World Record: President Buhari Hails Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan

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July 25, 2022

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed heartfelt congratulations to Tobi Amusan for winning the women’s 100m hurdles gold for Nigeria at the World Athletics Championship 2022, setting a new world record in the semifinals of the athletic event and becoming the first Nigerian to win a World Championship.

In a message, the President joined millions of Nigerians in celebrating the outstanding feat by a compatriot and two-time African Games champion, who in one night stunned the athletics world with her superlative and stellar performance.

The President thanked the track superstar for making the Nigerian national anthem resonate again from the international podium, leaving the nation with the excitement and unforgettable memories of tears of joy and triumph; hope and victory; astonishment and belief.

President Buhari says the legendary career and achievements of the golden girl will continue to inspire the upcoming generations of Nigerian athletes to achieve spectacular success.

The President also commends Ese Brume for representing Nigeria with honour and pride, winning silver medal in the Women’s long jump event.

He lauds Team Nigeria for displaying courage, integrity and good sportsmanship at the world stage, proving that with hard work and determination, success is achievable.

France Energy: Air-Conditioned Shops To Shut Doors To Cut Waste

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Angel Gimalo

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July 25, 2022

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Shops in France will be ordered to close doors when using air conditioning and limit neon lighting in a bid to cut energy waste, a minister has said.

These rules, already in place in some areas, will be rolled out across France, says Minister of Ecological Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher.

Energy costs in Europe have spiralled since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Shops will be fined up to €750 (£640) for breaking the air-conditioning rule.

The ban on neon signs is already in force in areas with a population under 800,000. Airports and stations are exempt.

Shell has warned energy rationing cannot be ruled out in the EU, as the region struggles to cope with disruption to gas supplies from Russia.

France continues to experience extreme hot weather, increasing demand for air conditioning.

World Record: Usain Bolt congratulates Tobi Amusan

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Henry Williams

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July 25, 2022

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World fastest man, Usain Bolt has congratulated Nigeria’s track and field star, Tobi Amusan on her world record-breaking win at the World Athletic Championship in Oregon.

The retired Jamaican sprinter congratulated Amusan via Twitter on Monday.
ThisNigeria reported that Amusan broke the world record at the 100m women’s hurdle to become Nigeria’s first ever gold medalist at the ongoing world Athletics Championship, Eugene, Oregon on Sunday.

Amusan initially broke the world record in the semifinals finishing at 12.12 seconds, before finally finishing with at 12.06 seconds wind assisted win.

The athlete won Nigeria’s first ever gold medal in the championship with this win, and a cash price of one hundred thousand ($100,000) US dollars.

ASUU strike: Blackout looms as electricity workers join NLC solidarity protest

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Henry Williams

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July 25, 2022

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Electricity workers, under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), say they will join the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in its solidarity protest over the lingering Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike.

NLC had directed workers to embark on a nationwide protest on July 26 and 27 in solidarity with the strike by ASUU.

Aviation workers, insurance and financial institution employees, and others have also promised to join the industrial action.

Joe Ajaero, general secretary, NUEE, in a letter dated July 22, directed all its members to participate in the protest over the prolonged closure of tertiary institutions.

Following the union’s decision, Nigeria may witness another round of blackouts beginning on Tuesday.

Last week, the country’s electricity grid collapsed — for the seventh time in 2022 — affecting businesses and livelihoods.

Wild Monkey Rampages: Japanese Police Turning To Tranquiliser Guns To Stem Tide

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Angel Gimalo

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July 25, 2022

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Authorities are still figuring out if one rogue animal or a gang of perpetrators are behind wild monkeys attacks.

In recent weeks, 42 people have been reported injured in Yamaguchi city – including children and the elderly.

The attacks are being blamed on Japanese macaques.

However, while they are a common sight in large parts of the country, incidents like these are unusual.

“It’s rare to see this many attacks in a short period of time,” said one city official, declining to give their name. “Initially only children and women were attacked. Recently elderly people and adult men have been targeted too.”

Attempts to capture the animals with traps ended in failure and police patrols implemented since the first attack in early July have failed to deter the culprits.

Authorities are also unsure if the assaults are the work of a single rogue monkey or several.

Injuries have varied, with local media reporting victims have received anything from scratches, bitten legs and hands, to bitten necks and stomachs.

Children under five more at risk of drowning – WHO

By

Cleopatra Okohai

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July 25, 2022

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The World Health Organisation has urged parents to do more to ensure water safety, warning that children under the age of five are at most risk of drowning.

The WHO disclosed this in a statement released on Monday in commemoration of World Drowning Prevention Day.

The world’s health body noted that drowning is one of the leading causes of death globally for children and young people between the ages of one to 24.

WHO also noted that drowning is the third leading cause of injury-related deaths overall, noting that it claims more than 236,000 lives each year.

WHO said, “This year, the theme of World Drowning Prevention Day invites the global community to “do one thing” to prevent drowning.

“Examples of actions that can be taken are as follows: Individuals can share drowning prevention and water safety advice with their families, friends, and colleagues; sign up for swimming or water safety lessons, or support local drowning prevention charities and groups.

“Groups can also host public events to share water safety information, launch water safety campaigns, or commit to developing or delivering new drowning prevention programmes using recommended best practice interventions.

“Governments can develop or announce new drowning prevention policies, strategies, legislation or investment, convene multisectoral roundtables or parliamentary discussions on drowning burden and solutions, and introduce or commit to supporting drowning prevention programming domestically or internationally.”

WHO also said more than 90 per cent of deaths from drowning occur in low- and middle-income countries.

These deaths, WHO said, are from daily routine activities, like bathing, collecting water for domestic use, travelling over water on boats or ferries, and fishing.

Speaking, the WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus said the deaths that occur from drowning are preventable through evidence-based, low-cost solutions.

To mitigate the tragedy, WHO recommends six evidence-based measures to prevent drowning which include installing barriers controlling access to water; training bystanders in safe rescue and resuscitation; teaching school-aged children basic swimming and water safety skills; providing supervised daycare for children; setting and enforcing safe boating, shipping and ferry regulations; and improving flood risk management.

World Championships: Nigeria’s Relay Team Breaks 30-Year-Old African Record

By

Emenike Agu

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July 25, 2022

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The African Record in the women’s 4x100m event has finally been broken after three decades.

The record was broken by the quartet of Joy Udo-Gabriel, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Grace Nwokocha who ran the race of their lives early Sunday morning in the final of the women’s 4x100m event at the ongoing World Championship in Oregon.

They posted a time of 42.22s to break the long-standing 42.39s National/African Record set by their compatriots, Christy Opara-Thompson, Faith Idehen, Beatrice Utondu and Mary Onyali, at the Barcelona 92 Olympics where Nigeria ended with a bronze medal.

Udo-Gabriel, whose inclusion in the team was questioned by some critics, shut her critics up for the umpteenth time with a well-executed first leg race before handing over to Ofili who sustained the momentum.

Then it was the turn of Chukwuma for the third leg and she did well before handing over to Nwokocha who finished off brilliantly.

Unfortunately, despite their record-breaking race, the Nigerian ladies still did not make it to the podium as they finished fourth behind the United States who won with a fast time of 41.14s.

Jamaica and Germany finished second and third respectively.

Sunday was the first time in 11 years that the Nigeria women’s relay team participated in the final of the World Championships.

Lucky entry

Incidentally, Nigeria had originally lost out on competing in the women’s relay events in Oregon before they literally sneaked in.

New doping infractions established against Blessing Okagbare knocked Nigeria off the last qualification spot they were occupying on the eve of the closure for qualifying entries for Oregon.

Okagbare and three others ran a time of 42.97s at the Yabatech Sports Complex, Lagos and that had kept them in the last qualification spot up until the unfortunate development.

However, one of the sixteen teams that had qualified ahead of Nigeria, France, eventually pulled out to make a way for Nigeria to not just come on board but to set a new African record.

Even though the medal did not come in Oregon, the relatively young Nigerian women’s relay team would be hoping to get it right at the Commonwealth Games starting this week in Birmingham and subsequent global meets; especially at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Once Upon A Time – July 25 – 1943 – Benito Mussolini Dismissed As Italian Premier, Arrested On Authority Of King Victor Emmanuel III

By

Angel Gimalo

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July 25, 2022

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306 Constantine I is proclaimed Roman Emperor by his troops

1814 English engineer George Stephenson introduces his first steam locomotive, a travelling engine designed for hauling coal on the Killingworth wagonway named Blücher

1943 Benito Mussolini dismissed as Italian Premier and arrested on the authority of King Victor Emmanuel III

1944 World War II: Operation Spring – one of Canada’s bloodiest days, 18,444 casualties and 5,021 killed

1997 Scientists announce the first human stem cells to be cultured in a laboratory using tissue taken from aborted human embryos

HISTORICAL EVENTS TODAY

TODAY IN FILM & TV

1946 Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team at 500 Club in Atlantic City, New Jersey

TODAY IN MUSIC

1965 Bob Dylan is booed by sections of the crowd at the Newport Folk Festival for performing with an electric guitar, beginning of folk-rock

TODAY IN SPORT

1999 86th Tour de France: Lance Armstrong wins 1st of 7 consecutive Tour de France titles but is later disqualified for drug cheating

MORE FACTS…

1908 Ajinomoto Co. is founded. Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers a key ingredient in Konbu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), patents a process for manufacturing it.

FAMOUS WEDDINGS

1554 Mary I of England (37) marries Prince Philip of Spain (27) (later Philip II) at Winchester Cathedral, England

1814 Inventor Charles Babbage (21) weds Georgina Whitmore at St. Michael’s Church in Devon, England

1839 British PM William Gladstone (29) weds Catherine Glynne (27) in England

WAFCON 2022: NFF Congratulates Joint-Top Scorer Ajibade

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Emenike Agu

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July 25, 2022

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General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Mohammed Sanusi, has congratulated Super Falcons’ forward Rasheedat Ajibade for emerging joint top-scorer of the just-concluded Women’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco.

While qualifying for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the Falcons failed to retain the title they won in Ghana in 2019 to claim their 10th WAFCON title.

Their misery was compounded after losing to Zambia in their bid to win a consolatory bronze medal without key players such as Ajibade, Halimatu Ayinde and captain Onome Ebi.

Despite missing out on the third-place defeat against Zambia after being shown a straight red card in the semi-final clash against Morocco, the Atletico Madrid star ended the 12th edition of WAFCON with three goals, the same number of goals as Moroccan captain Ghizlane Chebbak and South Africa’s Hilda Magaia.

Sanusi however congratulated Ajibade following her feat in Morocco.

“We rejoice with Rahseedat Ajibade for her emergence as joint top-scorer of the tournament and we implore her to continue to show even more prolificity and commitment in the jerseys of club and country,” Sanusi said.

“Her three goals surely helped the Super Falcons to win a World Cup ticket. Our team would certainly have been in the Final if not for the incident that led to her expulsion in the semi-final match against the host nation.

Usain Bolt Congratulates Amusan For Breaking World Record

By

Emenike Agu

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July 25, 2022

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The world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, has congratulated Nigerian athletic star, Tobi Amusan, on her performance in the ongoing World Athletic championship.

Amusan became the first Nigerian athlete to win a gold medal in the World Athletics Championship when she stormed to victory in the women’s 100m hurdles in Oregon on Sunday within 12.06 seconds.

Amusan had earlier broken the world record in the semi-finals, where she clocked 12.12sec.

Quoting a tweet confirming Tobi’s win at the semis by the World Athletics official page, Bolt lauded the champion.

“Congrats,” he tweeted with emoticons of the Nigerian flag and applauses.

After her performance in the finals, the Jamaican athlete also wrote, “Superb #Tobi.”