Scientists have developed a urine test that could indicate the first signs of lung cancer.

The researchers from the University of Cambridge and Early Cancer Institute said the goal was to find a test that is a cheaper alternative to scans.

The study was funded by Cancer Research UK. The group examined proteins excreted by senescent cells into the lungs.

Senescent cells are often called “zombie cells” because though alive in the body, they are unable to grow and divide.

The cells reprogramme their immediate environment to help promote the emergence of cancer cells.

The scientists developed an injectable sensor that interacts with the zombie cell proteins and releases an easily detectable compound into urine.

The method has been successfully tested on mice and there is optimism that it could be used on humans soon.

Ljiljana Fruk, one of the scientists, said his team set out to develop a urine test that could help doctors identify signs of the early stages of cancer — potentially months or even years before noticeable symptoms appear.

“We know that before cancer emerges there are changes in the affected tissues,” he said.

“One of the changes is the accumulation of damaged cells that are not damaged enough to be removed, but enough to release signals that reprogramme the tissue and make it perfect for cancer development.

“Once in urine, this part of the probe is too small to be detected, but it can be made visible by adding a bit of silver solution to it — the same silver compound used in photography in the early days of analogue photos.

“By monitoring the colour of urine after the injection of the probe, we can say if cells are present in lungs that would indicate the early signs of pathological changes that might lead to cancer.”

Atsi Kefas, the sister of Agbu Kefas, the governor of Taraba state, has reportedly been shot by a police escort during an attack by gunmen on Thursday.

According to Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, Jumai, the governor’s mother and Atsi were driving along Kente road in Wukari LGA of Taraba state when they were attacked.

The publication stated that a police officer assigned to escort the family “accidentally shot Atsi” while attempting to fend off the assailants. 

Following the attack, troops rescued the victims and evacuated both Jumai and Atsi Kefas from the scene with the use of an air ambulance. 

The injured sister was rushed to the hospital for treatment and her condition remains undisclosed at the time of this report.

The vehicle used by the gunmen was recovered by the security force including an empty magazine and luggage of the passengers were found in the vehicle.

David Adeleke, the world-famous, Grammy-nominated Nigerian singer, who is widely known as Davido, has shared in an interview with The Morning Hustle, an American music podcast, how his father's influence turned what he initially thought was a one-time act into his annual orphanage donations.

The musician said that following a random tweet where he posted his account on his birthday, fans sent him close to $400,000 which his father encouraged him to donate.

He said: "I do it every year, I've done it for like 3 years now. On My birthday two years ago I tweeted my account number randomly on twitter, like yoo it's My birthday, send me money. And then my fans ended up sending me up to like $400,000, it was a big story.

"So I'm thinking,like what should I do, then My Pops called me like, you know you can't keep that money right.

"Then we decided to just give it all away, to a course, which was the motherless babies ,so we did that the first year, we did that the second year back to back.”

Ada Egede, a Nigerian lady, has gone online to make a serious complaint.

The woman has expressed great sadness after 25 men were ordained Catholic priests.

According to her, husbands have become scarce as more men are taking interest in becoming priests. She advised women in relationships to hold on to their men.

“25 men taken by the Holy Catholic Church yesterday as priests.

"And we no see husband marry. Ladies husband no day again oo.

"Hold your man well ohh. Good night,” she wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has acknowledged that Nigeria's justice system is deeply plagued by corruption.

The commission’s chairman, Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, made the remark on Thursday while speaking at the 2024 Annual Lecture/Award Ceremony, organised by the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria, CRAN.

Aliyu opined that corruption remains one of the most persistent challenges affecting all sectors and institutions of Nigerian society.

He stressed that the trend undermines policy decision-making in the country.

According to Aliyu, the Justice System Administration faces institutional, funding, infrastructural, human resources, and socio-cultural challenges.

He added that, “The widespread corruption within the justice system, including bribery, influence peddling and attitudinal challenges are more fundamental and daunting.

“I dare say that the justice sector remains a focal point of concern, particularly regarding bribery involving stakeholders in the justice sector, and despite limited public contact, judicial officials exhibit relatively high bribery prevalence, hence the need for targeted anti-corruption measures in this sector.”

Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, has reiterated the Senate's dedication to progressing legislative work on the contentious tax reform bills, highlighting their significance for Nigeria's development.

Presiding over the plenary on Thursday, Akpabio explained that the committee led by Senator Abba Moro, established to interface with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) on the contentious aspects of the bills, is part of the Senate’s internal mechanisms.

“We are elected to work for the interest of Nigerians,” Akpabio said, adding, “Once a bill passes a second reading in the Senate, it is alive. It is then up to the committee on finance to begin consultations and hold public hearings.”

Earlier, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central) clarified that the Senate had not suspended deliberations on the tax reform bills, countering media reports purporting that the Deputy Senate President Barau I. Jibrin’s announced indefinite suspension of action on the bills during Wednesday’s plenary.

On Wednesday, Senator Barau, who presided over the session, was reported to have said that the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), will put on hold further action on the bills.

 He had also announced the formation of a special committee led by Senator Moro to engage with the AGF on the concerns raised.

However, Bamidele, invoking Senate Rule 42 on Thursday, asked: “Where was it stated that we have suspended our proceedings on the tax reform bills? This Senate did not suspend and does not intend to suspend, deliberations on the tax reform bills.

“These bills are executive bills and can only be withdrawn by the President. There is no basis for their withdrawal, and the Senate Committee on Finance is actively working to meet its six-week deadline, including conducting a public hearing. The bills remain very much alive.”

Efforts to confirm whether the scheduled meeting between the Senate committee and the AGF took place were unsuccessful. Calls to Senator Moro, other committee members, and the AGF’s office went unanswered at the time of filing this report.

South-South senators back tax reform bills

In a related development, 16 senators from the South-South region have pledged their support for the proposed tax reform bills. Following a meeting on Wednesday, the caucus, in a communiqué signed by Senator Seriake Dickson (Chairman) and Senator Jarigbe A. Jarigbe (Secretary), emphasised their commitment to fostering legislative initiatives that ensure the country’s peace, prosperity, and progress.

The communiqué stated, “Recognising the importance of tax reforms in enhancing national revenue and fostering economic stability, we resolved to support the tax reform bills. This support will be based on a comprehensive study and thorough evaluation of the bills to ensure they align with the overall interest of Nigerians, particularly the well-being of the South-South region.”

The caucus also urged restraint from individuals attempting to inject regional, ethnic, or tribal sentiments into the national dialogue and expressed readiness to participate in robust consultations and interactions initiated by the Senate.

The PH Refinery ships its first export of petroleum products to Dubai.

The company is expected to load the cargo in the coming days onboard the Wonder Star MR1 ship, signalling the commencement of operations at the plant and the exportation of petroleum products.

The ship will load 15,000 metric tons of the product, which translates to about 13.6 million litres.

Although the volume coming from the NNPC into the global market is still small, the development has the potential to impact the Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) benchmarks in the future while changing the market realities for Atlantic Basin exporters into Nigeria and other regions.

The sulfur content of the export by NNPC stands at 0.26 per cent per wt and a 0.918 g/ml density at 15°C, according to Kpler, a data and analysis company.

The cargo was reportedly sold at an $8.50/t discount to the NWE 0.5 per cent benchmark on a Free on Board (FOB) basis.

Kpler reported that the development would help displace imports from traditional suppliers in Africa and Europe, as Nigeria’s falling clean product (CPP) imports are already decreasing, dragging imports into the wider West Africa region lower as well.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has given marching order to Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) to ensure return of Peugeot Automobile and Dunlop tyre to the country as Nigeria joins nations with credit facility for the purchase of brand new automobiles.

Managing Director/ CEO of CREDICORP Engr. Uzoma Nwagba, confirmed Tinubu’s directive to his agency yesterday at the launch and signing of Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU) for N20 billion consumer credit fund for the purchase of locally assembled automobiles in Abuja between CREDICORP, NAMA and NADDC.

Nwagba said he had gone to brief the President on progress of the agency, with reference to N20 billion credit fund for purchase of locally assembled automobiles by Nigerians.

“The President told me: I want to see Peugeot, Dunlop and others come back to the country,” he quoted the president saying. He said CREDICORP was creating a scenario obtained in advanced countries where, people get car automobiles at a single – digit interest rate. CREDICORP for auto purchase will commence in January 2025.

Nwagba said his agency will engage automobile plants in the country working with the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), the Nigerian Automotive Manufacturers Association (NAMA) to drive down prices of vehicles at an affordable cost for Nigerians.

“We are trying to make the financing more available and more easily accessible. Meaning in terms of the rates also, to enable Nigerians have cheaper credits.

We work with financial institutions, and for this particular intervention, we are looking at going over time, targeting a single-digit rate to enable Nigerians to purchase these vehicles.

For people who have very strong credits, and who show a good credit history, the financial institutions are taking a bet and a confidence in them for those who are accessing our capital that we are providing, as well as those who are accessing our guarantees.

“We know that interest rates are quite high and is one of the discouraging factors and that is the economic reality of Nigeria; one that obviously makes it more difficult to access credit for mobility, is the high interest rates that we have now.

But given the mandate of Mr. President and his passion for enabling people to get cheaper credit to be able to access these life-enhancing goods, we are targeting lending on a single-digit interest rate. “But for now, you can see that our credit, enabling the banks and microfinance banks are the cheapest in the country.

So, it continues to go down as much as people show good credit history. And the fund that we are launching today is just a start. It’s a start to show a commitment to this industry. “It’s a start to show the commitment of the President.

And it’s a start to actually catalyse credits and allow people to access, get out of transport poverty. Transport poverty is a thing in Nigeria, where a lot of people, especially people in the cities, what you call the urban poor or urban middle class, struggle with access to good transportation,” he said.

The naira has seen steady appreciation since the Eurobond sales and the introduction of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) on Monday.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria showed that the naira on Wednesday appreciated to N1,608/$1 at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM). This is from N1625/$1 on Tuesday and N1660 on Monday.

Analysts have projected that this appreciation will likely remain till early next year.

A source who wants to be anonymous said that the gains the naira has witnessed stem from the transparency in the foreign exchange market due to the EFEMS, boosting confidence in the market.

“This transparency has shown that the banks had more liquidity (dollar supply) before the launch of the platforms,” the source said.

On Monday the CBN kick-started the EFEMS, an electronic platform introduced to tackle speculation and improve transparency in Nigeria’s FX market. It automatically matches buy and sell orders, promoting fairness and efficiency in FX trading. Financial experts have expressed optimism about EFEMS’ potential to address persistent challenges affecting the naira and Nigeria’s FX reserves.

The EFEMS system allows authorised dealers, including commercial banks, to place buy and sell orders in real-time. Transactions are automatically matched based on predetermined rules, ensuring swift execution and real-time visibility for market participants and regulators.

Similarly, Gbolohan Ologunro, portfolio manager at FBNQuest said that the country has seen more dollar inflows as Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have been quite active in the foreign exchange market and that’s because the yield on one-year bills has made it more attractive for them to hold more naira assets.

At the last three primary treasury bills auctions, yields have been at record highs, peaking at 30.71 percent, before dropping to 29.75 percent yesterday.

On Wednesday the one-year NT-bills saw the largest bid this year of about N2.53 trillion.

Uduak Jacob, portfolio manager at Comercio Partner Asset Management also mentioned that FPIs have been flooding the market with dollars.

“FPIs have been flooding the market with dollars, in anticipation of an OMO auction. Some even participated in the NTB auction yesterday,” Uduak said.

Yields at recent OMO auctions are at a record high of 32 percent.

Ologunro mentioned that alongside yields which have attracted foreign investors, the newly introduced EFEMS platform has boosted confidence in the FX market.

“If the platform continues to function efficiently and the yields continue to remain at current levels till next year, FPIs will continue to have faith in the naira and will continue to hold naira assets and this will increase dollar inflows,”.

[b]“These inflows will be sustained by the sales from the Eurobond into the system by January which will likely drive reserves to $45 billion, and continue the naira’s appreciation to February,”[/b]Ologunro said

Nigeria revisited the international bond market on Monday and sold $2.2 billion worth of Eurobonds across two tranches after being oversubscribed to the tune of $9.1 billion.

The Federal Government sold $700 million worth of the 6.5-year Eurobond maturing in 2031 at a coupon rate of 9.625 percent and $1.5 billion of the 10-year tenure at 10.375 percent.

Analysts at CSL stockbrokers said in a recent report that on the positive side, the proceeds from the Eurobond issuance, expected to flow into Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves by December 9, 2024, are projected to boost the reserves to over $42 billion by year-end.

“This increase could provide the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with greater capacity to support the naira in the near to medium term, potentially leading to a modest appreciation of the domestic currency,” the report stated.

The Muslim community has been thrown into mourning following the death of a renowned Islamic cleric, Alhaji Muyideen Bello.

His passing was announced by another prominent Islamic scholar, Alfa Aribidesi of At-Tawdeeh Islamic Da’awah, on Friday morning.

Born in 1940 in Ibadan, Alhaji Bello was widely respected for his profound teachings and unwavering dedication to Islamic scholarship.

Corroborating the news of the demise, popular cleric and follower of the late Bello, who is also an Islamic singer, Alhaji Basit Olarenwaju, popularly known as Aponle Anabi, also shared the image of the 84-year-old scholar with tearful emojis on his official Facebook page on Friday.

Multiple reports from local media in Oyo State have also reported the demise of the revered cleric.