NATIONAL NEWS

ASUP SUSPENDS STRIKE

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) who has been on strike over a year ago has suspended the strike and academic activities to start by Tuesday, 15 July.

The ASUP president said the suspension of strike is only for three months and this period has been set to allow the new Education Minister, Ibrahim Shekarau to consider the lecturers’ demands. He said “it is not based on any offer but for the system and our students. The suspension is only for three months to give the new minister time as requested for” he said.

IPMAN URGES NIGERIANS ON PRIVATISATION OF REFINERIES             

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Saturday urged Nigerians to support FG on privatisation of refineries.

Mr Ajayi, the new Chairman of IPMAN, Ejigbo satellite branch said this during an interview. He further said privatising the refineries would address the incessant scarcity of petroleum products. “Privatising the refineries will serve the country better in the export of refined petroleum products”

NUT THREATENED NATION WIDE STRIKE

The national leadership of the National Union of Teachers threatens to embark on strike if minimum wage is not paid to teachers across the unity schools and the 27.5% teachers’ peculiar allowance by the federal government.

Speaking to newsmen after the 4-day conference of the union held in Uyo, the re-elected national president, Comrade Michael AlogbaOlukoya said, “After this conference we are meeting with the leaders of this unity schools that if 27.5% is not paid there will be strike in all the Federal Government unity schools. Enough is enough, our grievance is running out”

FG COMMITTED TO WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

The minister of women affairs and social development, Zainab Maina, has reiterated the commitment of the federal government to the economic empowerment in the country.

She said in her office when she received the executive members of Quintessential Business Women and the Association of non-bank micro finance institution of Nigeria that “my dream is to see that Nigerian women become economically and politically independent to enable them contribute meaningfully to national development endeavours”.

NIGERIANS TO PAY ACCESS FEES TO VIEW TELEVISION CONTENT

The Minister for information, Labaran Maku, made it known at the opening of the Extra Ordinary meeting of the National Council of Information in Abuja last week that the planned content access fee which would be paid by Nigerians seeking access television contents was undergoing final adjustments which he hoped would get the approval of the Federal Executive Council.

He said, “For a long time radio licence has not been collected and in other countries public broadcast are run on fees collected from broadcast fees”

NIGERIA DONATES US $500,000 TO FIGHT EBOLA VIRUS

The president of the federal republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan has announced that Nigeria will be donating US $500, 000 to fellow West African country to fight against the deadly Ebola Virus.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

CHINA ARRESTS TV ANCHOR IN CORRUPTION PROBE

RuiChenggang, a business journalist on state-owned CCTV was arrested shortly after shortly after a night broadcast

RuiChenggang, a popular host of financial news programmes on the state-owned broadcaster CCTV, was taken from his studio on Friday, the ruling Communist Party’s newspaper, the People’s Daily, said on its Twitter account on Saturday night. The network’s vice-director of financial news, Li Yong, was also taken into custody.

The arrest came a little more than a month after officials announced an investigation into suspected bribery by his boss, CCTV’s advertising director and director-general of its finance and economics channel, GuoZhenxi.

SOUTH AFRICA METAL WORKERS ‘TO INTENSIFY’ STRIKE

South Africa’s engineering and metal workers union has rejected a 10 percent pay-raise offer from employers, calling on its 220,000 striking members in the sector to intensify strike action.

Irvin Jim, general secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers in South Africa (NUMSA), the country’s biggest trade union, said the workers would continue with indefinite strike action.

“We are making a very clear statement that the strike continues and we call on our members to intensify the strike,” Jim said.

BOKO HARAM VOICES SUPPORT FOR ISLAMIC STATE’S BAGHDADI, AL-QAEDA

Boko haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, has voiced support for the extremist sunni Islamic state (IS).

The militant group, which has taken over large swathes of Iraq and Syria, in a new video seen released on Sunday from where he list his boss name.

HARRY POTTER ACTOR DAVID LEGENO FOUND DEAD IN CALIFORNIA AGED 50

Harry Potter actor Dave Legeno has died while hiking in Death Valley.

The 50-year-old British actor played the werewolf Fenrir Grey back in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows parts 1 and 2.

His remains were found by two unrelated hikers early Sunday morning “in a remote wash” near Death Valley’s famed Zabriskie Point, according to a statement Friday from the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department.

IRAQ PARLIAMENT DEFERS VOTE ON NEW

GOVERNMENT

Acting parliament speaker ends brief session due to disagreement on nominees and absence of Kurdish delegation.

Iraq’s deadlocked parliament has ended its second session without making any progress towards forming a new unity government that can confront armed rebels who have seized control of a huge part of the country.

Deputies had gathered in parliament on Sunday for talks intended to agree on a prime minister, president and speaker of parliament, three months after Iraq’s parliamentary election.

The meeting only lasted for 30 minutes before it was adjourned.