Lagos to set up joint working committee over Alaba market demolition (Sun)
The Lagos State Government will be setting up a joint working committee to resolve issues surrounding the recent demolition of some buildings in the Alaba International Market area and some other markets in Lagos.
The committee is to help clear some of the misunderstandings surrounding the demolition exercise. Members of the joint committee, the state government said, will include market leaders.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu made this known while speaking after a meeting with Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ben Kalu, and some Igbo market leaders in Lagos on Friday. Read more
Guinea-Bissau President visits Tinubu in Lagos (Channels)
President Bola Tinubu has received the President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo in Lagos.
Embalo, who is also the Chairman, ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, paid a private visit to his Nigerian counterpart on Saturday.
Tinubu has been spending the Sallah holiday in Lagos since his return from London on Tuesday. Read more
GWR: Another chef aims at breaking Hilda Baci’s record (DailyTrust)
Another Nigerian Chef, Adeyeye Adeola, has aimed at breaking the record of her colleague, Hilda Baci. In June, Baci, the current Guinness World Record was certified after her 93 hours and 11 minutes cooking marathon.
In a Twitter post, Chef Adeola noted that she aims at cooking for 150 hours to break Chef Baci’s record. It was gathered that Adeola, the Nigerian chef, has commenced the 150-hour cook-a-thon to break the recent record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual.
Moreso it was learnt that the cooking marathon commenced in Ile Oluji LGA, Ondo state, on Friday. It is scheduled to end on July 6. Read more
Falana urges DSS to speed up Emefiele, Bawa’s probe (Tribune)
Femi Falana, a prominent human rights lawyer, has called on the Department of State Services (DSS) to expedite the investigation into the cases involving Abdulrasheed Bawa, the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Emefiele was apprehended on June 10 by DSS officials on charges related to terrorism financing, while Bawa’s arrest was connected to allegations of abuse of office.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels TV’s Politics Today programme on Friday night, Falana stressed the importance of adhering to the Administration of Criminal Justice Act. Read more
ICSAN lauds Electricity Act, seeks more power for states on critical sectors (ThisDay)
The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) has described the newly signed Electricity Act by the federal government as a step in the right direction that will engender investment and growth for mutual benefits.
The institute further urged the government to consider transferring critical sectors to the concurrent list such that states and local governments can be empowered to perform oversight roles on key projects.
President and Chairman of Council of ICSAN, Taiwo Owokalade, during a press conference in Lagos, recently, stated that empowering the states on key sectors will stimulate economy activities, break the monopoly of nefarious investors, improve service delivery and ultimately, boost the socio-economic, growth and development of the country. Read more
IPMAN denies plan to hike petrol to N700 per litre (Nation)
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has denied the alleged plan by the association to increase pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol to N700 per litre nationwide.
The Chairman of IPMAN Southwest Zone, Alhaji Dele Tajudeen, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday.
The chairman, therefore, urged Nigerians to disregard the speculation and not to engage in panic buying. Read more
Nollywood Producer flags off African Cultural Film Centre in US (Leadership)
Popular Nollywood Producer and Director, Emem Isong-Misod,i added another feather to her filmmaking cap when she opened a multimillion-naira Royal Arts African Center ahead of hosting the inaugural edition of her African Cultural Film Festival in the United States.
The center located in Houston, Texas, is in fulfilment of her lifelong ambition to take Nigeria’s cultures to the world. This is in an effort to foster mutual and peaceful co-existence between each community.
The opening was attended by Nollywood stars, directors among other dignitaries who flew into Houston to be part of history. Attendees include Lancelot Oduwa Imaseun, Alex Ekubo, Bukky Wright, Thelma Okoduwa, Bola Aduwo, Anita Chris, Ijeoma Onah of Nigeria International Film Summit. Others are Uche James Iroha, Archbishop Cletus Bassey of Destiny International Missions, Pastor and Mrs. Morayo Fagboro of Kingdom Life Assembly, Bode Ojo, Grace Charis Bassey (formerly Belinda Effah), Kenyan, Ruth Maingi among others. Read more
Former spokesman, Maj. General Akpor, now Chief of Defence Administration in fresh army shakeup (Guardian)
Former spokesman of Defence Headquarters, Major General Jerry Akpor has now been appointed Chief of Defence Administration in a very fresh shakeup in the army last night.
Army spokesman, Brig General Onyema Nwachukwu who made the disclosure last night noted that in continuation of the effort to rejig the Nigerian Army (NA) towards ensuring administrative and operational efficiency, having assumed command, the 23rd Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Major General Taoreed Lagbaja has approved the appointment and redeployment of Major Generals, and Brigadier Generals amongst several other senior officers across NA formations and units in the country.
“Those affected in the recent redeployment include some Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) of Defence and Army Headquarters, Corps Commanders, Commandants of NA Training Institutions, Brigade Commanders, Commanding officers and several others. Read more
Emily Hampshire knows you’ll want to talk about “The End of Sex” (DigitalSpy)
Schitt’s Creek was far from Emily Hampshire’s first acting role, but she knows that it could prove to be her most significant.
“The thing I always thought of success to me was having choice, and I definitely have much more choice. I get sent scripts to do that I wouldn’t have before, so I’ve gotten so many opportunities to do things I’ve always wanted to do. It’s been amazing,” she tells Digital Spy.
One of those opportunities is new rom-com The End of Sex which reunited her with director Sean Garrity and writer Jonas Chernick, who she worked with on 2012 comedy My Awkward Sexual Adventure. Read more
Kim Cattrall gives update on future of Sex And The City character (NME)
Sex And The City star Kim Cattrall has given an update on the future of her character Samantha.
After Cattrall said in 2016 that she would never play her character Samantha again, it was teased last year and confirmed last month that Cattrall would return as the character for a cameo in season two of spin-off show And Just Like That.
Speaking to Today about the cameo and Samantha’s future, Cattrall said: “This is as far as I’m going to go, [but] I don’t think I’ll ever say goodbye to Samantha.
“She’s like a lot of other characters that I’ve done over the years. I get very emotionally attached and protective of my characters. She gave me so much, and I’m so appreciative of her.” Read more
Ringo Starr confirms new Beatles track doesn’t use fake vocals (UltimateClassicRock)
Ringo Starr has confirmed that an upcoming “new” Beatles track uses only authentic parts recorded by John Lennon and George Harrison before their deaths.
Last month, Paul McCartney revealed that the unnamed song was completed with the help of artificial intelligence, and was built off an old Lennon demo tape. “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI so that then we could mix the record as you would normally do — it gives you some sort of leeway,” he explained. “So there’s a good side to it and then a scary side and we’ll just have to see where that leads.”
This led to some confusion amongst fans about whether Lennon’s voice on the track was real or an AI version, but Starr, in an upcoming podcast episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, has emphasized that the band would “never” fake Lennon’s vocals. Read more
Arnold Schwarzenegger says Terminator films predicted the future of AI (THR)
Arnold Schwarzenegger claims The Terminator franchise, which launched his career in 1984, predicted the future of artificial intelligence.
While speaking at An Evening with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles on Wednesday, People reported that the actor talked about how writer-director James Cameron’s theories on AI in the films have “become a reality.”
“Today, everyone is frightened of it, of where this is gonna go,” he said of the controversial technology. “And in this movie, in Terminator, we talk about the machines becoming self-aware and they take over.” Read more
Pattie Boyd wants Taylor Swift to play her in a biopic (FarOut)
The 1960s icon, Pattie Boyd, who inspired George Harrison to write The Beatles’ classic ‘Something’, has announced that she would “love” to have a biopic made about her life, and she wants Taylor Swift to play her.
Back in 2018, Swift actually interviewed Boyd for a magazine feature, during which she drew parallels between their public lives. Now, five years on, Boyd thinks the parallels are strong enough for Swift to take on the challenge of chronicling her life in a movie.
Boyd, who is now 79, recently remarked: “I would love to have a film of my life. I think that would be a really lovely thing to be a part of.” And asked by the Daily Mail who should play her, she said: “Taylor Swift. That should do it.” Read more
Lord of the Rings: Gollum developer closing down after nightmare launch (DigitalSpy)
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum developer Daedalic Entertainment is closing down after the game’s disastrous launch.
The German developer and publisher released the stealth game to a major backlash, with critics and fans lambasting the game’s unfinished state, 2007-era graphics, broken AI, technical issues, use of a generic font in a fantasy game, and selling emotes for a single-player game as paid DLC.
German publication GamesWirtschaft first reported the news, while Daedalic has issued a statement to Polygon. Read more
French riots: Funeral is held for Paris teenager killed by police (National)
The funeral of a French teenager whose death at the hands of police started riots across the country took place in the north-west of Paris on Saturday.
The funeral began at 11am local time near Nanterre, where Nahel M aged 17, lived and was shot dead on Tuesday. He was to be buried at the Mont Valerien cemetery after prayers at Ibn Badis mosque.
The service was private and lawyers for Nahel’s mother asked the media to stay away. Read more
Ex-Falcons star Avre wants team restructured (Punch)
US-based former Super Falcons star, Patience Avre, has expressed concerns over the senior women’s football team as the squad prepares to make their ninth appearance at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Saturday PUNCH reports.
The world’s biggest women’s football tournament holds from July 20 to August 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
Nigeria are paired in Group B alongside Olympic champions Canada, co-hosts Australia and the Republic of Ireland and face a tough challenge advancing from the group phase. Read more
Osimhen only interested in joining Real Madrid or Man United – Bagni (Leadership)
Former Napoli star, Salvatore Bagni has disclosed that Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen will either join Real Madrid or Man United this summer.
The Nigerian international has been the most sought-after player in the summer transfer window.
Recall that top clubs in Europe such as Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are keen to have his signature. Read more
Inter Milan sign France forward Thuram on free transfer (ESPN)
Inter Milan have completed the signing of French forward Marcus Thuram on a free transfer from Borussia Monchengladbach, the Serie A club announced on Saturday.
The 25-year-old son of French World Cup winner Lilian Thuram joins Inter after four seasons with Gladbach during which he scored 44 goals and registered 29 assists in 134 appearances.
Thuram has been capped 10 times for France, having made his debut in the senior team in 2020 and was part of their Euro squad that year. He also played in the World Cup last year, where France finished as runners-up. Read more
Former FIFA official Juan Ángel Napout to be released from US prison and deported (DailyMail)
Juan Ángel Napout, the former president of soccer´s South American governing body, is to be released from a federal prison and deported after serving 5 1/2 years of his sentence.
Napout was convicted on Dec. 22, 2017, of one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, and he was taken into custody that day. He was sentenced to nine years in and has been held at a low-security federal prison in Miami.
His conviction was upheld in 2020 by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and he had been scheduled for release on Aug. 9, 2025. Read more
F1 stewards in scathing criticism of Ferrari as Charles Leclerc gets Austrian GP penalty (Mirror)
Charles Leclerc was slapped with a three-place Sprint grid penalty after he impeded Oscar Piastri during qualifying for the short-form race.
It happened on Saturday morning, during the first part of the session. Piastri was on a flying lap heading into the second-to-last corner when he had to take evasive action to avoid the slow-moving Ferrari.
It proved to be costly for the Aussie who was one of the first five drivers knocked out of that session. And Leclerc benefitted from it himself as he was 15th and next in line to be knocked out if Piastri improved his time. Read more
Giro d’Italia Donne 2023: Defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten claims 100th stage win (BBC)
Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten got the defence of her Giro d’Italia Donne off to the perfect start with a 100th career win in Saturday’s second stage.
The three-time champion became the Giro’s oldest stage winner – aged 40 years and 266 days – after a superb solo effort.
She broke over the Passo della Colla climb to arrive at the finish line in Marradi 45 seconds ahead of the field. Read more