Lagos residents scoop fuel from fallen petrol tanker (Punch)
There was panic in the Funsho Williams Avenue area of Surulere, Lagos State, after a tanker loaded with petrol rammed into a car and spilled its contents on the road.
Some residents later trooped out with kegs and buckets to scoop fuel, which flowed onto the road.
The Director, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Adeseye Margaret, in a statement, said the accident happened around 2 pm on Tuesday.
She said, “Emergency responders are already on ground mitigating the situation while counting on public support to do away with combustible materials within the vicinity in averting a secondary incident.” Read more
As boat mishaps resurge on Lagos waterways, users express fears (Tribune)
Since October 2021 when GT Water-Line 4 capsized after take-off from Ebute-Ero enroute Ikorodu terminal and all 18 passengers got rescued alive because they were all putting on life jackets, Lagos State waterways had enjoyed hitch-free navigation for users in the last nine months until last Wednesday.
All through the first half of 2022, there had been no sign that death was lurking on the Lagos waterways as both the Lagos State and the Federal Government, through series of safety efforts, had ensured safe navigation for waterways users through installation of safety buoys and other navigational aid along the state waterways.
With various sensitisation seminars organised for boat operators by the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) at different times in the first half of 2022, there was no indication that multiple deaths loomed on the Lagos waterways.
The hosting in Lagos of the maiden edition of the National Transport Technology Conference (NTTC) in June 2022 was a testament of the massive investment and resources that had been put into the state waterways sector to checkmate incessant loss of lives. Read more
How flood swept away 3 siblings, 4 others in Lagos, Ogun (Vanguard)
Three siblings in Alimosho area of Lagos State, were among numerous victims swept away by flood during the unprecedented rainfall in Lagos on Friday, July 8 and Saturday, 9, 2022.
The siblings, Michael,18,Elizabeth, 17, and Timi, 14, were reportedly swept away while relocating from a room apartment at Oke Isagun, Agbado Oke, Oko Local Council Development Area, LCDA, in Alimosho.
The said apartment was said to belong to Mercy of Christ Apostolic Church situated in an uncompleted building.
Tragedy was said to have occured while trying to relocate from their room to the main church structure ungortunately the youngest among them, Timi, an asthmatic patient, slipped into the flood while trying to climb the plank linking their room to the church building slipped. Read more
N165 petrol pump price no longer realistic, says major marketers (Guardian)
Major oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has said the regulated N165 pump price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, is no longer realistic.
Chairman, Mr. Olumide Adeosun, made this known during a virtual consumer protection workshop for oil marketers by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) yesterday.
Adeosun, who was reacting to the lingering fuel scarcity across the country, blamed the situation on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has disrupted global energy supply distribution.
The MOMAN chairman likened the current situation to the COVID-19 pandemic era, with some countries moving to halt the exportation of petrol in favour of their own national energy securities. Read more
Data capturing: Aregbesola queries immigration officer (Punch)
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, on Wednesday queried an officer of the Nigerian Immigration Service for ‘breach of due process’ at the Alausa passport office in Lagos.
Aregbesola, who visited the office unannounced, was said to have listened to complaints from applicants who were waiting for data capturing.
One of them was said to have complained about the cumbersome nature of the application process, adding that she was asked to start filling a manual form which had been filled online.
A statement by the Aregbesola’s Media Adviser, Sola Fasure, said the Minister asked the Passport Control Officer at the station, Mrs B. L. Bukar, to explain the breach of due process, noting that such a request was strange. Read more
Igbo youths want more PVC registration centres in S’ East, Lagos (Sun)
Igbo youths under the aegis of Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide sufficient registration equipment and increase the number of PVC registration and voting centres in the South East.
Similarly, a political group, Youths In Politics (YIP), Nigeria staged a peaceful walk to INEC headquarters in Lagos to demand more voter enrollment machines, yesterday.
The group, which arrived at the INEC office at Sabo-Yaba around noon, complained that the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) was taking a lot of time from applicants at various local government areas of the state due to long queues.
Addressing newsmen, President/Convener of the group, Mr Micheal Nwabufo said the exercise was strenuous and time consuming in most areas, hence the need for the electoral umpire to ease the process by taking the machines closer to the people. Read more
FCTA’s demolition team storms Kwali, clears shanties (DailyTrust)
Officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Wednesday cleared notorious spots beside and adjacent the Federal Government College (FGC), Kwali town in Kwali Area Council of the FCT.
The team, accompanied by security operatives, demolished many illegal structures, mainly shanties used to sell petroleum products, food and drinks under high tension wires.
City & Crime gathered that the affected occupants were given time to remove their belongings before the bulldozers cleared the structures.
Recall that the FCTA last week stormed Gwarimpa and Kugbo in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and demolished illegal structures built on road corridors following months of warning. Read more
Pantami to unveil books at emerging technologies forum Thursday (Nation)
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, will publicly unveil two of his latest books at the Stakeholders’ Consultative Forum on Emerging Technologies, coordinated by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The forum will hold today at the Sheraton Hotel, Maryland, Lagos.
The first book, titled: Datafication of Society to Foster an Internet Economy, had its foreword written by the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Mr. Houlin Zhao.
The ITU boss has had a long distinguished career at the union and has served as its Secretary General since 2014. Read more
NAHCON apologises, vows to return Hajj fares of disappointed pilgrims (Vanguard)
Against the backdrop of disappointments experienced during the outbound flight operations to the Holy Land, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, has said it will refund no fewer than 1,550 Muslim pilgrims who had paid their Hajj fares but could not be airlifted to Saudi Arabia before the closure of Jedda airport.
NAHCON disclosed this, yesterday, in response to an inquiry by Vanguard on the fate of the affected pilgrims.
According to Fatima Sanda Usara, NAHCON’s Assistant Director, Public Affairs, the commission regrets the last minute setbacks that frustrated its plan to conclude airlift of all intending pilgrims across the country by June 27.
She explained that the chartered flight option that gave so much hope to NAHCON and the private tour operators’ leadership also became a failure as their IBAN accounts failed accreditation by the respective authorities in Saudi Arabia. Read more
US judge orders Britney Spears’ father to appear in court for questioning (BelfastTelegraph)
A US judge has ordered that Britney Spears’ father must appear in court to face questions relating to the alleged surveillance of his daughter.
Jamie Spears, 70, will be deposed within the next 30 days and must also produce all documents requested by the Toxic singer’s lawyers.
The orders were made during a hearing in Los Angeles on Wednesday, attended by members of US media.
It comes despite Mr Spears’ claims that all allegations that he spied on the singer using secret recording devices hidden in her bedroom during her conservatorship are “false”. Read more
Drake reveals Young Money reunion with Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj planned for October World Weekend (Variety)
Drake continues to surprise. On the heels of his latest album, “Honestly, Nevermind,” which he announced within days of its release June 17 release, the artist has revealed plans for the three-day October World Weekend, set to kick off July 28.
Taking to his 116 million followers on Instagram, Drake posted the official lineup to the event, which includes All Canadian North Stars for day one (July 28), Lil Baby and Chris Brown for day two (July 29), and a buzzed-about Young Money reunion on day three (August 2) featuring headliners Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj.
Drake offers little additional information via his social media post, but says in a caption that he’s “working on bringing OVO FEST around the world in 2023 for the 10th Anniversary.’ (OVO, for October’s Very Own, is the name of Drake’s label and clothing line.) “But of course we wanted to turn the city up for the summer!”
Drake first hinted at a big announcement having to do with his hometown of Toronto during a livestream with online gambling site Stake. “Big announcement coming Wednesday for the city,” he said. “Appreciate everyone listening to the new album, embracing something that I wanted to do for a long time. I appreciate all the love.” Read more
Roman Polanski rape case nearing an end? Prosecutor says key document should be unsealed (USAToday)
The underage rape case involving Roman Polanski, the Oscar-winning director and fugitive from justice, may be approaching an end, 45 years after it began. It has been one of the longest unresolved criminal cases in California history.
Polanski, 88 , is “ecstatic,” his lawyer, Harland Braun, told USA TODAY.
The reason: Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced Tuesday that his office will no longer object, after decades of resistance, to unsealing a key document in the case in the interest of what he called “transparency” and the public’s and the victim’s right to know.
The document in question is a transcript of a sealed deposition of former Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson, the original prosecutor of Polanski, and now retired. The director was accused of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl in 1977, and pleaded guilty to one count. Read more
Ryan Gosling talks about ‘The Gray Man’, but no-Ken-do on his ‘Barbie’ role (Deadline)
They say opposites attract. In Ryan Gosling’s case, his acting versatility has brought him two roles that are poles apart in substance and style.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Gosling detailed his new action thriller, The Gray Man, and his forthcoming role in the softer Barbie film, wherein he plays the eternal bachelor Ken, the love interest of generations of youngsters.
First, he talked about the hard guy role.
“What I didn’t realize was just how many people it takes to make an action hero,” Gosling said of his role in the thriller, in which he stars opposite Chris Evans. “It looks like it’s me doing all those things, and yes, I do some of it. But we had an incredible stunt team, and an incredible special effects team.” Read more
Daniel Kaluuya will not be returning for Black Panther 2 (Independent)
Daniel Kaluuya will not be reprising his role as W’Kabi in the forthcoming film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
The British actor starred as the head of security for the Border Tribe and the best friend of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa in the blockbuster 2018 Black Panther.
Rotten Tomatoes journalist Jacqueline Coley first broke the news on Twitter today (13 July), writing: “Fresh from my Nope interview with Daniel Kaluuya he did not reprise his role in #BlackPanther2 due to his schedule conflicts w/ #NOPE!
“It’s official he’s not in
#BlackPantherWakandaForever.” Read more
Biden to announce 4G access for Palestinians, but PA not convinced it’ll happen (TimesOfIsrael)
US President Joe Biden will be announcing that Palestinian cellular companies in the West Bank and Gaza will be allowed to connect to fourth-generation networks by the end of 2023, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
The initiative will be among several “significant announcements” to enhance Palestinian economic opportunities that Biden will be making on Friday after meeting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem on the third day of his four day trip to Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia, said the senior official during a briefing with reporters on Wednesday.
But PA Communications Minister Ishaq Sidr told The Times of Israel that he was unmoved by the planned announcement and that it was not even coordinated with Ramallah.
“I’ve been [a] minister for over three years, and all we’ve heard is that 4G is going to happen,” Sidr said. “All we hear are promises. We need to see something on the ground.” Read more
Lil Uzi Vert announces new EP ‘Red & White’ (NME)
Lil Uzi Vert has announced in a post on his Instagram that he will be releasing a new EP called ‘Red & White’.
The rapper has been teasing the release of his new album ‘The Pink Tape’ since 2020, which is the follow-up to second album ‘Eternal Atake’. He released new single ‘Demon High’ in 2021, which is expected to be the lead single from the new album.
Following more of a pop route than most of his recent work, ‘Demon High’ marked Uzi’s first solo release since he appeared on the soundtrack for Space Jam: A New Legacy. Prior to that, he dropped ‘Lil Uzi Vert vs. The World 2’, a reissue of the rapper’s second studio album, ‘Eternal Atake’, which had arrived a week prior.
‘Red & White’ will arrive in the coming weeks, ahead of ‘The Pink Tape’, and will be his first project since his collaborative album with Future, Pluto X Baby Pluto, which dropped in November 2020. Read more
Morocco 2022: Super Falcons battle Cameroon for World Cup ticket (Sun)
Tonight’s quarter final clash between the Super Falcons and their neighbours, Cameroon, in Casablanca, will determine who is guaranteed a place in Australia & New Zealand next year.
All four teams that make the semi finals at the ongoing continental championship in Morocco would have picked automatic tickets for the Women’s World Cup, with the team adjudged to have finished fifth presented with another chance for a shot at a Playoff Tournament next year.
Cameroon will come into the encounter with the mentality of the yam pounder, knowing they have always been second best to Nigeria at this level, and a third consecutive appearance at the FIFA World Cup will certainly appeal to the Indomitable Lionesses.
A 1-2 defeat at the hands of South Africa’s Banyana Banyana in their opening match of Group C last week Monday somewhat dimmed the shine of the Super Falcons, but they rose stoutly to the occasion and won their other two matches with six points and six goals advantage shooting them to the last eight. Read more
C’Wealth Games: 94 athletes to represent Nigeria (Punch)
A total of 94 athletes will represent Nigeria at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, The PUNCH reports.
This was revealed in a statement signed by the Director, Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Manga Mohammed, on Wednesday.
“The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development will present 94 athletes and 21 accompanying technical personnel that have qualified through several qualifications competitions overseas to carry the banner of our nation to the Games,” the statement read.
The athletes will be accompanied by 21 technical personnel to the Games, which hold from July 28 to August 8, according to the statement made available to our correspondent. Read more
Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly to launch new era at Chelsea (IrishIndependent)
Kalidou Koulibaly has arrived in London to complete his £34 million (€40m) move to Chelsea before joining the first signing of the Todd Boehly era, Raheem Sterling, on the club’s pre-season tour of the United States.
Sterling declared that he was returning “home” to London by joining Chelsea from Manchester City in a £47.5m (€56m) move that could rise to £50m with add-ons.
The forward trained with his new team-mates for the first time yesterday and will quickly be followed by Koulibaly, the Senegal and Napoli defender, who is scheduled to take his medical today before joining the squad in the US. Sterling could make his debut in Chelsea’s first pre-season friendly against Club America in Las Vegas at the weekend.
Koulibaly (31) will sign a four-year contract, which is a big break from the philosophy of the former Roman Abramovich ownership, when players over the age of 30 were restricted to 12- or 18-month rolling deals. Read more
Gazdag, Burke spark Philadelphia past Inter Miami 2-1 (USAToday)
Dániel Gazdag scored on a first-half penalty kick, Cory Burke added a second-half goal and the Philadelphia Union held off Inter Miami CF 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Gazdag gave Philadelphia (9-2-10) a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute and Burke scored — with an assist from Kai Wagner — in the 66th to make it 2-0.
Gonzalo Higuaín made things interesting with a goal in the 82nd minute for Inter Miami (6-9-5).
Inter Miami had 12 shots, one more than Philadelphia, but the Union had a 5-3 edge in shots on goal. Read more
Alexander Zverev shares positive update ahead of US Open series (TennisWorld)
German tennis star Alexander Zverev has shared a positive update to his fans as he has posted a video in which he can be seen walking without crutches.
A month and a half ago at the French Open, Zverev sustained a bad ankle injury during the Rafael Nadal match and started crying in pain.
After the match, the scans revealed Zverev tore several ligaments in his ankle and was forced to miss the entire grass season, including Wimbledon. However, the most important thing is that Zverev is seemingly doing well in his recovery.
Zverev has been signed up for the upcoming Masters events in Montreal and Cincinnati. Even though there is no guarantee that Zverev will play at either of those two Masters events, it’s positive to see him being able to walk without crutches. Read more
St Andrews set for 150th British Open amid ongoing fallout from LIV series (France24)
The 150th British Open tees off on the Old Course in St Andrews on Thursday with organisers keen for the focus to remain on a historic championship despite the ongoing fallout caused by the breakaway LIV Golf series.
A clutch of players who joined the Saudi-backed tour are taking part in this week’s Open after organisers the R&A opted not to ban the rebels, in contrast to moves made by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.
Former Open champion Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia are among the LIV series members who are in St Andrews, and a victory for one of them this weekend might not do much to ease tensions in the sport.
“Whoever wins on Sunday is going to have their name carved in history, and I’ll welcome them onto the 18th green,” insisted Martin Slumbers, chief executive of the R&A. Read more
Wolves co-owner Alex Rodriguez says NBA has welcomed him (CBS)
Alex Rodriguez was standing near his courtside seat, oblivious to a few fans who were snapping a quick photo of the baseball great as they walked by.
He was watching the Minnesota Timberwolves warm up instead.
Rodriguez – currently part of the Timberwolves’ ownership group, with plans in place for he and business partner Marc Lore to assume control from Glen Taylor and become primary owners next year – said Wednesday that he’s enjoying his transitions from baseball to basketball and from player to executive, and noted that he’s still learning.
“I mean, I come at it from a different perspective, being in baseball for about a quarter of a century, and now it’s interesting to take my experience from Major League Baseball, from broadcasting and now being here as an owner,” Rodriguez said in an interview with The Associated Press before watching Minnesota’s Summer League game in Las Vegas against Milwaukee. “It’s been great. The NBA has welcomed me with open arms.” Read more