Billy Porter confirms his role in Cinderella remake, fresh crisis over minimum wage negotiations, Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei breaks women’s marathon record. Stay in the know with our Rave News Digest which summarizes five of the hottest global news you need to catch up on, saving you time and energy. Consider it your daily news fix.
Here is a rundown of five of the hottest news topics…
1. Minimum wage: Labour, government talk tough, fresh crisis over negotiation
The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum on Sunday strongly disagreed over specific salary adjustments being sought by workers on the new National Minimum Wage. The NLC, in a letter to its state councils, said there was no going back on its demand for the consequential adjustment of salaries as a result of the new minimum.
The congress, therefore, directed its state councils to prepare for a nationwide strike starting from October 16, 2019. But the Chairman of the NGF, Dr Kayode Fayemi, said any strike by labour would be an exercise in futility as the country could not meet the specific demands of the organised labour on consequential adjustments of salaries.
After the first phase of negotiations collapsed due to percentage differences between the two parties, the Federal Government negotiating team and the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council will meet again on Tuesday (tomorrow). The JNPSNC is representing labour unions in the negotiation for the implementation of the new minimum wage.
2. Typhoon Hagibis kills many as it batters Japan, troops deployed
Japan has sent tens of thousands of troops and rescue workers to save stranded residents and fight floods caused by one of the worst typhoons to hit the country in recent history. Typhoon Hagibis – which means “speed” in the Philippine language, Tagalog – was the most powerful typhoon to hit Japan in six decades.
It paralysed the capital, Tokyo, and surrounding areas, causing rivers to overflow and leaving almost half a million homes without power, public broadcaster NHK reported on Sunday. Japan’s Kyodo News agency said 33 people died and 19 were missing.
Rescue efforts were in full force, with troops, boats and helicopters deployed to the flooded areas, as rescue crew dug through dirt in other areas to try to get people out from homes buried by landslides.
Hagibis made landfall on the main Japanese island of Honshu around 7pm (10:00 GMT) on Saturday, with wind gusts of up to 216 kilometres per hour (134 miles per hour). A magnitude 5.7 earthquake shook Tokyo shortly after.
By Sunday morning, the significantly weakened storm had moved back off land and was expected to head out to sea in the evening after churning its way along the northern island of Hokkaido.
But serious flooding was reported in central Japan’s Nagano, where a burst levee sent water from the Chikuma River gushing into residential neighbourhoods, flooding homes up to the second floor on Sunday.
3. Billy Porter confirms he’s starring in the live-action Cinderella film
Billy Porter officially confirmed he’ll be playing a role in the Cinderella remake on Saturday evening at the New Yorker Festival. He’ll be playing the iconic fairy godmother role in James Corden’s musical live-action remake of Cinderella.
“I have a couple movies that I’m working on,” he shared on the New Yorker’s Instagram Stories. “I’m gonna be playing the fairy godmother in the new Cinderella movie with Camila Cabello.“
Billy Porter will join the ‘Shameless’ singer, who will make her acting debut as Cinderella herself. Plus, the 22-year-old star is expected to create the upcoming film’s music, with the help of Corden (of course). As of now, Billy Porter and Camila Cabello are the only two actors attached to the Disney remake of Cinderella, which is described as a “modern re-imagining of the classic fairytale.“
Additionally, Kay Cannon (Blockers director) will have a hand in the project, along with Corden’s production company partner at Fulwell73, Leo Pearlman.
4. Sudan to begin peace talks with rebel groups
A delegation led by Mohamed Hamdan “Hemeti” Dagolo, a senior member of Sudan’s ruling Transitional Sovereign Council, is in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, for talks with rebel groups operating in Sudan. The talks will open today after South Sudan President Salva Kiir invited both sides.
The talks between the transitional government and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front are aimed at convincing rebel groups that have been fighting the government army in the Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Darfur regions to join the Sudanese political process.
Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan will attend the opening session of the talks along with the leaders of Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, according to a South Sudanese official. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has also been invited to the talks.
5. Brigid Kosgei breaks Paula Radcliffe’s women’s marathon record
Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei eclipsed the 16-year-old women’s marathon world record held by Britain’s Paula Radcliffe as she retained her Chicago title. The 25-year-old recorded a time of two hours 14 minutes 04 seconds, easily inside Radcliffe’s mark of 2:15:25 set at the London Marathon in 2003.
It adds to the Kenyan’s win in London this year when she clocked 2:18:20 and became the youngest winner of the race. Ethiopa’s Ababel Yeshaneh was second in Chicago, six minutes 47 seconds behind. Only 22 runners in the men’s race finished faster than Kosgei, whose time would have been a men’s world record in 1964.
The Kenyan, who won last year in 2:18:35, admitted: “I am feeling good and happy because I was not expecting to run like this.” Radcliffe’s 2003 time was the longest-standing marathon world record by either men or women in the post-war era.
Cover photo credit: Instagram – theebillyporter
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