Business owners lament as robbers burgle Lagos shops (Punch)
Residents and business owners in the Offin, Ogunlewe and Bayeku areas of Ikorodu in Lagos State have raised the alarm over alleged repeated robbery incidents in the community.
The business owners who are mostly affected by the trend lamented that it had been ongoing for weeks.
Speaking to PUNCH Metro on Sunday, the victims recounted how their shops were burgled at night and their items carted away in the process. Read more
NYSC member slumps, dies in Kebbi (Vanguard)
A National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, member deployed to Kebbi State, Tayachibiyacha Ebal, has slumped and died at Dakin Gari Orientation Camp.
It was reported that the NYSC member suddenly slumped and was immediately rushed to camp clinic for medical attention.
She was later taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Birnin-Kebbi, for advanced medical attention. Read more
1 dies as truck rams into pedestrian in Lagos (Leadership)
A tragic road accident has claimed the life of a yet-to-be-identified pedestrian at the Iyana Ishasi U-turn inward Mile 2, along the Oshodi-Isolo Expressway in Lagos.
The accident which involved a fully loaded Howo truck without registration details, occurred in the early hours of Tuesday.
LASTMA’s Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Adebayo Taofiq who disclosed this to newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos attributed the cause of the accident to over-speeding. Read more
Tinubu appoints Aisha Garba as UBEC executive secretary (Nation)
In a move aimed at bolstering Nigeria’s education sector, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Aisha Garba, a renowned international development specialist, as the new Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
This was disclosed on Tuesday in a statement issued by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Garba, a Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank, brings over 24 years of experience in advancing educational initiatives across Nigeria, Ghana, Somalia, Kenya, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Read more
Kidnapped victims pay N2.2b ransom in one year – Report (NewTelegraph)
Kidnapped victims have so far paid a total of about N2.2 billion (₦2,231,772,563,507) as ransoms to secure their releases from kidnappers’ den between May 2023 to April 2024, the latest survey of the National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS) on Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) released on Tuesday revealed.
Within the period under review, an estimated 51,887,032 crime incidences were experienced by households nationwide, the report added.
Among households that experienced kidnapping incidents, 65.0 per cent paid a ransom with an average ransom payment of ₦2,670,693. Read more
Borno unveils AI bootcamp to prepare students for jobs (DailyTrust)
Maxzeeton Technology in collaboration with Borno Information Technology Development Agency (BICDA) has begun training of secondary school students in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other digital skills to prepare them for innovations and jobs in the global digital market.
Flagging off the AI Bootcamp training in Maiduguri on Monday, the CEO of Maxzeeton Technology, Abdullahi Usman Abbati, said the training is for three months, and would provide an opportunity to empower participants with knowledge and skills to apply AI to real-world problems.
“You are the stars of this programme. Approach it with curiosity and open minds. Remember, every great innovation started as a simple idea. Your ideas can be the next big thing. Read more
2025 Budget: Government clarifies N13t deficit funding (VON)
The Nigerian government has clarified that the N13 trillion deficit in the proposed N48 trillion 2025 budget will be financed through borrowing.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, made the clarification on Monday while addressing journalists after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.
The Minister outlined the government’s financial plans for the coming year, revealing that the projected revenue for 2025 is estimated at N34.82 trillion, while total expenditure is pegged at N47.96 trillion. Read more
Reps to invite CDS, COAS over alleged unlawful operation of 177 Battalion in Nasarawa (Channels)
The House of Representatives has resolved to invite the Chief of Defense Staff, the Chief of Army staff and the commanding officer of the 177 battalion over an alleged unlawful arrest and detention of a community leader in Nasarawa state.
Honourable Mansur Soro who moved the motion during Tuesday’s plenary, explained that on December 9th 2024, the community leader Bello Badejo was arrested in Maliya town, Nassarawa State by officers of the 177 battalion of the Nigerian Army with no prior invitation or court injunction.
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa; the Chief of Army Staff (CAS), Lt-Gen. Olufemi Oloyede and the Commanding Officer of 177 Battalion had been criticised over the unlawful arrest and detention of Bodejo. Read more
Amanda Seyfried explains truth behind her Wicked “audition’’ (FilmNews)
Amanda Seyfried has opened up about rumours her audition tape for the hit film Wicked leaked.
The 39-year-old Mean Girls icon has won praise in the past for her singing and acting skills in the ABBA musical film Mama Mia! and its sequel Here We Go Again.
Some fans have felt the star missed out on being cast as Glinda Upland in the big-screen adaptation of the stage musical Wicked – which has chart-topping singer Ariana Grande in the role. Read more
Lily Allen admits she has “stopped eating” and is “not in a good place mentally” (NME)
Lily Allen has said that she is “not in a good place mentally” and “stopped eating” at the moment.
The singer and actor opened up about her current battles during a new episode of her Miss Me? podcast, which she hosts alongside close friend Miquita Oliver. During the episode, Allen got candid about her wellbeing, and revealed she has been going through a hard time.
“I’ve been going through a tough time over the last few months and my eating has become an issue,” she began. Read more
Barry Keoghan’s new movie confirms streaming release date (DigitalSpy)
Bird, the new film starring Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski, has gotten its release date on streaming services.
The drama, the newest film from acclaimed director Andrea Arnold, follows 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) as she lives with her single dad Bug (Keoghan) and brother Hunter (Jason Buda) in a squat in North Kent.
Bug doesn’t have much time for his kids, and his negligence drives Bailey wild as she seeks “attention and adventure” from elsewhere, leading to an encounter with the mysterious titular character (Rogowski). Read more
Diane Delano Dies: Northern Exposure, Popular and Wicker Man actor was 67 (Deadline)
Diane Delano, an actor with scores of film and TV credits including Northern Exposure, Popular and The Wicker Man, died December 13 of cancer at her home in Sherman Oaks, CA. She was 67.
The news was confirmed Monday by her friend Stepfanie Kramer.
Delano is best known for playing Barbara Semanski, the tough Alaska state trooper and sometimes love interest of Barry Corbin’s astronaut-turned-entrepreneur Maurice Minnefield on CBS’ Emmy-winning comedy Northern Exposure. She also played Roberta “Bobbi” Glass on Ryan Murphy’s WB Network series Popular, which aired from 1999-2001. Read more
Canada’s deputy PM resigns from cabinet as tensions with Trudeau rise over Trump tariffs (Guardian)
Canada’s deputy prime minister and minister of finance has resigned amid growing tensions with the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, over the looming threat posed by Donald Trump’s “America First” economic nationalism.
Chrystia Freeland stood down on Monday, just hours before she was due to release the country’s first economic plan ahead of the change of administration in Washington.
The move stunned the country, left Trudeau without a key cabinet ally, and raised fresh doubts over the prime minister’s political survival. Political observers were closely reading the resignation letter by Freeland, who has previously served as foreign affairs minister and was once a journalist, and is seen as a ready replacement for Trudeau. Read more
Israel shutters Dublin embassy, accuses Ireland of ‘‘extreme anti-Israel policies’’ (France24)
Israel’s foreign ministry announced on Sunday that it was closing its embassy in Ireland, citing the Dublin government’s “extreme anti-Israeli policies”, further straining tense relations between the two nations.
Diplomatic ties between Ireland and Israel have deteriorated after a series of moves that included Ireland recognising a Palestinian state and backing an International Court of Justice case accusing Israel of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
Ireland has also been among the most outspoken critics of Israel’s response to the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza. Read more
Brittany Snow goes undercover in The Night Agent season 2 photos (EW)
We sure aren’t in D.C. anymore.
Fans last saw The Night Agent star Gabriel Basso’s Peter Sutherland board a plane after his promotion to night agent for saving the president — and now we know where he was headed. Season 2 opens on the other side of the world from his former White House basement office, with Peter on a mission in Bangkok, Thailand, to track a CIA agent suspected of selling classified information.
“Like season 1, this season starts off simple and then grows more complicated and intertwined as the episodes progress,” showrunner Shawn Ryan tells Entertainment Weekly. “Classified information and the people who steal it, sell it, and use it connects all our various storylines.” Read more
WAFU B U17: Chidi’s hat-trick sends Flamingos to semifinals (Leadership)
Scoring sensation Harmony Chidi notched a hat-trick as Nigeria edged Cote d’Ivoire 3-2 in their second match of the WAFU B U17 Girls’ Cup in Accra yesterday to reach the semifinals.
Chidi, who netted 13 of the 25 goals as the Flamingos crushed everything on their path in Africa to the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals in the Dominican Republic this year, took matters into her own hands to ensure Nigeria finished top of group B of the inaugural competition.
Following their 9-0 whiplash of Niger Republic on Thursday, the Flamingos finished the group campaign with the six maximum points, and with 12 goals for and only two against, while Cote d’Ivoire, 5-0 winners over the Nigeriens, came second with three points and seven goals for, three against. The Nigeriens finished without a point, and with no goal, 14 against. Read more
Chelsea’s Mudryk “in shock” at failed drugs test (BBC)
Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk says he is in “complete shock” after testing positive for a banned substance.
The club confirmed on Tuesday that they had been contacted by the Football Association (FA) after an “adverse finding in a routine urine test” provided by the Ukraine international.
Mudryk denies ever knowingly using a banned substance and Chelsea say they will work to establish what caused the failed test. Read more
Real Madrid arrive in Doha for FIFA Club Intercontinental Cup final (GulfTimes)
The delegation of Spanish club Real Madrid, the reigning European champions and the most decorated international club, arrived in Doha to play the final of the FIFA Club Intercontinental Cup Qatar 2024 against Mexican champions Pachuca, scheduled to kick off at the iconic Lusail Stadium, Wednesday, at 8pm.
Italian Carlo Ancelotti is in charge of the European giants, which includes a number of the brightest stars in the world of the beautiful game, including Brazilian Vinicius Junior, Croatian Luka Modric, English Jude Bellingham, German Antonio Rudiger, in addition to French star Kylian Mbappé, who returns to the Lusail World Cup Stadium two years after participating in the historic final of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Read more
Andy Roddick ‘‘doesn’t want to hear about’’ Carlos Alcaraz’s schedule complaints after he played exhibitions (Tennis365)
Andy Roddick has declared he does not want to hear Carlos Alcaraz complain about the schedule after the Spaniard played two exhibitions during the off-season.
Alcaraz is one of the most high-profile and outspoken critics of the length of the tennis season, which has been a major talking point this year.
The four-time Grand Slam champion has addressed the issue multiple times in recent months and joked that the ATP “are going to kill” players. Read more
Stokes not blaming injury on workload as New Zealand thump England (AlJazeera)
England captain Ben Stokes does not think the heavier bowling workload he undertook in the third Test against New Zealand was a contributory factor to the hamstring injury he suffered during the 423-run defeat.
The 33-year-old, who missed four Tests after tearing the same muscle during The Hundred in August, played no further part in the match after suffering the injury on Monday.
“Every time you walk out onto a field as an athlete, you’re putting yourself at risk of getting injury,” Stokes said in Hamilton after England’s loss on Tuesday. “I worked my a** off to get to where I was in this game, in particular, with my body. It’s just Sod’s law that the first time in a while I feel like I’m young again, something happens.” Read more
Schumacher offers sensational Verstappen-Hamilton opinion (RN365)
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher believes Max Verstappen is better than Lewis Hamilton, with the latter being rated as not “exceptionally talented”.
Verstappen secured a fourth F1 drivers’ title to move him level with Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel. Vettel, who claimed all of his titles with Red Bull, is also not regarded as one of the all-time best by Schumacher.
It was a difficult 2024 F1 season for Verstappen despite walking away with another drivers’ championship, due to issues with the RB20 and in the Red Bull camp. Read more