How my mother went from grace to grass — Actress Bisola Aiyeola (DailyTrust)
Nollywood actress and Big Brother Naija star, Bisola Aiyeola, has shared the grace to grass story of her mother and how it affected her while growing up. The Sugar Rush actress revealed how her mother who was a successful trader lost everything in an accident.
Taking a trip down memory lane, the actress described how things were tough during that period with media personality Chude Jideonwo. She revealed that her father left them when she was just three years old and her mother has to single-handedly raise her and her siblings. The movie star and singer stated that things were roses for her family till there was a fire incident which burnt down her mother’s store and rendered them homeless.
The Family Feud TV show presenter further revealed that despite the fact that her father abandoned them, she has tried every possible means to contact her dad but all to no avail.
She said; “My mum had two stores on Lagos Island. We were living large and people would call us London children. My mum travelled a lot. But life hit her. Her store got burned. She never got back on her feet. Read more
Suspension of Doyin Okupe unconstitutional — Labour Party (Leadership)
The leadership of the Labour Party has described as unconstitutional, the expulsion of the director general of Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Council, Doyin Okupe, over alleged “non-financial membership status, political rascality and misappropriation of funds.
Okupe has been having a running battle with the top hierarchy of the LP and some members of the National Working Committee of the party, many of who claim that he had a history of financial impropriety and intolerance.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, the national secretary of the party, Alhaji Farouq Umar, said the party had an internal conflict resolution mechanism of handling cases against party members as enshrined in its constitution.
“The suspension of Okupe from the party by the Ogun State chapter is null and void. He remains a card-carrying member of the Labour Party and the director general of the presidential campaign council. The party is solidly united and behind its leadership and the leadership of the presidential campaign council,” he said. Read more
4 arrested over invasion of Niger Senator’s residence (Nation)
Four people have been arrested over an invasion of the residence of Senator Sani Musa (Niger East) in Minna.
The suspects were among the armed men who invaded the Senator’s residence along the popular old Alheri Clinic road, Tunga area in Minna, the state capital on Saturday night.
They claimed to have been acting based on information after lodging in a hotel in Minna ahead of the planned attack on the Senator’s house.
It was learnt the Senator, who was in Minna on Saturday morning, had left for Abuja after attending the official ceremony for the coronation and presentation of Staff of Office to the 2nd Emir of Kagara, Alhaji Ahmed Garba Gunna (Attahiru 11) in Kagara. Read more
Auto crash claims 3 in Delta, others injured (Punch)
Three persons have been confirmed dead and others critically injured in multiple accidents in the Ugheli area of Delta State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the accident involved a Volkswagen Golf, a Tipper and other vehicles along Evwreni axis of the East-West road, in Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state on Sunday.
It was learnt that the deceased were first taken to the emergency unit of the Ughelli Central Hospital by men of the Ughelli Unit of the Federal Road Safety Corps where they were confirmed dead by the doctor on duty.
Eyewitness simply identified as Edafe explained that both tipper and Volkswagen Golf were coming from the same direction. Read more
Governors fight back, say FG responsible for rising poverty (ThisDay)
The 36 state governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) have come down hard on the federal government and the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, over the minister’s claims that state governors were responsible for the rising poverty rate in the country.The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had recently disclosed that 133 million Nigerians were poor.
In a statement issued yesterday by the spokesman of the NGF, Abdulrazaq Bello-Barkindo, the governors insisted that it was the federal government that abandoned its promise and primary responsibility to the citizens.They cited the failure of the federal government to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty as it had promised, as well as the inability of the federal government to protect farmers from terrorists.
Describing the minister’s assertions as diversionary, the governors said it was the responsibility of the federal government to provide security for the citizens.The governors lamented the people in the rural areas abandoned their farms due to the worsening insecurity.
They said: “The tirade early this week by the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, on the 36 state governors, where he blamed them for the rising poverty index in the country comes to the Nigeria Governors’ Forum as a surprise. The minister got his message totally wrong.The governors noted the minister’s attacks were not only unnecessary, but also a brazen descent into selective amnesia. Read more
Another INEC office burnt down in Imo (DailyTrust)
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that its office in Oru West Local Government Area of Imo State has been set ablaze by arsonists.
The National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said this on Sunday in a statement.
According to him, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Imo State, Prof. Sylvia Uchenna Agu, reported that the commission’s office in Oru West Local Government Area was attacked at about 4.00am today Sunday 4th December 2022.
“The attack affected the Conference Room where office furniture and fittings were destroyed. However, other critical facilities were not affected,” Okoye said. Read more
2023: Stop Destroying INEC Facilities, Support Commission To Deliver, Orji Tells Nigerians (Independent)
Hon. Rita Orji, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives candidate for the Ajeromi/Ifelodun constituency in the 2023 general elections has appealed to Nigerians to support the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a credible election by helping to stop the attack on INEC’s facilities across the country.
Orji who represented Ajeromi/Ifelodun constituency at the eighth Assembly made the remark over the weekend when her constituents came out in their numbers to welcome her and celebrate the Appeal Court victory which affirmed her as the candidate of the PDP in the 2023 general elections.
She said, “INEC is trying to correct the errors from the past. INEC is upgrading and with what we have seen on ground the electoral body wants to deliver a free and fair election in 2023. It is wonderful that Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) was introduced.
“As we speak, BVAS has arrived in all the states across the country. It is no longer the issue of whether BVAS will be used or not, unlike what happened in 2019 when people’s mandates were stolen. Read more
Ondo monarch’s kidnappers demand N100m, community goes spiritual (Punch)
After 72 hours in captivity, abductors of the traditional ruler of Oso Ajowa-Akoko, Oba Clement Olukotun, in the Akoko North-West Local Government Area of Ondo State, have contacted his family, demanding N100m ransom for his release.
Oba Jimoh was abducted on Thursday at about 10.15pm, at his residence by some armed men who took him to an unknown destination.
A source narrated that when the gunmen stormed his residence, they shot sporadically into the air. They also shot at the main door of the monarch’s residence to gain access into building.
A source in the family told our correspondent on Saturday that, “The kidnappers have contacted the family and demanded N100m.” Read more
Keke Palmer is pregnant, expecting first child with boyfriend Darius Jackson (PageSix)
Keke Palmer is going to be a mom!
The 29-year-old actress announced she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Darius Jackson on “Saturday Night Live.”
“There’s some rumors going around. People have been in my comments saying ‘Keke’s having a baby, Keke’s pregnant,’ and I want to set the record straight — I am,” the actress said as she opened her blazer to reveal her baby bump.
As the crowd cheered, the “Hustlers” star continued, “You know, I gotta say though. It is bad when people on the internet spread rumors about you y’all, but it’s even worse when they’re correct.” Read more
South African worshippers swept away in Jukskei river flash flood (BBC)
Nine people have died in South Africa and eight are missing after a flash flood in a river swept away worshippers taking part in a church ceremony.
Some of the more than 30 congregants were standing on rocks in the river on Saturday when a torrent of water surged through, an eyewitness said.
The pastor was saved after he clung on to an overhanging tree branch as he was being carried away, the witness added.
Rescuers resumed the search of Johannesburg’s Jukskei river on Sunday.
It is notorious for flooding during South Africa’s rainy season. Read more
Sigourney Weaver, 73, channelled teenage self into role as 14-year-old Na’vi in Avatar 2 (Metro)
Sigourney Weaver channelled her own teenage self into her role in Avatar: The Way of Water, in which she plays a 14-year-old alien.
The 73-year-old actress, who portrays Kiri, a Na’vi 59 years younger, in the long-awaited sequel to 2009’s Avatar said she used her memories of being ‘self-conscious’ but imaginative at the same age to drive her performance.
‘I usually wore black turtlenecks and an olive-green suede jumper/tunic thing. It was kind of like a beatnik outfit, I guess,’ she recalled.
‘I think it’s a great age, you know? Kids are so imaginative at that age – they’re so sensitive, easily hurt, easily thrilled and they see things so clearly. I tried to allow that self-conscious, awkward energy [I had] to flow into the character.’ Read more
Middlesbrough Ukrainian refugees: 4 families forced to find new homes (BBC)
Four families of Ukrainian refugees living with UK hosts have had to move out after their sponsorship agreements broke down, a council has revealed.
Nearly 60 refugees have arrived in Middlesbrough since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Most are still within the initial six-month agreed period but some have been asked to leave when that expires or have found their own accommodation.
Middlesbrough Borough Council said the future plans for many were undecided. Read more
Iran to review mandatory headscarf law following Mahsa Amini protests (RFI)
Iran said it was reviewing a decades-old law that requires women to cover their heads, as the country struggles to quell more than two months of protests linked to the dress code.
Protests have swept Iran since the 16 September death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin arrested by the morality police for allegedly flouting the sharia-based law.
Demonstrators have burned their head coverings and shouted anti-government slogans. Since Amini’s death, a growing number of women have not been observing hijab, particularly in Tehran’s fashionable north.
“Both parliament and the judiciary are working (on the issue)” of whether the law needs any changes, Iran’s attorney general Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said. Read more
US midterms: Georgia Senate run-off looms after bitter campaign (BBC)
On Tuesday, Georgia’s seven million registered voters will go to the polls for the fifth time in four years.
That’s thanks to a quirk in the state’s election law that requires winning candidates for state-wide posts in general elections not just to get more votes than everyone else, but to get fifty per cent of the votes cast.
Twice in the past four years candidates from both parties have fallen short of that mark. Hence the need for a run-off election in 2021 for both Georgia’s US Senate seats and another one this time around.
Incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock, a southern Baptist preacher from Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s old church in downtown Atlanta, will face the Republican former football star Herschel Walker, a man backed by former President Donald Trump who has faced accusations that he paid for wives and girlfriends to get abortions despite avowing a profoundly anti-abortion stance. Read more
Israeli warplanes attack Gaza as EU calls for ‘accountability’ (AlJazeera)
Israeli warplanes have attacked sites in the Gaza Strip after a rocket landed in southern Israel and as tensions reach a boiling point in the occupied West Bank, where 10 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since last week.
The Israeli military said the air raids in the early hours of Sunday targeted a weapons manufacturing facility and an underground tunnel belonging to Hamas, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Palestinians mourn 21 killed in ‘catastrophic’ Gaza building fire
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“The strike overnight continues the progress to impede the force build-up”, the Israeli army said in reference to Hamas, AP reported.
No group has claimed responsibility for the rocket, reportedly the first fired in a month, which the Israeli military said landed in an open area near Israel’s separation fence on Saturday evening without causing casualties or damage to property. Read more
Dumfries delivers as dutch head into last 8 (DailyTrust)
Denzel Dumfries set up the first two goals and netted a decisive third to ensure a 3-1 victory for the Netherlands over the United States at the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday and a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals, thwarting their opponent’s efforts at a late comeback.
Dumfries ended any hopes the Americans had of staging a rescue act after they had gone 2-0 down at halftime, but the United States fought back to reduce the deficit through Haji Wright in the 76th minute.
The Dutch had looked to be comfortably in command of the opening Round of 16 tie in front of 44 846 spectators with two goals scored in similar fashion as Dumfries crossed from the right for Depay to net first in the 10th minute, and then Blind on the stroke of halftime.
But Wright pulled a goal back to offer the Americans hope of a comeback. Read more
Wayne Rooney calls for Tyson Fury to be knighted after beating Derek Chisora (Metro)
Wayne Rooney calls for Tyson Fury to be knighted following his win over Derek Chisora on Saturday evening.
Fury defended his WBC heavyweight belt with a dominant display against Chisora, who was pulled out of the fight by referee Victor Loughlin in the 10th round.
Fury’s latest victory now sets up an undisputed fight with Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles after beating Anthony Joshua twice.
Rooney, meanwhile, was ringside to watch Fury’s win over Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and believes the Gypsy King should be honoured for his achievements in boxing. Read more
LeBron James passes Magic Johnson for 6th all-time in assists (ABC)
LeBron James moved past Magic Johnson on the NBA’s all-time assists list while wearing a Los Angeles Lakers uniform Friday, but he knows his place in the pecking order when it comes to Laker lore.
“To know that I’m in the conversation or about to get to a point that I’m breaking a record that he set for this franchise — and I’m not comparing myself to Magic with this franchise, what he did, sheesh.
“Him, [James] Worthy, Kobe [Bryant], Shaq [O’Neal], those guys are synonymous with this franchise. But it’s just pretty cool, always, when I’m able to see my name with some of the greats that have played this game,” James told ESPN this week when asked about the accomplishment he was approaching.
James set the mark with his ninth assist against the Milwaukee Bucks with 8:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, finding Anthony Davis for a 3-pointer on the right wing that gave L.A. a 112-108 lead. Read more
Footballers send Pele best wishes amid health concerns (Punch)
England captain Harry Kane has sent his best wishes to Pele as concerns remain over the Brazil legend’s health.
According to Brazilian daily newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, the 82-year-old was moved to palliative treatment after chemotherapy stopped having the expected results as he battles colon cancer.
Asked about the news report, Kane said, “First and foremost, we send our best wishes to him and his family as well.
“He’s an inspiration in our game, an incredible footballer and an incredible person.” Read more
Simona Halep: John Millman reveals why he thinks star is not guilty of doping (GMS)
Australian tennis star John Millman has stressed that he believes Simona Halep is “innocent” of doping and hopes she will be allowed to return to the court soon.
In October, it was announced that Halep had tested positive for the banned substance Roxadustat at the 2022 US Open, which led to a provisional suspension.
Roxadustat is an anti-anemia medicine on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited substance list.
However, the two-time major winner has vowed to clear her name and says the truth will eventually come to light. Read more
Häkkinen doubts Leclerc pushed for Binotto exit at Ferrari (F1i)
Two-time F1 world champion Mika Häkkinen doubts that Charles Leclerc played a significant role in Mattia Binotto’s resignation and departure from Ferrari.
Binotto handed in his resignation to Ferrari’s top brass which accepted the Italian’s termination after a 28-tenure with the Italian manufacturer, with four years spent at the helm of the Scuderia.
Leclerc reacted to Binotto’s exit by posting a message on social media in which the Monegasque expressed his gratitude towards his former team boss, insisting that his “esteem and respect” for Binotto had never waned over the years.
This season in which he appeared as an early championship contender, Leclerc found himself on the receiving end of Ferrari’s errors more times than he cares to remember. Read more