Tinubu declares state of emergency on food security (DailyTrust)
President Bola Tinubu has declared a state of emergency on food security in the country.
Dele Alake, Presidential spokesman, made this known on Thursday while briefing State House correspondents.
The President directed that all matters pertaining to food and water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council (NSC). Read more
Police bust 7-man gang that killed 6 in Apostle Suleiman’s convoy (Vanguard)
The Police at Force Headquarters, Abuja, yesterday, disclosed that its operatives of FIB and IRT (Intelligence Response Team) have busted the criminal gang that attacked the convoy of Apostle Johnson Suleiman, the founder of Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, and, in the process, killed two members of the gang and arrested another.
Recall that during the fatal attack on Suleiman’s convoy, on October 21, 2022, along the Benin-Auchi road, six persons, including three police personnel, were killed, while their service rifles were stolen. Read more
We’ve charged Emefiele to court — DSS (Tribune)
The Department of State Services (DSS) on Thursday said that the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has been charged to court in compliance with the order of the court.
This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by the spokesperson, Dr Peter Afunnaya.
The statement reads: “Sequel to an Abuja High Court Order of today, 13th July 2023, the Department of State Services (DSS) hereby confirms that Mr Godwin Emefiele has been charged to court in compliance with the order. Read more
Sit-at-home handiwork of criminals, says Peter Obi (Nation)
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi has described the insecurity in South East region as ‘criminal activity’.
According to him, the sit-at-home directives in the south-east remain the handiwork of a criminal enterprise.
In a statement posted on his official Twitter page on Thursday, Obi said the sit-at-home orders have been denied by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Read more
LASG partners firm to train 117 filmmakers (Punch)
The Lagos State Government, in partnership with EbonyLife Media, has trained 177 filmmakers through the Lagos Creative Industry Initiative.
The trainees, who are the ninth set, and the second intake in 2023, were certified at the graduation ceremony, which took place recently at Ebony Life Place, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The trainees premiered four short films as part of their project work, having graduated from the three-month intensive training. Read more
UACC holds Supreme Executive Meeting, National Youth Conference in Lagos (Independent)
The United Apostolic Church of Christ (UACC) has said that it is set to hold its annual Supreme Executive Council meeting and the National Youth Conference.
Pastor Paul l. Erakhifu, Media Director, UACC disclosed in a statement made available to news men.
The two events, according to the Church, are slated to take place from July 25 to July 30, 2023 respectively, at the UACC General Headquarters located at 5, Tesi Street, off Olowojeujeje Street, Ajegunle, Apapa, Lagos. Read more
Bears dominate as investors lose N1.58t in 2 days (Leadership)
Bears took grasp of the capital market on Wednesday and Thursday, propelling investors to a cumulative loss of N1.58 trillion within two days.
On Wednesday, the domestic equities market succumbed to sell pressure as the overall market capitalisation shed N882 billion, ending its five-day winning streak.
Similarly, yesterday, the bears continued to dominate the local equities market yesterday as the overall capitalization succumbed to a second successive loss with a decline of N707 billion. Read more
EFCC arrests 13 Chinese over illegal mining in Kwara (Guardian)
Officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested 13 Chinese nationals over offences bordering on illegal mining activities in Ilorin, Kwara State. The offence is contrary to, and punishable under Section 1(8) (b) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap M17, 1983.
A female and 12 male Chinese were arrested on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, at Government Reserved Area (G.R.A.), Ilorin, following credible intelligence about their activities, including illegal mining and non-payment of royalties to the Federal Government as required by law.
The suspects are identified as Guo Ya Wang (36), Lizli Hui (42), Guo Jian Rong (36), Lizh Shen Xianian (37), Lishow Wu (26), Guo Pan (38), Lia Meiyu (53), Guo Kai Quan (36) and Lin Pan (50). Read more
Whoopi Goldberg adds clause to will to ensure she won’t be turned into a hologram after death (EW)
Whoopi Goldberg really wants you to know that she does not want to live on in this life as a hologram.
During a discussion about Aretha Franklin’s newly discovered couch-dwelling will papers, the Oscar-winning Ghost actress, Diablo IV video game fanatic, and The View moderator revealed that her own will prevents anyone from making a digital hologram of her likeness after she dies.
“Yeah, no, I don’t want to be a hologram, but that’s been in my will for 15 years,” the 67-year-old cohost said on Wednesday’s episode of the talk show, referring to a celebrity hologram modeled after Whitney Houston. Read more
ICC investigating Darfur violence amid continuing Sudan conflict (Al-Jazeera)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has launched an investigation into a surge of hostilities in Sudan’s Darfur region since mid-April, including reported killings, rapes, arson, displacement and crimes affecting children.
The regular army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been battling in the capital, Khartoum, and other areas of Sudan in a power struggle that exploded in on April 15.
More than 3 million people have been uprooted, including more than 700,000 who have fled into neighbouring countries. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week that Sudan, Africa’s third largest country by land area, was on the brink of full-scale civil war that could destabilise the wider region. Read more
Oppenheimer cast walk out of UK premiere due to strike action (FilmNews)
The cast of Oppenheimer has walked out of the film’s UK premiere in “solidarity” with the actors’ strike.
Hollywood stars including Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh and Rami Malek attended the red carpet event at the Odeon in Leicester Square in London to promote the eagerly-awaited war drama.
The group then left the premiere prematurely due to the strike action called on Thursday. Read more
Troye Sivan announces 1st new album in 5 years with “Something to Give Each Other” as he drops disco anthem “Rush” (People)
Troye Sivan announced he will be releasing his first album since 2018.
The project, “Something to Give Each Other,” which is described in a press release as “a celebration of sex, dance, sweat, community, queerness, love and friendship,” is due Oct. 13 via Capitol Records.
Along with the news of the LP, the Australia-born actor and singer shared the album’s lead single “Rush,” a high-energy, disco anthem. Read more
Ryuichi Sakamoto to be honoured at Jecheon International Music & Film Festival (FarOut)
Japanese composer and Yellow Magic Orchestra founder Ryuichi Sakamoto will be posthumously honoured at the 19th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival this summer. Sakamoto died from cancer in March aged 71.
For his contributions to film music and music supervision, Sakamoto has been announced as the recipient of the Jecheon Film Music Award. Sakamoto has also previously won an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Grammy, and two Golden Globes for his work in this area.
Sakamoto’s Academy Award came for his work on Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 epic The Last Emperor, for which he received ‘Best Original Score’. Sakamoto also worked on the music for The Sheltering Sky, The Revenant, and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai. Read more
Billie Eilish looks completely different with retro look for video of new Barbie ballad (Mirror)
Barbie fever is spreading the world with the eager anticipation for the upcoming new movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
And one person who has transformed their look is songstress Billie Eilish. The 21-year-old singer has showcased a blonde retro look for the music video of her emotional ballad for the movie.
The tune, which features on the Barbie movie soundtrack, is titled What Was I Made For. In the video for the sure-to-be hit, Billie wears a yellow 1950s-style dress and shows off a brand new high-ponytail blonde hairstyle for the self-directed video. Read more
Critical moment for Thai democracy as parliament fails to elect new prime minister (CNN)
The sole nominee to be the next prime minister of Thailand failed to secure enough parliamentary votes to form a government Thursday, a setback for the future of democracy in the country following nearly a decade of turbulent military-backed rule.
The vote was seen as a critical moment for Thailand, in which members of the bicameral National Assembly declared their pick for prime minister, and was expected to reveal whether the ruling establishment would accept the choice of the people who overwhelmingly voted for progressive, opposition parties in a May election.
In a shock election result, newcomer party Move Forward won the most seats and the largest share of the popular vote, capitalizing on years of rising anger over the kingdom’s governance. Read more
Eagles handed easy 2026 World Cup qualifying draw (Punch)
The Super Eagles have been handed a rather easy draw for the 2026 World Cup African qualifiers, The PUNCH reports.
The draw ceremony for the 2026 World Cup African qualifiers was conducted on Thursday in Abidjan, Ivory Coast after the Confederation of African Football’s Ordinary General Assembly.
As reported by The PUNCH on Thursday, the three-time African champions could face South Africa, the Eagles were drawn in Group C alongside South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, Benin Republic, led by former Eagles coach Gernot Rohr, Rwanda, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Read more
Ons Jabeur ready to make it 3rd time lucky after reaching Wimbledon final (StraitsTimes)
Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur believes the lessons she learned in two Grand Slam final defeats will stand her in good stead for Saturday’s Wimbledon showdown with unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova.
Jabeur showed incredible endurance on Thursday to absorb the brutal power of second seed Aryna Sabalenka to claim a 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3 victory after trailing by a set and 4-2.
She is now back in a position she found herself in at last year’s Wimbledon and the US Open, requiring one win to become the first African woman as well as first Arab to win a major. Read more
Super Falcons’ Plumptre leaves Leicester women (Guardian)
Leicester City Women, yesterday, confirmed that Super Falcons’ star, Ashleigh Plumptre, has left the club following the expiration of her contract at King Power Stadium. The 25-year-old, who made 23 appearances in all competitions for Leicester City in 2022/23, joined the club in 2020 from the University of Southern California’s USC Trojans following the completion of her Human Biology degree.
She was part of the team, who lifted the Barclays Women’s Championship title in 2021 and subsequently played a key role in the club’s two maiden seasons in the women’s top flight.
The defender leaves Belvoir Drive having made 79 appearances in Leicester City blue. Read more
European Super League: Juventus begin process to pull out of breakaway project (BBC)
Juventus have begun the process of pulling out of the European Super League project.
Although the initial idea collapsed in 2021, Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid had stuck to the general principles of a breakaway league.
But last month Juve demanded talks with the Spanish clubs and have now begun discussing their exit from the plan.
The Turin club said their exit would be completed and effective only if authorised by Barca and Real. Read more
Norway seeking revenge at FIFA World Cup (RNZ)
Norway striker Ada Hegerberg said her side are ready for revenge at the upcoming World Cup after a disappointing showing in last year’s European Championships contributed to an embarrassing early exit at the group stage.
Despite boasting such attacking talent as Hegerberg, Barcelona’s Caroline Graham Hansen and Chelsea winger Guro Reiten, Norway’s only goals came in a 4-1 win over Northern Ireland before they were thrashed 8-0 by England and 1-0 by Austria to crash out.
With new coach Hege Riise at the helm, Hegerberg expects her side to be much tighter in defence and more clinical in front of goal when they take on co-hosts New Zealand in the tournament-opener at Eden Park on Thursday. Read more
PGA Tour, LIV backers drop no-poaching clause from deal (France24)
The PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund have dropped a provision from their framework agreement that barred LIV Golf and the Tour from recruiting each other’s players, the PGA Tour confirmed Thursday.
The move comes after the US Department of Justice raised concerns it could violate antitrust law.
“Based on discussions with staff at the Department of Justice, we chose to remove specific language from the Framework Agreement,” the PGA Tour said in a statement. Read more