Gist of The Hour Blog

Women across Switzerland have begun a day of demonstrations against what they say is the country's unacceptably slow pace to equality. Friday's protest comes 28 years after similar action saw half a million women take to the streets in 1991. Swiss women have long campaigned to accelerate the pace of gender equality. They joined millions of other women in Europe after World War One ended in 1918 in demanding the right to vote - but did not get it until 1971. At the time of the 1991 strike, there were no women in the Swiss government, and there was no statutory maternity leave. Appenzell, the last Swiss canton to refuse women the right to vote, had just been ordered to change its policy by Switzerland's Supreme Court.

Regime and Russian air strikes and shelling killed at least 28 people including seven civilians in embattled northwest Syria, a war monitor said Friday, despite a ceasefire announced by Moscow. The civilians were killed in regime air strikes and shelling on the south of Idlib province and the north of Hama province Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Russian and regime air strikes also killed 21 jihadist and Islamist fighters in the same region the same day, the Britain-based monitor added.

In this file photo, same sex couples wait to get married prior to a group marriage of forty same sex couples in Sao Paulo, Brazil. | Photo Credit: AP The court’s judges have said the ruling was to address an omission that had left the LGBT community legally unprotected. Brazil’s Supreme Court officially made homophobia and transphobia crimes similar to racism on Thursday, with the final justices casting their votes, in a ruling that comes amid fears that the country’s far-right administration is seeking to roll back LGBT social gains. Six of the Supreme Federal Tribunal’s 11 judges had already voted in favor of the measure in late May, giving the ruling a majority. The final justices voted Thursday for a tally of eight votes for and three against. Racism was made a crime in Brazil in 1989 with prison sentences of up to five years. The court’s judges ruled that homophobia should be framed within the racism law until the country’s Congress approves legislation

Julian Assange is serving a 50-week prison sentence for violating British bail conditions in 2012 LONDON:  A British judge on Friday scheduled a full extradition hearing to begin in February next year for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is wanted in the United States on espionage charges. Assange is accused of violating its Espionage Act by releasing a trove of classified military and diplomatic files in 2010 about US bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, in a case that has upset defenders of press freedoms and human rights. In his first court appearance since being sensationally dragged out of the Ecuadoran embassy in London in April, Assange told the court: "175 years of my life is effectively at stake." Speaking via video-link from the top-security Belmarsh prison in southeast London, and sporting a scraggly white beard, he added: "WikiLeaks is nothing but a publisher." Washington submitted a formal extradition request to Brit

Nollywood actress, Regina Daniels, 20, who for the first time today acknowledged her marriage to 59-year-old billionaire politician, Ned Nwoko, has taken to her Instagram page to flaunt her love for him. She took to her Instagram Story to share a cute photo of her husband and gushed over it with love emojis. Earlier today, the former child actress who is said to be the 6th wife of Ned, who is a Muslim confirmed the marriage during a question and answer session on her Youtube page. She swapped a ring to her wedding ring finger and said she is marred when asked about her relationship status.

An uncompleted two storey building, still under construction, in the Marine Quarters axis of Warri collapsed. Although there was no casualty as there was nobody within the walls of the building as at the time of the incident at about 1:00pm, the collapsing structure left impacts on two nearby living quarters.  According to sources who were seen at the scene of the incident, laborers working on the building had suspended works in the meantime as a result of the rains, which had been more constant in the last few days. While those living around the area were seen thanking God that no life was lost, a welder working on the site was also captured evacuating his welding machine and other equipment.  It was gathered that the owner of the collapsed building was out of town. A neighbor in the area informed that he (the owner of the building) had refused to engage other professional hands for the construction, saying “he’s both the engineer and the laborer” 

A Nigerian scientist has revealed some of the shocking discoveries made during an unscheduled visit members of the Nigerian Food Sciences and Technology Institute paid to some markets in the Utako and Garki area in Abuja on Wednesday June 12th. From traders mixing vegetable oil with transformer oil to fry Akara, to some traders using Sniper to keep flies away from dried fish; some of the discoveries are quite shocking. Continue to read her tweets

The Oyo State Police Command have arrested two suspected fraudsters, Taiwo Salami (39) and Kamorudeen Amusat (63), who hypnotised a sales girl and collected the N1.4 million her boss sent her to deposit in a bank. They raped her multiple times after hypnotizing her and then collected the money found on her. Parading the suspects before newsmen yesterday Thursday June 13th, the state Commissioner of Police, Shina Olukolu, said the victim (names withheld), was sent by her boss on May 6th at about 11:30 a.m. to deposit N1.4 million at a bank in Dugbe area of the city. “On her way, she was accosted by one of the suspects, Taiwo Salami, who hypnotised her, and having lost her senses, she was taken to an abandoned house at Inalende area of the city, where the cash was collected from her, while the suspects also inflicted several injuries on her. On May 8th, the victim’s family members reported her disappearance at the divisional police headquarters at Mokola. She was late

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it does not have the server where the PDP claim results of the presidential election were uploaded. The electoral commission is reacting to the request of Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who had asked the tribunal to compel INEC to allow them inspect smart card readers and the server.  The opposition party and its candidate are challenging the declaration of President Buhari as winner of the presidential election that held in February. At the tribunal on Thursday, Yunus Usman, counsel to INEC, said the party was asking something they did not have.  “They are asking us to bring something we do not have,” the lawyer said. Usman asked the tribunal to strike out the application. Also, counsels of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Buhari asked the tribunal to strike out the application of the PDP. They argued that they could not prove the e

A UNILAG student received a pleasant surprise from someone crushing on her and it sent her fellow hostel mates into a frenzy. The student was in her hostel - Moremi hall - when she received a gift from the crush trying to get her attention. There were flowers and chocolates in the package she received. There was also a box which resembled a shoe box. When she opened it, expecting to see a shoe, she saw a bouquet. "Another flower again?" someone asked from the background. But to their shock, they discovered it was a bouquet of Dollars with chocolates nestled between each Dollar note. According to the Twitter user who shared the video online, the Dollar notes amount to 540K Watch the video below. Tolupopspops @tolupops So yesterday a guy sent a bouqeout of dollars to his crush at Moremi hall,Unilag just to get her attention Love is sweet when money enters,love is sweeter 924 08:02 - 13 Jun 2

 Ekiti State former governor Ayodele Fayose's reacted to yesterday's declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari that the National Stadium will now be known as the MKO Abiola stadium in honor of the late politician who is the presumed winner of the June 12th 1993 presidential election.

The immediate past governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha, has been sworn in as the senator representing Imo west. He took his allegiance and oath of office this morning Thursday, June 13th. Nelson Ayewoh, clerk to the senate, conducted the swearing-in ceremony after which he was asked to sign the necessary documents.

Kehinde Akerele, the legal director of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority has said its officials have the right to arrest road users who do not use seat belts or are caught making phone calls while driving. In an interview with Lagos Traffic Radio this morning, Akerele also said, 'driving one-way is penalized with forfeiture of vehicle to the State along with other penalties depending on other effects caused by this offence'. See the rest of his statements below...

  The Premier League fixtures for the 2019/20 season have been announced. Kick-offs are 15:00 for Saturdays and Bank Holidays unless stated otherwise. Fixtures are subject to change. Go to the fixtures page for club-by-club fixtures. Friday, 9 August 2019 20:00 Liverpool v Norwich City Saturday, 10 August 2019 12:30 West Ham v Man City AFC Bournemouth v Sheffield United Burnley v Southampton Crystal Palace v Everton Leicester City v Wolves Watford v Brighton 17:30 Spurs v Aston Villa Sunday, 11 August 2019 14:00 Newcastle United v Arsenal 16:30 Man Utd v Chelsea Saturday, 17 August 2019 Arsenal v Burnley Aston Villa v AFC Bournemouth Brighton v West Ham Chelsea v Leicester City Everton v Watford Man City v Spurs Norwich City v Newcastle United Sheffield United v Crystal Palace Southampton v Liverpool Wolves v Man Utd Saturday, 24 August 2019 AFC Bournemouth v Man City Aston Villa v Everton Brighton v Sout