Judge fumes as defence counsel’s absence stalls Evans trial (Punch)
The trial of alleged kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans, was on Friday stalled before the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja due to the absence of the counsel for the second and third defendants in the case.
The trial judge, Justice Hakeem Oshodi, expressed disgust at the repeated absence of the counsel, saying he might have to order the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender to provide the defendants with counsel.
Evans is standing trial alongside Uche Amadi, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu and Victor Aduba. Read more
Lagos reveals what killed Ajimobi (Nation)
The Lagos State Government has disclosed that former Oyo Governor Senator Abiola Ajimobi died of multiple organ failure.
Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, explained COVID-19 complications triggered the multiple organ failure.
Ajimobi died around 4pm on Thursday at First Cardiologist and Cardiovascular Consultants Hospital, Lagos.
He was admitted in the private health facility on June 2.
Abayomi tweeted: “We regret the death of immediate past Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajumobi who passed on today, June 25, 2020 at First Cardiologist Consultant; a private COVID-19 approved care facility in Lagos State. Read more
FRSC returns money to accident victim’s family in Kogi (Guardian)
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), RS8.3, Kogi Command, has returned N110,990 cash, to the family of one Mr Olusola Adeniyi, who died in a crash on March 25, along Zariagi-Lokoja road at Vami Farm in Kogi.
The FRSC Sector Commander in Kogi, CC. Idris Fika, made this known during the handover of the money to the brother of the deceased, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi, at the command headquarters in Lokoja.
Fika commiserated with the family members of the deceased and prayed to God to forgive all his deeds and grant the family the fortitude to bear the loss. Read more
Hushpuppi: Fraud does not represent who we are, says Dabiri-Erewa (Punch)
The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, says criminal acts such as fraud do not define the Nigerian people.
The NIDCOM boss stated this while condemning the audacity of Ramon Abass aka Hushpuppi to commit crimes and still “show-off”.
The PUNCH had earlier reported how the Dubai Police Force in the United Arab Emirates arrested the Nigerian known for flaunting his luxurious lifestyle on Instagram. Read more
ECOWAS Court orders Nigeria to pay 244 soldiers dismissed in 2016 (Vanguard)
The ECOWAS Court of Justice, has ordered the Federal Government of Nigeria to pay the salaries and allowances of 244 soldiers dismissed in 2016.
A statement issued by the court on Friday said that the order was given in a Judgment issued by a panel of three justices of the court on Thursday.
The court had earlier ruled in May 2019, that the process by which the soldiers were dismissed violated their right to work and fair hearing. Read more
Kano to begin compulsory drug tests for political officeholders, civil servants, students (Guardian)
Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano has said that plans are underway to begin compulsory drug tests for political office holders, civil servants and students seeking for admission into tertiary institutions in the state.
In a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammed Garba, on Friday, to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse, said the compulsory drugs test would begin when the state Drug Administration Agency begins operation.
”The Ganduje-led administration has been passionate about fighting illicit drugs trafficking and abuse and set up a task force. Read more
Okowa’s daughter tests positive for COVID-19 (Punch)
The daughter to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has tested positive for coronavirus.
This was contained in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, on Friday in Asaba.
He announced that one of the children of Okowa tested positive for the virus.
He said, consequently, the Governor and his family members had commenced self-isolation for 14 days. Read more
Singer, Mr Dutch splashes N5m to mark birthday (Nation)
Nigerian Afro-Cyborg singer, songwriter and producer, Bright Ukpabi, better known as Mr. Dutch is giving away a whooping 5 million naira to the less-privileged to mark his birthday which comes up today June 26, 2020. The “Keys To My Heart” crooner, who has been alive to challenges occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic said instead of spoiling himself with any form of luxury or throwing a lavish superlative party he would instead be bringing smiles on the faces of people who are having it rough as a result of the pandemic.
The singer started the giveaway five days ago in a countdown to the D-Day of the birthday, which is today. Read more
51-year-old mother serves as her daughter’s surrogate after she is unable to get pregnant (People)
A mother’s bond with her daughter is becoming even stronger after she offered to serve as her gestational surrogate.
Following multiple rounds of in vitro fertilisation, surgeries and miscarriages, Breanna Lockwood recently learned from her doctors that she was unable to have a successful pregnancy, Good Morning America reported.
Refusing to let that prevent Lockwood from having a baby altogether, her 51-year-old mother Julie Loving stepped in — and is now carrying the next generation of her family in her womb as she prepares to give birth to Lockwood’s daughter on Nov. 12. Read more
Bill Gates says US ‘not even close’ to doing enough to fight COVID-19 (NYPost)
Microsoft magnate Bill Gates described the national and global coronavirus pandemic picture as “more bleak” than he would have expected, saying the US is “not even close” to doing enough to fight the contagion, according to a report.
The co-founder of the tech giant appeared Thursday night in a coronavirus town hall on CNN, where he lamented the fact that people are still dying of the illness across the country.
“It’s possible to ramp up testing for a new pathogen very, very fast,” he told hosts Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the network’s chief medical correspondent. Read more
Back to the skies as Paris’s Orly airport reopens after three-month shutdown (France24)
The first flight took off from Orly airport south of Paris at 6:25am Friday, marking a reopening after shutting down on March 31 due to the coronavirus crisis, but with just a fraction of its normal flights.
A Transavia plane bound for the Portuguese city of Porto was sprayed by water cannons from the airport fire brigade vehicles in a so-called “water salute” ceremony before taking off.
The reopened airport is serving only around 25 destinations via 70 takeoffs and landings, compared with 600 a day before the virus crisis grounded aircraft worldwide.
Airlines including Air France, Transavia, easyJet, Vueling and Air Caraïbes account for most of the traffic at Orly, flying to the Caribbean, Reunion Island, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Iceland and Croatia, among others. Read more
White House asks Supreme Court to invalidate Obamacare amid pandemic (VOA)
The US coronavirus task force is expected to hold a public briefing Friday. Vice President Mike Pence will lead the session, the first public briefing in nearly two months.
Late Thursday, as the coronavirus cases in the U.S. climbed to record highs, the White House filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, the health care insurance also known as Obamacare.
Unlike most Western countries, U.S. health coverage is tied to jobs. Since the lockdowns started in the U.S., tens of millions of people have lost their jobs and their health insurance.
In addition, not all U.S. jobs provide health insurance, forcing people to buy their own health insurance. The intention of the ACA was to help the public purchase health insurance at reasonable rates. Read more
Teenager jailed for 15 years for throwing boy, 6, from tenth floor balcony (Metro)
An autistic teenager who threw a six-year-old boy from the Tate Modern viewing gallery has been jailed for at least 15 years. Jonty Bravery, 18, was sentenced after admitting to attempted murder at London’s Old Bailey.
CCTV footage captured the moment he threw the boy, a French tourist, from the tenth floor balcony of the Tate. Bravery, who has obsessive compulsive disorder, spent more than 15 minutes stalking potential victims at the London tourist attraction before fixing on a young visitor who had briefly left his parents’ side, a court heard yesterday. Read more
Former GOP candidate Carly Fiorina throws support behind Biden (Politicus)
Former Hewlett-Packard (HP) CEO Carly Fiorina, who was an early GOP candidate in 2016, announced she would vote for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in this year’s election.
“I’ve been very clear that I can’t support Donald Trump. And, you know, elections are binary choices. I will say this: I think, I hope, that Biden understands that this moment in history calls for him to be a leader, not a politician,” Fiorina told The Atlantic‘s podcast “The Ticket” in an interview released earlier this morning.
Asked whether she would vote for Biden, Fiorina answered: “Well, it’s not ’til November is it? I’m not voting for Trump … it’s a binary choice. So if faced with a binary choice on a ballot, yes.” Read more
‘3 people stabbed to death’ in Glasgow city centre (BBC)
Three people are believed to have been stabbed to death in a hotel stairwell in Glasgow city centre.
The suspect was shot dead by armed police and six people are being treated in hospital for their injuries.
They include a police officer, who was said to be “critical but stable”. Read more
NFF to get N600m from FIFA (Nation)
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will be N600 million ($1.5m) richer when FIFA releases the COVID-19 relief fund to each of its national associations across the world.
The coronavirus relief plan for world football which gulped up to £1.2 billion ($1.5bn) has been announced by FIFA.
From the breakdown, all member associations will be given a universal solidarity grant of $1m, with an additional $500,000 grant specifically for women’s football. Each confederation like CAF will also receive a grant of $2m.
The game’s governing body has revealed its three-step plan, which includes specifically allocated funding to help women’s football through the Covid-19 crisis. Read more
Ref faulted for disallowing Kayode’s bicycle kick goal against Galatasaray (Vanguard)
The sports community in Turkey and across the world, have faulted referee Alper Ulusoy and Video Assistant Referee, VAR, for disallowing a sensational bicycle kick goal by Nigerian striker, Olanrewaju Kayode, during a Turkish Super Lig game between Galatasaray and Gaziantep FC.
The match ended 3-3 at the Galatasaray home stadium but would have finished 4-3 in Gaziantep’s favour if Kayode’s goal was not wrongly disallowed by the referee.
Kayode, a former Golden Eaglets and Flying Eagles star, netted a stunning overhead kick, during the game. Read more
Goran Ivanisevic: Novak Djokovic’s coach has coronavirus (BBC)
Novak Djokovic’s coach Goran Ivanisevic is the latest person involved with the world number one’s Adria Tour to test positive for coronavirus.
Former Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic, 48, was the director of the Croatian leg of the event organised by Djokovic.
Serbia’s Djokovic apologised after becoming the fourth player – along with Grigor Dimitrov, Viktor Troicki and Borna Coric – to test positive. Read more
British soccer team apologizes after Osama Bin Laden cutout appears in crowd (NYPost)
The English soccer club Leeds United issued an apology on June 24 following an incident in which a cardboard cutout of Osama Bin Laden appeared in attendance at one of their games.
Spectators are banned from attending live events in the United Kingdom during the coronavirus pandemic. In response, many English soccer teams began allowing fans to purchase seats they could fill with cutouts of their likeness.
Leeds United put 15,000 seats of these “crowdies” up for sale at their stadium, Elland Road, for the last five games of the English Football League’s Sky Bet Championship. The seats sold for £25, and the club said that they “proved to be extremely popular.” Read more
Police rebuke Liverpool fans after Premier League street party (Guardian)
Police criticised Liverpool fans after thousands poured into the streets around Anfield to celebrate their Premier League triumph, urging them to show caution during the coronavirus pandemic.
Jubilant supporters thronged the area after Chelsea beat Manchester City in London, guaranteeing an end to Liverpool’s 30-year wait to win the English top-flight crown.
Assistant chief constable Rob Carden said Merseyside had been “disproportionately affected” by the coronavirus crisis and people had a responsibility to prevent further cases. Read more
Jurgen Klopp vows to stay at Liverpool ‘for a while’ after Premier League title win (Metro)
Jurgen Klopp claims he would not sign a lifetime contract with Liverpool but insists he will remain at Anfield ‘for a while’. The 53-year-old has guided Liverpool to their first league title in 30 years, while his side are now on course to become only the second team in Premier League history to break the 100-point barrier. In December, Klopp signed a new contract with Liverpool which ties him to Anfield until 2024. Read more