinary proceedings against them.
LaLiga president, and UEFA Executive Committee member, Javier Tebas has said that the three clubs should be ‘scared’ of the punishments they may be hit with.
La Repubblica in Italy have even claimed that they will all be kicked out of the Champions League.
Swiss eighth seed Roger Federer regained his composure during a heated battle with Croatia’s Marin Cilic to reach the French Open third round.
Federer, 39, had some testy exchanges with the umpire on his way to a 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 win on the Paris clay.
Top seed Novak Djokovic produced a focused performance to reach the third round for a 16th consecutive year.
The 34-year-old Serb won 6-3 6-2 6-4 in his first career meeting with tricky Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas.
Djokovic will face Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis, ranked 93rd in the world, in the last 32.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion is aiming for a second title in Paris to follow up his sole win in 2016.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal plays his second-round match in the night session on Chatrier, taking on France’s Richard Gasquet for the right to face British number two Cameron Norrie in the next stage.
While the Spaniard has won a record 13 titles at Roland Garros and is the favourite for another, he is seeded third behind Djokovic and Russia’s Daniil Medvedev because the seeding system is based on the current world rankings.
‘It added some energy’ – Federer on towel ‘misunderstanding’
Cilic complained Federer was taking too long to get his towel between receiving points, leading to the Swiss being warned by umpire Emmanuel Joseph and then having a long discussion about it
If Djokovic does lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires on 13 June, the world number one will close the gap on Nadal and Federer in terms of Grand Slam victories to one.
All three players find themselves in the same half of the Roland Garros draw – the first time that this has happened at a major tournament.
Having barely played since the 2020 Australian Open following two knee operations, Federer has been keen to dampen expectations on only his second visit to Roland Garros since 2015.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion says he is focusing on being in prime shape for next month’s Wimbledon – where he has won a record eight men’s singles titles – although privately may harbour higher hopes of a deep run on the Paris clay.
After an impressive opening win against Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, he faced a step up in quality against former US Open champion Cilic.
Other than in a ragged second set, where Federer lost his cool with the umpire after being warned for taking too long between points, the Swiss star played fluently throughout and looked to be moving well.
“I was a bit surprised by the level I played because I didn’t play so much lately,” said Federer, who faces 59th-ranked Dominik Koepfer of Germany next.
“I was a bit on and off, but I served well in the tie-break. I am very pleased with the result.”
On riling Cilic and the subsequent discussion with umpire Emmanuel Joseph, he added: “I just feel like it was a misunderstanding on many levels.
“I didn’t feel like I was playing particularly slow. I always feel like I don’t make my opponent wait very much, but clearly Marin wanted to go faster. I didn’t realise that.
“I told him, I also haven’t played so much lately that I’m not quite understanding the rhythm, and I guess I’m just ‘new’ to the new tour.
“It was quite interesting to live through it. It got a little energy to the match, which I liked.”
Business-like Djokovic ‘staying in the moment’
Djokovic has reached the French Open quarter-finals – at least – in each of the past 11 tournaments
Djokovic has made no secret of his desire to overhaul his great rivals in the race to finish with the most men’s major titles and, so far this week, has cut a tense figure.
Stern-faced throughout his opening win against Tennys Sandgren, Djokovic had a similar emotionless expression as he raced into a two-set lead against Cuevas.
The 35-year-old Uruguayan is a clay-court specialist known for his variety and there was an early warning for Djokovic when Cuevas broke his serve for a 2-1 lead in the opener.
That sharpened the Serb’s focus, however, and he responded by winning 10 of the next 12 games.
Djokovic served precisely and powerfully throughout the second set, but came under more pressure from the creative Cuevas at the start of the third set.
Four break points were saved by the top seed in his opening two service games of the third set, leading to a rare show of emotion as he accused a noisy spectator of trying to disrupt him during his serving motion.
A cute drop-shot sealed a 3-1 lead, with the Serb flashing a steely glare at the person in the stands who had upset him.
From that point, Djokovic was rarely troubled on serve and sealed victory with an ace out wide on his first match point.
“I stayed concentrated. I thought the third set was very difficult for me because he lifted the level of his game,” said Djokovic, who stared again at the same fan after taking match point and then breaking out into a broad smile.
“It’s a cliche to say ‘day by day’, but it’s very important for me to stay in the moment.”
Meanwhile, Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man since Ukraine’s Andrei Medvedev in 1992 to reach the third round when he beat 28th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in straight sets.
The world number 97, who turned 18 last month, won 6-4 6-2 6-4 against the Georgian.
Home favourite Gael Monfils was knocked out by Sweden’s Mikael Ymer, while Russian 24th seed Aslan Karatsev – a surprise Australian Open semi-finalist in February – was beaten by German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Italian ninth seed Matteo Berrettini and Argentine 10th seed Diego Schwartzman both progressed with straight-set wins.
Nigeria has made a dramatic U-turn over the hosting of the troubled African Athletics Championships.
The championships, originally to hold in Algeria but suffered three-time postponements before Nigeria stepped in last month to rescue the event and fixed June 23 to 27 for it.
But now, the Nigerian authorities have now said the championships cannot be hosted as planned due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
This latest decision leaves the future of the athletics showpiece in doubt for this year despite Algeria insisting it is still willing to host the event later this year, coronavirus permitting.
The Confederation of African Athletics had hoped that with Nigeria hosting the championships it would give athletes the chance to achieve qualifying standards for the Tokyo Olympics ahead of the 29 June deadline.
It is yet another problem to hit the biennial event which should have taken place in 2020 before being postponed by a year due to Covid-19.
The plan was then to hold the championships in the Algerian city of Oran between the 1st and 5th June 2021 before it was then moved to Algiers and set to take place 22-26 June.
The Africa Sports Management Association (ASMA) has announced Nigeria’s Professor Seun Omotayo as the continental representative on the Executive Board of World Association of Sport Management (WASM).
Omotayo, a visiting scholar at the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ghana broke the news to Sports Village Square.
The World Association of Sports management was founded to facilitate sport management research, teaching and learning excellence, and professional practice, across every continent.
The WASM book series is designed to support those aims by presenting current research and scholarship, from well-established and emerging scholars and practitioners, on sport management theory, policy and practice.
Its African wing, ASMA was founded on 8th June 2010 during the 17th Biennial International Conference of the International Society for Comparative Physical Education and Sport held at Kenyatta University, Nairobi (Kenya)..
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