Osun housewife accused of killing husband commits suicide (Punch)
Ifeoluwa, accused of setting ablaze her Cairo, Egypt-based husband, Bolu Bamidele, in their house at Koka community in Osun State has committed suicide.
Bamidele was said to have sustained severe injury after the incident and was rushed to a private hospital in Osogbo, where he was later referred to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State. He gave up the ghost on Tuesday.
Giving account of what transpired, a member of Bamidele’s family who spoke on condition of anonymity, alleged that Ifeoluwa saw transaction details of a huge amount of money made by the deceased and suspected he was involved in infidelity.
The source said the issue led to a quarrel between the couple which made Ifeoluwa’s younger sister living with them to rush out of the house to look for those who would settle the matter. Read more
Atiku opens up on Tinubu, Obi (Sun)
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar has spoken extensively on the presidential aspirations of the presidential candidate of the All progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu as well as that of the Labour Party’s presidential flag-bearer, Peter Obi.
He also assured that the PDP National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu will step down if he (Atiku) wins the presidential election next year.
In an interview on Arise TV on Friday, the former Vice President said: “If the elected president is from the north and the party chairman happens to be from the north, automatically, the party chairmanship should revert to the south. If I am elected the president, automatically, Ayu will step down. There is also a general misunderstanding because PDP is different from APC. In the PDP administration, the south has had the highest number of years when the PDP was in office, so we need to separate these two so that we can be rational in our argument,” he said. Read more
LGAs want Aregbesola jailed over marriage registry tussle (Punch)
The Federal High Court in Lagos has granted an ex parte application authorising commencement of committal proceedings against the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.
The plaintiffs, through their lawyer, Roger Adedimeji, are seeking an order to jail the minister for the alleged disobedience to a December 8, 2021 court judgment, restraining the Ministry of Interior from further operating the Federal Marriage Registry, Imo State and others.
The plaintiffs told the court that after the bailiff of the court sealed the Federal Marriage Registry, Imo State, as ordered by the court, officials of the Ministry of Interior went to unseal the facility and continued their operations.
The plaintiffs are Eti-Osa Local Government Council of Lagos State; Egor Local Government Council of Edo State; Owerri Municipal Local Government Council Imo State; and Port Harcourt City Local Government Council Rivers State. Read more
Court grants Customs permission to auction 3 cars (Guardian)
The Federal High Court, Abuja on Friday, granted the request of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to condemn and auction three cars in it’s custody that have been unclaimed for over one year.
Counsel to the service, Mr Umar Lawal who approached the court through an ex parte motion said that the motion was necessary as part of efforts to generate revenue for government.
“We are praying the court for the following reliefs;
“An order that the vehicles listed be condemned as forfeited to the applicant.
“An order authorizing the applicant to sell the said vehicles to the members of the public and the proceeds realized from such sale be remitted to the Federal Government Treasury. Read more
62 priests kidnapped, 4 killed in 2 years (DailyTrust)
On June 26, 2022, the Ikabigbo community in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State was thrown into panic following the reported abduction of an Edo Catholic priest, The Rev. Fr. Christopher Odia.
Odia was said to be coming out of his residence to go for Sunday mass at St Michael Catholic Church, Ikabigbo when he was whisked away by gunmen.
Few hours after the news of his kidnap, it was announced that the priest had been killed by his abductors. The Catholic Diocese of Auchi had confirmed the death of the priest in a statement made available to journalists.
The statement was signed by the Director of Social Communications of the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, The Rev. Fr. Peter Egielewa.
Part of the statement reads, “With heavy hearts but with total submission to the will of God, we announce the death of our priest, The Rev. Fr. Christopher Odia, who was killed by his abductors after being kidnapped this morning, June 26, 2022 about 6.30am in his rectory while coming out to go for Sunday mass at St. Michael Catholic Church, Ikabigbo, Uzairue, Edo State.” Read more
Rotary Club, Reggae Republic partner on tree planting in Lagos (Guardian)
As part of efforts to address the challenges of desertification and climate change, the Rotary Club of Lekki Phase 1 in partnership with a socio-humanitarian group, Reggae Republic and Greensprings Anthos House School, Jakande Lekki, has embarked on tree planting campaign in Lagos State.
Tagged: ‘One Million Reggae Tree Campaign Initiative’, the campaign, which took place at Greensprings Anthos House School, saw the promoters plant many trees at the school premises, which provided a safe, secure and well-supported learning environment for children with a variety of needs such as autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, GDD and encephalopathy.
Evelyn Osagie, a journalist, spiced the event up with a poetic performance on the environment amid a reggae dance party.
The President of Rotary Club of Lekki Phase 1, Mrs. Yetunde Dimowo, said the club was excited about the partnership because “Rotary is all about service to humanity.” Read more
Atiku, Tinubu wrangle over credibility ahead of 2023 (Leadership)
Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday engaged in a credibility battle ahead of the 2023 general election.
While the PDP standard bearer said Tinubu betrayed his party in 2007, the APC presidential candidate said Atiku was the real betrayer who shortchanged Nigerians by reneging on the gentleman’s agreement of power rotation between the northern and southern part of the country.
Casting the first stone in the credibility battle was Atiku who accused Tinubu of refusing to support the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2007 presidential election because his demand to run on a Muslim/Muslim ticket was rejected. Read more
DSS report won’t stop solidarity rally, Labour tells FG (Punch)
The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Joint Action Committee, comprising the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Allied Institutions and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, have said their planned protest in solidarity with the Academic Staff Union of Universities will hold as planned.
The labour unions said they were not aware of any security report by the Department of State Services that advised against the rally, insisting that their protest in solidarity with ASUU over its six months old strike would hold on July 26 and 27.
ASUU had on February 14, 2022 embarked on a nationwide strike over the failure of the Federal Government to honour the agreement it reached with the union in 2009. The issues in contention include the delay in the release of the revitalisation fund for the universities, adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution as the preferred payment platform for the university system and the payment of earned academic allowances to lecturers. Read more
EU to replace gas from Russia with Nigeria (Guardian)
The European Union (EU) Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS said on Friday that, it would replace the gas from Russia with Nigeria Gas due to the invasion in Ukraine.
The Deputy Director-General Department for (Energy), European Commission in Brussels, Mr Matthew Baldwin, said this at a news conference on Friday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Baldwin will be meeting with Nigerian top government officials and private sector players, including key stakeholders in the country’s Energy Sector.
NAN reports that the EU’s executive body had urged member states to slash their gas consumption by 15 per cent as it warned that a complete shutdown of Russian supplies was “likely”. Read more
Inside Priyanka Chopra’s tropical 40th birthday getaway with Nick Jonas (PageSix)
Life’s a beach for Priyanka Chopra.
The actress celebrated her 40th birthday surrounded by friends and family during a tropical getaway to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, planned by her husband, Nick Jonas.
Chopra — whose special day falls on July 18 — gave fans a glimpse inside the festivities in an Instagram post shared on Friday.
“Just a girl and her birthday squad! So grateful and thankful to be surrounded by so much love and to be able to spend time with my nearest and dearest. (Even though a lot of them flew in from very far),” she captioned a carousel of photos from the group vacation. Read more
Google fires engineer who said AI tech has feelings (BBC)
Google has fired one of its engineers who said the company’s artificial intelligence system has feelings.
Last month, Blake Lemoine went public with his theory that Google’s language technology is sentient and should therefore have its “wants” respected.
Google, plus several AI experts, denied the claims and on Friday the company confirmed he had been sacked.
Mr Lemoine told the BBC he is getting legal advice, and declined to comment further. Read more
Christine and Paddy McGuinness confirm split but are still living together after 11 years of marriage (Metro)
Christine and Paddy McGuinness have confirmed they are separated after over a decade of marriage.
The couple – who have twins Penelope and Leo, nine, and Felicity, six, together – are still living together in their family home and putting their children first, but they have called time on their relationship 11 years after tying the knot.
In a joint statement, they said: ‘We hadn’t planned on sharing this publicly until we were ready but after the lack of privacy surrounding our personal life, we feel left with no other option but to clarify.
‘A while ago we took the difficult decision to separate but our main focus as always is to continue loving and supporting our children. This was not an easy decision to make but we’re moving forward as the best parents we can be for our three beautiful children. Read more
Steve Bannon found guilty of contempt of Congress (BBC)
A US jury has found Donald Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon guilty on two counts of contempt of Congress.
Bannon, 68, was indicted last year over his refusal to co-operate with the congressional committee probing the events leading up to the Capitol riot.
The former White House chief strategist is said to have been an unofficial adviser to Mr Trump at the time of the insurrection on 6 January 2021.
He faces up to two years in jail and up to $200,000 (£167,000) in fines.
Speaking to reporters outside court, Bannon vowed to have the case reversed on what his lawyer called a “bullet-proof appeal”. Read more
Mum and partner guilty of torturing son, 15, to death with months of beatings (Metro)
Sebastian Kalinowski, 15, was left to die from multiple fractured ribs (Picture: PA)
Sebastian Kalinowski, 15, was left to die from multiple fractured ribs (Picture: PA)
A mum and her Thai boxer boyfriend have been found guilty of murdering her 15-year-old son after a campaign of torture lasting months.
Sebastian Kalinowski, 15, was punched, kicked, stamped on, beaten with a bed slat, struck with a staircase spindle and whipped with a cable over numerous incidents at their home in Huddersfield last year.
He suffered multiple untreated broken ribs caused by a savaging on August 13, which led to sepsis and fatal organ failure.
Agnieszka Kalinowska, 36, and her partner, Andrzej Latoszewski, 36, both denied murder, though she admitted child cruelty and he admitted manslaughter. Read more
Claire Foy: Stalker ordered to stay away from The Crown star (BBC)
Actor Claire Foy’s “delusional” stalker has been ordered to stay away from her for five years after sending her thousands of emails.
Ms Foy, 38, who starred in Netflix’s The Crown, was targeted by Jason Penrose, 39, in November and December.
Penrose also knocked on the Wolf Hall actor’s door on one occasion.
A full stalking protection order (SPO) was granted at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court.
Penrose, who gave his address as Highgate Mental Health Centre, was accompanied by NHS workers during the hearing. Read more
Epidemic Sound sues Meta for $142m, says Instagram and Facebook stole hundreds of songs (FlashNews)
Meta Platforms Inc. is going through a lawsuit that claims its Facebook and Instagram platforms “intentionally and brazenly” stole a whole lot of songs from Swedish manufacturing music label Epidemic Sound, encouraging their customers to add greater than 50,000 infringing movies day by day.
Repped by attorneys on the prime music regulation agency Pryor Cashman, Epidemic says the social media large is providing almost 1,000 of the label’s songs by its “Music Library” for customers so as to add to their video uploads, however that Meta has refused to safe copyright licenses for that music — and has ignored the corporate’s repeated calls for that it accomplish that.
“Perhaps Meta is hoping to get away with it for as long as possible,” Epidemic’s legal professionals wrote in a grievance filed Wednesday (July 20) in San Francisco federal courtroom. “Perhaps Meta is hoping that it will intimidate a company like Epidemic into bowing to Meta rather than incurring the disruption and expense of a lawsuit. Meta is wrong.” Read more
Awoniyi set for Berlin return (Punch)
Nigerian forward, Taiwo Awoniyi, is already due for his first visit back to his old stomping ground on Saturday (today).
Awoniyi completed a club-record £17.5 million move from Union Berlin to the newly promoted EPL side, Nottingham Forest, on June 25.
Nottingham Forest will play a pre-season friendly game against Union Berlin at their home ground, Stadion An der Alten Försterei in Germany on Saturday in their fifth and final pre-season game.
Forest manager Cooper said Awoniyi was a player the club had been monitoring closely over the past few months. Read more
I’m satisfied with my son’s performance, says Onwuzurike (Guardian)
US-based sprinter, Udodi Onwuzurike, is among the youngest stars featuring in the ongoing Oregon 2022 World Athletics Championship in Eugene, United States.
At 19 years, Onwuzurike ran against the biggest names and legends with average of 10 years as professionals in both the 100m and 200m. He finished 6th in the 200m event, which placed him 14th overall position in the world.
Udodi’s father and coach, Chris Onwuzurike, said his son has achieved and experienced what most college students may never have the opportunity to accomplish.
“Overall, I am proud of what Udodi has accomplished and he will apply lessons learned from Oregon 2022 World Athletics Championship,” he told The Guardian. “My son is only 19, a true 19 year old.” Read more
Balogun, Shehu top list of Eagles without nest (Punch)
The 2022 transfer window is ongoing and there’s already plenty of excitement surrounding the new signings from the Nigerian perspective.
The summer transfer window opened on June 10 and will slam shut on September 1, 2022.
From Taiwo Awoniyi joining newly promoted Premier League club, Nottingham Forest from Union Berlin for a club-record fee in the region of £17.5m to Calvin Bassey who became Nigeria’s most expensive defender in the wake of his move to Ajax for a club-record fee that could rise to around £23m last Wednesday, Nigerian players have been making transfer moves to boost their careers.
Other Eagles stars that also made summer moves include Joe Aribo, Jamilu Collins, Chidera Ejuke, Kelechi Nwakali, Tyronne Ebuehi and Joel Obi. Read more
Security fears stalk 2024 Paris Olympic organisers (Guardian)
Two years out from Paris hosting the Summer Olympics there is widespread concern over security, exacerbated by the dreadful spectacle of the chaotic scenes at the Champions League final at the Stade de France.
Police tear-gassing frustrated Liverpool fans, including children and the disabled, was not the fault of the supporters but, according to a damning fact-finding mission by two French senators, the fault of the organisers.
“These dysfunctions were at every level, not only during the implementation but also during advance preparations,” said the co-chair of the enquiry Laurent Lafon.
The debacle set alarm bells ringing with next year’s Rugby World Cup being hosted in France but most of all for those dealing with security issues around the Olympics. Read more
Arsenal sign Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City on ‘long-term’ deal (BBC)
Arsenal have completed the signing of versatile Ukraine player Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City.
The 25-year-old flew back from City’s pre-season tour of the USA to complete the move after Arsenal agreed a £30m deal, which includes £2m in add-ons.
He has signed a long-term contract with the London club and is their fifth signing of the summer.
“This is a boyhood dream come true, because I was a massive fan when I was a kid,” said Zinchenko. Read more
Thomas Tuchel dismisses Timo Werner exit rumours at Chelsea (Metro)
Thomas Tuchel has dismissed reports claiming that Timo Werner is pushing to leave Chelsea this summer.
The 26-year-old has struggled to make an impact since his £47.5 million move from RB Leipzig in 2020, scoring 23 goals in 89 appearances for Chelsea.
On Friday, Sky Germany reported that tension between Tuchel and Werner has caused the Germany international to seek a move during the transfer window, and a return to the Bundesliga is a possibility.
But when asked if there is any substance behind the reports, Tuchel said on Friday: ‘I don’t think so. Read more
Protesters interrupt Tour de France again (Guardian)
Protesters held up the Tour de France on Friday during its 19th stage run from the Pyrenees to Cahors.
The race had been underway for around 30 minutes when a leading group of five escape riders encountered a protest blocking the route.
Organisers decided to stop the race, halting the main peloton when it was a couple of kilometres behind.
The protesters were swiftly cleared from the road and the stage was able to continue, with the five front riders being allowed to set off one minute and 20 seconds before the main group. Read more