Lagos Assembly decries naira depreciation (Vanguard)
The Lagos State House of Assembly has passed a resolution to decry the continued depreciation in the value of the naira against the US dollars.
The house passed the resolution at a plenary presided over by the Speaker, Mr Mudashiru Obasa,on Tuesday.
The lawmakers said the free fall of the naira was worrisome, calling for urgent interventions to reverse the trend. Read more
Diri sworn in as Bayelsa governor for second term (Channels)
Bayelsa State Governor, Duoye Diri, takes oath of office for a second term at the at Samson Siasia Sports in Yenagoa.
Bayelsa State Governor, Duoye Diri, has been sworn in for a second term in office.
He took his oath of office at 1:58 pm on Wednesday at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Both Diri and his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, took their oath of office administered by the State Chief Judge, Justice Matilda Ayemieye. Read more
Reactions as IMF confirms return of petrol subsidy under Tinubu (DailyTrust)
Mixed reactions have trailed the confirmation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the federal government has resumed the payment of subsidies on the premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol through the backdoor.
Recall that during his inauguration on May 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu announced an end to petrol subsidy, triggering a hike in the prices of goods and services in the country.
A few weeks later, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) collapsed the different exchange rate regimes into one, with the value of the naira to the dollar weakening. As of Monday, dollar was N1,499/$1 at the official window and N1,515/$1 at the parallel market. Read more
Hoodlums disrupt Enugu South re-rerun (Punch)
The Independent National Electoral Commission has disclosed that some hoodlums disrupted the re-run election in the Enugu South 1 State Constituency.
The commission stated this via a tweet posted on its X handle Wednesday.
It added that though no lives were lost in the act, election materials were destroyed and voters were prevented from casting their votes. Read more
Senate seeks probe of Chopper crash that killed Wigwe, wife, son, ex-NGX’s chairman (Nation)
Senate on Wednesday, February 14, called for a comprehensive investigation into the cause of the helicopter crash that killed the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Access Holdings, Herbert Wigwe, wife Doreen and son Chizzi in the United States of America last Friday.
The crash also claimed the life of the former Group Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
The Senate specifically urged the federal government to collaborate with the US authorities to ensure that thorough work was done. Read more
LASPAGA’s Scholarship Award to student leaders excites NANS (Independent)
The Lagos State Parks and Garages Administrators (LASPAGA) under the leadership of Oba Sulaimon Adesina Raji-Asade, has awarded scholarships to students’ union presidents across the 11 tertiary institutions in Lagos State.
This was contained in an address delivered by the Chairman, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Lagos State chapter, Comr. Alimi Lekan Idris at a press conference in Lagos.
He noted that the act holds immense significance for the educational advancement and empowerment of students at this difficult time in the nation. Read more
Parents decry FG’s failure to pay allowances of scholars in Russia (ThisDay)
Parents of Nigerian scholars in Russia have appealed to the federal government to aid students who are facing hard times over non-payment of their allowance since June last year.
The scholars are under the Bilateral Education Agreement, run by the Federal Scholarship Board (FDB).
The students are entitled to a monthly allowance from the Nigerian and Russian governments. While the host country is meeting its obligation, which covers tuition fees and accommodation, the Nigerian government has not paid allowances for feeding and other upkeep since June 2023. Read more
Reps receive bill seeking creation of 3 more states in South-West (Tribune)
A bill seeking the creation of additional three states in the South-West has been listed for presentation in the House of Representatives.
The bill, being sponsored by Hon Busayo Oluwole Oke, representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency, Osun State, (Osun-PDP) is seeking the creation of Oke-Ogun, Ijebu and Ife-Ijesa States respectively.
The proposed legislation is titled “A Bill for an Act to amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)”. Read more
Why does Spike Lee refuse to use CGI? (Farout)
Even though Hollywood’s most prominent filmmakers try to keep things as practical as possible, digital touch-ups are often an inevitability. Spike Lee is hardly someone who’s going to mount a massive-scale sci-fi epic, though, but neither does he have any interest in using CGI for the sake of it.
Christopher Nolan is cinema’s most vocal proponent of keeping things as real as he can on productions of enormous scale, but even he needs to call in the digital wizards to smooth out the edges. Similarly, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino don’t make movies that necessarily obligate oodles of effects work, but it’s there nonetheless to both serve the story and create backdrops that mirror their creative vision.
While Lee has never helmed anything that obligates excessive amounts of digital manipulation, that’s very much by design. As he explained to CNET, the advent of the CGI era has created a sense of uniformity and familiarity on a visual level, which fails to distinguish one effects-heavy extravaganza from the next. Read more
UN chief warns that “empty bellies fuel unrest” (AfricaNews)
In a stark warning, the United Nations chief said on Tuesday that the combined impact of climate chaos and food crises are increasing threats to global peace.
Speaking at the UN Security Council in New York, Antonio Guterres said climate disasters have a negative impact on food production which kindles social unrest.
“A global food crisis is creating a hellscape of anger and heartache for many of the world’s poorest people. And the climate crisis is accelerating with the deadly force, and last year was the hottest ever.” Read more
Family jailed after bride left in vegetative state by ‘force-feeding her pills’ (Metro)
A man and his parents have been jailed after severe abuse left his wife a persistent vegetative state from which she will never recover.
Ambreen Fatima Sheikh was 30 when she was forcibly drugged and had corrosive substances thrown at her after she was brought to the UK from Pakistan for an arranged marriage.
She was given the anti-diabetes drug glimepiride, which induced catastrophic brain injury, Leeds Crown Court heard. Read more
Oklahoma country radio station plays new Beyoncé songs after fan outcry (EW)
Beyoncé’s new singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” are unambiguously country songs, but some country radio stations haven’t started playing them despite their popularity.
When a fan requested Oklahoma country station KYKC play “Texas Hold ‘Em,” general manager Roger Harris replied, writing, “We do not play Beyonce’ on KYKC as we are a country music station.” The response quickly went viral after it was shared on social media on Tuesday, prompting the Beyhive to spring into action calling on the station to change its tune.
A representative from S.C.O.R.E., the station’s parent company, clarified the situation to EW, explaining that Harris “was removed and didn’t know otherwise” that Beyoncé had pivoted to making country music. Harris tells EW via email that “up until now, she hasn’t been a ‘country artist.’ So..we responded to the email in the same way we would have responded to someone requesting a Rolling Stones song on our country station.” Read more
Super Bowl LVIII sets record with a staggering 123.4 million viewers, American TV’s biggest audience since moon landing (CNN)
Super Bowl LVIII was the most-watched American television broadcast in a generation.
Sunday’s overtime thriller, which featured the Kansas City Chiefs facing off against the San Francisco 49ers, averaged 123.4 million viewers, CBS said Monday, breaking Super Bowl viewership records.
The highly anticipated showdown in Las Vegas surpassed the previous most-watched Super Bowl in history, a record set just last year when the Chiefs mounted a second half comeback to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles in front of 115 million viewers. The audience for Super Bowl LVIII was so large that it approached the all-time most watched television broadcast in the United States set in 1969, when an estimated 125 to 150 million viewers watched the Apollo 11 moon landing. Read more
‘‘Suits L.A.’’ casts Stephen Amell to lead NBC drama pilot (Deadline)
Arrow star Stephen Amell is set as the lead in NBC drama pilot ‘‘Suits L.A.’’, a new extension of the Suits universe from Aaron Korsh, creator and writer of the original series. Production is scheduled to start in late March in Vancouver.
‘‘Suits L.A.’’ centers on Ted Black (Amell), a former federal prosecutor from New York, who has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career. Ted is surrounded by a group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives. All of this is going on while events from years ago slowly unravel that led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved. Read mor
Estonia joins growing list of NATO allies warning Russia will attack bloc (Newsweek)
Estonia’sForeign Intelligence Service said on Tuesday that Russia is preparing for a war with NATO within the next 10 years, adding to the list of Western countries who have warned of an impending military conflict with Moscow.
The service’s assessment, according to Director General of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service Kaupo Rosin, is based on Russia’s purported plans to double its number of troops stationed along its border with the eastern flank of NATO. That includes Finland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
“Russia has chosen a path which is a long-term confrontation…and the Kremlin is probably anticipating a possible conflict with NATO within the next decade or so,” said Rosin, who spoke with reporters after the release of Estonia’s annual security risk report on Tuesday. Read more
Football fan banned for Mohamed Salah abuse and disaster taunts (BBC)
A football fan who shouted racist abuse about Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and mocked the Heysel stadium disaster has been banned from matches.
Joel Barwise shouted when Salah’s name was announced at Anfield on 21 October before the Merseyside derby.
Everton fan Barwise also made pushing gestures to taunt fans about Heysel, in which 39 fans died in a crush before the 1985 European Cup final.
He was handed a three-year banning order at Sefton Magistrates’ Court. Read more
Iwobi had a great AFCON tournament, says Odumodublvck (Nation)
Popular rapper, Odumodublvck, whose real name is Tochukwu Ojogwu has thrown his weight behind Super Eagles playerm Alex Iwobi amid harsh criticisms from Nigerians over the 2023 AFCON championship loss.
Following Nigeria’s 2-1 loss to Ivory Coast in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final at Alassane Ouattara Stadium on Sunday, the 27-year-old came under intense backlash.
Despite the criticism, Odumodublvck praised Iwobi’s performance and said that he had a fantastic tournament on his Twitter page. Read more
Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz allays injury fears after RB Leipzig victory (SportsMole)
Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz has confirmed that the injury he sustained against RB Leipzig is not serious, despite him being forced off in the final 10 minutes.
Brahim scored the only goal in Los Blancos’ 1-0 win in Eastern Germany, with an eye-catching strike early in the second half being all that separated the sides.
Real had to weather an intense Leipzig storm though, as goalkeeper Andriy Lunin was forced into nine saves across the 90 minutes. Read more
Copenhagen 1-3 Man City: Pep Guardiola proud of ‘‘perfect’’ win but Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva suffer injuries (Sky)
Pep Guardiola described Manchester City’s 3-1 victory over Copenhagen in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie as “perfect” but the result came at a cost with injuries to Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva.
City extended their unbeaten run in Europe to 21 matches and made it 11 consecutive wins in all competitions by overcoming the Danish champions thanks to goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Silva and Phil Foden.
De Bruyne struck the opener at Parken Stadium after just 10 minutes amid a dominant start which should have seen City further ahead before Grealish went off injured in the first half and an Ederson mistake allowed Copenhagen’s Magnus Mattsson to equalise. Read more
Jalen Williams, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lead Thunder past Magic 127-113 (TorontoStar)
Jalen Williams scored 33 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 32 points and five assists and Oklahoma City shook off a sluggish start beat the Orlando Magic 127-113 on Tuesday night in the Thunder’s final game before the All-Star break.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 13 points during a five-minute stretch of the third quarter in which the Thunder took command of the game, which was played on the night the Magic retired Shaquille O’Neal’s No. 32.
Chet Holmgren had 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for the Thunder. Read more
New Zealand Cricket announces 14-member squad for T20I series against Australia; Trent Boult returns (CricketTimes)
In a much-anticipated move, New Zealand Cricket has announced its formidable 14-member squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Australia, which is set to kick off in Wellington on February 21. The squad includes some notable inclusions and exclusions that have ignited both excitement and discussions among cricket enthusiasts.
The return of fast bowler Trent Boult headlines the squad announcement, adding a strategic edge to the team’s composition. Boult, who last played a T20I in November 2022, is set to join the squad for the second and third matches and will be unavailable for the opening game. This decision appears to be a calculated move with an eye on the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup later this year. Read more