Ganduje: What I told Tinubu about Maryam Shetty (DailyTrust)
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Gnaduje, has given some clarifications on the controversy surrounding former ministerial nominee, Maryam Shetty.
Daily Trust had reported how President Bola Tinubu replaced Shetty with Mariya Mahmoud Bunkure who served as a commissioner when Ganduje was governor.
Admitting that the social media outrage that trailed Shetty’s appointment led to her removal, the former governor said social media is very powerful. Read more
Maryam Shetty breaks silence after withdrawal of ministerial nomination (Nation)
Maryam Shetty, whose ministerial nomination was withdrawn while awaiting screening by the Senate last week, has thanked President Bola Tinubu for the honour of the initial nomination.
Shetty, in a statement over the weekend, attributed the setback to what she described as life’s ‘characteristic unpredictability’, adding the unexpected development was the will of Almighty Allah.
Kano-born Shetty’s nomination was withdrawn and replaced with Dr. Mariya Mahmoud. Read more
Police nab 47-year-old woman with military uniforms, Indian hemp in Kano (Sun)
A 47-year-old woman, Ladi Peters, has been nabbed by the Police in Kano for her involvement in the sales and distribution of drred leaves suspected to be Indian hemp .
Ladi, who is the leader of a drug distribution cartel, was picked up at her residence at Agwa – Kudandan Nassarawa in Kaduna State, with sixty one (61) bags of compressed dried leaves suspected to be Indian Hemp, two sets of military uniforms, red berets , sets of shin guards and a desert boat.
A statement issued on Sunday by the police and signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Command in kano, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa said Umar Salah of Ungwan Dosa and Ahmad Naheed, both of whom were her accomplices were similarly arrested and had since made confession. Read more
Vwaerr Diaso: NMA Lagos Panel of enquiry commences (Vanguard)
The Independent investigative panel constituted by the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA Weekend began an inquiry into the death of Dr Vwaere Diaso, who died last Tuesday at the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island.
The panel, which consists of six doctors, two engineers and two legal practitioners, is saddled with the mandate to ensure that any information dug up isn’t swept under the carpet.
Speaking at its first sitting, weekend, the panel’s Chairman, Dr Babajide Saheed, who urged members of the public who have information regarding the elevator or activities at the doctors’ quarters to come forward, insisted that the root cause of the incident must be examined to prevent future occurrence. Read more
FAAN arrests 21 touts, others at Lagos Airport (Guardian)
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says it has arrested 21 persons including touts, illegal foreign exchange dealers, hawkers and scavengers at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
Mr Abdullahi Yakubu-Funtua, Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, FAAN, made this known in a statement on Sunday in Lagos.
He said that the suspects had been handed over to the Police for further action. Read more
Bring down Alapere Bridge to avoid disaster, residents appeal to Sanwo-Olu (Independent)
Lagos residents have appealed to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to instruct the appropriate authority to remove Alapere pedestrian bridge immediately pending the time the government is ready for necessary repairs or replacement.
This was because of a suspected threat of imminent collapse looming as the bridge was allegedly hit by a truck over the weekend.
Speaking with Daily Independent, Razak Koyejo, a building technocrat, said though the state government has closed the entrance of the bridge with red tape to prevent pedestrians from climbing to cross the ever-busy road, the bridge may fall upon unsuspecting moving vehicles if not removed. Read more
Niger coup: Don’t take military action against junta, JNI warns ECOWAS (Punch)
The Jama’atu Nasril Islam, on Saturday, warned Nigeria and the authorities of the Economic Community of West African States not to take military action against the junta in the Niger Republic.
The caution is contained in a statement issued in Kaduna by JNI Secretary General, Prof Khalid Aliyu.
Aliyu said that the JNI, representing the collective voice of the Muslim community, expressed its deep concern over the seizure of power through a coup from the democratically elected Niger Republic, President Mohamed Bozoum. Read more
Resident Doctors declare daily protests over unmet demands (Channels)
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has announced its decision to embark on a daily peaceful protest and picketing of the Federal Ministry of Health, Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, as well as all federal and state tertiary health institutions nationwide from Wednesday.
Giving the notice on Saturday in a letter addressed to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), the association said this is to press home its demands which have been largely neglected by the Federal Government.
The letter was signed by NARD President, Dr Emeka Orji and Secretary-General, Dr Chikezie Kelechi. Read more
Maya Hawke and Uma Thurman star in the new ‘‘Kill Room’’ trailer (FarOut)
Our first glimpse at the mother and daughter duo, Uma Thurman and Maya Hawke, in “The Kill Room”, has been released in the form of a brand new trailer.
Helmed by the director behind Friendsgiving, Nicol Paone, the forthcoming comedy thriller tells the story of an art dealer named Patrice Capullo (Thurman) who forms a business relationship with a hitman and his boss. Also starring Debi Mazar, Dree Hemingway, Joe Manganiello and Samuel L. Jackson, the new movie is highly anticipated due to the appearance of the family duo.
The synopsis for the new movie reads: “The Kill Room is a dark comedic thriller that follows an art dealer who teams up with a hitman and his boss for a money laundering scheme that accidentally turns the hitman into an overnight avant-garde sensation, forcing the dealer to play the art world against the underworld”. Read more
Barbie crosses $1b globally, Meg 2 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles add to Barbenheimer bloom (THR)
Turtles and a humongous shark helped fuel another great weekend at the box office as they joined the Barbenheimer parade and opened ahead of expectations.
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie grossed another $53 million domestically as it it hits $459.4 million in North America and crosses $1 billion globally on Sunday in a huge win for Warner Bros. and Mattel.
It’s the first live-action film in history that’s directed by a woman solo to join the billion-dollar club, and is already the biggest live-action film of all time domestically for a female director, solo or otherwise, after passing up the $413 million earned by in North America by Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman and the $426 million earned by Captain Marvel, which was directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Read more
Dwayne Johnson blames “change in leadership” on ‘‘Black Adam 2’’ cancellation (NME)
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has spoken out about the cancellation of “Black Adam 2” and said it was down to “new leadership” at DC Studios.
Plans for the character, which included a sequel, were dropped when co-CEOs James Gunn, and Peter Safran came in last year.
“James Gunn and I connected, and Black Adam will not be in [DC Studios’] first chapter of storytelling,” Johnson wrote at the time. “However, DC and Seven Bucks [Johnson’s production company] have agreed to continue exploring the most valuable ways Black Adam can be utilized in future DC multiverse chapters.” Read more
BBC News’ Jane Hill slams Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer after walking out of cinema (Mirror)
BBC News presenter Jane Hill has revealed she complained to the cinema after going to watch Oppenheimer and finding that the sound-track drowned out the dialogue.
The newsreader, 54, said she left half-way through after failing to follow what was going on because she couldn’t hear what the actors were saying. And she was astonished to be told by cinema staff that it happened with “all” the films by Christopher Nolan, which include Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Interstellar.
She told her 44,000 Twitter followers: “Saw Oppenheimer. Well, I managed half of it. Disappointed that music & effects often drowned out the actors, I missed whole chunks of dialogue. Told the cinema I thought the sound needed rebalancing – staff said ‘we have this issue with all Christopher Nolan films. Seriously?” Read more
Sinead O’Connor’s music streams jump 2,885% in the US in the wake of her death (National)
Streams of Sinead O’Connor’s music rose by 2,885 per cent in the US following her death last month.
According to Billboard, her music was streamed 7.9 million times during the week of July 21 to 27. It was streamed 243,000 times on July 24 and 25 and then rose to 7.3 million in the wake of her death on July 26 and 27.
Her cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U amassed 3.2 million streams alone during the week and was downloaded 10,000 times. Read more
NASA’s ‘‘shout’’ restores communication with Voyager 2 (CNN)
Using a long-shot “shout” maneuver, the Voyager mission team at NASA has reestablished communication with Voyager 2 after losing contact with the spacecraft, which has been operating for nearly 46 years.
“At 12:29 a.m. EDT on Aug. 4, the spacecraft began returning science and telemetry data, indicating it is operating normally and that it remains on its expected trajectory,” according to an update shared by the space agency.
Commands sent to Voyager 2 on July 21 accidentally caused the spacecraft’s antenna to point 2 degrees away from Earth. The miniscule shift meant that Voyager 2 couldn’t receive any commands from mission control or send data back to Earth from its location more than 12.3 billion miles (19.9 billion kilometers) away in interstellar space. Read more
Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan found guilty of corruption, arrested (UPI)
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested in Lahore on Saturday after an Islamabad trial court found him guilty of graft and sentenced him to three years in prison.
Khan, now chairman of the opposition Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party, was taken into custody by Punjab police at his residence in Lahore and was taken to Islamabad following the sentencing in the so-called Toshakhana case, the PTI confirmed.
The 70-year-old former prime minister was found guilty of “corrupt practices” by the court after prosecutors accused him of pocketing profits from the sale of state gifts when he was in office from 2018 to 2022. Read more
2023 WWC: Super Falcons depart Softiel Hotel ahead England clash (Leadership)
The Nigerian female football team have departed Softiel Hotel where they were during the group games at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The Randy Waldrum led side have now lodged in Marriott Hotel in Brisbane ahead of their crucial round of 16 encounter with the Three Lionesses of England.
The second round cracker between the Super Falcons and the Three Lionesses of England will take place on Monday, August 7 at Lang Park in Brisbane. Read more
Women’s World Cup: Japan and Spain book quarter-final slots as knock-out rounds get underway (IrishTimes)
Hinata Miyazawa scored her fifth goal of the tournament as Japan beat Norway 3-1 in a clash of former champions in Wellington on Saturday to reach the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup for the fourth time.
Japan have been on a mission to bury the memory of their disappointing exit at the last-16 stage in 2019 and move on to play the winner of Sunday’s clash between holders the United States and Sweden.
Although they conceded their first goal of the tournament to Guro Reiten’s header, an own goal from Norway’s Ingrid Engen as well as second-half strikes from Risa Shimizu and Miyazawa got them across the line in front of a crowd of 33,042. Read more
Manchester United complete £72m signing of Rasmus Hojlund on five-year deal (National)
Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund completed his £72 million move from Serie A side Atalanta to Manchester United on Saturday.
The forward has signed a five-year deal with the option of a further 12 months.
The 20-year-old, who scored 10 times in 34 games for Atalanta last season, was unveiled to fans at Old Trafford before United’s pre-season friendly against French side Lens. Read more
Fernando Alonso delivers ‘‘first step’’ warning to rivals of stuttering Aston Martin (PlanetF1)
Fernando Alonso has hinted at a Aston Martin resurgence in the second half of the F1 2023 season after a rollercoaster start to the campaign.
Alonso and Aston Martin started the season strongly with five podium finishes in the opening six races, but a pre-summer break dip means Mercedes have overtaken them into second in the World Constructors’ Championship.
At Spa, the two-time World Champion returned to the top five finishing positions for the first time since Austria and thinks that result will provide a better platform for more success in the final 10 races of the year. Read more
Anthony Davis and Los Angeles Lakers agree 3-year contract extension with record NBA annual salary (Sky)
Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers have agreed a three-year, $186m (£145m) contract extension through to the 2027-28 season, according to US reports.
The deal averages $62m per season, making it the richest annual salary in league history.
Davis became eligible to sign an extension on Friday and the Lakers quickly locked up the eight-time All-Star power forward. Read more
Man City boss Pep Guardiola attacks old club Barcelona over Bernardo Silva transfer (DailyStar)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has slammed his ex-club Barcelona over their attempts to lure Bernardo Silva to Catalonia this summer.
Silva was a key part of City’s treble-winning side, single-handedly carving apart Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League semi-final. However, the Portuguese star has been heavily linked with a move away from the Etihad Stadium this summer.
Barcelona appeared to be the front-runner, but they are yet to lodge a bid for Silva. And Guardiola has now slammed his former side: “I don’t want any players who don’t want to be here. I want to work with guys who want to stay.
“But we need a proper offer, we didn’t… If they want him, they’ll get on a plane and speak to our sporting director…” Read more