Families of slain police officers get N60m in Lagos (Nation)
Babajide Sanwo-Olu yesterday presented cheques worth N60million to families of police officers who lost their lives during the violence that trailed the #EndSARS protests
The governor presented the cheques of N10 million each to six families at the 14th annual town hall meeting on security organised by the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF).
He said the state government would give scholarship to the children of the fallen officers.
Sanwo-Olu said: “As we rebuild our state, security remains our top priority. We will continue to expand and improve on our security architecture until we achieve a world-class system. Read more
Fourth Mainland Bridge: 795 houses to go, say FG, Lagos govt (Punch)
The federal and Lagos State governments, on Thursday, said about 795 houses might be demolished to pave the way for the construction of the 37-kilometres Fourth Mainland Bridge.
They said a lot of efforts were made to reduce the number of affected houses from the initial 9,000 to 795.
This was revealed at the Environmental Social Impact Assessment Stakeholders’ Scoping Workshop on the project in Lagos. Read more
#EndSARS: IGP disowns suit to stop probe of officers (Nation)
The police have launched a probe of a suit to stop proceedings at the state judicial panels on brutality.
Inspector-General Mohammed Adamu, directed an investigation into the suit purportedly challenging the legality of the panels.
They were set up to investigate allegations of brutality by officers of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and others.
A statement by police spokesman Frank Mba said: “The IGP, who gave the order on the heels of trending reports in the media, today (yesterday) expressed the disapproval of the Force Management Team on the matter and ordered investigations into the alleged role of the Force Legal Section including its Head. Read more
NNPC defends withdrawal of $21b from NLNG account (Guardian)
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Mele Kyari, yesterday said that the withdrawal of over $21billion from the dividends account of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) was not illegal.
Kyari, who was represented by the Chief Financial Officer of the corporation, Mr. Umar Ajiya, at an investigative hearing of the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives chaired by Wole Oke (PDP-Osun), said the withdrawal was authorised by the Federal Government, as represented by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NNPC.
The GMD explained that the proceeds from the dividends account were the Federal Government’s share of revenues from oil shared among the federal and state tiers of the federation. Read more
Female soldier slaps man on crutches for scolding her child (Punch)
A physically challenged man, Adedeji Abolade, has accused a female soldier of allegedly assaulting him for scolding her son in the Mokola area of Ibadan, Oyo State.
The soldier, identified as Mamman H and attached to the Letmuck Barracks in a video that went viral on Thursday, was seen slapping Abolade, who was on crutches.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Abolade had scolded Mamman’s four-year-old son on Wednesday for attempting to cross the expressway alone. Read more
Bala-Usman: Despite COVID-19, NPA Generated N291bn in 10 Months (Thisday)
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman, yesterday revealed that despite the Covid-19 pandemic that disrupted global supply-chain and trade, the NPA was able to generated N291 billion in revenue from January to October 2020.
She said she was optimistic that the NPA would meet its annual target especially when compared with the revenue it generated last year.
Bala-Usman stated this when she appeared on the ‘Morning Show’ a breakfast programme on ARISE NEWS Channel, a sister broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers. Read more
Families of slain Borno farmers get N600,000 each (Punch)
Forty-eight families who were bereaved by the killing at a rice field in Borno State have been given N600,000 by the Borno State Government.
The bereaved families were also given bags of food items by a committee assigned by Governor Babagana Zulum to share items received on their behalf.
The shared fund came from combined support of N20m by the Northern Governors’ Forum and N5m by the North East Development Commission. Read more
Senate urges FG to procure COVID-19 vaccines for Nigerians (Guardian)
The Senate has urged the Federal Government to make sufficient funds available for procurement and administration of COVID-19 vaccines on Nigerians.
It described as unfortunate the failure by government to produce a plan for the purchase, distribution and administration of the therapy despite the fact that many nations globally had done so.
Adopting a motion sponsored yesterday by Senator Oloriegbe Ibrahim (APC: Kwara State) during plenary presided over by Senate President Ahmad Lawan in Abuja, the upper legislative chamber also directed its Committee on Health and Primary Health Care to summon the Ministries of Health and Finance, as well as the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 and other relevant agencies for their plans. Read more
Coronavirus: Italy bans Christmas travel between regions (BBC)
Italy is banning travel between its regions from 21 December to 6 January as part of strict coronavirus curbs over the Christmas holidays.
A curfew from 22:00 to 05:00 will also be in place.
Restaurants can open in some regions until 18:00 but only takeaways are allowed in other parts of the country. Ski slopes must close until 7 January.
It comes as Italy announced its highest daily Covid death toll since the pandemic started, with 993 fatalities. Read more
Adolf Hitler wins election in Namibia (Metro)
A politician named after the leader of Nazi Germany has won an election in Namibia. But Adolf Hitler Uunona has distanced himself from his namesake, and says he has no plans for world domination. The politician won more than 85% of the vote for the ruling SWAPO party in the regional council election in Oshana. After his victory Uunona told Bild he had ‘nothing to do with’ Nazi ideology. Read more
First batch of Covid-19 vaccines arrives in the UK (BBC)
The first consignment of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has arrived in the UK.
It has been taken to a central hub at an undisclosed location, and will now be distributed to hospital vaccination centres around the UK.
The UK has ordered 40 million doses – enough to vaccinate 20 million people.
England’s deputy chief medical officer said the first wave of vaccinations could prevent up to 99% of Covid-19 hospital admissions and deaths. Read more
Scientists tracked the staggering distance plastic pollution travels around Earth (Metro)
Scientists have measured the staggering distance plastic pollution can travel around the planet. Their findings, published in the journal Plos One, are based on data from GPS and satellite tags in 25 plastic bottles. The bottles were placed at various sites along the river Ganges, which originates in the Himalayas and flows through India and Bangladesh and eventually empties into the Bay of Bengal in the north-eastern part of the Indian Ocean. The researchers from the University of Exeter and the Zoological Society of London tracked the 500ml bottles, several of which travelled through the river into the Bay of Bengal. Read more
Boeing 737 Max sees first firm order since crashes (BBC)
Irish airline Ryanair has placed an order for 75 more Boeing 737 Max aircraft as the plane is set to return to the skies after two fatal crashes.
Ryanair had already agreed to buy 135 jets. The extra planes take the list value of the order to $22bn (£16.3bn).
The US Federal Aviation Administration recently certified the Boeing 737 Max for a return to service after it had been grounded since March 2019.
Ryanair said it would take delivery of the planes early next year. Read more
The first Wendy Williams Lifetime biopic trailer has dropped and fans are already obsessed (Metro)
Wendy Williams: The Movie is coming to screens in January, and fans need to grab a snack because it’s going to be quite the watch. The outspoken gossip queen has worked as the executive producer for the Lifetime biopic about her life and it is safe to say no table is left unturned. From her career highs and lows and drug addiction struggles to her marital breakdown, viewers can expect to watch it all play out when the film drops. The first trailer gives us the first proper look at The Oval star Ciera Payton as she reenacts some of Wendy’s most iconic moments – including that dramatic fall during Halloween. Read more
“Matrix 4” and “Dune” to go straight to streaming (BBC)
Warner Bros has escalated tensions between Hollywood’s studios and US cinemas with a decision to make all releases available to stream as soon as they hit the big screen.
The move will enable film fans to watch the forthcoming sci-fi epic Dune and the Matrix sequel on HBO Max at the same time as their cinema release.
Typically, new releases are shown exclusively at cinemas for months.
But with many cinemas shut due to the virus, studio revenues have plunged. Read more
‘Special night’ as Arsenal win in front of 2,000 fans (BBC)
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said the return of fans to Emirates Stadium as they outclassed Rapid Vienna in the Europa League made it a “very special night”.
It had been 271 days since Arsenal fans had last been at their home, for the victory against West Ham United on 7 March – and how the 2,000 allowed in relished watching the Gunners confirm their dominance of Group B.
“I’m delighted to have them back,” Arteta said. “They made a huge contribution. There was only 2,000 but it felt and sounded like a lot more.
“They were very supportive and encouraging to the team and the players have been saying what a huge difference it made. They felt that support.”
Alexandre Lacazette gave those gathered at a social distance inside the cavernous stadium an early reward with a spectacular 25-yard drive after 10 minutes that swerved high beyond the reach of Rapid keeper Richard Strebinger. Read more
Jose Mourinho expects Tottenham striker Harry Kane to be fit for north London derby against Arsenal (Metro)
Jose Mourinho ‘believes’ Tottenham striker Harry Kane will be fit for this weekend’s north London derby against Arsenal. Mourinho previously said the Spurs captain was a doubt for Sunday’s clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while refusing to discuss the nature of his injury. Kane – who has enjoyed a superb start to the season, scoring eight goals and making 11 assists – missed Tottenham’s 3-3 draw against Europa League rivals Rapid Vienna on Thursday. But Mourinho said after the six-goal thriller that he expects Kane to be fit for this weekend’s much-anticipated derby clash against Arsenal. Read more
Neymar wants Lionel Messi at Paris St-Germain – could it happen? (BBC)
Neymar caused a stir when he said he wants to play with Lionel Messi again next season, moments after helping Paris St-Germain to a 3-1 Champions League win over Manchester United.
“What I want most of all is to play with Messi again, to be able to enjoy him once again on the pitch,” Neymar told ESPN about his former Barcelona team-mate.
“He can play in my place, I have no problem with that! But I want to play with him next year, for sure. We have to do it next season.”
That revelation came as Barcelona interim president Carlos Tusquets said the club should have sold Messi in the summer. Read more
Khabib Nurmagomedov unfazed by likely Conor McGregor meeting at UFC 257 (Metro)
Khabib Nurmagomedov is likely to be in attendance at UFC 257 when Conor McGregor takes on Dustin Poirier, but he is not worried about a potential meeting with his bitter rival. Still the current UFC lightweight champion, Khabib has retired from professional MMA, but talk of an imminent return is rife. UFC president Dana White is very keen to get the Eagle back in the cage and his attendance at the huge lightweight meeting between McGregor and Poirier will only fuel talk of a very quick end to his retirement. Nurmagomedov and McGregor still have a bitter rivalry, despite the Russian comfortably beating the Irishman in their October 2018 fight at UFC 229. Read more
Los Angeles Lakers: Anthony Davis signs contract extension and LeBron James set for new deal (BBC)
Anthony Davis has agreed a new five-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, while LeBron James is set to sign a two-year extension.
Davis’ agent told ESPN the 27-year-old has formally agreed to the deal, which is worth a reported $190m (£141m).
He added that Davis has the option to terminate it prior to the fifth year.
James, 35, is set to sign a deal worth a reported $85m (£63m), which will run until the end of the 2022-23 season – his 20th in the NBA. Read more
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta provides Thomas Partey injury update ahead of Tottenham clash (Metro)
Mikel Arteta has confirmed Thomas Partey will train with his Arsenal team-mates tomorrow as he bids to prove his fitness ahead of this weekend’s north London derby against Tottenham. Summer signing Partey has not featured for the Gunners since he suffered an injury in the 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa almost a month ago. The Ghana midfielder was once again absent as Arsenal smashed Rapid Vienna 4-1 in the Europa League on Thursday night. Asked to provide an update on Partey’s fitness following the victory, Arteta said: ‘He’s putting a lot of pressure on us. Read more
Leicester undone by late winner in Ukraine (BBC)
Leicester’s hopes of sealing top spot in Europa League Group G with a game to spare were dashed as Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk grabbed a late winner on a freezing night in Zaporizhzhia.
A win would have been all but enough for the Foxes, but they might now have to defeat AEK Athens in their final match to ensure that top status.
Manager Brendan Rodgers made several changes to the line-up that started in the 2-1 defeat by Fulham, but welcomed back senior players Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu and Wilfred Ndidi following spells on the sidelines.
However, Turkish centre-back Soyuncu’s return lasted only 17 minutes when he suffered a recurrence of his groin injury, later confirmed by the Foxes boss. Read more