13-year-old boy shoots girl dead in Ogun (DailyTrust)
A 13-year-old boy, Ope Babalola, has allegedly shot dead a three-year-old girl, Esther Samuel, in Ogun state.
The teenage boy reportedly shot dead the minor with a dane gun belonging to one Semiu Adegesin.
The incident happened in Kukudi village in Imasayi, Yewa North Local government area of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who disclosed this to journalists on Friday said, Adegesin, the owner of the gun, has been arrested for “contributory negligence.” Read more
Bus-Train Accident: Sanwo-Olu pays condolence visits to deceased’s families (Channels)
The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday paid condolence visits to the families of three Lagos State Government staff members who were involved in the train accident that claimed six lives on Thursday.
According to a statement by the Sanwo-Olu’s Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, the governor was accompanied by the Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, and some members of the State Executive Council to sympathise with the bereaved families.
A Lagos State Government Staff Bus with Number 33, carrying civil servants and some dependants from Isolo to Alausa was rammed by a commercial train at PWD Bus Stop, along Agege Motor Road, in the state on Thursday. Read more
40ft container falls, crushes SUV in Lagos (Punch)
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority on Friday evening said another 40-foot container had fallen at the Ago-Palace Way area of the state.
This incident makes it the fifth on Friday of containers falling in different parts of the state.
The PUNCH had reported earlier on Friday afternoon that three containers had fallen in the Ikeja, Ojuelegba and Mile 12 areas of the state. Read more
Why Peter Obi left PDP for Labour Party — Wike (Vanguard)
The Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, has explained that the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the Labour Party, because of moves by some politicians in the PDP to ensure power remained in the north.
Wike, who said he feels satisfied that power has moved to the south insisted that he never worked against Obi in the 25th February 2023 presidential election.
Wike spoke, Thursday, when he hosted on a courtesy visit, the National Executive Committee of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo Worldwide, at Government House in Port Harcourt, according to a statement by the governor’s assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri.
He said he was a major proponent of a Southern president, explaining that Obi’s decision to leave the party when Sule Lamido told him (Obi) that power would remain in the north in 2023. Read more
Rivers: Ohanaeze tackles Wike over alleged rigging against Obi (Sun)
The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has met with Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike to explain his role in the alleged massive rigging against the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, in the February 25 poll in the state.
Spokesman of Ohanaeze, Dr. Alex Ogbonnia, disclosed yesterday, that the Vice President-General of Ohanaeze (Abia), Dr. Kingsley Chidozie, led a delegation which met with the Governor on Thursday, at the Exco Chambers, Government House, Port-Harcourt.
According to Ogbonnia, Dr Peter Aneke who was nominated to speak on behalf of the delegation thanked Wike over the cordial relationship between him and the Igbo community in Rivers State, informing him that Ndigbo was unhappy with him over alleged widespread rigging and violence against Obi and his supporters in the state. Read more
Naval officer in brawl, blows up nose of police cop in Delta (Tribune)
A navy personnel in Effurun, Delta State has reportedly stormed Enerhen Police Divisional Headquarters in Uvwie Local Government Area of the state, beating a police sergeant simply identified as Kingsley with blood gushing out of his face.
The naval personnel is said to be a newly commissioned officer attached to the Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS Delta), Warri.
A video clip sighted by our correspondent revealed a bloodied nose policeman spoiling for a showdown while some persons were trying to calm him down.
Sporadic gunshots were also heard at the background of the video even as people began to scamper to safety. Read more
Atiku, PDP lawyers write Yakubu, demand immediate access to electoral materials (Guardian)
The legal team of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential Candidate in the controversial February 25 Presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, have requested the Chairman of, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to immediately comply with the Court order of March 3.
In a letter titled, ‘Demand for Immediate Compliance with Court Order Granted On March 3, 2023, For Access, Inspection and Examination/Analysis of Electoral Materials Used for 2023 Presidential Election, dated Thursday, March 9, the Lead Counsel, Joe-Kyari Gadzama, recalled that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja and presided over by Justice Shagbaor Ikyegh had granted orders on 3 March 2023 in favour of his clients (PDP and Abubakar).
The Court had in that ruling, expressly directed INEC to allow and grant access to the party and its Presidential candidate and their representatives to inspect, scan, make copies, forensically audit and obtain Certified True Copies (CTC) of all electoral materials which were used in the conduct of the Presidential Election. Read more
N’Assembly Leadership: APC summons Senators-elect, House Members-elect to meeting (ThisDay)
The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has summoned Senators-elect and members of the House of Representatives-elect to a meeting on Monday.
In a notice of the meeting signed by the National Secretary of the party, Senator Iyiola Omisore, the meeting would be attended by the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Vice President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima.
The meeting would be held at the State House Banquet Hall, Aso Rock Villa, Abuja by 2p.m. Read more
Oscars 2023: Lady Gaga not performing her nominated song from Top Gun: Maverick (ET)
Just days before the live telecast of the 95th Academy Awards, it’s been revealed that Lady Gaga will not be performing. The revelation comes after it was first revealed in January that the pop star was nominated for Best Original Song for her Top Gun: Maverick single, “Hold My Hand.”
According to the 2023 Oscars producer Glen Weiss, Gaga was invited to participate in Sunday’s ceremony, but she was unable to make the commitment. “We have a great relationship with Lady Gaga and her camp,” Weiss said during a press conference.
Because she’s in the middle of shooting a new movie, she didn’t feel like she could deliver a performance at the caliber that she’s used to doing at the annual awards show. “So, she is not going to perform on the show,” Weiss added.
That movie, of course, is Joker: Folie à Deux, a sequel to 2019’s Joker, which started production at the end of 2022. Directed and co-written by Todd Phillips, the upcoming film stars Gaga as Harley Quinn, a psychiatrist who falls in love with Arthur Fleck, the clownish nihilistic criminal once again played by Joaquin Phoenix. Read more
Hollywood’s Asian stars welcome ‘‘long overdue’’ breakthrough at Oscars (France24)
From Oscars favorites Everything Everywhere All at Once and RRR to an unprecedented four acting nominations, Asian representation in Hollywood has finally achieved a remarkable and overdue breakthrough this year, industry insiders say.
Among many records tumbling this awards season, Malaysian “Everything Everywhere” star Michelle Yeoh is only the second Asian best actress nominee in 95 years of Oscars history, with a strong chance of becoming the first winner Sunday.
Only four Asian actors have ever won Oscars. That is the same number nominated this year alone, including Yeoh’s co-stars Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, and Hong Chau of The Whale. Read more
Hannah Waddingham boards ‘‘Mission: Impossible 8’’ (THR)
Hannah Waddinghan, Emmy-winning star of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso, looks set to appear in ‘‘Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two’’, the upcoming film in the billion-dollar spy franchise.
Director Christoper McQuarrie took to his Instagram page to welcome Waddington to the action sequel with a brief and cryptic “And Hannah Waddingham… #Godspeed#DeadReckoning.”
Waddinghan, who broke out as the tough-as-nails but complicated football club owner of Ted Lasso, has also been named as one of the hosts of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, set to take place in Liverpool between May 9-13. Read more
Ellie Goulding and Calvin Harris share latest collaboration, ‘‘Miracle’’ (MusicNews)
Ellie Goulding and Calvin Harris have released their jungle dance track ‘‘Miracle’’.
The singer and DJ – who are ex-lovers – have followed up 2013’s dance-pop tune ‘Need Your Love’ and 2014’s ‘Outside’ with the new floor-filler.
The arrival of the chart-topping pair’s latest tune comes after Ellie was forced to postpone her new album for a second time. Read more
Uganda considers bill to criminalize identifying as LGBTQ (CNN)
Uganda’s parliament on Thursday took up a bill that would criminalize identifying as LGBTQ, with lawmakers saying the current ban on same-sex relations does not go far enough.
Anti-LGBTQ sentiment is deeply entrenched in the highly conservative and religious east African nation, with same-sex relations punishable by up to life in prison.
More than 30 African countries ban same-sex relations, but Uganda’s law, if passed, would appear to be the first to criminalize merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ), according to Human Rights Watch. Read more
Key Glock wants 50 Cent to make another Bulletproof video game (HipHopDX)
Key Glock wants 50 Cent to dip into the G-Unit archives and bring back a new version of the cult classic video game 50 Cent: Bulletproof.
On Wednesday (March 8), the Paper Route Empire rapper took to Twitter and retweeted a clip featuring the opening scene to the video game showing the G-Unit boss giving a rundown of his crew consisting of Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo.
In his tweet, Glizock kept his request plain and simple telling 50 that he and a group of other video game fanatics need an updated version of the iconic video game. Read more
Silicon Valley Bank: Regulators take over as failure raises fears (BBC)
US regulators have shut down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and taken control of its customer deposits in the largest failure of a US bank since 2008.
The moves came as the firm, a key tech lender, was scrambling to raise money to plug a loss from the sale of assets affected by higher interest rates.
Its troubles prompted a rush of customer withdrawals and sparked fears about the state of the banking sector. Read more
2023 U-20 AFCON: Flying Eagles trounce Tunisia 4-0 in 3rd-place match (Guardian)
The Flying Eagles of Nigeria ended the 2023 U-20 AFCON on a positive note after defeating Tunisia 4-0 in the third-placed match on Friday.
The Ladan Bosso-led side put behind a disappointing semi-final loss to Gambia with an improved display against the Tunisians.
Goals from Ibrahim Muhammad, Ahmed Abdullahi and Jude Sunday, who had a brace, earned the Flying Eagles a first U-20 AFCON third-placed match win since 2013. Read more
Jordan Spieth likely to make Players cut after lucky break (ESPN)
Standing on the ninth tee box, his last hole of the second round at the Players on Friday, Jordan Spieth was 2 over par and probably needed a birdie to make the cut and stick around for the weekend.
Spieth’s tee shot sailed far right and was headed for the water along the fairway. Almost immediately, Spieth turned back to his caddie, Michael Greller, and asked, “Is that out of play?”
Instead of getting wet, Spieth’s ball bounced off a fan’s knee on the fly. Then the ball hit a cart path curb and bounded forward into the fairway. On the second shot, Spieth hit a 3-wood from 277 yards. His ball landed in rough short of the green. Then, in typical Spieth fashion, he chipped in from 26 feet for an eagle on the par-5 hole. Read more
Defoe plans to inspire more black coaches, managers (Guardian)
Jermain Defoe says the number of black managers and coaches in football is “shocking”, but hopes he can inspire more players to move into the industry.
The former England striker retired from playing last year and is now coaching Tottenham Hotspur’s under-18 team. A report released this week found black employees hold just 4.4 percent of management-related positions in English football.
“The numbers are there to see but that is one of the reasons why I want to make a change,” said Defoe, 40. Defoe, who scored more than 300 goals in a career that included spells at West Ham, Tottenham and Sunderland, is documenting his journey into management on Outside the Box, a new BBC Sounds podcast. Read more
Nottingham Forest’s Serge Aurier played for Spurs 3 days after brother’s murder to help mother (BBC)
Nottingham Forest defender Serge Aurier says he played for Tottenham three days after his brother in 2020 was murdered to help his grieving mother.
Aurier’s brother Christopher was shot dead outside a nightclub in France in July 2020, hours after the Ivory Coast international, now 30, played for Spurs in a 2-1 derby win against Arsenal.
Less than 72 hours later, Aurier played in a 3-1 win at Newcastle.
“I played for my mum. She needed to know life doesn’t stop,” he said. Read more
Glazers set new target to sell Manchester United before summer transfer window opens (IrishIndependent)
The Glazer family are now targeting a sale of Manchester United before the transfer window opens in June, it is understood.
The aim had been to complete a deal within the first quarter of the year or by the end of April. But the prospect of that appears to be receding and it is thought a sale before the transfer window opens in June is now considered a more realistic time-frame should the Glazers receive an acceptable offer, sources close to the process said.
The Americans want at least £5 billion (€5.6bn) to sell, but it is thought initial offers from Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Jim Ratcliffe fall short of that valuation. Read more
Fury-Usyk reach tentative deal, ask for time to work on contracts (BoxingScene)
Either an undisputed heavyweight championship is on the horizon or both parties are conning at least one sanctioning body.
WBA president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza informed BoxingScene.com that his office was informed of a tentative deal reached for the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk championship clash. The sanctioning body received written confirmation of the two sides having agreed to terms, which was provided just prior to the WBA-imposed deadline before Usyk would have been summoned to next face Daniel Dubois in a title consolidation clash.
“Both sides agree on terms,” Mendoza informed BoxingScene.com. “Usyk accepted the 70/30 [split]. They ask [for] time to work on contracts.” Read more