Nedu returns to SCID with kids as ex-wife claims she was forced to release them (Independent)
Comedian Chinedu Ani, popularly known as Nedu, has returned to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos, to return his two daughters to his ex-wife, Uzoamaka Ohiri.
According to Nedu, it was his ex-wife that willingly handed over the children to him at the SCID on Tuesday but he decided to return them since she said she did not willingly give him the kids.
He said she has turned off her phone and could not be reached.
One of Uzomaka’s relatives, however, said that she had been hospitalized and had also been invited by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice hence the reason for her absence.
Uzoamaka and Nedu have been engaged in a messy feud over allegations of domestic violence and refusal to take care of the family. Read more
Kaduna to shut down telcos over insecurity (Guardian)
Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said communication lines will be disrupted to launch an offensive against militants hiding in some local government areas.
El-Rufai in a chat with BBC Hausa service said security agents are prepared to launch an offensive on bandits taking refuge in some parts of the state.
The governor said due to the shutdown of telecommunication services in Zamfara and Katsina, some bandits crossed over to neighbouring local government areas in Kaduna to make phone calls and demand ransoms.
“There is no doubt that bandits and other criminals rely on telecommunication to communicate with their informants as well as with relatives of kidnapped victims so as to demand ransom,” El-Rufai said. Read more
Joke Silva clocks 60, celebrates 40 years in the industry (DailyTrust)
Veteran actress, Ajoke Silva celebrates her 40 years anniversary in the Nigerian movie industry as she clocks 60 today!
The actress took to her Instagram page to share lovely pictures of herself and also showed gratitude to God for her life’s journey so far.
“Numbers are very important to me, so this year, as I turn 60, I also mark fourty years in the industry I love. #40at60. My biography of that title #40at60 is actually in the works.
“Psalm 100 (40+60) is on my lips today as I express my gratitude to God! Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God… Read more
FG approves 14 days paternity leave (Vanguard)
The Federal Executive Council, FEC, has approved a 14-day paternity leave to make men properly bond with the newborn baby or adopted one.
The paternity leave is for men in the federal civil service.
The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Council’s weekly meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the First Lady’s Conference Room, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Dr Yemi-Esan, who was flanked by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, explained that paternity leave was approved for men when their wives are delivered of their new babies. Read more
Declare bandits as terrorists, Senate tells Buhari (DailyTrust)
The Senate has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare bandits as terrorists.
It also advised the president to wage total war against the bandits, including bombing all their locations to annihilate and eliminate them.
The Red Chamber also asked Buhari to declare all the known leadership of the bandits wanted and track them wherever they are for arrest and prosecution.
The resolutions followed a motion by Senator Ibrahim Abdullahi Gobir (Sokoto East) and eight others.
Gobir noted that Sokoto East Senatorial District has now become a safe haven for bandits due to the current onslaught against them in Zamfara State. Read more
Why court barred FG from retrying ex-Abia Gov, Uzor Kalu (Vanguard)
Respite came the way of a former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, on Wednesday, as the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, barred the Federal Government from retrying him, based on the N7.1billion money laundering charge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, earlier preferred against him.
The court, in the judgement that was delivered by trial Justice Inyang Ekwo, relied on a verdict the Supreme Court gave on May 8, 2020, to stop further proceedings in the criminal case the EFCC instituted against Kalu and his firm, Slok Nigeria Limited.
Justice Ekwo stressed that the apex court had in its judgement, expressly ordered the retrial of Kalu’s co-defendant, Mr. Jones Udeogu, who was a former Director of Finance in Abia State.
He noted that while Udeogu was the Appellant in the said appeal that was decided by the Supreme Court, Kalu and his firm, were only cited as Respondents in the matter. Read more
I went into kidnapping to raise money for business startup -21-year-old suspect (Punch)
A suspected kidnapper arrested by that Police in Bauchi, Muhammad Aliyu, says that he went into kidnapping to raise money to start a business because his father did not give him the money.
The 21-year-old man said that he finished secondary school at Government Day Secondary School, Rimin Zayam; and although his WASSCE result was good, he couldn’t further his studies because of lack of money.
He told our Correspondent in an interview at the Bauchi State Police Headquarters that after he and his gang kidnapped their first victim, they were paid N500,000 ransom before they released him.
He said that he received N60,000 as his share, with which he had hoped to start the business before he was arrested. Read more
Afreximbank, AfCFTA launch African Payment, Settlement System (Leadership)
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and AfCFTA secretariat, on Tuesday, announced the operational roll-out of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), a revolutionary financial market infrastructure to enable instant, cross-border payments in local currencies between African markets.
By simplifying cross-border transactions and reducing the dependency on hard currencies for these transactions, PAPSS is set to boost intra-African trade significantly and underpin the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Afreximbank said in a statement yesterday.
PAPSS is expected to serve as a continent-wide platform for the processing, clearing and settling of intra-African trade and commerce payments, leveraging a multilateral net settlement system. Its full implementation is expected to save the continent more than US$5 billion in payment transaction costs each year. Read more
Intense workouts shortly before bed found to impact sleep quality (NewAtlas)
It is well known that a physically active day can make for a better night’s rest, and a new study has delved into how the timing of our workouts can lead to different results. The analysis turns up a few interesting revelations around when might be the best time to sweat it out, and suggests steering clear of late-night sessions if you want to feel rejuvenated in the morning.
The research was carried out by sleep scientists at Canada’s Concordia University, who set out to fill in some of the blanks in the relationship between exercise and sleep. To so do, the researchers conducted a meta-analysis of data collected across 15 studies focusing on how single intense exercise sessions affect young and middle-aged adults in the hours leading up to bedtime.
This analysis involved weighing up different variables such as the fitness levels of the subjects and whether they were sedentary or physically active, whether the workouts were performed early or late evening, and what types of exercise they entailed. Read more
Quentin Tarantino deconstructs the narrative structure of “True Romance” (FarOut)
Before Quentin Tarantino broke onto the scene as a promising filmmaker, he entered the world of cinema as a screenwriter by penning the script for True Romance. He would eventually go on to write and direct his own projects, but it was True Romance that taught Tarantino how to write a perfect screenplay, an effort that managed to find the right balance between entertainment and experimental.
While discussing the key elements of a good screenplay, Tarantino explained that the concept of visualisation is extremely important for the writer as well as the filmmaker. If they have the visual narrative ready in their heads, the magic can be translated to the cinematic medium. However, he also insisted that it is important to not underestimate the audience: “I don’t think the audience is this dumb person lower than me, I am the audience,” he said.
“In a novel, you can start in the middle of the story,” Tarantino said. “They’re doing something and it’s moving in the forward momentum… And now it comes to Chapter three and Chapter three happened two years before. I always thought that if you did it the way they did it in novels, that would be inherently cinematic. The cross-cutting would be neat. [Putting] it all in chronological order was inherently not cinematic. It was drab.”
Directed by Tony Scott, True Romance stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as a newly married couple who enter into an absurd journey together. On the run from the Mafia, the two navigate the labyrinthine nature of life while trying to come to terms with the bizarre misadventures that they indulge in. Read more
Slovenia suspends Johnson & Johnson vaccine after death (Guardian)
Slovenia on Wednesday temporarily suspended vaccinations with Johnson & Johnson after a 20-year-old woman died of a brain haemorrhage and blood clots just days after getting a jab.
“The health ministry has called on the Public Health Institute to temporarily suspend vaccinations with the Janssen vaccine until all details related to this case are cleared up,” Health Minister Janez Poklukar told a news conference in Ljubljana, using another name for the jab.
Experts advising the government recommended the suspension after learning that “there could be an undesired link between the death and the vaccination,” said Bojana Beovic, who heads the expert group.
Media reported the woman had been hospitalised on Monday in severe condition, only days after receiving a Johnson & Johnson jab.
One death has already been confirmed as linked to the vaccine in Slovenia, where more than 120,000 people have been jabbed with it. Read more
Lava from Canary Islands Volcano reaches the Atlantic Ocean (GreekReporter)
The Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands continues to threaten lives after a Catholic Church was destroyed earlier this week. Credit: Facebook/Antics of Love
Red hot lava from a volcano that devastated the Spanish island of La Palma reached the Atlantic Ocean late on Tuesday evening, nine days after it started to flow down the mountain, wrecking buildings and destroying crops.
Big clouds of white steam billowed up from the Playa Nueva area as the lava made contact with the ocean, according to Reuters images. Photographs shared on social media showed the lava piling up near a cliff.
Grecian Delight supports Greece
A venerable Catholic Church on the Canary Islands was destroyed earlier this week as lava continued to flow down the sides of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, engulfing everything in its path.
After a new lava vent opened up over the weekend and plumes of molten rock began spurting up with greater vengeance, new fears surfaced over the eventual extent of the damage to the island and the threats to human life. Read more
China builds 5,000-room quarantine centre for overseas arrivals (CNN)
When it comes to keeping Covid-19 at bay, few countries seem willing to go as far as China.
As countries around the world reopen borders and loosen coronavirus restrictions, Beijing is doubling down on its zero-Covid strategy. The latest example: a $260 million, 5,000-room quarantine facility for incoming travelers set to open in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou in the coming days.
Comprised of rows of three-story buildings topped with gray roofs in traditional Chinese style, the massive complex spans an area the size of 46 football fields and took less than three months to be built from scratch on the outskirts of the city.
It will replace designated hotels located throughout Guangzhou to quarantine Chinese and international travelers arriving from overseas — a move aimed at reducing residents’ exposure to imported cases. Read more
Wildlife near Glastonbury Festival at risk From Public Urination Containing Cocaine and MDMA -Study (Complex)
Photo by Ian Gavan via Getty Images
Researchers have found that local wildlife was impacted by public urination that contained traces of drugs at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival.
BBC reports dangerously high levels of cocaine and MDMA were found in the Whitelake River, which runs adjacent to the festival’s Somerset, United Kingdom location. According to researchers, the finding could hinder conservation efforts of rare European eels that are located in the area.
“Unfortunately, Glastonbury Festival’s close proximity to a river results in any drugs released by festival attendees having little time to degrade in the soil before entering the fragile freshwater ecosystem,” one of the scientists attached to the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Research, said. The study is titled “The environmental release and ecosystem risks of illicit drugs during Glastonbury Festival.”
Toxic levels of the site were taken before, during, and after the festival in 2019. The study ultimately found that MDMA concentrations quadrupled the week after the festival, which suggests that there could be long-term damage to the local ecosystem. Read more
Once-incarcerated lawyer poet is among winners of MacArthur ‘genius grants’ (ABAJournal)
A lawyer and poet once imprisoned for a carjacking committed at age 16 is among 25 people who won the MacArthur Foundation fellowships, commonly known as “genius grants.”
Reginald Dwayne Betts won approval for his Connecticut law license in 2017 after graduating from Yale Law School. He also published three poetry collections and a memoir after his release from prison, the Washington Post reports.
Betts also worked on the Obama administration’s Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and launched a nonprofit, Freedom Reads, to build prison libraries. He is currently a PhD candidate in law at Yale Law School, according to a MacArthur Foundation biography.
Betts’ third poetry collection, Felon, focuses on the effects of incarceration, according to an online description of the book. Read more
Man U star, Scholes, Spotted With jerry Can As UK Fuel Crisis Worsens (DailyTrust)
Manchester United star, Paul Scholes, has been spotted refilling his fuel tank with a jerry can amid the ongoing fuel crisis in the United Kingdom.
In a video his 20-year-old daughter posted on Instagram, Scholes was seen by the roadside.
He unscrewed the petrol tank of his car and a jerry can of fuel was given to him.
Scholes daughter captioned the video, “Last time u can have a go at me for having no petrol, Paul Scholes.”
This is coming amid the acute fuel scarcity in the United Kingdom.
The scarcity has been attributed to the lack of drivers for petrol tankers.
Meanwhile, 150 troops started training to drive petrol tankers. Read more
‘See you soon’, Joshua activates Usyk rematch clause (Vanguard)
Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter has claimed that Anthony Joshua has activated his rematch clause with the Ukrainian, insisting that a second fight will ‘definitely happen’.
The former cruiserweight champion, 34, silenced the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday with a boxing masterclass to claim the WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO world titles from his British rival.
It has since emerged that there is a rematch clause in AJ and Usyk’s pre-fight agreement, yet the dominant nature of Usyk’s victory has left many fans and pundits adamant that Joshua has little chance of reclaiming his belts from the Ukrainian.
Joshua was heard saying ‘see you soon’ to Usyk after the fight, while Eddie Hearn has insisted that the pair will meet again in early 2022. And Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, believes that the rematch clause has already been activated and says the second fight will ‘definitely happen’. Read more
Notable NBA players who are against the Covid-19 vaccine (NewsOne)
As America struggles to combat the highly transmissible Delta Variant strain, it appears as though another pandemic is slowly emerging amongst COVID-19 skeptics called anti-vaxxers. Unfortunately, some of those COVID-19 conspiracists happen to be stars we love and admire.
Boxing Champ Laila Ali recently expressed her concerns over receiving the potential life-saving double dose, telling her followers on Instagram to “build up and trust their own immune system” before getting inoculated against the virus. Rapper Busta Rhymes went on a full-on tangent about the government’s nationwide COVID-19 vaccine mandates during a concert in St. Louis back in June. The rapper asked fans to remove their masks claiming that the government was “trying to take our civil liberties away.”
Now, although about 90% of the NBA is vaccinated — including stars like Damien Lillard, who offered a textbook reason for why he got the shots — it appears as though the anti-vax hysteria is spreading to the NBA as a number of players have recently expressed controversial opinions about the vaccine. Read more
Aaron Wan-Bissaka: Manchester United defender given two-match ban for Champions League red card (BBC)
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been given a two-match ban by Uefa for his sending off during Manchester United’s Champions League defeat to Young Boys.
The defender, 23, was shown a straight red card for a late tackle in the first half of the match on 14 September.
He will now miss Wednesday’s game against Villarreal and the home match with Atalanta on 20 October.
The Swiss side were fined £31,000 after a fan invaded the pitch and for blocking of public passageways. Read more
Manny Pacquiao quits boxing with presidency in sights (Guardian)
Philippine boxing legend and 2022 presidential hopeful Manny Pacquiao said on Wednesday that he is hanging up his gloves after a glittering decades-long career in the ring.
The multi-division world champion and senator, who has his sights set on a high-stakes rumble to replace President Rodrigo Duterte, said quitting the sport that lifted him out of poverty was the “hardest decision” of his life.
“It is difficult for me to accept that my time for me as a boxer is over,” the 42-year-old said in a video message on Twitter that quickly went viral.
“Today I am announcing my retirement,” added Pacquiao, whose fights during his heyday stopped traffic in the Philippines — and even supposedly crime. Read more
Andy Murray overcomes lucky loser Denis Kudla in the San Diego Open first round (BBC)
Andy Murray won his first match 6-3 6-2 in the San Diego Open after a late replacement saw him face lucky loser Denis Kudla.
The 34-year-old former world number one was set to face Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who withdrew with a back injury.
Cameron Norrie also had a straight sets win in the first round over Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 6-2 7-5.
British number one Dan Evans is in action on Wednesday and he faces South African lucky loser Kevin Anderson. Read more