Police arrest 18 protesters, journalists in Lagos (Punch)
Men of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested 18 protesters, including four journalists, during a protest against the hike in the pump price of fuel and electricity tariff in the country.
The protesters, who gathered under the aegis of the Socialist Party of Nigeria, displayed placards demanding a reduction in the prices of goods and services.
The group was at the Ojuelegba area when they were intercepted by the police and arrested.
The youth leader of the SPN, Hassan Soweto, in a post on his Facebook page, said they were taken to the Area C Police Command. Read more
Police explain death of man in custody (Guardian)
Operatives of the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos, have given more insight into the circumstances that led to the death of a 32-year-old land agent, Yemi Taiwo, at Isiu, Ikorodu area of the state on Tuesday.
The police denied that the land agent was tortured to death, adding that the deceased was given necessary medical attention before he gave up the ghost.
At a briefing at his office in Onikan, Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Ahmed Iliyasu, said he was shocked with the report that Taiwo was murdered by the police, describing it as unfair. Read more
1,364 Ikoyi residents, others petition Lagos over tree-cutting (Punch)
More than 1,300 residents of Ikoyi and other concerned citizens have criticised the decision of the Lagos State Government to cut down trees in the area to pave way for the construction of a drainage system.
The residents signed a petition on Change.org and called for an end to the action.
The petition, which was initiated by one Seun Apana, noted that trees help to filter cancer-causing diesel fumes from the air and should be preserved.
Apana, who posted a video of some people cutting down trees, some of which were said to be over 100 years old, said the government was exposing the people to a lot of health hazards. Read more
Lady, 24, arraigned for false rape allegations against Twitter Influencer (Vanguard)
The police on Wednesday arraigned 24-year-old Bola Aseyan before a Yaba Magistrate Court on a five-count charge bordering on a false accusation, criminal defamation of character and offensive publication likely to cause a \breach of the peace.
The arraignment followed a running battle of a series of accusations and counter-allegations made by the said Bola Aseyan, against the UK based medical doctor and Twitter influencer, Dr Olufunmilayo Ogusanya, who she had accused of rape on social media.
Also read: Man sleeps with four daughters, says intercourse b/w fathers, daughters approved by God. Read more
How Malabu Oil, others violated money laundering law – Witness (Punch)
A prosecution witness, Mr Temitope Erinomo, told the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday how Malabu Oil and Gas Limited and six other companies charged with fraud in the Oil Prospecting Lease 245 transactions, had allegedly violated the money laundering law.
Erinomo is the Principal Compliance Officer at the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering in the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investments.
He appeared in court on Thursday as the first prosecution witness in the case of 67 counts of money laundering involving about $800m instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against Malabu Oil, the six other companies, and a businessman, Aliyu Abubakar. Read more
Fire guts INEC office in Ondo, destroys smart card readers (Guardian)
Barely a month to the Ondo governorship election, the head office of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC in Akure, Ondo state has been gutted by fire.
The Guardian gathered that the inferno which gutted the container housing Smart Card Readers, started at 7.30 pm.
However, the cause of the inferno was unknown as of the time of filing this report.
Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi confirmed that men of the Fire Service are currently containing the fire.
“National Commissioner, Barrister Festus Okoye, who is in Ondo State in connection with preparations for the Ondo State Governorship election scheduled for 10th October 2020, rushed to the office at about 8pm. Read more
Discos to pay for rejecting electricity – NERC (Punch)
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has said the power distribution companies will be liable to capacity charge for failure to take their entire load allocation caused by constraints in their networks.
NERC disclosed this in a document seen by our correspondent on Thursday in which it announced to the Discos the review of the extraordinary tariff review application filed by them.
Last week, the Discos announced what they called “new service reflective tariff”, which took effect from September 1, 2020, with the tariffs being charged residential consumers receiving a minimum of 12 hours of power supply rising by over 70 per cent. Read more
Woman reports husband for allegedly defiling three daughters (Punch)
The Rivers State Police Command, on Wednesday, arrested a 38-year-old man identified as Uchenna Tobias in the Elekahia community, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for allegedly defiling his three daughters.
The arrest followed a report made by the suspect’s wife after she discovered that her five-year-old daughter had developed swollen private parts and a hospital she took her to for check-up confirmed that she had been defiled.
The mother of four told PUNCH Metro that justice should be served in the matter and called on the police to investigate and prosecute the suspect accordingly. Read more
Coronavirus: France sets daily record with almost 10,000 new cases (BBC)
France has recorded almost 10,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, marking its highest single-day count since the start of the outbreak.
Health authorities reported 9,843 new confirmed Covid-19 cases on Thursday, surpassing the previous daily record by almost 900.
The figures were released on the eve of a key meeting of ministers and health experts about toughening measures.
France has the seventh-highest Covid-19 death toll in the world.
More than 30,800 people in the country have died of coronavirus. Read more
Russian hackers target US campaigns, parties: Microsoft (Aljazeera)
The same Russian military intelligence outfit that hacked the US Democratic Party in 2016 has attempted similar intrusions into the computer systems of more than 200 organisations including political parties and consultants, Microsoft said Thursday.
Those efforts appear to be part of a broader increase in the targeting of United States political campaigns and related groups, the company said.
“What we’ve seen is consistent with previous attack patterns that not only target candidates and campaign staffers but also those who they consult on key issues,” Tom Burt, a Microsoft vice president, said in a blog post. Read more
Kate Winslet regrets working with Woody Allen, Roman Polanski (NYPost)
It’s a tie between this and not moving over on that door.
Kate Winslet is reckoning with some of her past work in light of the #MeToo movement, telling Vanity Fair this week, “It’s like, what the f - - k was I doing working with Woody Allen and Roman Polanski?”
“It’s unbelievable to me now how those men were held in such high regard, so widely in the film industry and for as long as they were,” she added. “It’s f - - king disgraceful.”
“And I have to take responsibility for the fact that I worked with them both,” Winslet continued. Read more
Eve recalls ‘devastation’ after being dropped from Dr Dre’s label following Eminem’s signing (Metro)
Rapper Eve has recalled how she was dropped from Dr Dre’s record label shortly after Eminem was signed to the imprint, leaving her ‘devastated’.
The Who’s That Girl? hitmaker was initially signed to Dre’s Aftermath record label in 1998. However, the relationship was short-lived and Eve found herself released from the company once new kid on the block Eminem arrived as Aftermath’s new signee.
Recalling the awkward situation on BET’s Ruff Ryders Chronicles, Eve explained: ‘I remember that when I was working with Dre, Eminem did get signed. Read more
China, India agree to disengage troops at disputed border (Aljazeera)
The foreign ministries of China and India agreed in a joint statement on Friday that their troops must quickly disengage from a months-long standoff at their long-disputed Himalayan border.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar met on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation foreign ministers’ meeting in Moscow to try and end the dispute, the most serious in decades at the undemarcated border.
“The two Foreign Ministers agreed that the current situation in the border areas is not in the interest of either side. They agreed therefore that the border troops of both sides should continue their dialogue, quickly disengage, maintain proper distance and ease tensions,” the statement said. Read more
Trump boasted he protected MBS after Khashoggi hit: Report (Aljazeera)
President Donald Trump boasted that he protected Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) after Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder, Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book says, according to a new report.
Trump bragged that he protected the Saudi crown prince from consequences in the United States after the assassination of Khashoggi in October 2018, the news outlet Business Insider reported on Thursday.
“I saved his a**,” President Trump said about the US outcry about Khashoggi’s killing, according to Business Insider, quoting from a copy of Woodward’s book.
“I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop,” Trump said. Read more
Neve Campbell confirms return as Sidney Prescott in Scream relaunch (Metro)
Neve Campbell has delivered some of the best news we’ve heard all year after confirming she will indeed reprise her role in the upcoming Scream relaunch.
The 46-year-old actress is set to return to the iconic horror franchise as Sidney Prescott, the long-suffering victim of Ghostface.
Sharing the exciting news in an Instagram post, Neve simply wrote: ‘Hello again, Sidney #ImBack,’ along with a haunting video of Ghostface’s mask drawing closer as the words ‘Hello Sidney, remember me?’ appear on screen. Read more
Arsenal feature Kanu, Henry, others in third jersey unveiling (Guardian)
Arsenal featured Nigerian football legend Nwankwo Kanu in the official unveiling video of the club’s third jersey for the 2020/2021 season.
The jersey unveiling was also done with the launch of a ‘This Is Family’ film where the club’s manager Mikel Arteta delivered a heartfelt speech to the Arsenal community.
Arteta explains the importance of being part of the Arsenal family and what it means to him to be part of the club.
The unveiling film also featured other club legends – Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp alongside Women’s Super League Fans’ Player of the Year Vivianne Miedema and PFA Young Player of the year nominee Bukayo Saka and some fans. Read more
US Open 2020: Naomi Osaka beats Jennifer Brady to reach final (BBC)
Japanese fourth seed Naomi Osaka reached another US Open final after producing a high-quality performance to edge past American Jennifer Brady.
Osaka, who won the 2018 title, edged an enthralling first set with a dominant tie-break before Brady impressively rallied to force a deciding set.
Both maintained a high level at the start of the third before Osaka took control to win 7-6 (7-1) 3-6 6-3.
Osaka, 22, will play Serena Williams or Victoria Azarenka in Saturday’s final. Read more
Premier League pushes back on Newcastle claim Saudi bid rejected (Aljazeera)
The English Premier League has contested Newcastle United’s assertion that a Saudi-led takeover of the club had been rejected, saying on Thursday it could still proceed if further information on the proposed new owners is provided.
Newcastle on Wednesday said the league leadership had not “acted appropriately” regarding the takeover that would have seen Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquire an 80 percent stake in the northeast English club.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), is chairman of the PIF. Read more
Depleted PSG beaten by promoted Lens (BBC)
A depleted Paris St-Germain side began their Ligue 1 campaign with a surprise loss against newly promoted Lens.
The match was in doubt after Champions League finalists PSG had seven players, including star striker Kylian Mbappe, test positive for coronavirus.
Lens took full advantage on their return to the top flight as Ignatius Ganago punished goalkeeper Marcin Bulka’s error to net the winning goal.
The match was played in front of 5,000 fans at Lens’ Stade Bollaert-Delelis. Read more
Injured Serena Williams out of the US Open (Metro)
Serena Williams tasted defeat in her US Open semi-final clash with Victoria Azarenka after suffering an injury early in the third set of a dramatic clash.
Williams – who was hoping to equal Margaret Court’s all-time Grand Slam record in New York – had hammered Azarenka in the opening set but was forced into a decider by the fellow former world No. 1. With the match finely poised, Williams felt a sudden pain in her ankle and had extra strapping applied.
She was broken moments later and it proved to be a critical blow as Azarenka stormed on to win 1-6 6-3 6-2 in just short of two hours and set up a final clash with Naomi Osaka. Read more
Rashford relishes challenge of reeling in Man Utd’s rivals (Guardian)
Marcus Rashford says the task of reeling in Liverpool and Manchester City adds spice to Manchester United’s bid to re-establish themselves as Premier League title contenders.
United put together a nine-game unbeaten run in the league, which included six wins, after the coronavirus lockdown to pip Chelsea to third place at the end of last season.
But they finished 33 points behind Liverpool, who claimed their first league crown in 30 years, and 15 points adrift of City.
Rashford said chasing down their two rivals gave United added motivation.
“I think that’s natural for anyone who plays for the club or anyone who’s from Manchester,” he told the Press Association. “We have to use all that as motivation to keep improving as a team. Read more