Jealous lover bags jail term for bathing ex-girlfriend with acid (Punch)
A 32-year-old carpenter, Onyekachi Agu, poured acid on his ex-girlfriend and his rival was on Wednesday sentenced to seven years imprisonment by a Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja.
Justice Oyindamola Ogala handed down the jail term after finding Agu guilty of a count of causing grievous bodily harm to two persons, Aishat Adefarati and Mansur Ahmed in 2020.
When Agu was arraigned, the state prosecutor, Uju Uwangaze, told the court that he committed the offence on July 3, 2020, at Gangare Hotel, Mile 12, in Lagos.
She said Agu traced the victims to the hotel and poured acid on them. Read more
NEC suspends subsidy removal (Vanguard)
The National Economic Council, NEC, has suspended the planned removal of subsidy on petroleum products by the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
She explained that the removal of the subsidy will likely take effect in June because the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA and the 2023 budget provided subsidy till June, hence any delay may require the amendment of the PIA and the budget provision. Read more
Nigerian students fleeing Sudan stranded in desert (DailyTrust)
Some Nigerian students escaping the unrest in Sudan are currently trapped in the desert.
Following the three-day ceasefire declared by the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Force, countries have been making efforts to evacuate their citizens.
On Wednesday, the Nigerian government had said N150m was released for hiring 40 buses to convey some Nigerians from Sudan to Cairo in Egypt, from where they would be airlifted to Nigeria. But some of the students being evacuated to safety shared bitter experiences about the journey. Read more
Lagos proposes law for compulsory compliance to building materials quality (Guardian)
Mr Funsho Elulade, General Manager, Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory (LSMTL) on Wednesday said a new Law was on the way to make substandard construction impossible in the state.
Elulade said this at the fourth Edition of the Builders’ Business Workshop organised by the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) in Ikeja.
The combined physical/virtual workshop had the theme: “Building Surveying Practice, Charting a New Course in Building Post Construction Services in Lagos”. Read more
Soldier, 24 others killed in Taraba farmers-herders crisis (Leadership)
A military officer has been ambushed and killed along with 24 other residents of Ussa and Takum local government areas of Taraba State.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer in Taraba State, Abdullahi Usman, the 24 persons were either of Kuteb or Fulani extractions.
“The military officer who was from the checkpoint coming back to 93 Battalion Barrack was ambushed and killed, though nothing was taken from him, his motorcycle and luckily he has no rifle on him. Read more
Sudan evacuation: FG hires 40 buses at $1.2m (Tribune)
The federal government has procured 40 buses at the cost of $1.2 million to evacuate stranded Nigerians now trying to get out of war-torn Sudan.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, stated this at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said women, children and diplomats will be prioritized in the exercise during the 72-hour window provided by the ceasefire entered into by the warring parties. Read more
Abiodun presents staff of office to MacGregor as Olu of Orile Ilawo (Vanguard)
Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has called on the new Olu of Orile-Ilawo in the Odeda local government area of the State, Oba (Prof.) Alexander Olusegun MacGregor, to concentrate on the task of accelerating the pace of the socio-economic development of the town.
Governor Abiodun, who made the call at the official installation and presentation of the Staff of Office to Oba (Prof.) MacGregor, at the Elegun-Mefa, Orile-Ilawo, said the selection of the monarch followed due process as prescribed by the law and customs.
Represented by the State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat, the Governor noted that the accolades which greeted the selection of Oba MacGregor was a testimony to the overwhelming support of the people. Read more
Bandits abduct district head in Zamfara, Police begin rescue operations (Channels)
The District Head of Kasuwar Daji under Kaura-Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Ibrahim Sarkin Fada, has been abducted by armed bandits in his residence in the early hours of today, Thursday.
The bandits who stormed the Kasuwar Daji community in their large numbers, are said to have moved straight to the village head’s house where they abducted him to an unknown destination.
Residents said the bandits fired several gunshots in order to frighten those within the village who wanted to rescue their chief. Read more
Chris Evans and Ana de Armas’ Ghosted sets record debut for Apple TV+ (Deadline)
Skydance’s spy action comedy Ghosted starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas is the most watched movie debut to date for Apple TV+.
In the pic’s first two days after dropping on April 21 — and we hear viewership has continued to swell into Monday and Tuesday — the Dexter Fletcher-directed movie pulled in 328,500 viewers per Samba TV. That’s more than the first two days of other highly viewed Apple TV+ movies including Finch (Nov. 5, 2021 debut) at 228,500, Spirited (November 18, 2022) at 174,000 Tetris (March 31) at 88,000 and My Mind & Me (November 4, 2022) at 78,100.
‘Ghosted’ Review: Chris Evans And Ana De Armas Lift Hyped-Up Action Comedy That Throws Everything At The Screen
The data came from a panel of 3.1M SmartTV households who tuned in for at least one minute. Samba TV’s research panel is balanced and weighted to the U.S. Census (around 112M) across age, gender, ethnicity and household income. Its panel is nearly 100 times larger than Nielsen’s household footprint of 45,000 homes. Read more
South Africa’s hidden jazz history is being restored album by album (TheConversation)
It’s fitting that Johannesburg is among 12 cities featured in the 2023 Unesco International Jazz Day, themed “jazz journey around the world”. The day, established in 2011 to celebrate the role of jazz in “uniting peoples across the globe”, is now marked annually on 30 April in close to 200 nations. It would have been hosted by Cape Town in 2020 had COVID-19 not intervened.
Even so, many jazz lovers elsewhere may be aware of the long history and uniqueness of South Africa’s jazz legacy through only a few names – Miriam Makeba, Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela – who were driven out by apartheid to find world stages. Uncovering, documenting and showcasing more of the creativity that fought to flower inside the country remains a work in progress.
An album cover featuring a sepia toned photo of young boys playing soccer in a street with high-rise housing and shacks.
As-Shams/Ralph Ndawo
For writer and film-maker Calum MacNaughton of Cape Town-based Sharp-Flat Music, it’s vital work. He’s the archivist and curator of the historic As-Shams record label archive. Read more
Jerry Springer, politician-turned-TV ringmaster, dies at 79 (CBS)
Jerry Springer, the one time mayor and news anchor whose namesake TV show featured a three-ring circus of dysfunctional families willing to bare all on weekday afternoons including brawls, obscenities and blurred images of nudity, died Thursday at 79.
At its peak, “The Jerry Springer Show” was a ratings powerhouse and a U.S. cultural pariah, synonymous with lurid drama. Known for chair-throwing and bleep-filled arguments, the daytime talk show was a favorite American guilty pleasure over its 27-year run, at one point topping Oprah Winfrey’s show.
Springer called it “escapist entertainment,” while others saw the show as contributing to a dumbing-down decline in American social values. Read more
‘‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’’ trailer brings blockbuster action to the ’90s (People)
The Transformers are saving the world, this time in the ’90s.
After the 2018 movie Bumblebee was set in the 1980s, this summer’s ‘‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’’ takes the robot action to the next decade, bringing back fan-favorites Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and more Autobots.
This time, though, they meet a “whole new faction of Transformer — the Maximals — to join them as allies in the existing battle for earth.”
The human stars of the latest entry in the blockbuster franchise, directed by Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II), are Anthony Ramos and Swarm star Dominique Fishback. Read more
Peacock reaches 22m subscribers as Comcast beats Wall Street expectations for Q1 (Deadline)
Comcast reported a 4% year-over-year dip in revenue in the first quarter, to $29.7 billion, but still exceeded Wall Street forecasts.
Analysts had expected $29.3 billion in revenue. Earnings per share, meanwhile, handily beat expectations at 92 cents.
Revenue in the company’s Connectivity & Platforms division (which includes broadband, wireless and cable TV operations) fell 2% to $20.153 billion, though the company said it was flat when foreign currency impacts are excluded. The unit continued to see a sizable decrease in video customers, with 614,000 residential customers leaving the fold during the quarter. Read more
Este Haim becomes executive music director on ‘‘A Small Light’’ (NME)
Este Haim has become the executive music producer for the upcoming National Geographic series ‘‘A Small Light’’.
The eldest sister and bassist in Haim will be joined by composer Ariel Marx in creating the soundtrack to the Disney+ and National Geographic series that focuses on Miep Gies, the Dutch woman who hid Anne Frank and her family during the Holocaust of World War II.
According to Billboard, the soundtrack will include covers of classic hits from stars like the bassist’s sister and bandmate Danielle Haim, along with Kamasi Washington, Angel Olsen, Weyes Blood, Remi Wolf and Moses Sumney. Read more
Meta plans to bring AI to billions in Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp (TomsGuide)
Meta has released its own AI already with the academia-focused LLaMA and a AI powered Segment Anything image tool, but has been arguably dragging its heels compared to Bing with ChatGPT and Google Bard in adopting AI. That now looks set to change.
In Meta’s Q1 earnings call(opens in new tab) on April 26th, Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to bring AI technology “to billions of people in ways that will be useful and meaningful.”
The Facebook founder directly mentioned “chat experiences in WhatsApp and Messenger,” as well as “visual creation tools for posts in Facebook and Instagram and ads” with video and multi-modal experiences to arrive in time. Zuckerberg didn’t provide specifics but stated that generative AI would be coming to all of Meta’s products, with some expected in just a few months’ time. What form the features will take is not known at the moment but it may involve some kind of chatbot using the LLaMA model. Read more
Iwobi leads resurgent Toffees against Magpies (Punch)
Everton midfielder, Alex Iwobi, believes a home win against Newcastle United at Goodison Park on Thursday (today) can spark a revival in their bid to avoid relegation this season, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Everton’s only victory against the Magpies in the past six Premier League meetings came at Goodison Park last season when he scored a 99th-minute winner.
The encounter comes with huge implications for both teams who are at the end of the Premier League table. Newcastle took a big step towards Champions League qualification for next season after their 6-1 mauling of Tottenham last Sunday, while Everton slipped further into trouble following their goalless draw with Crystal Palace. Read more
Insurance forward Sarki unfazed by goals drought (Punch)
Bendel Insurance striker, Ismael Sarki, says he wasn’t worried when the goals dried up for a stretch of seven games this season, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Sarki finally scored again last weekend, but he insists his attention was on the overall success of the Group A leaders of the abridged Nigeria Professional Football League.
He scored his fifth goal of the season and also assisted another one for Austin Ogunye in the 2-1 win over El-Kanemi Warriors on match-day 15 to break his seven-game drought. The last time he scored was in the 2-2 draw against 3SC on match-day seven in Ibadan. Read more
Sheikh Jassim confident of Man Utd takeover as deadline for bids draws closer (Mirror)
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani remains confident of winning the race to buy Manchester United – ahead of Friday’s third deadline for bids.
The Qatari-backed bid is set to lodge a new offer for United of £4.5billion, which will eclipse the £4bn proposal put forward by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the other major contender.
United owners the Glazers want £6bn for the club they bought for £790m back in 2005 in a highly-leveraged deal, which has seen more than £1bn paid out in interest and dividends. Read more
Kenya in joint bid with Tanzania, Uganda for AFCON 2027 (Vanguard)
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have launched a joint bid for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which would bring the continental showpiece to East Africa for the first time.
The African Football Confederation (CAF) on Thursday acknowledged having received a declaration of interest from the three countries along with bids from Algeria, Botswana and Egypt.
The Kenyan government in December approved a cabinet proposal to back a bid for the biennial tournament, alongside two of its neighbours. Read more
Madrid Open: 15-year-old Mirra Andreeva beats Leylah Fernandez in 1st round (BBC)
Wildcard Mirra Andreeva has become the third 15-year-old to win a WTA 1000 main-draw match with victory over Leylah Fernandez at the Madrid Open.
Russian Andreeva, ranked 194 in the world, won 6-3 6-4 against the Canadian in the opening round on Wednesday.
Andreeva, who turns 16 on Saturday, saved five of the six breakpoints she faced against world number 49 Fernandez.
She takes on Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round on Thursday. Read more
Ronnie O’Sullivan out of World Snooker Championship after stunning Luca Brecel comeback (Sky)
Luca Brecel handed Ronnie O’Sullivan a shock defeat in their quarter-final at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.
O’Sullivan had held off Brecel to go into the concluding session with a 10-6 lead.
But that was as good as it got for O’Sullivan. The seven-time champion lost seven successive frames as Brecel overhauled him in extraordinary circumstances to win the match 13-10 and advance to the last four.
Defending champion O’Sullivan failed to make a single break over 30 as his Belgian opponent set up a semi-final date with either Anthony McGill or Si Jiahui. Read more