Conor McGregor says he’s ‘decided to retire from fighting’ – Sportsnet.ca

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Conor McGregor says he’s ‘decided to retire from fighting’ – Sportsnet.ca

Conor McGregor has announced his retirement for the third time in four years.

McGregor abruptly made his latest dubious declaration Sunday morning on his Twitter account, where the former two-division UFC champion also announced his retirement in 2016 and 2019.

“Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting,” McGregor wrote in a caption below a photo of him and his mother. “Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been!”

The 31-year-old Irish superstar revitalized his combat sports career in January with an impressive first-round stoppage of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at UFC 246. McGregor (22-4) hadn’t won a fight in a mixed martial arts cage or a boxing ring since 2016, but he remained the UFC’s brightest star and biggest financial draw.

UFC President Dana White has already said McGregor is next in line for a title shot at the winner of lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s bout with Justin Gaethje this summer.

The UFC’s schedule is in upheaval due to the coronavirus pandemic, but McGregor was expected to get his title shot later this year, and he recently had been talking to White about taking another fight even earlier. Earlier this week, McGregor posted photos and videos of himself training for fights.

White was still willing to take McGregor’s retirement announcement at face value — at least publicly — when he learned about it at his news conference following UFC 250 in Las Vegas.

“If Conor McGregor feels he wants to retire, you know my feelings about retirement,” White said. “You should absolutely do it. And I love Conor. … There’s a handful of people that have made this really fun for me, and he’s one of them.”

Retirements are a time-honoured device for gathering attention and increased bargaining power in combat sports. From Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather to Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, countless champions of boxing and MMA have gone back on their solemn announcements whenever need or ego brought them back to the sport.

McGregor made his first Twitter retirement announcement in April 2016 during a spat with the UFC over promotion of his rematch with Nate Diaz.

McGregor famously wrote: “I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya’s later.”

McGregor and Diaz fought in August 2016.

Three years later, McGregor retired again in March 2019 in what White believed was a gambit to entice the UFC to offer him an ownership stake in the company. McGregor began talking about new fights shortly afterward, and he eventually returned to face Cerrone in early 2020.

The loquacious McGregor has long proven that his pronouncements can’t be taken as gospel truth. Earlier this year, McGregor “accepted” future fights against former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and long-retired boxing superstar Oscar De La Hoya with little reason to think they will ever happen.



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Ekta Kapoor speaks about Indian Army controversy; says bullying by trolls not appreciated : Bollywood News – Bollywood Hungama

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Ekta Kapoor speaks about Indian Army controversy; says bullying by trolls not appreciated : Bollywood News – Bollywood Hungama

Ekta Kapoor has been facing some abhorrent and heart-rending comments by certain social media bullies. Today Ekta spoke to Shobha De and addressed this issue.

When Shobha De asked her on the current threat and wrath she has been facing on social media, Ekta shared, “As an individual and as an organization we are deeply respectful towards Indian army. Their contribution to our well being and security is immense. We have already deleted the scene that is being spoken about, so the action has been taken from our side. We fully apologise for any sentiment that is hurt unintentionally. What we don’t appreciate is the bullying and the rape threats by the trolls.”

Ekta Kapoor is a household name, who has been giving us some binge-worthy content over the years. A woman of integrity and dignity, its heart rendering to see such disrespect towards her.

ALSO READ: Hindustani Bhau claims getting calls to sort things out with Ekta Kapoor 

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Find Poetry in the Pages of a Newspaper

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Find Poetry in the Pages of a Newspaper

These days, people are turning to art or poetry while stuck at home, because they want to feel something other than being at home. One way to feel something different and exciting is to craft a found poem.

Rita Dove, a former United States poet laureate, said that poetry is “the bones and the skeleton of the language. It teaches you, if nothing else, how to choose your words.”

The hardest part about writing a poem is choosing the right words. A found poem is created by cutting and pasting words found in another text; your text will be a newspaper or magazine. You will steal words you like by cutting them out and pasting them on a sheet of paper. But wait, you might be asking, what makes a strong poem? A poem is an experience, and a poem is a grouping of words that makes the reader feel something.

There are no real rules, but there is a topic: finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Something is extraordinary when something ordinary, or common, takes you by surprise or makes you gasp.

You will need any print publication, some paper, a pen, scissors and some glue or tape. Here’s a secret: All artists steal. Steal your way into a found poem by following these steps:

Find a work space. Find a flat space like a floor, a table or a desk. Maybe play your favorite song or TV show in the background for inspiration. Or, choose a quiet setting. Your work space is your creative universe, so be comfortable.

Brainstorm. Create a list of extraordinary moments. Look out for something small but exceptional around your apartment, outside your window, or maybe when you are out for a walk. It may be an act of kindness or, a shock of color on a flower or the wing of a bird; it could be a conversation you overhear, or an emotion you feel while talking to a friend, reading a book or watching a movie. The extraordinary is all around you; all you need to do is look. Pick a moment and start thinking of words that describe it. Jot them down.

Snip. Snip. Snip. Start cutting out all the words and phrases that relate to your moment. Having trouble? Try not to think so much and just cut. What words sound good to you when you say them aloud? What words help you visualize your extraordinary moment? Search the paper and neatly cut them out. Place them in a pile. Cut out duplicate words (you might want them later) and cut out words of different font sizes.

Layout. Before you start pasting your words into lines of poetry, lay them out and rearrange them. How will you create your poem? A poem is made up of lines that form groups of words called stanzas (Italian for room). Let your paper be the house of your poem. How many rooms will you build? One, two or more? Do you want long lines or short lines? Play with their position until you have them just right.

You may want to use a poetic device like a simile (a comparison with “like” or “as”), a metaphor (a comparison without “like” or “as”) or a rhyme. Maybe use repetition to play with sound, or cut two words and paste them together to make a word you can’t find. Try indenting lines or creating extra white space in or around your words and lines for a visual effect.

Paste. Ready? Carefully paste each word down, and now you have your own found poem.

Poetry isn’t scary, especially when you already have the words. See the found poem accompanying this article, which was created from its text. Have fun.

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Best Beauty and Fashion Accessories Deals This Week

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Best Beauty and Fashion Accessories Deals This Week


Best Beauty and Fashion Accessories Deals This Week | Entertainment Tonight


































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Breakthrough close on coronavirus antibody therapy: reports

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Breakthrough close on coronavirus antibody therapy: reports

Scientists working on coronavirus treatments may be close to a breakthrough on an antibody treatment that could save the lives of people who become infected, it has been reported.

An injection of cloned antibodies that counteract Covid-19 could prove significant for those in the early stages of infection, according to the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

AstraZeneca’s chief executive Pascal Soriot told the newspaper that the treatment being developed is “a combination of two antibodies” in an injected dose “because by having both you reduce the chance of resistance developing to one antibody”.

Antibody therapy is more expensive than vaccine production, with Soriot saying the former would be prioritised for the elderly and vulnerable “who may not be able to develop a good response to a vaccine”.

On Thursday, AstraZeneca signed a deal with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi) to help manufacture 300million globally accessible doses of the coronavirus vaccine candidate being developed by the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford.

AstraZeneca has already started to manufacture the Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine to ensure that if it does pass human trials, it can be made available in the autumn. Trials of the potential vaccine have started in Brazil, a new epicentre of the pandemic, to ensure the study can be properly tested as transmission rates fall in the UK. The Jenner Institute and the Oxford Vaccine Group began development on a vaccine in January, using a virus taken from chimpanzees.

One member of Cepi is the Serum Institute of India, which the Sunday Telegraph reports is considering other “parallel” partnerships with AstraZeneca that may lead to the antibody treatment being funded as a stand-alone treatment.

Meanwhile UK-based vaccine manufacturer Seqirus announced it was working in partnership with parent company CSL, Cepi and the University of Queensland to help develop a candidate Covid-19 vaccine in Australia. Its manufacturing base in Liverpool is producing an adjuvant, an agent that improves the immune response to a vaccine.

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Around The World: Black Lives Matter

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Around The World: Black Lives Matter

While mourners filed past George Floyd’s body in a Free Will Baptist church in his hometown of Raeford, N.C., just 12 days after he was killed under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, tens of thousands of people across the country and around the world came together to protest his death. 

They shut down part of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and they shut down Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. They marched past U.S. President Donald Trump’s hotel in Manhattan, waving Black Lives Matter signs, and they marched under the gaze of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. They gathered in the rain in Parliament Square in London, and they rallied in front of JR Shibuya Station in Tokyo.  

After many days of unrest, police beating protesters, police shoving elderly people, and police arresting journalists, for the first time in a generation — or perhaps in history — the civil rights of Black people appear to finally matter to almost everyone. 

The world has reached a boiling point.

In London, protesters clashed with police on horseback and sat in silence in front of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s home, calling attention to the Conservative leader’s history of racist remarks. In Berlin, thousands packed Alexanderplatz in the city’s center, wielding signs with English slogans: “Black Lives Matter,” “I can’t breathe” and “Germany is not innocent.” In Paris, a crowd formed outside the U.S. embassy, despite officials banning protests over fears of the coronavirus, while another unsanctioned rally took place near the Eiffel Tower. 

“I find it scandalous that all these injustices go unpunished,” one 21-year-old Senegalese Ivorian student told France24 amid a crowd of people holding up signs that read “Being black is not a crime” and “Our police are assassins.”



A demonstrator holds up a sign that reads “Racism exists in Tokyo” at a Saturday protest in Tokyo.

At least 100 people marched in Seoul through the city’s central district, demanding that South Koreans “form an alliance” to combat racism in one of the world’s most ethnically homogeneous nations. In Tokyo, protests took on a local flare as demonstrators condemned a May 22 incident in which Japanese police stopped and shoved a 33-year-old Kurdish man to the ground. The demonstrators also picketed outside Twitter’s Japan office to denounce the suspension of an antiracism account.

“I feel very sad,” Tomohiko Tsurumi, 43, who joined the march with his wife, told Reuters. “I always thought of this country as very safe and I realized that there is so much [police action] we cannot see.”

In Brazil, where the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro draws frequent parallels to the United States, hundreds of people marched in the northeastern city of Recife to protest the death of Miguel da Silva, a Black 5-year-old who fell Tuesday from a ninth-story high-rise where his mother, a maid, was working. Protesters cried “Vidas negras importam” — “Black lives matter” — while criticizing the white employer whom da Silva’s mother had entrusted with looking after the boy.

While Saturday’s protests were mostly peaceful yet passionate, throughout the day, Trump largely ignored this reality and tweeted “LAW & ORDER!” on Saturday evening.

Affecting Change, Albeit Lightly 

Some states are taking steps to walk back some of the harsher tactics that police have used during protests. In Minneapolis, the city where George Floyd was killed by police, the state has already withdrawn its curfew and is sending state troopers and National Guard members home. The city on Friday also announced an agreement to ban police from using chokeholds and strangleholds, requiring officers who witness such uses of force to intervene and file a report. 

A mural of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and George Floyd on June 5 in Miami, Florida, as protesters demonstrate ag



A mural of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and George Floyd on June 5 in Miami, Florida, as protesters demonstrate against police brutality.

However, after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told protestors on Saturday that he would not commit to defunding the city’s police department, he was forced to leave a rally to resounding chants of, “Go home, Jacob. Go home,” and “Shame, shame, shame.” 

In other cities, efforts are already underway to try and limit police use of rubber bullets and tear gas, after images of police officers using the weapons on often peaceful protestors elicited outrage. In Philadelphia, four council members are asking police to refrain from using rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray on demonstrators. In California, a group of lawmakers is set to introduce legislation outlining when officers can use rubber bullets. There, the governor has already called for police to reform how they treat protesters.

“Protesters have the right not to be harassed,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday. “Protesters have the right to protest peacefully. Protesters have the right to do so without being arrested, gassed or shot at by projectiles.”

Spurring Cultural Change

Beyond police reforms, the protests also seem to be spurring some cultural changes. On Friday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell apologized for the league’s past treatment of players who spoke out against racism, saying the league believes “Black lives matter.”

The apology did not name Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who in 2016 started kneeling during the national anthem to peacefully protest police brutality against Black people. Kaepernick has not played since the end of that season and has accused the league of colluding to keep him from getting signed to a team in reaction to his protests.

Goodell, instead, spoke in generalities about past wrongs committed by the league. 

The casket is moved at the conclusion of the George Floyd Memorial at R.L Douglas Cape Fear Conference B - United American Fr



The casket is moved at the conclusion of the George Floyd Memorial at R.L Douglas Cape Fear Conference B – United American Free Will Baptist Denomination in Raeford, N.C.

“We, the NFL, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black people,” Goodell said in a filmed statement. “We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest.” 

Also on Friday, the mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser, had “Black Lives Matter” painted in giant yellow letters on 16th Street. She also renamed the street in front of the White House to Black Lives Matter Plaza. While photos and videos of this act of defiance went viral, the D.C. chapter of Black Lives Matter criticized Bowser on Twitter.

“This is a performative distraction from real policy changes,” the group wrote. “This is to appease white liberals while ignoring our demands. Black Lives Matter means defund the police.”

Holding The Police Accountable

Such calls fell flat earlier on Thursday when the city council of Buffalo, N.Y., voted 6-3 to fully fund the police budget. That same day, two police officers in Buffalo shoved a lone 75-year-old man to the ground, leaving him ― as seen in a widely circulated video – unconscious with blood pooling under his head.

A group of people exiting a memorial for Floyd embrace each other outside the R.L. Douglas Cape Fear Center on June 6.



A group of people exiting a memorial for Floyd embrace each other outside the R.L. Douglas Cape Fear Center on June 6.

On Saturday, the officers ― Aaron Torgalski, 39, and Robert McCabe, 32 ― pleaded not guilty to assault charges. At least 57 fellow officers resigned from an emergency response team to protest the department’s decision to discipline their colleagues.

In Minneapolis, however, lawmakers took a different tack. The city’s schools and parks on Thursday began the process of cutting ties with the police department. On Friday, the city council started rallying behind calls to “dismantle” the police department and “replace it with a transformative new model of public safety.”

He Sparked The Fuse

While the world was using the death of George Floyd to push for change on Saturday, mourners near his hometown were gathering to pay their respects. An intimate memorial service was held for Floyd in Raeford, North Carolina, about 25 miles away from his birthplace. There, a gold casket held his remains, according to CNN.

At the memorial service, Rev. Christopher D. Stackhouse gave a eulogy remembering Floyd as a “gentle giant” and detailing how his death has already changed the world. 

“A movement is happening in America, and I’m glad that all of us get to say that it was George Floyd who sparked the fuse,” Stackhouse said. “It was George Floyd who sparked the fuse that is going to change this nation.”



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Amanda Nunes defeats Canadian Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 – Sportsnet.ca

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Amanda Nunes defeats Canadian Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 – Sportsnet.ca

LAS VEGAS — Amanda Nunes became the first UFC fighter to defend a championship belt while holding titles in two weight classes Saturday night, earning a dominant unanimous decision over featherweight contender Felicia Spencer at UFC 250.

Former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt also knocked out Raphael Assuncao an instant before the second-round bell in the co-main event at a fan-free gym on the UFC’s corporate campus in Las Vegas.

UFC 250 was the second event held at the UFC Apex gym in the promotion’s hometown since its resumption in competition amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Apex octagon is 25 feet in diameter instead of the typical 30 feet, and those close quarters resulted in several entertaining finishes, including spectacular knockouts by Garbrandt and fellow bantamweight star “Suga” Sean O’Malley.

Nunes (20-4), widely considered the greatest female fighter in mixed martial arts history, is the UFC’s champion of the bantamweight and featherweight divisions.

While Nunes’ dominance was tested in her last bout against bantamweight Germaine De Randamie in December, the relatively inexperienced Spencer (8-2) provided little challenge to the champ, other than the remote possibility of breaking her hands in repeated collisions with Spencer’s face.

Nunes battered the slower Spencer with her fearsome striking power from the start, cutting the challenger’s face and later sending her mouthpiece flying away during the third round. Spencer had a nasty hematoma growing on her forehead after the fourth round.

Nunes comfortably defended her featherweight belt for the first time since taking it from Cris “Cyborg” Justino in December 2018. She has defended the bantamweight belt five times since 2016.

Garbrandt (12-3) had lost three straight fights before this impressive performance ended with a right cross that knocked out Assuncao in the final second of the second round. Garbrandt retreated to the fence, dodged Assuncao’s right hand and landed a perfect shot to the face, sending Assunc?o tumbling backward and face-first to the canvas.

The win was Garbrandt’s first since December 2016, when he beat Dominick Cruz for the 135-pound title.

O’Malley (12-0) opened the pay-per-view portion of UFC 250 with a vicious one-punch knockout of veteran Eddie Wineland just 1:54 into their bout.

O’Malley’s right hand to the jaw deposited Wineland flat on his back with his hands still raised. O’Malley imperiously walked away from his single punch before the senseless Wineland or the referee knew what happened.

“When you’re as fast and accurate as I am, I’m gonna land first and I’m going to land early,” O’Malley said. “And I landed on the button.”

Later, Aljamain Sterling rendered Cory Sandhagen unconscious with a rear naked choke just 88 seconds into a fight to determine the next contender for the bantamweight title. Sterling (19-3), who has five straight victories, swiftly locked in a full body triangle and a deep choke to finish Sandhagen, who tapped out right before going to sleep.

Light heavyweight Devin Clark took a knee with his fist raised in the air during his pre-fight introduction from Bruce Buffer. Clark then earned a unanimous-decision victory over previously unbeaten prospect Alonzo Menifield, persevering through a left eye closed by punches.

Clark and teammate Jon Jones spent time on the streets of Albuquerque last weekend, speaking to protesters and helping in the cleanup effort for property damage.

Clark didn’t speak to the media after his fight, instead heading to a hospital for immediate care.

But Sterling spoke out in support of the widespread protests following the death of George Floyd in his post-fight interview.

“The world is in shambles right now, especially America,” Sterling said. “We’ve got a lot going on in this country. It’s a great country, but there’s a lot of things that need to be changed, especially the injustices happening to minorities all across America. This one is for everybody back home fighting the good fight, protesting. I support you guys. I’m with you guys all the way.”

Featherweight Cody Stamann earned a dominant decision over Brian Kelleher just 10 days after the death of Stamann’s 18-year-old brother, Jacob.

“It’s been real hard,” said Stamann, who was visibly emotional in the cage. “I’ve been fighting tears all day. I had to buckle up and be a man and get this done for my family, for myself.”

The UFC led North American sports’ return last month with three shows in Florida. President Dana White is determined to hold near-weekly shows going forward, and he still intends to stage fights this summer on a private island dubbed “Fight Island.”

Although White has been secretive about the location where he will stage bouts between fighters unable to reach the U.S. due to coronavirus travel restrictions, lightweight Herbert Burns let slip that Fight Island is in Abu Dhabi after he beat Evan Dunham in the opening bout of UFC 250.



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Minneapolis Mayor Booed After Saying He Wouldn’t ‘Abolish’ Police Department

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Minneapolis Mayor Booed After Saying He Wouldn’t ‘Abolish’ Police Department

Protesters booted Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey from a protest Saturday after he told demonstrators that he would not commit to de-funding the police department. 

During a peaceful protest led by the advocacy group Black Visions, demonstrators marched to Frey’s house, where he came out to meet them, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

When Frey, 38, told protest organizers that he would not commit to defunding the Minneapolis police department in the wake of the deadly arrest of Geroge Floyd, protesters booed him and told him to leave.

The moment was filmed and shared widely online.

At first, Frey told the protest organizers that he had been “coming to grips with my own responsibility, my own failure in this” and said there needed to be “deep-seated, structural reform” within the Minneapolis Police Department. 

Then, one of the protest organizers asked him whether he would commit to defunding the police department — and she asked the mayor to answer the question with a “yes” or “no.”

Speaking into a microphone, the organizer reminded the large group of protesters that he was up for re-election in 2021. 

Frey responded to the question by shaking his head and saying, “I do not support the full abolition of the police department.”

In response, the organizer took the microphone from him and told him to “get the f*** out of here.”

As he walked away, protesters chanted, “Go home, Jacob. Go home!”

During the protests over the death of George Floyd, who was killed when a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck during an arrest, many activists have called for state and local governments to “defund the police.”

The phrase is being used to describe an effort to cut police budgets and redirect that money to other agencies that support communities.

Frey later told local news station WCCO that he supported “massive structural reform” to Minneapolis’ police force and said he would do “everything possible to push back on the inherent inequities that are literally built into the architecture the answer is ‘yes.’”

However, he maintained that he does not support “abolishing the entire police department.”

“If you’re asking whether I’m willing to do everything I possibly can throughout the rest of my term to make sure that the police union, the police contract, the arbitration system, and some of these policies that have resulted in problems for specifically Black and Brown people and murder over series of generations, I’m all for that,” Frey told the news station. “I’m not for abolishing the entire police department, I will be honest about that.”

When Frey entered office in 2018, he vowed to mend the relationship between residents and the police department, the New York Times reported.

However, Floyd’s death has deepened the distrust between residents and police and has led to another round of nationwide protests against police brutality against Black people.



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What it means to be a consumer in the 21st century

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What it means to be a consumer in the 21st century

With the advancement in digital technology, accessibility of information and a growing global network of peers, the 21st century consumer is a puzzle that may never fit.

As the world continues to develop and new trends can come to the fore at any given moment, the picture-perfect consumer may never exist. In an ever-changing world, few consumers remain brand loyal and will tap into their digital networks seeking validation and explanation. For this reason the brand-consumer relationship extends far past the individual and brands need to include their consumer networks as part of their stakeholder base.

The consumer as Educator

Every consumer is both educated and educator. The 21st century consumer has petabytes of information readily available on the internet as well as network product experts and influencers to help make informed decisions. As consumers become more informed about products and brands they are able to themselves become educators and will use available platforms to educate others on their experiences and knowledge.

The 21st century consumer will almost feel compelled to respond to claims if they have information on the subject. Each consumer is an expert in their own realm and will use opportunity to be perceived as an educator. The accessible a brand provides information to consumers and consumer networks the better.

The consumer as a collaborator

Consumers will seek out common purpose to feel more connected with a like-minded community and will seek out information and validation from others. Click technology has enabled the consumer to gain support for their purchasing decisions and collaborating with others to gain affirmation is fast becoming the norm.

Consumers will post about their decisions on digital platforms and feel euphoria when they receive positive click responses. In addition to collaborating with others, influencers have changed the playing field for brand perception. Consumers who associate with like-minded influences will trust their product reviews and feel the need to support the products they promote.

The consumer as a researcher

Consumers are inquisitive and will seek the truth. Every consumer is a possible investigator and can easily search the internet for validation. Consider the impact that any new trend can have on brand turnover. Any negative media post can spiral into global condemnation for that brand or product particularly when it has the potential to impact negatively on health, home or nature. Brands are no longer able to make misleading claims without consumer recourse.

An information technologist

The 21st century consumer is digitally advanced and even if it is only a mobile phone, they are experts at using technology and readily available platforms to aid their decision making. At the same time, consumers are highly dependent on technology and therefore any advancement in technology or digital information can impact on consumer behaviour.

An experimenter

As a result of being collaborator, researcher, educated and digitally apt, the consumer has become an experimenter and will test new brands and products based on the opinion of others as the marketing power of a brand. Event though consumers may default back to their habitual buying patterns, they are now open minded and will test the waters of other products. Experimentation is part of the developing world especially when new products are better associated with individual values and belief systems.

The consumer is an assessor

Every consumer in the 21st century is a possible influencer and has the potential to become world famous instantly. In addition consumers will take to digital platforms to either promote or complain about a brand. Consumers want to feel heard, when a brand fails to listen consumers will turn to a network that does. This means that the average consumer has the potential to significantly impact how a brand is perceived, either positively or negatively.

The 21st century consumer has created a public persona challenge for all brands. Brands have to be responsive, intensively deliver information and be available on all the digital platforms where their consumers and consumer networks are. While digital technology can enable keyword listening and digital interface analysis for brands, an algorithm cannot respond constructively for a brand and it is the brands responsibility to maintain brand-consumer relationships amidst all the contextual and environmental impacts taking place.

This content has been created as part of our freelancer relief programme. We are supporting journalists and freelance writers impacted by the economic slowdown caused by #lockdownlife.

If you are a freelancer looking to contribute to The South African, read more here.



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ACT records first new coronavirus case in over a month

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ACT records first new coronavirus case in over a month

The nation’s capital has recorded its first case of COVID-19 in over a month.

A male aged in his 40s, who recently returned from overseas, was the ACT’s first confirmed virus case since April 25, ACT Health said in a statement on Sunday.

“He has been in quarantine since his arrival from overseas,” it said.

“A small number of close contacts have been identified and, in accordance with the National Guidelines, are in quarantine.”

This brings the ACT’s confirmed cases to 108. The territory has suffered three deaths.

Chief Health Officer Kerryn Coleman is confident there has been no risk to the broader ACT community.

“The case is, however, a good reminder of the ongoing pandemic and the need for our community to continue to observe physical distancing and hygiene measures, and for people to stay home if they are unwell,” Dr Coleman said in the statement.

“We expect that as restrictions are lifted and the movement of people around Australia increases, it is likely that cases will continue to be diagnosed around Australia, including in the ACT. “

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