After Paris Summit, Tinubu off to London for private visit (Leadership)
President Bola Tinubu on Friday concluded his official trip to Paris, France, during which he had an outstanding participation in the summit for ‘A New Global Financing Pact’ hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Aside from his participation at the event where he represented Nigeria well, President Tinubu also held high-profile sideline meetings with fellow heads of state and government, global business leaders and chief executives of leading multilateral and development finance institutions from around the world.
According to a statement by presidential spokesman, Dele Alake, the summit afforded the President the opportunity of projecting, on a global stage, his advocacy for widening the fiscal space, economic justice for Africa as the world accelerates the pace of energy transition, and the urgency of addressing the pressing issues of poverty and climate change. Read more
JAMB approves 140 cut-off mark for 2022/2023 admission (Sun)
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) said it has set 140 and above as cut off mark for 2022/23 admissions into universities in the country.
The Registrar of JAMB Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, disclosed this during a presentation at the 2023 Policy Meeting on Admissions to Tertiary Institutions and awards on Saturday in Abuja.
Oloyede said 100 had been approved as cut off mark into Polytechnics and Colleges of Education. Read more
LASU Record Breaker: How l survived on garri, lived on varsity premises without room (Vanguard)
The best-graduating student for the 2021/2022 set in Lagos State University (LASU), Aminat Yusuf, says she settled for garri and groundnuts for a larger part of her undergraduate days.
Yusuf said the right mentoring by lecturers, hard work, and God’s guidance were major factors for her success.
Yusuf, an Edo indigene, finished with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.00 (First Class Honours).
She said the factors helped her to be the best-graduating student of her set and in LASU’s 40 years of existence. Read more
Wizkid 1st to headline UK’s biggest music festival (Nation)
Grammy award-winning music star Wizkid on Friday night made history and set a record as the first African musician to headline the United Kingdom, UK’s biggest music festival, Glastonbury.
The ‘‘Ojuelegba’’ crooner headlined the “Other Side Stage” of the festival in Somerset, England.
The festival had over 210,000 attendees. Read more
Lagos community tackles realtor over property demolition (Punch)
The Eyin Osa Resettlement Committee, Lagos State, has lamented the continued encroachment on their land by suspected land grabbers.
The committee alleged that a realtor, identified simply as Murphy, recently invaded the expanse of land lying at Eyin Osa, Epe Expressway, Epe, with thugs and policemen from the Lagos State Environment and Special Offences Enforcement Unit (task force).
It also claimed that Murphy invaded the property last Tuesday and demolished some property in a bid to take over the land despite the intervention of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa. Read more
FCT Flood: Estate development group sympathizes with victims, suggests way out (Guardian)
The Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), has called on the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to as a matter of urgency, address incidents of flooding to forestall future occurrences.
The President of REDAN, Dr. Aliyu Wamakko, made the call in Abuja while reacting to the Friday flooding in some parts of Abuja, which submerged residential buildings after hours of heavy downpour.
Some of the people within the Federal Capital Territory were seen swimming out of their various Estates while looking for a safety zone.
Several properties were also swept away by flood as owners scampered for safety. Read more
Gunmen kill miners in Plateau (DailyTrust)
Three miners were shot dead on Friday at a site around Tanjol in Jol community of Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State on Friday.
Rwang Tengwong, National Publicity Secretary of Berom Youth Movement (BYM), confirmed the incident to Daily Trust, on Saturday, adding that other miners and farmers around have fled the area.
According to Tengwong, the incident occurred at about 11 a.m. He added that two other persons were injured.
The publicity secretary who described the attack as one of too many, called on the government and security agencies to intensify efforts towards the safety of lives and property in rural communities. Read more
World Bank supports 6,062 Lagos farmers with agric inputs, assets (Guardian)
No fewer than 6,062 farmers in Lagos State have received agricultural inputs and production assets from the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (N-CARES) programme, a World Bank supported project.
Mr Jonathan Obayemi, State Project Coordinator, Lagos N-CARES, stated this at the distribution exercise in Alimosho Local Government Areas (LGAs) on Saturday in Lagos.
He said the initiative was the second cycle of the implementation of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (N-CARES) programme. Read more
Rick Astley is on fine form as he takes to the stage in a pink suit for epic Glastonbury set (DailyMail)
Rick Astley was certainly in fine form on Saturday as he took to the Pyramid stage for an energetic performance at Glastonbury festival.
The pop legend, 57, dressed to impress in a salmon pink suit as he worked the stage and put on a show for thousands of fans gathered at Worthy Farm.
Rick teamed his suit with a plain black T-short and trendy white trainers, styling his brown locks in his signature quiff style. Read more
Putin accuses Wagner mercenaries of treason, vows to punish takeover of key Russian city (CNBC)
Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to punish everyone involved in the “armed rebellion” and accused them of treason.
In a televised address Saturday morning, Putin appealed to those who “by deceit or threats, were dragged into a criminal adventure, pushed onto the path of a serious crime — an armed rebellion.”
His comments come after Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the mercenary Wagner Group, accused the Kremlin of deliberately bombing Wagner troops. Russia’s Ministry of Defense has denied the accusations, calling Prigozhin’s remarks “informational provocation.” The mercenary chief had also claimed that Russia’s justification for invading Ukraine was based on lies. Read more
Netflix crew attacked by sharks during filming of latest David Attenborough documentary (OK!)
Crew filming a new Netflix documentary series were left “panicked” after being attacked by sharks.
The team of documentary makers, for “Our Planet II”, encountered multiple close calls with sharks off the coast of Hawaii.
The terrifying attacks resulted in a dramatic boat explosion and an emergency landing on a nearby beach. Read more
Robert Englund reveals his own Freddy Krueger nightmare that still scares him (People)
Robert Englund isn’t immune to a Freddy Krueger nightmare.
The actor, 76, who first played the child killer in 1984’s Nightmare on Elm Street, reveals to PEOPLE that he has his own Freddy Krueger nightmare that still scares him.
Englund said the nightmare is based on an “uncomfortable moment” he had while in costume filming the first movie in the horror franchise, and happened after he had taken a nap. Read more
Foo Fighters dedicate last song of their surprise Glastonbury set to late drummer Hawkins (RTE)
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl dedicated the last song of the band’s surprise set on Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage to their late drummer Taylor Hawkins.
The US rock band stormed through a number of hit songs during the hour-long performance – their first time at the world-famous festival since 2017.
There had been strong speculation that the Foo Fighters would take to the main stage on Friday from 6.15pm, in a slot which was billed under the name “The Churnups”. Read more
French ‘backpack hero’ will be special guest at reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral (CNA)
Earlier this month the story of a 24-year-old French man named Henri, who is being called the “backpack hero,” went viral for stopping a knife attack at a playground in southeastern France by chasing the attacker with a backpack.
Henri was in the town of Annecy during a pilgrimage visiting France’s cathedrals when he witnessed the attack.
Two adults, men over age 70, and four children, all three years old and younger, were seriously injured and later hospitalised due to the attack. Read more
Declassified US Intelligence answers few questions on COVID-19 origins (VOA)
Newly declassified intelligence on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic appears to cast doubt on theories that the outbreak that killed millions around the world began at a research laboratory in Wuhan, China.
A report issued late Friday by U.S. intelligence agencies and shared with members of Congress said that despite concerns about biosafety measures at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), and despite its history of work with coronaviruses, there is no intelligence that indicates COVID-19 was present in the lab before the outbreak.
“We continue to have no indication that the WIV’s pre-pandemic research holdings included SARS-CoV-2 or a close progenitor, nor any direct evidence that a specific research-related incident occurred involving WIV personnel before the pandemic that could have caused the COVID pandemic,” according to the report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Read more
Dennis says no to Saudi move (Sun)
Super Eagles winger Emmanuel Dennis is looking likely to leave Premier League side Nottingham Forest in the summer transfer window, according to reports.
Dennis joined Nottingham Forest from Watford last summer, signing a four-year deal that is supposed to keep him at the City Ground until June 30, 2026 if the two parties honour the agreement.
The Athletic UK (subscription required) says Nottingham Forest have not yet received an offer for the Nigerian but representatives of the 25-year-old have started the process of holding exploratory talks with potential interested parties. Read more
Fans to decide Peseiro’s fate — NFF president (Punch)
The future of Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro is in the hands of the country’s football fans, according to Nigerian Football Federation President, Ibrahim Gusau.
Football fans have criticised the Portuguese for having poor technical knowledge.
However, Gusau revealed that, “We have the plan to push the votes to Nigerians to hear their views and thoughts,” while speaking on the LovingFootball radio show.” Read more
Edouard Mendy: Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli close to signing Chelsea goalkeeper (BBC)
Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is close to signing for Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli.
Talks are ongoing but Mendy is expected to join the big-name players moving to the country.
The Senegal international, 31, joined Chelsea in 2020 from Rennes, providing competition for Kepa Arrizabalaga. Read more
FIFA pick United States to host expanded 32-team Club World Cup in 2025 (SCMP)
The United States will host the Club World Cup in 2025, the first time the Fifa tournament will have 32 teams.
Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea already earned places as recent Champions League winners for the expanded tournament lineup that is set to test stadiums and operations one year before the 2026 World Cup.
The United States will host the men’s World Cup with Canada and Mexico, and Fifa could yet give some Club World Cup games to those countries. Read more
Nick Kyrgios withdraws from another tournament as Wimbledon concerns raised (Express)
Nick Kyrgios has raised further doubts on his potential participation at Wimbledon in just a few days with his withdrawal from next week’s Mallorca Championships. Kyrgios made his long-awaited first appearance of 2023 at the Stuttgart Open last week after undergoing surgery on his knee.
He looked in pain at times in his straight sets defeat to Wibing Yu and he was forced to pull out of the Halle Open the following week to best prepare for Wimbledon. “Very unfortunate news that I won’t be able to compete at Halle this year,” Kyrgios said in a video posted on the tournament’s Twitter page.
“Still dealing with a couple of things in my knee, just trying to give myself the best opportunity to compete at Wimbledon. As you all know, that tournament means a lot to me and I just want to do everything right by my body.
“I didn’t want to go out there and not give you the same performance I gave last year. So hopefully next year I’ll be healthy enough to play, see you soon.” Read more
LPGA vet, Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis is ready for what’s next (ESPN)
“You’ve been named the 2024 U.S. Solheim Cup captain.” Stacy Lewis couldn’t believe it. It was happening — again. One year prior, Lewis, a 13-time LPGA Tour winner, received the same call. “You’ve been named the 2023 U.S. Solheim Cup captain.”
For a full year, she started preparing and planning for Team USA to compete against Team Europe at Finca Cortesin in Andalusia, Spain, in September 2023. And now, she’s joining the World Golf Hall of Fame members Juli Inkster, Judy Rankin, Patty Sheehan and Kathy Whitworth as the fifth person to captain the U.S. Team at least twice.
Representing the U.S. on the 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017 Solheim Cup teams, Lewis understands what it takes to compete on the biggest stage of team competition in women’s golf. And at age 38, Lewis will be the youngest American captain in Solheim Cup history. Read more
