Insecurity: Cleric calls for patience as Buhari forms cabinet (Punch)
A Cleric, Apostle Eugene Ogu, General Overseer, Abundant Life Evangel Mission, has appealed for patience from Nigerians concerning evident infrastructure deficit and insecurity in the country. Ogu told the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Port Harcourt that the new administration needed time to form its team so as to achieve expected success. He said that it was necessary to allow the new administration an ample time for proper formation and policy takeoff, adding that any attempt by groups or individuals to trade blames or label the government as incompetent was very unnecessary. Read more
Court stops Senate, Reps from taking over Edo Assembly (Punch)
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday ordered both the Senate and the House of Representatives to halt their plan to take over the legislative duties of the Edo State House of Assembly. Justice Taiwo Taiwo made the order at the resumed hearing in the case instituted by the Edo State Government to challenge the directive by the chambers of the National Assembly to the Governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki, to issue a fresh proclamation of the state’s House of Assembly. Read more
EFCC arrests 29 suspected Cyber Criminals in Ibadan (Nation)
The Ibadan Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday arrested 29 all-male suspects of internet-related fraud. The suspects were arrested at Akoto Estate, Elebu area of the Oyo state capital city, during an early morning raid carried out by operatives of the Commission. Earlier, the team had conducted a series of surveillance, working on strings of intelligence gathered on the activities of the suspected ‘Yahoo Boys’ in the vicinity. Read more
Police parade 79 kidnap suspects, others on Kaduna-Abuja road (Nation)
The Kaduna State Police Command on Wednesday paraded 79 suspected kidnappers, armed bandits and other criminals suspects at Rijana, along Kaduna-Abuja highway. Commissioner of Police, Ali Aji Janga who paraded the suspects before newsmen said, 35 guns and 439 cattle were recovered from the suspects. The CP said, all the suspects were arrested from different locations within the state in July. Read more
Matawalle sacks LG secretaries, heads of tertiary institutions (Guardian)
Zamfara State governor Bello Matawalle on Wednesday sacked all the 14 local government secretaries in the state and approved their replacements. The governor has also approved the appointment of the rector of the state polytechnic and provost of the college of education. This is contained in a statement signed by Yusuf Idris, the Director-General of Press Affairs to the governor, in Gusau. Read more
Chinese firm fined N100m for unlawful importation (Nation)
A Kano High court sitting at Audu Bako Secretariat has ordered a Chinese firm, Changyi Yuanxiang, to pay N100 million as compensation for indulging in illegal importation of 19 containers with impersonated trade mark. The court presided over by Justice Ibrahim Musa Muhammad Karaye in a judgment delivered on 31th July, 2019 held that the Chinese firm indulged in unlawful use of the name of Rab textiles limited for the importation of the containers exposing Rab textile limited to tax liability. Read more
Dabiri-Erewa hails appointment of Nigerian as Obama Foundation president (Punch)
Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission has described the appointment of Nigeria-born Mr. Adeyemo Adewale as President of the Obama Foundation in the US as a well-deserved appointment. In the letter of congratulations signed by Dabiri-Erewa and addressed to Mr. Adeyemo Adewale, she said it was gratifying that the US-based Nigerian was qualified enough to be the President of the Obama Foundation. Read more
Nigeria ranks second in open defecation – UNICEF (Nation)
Nigeria has been ranked second among countries practicing open defecation globally, says the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF). Dr Geoffrey Njoku, Communication Specialist, UNICEF made this known at a Two-Day Media Dialogue in Calabar on Wednesday. The theme of the dialogue “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” is aimed at creating awareness to end the habit by 2025. Read more
President Trump to visit mass shooting sites amid criticism (BBC)
Donald Trump is to visit the sites of mass shootings in Ohio and Texas amid warnings he will not be welcome. The attacks in El Paso, where Hispanic people appear to have been targeted, and Dayton left 31 people dead. Before leaving for Ohio, he said he was concerned about “the rise of any group of hate… whether it’s white supremacy, whether it’s any other kind of supremacy, whether it’s Antifa”. Read more
British Airways cancels flights following ‘systems’ failure (Punch)
British Airways was forced to cancel some flights to and from London on Wednesday after it suffered “a systems issue”. Reports suggested dozens of flights in and out of Heathrow — Britain’s busiest airport — had been cancelled, grounding around 15,000 passengers. BA declined to confirm how many services had been cancelled. Read more
Afghan violence: Taliban bomb kills many amid peace talks with US (BBC)
A huge bomb outside a police station in the Afghan capital Kabul has killed at least 14 people and injured nearly 150. The explosion sent a large plume of black smoke into the sky and left nearby buildings in ruins. Most of those wounded were civilians. The Taliban say they carried out the attack. It comes amid peace talks between the Taliban and the US, which aim to bring a nearly 18-year conflict to an end. Both sides say they have made progress. Read more
Teenager’s hand ‘chopped off by moped rider’ because they didn’t get on well (Metro)
A teenager’s hand was chopped off in a savage knife attack as curled up to protect himself on a grass verge, a jury heard. Tyler Stevens, was 18 when he was struck seven times and had his left hand completely severed. His hand was later found in the street by a police officer and could not be reattached despite doctors’ efforts. Che Ambe, 21, of Watford, Hertfordshire, denies causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Read more
Ukrainian president says asked Putin to curb separatists (Guardian)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said he had asked Russian leader Vladimir Putin to put pressure on separatist fighters in the east after four Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a grenade attack. “I called him urgently. I told him that this brings us no closer to peace,” Zelensky said during a briefing, adding that he had urged Putin to ask the Moscow-backed separatists to “stop killing our people”. “These aren’t toys,” Zelensky said. Read more
Killer mother laced 2-year-old son’s sippy cup with powerful painkiller (Metro)
A mother fatally poisoned her two-year-old son by lacing his sippy cup with a powerful painkiller. Jennifer Clarey, 43, was sentenced to 50 years in jail for killing her son, Mazikeen Curtis, who overdosed on Vicodin, a highly addictive opioid, in Tullytown, Pennsylvania. Mazikeen’s lifeless body was found on a bed in the home by police in August 2018. Clarey was reportedly right next to him, bleeding from cuts to her wrists. Read more
Peter Chadwick: Millionaire arrested over wife’s murder (BBC)
A British-born millionaire suspected of murdering his wife at their California home has been arrested after spending four years on the run. Peter Chadwick, 55, was captured in Mexico on Sunday and has been extradited to the US to face trial. He has been in hiding since he failed to appear in court in January 2015. Mr Chadwick, a naturalised US citizen, was found thanks to a tip-off after a $100,000 (£82,000) reward was offered for information leading to his capture. Read more
Teacher of the Year ‘left her disabled teenage daughter to die in roasting car’ (Metro)
A mother once crowned Teacher of the Year left her disabled teenage daughter to die in a roasting car, it was claimed. Rita Pangalangan, 49, is said to have left the 13 year-old, called Cristina, in a vehicle outside her home in Walterboro, South Carolina, at 11am on Monday morning. She realized the child was still in the car later that afternoon. Read more
Ancient parrot in New Zealand was 1m tall, study says (BBC)
A giant parrot that roamed New Zealand about 19 million years ago had a height of 1m (3ft 2in) – roughly half the average height of a human, a new study has found. The remains of the parrot were found near St Bathans in New Zealand’s southern Otago region. Given its size, the parrot is believed to have been flightless and carnivorous, unlike most birds today. Read more
Leonardo DiCaprio knew Margot Robbie would be successful when she threw water in his face (Metro)
Leonardo DiCaprio can pinpoint the exact moment he knew Margot Robbie would be a success in Hollywood. The pair first worked together on The Wolf of Wall Street and it was while filming one of the scenes that the Titanic actor said he could tell how talented Margot was. This was all after Margot had slapped him across the face during auditions, of course. Read more
Channing Tatum takes break from social media to ‘get inspired and more creative’ (Metro)
Channing Tatum has announced he’ll be taking a break from social media, in order to ‘get inspired’. The star, who is currently dating the singer Jessie J, released a statement on Instagram where he confirmed the news to his 17.4million followers. In a short post he explained why he needed time away from the online world, and it seems his fans are all for his decision. Read more
Riyad Mahrez: Concerns over medicine taken by Man City winger a ‘non-event’, says Algerian FA (BBC)
Concerns over medicine Riyad Mahrez took while on duty with Algeria is a “problem for Manchester City”, says the Algerian Football Federation, who dismissed it as a “non-event”. City winger Mahrez was left out of Sunday’s Community Shield through fears he could fall foul of doping rules. Mahrez, 28, captained Algeria to the Africa Cup of Nations title in July. Read more
Arsenal reject Everton’s £30m bid for Alex Iwobi (Punch)
Everton have submitted a £30m bid to sign Arsenal winger Alex Iwobi, according to reports. Marco Silva’s side had prioritised a move for Wilfried Zaha, but Crystal Palace are demanding £100m for their star player. Palace had received an offer from Everton of £70m plus James McCarthy and a season-long loan deal for Cenk Tosun, but that was rejected. Everton are now seeking alternatives and Metro UK claims that Iwobi has been targeted by the Toffees. Read more
Carl Jenkinson leaves Arsenal for Nottingham Forest (Guardian)
Arsenal’s defender Carl Jenkinson have confirmed leaving the club to join Championship side Nottingham Forest on a permanent deal. Jenkinson joined the Championship side for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract. “Thanks for everything and good luck at @NFFC,” the premier league outfit tweeted on Wednesday. Read more
Romelu Lukaku: Manchester United striker to be fined for missing training (BBC)
Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku will be fined by the club for missing training without permission. Belgium international Lukaku, 26, has trained at his former team Anderlecht for the past two days, although Monday was a day off for United players. Serie A sides Inter Milan and Juventus remain keen on the forward, who did not play in the Premier League club’s pre-season matches because of injury. Read more
Bale snubbed again by Zidane for Madrid friendly (Guardian)
Gareth Bale’s stand-off with Real Madrid continued on Wednesday after the forward was left out of Zinedine Zidane’s squad to face Red Bull Salzburg in a friendly. Bale has only played in two of Real Madrid’s five pre-season games so far, coming on as a substitute against Arsenal and Atletico Madrid, and has now been left out completely for the third fixture in a row. Read more
Martin Keown reveals Arsenal’s one advantage over top four rivals Manchester United and Chelsea (Metro)
Arsenal legend Martin Keown believes Unai Emery’s experience could make the difference for the Gunners this term. The Spaniard is entering his second campaign at the Emirates following his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain. Arsenal finished fifth and runners-up in the Europa League last term, and the Gunners are the third highest spenders so far this summer following their acquisitions of Nicolas Pepe and William Saliba. Read more
Lee Geum-min: Manchester City sign South Korea forward on two-year deal (BBC)
Manchester City have signed South Korea forward Lee Geum-min from Gyeongju KHNP on a two-year contract. The 25-year-old represented South Korea in this summer’s World Cup, where they lost all three of their group games. Lee has scored 16 goals in 54 appearances since making her senior debut for her country. Read more
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand makes Premier League top four prediction (Metro)
Rio Ferdinand has backed Manchester City to beat Liverpool to the Premier League title with a bigger points difference than last season and has predicted that Manchester United will finish in fourth place. Liverpool pushed Pep Guardiola’s side to the final weekend last term but, in the end, had to settle for runners-up spot despite amassing 96 points across a magnificent campaign. Read more
Serena Williams tops Forbes’ female rich list as tennis players dominate (BBC)
The top 11 highest-earning female sport athletes over the past year are all tennis players. Serena Williams, 37, a 23-time Grand Slam winner, tops the rich list, after earning $29.2m (£24.3m), including $25m (£20.57m) in endorsements, according to Forbes. Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who beat Williams in the US Open final, is second. Read more