Police arrest house help for killing former employer (Vanguard)
Nasarawa State Police Command on Thursday said it has arrested a 27-year-old Cephas Iliya for killing his former employer, late Martin’s Omeri.
Late Omeri was a Deputy Chief auditor in the office of the Accountant General of the federation, Abuja but was residing at Navy Estate Karshi, Karu LGA of Nasarawa state, and had employed IIiya as his house help.
According to a statement signed by the command public relations officer, Ramham Nansel said; “On 24/11/2020, Police personnel attached to Karshi Division acted on credible intelligence and arrested the suspect at Arab area, FCT Abuja.
“A coordinated and diligent search was conducted in his apartment where the following items belonging to the deceased were recovered as an exhibit: One Infinix phone, Laptop, Clothing, pair of shoe, Clipper, Beddings and few other properties,” the statement read. Read more
Again, UNILAG postpones 2020/2021 post-UTME screening (Punch)
The University of Lagos has postponed its 2020/2021 Post-UTME Screening exercise indefinitely.
This was contained in a press statement titled ‘2020/2021 post-UTME: notice of postponement’ on Thursday.
The university management earlier announced that the screening would hold between Monday, November 30, and Saturday, December 12, 2020.
It read, “The University wishes to inform all prospective candidates of the 2020/2021 Post-UTME Screening exercise earlier slated for Monday, November 30 to Saturday, December 12, 2020, that the screening has been postponed. Read more
Sylva, Sanwo-Olu upbeat about 8,400MT Techno Oil’s LPG Terminal (Thisday)
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva and the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, have said the newly-inaugurated 8,400 metric tonnes Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) terminal built by Techno Oil Limited in Lagos State will significantly contribute to deepening the domestic utilization of LPG in the country.
The multi-billion naira facility sited in Apapa, Lagos, which was described by the company as the largest and safest LPG terminal in West Africa, was recently inaugurated by the minister in company of the Lagos governor and other industry stakeholders. Read more
Lagos Senate race: APC’s Abiru files N1bn libel suit against PDP media director (Nation)
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the December 5 senatorial bye-election in Lagos East, Mr Tokunbo Abiru, has filed a N1billion libel suit against the media director of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Senatorial Campaign for the elections, Dr Adetokunbo Pearse.
Abiru, in a suit marked NO: ID/ADR/1608/2020, through his counsel, Mr Kemi Pinheiro SAN, told the Ikeja High Court in Lagos, that Pearson caused malicious falsehood to be published and circulated against him on social media and the website of a news platform. Read more
Court begins appeal hearing of singer sentenced to death for blasphemy (Guardian)
The hearing of an appeal against the death sentence passed on Sheriff Yahaya, 30, a popular entertainer by Kano Shari’a court has began.
The appeal filed by a Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Kola Alapini, against Kano state government and Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Kano State, is challenging the lower court judgement is before the Chief Judge of Kano state, Justice Nuraddeen Sagir Umar.
Similarly appeal filed by the appellant against one Umar Faruq, 17, who was also sentenced to 13 years jail term for the same charge would also be heard. Read more
Don’t be demoralised by #EndSARS protests, IGP tells police officers (Sun)
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, has urged police officers not to be demoralised by attacks suffered by many of them during the #EndSARS protests.
Adamu gave the advice in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Thursday while addressing a cross section of police officers at the state police command headquarters during a visit to the command.
The IGP, who paid a visit to Ondo State to assess the level of destruction done during the #EndSARS protests, said police were not given firearms to fight against citizens but rather to protect them. Read more
Research: TETFund releases N12bn to 12 varsities (Vanguard)
Twelve public universities have been given N12 billion by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), to undertake researches.
The amount which according to TETFund, would be shared equally among the universities, is to enable them to carry out research and development programmes that would contribute to national growth.
Among the universities picked included University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), University of Benin (UNIBEN), University of Ibadan (UI), University of Maiduguri (UNIMAD), Bayero University Kano (BUK) ,Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Akwa, University of Uyo (UNIUYO), Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, University of Jos (UNIJOS), University of Lagos (UNILAG), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) and Uthman Danfodio University, Sokoto. Read more
Nigeria retains position as the third most terrorised country in the world (Guardian)
Nigeria has retained its position as the third most impacted country in the world by terrorism, the 2020 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) says.
The report stated that the number of deaths attributed to Boko Haram in Nigeria increased by 25 percent from 2018 to 2019, making reference to the deadliest terrorist attack in 2019 when assailants attacked a funeral in Badu, Borno State.
GTI noted that due to the rise in the number of casualties from Boko Haram attacks in the north-east, Nigeria is second to record a fall in violent deaths after Afghanistan in 2019. Read more
Ethiopia declares assault on Tigray region capital (BBC)
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says he is launching the “final phase” of the army’s operation in Tigray with an attack on the regional capital, Mekelle.
He said the military would try not to harm civilians and urged people in the city to stay at home.
It comes after a deadline he gave for Tigray fighters to surrender passed on Wednesday.
The TPLF party, which controls Mekelle, has vowed to keep fighting.
Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed and thousands have been forced from their homes as Ethiopian forces have seized various towns in Tigray from the TPLF.
However, details of the fighting are hard to confirm because all phone, mobile and internet communications with the Tigray region have been cut. Read more
British Airways sells off first-class items amid UK lockdown (news.com.au)
British Airways is hoping to curb cravings for travel during the pandemic.
The London-based airline is selling luxury travel items from its planes, to help would-be passengers recreate their own first-class experience at home amid a strange time for the airline industry – and particularly for UK-bound flights, as the country undergoes its second lockdown during the pandemic.
The in-flight items are being sold off on BA flights. Read more
Larry King still in hospital after spending 87th birthday there last week (PageSix)
Sources tell Page Six that talk show legend Larry King is in the hospital — and even spent his 87th birthday there last week.
Said an insider: “Larry has been in the hospital with heart issues and other things.”
But that did not stop King from remembering his friend from the Friars Club, former New York Mayor David Dinkins, who died Monday at 93.
King said in a statement: “David was a fellow Friar for 30 years — he was always there for the Friars and good causes throughout New York, the city he loved even more than tennis. Read more
Turkey sentences hundreds to life in prison over 2016 failed coup (AlJazeera)
A Turkish court on Thursday jailed 337 former pilots and other suspects for life over plot to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a failed coup attempt four years ago, a court document obtained by AFP news agency showed.
The defendants are accused of carrying out the attempt to overthrow the government on July 15, 2016, from an airbase near the capital Ankara, the state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.
More than 250 people were killed in the attempt as rogue soldiers commandeered warplanes, helicopters and tanks in a bid to take control of key state institutions. Read more
Star-studded “Happiest Season” is an instant Christmas classic (news.com.au)
Christmas movies are a beloved institution, and if you fold in a rom-com, then it’s a double whammy of guilty pleasure.
Despite the special place Christmas rom-coms have in audiences’ hearts, it’s a genre laden with mediocrity, with dozens of new offerings every year entering the pantheon of the forgettable.
Each are indistinguishable from the next, hoping to skate by on a little charm, some quaint decorations and an attractive couple with so-so chemistry engaging in a trite meet-cute. Read more
Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster propose $2.2bn mega-merger (NYPost)
Penguin Random House has reached a $2.2 billion deal to acquire Simon & Schuster from ViacomCBS — a tie-up that would create a colossus distributing about a third of all books sold in the US.
The merger would create a publishing house of unrivaled size with more than $3 billion in revenue, uniting Penguin Random House — the biggest book publisher in the US, owned by Germany-based Bertelsmann — with Simon & Schuster, which is the nation’s third-largest.
As such, legal experts say the deal will likely attract scrutiny from the US Justice Department, which is set to review it. Read more
Drake defends The Weeknd, says Grammys ‘May no longer matter’ (Variety)
Drake has come to the defense of The Weeknd amid his Grammys snub, saying the awards show “may no longer matter.”
In a post to the rapper’s Instagram story on Wednesday, Drake sided with The Weeknd — who received zero nominations this year for his album “After Hours” — and suggested that there is a “disconnect” between the Grammys and the music making waves in the industry.
“I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards and just accept that what once was the highest form of recognition may no longer matter to the artists that exist now and the ones that come after,” Drake wrote. “It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just can’t change their ways.” Read more
Nigeria forward Ahmed Musa plays down Sheffield Wednesday links (BBC)
Nigeria captain Ahmed Musa has played down reports linking him with a move to English Championship club Sheffield Wednesday, insisting he wants a return to top-flight football instead.
The 28-year-old, who spent two seasons at Leicester City, is currently without a club having left Saudi side Al Nassr by mutual consent last month.
“I don’t know where the story [potential move to Sheffield] is coming from because I don’t pay attention to rumours and gossip,” Musa told BBC Sport Africa.
“With due respect to the club, I left Saudi Arabia to continue my career at the top level in Europe and that’s the ambition.” Read more
Sanusi scores as Marseille slump to record 13th straight UCL defeat (Punch)
Marseille broke an unwanted record for the most consecutive Champions League defeats on Wednesday, going down 2-0 at home to Porto to make it an unlucky 13 straight losses in the competition.
The French club, who won the inaugural edition of the Champions League in 1993, have now passed the previous record of 12 defeats in a row set by Belgian side Anderlecht between 2003 and 2005.
The Nigerian Zaidu Sanusi gave Porto the lead six minutes before half-time in a match played behind closed doors at the Velodrome. Read more
Mike Tyson returns to boxing at 54 on Saturday looking and sounding different (USAToday)
Mike Tyson was in the passenger seat of a black Cadillac Escalade one recent morning, making the 45-mile drive from his home in Southern California to Tyson Ranch, a cannabis company he founded a few years ago.
“I could always use a buck like everybody else can,’’ Tyson told USA TODAY Sports during a phone interview. “This is so much bigger than that.’’
What this is: Tyson, the erstwhile “Baddest Man On The Planet,” getting back into the boxing ring at the age of 54. Read more
Mikel Arteta explains Arsenal transfer links to Sander Berge (Metro)
Mikel Arteta believes Sander Berge being linked with a January move to Arsenal is a natural consequence of his links to one of his current assistants Albert Stuivenberg. Arsenal have made a mediocre start to the season, despite significant spending on new players during the summer. Thomas Partey arrived in a £45million move on deadline day, while Brazilian duo Gabriel Magalhaes and Willian represented the north London club’s other headline purchases. The Gunners are currently languishing in mid-table in the Premier League having won just four of their nine games so far, but are on the brink of sealing qualification to the knockout stages of the Europa League ahead of tonight’s match against Molde. Read more
Chaos as six Pakistan players test positive, break quarantine in New Zealand (news.com.au)
Pakistan’s preparation for their upcoming Twenty20 and test series against New Zealand has been thrown into turmoil with six players on Thursday testing positive for COVID-19.
In a statement, New Zealand Cricket confirmed the players had returned the positive tests while in isolation in Christchurch and will be moved into the quarantine arm of the facility — in line with Government protocol.
The breach has also seen the team’s special exemptions allowing them to train while serving their two week quarantine period have also been revoked. Read more
Argentina mourns as Maradona’s coffin reaches presidential palace (AlJazeera)
Diego Maradona’s coffin has arrived at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires for a period of lying in state, TV reports showed, following the death of the 60-year-old Argentine football legend on Wednesday.
Hundreds of people were already lining up to pay their respects to Maradona, who died while recovering from a brain operation, the images from sport channels TyC and ESPN showed on Thursday.
Argentinians were plunged into grief by the death of the country’s favourite son, a sublimely gifted sporting hero they saw as “the most human of gods”. Read more
Referee who missed ‘Hand of God’ pays tribute to ‘genius’ Diego Maradona (Metro)
Former referee Ali Nasser, who missed Diego Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final, has paid tribute to the ‘genius’ Argentine who died aged 60 on Wednesday. Maradona leapt with England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and punched the ball into the net with his left fist to give Argentina the lead shortly after half-time at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Just four minutes later, Maradona doubled his side’s advantage with arguably the greatest solo goal in World Cup history, running past a host of onrushing England defenders from inside his own half before rounding Shilton and slotting the ball home. Read more