Fire kills two-year-old boy, injures girl in Lagos (Punch)
A two-year-old boy was burnt to death on Friday night after candlelight gutted a storey building on Ben Okonkwo Street, Ikotun area of Lagos State.
It was learnt that a five-year-old girl also suffered burns but was rescued by emergency officials who put out the fire. The identities of the victims had yet to be identified. Read more
Flood wreaks havoc in states as weather agencies warn coastal communities (Guardian)
In the first week of August, the Nigerian Hydrological Service Agency (NIHSA), the agency responsible for issuing flood alerts in Nigeria, issued an alert warning of imminent increased flooding in September.
The Director-General of NIHSA, Clement Nze, during a press briefing in Abuja, also accused state governments of failing to heed its previous warnings on floods released earlier in the year, just as it went ahead to urge them to pull down structures built on flood plains. Read more
GSM tax: MTN, Glo, Airtel, 9mobile subscribers, others to pay extra N261bn (Punch)
Telecom subscribers in the country are likely to pay an additional N261.18bn on voice calls, short message service and data in one year if the Senate passes the proposed Communications Service Bill into law.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Ali Ndume from Borno South, aims to charge nine per cent on communication services and pay-per-view TV services. Read more
Dangote Establishes N3bn Tomato Processing Factory in Kano (ThisDay)
Dangote Tomatoes Processing Plant has established a N3 billion Green House nursery in Kano, designed to process over 300 to 350 million tons of hybrid tomato seedlings expected to make Nigeria self-sufficient in tomatoes production.
The Managing-Director of the Farm, Mr. Abdulkarim Lawal Kaita, said that the Green House Nursery would facilitate increased production of high quality seedlings which the company plans to roll out to tomatoes farmers to both production of fresh tomatoes and locally made tomatoes paste in the country. Read more
BBNaija 2019: Who takes home the N60m grand prize today? (NewTelegraph)
…Mercy and Mike tipped as main contenders
The Big Brother Naija season 4 with the theme, ‘Pepper Dem’ will officially come to a climax today. Brother Naija Season 4 was officially unveiled on Sunday 30th June with 21 housemates. Four more housemates were later added midway into the show, making a total of 25 housemates this season.
The most watched reality show no doubt has witnessed a combination of arguments, fights, endurance and of course, romance and has sparked huge excitement among fans and viewers of the reality show. Read more
‘How we were tricked, trafficked to Burkina Faso and sold as slaves’ (DailyTrust)
Katsina ‘slave’ returnees in a group photograph with Governor Masari Traffickers are on the prowl and always tricking many into slavery in a well-coordinated ring. Usman Suleiman was among the 30 persons that were lured with a job offer in Sokoto only to find himself in Gaoua town, about 150 kilometres from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. Read more
Ekiti to begin n30,000 new minimum wage payment October (Independent)
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said the state government would begin the implementation of the new minimum wage of N30,000 from this month.
Fayemi said the decision was predicated on the need to improve the living standard of workers, especially teachers to be able to deliver the best and reposition the state to its pride of place as the education nerve centre of the country. Read more
Six elephants die trying to save each other at Thai waterfall (BBC)
Six elephants have fallen to their deaths in Thailand while trying to save each other from a notorious waterfall.
Officials said the incident occurred after a baby elephant slipped over the waterfall in central Thailand’s Khao Yai National Park.
Two other elephants were also found struggling on a cliff edge nearby, and have been moved by Thai authorities. Read more
Iraq protests: UN calls for end to ‘senseless loss of life’ (BBC)
The United Nations has called for an end to the “senseless loss of life” in Iraq as the death toll from anti-government protests nears 100.
Demonstrators say they are taking a stand against unemployment, poor public services and corruption in the country.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq said: “Five days of deaths and injuries: this must stop.” Read more
Mum killed her son, 2, ‘after he refused to eat a hot dog’ (Metro)
Elizabeth Woolheater beat her son Anthony after he refused to eat A mother has been jailed for almost 20 years for her part in the death of her two-year-old son. Little Anthony Bunn was beaten unconscious by his mum and her boyfriend for refusing to eat a hot dog. He died two days later in hospital after the attack at their home in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Read more
Man sexually assaults friend’s lover after sleep-walking into their bedroom (Read more)
A man who reportedly suffers from sexsomnia has been sued for wandering into his friend’s bedroom and sexually assaulting the man’s girlfriend.
Sexsomnia is defined as “a condition characterised by engaging in sexual acts while asleep.”
Dale Kelly, who was arraigned before the York Crown Court sexually touched his friend’s girlfriend after he sleep-walked into their second-floor apartment, Yahoo has reported. Read more
US denies North Korean nuclear talks failed (BBC)
The US has denied that its day of nuclear talks with North Korea ended in failure, insisting that “good discussions” were had.
Earlier, North Korea said the meeting had broken down, because the US brought “nothing to the negotiation table”.
Officials from the two countries met in Sweden on Saturday, in the hope of breaking their stalemate. Read more
Inside Burkina Faso’s failing fight against jihadism (Guardian)
The expert cups his hands, with the ball-like space between them representing Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
He then slowly squeezes his palms together: “The vice is tightening,” he says.
The movement is a distressing, yet truthful, statement of where Burkina Faso stands in its four-year-old fight against jihadism. Read more
Pope appoints 13 cardinals who reflect his inclusive vision (Independent)
Pope Francis has appointed 13 new cardinals during a ceremony at the Vatican on Saturday, many of whom symbolize his priorities for the Catholic Church during his papacy and ultimately, his legacy.
The Pontiff’s new cardinals have defended the commitment to fighting populism, supported the inclusion of gay Catholics, sought to improve inter-religious dialogue with Muslim communities, and expressed concern with the environment and youth issues, according to their biographies. Read more
Hassan makes it double gold in Doha (Guardian)
Sifan Hassan surged to her second gold medal of the World Championships with victory in the 1,500 metres yesterday, shrugging off the doping controversy that had embroiled her banned coach, Alberto Salazar.
The 26-year-old Ethiopian-born Dutch runner romped home in a world leading championship time of 3 minutes 51.95 seconds to take gold, with 2017 champion, Faith Kipyegon of Kenya, claiming silver and Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay bronze. Read more
Brume Leaps into Long Jump Final (ThisDay)
African long jump queen, Ese Brume, has qualified for the final of the World Atletics Championships which concludes in Doha today and looks good to win Nigeria’s second horizontal jump medal after Blessing Okagbare’s silver medal win six years ago at the 14th edition of the championships in Moscow.
Brume leapt a distance of 6.89m to automatically qualify for the final where her focus will be winning Nigeria’s first gold medal in the history of the championships. Read more
Mauricio Pochettino: Tottenham boss ‘doesn’t fear sack’ (BBC)
Tottenham have lost 17 away games in all competitions in 2019 – more than any other top-flight side.
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino says he is not worried about the sack despite his side’s poor form.
Spurs lost 3-0 at Brighton on Saturday to compound a miserable week that also saw them thrashed 7-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Read more
Zinedine Zidane sends message to Eden Hazard after Chelsea hero scores first Real Madrid goal (Metro)
Zinedine Zidane has urged Eden Hazard to kick on after opening his account for Real Madrid in their La Liga victory over Granada on Saturday.
Hazard secured a dream move to Madrid in June, ending a seven-year spell at Stamford Bridge which saw him develop into one of the best players in Europe. Read more
Liverpool Edge Leicester 2-1 with Last Gasp Winner (ThisDay)
James Milner’s injury-time penalty earned a dramatic win over in-form Leicester City and maintained Liverpool’s flawless start to the Premier League season.
Brendan Rodgers’ side looked to be on course for a hard-earned point on his return to Anfield after James Maddison’s low finish 10 minutes from time equalised Sadio Mane’s 40th-minute strike. Read more
Pinnick donates trophies to UNIBEN Vice Chancellor’s Games (DailyTrust)
The Nigerian Football Federation President, Amaju Melvin Pinnick donated this year’s Trophies to the University of Benin his Alma mater, for the Finals of the 2019 Vice Chancellor’s games finals on 1st of October at the University of Benin Sports Centre.
In a statement by the Public Relations Officer of the University of Benin Sports Centre Baye Osagie who is also a member of the University Sports Committee, said the former Confederation of Africa Football Vice President who is the Mayor of the University Sports donated the trophies while on a visit to the State recently. Read more
IAAF World Championships: Amusan, Ese give medal hope to Nigeria (NewTelegraph)
With all looking gloomy for Team Nigeria since the start of the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships, hurdler Tobi Amusan and long jumper, Ese Brume, have both given a new ray of hope to the country after their impressive performance in the women’s 100m hurdles and long jump respectively.
Running in Heat 5 from lane 9, the African Games champion, Amusan, ran the race of her life against Jamaican Janeek Brown, who came into the competition with one of the best times this year 12.40secs. Read more
WAFU Cup: Super Eagles crash out, lose on penalties to Cape Verde (Punch)
Nigeria’s Super Eagles team B on Saturday crashed out of the ongoing West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup of Nations in Senegal.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the team lost all their games so far in the tournament.
In Saturday’s encounter, the home-based Eagles lost 2-3 on penalties to Cape Verde, after the game ended 1-1 at regulation time in their classification match. Read more