Lagos to open new isolation centres (DailyTrust)
The Lagos State government has disclosed that two new isolation facilities in Yaba and Ikeja would be completed and opened next week for the management of COVID-19 patients in the state.
Despite the increasing number of patients, the Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, said at a press briefing yesterday that the state was not overwhelmed by the outbreak as only 70 per cent of the capacity of existing isolation centers was in use. Lagos reveals cause of Ajimobi’s death He however said the state would decentralize care in the communities in the next two to three weeks to allow only severe cases at the isolation centres, while asymptomatic and mild cases would be managed at home and moderate cases would be referred to the community care centre. Read more
Vehicles crush homeless man, pedestrian to death in Lagos (Punch)
It was a tragic end for a middle-aged destitute man along Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Lagos, after a shuttle bus ran over him.
The man, whose name and address had yet to be identified, was reportedly crushed when the driver, one Rahmon, put the bus in reverse.
City Round gathered that the vehicle climbed on the man who lay by the roadside and killed him on the spot.
Passersby were said to have held the driver and alerted the police to the incident which occurred penultimate Tuesday. Read more
FG shuts Kara Bridge on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway for integrity test (Nation)
The Federal Government is partially shutting down the Kara Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway from today to enable it conduct an integrity test on the bridge.
The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Kayode Popoola, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the integrity test was to ascertain the stability of the bridge, following a recent tanker fire that occurred there.
The removal of wreckage was scheduled for yesterday by the contractor, Julius Berger, and the bridge would be partially closed with traffic diverted for work to begin today. Read more
Lagos approves seven private labs for COVID-19 testing (Punch)
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, on Friday, said the state government had authorised the use of seven private laboratories as COVID-19 testing centres.
Abayomi, at a briefing in Alausa, said the decision was taken to ramp up COVID-19 testing in the state, adding that seven local government areas including Eti-Osa, Alimosho, Kosofe, Ikeja, Oshodi, Surulere and Lagos Mainland had the highest number of infections in the state.
He said, “As Lagos continuously attempts to open up various aspects of its economy, it is imperative that COVID-19 tests are widely available to members of the public. Read more
Nigeria will remain insecure, unstable, stagnant if not restructured, says Obasanjo (Guardian)
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, renewed the call for the restructuring of the country, insisting that Nigeria “will remain insecure, unstable, non-progressive and stagnated at best or disintegrated at the worst” if not restructured.
Obasanjo, who spoke at the Abeokuta Club Annual Sobo Sowemimo Lecture in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, declared that the state of security in Nigeria has made restructuring imperative.
The former president, who delivered a lecture on the topic ‘COVID-19 Pandemic and Nigeria Security Issues: The Way Forward’, stressed that to save Nigeria from imminent collapse, President Muhammadu Buhari should urgently begin the process of restructuring the country. Read more
Passengers to pay more as FAAN hikes service charge by 100% (Nation)
Passengers travelling through Nigerian airports will be in for difficult times as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has concluded plans to increase Passenger Service Charge (PSC) by 100 per cent.
The new charge regime scheduled for implementation effective August 1, 2020 requires passengers to pay N2,000 as PSC as against the old charge of N1000 for domestic flight.
Under the proposed arrangement, international passengers will have to cough up $100 as against $50 previously.
The PSC is one of the components factored into air fares by both domestic and international airlines. Read more
New electricity tariff takes effect from July 1-AEDC boss (Guardian)
The Management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), says the new electricity tariff will take effect from July 1, as part of measures aimed at improving its performance level in power supply within its jurisdiction.
The AEDC Managing Director, Mr Ernest Mupwaya announced this in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday.
He said that the review which had become overdue even before the outbreak of COVID 19 became necessary in view of radical changes in the macro-economic indicators such as inflation and foreign exchange. Read more
States’ autonomy making it difficult to enforce COVID-19 guidelines – NCDC (Punch)
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has said the autonomy of states makes it difficult for the agency to enforce COVID-19 guidelines.
In recent times, some state governments have relaxed NCDC guidelines such as physical distancing to curb COVID-19 spread.
For instance, the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, on June 12 directed the reopening of all football viewing centres in the state after the leadership of the Soccer Viewing Centres Association, Kano State chapter, paid him a visit at the Government House in Kano. Operators of football viewing centres in some other states have also reopened. Read more
Both smoking and vaping can ‘damage arteries and increase lung disease risk’ (Metro)
Both smoking and vaping can stiffen the arteries and increase the risk of developing adverse lung conditions, scientists have said.
Their findings are based on a clinical review of the available evidence gathered from multiple studies. An analysis by an international team of researchers found that tobacco cigarettes, in general, were more harmful than electronic cigarettes.
The team also said that waterpipe smoking, which involves passing smoke through water before inhaling, is as damaging as tobacco smoking and hence, ‘cannot be considered a healthy alternative’. Read more
Ethiopia agrees to delay filling Nile mega-dam, say Egypt, Sudan (AlJazeera)
The leaders of Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt agreed that Ethiopia will delay filling a mega-dam on the Blue Nile and return to talks aimed at reaching an accord on use of the river’s waters, according to statements from Cairo and Khartoum.
The announcement late on Friday was a modest reprieve from weeks of bellicose rhetoric and escalating tensions over the $4.6bn Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Ethiopia had vowed to start filling at the start of the rainy season in July. Read more
France’s Macron set for Covid test in local vote (BBC)
The crabs on Anne-Marie Darchen’s fish stall move lazily across the white counter. The morning rush has died down in Le Havre’s daily fish market, and a good number of those left milling around in the sun near the port are canvassing votes for Sunday’s local election.
Ms Darchen doesn’t think much of the campaign so far. “Apart from talking about coronavirus,” she says. “The rest? Pfff.”
Local elections aren’t meant to be about national issues, but that’s tough when your candidate is the prime minister. Read more
Coronavirus: UK to open up European holidays from 6 July (BBC)
Blanket restrictions on non-essential overseas travel will be relaxed in the UK from 6 July, ministers have said.
Holidaymakers are expected to be allowed to travel to certain European countries without having to spend 14 days in quarantine when they return.
They are thought to include Spain, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Turkey, Germany and Norway – but not Portugal or Sweden. Read more
Critics think Will Ferrell’s Eurovision movie lacks enough laughs (Metro)
All eyes have been on Will Ferrell’s latest comedy as he dares to delve into the magic of Eurovision.
But with many fans fearing that the American funnyman’s Netflix film Eurovision Song Contest – The Story of Fire Saga might fail to truly capture the essence of the event, critics were quick to reveal all.
Ferrell and Rachel McAdams play Lars and Sigrit, friends and members of the duo Fire Saga whose dream is to represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest. However, songstress Katiana (Demi Lovato) is a shoo-in with her entry. Read more
The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice characters of colour (People)
The Simpsons will no longer cast white actors to voice characters of colour.
Fox confirmed the news in a statement to PEOPLE, saying, “Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white actors.”
The announcement comes after Hank Azaria announced earlier this year that he would be stepping down from his role as Apu Nahasapeemapetilon — who has become a controversial character on the Fox television franchise — as many have argued that the character exploited stereotypes and should not have been voiced by a white actor. Read more
‘Ayouni’, the documentary film that puts a face to Syria’s forcibly disappeared (France24)
Award-winning Palestinian director Yasmin Fedda’s latest documentary, “Ayouni”, sheds light on Syria’s forced disappearances through the intimate stories of Noura, widow of cyber-activist Bassel Safadi, and Machi, sister of Italian priest Paolo Dall’Oglio, who was abducted in Raqqa in 2013 and whose whereabouts are unknown.
“I don’t know if he’s alive. I can’t be sure he’s dead. Until I see his body, I can’t mourn him,” said Noura Ghazi, who learned in August 2017 that her husband, Bassel Khartabil Safadi, had been executed, five years after he was detained in Damascus and two years after he disappeared. But she knows nothing else. Not where, nor when, nor how: “With a gun? Day or night?” she demanded. Read more
Sam: I regret snubbing Nigeria for Germany (Punch)
Former German international Sidney Sam says he regrets picking Germany over Nigeria when the Super Eagles were keen on having him. According to Brila, the ex-Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, who missed the 2014 World Cup won by Germany, said he might have played at the World Cup if he accepted Nigeria’s offer.
“Looking back, I can say I was close to winning the World Cup with Germany. Maybe I would have played in it if I had accepted the chance offered by Nigeria. My regret, yes it is, but in life when you make a decision you live with the consequences,” he said. Read more
NBA announces restart date for 2019-2020 season and releases full schedule (People)
After four months, basketball is coming back!
The NBA announced its plan to resume the 2019-20 season on Friday, revealing the participating teams will play eight “seeding games” at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida at the end of July and into August.
The league has been on hiatus since March due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The first games back will take place on July 30, with match-ups between the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans as well as the Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers. Read more
Boxing legend Duran hospitalised for COVID-19 (Nation)
Former four weight world champion Roberto Duran is in hospital having tested positive for coronavirus.
Duran, 69, was taken to hospital as a precaution due to one of his lungs not functioning properly following a car crash in Argentina back in 2001.
It led the legendary boxer to retire after a career that lasted more than 30 years.
His diagnosis comes as his home nation of Panama set a new record for daily cases of Covid-19 with officials reporting over 1,000 cases for the preceding 24 hours along with 17 more deaths. Read more
Manchester United target Matteo Guendouzi as midfielder asks to leave Arsenal (Metro)
Manchester United have registered their interest in Matteo Guendouzi as the midfielder has told Arsenal he would be open to leaving this summer, according to reports in France. Guendouzi was dropped by Mikel Arteta for Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Southampton on Thursday evening following an internal disciplinary meeting earlier this week. The 21-year-old met with Arsenal’s hierarchy to discuss his clash with Neal Maupay during the Gunners’ defeat to Brighton last Saturday. Read more
Ronaldo scores as Juventus beat Lecce (BBC)
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 23rd goal of the season as Juventus moved seven points clear at the top of Serie A with victory over 10-man Lecce.
The visitors had Fabio Lucioni sent off for a foul in the first half before Paulo Dybala struck from outside the box just after the break.
Ronaldo drove home a powerful penalty after being brought down before setting up substitute Gonzalo Higuain.
Defender Matthijs de Ligt then headed in a late third for the dominant hosts. Read more
Joshua rejected massive $80million deal to fight wilder, says Tyson Fury (Guardian)
Tyson Fury has made the astonishing claim that Anthony Joshua rejected £64million ($80million) to fight Deontay Wilder.
Fury, who praised Wilder in a wide-ranging interview, added that had Wilder faced Joshua he would have knocked out the British heavyweight.
The Gypsy King overcame Wilder in his last fight, having previously taken the American to a draw, yet believes the American would have had the better of Joshua. Read more