One dies in Ikorodu cult clash (Punch)
One person was killed and several others sustained injuries when members of the Aiye and Eiye confraternities clashed on the Sagamu Road in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State on Tuesday.
Eyewitnesses told PUNCH Metro that the clash, which occurred around 7pm, was a territorial battle.
They stated that many innocent persons, who were returning from work, as well as passers-by, were injured as they tried to flee the scene of the clash. Read more
Sanwo-Olu threatens to ban NURTW in Lagos (Guardian)
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has threatened to proscribe the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) if the members do not conduct themselves well. The governor said this yesterday on a television programme, where he maintained that his administration was committed to delivering his Greater Lagos vision.
Sanwo-olu said, “The NURTW is a national body of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). It is a registered trade union.“Like other unions, they are under the supervision of the state government. We regulate and supervise them. They would be proscribed if they don’t conduct themselves well.”
He said his administration had recorded a lot of achievements in the last 196 days in the area of security, adding that he would stay up late monitoring the security situation in the state. Read more
Trust fund: We’ll justify donor’s confidence, says Sanwo-Olu (Nation)
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has promised to strengthen security across the state to justify donations being made to the Lagos State Security Trust Funds (LSSTF) by public-spirited individuals and corporate organisations.
The governor said his administration would spare no effort in protecting the lives of residents and corporate assets within the state, stressing that provision of security in all communities remained at the centre of the efforts being put forward by his administration to transform the state’s economy to be 21st century-compliant.
Sanwo-Olu stated this while receiving the management team of Airtel Nigeria on a courtesy visit at the Lagos House in Alausa. Led by the Airtel’s Managing Director, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, the management staff of the mobile telecommunication giant handed over an undisclosed sum of cash and communication gadgets to the governor as donation to the state’s Security Trust Fund. Read more
500-level Rivers varsity law student stabbed to death (Punch)
Tragedy struck in the Rivers State University on Tuesday as a 500-level Law student, Matilda Mark, was stabbed to death by assailants in her private apartment outside the institution’s campus.
The 24-year-old victim was found dead in a pool of her own blood after she was attacked by her assailants.
According to a source, who spoke to PUNCH Metro, the victim was also a ballet dancer, who performed at the Salvation Ministry’s headquarters in Port Harcourt during the 57th birthday celebration of the church’s founder. Read more
Felicity Huffman’s younger daughter heading to Vassar post-scandal (PageSix)
Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy‘s younger daughter is apparently going to college, the old-fashioned way.
Georgia Macy, 17, recently updated her Instagram account to say she’ll be heading to Vassar College — just a couple of months after her mum was released from prison for her role in the massive college admissions scandal.
The former “Desperate Housewives” star spent 11 days behind bars for paying a $15,000 bribe to boost the SAT scores of her older daughter, 19-year-old Sophia Macy. Read more
‘They’ is declared word of the year after Sam Smith reveals they’re non-binary (BBC)
Merriam-Webster has made ‘they’ its Word of the Year for 2019. The pronoun has been used more and more because people who are non-binary use it in place of he or she. Searches for ‘they‘ increased by 313% in 2019 over the previous year on the US dictionary. Explaining their decision to recognise the word as one of the most significant, they said: ‘Although our lookups are often driven by events in the news, the dictionary is also a primary resource for information about language. Read more
These are the most Googled terms of 2019 (NYPost)
Scandal-scarred athletes, musicians and actors topped the list of Google’s “most searched” people of 2019 — with NFL bad boy Antonio Brown placing No. 1, according to the tech giant.
The former Patriots wide receiver — who was accused of sexual misconduct and other antics this year — was the No. 1 most searched person, according to a list of “trending” terms in the US.
Actor Jussie Smollett, who in February was charged with staging a fake hate crime in Chicago, was the second most Googled person. Also high on the list: Accused child sex abuser and musician R. Kelly, along with actor Kevin Hart, whose adulterous sex tape also caused a stir in 2019. Read more
Chile missing C-130 plane: Floating debris found (BBC)
Chilean officials say they have located debris believed to be from an air force plane that went missing on Monday.
They said the wreckage was found floating 30km (19 miles) from where the C-130 Hercules cargo plane with 38 people on board last made contact.
The wreckage was spotted in a body of water known as the Drake Passage.
The plane was en route from Chile’s southern city of Punta Arenas to the country’s Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva base in the Antarctic. Read more
Man rescued after shouting, ‘Siri, call 911,’ after his car plunged into an icy river (CNN)
“Siri, call 911.”
That’s what a man in Charles City, Iowa yelled after his car plunged into an icy river.
Gael Salcedo, 18, was on his way to North Iowa Area Community College when his Jeep hit a patch of ice on the road, according to CNN affiliate KIMT. Salcedo lost control of his car — he turned to the right and from there, everything went blurry, he said. His car, though, plummeted into the Winnebago River.
“I didn’t know where I was going and then I just didn’t know what to do. I was just thinking in my head ‘I think I’m going to die,'” he told KIMT. Read more
Greta Thunberg named Time Person of the Year for 2019 (BBC)
Greta Thunberg, the Swedish schoolgirl who inspired a global movement to fight climate change, has been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2019.
The 16-year-old is the youngest person to be chosen by the magazine in a tradition that started in 1927.
Speaking at a UN climate change summit in Madrid before the announcement, she urged world leaders to stop using “creative PR” to avoid real action.
The next decade would define the planet’s future, she said. Read more
General election 2019: Voters set to head to polls across the UK (BBC)
The UK will go to the polls on Thursday for the country’s third general election in less than five years.
The contest, the first to be held in December in nearly 100 years, follows those in 2015 and 2017.
Polling stations in 650 constituencies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland open at 07:00 GMT.
After the polls close at 22:00 GMT, counting will begin straight away. Most results are due to be announced in the early hours of Friday morning. Read more
Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo furious with pitch invader who grabbed him by the neck (Metro)
Cristiano Ronaldo was left fuming when a pitch invader grabbed him by the neck after Juventus’ final Champions League group game. Juventus beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 on Wednesday night, with Ronaldo on the scoresheet against the German side. Players were offering their congratulations and commiserations to each other at full-time when a fan stormed the pitch. Read more
Eguavoen supports Rohr, wants new clause in fresh deal (Guardian)
Former Super Eagles’ Coach, Augustine Eguavoen believes Gernot Rohr deserves to be offered a new contract by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for the work he has done with the national team since his appointment as coach, reports allnigeriasoccer.com.
On the other hand, the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winner and two-time World Cupper revealed that he is not comfortable with the fact that Rohr does not live in Nigeria and made reference to one of the most successful Nigeria coaches, Clemens Westerhof, who was accommodated in Ikeja during his days with the Super Eagles.
With Rohr’s current deal with the NFF set to run out in the next six months, his contract situation has been a subject of discussion in recent weeks and the former Bayern Munich defender can start discussing with interested clubs and countries if an agreement is not reached next month. Read more
Sessegnon scores as Spurs lose to Bayern (BBC)
Ryan Sessegnon marked his first Tottenham start with a goal but could not prevent Spurs from losing 3-1 to Bayern Munich in their final Champions League group game.
Both sides had already qualified for the last 16, with Bayern progressing as Group B winners and Tottenham going through as runners-up, and consequently they made numerous changes for Wednesday’s encounter at the Allianz Arena.
Bayern beat Spurs 7-2 in their first meeting in this season’s competition at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and took an early lead through Kingsley Coman.
Spurs hit back soon after when Sessegnon showed great composure to bring a pass under control inside the area and rifle a powerful finish beyond Manuel Neuer. Read more
Adegoke advocates for grassroots sports (Nation)
AS a way of curbing various social vices among the youths in the country, the Executive Director Finance and Chief Financial Officer of OES Energy Services, Chief Adegboyega Adegoke has advised states and the federal government to develop grassroots sports.
Adegoke, who is the Mogaji of Abose compound in Olubadan traditional lineage, gave this advice while speaking as Chairman of the NNL Match Day 3 between Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) and Osun United Football Club which ended 3-0 in favour of 3SC.
Adegoke while urging States and federal government to invest more in local football and grassroots competitions, insisted that government can reduce social vices among the youths through grassroots sports. Read more
Luke Shaw mocks ex-Manchester United team-mate Romelu Lukaku after Inter Milan’s Champions League exit (Metro)
Manchester United star Luke Shaw was quick to mock former team-mate Romelu Lukaku following Inter Milan’s exit from the Champions League. Antonio Conte’s side lost 2-1 to Barcelona at the San Siro on Tuesday to ensure they finished third in their group. It means Inter drop into the Europa League, potentially setting up a mouthwatering clash with Manchester United in the knockout stages. United duo Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez both joined Inter last summer and the Belgian in particular has been in good form for the Serie A giants, scoring 12 goals in 20 appearances so far this term. Read more
Infantino denies backing breakaway super league (Punch)
FIFA has not given its backing to reported plans for a closed European super league, its president Gianni Infantino said Wednesday.
“FIFA is not backing any project,” Infantino said during a visit to Brussels, refusing to deny however that any talks had taken place on the subject by saying that football’s global governing body “discusses everything, with everybody”.
Infantino was questioned by reporters after the New York Times reported that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez had spoken to him about creating a breakaway elite international league. Read more
Contenders named for Valuejet Open (Nation)
THREE of the top para table tennis playing nations in Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa will lead five other countries in Africa to the maiden Valuejet Para Table Tennis Open which serves off on December 19 to 21 at Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.
Other nations joining Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa at the three-day N10.8m prize money tournament are Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana.
Apart from the internet sensation, Ibrahim Hamato, Egypt will have in their fold, Africa’s para table tennis record holder, Mohamed Sameh Eid Saleh, who will be attending his fifth Paralympic Games at Tokyo 2020 in Japan. Read more
Jesus hat-trick inspires Man City win in Zagreb (BBC)
Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus says he has to “keep scoring” after his hat-trick inspired the Blues to come from behind to win their final Champions League Group C game at Dinamo Zagreb.
The Brazil forward, 22, who is spearheading City’s attack with Sergio Aguero out injured, has now scored five goals in his last five starts for the club.
And his form is likely to be key for City, who are third in the Premier League, 14 points behind leaders Liverpool. Read more
No talks over Arsenal job –Ljungberg (Punch)
Freddie Ljungberg says he has not held talks with senior figures at Arsenal about the full-time managerial vacancy.
The 42-year-old Swede was placed in interim charge of the Gunners following the sacking of Unai Emery last month.
Manchester City assistant coach Mikel Arteta and Carlo Ancelotti, who was sacked by Napoli on Tuesday, have both been strongly linked with role.
“It’s not a conversation I’ve had with the bosses,” Ljunberg said when asked if he believed he was in the running. Read more
We will eliminate Liverpool if we clash, Zidane boasts (Nation)
Zinedine Zidane has joked his Real Madrid side would have no issues beating last season’s winners Liverpool in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
The La Liga giants had already secured their knockout berth before their 3-1 win over Club Brugge on Wednesday and can now turn their attention to the draw for the next stage, which takes place on Monday.
Hans Vanaken cancelled out Rodrygo Goes’ opener within the space of two second-half minutes, but a first Champions League goal for Vinicius Junior and a sublime strike from Luka Modric sealed all three points for Zidane’s side. Read more