Bandits kidnap another Catholic priest in Kaduna (Punch)
Bandits in the early hours of Monday abducted Reverend Father Emmanuel Silas of the St. Charles Catholic Church, Zambina, in the Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The Chancellor, Kafanchan Catholic Diocese, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Okolo, confirmed the incident.
This is coming less than a week after the remains of the slain Reverend Father Vitus Borogo, also a Catholic priest, killed by terrorists on his farm, were buried in the state capital on Thursday.
Borogo was killed on June 25, 2022, while his brother, CY Borogo was kidnapped by his abductors. Read more
Bad Road: Motorists, commuters groan in excruciating Lekki-Epe Expressway traffic (Vanguard)
Commuting on Lekki-Epe expressway has become a horrendous experience, as motorists and commuters now spend a minimum of five to six hours traveling a journey of less than fifteen minutes from Awoyaya to Ajah, due to bad roads.
The cause of the present traffic bedlam in the area, which has now become a daily occurrence, are two failed portions of the expressway – Majek at Abijo and Ogidan at Sango Tedo.
At present, the journey from Awoyaya to Majek area of Abuja which hitherto took less than 10 minutes, now takes at least three hours to commute as a result of the bad spot at Majek bus stop where the road is completely cut off.
Similarly, it now also takes at least three hours to travel between Majek and Ogidan at Sangotedo, a journey that hitherto took less than 10 minutes to cover. Read more
Constituents hail Senator Abiru over mini-stadium, fish market (Nation)
Senior citizens of Epe and Ikorodu divisions in Lagos East senatorial districts of Lagos state on Saturday applauded the efforts of the Senator representing the district in the National Assembly, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, towards giving the constituents of the area better living conditions. Speaking under the aegis of The Eminent Persons of Lagos East (TEMPLE) they said the newly built 960-capacity Stadium and upgraded Oluwo Fish Market delivered in Epe by the Senator would bring socio economic development to the area.
TEMPLE commended Abiru for the projects when our correspondent engaged its Chairman, Dr. Olukoya Cladius Ashafa and its Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Jamiu Adio Sarafa, in a discussion at the weekend. According to the group, Abiru’s intervention is the first time the popular fish market experienced a total overhaul since it was built over 40 years ago by the Alhaji Lateef Jakande administration.
The leadership of TEMPLE expressed satisfaction with Senator Abiru and declared that “it is not enough for people to say our Senator is doing good; it is more important for everybody to see that he is indeed doing good. If anybody doubts Abiru’s goodness, let them take a trip to Epe and see what he has done with the mini stadium and the Oluwo Fish Market. With these projects, Epe and its environs would experience more infrastructure development for the benefit of the people.
“We are elated to see the outcome of these projects. The fish market was expanded to accommodate 240 open stalls, 80 lock-up stalls, five open trading areas, 12 convenience facilities and four new offices for market leaders while the mini-stadium would positively affect people’s lifestyle, improve sporting activities of the youth and translate to health benefits and improved quality of life. Read more
Sinach joins Grammy Recording Academy as voting member (Independent)
Acclaimed gospel artiste and songwriter, Osinachi Egbu, better known as Sinach has joined the Grammy Recording Academy as a voting member. Voting Membership is for performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, instrumentalists, and other creators currently working in the recording industry. Voting Members determine Grammy winners each year.
On how she feels about the feat, the ‘Way Maker’ crooner said: “Thank you Recording Academy. Honoured to be a part”.
Back in 2021, Sinach became the first African gospel music artist to win the Song of the Year at Broadcast Music, Inc., (BMI). Way Maker written by Sinach and published by Capitol CMG was adjudged the most popular song Christian song of the year by BMI. The Song of the Year award is the top accolade from the US-based music company.
In 2020, Way Maker won the Dove Award for Song of the Year, making Sinach the first Nigerian Christian artist to win the award. Read more
Tension at BBA Lagos over fears of police invasion to foist new leadership (Sun)
There is palpable tension at the Balogun Business Association (BBA), Trade Fair Complex along Lagos/Badagry Expressway, Lagos, over alleged plans by members of a breakaway association to storm the market today with the police, to enforce a purported court order foisting unrecognised members as leaders in the market.
Daily Sun gathered that a former leader in the market is the mastermind of the plan, having earlier dragged the present leadership to the police and courts, with a view to enthroning his cronies as leaders in the market.
The move, Daily Sun further gathered, was viewed by a majority of the traders as a contravention of subsisting orders and decisions of the Federal High Court, hence, their resolve to resist any attempt to impose illegal officers on them.
Meanwhile, all the warring factions in the market are said to be poised for a showdown with the police and the unknown members of their association should they attempt to carry out their plan today at the market. Read more
LIRS optimises payment procedure on eTax for taxpayers (Independent)
The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) is currently optimizing its payment procedures for utmost efficiency and taxpayers’ convenience.
The Executive Chairman of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, Ayodele Subair, in a statement issued on Sunday, said the Agency, as part of its digitization process, is discontinuing all previously used bill references effective from August 1, 2022.
Consequently, according to the Chairman, only the Enterprise Tax Solutions (eTax) generated bill references will be acceptable for tax payments.
The eTax platform, (https://etax.lirs.net) which went live in October 2019, was launched by LIRS to engender seamless tax operations and reduce compliance costs to taxpayers. Since its launch, eTax has improved the effectiveness of tax administration in Lagos State. Read more
Police arrest woman, 29, for stealing neighbour’s child In Anambra (DailyTrust)
Anambra State Police command has arrested a 29-year-old woman, Miss Chinwendu Umegbaka for allegedly stealing her neighbour’s child at Nwawulu Street, Okpoko, Onitsha.
The suspect was arrested on Saturday at 4:30 pm in Okpoko.
Confirming the incident, the command spokesman, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu said, “The police have arrested, one Miss Chinwendu Umegbaka, 29 years, a native of Isinkwo Abaomege in Onicha LGA of Ebonyi State on an alleged case of child-theft in Okpoko, Onitsha, Anambra State.”
According to him, a police preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is a neighbour to the parent of the child. Read more
Lafarge holds 5th Concrete Ideas Conference, advocates dev’t of high rise building (Tribune)
Lafarge Africa held the fifth edition of its public policy thought-leadership series, Concrete Ideas, recently in Lagos where the leading building solutions company, Lagos state government and experts advocate tall and safe buildings as solutions to Nigeria’s urban housing challenges.
Speaking on the theme of the conference, the country Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Africa Plc Mr Khaled El Dokani noted that the development of high-rise building is a current trend in modern cities all over the world, mainly to overcome the challenges of urban overpopulation and for the optimal use of scarce land resources.
He mentioned that the slow growth of the concept of vertical cities compared to the dashing growth of the country’s population will continue to heighten the arduous challenge of housing in Nigeria’s urban cities such as Lagos and Abuja.
Mr Khaled El Dokani applauded the Lagos state Governor for the massive infrastructural development that the state has witnessed since he assumed office. This, he said, has no doubt continued to foster economic development and stimulate prosperity in the state. Read more
Defection: PDP Rep leads party members in Oyo to APC (Punch)
A member of the House of Representatives representing the Ibarapa Central/Ibarapa North Federal Constituency, Muraina Ajibola, has led thousands of his supporters from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.
Ajibola, while being received by leaders of the PDP on Saturday, urged aggrieved members of his new party not to leave the APC.
Those who received the lawmaker were the state APC Chairman, Isaac Omodewu; Vice Chairman, Olaide Abas, a former Secretary of the party, Mojeed Olaoya, and other party leaders in Ibarapaland.
Omodewu said, as a leader of the party in the state, he had been appealing to aggrieved members of the party and his appeal had been yielding results. Read more
Colin Farrell admits he can’t swim as he says filming deep dives was ‘terrifying’ (DailyStar)
Hollywood actor Colin Farrell has opened up about the ‘terrifying’ experience of filming underwater each day for upcoming biopic film Thirteen Lives.
Directed by Ron Howard, Thirteen Lives is the true story of the rescue mission to save twelve boys and their coach from a local Thai football team, after they became trapped in a cave following an unexpected rainstorm in 2018.
The true life story, which was reported on news channels across the world, is now told in a new film starring Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton and Tom Bateman as the heroic divers who became a sole lifeline for the young football players and their coach.
Speaking to Daily Star and other press, Colin Farrell talked about the ‘nerve wracking’ experience of filming underwater, learning to dive and working with the divers involved in the real life rescue operation. Read more
Red Hot Chili Peppers announce 2023 Australian and New Zealand tour with Post Malone (NME)
Red Hot Chili Peppers have announced a six-date tour of Australasian stadiums, for which they’ll be joined by Post Malone.
It’ll be the first tour for both acts in 2023, kicking off in the New Zealand city of Auckland on Saturday January 21. They’ll play in Dunedin next, before heading over to Australia for shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
Tickets for all shows can be found here. Those for the Auckland and Brisbane shows go on sale at 12pm next Monday (July 11), while Dunedin, Melbourne and Perth will all be available from 1pm, and Sydney’s from 2pm.
A pre-sale for Live Nation members will open this Friday (July 8), starting at 11am in Dunedin and Brisbane,12pm in Auckland, Melbourne and Perth, and 1pm in Sydney. Read more
Gwen Stefani pays tribute to Blake Shelton on first wedding anniversary (DailyMail)
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton are celebrating their first wedding anniversary on Sunday, July 3.
And the hot and heavy couple each paid tribute to their partner by sharing some heartwarming wedding throwbacks on social media.
The superstar singers got married at a chapel on Shelton’s ranch in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, in an intimate ceremony that, for the most part, kept the focus on their families.
The Hella Good star was the first of the two to post her tribute, which was a montage of clips of the couple all decked out in their wedding day best. Read more
Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean reunite at Essence Festival to perform Fugees songs (Variety)
Ms. Lauryn Hill reunited with Wyclef Jean at the Essence Festival in New Orleans Friday evening for a surprise performance of four Fugees songs. Although neither Wyclef nor Hill were listed on the original festival lineup, Hill appeared on stage thirty minutes into Wyclef’s set to perform “Killing Me Softly,” “How Many Mics,” “Fu-Gee-La” and “Ready or Not.”
Wyclef shared a video to Twitter of the moment Hill joined him on stage with the caption, “This is what it sounds like when a true G.O.A.T enters the arena!”
The adored hip-hop trio, including third bandmate Pras, gave their last public performance during an unannounced concert in New York in September last year. Before that, the group had not reunited on stage since 2006.
The Fugees were set to go on a 25th anniversary tour this year, but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The band wrote on social media, “The continued Covid pandemic has made touring conditions difficult, and we want to make sure we keep our fans and ourselves healthy and safe. An idea sparked to honor and celebrate this 25th anniversary of ‘The Score’ but we see now it may not currently be our time for revisiting this past work.” Read more
Bruno ‘Pop N Taco’ Falcon dies: ‘Breakin’ star & Michael Jackson dancer was 58 (Deadline)
Bruno ‘Pop N Taco’ Falcon, street dancing pioneer and star of the 1984 hit film Breakin’, died Saturday at the age of 58.
His sister Diana Wolgamott has confirmed Falcon died of natural causes in Long Beach, California to multiple outlets including local ABC affiliate ABC7.
The news has also been shared by other family members, friends, and collaborators on social media including Toni Basil who remembered Falcon via Twitter.
“Rest In Peace My long time dear beautiful friend and collaborator over many years- the legendary ground breaking brilliant dancer Pop-n-Taco Bruno Falcon. June 10, 1964-July 2, 2022,” she wrote. Read more
Amber Heard’s lawyers file to have Johnny Depp defamation verdict thrown out (TheWrap)
Amber Heard’s lawyers on Friday filed a motion to appeal the verdict of the defamation suit against Johnny Depp that resulted in her being ordered to pay $10.4 million in damages, and have it thrown out.
The 44-page memorandum, filed in Fairfax County, Virginia, asked for an appeal on grounds that her legal team had previously listed last month, when the verdict was returned in Depp’s favor. Among them, it claims that there were “evidentiary issues” regarding whether or not Heard’s 2018 Washington Post op-ed qualifies as defamatory; that Depp is not entitled to damages relating to his related libel case against the “The Sun,” which he lost; and that the damages awarded to Depp were “excessive.”
Most surprisingly, the motion calls for an investigation into possible “improper jury service,” alleging that there was a “discrepancy” about the age of one of the jurors. According to the court, Juror 15 was born in 1945, but public information indicates that he was born in 1970. This calls into question whether the juror “actually received a summons for jury duty and was properly vetted by the Court to serve on the jury,” it states.
During a sit-down interview with “Today”s Savannah Guthrie later that month, Heard said she cannot “blame” the jury for siding with Depp. Read more
Akron, Ohio police shoot Black man Jayland Walker 60 times in hail of gunfire (NZHerald)
A Black man was unarmed when Akron police chased him on foot and killed him in a hail of gunfire, but officers believed he had shot at them earlier from a vehicle and feared he was preparing to fire again, authorities said on Sunday at a news conference.
Akron police released video of the killing of Jayland Walker, 25, who was killed in a pursuit that had started with an attempted traffic stop. The mayor called the shooting “heartbreaking” while pleading for peace and patience from the community.
It’s not clear how many shots were fired by the eight officers involved in the shooting, but Walker sustained more than 60 wounds. An attorney for Walker’s family said officers kept firing even after he was on the ground.
Officers attempted to stop Walker’s car early on Monday for unspecified traffic and equipment violations, but less than a minute into a pursuit, the sound of a shot was heard from the car, and a transportation department camera captured what appeared to be a muzzle flash coming from the vehicle, Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said. That changed the nature of the case from “a routine traffic stop to now a public safety issue,” he said. Read more
EPL: Awoniyi may lead Nottingham against Newcastle (Nation)
Despite plans to sign more players by Nottingham Forest , there are strong indications that Taiwo Awoniyi would be the marksman for the Steve Cook-tutored side when they start their campaign in the English Premier League (EPL) opener against Newcastle on August 6.
Already, Nottingham are planning plenty more signings with Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson in on loan, along with Giulian Biancone and Awoniyi who was recently signed from Union Berlin.
The Reds are also understood to be in talks with Mainz over a deal to sign Moussa Niakhate and have interest in more players, including Neco Williams and Issa Kabore. Read more
Maduka Okoye: I’m ready to play for Super Eagles again (Sun)
Watford goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has said he is now available for selection by the Super Eagles.
Okoye has not played for Nigeria since his blunder against Tunisia cost Nigeria a place in the quarterfinal of the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon.
The fans vilified him as a result.
Covid-19 kept him out of the 2022 World Cup playoffs against Ghana in March. Read more
CAF postpones 2023 AFCON to 2024 (Leadership)
The Confederation of African Football (CAF),has announced the postponement of the next Africa Cup of Nations, saying that it will be held in Cote d’Ivoire in 2024.
The tournament was to be hosted in June-July 2023, which is the height of the rainy season in Ivory Coast.
“We cannot take the risk,” the South African said in the Moroccan capital Rabat.
With the World Cup in Qatar taking place in November and December this year, the decision has been taken to postpone the finals rather than bring them forward. Read more
Wolves dealt transfer blow as top target declares he has joined Premier League rivals (BirminghamLive)
Wolves target Joao Palhinha is reportedly on the verge of completing a move to Fulham.
The Sporting midfielder was a long-term target for Wolves , following his performances for club and country. Operating as a holding midfielder, Palhinha made 39 appearances overall last season as the Portuguese club claimed the League Cup and competed in the Champions League.
With speculation surrounding Ruben Neves’ future, Palhinha was mooted as a potential replacement for his fellow countryman in Bruno Lage’s side. However, it was reported in June that newly-promoted Fulham had agreed a fee of around £16million for the 26-year-old.
It had previously been suggested that Palhinha’s move to Craven Cottage had been delayed, leading to claims that Wolves could hijack the deal. Though with Neves still remaining at Molineux and the club needing to sell players in order to raise transfer funds, interest in the midfielder was said to have ‘cooled’ . Read more
Ousmane Dembele misses Barcelona preseason deadline (FootballEspana)
Ousmane Dembele’s potential return to Barcelona has been delayed ahead of preseason training.
The French international was released from his contract at the Camp Nou last month after failing to agree an extension in Catalonia.
Despite formally leaving the club as a free agent, Dembele is still in talks with the La Blaugrana board over a possible renewal, if he opts to return to the club.
Barcelona have set their stance on offering a deal until 2024, with a 40% salary cut, as part of a final offer to the former Borussia Dortmund winger. Read more
‘Roger Federer still wants to enjoy…’, says ATP ace (TennisWorld)
Fans miss Roger Federer. The former world number 1 made tennis history and everyone hopes that he will be able to end his legendary career with dignity. The Swiss phenomenon has played very little in the last two seasons, having been limited by a serious right knee problem.
Suffice it to say that the King played only 13 official matches in 2021, collecting nine wins and four losses. Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics were his main goals, but things didn’t go as he hoped. After the clear defeat at the hands of Hubert Hurkacz at the Championships, the 40-year-old from Basel has made the decision to have his knee operated on again.
Barring further unforeseen circumstances, we will have to wait for the Laver Cup to see him in action again. The lavish performance will be staged at London’s O2 Arena from 23-25 September. The 20-time Grand Slam champion will also participate in the ATP in Basel, which returned to the calendar after the last two editions had been canceled due to the pandemic.
During a recent interview with ‘Corriere della Sera’, Matteo Berrettini expressed his opinion on Roger’s future. Read more
JT Poston completes wire-to-wire victory at John Deere Classic (Independent)
JT Poston held his nerve on Sunday to complete a wire-to-wire victory at the John Deere Classic in Illinois.
The 29-year-old American carded a two-under 69 in the fourth round, his worst score of the tournament, but held on to claim his second PGA Tour title by two shots from runners-up Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Emiliano Grillo.
Speaking after his win, Poston said: “It’s just tough to play with a lead. It’s a little bit of added pressure wire-to-wire, I pretty much had the lead since Thursday.
“I told all the media after every round that I was just trying to stick to my game plan, but the truth is it’s hard not to think about the finish line and all that comes with getting a win. Read more