Family compensated 11-months after street sweeper died at Third Mainland Bridge (Guardian)
Eleven months after Folashade Ogunniyi was killed by a hit and run driver while sweeping dirt on Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, her employer has compensated her family.
Ogunnniyi died in August 2019. Until her death, the late sweeper, a mother of three, was employed by Highway Managers, an environment sanitation firm working contracted by the Lagos State Government.
Her body was recovered from the lagoon underneath the bridge on Friday, August 23, three days after she was killed.
She earned N15,000 as salary before her death. Without insurance policy in place, Highway Managers initially promised to pay N45,000 to the family to make up for her salary for three months. Read more
Third Mainland Bridge closes midnight Friday – FG (Punch)
The Federal Government says the partial closure of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos State begins from Friday midnight July 24, 2020 to January 23, 2021.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, announced this on Tuesday at a press briefing in Abuja.
He stated that between 2015 and 2019, the government undertook a survey of all the bridges in Nigeria to determine their conditions and the urgency of repairs that should be done on them. Read more
Sanwo-Olu increases Lagbus fares by 46 per cent (Guardian)
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has approved the increase in the fare of the government-owned bus service Lagos Bus Services Limited by about 46 per cent.
In a statement by the Assistant Director, Corporate Communication, at the Lagos Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LAMATA), Kolawole Ojelabi, the increase will take effect from August 1.
The governor also approved LBSL’s request to increase the number of passengers per bus from 20 to 42. The government had earlier reduced the number of passengers per trip due to the coronavirus pandemic to enable social distance. Read more
Kano residents decry weeks of acute water scarcity (Vanguard)
Some residents of Kano metropolis have decried weeks of acute water scarcity in the city and urged the state government to take appropriate measures to restore supply.
The water scarcity affected communities in Kano Municipal, Dala, Nasarawa, Taurauni, Gwale and Fagge Local Government Areas (LGAs).
A cross-section of the residents who spoke to the Newsmen on Tuesday said the situation has exposed them to untold hardship in sourcing potable water. Read more
Gunmen kill village head, nine others in Zango Kataf (Nation)
Gunmen have killed the village head of Gora Gan village in Zango-Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State and nine others.
The latest killings occurred 24 hours after 21 youths were killed during a wedding ceremony in Kukum Daji village of Kaura Local Government.
The Nation learnt a six-year-old boy was among victims of the latest attack, which left many other villagers injured.
Eyewitnesses said the gunmen, numbering about 20, invaded the village around 7.10pm on Monday and started shooting sporadically. Read more
Torture home: Police hand over 15 children to rights agency (Punch)
The Police Command in Niger State has handed over the 15 children rescued from one Umar Ahmed, to Niger State Child’s Rights Agency pending when the investigation would be concluded.
The children who are between the ages of 2 to 10 years were in a dehumanizing condition in the guise of Almajiri school, where they are being tortured on a daily basis by the suspect.
The command’s Spokesman, Wasiu Abiodun, on Tuesday told our correspondent that the reason why they left them in the hands of child’s rights agency was to take proper care of them. Read more
774,000 special jobs: Reps ask Finance Ministry not to release funds if…(Vanguard)
House of Representatives has urged the Ministry of Finance not to release any funds for the implementation of the special public works programme if it was in breach of due process, the Appropriation Act 2020 as well as the National Directorate of Employment, NDE Act.
The House took the resolution after considering and adopting a motion titled “The Need to Uphold the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) Act In The Implementation of the Special Works Programme” sponsored by the deputy minority leader, Hon. Toby Okechukwu and, the Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji both of when from Enugu State at Tuesday plenary. Read more
International flights may resume before October – FG (Nation)
The Federal Government has given indications international flight may resume before October.
It had initially said it will liaise with the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS), other countries and stakeholders before it fixes a date for the resumption.
The Federal Government also explained the entry ban placed on Nigeria by some countries was one of the factors responsible for the delay in the resumption of international flights.
International flights were suspended as part of measures to curb spread of coronavirus. Read more
Omar al-Bashir: Sudan’s ex-president on trial for 1989 coup (BBC)
Sudan’s ousted long-serving leader Omar al-Bashir has gone on trial in the capital, Khartoum, in connection with the military coup that brought him to power more than three decades ago.
The 76-year-old, who has already been convicted for corruption, could face the death penalty if found guilty over his role in the 1989 coup.
More than 20 former officials are on trial alongside him.
Bashir was forced from power in 2019 following popular protests. Read more
EU leaders strike ‘historic’ $2 trillion deal to rebuild Europe’s economy (CNN)
After almost five days of fraught discussions, European leaders have agreed to create a €750 billion ($858 billion) recovery fund to rebuild EU economies ravaged by the coronavirus crisis.
The European Commission will borrow the money on financial markets and distribute just under half of it — €390 billion euros ($446 billion) — as grants to the hardest hit EU states, with the rest provided as loans. Leaders also agreed a new EU budget of nearly €1.1 trillion ($1.3 trillion) for 2021-2027, creating combined spending power of about €1.8 trillion ($2 trillion). Read more
Recently active volcanic structures found on Venus (CBC)
Scientists have identified 37 volcanic structures on Venus that appear to be recently active — and probably still are — painting the picture of a geologically dynamic planet and not a dormant world, as was previously thought.
The research focused on ring-like structures called coronae, caused by an upwelling of hot rock from deep within the planet’s interior, and provided compelling evidence of widespread recent tectonic and magma activity on Venus’s surface, researchers said on Monday.
Many scientists had long thought that Venus, lacking the plate tectonics that gradually reshape Earth’s surface, had essentially been dormant geologically for the past half-billion years. Read more
Federal agents ‘beaten back’ into Portland courthouse by 2,000 protesters, including parent groups (TheDailyBeast)
An estimated crowd of 2,000 people participating in the protests in Portland, Oregon, “tore open the doors of a federal courthouse and then beat back the agents inside” in the early hours of Tuesday morning, a journalist on the scene reported on Twitter.
Bellingcat writer Robert Evans posted multiple videos online that appeared to show federal agents shooting what are assumed to be non-lethal projectiles at protesters, including a parents group, Wall of Moms, out of “murder holes” in a wooden structure built around the courthouse to protect it.
The new clashes represent a further escalation in the conflict between protesters and federal agents sent into the city by the Trump administration. Read more
How “Karen” became a symbol of racism (Vox)
Karens are having a rough year. Over the past few months, the “Karen” meme that started out as mocking a fairly specific brand of white woman — an anti-vaxxer mum with an entitlement complex and “can I speak to the manager” hair — has undergone several rapid transitions. The name “Karen” has subsequently become virtually synonymous with more than just annoyed mums. Now, “Karen” is a stand-in for 2020’s fraught social politics.
When we first dissected the Karen meme in early February, it was seen as a giant joke. As it continued gaining popularity, however, it abruptly became a lot less funny and a lot more pointed. Throughout the spring, calling someone a “Karen” morphed from a jab at someone’s self-absorption into a shorthand for social policing around Covid-19. Read more
Jeff Bezos makes $13b in one day during pandemic (Gizmodo)
The U.S. is hanging on the precipice of economic collapse, with around 25 million Americans slated to be kicked off extended coronavirus pandemic uninsurance later this week and the White House mulling tax cuts and screw you as a replacement. But every cloud has an obscene silver lining: world’s richest man and ghoulish Amazon overlord Jeff Bezos is doing great!
According to a Bloomberg estimate, Jeff Bezos saw his estimated net wealth surge by $13 billion to $189.3 billion on Monday. That’s the largest single-day increase in the history of the news agency’s eight-year-old Billionaires Index. Much of that increase was simply the reversal of a sudden decline in tech company stock last week (Microsoft rose 4.3 percent on Monday, while Tesla rose 9.5 percent). However, Amazon stock is up around 73 percent year to date—fueled by increased online shopping and demand for cloud services, i.e. the pandemic—and Bezos’s personal hoard has surged $74.4 billion since the start of 2020. Read more
Why a vaccine may not be enough to end the pandemic (Vox)
There are dozens of Covid-19 coronavirus vaccines being tested right now, but no guarantee any of them will succeed. Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images
Without a vaccine or treatment, the world has been forced to adopt severe tactics to slow the spread of Covid-19: social distancing, shutdowns, closures, and cancellations. As states in the US begin to reopen, it’s clear there is still much hardship to come — for those laid off, for businesses forced to implement costly new health measures, for those still at risk of infection.
But the global race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine to shield people from the infection is now well underway, and gaining ground by the week. There are now more than 150 vaccines under development from governments, nonprofits, and private companies. Several are in stages of human clinical trials. Some of the developers, including a research group in China and the US biotech firm Moderna, have already posted preliminary but promising results from their vaccine trials.
“This is an extraordinary time we’re living in right now,” said Anna. Read more
US Open ‘not affected’ by Washington Open cancellation (BBC)
The cancellation of the Washington Open will “in no way” impact next month’s behind-closed-doors US Open, says the United States Tennis Association.
The return of the ATP Tour has been pushed back to later in August after the Washington event was cancelled because of “too many unresolved issues” caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
It had been set to start on 13 August.
The Cincinnati Open and the US Open are still scheduled to take place back-to-back in New York from 20 August. Read more
Ronaldo puts Juve on brink of ninth straight Serie A title (Guardian)
Cristiano Ronaldo put Juventus on the brink of a ninth consecutive Italian league title on Monday after he scored twice in a 2-1 win over Lazio to become the first player to hit 50 goals in Serie A, La Liga and the Premier League.
Juventus ended a three-match winless run thanks to Ronaldo’s second-half brace that moves them eight points clear of second-placed Inter Milan with four games remaining.
Maurizio Sarri’s side could win the title on Thursday against lowly Udinese, or on Sunday at home against Sampdoria, depending on their rivals’ results this week.
“We are missing four points, only after we have achieved them will we then be able to think about the goal achieved,” said Sarri. Read more
Adria Tour: Dominic Thiem says Novak Djokovic didn’t break any law (CNN)
World No. 3 Dominic Thiem has said recent criticism of Novak Djokovic for his part in organizing the controversial Adria Tour in June is unfair.
A host of stars, including world No.1 Djokovic, tested positive for Covid-19 after competing in the tournament, which attracted large crowds and had limited social distancing in place, with players hugging and high-fiving each other, playing basketball and dancing together.
Djokovic, who bore the brunt of the widespread backlash, has since apologized for his involvement in hosting the event in the Balkans, saying in a statement he was “deeply sorry our tournament had caused harm.” Read more
How football saved Eric Murangwa Eugene from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide (BBC)
People sometimes joke about football ‘being a matter of life and death” but for former Rwanda captain Eric Murangwa Eugene MBE, the statement is no laughing matter.
Aged 18, the young goalkeeper stared death squarely in the face as the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda began in his home country in April 1994.
More than 25 years on, he took BBC Sport Africa back to Rwanda to tell the tale of how he survived one of the bloodiest and most shocking chapters in the continent’s history.
“A group of soldiers came, screaming, shouting. They were coming to kill us,” Eric relived the ordeal with BBC Sport Africa sat on a sofa in the house where he used to live.
“It was very scary. I can still hear their screams right now”. Read more
Bittersweet tales for Nigerians as European season ends (Punch)
It’s been mixed blessing for Nigerian footballers in Europe in the last few days, with some getting relegated from topflight football, while others emerged champions, as well as gain promotion to the top tier.
Super Eagles duo, Kenneth Omeruo and Chidozie Awaziem, could only watch as Leganes were relegated from LaLiga after their 2-2 draw against champions Real Madrid on Sunday.
Leganes needed a win to retain their status as long as Celta Vigo lost to Espanyol, but the game ended goalless, ensuring that the Célticos remained in the Spanish topflight. With the result, Los Pepineros finished 18th in the league table with 36 points, winning eight games, with 12 draws and 18 losses. Read more
Premier League spot up for grabs on Championship final day (Nation)
A place in the Premier League is up for grabs on Wednesday, with three teams in the chase for the second automatic promotion spot from the Championship on the final day of the second-tier season.
Leeds United have already secured a return to the top flight after a 16-year absence, but West Bromwich Albion, Brentford and Fulham all have a chance of grabbing the runners-up spot and the lucrative prize it brings.
The third promotion place is decided via a four-team playoff, with those slots also to be finalised by Wednesday’s action. Read more