Battle against COVID-19 shouldn’t slow down justice system – Sanwo-Olu (Vanguard)
Amid battle against COVID-19 pandemic, Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu has charged the judiciary to keep the wheel of justice administration moving well through the utilisation of new culture of justice dispensation driven by technology.
Sanwo-Olu gave the charge on Tuesday, at a swearing-in of the eight newly appointed judges of the High Court of Lagos, held in the Executive Council chamber of the State House, Alausa, Ikeja.
The eight judges took the oath before the Governor and some members of the State’s cabinet.
The newly appointed judges are Justice Dorcas Olatokun, Justice Yahqub Oshoala, Justice Omotola Oguntade, Justice Olufunke Sule-Amzat, Justice Rasul Olukolu, Justice Sharifa Olaitan, Justice Ezekiel Ashade and Justice Adeniyi Pokanu. Read more
Buhari appoints Ibrahim Gambari as Chief of Staff (ThisDay)
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, has been appointed the new Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. With his appointment, he replaces Mallam Abba Kyari, who died last month of COVID-19.
THISDAY gathered that Gambari, who was Buhari’s Foreign Minister and confidant as military Head of State in the 1980s, met with the President at about 8am on Tuesday at the State House, Abuja.
The new Chief of Staff will resume work at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday.
Gambari, as foreign minister, played a key role in quelling the diplomatic uproar generated by the failed attempt to kidnap Mallam Umaru Dikko from UK by the Buhari military government. Read more
EFCC returns $4,040 to Brazilian victim of romance scam (Independent)
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC says it returned $4,040 to a Brazilian Victim of Internet Fraud.
Debora Moreira, a Brazilian victim of internet fraud, has acknowledged the receipt of the sum of $4,040 which was recovered on her behalf by the Port Harcourt Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Moreira lost the money to Emmanuel Tope, a convicted fraudster, in a romance scam. EFCC commenced investigation of the scam in March 2019 and successfully recovered the money, prosecuted and got the fraudster convicted. Read more
Gunmen abduct housewife, sister in Kaduna community (DailyTrust) Unidentified gunmen have abducted a housewife and her sister at Sabon Gero, a community in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The incident, which occurred around 10:30pm on Monday, sent fears into the minds of residents in the area popularly known as Kaduna Millennium City. A source from the area, who did not want his name mention, told our reporter that the husband of the victim was in Abuja during the incident. Read more
KDSG quarantines 50 inter-state travel ban violators (Nation)
Kaduna State Standing Committee on COVID-19 has disclosed that 50 persons have been quarantined at the NYSC camp, for violating the prohibition of interstate travel, in compliance with Quarantine Orders.
In an update issued by Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Mr Muyiwa Adekeye on Tuesday, the Standing Committee said that, the culprits ‘’will be isolated there for 14 days to ensure that they are Covid-19 free.’’
Adekeye said that, ‘’the quarantine centre received its first set of 27 guests on Sunday, while 23 others were brought in on Monday, following the deployment of senior Kaduna State Government officials to enforce the restriction of movement at various points of entry into the state.’’ Read more
COVID-19: Governors to discuss inter-state lockdown, palliatives (DailyTrust)
Governors of the 36 states will meet on Wednesday to get an update on the lockdown and see whether or not the palliatives have made any impact on the citizenry.
The governors will also discuss the NCDC Bill 2020 among other matters, apart from taking a critical look at the nation’s economic sustainability plan, post COVID-19. The spokesperson to the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said the 8th teleconference meeting since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic was to review the situation in the various states in the country and find paths for a quick way out of the effects of the pandemic for the country. Read more
Senate President frowns at Social Distance violation at the chamber (Nation)
The President of the Senate, Mr Ahmad Lawan, on Tuesday frowned at the violation of the principle of Social Distancing by Senators during plenary.
Lawan made the observation while reading votes and proceedings of last Tuesday’s sitting for adoption by the upper chamber.
Specifically, the President of the Senate admonished senators at the back row, to sit far apart from one another in line with the precautionary measures against coronavirus. Read more
IGP withdraws police escort from E-Money (Guardian)
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu has ordered the immediate withdrawal of six police escorts attached to Chairman, Five Star Group, Emeka Okonkwo AKA ‘E-Money’, over alleged abuse of privilege.
Police spokesman, Bala Elkana confirmed the withdrawal of the escorts to newsmen but said he was not aware of the details.
“It is true that his escorts have been withdrawn and an investigation ongoing. I do not have much information on it,” said Elkana.
E-Money, who is the younger brother of star artist Kingsley Okonkwo AKA K-Cee, is to be investigated over his flamboyant lifestyle. Read more
Bill Gates says he warned Trump of pandemic threat in 2016, regrets not doing more (RT)
Microsoft founder and multi-billionaire Bill Gates said he tried to warn President-elect Donald Trump of the dangers of a major viral outbreak soon after the 2016 race, but feels guilty for not being more vocal.
“I chose, when I met with people all the way up to the top, in Europe, in the US, around the world, to talk about this pandemic risk,” he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Monday, explaining that he even made the case to the US president during a December 2016 meeting at Trump Tower.
I feel terrible. The whole point of talking about it was that we could take action and minimize the damage… I wish I had done more to call attention to the danger. Read more
Spain requiring arrivals to quarantine for 2 weeks (VOA)
In an effort to try to prevent importing new cases of the coronavirus, Spain is requiring people arriving from abroad to go into quarantine for two weeks.
The country has started to emerge from a seven-week, strict lockdown after an explosion of cases made it one of the world’s COVID-19 hot spots.
A health ministry order published Tuesday said the quarantine rules will go into effect on Friday and will apply both to visitors from other countries as well as Spanish citizens who are returning home. Read more
Trump shrugs off concern about Covid-19 spreading in White House (France24)
US President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed concerns over the possible spread of coronavirus in the White House but said he may limit contact with Vice President Mike Pence.
Trump, speaking to masked reporters in the White House Rose Garden, suggested that Pence was in quarantine after his press secretary tested positive, though he did not say it outright.
Katie Miller, the spokeswoman for Pence, who heads the White House’s coronavirus task force, tested positive for coronavirus last week along with a personal valet to Trump. Read more
Coronavirus: Wuhan draws up plans to test all 11 million residents (BBC)
The Chinese city of Wuhan is drawing up plans to test its entire population of 11 million people for Covid-19, state media report.
The plan appears to be in its early stages, with all districts in Wuhan told to submit details as to how testing could be done within 10 days.
It comes after Wuhan, where the virus first emerged, recorded six new cases over the weekend.
Prior to this, it had seen no new cases at all since 3 April. Read more
Scott Johnson death: Australian man arrested in gay hate killing cold case (BBC)
Australian police have charged a man with the decades-old murder of a gay US student in Sydney.
The body of Scott Johnson, 27, was found at the bottom of beach cliffs in 1988. Police ruled it a suicide.
However, later inquiries concluded he had been killed in a hate crime. This also drew attention to other cases of homophobic killings around Sydney’s beaches in the 1980s.
Scott Price, 49, was arrested at his Sydney home on Tuesday.
He was refused bail and will face a court on Wednesday. Read more
Photographer captures stunning lockdown portraits through people’s windows (Metro)
It feels like we should be documenting this incredibly strange moment in history. While many of us are keeping diaries or writing letters about our experiences of the coronavirus pandemic, LA-based photographer Caroline White has created a stunning snapshot of life in lockdown. Caroline has been photographing lockdown portraits through people’s windows – and the end results capture these dark times in a surprisingly beautiful way. The photographer usually spends her days travelling around to do photoshoots with clients, but when California went into lockdown she was forced to stay put. Read more
FIFA postpones women’s U-17 World Cup to 2021 (Punch)
The women’s Under-17 World Cup, due to be held in India in November, has been postponed for three month, FIFA said Tuesday, adding to a growing list of sporting events hit by the pandemic.
The tournament, to be played in five cities across the country, will now start February 17, football’s governing body said.
India is looking to boost its international standing as a host of top sporting events after holding the men’s Under-17 World Cup in 2017.
“All the host cities have put in a lot of effort and commitment so far, and we are happy that the new dates will allow them to make up for the lost time and provide momentum going forward,” the local organising committee said after the FIFA announcement. Read more
Danny Rose criticises Premier League restart plans amid coronavirus pandemic (BBC)
England and Tottenham defender Danny Rose has criticised the Premier League’s plans to restart the season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Club officials met on Monday to continue talks on “Project Restart”, with the English top flight aiming to resume fixtures on 12 June.
As of 11 May, 32,065 people had died in the UK with coronavirus.
“Football shouldn’t even be spoken about until the numbers have dropped massively,” said Rose, 29. “People’s lives are at risk.” Read more
Laporta vows to return Guardiola to Barca (DailyTrust)
Former Barcelona President Joan Laporta said he will seek to bring former manager Pep Guardiola back to Barcelona if his bid to return as president of the La Liga club in 2021 is successful, Spanish media reported.
Laporta was Barcelona president from 2003 to 2010, and was at the helm when Guardiola was promoted from the youth team to manager of the senior team in 2008. Guardiola is under contract at Manchester City until June 2021 but his future is in doubt after UEFA handed the club a two-year ban from European competition for breaching Financial Fair Play rules, a ruling City have appealed. Read more
Anniversary Games 2020 cancelled because of coronavirus (BBC)
The Anniversary Games in London have been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, UK Athletics has confirmed.
London Stadium had been scheduled to host the event – also part of the Diamond League season – on 4-5 July.
UK Athletics is “hugely disappointed” to cancel the Games, its chief executive Joanna Coates said.
“It will have a significant financial impact on UK Athletics and wider sport,” Coates added. Read more
Ibrahimovic returns to AC Milan (Guardian)
AC Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to Italy on Monday after two months in his native Sweden, as Serie A prepares to resume group training in a week’s time.
Ibrahimovic was photographed arriving in Milan wearing a facemask and gloves before being driven to the team’s training centre at Milanello.
The Swede is expected to spend two weeks in quarantine before joining his teammates who resumed individual training last week. Read more
Vettel, Ferrari to part ways after contract talks break down (Vanguard)
Four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel on Tuesday said he would leave Ferrari at the end of the season, saying there was no “common desire” to work together any more.
No replacement was named for the German, who dominated F1 with Red Bull before switching to the Italian marque in 2015. He said his departure was a “joint decision”.
“My relationship with Scuderia Ferrari will finish at the end of 2020,” the 32-year-old said in a statement from Ferrari. Read more