Ajaero: NLC, TUC suspend strike for further negotiations (Vanguard)
The Nigeria labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC, have suspended the nationwide indefinite strike embarked upon in protest against brutalisation of NLC president, Joe Ajaero, in Imo State on November 1, 2023.
A source at an emergency joint National Executive Council, NEC, meeting of the leaders of the two labour centres in Abuja last night, said the suspension was to pave way for more negotiations on issues that caused the strike.
The source said the strike was suspended because of the intervention of the federal government through the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA. Read more
Rema takes centre stage, shuts down O2 Arena with Mavin stars (Channels)
Nigerian singer Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, marked a historic moment on November 14, 2023, as he electrified the 02 Arena in London during his “Ravage Uprising” show.
The sold-out event, with a capacity of 20,000, witnessed an overflow of Nigerian celebrities and fans who flocked to London.
Rema joined the ranks of other award-winning Nigerian artists such as Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy, and Asake, who have successfully sold out the arena. Read more
Strike stalls Chidinma’s trial over alleged murder of Super TV boss (Punch)
The trial of an undergraduate of the University of Lagos, Chidinma Ojukwu, the alleged murder suspect of Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, on Tuesday, could not go on, due to the absence of the defendant.
Ojukwu, a 300-level student of the Department of Mass Communication is being tried before a Lagos State High Court in Tafawa Balewa Square, on nine counts of murder, theft, and forgery.
She was arraigned alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, and one Adedapo Quadri.Read more
Court dismisses LP’s appeal, affirms Sanwo-Olu’s victory (Channels)
The Court of Appeal in Lagos has affirmed the judgment of the tribunal, confirming the return of Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Obafemi Hamzat as the Governor and Deputy Governor of Lagos State.
In March, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Sanwo-Olu as the winner of the Lagos governorship election.
Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes to defeat his close challenger, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party (LP), who scored 312,329 votes. Abdulazeez Adediran, governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), came a distant third with 62,449 votes. Read more
Reforms come with pains but inevitable, says FG (Nation)
The ongoing reforms by the Tinubu Administration may come with pains but are inevitable, Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Olawale Edun has said.
According to him, it would have been costlier for the country to delay or put off the reforms.
The minister is confident that the policies will enable the country to fulfil its potential, “so there is no going back”.
Edun, who made a virtual presentation to the 19th All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) 2023 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom yesterday, said the administration had put measures in place to boost the confidence of domestic and international investors. Read more
Tinubu mourns popular actor, Samanja (NewTelegraph)
President Bola Tinubu has expressed his condolences to the family of the late retired soldier, broadcaster, and iconic actor, Usman Baba Pategi (Samanja), who passed away at the age of 84.
Tinubu, in a statement issued by Ajuri Ngelale, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, described the death of the popular thespian as a ‘‘painful loss.’’
According to him, the late actor has contributed to the country through the various vocations he pursued in his lifetime. Read more
Why we deported 177 Nigerians from Jeddah – Saudi Embassy (DailyTrust)
The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Abuja has said Nigerian passengers deported earlier this week did not fulfil the entry conditions and requirements into the kingdom.
The Saudi Arabian Authorities had cancelled the visas of all the 264 passengers who were airlifted to Jeddah from Lagos and Kano on Sunday by Air Peace.
The country had asked the airline to return all 264 passengers to Nigeria, but later allowed 87 passengers to remain. Read more
Zimbabwe’s handbag gold-smuggler fined $5k (BBC)
A court in Zimbabwe has ordered a prominent businesswoman to pay a fine of $5,000 for trying to smuggle gold worth more than $330,000 out of the country in her handbag.
Henrietta Rushwaya, the president of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation, was also given a suspended 18-month sentence.
In the traditions of the Shona ethnic group, she is considered a niece of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, but they are not related by blood. Read more
UK top court rules that plan to send migrants to Rwanda is unlawful (AfricaNews)
Britain’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the government’s contentious plan to send some migrants on a one-way trip to Rwanda is illegal, striking a major blow to a key policy of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government that has drawn international attention and criticism.
Five justices on the country’s top court ruled unanimously that asylum-seekers sent to Rwanda would be “at real risk of ill-treatment” because they could be returned to the home countries they’d fled.
Sunak, who has pledged to stop migrants reaching Britain in small boats across the English Channel, said the ruling “was not the outcome we wanted.” Read more
Warner Bros: Box office hit Barbie contributed more than £80m to UK economy (Standard)
Box office hit film Barbie contributed more than £80 million to the UK economy and created 685 jobs, according to the studio that made it.
Greta Gerwig’s movie about the Mattel doll, starring Margot Robbie as the titular character and Ryan Gosling as Ken, is Warner Bros’ most successful theatrical release of all time.
The film was largely shot at Leavesden studios in Hertfordshire, where Gerwig created the detailed and vivid Barbieland sets. Read more
‘‘Madame Web’’ Trailer: Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney get spidey powers in Marvel film (Variety)
Move over, Spider-Man… There are some new web-slingers in town.
Sony has released the first trailer for “Madame Web,” starring Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney, a suspense thriller set in the studio’s universe of Marvel characters.
Johnson steps into the leading role of Cassandra Webb, a Manhattan paramedic who may have clairvoyant abilities — which allow her to see into the future and the interconnected spider world. In the trailer, she meets and forges a partnership with a trio of young women — including Sweeney’s Julia Carpenter, who later takes on the mantle of Spider-Woman in the comics — to understand her past and survive the deadly present. Read more
Travis Scott reflects on Astroworld tragedy (MusicNews)
Travis Scott has reflected on the 2021 Astroworld festival which left 10 people dead.
The 32-year-old rapper has opened up about the tragedy which took place in Houston, Texas on 5 November 2021.
“I always think about it. Those fans were like my family,” Travis told GQ in a new interview for the Men of the Year issue. “You just feel for those people. And their families.” Read more
Diddy’s former Bad Boy signees demand publishing back (HipHopDX)
Diddy caused quite a stir when he said he was returning publishing rights to the likes of Ma$e, The Notorious B.I.G. and The LOX, but not all former Bad Boy Records artists are happy.
B5, an R&B group who released two albums while signed to Bad Boy in the mid-’00s, have claimed that they have been excluded from the much-publicized deal.
Appearing on the We In Miami podcast, the group said they had not received their publishing rights back and “didn’t hear anything, we didn’t get no calls [or] nothing like that, from that.” Read more
Joe Biden meets with China’s Xi Jinping on sidelines of APEC summit (AlJazeera)
US President Joe Biden has met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an economic summit in California, where they shook hands and spoke about ways to improve bruised relations.
The meeting took place on Wednesday during a conference for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative (APEC), and comes amid a period of mounting tension between Washington and Beijing.
Biden said that the two countries should strive to make sure they do not “veer into conflict” and manage their relationship “responsibly”. Read more
UN Security Council adopts resolution calling for urgent ‘‘humanitarian pauses and corridors’’ in Gaza (CNN)
The UN Security Council has approved a resolution calling for “humanitarian pauses and corridors” in war-torn Gaza, a long-awaited diplomatic breakthrough after weeks of bitter negotiations.
Twelve countries voted to approve the measure, with the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia abstaining.
The resolution called for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days to enable, consistent with international humanitarian law, the full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access for United Nations humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners.” Read more
‘‘I believe in Uzoho,’’ says Peseiro ahead Lesotho World Cup qualifier tie (Channels)
Super Eagles coach, José Peseiro, has come to the defence of his shot-stopper Francis Uzoho, insisting he has faith in the 25-year-old as they prepare to face Lesotho in the World Cup qualification tie on Thursday.
Since the exit of Carl Ikeme, Nigeria’s goalkeeping department has struggled to find a suitable replacement.
South Africa-based goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi and Maduka Okoye have been the targets of severe criticisms on social media as the latter has been harassed by online trolls over his looks to death wishes upon him and his loved ones. Read more
Australia vs South Africa World Cup semifinal: Proteas ‘must punch first’ (AlJazeera)
Former South Africa cricketer Kyle Abbott says the Proteas must “land the first punch” if they they are to end their semifinal curse, beat Australia and reach their first ICC Cricket World Cup final.
Both teams meet in the second of this year’s semifinals at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.
The South Africa men’s team have reached the last four on four occasions – 1992, 1999, 2007 and 2015 – but have failed to reach the final. Read more
Bonucci’s Union Berlin split with coach, bring in 1st female assistant manager (FootballItalia)
Leonardo Bonucci’s Union Berlin have parted company with legendary coach Urs Fischer and made history, as Napoli’s Champions League opponents are the first Bundesliga side with a female assistant manager.
The Italy international joined Union Berlin as a free agent from Juventus over the summer and found a very different situation to the one they had last year, which saw them secure fourth place in the Bundesliga and Champions League qualification.
They were on an extraordinary run of 13 consecutive defeats in all competitions until the 1-1 draw with Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Read more
Real Madrid 2-2 Chelsea: Emma Hayes says Blues “robbed” of victory in Women’s Champions League draw (BBC)
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes says her side were “robbed” of victory by “embarrassing” refereeing in their 2-2 draw with Real Madrid in the Women’s Champions League.
The Blues dominated their Group D opener but were undone by two controversial decisions – a late penalty call against them and a last-gasp winner ruled out for offside.
There is no video assistant referee in the Women’s Champions League group stage, unlike the men’s competition. Read more
Warriors’ Draymond Green suspended 5 games for grabbing Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert (CBC)
The NBA has suspended Golden State’s Draymond Green for five games for grabbing Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert around the neck “in an unsportsmanlike and dangerous manner,” the league said Wednesday night.
Also penalized by the league for their roles in the incident, which happened early in Tuesday’s game between the Timberwolves and Warriors, were Gobert, his Minnesota teammate Jaden McDaniels and Golden State guard Klay Thompson — all fined $25,000 US by the league.
But Green will pay the biggest price, both in terms of games missed and money lost. The suspension will cost him $769,704 in forfeited salary. Read more
Man arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after death of ice hockey player Adam Johnson (Standard)
A man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter following the death of an ice hockey player during a match in Sheffield.
Nottingham Panthers player Adam Johnson died on October 28 after sustaining a serious injury during a match watched by thousands.
South Yorkshire Police confirmed on Tuesday evening a man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter following the incident. Read more