Family of murdered RTEAN official besiege court, alleges plot to scuttle trial of suspects (Vanguard)
Family members of Mr Muda Balogun, a Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), official allegedly murdered by three men on September 2022 in the Oko-Afo, Ojo area of Lagos State on Monday besieged the premises of Tinubu Magistrate Court.
The wife, children, and other family members of the deceased were sighted crying profusely as they alleged a plot by the Police to scuttle the trial of the suspects.
Pleading with Police authorities and the Lagos State Government to ensure that justice is served in the matter, one of the family members who did not want his name mentioned said that there are indications that the suspects are conspiring with some police officers to evade justice. Read more
Tension as commercial banks reject old naira notes in Kano (Guardian)
Anxiety is building up as commercial banks in Kano are refusing to attend to customers with the old naira notes.
Our correspondent gathered that the banks are not issuing the new naira notes to customers in return.
The Guardian observed that some branches of financial institutions in the city have already shut down operations against possible vent of anger by angry customers. It was also noticed that the few banks open for business are with a heavy security presence. Read more
Governorship Candidates planning merger to defeat Sanwo-Olu – Jandor (DailyTrust)
The Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos, Abdulazeez Olajide Adediran, Aka, Jandor has hinted that merger and alignment talks are ongoing among governorship candidates in the state to defeat the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 2023 governorship election.
He spoke in response to a question at the private sector engagement forum organised for governorship candidates by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Tuesday.
Three candidates including Jandor, those of Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and African Democratic Congress (ADC), Funsho Doherty were in attendance, but Sanwo-Olu was absent. Read more
Whitney Adeniran: Lagos offers clarification on Chrisland Schools closure (NewTelegraph)
The Lagos State Ministry of Education has said that only the Chrisland High School, Ikeja branch is affected by its shut down order and not other schools operated by the owners.
The Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Ganiu Lawal, offered the explanation.
In a statement on Tuesday, Lawal stated that only Chrisland High School, Ikeja, where Whitney Adeniran was a student until her death, remains closed as directed and the school authority has complied. Read more
Rivers Police rescues victim, kill suspected kidnapper (Punch)
The Rivers State Police Command said its operatives shot a suspected kidnapper dead, while another was arrested during a raid of criminal hideouts in Ndoki waterfront in Port Harcourt.
The police also said arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 and a revolver, were recovered from the arrested suspect.
Spokesperson of the command, Grace Iringe-Koko, disclosed this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Tuesday. She said one of the suspects was shot dead during a gun battle with the police. Read more
Naira Crunch: Falana slams CBN over ‘‘failure to obey Supreme Court order’’ (Channels)
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of flouting the interim injunction of the Supreme Court suspending the implementation of the February 10 deadline on the use of the old banknotes.
Following the redesign of the N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes in November 2022, Nigerians trooped to various banks to deposit their old currencies in line with the initial January 31 deadline, which the apex bank later extended to February 10.
However, an interim injunction granted by the Supreme Court on February 8 restrained the CBN from carrying out the implementation. Read more
FG to declare 111 historical sites as National Monuments (Vanguard)
The Federal Government said it had started the process of declaring 111 historical sites in the country as National Monuments.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at the 26th edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023).
He said the process of declaring the sites as national monuments had reached an advanced stage and awaiting the Presidential Assent. Read more
Oscars president admits response to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock was “inadequate” (NME)
Oscars president Janet Yang has admitted that the organisation’s response to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards was “inadequate”.
During the ceremony, Smith took the stage and slapped Rock across the face after the latter made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head. After the slap, Smith returned to his seat and repeatedly yelled at Rock: “Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth!”
The event continued as normal after the incident, with Smith remaining in attendance and later going on to win Best Actor for his performance in King Richard. Read more
Scientific breakthrough could take us closer to impactful quantum computers (TheNextWeb)
In a world first, scientists from the University of Sussex and Universal Quantum, a spin-off of the university, have demonstrated that quantum bits (qubits) can directly transfer between quantum computer microchips.
This breakthrough is expected to overcome a major obstacle in building quantum computers that are large and powerful enough to address the crucial societal challenges they’re envisioned to: from medicine development, to the creation of new materials and climate change solutions.
To address these issues, experts estimate that millions of qubits are required — a number currently out of reach, with existing quantum computers operating on the 100-qubit scale. Read more
Deadpool 3 casts The Crown and Pennyworth star Emma Corrin (ComicBook)
Emma Corrin, best known for her role in Netflix’s The Crown, has joined the cast of Deadpool 3 in an as-yet-undisclosed role, according to star Ryan Reynolds. The actor welcomed Corrin to the “Deadpool family” on Twitter, where all of the big news about this movie has been revealed so far. The first Deadpool was released in theaters in February 2016, and became such a hit that suddenly February felt like a more viable proving ground for big tentpole action movies. So it makes some kind of sense to announce new casting on Valentine’s Day.
Not much is known yet about Deadpool 3, other than the fairly significant fact that Hugh Jackman will bring his version of Wolverine out of retirement to appear in the film. Of course, in spite of a Deadpool 2 joke acknowledging the character’s death in Logan, Jackman’s Wolverine comes from an earlier point in the timeline than Logan, and his Deadpool appearance will not change the poignant sendoff his character (and Patrick Stewart’s Professor X) got in that film. Read more
Laura Pausini announces 24-hour marathon concert between the US and Europe to mark 30-year career (Variety)
Singer Laura Pausini is celebrating three decades as Italy’s top female artist, announcing on Feb. 14 that she will embark on a three-stop concert tour between the US and Europe to take place within 24 hours. Pausini will perform ten songs in each city, representing each decade of her career.
Pausini’s run will begin at 6pm in New York City’s Apollo Theater on Feb. 26, where she will sing for one hour before hopping on a plane bound for Madrid to perform at the Music Station by 3 p.m. CET on Feb. 27. Her third and final stop will be in Milan’s Teatro Carcano, where she plans to begin performing at 11 p.m. CET.
“This is a tour that, let’s say, begins and ends on the same day,” says Pausini of the outing named “#Laura30.” (All shows will be free and open to the public.) “This is also the retelling of my journey because I got started in Italy, then I went to Spain, and after I went to the United States. I had to pick three cities in each country. Initially, it was going to be Miami for the US but I would not have arrived on time to Madrid and be able to do this whole 24-hour trip.” Read more
Morrissey claims Capitol Records chose Sam Smith’s “satanism” over his new album (FarOut)
Indie rocker Morrissey has criticised former label Capitol Records once more for allegedly shelving his album Bonfire of Teenagers, which followed his departure from the label late last year.
In a new statement posted on his website, the former Smiths vocalist compared Capitol’s decision not to release Bonfire of Teenagers with the promotion campaign around Sam Smith. Notably, Smith has released all four of their albums on the label.
“Capitol Records (Los Angeles) proudly promotes Sam Smith’s ‘satanism’; yet they consider the honest truth of Morrissey’s factual ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ to be their biggest threat and they will not release it despite their contractual obligation and promise to do so,” the statement reads. Read more
Earthquake-hit Syria to open 2 more border crossings for aid delivery – UN (BBC)
Syria’s government has agreed to open two more border crossings to allow aid to be delivered to opposition-held north-western areas devastated by last week’s earthquakes, the UN says.
“It’s going to make a big difference. We are now using just one crossing,” a UN spokesman told the BBC.
The quakes in neighbouring Turkey are known to have killed almost 40,000 people in the two countries.
Many Syrians have been angry over the lack of aid to their war-torn nation. Read more
2023 Federation Cup to begin May – NFF (Punch)
The Nigeria Football Federation has disclosed that the 2023 edition of the Federation Cup will
begin in May.
The NFF revealed this in a statement at the end of its meeting on Monday night in Abuja.
The 2022 edition of the competition was inconclusive and no winner was announced by the NFF. Read more
Jakub Jankto: Czech Republic international comes out as gay in social media statement (Sky)
Czech Republic international Jakub Jankto has become the highest-profile current male footballer to announce he is gay.
Jankto, who plays for Sparta Prague on loan from Getafe, revealed his sexuality in a post on Twitter, saying: “I no longer want to hide myself.”
The 27-year-old midfielder has 45 caps for his country and has previously played in Italy for Sampdoria and Udinese. Read more
Valencia: Ruben Baraja named manager after Gennaro Gattuso departure (BBC)
La Liga strugglers Valencia have appointed former midfielder Ruben Baraja as manager.
The 47-year-old is the club’s 10th permanent manager in less than nine years. Gennaro Gattuso left last month after only seven months in charge.
Baraja played 364 games for Valencia between 2000 and 2010 and won 43 caps for Spain.
Valencia, who have lost six of their past seven league games, are third from bottom, one point from safety. Read more
Charles Leclerc given new nickname in amusing team radio message (Express)
Charles Leclerc has been handed the bizarre new nickname of ‘Perceval’ by Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz. The unique name was revealed during Ferrari’s launch event as Leclerc took the new SF-23 for its first spin. It came after Sainz took over Ferrari’s team radio as Leclerc pulled onto the Fiorano test track desperate for news on the team’s new package.
The Spaniard then called Leclerc “Perceval”, before asking him for more information about the new machine. He said: “Perceval, how is the car? Do you like it?”
Leclerc responded: “Hello mate! Can I do one more lap?” However, Sainz quickly interjected: “No, no, no – box, box, box, box, box, it’s my turn! It’s my turn.” Read more
Chris Eubank Jr. triggers rematch clause with Liam Smith after knockout defeat (ESPN)
Chris Eubank Jr. said on Tuesday he has triggered a rematch clause with Liam Smith following their clash last month.
Smith stopped Eubank with a fourth-round knockout on Jan. 21 at the Manchester Arena, England. It was Eubank’s third defeat of his career and his first via stoppage.
“This morning I activated the rematch clause via my lawyers & sent to my promoters @Wasserman Happy Valentines Day @LiamBeefySmith,” the 33-year-old said in a social media post on Tuesday. Read more