Evans: Scared witnesses can testify online, court rules (Nation)
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of an Ikeja Special Offences Court, has granted permission to two witnesses who do not want to appear in court to testify against kidnap kingpin, Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans to testify online.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports, that Taiwo gave the approval following an application by the state prosecutor, Ms S.O Fashola that the evidence of two prosecution witnesses be heard in court via audio-visual means on Monday.
“This court is satisfied that the prosecution has given cogent reasons why Section 210 of the Evidence Act 2011and Section 200(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law as amended should avail the prosecution.
“It is stated on the affidavit that the witnesses are concerned for their lives and that of their families and they now live outside the jurisdiction of the court. Read more
Firefighters struggle to rescue goods worth N500m from Lagos fire (Nation)
More than 15 hours after fire outbreak at one of the biggest auto spare part warehouses in Ladipo, Mushin, Lagos State, firefighters have continued to struggle to rescue goods worth more than N500 million.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fire spread to the three-storey building at 11.00 p.m. on Sunday.
The building is located at No. 85, Ladipo St., off Fatai Atere Road, Ladipo.
Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, South-West Zonal Coordinator of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said that security fortification of the building made access to it difficult. Read more
Ataga’s alleged Murder: Witness composure stalls Chidinma’s trial (Independent)
The scheduled trial of Chidinma Ojukwu, the alleged murder suspect of Super TV Chief Executive Officer,Usifo Ataga, before a Lagos High Court, sitting at Tafa Balewa Square, TBS, was on Monday stalled due to the composure, of the witness.
The defendant Ojukwu, a 300-level Mass Communication student of the University of Lagos, (first defendant), and two others are standing trial over Ataga’s murder.
Ojukwu is standing trial alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, and one Adedapo Quadri.
At the resumed hearing of the matter, the Prosecuting counsel Yusuf Sule, asked the court to adjourned the trial till November 30. Read more
Lagos to implement “no inspection, no certificate of roadworthiness” policy January (Independent)
As part of the reforms of the transportation system of Lagos State, the Government is set to commence the ‘No Inspection, No Certificate of Roadworthiness: rule by January 2022 to improve safety on all roads across the metropolis.
This hint was dropped by Dr. Frederic Oladeinde the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, at a Meeting held at the Vehicle Inspection Service, (VIS) Headquarters, Ojodu.
The Transport Commissioner revealed that the rule made by the State Government was enacted to curb and reduce to the barest minimum the accident rate which had recently spiked up in the State.
Oladeinde averred that the meeting which had in attendance transport unions and other stakeholders in the transport industry was convened to collate and incorporate suggestions on the new policy before its commencement. He further explained that the State Government is desirous of only roadworthy vehicles on the road network within the state, adding that this will reduce gridlocks specifically caused by broken down vehicles thereby improving the safety of lives and property. Read more
JAMB takes over collection of registration fee from Computer-Based Test centres to end extortion (Guardian)
JAMB says it has taken over the collection of the N700 registration fee for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), from 2022.
It said in its weekly bulletin issued in Abuja on Monday that it would collect the approved N700 registration fee at the point of registration and remit the same to the various approved centres.
“JAMB will as from the 2022 UTME exercise, be collecting the approved N700 registration fee on behalf of the various Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres along with its UTME registration fees.
“The board will then remit whatever is due to each registration centre to its bank account on a weekly basis or any timeframe acceptable to the centre owners. Read more
Omicron: We’re monitoring the situation – NCDC (DailyTrust)
The Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is monitoring emerging evidence on the new Omicron variant and its implication.
In a statement, the agency said it would carry Nigerians along in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The organisation said while the variant has so far not been detected in Nigeria, a number of cases have now been reported in the UK, Israel, Botswana, Hong-Kong, Germany, Belgium, Italy and counting.
It, however, said no deaths have been attributed to this new variant yet. Read more
Kaduna begins transition to 4-day working week Dec 1 (Punch)
The Kaduna State government on Monday announced that it will commence the transition to a four-day working week from December 1, 2021.
The move, which will permit public servants to work from home for one day per week, is a measure designed to help boost productivity, improve work-life balance and enable workers to have more time for their families, for rest and for agriculture.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye disclosed this in a statement titled ‘KDSG Begins Transition to Four-day Working Week From 1st December 2021.’
According to the statement which read in part, “The measure also reflects lessons learnt from managing the Covid-19 pandemic which required significant relaxations of old working traditions and the ascendance of virtual and remote working arrangements. Read more
Bauchi State University to produce paracetamol, other drugs soon ― VC (Tribune)
Following the delivery of tabletting equipment, the Bauchi State University, Gadu, will soon be producing paracetamol and other drugs, vice-chancellor of the university, Prof Auwal Uba, has said.
This was even as he said the university will start running doctorate programmes in pharmacy.
Uba made this known during an interview with newsmen in Kaduna on Monday.
Uba remarked when the equipment are fully fixed, ‘we will engage major stakeholders who will guide us on what to do. Read more
Wizkid brings out Chris Brown at O2 show for singer’s first UK performance in a decade (Independent)
Wizkid brought out controversial R&B singer Chris Brown during the first of his sold-out shows at the O2 Arena in London.
The Nigerian artist was performing as part of his Made in Lagos tour. The first show broke the record for fastest-selling Afrobeats gig after tickets sold out in under 12 minutes.
During last night’s (Sunday 28 November) performance, Wizkid brought out special guests including Nigerian artist Tems and UK rapper Skepta.
Chris Brown came out to perform a rendition of “Go Crazy”, his 2020 collaboration with Young Thug. Read more
Trial of Jussie Smollett, accused of plotting hoax attack, begins in Chicago (Guardian)
Two brothers stand at the center of the case that prosecutors will lay before jurors when the trial of Jussie Smollett begins with jury selection on Monday.
The former Empire actor contends he was the victim of a racist and homophobic assault in downtown Chicago on a cold night in January 2019.
The siblings, who worked with him on the TV show, say he paid them $3,500 to pose as his attackers.
Smollett is accused of lying to police about the alleged attack and has been charged with felony disorderly conduct. The crime carries a sentence of up to three years in prison but experts have said it is more likely that if Smollett is convicted he would be placed on probation and perhaps ordered to perform community service. Read more
Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney recall their last meeting with George Harrison (PlanetRadio)
The Beatles guitarist George Harrison sadly passed away on 29th November 2001, and in the 20 years since his death the surviving band members Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney have opened up about their last meeting with George.
In November 2001, The Beatles members got together for lunch in New York just a few weeks before George’s death, along with George’s wife Olivia and some other associates. At this point George was receiving treatment for a brain tumour, and the trio had not met up for several years.
A few years after this meeting, Paul McCartney spoke to Uncut: “I sat with him for a few hours when he was in treatment just outside New York. He was about 10 days away from his death, as I recall. We joked about things – just amusing, nutty stuff.
“It was good. It was like we were dreaming. He was my little baby brother, almost, because I’d known him that long. We held hands. It’s funny, even at the height of our friendship – as guys – you would never hold hands. It just wasn’t a Liverpool thing. But it was lovely.” Read more
BBC Studios signs development deal with Mo Abudu of EbonyLife, Set 6-Part Heist Thriller “Reclaim” (Deadline)
BBC Studios Drama Productions has set up a development partnership with Nigerian TV pioneer Mosunmola “Mo” Abudu, founder and CEO of entertainment network EbonyLife Media. The deal was brokered by CAA.
The deal will see BBC Studios Drama Productions develop a new action-adventure series with Abudu’s EbonyLife. The drama, titled Reclaim, is written by BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Rowan Athale (The Rise) and is based on an original idea by Mo Abudu, Heidi Uys and Bode Asiyanbi. EbonyLife has described it as its “first big-budget, global series”.
The six part heist thriller series will combine themes of colonialism, race and cultural ownership as it follows a team of art thieves looking to return artworks stolen by the British Empire 125 years ago from the Kingdom of Benin, back to its rightful home in Nigeria.
On his death bed, billionaire art collector, Chief Inneh, hands his life’s mission over to his daughter Idia Nicole Inneh: she must reclaim four looted ivory masks depicting Queen Idia, the first Queen Mother of the 16th century Benin Empire. The exquisite masks are on display in museums in Britain, Germany, and the United States, and have to be returned to Nigeria to restore national pride. A woman of action with nothing to lose, Idia assembles a kick-ass team of talented but morally dubious individuals from around the globe including world-class art thief Matthew Jones, art expert Xena Kanene, yahoo-boy Hector Mawusi and logistics genius Lindiwe Radebe. Read more
Female employee got ‘substantial’ settlement over bullying claims against Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave, lawsuit claims (Independent)
A “very substantial” payment was made to a female ex-Web Summit employee to settle claims of bullying and harassment against its CEO Paddy Cosgrave, a former director has alleged in High Court proceedings.
The allegation is one of several serious claims made in the case about Mr Cosgrave’s professional conduct.
Daire Hickey, a fellow co-founder of the successful tech conference, accused Mr Cosgrave of routinely chastising and demeaning staff, particularly women.
He alleged the 38-year-old reduced employees to tears or placed them under inordinate stress. Read more
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey expected to step down: CNBC (NYPost)
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is expected to step down from his executive role, CNBC reported, citing sources.
Shares of the social media company spiked more than 11 percent on the news.The stock was last seen trading more than 5 percent higher, at $49.69 per share.
Critics of Dorsey have long been skeptical of his dual roles as CEO of both Twitter and payment-processing firm Square, charging that he can’t effectively manage both multi-billion dollar companies.
Elliott Management, the New York-based hedge fund run by billionaire Paul Singer, has previously disclosed a substantial stake in Twitter. In 2020, the hedge fund sought to replace Dorsey as CEO and force the company to make other changes to its corporate structure. Read more
Customers face 4th night snowed in at Britain’s highest pub (Guardian)
Sixty-one people face a fourth night snowed in at Britain’s highest pub with a best-dressed snowman competition planned on Monday to pass the time.
Guests who had travelled to the 17th-century Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales on Friday night to watch an Oasis tribute band have been trapped ever since as Storm Arwen hit the UK, with staff laying on pub quizzes, board games and karaoke for entertainment.
Blizzards causing 9ft-high snow drifts meant a tunnel had to be cut from the front door, but roads remained impassable owing to fallen power cables that had blown over in the high winds. Mountain rescuers had made it through the snow to attend to one guest who needed medical attention for an ongoing condition.
Most of the guests, who are all adults, slept on sofas and mattresses spread on the stone-flagged floor and had access to showers. As well as acoustic performances by Noasis – now nicknamed Snow-asis, according to the pub’s general manager, Nicola Townsend – the group have watched films shown on a projector and enjoyed a traditional Sunday lunch. Read more
Taiwan hopes for ‘robust and close relations’ with Baltic States, Tsai Ing-wen tells visiting lawmakers (SCMP)
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has told a group of visiting Baltic lawmakers that her administration would work to boost Taiwan’s presence in Europe after it opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania.
“We have lately seen exchanges between Taiwan and Lithuania growing increasingly close in many different areas,” Tsai told the 10 members of parliament from Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia at the presidential office on Monday.
She said those exchanges included Lithuania inviting former Taiwanese vice-president Chen Chien-jen to speak at a democracy forum in Vilnius on November 19, and Taiwan sending a trade and investment delegation to Lithuania last month where agreements were signed to cooperate on semiconductors, satellites and biotechnology.
“This month, the Taiwanese Representative Office officially opened,” she said, referring to the de facto embassy. “We expect Lithuania to establish a representative office in Taiwan earlier next year.” Read more
Magdalena Andersson named Swedish Prime Minister (again) (Politico)
Sweden’s Magdalena Andersson was named prime minister for the second time in five days on Monday, after lawmakers accepted her plan to lead a single-party Social Democratic government.
Andersson was first appointed last Wednesday — when she planned to head a two-party coalition with the Greens — but resigned just seven hours later after failing to get parliamentary backing for her budget and the Greens quit the government in response.
Andersson narrowly edged Monday’s vote. A majority of 175 votes would have been needed to stop her and, in the event, 173 Swedish lawmakers opposed her. The vote was the first step in a strategy Andersson hopes will lead to victory at a national election scheduled for next September.
As head of a one-party government, she will now aim to strike deals on an issue-by-issue basis with a disparate range of allies — including the Green, Left and Center Parties who backed her as prime minister — rather than seek to agree broad strategies with those parties as her predecessor and party colleague Stefan Löfven tried to do. Read more
More worries for Eagles as Okoye sustains shoulder injury (Sun)
Ahead of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, is the latest Eagle on doubt list after sustaining an injury in Sparta Rotterdam’s home match against Ajax on Sunday.
The Nigerian international, was forced off the game in the 24th minute of the Eredivisie encounter with league leaders Ajax.
Sparta has confirmed the worrying development via their twitter handle but were not forthcoming with the nature of the injury Okay sustained.
The club wrote: “Sparta are forced to make a first change due to injury to Okoye.” Read more
Novak Djokovic unlikely to play at Australian Open over Covid-19 vaccination rules says player’s father (BBC)
Novak Djokovic is unlikely to play at the Australian Open unless rules over Covid-19 vaccinations are relaxed, says his father Srdjan Djokovic.
Unvaccinated players will not be allowed to compete at the 2022 event and defending champion Djokovic, 34, has declined to disclose his status.
“Under these blackmails and conditions, he probably won’t [play],” Srdjan Djokovic told Serb TV.
“I wouldn’t do that. And he’s my son, so you decide for yourself.” Read more
Livid Cristiano Ronaldo said he would boycott Ballon d’Or over Lionel Messi (DailyStar)
A livid Cristiano Ronaldo once said that he would boycott the Ballon d’Or ceremony if he lost out on the award to Lionel Messi.
The record-breaking pair have won 11 awards between them, with Messi’s haul of six trophies the most of any player in football history.
The Paris Saint-Germain playmaker is the favourite to pick up the gong on Monday night when the 2021 edition is presented in Paris, with Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski his closest challenger.
The 2020 ceremony for the Ballon d’Or was cancelled due to Covid, with Lewandowski the favourite for last year’s award after being named UEFA and FIFA player of the year. Read more
Stephen Kenny: Football Association of Ireland set to discuss manager’s future (BBC)
Stephen Kenny’s future as Republic of Ireland boss is set to be part of the agenda when the Football Association of Ireland board meets on Monday.
Kenny’s current contract will expire in July with the Republic scheduled to play their four opening Nations League games in June.
The Republic’s recent improvement has led to calls for Kenny to be given an immediate long-term contract extension.
But there have been voices suggesting the FAI should not rush the decision. Read more
Paul Pogba holds ‘brief’ talks with PSG chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi amid Man Utd exit links (Express)
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba recently spoke with Paris Saint-Germain club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi during a brief meeting in France, according to reports. Pogba is widely expected to leave the Red Devils ahead of next season after failing to agree a new contract at Old Trafford despite lengthy talks with the club’s hierarchy.
The 28-year-old’s representatives have been locked in negotiations with United for some time but are yet to finalise a proposed extension to his current deal.
Pogba will be a free agent at the end of next season as things stand, meaning that he will be able to strike a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club from January.
A number of potential suitors have been linked with a move for his services in recent weeks, with Real Madrid said to be among the interested parties. Read more
Kyeva credits Masters for new lease of life for old athletes (TheStar)
After an exceptional performance at the past weekend’s Open Africa Athletics Masters, Cosmas Kyeva has lauded the idea behind the event as evidence that sports never stops regardless of one’s age.
Kyeva said the competition — meant for athletes aged 35 years and above — enables many to remain active even after hanging their spikes and guards against loneliness and boredom, which affects many retired athletes.
“It shows that athletics is a lifetime career that only ends when you die. It is a profession and a fallback plan for athletes after they retire from active running. When you remain active like the way most people here do, it keeps you in good shape and health,” Kyeva said.
The 2019 Poznan Marathon champion added: “I would like to encourage those of us who have retired to come and try out at events such as these. Apart from just keeping healthy, they will also earn something into their pockets considering those who win here were feted.” Read more
Amid cancer fight, NBA ref Tony Brown returning to work (DailyMail)
Tony Brown usually isn´t that excited about being assigned a shift as one of the referees working in the NBA´s replay center.
That is, until now.
The longtime NBA ref – diagnosed earlier this year with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer – is going back to work Monday for the first time in eight months. He´s been cleared to work in the replay center for two nights, after his family, his doctors and the league agreed that his treatment has gone well enough to allow for him to start a comeback.
“I haven´t had time to sit around and be like `Why me? or `What am I going to do?´” Brown said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Me not fighting would have made me feel like I was letting people down. What kind of example was I going to be to my kids if I just laid in this bed and let it overtake me? I had to show my kids that there´s nothing in life that you can´t challenge and overcome if you have a positive mindset.” Read more
Suzann Pettersen, hero of the 2019 Solheim Cup, will captain Europeans in 2023 (Yahoo)
Suzann Pettersen’s professional walk-off was among golf’s most memorable, as she sank the winning putt in the 2019 Solheim Cup and then declared her playing career over.
Pettersen returned to be a vice captain on the Catriona Matthew’s victorious team at Inverness this year and will next lead the squad herself in Spain.
The 40-year-old Norwegian was announced on Monday as the 2023 European Solheim Cup captain. The biennial event is scheduled to take place at Finca Cortesín in Andalucía, Spain, Sept. 22-24.
“This is the biggest honor of my career,” Pettersen said. Read more