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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Calls for International Collaboration to Protect People Everywhere from the Coronavirus

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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced an expansion of its funding for the global response to COVID-19. The increase includes an additional $150 million of grant funding plus a commitment to leverage the resources of the foundation’s Strategic Investment Fund, which could be deployed to catalyze the rapid procurement of essential medical supplies and help life sciences companies secure financing to produce COVID-19 products. In announcing the funding, the foundation called on world leaders to unite in a global response to COVID-19 to ensure equitable access to diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines.

“It is increasingly clear that the world’s response to this pandemic will not be effective unless it is also equitable,” said Gates Foundation co-chair Melinda Gates. “We have a responsibility to meet this global crisis with global solidarity. In addition to contributing to the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines, these funds will support efforts against COVID-19 in low-and-middle-income countries, where local leaders and healthcare workers are doing heroic work to protect vulnerable communities and slow the spread of the disease.”

The foundation’s new $150 million commitment will fund the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines, as well as new efforts to provide partners in Africa and South Asia with resources to scale their COVID-19 detection, treatment, and isolation efforts.

The foundation will also leverage a portion of its $2.5 billion Strategic Investment Fund, which uses a suite of financial tools to address market failures and incentivize private enterprise to develop affordable and accessible health products. These funds, which can include equity investments, loans, and volume guarantees, will be used to help health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) facilitate the rapid procurement of personal protective equipment for health care workers, COVID-19 diagnostics, oxygen therapeutics, and other essential medical supplies. Any financial returns generated by the Strategic Investment Fund are re-invested in Gates Foundation philanthropic programs.

The funding announced today builds on the $100 million the foundation has committed to date to support the global response, as well as $5 million in resources to support public health agencies and frontline response organizations in the greater Seattle region. Initial foundation funding has helped to kick-start the search for COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines; enhanced virus detection capacity in Africa; and contributed to the response in China. The foundation has also directed its programmatic technical expertise to support multilateral, national, and sub-national responses to the pandemic.

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“COVID-19 doesn’t obey border laws. Even if most countries succeed in slowing the disease over the next few months, the virus could return if the pandemic remains severe enough elsewhere,” said foundation co-chair Bill Gates. “The world community must understand that so long as COVID-19 is somewhere, we need to act as if it were everywhere. Beating this pandemic will require an unprecedented level of international funding and cooperation.”

While there is not yet global consensus on the total resources required to turn back COVID-19, the figure is more than any one contributor will bear. A coordinated, international effort bringing together all sectors will be required to mobilize the billions in funding needed in the months ahead. Institutions such as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance are in place to coordinate the development and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, but they require an influx of new resources to do so. Other organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), national governments, and private companies will need to be involved in funding the at-risk manufacturing of vaccine candidates and deciding how to ensure equitable access to essential products for populations worldwide.

“This pandemic has unleashed an extraordinary philanthropic response. While significant, it is still only one small part of what must be a coordinated effort to beat this global crisis,” said foundation CEO Mark Suzman. “Philanthropy cannot-and should not-supplant the public and private sectors. What philanthropy is good at is testing out ideas that might not otherwise get tried, so governments and businesses can then take on the successful ones. With all sectors working together, we can avoid the worst-case scenarios of human, economic, and social costs.”

In announcing its new $150 million commitment, the foundation identified four priority areas for investment:

Accelerating Virus Detection
The foundation will provide partners in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia with funding to scale their COVID-19 detection, treatment, and isolation efforts. In some countries, this will include leveraging emergency operations centers normally deployed to support polio eradication and malaria elimination efforts toward COVID-19 detection.

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Protecting the Most Vulnerable
Foundation funding will help partners in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia pilot different approaches to physical distancing and infection suppression in settings where stay-at-home policies and other physical distancing strategies may not be practical. The goal will be to identify infection suppression strategies that can be effectively sustained over time with minimal social and economic disruption. A key focus will be building on lessons learned from two decades of experience in implementing infectious disease prevention programs, specifically the importance of community-designed and community-led engagement efforts.

The foundation is also considering gender equality issues in its response, and it will support research into the differential health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic on women and girls in LMICs. This will help to inform the foundation’s short-, medium-, and long-term policy response to the pandemic and global policy responses. This effort will build on the foundation’s existing work to improve gender data by designing and implementing gender-specific metrics and surveys to capture data that reflects the experiences of women and girls.

Minimizing Social and Economic Impact
The foundation will provide non-medical funding to help LMICs strengthen social and economic support for people who are living in extreme poverty or who are at risk of falling back into extreme poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia together account for 85 percent of the 629 million people around the world who live on less than $1.90 per day, and past pandemics have had a disproportionate impact on people who cannot afford adequate nutrition, safe sanitation, and quality housing. People living in extreme poverty are also less likely to be able to practice physical distancing because they cannot afford to stop working.

The foundation will work with partners to help expand access to social payment systems to communities that are most at risk of serious social and economic disruption due to public health measures undertaken to suppress COVID-19 transmission.

Develop Products for a Sustained Response
The foundation will continue to invest in efforts to accelerate the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines for the COVID-19 response while working with governments, the private sector, and multilateral institutions to ensure scaled manufacturing and the equitable procurement and distribution of these products as they become available.

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This work will include efforts to develop affordable and accessible point-of-care diagnostics, as well as support for the development of treatments and vaccines whose production can be quickly scaled once clinical trials have demonstrated their safety and efficacy. The foundation has committed to working with governments, CEPI, and the private sector to help provide financing for the at-risk enhancement of vaccine manufacturing capacity. This will allow the production of vaccine candidates so that global vaccine supply can be quickly scaled once clinical trial results are available.

The foundation will work with national governments and international organizations such as the WHO; UNICEF; Gavi; and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to ensure that LMICs have equitable access to essential commodities and to ensure that supply and distribution chains are well prepared to facilitate their rapid and widespread delivery to Gavi- and Global Fund-eligible countries.

Detailed summaries of previous commitments can be found at https://www.gatesfoundation.org/media-center/press-releases.

For more on the foundation’s response to COVID-19, please see this post by Mark Suzman on The Optimist.

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MICHAEL MCINTYRE CONFIRMS SOUTH AFRICAN DATES FOR HIS “MACNIFICENT” COMEDY TOUR

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Michael McIntyre remains one of the top-selling comedy tours ever in SA and will perform September 2024, on Thursday 12th at Sunbet Arena at Times Square, Menlyn and Friday 13th at GrandWest, Cape Town.

Much has happened in the five years since his last tour and Michael will be making mirth from the madness of it all. Michael is the host of two of the BBC’s most successful entertainment shows, the BAFTA-winning Michael McIntyre’s Big Show and The Wheel, which he devised and also hosts for NBC in America. His previous tours have sold over four million tickets and broken box-office records around the world. Michael’s return to stand-up is not to be missed!

Age restriction: STRICTLY 14+. Children younger than this will not be admitted even if accompanied by an adult Tickets available at TicketPro.co.za.

Pre-sales from 10 am THURSDAY 28th March.

Follow Real Artist Management on Facebook for access to pre-sales for Michael McIntyre with a code MACNIFICENT for the Menlyn and Cape Town shows.

General Public on sale from 11am Tues 2nd April – i.e. no code required

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Beast of Two Worlds (Ajakaju) Movie Premiere: Where Cinema Meets Couture

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On Sunday, March 25, 2024, the Nollywood industry saw a historic moment as the much-awaited debut of Beast of Two Worlds (Ajakaju) took center stage at Film House Cinemas, Circle Mall, Lekki. The film’s grand premiere, which was produced by Eniola Ajao in association with Anthill Studios, was a momentous occasion in the history of epic blockbuster movies.

Beast of Two Worlds (Ajakaju) had its much-awaited debut attracting a star-studded cast of industry professionals. A bit of star power was added to the premiere by the presence of well-known people like Toyin Abraham, Mercy Aigbe, Odunlade Adekola, Femi Adebayo, Iyabo Ojo, Yomi Fash-Lanso, Gbenga Adeyinka, Ronke Oshodi-Oke, Denrele Edun, Rukayat Lawal, Wasila Coded, Wumi Toriola, Phyna, Peju Ogunmola, Dayo Amusa, Iyabo Ojo, Antar Laniyan, and others.

Beast of Two Worlds (Ajakaju) opened with a grandiose fashion show that went above and beyond the usual moviegoing experience. The red carpet was a glistening display of avant-garde and opulent looks that added even more excitement to the evening’s festivities.

Directed by Odunlade Adekola and Adebayo Tijani, “Beast of Two Worlds” looks at the life of a desperate king facing banishment due to his three wives’ inability to produce a son, he takes a new wife from another world who promises him an heir but her arrival brings unforeseen chaos to the kingdom forcing the king to confront his fears and fight to secure his dynasty future.

The cast includes Odunlade Adekola, Eniola Ajao, Sola Sobowale,  Femi Adebayo, Lateef Adedimeji, Mercy Aigbe, Bimbo Akintola, Fathia Balogun, Ibrahim Chatta, amongst others.

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Beast of Two Worlds is set to show nationwide in cinemas from March 29, 2024, and distributed by Film One.

Watch the trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17aQ8ibDXVg 

About Beast of Two Worlds

Beast of Two Worlds looks at the life of a desperate king facing banishment due to his three wives’ inability to produce a son, he takes a new wife from another world who promises him an heir but her arrival brings unforeseen chaos to the kingdom forcing the king to confront his fears and fight to secure his dynasty future. 

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Electric Forest Announces Additional Artists for Sold Out 2024 Edition

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New Additions Feature Seven Lions, Sara Landry, G Jones, Hiatus Kaiyote, ODD MOB & OMNOM present HYPERBEAM, Layton Giordani, Boogie T, Cannabliss, Levity, Chaos in the CBD, Emo Nite, Brandi Cyrus + Many More

Taking Place June 20-23 in Rothbury, Michigan

Limited Wristbands Back On Sale Friday, March 29

https://www.electricforest.com

Today, Electric Forest announces 40+ additional artists joining the lineup for its sold out 2024 edition. Taking place June 20-23 in Rothbury, Michigan, Electric Forest remains one of the world’s most interactive festivals, fostering an immersive atmosphere of connection and discovery upheld by the pillars of community, creation, and inclusion.

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Electric Forest’s new lineup additions include melodic bass maestro Seven Lions, experimental bass veteran G Jones, high priestess of hard techno Sara Landry, and Grammy-nominated band Hiatus Kaiyote. The billing expands with techno new school selector Layton Giordani, post-punk revivalists Emo Nite,Nashville’s Brandi Cyrus, Kiwi brother-duo Chaos in the CBD, multi-instrumentalist live legend Boogie T,  Chicago’s rising electronic trio Levity, and the new collaborative project of tech house sensations ODD MOB & OMNOM present HYPERBEAM.

Electric Forest’s latest additions join a stacked roster of headliners including Forest favorite Pretty Lights, the bone-rattling sounds of Excision, and Cyclops Recordings founder Subtronics. A variety of rare collaborative artist sets are also on deck, including EVERYTHING ALWAYS (Dom Dolla + John Summit), LSZEE (CloZee + LSDREAM), and Big Gigantic and NGHTMRE teaming up for their Gigantic NGHTMRE project.

Jam fans can rejoice as The String Cheese Incident returns to perform two Incidents, plus sets from fellow torchbearers of the genre The Disco Biscuits and Umphrey’s McGee. Some of the more unexpected names on the lineup include Grammy-winning singer Nelly Furtado and famed Atlanta hip-hop artist Ludacris, each bringing their iconic sounds to the forest. The list of headliners is rounded out by Belgian techno queen Charlotte de Witte, a solo set from John Summit, and performances by Black Tiger Sex Machine, Ben Böhmer, and Knock2.

This year, Electric Forest will continue its offering of elevated culinary experience add-ons. Highlights include breakfast with a side of sass at the Drag Brunch, a four course meal inspired by the Forest, seasonal produce, and mystical creatures at Forest Feast, Buena Vida, an Agave spirits interactive cocktail tasting experience, and Wig Out Pig Out, a wig wearing authentic BBQ. Additional offerings include Brie Our Guest, Champagne French Fry, The Gouda Life, Forest Food Tour, and Good Life Brunch with Chef Sarah.

Fans will also be able to purchase exclusive guided tour experiences, allowing them to explore Sherwood Forest or experience the Dream Emporium before festival gates officially open. The exclusive tours will give fans an exclusive sneak peek at the new art, installations, and surprises the Forest has to offer while learning about the artists, history, and production process of the festival directly from the Electric Forest team. Sherwood Forest tours will conclude at TheWoodlands Bar for happy hour and are extremely limited capacity.

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Electric Forest also recently announced the full programming for its beloved Plug In Programs, offering fans the unique opportunity to contribute and collaborate directly with the festival’s production teams. Highlights include the Art Installation Sponsorship Program, allowing artists to bring their creations to life in the forest, The Brainery which offers educational workshops and classes, The Wish Machine which grants a wish in exchange for inspirational and charitable deeds done in the community, and the Electric Forest Radio On Air ExtraordinAIRE Program for aspiring radio personalities, show hosts, behind-the-scenes technicians, fan interviewers, and more.

Since 2011, Electric Forest has remained committed to the constant reimagination of what a festival experience can be. It’s this thoughtful and innovative approach to production and programming that has helped foster one of the world’s most dedicated festival communities. It’s a place where acceptance, safety, and self-expression are the most valuable currency, surprise and wonder hide around every corner, and no two journeys are the same.

Wristbands for Electric Forest 2024 are currently sold-out, but limited wristbands will go back on sale this Friday, March 29 at 12pm EST. More information can be found at ElectricForest.com.  Add-Ons, Vehicle Passes, Early Arrival, Group Camping, Shuttles, Lockers, and more can be found here.

The complete list of Electric Forest 2024 artists is available below.

Electric Forest 2024 Lineup (A-Z)

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ACRAZE

ALLEYCVT

ATLiens

AYYBO

Baggi

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Barclay Crenshaw

Ben Böhmer

Black Tiger Sex Machine

Boogie T

Brandi Cyrus

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Calussa

Cannabliss

Cannons

Caspa

Cassian

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Chaos in the CBD

Charlotte De Witte

Chase & Status

Coco & Breezy

Cuco (DJ Set)

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Dimension

Dirtwire

Dixon’s Violin

DJ Susan

DJ Tennis

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DRAMA

Dumpstaphunk

Eggy

Emo Nite

Equanimous

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EVERYTHING ALWAYS (Dom Dolla + John Summit)

Excision

G Jones

Gigantic NGHTMRE

Green Velvet

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Hamdi

Hiatus Kaiyote

INZO

it’s murph

Jenna Shaw

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JJUUJJUU

John Summit

Juelz

Kenny Beats

Kiltro

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Knock2

Layton Giordani

Levity

Le Youth

Lettuce

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LEVEL UP

Levity

Libianca

Little Stranger

LP Giobbi

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LSZEE (CloZee + LSDREAM)

Luci

Ludacris

LYNY

Maddy O’Neal

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MÆSØNIC

Major League Djz

Mascolo

Marsh

Matroda

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Mau P

Michaël Brun

Mojave Grey

NEIL FRANCES

Nelly Furtado

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Neoma

ODD MOB & OMNOM present HYPERBEAM

ODEN & Fatzo

Only Fire

PAPERWATER

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Peach Tree Rascals

Polyrhythmics

Pretty Lights

Próxima Parada

Ranger Trucco

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Rawayana

Redrum

Sammy Virji

Sara Landry

Seven Lions

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Shae District

Slayyyter

Subtronics

Sultan + Shepard

Super Future

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SWAYLÓ

The Disco Biscuits

The String Cheese Incident

Thought Process

Tripp St.

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TSHA

Umphrey’s McGee

Unusual Demont

venbee

Vini Vici

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VNSSA B2B Nala

Westend

Whyte Fang

Will Clarke

Wooli

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Zen Selekta

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Diddy reportedly sells off all his Revolt TV shares to anonymous buyer amidst home raids

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One day after Homeland Security descended upon his residences in Los Angeles and Miami, Diddy has reportedly relinquished his Revolt TV shares. (more…)

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Titanic’s door frame prop that helped Rose stay afloat sells for $718,750

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The floating piece of wood that kept Titanic’s Rose alive has been sold for $718,750 (£569,739) at auction. (more…)

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs breaks silence after federal agents raid his homes

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ team breaks their silence just over 24 hours after Homeland Security raided his homes. (more…)

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