What happens when a computer thinks it knows better than a human? Ask Boeing.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has held ‘crisis talks’ with six senior players ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash with Watford.

United go into the game at Vicarage Road with one win from their last six league fixtures, including embarrassing home defeats to Liverpool and Manchester City.

Solskjaer is under huge pressure to get a win against a Watford side that sits just two points above the relegation zone and has the fourth-worst defensive record in the Premier League so far.

It has been rumoured in recent weeks that key players have grown frustrated this season. Earlier this month, Bruno Fernandes was said to be among those concerned by the lack of clear game plans by Solskjaer and his staff.

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo, although not expecting to find the exact same club he left in 2009, is said to be ‘shocked’ by how far standards have fallen.

The Daily Mail writes that Solskjaer spoke with Fernandes, Ronaldo, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof and Nemanja Matic at a 10am meeting at the club’s Carrington training ground on Thursday morning.

The main point of discussion was how they would turn things around, as well as a tactical plan following a recent shift to a back three system.

With the majority of the United squad called up by their respective countries for World Cup qualifiers, Solskjaer used the first few days of this month’s international break to get away from it all by taking a short holiday with his family back in his native Norway.

Immediately after Watford, United face Villarreal in the Champions League, where anything other than a win would leave their progression to the knockout stages in doubt. Then come tough back-to-back Premier League fixtures against Chelsea and Arsenal.

The Federal Government has said that it is funding the registration for 250,000 Micro, Small Medium Enterprises (MSME), which will be registered at zero cost, under its Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP).

This was disclosed by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo via government’s Twitter handle on Thursday.

He tweeted, â€œRight now, under the ESP, @NigeriaGov is funding registration for 250,000 MSMEs, which would be registered at zero cost. We are also concessioning two Brownfield Special Economic Zones while commencing work on developing four additional greenfield sites.”

https://commodity.ng/fg-set-to-fund-the-registrations-for-250000-msmes-especially-agric-businesses/

The Chairman of the Presidential Judicial Commission of Inquiry, Justice Isa Ayo Salami (Retd.) has dismissed reports circulating about his purported regrets as Chairman of the Commission investigating the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu.

Justice Salami in a statement signed by himself on Tuesday said he has no cause to regret chairing the commission of inquiring investigating the suspended EFCC Chairman.

“My attention has been drawn to the false and mischievous reports circulating in the media about my purported regrets as Chairman of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry investigating the suspended Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu.

“Ordinarily, I would not have dignified the purveyors of this falsehood with any form of rebuttal, but the need to put the records straight and expose their barefaced lies has necessitated my response.

“No claims can be further from the truth than the outright falsehood contained in the said report.

“I have no cause to express any regret over my Chairmanship of the Commission, not to talk of betraying any form of emotion before anyone about it”.

Justice Salami rather noted that he accepted the appointment with honour and diligence, describing it as a call to service.

“I see my appointment to serve as the Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry as an honour and call to service, thus my decision to accept diligently and patriotically discharge this responsibility,” he said.

read more : https://www.channelstv.com/2020/09/29/magus-probe-panel-i-have-no-cause-to-regret-my-chairmanship-salami/

“Things are getting back to normal, even though it will never be like it was before,” says a relieved Petunia Maseko, relaxing in a bar in South Africa’s Soweto township.

Africa has weathered the coronavirus pandemic relatively well in terms of infections and deaths, though its economies have been badly ravaged.

While many nations ease their COVID-19 measures and citizens dare to breathe a little easier, experts are warning against letting the continent’s success lapse into complacency.

There was plenty of celebrating at The Black and White Lifestyle Pub in Soweto on Friday as the first weekend of spring coincided with South Africa’s transition to its lowest level of lockdown.

The continent’s hardest-hit nation, South Africa has reeled under one of the world’s strictest lockdowns.

“It was tough staying in for six months without socialising,” said Maseko, a 21-year-old engineering student wearing a brightly coloured Ndebele traditional outfit.

But virus measures were followed, with masked revellers getting their temperatures checked at the bar’s entrance.

Sanitising gel in hand, 26-year-old DJ Tiisetso Tenyane was delighted to finally play in front of a live audience after months of live-streaming shows.

“I’ve been craving to play for the people again,” he said.

He said that face masks are “the only sign left that there ever was a pandemic”.

On the rest of the African continent, daily life varies vastly between strict observance of health measures and total relaxation.

– ‘Back to our habits’ –

“We don’t care about corona,” Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara said, oblivious to listening microphones, when he kissed a party official last month in front of thousands of people in clear defiance of virus restrictions.

Although masks are still compulsory, that rule is “not respected anywhere or almost anywhere” in Ivory Coast, a health worker said on condition of anonymity.

“The hysteria is gone and the state no longer communicates much about the subject”.

In DR Congo’s capital Kinshasa, taking temperatures and washing hands are still the norm in the residential district of Gombe, which is also the city’s diplomatic and economic centre.

But in working-class communities, masks are being pushed down to the chin and people are shaking hands again.

For many the latest buzz phrase is “corona eza te”, which translates to “there is no corona” in the local Lingala.

In West African’s Burkina Faso, 43-year-old fish seller Ousmane Ouedraogo said he can’t wear a mask forever.

“We tried to wear it every day but it was the authorities who set the example by acting as if the disease was over. So we’re going back to our habits,” he said.

Nobody uses the hand-washing station at the entrance to Guillaume Traore’s restaurant in Burkina’s capital Ouagadougou.

“When you remind a customer, he tells you that the coronavirus does not exist,” he said.

In Chad and Gabon, many wear masks low down, covering only the mouth or just the chin, only to hastily lift them up when they come across the police.

In churches, mosques and markets, people jostle into each other. In the evening, however, a strict curfew remains in place.

– ‘Be very careful’ –

In the megacity Lagos of Africa’s most populous country Nigeria, civil servant Isiaka Okesanya said he now regularly forgets to wear his mask.

“It’s like God has helped us to get rid of the disease. We no longer read about those big figures of deaths,” the 41-year-old told AFP.

But Emmanuel Akinyemi, director of Lagos-based Estate Clinic, said that “coronavirus is real and is still very much around us”.

Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said last week that while Nigeria’s daily infection figures have been trending downwards, “we, unfortunately, cannot afford to rejoice or speak of success”.

The World Health Organization’s Africa regional director Matshidiso Moeti said the continent has been spared “an exponential spread of Covid-19 as many initially feared”.

However, John Nkengasong, director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that “we also have to be very careful that we do not over-project any successes”.

In West Africa’s Senegal, life has almost returned to normal since June.

This is in stark contrast to Rwanda, where one of the strictest lockdowns is still in place and police make arrests for “not wearing masks properly”.

In northern Africa, Morocco remains in lockdown, especially economic capital Casablanca, where large neighbourhoods are tightly sealed off.

Eastern Africa’s Kenya is meanwhile reopening its bars and allowing restaurants to sell alcohol again as infections drop.

“We are the most vulnerable and fragile at the moment where we think we have won,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Monday.

“If we have won one battle against Covid-19, we have not yet won the war.”

Poring over her books in the library at Coventry University, far from her home in Equatorial Guinea, Agnes Genoveva Cheba Ade is determined to keep up her studies despite coronavirus restrictions.

She admits that it has not been easy being abroad during a pandemic, with many courses moved online and socialising restricted — many other overseas students have been put off entirely.

But, like others in Britain, Coventry University in central England is confident it will weather the storm of Covid-19 and maintain its foreign students, who are a crucial source of income.

“I spent the pandemic away from my family so the isolation was even harder for me,” said Cheba Ade, a former Miss World contestant, who has been studying economic sciences at Coventry since 2017.

She told AFP: “I was struggling with anxiety, depression at times and I felt a little bit overwhelmed.”

But she added: “I’m from a humble family so, for me, being here today at university, being able to complete my course and get my degree… I think it’s really something I have to cherish every day.”

She added that university was “a new experience, a new way of living. I’m willing to learn and to adapt”.

– Virtual social life –

On campus, where classes resumed in mid-September partially online, reminders for students to maintain social distancing are everywhere.

Access to the library is one-way, the route is peppered with hand sanitiser stations, and students must reserve a place — then disinfect their workstation with the wipes provided.

Wearing a mask is encouraged but not obligatory.

Students’ social lives are also limited, with many welcoming events held virtually, which is a “challenge” for new arrivals trying to settle in, according to George Okata, a member of Coventry’s student body.

Britain has seen some 42,000 deaths in the coronavirus outbreak — the worst in Europe — and millions of people are under renewed local restrictions due to a surge in cases.

Up until now, Coventry University has not experienced the clusters of cases seen at other British universities, which — often after illegal parties — caused them to isolate hundreds of students.

– Charter flights –

Foreign students from outside the European Union pay significantly more than UK or EU students, and their fees are a major source of income for universities.

In Coventry, they normally make up one third of the 35,000-strong student body. The number of foreign registrations has halved this September.

However, provost Ian Dunn said many were taking up the option offered routinely by the university to start in January, or could even wait until May.

“Applications were very high and very strong but people are differing when they wish to start… January is looking positive,” he told AFP.

He added: “We’re a strong university, we have healthy reserves that allow us to weather particular storms like this.”

Despite pessimistic predictions that foreign student numbers might collapse this autumn, applications body UCAS has reported a nine-percent increase in international undergraduate admissions — although EU applications fell two percent.

However, this is not enough to relieve the pressure on universities, which have invested heavily in online learning and are also preparing for the end of the post-Brexit transition period in December.

Nick Hillman, from the Higher Education Policy Institute think tank, cautioned that registration data “doesn’t necessarily mean all those people will actually turn up”.

He also pointed out that a lot of international students were post-graduates, who were not included in the UCAS figures.

And, he told AFP, there was a “real worry that drop-out rates might go up this year, because when they (the students) get to university, their experience might not be quite what they expected”.

Universities UK, which represents higher education institutions, noted that it was still unclear how many international students who had received offers would take up their places.

“We have a short window to convince undecided applicants that they can plan with confidence to study in the UK,” a spokesperson said in emailed comments.

Some institutions such as Queen’s University Belfast have decided to leave nothing to chance, chartering a flight to bring in hundreds of Chinese students, according to The Times.