Lagos to intensify action against pollution — LASEPA (Guardian)
Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) says it will intensify action to curb the menace of pollution in the state. The General Manager of LASEPA, Dr Dolapo Fasawe, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday, on the sideline of the celebration of the “International Coastal Cleanup Day”. NAN reports that LASEPA celebrated the day with the cleanup of Elegushi Beach, Lekki and Sura Market in Lagos Island. Read more
Unauthorized activities: FAAN seals off business outlets at Lagos Airport (Nation)
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) during the week sealed off some business outlets and shops at the cargo wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos over unauthorized activities. The directive to carry out the sanitization exercise, sources hinted was on the orders of its managing director, Captain Hamisu Yadudu. Read more
Nigeria bound to succeed – Osinbajo (Guardian)
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has reiterated his conviction that Nigeria has great hopes towards development as its success is key to Africa’s development. Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement in Abuja, said that the Vice President delivered the 8th Convocation Lecture of the Osun State University on Saturday in Osogbo. Read more
You may ‘cage’ Sowore but not his idea —Ezekwesili (Punch)
Former presidential candidate in the last general election, Oby Ezekwesili, has said that the continued detention of co-convener #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore was not only unconstitutional but also unlawful. Ezekwesili, who was also a former minnister said this on Saturday via her verified Twitter handle. She described the government of the day, as one which is intolerant of criticism, which she said is guaranteed in the constitution. Read more
Fire guts WHO vaccination storage facility (Nation)
World Health Organisation (WHO) vaccination storage facility at the Ayegbaju Market in Osogbo, was on Saturday razed by fire, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. According to a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) official, Ajinase Alade, attached to the facility, the fire started from a working power generator close to the WHO storage facility. Read more
Flood: Over 150 communities submerged in Kogi – Commissioner (Guardian)
Mr Sanusi Yahaya, Kogi Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, said over 150 communities have been submerged following flood in nine Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the State. Yahaya made the disclosure while addressing newsmen after a stakeholders meeting at the state emergency operation centre on Saturday in Lokoja. Read more
CAN lauds El-Rufai’s decision to save 110-year-old Church from demolition (Nation)
The Kaduna State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has commended Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s government’s decision to safe the 110-year-old St. George Anglican Church, Zaria from demolition. The CAN Chairman in the State, Rev. Joseph Hayab made the commendation on Saturday following Friday’s clarification by the Director-General of the Kaduna State Urban Planning Development Agency (KASUPDA), Ismail Dikko that the Church won’t be touched because of its historical value. Read more
I won’t resign, Bayelsa Speaker dares Dickson, others (Nation)
Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Tonye Isenah, has vowed not to resign his position contrary to the directive of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders including the state Governor, Seriake Dickson. Isenah came under intense pressure to relinquish his office in the House of Assembly to enable his party balance political equations ahead of the November 16 governorship election. Read more
Climate change contributing to rising conflicts in Nigeria —Abdulsalami (Punch)
Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has attributed the rising conflicts in the country to the impact of climate change on the people. He said this during the 2nd General Abdulsalami Abubakar Foundation Annual Peace Lecture organised to commemorate the International Day of Peace in Minna on Saturday. Read more
NLC hails Governor Sule over workers’ welfare (Guardian)
The Nasarawa State Chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, has applauded Gov. Abdullahi Sule’s administration, for growing the civil service structure and improving workers’ welfare. According to the state chairman of NLC, Mr Yusuf Sarki-Iya,” the union wants the governor to do more for the workers in the state”. Read more
Falana to FG: Propose Money Bill before implementing increase in VAT (Nation)
Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana, has called on the Federal Government to propose a Money Bill to the National Assembly before the implementation of the increase in Value Added Tax (VAT). Falana told the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) in Abuja, said that the National Assembly (NASS) erred by inviting the Minister of Finance and the Executive Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to clarify issues of VAT increment. Read more
6,500 women get N65m in Jigawa under CCT scheme (Punch)
The Federal Government has disbursed N65 million to 6,500 vulnerable women in Guri Local Government Area of Jigawa State under the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme. Alhaji Abubakar Dan-Barde, Cash Transfer Unit’s Coordinator in the area, disclosed this to News Agency of Nigeria in Guri on Saturday. He said each beneficiary received a stipend of N10,000 as payment for the months of July and August. Read more
South Africa xenophobia: Africa needs ‘managed migration’ (BBC)
South Africa’s international relations minister has called for Africa to better manage migration. Naledi Pandor’s comments came in the wake of a wave of xenophobic attacks. Talking to migrant representatives, she also said that African leaders should not be allowed to worsen conditions in their countries and expect others to deal with the resulting migration. Read more
Tunisia ex-president Ben Ali buried in Medina (Guardian)
Tunisia’s former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was buried in the Muslim holy city of Medina on Saturday, witnesses said, after he died in exile in Saudi Arabia. Ben Ali, who died Thursday in the city of Jeddah, was laid to rest at Al-Baqi cemetery next to the Prophet Mohammed’s mosque and a place of great reverence for Muslims. Read more
DR Congo to introduce second Ebola vaccine (BBC)
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are planning to use a second Ebola vaccine to help control an outbreak that has killed more than 2,100 people. In July, former Health Minister Oly Ilunga opposed its use saying it had not been proved effective. But DR Congo health officials say the vaccine, developed by Johnson & Johnson, is safe. Read more
EU dismisses Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans in leaked report (Metro)
Government plans to replace the Irish backstop do not provide a ‘legally operational alternative’ according to the European Union. The views of leaders in Brussels emerged after a document assessing Boris Johnson’s proposals to avoid a hard border was leaked to the 27 other member states in a move sure to be criticised in Westminster. Read more
Saudi Arabia vows to respond to oil attacks with ‘necessary measures’ (BBC)
Saudi Arabia says it will respond with “necessary measures” to attacks on two oil facilities as it reiterated the accusation that Iran was behind them. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said the weapons used were Iranian and vowed to release the full findings of the investigation. Iran denies involvement in the attacks. Read more
Dozens detained as Kazakhs protest against former president, China (Guardian)
Police detained dozens of protesters in Kazakhstan Saturday for rallying against Chinese economic expansion and former strongman president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who is still a powerful force in the former Soviet nation. An AFP correspondent saw around three dozen people apprehended by police and bundled into vans in the centre of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city. Read more
Powerful typhoon triggers blackout in southern Japan (Punch)
A powerful typhoon hit Japan’s southern Okinawa islands Saturday, cutting power to more than 15,000 homes and grounding hundreds of flights. Tapah — packing wind gusts of up to 180 kilometres (110 miles) per hour — is now moving north and is expected to progress through the sea separating South Korea and western Japan. Read more
Baby born with four legs and three hands (Metro)
A woman has given birth to a baby girl with four legs and three hands. The parents had not been for an ultrasound and so the birth of the little girl alongside a healthy twin brother came as a shock to medics in India. Experts think the first-time mother could have been expecting triplets but one pair were conjoined. Read more
Lucky escape for sailor who blacked out at sea (Metro)
A sailor whose boat crashed into rocks after he blacked out sea managed to escape unharmed. He banged his head and was knocked unconscious as he tried to regain control of the 30ft boat amongst strong waves off the coast of Weymouth, Dorset late last night. Coastguard crews raced to the scene after watching the drama unfold from dry land. Read more
British war veteran, 97, parachutes over the Dutch city he was captured in (Metro)
A 97-year-old war veteran who was captured in Arnhem parachuted over the Dutch city to mark the 75th anniversary of Operation Market Garden. Sandy Cortmann, from Aberdeen, tandem dropped with the Red Devils on to Ginkel Heath in front of a crowd of thousands of people, including Prince Charles. In 1944, Mr Cortmann was just 22 when he parachuted onto the same drop zone as part of one of the war’s most ill-fated operations. Read more
Taylor Swift cancels concert amid animal rights criticism
Taylor Swift has cancelled her performance at the Melbourne Cup horse racing event in Australia. The Cup announced Swift as its headline act earlier this month, but cancelled on Saturday, citing scheduling issues. The singer had been criticised by animal rights groups, who accused her of “endorsing animal abuse”. Read more
Jennifer Lopez revives dress behind the invention of Google Images (BBC)
US singer Jennifer Lopez has revived her iconic green Versace dress that led to the invention of Google Images. Lopez, 50, first wore the gown to the Grammy Awards in February 2000. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt later revealed there were so many searches for photos of the dress afterwards, it inspired them to create Google Images. Read more
Superb Man City put eight past Watford (BBC)
Five goals in the first 18 minutes set Manchester City on their way as they ripped apart a woeful Watford team to cut Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League to two points. City had already bounced back from last weekend’s humbling by Norwich with a clinical Champions League win at Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday, but this was a timely reminder of their ruthlessness and attacking power. Read more
Leicester hit back to shock Spurs with help from VAR (Guardian)
Tottenham’s long wait for an away win in the Premier League continued as Leicester came from behind to beat last season’s Champions League finalists 2-1 at the King Power on Saturday. Harry Kane’s great improvisation handed Spurs a first-half lead and Mauricio Pochettino’s men thought they had doubled that advantage when Serge Aurier fired home. Read more
Mason Greenwood dropped from Manchester United squad for West Ham clash but Daniel James included (Metro)
Mason Greenwood has been dropped Manchester United’s squad for their match against West Ham on Sunday but Daniel James has made the trip to London. The 17-year-old striker scored the winning goal to secure United’s victory over Astana in the Europa League on Thursday evening. But he was not seen with United’s senior squad which travelled to London on Saturday afternoon. Read more
Jamie Carragher warns Liverpool over Manchester City’s defensive crisis (Metro)
Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool will be unable to pull clear of Manchester City despite Pep Guardiola’s side suffering from an injury crisis in defence. The Premier League champions will be without Aymeric Laporte for six months due to injury, while John Stones will be sidelined for around five weeks. Read more
Zidane would quit Real Madrid without backing (Guardian)
Zinedine Zidane believes he has the backing of Real Madrid but admits he would leave if he ever felt he had lost the club’s support. Zidane has come under scrutiny after enduring his worst ever defeat as Madrid coach on Wednesday, a 3-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. The result also followed an underwhelming start in La Liga, which has seen Madrid claim two wins and two draws from games against Celta Vigo, Real Valladolid, Villarreal and Levante. Read more
Leicester star James Maddison reveals the role Joe Cole played in his development (Metro)
Leicester star James Maddison has revealed how he would pick the brain of Chelsea hero Joe Cole during their short time together at Coventry City. Maddison notched up seven goals and seven assists for Leicester in an outstanding debut campaign in the Premier League and the 22-year-old has picked up where he left off last season. Read more
Russian doping scandal: Wada suspects Russia manipulated laboratory data (BBC)
Some Russian drug-testing laboratory data may have been manipulated before it was retrieved by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), the organisation is set to reveal. The country missed a deadline to hand over the data in the wake of a vast doping scandal that saw its team banned from last year’s Winter Olympics. Read more
Naomi Osaka: ‘I’m most comfortable on hard courts’ (BBC)
Japan’s world number four Naomi Osaka says she is “most comfortable” playing on hard courts. Osaka, 21, is enjoying a strong run of form at the Pan Pacific Open in her home city Osaka, reaching the final by beating Belgium’s Elise Mertens, 23. The two-time Grand Slam winner cruised past Mertens 6-4 6-1 in her second game of the day, after overcoming Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-4 6-4. Read more
Singapore GP qualifying: Charles Leclerc beats Lewis Hamilton to pole (BBC)
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took his third pole position in a row with a superlative performance in qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix. The 21-year-old beat Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes by 0.191 seconds as both slipped ahead of early pace-setter Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari on their last laps. Vettel, who was nearly 0.2secs up on Leclerc after the first runs, aborted his final lap after an error. Read more