My associates and I not into money rituals, says Obi Cubana (Nation)
Popular business mogul and nightlife boss, Obi Cubana, has squashed insinuations that his allies and associates are products of money ritual.
The most talked-about socialite explained that his “boys” as he described friends and associates are hardworking businessmen, thriving in their various endeavours.
The recent burial ceremony of the business mogul’s mum which took place over the weekend in Oba, Anambra State witnessed a top display of affluence as allies and associates of Obi Cubana were deeply involved in money splash of different curriencies.
A great show of affluence that resulted in topic of discourse among Nigerians of various age grades while some have insinuated only ritualist can throw money around the way they did at the funeral of the socialite’s mum. Read more
Building collapses in Lagos community, kills owner (Guardian)
A two-story building under construction in a Lagos community collapsed on Tuesday, killing its owner, identified as Pastor Daniel Obasi.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the building is located at No. 77, Tapa Road, Oke-Ojo at Isawo community in Ikorodu, near Lagos.
Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, Acting Zonal Coordinator of the Southwest Zonal Office of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed the incident while speaking with reporters in Lagos on Tuesday.
Farinloye said that the deceased cleric was trapped in the building but that the body had been recovered and taken to the morgue at the General Hospital, Ikorodu by the police. Read more
Stop asking me where to do money rituals, Actor, Yul Edochie pleads (Vanguard)
Top Nollywood actor and director, Yul Edochie has pleaded with movie lovers and fans to do away with the notion that he has knowledge of where they can make quick money via rituals because he plays similar roles in movies.
Yul known for being very good with such movie roles explained that what they see him do is just an interpretation of the script he gets.
Lamenting the rate at which quick wealth seekers flood his social media handles/page to ask for how to go about doing money rituals, Yul wrote, “Some people are sending me messages begging me to show them where they can do money rituals. Come on now guys, come on.
“Na film I dey act. Just like American action films where one man will defeat a whole city of bad guys. Na storyline be that, e no dey happen. Is it now a crime to be a good actor?
Make I no chop??? Na wa for una oo.” Read more
Igboho’s Arrest: Strategic Protests Hold In Various Locations In Ibadan (Independent)
Following the arrest of Yoruba activist, Sunday Adeyemo popularly known as Sunday Igboho in the Republic of Benin, the Yoruba Nation agitators on Wednesday have staged protests in various strategic places in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, demanding his release.
Igboho was arrested in the Benin Republic on Monday night, this comes a few days after the Department of State Service (DSS) declared him wanted.
Igboho’s arrest came three weeks after the regime abducted the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu in Kenya and forcibly removed him to Nigeria.
Kanu was travelling with his British passport when the arrest was made and the UK government has said efforts were underway to extract an explanation from Nigerian authorities. Read more
Again, suspected herders kill 13 in Benue (Tribune)
Barely 48 hours suspected Fulani herders killed 10 people including two aid workers in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, another 13 people have also been murdered.
The latest killings occurred, on Tuesday, at separate attacks, while five of the victims were said to be returning from burial, the other eight people were killed around 10 pm while asleep.
The first attack happened at Ulevkaa village and the second attack occurred at Branch Ude also in the Guma council area.
One of the sources who identified himself as Joe said that Fulani herdsmen opened fire on a Toyota Picnic vehicle killing a three-month-old baby who was shot in the chest, and his mother was shot on her lap. Read more
Police deny arresting driver who allegedly sold passengers to kidnappers (Guardian)
The police command in Osun has debunked a social media report that it arrested a commercial bus driver, who allegedly sold 18 passengers to kidnappers.
In a statement by its spokesperson, SP Yemisi Opalola, on Wednesday in Osogbo, the command described the report as false and mischievous.
It said that the driver only abandoned the passengers at Efon Alaye in Ekiti, after they stopped to help some accident victims on their way from Abuja to Lagos.
“The attention of Osun State Police Command has been drawn to news making rounds which reads thus: ‘People of Nigeria, if your relative is missing this morning, 19/07/2021, if he was travelling from Abuja to Lagos/lbadan (passing through Kabba/Ekiti), a driver has been arrested this evening at Ilesa/Ibadan Expressway with full loading of luggage but the whole of 18 passengers have been sold to kidnappers along Ita-Ore Road in Ekiti State,”’ the command said. Read more
Enraged sibling allegedly murders sister’s husband in Delta (Sun)
A domestic disagreement between a man and his wife in Delta took on Wednesday ended with the tragic death of the man identified as Oluchi.
An enraged sibling of the estranged wife was said to have stabbed the deceased, said to be in his 50s, with a kitchen.
The incident occurred at Ulogwe-Isumpe community of Utagbe-Unor in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State.
Trouble was said to have started when the couple had a quarrel over a yet to be known issue, which degenerated into a fight. Read more
Monkeypox: NCDC confirms 15 out of 59 suspected cases registered (Tribune)
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has registered 59 suspected cases of Monkeypox with 15 confirmed, its Director-General, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said on Tuesday in Abuja.
Ihekweazu was reacting to the Dallas, Texas resident who recently returned from Nigeria and tested positive for the disease.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that it was the first confirmed case of the virus in the U.S. since 2003, with health officials saying that the public should not be concerned.
Laboratory tests confirmed that the patient was infected with a strain of the virus mainly seen in West Africa, which included Nigeria. Read more
Wizkid’s “Essence” breaks new Billboard Hot 100, World Digital Song Sales record (Nation)
Wizkidayo’s Essence with Tems has broken a new record on the Billboard Hot 100 and World Digital Song Sales charts.
“Essence” topped the Billboard World Digital Songs Sales list.
However, this isn’t the first time the superstar has topped the charts.
In 2019, Big Wiz’s collaboration with Beyonce on “Brown Skin Girl”, reached number one on the chart.
Wizzy’s “Essence” isn’t his only song on the Billboard World Digital Songs Chart. Read more
Dolly Parton, 75, recreates iconic Playboy cover for husband’s birthday (PageSix)
What’s better than a birthday bunny?
Dolly Parton recreated her iconic October 1978 Playboy cover to celebrate her husband Carl Thomas Dean’s 79th birthday.
“Hey. Today’s July 20. It’s my husband Carl’s birthday, and you’re probably wondering why I’m dressed like this. Well, it’s for my husband’s birthday,” the “Jolene” singer, 75, said in a video posted to Twitter Tuesday.
Parton slipped into a tight black bustier and bunny ears for the occasion. She also threw on a sparkly pink bow tie with matching cuffs, mirroring her exact look from the famous shoot. Read more
Diamonds swapped for pebbles in London gem heist (BBC)
A woman stole diamonds worth £4.2m from a jewellers by swapping them with pebbles using “sleight of hand”, a court has heard.
Lulu Lakatos, 60, allegedly posed as a gemologist who examined the stones from Boodles in central London.
Ms Lakatos valued seven diamonds at the New Bond Street store before placing them into a bag, a jury was told.
But when the bag was opened, inside were seven small pebbles, Southwark Crown Court heard. Read more
NHS staff in England to receive 3% pay rise (Metro)
NHS staff in England will receive a 3% pay rise backdated to April, the Government has announced.
It will be paid to staff including nurses, paramedics, consultants, dentists and salaried GPs ‘in recognition of their extraordinary efforts’ during the pandemic after ministers accepted the recommendations of the pay review body.
The Department of Health and Social Care said the increase would mean an additional £1,000 per year for the average nurse and a £540 annual increase for porters and cleaners. Read more
Czechs to give gun use constitutional protection (Guardian)
The Czech Senate on Wednesday voted to ramp up legal protections for firearms by enshrining “defensive” use in the constitution after gun owners worried an EU ruling was weakening their position.
The Czechs already had the right to use firearms in self-defense but the European Union passed a directive in 2017 banning civilians from possessing certain types of firearms.
The constitutional protection is designed to make sure the directive does not impinge on the existing rights of Czech gun owners.
“The submitted bill introduces the explicit right to defend life… stating clearly that it could also involve armed defence,” said senator Martin Cervicek, a former police chief who introduced the bill. Read more
Gender reveal party couple face jail over deadly California wildfire (BBC)
A US couple whose gender reveal party last year was blamed for starting a deadly California wildfire face up to 20 years in prison, officials say.
Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr and Angela Renee Jimenez have been charged with several offences, including involuntary manslaughter, over the El Dorado fire.
Officials say a smoke bomb used at the gender event last September sparked the blaze, in which one firefighter was killed and others were hurt.
The couple have pleaded not guilty. Read more
US carries out first airstrike in Somalia since Biden took office (NYPost)
The US military on Tuesday carried out an airstrike against terrorist militants in Somalia — the first such strike in the country since President Biden took office in January.
The airstrike targeted al Shabaab fighters in the city of Galkayo, in the central part of the country on Africa’s east coast, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the Pentagon.
It’s unclear if anyone was killed or wounded in the strike.
Al Shabaab is linked to al Qaeda, the terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden, and has long tried to overthrow Somalia’s government and obtain political control in the nation.
The US frequently targets members of the organization in airstrikes, but Tuesday’s operation was the first one since Biden had been sworn into office in January. Read more
Team Nigeria means business in Tokyo, says Dare (Nation)
Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare has affirmed that Team Nigeria was not in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics for show but to win laurels for the country by competing clean.
Speaking at a brief ceremony at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport Abuja yesterday, the Minister was effuse with praises for those that have contributed towards the Team Nigeria project en route to Tokyo.
He said:” We are grateful to the Federal Government, Corporate Nigeria and all those who supported Team Nigeria by adopting our athletes. I want Nigerians to wish team Nigeria the very best as we compete with the very best in the world at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Read more
Sweden end USA’s 44-match unbeaten run in Tokyo (NYPost)
Stina Blackstenius scored a pair of goals and Sweden once again stunned the United States at the Olympics with a 3-0 victory Wednesday in the women’s soccer tournament.
The Americans, ranked No. 1 in the world and the favourites to win gold in Tokyo, were riding a 44-match unbeaten streak heading into the match.
But Sweden, ranked No. 5, has been the U.S. team’s nemesis of sorts in recent years. The Swedes bounced the Americans from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games in the quarterfinals, the earliest U.S. Olympic exit ever.
Then in April, Sweden played the United States to a 1-1 draw in Stockholm, which snapped a winning streak dating back to January 2019, when the Americans lost to France in the run-up to the World Cup.
Blackstenius’ header into the far corner off a cross from Sofia Jakobsson in the 26th minute gave Sweden the first-half lead. Read more
MotoGP: Thailand Grand Prix cancelled, Dani Pedrosa comes out of retirement to ride in Austria (BBC)
MotoGP’s Thailand Grand Prix has been cancelled after a record daily high of Covid-19 cases was reported in the country on Wednesday.
The race was set to be the 16th round of the 2021 season and scheduled to be held in Buriram from 15-17 October.
MotoGP said a replacement event was “currently under consideration”.
Meanwhile, veteran Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa, 35, is coming out of retirement to ride for KTM at August’s Styrian Grand Prix in Austria. Read more
Juve consider Ronaldo Icardi swap deal -Report (Tribune)
Juventus are reportedly considering offering Cristiano Ronaldo to Paris Saint-Germain as part of a swap deal for Mauro Icardi this summer.
Ronaldo has one year remaining on his contract and is facing an uncertain future, with new Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri thought to be planning a squad overhaul before the start of the season.
And according to French outlet L’Equipe, Ronaldo could be part of that changeover with Juve looking at offloading the Portugal star in order to sign long-term target Icardi.
Juve have long been interested in the Argentina striker but missed out on signing him last summer, with the 28-year-old joining PSG instead. Read more
Tokyo Olympics: Team GB footballers begin with win over Chile (BBC)
Great Britain started their Olympic campaign successfully as the women’s football side beat Chile comfortably in an empty stadium in Sapporo, Japan.
Manchester City striker Ellen White scored either side of the break to put GB in the driving seat in Group E.
City team-mate Lauren Hemp, who was impressive throughout, kept the ball in play at the back post for White to poke in the opener after 18 minutes.
Defender Lucy Bronze then flicked it past the defender and picked out White, whose acrobatic overhead kick made it 2-0 later in the second half. Read more
Australian city of Brisbane to host 2032 Summer Olympics (NYPost)
Brisbane was picked Wednesday to host the 2032 Olympics, the inevitable winner of a one-city race steered by the IOC to avoid rival bids.
The Games will go back to Australia 32 years after the popular 2000 Sydney Olympics. Melbourne hosted in 1956.
“We know what it takes to deliver a successful Games in Australia,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told International Olympic Committee members in an 11-minute live video link from his office.When the award was later confirmed, with Brisbane winning the vote 72-5, Morrison raised both arms in the air and gave two thumbs up. Read more