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Good News: UK To Begin Trial Of COVID-19 Vaccine On Patients From Thursday

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Matt Hancock, United Kingdom health secretary, says from Thursday, there will be clinical trials of a potential COVID-19 vaccine on patients.

The vaccine, called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is being developed by scientists at the University of Oxford.

Speaking at the daily Downing Street press conference, Hancock said the government was “throwing everything” at the vaccine drive.

He announced a provision of £20 million had been made for the Oxford team to help fund the clinical trials.

Hancock said an additional £22.5 million in funding will be made available for researchers at Imperial College, London.

He said the government will “back them to the hilt and give them every resource they need to get them the best possible chance of success as soon as possible”.

“In the long run, the best way to defeat coronavirus is through a vaccine. This is a new disease, this is an uncertain science, but I’m certain that we will throw everything we’ve got at developing a vaccine,” he said.

“The UK is at the forefront of the global effort. We’ve put more money than any other country into the global search for a vaccine. And for all the efforts around the world, two of the leading vaccine developments are taking place here at home, at Oxford and Imperial.

“Both of these promising projects are making rapid progress and I’ve told the scientists leading them that we’ll do everything we can to support them.

“And today making available 20 million pounds to the oxford team to fund their clinical trials. The team has accelerated its process working, with the regulator of the MHRA ((Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency), who have been absolutely brilliant.

“As a result, I can announce that the vaccine from the oxford project will be trialed in people from this Thursday.

“In normal time, reaching this stage takes years and I am very proud of the work taken so far.

“At the same time, we will invest in manufacturing capability so that if either of these vaccines safely works then we can make it available for the British people as soon as humanly possible.”

He, however, added that nothing about “this process is certain”.

“The upside of being the first country in the world to develop a successful vaccine is so huge that I am throwing everything at it,” he said

He said on the most recent figure, 535,342 tests have now been carried out in the UK, adding that of this figure, 129,044 people have tested positive.

He said the number of patients with COVID-19 symptoms is now down to 17681, adding that 17,366 people have died in hospitals.

Sarah Gilbert, a professor of vaccinology at Oxford, had earlier said the inoculation being developed by her team could be ready for use as early as September.

There is still no known vaccine for COVID-19.

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US Court Sends British-Nigerian To Seven Years In Jail Over $5m Cyber Fraud

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Oludayo Adeagbo, a British-Nigerian, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar business email compromise (BEC) scheme.

According to the US Department of Justice, Adeagbo, who also goes by John Edwards and John Dayo, conspired with others to steal over $3 million from various entities in Texas, including local government bodies, construction companies, and a Houston-area college.

Adeagbo and his co-conspirators also defrauded a North Carolina university of more than $1.9 million.

The case began in August 2022 when Adeagbo and two other Nigerian citizens, Donald Echeazu, 42, and Olabanji Egbinola, 44, were extradited from the United Kingdom (UK), where they had been residing, to face charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering.

The US Department of Justice stated that the offences were committed in North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

On April 8, Adeagbo pleaded guilty in two cases against him in North Carolina and Texas for participating in a business email compromise scheme, which is also referred to as a “cyber-enabled financial fraud” scheme.

A business email compromise scheme can be initiated by scammers creating fake accounts that mimic companies a business regularly deals with.

Court records revealed that Adeagbo and his co-conspirators gathered information about significant construction projects across the United States, including a multi-million-dollar project at a university in North Carolina.

“To execute the scheme, Adeagbo, Echeazu, and others registered a domain name similar to that of the legitimate construction company in charge of the university’s project and created an email address that closely resembled that of an employee of the construction company,” the Department of Justice said.

“Using the fake email address, the fraudsters deceived and directed the university to wire a payment of more than $1.9 million to a bank account controlled by an individual working under the direction of Adeagbo and his co-conspirators.”

Adeagbo and his co-conspirators employed the same tactics in Texas, targeting local government entities and universities by impersonating construction companies. They stole over $3 million from the scheme, bringing their total haul to $5 million.

Adeagbo has been ordered to pay $942,655.03 in restitution and will serve seven years in prison.

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Nigerian-American Oye Owolewa Re-Elected To US Congress

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Oye Owolewa, a Nigerian-American Democrat, has been re-elected as the shadow representative for the District of Columbia (DC).

Owolewa, a PhD graduate from Northeastern University in Boston, made history in November 2020 when he became the first Nigerian-American elected to Congress.

He secured 164,026 votes, or 82.84 percent of the total votes cast in DC.

His role, while not officially recognized by the US government as a full member of Congress, is to advocate for the district’s interests, particularly its bid for statehood.

On Thursday, Owolewa expressed his gratitude to DC voters via a post on X, thanking them for their continued support.

“Thank you DC again for giving me chance to serve. I also want to thank the organizations that have supported, partnered with and endorsed me,” he wrote.

While shadow representatives like Owolewa do not have voting power in the US House of Representatives, they play a key role in pushing for recognition and state-level advocacy for DC residents, who are otherwise disenfranchised at the federal level.

Owolewa has consistently championed the cause of DC statehood, which has become a central focus of his work.

The re-election took place on November 5, the same day as the US presidential election.

In that election, former President Donald Trump defeated Vice-President Kamala Harris, securing over 270 electoral votes to win a second term.

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Joe Biden Urges Americans To Accept Trump’s Victory, Promises Peaceful Transition

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United States President Joe Biden has urged Americans to accept the victory of Republican Party candidate Donald Trump in the presidential election.

On November 6, Trump won the presidential election after surpassing the magic number of 270 electoral college votes.

Trump defeated Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party, who received 219 electoral college votes.

Harris has congratulated Trump on his electoral victory.

During a speech on Thursday at the White House Rose Garden, Biden said, “We accept the choice the country made.”

“I know for some people, it’s time for victory to state the obvious. For others, it’s a time of loss,” the US president said.

“Campaigns are contests of competing visions. The country chooses one or the other.

“I’ve said many times, you can’t love your country only when you win. You can’t love your neighbour only when you agree.

“I will do my duty as president. I’ll fulfil my oath and honour the Constitution. On January 20, we will have a peaceful transfer of power here in America.

“Remember, defeat does not mean we are defeated. We lost this battle. The America of your dream is calling for you to get back up.

“The America experiment endures. We are going to be okay, but we need to stay engaged. We need to keep going. Above all, we need to keep the faith.”

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