Ex-Eagles star, Etuhu, stands trial in Sweden over match-fixing (Punch)
Former Premier League soccer player Dickson Etuhu goes on trial in a Swedish court on Thursday to face a charge of match-fixing, which he denies. Etuhu played at the 2010 World Cup for Nigeria and had a lengthy career in England for Manchester City, Preston North End, Norwich, Sunderland, Fulham and Blackburn Rovers before moving to play in Sweden….Read more
FMBN disburses N15.7bn home renovation loans (Punch)
The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria has disbursed N15.7bn to 19,169 beneficiaries in Nigeria under its Home Renovation Loan programme. FMBN’s Managing Director, Ahmed Dangiwa, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja while presenting N640m cheques to 640 beneficiaries of the Federal Road Safety Corps under the bank’s home renovation loan scheme….Read more
49-year-old guard hangs self over debt at Ekiti secretariat (Punch)
A 49-year-old night guard with the Ekiti State Scholarship Board, Abolarin Olaoye, has hanged himself on the premises of the board inside the state secretariat complex in Ado-Ekiti. The dangling body of the father of five and native of Igogo Ekiti in Moba Local Government area of the state was discovered on Wednesday morning when workers resumed for work at the state secretariat….Read more
Akwa Ibom Assembly crisis: Senate orders probe, Uyo women protest against CP (Punch)
The Senate on Wednesday directed its Committee on Police Affairs to investigate the alleged invasion of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly by suspected thugs. The committee led by a member of the APC from Zamfara North, Tijjani Kaura, was given 48 hours to present its findings to the upper chamber of the National Assembly. In giving the committee the mandate, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, said the National Assembly should be interested wherever democracy was under threat….Read more
Kogi lawmakers boycott sitting, Senate probes state’s $500m loan (Punch)
Members of the Kogi State House of Assembly are boycotting sittings in protest against the alleged state government’s refusal to pay the backlogs of their salaries and allowances. The House had adjourned plenary session two weeks ago and was expected to resume on Tuesday, but the scheduled session could not hold as many members were seen saying, “no money, no sitting.”….Read more
US life expectancy drops again as drug overdose deaths climb (Punch)
Life expectancy in the United States dropped yet again as drug overdose deaths continued to climb — taking more than 70,000 lives in 2017 — and suicides rose, a US government report said Thursday. The drug overdose rate rose 9.6 percent compared to 2016, while suicides climbed 3.7 percent, said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics. As a result, the average life span in America dropped to “78.6 years, a decrease of 0.1 year from 2016,” said the report….Read more
Army finally release casualty figures of Metele attack (Guardian)
The Nigerian Army has revealed that 23 of its personnel were killed and 31 others wounded when the Boko Haram insurgents overran the military base at Metele in Borno state.This was contained in a statement released by the Army Wednesday night, ten days after the deadly attack. “As at date 23 personnel were killed in action and 31 personnel were wounded in action and have been evacuated to several medical hospitals within Borno State,” Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman said in the statement….Read more
USAID ends $45.3 programme for kids orphaned by AIDS (Guardian)
The United States Agency for International Development, (USAID) has concluded a five-year activity that provided support for 500,000 children orphaned or made vulnerable by the AIDS epidemic, and 125,000 of their caregivers. At a ceremony yesterday in Abuja, USAID disclosed that since 2013, the $45.3 million Sustainable Mechanisms for Improving Livelihoods (SMILE) activity, funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), scaled up support services for orphans and vulnerable children (in 47 local government areas across Benue, Edo, Kogi, and Nassawara states and the Federal Capital Territory….Read more
Yukon bear attack: Mother, baby killed in suspected grizzly encounter (CNN)
The death of a mother and her young baby from a suspected bear attack has shocked locals in Canada’s remote Yukon territory. Valerie Theoret, 37, and her 10-month-old daughter, Adele Roesholt, were found dead Monday by Theoret’s husband, Adele’s father, near Einarson Lake, the Yukon Coroner’s Service said. Gjermund Roesholt was returning home from trapping in the Einarson Lake area when he discovered the bodies of his wife and young daughter lying outside. Roesholt had just shot and killed a grizzly bear that charged at him, some 100 meters from the family’s home….Read more
Togolese innovators turn the world’s junk into robots (BBC)
Togo imports an estimated 500,000 tonnes of e-waste a year, some of it can be a health hazard, but it also inspires local innovators and provides jobs, as Waihiga Mwaura reports. It looks like a spider and it moves like one, but this robot creature cannot just be dismissed as a toy. It is also a symbol of the digital revolution brewing in one of West Africa’s smallest countries. “I made this from a [discarded] 3D printer,” Ousia Foli-Bebe says, pointing as his robotic arachnid….Read more
Liverpool’s Robertson frustrated by Neymar ‘playacting’ (Supersport)
Following Wednesday’s 2-1 Champions League loss to Paris Saint Germain, Liverpool should have controlled their aggression better in the face of Brazilian Neymar’s “playacting”, defender Andy Robertson has said. The Parc des Princes contest was marked by a number of interruptions with last season’s finalists Liverpool committing 20 fouls and picking up six yellow cards, but Robertson said the French side had indulged in gamesmanship. “I suppose they were in the lead and they were looking to waste time….Read more
Spalletti trusts Barcelona not to let Inter down (SuperSport)
Inter Milan’s hopes of reaching the Champions League round of 16 are in the hands of Barcelona and coach Luciano Spalletti believes the Catalans will not let his team down. Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 win over Inter on Wednesday means they will go through at the expense of the Serie A side if they win their final group B match away to Barcelona. Spalletti, whose own team host PSV Eindhoven in the other group match on 11 December, said there was no question that Barcelona would give it their all even if they had already qualified….Read more