Tems, Ayo Edebiri, Burna Boy, Wizkid nominated at the 56th NAACP Image Awards (Channels)
The 56th NAACP Image Awards have announced their nominations, celebrating the exceptional talent of individuals who have made significant contributions to the arts and entertainment industry.
Among the notable nominees are Tems, Ayo Edebiri, Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Cynthia Erivo. These artists have been acknowledged for their remarkable work across various categories, highlighting their influence and impact on the global stage.
The NAACP Image Awards, organised by the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, aim to honour the accomplishments of people of colour in the fields of television, music, literature, and film. This year’s theme, “Our Stories, Our Culture, Our Excellence,” underscores the importance of representation and diversity in the entertainment industry. Read more
2 confirmed dead as Rivers CP visits victims of gas explosion (Nation)
The Rivers Commissioner of Police Olugbenga Adepoju on Tuesday visited the surviving victims of the Oroazi gas explosion at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Port- Harcourt.
Adepoju, who sympathised with the victims, said his Area Commander in charge of Oroazi community also visited victims of the explosion in other hospital.
He urged the residents to be safety conscious when using gas cylinder and to report to relevant authorities when the persons in business of refilling gas engaged in unsafe act that could cause accident. Read more
Customs recruitment: Over 573,000 applicants jostle for 3,927 jobs (Vanguard)
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that it received 573,519 applications for its 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, just a week after opening the portal.
Recall that Finance Minister Olawale Edun had earlier confirmed that the Federal Government approved the recruitment of 3,927 officers into the NCS.
Providing an update on the process, Abdullahi Maiwada, the NCS National Public Relations Officer (PRO), revealed that a staggering 573,519 applicants had applied for the limited 3,927 positions. Read more
Corps members to start receiving N77k monthly allowance soon — NYSC DG (Tribune)
The Director General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Yushau Ahmed, has reassured corps members that modalities are being worked for payment N77,000 allowance to them in line with the national minimum wage approved by the Federal Government.
Ahmed made this known on Tuesday in in Abuja during commissioning of staff bus donated by Capital Express Insurance company to NYSC.
The DG while reaffirming the Federal Government commitment to welfare of the Corps members, said arrangements for the increased allowances to be paid to Corps members have been concluded. Read more
El-Rufai, Atiku’s allies hold closed-door meeting with SDP in Abuja (Punch)
Several prominent opposition figures held a closed-door meeting with officials of the Social Democratic Party in Abuja on Tuesday.
The agenda of the meeting has not been disclosed at the time of writing this report.
The meeting took place early on Tuesday at the national secretariat of the SDP and included former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (former Chief Security Officer to General Sani Abacha), and Otunba Segun Showunmi, a former spokesman for Atiku Abubakar, among others. Read more
Police arrest 5 over alleged criminal conspiracy, fraud in Yobe (Leadership)
Yobe State Police Command has arrested five members of a syndicate specialising in defrauding unsuspecting victims.
Police Public Relations Officer, of the Command, SP Dungus Abdulkarim, confirmed this in a statement made available to Journalists in Damaturu, the Yobe state Capital.
Abdulkarim named the suspects as Abdullahi Suleman, 62; Sani Salisu, 30; Nasiru Mohd, 30; all from Gombe State. Read more
Bandits camped 2km away from where I marked my last birthday – Gov Makinde (DailyTrust)
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has decried the influx of bandits, vowing to do all within his power to ensure the state is safe.
Speaking during the 2025 annual inter-faith service for Oyo workers in Agodi area of Ibadan, the state capital, Makinde narrated how he got intelligence that bandits were not far from where he marked his last birthday.
The governor said the gunmen were feeling the heat of military operation in the North West, hence the decision to escape to Oyo. Read more
Borno renames varsity after ex-governor Kashim Ibrahim (Punch)
The Borno State Executive Council has approved the renaming of the state-owned university to Kashim Ibrahim University in honour of the first governor of the defunct Northern region.
The decision was reached during the first State Executive Council meeting of 2025, chaired by Governor Babagana Zulum.
The meeting, which ended Monday night at the Government House Council Chamber, lasted over six hours, as key issues affecting the state were discussed. Read more
Jennifer Lopez ‘wants to close the door’ after Ben Affleck divorce (People)
Jennifer Lopez is focusing on a fresh start following her split from Ben Affleck.
The former couple settled their divorce on Monday, Jan. 6, nearly 20 weeks after the singer and Unstoppable actress filed for a dissolution of marriage on Aug. 20, 2024.
And as a source tells PEOPLE now of Lopez, 55, “The fairy tale she was promised turned out to be a nightmare in the end.” Read more
Cape Town family launches urgent search for missing 26-year-old artist (IOL)
A Cape Town family is searching for their 26-year-old daughter who disappeared nearly two weeks ago and is believed to have been seen with a Nigerian national suspected of involvement in drug trafficking in the vicinity of the Fish Hoek taxi rank.
The family of Megan Anderson has utilised the services of various missing persons organisations nationally, including that of security expert, Mike Bolhuis and the National Crime Assist (NCA), a voluntary non-profit organisation.
According to Anderson’s uncle, Kenneth Anderson who lives in the UK, who reached out to the Cape Argus, the young woman was last seen leaving her grandmother’s residence in Ranger Road in Fish Hoek just after 3:30pm on December 28. Read more
Trudeau says ‘not a snowball’s chance in hell’ Canada will join US (BBC)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has hit back at Donald Trump’s threat to use “economic force” to absorb Canada into the US saying there isn’t “a snowball’s chance in hell” to join the two.
President-elect Trump has in recent weeks repeatedly needled Canada about it becoming the 51st US state.
“You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security,” Trump said at a press conference at his Florida Mar-a Lago home on Tuesday. Read more
US judge temporarily blocks release of Trump investigations report (AlJazeera)
A United States judge has temporarily blocked Special Counsel Jack Smith from releasing a report on his investigation into President-elect Donald Trump for his mishandling of classified documents.
On Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon, the federal judge who presided over the now-dismissed case against Trump, directed the US Department of Justice not to release the report until a federal appeals court rules on a request from his two former co-defendants.
Those co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, remain the subject of a continuing appeal. They have argued that the report’s release could interfere with their right to a fair hearing. Read more
Seattle police officer who struck and killed a graduate student from India is fired (NBC)
Seattle’s interim police chief on Monday fired the officer who fatally struck a 23-year-old graduate student from India with his patrol vehicle in January 2023 while responding to a call. The case ignited outrage and attracted widespread attention after another officer was recorded on his body-worn camera making callous remarks about the death of Jaahnavi Kandula.
In an email to members of the department obtained by NBC News, interim Police Chief Sue Rahr said Monday that she had decided to fire Kevin Dave after the Seattle Office of Police Accountability concluded that he had violated four department policies, including one that requires the safe operation of police vehicles.
Dave had been driving 74 mph in a 25 mph zone on his way to a call about an overdose, according to a police investigation report. Read more
Ivorian authorities decide ship carrying ammonium nitrate is safe (AfricaNews)
Ivorian authorities have made their decision. The ship Zimrida, which has long been blocked outside Ivorian waters, is not a floating bomb. On Tuesday, it finally docked at the port of Abidjan, carrying 20,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate.
Authorities have stated that this cargo, which is used for fertilizers and the mining industry, poses no danger to port facilities or the general public. Everything is in order, including the permits. This morning, a press visit was organized on board to further reassure journalists.
“The port of Abidjan, in particular, is booming in terms of traffic, and ammonium nitrate traffic is part of this growing phenomenon. In the past, ammonium nitrate was mainly used in the agriculture industry, but in recent years there has been an expansion of the mining industry,” Hien Yacouba Sié, General Manager of the Autonomous Port of Abidjan, stated. Read more
More than 100 dead, nearly 200 injured after 7.1 magnitude quake strikes Tibet (UPI)
At least 126 people are dead and 188 injured after a strong earthquake struck a remote region of Tibet in China on Tuesday morning.
A 7.1-magnitude temblor struck at a depth of about 6 miles just after 9 a.m. local time in Tibet’s Dingri County, a mountainous region located near the border with Nepal and Mount Everest, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The China Earthquake Networks Center, which measured the initial earthquake as a magnitude 6.8, recorded several aftershocks with the most recent at 2:08 p.m. local time. Read more
NFF appoints Éric Chelle as Super Eagles head coach (DailyTrust)
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Executive Committee has approved the appointment of Éric Sékou Chelle as the new Head Coach of Nigeria’s senior men’s national football team, the Super Eagles.
The decision followed the recommendation of the NFF’s Technical and Development Sub-Committee during its meeting held in Abuja on January 2, 2025.
The appointment was formally endorsed by the NFF Executive Committee on January 7, 2025. Read more
Fury would be ‘massive favourite’ against Joshua – Jones (BBC)
Tyson Fury would be a “massive favourite” against Anthony Joshua if the heavyweights fight this year, says former world super-featherweight champion Barry Jones.
British rivals Joshua and Fury have long been linked with fighting each other and are both coming off defeats in world title bouts.
Fury, 36, has already said he has no plans to retire following his loss to Oleksandr Usyk and Jones believes the Gypsy King showed against Usyk he has “plenty left” to give to boxing. Read more
‘We’re happy for him’ — Nottingham Forest celebrates Awoniyi’s goal vs Wolves (CompleteSports)
Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo has heaped plaudits on Taiwo Awoniyi after the Nigerian hit target in the club’s 3-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night.
The Nigeria international rose from the bench to score the Tricky Trees third goal of the day.
Awoniyi put an end to his 324-day goal drought with the strike. Read more
Elon Musk wants to buy Liverpool despite fears owners FSG will raise asking price (Mirror)
Elon Musk is the world’s richest man, with the Tesla Motors CEO worth an eye-watering £340billion, the kind of money that’d allow him to buy a Premier League club heavyweight like Liverpool
Elon Musk’s father has revealed that his son, the world’s richest man, wants to buy English football giants Liverpool.
Musk, 53, is best known for being the CEO of Tesla Motors, the owner of X (formerly Twitter) and a close ally of US president-elect Donald Trump. The South African mogul is worth a staggering £340billion. Read more
Jose Mourinho rages at ‘toxic’ Turkish Super Lig in referee rant (Independent)
Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho has launched a furious tirade about the level of refereeing in Turkey, claiming there is a “toxic” environment in the Super Lig.
The Portuguese coach was speaking following Galatasaray’s highly controversial 2-1 defeat of Goztepe at the weekend, a result which prompted the losers to issue a statement requesting for a “temporary foreign referee system to be established immediately”, adding “we want a League of Deserved Winners”.
Goztepe’s disappointment at some of the refereeing decisions was mirrored by Mourinho who echoed their sentiments. Read more
Lewis Hamilton provided with rare opportunity to join illustrious club (RN365)
Rarely do elite athletes continue competing at the highest level of their chosen discipline beyond the age of 40, and even less frequently are they successful in the process.
However, it is a practice that is becoming increasingly common, with the likes of Tom Brady winning his final Super Bowl at the age of 43 and LeBron James, now 40, still performing to a high standard in the NBA.
In F1, it is a phenomena that is having somewhat of a renaissance. Fernando Alonso, 43, is now joined by Lewis Hamilton – and Kimi Raikkonen retired at 41 in 2021. Read more
