*My ex-boyfriend wants me back, says BBNaija S7 winner Phyna (Nation)*2 arrested for trafficking girls to Côte d’Ivoire (DailyTrust)

My ex-boyfriend wants me back, says BBNaija S7 winner Phyna (Nation)

The latest winner of the BBNaija show, Phyna has claimed her former boyfriend has begun making moves for reconciliation.

She said upon her emergence from the reality TV show as the grand winner, her ex-lover has not stopped calling her line.

The 25-year-old Hype priestess in a recent chat with Hero Daniels revealed her life changed after she broke up with her immediate ex-boyfriend and relocated to Abuja.

She said: “I was dating a guy before we broke up. And when we broke up, that was when business. Like I make hair, I cook, I bake. I was just doing everything. So, I was having money and there was now small changes. Read more

2 arrested for trafficking girls to Côte d’Ivoire (DailyTrust)

Two members of a human trafficking syndicate who specialise in distributing girls to West African countries as housemaids have been arrested in Lagos State.

The suspects, identified as Tayo and Kunle, were arrested while trying to traffic six teenage girls to Abidjan, Cote d’IVoire.

It was learnt that luck ran against the suspects when one of the victims’ grandmother got wind of the movement and informed a human rights advocacy group and that the group reported to the police.

Consequently, Tayo, who claimed to be a mechanic, was arrested and during interrogation he said they only introduced the girls to agents. Read more 

Lagos seeks partnership with World Bank on housing (Punch)

The Lagos State Government has sought increased collaboration with the World Bank for the development of mass housing schemes in the state.

The state Commissioner for Housing, Mr Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, made the appeal, according to a statement on Monday, during a working visit by a World Bank team led by the Senior Urban Development Specialist and the Spatial Planning Community of Practice Leader at the organisation, Dr Fuad Malkawi, in Lagos.

Akinderu-Fatai said, “Uninhibited movement to Lagos from other states of the federation and some countries in the West Africa region has made the challenge of housing very critical. Given the littoral nature of the state, enormous support is required in the area of housing development.

“We urge the World Bank to support sourcing cheap funds, not necessarily foreign exchange, that could help increase the number of homes built and make them easily accessible through convenient mortgages for end users, particularly low-income earners.” Read more

Small claims court handled 850 cases in 1 year, Lagos CJ (ThisDay)

The Small Claims’ Courts in Lagos State handled 850 cases in its first year of existence, according to the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Hon. Justice Kazeem Alogba.

Justice Alogba disclosed this on Wednesday, at a two-day training organised for State Magistrates and court officials of the Small Claims Court in Nigeria.

“A total of 850 claims were instituted across the 15 Small Claims courts in Lagos State, between May 2018 and March 2019.

“530 judgements were delivered within the period, in which 340 judgements were delivered within 60 days, 147 within 100 days, 42 judgements within 200 days and one judgement delivered after 200 days. Read more

We’re yet to set resumption date for 2022/2023 academic session – UNILAG (Vanguard)

The Management of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka on Monday debunked the rumour making the rounds that it has released the resumption date for the 2022/2023 academic session.

In a statement made available to Vanguard by UNILAG Communication Unit, the school management informed the general public as well as all prospective and returning students that the information on a particular website is misleading, false, and did not emerge from the University of Lagos. 

The statement reads, “The attention of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has been drawn to a publication that erroneously claims that “UNILAG 2022/2023 Resumption Date is out.”

The university authorities also warned that any student or member of the public who interacts with the website and other similar websites does so at his or her own risk. Read more 

Shun emotions, vote for credible leaders, Hamzat urges Nigerians (Tribune)

As the 2023 general elections draw near, Lagos State deputy governor, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, has urged Nigerians to shun emotions and vote for credible leaders based on their accomplishments, saying that they should do this in order to have a country that is beneficial to all.

Hamzat made the call on Monday at the Nasrul-Lahi-L-Fatih Society (NASFAT) Good Governance Workshop with the theme: “Credible Leadership and Good Governance – From Home to Hero,” held at Radisson Blu Hotel, GRA, Lagos.

According to him, governance is not about emotions or trial and error, saying Nigerians must vote in leaders that have good antecedents and not be swayed by emotions in order to find lasting solutions to myriads of challenges facing the country.

“Governance is not about emotions or trial and error. We must look at what we really want. In Nigeria today, we must have a coincidence of wants. We must agree and be ready to make sacrifices for our children. Read more 

Police nab man for job scam, sexual assault (Punch)

The Bayelsa State Police Command has arrested a 50-year-old man identified as Joseph Godfrey, who specialises in luring unsuspecting female job seekers to a hotel and sexually assaulting them.

A statement by the spokesman for the command, Asinim Butswat, said the suspect was apprehended by the operatives of SWAT in Yenagoa on Monday.

It stated that Godfrey usually claimed to be a staff of Government House, Yenagoa, while promising his victims employment.

He was, however, nabbed after one of the young ladies raised the alarm over his alleged deceptive act. Read more

Ondo communities protest deplorable roads, call for intervention (ThisDay)

Three Communities in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, yesterday protested over bad roads in their various localities.

The communities included Graceland Estate, Grace Garden City, God’s Ownland and Bethel Estate, all in Oba-Ile.

The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as “We are communities of over 3,000 families. We need road urgently. Mr. Gov. A Wa Lokan; Our Cars Are Crying For Help! Aketi Please, Come to Our Rescue; Aketi, We Are 4 You. Let US Be Part of The Giant Strides in Road Network in Ondo State, among others, calling on the State Governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, to come to their rescue.

Addressing journalists, the Chairman, Graceland Estate, Mr. Martins Popoola, said for the past 10 years, the residents had relied on self-help by contributing funds to maintain the roads without any help from the state government. Read more

Gunmen kill 6 security operatives, 2 civilians, burn police station in Enugu (Independent)

No fewer than six security opera­tives which com­prising four sol­diers and two policemen were killed by gunmen in Enugu State.

Our correspondent gathered that the two sep­arate attacks occurred at Oji River Local Govern­ment Area in the state.

Checks revealed that attack on the Inyi Police Station in Orji River LGA where two police­men and two civilians were killed occurred on Sunday while the attack on soldiers occurred on Monday during sit-at-home being observed by the people of South East.

It was further learnt that the gunmen who stormed the station Sun­day morning also set the police station on fire. Read more

Sade makes new music at Brad Pitt and Damien Quintard’s relaunched Miraval Studios (AS)

Sade has been recording new music at the newly reopened Miraval Studios in Correns, France. 

“You could feel the love that she and the band had for this place,” French producer and composer Damien Quintard, Miraval co-owner and operator, said of Sade and her band, the first artists to record in the iconic studio since its reopening after being shuttered for more than 20 years.

The new music is Sade’s first since their 2010 album, Soldier of Love, and 2018 single, “Flower of the Universe,” which was featured on the soundtrack of the adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time as well as the “The Big Unknown” for the soundtrack of the Steve McQueen-directed Widows. 

In 2021, Quintard, along with co-owner and operator, actor Brad Pitt, renovated and redesigned the studio where Pink Floyd recorded The Wall and The Cure once retreated for two weeks to record their 1987 double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, writing and recording the hit “Just Like Heaven” there, too. Read more

Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly planned as witness in trial of Fugees’ Pras Michel (NME)

Leonardo DiCaprio is set to be among the list of witnesses at the upcoming trial of Fugees member Pras Michel, according to reports.

Michel is set to stand trial from November 4 in Washington, DC, accused of illegally lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of the Chinese government and illegally giving contributions to the Obama administration before it.

Earlier this year, speculation circled that Fugees cancelled their 25th anniversary tour celebrating second album ‘The Score’ not due to COVID concerns, as originally stated, but Michel’s ongoing legal issues.

A story published on August 29 by Puck detailed Michel’s indictment for his alleged role in the claimed criminal conspiracy surrounding Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and the significant jail time Michel may face for his connections with fugitive businessman Jho Low. Read more 

50 Cent’s son Marquise offers $6700 for 24 hours of his father’s time (HipHopDX)

50 Cent’s estranged son, Marquise Jackson, made headlines when he explained how the monthly $6,700 payments from his father weren’t enough to thrive in New York City. Now, he’s willing to give back a monthly stipend to spend some time with his pops.

“Since y’all think $6,700 is sooo much money, someone tell my pops I will pay him $6,700 for just 24hr of his time so we can do everything I ever wanted to do with him as a kid,” he wrote in a plea to Instagram. “Red Yellow Green whatever color he like.”

The attempt to get his 50’s attention also featured possibly some of that $6,700 a month used to hilariously spell out “Entitled” as he trolled the critics.

50 has no relationship with his eldest son, who is now 25 years old. He claimed his child support payments were finally finished up in 2017 for Marquise, and 50 celebrated the moment on social media in trolling fashion. Read more

Kenneth Branagh’s 3rd Hercule Poirot film ‘‘A Haunting in Venice’’ casts Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Michelle Yeoh and more (Variety)

20th Century Studios has announced the ensemble cast of “A Haunting in Venice,” director Kenneth Branagh’s third effort in the Hercule Poirot films based on Agatha Christie novels.

The new ensemble behind the supernatural thriller film is headlined by Branagh reprising his role as Poirot, with Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Michelle Yeoh, Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly and Riccardo Scamarico rounding out the cast.

Set in post-WWII Venice on All Hallows’ Eve, the film follows another mystery featuring the celebrated sleuth Poirot. Inspired by Christie’s “Hallowe’en Party,” the now retired and living in self-imposed exile Poirot reluctantly attends a séance at a haunted palazzo when one of the guests is murdered, and the former detective must once again find out who did it.

“This is a fantastic development of the character Hercule Poirot, as well as the Agatha Christie franchise,” Branagh said of the new film. “Based on a complex, little known tale of mystery set at Halloween in a pictorially ravishing city, it is an amazing opportunity for us, as filmmakers, and we are relishing the chance to deliver something truly spine-chilling for our loyal movie audiences.” Read more

Austin Stoker, star of John Carpenter’s ‘‘Assault on Precinct 13,’’ dies at 92 (THR)

Austin Stoker, the actor from Trinidad who starred as the heroic cop battling a band of marauding gang members inside a decommissioned police station in the John Carpenter thriller Assault on Precinct 13, has died. He was 92.

Stoker died Friday of renal failure on his birthday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his wife, Robin, told The Hollywood Reporter. “His transition was beautiful,” she said.

Stoker also portrayed Macdonald, the human assistant of Roddy McDowall’s Caesar, in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), the fifth and final chapter in the original movie series, and he was Brick Williams, the love interest of Pam Grier’s private investigator, in Sheba, Baby (1975).

On the landmark 1977 ABC miniseries Roots, he played Virgil Harvey, father of Olivia Cole‘s Mathilda. Read more

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel, among accusers at Harvey Weinstein trial in LA (USAToday)

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and actor who is married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, is among the accusers of Harvey Weinstein who will testify at his rape and sexual assault trial that began Monday, her attorney said.

“Like many other women, my client was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein at a purported business meeting that turned out to be a trap,” Newsom’s attorney Elizabeth Fegan said in a statement. “She intends to testify at his trial in order to seek some measure of justice for survivors, and as part of her life’s work to improve the lives of women.” 

Weinstein, the 70-year-old former movie mogul who is serving a 23-year prison sentence after a conviction in New York, has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of rape and sexual assault involving Newsom and four other women. All of them will testify as Jane Doe during the eight-week trial in a Los Angeles court, where jury selection began Monday.

The Associated Press does not normally name people who say they’ve been sexually abused, but Newsom agreed to be named through her attorney. Read more

Ukraine condemns Russia as ‘terrorist state’ in UN meeting (Aljazeera)

Ukraine has condemned Russia as a “terrorist state” for launching missile attacks on major cities, including the capital Kyiv, at a United Nations General Assembly meeting initially called to discuss Moscow’s annexation of four partly-occupied regions of Ukraine.

“Russia has proven once again that this is a terrorist state that must be deterred in the strongest possible ways,” said Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN in his opening remarks, adding his own immediate family had come under attack.

“Unfortunately, you can hardly call for a stable and sane peace as long as an unstable and insane dictatorship exists in your vicinity,” he added, telling member states at least 14 civilians had been killed and 97 wounded in the attacks, which began on Monday morning.

In response, Vassily Nebenzia of Russia did not directly address the missile strikes but defended his country’s annexation of the four Ukrainian regions. Read more 

Flamingos begin campaign against Germany (ThisDay)

The seventh edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals begin in India today, with Nigeria’s U17 girls, Flamingos saddled with one of the hardest nuts to crack in Germany as their first opponents.

Both countries take to the Pandit Jawaharlal Stadium in Goa as from 8pm India time (4pm Nigeria time) in what is the second match of Group B, at the same time as hosts India take on USA at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar in what is the official opening match of the competition.

Earlier, as from 12.30pm Nigeria time, Nigeria’s Group B opponents Chile and New Zealand will clash in Goa, while Group A teams Morocco and Brazil also battle it out in Bhubaneswar.

The biennial competition for the world’s teenage girl-child, launched in New Zealand in 2008, did not take place in the year 2020 as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic. Read more

Orlando Pride head coach Amanda Cromwell and assistant coach sacked for ‘retaliatory conduct’ (BBC)

Orlando Pride head coach Amanda Cromwell and assistant coach Sam Greene have been sacked after “engaging in retaliatory conduct” towards players who had complained about them in a previous investigation.

The United States’ National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) said their conduct “discouraged reporting and fostered a general fear of retaliation”.

They also tried waiving or trading certain players who they believed had made or supported misconduct allegations against them earlier in the year.

It comes a week after an independent investigation found abuse and misconduct “had become systemic” in the NWSL. Read more 

Forest end losing run with Villa draw (RTE)

Ashley Young’s spectacular strike earned Aston Villa a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest, who ended a five-game losing streak.

Young struck from distance to cancel out Emmanuel Dennis’ opener as a feisty midlands derby finished all square at the City Ground.

In Forest’s first game since manager Steve Cooper was awarded a new contract, just days after reportedly being close to the sack, he saw his side put in an improved performance as they halted a horror run of results that had seen them slip to the bottom of the table.

Dennis’ first goal for the club gave them hope of a second win of the campaign, but it was short-lived as Young produced the only real moment of quality in the match. Read more

Roy Keane says links to West Brom are ”absolute rubbish” and claims it is ”bizarre” (DailyMail)

Roy Keane has dismissed claims he will take over as the next West Brom manager, claiming it is ‘bizarre’ he has been linked with the vacant role. 

Keane was named as the favourite to succeed Steven Bruce at West Brom after he was sacked following a dismal spell at the club. 

The Baggies parted ways with the 61-year-old following one win from their first 13 games which saw them in 22nd place and in the Championship relegation zone. 

However, Keane has said the links between him and the vacant managerial role are ‘complete rubbish’. Read more

LeBron James’ 18-year-old son Bronny signs Nike endorsement deal (StraitsTimes)

Bronny James, the eldest son of National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar LeBron James, is among five amateur basketball players to have signed endorsement deals with Nike, the sports apparel company announced on Monday.

The younger James, who turned 18 last Thursday, is a guard at Sierra Canyon High School near Los Angeles while his father is the 37-year-old four-time NBA champion playmaker for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Bronny James has already become part of Nike’s marketing for its newest sneaker, the Nike LeBron 20. 

No financial terms for the deals were revealed. Read more

Greg Norman tells OWGR to get over hatred of LIV Golf and to ‘grow up’ (IrishIndependent)

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman launched another not so subtle attack on golf’s status quo when he told members of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) board to “grow up” and overcome their hatred of the Saudi-backed breakaway league.

Speaking to India’s World Is One News during last week’s LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok, the Australian was asked if the decision by the OWGR not to grant world ranking points to their event in Thailand or this week’s season ending LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah was “a setback”.

“No, it’s not a setback,” said Norman, who has called on board members such as PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley and R&A CEO Martin Slumbers to recuse themselves when it comes to a vote on awarding LIV Golf events OWGR points. “It’s a setback for them. There are 22 tours out there, I believe, that have world ranking points.

“There is only one that is equal or a little bit superior to what LIV is. So it doesn’t make sense from a Majors perspective, it doesn’t make sense from a broadcaster’s perspective. You are paying and investing for your strength of field and not allowing LIV players to get OWGR points is not doing the game of golf any good. Read more

Tyson Fury, Derek Chisora finalizing December 3 trilogy bout (ABC)

Tyson Fury and Derek Chisora are in the process of finalizing a December 3 trilogy fight in the United Kingdom for Fury’s WBC heavyweight title, sources told ESPN.

Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs), the WBC heavyweight champion, claimed he was retired following a sixth-round TKO victory over Dillian Whyte in April, but reversed course in August with claims he would fight Chisora, a heavyweight gatekeeper, a third time.

“The Gypsy King” then insisted in September he was in serious talks for a Dec. 3 bout with former champion Anthony Joshua that would represent one of the biggest events in all of boxing. However, discussions between Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, and Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, broke off Sept. 29, according to a source. 

Joshua accepted 40% to Fury’s 60%, but the champion claimed last week that a self-imposed deadline had passed. In reality, a source said, Fury and Chisora are now in their third week of negotiations as the deal nears the finish line. Read more 

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