Sanwo-Olu flays warning strike by doctors, urges end (Guardian)
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, yesterday, described as unfair and opportunistic the decision by doctors in the state to go on strike. He urged them to call off their ongoing three-day warning strike, especially as their two months COVID-19 allowance arrears had been paid and other concerns being addressed.
Sanwo-Olu spoke at the commissioning of a 36-chamber morgue at Infections Disease Centre, Yaba, stating that the crisis was due to communication breakdown and that he had expected that the strike would not go on, as he had engaged the medical body and promised to attend to all the issues. Read more
Lagos to implement more tax incentives, reliefs to taxpayers (Nation)
In furtherance of the commitment to mitigate the negative effect of COVID-19 pandemic on individuals and businesses, the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has commenced the implementation of more reliefs and measures to further ease the impact of the pandemic on taxpayers in Lagos State starting from July 16.
These additional measures and incentives are sequel to the agency’s initial threemonth extension of the deadline for filing of annual returns (from March 31 to June 30, 2020). Read more
Missing Lagos nurse found in Osun hotel (Punch)
A nurse, Ayomide Alao, who went missing in the Bariga area of Lagos State, has been found allegedly relaxing in a hotel in the Ipetumodu-Okoku area of Osun State.
While in the hotel, it was learnt that Ayomide allegedly refused to respond to calls and messages requesting to know her whereabouts.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the 28-year-old left the house for her workplace in Lagos on June 14, but did not return home, as calls to her phone rang out.
Worried by the development, it was learnt that the family conducted a search for her, which was futile. Read more
Arotile, Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot, dies at 23 (ThisDay)
Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, the first-ever female combat helicopter pilot in Nigeria, is dead. She was barely 23 years of age.
Arotile died as a result of head injuries sustained from a road traffic accident at Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Base Kaduna.
Her death came barely a year after she was winged as a combat helicopter pilot in the Air Force following the completion of her course in South Africa. Read more
My Supreme Court victory, God’s intervention – Diri (DailyTrust)
Bayelsa State governor, Senator Duoye Diri, has described his victory at the Supreme Court as God’s divine intervention in the affairs of the state.
The apex court had yesterday dismissed the appeal filed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Bayelsa State, Timi Alaibe, challenging the primary that produced Governor Diri.
Diri, who spoke through his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ehwrudjakpo, at a thanksgiving service shortly after the judgement at the King of Glory Chapel in the government house, also called on all Bayelsans, including the opposition, to join hands with him in building the state. Read more
54-year-old pastor defiles 10-year-old in Ogun (ThisDay)
A 59-year-old pastor of Light Christian Church in the Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State, Oketokun Abiodun, has been arrested by men of the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly defiling a 10-year-old girl.
The pastor reportedly lured the victim to his room and had unlawful carnal knowledge of her.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement, said the suspect was arrested on Saturday.
He said, “The pastor was arrested following a report by the father of the victim, who reported at the Odeda Police Station. Read more
Ohanaeze, IPOB settle rift, Nwodo dismisses Kanu’s threat (Punch)
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, led by Chief Nnia Nwodo, and the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra have reconciled.
A First Republic Aviation Minister, Chief Mbazuluike Amaechi, said he brokered the peace deal between the two groups on Tuesday at his Ukpor country home in the Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Addressing journalists, the nonagenarian described the altercation between the two groups as unnecessary. Read more
Local airlines risk collapse as load factor declines (Guardian)
Exactly a week after commercial airlines resumed flight services on Lagos-Abuja route, local airlines are struggling to sustain operations and meet cost as load factor hovers around 40 per cent.
The day-one optimism of about 70 per cent traffic across some of the local carriers has waned. Some of the operators complained about traveller apathy, attendant low patronage and imminent collapse without government support.
To cover cost of operation and improve traffic flow, local airlines have urged the Federal Government to fast-track the release of bailout funds and reopen international routes. Read more
Sudanese women welcome freedom to travel abroad with children (VOA)
Sudan’s transitional government amended a law last week to allow women to travel abroad with their children without the father’s permission — a move welcomed by women’s rights groups.
Thirty-year-old divorced mother Manya Hamid recalls how her ex-husband continued to torment her using Sudan’s laws even after their marriage ended.
In 2015, she wanted to take her one-year-old daughter to meet her grandfather, who was living in the United States, and dying of cancer. But under Sudan’s Muslim Personal Law Act of 1991, only the father could decide if his child was allowed to travel abroad, even if he was a former husband. Read more
Coronavirus chaos: Inside South Africa’s ‘hospitals of horrors’ (BBC)
An exclusive, weeks-long BBC investigation inside filthy hospitals in South Africa has exposed an extraordinary array of systemic failures showing how exhausted doctors and nurses are overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients and a health service near collapse.
With key staff on strike or sick with coronavirus in the Eastern Cape province, nurses are forced to act as cleaners, surgeons are washing their own hospital laundry and there are alarming reports of unborn babies dying in over-crowded and understaffed maternity wards.
As doctors, unions and management fight over scarce resources, one senior doctor described the situation as “an epic failure of a deeply corrupt system”, while another spoke of “institutional burn-out… a sense of chronic exploitation, the department of health essentially bankrupt, and a system on its knees with no strategic management”. Read more
Ghislaine Maxwell denied bail after pleading not guilty to sex trafficking for Epstein (France24)
A US judge on Tuesday denied bail for Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime associate charged with luring young girls so the late financier could sexually abuse them, after she pleaded not guilty at a hearing in which women who accused her of enabling their abuse decried her “heinous” actions.
US District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan, rejecting Maxwell’s bid for bail after prosecutors portrayed the wealthy socialite as an extreme flight risk, set a trial date for July 12, 2021. Prosecutors have accused Maxwell of helping Epstein recruit and eventually abuse girls as young as 14 from 1994 to 1997 and lying about her role in depositions in 2016. Read more
US COVID-19 vaccine poised for final testing (VOA)
The first COVID-19 vaccine tested in the U.S. revved up people’s immune systems just the way scientists had hoped, researchers reported Tuesday – as the shots are poised to begin key final testing.
“No matter how you slice this, this is good news,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, told The Associated Press.
The experimental vaccine, developed by Fauci’s colleagues at the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., will start its most important step around July 27: A 30,000-person study to prove if the shots really are strong enough to protect against the coronavirus. Read more
Fertility rate: ‘Jaw-dropping’ global crash in children being born (BBC)
The world is ill-prepared for the global crash in children being born which is set to have a “jaw-dropping” impact on societies, say researchers.
Falling fertility rates mean nearly every country could have shrinking populations by the end of the century.
And 23 nations – including Spain and Japan – are expected to see their populations halve by 2100.
Counties will also age dramatically, with as many people turning 80 as there are being born.
What is going on? Read more
World population will reach 8.8b in 2100, 2b below UN projections (France24)
Earth will be home to 8.8 billion souls in 2100, two billion fewer than current UN projections, according to a major study published Wednesday that foresees new global power alignments shaped by declining fertility rates and greying populations.
By century’s end, 183 of 195 countries — barring an influx of immigrants — will have fallen below the replacement threshold needed to maintain population levels, an international team of researchers reported in The Lancet.
More than 20 countries — including Japan, Spain, Italy, Thailand, Portugal, South Korea and Poland — will see their numbers diminish by at least half. Read more
Trump administration rescinds rule on foreign students (VOA)
Facing eight federal lawsuits and opposition from hundreds of universities, the Trump administration on Tuesday rescinded a rule that would have required international students to transfer or leave the country if their schools held classes entirely online because of the pandemic.
The decision was announced at the start of a hearing in a federal lawsuit in Boston brought by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said federal immigration authorities agreed to pull the July 6 directive and “return to the status quo.” Read more
Osimhen for Napoli medicals (Nation)
Barring any last minute volte-face, Nigeria international striker Victor Osimhen may undergo medicals at Italian Serie A club Napoli on Thursday as one of his conditions to seal his transfer from French Ligue 1 side, Lille.
There have been so much hullaballoos in the last few weeks over the destination of the 21-year-old striker but quoting credible sources privy to the on-going negotiations, Italian prestige website Italia Football , claimed the deal is almost done and dusted with words rife that the player might undergo medical tests tomorrow.
“Victor Osimhen will sign for Napoli over the next 48 hours as the problem was always with his agent, who is now threatening to sue the Lille striker,” sources told Football Italia. Read more
Lampard ‘wants more’ as Chelsea boost top-four bid (BBC)
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says he “wants more” from his team but it “can wait” as their pursuit to secure a Champions League spot was given a boost by a narrow victory over relegated Norwich.
Striker Olivier Giroud guided a header past Tim Krul on the stroke of half-time after Christian Pulisic created space for the cross on the right.
The Chelsea pair almost combined again in the second half but Pulisic could not guide Giroud’s chipped ball past Krul. Read more
Manchester City aren’t the only big spenders – Guardiola (Independent)
If there is one thing that still riles Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, it is the suggestion that his English Premier League (EPL) success is down to money.
Manchester City were cleared on Monday of breaking UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The court overturned the club’s two-year European ban.
But the club’s manager was in a fiery mood as he railed against the idea that cash was behind the club’s two Premier League titles. Read more
Nigeria table tennis great Oshonaike: ‘I was physically and sexually abused’ (BBC)
Funke Oshonaike, 45, first started playing table tennis at the age of 14
WARNING: This article contains details some may find distressing.
“Every time I hear the news of rape, it takes me back to my past. I was physically and sexually abused. It is my true story.”
Nigeria is a country taking a serious look at sexual assault and the way women are treated. And, amongst those who are talking for the first time about what they have been through is six-time Olympic table tennis player Funke Oshonaike. Read more
Nigerian football coaches are denied respect, job security – Biffo DailyTrust)
The Technical Adviser of Kwara United football club, Abdullahi Biffo has said there is no job security for indigenous coaches as he maintained that they can be sacked anytime by their employers.
Biffo who was the Guest of the virtual interview of FCT Football Update said due to lack of respect for coaches, there is no regards for contracts as he reiterated that they are usually sacked without prior notice.
The former Kogi United, Niger Tornadoes and Abia Warriors gaffer said “Many clubs sign coaches but they don’t respect the terms of the contract. Read more
Glasgow City sign South Africa captain Van Wyk (BBC)
Glasgow City have hailed their latest addition, South Africa captain Janine van Wyk, as one of the “biggest ever signings in Scottish women’s football”.
The centre-back, South Africa’s record cap holder with 170 appearances, skippered her country at their debut Women’s World Cup finals last year.
Injury forced the 33-year-old to leave Danes Fortuna Hjorring in January. Read more