Death toll rises to 7 in Lagos building collapse (Guardian)
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), on Monday, said the death toll from the rubble of a three-storey building that collapsed at Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos has risen to seven.
The Permanent Secretary of the agency, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Oke-Osanyintolu added that the total number of people rescued had increased to 13. Read more
Benue Killings: Death toll hits 72 (DailyTrust)
Death toll from the multiple attacks carried out by armed invaders on communities in Benue State has risen to 72.
This followed the recovery of 13 more bodies from the attacks on Ukum and Logo Local Government Areas of the state.
During his Easter remark in Makurdi, on Sunday, Governor Hyacinth Alia had acknowledged a total recovery of 59 bodies. Read more
Tinubu returns to Nigeria after visit to France, UK (Channels)
President Bola Tinubu has arrived in Nigeria following his working visit to France and the UK.
Tinubu was received by senior officials of his administration when he arrived at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, late Monday.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu returns to Abuja after a visit to Paris and London,” presidential aide Dada Olusegun wrote in a post on his X handle. Read more
Gen Musa urges Southern Kaduna communities to unite (Leadership)
The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Christopher Musa, has advised the people of Southern Kaduna to work as a united and purposeful entity for the area’s development.
Musa made the call at the Southern Kaduna Solemn Assembly for Restoration held in Bara, Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
According to the chief of defence staff, unity among the people is necessary to attract development. Read more
Man jailed 14 years for attempted sexual assault (Nation)
Justice Rahman Oshodi of an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in ikeja has sentenced a man, Nnanna Daniel, to 14 years imprisonment for attempt to commit sexual assault by penetration of a 13-year -old girl.
Justice Oshodi convicted and sentenced Daniel after he pleaded guilty to an amended one-count charge bordering on sexual assault by penetration.
The defendant was initially arraigned on a charge of defilement on July 27, 2021 and he pleaded not guilty. Read more
Easter: Remi Tinubu preaches love over religious, regional bias (NewTelegraph)
Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has called on Christians across the country to shun every form of prejudice based on religion or region, urging them instead to demonstrate love, compassion, and unity toward their neighbours.
Mrs. Tinubu gave the charge on Monday while hosting members of the Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN) to an Easter Brunch at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to a statement issued by her spokesperson, Busola Kukoyi, the First Lady expressed her appreciation for the association’s visit, describing it as a demonstration of sacrificial love and genuine commitment to national unity. Read more
UK records 22,000 Nigerian asylum seekers (Punch)
The United Kingdom Home Office received 22,619 asylum applications from Nigerian nationals from 2010 to 2024, according to findings by The PUNCH.
This is as Nigerians accounted for one in 30 UK asylum claims over the period, ranking 11th on the Home Office’s newly released year-end Asylum and Resettlement statistics.
According to the Home Office, nearly twice as many Nigerians (2,841) applied for asylum in 2024 as in 2023 (1,462). Read more
Tinubu, Buhari, Kefas, Ododo, Kalu, CAN, others, mourn Pope Francis (Sun)
President Bola Tinubu; former President Muhammadu Buhari; the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in 2023, Mr. Peter Obi; Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas; his Kogi State counterpart, Ahmed Ododo; Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have all joined Catholic faithful across the world to mourn the death of Pope France.
Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died yesterday, Easter Monday, at the age of 88, at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, following a period of illness marked by a recent recovery from pneumonia. His passing was announced by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 17, 1936, he was elected Pope on March 13, 2013, after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Read more
Doechii & Westside Gunn show each other love after he sampled her on new album track (AllHipHop)
Doechii’s love for Westside Gunn is as deep as his love for her!
Westside Gunn and Doechii are giving each other their flowers on social media in the wake of Top Dawg Entertainment’s rising star catching wind of the Griselda mastermind’s nod to her via his latest LP.
On Monday (April 21), both of the rappers shared posts praising one another just as Westside Gunn’s HEELS HAVE EYES track “Egypt” began going viral for its Doechii sample. The song features a clip from one of Doechii’s interviews in which she shouts out a list of her influences, which includes artists such as the late MF DOOM along with the Gunn himself. Read more
Jennifer Aniston undergoing hypnosis to combat ‘extreme’ fear of flying (FilmNews)
Jennifer Aniston is undertaking hypnosis sessions to help combat her “extreme” fear of flying.
In a recent interview for Travel + Leisure, The Morning Show actress admitted she loves nothing more than sitting on a “white sandy beach (with) clear, crystal-blue water” when it comes to selecting a vacation spot.
However, Jennifer went on to reveal that she has a serious phobia surrounding air travel. Read more
Pope Francis died of cerebral stroke and heart failure: Vatican doctor (AlJazeera)
Pope Francis died of a cerebral stroke and irreversible heart failure, Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli says in a death certificate.
The certificate released on Monday for the 88-year-old pontiff said the pope had fallen into a coma before his death on Monday morning.
Francis died of “cerebral stroke, coma, irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse”, the death certificate said. It added that the first Latin American pontiff in the history of the Roman Catholic Church died at 7:35am (05:35 GMT) in his apartment at the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican. Read more
From Whoopi Goldberg to Jimmy Fallon: Celebrities who met the pope share memories (ABC)
Celebrities who knew or met Pope Francis during his lifetime are mourning the 266th pontiff after the Vatican confirmed his death on Monday at age 88.
“At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and his church,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, said Monday, in a prepared statement.
Argentinian-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the pope in 2013, the first ever from Latin America. He took the name Francis after the well-known St. Francis of Assisi, who ministered to the poor. Read more
Pope Francis left a last will and testament before his death (CBS) Pope Francis used his last will and testament to detail his wishes for where he would like to be interred following his death.
The leader of the Catholic Church died Monday at the age of 88, just a day after celebrating Easter with a surprise appearance at St. Peter’s Square. The Vatican said he died from a stroke that caused a coma and led to irreversible heart failure.
In the will, dated June 29, 2022, Francis wrote that with the “feeling that the sunset of my earthly life is approaching,” he wished to express his preferences only with regard to plans for his burial. Read more
US stocks and dollar plunge as Trump attacks Fed chair Powell (BBC)
US stocks and the dollar plunged again as President Donald Trump intensified his attacks on the US central bank boss calling him “a major loser” for not lowering interest rates.
In a social media post, Trump called on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates “pre-emptively” to help boost the economy, saying Powell had been consistently too slow to respond to economic developments.
“There can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW,” he wrote. Read more
Chess Marathon: Onakoya sets 64-hour world record, GWR confirms feat (Channels)
Nigerian chess champion and founder of Chess in Slums Africa, Tunde Onakoya, has set a 64-Hour chess marathon world record.
The new record set by Onakoya and his chess partner, Shawn Martinez, at Times Square, New York, broke the 61-hour record achieved by the chess marathon record of 61 hours, 3 minutes, and 34 seconds, set by two Norwegian players, Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad, in June 2024.
The four-day non-stop gameplay, which originally targeted 70 hours, started on April 17. Read more
The quartet chasing elusive Federation Cup trophy (DailyTrust)
When action resumes in the 2025 President’s Federation Cup on June 3, four clubs- Kwara United, Nasarawa United, Ikorodu City and giant killers Abakaliki FC- will be aiming to win their quarter-final matches for semi-final berths. The clubs are striving to win the prestigious Cup for the first time in their history.
However, they must first surmount the hurdles in form of the former winners of the oldest club competition in Nigeria who are seeking to increase their titles.
Daily Trust, therefore, takes a look at the four interesting quarter-final matches highlighting the teams’ history in the competition and their chances of progressing to the semi-finals. Read more
Towns, Bridges fail Knicks in Game 2 loss to Pistons (CBS)
The New York Knicks traded six first-round picks, another pick swap, Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo last summer for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges.
Suffice to say, they did not deal that much for these two guys to combine for zero points in the fourth quarter of a tight playoff loss.
But that’s precisely what happened on Monday as the Knicks fell 100-94 to the Detroit Pistons, who ended the longest playoff losing streak in the league with their first postseason win since 2008 to draw the series to a 1-1 tie heading to Detroit for Game 3 on Thursday. Read more
Ostapenko stuns Sabalenka to win Stuttgart Open (BBC)
Jelena Ostapenko beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka to win the Stuttgart Open in stunning fashion.
Ostapenko, who had failed to win in three previous meetings against Sabalenka, took the match 6-4 6-1.
The Latvian set the tone with a break of serve in the opening game and kept the pressure on throughout. Read more
F1 Saudi GP: Piastri beats Verstappen, leads drivers’ championship (AlJazeera)
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri cruised to victory in the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to move atop the driver’s championship after five races on the season.
The 24-year-old became the first driver this season to win while not starting on the pole, and he comfortably finished the race ahead of runner-up Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who was given a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in the opening lap of the race on Sunday.Charles Leclerc finished third to give Ferrari its first podium of the season. Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris finished fourth, while Mercedes’s George Russell finished fifth and Kimi Antonelli was sixth. Read more