#HEADLINES

= President Goodluck Jonathan has congratulated Oba Rilwan Babatunde Akiolu 1 of Lagos as he turns 70 tomorrow.

= Over 2,000 workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria have embarked on a protest over the delay in payment of the termination pay benefits to about 55% of the workforce. The workers who staged the protest at the Eko and Ikeja Electricity Distribution Companies threatened to commence indefinite strike on Nov. 1.

= The University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan’s branch of National Association of Resident Doctors has advised its members to continue their strike in spite of the directive of the national body.

= Contrary to earlier reports, the family of the former Chief of General Staff, Admiral Mike Akhigbe, has debunked a news story published purporting that Akhigbe had died in the United Kingdom yesterday. Reports say the former military vice-president is critically ill in the United States of America but not dead.

= Officials say about 35 migrants have died of thirst in Niger as they tried to cross the Sahara Desert on their way to Europe.

= Three Egyptian policemen have been shot dead in an attack on a checkpoint in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, officials have said.

= UN chemical weapons team have finished phase one of their Syria inspections but two sites have not been visited due to security fears. 

= UEFA president Michel Platini believes FIFA should consider expanding the World Cup to 40 teams in the coming years, with greater representation from outside of Europe the key focus.

= Yaya Toure has had a meeting with the FIFA’s anti-racism chief to discuss events in Russia last week when he was allegedly racially abused by some CSKA Moscow supporters.   

= Physician Conrad Murray who was sentenced to four years in jail for the involuntary manslaughter of Micheal Jackson in June 2009 has been released after spending less than two years behind bars because of good behaviour.