Nigerians groan over effects of 7.5% VAT on petrol prices (Punch)
Nigerians have begun to lament the effects of the introduction of a 7.5 per cent Value-Added Tax on the price of premium motor spirit, otherwise known as petrol.
This comes barely a month after President Bola Tinubu removed the subsidy on petrol during his inaugural speech on May 29, raising the price of PMS from N188 to about N580 in different states of the federation.
Recall that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, announced that the Finance Act 2020 raised the previous 5 per cent VAT of the country to 7.5 per cent on commodities including automobile gas oil and it was implemented on February 20, 2020. Read more
Tinubu heads for Paris in first official trip (DailyTrust)
President Bola Tinubu will on Thursday, June 22, join world leaders in Paris, France, to review and sign a New Global Financial Pact that places vulnerable countries on priority list for support and investment.
The Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Dele Alake, announced this in a statement released on Monday on the first official trip.
The President will be accompanied by members of the Presidential Policy Advisory Council and senior government officials to the summit, following devastating impact of climate change, energy crisis, and after effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more
Burna Boy reschedules Netherlands concert, offers free transportation (Nation)
Afro-fusion star, Burna Boy has announced a new date for his Netherlands concert following public outrage after he was forced to cancel the highly anticipated show due to circumstances beyond his and team’s control.
The new date comes hours after the Grammy-winning singer, issued an apology to the ‘Love Damini’ concertgoers for standing them up.
Via his Instagram stories, Burna explained his “amazing team have been hard at work trying to salvage” the show, which was slated to take place on June 17th, 2023, at the 39,000-capacity GelreDome in Arnhem, Netherlands, adding, “but we couldn’t do it in time,” hence, “I’ll be announcing a new date.” Read more
Student activist graduates from UNILAG 7 years after rustication (Vanguard)
Olorunfemi Adeyeye, the student activist, who was rusticated in 2016 by the University of Lagos, UNILAG has now graduated seven years after.
Adeyeye was rusticated for organising and leading a mass protest against poor infrastructure on campus and was later reinstated in 2022.
The student activist, who graduated from the Department of Building, was suspended alongside some student activists for participating in the April 6 and 8, 2016 protests, which led to the shutdown of the school and the subsequent indefinite suspension of the University of Lagos Students Union. Read more
Cop impersonator steals Lagos artisan’s phone in police station (Punch)
A yet-to-be-identified man, who impersonated one of the policemen attached to the Idimu Police Station, has stolen the mobile phone of an artisan, Kehinde Adesina, on the premises of the station in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that policemen attached to the station arrested the 35-year-old artisan on Tuesday, June 6, for violating the traffic rule in the state.
The policemen subsequently took Adesina to the police station where they were said to have demanded N20,000 from him to release his vehicle. Read more
2 gunmen killed in Anambra after attack on vigilantes (Guardian)
The Police in Anambra have confirmed the killing of two gunmen who attacked the camp of the Anambra Vigilante Service on Monday in Okija, Ihiala Local Government Area of the state.
Ihiala LGA borders Imo and has witnessed many terror attacks by gunmen.
A source said about 15 armed men attacked the camp of the vigilantes in the early hours of Monday and opened fire on them, but were quickly repelled by security agents. Read more
EU to sponsor young Nigerian fashion designer to Madrid Fashion Week (ThisDay)
The European Union (EU) is sponsoring a young Nigerian fashion designer to this year’s Madrid Fashion week holding in September.
This was the prize for winning the 2023 Europe Day Afro-Euro Runway fashion show held in Abuja at the weekend.
The young Nigerian, Oyindamola Aleshinloye, with the brand name “Kadiju” would be in Madrid being the winner of the maiden edition of the Fashion Show organised by EU. Read more
Court fixes June 21 for hearing of petition filed by APM (Channels)
The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) has again adjourned the petition filed before it by the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) till June 21 for hearing.
The court had fixed June 19 to commence hearing of the petition filed by the APM challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 25 election.
At the resumed hearing, the party asked for a one-week adjournment which was turned down by the court. Read more
Elizabeth Hurley stars in new erotic thriller directed by her 21-year-old son (LADBible)
Elizabeth Hurley stars in an erotic film directed by her 21-year-old son.
The British actor is at the centre of a steamy new thriller, which shows Hurley in revealing outfits and an intimate scene with another woman.
While this is nothing new for Hollywood, many are raising their eyebrows as Hurley’s son, Damien, directed the flick.
According to the film’s synopsis, it follows Mia (Georgia Lock), who is haunted by the suicide of her best friend Rebecca and reluctantly accepts an invitation to Rebecca’s family home in the Caribbean. Read more
Pope Francis makes first public speech since hospitalisation for abdominal surgery (CNA)
Pope Francis appeared in the window of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on Sunday to make his first public speech since his release from the hospital on Friday.
The 86-year-old pope waved and smiled on June 18 as he gave thanks for the prayers and messages that he received during his nine-day stay in the hospital to recover from surgery to repair an incisional hernia.
“I wish to express my gratitude to those who, during the days of my hospitalization at Gemelli Hospital, have shown me affection, care, and friendship, and assured me of prayerful support,” the pope said. Read more
Robbie Williams forced to pause concert due to “long COVID” (MusicNews)
Robbie Williams was forced to briefly halt his concert over the weekend after he began to experience long COVID symptoms.
The Angels singer was gearing up to launch into Monsoon, his fourth song at the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, the Netherlands, when he asked his band to stop playing the intro.
“No, stop, stop. I’m f**ked. I’m f**ked,” the 49-year-old said, according to footage posted online. “It’s long Covid, I’ve got long Covid.” Read more
Arctic Monkeys cancel Dublin show due to illness ahead of Glastonbury (NME)
Arctic Monkeys have announced that their upcoming show in Dublin will be cancelled due to illness.
The news was announced earlier today (June 19) on the band’s Instagram page. According to the update, frontman Alex Turner has been suffering from an acute case of laryngitis and instructed to rest.
The upcoming gig was scheduled to take place tomorrow (June 20) at Marley Park in Dublin, and would have been the latest date as part of the band’s ongoing UK stadium tour. Read more
Disney movie Elemental features Pixar’s 1st non-binary character (Standard)
Disney Pixar is featuring its first non-binary character in the studio’s latest movie, Elemental.
The film, which was directed by The Good Dinosaur’s Peter Sohn, is set in a fictional location – called Element City – where the four elements – fire, water, land and air – live and work together.
Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie and Ronnie del Carmen are among those providing voices for the film, in which a fire elemental called Ember explores a relationship with water elemental Wade. Read more
Netflix viewers traumatised and warn “don’t watch this” over terrifying shark film (Mirror)
Viewers have been sharing their thoughts on survival horror film 47 Meters Down (2017) recently, with some suggesting that it makes for ‘terrifying’ and ‘traumatising’ viewing.
The film, which has recently been added to Netflix, centres on sisters Kate (played by Claire Holt) and Lisa (Mandy Moore) who decide to spend an afternoon cage diving whilst the pair are on holiday together in Mexico.
Whilst they are in the cage, the winch system that holds it up breaks, plummeting them down to the ocean floor. The siblings are then trapped inside the cage underwater. Read more
Blinken meets Xi, stresses “need to stabilize” US-China ties (DW)
Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing on Monday, the culmination of two days of high-level talks with Chinese officials.
The trip by Blinken marks the highest-level visit by a US official to China in nearly five years, at a time when relations between the world’s two largest economies have entered choppy waters.
Washington’s top diplomat emphasized the importance of face to face dialogue. Read more
Folarin Balogun scores as US beats Canada to win Concacaf Nations League (TorontoSun)
Having scored his first goal for the United States and won his first medal, Folarin Balogun looked to a future that includes a 2026 World Cup co-hosted by America.
“I’ve only been here a short amount of time, but already I feel a part of it and I feel a part of something bigger,” he said.
Balogun and Chris Richards scored their first international goals, both off assists from Gio Reyna, and the U.S. beat Canada 2-0 on Sunday night for the Americans’ second straight Concacaf Nations League title. Read more
Osimhen celebrates Flying Eagles, invites captain to Super Eagles camp (Leadership)
Red hot Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, has demonstrated his love for Nigeria U20 men’s national team, Flying Eagles, by inviting the captain of the team, Daniel Bameyi, to the Eagles camp in Lagos.
Explaining why he invited the Flying Eagles’ utility player to the senior national team’s camp, the Italian Serie A top scorer, said he was impressed by the leadership quality of the captain on and off the pitch and what he has done for the country at the just-concluded U20 World Cup in Argentina.
He urged the young lad to remain focused, saying his future is bright. Read more
Bournemouth appoint Andoni Iraola as new manager following Gary O’Neil sacking (National)
Bournemouth have moved quickly to name Andoni Iraola as their new manager following the sudden departure of Gary O’Neil.
The Cherries caught many by surprise when they announced O’Neil’s exit on Monday despite the 40-year-old guiding Bournemouth to top-flight safety by finishing 15th last season, three places and five points clear of the relegation zone.
But within hours, a further announcement was made to say that former Rayo Vallecano coach Iraola would be taking over at Vitality Stadium after the Spaniard agreed a two-year deal. Read more
Lewis Hamilton jokes about Fernando Alonso’s age after F1 rivals battle in Canada (GMS)
Grand Prix, with the Briton poking fun at the Spaniard’s age.
The two F1 veterans battled it out for the duration of Sunday’s race in Montréal, with Hamilton jumping Alonso at the start of the GP, only for the Aston Martin man to get back in front of the Mercedes driver with around a third of the event gone.
In the end, that is how it stayed with Alonso in second and Hamilton in third behind winner Max Verstappen, and it’s clear both drivers enjoyed their fight on track. Read more
Frances Tiafoe becomes the 1st African-American man to rank in the world’s top 10 for 14 years (DailyMail)
Frances Tiafoe has broken into the top 10 of the men’s ATP world rankings, in turn becoming the first African-American man to achieve the feat in over 14 years.
Tiafoe, 25, has achieved his career-high ranking after winning the Stuttgart Open at the weekend, leapfrogging Russian Karen Khachanov into the top 10.
The last African-American man to hold a spot in the top 10 of the men’s singles rankings was James Blake back in January 2009. Read more
Lewis Hamilton makes frank admission to Max Verstappen in Canada cool-down room (PlanetF1)
Lewis Hamilton admitted the Mercedes W14 currently “sucks in the lower speed corners”, despite its overall improvement in recent races.
Hamilton took a well-earned podium at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, finishing third behind fellow World Champions in Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
There will doubtless have been a tinge of disappointment after a superb start saw him jump past Alonso into the first corner, before the Aston Martin driver was able to re-overtake later on in the race and hold onto second place. Read more