Will Smith refused to leave Oscars, faces disciplinary action for slapping Chris Rock

Will Smith was asked to leave the 94th annual Academy Awards ceremony Sunday after slapping presenter Chris Rock, but refused, according to a new statement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Wednesday.

The organization behind the Oscars said its board of governors have initiated a disciplinary proceeding against Smith for violating the group’s standards of conduct. During the board’s next meeting on April 18 it will decide what action it will take, if any, including suspension or expulsion.

“Mr. Smith’s actions at the 94th Oscars were a deeply shocking, traumatic event to witness in-person and on television,” The Academy said in its statement. “Mr. Rock, we apologize to you for what you experienced on our stage and thank you for your resilience in that moment. We also apologize to our nominees, guests and viewers for what transpired during what should have been a celebratory event.”

Sri Lanka Economic Crisis

Damaged bus after it was set on fire by demonstrators in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 1, 2022. (Reuters)

Amid protests over the country’s worst economic crisis in decades, Sri Lanka government has imposed a curfew across the country from Saturday 6pm to Monday 6 am.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa also declared a nationwide public emergency late on Friday. The President invoked tough laws allowing the military to arrest and detain suspects for long periods without trial, as demonstrations calling for his ouster spread across the South Asian nation.

Meanwhile, Lanka IOC, the subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation in Sri Lanka, said Friday it would supply 6,000 MT of fuel to ease the power shortages. On Saturday, Indian traders said they were in the process of shipping 40,000 tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka, according to a report in Reuters.

Anger against Rajapaksa’s handling of a deepening economic crisis in the island nation of 22 million people spiraled into violence late on Thursday, as hundreds of protesters clashed with police for several hours.

A severe shortage of foreign currency has left Rajapaksa’s government unable to pay for essential imports, including fuel, leading to debilitating power cuts lasting up to 13 hours. 

Ukraine denies reprisal airstrike on major Russian oil depot

Moscow on Friday, accused Ukrainian forces of blowing up a huge oil depot in Russia in an airstrike – an attack that Ukraine denied carrying out.

Russia had warned that the attack could hamper peace talks between the nations, which were due to continue Friday by video. But Ukraine officials scoffed they had nothing to do with the bombing.

“For some reasons, they say that we did it, but according to our information, this does not correspond to reality,” Ukrainian Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said on national TV.

Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Ukraine was to blame, according to Agence France-Presse.

“Of course, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of negotiations,” Peskov added.

Videos showed a flurry of rockets piercing the night sky in Belgorod at around 6 a.m. – and then a huge fire raging at the storage depot in the Russian city about 21 miles from Ukraine’s border.

“The fire at the oil depot occurred as a result of an airstrike from two helicopters of the armed forces of Ukraine, which entered the territory of Russia at a low altitude,” Belgorod regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.

Gladkov initially said two employees had been hurt but in an update noted, “There are no victims.” Russian energy giant Rosneft, which owns the facility, also said there had been no injuries.

The strike came after Ukraine’s defense ministry posted a social media video pretending to announce Oscars-style awards for its military successes.

Pope Benedict XVI makes historic Indigenous apology for Canada abuses

Pope Francis on Friday made a historic apology to Indigenous peoples for the “deplorable” abuses they suffered in Canada’s Catholic-run residential schools and said he hoped to visit Canada in late July to deliver the apology in person to survivors of the church's misguided missionary zeal.

Francis begged forgiveness during an audience with dozens of members of the Metis, Inuit and First Nations communities who came to Rome seeking a papal apology and a commitment from the Catholic Church to repair the damage. The first pope from the Americas said he hoped to visit Canada around the Feast of St. Anna, which falls on July 26.

JAMB shifts UTME, extends registration period

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, on Monday, announced new examination dates for the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

The board made this known in its weekly bulletin made available to journalists by the Director of Public Relations and Protocols, Dr Fabian Benjamin.

The board explained that the decision to announce a new examination date was to accommodate some exigencies.

The bulletin read in part, “In a bid to accommodate some exigencies, which ultimate goals are to ensure maximal benefits to potential candidates, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has made adjustments to its examination timelines. Given the breakdown of the adjusted timelines, the board disclosed that the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination will be held from Friday, May 6 to Monday, May 16, 2022.

“While the mock UTME exercise earlier scheduled for April 2, 2022 will now be held on April 16, 2022, for candidates who registered early and indicated their willingness to sit the mock UTME.

“The date for the commencement of the sale of the 2022 UTME/DE application document, which was slated to start from February 12 to March 19, 2022, remains as stated earlier.

“This review, as approved by management, is to ensure that the candidates, who will be sitting the examination and others are not denied the opportunity to express themselves in other public examinations without forfeiting any examination.”

The board also added that candidates sitting the UTME could now pick Computer Studies or Physical and Health Education as part of the four required subjects, if they so desired or as dictated by their programme preferences.

The board said the addition of the two subjects to the existing 23 subjects would commence from the 2022 UTME.

FDA authorizes Pfizer’s Covid treatment pill (the first oral antiviral drug cleared during the pandemic)

 

Merck’s experimental Covid-19 treatment pill, called molnupiravir

The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization Wednesday to Pfizer’s Covid treatment pill, a major milestone that promises to revolutionize the fight against the virus.

The medication, which is recommended for people at a high risk of developing severe Covid-19, could be available to patients as early as this weekend. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told the press earlier this month the company has already shipped some of the pills to the U.S. so they can be prescribed as soon as the FDA authorization comes through. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to quickly follow suit with its seal of approval, authorizing its distribution.

The FDA cleared the pill for patients 12 and up with mild to moderate Covid who are most likely to end up hospitalized or not survive. The agency said it should be prescribed as soon as possible after diagnosis and within five days of symptom onset.

“Today’s authorization introduces the first treatment for COVID-19 that is in the form of a pill that is taken orally — a major step forward in the fight against this global pandemic,” Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. “This authorization provides a new tool to combat COVID-19 at a crucial time in the pandemic as new variants emerge and promises to make antiviral treatment more accessible to patients who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19.”

Federal University Wukari Announces Application into her Post Graduate School

FEDERAL UNIVERSITY WUKARI

SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
OFFICE OF THE DEAN

APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION INTO POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMMES FOR 2021/2022 ACADEMIC SESSION

Federal University Wukari (FUW) welcomes you to be part of our Post-Graduate Programme.

FUW is a 21st Century University with a vision to be a leader among world class Public Universities by:

·             Advancing knowledge through high quality ICT centric educational experiences for students;

·                 Encouraging entrepreneurship;

·              Conducting leading edge research and scholarship in all areas that promotes an intellectual environment that is anchored on the tenets of open dialogue and inquiry,

·                  A deep and abiding appreciation of the entire spectrum of human experience.

Suitably qualified applications are invited for admission into full-time Postgraduate Diploma, Masters Programmes and PhD Programmes in the Federal University Wukari for the 2021/2022 academic session.

(Note: for PDF Copy of this advertorial, click this clink → PDF Copy

 
FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE AND LIFE SCIENCES

Department of Agricultural Economics & Extension

a.                  PGD in Agricultural Economics 

b.                 PGD in Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology

c.                  MSc in Agricultural Extension Communication

d.                 MSc in Rural Sociology

e.                  MSc in Agricultural Extension Programme Planning and Evaluation

f.                   MSc in Extension Administration and Supervision

g.                  MSc in Agricultural Finance and Project Appraisal

h.                 MSc in Agricultural Marketing and Agribusiness

i.                    MSc in Farm Management and Production Economics

j.                    PhD in Extension Communication

k.                  PhD in Rural Sociology

l.                    PhD in Programme Planning and Evaluation

m.               PhD in Extension Administration and Supervision

n.                 PhD in Agricultural Finance and Project Appraisal

o.                 PhD in Agricultural Marketing and Agribusiness

p.                 PhD in Farm Management and Production Economics