Lagos Commissioner of Police Hakeem Odumosu has stated Nollywood actor Olanrewaju Omiyinka aka Baba Ijesha, who was arrested for allegedly molesting a minor, will be kept in custody till when judiciary workers resume their strike.
The Commissioner stated this while addressing Nollywood actor Yomi Fabiyi, who staged a protest on Wednesday at Panti, the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department.
Fabiyi had led protesters to the station, demanding the release of his colleague, Baba Ijesha over the continuous detention, which he described as “illegal.”
The police commissioner disclosed that Baba Ijesha has been held in custody based on legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions in the state Ministry of Justice and after a prima facie case had been established against him.
He also revealed that Baba Ijesha’s continuous detention will be reviewed if the JUSUN strike continues indefinitely.
Nigerians have expressed displeasure over the exclusion of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti, who was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for 2021.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had published 16 nominees for its 2021 class of inductees and on the list is the Afro beat originator, who many believed had been eligible for some time and is finally being recognised for the honour.
Being the only African, Kuti was nominated alongside 15 other international artistes or bands comprising Mary J. Blige, Kate Bush, Devo, Foo Fighters, The Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Chaka Khan, Carole King, LL Cool J, New York Dolls, Rage, Against The Machine, Todd Rundgren, Tina Turner and Dionne Warwick.
This is the first time Fela is being nominated to the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But an announcement by the organisers on Wednesday showed Fela had missed out as an inductee of the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame despite placing second in the fan vote category which creates a single official ballot.
Turner had led the fan vote with more than 585,000 ballots cast in her favor, beating Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti — who secured the runner-up position with more than 545,000 votes.
Jay-Z, the Foo Fighters, The Go-Go’s, Carole King, Todd Rundgren and Tina Turner were announced as the newest inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, according to the organiser.
Speaking of the new inductees, John Skyes, the Chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said: “This diverse class of talented Inductees reflects the Rock Hall’s ongoing commitment to honor artists whose music created the sound of youth culture. It will make for an unforgettable live celebration of music in October at this year’s Induction Ceremony in Cleveland.”
Also, LL Cool J, Billy Preston and Randy Rhoads will get musical excellence awards; Clarence Avant the Ahmet Ertegun award; and Kraftwerk, Gil Scott Heron and Charley Patton get early influence awards.
Ballots were sent to an international voting body of more than 1,200 artists, including current living Inductees, historians, and members of the music industry.
Some of the factors considered were an artist’s musical influence on other artists, length and depth of career and the body of work, innovation, and superiority in style and technique.
Historically, there’s no correlation between Fan Vote selection and subsequent inductions.
Last year, only one of the five Fan Vote acts actually got inducted (the Doobie Brothers), even though Dave Matthews tallied the most.
Up until then, every single Fan Vote champion had been inducted the same year they won.
Prominent Nigerians, including Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, Davido, Don Jazzy, Burna Boy, Banky W, Japheth Omojuwa, Omoyele Sowore, and Funke Kuti had taken to Twitter to call on their fans to vote for the Afrobeat pioneer.
But many Nigerians have taken to social media to express their displeasure with the organisers for not finding Fela Kuti worthy of induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for 2021 despite his exploits as Afrobeat legend.
Genevieve Nnaji will join the cast of the audio adaptation of FELA!, Fela Ten Twenty, written and directed by filmmaker Funa Maduka, to premiere on Clubhouse, May 15 and May 16.
Proceeds from the show will support GEANCO, whose work provides full-tuition, healthcare, and social and psychological support to young female survivors of terrorism and gender inequality in Nigeria and across the continent.
“The contemporary issues highlighted in the script are what sold me. This is an artful retelling of Fela’s story and I’m honoured to be a part of it. I grew up on radio plays and the experience is nostalgic for me – the power of voice to influence minds and touch hearts is undeniable,” says award-winning actor, writer and director, Genevieve Nnaji.
Genevieve Nnaji is a Nigerian actress, producer, and director. She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005. In 2011, she was honoured as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic by the Nigerian government for her contributions to Nollywood. Her directorial debut film, Lionheart, was Nigeria’s first submission to the Oscars.
Paris is expected to reopen catwalks in July as the French government unwinds lockdown measures, allowing live fashions shows to resume.
According to a statement from the body in charge of the French fashion industry, Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, The annual Haute Couture Week will take place from July 5 to July 8 and fashion houses will be allowed to organise live shows and presentations.
No major live fashion shows have been held in Paris since September 2020 when brands including Dior and Chanel had organised a few shows with a limited number of guest to make a live audience.
In the past months, fashion brands have gotten creative, presenting their new lines in online-only shows and have experimented with other ways to showcase their designs such as short films and one-on-one presentations.
It is estimated that usually, Paris’s multiple fashion weeks generate some 1.2 billion euros (S$1.93 billion) for the local economy every year.
A nine pieces parure of sapphires and diamonds, from a collection owned by Napoleon?s adopted daughter Stephanie de Beauharnais, is displayed 200 years after the Emperor's death during a preview at Christie?s before their May 12 auction sale, in Geneva, Switzerland, May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
An imperial jewellery sale including a set of sapphire and diamond pieces fetched nearly $3 million at an auction at Christie’s in Geneva on Wednesday.
The pieces are said to have belonged to Napoleon’s adoptive daughter which increased its value and demand as sale of objects directly linked to the French emperor is rare.
Nine items from the collection of Stephanie de Beauharnais’ jewelry which were displayed 200 years after the Emperor’s death at a preview at Christie’s, including a sapphire crown which previously belonged to Queen Maria II of Portugal. Bids on the imperial consignment far outweighed pre-sale estimates.
The 9 items were sold individually and included a necklace and tiara adorned with sapphires from mines in what was then known as Ceylon, now Sri Lanka.
The Italian competition authority announced that it has fine Google the sum of 102 million Euros ($123 million) for abuse of its dominant position, using its Android mobile operating system and its app store, Google Play.
The regulator said Google refused JuicePass, an electric vehicle services app from Enel X, from operating on Android Auto unfairly limiting its use while favouring Google Maps. The app allows the use of other apps while driving.
Enel X is the e-solutions division of Italian utility company Enel and JuicePass mainly allows users to find charging stations on maps and view their details. Google has not been allowing the app on Android Auto for the past two years, which could compromise Enel X’s ability to build a user base, the watchdog said.
In addition to the fine, the Italian competition authority said it had requested that Google make JuicePass available on Android Auto.
With Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Juventus in dooubt, Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar has admitted that he ‘wants to play with the Portuguese forward before the end of his career.
The Brazil international has taken to the pitch alongside some of the game’s all-time greats, and is currently spearheading Les Parisiens’ attack with fellow forward and starlet Kylian Mbappe.
But one footballer remains who he wishes to partner before his time on the big stage comes to a close.
Speaking to GQ France, Neymar confessed that he wishes to ‘play with Ronaldo’, in a statement which has only fuelled rumours of the 36-year-old’s potential departure from Juventus at the end of the season.
“I want to play with Cristiano Ronaldo,” he said. “I’ve already played with great players like Messi and [Kylian] Mbappe, but I haven’t played with Cristiano Ronaldo yet.”
Hamas militants have launched dozens of rockets at Israel after Israeli air strikes killed senior commanders and felled a multi-storey building in Gaza.
Reports say several locations in southern Israel were hit, killing a young child in Sderot.
The escalation of the fighting, which began on Monday, has prompted the UN to warn of a “full-scale war”.
At least 65 people in Gaza, including 14 children, and seven people in Israel have been killed since then.
The fighting erupted after weeks of rising Israeli-Palestinian tension in East Jerusalem which culminated in clashes at a holy site revered by Muslims and Jews.\
Further violence in towns in Israel with mixed Jewish and Arab populations has led to 374 more people being arrested on Wednesday evening, Israeli police said, and 36 officers being injured.
There were reports in Israeli media of both Jewish and Arab individuals being attacked by mobs in Israeli towns and cities. They include a Jewish man who suffered injuries at the hands of Arabs in the city of Acre, and an Arab man who was reportedly injured in Bat Yam.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking late on Wednesday night, said what had been happening in Israeli cities in recent days was “unbearable”.
“We will not accept anarchy,” he said.
“Nothing can justify an Arab mob assaulting Jews, and nothing can justify a Jewish mob assaulting Arabs,” he said in a video statement, as reported by the Times of Israel.
image captionViolent clashes continued in the town of Lod on Wednesday evening
Palestinian militants have been firing rockets into Israel since Monday night, and Israel has responded by hitting targets in the territory.
Hundreds of air strikes and rocket attacks have been carried out.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says that more than 360 people have been injured there since the conflict began, as well as the 65 who have died.
Mr Netanyahu said the government would use all its strength to protect Israel from enemies on the outside and rioters on the inside.
Militants in Gaza said they had fired 130 rockets into Israel in response to an Israeli aid raid which destroyed the al-Sharouk tower in Gaza City.
The tower, which is the third tall building to be destroyed by air strikes this week, housed al-Aqsa TV, the station run by Hamas.
image captionThis woman and child were evacuated from a building in Gaza
Israel said it had killed senior Hamas officials in Gaza, and was also targeting missile launching sites. Hamas confirmed a senior commander and “other leaders” had died.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Wednesday that their strikes on Gaza were the largest since the conflict in 2014.
Residents had been warned to evacuate the buildings before fighter jets attacked; however health officials said there were still civilian deaths.
Five members of one family were killed in an air strike on Tuesday, including two young brothers, according to AFP news agency.
“We were laughing and having fun when suddenly they began to bomb us. Everything around us caught fire,” their 14-year-old cousin, Ibrahim, said, breaking down in tears as he described their death.
Meanwhile millions of Israelis were in bomb shelters on Wednesday evening, according to the IDF, after sirens warning of rockets sounded across the country.
The child killed in the Israeli town of Sderot was named as Ido Avigal, aged six, who was caught in an attack on a block of flats.
Anna Ahronheim, the defence and security correspondent of the Jerusalem Post, described spending Tuesday night in a shelter with her five-month-old baby.
“To hear hundreds of interceptions and even to hear rockets fall near us was horrifying,” she told the BBC.
image captionIsrael’s Iron Dome anti-missile system – seen here over Ashkelon – aims to protect towns and cities from rockets
On Wednesday morning an Israeli soldier was killed by an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza into Israel, authorities said, while two Israeli Arabs died in Lod when a rocket hit their car.
How has the world responded?
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said he was “gravely concerned” by the ongoing violence. The UN Security Council has met to discuss the issue, but has not issued a statement.
In a phone call to Mr Netanyahu, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Hamas rocket attacks but said Israel had an obligation to avoid civilian casualties.
He said he had sent an envoy to the region to meet both sides.
Russia has called for an urgent meeting of the Middle East Quartet (the US, EU, UN and Russia).
A Russian foreign ministry statement quoted a Hamas spokesman as saying the movement was ready for a ceasefire if Israel stopped “violent acts” in East Jerusalem and “illegal measures in respect of its native Arab residents”.
What has caused the violence?
The fighting between Israel and Hamas was triggered by days of escalating clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at a holy hilltop compound in East Jerusalem.
The site is revered by both Muslims, who call it the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), and Jews, for whom it is known as the Temple Mount. Hamas demanded Israel remove police from there and the nearby predominantly Arab district of Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families face eviction by Jewish settlers. Hamas launched rockets when its ultimatum went unheeded.
Palestinian anger had already been stoked by weeks of rising tension in East Jerusalem, inflamed by a series of confrontations with police since the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in mid-April.
It was further fuelled by the threatened eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem by Jewish settlers and Israel’s annual celebration of its capture of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, known as Jerusalem Day.
The fate of the city, with its deep religious and national significance to both sides, lies at the heart of the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict. Israel in effect annexed East Jerusalem in 1980 and considers the entire city its capital, though this is not recognised by the vast majority of other countries.
Palestinians claim the eastern half of Jerusalem as the capital of a hoped-for state of their own.
Yannick Carrasco put Atletico ahead when he collected Marcos Llorente’s ball over the top of the Sociedad defence and finished past Alex Remiro.
Angel Correa doubled the hosts’ lead with a first-time finish following Luis Suarez’s excellent through ball.
Igor Zubeldia scored late on for Sociedad but Atletico held on to win.
Atletico will win the Spanish title for the 11th time in their history if they win both their last two matches.
They play at home against 11th-placed Osasuna on Sunday, 16 May before ending the campaign a week later away at a Real Valladolid side that are 18th and in the relegation zone.
Martin Griffiths, the UN envoy struggling to end the bloody war in Yemen, was named Wednesday to be the global body’s humanitarian chief.
UN Yemen envoy named humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths, the UN envoy struggling to end the bloody war in Yemen, was named Wednesday to be the global body’s humanitarian chief.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ appointment of Griffiths as under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs keeps the prominent post in the hands of a British diplomat, succeeding Mark Lowcock.
Similarly, two other top positions, under-secretary-general for political affairs and under-secretary-general for peacekeeping, have stayed respectively with diplomats from the United States and France despite a 1992 General Assembly resolution that opposed the “monopoly” of the major powers in key jobs.
Griffiths, 69, has earned the appreciation of Security Council nations for persevering even in the most dire situations, including in the Yemen post that he assumed in 2018.
The United Nations has described Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian situation, with 80 percent of the population relying on assistance as Saudi Arabia carries out a devastating campaign aimed at rooting out Huthi rebels who control much of the country.
Griffiths — like his predecessor as envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania — failed to stop the conflict and suffered a rupture of relations with the Huthis, who are tied to Iran.
The United States last week denounced the Huthis for refusing to meet Griffiths as President Joe Biden’s administration steps up diplomacy to end the war.
“A mediator cannot force the parties to negotiate,” Griffiths told a Security Council meeting on Wednesday as he deplored the “relentless military escalation” by the Huthis as they try to take the last northern government stronghold of Marib.
It was not immediately clear who would take on the UN job on Yemen.
Lowcock, the outgoing under-secretary-general, earlier this year said he wanted to step down and rejoin his family in Britain.
Griffiths has long worked in humanitarian roles at the United Nations, including coordinating efforts in the Great Lakes region of Africa in the 1990s.
He also served as an adviser to former secretary general Kofi Annan during his bid to end Syria’s civil war and, before the Yemen job, led the European Institute of Peace in Brussels.
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