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Tag: World

  • Taylor Swift projected to make $4.1 billion from Eras tour

    Taylor Swift projected to make $4.1 billion from Eras tour

    American pop singer, Taylor Swift is projected to rake in $4.1 billion from her popular “Eras” tour. 

     

    This means that Taylor now owns the most lucrative concert tour in U.S. history and will also not be lining just her pockets, but also boosting the American economy.

     

    Taylor’s multi-billion dollar windfall is an estimate from Peter Cohan, who teaches MBA students at Babson College in Massachusetts. He says he crunched the numbers for The Washington Post, and came out with some astounding figures.

     

    Taylor’s estimated cut would be larger than the yearly economic output of 42 countries, and a $4.1 billion profit is also enough to send every American a little more than $17.

     

    Taylor will be making most of her money from ticket sales and her highly-coveted merch, while hotels in cities where the “Eras” tour stops will be adding $208 million to their coffers, and that’s only counting the actual night of the concerts. Realistically, most fans stay at least one extra day.

     

    The economic impact of the “Eras” tour is huge too. For instance, her 6 shows at SoFi Stadium in L.A. injected $320 million into the county’s economy, while her Denver shows resulted in a $140 million boost and her Kansas City and Cincinnati stops brought in $48 million to each of those cities.

     

    The singer is already sharing her wealth. She recently gave out over $50 million in total bonuses to her concert crew, and gave every truck driver hauling her tour equipment around the country an extra $100k.

     

    She might also earn more from her ‘Eras Tour’ concert movie which has a huge demand in theaters, with the movie presale eclipsing $100 million worldwide.

    Source

  • Again, Nigerian govt shifts date to deliver Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

    Lagos-Ibadan-Expressway-construction (1)

    The Federal Government has once again, set a deadline for the completion and delivery of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, in an interview programme on Channels Television on Friday night, said the ever busy road would be completed by November.

    Umahi who identified funding as a major challenge facing the project, assured Nigerians that President Bola Tinubu had given his approval for funds to be released so that the intervention work on the expressway would be completed within the specified time.

    “Let’s give it November. We may have a little bit of challenges on funding but it is something that I intend to discuss with Mr President,” Umahi said while reacting to a question on when the road will be completed.

    According to the Minister, the completion of the project will come from the initiative of President Tinubu.

    “The funding is coming from the PIDF – Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund – programme. Right now, we have a balance of N18 billion on that axis to pay. The stringent condition is that you cannot take funds that are meant for one project to do the other one,” he said.

    Read also: Lagos-Ibadan Expressway will be completed in April, Fashola insists

    This is not the first time the Nigerian government has set dates for the completion of the Lagos-Ibadan road and other roads across the country.

    Most notable was when former Works and Housing Minister,
    Babatunde Fashola, gave the assurance that the 13 kilometres of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway will be completed by April 30th.

    During an inspection tour of the road to access the space of work on the road, Fashola had said the Lagos-Ibadan expressway would be completed before the transition to the next administration on May 29.

    “I want to appeal to commuters on that road for continuous patience and understanding: it is a difficult project to execute because it is perhaps one of the busiest roads in the country.

    “So, I want to implore that forbearance continues because the deadline date we have for completion now is April 30.

    “In about four weeks, 26 days, plus or minus, that road should also be fully completed, open to traffic from Lagos to Ibadan, and beyond the toll gate up to kilometre 116,” Fashola had assured.

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  • Ebonyi first lady urges correctional inmates not to lose hope

    The wife of Ebonyi governor, Mary-MaudlineNwifuru, has urged inmates of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Abakaliki, not to give up in life irrespective of the situation they found themselves in.

    Mrs Nwifuru gave the advice on Friday when she visited the Abakaliki Custodial Centre to donate food items and relief materials.

    She also visited and donated food items to the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities and Red Cross Society and motherless home in Abakaliki.

    The governor’s wife said her visit was part of her social responsibility and to know the status of their conditions as well as to add value to their lives.

    She encouraged the inmates to be of good conduct to promote their freedom, calling on them “to put their trust in God, who has not given up on them”.

    “I will speak with my husband to pardon some inmates whose cases are minor.

    “On my part as the mother of the state, I will always endeavour to keep in touch with you and visit you from time to time,” she pledged.

    She commended management of the motherless home, led by the Chairman, Simon Nweze, for the proper care of children at the home.

    She also assured association of the physically challenged on continuous support.

    Earlier, the Assistant Controller of Corrections in-charge of Abakaliki Custodian Centre, Benedict Oyoko, pleaded on the need to decongest the centre.

    Mr Oyoko prayed to God to reward the governor’s wife for rendering assistance to the needy, especially the inmates.

    (NAN)

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  • Sen. John C. Velis part of National Guard mission to help with migrants

    National Guard officer and state Sen. John C. Velis has been deployed to assist with the high numbers of incoming migrants in the Bay State.

    Velis was among about 250 Massachusetts National Guard members activated Oct. 3 by Gov. Maura T. Healey to provide basic services for the migrant families arriving here. They are placed at hotels as emergency shelter.

    Velis’ office said that he could not answer any questions from The Republican while deployed, but his office said it is operating normally through his activation.

    Don Veitch, state public affairs officer at the Massachusetts National Guard, said Velis will serve as the general legal advisor for the mission.

    In 2010, Velis joined the U.S. Army and deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, according to his campaign website. Since his return, he has served with the Army Reserve.

    In August 2017, he spent a month near the North Korean border, where he participated in joint military exercises with the South Korean forces. On Velis’ second deployment to Afghanistan in 2018, he was promoted to major, his campaign states.

    In his latest deployment, Velis is assisting the Guard with coordination of food, transportation, medical care and other basic needs for the rapidly rising numbers of migrant families.

    In a statement issued on Aug. 8, Healey said the arriving families caused the state’s emergency shelter system to expand to an unsustainable level. While the administration continues to add new shelter sites to meet demand, service providers have been stretched thin.

    According to the statement, more than 6,000 families are in emergency shelters across the state as of this week. Guard members were assigned to specific hotel shelter sites to make sure families placed there have access to basic services.

    In addition, the Guard’s response teams will prep sites to open, inform migrants about placements, arrange public benefits and support partner agencies.

    The Healey administration recently met with the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to discuss federal support, after appealing to him in an Aug. 8 letter. Healey wrote about the number of families coming to the state with no way to find or pay for shelter.

    Additionally, Healey further appealed to the federal government for assistance with streamlining work authorizations and funding.

    “These new arrivals desperately want to work, and we have historic demand for workers across all industries,” Healey wrote.

    The state of emergency stemmed, Healey wrote, from federal policies on immigration and work authorization, scarce production of affordable housing and the end of pandemic related relief programs.

    According to Healey, some families drawn to the state are fleeing imminent threats, and the commonwealth has been a beacon of hope to those in need.

    With more than 1,800 families already living in hotels and motels across 80 cities and towns across the state, with the new influx, Massachusetts does not have the tools needed to meet the demand for shelter.

    According to Healey’s letter to Mayorkas, in the last six months, the need for shelter has skyrocketed.

    In March, about 68 families came to Healey’s office for assistance. By July, the number jumped to 100 each day, compared to last March, when only 25 families a day who sought assistance.

    Shelter entries per month are more than double the number of entries per month during the pandemic, and about one third higher than pre-pandemic levels. At the same time, the number of families leaving the shelter for permanent housing has declined by two-thirds since 2019, Healey wrote.

    The state is spending $45 million a month for programs to help families, but the fear is that soon the state will not be able to keep up.

    Healy said a federal crisis of inaction has been in the making for many years.

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    © 2023 Advance Local Media LLC

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC



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  • Davido, Samklef Clash After Producer Shared Video Of Newborn Babies

    Davido-Samklef

    Afrobeats star, David Adeleke (Davido) and music producer, Samuel Oguachuba (Samklef) have exchanged words after the latter shared a video of Davido’s newborn twins on Instagram.

    Samklef had on Friday shared a clip showing the moment Davido’s wife Chioma was discharged from an Atlanta hospital after giving birth to a set of twins.

    Reacting, Davido asked that the producer delete the video, calling him a ‘clout chaser’ and a ‘wicked’ person.

    However, Samklef refused to delete the video more than three hours after he posted it, saying he had done nothing wrong.

    He reminded Davido that as a celebrity, he no longer enjoys privacy.

    “The day you choose to be a celebrity your life is no longer private. Make I go take a nap. I refused to be bullied,” he posted on Instagram.

    In another post, the producer said “I mean good for them, but they meant harm for me. Maybe I should start blogging all the negative posts about him here that have been sent to me but ignored. Ask Asa Asika (Davido’s manager).”

    Davido and Chioma lost their son, Ifeanyi Adeleke, on October 31, 2022.

    Ifeanyi drowned in a swimming pool in Davido’s residence in Banana Island, Lagos State, days after his birthday.

    Source

  • Gaza civilians vow ‘death is better than leaving’ as many refuse to evacuate after Israel gave them 24 hours before launching an all-out assault

    Gaza civilians vow ?death is better than leaving? as many refuse�to�evacuate after Israel gave them 24 hours before launching an all-out assault

    Gaza civilians have vowed they would rather die than leave their homes after Israel gave them 24 hours before launching an all-out assault. 

     

     

    While some heeded the call to leave, by Friday afternoon there was little sign of a mass exodus, despite the UN warning the area is ‘fast becoming a hellhole’.

     

     

    ‘Death is better than leaving,’ said Mohammad, 20, standing in the street outside a building reduced to rubble in an Israeli air strike two days ago near the centre of Gaza.

     

     

    ‘I was born here, and I will die here, leaving is a stigma.’

     

     

    With power supplies cut and food and water in the Palestinian enclave running short after a week of retaliatory air strikes and a full Israeli blockade, the U.N. said Gaza’s civilians were in an impossible situation.

     

     

    ‘The noose around the civilian population in Gaza is tightening. How are 1.1 million people supposed to move across a densely populated warzone in less than 24 hours?’ U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths wrote on social media.

     

     

    Hamas, who slaughtered Israeli civilians in Saturday’s attacks, vowed to fight until the last drop of blood and told residents to stay put after Israel said they should leave to escape the onslaught because Hamas ‘is using you as human shields’.

     

     

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  • Senate Begins Hearing Of Bill To Fine Nigerians N50,000 For Failing To Send Children To School

    The Senate has passed for first reading a bill that recommends a fine of N50,000 to parents who default in providing their children with primary and secondary school education.

    The Red Chamber also recommended free meals for every child in the country.

    The bill proposed by Senator Orji Kalu titled, “Compulsory free Universal Basic Education Act 2004, Section 2” states that every government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.”

    According to PUNCH, the act further states that “Every parent shall ensure that his child or ward attends and completes his primary school education and junior secondary school education by endeavouring to send the child to primary and junior secondary schools.”

    “The Act further states that stakeholders in education in a local government area shall ensure that every parent or person who has the care and custody of a child performs the duty imposed on him under section 2(2) of this Act.”

    The act further noted that a parent who contravenes the earlier prescription should be liable, on the first conviction, to be reprimanded.

    “On a second conviction, a fine of N2,000 or imprisonment for a term of one month or both; and on subsequent conviction, to a fine of N5,000 or imprisonment for a term of two months or to both.”

    The Senate, however, in its amendment, proposed N50,000 fines, instead of the N5,000 previously stated in the Act.

    The amendment states, “Section (4) (b) of the Principal Act is amended by deleting N2,000 and inserting N20,000.  Section (4) (c) of the Principal Act is amended by deleting N5,000 and inserting N50,000.”

    It added, “Section 3(2) of the Principal Act is amended by deleting N10,000 and inserting N100,000.”

    It stated, “A person who receives or obtains any fee contrary to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding N10,000 or imprisonment for a term of three months or to both.

    “Every parent shall ensure that his child receives full-time education suitable to his age, ability and aptitude by regular attendance at schools.”

    However, the Senate proposes, N100,000 in replacement of the N10,000.

    The Senate proposed, “Section 3(2) of the Principal Act is amended by deleting N10,000 and inserting N100,000.”

     

    Source

  • Zamfara governor, Lawal, insists no dialogue with bandits

    Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has once again reiterated that his government will never negotiatiate or go into dialogue with bandits terrorising the state as he has vowed to take the battle to the criminals until they are chased out.

    Lawal who made the vow on Friday in Gusau at a weekly preaching session organised by the State’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, insisted on his administration’s uncompromising stance in the fight against bandits across the state.

    “I still maintain my stand on non-negotiation with bandits as I announced earlier on. How can you reconcile with somebody who goes out to kill and kidnap people just for the sake of money? How many times did the past administrations reconcile with the bandits? Did that work?” Lawal queried.

    Lawal, however, gave a condition for reconciliation, saying if the bandits decide to come out of the forest and surrender their weapons, then there could be grounds for a soft landing for them.

    Read also: Zamfara govt accuses Nigerian govt of undermining fight against banditry in state

    “If they want reconciliation, let them surrender their weapons and come out for negotiation. If they have not done so, I will pursue them and fight them until they give up. I repeat, there is no reconciliation with somebody who does not value lives.

    “I am calling on the people of the state, particularly the politicians to stop playing politics with security.

    “I want to make a passionate appeal to all the former governors of the state to please come out and join hands with my administration so that we can rescue our state which has been groping in the dark due to security challenges,” he called.

    Source

  • Tinubu appoints Imam, Agbasi as Chairman, MD of FERMA

    President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of the governing board and management of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA).

    A statement by presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said this was for a renewable term of four years, in accordance with Section 2(3) of the FERMA Amendment Act, 2007. 

    The board members are: Engr. Ibrahim Kashim Imam as chairman and Engr. Chukwuemeka Agbasi as managing director.

    Members are Yusuf Lawal Othman (NARTO), Engr. Ibi Terna Manasseh (FMW), ACM Shehu Mohammed (FRSC), Babatunde Daramola-Oniru (Finance).

    Others are Hon. Preye Oseke (South-South), Hon. Oye Ojobe (South-West), Dr Kenneth Ugbala (South-East), Sen. Timothy Adudu (North-Central), Engr. Abubakar Bappa (North-East), and Aminu Adamu Papa (North-West).

    The statement said that the president urged the new appointees to continue to uphold effective and efficient service delivery in the agency.

    He said that the agency was set to play a central role in the sustainable health of growth-enabling infrastructure nationwide.

    (NAN)

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  • Cab driver, Delta worker, police officer stabbed at Atlanta airport

    Police reports released Thursday shed new light on a harrowing knife attack that left three people injured at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, including a taxi driver, a Delta Air Lines employee and an Atlanta police lieutenant.

    Terrified travelers waiting to get through airport security dropped to the ground Wednesday afternoon as officers tried to subdue 44-year-old Damaris Milton, who authorities say was armed with a knife near the south terminal checkpoint.

    According to Atlanta police reports, Milton stabbed her cab driver in the chest along I-285 near the airport after being picked up at the Kensington Marta Station. She then grabbed his cellphone and threw it out the window onto the southbound lanes of the interstate, according to police.

    The bloodied cab driver, who works for Alphabet Taxi Company, followed the woman into the airport after dropping her off in an effort to warn travelers and alert law enforcement, authorities said.

    “He came in after her and was screaming, warning other passengers she was armed with a knife,” Atlanta police spokesman Officer Anthony Grant said. “That’s how we got alerted.”

    Two Atlanta police officers, including a lieutenant, spotted the woman inside the airport and followed her to the south terminal. That’s when a Delta employee was stabbed on the left side of her chest, authorities said.

    An officer tried using his Taser on Milton, striking her in the leg. But police said that didn’t work because she had on multiple pairs of pants.

    “Ms. Milton continued to walk toward door S2 and then made a left turn back toward the south terminal corridor near the window area of the main checkpoint area still armed with the knife,” officers wrote in their report. “Commands for the subject to drop the knife were given to the female subject. The subject did not drop the knife.”

    A second police officer tried to use a stun gun on the woman, and the lieutenant deployed his pepper spray, according to the incident report. That lieutenant then slipped on the pepper spray and fell to the ground, at which point Milton stabbed the officer in his left thigh, authorities said.

    Another officer tackled the woman and took her into custody, putting an end to the threat, Atlanta police said. Meanwhile, a tourniquet was tied around the lieutenant’s leg to stop the bleeding and a chest seal was placed over the cab driver’s wound.

    The taxi driver and lieutenant were both taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, and the Delta employee was taken to Emory University Hospital, authorities said.

    The lieutenant has since been released from the hospital and is recovering, according to Atlanta police, who said they have increased patrols throughout the airport in the wake of Wednesday’s stabbings.

    Milton was booked into the the Clayton County Jail on four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

    Milton, who has an Orlando address listed in online records, was taken to the Clayton County jail, where she remained held without bond Thursday. She faces four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

    It’s still unclear whether Milton had an airline ticket.

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    © 2023 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



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