Gunmen abduct Rev. Father, 3 others in Ebonyi (Sun)
A Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Joseph Azubuike and three other persons whose names could not be immediately ascertained, have been abducted by gunmen in Ebonyi State.
Azubuike was abducted on Monday in Isu, Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State close to his residence in the area while returning from pastoral duties.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Onome Onovwakpoyeya could not speak on the matter at the time of filing this report. Read more
Siblings, 10 other suspected internet fraudsters nabbed in Abuja (Guardian)
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Abuja Zonal Command today, July 11, 2023, arrested 12 suspected internet fraudsters.
The suspects, including two brothers, Maxwell Nwanno and Kingsley Nwanno, were arrested at different estates in Gwarimpa, Katampe and Karu, axes of Abuja, following credible intelligence on their alleged criminal activities.
The other suspects are Owoh Chinedu, Ricaldo Francis, Thomas Pante, Chika Okoh, Okusun Destiny and Richard Anthony. Read more
Lagos driver bags life jail for raping employer’s granddaughter (Punch)
An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Lagos State, on Monday, sentenced a 56-year-old driver, Folarin Rauf, to life imprisonment for defiling his employer’s five-year-old granddaughter in the state.
Justice Abiola Soladoye handed down the sentence after finding the convict guilty of the offence of defilement.
Rauf was arraigned on November 30, 2021, on one count of defilement and he pleaded not guilty.
The offence committed contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015. Read more
Reps constitute panel to screen service chiefs (DailyTrust)
The House of Representatives has constituted an ad-hoc committee to screen the recently appointed Service Chiefs.
Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, who announced the setting up of the panel on Tuesday at plenary, said all the eight principal officers of the House from the majority and minority parties would be part of the ad-hoc committee.
He also announced the immediate past chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, as the co-chairman of the committee. Read more
Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat close defence in Rhodes-Vivour’s petition (Leadership)
The Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy Obafemi Hamzat yesterday closed their defence to the petition filed by the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, seeking to nullify their election before the state’s Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.
Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat closed their case after calling only one witness, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Fuad Oki, to challenge the case of the Labour Party candidate for the March 18 governorship poll.
Rhodes-Vivour, in his petition, is asking the Tribunal to nullify the election because the governor and his deputy did not qualify to contest the election and they did not score the highest lawful votes cast during the election. Read more
Tinubu writes Senate, asks for service chiefs’ confirmation (Channels)
President Bola Tinubu has written to the Senate seeking the confirmation of service chiefs.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who read the letter at the resumption of the plenary session on Tuesday, said the service chiefs would be screened by the entire Senate in its chamber at a yet-to-be-announced date.
Last week, the President similarly asked the House of Representatives to confirm the newly appointed service chiefs. Read more
Drama as court orders EFCC to investigate lawyer over criminal charges against Oduah (ThisDay)
A mild drama played out in court on Tuesday as Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordered the investigation of a police lawyer, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over criminal charges instituted against Senator Stella Oduah.
Justice Omotosho made the order to clarify whether the anti-graft agency was in the know of the suit since it was being prosecuted by the police.
Senator Oduah was expected to be arraigned before the court on an eight-count charge bordering on alleged complicity surrounding her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate and fraudulently receiving money from the federal government. Read more
Agency decries proliferation of illicit arms, threatens legal sanctions (Vanguard)
The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) has decried the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in the country.
At a press briefing in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday, South-West Zonal Coordinator of the Centre, Ben Sola Akinlade said it has noticed the increased activities of unauthorised organisations that have taken over its responsibilities of controlling illicit arms.
He noted that NCCSALW is the only recognised government body with the mandate to get rid of such arms and weapons in the country. Read more
Taylor Swift ticket sale suspended for Paris dates as 1m fans queue on Ticketmaster France (Metro)
Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets have been flying out the door but fans in Paris have to wait as the sale has been suspended.
Over one million logged onto Ticketmaster to join the general sale, which differs to the UK presale that’s happening later today for London and Liverpool.
The four Paris dates are all being sold today with one sale opening at 9am and another due to start at 11am. Read more
Tom Holland shares sobriety’s journey after “obsession” with alcohol “scared” him (OK!)
Tom Holland has publicly shared the realisation of his alcohol addiction and his journey to sobriety.
Speaking on Jay Shetty’s podcast, Tom discussed his decision to become sober and the transformative impact it has had on his life.
The 27 year old British actor, best known for his role as Spider-Man, revealed he had been sober for one year and four months, emphasising that the journey to sobriety was one of the most challenging tasks he has ever undertaken. Read more
Gunna refuses to “fall off” as he earns Billboard Hot 100 milestone (HipHopDX)
Gunna has secured a major Billboard milestone following the release of his “A Gift and A Curse” album earlier this year.
The Georgia rapper earned his first ever solo top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “fukumean” this week.
The song is his fourth overall top 10 single following “Drip Too Hard” with Lil Baby, “Lemonade” with Internet Money, Don Toliver and NAV, and “Pushin P” with Future and Young Thug. Read more
Indiana Jones, Elemental battle atop U.K. box office as Mission: Impossible 7 debuts (Variety)
Disney releases Elemental and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny were locked in a near dead heat at the U.K. and Ireland box office, with the animated elements edging out the veteran archaeologist.
Elemental debuted with £3.049 million ($3.876 million), according to numbers from Comscore. In its second weekend, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny whipped up £3.046 million ($3.873 million) for a close second and now has a total of £13.1 million.
If looking at weekend numbers alone, Harrison Ford’s last adventure as the man in the hat won the race as the Elemental numbers include “limited secret sneak previews from across the market,” according to Disney. Read more
Rod Stewart’s brings 94-year-old sister on stage at Edinburgh gig in sweet moment (DailyRecord)
Sir Rod Stewart had a special backing singer perform at his Edinburgh Castle gig over the weekend and it was none other than his 94-year-old sister Mary.
Mary stole the show when her proud brother brought her on stage during Sailing.
Speaking to The Mirror, the Maggie May singer said it was a joy to be “in Edinburgh with my big sister, Mary” as he wrapped up his tour of the UK. Read more
Microsoft to lay off more employees months after letting 10,000 workers go (NBC)
Microsoft confirmed Monday that it’s eliminating additional jobs, a week after the start of its 2024 fiscal year.
The cuts are in addition to the downsizing announced in January that resulted in 10,000 layoffs. The software maker also disclosed a small number of cuts this time last year. GeekWire reported on the latest cuts earlier Monday.
Amazon, Google and other large technology companies have also scaled back this year after adding headcount rapidly to meet rising demand during the covid pandemic. Microsoft has said in recent months that clients are looking for ways to save money on their cloud computing bill. Read more
Ukraine War: Russian ex-navy commander shot dead while jogging in Krasnodar (BBC)
A former Russian submarine captain who worked as a mobilisation officer has been shot dead while jogging in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, according to local media.
Stanislav Rzhitsky, 42, was shot dead on Monday by an unidentified gunman, Russia’s state-run Rossiya 1 reported.
Several Russian media outlets speculated he may have been tracked via his profile on the Strava fitness app. Read more
South African runner Semenya wins appeal at European rights court (Guardian)
Double Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya on Tuesday won her appeal to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge whether her rights had been infringed in terms of requiring women with high testosterone to reduce those levels through drugs.
South African Semenya, 32, who is classed as having “differences in sexual development”, has refused to take testosterone-lowering medication as mandated by the sport’s international federation, World Athletics, if she wants to compete at her favoured distance.
Semenya lost in an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Switzerland’s appeals court subsequently confirmed the decision of sport’s top court. Read more
Uzodimma hails choice of Aluo as NNL Chairman (Leadership)
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has lauded the choice and appointment of Mr. George Aluo as the new Chairman of the Nigeria National League (NNL).
Aluo was named as the chairman of the country’s football regulatory body at the weekend, with other members like Khamisu Ahmed Mailantaki as Vice Chairman.
Other members include: Yakubu Sarma, Dani Mohammed, Donald Ikpe, Joseph Uzoma Ebowusim, Dotun Sanusi and Emmanuel Attah
(Chief Executive Officer). Read more
Pulisic set for AC Milan medical ahead of transfer (ESPN)
Christian Pulisic is closing in on a move from Chelsea to AC Milan with the United States forward due to undergo a medical at the Italian club within the next 24 hours, sources told ESPN.
Pulisic, 24, who joined Chelsea in a £57.6 million ($74.3m) transfer from Borussia Dortmund in January 2019, has been told he has no future at Stamford Bridge by new manager Mauricio Pochettino after suffering a number of injuries during his past two seasons at the club.
Premier League rivals Manchester United, Newcastle United and Arsenal all declined the chance to sign Pulisic this summer, having been approached about his availability in recent months. However, Milan have beaten competition from Juventus, Lyon and Galatasaray to sign the player after moving closer to Chelsea’s £20m valuation over the weekend. Read more
Janice Cayman: Leicester City Women sign former Lyon right-sided player (BBC)
Women’s Super League side Leicester City have signed Belgium international Janice Cayman after her exit from Lyon.
The 34-year-old, who can play as a right-back or a winger, has won a record 137 caps for her country.
Her contract ran out last month after three years with the French club.
“It’s been a warm welcome and I’m very happy to be here. It’s a new country to play football for me, but maybe one of the biggest countries to play in,” ex-Montpellier player Cayman said. Read more
Chris Eubanks’ tears and “embarrassment” speaks volumes amid Wimbledon charge (Mirror)
Chris Eubanks caused a major upset at Wimbledon as he knocked out fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round to set up a quarter-final clash against former US Open winner Daniil Medvedev.
In fact, Eubanks had never got further than the second round at a Grand Slam tournament before this year’s Wimbledon and had actually begun a commentary career with the Tennis Channel last year to help support himself.
At the time, Eubanks was ranked outside the top 150 and could not have dreamed of a Wimbledon run like the one he is on at the moment. Since starting to commentate, Eubanks has enjoyed a remarkable run of form with his performances. Read more
Tyson Fury, Francis Ngannou fight in Saudi Arabia announced (ESPN)
Tyson Fury, boxing’s lineal heavyweight champion, and Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, will fight Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The announcement clarified that the fight will take place in a regulation boxing ring under boxing rules, including three ringside judges using the 10-point must system.
What remains unclear is the number of rounds, whether Fury’s WBC heavyweight title will be on the line, and whether the fight will count toward their professional boxing records. Read more