African Beach Games: Nigeria Finishes Fifth In Tunisia

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July 2, 2023

Team Nigeria emerged as the 5th overall placed team at the 2nd African Beach Games, which ended on Saturday in Hammamet, Tunisia

The Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC), Tony Nezianya, noted this commendable achievement represents a significant improvement from the previous edition of the games in Cape Verde, where Nigeria finished seventh on the medals table with only one gold medal.

This time, the Nigerian contingent demonstrated their sporting prowess across a range of disciplines, amassing 12 medals, comprising six gold, three silver, and three bronze.

The achievements spanned various sports, highlighting Nigeria’s athletes’ versatility and capability.

Team Nigeria hit the ground running in Tunisia, where Oluwadamilola Oyedepo and Kayode Samuel delivered the country’s first gold medal in the Badminton Mixed Doubles event.

Sunday Chibuzo and Simeon Akinsola also delivered gold for Nigeria in the Men’s Triple event.

In the enthralling sport of Tecqball, Nigeria continued to shine, earning gold and two silver medals, dazzling spectators with their exceptional technique and agility.

The Wrestling events proved to be another highlight for Nigeria, as the country’s wrestlers emerged as true champions, claiming two gold medals and showcasing exceptional skill, technique, and determination.

These remarkable achievements, among others, highlight Nigeria’s commitment to sporting excellence and bring immense pride to the nation.

Habu Gumel, President of the NOC, extended his heartfelt congratulations to the Nigerian athletes for their outstanding performance.

He promised to ensure the good outing recorded in Tunisia will serve as a tonic to inspire and ignite a passion for beach sports and sports generally within the Nigerian population.

FIBA Zone 3 Afrocan Qualifier: D’Tigers Bounces Back With Big Win Over Benin Republic

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Emenike Agu

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July 2, 2023

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The Nigerian men never looked back from then, winning the third and fourth quarters 19-11 and 17-13, respectively.

Nigeria’s home-based national men’s basketball team on Saturday roared to an impressive 78-51 victory over Benin Republic at the ongoing FIBA Zone 3 AfroCan qualifier.

Coming off a narrow loss against Guinea the previous day, Nigeria entered the game played at the Palais de Sports in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, determined to bounce back and secure a crucial win.

Though the home-based D’Tigers started slowly losing the first quarter 15-10, they came out smoking in the second quarter and emphatically won 32-12.

The Nigerian men never looked back from then, winning the third and fourth quarters 19-11 and 17-13, respectively.

The team showcased great skill, teamwork, and unwavering determination, leaving no room for doubt about their dominance on the court.

Top performers

Leading the way for Nigeria was Victor Eze, who displayed an exceptional performance, amassing an impressive 21 points.

Eze’s scoring prowess proved crucial in Nigeria’s triumph, as he consistently found ways to penetrate Benin’s defence and convert opportunities into points.

The team captain, Ibeabuchi Agu, also made a significant impact, contributing 13 points to the scoreboard and providing crucial leadership throughout the match.

Victor Anthony Koko stood out with his impressive shot drops for Nigeria, displaying excellent accuracy and precision. Koko’s ability to find his range and convert opportunities added an extra dimension to Nigeria’s offensive firepower.

Next stop

With this victory, Nigeria has set its sights on the next challenge—a decisive matchup against the host country, Cote D’Ivoire.

The outcome of this crucial game will determine which team represents FIBA Africa Zone 3 at the upcoming FIBA AfroCan finals in Angola, scheduled to take place from 8 to 16, July 2023.

Head coach of Nigeria, Ogo Odaudu, said after the game he was happy with Saturday’s win and equally positive about a good outcome on Sunday

He said: “It was good for us today. We played a lot better than we did yesterday (Friday). Yesterday’s loss was painful. It’s a game we should have won.

“The players are getting better by the day. You can see that we played better than yesterday.

“We will work on the team to win the game against Cote D’Ivoire.”

U.S Rejoins UNESCO After Quitting 2018

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 1, 2023

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The United States on Friday rejoined UNESCO, which it had quit during the Trump administration, despite opposition from Russia and China.

Former president Donald Trump announced in 2017 that he was pulling the United States out of UNESCO, accusing the body of bias against Israel. The decision took effect in 2018.

An extraordinary session of the UN body’s General Assembly on Friday voted overwhelmingly for the return of the United States. A total of 132 members voted in favour, 10 against while 15 abstained.

“It is so important for us to rejoin, to be part of this very very important multilateral organisation,” Denise Bauer, the US ambassador to France told AFP.

“We are just incredibly grateful for the leadership that was shown by key members,” she added.

Dissenting voices included Iran, Syria, China, North Korea and Russia, whose delegates appeared to be trying to delay the vote through several statements on procedure and amendments.

The United States, a founding member of UNESCO, was a major contributor to its budget until 2011, when the body admitted Palestine as a member state.

That triggered an end to the contributions under US law, leading up to the formal withdrawal announcement six years later.

Audrey Azoulay, a former French culture minister who has headed UNESCO since 2017, made it a priority of her term to bring the US back.

“This is a great day for UNESCO and for multilateralism,” Azoulay said on Friday.

“Thanks to the momentum it has recovered these past years, our organisation is again moving towards universalism with the return of the United States,” she said.

Several member states also expressed satisfaction with the result. Until the suspension of its contributions in 2011 — the US paid about 22 percent of UNESCO’s budget, or $75 million.

But the U.S Congress, then fully controlled by the Democratic Party of current President Joe Biden, in December paved the way for the United States to restore funding, setting aside $150 million in the budget.

U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in March that the U.S absence from UNESCO was letting China write rules on artificial intelligence.

“I very much believe we should be back in UNESCO — again, not as a gift to UNESCO, but because things that are happening at UNESCO actually matter,” Blinken told a Senate committee when he presented the budget.

“They are working on rules, norms and standards for artificial intelligence. We want to be there,” he said.

What Tinubu discussed with Guinea-Bissau President- Alake

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 1, 2023

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Dele Alake, the Special Adviser, Special Duties, Communications and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu has revealed details of the president’s meeting with his Guinea-Bissau counterpart, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, earlier today.

Alake made the disclosure while addressing newsmen after the visit, which he described as a strictly private one.

According to him, the meeting was a cordial one between two African Presidents who are more like brothers.

He added that President Embalo pledged his readiness to cooperate with Nigeria and President Bola Tinubu at all times.

He said, “It was a meeting between two African brother presidents, and it was very cordial. Of course, the visiting president appreciated the steps taken by President Bola Tinubu within the last one month.

“He said he is ready to cooperate with Nigeria and President Tinubu at all times, just as the rest of the world has commended him over his recent policies.

“They also spoke of the ECOWAS head of government meeting, which is imminently coming up, and also spoke on other areas of cooperation,” he said.

The meeting was attended by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos and Alake, among others.

Cook-a-thon: Lady Seeks to Break Hilda Baci’s Record

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 1, 2023

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Adeola Adeyeye has begun a 150-hour cook-a-thon in an attempt to break Hilda Baci’s Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon of 93 hours and 11 minutes.

Her cook-a-thon began on Friday, June 30, 2023, in Ondo State.

It is scheduled to end on Thursday, July 6, 2023.

Baci who only recently got her plaque from the Guinness World Record had earlier been challenged by Adeparusi Damilola from Ekiti State.

Hilda Baci Receives Guinness World Record Plaque

Damilola cooked for 120 hours, although she didn’t notify Guinness World Record before embarking on the journey.

However, Chef Dami had also announced her decision to also cook for 150 hours but nothing official yet.

Twitter Limits Users to Number of Tweets to Read Per Day

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 1, 2023

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Micro-blogging platform, Twitter has restricted different kind of users to the number of tweets they can read in a day.

Owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, in a tweet on Saturday, said the move was to address extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation.

He said Twitter would temporarily limit verified accounts owners to reading 6,000 posts per day, while unverified accounts would be limited to reading 600 posts day.

Twitter To Cancel Inactive Accounts

Data scraping refers to a process that sees information pulled out of a website and imported into another programme. Musk did not give further details, or explain what was meant by system manipulation in this context.

Musk later added that the reading limits would “soon” rise to 800 tweets per day for unverified accounts, 400 for new unverified accounts and 8,000 for verified accounts.

On Friday, those trying to access Twitter were told they had to login to view the content. The move was a “temporary emergency measure”, Mr Musk said at the time.

He claimed that the social media platform was “getting data pillaged so much that it was degrading service for normal users”.

Market Demolition: Lagos to Set Up Joint Working Committee

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 1, 2023

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The Lagos State Government will be setting up a joint working committee to resolve issues surrounding the recent demolition of some buildings in the Alaba International Market area and some other markets in Lagos.

The committee is to help clear some of the misunderstandings surrounding the demolition exercise. Members of the joint committee, the state government said, will include market leaders.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu made this known while speaking after a meeting with Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ben Kalu, and some Igbo market leaders in Lagos on Friday.

Recall that some individuals have accused the Lagos government of targeting a certain section of the country in the recent demolition of some structures at the Alaba International Market.

Debunking the accusation, Sanwo-Olu said that some of the misconceptions surrounding the actions of the government have been cleared in the meeting, adding that the committee will go around to verify things.

“We just finished a meeting between myself and the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, and the Deputy Speaker Honourable Kalu and other market leaders of our various Igbo markets in Lagos, some community leaders, and also some state government officials.

“The meeting had gone on successfully, we discussed issues around a common interest, especially issues bordering on the recent demolition around Alaba Market where there has been a lot of wrong information and communication.

“Our conversation here this afternoon has cleared the air. We have seen that indeed there is a need for us to further collaborate. Where wrongs have been expressed we have corrected all of the issues and the views and we have jointly set up a small working committee that will go around, verify, and see things for ourselves and be able to put all of the negative information and media review out correctly,” Sanwo-Olu said.

Sanwo-Olu also appealed to the people to go about their normal business without any fear, adding that the government will always listen to them and allow everybody to do well and run their businesses.

Speaking, Governor Uzodimma thanked Sanwo-Olu for listening to the concerns they raised with him and his proactive action in setting up a committee to immediately look at the issues.

Exploring Kerry Way, Ireland

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Angel Gimalo

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July 1, 2023

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The Kerry Way is a long-distance trail in County Kerry, Ireland. The trail is circular that begins and ends in Killarney, and usually it is completed in nine days.

The trail is located on the Iveragh Peninsula which is the largest of Kerry’s Atlantic peninsulas, extending 60 kilometres into the ocean from the mainland, and it is 32 kilometres across.

The Iveragh contains the Killarney Lakes with their mountainous backgrounds, the most famously picturesque landscapes in Ireland since tourism began in the late eighteen hundreds.

The main mountain group on the peninsula, called the Macgillicuddy Reeks, contains the two highest summits in Ireland, Carrauntoohil at 1038m and Caher at 1001m.

The Kerry Way, at 230km the longest of the Irish Waymarked Trails, is a circular route that circumnavigates the peninsula, and also it is passing through fine Kerry towns such as Glenbeigh, Caherciveen, Waterville, Sneem and Kenmare.

The Kerry Way was first proposed in 1982 and developed by members of the Laune Mountaineering Club and the Kerry association of An Taisce, under the chairmanship of Seán Ó Súilleabháin.

Ó Súilleabháin was inspired by a history lecture he had attended given by Father John Hayes on the subject of old roads and paths in the southwest of Ireland.

Realizing that “there was a spider’s web-like network of roads and paths that could be combined to form a route around Kerry”, he began devising the trail that would become the Kerry Way.

The first section starting from Killarney to Glenbeigh, was opened by Tánaiste Dick Spring in 1985. It was the second long-distance trail to be opened in the Republic of Ireland, after the Wicklow Way.

The full route was completed in 1989 and opened by Frank Fahey, T. D., Minister of State for Youth and Sport.

The trail was constructed by workers on FÁS social employment schemes at a cost of IEP £60,000 and involved the provision of over 200 stiles and six footbridges as well as way-markers.

As one of the most used paths in the Republic of Ireland, the Kerry Way path represents a serious test for anyone who is setting out to walk that long distance and definitely is embarking on a serious test of physical endurance, but in the same time real pleasure for the sore eyes.

Once Upon A Time – July 1 – 1867 – Dominion Of Canada Is Formed

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Angel Gimalo

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July 1, 2023

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1689 Matsuo Basho, zen poet, leaves for 150 days journey on Honshu, Japan

1858 The joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace’s papers on evolution to the Linnean Society

1863 Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Lee’s northward advance halted

1867 The Dominion of Canada is formed, comprising the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario & Quebec, with John A. Macdonald serving as the first Prime Minister

1916 First day of the Battle of the Somme: the British Army suffers its worst day, losing 19,240 men (WWI)

1921 The Communist Party of China is founded and Chen Duxiu elected its leader

1997 United Kingdom returns Hong Kong and the New Territories to the People’s Republic of China

Historical Events Today Events in 2023

Today in Film & TV

1941 Bulova Watch Co pays $9 for 1st ever network TV commercial

Today in Music

One of the most famous album covers in music history, The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band, designed by artists Peter Blake and Jann HaworthSgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

1967 The Beatles’ album “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” goes #1 in the United States, where it would stay for 15 weeks

Today in Sport

1998 NBA commences a player lockout after no agreement with players about salary issues – lasts 204 days with the season shortened by 50 games

1908 “SOS” (· · · – – – · · ·) distress signal becomes the worldwide standard for help

1st of 4 fatal Jersey Shore shark attacks occur at Beach Haven when 1916 Charles Vansant (25) bled to death, challenging previous scientific belief that sharks never hurt humans, and sparking popular fear over sharks which persists today

Famous Weddings

1900 Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (36) weds countess Sophie Chotek (32) in Reichstadt, Bohemia

1902 British admiral John Jellicoe (42) weds Gwendoline Cayzer at Holy Trinity in London

1916 Dwight Eisenhower marries Mary `Mamie’ Geneva Doud in Denver, Colorado

The Battle of the Somme, which began on this day, left one man dead every five seconds. It was one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history – July 1, 1916

PDP criticizes Alia’s first month in office says it’s the worst since 1999

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Mana Balagbogbo

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July 1, 2023

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State claims that Governor Hyacinth Alia had the poorest start to any state administration since democracy was restored in the nation in 1999. The party made this observation in a statement made available to the media in Makurdi and signed by the state publicity secretary, Bemgba Iortyom.

According to the PDP, the governor’s accomplishments were not particularly noteworthy when compared to those of his three predecessors, George Akume, Gabriel Suswam, and Samuel Ortom, who all took office around the same time period.

“To Governor Alia’s credit so far, has been a half-hearted attempt at payment of wages to workers, which however, excluded the entire local government workers, staff of the Benue State University (BSU), primary school teachers and staff under Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), as well as secondary school teachers and staff under the Teaching Service Board (TSB).

“What this means is that roughly about 70 per cent of the workforce of the state went unpaid from the governor’s much hyped gesture, which is even unclear from which source he funded the exercise that has since been dismissed as a mere popularity stunt.”

However, the party asked the governor to rise to the occasion, face reality, speak less, and act more for the sake of the state. The party faulted the governor’s lack of administrative exposure and political experience prior to his coming to power.