Naira crashes to N1,210 to US Dollar (Leadership)
The value of the naira continued its downward spiral at the opening of business activities on Monday crashing at the parallel market to N1,210 to the dollar as against N1,170 which it closed last week.
At the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), also known as the Importers and Exporters window, the naira depreciated last week by 5.4 per cent to NGN808.27 to the dollar.
Parallel market traders say the continuous decline in the value of the naira is due the scarcity of the greenback in the market. Read more
ABU student allegedly lures teenager for same-sex relationship, kills him (Punch)
A 500-level veterinary medicine student of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna State, has been arrested by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Bauchi State for allegedly killing a 17-year-old.
The suspect, Abdullahi Ibrahim, was said to have lured the teenage secondary student with his naked picture and enticed him to meet him for a homosexual activity.
The NSCDC Commandant, Bauchi State, Ilelaboye Oyejide, disclosed this to journalists on Sunday while parading the suspect at the Command’s Headquarters. He said that the incident happened in Misau town, Misau Local Government Area of the State. Read more
Protesters gather outside Supreme Court as Atiku, Obi challenge Tinubu (DailyTrust)
Some protesters took to the street of Abuja as the Supreme Court commenced hearing of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar’s appeal against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory.
The protesters who stood by the road carried different placards in demonstration of support for and against Tinubu’s victory.
The Supreme Court is hearing the application of the PDP’s candidate to file fresh evidence against President Bola Tinubu. Read more
Lagos seals Alaba market over poor environmental practices (Tribune)
The Lagos State government has sealed the Alaba International Market over poor waste disposal, failure to pay waste bills, and gross environmental sanitation offences.
This development was disclosed by the Commissioner for Environment in the state, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, via his official X account on Monday.
The sealing of the popular market in Lagos was supervised by the operatives of the Nigerian police in the state. Read more
Supreme Court dismisses Adeyemi’s appeal against APC, Ododo (Sun)
The Supreme Court, on Monday, finally dismissed an appeal filed by Senator Smart Adeyemi against the judgements of the two lower courts on the All Progressives Congress’ primary election, which held in Kogi State on April 15, 2023.
The Supreme Court, in a unanimous judgement, held that the appeal lacked merit, having failed to challenge the concurrent findings of both the High and Appeal Courts, or demonstrate that same were perverse.
The Apex Court also held that the two issues raised in the Appellant’s brief were unreasonable, vexatious, not triable and against the provisions of Section 132 and 133(1) of the Evidence Act 2011. Read more
2 restaurant managers to be charged to court for breaking Lagos govt seal (Guardian)
Two managers of a restaurant, Kingfisher, located in Lekki, will be charged in court for breaking the seal that the Lagos State government used to shut the facility.
This was disclosed in a post on the official X (formerly Twitter) handle of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) on Monday.
LASEPA said in the statement that the two managers of Kingfisher Restaurant were arrested in the early hours of Monday after illegally resuming full operations. Read more
Lagos tribunal: Jandor requests transfer of appeal to Abuja (Vanguard)
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 Lagos State governorship election, Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran popularly known as Jandor has requested that President of the Court of Appeal Justice Monica Dongbam-Mensem transfer the hearing of his appeal to Abuja.
Jandor, in a letter dated October 23, 2023, and addressed to Justice Dongbam-Mensem, Jandor said this transfer will ensure fairness and objectivity devoid of potential meddling.
The notice was received on the same day at the office of the President of the Court of Appeal. Read more
NSCDC arrests 70 suspects for same-sex wedding in Gombe (Channels)
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested over 70 young people after accusing them of organising a gay wedding in Gombe state, a security spokesman said on Monday, in the latest raid on the LGBTQ community.
Same-sex marriage is illegal in Nigeria under a 2014 law.
Personnel of the NSCDC, an official paramilitary outfit, on Saturday raided a relaxation spot in Gombe, the state capital, and rounded up suspects they accused of having a “gay party” and planned wedding of two male lovers, said NSCDC spokesman in Gombe, Buhari Saad. Read more
Rwanda sends 16 tonnes of aid to Gaza (BBC)
The government of Rwanda says it’s sent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in Gaza.
In a brief written statement sent to BBC Great Lakes, the government’s deputy spokesman, Alain Mukuralinda, said the donation was sent to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) and has arrived in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
It was made “in support to the ongoing international rescue effort”, Mr Mukuralinda wrote. Read more
Drake appears to be shooting music video on top of Toronto arena (HipHopDX)
Drake is taking views to a new level by appearing on top of one of Toronto’s biggest arenas while filming a new music video.
Recently, a fan armed with binoculars witnessed Drizzy dancing and spinning on top of Scotiabank Arena, which is home to the NBA’s Toronto Raptors and the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. This was the same arena where Drake finished up his recent It’s All a Blur Tour.
The building was lit up by a LED sign of the rapper’s famous OVO owl logo. Read more
More than 1,400 African migrants reach Spain’s Canary Islands (France24)
A total of 1,457 migrants had reached the Spanish islands off the western African coast between Friday night and Sunday morning, the authorities said on X, formerly Twitter, adding to a recent spike in arrivals.
An emergency services spokesman said all of the arrivals hailed from sub-Saharan Africa.
Saturday saw 321 people reach the island of El Hierro aboard one vessel, a rescue services spokesperson told AFP, surpassing the previous record for a single boat of 280 on October 3. Read more
Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan reveals whether rock will live forever (MusicNews)
Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan hopes rock will live forever but admits a lot of young music fans are attending their shows.
The 59-year-old rocker hopes the fact that their shows are attended by teens isn’t a sign that they are not attending new rock artists’ concerts.
Asked if the genre has a future, he told Classic Rock magazine: “Man, I hope so. Read more
Israeli strikes knockout Damascus, Aleppo airports (NewArab)
Israeli strikes on Sunday put out of service war-torn Syria’s two main airports, state media reported citing a military source, with the transport ministry saying flights were re-routed to Latakia.
While Israeli strikes have repeatedly caused the grounding of flights at the government-controlled airports in the capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, it is the second time simultaneous strikes have hit the facilities since this month’s conflict between Israel and Hamas began.
“At around 5:25 am (0225 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out… an air attack… targeting Damascus and Aleppo international airports, leading to the death of a civilian worker at Damascus airport and wounding another,” the military source said in the statement carried by state news agency SANA. Read more
Argentina heads to the polls in grip of worst economic crisis in 2 decades (France24)
Argentines head to the polls on Sunday to vote in a general election under the shadow of the South American country’s worst economic crisis in two decades, which has driven the rise of an outsider far-right libertarian who is in pole position to win.
The vote is likely to roil Argentina’s already shaky markets, impact its ties with trade partners like China and Brazil, and set the political path for the country, a major grains exporter with huge reserves of lithium and shale gas.
Polling stations open at 8:00 am (1100 GMT) with three frontrunner candidates likely to split the vote: libertarian economist Javier Milei, centrist Peronist Economy Minister Sergio Massa and conservative Patricia Bullrich. Read more
Music publishers sue Amazon-backed AI platform for copyright infringement (NME)
Music publishers such as Universal Music Group Publishing (UMGP), Concord Music Group and ABKCO have sued an Amazon-backed artificial intelligence company over alleged copyright infringement.
The three companies filed a suit against Anthropic, an AI startup that was founded in 2021 and recently secured roughly $4billion (£3.29b) in investment from Amazon. The startup refers to itself as an “AI safety and research company” and raised $750million (£617.7m) prior to Amazon’s stake making it one of the fastest-growing AI companies. Read more
Rashidi Yekini @60: Google Doodle pays tribute to iconic Nigerian footballer (Punch)
Google Doodle, on Monday, honours the 60th birthday of Rashidi Yekini, the legendary Nigerian footballer renowned for his goal-scoring prowess and nicknamed the Goalsfather.
Born on October 23, 1963, in Kaduna, Nigeria, Yekini’s journey from a challenging early life marked by homelessness and poverty to football stardom is celebrated.
Yekini, driven by his passion for football, worked as a welder and mechanic before catching the eye of scouts. Joining his first football club, ‘UNTL FC’ in Kaduna, in 1981, he later played for the Shooting Stars, amassing an impressive record of 45 goals in 53 games. Read more
Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc disqualified from U.S. Grand Prix (ESPN)
Lewis Hamilton has lost second position at the U.S. Grand Prix after technical infringements saw him and Charles Leclerc disqualified from the race.
After the chequered flag, Hamilton’s Mercedes and Leclerc’s Ferrari were scruniteered by the FIA and found to be in breach of Article 3.5.9. e), which relates to wear to the plank on the underside of the car.
The disqualification has cost Hamilton a hard-fought second position, in which he ran race winner Max Verstappen close in the final stages. Read more
Golden State Warriors great Andre Iguodala announces retirement from NBA career (StraitsTimes)
Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala announced his retirement from basketball on Friday, bringing the curtain down on a near two-decade National Basketball Association (NBA) career that included four championship rings.
The 39-year-old announced his decision to retire in an interview with the ESPN-owned Andscape website, stating that he wanted to spend more time with his family.
“It’s just the right time,” he was quoted as saying. Read more
Merseyside derby arrests after bottles thrown (BBC)
Eight people have been arrested after Saturday’s Merseyside derby, where a female fan and a police officer were hit by bottles.
The officer suffered a laceration to his face and was treated at Anfield stadium after the attack at about 11:50 BST, Merseyside Police said.
Eight people were held on suspicion of various offences, including hate and tragedy chanting, and ticket touting. Read more
Manchester United get Champions League redemption with dominant win over Everton (MEN)
Manchester United head into the international break on a high note having secured their second win of the season, a 5-0 victory over Everton at Walton Hall Park.
Melvine Malard put the visitors ahead in the 14th minute by chasing the rebound of her own shot. Nikita Parris netted two – a free header and a sneaky lob of the Everton ‘keeper. Super-sub Rachel Williams also added two goals to the tally within 11 minutes of being on the field.
The Reds peppered the Everton goal averaging a shot on goal every three-and-a-half minutes in the opening quarter, and ended the game with 11 on target, 18 overall. United were clearly gunning for Champions League redemption despite being without some key players. Read more
ATP Tour: Ben Shelton claims maiden title with victory over Aslan Karatsev at Japan Open (Sky)
Ben Shelton claimed his first ATP Tour title with victory over Aslan Karatsev at the Japan Open in Tokyo.
The 21-year-old only turned professional just over a year ago but has made rapid strides, reaching the US Open semi-finals last month, and he will become the fourth American in the top 15 of the rankings on Monday.
Shelton showed no nerves during the final against Karatsev, and it was the Russian who smashed his racket in frustration during the second set as his opponent eased to a 7-5 6-1 victory. Read more