No coronavirus case in Lagos – Commissioner (Guardian)
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, has debunked the rumours making the round over a case of novel coronavirus in the state, saying that there is no suspected or confirmed case of the virus.
Abayomi gave the clarification in a statement issued on Sunday in Lagos.
He urged citizens to disregard the misinformation on social media as well as any other information about the virus that did not emanate from his ministry, the Federal Ministry of Health or the National Centre for Disease Control.
“I would like to reassure Lagosians that our vigilance levels are very high and we are putting more measures in place to safeguard the state. Read more
Nylon factory on fire in Lagos (Nation)
A nylon factory on Clem road Ijaye, close to Immaculate College, in Lagos is on fire.
The fire started a few minutes ago.
Residents said the cause of the inferno is still unknown.
The Acting Director of Lagos State Fire Service Mrs. Margaret Adeseye, confirmed the outbreak to our correspondent. Read more
Police arrest five Abuja residents who faked coronavirus infection (Punch)
The police in Abuja have arrested five persons for falsely claiming that they had contracted the dreaded coronavirus disease.
They were said to have stormed the Wuse District Hospital claiming that one of them had been infected by coronavirus.
The incident reportedly sparked panic and confusion and also disrupted normal health service delivery at the hospital.
The pranksters included Peggy Shandi, Abayomi Adedoyin, David Enemigin, Priscilla Ajesola and Jacob Oji. Read more
Suspected bomber caught in Winners Chapel (Nation)
A 30-year-old man was on Sunday caught with what is suspected to be an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the Sabon Tasha branch of the Living Faith Church, (aka Winners) Chapel in Kaduna.
It was learnt it was not the first time the suspect was coming to the church, having been sent away just last week.
The Chief Security Officer of the parish stated that the suspect was monitored on a CCTV Camera carrying the bag into the church auditorium. Read more
Pastor Adeboye reacts to US visa restrictions on Nigerians (Punch)
The General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has reacted to the visa restrictions placed on Nigerians by the United States.
The PUNCH reports that the United States imposed visa restrictions on Nigerians and five other countries’ nationals, saying “Nigeria presents a high risk, relative to other countries in the world, of terrorist travel to the United States”.
The US also said Nigeria did not adequately share public-safety and terrorism-related information necessary for the protection of the national security and public safety of the US. Read more
Tanzania rush for sacred oil kills 20 worshippers (BBC)
At least 20 people have been crushed to death and 16 others injured during an outdoor religious service in Tanzania.
Worshippers were attending a Pentecostal service at a stadium in the northern town of Moshi on Saturday evening when the incident occurred.
Moshi district commissioner Kippi Warioba said attendees rushed forward to be anointed with blessed oil.
Tanzania’s President John Magufuli sent his condolences and called for better security at such large events. Read more
EU would ‘enthusiastically’ welcome an independent Scotland (Metro)
Scotland would be welcomed into Europe ‘enthusiastically’ if it won independence from the rest of the UK, the former European Council president Donald Tusk has said. Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Mr Tusk said he felt ‘very Scottish’ following Brexit, adding that Scotland would be treated with ’empathy’ if they gain independence and look for a place at the EU table. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has signalled an intention to rejoin the European Union as a member should Scotland leave the UK, however her opponents have said there is no guaranteed access to the bloc. Read more
Brexit: Britain ‘will not be aligning with EU rules’ – Raab (BBC)
Britain will “not be aligning with EU rules” in any post-Brexit trade deal, the foreign secretary has said.
Dominic Raab argued agreeing to stick strongly with EU regulations would “defeat the point of Brexit”.
But Irish PM Leo Varadkar said the UK needed to commit to a level playing field to get a free trade deal.
Talks to negotiate a free trade deal between the UK and the EU are due to start next month, following the UK’s formal withdrawal from the bloc. Read more
Prince Charles slammed for flying 125 miles in helicopter to make climate speech (Metro)
Prince Charles has been accused of talking the talk but not walking the walk after flying more than 100 miles in a private helicopter to make a speech about lowering aircraft emissions. The royal flew 125 miles from Highgrove to Cambridge to speak to scientists from Cambridge University’s Whittle Laboratory, who are leading research into the decarbonisation of air travel. It is estimated that his total journey of 368 miles cost at least £12,000 and caused about 2.5 tonnes of carbon emissions, the Mirror reports. In a statement, Clarence House defended the 71-year-old royal, saying the carbon footprint left by his travels are was offset every year. Read more
Man taken off American Airlines flight for wearing gas mask (BBC)
A man has been removed from a flight in the US for refusing to take off a gas mask after passengers began to panic, Texas media report.
The man was wearing the mask on an American Airlines flight bound for Houston from Dallas on Thursday.
Attendants asked him to remove the mask after passengers started complaining, but he refused. The flight was delayed by almost an hour.
The man was rebooked on the next flight and boarded without the mask. Read more
First coronavirus death recorded outside China as number dead soars to 304 (Metro)
A man in the Philippines has become the first person outside of China to die from coronavirus, as the death toll rises above 300. The 44-year-old man, from the epicentre of the outbreak Wuhan, China, was admitted to Manila Hospital on January on January 25, after showing symptoms of a fever, cough and sore throat. Although he developed severe pneumonia, the patient had been stable and ‘showed signs of improvement’ but rapidly deteriorated in the 24 hours before his death, continued a statement from the Philippine Department of Health. Read more
Novak Djokovic makes history by beating Dominic Thiem to win eighth Australian Open (Metro)
Novak Djokovic became the first man in the Open Era to win Grand Slam titles in three different decades after beating Dominic Thiem to win a record eighth Australian Open title. Djokovic has never lost beyond the semi-finals at the ‘Happy Slam’ and maintained that astonishing record with a 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-3 victory against the Austrian fifth seed in four hours. It was far from routine for the now 17-time Grand Slam champion. He lost composure on his serve, and lost his cool with umpire Damien Dumusois, only to bounce back to claim another win at his strongest major. Only Ken Rosewall – in the 1950s, 60s and 70s – has won men’s singles Slams across three decades. Read more
Ronaldo becomes first Juventus player to score in nine straight league games for 15 years (BBC)
Cristiano Ronaldo scored two penalties to take his tally to 10 goals in his last six games as Juventus beat Fiorentina 3-0.
The hosts were first awarded a spot kick for handball in the first half and Ronaldo swept home the penalty.
Rodrigo Bentancur was fouled inside the box towards the end of the second half and Ronaldo again converted.
Matthijs de Ligt then headed in a third in injury time. Read more
Odion Ighalo breaks silence after completing Manchester United transfer (Metro)
Odion Ighalo has described his move to Manchester United as a ‘great opportunity’ following his surprise move to Old Trafford. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were desperate to sign a new striker before the end of the January transfer window and ended up completing a late loan deal for the Nigeria international on Friday. Ighalo has joined on loan from Shanghai Shenhua for the remainder of the season. But the 30-year-old may need a few weeks to get up to speed as China’s domestic campaign ended at the start of December. Read more
Manchester United frustrated by top four blow, says Shaw (Punch)
Luke Shaw has revealed Manchester United’s stars were hugely frustrated by their failure to close the gap to the Premier League’s top four.
Fourth-placed Chelsea’s 2-2 draw at Leicester on Saturday gave United a chance to chip away at the six-point difference.
But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men slipped to sixth after a 0-0 draw against Wolves at Old Trafford later in the day.
Even the presence of new signing Bruno Fernandes, who made his debut in midfield, couldn’t galvanise United. Read more
Burnley hold Arsenal at home (Nation)
Burnley ended a run of 11 successive defeats to Arsenal and probably should have claimed victory, only for Jay Rodriguez to miss a sitter.
Arsenal’s Premier League struggles continued on Sunday as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Burnley, who could easily have snatched all three points at Turf Moor.
The Gunners had won their last 11 meetings with Burnley in all competitions but Mikel Arteta’s men did not do nearly enough to extend that run as they again failed to make up significant ground on the top four. Read more
Damian Lillard: Portland Trail Blazers point guard continues scoring streak (BBC)
Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard posted 51 points in their 124-107 win over Utah Jazz – continuing a scoring run that has seen him average 48.8 over the past six games.
Lillard has scored at least 36 points every game during his run, which started with 61 points against the Golden State Warriors on 21 January.
“I’ve never been in this type of rhythm in my life,” point guard Lillard said. Read more
Kobe Bryant tells brilliant story about facing Michael Jordan for the first time (Metro)
Following the tributes paid to Kobe Bryant this week, a video has surfaced of the LA Lakers icon telling a superb story about the first time he faced Michael Jordan in the NBA. Bryant was just 18 years old when he first came up again Jordan during a Lakers game against the Chicago Bulls in 1996. Jordan was in his prime, scoring 30 points that night and went on to win his fifth NBA championship that season. Meanwhile, it was only the 19th game of Bryant’s NBA regular-season career while he was the 13th pick in the draft that year. Read more
Madrid beat Atlético in La Liga derby (Nation)
Real Madrid extended its winning run and increased its Spanish league lead by defeating Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the Spanish capital derby on Saturday.
Karim Benzema scored a second-half winner to give Madrid its eighth straight victory this year and a six-point lead over second-placed Barcelona, which hosts Levante on Sunday.
The loss virtually ended Atletico’s title hopes, as it stayed 13 points off the lead and was in danger of dropping to seventh place by the end of the weekend. Read more
Moses makes Nantes POTM shortlist (Punch)
Nantes forward, Moses Simon, is in the running for the club’s Player of The Month award for January after his impressive performance for La Maison Jaune last month.
Simon will slug it out with Imran Louza, Mehdi Abeid and Dennis Appiah.
The Nigerian increased his chances for the award after netting the team’s second goal in their 2-1 loss at Rennes on Friday. Simon has scored three goals while providing five assists in the league for the club since joining the side.
The Nigerian deservedly earns his nomination after a month in which he was an ever-present and was the team’s most potent attacking option in the Ligue 1. Read more
Lakers win first game since Kobe Bryant tragedy (Guardian)
Anthony Davis scored a team-high 21 points as the Los Angeles Lakers put the emotions of their Kobe Bryant tribute night behind them with a 129-113 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.
The Lakers won their first game since Bryant died in a horrific helicopter crash after losing 127-119 Friday to Portland on a night when they paid tribute to the former NBA legend.
Davis followed up his 37-point performance against the Trail Blazers with another team-high total in the second game of a back-to-back set.”We got our first win,” said Lakers coach Frank Vogel. “It is never going to feel normal. It is never going to feel the same. Read more