₦airaland Forum

Senate insists NDE presides over programme, gets 2021-3 MTEF/FSP.

The talks, between President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly leadership to resolve the contentious engagement of 774,000 young Nigerians nationwide under the current administration’s Special Public Works (SPW), has collapsed.

Accordingly, the Senate has maintained its grounds that the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, lacked the constitutional powers to preside over the programme, which N52 billion had been approved for, and the beneficiaries were to be paid N20,000 each monthly to carry out public works.

The minister had announced that he had received the presidential nod to commence the recruitment.

Following the pronouncement, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, and the House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, visited President Buhari to discuss the matter, and arrive at a common position.

But rising from a closed-door session that lasted over an hour yesterday, the Senate adopted a motion, insisting that only the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) had powers to superintend over the project.

It was learnt that the anger of the upper legislative chamber followed the failure of the President to remove Keyamo or take the programme from his control.

The senators, who had earlier ordered the minister to halt the exercise, went into a closed-door session to discuss more on the issue.

The minister had engaged in a shooting match with the lawmakers when summoned to defend the programme.

After a heated argument, he had accused the legislators of trying to seize the scheme by getting undue slots.

On the other hand, they claimed Keyamo was attempting to hijack the undertaking from the NDE.

And adopting a motion sponsored by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti State), the Red Chamber recognised the NDE as the only agency with the statutory powers to coordinate employment programmes in the country.

Also yesterday, the Nigerian leader forwarded the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) to the senators for their approval.

The accompanying letter was read during plenary by Lawan.

Buhari equally requested the confirmation of Dr. Chukwuemeka Chukwu as Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) representing Abia State in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Meanwhile, the Senate President has announced the appointment of Ibrahim El-Ladan as Acting Clerk of the chamber, effective July 17,2020.


https://meenatnigeria.com/talks-on-contentious-774000-jobs-for-youths-collapse/

Transfer window to re-open on July 27, day after conclusion of Premier League season
The transfer window will open for 10 weeks at the end of the current Premier League season

Subject to the approval of FIFA, the window will open the day after the 2019-20 Premier League season finishes and close 10 weeks later at 11pm on Monday October 5.

Following consultation with the EFL, a domestic-only window will also be added from October 5 and close on Friday October 16 at 5pm.

Transfers between Premier League clubs will not be able to occur during this period, but top-flight sides can trade with EFL clubs.

This allows EFL clubs a fortnight to carry out sales, purchases and, in particular, loans with Premier League clubs.

It also allows Premier League clubs to carry out the vast majority of their business before UEFA's October 6 deadline for Champions League and Europa League registrations.

A number of European leagues have already confirmed their summer window will close on October 5.

In the EFL, any summer signings brought in before the completion of the Championship play-offs, which take place at the end of July and into early August, will not be eligible to play for their new club until season 2020-21 commences.


https://meenatnigeria.com/transfer-window-premier-league-efl-agree-july-27-to-october-5-window/

Lawyers for Weinstein's accusers vow to continue 'fight for justice' after criticising the settlement terms.


A United States  judge on Tuesday rejected a proposed $18.9m civil settlement for women who claimed they were subjected to sexual abuse and workplace harassment by the disgraced movie producer, Harvey Weinstein.

US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan said the preliminary settlement would be unfair to women who Weinstein raped or sexually abused, because it treated them no differently from women who had merely met him.

He also criticised a plan to set aside money to help Weinstein and the board of his former studio pay defence costs.

"The idea that Harvey Weinstein could get a defence fund ahead of the plaintiffs is obnoxious," Hellerstein said at a hearing.

A settlement would have resolved class-action litigation by Weinstein accusers, and New York Attorney General Letitia James's lawsuit accusing Weinstein, his brother Bob Weinstein and their bankrupt Weinstein Co of maintaining a hostile work environment.

Elizabeth Fegan, a lawyer representing nine Weinstein accusers, had argued that "all of the women were in the zone of danger" created by Weinstein, justifying class-action treatment.

Lawyers for the settling plaintiffs and for Weinstein did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for the Weinstein Co declined to comment.

James's office will review the decision. "Our office has been fighting tirelessly to provide these brave women with the justice they are owed and will continue," a spokeswoman said.

The settlement drew objections from women who said it would leave Weinstein's victims with typical awards of just $10,000 to $20,000, while setting aside $15.2m for defence costs.

Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer representing six objectors, said he was pleased Hellerstein "swiftly rejected the one-sided proposal".

Weinstein, 68, is appealing his February 24 conviction and 23-year prison term for sexually assaulting a former production assistant and raping a one-time aspiring actress. He still faces separate rape and sexual assault charges in Los Angeles.


https://meenatnigeria.com/us-judge-rejects-18-9m-settlement-in-weinstein-sex-abuse-case/

Abused and arrested in Lebanon, domestic worker arrives in Nigeria and urges others not to travel there.

Beirut, Lebanon - A Nigerian domestic worker who documented her abuse by former employers in Lebanon has arrived back home following a months-long ordeal that saw her arrested and accused of attempted murder.

Ariwolo Olamide Temitope, 31, arrived in Abuja late on Saturday night after spending six weeks detained in Lebanon on charges of theft and attempted murder that were filed by her former employers.

Temitope in late April escaped the home of Mahmoud Zahran and Feyzeh Diab after they accused her of stealing a phone and, according to Temitope, Zahran punched her in the face.

Temitope said her employers had treated her well until she refused sexual advances by Zahran.

Diab denied the allegation on behalf of her husband and said he "pushed" Temitope out of "self-defence" rather than punching her. Lebanon's labour ministry blacklisted the family, meaning they will not be allowed to hire any more domestic workers. 

Temitope had shared a video of her bloodied mouth with Al Jazeera in late April that gained attention in Nigeria and Lebanon, where the abuse of mostly African and Southeast Asian domestic workers under the notorious kafala system has been in the spotlight.

Million of migrants in the Middle East are employed under this system, which has facilitated widespread abuse by employers because they hold the rights to renew or terminate contracts, leading many to liken it to modern-day slavery.

'Pulled aside'

After speaking to Temitope in April, Al Jazeera had informed Julie Okah-Donli, the head of Nigeria's National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, of her case, and the agency intervened to get her home. 

Temitope said the Nigerian government bought her a ticket on a flight from Beirut to Abuja, leaving on May 25. But she never made it on board. 

"I was at the gate when the police told me I could not go - they pulled me aside and took me to detention," she told Al Jazeera on Monday over the phone from Abuja.

Temitope was taken to a prison run by General Security, which manages immigration in Lebanon, and said she was kept there for nearly three weeks before being informed of the charges against her - theft of $5,000 and the attempted murder of her employer. 

"I could not believe it," she said. "After I escaped their home I had filed a police report about the abuse. I think they did this to try and get me into trouble instead."

Diab had told Al Jazeera in April that Temitope previously pulled a knife on her. Temitope denied these allegations. "If I had pulled a knife on her before, would she really have kept me at the house?"

In General Security detention, Temitope said she felt "completely alone. I thought that my employers would have their way because they have money and I don't." 

She said she contemplated suicide, but instead decided to put her faith in God. 

Outside, meanwhile, Nigerian authorities and a Lebanese NGO were working to secure her release.

'Rise up, rescue and protect'

"We cannot abandon Temitope at this time, we must join hands to fight for this cause," Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, head of Nigeria's House Committee on the Diaspora, said during a hearing in mid-June.

"We need to rise up, rescue, protect and defend our fellow citizens in difficulties in other nations," he said. 

The committee pressured Nigeria's government to contact Lebanese authorities over the matter and called in Houssam Diab, the Lebanese ambassador to Nigeria, to question him on the case and the status of other Nigerian women in Lebanon. 

Meanwhile, Temitope's lawyer Mohanna Ishak, who works with women's rights group Kafa, submitted a request for her release to the presiding judge in Beirut. 

"The judge ruled in our favour and ordered she be released pending the outcome of the trial. It's a sign of the judge's impression that there is something unjust about the charges against her," Ishak told Al Jazeera.

Ishak said she will follow Temitope's case until its conclusion in order to prove her innocence. 

Sold on Facebook

Last Wednesday, Temitope was released to a Kafa shelter. She returned home on Saturday, roughly nine months after she first arrived in Lebanon, on a flight organised by the Nigerian Embassy with some two-dozen other Nigerian women on board.

Nigerian media reported that Peace Busari, a domestic worker who in April was offered up for sale on a Facebook group used to trade household items, was also on the flight.

Several thousand domestic workers have returned home from Lebanon as the country's deep economic crisis left many employers unable to pay their salaries. Many for years were paid late or not at all, a chronic issue under the kafala system that both local groups and the international community have said must be abolished. 

Now a few days into a mandatory 14-day coronavirus quarantine in Abuja, Temitope warned other women against travelling to work in Lebanon.

"I suffered so much. I believe now that it's better for us to stay in our country and manage with what we have, even if it is difficult," she said. 

"To leave Lebanon is to be happy, very, very happy. I can't tell you how happy I am."


https://meenatnigeria.com/nigerian-migrant-worker-back-home-after-ordeal-in-lebanon/

The Department of Homeland Security says the policy is backed by existing law and still provides leniency.

Seventeen US states and more than 200 universities are taking legal action to challenge the Trump administration's new restrictions on international students, arguing that the policy jeopardises students' safety and forces institutions to reconsider new plans for the coming semester that they have spent months preparing.

The universities have signed court briefs supporting Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as they sue US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in federal court in Boston. The lawsuit challenges a recently announced directive saying international students cannot stay in the United States if they take all their classes online in the coming academic year.

On Monday, 17 states and the District of Columbia filed their own lawsuits, arguing the rule is politically motivated and an attempt by the Trump administration to force universities to hold in-person classes when classes resume in the autumn.

"The Trump administration didn't even attempt to explain the basis for this senseless rule, which forces schools to choose between keeping their international students enrolled and protecting the health and safety of their campuses," Maura Healey, the Massachusetts attorney general, said in a statement announcing the suit.

Other suits have come from Johns Hopkins University and the state of California. The University of California system has said it will sue.

A judge is scheduled to hear arguments on Tuesday in the case brought by Harvard and MIT. If the judge does not suspend the rule, colleges across the US will have until Wednesday to notify ICE if they plan to be fully online when classes start in August or September.


Legal questions


The Department of Homeland Security and ICE said the new policy is backed by existing law forbidding foreign students from taking all of their classes online. ICE suspended the rule in March in response to the pandemic, but the agency told universities it was subject to change, according to a Monday court filing from the Trump administration.

The agencies said their updated guidance still provides leniency by allowing foreign students to maintain their visas even if they study online from abroad in the coming fall semester.

"Rather than completely rescinding the March guidance and reverting to business as usual with respect to schools and foreign students, ICE announced a measured transition to begin a move toward reopening schools and allowing students to return to classrooms," the brief said.

A brief filed on Monday by 59 universities, however, said the rule throws their plans into disarray with some due to start the new academic year in less than a month. They challenged the policy's legal grounds and said it forces institutions across the nation to "choose between opening their campuses regardless of the public health risks, or forcing their international students to leave the country."

The group includes all the so-called Ivy League universities as well as other prestigious universities like Stanford and Duke, which together have more than 213,000 international students.

"These students are core members of our institutions," they wrote. "They make valuable contributions to our classrooms, campuses and communities - contributions that have helped make American higher education the envy of the world."

The colleges are asking the court to block the rule as quickly as possible, saying it is already being used to turn students away. Last Wednesday, a DePaul University student was prevented from entering the country after arriving in San Francisco, according to the filing. Harvard previously said one of its students from Belarus was turned away from a flight at an airport in Minsk last week.

If the policy is upheld, universities could be forced to reconsider their new term plans. Princeton last week said first-year students and juniors could live on campus during the first semester, while more senior students would replace them in the following term. But that plan was based on the understanding that foreign students could continue remote learning from the US, the filing said.

"Princeton now may be forced to reassess its plan, with just weeks to go before the fall semester, lest sophomore and senior international students be forced to leave the country - and potentially be unable to return for the spring," according to the brief.

A separate coalition of 180 colleges filed a brief saying that colleges were "blindsided" by the policy. The group, known as the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, said it was a reversal of a March 13 directive from ICE that waived limitations around online education for foreign students "for the duration of the emergency". They point to data suggesting the number of new coronavirus cases in the US is higher now than it was in March.

"All seem to agree the emergency remains ongoing, but ICE's policy has inexplicably changed," the group wrote.

The directive also stands to hurt colleges financially, the group wrote. International students typically pay the highest tuition rates and rarely are eligible for scholarships. The alliance said many colleges risk losing millions of dollars over the policy, including Northern Virginia Community College, which estimated it could lose nearly $10m in tuition from foreign students.


'Crippling consequences'


A separate brief filed by the Princeton Theological Seminary said the policy would bring "crippling consequences" from a funding perspective. The seminary said its international ties include many foreign donors who would find the guidance "such a shocking affront that PTS' relationships with those donors may never recover".

The suit has also been backed by 26 cities and counties that said the policy would damage their economies. Those range from New York City, which said international students contribute three billion dollars a year to its economy, to Iowa City, Iowa, which said its 2,500 resident international students contribute millions of dollars a year.

Briefs of support have also been filed by scientific associations, student governments, education unions and 71 higher education associations.

Under the new rule, international students would be forced to leave the US or transfer to another college if their schools operate entirely online for the fall semester. New visas will not be issued to students at those schools, ICE said, and others at schools offering a mix of online and in-person courses will be barred from taking all of their classes online.

It would apply even if an outbreak forces schools to shift classes entirely online mid-term, according to the guidance.

The policy was issued the same day Harvard announced that its first-years would be invited to campus but that all undergraduate classes will be held online.

The suit from Harvard and MIT argued that ICE issued the policy without offering any justification and without allowing the public to respond. It also said the agency is breaking from its March 13 promise to provide flexibility during the pandemic.


https://meenatnigeria.com/over-200-universities-17-us-states-sue-over-foreign-student-rule/

Rivera, the third of Glee's cast members to die in their 30s, saved her four-year-old son before drowning.

Glee star Naya Rivera's four-year-old son told investigators that his mother, whose body was found in a Southern California lake on Monday, boosted him back on to the deck of their rented boat before he looked back and saw her disappearing under the water, authorities said.

"She must have mustered enough energy to get her son back on the boat, but not enough to save herself," Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said at a news conference.

The boy, Josey Hollis Dorsey, was found asleep and alone in a life vest on the drifting pontoon boat about three hours after he and his mother launched on Lake Piru northwest of Los Angeles, setting off a five-day search that ended with the discovery of the body of the 33-year-old floating near the surface early on Monday, authorities said.

The mother and son had gone swimming, which was permitted in that part of the lake, Ayub said. Rivera was not wearing a life vest.

Authorities believe that she drowned accidentally, and that her body was most likely trapped in the vegetation under the lake for several days before floating to the top, Ayub said.

Divers had already thoroughly searched the area where she was eventually found, but shrubbery that had grown wildly in the area, which was recently dry, must have kept her hidden in the murky water.

Family members chatted with Rivera via FaceTime when she was on the boat, and search crews watched those videos for clues to where she might have gone down, Ayub said.

"It has been an extremely difficult time for her family throughout this ordeal," Ayub said "We share in their grief."

Rivera played singing cheerleader Santana Lopez for six seasons from 2009 to 2015 on the Fox television musical-comedy Glee.

She is the third among the major cast members from the show to die in their 30s.

The announcement of her death comes seven years to the day after co-star Cory Monteith died at 31 from a toxic mix of alcohol and heroin, with the series losing one of its leads while it was still on the air.

Another co-star, Mark Salling, who Rivera dated at one point, killed himself in 2018 at age 35 after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.

The vendor who rented the boat to Rivera on July 8 went looking for mother and son when they failed to return on time, and found the boat drifting in the northern end of the lake with the boy on board.

The boy, Rivera's son from her marriage to actor Ryan Dorsey, was safe and healthy and quickly reunited with family members after he was found, authorities said.

His parents divorced in 2018 after nearly four years of marriage.

The day before her death, Rivera tweeted a photo of herself and Josey with a message that read, "just the two of us."


https://meenatnigeria.com/body-of-glee-star-naya-rivera-recovered-from-california-lake/

Man City to pay €10m (£8.96m) fine to UEFA; Man City: "The club welcomes the implications of today's ruling as a validation of the club's position and the body of evidence that it was able to present"

Manchester City will play in the Champions League next season after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) lifted the club's two-year ban from European football.

City were handed the suspension by UEFA's club financial control body (CFCB) in February for "serious breaches" of club licensing and financial fair play regulations.

The CFCB said City had overstated sponsorship revenue in their accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016, and for failing to co-operate with its investigation.

The Premier League club vehemently denied any wrongdoing and appealed the decision at CAS last month, after previously describing the UEFA disciplinary process as "prejudicial".

After hearing evidence over the course of three days in June, CAS has now overturned the suspension and reduced City's initial €30m fine to €10m (£8.96m) after finding "most of the alleged breaches reported were either not established or time-barred".

A statement from CAS read: "As the charges with respect to any dishonest concealment of equity funding were clearly more significant violations than obstructing the CFCB's investigations, it was not appropriate to impose a ban on participating in UEFA's club competitions for MCFC's failure to co-operate with the CFCB's investigations alone.

"However, considering i) the financial resources of MCFC; ii) the importance of the cooperation of clubs in investigations conducted by the CFCB, because of its limited investigative means; and iii) MCFC's disregard of such principle and its obstruction of the investigations, the CAS Panel found that a significant fine should be imposed on MCFC and considered it appropriate to reduce UEFA's initial fine by 2/3, i.e. to the amount of EUR 10 million."


https://meenatnigeria.com/manchester-city-to-play-in-champions-league-next-season-after-european-ban-overturned/

Daniel Lee execution was expected on Monday, but family of victims now says will appeal, citing right to view execution.

The first federal execution in the United States in 17 years looks set to go ahead on Monday after an appeals court overturned a lower court injunction, saying a lawsuit by the victims' family - which had put the execution on hold - had no legal standing.

White supremacist Daniel Lewis Lee was convicted in the killing of three members of an Arkansas family in 1996 although some relatives of his victims opposed him receiving the death sentence. He is due to be executed by lethal injection at the US Department of Justice's execution chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana.

His execution had been blocked on Friday by a federal judge after some of the victims' relatives sued, saying they feared that attending could expose them to COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

As the number of coronavirus infections rises in about 40 US states, the Bureau of Prisons said on Sunday that a staff member involved in preparations for the resumption of federal executions had tested positive for COVID-19.

The lawsuit filed against the Department of Justice (DOJ) in federal court in Indianapolis sought to block the execution until the pandemic had passed. US District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson ordered the department to delay the execution until it could show it was upholding the plaintiffs' right to attend the execution without risking their health.

The government appealed and the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday overturned the injunction, saying no federal statute or regulation gave the victims' family the right to attend the execution.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Baker Kurrus, the lawyers for the victims' family said they planned to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, and that the government had put them in the "untenable position of choosing between their right to witness Danny Lee's execution and their own health and safety." 

US Attorney General William Barr said last July that the DOJ would resume carrying out executions of some death row prisoners convicted of murder and sex crimes. There are some 62 inmates currently on federal death row.

Barr originally scheduled five executions for last December, but had to delay them while long-running lawsuits challenging the government's lethal-injection protocol played out.

An appeals court overturned that injunction in April, and Barr announced new execution dates for July and August of four inmates, all men convicted of murdering children: Lee, Wesley Purkey, Dustin Honken and Keith Nelson.

Prosecutors say Lee murdered an Arkansas gun dealer, his wife and their eight-year-old daughter, then dumped their bodies in a swamp. He was convicted in 1999 of multiple offences including murder in aid of racketeering.


https://meenatnigeria.com/us-court-gives-green-light-to-first-federal-execution-in-17-years/

Killing of 8,000 Muslims in 1995 by Serb troops was the only genocide on European soil since the second world war.

Bosnian Muslims are marking 25 years since the Srebrenica genocide, the worst atrocity on European soil since the end of the second world war, with the memorial ceremony sharply reduced due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The event marks July 11, 1995, the day when Bosnian Serb forces marched into Srebrenica, a Muslim enclave on Serb territory in Bosnia and Herzegovina that had been under the UN protection.

After capturing the ill-fated town, Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in a few days. So far, the remains of nearly 6,900 victims have been found and identified from more than 80 mass graves.

Bosnia had been embroiled in an ethnic war pitting the Serbs against Muslim Bosniaks and Croats between 1992 and 1995 that killed some 100,000 people.

Pandemic impacts anniversary

Organisers on Saturday said the number of people attending the anniversary - normally in the tens of thousands - was lower than usual because of lockdown measures aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19.

A daylong commemoration is under way at Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia.

At 11:00 GMT, the remains of nine victims identified over the past year will be laid to rest at the memorial cemetery in Potocari, a village just outside Srebrenica that served as the base for the UN protection force during the conflict.

"Since this was a quarter-century anniversary, it was initially planned that this should be a big memorial service honouring the victims but everything had to be scaled down because of the pandemic," said Al Jazeera's Tarik Durmisevic, reporting from the burial site in Srebrenica.

"The most important effect, however, is the number of victims who were supposed to be buried here. Some families couldn't be here as they don't live in Bosnia any more so they withdrew their consent for the burial. As a result, only nine victims of the genocide will find their eternal peace today."

The Srebrenica massacre is the only episode of the Bosnian conflict to be described as genocide by the international community.

The European Union leaders called the anniversary "a painful reminder" that Europe failed in its promise to avoid such tragedy on the continent.

"We must confront the past with honesty and look to the future with determination to support the next generations," said a statement by the EU.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Saturday said Srebrenica stood for the atrocities and crimes against humanity in the countries of the former Yugoslavia that were committed in the 1990s.      

"The killings had taken place at the end of the 20th century in the middle of Europe, almost under the eyes of the global public," Maas said. "We must oppose nationalist tendencies wherever we encounter them."

Will justice happen?

Bosnian Serb wartime military chief general Ratko Mladic, still revered as a hero by many Serbs, was sentenced to life in prison by a UN court in 2017 over war crimes, including the Srebrenica genocide. He is awaiting the decision on his appeal.

Radovan Karadzic, another Bosnian Serb wartime political leader, was also sentenced to life in prison by a court at The Hague.

Justice was already held up by Mladic's long-running main trial. Now the pandemic has forced the war crimes tribunal to postpone the start of the appeal and delay the verdict until next year.

While for Bosnian Muslims recognising the scale of the atrocity is a necessity for lasting peace, for most Serbs - leaders and laypeople in both Bosnia and Serbia - the use of the word genocide remains unacceptable.

In the run-up to the anniversary, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic described Srebrenica as "something that we should not and cannot be proud of", but he has never publicly uttered the word, genocide.

Several thousand Serbs and Bosnians live side by side in impoverished Srebrenica, a small town in eastern Bosnia with just a few shops in its centre.

"We will tirelessly insist on the truth, on justice and on the need to try all those who have committed this crime," Sefik Dzaferovic, the Muslim member of Bosnia's joint presidency, said on Friday.

"We will fight against those who deny the genocide and glorify its perpetrators."


https://meenatnigeria.com/bosnia-marks-25-years-since-srebrenica-genocide-amid-pandemic/

The US Supreme Court ruled that a New York prosecutor can have access to Trump's tax records, Congress can not.

The United States Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Manhattan district attorney can obtain President Donald Trump's tax records and that Congress can not have access to his financial records for now.

Court observers thought the justices might combine the two cases, they have not, ruling in favour of release in one case and sending the second, involving US Congressional requests, back to a lower court.

The court upheld a New York prosecutor’s demand for Trump’s tax returns as part of a criminal investigation that includes hush-money payments to women who claim they had affairs with Trump.

The justices rejected arguments by Trump’s lawyers and the Justice Department that the president is immune from investigation while he holds office or that a prosecutor must show a greater need than normal to obtain the records. The tax returns are being sought as part of a grand-jury investigation.

Not public soon

Because the grand jury process is confidential, the rulings make it likely that none of Trump’s financial records will become public soon.

Trump’s two high court appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, joined the majority in both cases along with Chief Justice John Roberts and the four liberal justices. Roberts wrote both opinions.

"Congressional subpoenas for information from the President, however, implicate special concerns regarding the separation of powers. The courts below did not take adequate account of those concerns," Roberts wrote in the congressional case.

The ruling returns the case to lower courts, with no clear prospect for when the case might ultimately be resolved. The tax returns case also is headed back to a lower court.

The justices heard arguments in  the two cases by telephone in May.

Trump's lawyers argued at the time that a president can't be investigated while he holds office, suggesting that a ruling validating the subpoenas would open the door to harassing future presidents.

The cases resemble earlier disputes over presidents' assertions that they were too consumed with the job of running the country to worry about lawsuits and investigations. In 1974, the justices acted unanimously in requiring President Richard Nixon to turn over White House tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor. In 1997, another unanimous court allowed a sexual harassment lawsuit to go forward against President Bill Clinton.

In those cases, three Nixon appointees and two Clinton appointees, respectively, voted against the president who chose them for the high court.

Appellate courts in Washington and New York ruled that the documents should be turned over, but those rulings were put on hold pending a final court ruling. The appellate decisions brushed aside the president's broad arguments, focusing on the fact that the subpoenas were addressed to third parties asking for records of Trump's business and financial dealings as a private citizen, not as president.

House committees want records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One, as well as the Mazars USA accounting firm. Mazars also is the recipient of a subpoena from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.

Two congressional committees subpoenaed the bank documents as part of their investigations into Trump and his businesses. Deutsche Bank has been one of the few banks willing to lend to Trump after a series of corporate bankruptcies and defaults starting in the early 1990s.

Vance and the House Oversight and Reform Committee sought records from Mazars concerning Trump and his businesses based on payments that Trump's then-personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, arranged during the 2016 presidential race to keep two women from airing their claims of extramarital affairs with Trump.

Trump sued to block the subpoenas. He was represented by personal lawyers at the Supreme Court, and the Justice Department supported the high-court appeal.


https://meenatnigeria.com/us-supreme-court-rules-trump-must-turn-over-financial-records/

FIFA has taken full operational control of Video Assistant Referees [VARs], world football's governing body has informed all associations.

Mattias Grafstrom, FIFA's deputy general secretary for football, told all 211 associations in a letter on June 29.

The International Football Association Board [IFAB], football's lawmakers, have previously worked closely with FIFA on the development and implementation of VAR in all competitions, including technological matter, training and education.

Grafstrom's letter states: "We are proud that the introduction of VARs has been a universal success, with the implementation of the VAR system now complete in over 100 competitions globally.

"Following the successful launch period where FIFA worked in conjunction with The IFAB, we would like to inform you that all VAR-related activities will now transfer to FIFA."

All VAR-related questions, comments or suggestions have been directed to FIFA from July 1.

FIFA will continue to work with IFAB on matters involving VAR protocol, the Laws of the Game or approval requirements.

IFAB secretary Lukas Brud has told Sky Sports News it was always the intention for VAR's operational plans to be taken over by FIFA.

Last December Arsene Wenger, FIFA's chief of global football development, called on Premier League referees to use pitchside monitors before making decisions using VAR.

"That, for me, is the most important worry," said Wenger, after a meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in Belfast.

"The referee needs to have a monitor to check if he was right or wrong. He will gain in credibility, especially, knowing that the people at VAR have yet the experience to make these kinds of decisions. He has a review to see if he was right or wrong. That is important for his confidence as well."

He added: "I think it's working much better than we think. You want VAR to intervene at the right moment. They are not the ones who should make the decisions but the ones who help the referees make the right decisions."



https://meenatnigeria.com/fifa-takes-full-control-of-var-in-letter-to-member-associations/

The 61-year-old became unwell during a weekly cabinet meeting and was evacuated to a hospital where he passed away.

Ivory Coast's prime minister and the governing party's candidate for the October presidential election, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, has died just days after returning from two months of medical treatment in France.

The 61-year-old, who had heart surgery in 2012, became unwell during a weekly cabinet meeting and was taken to a hospital where he passed away on Wednesday, President Alassane Ouattara said in a statement read on national television.

"Fellow compatriots, Ivory Coast is mourning. It is with deep pain that I announce to you that Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly has left us," Ouattara said in a statement read by the presidency's secretary-general.

Gon Coulibaly had returned to Ivory Coast last Thursday after two months in France to undergo a heart exam and rest.

Gon Coulibaly's death is likely to set off a scramble within the governing RHDP party to replace him as its candidate in an election that is considered a key test of stability for the world's top cocoa producer.

Ouattara's first win in 2010 over incumbent Laurent Gbagbo sparked a brief civil war in which about 3,000 people died, and political tensions have been rising ahead of October's poll.

Ouattara designated Gon Coulibaly as the RHDP candidate in March after announcing he would not seek a third term.

Gon Coulibaly sought medical care in France in May, saying it was only for a checkup. He was allowed to travel abroad despite Ivory Coast's airports being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.


https://meenatnigeria.com/ivory-coast-prime-minister-amadou-gon-coulibaly-dies/

The star of the Pirates of the Caribbean begins legal action over a newspaper article that called him a 'wife beater'.


Hollywood star Johnny Depp has begun legal action against a British tabloid over allegations he had physically abused his ex-wife, the actress Amber Heard, accusing her of lying.

Depp, the 57-year-old star of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, is suing The Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, for libel over an article Wootton wrote in April 2018 calling him a "wife beater".

Depp's lawyer David Sherborne on Tuesday said in a written opening statement to London's High Court that the libel case involved "well-known actor Johnny Depp" and "allegations that he seriously physically assaulted his former wife, the actress, Amber Heard".

"Not just once but on at least 14 different occasions it is now said, causing her such serious injuries and being so violent that it led Ms Heard to fear for her very life," Sherborne said.

He said Heard had first aired the allegations in May 2016 when she obtained a restraining order against Depp at a Los Angeles court when she appeared to have bruises on her face caused in an incident six days earlier.

"There is a substantial body of evidence ... which clearly demonstrates that this was a lie manufactured by Ms Heard and her friends," Sherborne said.

Three-week trial



Heard and Depp, who were expected to give evidence, were present in the courtroom.

The case is set to last for three weeks, the judge, Andrew Nicol said.

The couple met on the set of the 2011 film The Rum Diary and married in February 2015. But she filed for divorce after 15 months and days later obtained a restraining order against him.

She has accused him of physical abuse during their relationship, allegations he denies.

Their divorce was finalised in 2017 when the restraining order was dismissed and Depp agreed to pay her a previously announced sum of $7m.


https://meenatnigeria.com/actor-johnny-depps-libel-trial-against-the-sun-opens-in-london/

For the fourth time, award-winning singer Ayodeji Balogun, also known as Wizkid, has revealed that his third studio album, Made-In-Lagos, would be digitally released on July 16, which is also his birthday.

He disclosed this via his Instagram account, Tuesday. While it is skeptical that he would release the project this time, this is the first time he would confirm the collaborations.
  
Wizzy announced that the album would feature artistes such as Burna Boy, Damian Marley (Jamaican), Tems, Starboy Terri, Ella Mai (British), Tay Iwar, Skepta (British Nigerian), Projexx (Jamaican) and H.E.R. (American). He also disclosed his sound production and engineering team to be BlaqJerzee, London, Sarz, Mutay and Juls (British Ghanaian), Dro (American) and Kel P.

Since his 2011 debut breakout album, Superstar, Wizkid has created an impressive continental fan, most of who now identify with the moniker WizkidFc. Since his 2014 self-titled album, Ayo, his endearing fans have waited patiently for six years for another album.
  
The 29-year-old singer has teased several release dates since February 2018, till date. While tensions grew in December 2019, that the Lagos-born singer would release the project, which is anticipated as an ode to his birthplace, Wizkid instead dropped a 7-track Extended Playlist (EP) dubbed Soundman Volume 1.
  
Wizkid has, however, praised his forthcoming album to be “the best (compilation project) he has ever made.”
  
Meanwhile, Burna Boy’s fifth studio album, dubbed ‘Twice As Tall’, and Davido’s fourth studio album, titled A Better Time are also scheduled for release this month. As at the moment, the three are among the highest streamed artistes in the continent.


https://meenatnigeria.com/wizkid-announces-made-in-lagos-lists-collabos/

Ten-year-old Nneoma Nnadi might forever live with the ugly scar inflicted on her by a woman, who supposedly, she was given out to serve as a maid.

Her boss, a young woman and mother of two, Mrs. Ifeoma Ozougwu, on Thursday, allegedly rammed a six-inch nail into her skull.

Not done, Mrs. Ozougwu was also said to have inserted ground red pepper into Nneoma’s private part and locked her inside one of the toilets in their residence.

The young woman and her husband, who hail from Aku in Igbo Etiti Council of Enugu State, and are cooling off in Police custody at the Enugu Area Command, were said to have maltreated the little girl for a long time.

The Guardian gathered that the nail in Nneoma’s skull was the last straw that broke the camel’s back at their Thinkers Corner residence in Enugu.

It was further gathered that hot pressing iron had been used on Nneoma’s body severally, thus inflicting permanent burns on her. On each occasion, she was usually locked up inside the toilet.

Neighbours had alerted to the Police several times about the maltreatment of the girl, but each time the Police visited, they would search the whole house without locating the girl, as Mrs. Ozougwu always told the Nneoma had gone to her relation’s house.

The neighbours were said to have investigated and found out that the girl was constantly locked inside their toilet and starved of food.

Help came to her on Thursday when the neighbours alerted the Police of her incarceration and upon searching the toilet, found the girl locked inside it.

The Police swiftly rescued the little girl, arrested the woman and took the girl to Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital in Parklane, where she was receiving intensive care.

At the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital, there were bruises all over her body, an indication that her torture did not just start on Thursday. Part of her forehead was still bleeding, as a result of the nail allegedly driven into it.

A hospital official told The Guardian on the condition of anonymity, yesterday: “I was in my office when the Police brought the girl to our Emergency Unit in the company of the lady with her three kids.

“Our office was like a market in Enugu. People were cursing the lady, crying, telling the Police to bring out the woman. So, the Police seeing the crowd drove away to the station with the woman. The girl was admitted .

“Personally, I couldn’t hold myself. I called the wife of the assistant Commissioner of Police in my chapter, who hurriedly rushed to our office, saw the girl and cried out her eyes, called the husband and told her. She immediately informed the commissioner of Police about it and sent the picture of the girl.

“Do you know that the girl wanted to urinate, but she could not, because they poured grinded pepper inside the girl’s private part? I couldn’t hold my tears because of the type of excruciating pains this girl was passing through. I have never seen this kind of wickedness in my life. I feel so, so bad about the whole thing.”

Executive Director of Women Aids Collective (WACOL), Prof Ngozi Ezeilo, condemned the act, saying: “This is gory and torture of a young innocent girl whose only crime is being born to a poor widow who had to give her up to live with someone in the hope that she will get education and survive. We pray that she recovers.

“We demand full wrath of the law on this woman that inflicted such a level of physical injury on this girl. I spoke to the distraught mother of the victim. She is a poor widow living in a rural village in Aku, near Nsukka.

“It is time to eradicate child labour, ban and punish heavily, anyone using children as domestic helps. The Child Rights Act and the NAPTIP Act must be effectively enforced.

“WACOL will follow through to ensure that justice is done in this matter.”

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ndukwe, said the matter was being investigated, as the Commissioner of Police had directed full-scale investigation.

“It is still being investigated, the CP has directed a full-scale investigation and ensuring that if found culpable, the woman and whoever that was involved should be prosecuted,” he said.


https://meenatnigeria.com/woman-drives-six-inch-nail-into-maids-skull-locks-her-up-in-toilet/

The longtime president's move comes after voters approved the controversial changes during a week-long plebiscite.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered amendments that would allow him to remain in power until 2036 to be put into the Russian Constitution after voters approved the changes during a week-long plebiscite.

According to a copy of the decree released by the Russian government on Friday, the amendments will come into force on Saturday.

"The amendments come into force. They come into force, without overstating it, at the people's will," Putin said after he signed a decree to have the constitution revised.

"We made this important decisions together, as a country," the Russian president said during a video-conference with legislators who worked on drafting the amendments.

The changes allow Putin to run for two more six-year terms after his current one expires in 2024, but also outlaw same-sex marriages, mention the "belief in God as a core value" and emphasise the primacy of Russian law over international norms.

Putin proposed amending the constitution in January and insisted on putting the language on his eligibility for office and the other topics up to a nationwide vote that was not legally required after the changes were approved by Russia's parliament and rubber-stamped by the country's Constitutional Court.

Irregularities reported

The citizens' vote was initially scheduled for April 22 but postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The balloting concluded on Wednesday amid widespread reports of pressure on voters and other irregularities.

Kremlin critics denounced the results of the plebiscite - with 78 percent "yes" votes and a nearly 68 percent turnout - as falsified and undermining the legitimacy of the amendments.

Central Election Commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova rejected the accusations on Friday, saying the results of the vote are "authentic" and their legitimacy is "indisputable".

"The vote was carried out with the utmost transparency," she said.

Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma, Russia's lower house of Parliament, said on Friday legislators would start working on bills implementing the amendments immediately, without taking their traditional summer break.


https://meenatnigeria.com/putin-orders-constitution-changes-allowing-him-to-rule-until-2036/

Amerian singer Kehlani is being sued by a luxury car rental company for alleged damage to a Ferrari she rented in April.

The lawsuit alleges that the 2017 model Ferrari which the singer used in the music video of her song “Open” was returned with damage following a collision, TMZ reported.

According to the lawsuit, the 25-year-old singer returned the car with $25,000 worth of damage.

Kehlani is alleged to have “negligently, recklessly, carelessly operated the Ferrari,” the lawsuit claims, according to The Blast.

It continues to claim her driving caused the high priced car to “to collide with an animal and/or unknown object and thereby causing significant material damage.”

The Florida company claims it lost $1,000 a day, the rental rate paid by the singer, while the car was repaired and a total of $35,000 in potential rental fees.

According to the outlet, the company is seeking damages and to have Kehlani’s license suspended until a judgement is paid.

The Ferrari was ‘rented’ to the singer by a ‘third-party rental agency.’

According to The Blast, the car was originally rented for “personal use only,” though he lawsuit claims it was used for “commercial use,” when it allegedly appeared in her music video.

On May 8, she released a music video for her song Open (passionate), the same day she released her second studio album, It Was Good Until it Wasn’t.

In the music video, shot in the desert during coronavirus isolation, she sings near a black Ferrari and drives it down a dirt road.

The rental company claim that due to the damage the car has diminished in value by $88,000.


https://meenatnigeria.com/kehlani-sued-for-allegedly-wrecking-rented-ferrari/

The Federal Government has said that preliminary results of the analysis of Madagascar’s herbal cure for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) revealed it as the same as Artemisia annua, also known as ‘sweet annie’, used in malaria treatment.

Artemisia annua is grown by the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRID). Further research into its efficacy will be conducted when the grant is approved, the government added.

President Muhammadu Buhari had, on May 15, received the country’s allocation of the Madagascar anti-COVID-19 drink during which he promised to listen to scientists before allowing traditional or any new medicine to be administered on Nigerians to treat the pandemic.

At the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing yesterday in Abuja, Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said the specie of the plant available in the country had a very high concentration of Artemisinin, with very high yield, adding that further research would focus on the efficacy of the plant for treatment of COVID-19.

Ehanire revealed that all government hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would become COVID-19 sample collection sites, so that walk-in cases could have samples taken for testing at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

According to him, the move is to assure users and care-givers of reduced bottlenecks and improved efficiency in the country’s response, which will be scaled up to other states.

“I strongly advise we do not embark on non-essential travel. This is particularly so for the elderly and those designated as high risk.

“Many countries made adherence to rules not only mandatory; some even imposed penalties for non-compliance. The exploding figures we see now would be considerably less if most citizens complied. The benefits of compliance are such that we should be encouraging each other and ensuring that we obey and remind others to obey, without requiring policing,” he noted.

Chairman of PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, said the Federal Ministry of Education would consult further with stakeholders before issuing guidelines that would lead to full resumption of schools across the country.

Mustapha observed that schools had not resumed and that only critical examination classes would be allowed to resume for those who need revision before examinations.He appealed to Nigerians to continue to show understanding and ensure that their wards take full advantage of electronic platforms provided for learning.


https://meenatnigeria.com/fg-says-madagascars-covid-19-drug-same-as-sweet-annie-used-for-malaria-treatment/

The face-off between the Presidency and the National Assembly regarding the recruitment of 774,000 persons became messier on Wednesday.

At an executive session, the Senate debated the Tuesday clash between the National Assembly Joint Committee on Labour and Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo (SAN), during which the lawmakers expressed anger about what they described as a display of executive rascality.

Consequently, the Senate announced that the two chambers of the National Assembly had ordered that the implementation of the 774,000 public works programme should be put on hold until the legislature is properly briefed.

Rising from the emergency executive session, the Senate also announced that the two chambers of the National Assembly had reached the conclusion to ensure that there is transparency in the entire recruitment process.

In a joint statement signed by the spokesmen of the Senate and House of Representatives, Ajibola Basiru and Benjamin Kalu, it was pointed out that the National Assembly as part of the conception of the programme.

Rejecting the claim that the powers of President Buhari were being encroached upon, the lawmakers declared: “If the president believes that his powers are being encroached, he can approach the court of law.”

The lawmakers lamented that the impression had been given that the programme was an exclusive preserve of the presidency

“The conception of the programme, its approval and its funding is with the consent of the National Assembly because we believe it is going to be beneficial for the purpose of addressing the challenges of COVID-19.

According to the National Assembly, the totality of the three arms is what constitutes government and it cannot be left to the whims of a person or a branch of a government.

The lawmakers further pointed out that “when the government is doing a programme, it is not President Buhari that is doing the programme, it is the government of the people. We are asking about how these 1000 people per local government area are generated, who set up the selection committee, what are the modalities for recruitment?”

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, has waded into the face-off with a view to amicably resolving the contentious issues.

Gbajabiamila, who dropped the hint when he made a surprise appearance at the Public Accounts Committee public hearing at the National Assembly complex Abuja, assured that the differences between the parties would be resolved within the next 24 hours.

The Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee on Labour had invited Keyamo to give details of the Special Public Works Programme in which 774,000 unemployed youths would be recruited by the Federal Government under the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).

During the hearing, the committee sought to find out the method of selection of a 20-man panel from each state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja for the programme.

However, a heated argument erupted between the lawmakers and the minister over who should lead the programme which was to be domiciled under the NDE.

In the meantime, the Senate has challenged the Nigeria Police and other relevant security agencies to investigate the attacks by herdsmen on Echori and Itakpa communities in Benue State, with a view to arresting the perpetrators.

The Upper Chamber urged the security agencies to urgently review their operational mechanism with a view to being more proactive, just as it mandated the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to immediately mobilize relief materials to those displaced by the recent attacks in Echori and Itakpa communities.



https://meenatnigeria.com/nass-halts-774000-public-works-recruitment-scheme/

Borussia Dortmund demanding in excess of £100m for Sancho; England international has two years left on contract. 


Manchester United will not pay more than £50m for Jadon Sancho, senior club officials have told Sky Sports News.

The 20-year-old is keen on a return to the Premier League but Borussia Dortmund and United remain poles apart on their valuations, with the Bundesliga club demanding in excess of £100m for the player they paid Manchester City £8m for in August 2017.

United remain the strong favourites to agree a deal but officials behind the scenes at Old Trafford believe Dortmund's valuation does not sufficiently reflect the costly fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and must be cut substantially if a deal is to be reached.

United are yet to make an official approach for Sancho, who has 17 Bundesliga goals and 16 assists so far this season.

Dortmund told the German stock market on Monday that playing games behind closed doors will lead to losses of around £41m.

However, United will be encouraged by Dortmund's statement that their final figures may change depending on the transfer window which opens next month.

It appears likely that Birmingham City's Jude Bellingham could play a key role in negotiations.

The midfielder, who turned 17 on Monday and is now able to sign a professional contract with Birmingham, is expected to choose between Dortmund and United in the next few weeks - increasing the possibility of the clubs agreeing for Sancho to head to Old Trafford and Bellingham to the Westfalenstadion.

While keen to drive a hard bargain, Dortmund are conscious that Sancho has only two years left on his current contract and could leave for nothing in the summer of 2022.

Earlier this week, Dortmund's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke reiterated that Sancho would only leave if their valuation was met.

"I don't think a club will pay the sum. There is also no coronavirus discount on him," Watzke told Sport 1.

United know that any potential impasse in negotiations could see a host of top clubs, including Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Barcelona, step up their interest in the former Watford trainee.



https://meenatnigeria.com/jadon-sancho-manchester-united-will-not-pay-more-than-50m-for-england-winger/

Christie's proceeds with sale of artifacts, says the transaction lawful given that objects were sold at past auctions.


Auction house Christie's has gone ahead with a sale of statues which Nigerian museum officials said were stolen during the country's civil war in the 1960s.

Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments had demanded Christie's stop the sale of the artifacts, which were collected by an art dealer and adviser of the late French President Jacques Chirac.

But at Monday's auction in Paris, the pair of "museum quality" Igbo statues were sold for 212,500 euros ($239,000). Meanwhile, a "major Urhobo statue" estimated at 900,000 euros ($1m) failed to sell.

The three pieces from southern Nigeria were among a number of "African masterpieces" that Christie's said came from an "important European private collection" they declined to name.

However, the head of the National Museum in Nigeria's Benin City had said the objects were stolen during the Biafran war that raged in the late 1960s and appealed to Christie's "and other auction houses to halt the process immediately".

"They have to repatriate such works and pay compensation to us in the interest of natural justice," Theophilus Umogbai said.

https://meenatnigeria.com/auction-of-stolen-nigerian-treasures-goes-ahead-in-paris/

Nigerian commission argues the items were stolen, while auction house Christie's says they were legitimately acquired.

A Nigerian commission has called for the cancellation of an auction of sacred Nigerian statues in Paris, alleging the artifacts were stolen.

Christie's auction house has defended the sale, saying the artworks were legitimately acquired and the auction will go ahead on Monday.

In recent years, French courts have ruled in favour of auction houses whose sales of sacred objects, such as Hopi tribal masks, were contested by rights groups and representatives of the tribes.

A Princeton scholar, professor Chika Okeke-Agulu, alongside Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments, raised the alarm earlier this month that the objects were looted during the Biafran war in the late 1960s.

Christie's wrote earlier this month to the Nigerian commission, saying the sale would go ahead.

Okeke-Agulu, who is a member of the Igbo tribe, said the objects were taken through "an act of violence" from his home state of Anambra and that they should not be sold.

An online petition with more than 2,000 signatures is demanding that the auction be halted.

The petition said "as the world awakens to the reality of systemic racial injustice and inequality, thanks to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, we must not forget that it is not just the Black body, but also Black culture, identity and especially art that is being misappropriated".

It claims that between 1967 and 1970, as Nigeria's Biafran civil war raged and while more than three million civilians were dying, a renowned European treasure hunter was in Biafra "on a hunting spree for our cultural heritage".

In a statement to the Associated Press, Christie's said "these objects are being lawfully sold having been publicly exhibited and previously sold over the last decades prior to Christie's involvement".

While the auction house said it recognised the "nuanced and complex debates around cultural property", it said that public sales should go ahead of objects like these to stop the black market flourishing.

Paris has a long history of collecting and selling tribal artifacts tied to its colonial past in Africa, and to Paris-based groups in the 1960s, such as the "Indianist" movement that celebrated Indigenous tribal cultures.

McTominay's new deal includes option for a further year.



Scott McTominay has signed a new contract which will keep him at Manchester United until June 2025, with the option to extend for a further year.

The 23-year-old midfielder made his debut in 2017 against Arsenal and has gone onto make 75 appearances for the first team, scoring six goals.

After signing his new deal, Scotland international McTominay said: "Whilst I understand that we all have so many other things to think about at the moment, I'm so happy to sign this contract and play a part in the future ahead for this team.

"All I have ever known is United and I hope that my passion for the club shows every time I go onto the pitch. I'll continue to give everything for this club whenever I pull on the shirt. I want to thank the manager for the faith he has shown in me and everyone at the club that has helped me to get where I am today.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was pleased to complete the renewal and said: "Scott has done tremendously well since I joined and has been a vital part of our midfield.

"He brings determination, tenacity and skill to the game and we know that Scott's attributes will be a major asset to the squad over the coming years.

"As we always say the Academy is the bedrock of the club and having come through the system everyone knows that Scott has shown the exact mentality that you need to succeed at Manchester United. I look forward to seeing his continued improvement in the years to come."

Manchester United face Sheffield United at Old Trafford on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports Premier League.


https://meenatnigeria.com/scott-mctominay-signs-new-manchester-united-contract-to-run-until-2025/

Following his emergence, yesterday, as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the September 19 Edo State gubernatorial election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu taunted his arch-rival, Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, urging him to return to the party.

In his victory speech after the primary election, Ize-Iyamu said: “I want to salute my brother, the governor of the state, Mr. Godwin Obaseki. I will like to appeal to him to return to the party. In every family, you have disagreements. Let it not be said that it was this disagreement that pushed him out.

“I made that mistake before and I have come to realise that it was a grievous error. And I will not want him, as a senior brother, to make the same mistake. So, I will like to appeal to him to set aside his anger and come back.

“In APC, he is recognised as a leader. But the new party you are going to, it will be difficult for them to accept you as a leader. So, it might be nice for him to come back. But certainly, we are ready to work with him and all well-meaning Edo people.”

Ize-Iyamu won the primary with 27, 838. Dr. Pius Odubu polled 3,776 to emerge, second runner-up, while Osaro Obazee scored 2,724 votes.

This came as a frontline aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Gideon Ikhine, stood down for Obaseki ahead of the PDP’s governorship primary scheduled for Friday.

Ikhine announced his decision at a ceremony in Benin attended by Obaseki, Edo State PDP Chairman Dr Tony Aziegbemi, and other party leaders. The aspirant also promised he would mobilise his supporters to back Obaseki’s candidacy.

WITH the September 19 contest between Obaseki and Ize-Iyamu almost certain, the crisis of who chairs the APC took a fresh twist, yesterday, as factional Acting National Chairman Mr. Victor Giadom faulted his purported suspension by the Rivers State chapter of the party.

Fielding questions from reporters at the APC national secretariat in Abuja, he described his replacement by Mr. Worgu Boms as new Deputy National Secretary as illegal.

He argued: “You cannot smuggle somebody into the National Working Committee (NWC) without an election. Anybody who wants to be a member of the NWC should present himself for a democratically conducted election. It is laughable and cannot work.”

https://meenatnigeria.com/ize-iyamu-gets-edo-apc-ticket-taunts-obaseki-to-return-to-party/

Sergio Aguero's knee injury suffered against Burnley "doesn't look good" according to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.

Aguero was substituted just before half time after feeling pain in his knee during Manchester City's 5-0 win over Burnley.

The Argentine forward lasted just short of 45 minutes on his first start since the Premier League restarted.

Aguero played the final 10 minutes of the match against Arsenal last Wednesday after struggling with the problem during training before the season restarted.

Guardiola said: "It doesn't look good, something in the knee, we will see tomorrow (Tuesday) in a better way what he has. He was struggling in the last month about pain in his knee, we will see.




Asked whether he was worried Aguero would miss the rest of the season, Guardiola answered: "Tomorrow we will see.

"I am not a doctor, but it doesn't look good."

Manchester City are still competing on two fronts away from the Premier League. They will be hoping to add the FA Cup and the Champions League to the League Cup they won in March.

The games are coming thick and fast for City who go to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in the Premier League on Thursday before a trip to Newcastle in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.

City's Champions League last-16 second leg against Real Madrid will take place on August 7 or 8.


https://meenatnigeria.com/sergio-aguero-pep-guardiola-says-manchester-city-forwards-knee-injury-doesnt-look-good/

Doctors’ union says it ended the strike to give the government time to fulfil the outstanding demands.

Nigerian doctors in state-run hospitals have called off a week-long strike over welfare and inadequate protective equipment as new coronavirus cases spike in the country.

The strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), which represents some 40 percent of Nigeria’s doctors, began last Monday but had exempted medics treating coronavirus patients.

The group’s directors decided to suspend the strike action from Monday, June 22, by 08:00am local time (07:00 GMT), the association said in a statement.

NARD said the decision, which followed the intervention by state governors and others, was to give the government time to fulfil the outstanding demands.

The organisation had called the strike over a range of issues, including the “grossly inadequate” provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) and calls for hazard pay for those working close to the virus.

Other demands focused on improving general welfare and protesting dismissals or pay cuts for doctors in two regions.

Strikes by medics are common in Nigeria, where the health sector has been underfunded for years.

The authorities fear that any reduction in capacity could severely hamper its ability to tackle the pandemic as the number of cases continues to rise.

The main nationwide doctors union briefly staged a warning strike in commercial hub Lagos over police harassment of its members.

According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation of 200 million inhabitants, has recorded 19,808 COVID-19 cases and 506 related deaths since the first case of the virus was reported in February.

More than 800 healthcare workers have been infected by the virus, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

https://meenatnigeria.com/nigerian-doctors-call-off-strike-over-lack-of-ppe/

The 56-year-old former forward had been hospitalised last week in Baghdad before his condition deteriorated on Sunday.


Iraqi football legend Ahmed Radhi has died as a result of complications after he was diagnosed with COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, the Iraqi health ministry has said.

Radhi, 56, had been hospitalised last week in Baghdad after testing positive for the virus but had checked out on Thursday after his condition improved.

He relapsed a few hours later and was readmitted to the hospital. He died early on Sunday.

Iraqis joined a funeral procession to honour the former footballer in the Iraqi capital on Sunday morning.

In video footage released on local media outlets, dozens of men were seen gathered around an ambulance, chanting “There is no God but Allah” in Arabic. Others were seen weeping in sadness as they walked alongside the vehicle shortly before his body was laid to rest.

https://meenatnigeria.com/iraqi-football-legend-ahmad-radhi-dies-after-battling-covid-19/