Shelve protests, give me more time, Tinubu begs youths (DailyTrust)
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked those planning to protest against his administration’s policies to shelve their plan.
Addressing State House reporters after a meeting with the President on Tuesday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, declared that the President asked him to communicate to Nigerians, especially the youths, that he has listened to all their concerns, adding measures are already ongoing to address the challenges.
The Minister said, “We also discussed the issue of the country generally and Mr President has asked me to again inform Nigerians that he listens to them, especially the young people that are trying to protest. Read more
Nigerian man breaks Guinness World Record for longest twerking (Nation)
A Nigerian, Babajide Israel, has set a new Guinness World Record (GWR) for the longest duration of twerking.
Twerking is a style of dancing that involves bending low and moving the bottom and hips.
The GWR made the announcement on its website, adding that Adebanjo achieved the feat when he twerked for three hours and 30 seconds in Lagos. Read more
Senate passes N70,000 New Minimum Wage Bill (Leadership)
The Senate has passed a bill to amend the National Minimum Wage Act of 2019 to increase the National Minimum Wage from N30,000 to N70,000.
The bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday also includes a provision to decrease the interval for reviewing the National Minimum Wage from every five (5) years to every three (3) years, among other related matters.
The Executive bill forwarded to the Senate by President Bola Tinubu was first presented for the first reading, then scaled second reading and was read the third time and passed. Read more
Lagos Judiciary begins annual vacation, appoints judges for urgent matter (Channels)
The Lagos State judiciary has commenced its yearly annual long vacation from Monday, July 22, to Friday, September 13, 2024.
A public notice signed by the acting Registrar of the Lagos Judiciary, Magistrate Tajudeen Elias on behalf of the Chief Judge, Justice Kazeem Alogba announced the commencement of the vacation.
The public notice stated: “It is hereby stated for general information that the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Kazeem Alogba has, pursuant to Order 49 Rule 4 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure Rules, 2019, approved that Monday, the 22nd day of July, 2024 to Friday, the 13th day of September, 2024, both dates inclusive shall be the period filed for the long vacation. Read more
CBN raises interest rate to 26.75% amid soaring inflation (Channels)
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which measures interest rates by 50 basis points, from 26.25% to 26.75% amid soaring inflation and skyrocketing food prices.
CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, announced this after the apex bank’s 296th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.
The MPC adjusted the asymmetric corridor around the MPR from +100 to -300 to +500 to -100 basis points. Read more
Senate passes N70k new minimum wage bill (Leadership)
The Senate has passed a bill to amend the National Minimum Wage Act of 2019 to increase the National Minimum Wage from N30,000 to N70,000.
The bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday also includes a provision to decrease the interval for reviewing the National Minimum Wage from every five (5) years to every three (3) years, among other related matters.
The Executive bill forwarded to the Senate by President Bola Tinubu was first presented for the first reading, then scaled second reading and was read the third time and passed. Read more
Court remands Rivers monarch for allegedly threatening retired judge’s son (Independent)
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has remanded the paramount ruler of Risi Ohia-Emeriabali in Rebis Kingdom, His Royal Highness, Eze Cyprian Amadi-Worenwo for threatening the son of Justice Adulphus Enebeli (Retired).
Worenwu, was said to have threatened Mr. Sunday Gift Chinenem via a text message on March 28, 2023.
Our Correspondent learnt that the accused threatened to kill Gift Chinenem as well as the retired state high Court Justice, Adulphus Enebeli, who is currently the Chairman, Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC). Read more
Why we banned traders from sleeping in Abuja markets — Fire service (Tribune)
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Fire Service Department has banned traders from sleeping in FCT markets to curb incidents of fire outbreaks in the markets.
The acting Director of the department, Mr Adebayo Amiola made the announcement at a news conference in Abuja, recently.
According to Amiola, the ban was in line with implementation of emergency jurisdiction of the department’s mandate. Read more
Bridgerton season 4 lead revealed as Luke Thompson’s Benedict (People)
Bridgerton has found its new lead for its upcoming fourth season!
On Tuesday, July 23, Netflix announced that star Luke Thompson’s character, Benedict Bridgerton, will be the next Bridgerton family member to journey through love. The news was unveiled in an Instagram video, featuring some of Benedict’s onscreen moments throughout the series.
“welcome to the marriage mart mr. bridgerton,” the video’s caption read. “benedict’s story is coming next season.”
Toward the visual’s end, Thompson appears as himself onscreen and is given a suit. Though confused at first, he’s informed that he is being fitted for “the masquerade ball.” Read more
Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga dance through chaos in “Joker: Folie A Deux” trailer (Standard)
Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga sing and dance together in the latest trailer for Joker: Folie A Deux.
The film will see Phoenix reprise his Oscar-winning role as the titular deranged villain, The Joker, opposite Gaga as the queen of chaos, Harley Quinn.
In the new trailer, Phoenix can be seen singing For Once In My Life by Stevie Wonder while puffing on a cigarette in prison. Read more
Twisters rocks box office with powerful $80.5m opening weekend (Variety)
Twisters is taking the box office by storm.
The movie, a standalone sequel to the 1996 disaster epic Twister, has collected a massive $80.5 million from 4,151 North American theaters in its debut. Heading into the weekend, the follow-up film was projected to generate $50 million to $55 million. It’s the third biggest opening weekend of the year behind Inside Out 2 ($154 million) and Dune: Part Two ($82 million) and ahead of Godzilla x Kong ($80 million). Directed by Minari filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung, Twisters stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos as storm chasers who find themselves in the fight of their lives as multiple tornadoes converge over central Oklahoma.
BBC under fire for Huw Edwards £40k pay rise and huge salary despite not being on screen (Mirror)
BBC Director General Tim Davie was facing criticism after it emerged Huw Edwards had been given a £40,000 pay rise and left the BBC with a huge salary over the last year – despite not having been on screen since July last year.
The annual report reveals when Huw left in April this year he was on a yearly salary of £475,000 up from £435,000 the previous year. Edwards left the BBC after being named last year as the presenter at the centre of days of allegations and speculation regarding his private life. He had been off-air since July 2023.
Responding to questions about his pay rise and being paid whilst not on screen, Davie said: “There was no settlement payment[for Huw], we have said that before. Look, we’re always trying to be very judicious with the spending of public money and no one wants to waste a pound.
Blur and Beyoncé help UK music tourism climb to all-time high (FarOut)
A new study by UK Music has discovered that music tourism across the United Kingdom reached a new high in 2023 after growing by more than 20 per cent, thanks partly to Blur and Beyoncé.
The overall music tourist metric combines domestic and foreign tourists. While the latter means that somebody has travelled from overseas to attend an event in the United Kingdom, the definition of domestic tourist relates to if a person has travelled more than three times the standard commute for that area in order to go to a concert.
In 2023, the total number of music tourists attending live music events across the UK rose to 19.2 million, which is an increase of 33 per cent compared to the 2022 figure of 14.4 million. The complete number of foreign music tourists in 2023 was 1.014 million, which was a slight decline on 2022, but this was compensated by the increase in domestic music tourism. Read more
Musk says estranged child’s gender-affirming care sparked fight against “woke mind virus’’ (USAToday)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said his estranged transgender daughter was “killed” by the “woke mind virus” after he was tricked into agreeing to gender-affirming care procedures.
In an interview with psychologist and conservative commentator Dr. Jordan Peterson, the X owner called gender-reassignment surgery “child mutilation and sterilization.” He then discussed his 20-year-old child Vivian Jenna Wilson, who he said underwent the procedures during the pandemic.
“I was essentially tricked into signing documents for one of my older boys,” Musk told Peterson in a Daily Wire interview during which he referred to his child by their deadname. “This was really before I had any understanding of what was going on, and we had COVID going on, so there was a lot of confusion and I was told (Musk’s child) might commit suicide.” Read more
Sierra Leone court finds 11 involved in alleged coup guilty. Leader sentenced to almost 200 years (ABC)
A Sierra Leone court found 11 people guilty of treason and other offenses following what authorities have called an attempted coup, with their leader sentenced to almost 200 years in prison, a judiciary spokesman said Tuesday.
In November, dozens of gunmen broke into the country’s armory and into a prison where the majority of the more than 2,000 inmates were freed. The clashes left 18 security forces dead. Authorities at the time said they arrested around 80 suspects, and a dozen were charged in January, including former president Ernest Bai Koroma, later granted medical leave. Read more
Tobi Amusan named Nigeria’s flag-bearer for Paris Olympics open ceremony, Opeyori as team captain (Leadership)
Women’s 100m hurdle world record-holder, Tobi Amusan, has been named as Nigeria’s flag-bearer for the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics slated for the River Seine on Friday.
The Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Sport made the announcement on Tuesday morning.
In a statement released by Tony Nezianya, who serves as the press attaché to the Team Nigeria, also confirmed the appointment of Anuoluwapo Opeyori of the badminton team as general captain of Team Nigeria’s contingent for Paris Games. Read more
Trazbonspor, Southampton agree €7m deal for Onuachu (Sun)
Turkish Super Lig side, Trazbonspor, has reached an agreement with EPL side, Southampton, for the transfer of Super Eagles striker, Paul Onuachu, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 29-year-old spent the 2023/2024 season with Trabzonspor, scoring 17 goals in 24 games after joining on a season-long loan from Southampton who spent the campaign in the EFL Championships.
Trabzonspor’s President, Ertuğrul Doğan and coach Abdullah Avcı have been intentional in their attempt to keep the former Genk striker at the Şenol Güneş Papara Park, but The Saints were requesting nine million euros for the services of the 2.1m tall striker. Onuachu meanwhile has been involved in pre-season training with Southampton, scoring crackers. Read more
Wolves tracking South American starlet in bid to unearth hidden gem for Gary O’Neil (Express)
Wolverhampton Wanderers are keeping tabs on teenage winger Gabriel Aguayo after following his breakthrough season in South America. The West Midlands outfit have used their scouting network to snap up the likes of Pedro Neto and Max Kilman in recent years.
Gary O’Neil would naturally welcome another hidden gem as he looks to kick on from last season’s 14th-place Premier League finish. Aguayo is a youngster on Wolves’ radar and Express Sport understands that the club have explored what it would take to sign him permanently this summer.
Aguayo notched one goal and four assists in 18 first-team appearances for Paraguayan side Cerro Porteno last season, having broken into the senior side at the age of 19. Read more
England goalkeeper Keating set for trial on “hippy crack” charges (Sky)
England and Manchester City goalkeeper Khiara Keating has appeared in court accused of possession of cannisters of nitrous oxide.
Keating, 20, stood in the dock at Manchester Magistrates’ Court alongside her mother, Nicola Keating, 48, jointly charged with possession of the Class C drug, more widely known as laughing gas, in Manchester on June 18 last month.
Wearing a black trouser-suit and trainers, City keeper Keating, who received her first England call-up last October and was part of the squad for the recent Euro 2025 qualifiers, spoke only to confirm her name and address. Read more
Andy Murray confirms retirement after Olympics (RTHK)
Former world number one and three-time Grand Slam title winner Andy Murray confirmed on Tuesday that he would retire after the Paris Olympics.
“Arrived in Paris for my last ever tennis tournament @Olympics. Competing for Great Britain have been by far the most memorable weeks of my career and I’m extremely proud to get to do it one final time,” the 37-year-old wrote on social media.
Now ranked at 121, and playing with a metal hip since 2019, Murray suffered ankle damage this year and underwent surgery to remove a cyst from his spine which ruled him out of the singles tournament at Wimbledon. Read more
LeBron James uses game-winner to lead Team USA over South Sudan in close call (SI)
In preparation for the Paris Olympics, Team USA began the USA Basketball Showcase with a 101-100 victory against South Sudan. Entering the matchup, Team USA was considered a 43.5-point favorite but trailed by a 16-point margin at one point before rallying back to achieve a victory.
LeBron James totaled 23 points, six rebounds, and six assists in 23 minutes, including a game-winning drive and finish after Team USA was down by one point with under 20 seconds left to play. He was relied on as the closer and he stepped up repeatedly.
After Team USA made a strong start, taking an 8-0 lead, South Sudan rallied back and took control of the momentum, leading by as many as 16 points in the first half. With Joel Embiid on the court, South Sudan deployed a small lineup emphasizing spacing and speed, often creating advantages. On the other end, Team USA was stagnant offensively, trying to feature Embiid in the post. Read more