Policeman arrested as girlfriend dies in Lagos hotel (Punch)
A police sergeant, Anthony Kachukwu, has been arrested by men of the Lagos State Police Command after his girlfriend, Justina Omofuma, died in one of the rooms of the Exclusive Mansion Hotel in the Surulere area of the state.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Anthony took Justina to the hotel, where they both passed the night, but the lady was said to have lost consciousness and fell to the ground while sitting on a chair.
In the process of falling, it was learnt that Justina hit her forehead on the ground and died due to the impact of the injuries she sustained.
A source, who spoke with PUNCH Metro, said Anthony was discussing with Justina when he stepped into the toilet but on his return, he saw Justina lying on the floor of the room. Read more
I am the chosen one, Eletu of Iruland says (Guardian)
The controversy trailing the kingship stool of Iruland following the emergence of Oba Gbolahan Lawal as the new Oniru has yet to subside as the Eletu of Iruland, Chief Mathew Akinwunmi, has said he was the one chosen by the oracle to succeed the late Oba Idowu Oniru.
Speaking to newsmen on Wednesday, Akinwunmi who was installed the Eletu of the kingdom by Oba Oniru in 2003 as a member of the Omowunmi Abisogun royal family, said: “The oracle was consulted and it announced me as the choice candidate. This happened at the house of Chief Biliaminu Sanni. The kingmakers agreed to consult another oracle to confirm the authenticity of the choice. On the third day, Chief Ogunbambi, the Olisa of Iruland, called back and said he gave the names to three different oracle centres and that it was me they all chose as the candidate to fill the stool.” Read more
Lagos waives permit fees for outdoor advertising practitioners (Punch)
The Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency has announced various palliatives to cushion the adverse impact of the COVID-19 on the operations of outdoor advertising practitioners in the state.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, LASAA, Adedamola Docemo, disclosed this at a press conference in Lagos, according to a statement issued by the agency on Thursday.
He said the agency had decided to waive the permit fees for outdoor practitioners spanning three months from April to June 2020, following the approval of the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Read more
13 die in Kwara auto crash (Guardian)
No fewer than 13 persons died in two separate accidents yesterday on the Oloru-Bode Saadu road, on the outskirts of Ilorin, Kwara State.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander in Kwara, Jonathan Owoade, confirmed this to newsmen at the scene of the crashes in Bode Saadu. He said the accidents occurred as a result of the driver’s loss of concentration, speeding, and tyre burst.
“Two road crashes occurred this morning at the Jebba-Oloru axis, one was due to speeding and boredom. The driver rammed his bus into a stationary truck about 4:00 a.m. at Aiyekale community while the second was as a result of tyre burst,” he said. Read more
UNILAG leadership crisis: Justice will be served – FG (Tribune)
The federal government has received the report of the Special Presidential Visitation panel set up to probe the leadership crisis rocking the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
Chairman of the Visitation Panel, Professor Tukur Sa’ad, presented the report to the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, on Thursday in Abuja.
Adamu while receiving the report on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari who is the Visitor to the UNILAG, assured members of the panel that justice would be served accordingly and that the report would be thoroughly scrutinised. Read more
FG orders all bank, other account holders to re-register (Punch)
The Federal Government has ordered all account holders in the country’s financial institutions to register their details again.
The order was given despite the possession of the Bank Verification Number and the National Identification Number by account holders.
This new order was disclosed by the government on its Twitter account, @NigeriaGov, on Thursday.
It said, “This is to notify the general public that all account holders in financial institutions (banks, insurance companies, etc) are required to obtain, complete and submit self-certification forms to their respective financial institutions. Read more
We are well prepared for Edo, Ondo elections, says INEC (Guardian)
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said it had made adequate preparations for the Edo State governorship election scheduled for tomorrow.
The commission, which met yesterday to further review preparations for the Edo and Ondo states elections as well as all outstanding bye-elections, said all sensitive materials for the Edo poll had left the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Benin City for the various Local Government Areas in the state.
“Agents of the political parties involved in the election as well as those of the accredited observer groups observed the distribution of the sensitive materials,” the commission said in a statement. Read more
Edo 2020: INEC commences distribution of sensitive materials to LGs (Thisday)
Ahead of the Edo State governorship election scheduled for Saturday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Thursday, began the distribution of sensitive materials to the 18 local government areas of the state.
Addressing journalists at the premises of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Benin, venue of the distribution exercise, the Head of Voter Education and Publicity of INEC in the state, Timidi Wariowei, said that the distribution commenced with the farthest local government areas.
He said: “So far, we have loaded about vehicles for 11 local government starting from Akoko-Edo, Etsako Central, Owan East and Owan West, among others. Read more
Canada Tesla driver charged over ‘napping while speeding’ (BBC)
A Canadian man has been charged with dangerous driving for allegedly taking a nap while his self-driving Tesla car clocked up more than 90mph (150km/h).
Police said both front seats were fully reclined, and the driver and passenger were apparently asleep when they were alerted to the incident in Alberta.
The Tesla Model S was doing 140km/h but sped up to 150km/h when a police officer turned on his emergency lights.
The 20-year-old driver from British Columbia is due in court in December.
He had initially been charged with speeding and handed a 24-hour licence suspension for fatigue, but was subsequently charged with dangerous driving. Read more
European Parliament votes to reject Belarus election, paving way for possible sanctions (CBC)
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko should no longer be recognized as president after November, when his term expires, the European Parliament said on Thursday, calling for European Union economic sanctions to be imposed on him.
In an overwhelming show of support for pro-democracy protesters in Belarus, the EU assembly voted 574 to 37, with 82 abstentions, to reject the official results of an Aug. 9 presidential election that the West says was rigged. Read more
Oracle, ByteDance agree to new US Treasury terms on TikTok (Aljazeera)
The Treasury Department, TikTok owner Bytedance Ltd. and Oracle Corp. have tentatively agreed to terms for Oracle’s bid for the U.S. operations of the social-media service, according to people familiar with the matter.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sent Bytedance a revised terms sheet late Wednesday and the company and Oracle accepted it, the people said. They described the changes as addressing national security concerns about the transaction and asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Bytedance is trying to win U.S. approval for a transaction with Oracle that would leave the Chinese-headquartered parent company with majority ownership of TikTok. Read more
Global coronavirus infections top 30 million (BBC)
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases across the globe has surpassed 30 million, according to figures by America’s Johns Hopkins University.
More than 940,000 have died with Covid-19 since the outbreak began in China late last year.
The worst hit nations are the US, India and Brazil, but there is a renewed spike in infections across Europe.
Many northern hemisphere countries are now bracing for a second wave of the pandemic as winter approaches.
In the UK, the government is considering taking further England-wide measures including a short period of restrictions to try to slow a second surge of infections.
Outside Europe, Israel brings in a second nationwide lockdown later on Friday – the first developed nation to do so. Read more
Christina Aguilera still doesn’t find her kiss with Britney Spears and Madonna ‘shocking’ (Metro)
Christina Aguilera just doesn’t get the hype around her famous kiss with Madonna and Britney Spears at the MTV VMAs.
The pop icons surprised the audience during the Video Music Awards in 2003 by stopping to kiss each other while performing Madonna’s hit songs Like A Virgin and Hollywood.
Remember the scenes: Britney and Christina wore matching virginal white outfits while Madonna stood in the middle wearing all-black.
The queen of pop then turned to kiss Britney before giving Christina a smooch creating an iconic pop culture moment.
However for Xtina, it was just another day at the job. Read more
US hopes to name Qatar as major non-NATO ally: Official (Aljazeera)
The United States hopes to move ahead with plans to name Qatar as a major, non-NATO ally, a status that provides foreign nations with benefits in defence trade and security cooperation with Washington, a senior US official said on Thursday.
“We’re going to move ahead, we hope, with designating Qatar a major non-NATO ally,” Timothy Lenderking, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for Gulf affairs, told reporters during a conference call.
US and Qatari officials, including US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Qatar Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, met in Washington, DC earlier this week. Read more
“Stranger Things”’ Dacre Montgomery joins cast of Elvis Presley biopic alongside Austin Butler (Metro)
Dacre Montgomery is one of the latest stars to be announced for the cast of the upcoming Elvis Presley biopic, led by Austin Butler in the lead role.
The Stranger Things star, 25, will take on the role of Steve Binder, the producer and director of Elvis Presley’s ’68 Comeback Special in the upcoming film directed by Baz Luhrmann.
Dacre is best known for his role as Billy Hargrove in Stranger Things, who grew up with an abusive father and a mother who walked out on the family when he was around 10 years old. Read more
Israel Adesanya brands Paulo Henrique Costa UFC’s dirtiest fighter (Metro)
Israel Adesanya has slammed his upcoming opponent Paulo Henrique Costa, accusing his middleweight rival of doping.
The UFC middleweight champion defends his title against Costa at the end of the month at UFC 253 and has vowed to finish the Brazilian in emphatic fashion.
Costa recently admitted he hasn’t been tested by USADA while in Brazil and Adesanya was asked on an episode of Hot Ones who he felt was the dirtiest fighter in MMA. Read more
Mourinho ‘believes’ in match-winner Ndombele after Spurs comeback in Bulgaria (BBC)
Tanguy Ndombele is Tottenham’s record signing after joining for £54m last summer
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho says that “in this moment” he “believes” in record signing Tanguy Ndombele after he bundled in a late winner against nine-man Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Europa League.
Spurs survived a scare to reach the third qualifying round but were forced to come from behind in Bulgaria.
Georgi Minchev headed Plovdiv ahead on 72 minutes before the home side had two players sent off with 10 minutes left.
Harry Kane levelled from the penalty spot and substitute Ndombele sent Spurs through with the winner in the 85th minute. Read more
Lynx survive tough battle with Diana Taurasi’s Mercury to reach semifinals (CBC)
Rookie of the year Crystal Dangerfield scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half and Minnesota beat Phoenix 80-79 on Thursday night to advance to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs.
Damiris Dantas led Minnesota with 22 points although she missed a pair of free throws with 6.1 seconds left giving Phoenix the chance to pull off another last-second post-season victory. With no timeouts left, the Mercury got the ball up the court bur Skylar Diggins-Smith’s shot was off the mark at the buzzer. Read more
Premier League agrees new broadcast deal in China with Tencent (Guardian)
The Premier League announced on Thursday that it had agreed a new broadcast deal in China for the rest of the season with Tencent Sports following the termination of its previous agreement.
Viewers will have access to all the remaining 372 matches of England’s top-flight football league via Tencent’s digital platforms from Saturday.
More than half of all matches will be available for free to fans in China, with the remaining fixtures available on Tencent Sports’ membership service. Read more
US Open 2020: Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood in contention after day one at Winged Foot (BBC)
Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood sit two strokes off the lead at the US Open after American Justin Thomas set the early pace at Winged Foot on Thursday.
Northern Ireland’s McIlroy opened with a solid three-under-par 67 in New York, which was matched by English former world number one Lee Westwood.
Thomas birdied the 18th to go one clear of compatriot Patrick Reed at five under par after carding an opening 65.
Reed had a hole-in-one at the par-three seventh, as did Will Zalatoris in a 70.
Zalatoris almost holed his second ace of the round at the par-three 13th but his ball hit the flagstick and rolled a couple of feet away. Read more
Chelsea close in on £20m Edouard Mendy transfer as agent confirms deal is agreed (Metro)
Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Rennes goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, according to the player’s agent.
Frank Lampard has been keen for Chelsea to sign a new goalkeeper to challenge Kepa Azpilicueta following the Spaniard’s poor form last season. Chelsea have held extensive talks with Rennes over a deal for Mendy, with the French club requesting Olivier Giroud and Fikayo Tomori as part of the deal.
But according to Mendy’s representative, Djily Dieng, a €22 million (£20.1m) deal has now been agreed between the two clubs. Read more
French Open 2020: US Open champion Naomi Osaka pulls out with injury (BBC)
US Open champion Naomi Osaka has pulled out of the French Open, which is scheduled to start on 27 September.
Last weekend, the Japanese player won her second US Open, and third grand slam title, with a 1-6 6-3 6-3 victory over Victoria Azarenka in New York.
She said in a statement: “I won’t be able to play at the French Open.
“My hamstring is still sore so I won’t have enough time to prepare for the clay. These two tournaments came too close to each other for me.” Read more