Lagos goes tough on manufacturers of counterfeit products (Nation)
Manufacturers of counterfeit products in Lagos State now risk imprisonment or huge fine, Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) has said.
Onigbanjo represented Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the first Lagos State Food Safety Conference and Exhibition organised by the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA).
According to Onigbanjo, LASCOPA is empowered to shut facilities which engage in unwholesome practises and the production of counterfeit products.
He said: “LASCOPA is the government agency empowered to ensure consumers get value for their money. The agency is empowered to destroy unsafe products, shut facilities where such products are made, sue the manufacturers to court, which can result in payment of fine or outright imprisonment. There are ample consumer protection laws which give consumers a wide array of choices against fraudulent practises.” Read more
FRSC to investigate video of stray cow on Third Mainland Bridge (Punch)
The Federal Road Safety Corps in Lagos State says it has ordered investigation into the authenticity of a recent viral social media video of a cow straying on the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos.
FRSC Sector Commander, Mr Olusegun Ogungbemide, said in a statement on Friday that the command had watched the trending video and condemned the incident totally.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the incident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday.
“I confirmed that the command had carefully watched the viral video and condemned the incident. Read more
NASS urges FG to put new MMIA terminal to use (Nation)
The National Assembly has urged the Federal Government to put the new Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos terminal to use to boost the image of the country.
Sen. Smart Adeyemi, Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, and Rep. Nnolim Nnaji, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Aviation made the call during an inspection visit to the facility in Lagos on Friday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the new terminal is one of the four facilities built under the Nigeria-Chinese 500 million dollars loan deal signed in 2013.
The MMIA is built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC); the terminals in Abuja and Port Harcourt have since been completed. Read more
Flood kills 26, destroy 1,000 houses in Kano State –SEMA (Guardian)
The Kano State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said on Friday that the flood killed 26 people and destroyed over 1,000 houses in four Local Government Areas of the state from April to date.
The Executive Secretary, Kano SEMA, Dr Saleh Jili, confirmed the figures in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano.
Jili said that 50 other persons sustained injuries due to the flood and windstorm.
According to him, the affected local government areas are Bunkure, Minjibir, Tarauni and Doguwa. Read more
Ozigbo’s chances brighten as A’Court reinstates Anambra PDP Exco (Leadership)
Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming November 6 Anambra State gubernatorial election, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, and chairman of the reinstated party executives in the state, Chief Ndubuisi Nwobu, have expressed joy with the Appeal Court decision reiterating the state’s party executive committee.
The duo said the party in would now be more focused to win the governorship election.
In a reaction on his behalf by his media team, Ozigbo expressed optimism that the Appellate Court decision has made it clear that all other pending litigations against his candidacy would be resolved in his favour. Read more
Maduagwu to Davido: you won’t win Grammy until you marry Chioma (Nation)
Controversial Nollywood actor, Uche Maduagwu has mocked Davido hours after the singer in a viral video was seen calling on his father from his luxurious car.
In the video, the popular singer who is in the US was seen cruising in his new Rolls Royce Cullinan while his father was inside a Bentley.
His dad was in front of him, so he called on his dad to go ahead while he came behind.
Read Also: Israel DMW curses those criticising him for worshipping Davido
Reacting to this viral video, Uche mocked the DMW boss noting he’s busy screaming “My daddy” while his colleague, Burnaboy is screaming “My Grammy”. Read more
Planks fall from moving articulated vehicle, kill two passersby in Ibadan (Tribune)
Tragedy struck, on Thursday, when two persons lost their lives and others injured as heavy planks fell off a moving truck and landed on some pedestrians in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
Tribune Online authoritatively gathered that the accident occurred at Omo Baba Bus Stop along the Sango-Eleyele Road.
The incident attracted a crowd of sympathisers, just as some of them attempted to attack officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) who mobilised to the scene to rescue the injured victims.
The FRSC team said to have been led by a female officer quickly fled scene to avoid been lynched by the mob. But the reason for their mob’s hostile reaction could not be immediately ascertained as of the time of filing this report. Read more
COVID-19: Again, UAE extends travel ban against Nigeria, S’Africa (Leadership)
Emirates Airline has extended the suspension of its flights from Nigeria to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to at least August 7.
Suspension of flights from South Africa to UAE will also remain in place until the same date.
Recall that the initial suspension of flights was scheduled to end on July 31.
“Affected flight bookings have been cancelled,” the airline said in a statement on its website.
Emirates said its decision was in line with the UAE government’s directives restricting entry of travellers originating from the two countries. Read more
“House Of Gucci” trailer: Lady Gaga takes centre stage as fans predict Oscar wins (Metro)
The House Of Gucci trailer has finally arrived with Lady Gaga and Adam Driving becoming Patrizia Reggiani and Maurizio Gucci.
The two-minute teaser dropped just hours after the official posters showing Jared Leto’s dramatic transformation as Paolo Gucci arrived, and it didn’t disappoint with drama at every turn.
Set to Blondie’s Heart of Glass, viewers are transported to Italy with the power couple’s love story quickly unravelling.
‘It was a name that sounded so sweet, so seductive, synonymous with worth, style, power, but that name was a curse, too,’ Gaga’s Patrizia announces, with the words ‘betrayal’, ‘scandal’ and ‘murder’ soon flashing on the screen. Read more
China battles worst Covid outbreak since Wuhan (BBC)
A Covid outbreak first discovered in the Chinese city of Nanjing has spread to five provinces and Beijing, with state media calling it the most extensive contagion after Wuhan.
Almost 200 people have been infected since the virus was first detected at the city’s busy airport on 20 July.
All flights from Nanjing airport will be suspended until 11 August, according to local media.
Officials also began city-wide testing amid criticism for their “failure”. Read more
Kadhafi’s son hints at Libya presidential bid (Guardian)
Seif al-Islam, the son of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, wants to “restore the lost unity” of Libya after a decade of chaos and does not exclude standing for the presidency.
He spoke in a rare interview, given to the New York Times at an opulent two-storey villa inside a gated compound at Zintan in the west of the North African country.
For years, mystery had surrounded the precise whereabouts of a man wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The 49-year-old, who before 2011 had been seen as his father’s presumed successor, said politicians in the decade since have brought Libyans “nothing but misery”. Read more
Woman beheaded in broad daylight, allegedly by boyfriend (NYPost)
A 55-year-old woman was beheaded in broad daylight near Minneapolis on Wednesday, and her abusive boyfriend was arrested for the killing, reports said.
The decapitated body of America Mafalda Thayer was discovered lying on the ground next to a car by cops who responded to a stabbing in Shakopee, Minnesota, according to KMSP.
Officers recovered a large knife in an alley nearby. Thayer’s boyfriend, 42-year-old Alexis Saborit, was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder, police said.
Thayer worked at the Dollar Tree and My Pillow, where co-workers said she was in a long-term relationship with the suspect and was allegedly abused by him, the network reported. Read more
Eurozone out of recession after economy grows 2% (BBC)
The eurozone’s economy grew by 2% in the second three months of the year, taking the region out of recession.
New figures suggest there was growth in all the individual national economies which reported data.
The 19-nation bloc had suffered a so-called double-dip recession when the economy contracted in the previous two quarters.
However, the eurozone remains 3% down from its pre-pandemic level in late 2019. Read more
Woman sets herself on fire while trying to rid car of bedbugs (NYPost)
A Michigan woman set herself on fire while frantically trying to incinerate bedbugs she found inside her car, authorities said.
The unidentified 31-year-old woman from Pontiac found the creepy crawlies inside her ride Tuesday and had a panic attack, according to an Oakland County Sheriff’s Office incident report obtained by The Post.
She decided to use rubbing alcohol to douse the bugs and set them ablaze, but accidentally set herself on fire in the process, according to the report.
She was taken to a hospital for treatment of second-degree burns. Deputies were sent to the scene to assist firefighters who responded to the vehicle fire. Read more
Tokyo 2020: D’Tigress lose again (Punch)
Nigeria’s D’Tigress on Friday lost their second group game 87-62 to France at the ongoing women’s basketball event of the 2020 Olympic Games at the Saitama Arena.
Otis Hughley-led ladies failed to withstand the firepower of the French team, the fourth-ranked side in the world.
The French started the game brightly, taking the first quarter 18-12. The tempo of their game increased in the second quarter, which paid off with a 26-15 win in the quarter to lead 44-27 at halftime.
France continued their dominance in the third quarter winning 23-15 while the final quarter was tied 20-20. The win sees them increase their chances of booking their spot to the next phase of the competition. Read more
Tokyo Olympics: Alexander Zverev beats Novak Djokovic to reach final (BBC)
Novak Djokovic’s hopes of winning a ‘Golden Slam’ are over after he lost to Alexander Zverev in the Olympic tennis semi-finals.
Serb Djokovic, the world number one, was bidding to become the first man to win all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal in the same year.
But German Zverev, 24, came from a set down to win 1-6 6-3 6-1 at the Ariake Tennis Park in Tokyo.
The fourth seed will meet Russian Karen Khachanov in Sunday’s final.
World number 25 and 12th seed Khachanov beat Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3 6-3 earlier on Friday. Read more
Olympics: Sports minister apologises to disqualified athletes, promises probe (Punch)
Nigeria’s sports minister, Sunday Dare, has apologised to 10 Nigerian athletes that were disqualified from the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
This was contained in a press statement by the Federal Ministry of Sports, titled, ‘Statement: Ministry Wades to stem crisis’, on Friday.
The statement also said that the minister promised to investigate the circumstances surrounding their disqualification.
The statement read in part, “The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has stepped in to stem the further crisis by addressing the issues that have arisen concerning Team Nigeria athletes. Read more
Top NBA prospects honour memory of Terrence Clarke (NYPost)
Gone, but not forgotten.
When asked about this year’s NBA draft class, several players brought up the memory of Terrence Clarke unprompted. Clarke, after one year at Kentucky, was a projected first-round pick who tragically lost his life in a car accident on April 22 in Los Angeles.
“A good representation of this draft class is a player that passed in Terrence Clark,” Florida State wing Scottie Barnes, who is expected to be taken in the top five, said. “You just saw how much joy and enthusiasm he played with. He represented us all, just being great guys.”
At the time of his death, several NBA players posted about Clarke on social media. Celtics star Jaylen Brown tweeted that the league should honor Clarke’s memory by having his name posthumously called on draft night. In 2014, the NBA honored Baylor star Isaiah Austin in a similar fashion. Austin, who had been diagnosed with the genetic disorder Marfan syndrome, was unable to play in the NBA, though he has since begun playing professionally overseas. Read more
Women’s Olympic football: GB suffer dramatic extra time defeat to Australia (BBC)
Great Britain suffered a heartbreaking extra-time defeat in the Olympic women’s football quarter-finals as Chelsea’s Sam Kerr dealt the final blow to give Australia a dramatic victory.
In a frantic encounter, GB’s Ellen White scored a hat-trick, while Manchester City team-mate Caroline Weir had a penalty saved in extra time before Australia scored twice.
Kerr’s 89th-minute equaliser had forced extra time before Australia teenager Mary Fowler’s heavily deflected strike crushed GB’s momentum after Weir’s penalty miss.
Hege Riise’s side were rocked when Kerr rose above GB captain Steph Houghton to head in a fourth for Australia, but White responded to set up a nail-biting finale. Read more
Olympics: Disqualified Nigerian athletes protest in Tokyo (Punch)
Nigerian athletes staged a protest in Tokyo after 10 of them were disqualified from taking part in the track and field events of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The protesting athletes carried placards with the inscription “Why should we suffer for someone else’s negligence”, “All we wanted to do was compete” and “We are not just alternates but potential medalists.”
“We are not just alternates, but potential medallists”, “Dreams shattered”, “10 out of 23, we can’t continue this way” were also some of the inscriptions on the placards carried by the protesting Nigerian athletes.
The athletes who protested are Ruth Usoro, Favour Ofili, Annette Echikunwoke, Chioma Onyekwere, Glory Patrick, Chidi Okezie, Tima Godbless, Rosemary Chukwuma, Yinka Ajayi and Knowledge Omovoh.The PUNCH had reported that the Athletics Integrity Unit disqualified Ruth Usoro, Favour Ofili and eight other athletes after they failed to conduct the mandatory three out-of-competition tests before the Olympics. Read more