Church builds 4-bedroom bungalow for homeless widow (Guardian)
A widow who had long endured homelessness with her six children has found a new lease of life after a church in Abuja constructed a four-bedroom bungalow for her in her hometown.
Mrs Agnes Jimoh, a member of Kingdom Stars Gospel Centre in Abuja, was handed the symbolic keys to her new home in Lokoja, Kogi State, during a thanksgiving service held at the church last week.
Her story, once marked by hardship and sorrow, took a dramatic turn when the church—led by its Senior Pastor, Peter Inyang—embarked on a compassionate project to provide her with a permanent home. Read more
2027 crossfire: APC strikes back after Mark, Lamido slam Tinubu govt (Punch)
As the coalition meant to oust President Bola Tinubu from power gains momentum, the All Progressives Congress has asserted that the President will emerge victorious in the 2027 election.
APC spokesman, Bala Ibrahim, described the coalition, whose leaders met in Abuja on Tuesday, as “dead on arrival.”
Multiple sources within the coalition movement revealed their plans to adopt the African Democratic Congress as their political platform, confirming The PUNCH’s earlier exclusive reports. Read more
Govt should sell Warri, Port Harcourt refineries, others, they’re a drain on economy – MAN DG (Channels)
The Director General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadiri, has urged the Federal Government to fully privatise the country’s state-owned refineries, describing them as a “pure drain on the Nigerian economy.”
Ajayi-Kadiri, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, argued that the government should hand over the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries to the private sector for efficient management and productivity.
“If you ask me, the government should just sell these refineries. Give them to private sector people who will run them efficiently and be able to deliver. When something belongs to everybody, it belongs to nobody,” Ajayi-Kadiri said on Tuesday. Read more
Coalition: Atiku, others make final decision (Sun)
Top members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, former Senate president, David Mark and former Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, met yesterday, in Abuja to perfect arrangement for a coalition of opposition politicians for the 2027 general elections.
Daily Sun reliably gathered that the meeting chaired by Mark is about plans by some opposition politicians to move to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a platform for the 2027 general elections.
Others in attendance included Liyel Imoke, Babangida Aliyu, Gabriel Suswam and Sam Egwu, former governors of Cross River, Niger, Benue and Ebonyi states. Read more
Dantata Laid To Rest In Madinah, Dangote, Others Bid Farewell (Leadership)
A delegation from the federal government joined prominent dignitaries and family members in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the burial (Jana’iza) of renowned business icon and elder statesman, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, in the Islamic holy city of Madinah.
The Senate has also postponed its scheduled zonal public hearing on constitutional amendments for the North-West region as a mark of respect for the late elder statesman.
Alhaji Dantata passed away on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, at 94. By his wishes, he was laid to rest in Madinah on Tuesday. Read more
N59.796t FGN bonds accounted for 80% of N74,887t domestic debt in Q1 2025 (ThisDay)
FGN Bonds contributed over N59.796 trillion or 79.85 per cent to the federal government’s N74,887 trillion domestic debt obligations as of the first quarter of 2025 ending March 31, 2025.
The total public debt stock of the federal and state governments as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) also posted 3.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter rise of N4.72 trillion, from N144.67 trillion as of December 31, 2024 to N149.39 trillion by March 31, 2025.
These were contained in the latest public debt figures released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) total debt stock, comprising debt owed by the government at the centre, the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Read more
Worsening abductions, killings, Boko Haram’s renewed attacks, others alarming —Sultan’s JNI (Nation)
The Jama’atu Nastril Islam, JNI, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III, has expressed angst over the high rate of abductions, killings, ethnic violence and resurgence of Boko Haram insurgents in the country.
The group in a statement signed by the Secretary-General, Professor Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, also said the Federal Government has not been proactive on security matters in Nigeria, expressing shock over repeated failure of intelligence in nipping in the bud attacks on individuals and communities by kidnappers, bandits and insurgents.
Efforts to get both the Presidency and the Federal Ministry of Information to react to the claim, however, proved abortive at press time last night, as neither the spokesman of the President, Bayo Onanuga, nor the Information Minister, Mohammed Idris, could be reached. Read more
Olivia Munn disagreed with a male director, says he retaliated by telling a movie studio she’s ‘combative’ on set (Variety)
Olivia Munn revealed on an episode of Dax Shepherd’s “Armchair Expert” podcast (via The Daily Beast) that a director she worked with on HBO’s “The Newsroom” tried to “ruin” her career by preventing her from landing a movie role.
The director, who remained unnamed, told the studio that Munn was “really combative” on set after the two shared disagreements on the set of the Aaron Sorkin-created television series.
“There was a storyline where my character and Tom Sadoski’s character are dating and falling in love,” Munn explained. “[The director] kept trying to force me to carry that storyline only on my side. He’s like, ‘Can you look out at him and smile?’ And I’m like, ‘Why she’s busy doing this?’ Or, ‘Can you stop and snuggle up to him or flirt with him?’ Or, ‘Can you give him a kiss?’ And I’m like, ‘This is in the middle of working.’” Read more
Diddy deliberations paused over alleged issues with a juror (HipHopDx)
Diddy‘s sex trafficking trial has hit a hitch following questions over a juror.
The jury is currently out for deliberation to decide Diddy’s fate but the team of 12 have sent multiple notes to the judge overseeing the trial.
Members of the jury appear to be alleging that juror number 25 has been failing to follow the instructions of the judge.
The judge sent a note back to the jury informing them that they had a duty to deliberate the case and follow legal orders. Read more
Scooter Braun steps down as HYBE America CEO after 4 years (AfricaNews)
Scooter Braun is stepping down as HYBE America CEO.
After four years at the entertainment and media company, HYBE announced Tuesday in a press release that Braun is transitioning out of the role to pursue a new venture but will remain as one of the “company’s largest individual shareholders.”
He will also serve as a senior adviser to the chairman and CEO and as director of HYBE’s board of directors. Read more
BTS members reunite for the 1st time since military discharges, reveal 2026 comeback plans (Billboard)
The boys are back. In a Weverse livestream Tuesday (July 1), all seven members of BTS reunited for the first time since completing all of their military service requirements and shared plans for their future.
Squeezing in together on a cozy-looking couch, RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook smiled while greeting ARMY as a unified group for the first time in years. Laughing and joking with each other, they shared in a group statement, “We’ll be releasing a new BTS album in the spring of next year.”
“Starting in July, all seven of us will begin working closely together on new music,” they continued. “Since it will be a group album, it will reflect each member’s thoughts and ideas. We’re approaching the album with the same mindset we had when we first started.” Read more
Heat wave shutters Paris’ Eiffel Tower as Europe bakes (CBS)
Barcelona recorded its hottest June in more than a century, the summit of Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors and hundreds of French schools closed on Tuesday as Europe sizzled in its first major heat wave of the summer.
Health warnings remained in effect in several European countries. The worst heat was felt in southern Europe, while punishing temperatures were forecast to reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in Paris and to remain unusually high in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The abnormally hot weather “is exposing millions of Europeans to high heat stress” with temperatures in June more typical of July and August, said Samantha Burgess of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. This June is likely to be among the five hottest on record, it said. Read more
‘They took shrapnel from my heart’ – the magnets saving lives in Ukraine (BBC)
From his pocket, Serhiy Melnyk pulls out a small rusty shard, wrapped neatly in paper.
He holds it up. “It grazed my kidney, pierced my lung, and my heart,” says the Ukrainian serviceman quietly.
Traces of dried blood are still visible on the shrapnel from a Russian drone that became lodged in his heart while he was fighting in eastern Ukraine. Read more
Gauff crashes out of Wimbledon on day of shocks (Guardian)
Coco Gauff crashed out of Wimbledon on a day of significant first-round shocks on Tuesday but defending champion Barbora Krejcikova kept her nerve to battle back from a set down.
US second seed Gauff came to the All England Club with high hopes after winning the French Open last month but was beaten 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 by Ukranian world number 42 Dayana Yastremska.
Other high-profile casualties on day two of the grass-court Grand Slam were women’s third seed Jessica Pegula and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen. Read more
Ogoke hints at D’Tigress return (Punch)
Experienced D’Tigress shooting guard Sarah Ogoke could be set for a return to competitive action soon, following several months of inactivity, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The 35-year-old Nigerian, who has been away from the national team set-up for about a year – sitting out the 2024 summer Olympic Games in Paris, France due to personal reasons.
The captain who led the team to the FIBA Women’s Afrobasket title in Kigali, Rwanda in 2023, revealed at the time when she was omitted from the Olympics roster, “I haven’t retired, this is not the last you will hear of me playing basketball. It wasn’t an easy situation or an easy decision.” Read more
Mbappe returns as Real Madrid beat Juventus at Club World Cup (AlJazeera)
Gonzalo Garcia’s 54th-minute header was enough to give Real Madrid a 1-0 win over Juventus at Hard Rock Stadium and book their place in the quarterfinals of the FIFA Club World Cup.
The Spanish giants will face the winner of Tuesday’s other game between Borussia Dortmund and Mexico’s Monterrey in the last eight.
It was an impressive display from Xabi Alonso’s Madrid side, and adding to a positive day, Kylian Mbappe made his return from illness, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for his first appearance of the tournament. Read more
Domenicali to tell Starmer how vital F1 is to UK (Channels)
Formula 1 president Stefano Domenicali will meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday and emphasise the importance of the sport to the United Kingdom’s economy.
Domenicali, who is meeting Sir Keir at 10 Downing Street along with several drivers and team principals as part of an event to mark the 75th anniversary of F1, described the UK as “the heart and rock and roll of this business”.
The Italian will raise some of the logistical issues faced by F1 as a result of the restrictions imposed on travel by Brexit, while painting the sport as an industry essential to the UK. Read more
Lillard wins basketball lottery by getting dumped by Bucks (CBS)
Maybe you’ve seen the new “Poop Cruise” documentary on Netflix. It’s the story of a once-deluxe vessel whose electrical systems went haywire until a river of raw sewage wound up running through the halls. It’s basically the Milwaukee Bucks at sea, and Damian Lillard just came off the s(t)inking ship smelling like Chanel No. 5.
To recap: The Bucks, out of absolutely nowhere, agreed to a four-year, $107 million contract with Myles Turner on Tuesday, which they paid for by waiving Lillard and stretching the remaining $113 million left on his contract over the next five years.
If you aren’t familiar with the waive/stretch mechanics of an NBA contract, it goes like this: Instead of paying Lillard, who likely won’t play all of next season thanks to the torn Achilles he suffered in the playoffs, $54.1 million this coming season and $58.6 million the season after that, the Bucks just signed up to stretch those payments over the next five years to reduce their ’25-26 payroll enough to add Turner and get Lillard off the team. Read more