Russian Court Fines Twitter Over Failure To Delete Banned Content

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April 2, 2021

The Pastor of Household of God Church International Ministries, Chris Okotie has described as satanic the inoculation of COVID-19 vaccine while giving his submission on the drug.

The preacher asserted that anyone who takes a jab of COVID-19 vaccine has entered an agreement with the devil.

He also stressed that the vaccine against the coronavirus would turn those who have taken it into vampires that suck other people’s blood for sustenance.

Okotie said this in a viral video in which he said he was explaining the spiritual mystery surrounding the drug.

The number of preachers criticising people for taking the vaccine globally seems to be increasing.

The advent of covid-19 and inroduction of MRNA vaccines has polarised the professional community with many acclaimed experts speaking for and against the vaccines.

However with recent statement coming from Nigeria’s minister of health that the nation had to sign an agreement absolving the producers of indeminity also raises questions on the implications of taking the jab .

Tesla’s Quarterly Deliveries Smash Previous Record, Beat Estimates

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April 2, 2021

Tesla Inc., Friday posted record deliveries for January to March quarter, beating Wall Street estimates, as sales gains of the Model 3 and Model Y offset the impact of a global shortage of parts.

“We are encouraged by the strong reception of the Model Y in China and are quickly progressing to full production capacity,” Tesla said in a statement.

“The new Model S and Model X have also been exceptionally well received … and we are in the early stages of ramping production,” it added.

Tesla’s Shanghai factory started production of the Model Y late last year in the key market where it already produces Model 3 sedans. In February, Tesla’s China sales jumped 18% from the previous month even as demand usually falls during China’s Lunar New Year holidays which occurred that month.

The electric-car maker delivered 184,800 vehicles globally during the first quarter, above estimates of 177,822 vehicles, according to Refinitiv data.

This also exceeds its previous record of 180,570 achieved last quarter.

In February, Tesla suspended its California plant for two days due to “parts shortages,” at a time when Detroit automakers including General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co halted some of their factories for several weeks.

Other automakers on Thursday reported a rebound in first-quarter U.S. sales from a coronavirus-induced slump last year, but volumes were capped by a global chip scarcity that forced many companies to cut production.

Tesla delivered 2,020 Model S/Xs in the first quarter, compared with 18,920 in the preceding quarter, ahead of model refreshes.

Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber said sales declines of the pricier and more profitable cars would lead to weaker margins for Tesla in the first quarter, but he forecast “blowout” results for the second quarter.

Tigers At Thai Zoo Get Chicken Ice Pops As Temperatures Rise

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April 2, 2021

Tigers were fed frozen chicken ‘popsicles’ and enticed to splash in a wading pool at a Thai zoo as temperatures rose.

Around 50 of the big cats live at the Tiger Kingdom zoo in Chiang Mai, 700km (435 miles) north of Bangkok, according to Patchara Chanted, coordinator of the tiger handlers there.

“Tigers will save their energy during most of the day by lying down or trying to exert themselves as little as possible,” said Patchara. “But if it gets too hot for them, they will start panting like cats or dogs to avoid heat stroke.”

“We provide some activities in the water or a toy to help them cool down.”

Two tigers splashed in a pool, jumping to swat at a bunch of leaves held above the water by a handler. Twice daily during the summer months, the tigers are fed chicken encased in ice blocks.

Thailand’s hot season began at the end of February and temperatures are expected to rise as high as 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit).

Nasarawa NARD chapter joins nationwide strike, paralyses medical activities

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April 2, 2021

The Nigeria Association of Resident Doctors in Nasarawa State has joined the the national body of the association in the nationwide strike.
The State President of the Association, Dr Moses Joshua, disclosed this to Journalists in Lafia. Dr Joshua said the Union joined the strike following the directive by the national body to press home their demands.

According to him, the issue raised by the National body were not peculiar to the Federal Government institutions alone but were issues that affect the Association nationwide.

He said centralisation of house officers where all house officers will be centrally pool, just like NYSC where these house officers can be posted to various Hospitals was also discussed and form part of what under contention.

Dr Joshua who noted that there was no better time than for Government at levels to address all the issues raised to rescue the healthcare system from its shamble, appealed to the state government to use the opportunity available to address the issues raised by the national body in the state.

Ukrainian Artist Couple Turns Military Ammo Boxes Into Christian Icons In Charity Project

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April 2, 2021

Visiting a military base in 2014, Ukrainian artist and icon painter Oleksandr Klymenko was struck by how much the bottom and cover of a wooden ammunition box could resemble a Christian icon panel.

He borrowed one of the boxes from the base and painted a Byzantine icon featuring the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child on its cover. Klymenko said the icon looked at least 800 years old.

The experiment led Klymenko and his wife, artist Sofia Atlantova, to start a charity project to raise money for a volunteer field hospital treating soldiers in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Since its launch in 2015, the project has raised $300,000 and the artworks have been displayed in Belgium, Germany, Canada, the United States and elsewhere.

Klymenko says the project, called ‘Buy an icon – save a life’, is based on the idea of transforming death, symbolised by the ammunition boxes, into life, symbolised by the icons.

“An ammunition box – like a coffin – is taken from under the ground, where it was previously stored. Once it is opened, death breaks out of it and destroys everything around,” Klymenko said in an interview:

“We transform it by painting life.”

Fighting between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed forces in the eastern Donbass region has killed 14,000 people since 2014, Ukraine says. Kyiv and Moscow have traded blame for a recent spike in violence.

“Most people think of this war as of something very far away… It was important for me to show people that the war is real, that this ammunition box is real and it stored real weapons which killed real people,” Klymenko said.

“I don’t want this war to exist. And I don’t want this project to exist either.”

Two Kenyan drivers killed, two others missing in S.Sudan highway attack

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April 2, 2021

cargo-trucks — Cargo trucks line up at the Malaba border awaiting clearance. Few transporters have resumed their services to South Sudan after calm returned to the capital Juba.Raphael Wanjala

Two Kenyan drivers were yesterday killed and another two went missing after their trucks were ambushed along the Juba-Nimule highway in South Sudan.

Security agencies in Juba said they had responded to a report of an attack in which the drivers were attacked and their vehicles torched. The motive of the attack was not immediately clear.

Col James Dak, the deputy spokesperson of South Sudan National Police Service said a team was sent to the scene early yesterday.

Juba could not confirm the nationality or number of drivers caught in the chaos, but an association of Kenyan long-distance truck drivers said two of its members had been confirmed dead, and another two were missing.

Kenya (Truck) Drivers Association chairman David Kerote said three trucks were attacked by a group of gunmen along the Nimule-Juba road before daybreak yesterday.

The association did not disclose the exact location where the incident happened.

US confirms participation in nuclear deal meet, ‘open’ to talk with Iran

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April 2, 2021

The United States on Friday confirmed its participation in the meeting on the Iran nuclear deal next week and offered to talk directly with Tehran.

Earlier on Friday, the European Union (EU) announced an in-person meeting of all parties in Vienna of the 2015 nuclear deal, named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, from which the US under former president Donald Trump pulled off.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif confirmed the Islamic Republic’s presence in the meeting, but denied any meeting with the US, calling it “unnecessary”.

The meeting aimed to “rapidly finalise sanction-lifting and nuclear measures for choreographed removal of all sanctions, followed by Iran ceasing remedial measures,” Zarif said.

US President Joe Biden has said that Washington would return to the nuclear accord if Tehran agrees to follow its commitments under the deal.

However, Iran has insisted on lifting off the sanctions imposed under Trump before beginning any negotiations.

Royal Opera Chorus Reunites For Performance on London Rooftop

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April 2, 2021

Standing apart due to social distancing measures brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 25 singers are gathered on the rooftop of the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden.

Their performance, which also includes the final chorus from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, will be streamed on the Royal Opera House’s Facebook page on Good Friday as the venue prepares to welcome back audiences in May.

“It’s about greeting Easter time and greeting the world after lockdown,” American conductor William Spaulding, who is the chorus director of the Royal Opera House, said.

“We all need a bit of hope right now … it’s been such a rough year and in particular for opera,” added director of opera Oliver Mears.

Like other cultural venues across Britain, the Royal Opera House, also home to the Royal Ballet, shut its doors in March 2020, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered Britons to stay home.

Now, as the country slowly emerges from lockdown, the venue last week announced early plans for its 2021/22 Season, its first full season since 2019.

It will first welcome back audiences from May 17, with performances including a new Royal Opera production of Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito”.

While some members of the chorus, which was originally founded in 1946, performed in a Christmas concert in December, most have not sung together for a while.

Soprano Elizabeth Weisberg, who like fellow chorus members was furloughed during lockdown, said she felt she had lost a “big family feeling” by being away from her colleagues.

“I’m looking forward to the day when we can hug each other again,” she said.

“We really do look after each other and (I’m) just looking forward to seeing … the standing ovations when the audiences are back. I know they need it just as much as we do, and it’s just going to mean so much more to everybody once we are back and able to make music.”

Terrorism takes more deadly dimension in Tunisia

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April 2, 2021