Court remands man for allegedly defiling 11-year-old girl (Guardian)
An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday remanded a 20-year-old unemployed man, Oriyomi Sanni, who allegedly defiled an 11-year-old girl.
Magistrate Mrs O.A Layinka, who did not take Sanni’s plea, ordered that he should be remanded in Kirikri Correctional Centre.
Layinka, however, directed the police to send the case file to the state Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice.
She adjourned the case until Aug. 25 for DPP advice.
Sanni, who resides at Ikorodu, Lagos State, is being tried for defilement. Read more
2 in court for allegedly receiving stolen SIM card (Nation)
Two men, Oriade Adeoye and Toheeb Malik, on Tuesday, appeared before a Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for allegedly being in possession of a stolen SIM card.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adeoye, 24 and Malik, 35, are facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and receiving the stolen item, to which they, however, pleaded not guilty.
The Prosecutor, ASP Rita Momah, told the court that the defendants committed the offences on May 21 at Ajangbadi area of Lagos.
Momah said that the defendants were found with a stolen SIM card belonging to the complainant, Victor Oviewo. Read more
Nigerian-American woman wins award for software that teaches Yoruba (Punch)
A Nigerian-American investment strategist, Omolabake Adenle, has won the DEI In Voice award from Women in Voice (WiV) for an app she built that can teach the Yoruba language and four other African languages.
Adenle believes the voice recognition and speech synthesis software she built fills the gap in the availability of voice technologies for African languages.
The software was inspired by her cousins who were learning English alphabets through an app.
Adenle who founded app development studio, Ajala.ai, decided to build a software that would help them learn the Yoruba language. This she named SpeakYoruba, which was launched on Google Playstore in 2010 but has since been removed from the platform. Read more
PDP crisis worsens as 7 national officers resign (DailyTrust)
The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a worse turn with the resignation of seven national officers of the opposition party.
The party’s National Organising Secretary, Colonel Austin Akobundu (retd), confirmed the resignation on Tuesday but did not go into details.
Uche Secondus, National Chairman of the party, whose tenure ends in December, has been under intense pressure to step down.
The National Chairman even fell out with Nyesom Wike, his benefactor, who criticised him publicly. Read more
Court orders EFCC to unfreeze Dokpesi’s bank accounts (ThisDay)
The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Justice John Tsoho, on Tuesday, ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) to unfreeze bank accounts belonging to the founder of Daar Communications Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi.
The commission had frozen the accounts of Dokpesi owing to his trial in an alleged N2.1 billion fraud said to have been illegally received from former President Jonathan’s National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).
However, following the voiding of the charges by the Court of Appeal, the media mogul had approached the Federal High Court to unfreeze the affected bank accounts.
Delivering ruling in the suit, Justice Tsoho ordered the anti-graft agency to immediately unfreeze the accounts because the criminal charges which precipitated the restriction on the account had been dismissed and Dokpesi discharged and acquitted by the Court of Appeal.
According to the ruling, the federal government has no basis to put a post no debit order on the accounts in view of the subsisting and valid order of court. Read more
COVID-19: UAE to lift travel ban on Nigeria, others from August 5, gives conditions (Tribune)
The United Arab Emirates will lift a ban on transit passenger traffic from India, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries from August 5, the country’s National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
The UAE, a major international travel hub, has banned passengers from many South Asian and African countries for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
NCEMA said on Twitter that passengers travelling from countries where flights had been suspended would be able to transit through its airports from Thursday as long as they present negative PCR tests taken 72 hours prior to departure.
Final destination approval would also have to be provided, the authority said, adding that UAE departure airports would arrange separate lounges for transiting passengers. Read more
Alleged N500 extortion lands Abia director in police cell (Tribune)
A Director in Abia State Ministry of Education, Wogu Alozie, is in the Police net for allegedly extorting the sum of ₦500 from each student in the state.
The disclosure is contained in a statement issued by the Abia State Government through the Chief of Staff, CoS, to the Governor, Prof. A. C. B. Agbazuere, last Sunday.
According to the statement, Governor Okezie Victor Ikpeazu was greatly appalled by such criminal act.
The CoS disclosed that the said Alozie wrote letters to Primary and Secondary Schools in the state and signed for the Permanent Secretary without the consent of the said Permanent Secretary. Read more
BBNAIJA: Beatrice, Niyi, Yerins, Yousef, and White Money up for eviction (DailyTrust)
Big Brother season 6 “Shine Ya Eye” housemates, Beatrice, Niyi, Yerins, Yousef, and White money have all been nominated for eviction.
At the beginning of the show, Biggie had informed the housemates that they were two “Wild Card” housemates.
He gave them the task to find out who they were, adding that if they guessed correctly, the Wild Cards would be evicted immediately, but if otherwise, the Wild Cards would remain and compete with the rest of them.
He also stated that if the Wild Cards remained, they would have an edge over the rest of the housemates. Read more
Jason Momoa calls out New York Times for ‘icky’ interview question (NYPost)
There are no stupid questions, but there are “icky” ones, according to Jason Momoa.
The 42-year-old Hawaiian actor went cold during an interview with New York Times journalist David Marchese after the writer asked Momoa if he regretted filming a graphic rape scene during his breakout performance as Khal Drogo on HBO’s Game of Thrones.
The pilot episode of the series saw Momoa’s barbaric warlord Drogo assault and force himself on his would-be queen Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke, 34.
When Marchese asked whether Momoa “thinks differently about those scenes today,” he replied, “Well, it was important to depict Drogo and his style. You’re playing someone that’s like Genghis Khan.” Read more
Billie Eilish on course to hit number one with second album “Happier Than Ever” (Metro)
Billie Eilish looks set to secure the number one position in this week’s album charts with her hotly anticipated second album.
As of August 2, Happier Than Ever, which was released on July 30, has secured more physical sales than the rest of the top ten combined, according to the Official Charts Company.
The album, her follow-up to her double-platinum debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, has also had the most downloads in the week so far.
Three songs from the album, the title track Happier Than Ever, Getting Older and Oxytocin, are also on track to debut in the Top 40 of the UK singles chart this week. Read more
Wuhan to test entire population after virus resurfaces (BBC)
Authorities in the Chinese city of Wuhan will begin testing its entire population, after a handful of positive coronavirus cases were detected there.
Wuhan has recorded seven locally transmitted cases – the first local infections in more than a year.
The city of 11 million people shot into the spotlight after the coronavirus was first detected there in 2019.
China is currently seeing one of its biggest outbreaks in months, with 300 cases detected in 10 days. Read more
Probe finds Governor Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, violated federal and state law (NYPost)
Gov. Andrew Cuomo violated federal and state laws, Attorney General Letitia James said Tuesday, finding he “sexually harassed multiple women” and then retaliated against the victims when they came forward creating a “toxic” atmosphere in the executive chamber.
The blockbuster announcement is the result of a probe that found Cuomo engaged in “unwanted groping, kissing, hugging and making inappropriate comments,” James said.
James alerted reporters to an 11 a.m. news conference in her Lower Manhattan office without revealing the subject but sources familiar with the matter said it will involve the investigation she launched in March.
The probe involved accusations that Cuomo, 63, sexually harassed several current and former female staffers, most of whom are in their 20s or 30s. Read more
The Weeknd admits feeling ‘guilty’ for dating non-famous women as he opens up on children plans (Metro)
The Weeknd might stick to dating famous women going forward after admitting to feeling ‘guilty’ for bringing non-celebrities into his fast-paced lifestyle.
The Blinding Lights singer has enjoyed high-profile relationships with Bella Hadid and Selena Gomez in recent years.
He’s currently believed to be single but was spotted enjoying a dinner date with Angelina Jolie sparking dating rumours, although it was possibly a business meeting with The Weeknd making the foray into acting.
It seems The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, has tried the ‘regular’ dating pool, that is dating non-famous women, but it apparently hasn’t worked out for him so far. Read more
Drug deaths in England and Wales highest since 1993 (BBC)
The number of drug-related deaths recorded in England and Wales in 2020 was the highest since records began in 1993.
In total, 4,561 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered – equivalent to a rate of 79.5 per million people.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said about half of these would have occurred in 2019, because of delays in registering deaths.
The majority will have occurred before the pandemic, it added. Read more
Tokyo Olympics: Wrestler Oborududu makes history, wins Nigeria’s first silver (Punch)
Nigerian wrestler Blessing Oborududu has won the first silver medal for Nigeria in the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Earlier, long jumper Ese Brume won the first bronze for Nigeria.
Oborududu lost 4-1 to her opponent USA’s Tamyra Mensah-Stock in the final of the women’s freestyle 68kg on Tuesday (today).
Oborududu is the first Nigerian wrestler ever to win a silver medal at the Games.
Oborududu, who is also the first-ever Nigerian to win an Olympics medal in wrestling, qualified for the final after defeating Mongolia’s Soronzonboldyn Battsetseg 7-2 in the semi-finals. Read more
Tokyo Olympics: Elaine Thompson-Herah completes unprecedented ‘double-double’ (BBC)
Elaine Thompson-Herah confirmed her place among the pantheon of sprint greats as she secured an unprecedented women’s 100m-200m double-double with a sensational victory over the longer distance in Tokyo.
The 29-year-old Jamaican surged home in 21.53 seconds, just .19 seconds off Florence Griffith Joyner’s long-standing world record, to back up her individual golds from Rio 2016.
It is the second-fastest time in history.
Trailing in her draft, Namibian teenager Christine Mboma, who was barred from her favoured 400m two weeks before the Games on account of her naturally high testosterone levels, took silver in 21.81.
Gabrielle Thomas, the American champion, took bronze in 21.87. Read more
Arsenal make player-plus-cash offer for Leicester City star James Maddison (Metro)
Arsenal have opened the bidding for Leicester City star James Maddison by making a player-plus-cash offer for the England international.
Mikel Arteta is keen to sign a new playmaker this summer following the departure of Mesut Ozil last January and the club’s failure to land Real Madrid’s Martin Odegaard, who spent the second half of last season at the Emirates.
Maddison, 24, is valued at £60m by the Foxes, who he joined from Norwich for a fee of around £25m in 2018.
That’s a fee that Arsenal would be unable to stretch to but football.london claim the Gunners have proposed offering one of their fringe players in order to bring the asking price down. Read more
Simone Biles’ boyfriend, Jonathan Owens, celebrates her Olympic bronze win (PageSix)
Simone Biles’ biggest cheerleader may be her boyfriend, Jonathan Owens.
Owens, 26, took to social media to congratulate Biles, 24, after she took home the bronze model in the Olympic women’s balance beam final event Tuesday. Her triumphant win became her second consecutive bronze medal in the event and her seventh Olympic medal overall.
“Words can’t explain how proud I am of you right now!!” Owens wrote alongside a photo of a smiling Biles at the 2020 Olympics on his Instagram Story. He added the heart and clapping-hands emojis.
He also reshared an infographic highlighting the gymnast’s achievements, including 25 world championship medals (19 of them gold) and having four gymnastic skills named after her. Read more
Tokyo Olympics: Australian athletes ‘damaged rooms and misbehaved on flight home’ (BBC)
Australian athletes damaged beds in their Olympic village hotel rooms and put a hole in a wall before leaving, the country’s Olympic committee says.
Some athletes also showed “unacceptable behaviour” on their flight home, officials added.
But Australia team boss Ian Chesterman said no disciplinary action would be taken as the athletes had apologised.
He added that the damage was “minor” and that it was “not the hardest thing to break the cardboard bed”.
Chesterman did not name the athletes or the sport they represented. Read more
Manchester United face delay in completing Raphael Varane transfer (Metro)
Raphael Varane is unlikely to be ready in time to make his Manchester United debut on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.
United announced last week that a deal had been agreed in principle with Real Madrid that would see the France international move to Old Trafford after10 trophy-laden years in the Spanish capital.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side begin their new campaign at home to Everton a week on Saturday, but the Norwegian is unlikely to be able to pair his new a signing alongside club captain Harry Maguire.According to the Daily Telegraph, Varane is still waiting to get his visa before he can move to England. Read more