Lagos announces 90-day traffic diversion on Lagos bridge (Punch)
The Lagos State Government has announced a 90-day traffic diversion for motorists on the Odo Iya Alaro Bridge, which will commence on Monday, July 22, 2024.
According to a statement issued on Thursday, July 18, 2024, the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi stated that the diversion is due to the deplorable state of the asphalt pavement and expansion joints on the Odo Iya Alaro Bridge.
Osiyemi noted that the diversion would be done in two phases — the Ojota bound lane and the Yaba/Ojuelegba/Maryland bound lane, respectively. At the same time, alternative routes had been mapped out for each phase of the repairs. Read more
Minimum wage: Manufacturers present demands to aid compliance (Tribune)
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has commended President Bola Tinubu for achieving the breakthrough on the long-awaited minimum wage for Nigerian workers, saying the private sector looks forward to President Bola Tinubu’s promise to assist the sector, among others, for compliance.
Its Director-General, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, made the commendation while reacting to the N70,000 minimum wage agreement by President Tinubu and leaders of labour unions on Thursday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that aside from the minimum wage increase from the current N30,000 to N70,000, President Tinubu assured that it would be reviewed after three years. Read more
Tinubu leaves Abuja on Saturday to attend AU meeting in Ghana (Vanguard)
President Bola Tinubu will on Saturday, July 20, depart Abuja for Accra, Ghana to participate in the Sixth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union (AU), the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Regional Mechanisms (RMs), and the African Union Member States.
In his capacity as the Chairman of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Tinubu will address the meeting on the status of regional integration across various areas in Africa, highlighting the achievements and challenges encountered in West Africa since the last meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, in July 2023.
A statement issued by the presidential spokesman, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, explained that Tinubu, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS will present the ‘2024 Report on the State of the Community’, focusing on peace, regional security, governance, economic integration, humanitarian and social development, energy, mines and agriculture. Read more
Court orders Teleology, 9mobile owners, to pay N55b debt (ThisDay)
Justice Yellin Bogoro of a Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered a telecoms firm, Teleology Nigeria Limited, owners of 9Mobile Network, to pay the sum of N55,776,507,599.00 owed to Keystone Bank Limited.
In an action filed on behalf of Keystone Bank Limited by its counsel, Bode Olanipekun, SAN, Teleology Nigeria Limited was alleged to have failed to service the loan facility which was deployed towards financing its acquisition of strategic assets in Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Ltd., doing business as 9Mobile Network.
Olanipekun pointed out that despite the bank’s offer of restructuring of the loan facility, Teleology failed to meet up with various conditions precedent, operation conditions, transaction dynamics, as well as other conditions stated in the restructuring letter. Read more
Customs intercepts containers of expired drugs, cutlasses, machetes, others at Lagos Port (Sun)
The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Friday said that it intercepted about seven containers carrying expired pharmaceuticals, 12,000 pieces of cutlasses, machetes and 4,129 packages of frozen chicken imported into the country.
Speaking at a press briefing at the Lagos Port, the command Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, said other seizures include 368 jumbo bales of used second-hand clothing, saying the Duty Paid Value (DPV) of these seized items stood at N292. 244 million.
However, he said as part of the Comptroller-General of Customs policy thrust of zero tolerance for smuggling, the Apapa Command of Nigeria Customs Service has successfully intercepted seven containers that fall short of the import prohibition guidelines from entering the country. Read more
Reps to NRC: Employ more female engineers (Nation)
The House of Representatives has advised the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to consider employing more female engineers to foster workplace inclusiveness.
The chairman of the House Committee on Land Transport, Hon. Blessing Onyeche Onuh, made this recommendation during the committee’s oversight tour of railway facilities along the Lagos corridor.
Onuh, daughter of the seventh Assembly Senate President, Senator David Mark, who represents the Otukpo/Ohimini Federal Constituency, said the employment of women engineers would give the nation’s oldest public corporation the needed public image as a truly inclusive workplace. Read more
Court remands groom, 12 others over Police inspector’s murder in Rivers (Independent)
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has on Thursday remanded a wedding groom, identified as Effoghene Uwheraka and 12 others in connection with the murder of a female police inspector, Christiana Erekere.
The slain inspector was attacked on April 25, 2024, while on stop and search duty at a police checkpoint in Taaba community, Khana Local Government Area by her assailants who were traveling from Rivers State to Akwa Ibom State for a wedding ceremony.
It was gathered that the remanded suspects became violent after the slain inspector’s team queried the validity of a vehicle document they were traveling in. Read more
Poly lecturers threaten strike over new service scheme (Channels)
The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics in Zone B has cautioned on the implementation of the new scheme of service by the head of service of the federation, through the national board for technical education, which it describes as unacceptable to its members.
In a press briefing by the Zonal Coordinator Zone B, Simji Lumpye, held at the Plateau State Polytechnic, Jos, the union observed that the responsibility for drafting the scheme of service and its approval, should not be the sole responsibility of the head of service, but should include other stakeholders, especially academic staff union of polytechnics. Read more
Halle Berry ‘‘hated’’ that Catwoman backlash ‘‘got all put on me’’ and ‘‘it’s my failure’’ (Variety)
Halle Berry recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly to mark the 20th anniversary of Catwoman and admitted that she’s always hated being the sole target of the movie’s backlash. The infamous comic book movie was a box office flop, and Berry was awarded a Razzie for her performance. She famously showed up to the ceremony with her Oscar in hand to accept the trophy for worst performance.
“I felt like it was Halle Berry’s failure, but I didn’t make it alone,” Berry told the publication. “All these years, I’ve absolutely carried it.” Read more
Kenyan police arrest 2 more suspects in a serial murder case (AfricaNews)
Kenyan authorities have arrested two more individuals in the ongoing investigation into the Mukuru case, where a suspected serial killer has confessed to the murders of 42 women. This follows the arrest of the primary suspect on Monday, who the police believe is responsible for the serial killings.
On Tuesday, police apprehended Amos Momanyi Mogusu outside a bar in Nairobi. According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Mogusu was tracked down using the mobile phone of one of the victims, Roselyn Akoth, found in his possession.
The second arrest involved Moses Ogembo, a resident of Mukuru, who sold the phone to Mogusu. During a search of Ogembo’s residence, investigators discovered 154 mobile phones. Under questioning, Ogembo admitted to purchasing several second-hand smartphones from Collins Jumaishi Kalusha, the primary suspect in this case. Read more
Vietnam’s top leader Trong dies at 80 after long rule (VOA)
Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong died on Friday after holding the country’s most powerful position for 13 years during which he oversaw fast economic growth, a yearslong anti-graft crackdown and a pragmatic foreign policy. He was 80.
Trong’s duties have been temporarily assigned to President To Lam, a rising star within the party who could further consolidate his power if he is allowed to keep the two roles.
Trong died in the early afternoon “due to old age and serious illness,” the Communist Party said in a statement on its website, without elaborating further on the nature of the illness. Read more
Crowdstrike and Microsoft: What we know about global IT outage (BBC)
There were long lines at Barcelona airport, as passengers waited to be checked in manually
A massive tech failure has caused travel chaos around the world, with banking and healthcare services also badly hit.
Flights have been grounded because of the IT outage – a flaw which left many computers displaying blue error screens.
There were long queues, delays and flight cancellations at airports around the world, as passengers had to be manually checked in. Read more
The Acolyte star Manny Jacinto responds to “outcry” after his lines got cut from Top Gun: Maverick (NME)
Star Wars: The Acolyte star Manny Jacinto has opened up about having his dialogue cut from Top Gun: Maverick.
The actor was cast as LT Billy “Fritz” Avalone in the Tom Cruise-led sequel, but his lines were cut from the final edit and he only appeared in the background of a few short scenes.
“It’s flattering that there was a little bit of an outcry, but it wasn’t shocking to me,” Jacinto told GQ magazine about being cut out of the film. “There was this sense of where the film was going [on set], like I can see them focusing the camera more on these [other] guys and not taking so much time on our scenes.” Read more
Downton Abbey Cast reunites for Hello, Dolly! while fans anticipate 3rd film (People)
The cast of Downton Abbey are giving fans a special treat to hold them over until the release of their third film!
On Thursday, July 18, Sophie McShera (Daisy), Phyllis Logan (Mrs. Carson), Jim Carter (Carson) and Lesley Nicol (Mrs. Patmore) gathered for a photo op at the opening night of Hello, Dolly! at the London Palladium in London, England. They were joined by Carter’s daughter Bessie, whom fans will recognize as Prudence Featherington from Bridgerton.
The award-winning play is showing for a limited summer session, and runs through Sept. 14. Read more
James Corden shares major Gavin and Stacey update after delay finishing script with Ruth Jones
(DailyMail)
James Corden delighted fans by sharing a major Gavin and Stacey update as he appeared on the Virgin Radio Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Friday.
The iconic BBC comedy is set to return on Christmas Day for its last ever episode, with fans hoping to see the outcome of the dramatic proposal cliffhanger between Nessa (Ruth Jones) and Smithy.
There have been no new episodes since the most recent special episode was aired in 2019 – almost five years ago, so fans are getting impatient. Read more
‘I’m more than a footballer’ — Iwobi speaks on love for music (CompleteSports)
Everton and Nigeria star Alex Iwobi has expressed his love for music, reports Completesports.com.
Iwobi claimed that music is a way of expressing himself.“It’s a certain way of just expressing yourself and letting yourself be,” Iwobi told Standard Sport.
“It’s a hobby, a way to escape from football. It’s just a sense of freedom and being someone else – not just Alex the footballer.” Read more
Mbaoma, Ismail, Suleiman battle for NPFL best player award (Punch)
Enyimba striker, Chijioke Mbaoma, Remo Stars and Super Eagles defender Sodiq Ismail as well as Akwa United’s Sani Suleiman are in the run for the biggest prize at the League Bloggers Award which holds on Friday (today) in Lagos, The PUNCH reports.
The season-ending award returns for the 12th year to crown the best players in the Nigeria Premier Football League, the Nigeria Women’s Football League and the Nigeria National League.
Mbaoma finished the 2023/24 NPFL season as the highest goal scorer with 17 goals while Ismail, who got an invitation into the Super Eagles during the campaign recorded 13 assists and one goal for Remo Stars. Read more
Team USA gets encouraging Kevin Durant injury update (Clutchpoints)
Team USA has cruised to victory on each of their first three friendly matchups ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, and they have done so without one of their best players in Kevin Durant on the floor. Durant has been dealing with a strained calf ahead of the Olympics, and while it’s not believed to be an overly serious injury, Team USA has been extra cautious with him.
The hope was that this cautious approach would lead to Durant returning for the start of the Games at the very latest. However, it seems like he could be able to return sooner than that, as the latest update on the Phoenix Suns star forward indicated that he’s set to return to practice on Friday with the hope that he will be able to play in at least one of their final two exhibition games. Read more
Everton takeover talks with Friedkin Group collapse in fresh blow (Standard)
Everton remain on the hunt for new owners after the Friedkin Group’s proposed takeover of the club collapsed.
The group, which is led by the American billionaire Dan Friedkin and owns a controlling stake in Italian club Roma, had been in a period of exclusivity to negotiate a possible purchase since last month.
There had been optimism a deal could be struck, but it was announced by Everton on Friday morning that talks were off. Read more
Milan sign Spain striker Morata from Atletico Madrid (BBC)
AC Milan have signed Spain forward Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid on a four-year contract with an option for a further 12 months.
The Serie A side triggered Morata’s release clause – which was reportedly, external about £11m – in order to sign him.
The 31-year-old captained Spain to victory in Euro 2024 earlier this month. Read more
Hye-Jin Choi shoots 7-under 64 to take lead at Dana Open (ESPN)
Hye-Jin Choi birdied her final two holes late Thursday afternoon for a 7-under 64 and a one-stroke lead in the Dana Open for Children.
Choi had seven birdies in the bogey-free round at Highland Meadows, finishing with the birdies on the par-3 eighth and par-4 ninth. She putted well after struggling a day earlier in the pro-am round.
“I hit it too hard yesterday, so I try more stroke soft and more like tempo,” said Choi, the 24-year-old South Korean player who is winless on the LPGA Tour. “Focusing more tempo.” Read more