COVID-19: 254 test positive, 29 recover in Lagos (Punch)
Twenty-nine patients undergoing coronavirus treatment at various isolation centres in Lagos State have been discharged after testing negative twice for the virus.
This is as 254 others tested positive for coronavirus in the state on Friday, The PUNCH reports.
The Lagos COVID-19 Incident Commander, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who made this known, said those discharged comprised 24 males and five females.
He said, “Today (Friday), 29 COVID19 Lagos patients; 24 males and five females, including two Indians were discharged from our Gbagada, Lekki, and Agidingbi Isolation facilities to reunite with the society. Read more
One dead, two injured in Lagos car accident (Tribune)
At least, one person has been confirmed dead in a car accident at Ikota, along Lekki-Epe expressway area of Lagos state.
Tribune Online also gathered that two other male adults sustained different injuries.
The remains of the male adult who lost his life in the motor accident at Ikota Lekki area of Lagos in the early hours of Saturday morning.
A statement issued to newsmen by Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA), Nosa Okunbor, said the accident involved a wine coloured Toyota Corolla with registration number FJK 353 GC and an unidentified hit-and-run truck which reportedly rammed into the car from behind. Read more
Fire guts nylon factory in Ahmmadiya, Lagos (Punch)
A polythene manufacturing company has been gutted by fire at Ahmmadiya Bus Stop around the Abule Egba area of Lagos State, The PUNCH has learnt.
It was gathered that the incident happened on Saturday morning while production was ongoing at the factory located on Wifunke Street, behind a Total Filling Station.
Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said there was no loss of life.
He said first responders including the LASEMA team, the Federal Fire Service, and the Lagos State Fire Service have arrived at the scene. Read more
268 China returnees arrive Abuja (Nation)
The Nation learnt that the flight that conveyed the evacuees landed at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport on Saturday afternoon.
Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, revealed this via a tweet.
She said the returnees would proceed on compulsory 14 days quarantine as stipulated by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. Read more
Benue conducts peaceful LG election in 276 council wards (Vanguard)
Local government election was Saturday held peacefully across the 276 council wards of Benue state with a large turn out of voters in the urban and rural areas.
Five political parties including then the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Labour Party, LP, African Action Congress, AAC, All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, participated in the council poll.
In most parts of Makurdi town voters were seen as early as 9 am queuing up to exercise their franchise while officials of the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, BSIEC, were on hand to supervise the process. Read more
Body of ex-Edo commissioner recovered 14 days after abduction (Vanguard)
The remains of the ex-Edo Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Mr Presley Ediagbonya, has been recovered 14 days after he was abducted.
Ediagbonya was kidnapped from his farm at Utese, Ovia North East Local Government Area of the state in the early hours of May 16.
Recall that the body was recovered from a forest near the farm.
His abductors who initially asked for N15 million ransom later directed the family to drop N2 million in Patani, a border town between Delta and Bayelsa. Read more
Biafra: We need to revisit Aburi Accord – Ahamba (Vanguard)
As some sections of the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria mark the 53 anniversary on the declaration of Biafra Republic, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Chief Mike Ahamba has said that time has come when the people of the country should revisit the Aburi Accord.
Aburi Accord was reached in 1967 at a meeting attended by delegates of both the Federal Government of Nigeria (the Supreme Military Council) and the Eastern delegates, led by the Eastern Region’s leader Lt. Colonel Ojukwu.
The meeting was billed to be the last chance of preventing all-out civil war. Read more
Covid-19 can’t hinder democracy in Nigeria, says INEC (ThisDay)
The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu reiterated the resolution of the commission to conduct elections in the country, declaring that the coronavirus pandemic will not stop the growth of democracy in Nigeria.
In INEC first virtual teleconference with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), the commission’s chairman said, “While the Commission takes the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, our democracy and electoral process cannot be truncated for this reason, particularly because health authorities have advised on measures to protect the public from the virus, including all those involved in elections”. Read more
MIT elects first black woman student body president in its 159-year history (CNN)
Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have elected a black woman as president of the Undergraduate Association for the first time in the school’s history.
Danielle Geathers and running mate Yu Jing Chen won the student government election earlier this month.
Princeton names its first black valedictorian in the university's history
Princeton names its first black valedictorian in the university’s history
Geathers just finished her sophomore year at MIT and is majoring in mechanical engineering. She served as the diversity officer last year. Read more
Barmaid, 19, learning to walk and talk again after suffering stroke (Mirror)
A teenage barmaid who had just finished a shift at the pub where she worked was found unresponsive on her parents’ sofa just minutes after she got home.
Elly Milton, who was 19 at the time of her terrifying ordeal on 19 June 2019, had wished her parents goodnight after returning home after a shift at the Evenwood Pub in Runcorn.
But just a few minutes later, her panicked mum, Marie, found her lying on the sofa with a “floppy arm” and a drooping face”.
Marie screamed for her husband John to help and the frantic parents called 999 after realising their daughter, who was unable to speak or move, had suffered a stroke, the Liverpool Echo reports. Read more
Trump calls for ‘MAGA Night’ at the White House after demonstrators clash with Secret Service (WashingtonTimes)
President Donald Trump advocated a “MAGA Night at the White House” on Saturday in response to a demonstration Friday night outside the White House gates in which protesters clashed with Secret Service and police.
Mr. Trump said the disturbance, which he watched from inside the executive mansion, had little or nothing to do with the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. He also said Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser wouldn’t allow Metropolitan Police to intervene, a charge she denied. Read more
Malta seizes $1 bn in counterfeit Libyan money: US (Guardian)
Maltese authorities have seized counterfeit Libyan money worth $1.1 billion that was printed by a Russian firm and worsen the north African country’s economic problems, the US State Department said.
There was no official statement on Saturday from Valletta although Malta Today newspaper had published a report about $1.1 billion in counterfeit money seized in Malta on its Facebook site that was no longer available.
“The United States commends the Government of the Republic of Malta’s announcement May 26 of its seizure of $1.1 billion of counterfeit Libyan currency printed by Joint Stock Company Goznak — a Russian state-owned company — and ordered by an illegitimate parallel entity,” the State Department said. Read more
GOP congressman says Trump’s decision to pull out of WHO helps China and harms global health (Newsweek)
Texas Republican Congressman Will Hurd pleaded with President Donald Trump to reverse his Friday decision terminating the United States’ relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO), with the GOP lawmaker saying the move only helps the Chinese Communist Party.
Hurd penned an op-ed in The New York Times Friday, just hours after Trump announced “China has total control” over the WHO and cut off all funding to the international health body. The congressman cautioned that “leaving the WHO sends the message that the world cannot count on the United States,” while corroborating China’s aggressive disinformation campaign that has been aimed, in part, at exposing America’s lack of commitment to the international community. Read more
Cop shot dead in George Floyd riots as violence enters fourth day (DailyStar)
A police officer has been killed and another wounded after being shot during riots protesting the death of George Floyd.
The Federal Protective Service said two cops were shot outside the Oakland Down Town Federal Building on Friday night – the third day of US riots protesting police brutality.
Both of the officers were rushed to hospital, where one sadly succumbed to his injury, the Federal Protective Service confirmed.
In a statement, the Federal Protective Service said: “Two Federal Protective Services officers stationed at the Oakland Down Town Federal Building suffered gunshot wounds. Unfortunately, one succumbed to his injury.” Read more
Replacing Kante at Leicester was scary, says Ndidi (Vanguard)
Super Eagles defensive midfielder Wilfred Ndidi has said that he felt the pressure when he replaced N’Golo Kante at Leicester City in 2016.
Ndidi who has more than held the position positively is rated as one the best players for the Foxes this season and has attracted quite a number of interests from clubs like PSG, Manchester United and Real Madrid.
“The pressure I had was that Leicester just won the league. Kante left and they were looking for a replacement. Seeing this whole situation, it was very scary for me. Read more
‘Premier League clubs could be forced to play with squads of just 15 fit players’ (Independent)
Premier League clubs could be forced to fulfil their fixtures with squads of just 15 fit players in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it has been claimed.
The Premier League is set to resume the 2019/20 season next month after clubs finally came to agreement over the necessary return protocols.
A number of health and safety measures will be in place with supporters also banned from attending matches for the foreseeable future.
Players and staff members from each club are being tested routinely with the latest round returning just four positive results from over 1,000 tests. Read more
Michael Schumacher’s son Mick could make F1 debut this season (DailyStar)
The famous Schumacher name could be back in F1 as early as this season with Michael’s son Mick tipped to replace Kimi Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo.
The 21-year-old son of the the seven-time world champion drove a Formula One car for the first time last April, watched on by mother Corinna.
Part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, he is being developed to step up to the highest level whilst currently competing in Formula 2.
And former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld reckons he could be fast-tracked onto the grid this season when racing does resume if Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi does not perform. Read more
Five-sub rule could count against Barca – Setien (Guardian)
Barcelona could suffer from the new rule that allows teams to make five substitutions in a match instead of three, their coach Quique Setien has said.
FIFA has made the temporary change to ease the physical strain on players, who are returning to a congested period of games after a lengthy break due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The law could favour the bigger clubs like Barcelona, who have deeper squads and better players ready to come off the bench.
But Setien believes Barca, who are two points clear at the top of La Liga, will also find opponents are now fresher towards the end of games. Read more
Austria set to host Formula 1 season openers in July (BBC)
Austria’s government has approved hosting Formula 1’s season-opening races in July, according to reports.
The races, scheduled for 5 and 12 July, will take place behind closed doors at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
The 2020 season was due to start in Australia in March, but the coronavirus pandemic forced the postponement of that race and a further nine more.
If the Austria races run successfully, the F1 season could continue on 19 July in Budapest, Hungary. Read more
Bayern players accept pay cut until ‘end of season’ (Punch)
Bayern Munich players have accepted a salary cut which will last until the “end of the season” to help the Bundesliga champions through the coronavirus crisis, club president Herbert Hainer said on Saturday.
In April, the Bayern squad took a 20-percent reduction in salary, but Hainer did not specify how large the cut was this time.
“It is very satisfying to see that our team understands the situation and will again give up part of their salary until the end of the season,” Hainer told German daily Bild. Read more