Ukrainian refugee snatches host’s husband (MicroSecondNews)
A Ukrainian refugee who eloped with the head of the family that provided her with accommodation and food after she fled the war in Ukraine has spoken up to defend her action. She claims she is not a ‘homewrecker.’
Sofiia Karkadym, 22, fled Lviv and moved in with Tony Garnett, 29, his wife Lorna, and their two children in Bradford at the start of May to escape the war in her country. But Mr Garnett quickly fell for her and left his wife for her after 10 days, moving with her into his parents’ home.
The family had offered to accommodate Sofiia in an effort to do their bit to help Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.
Tony at the time told The Sun he ‘wanted to do the right thing’ and that Miss Karkadym was the first person to get in touch on a Facebook page where he offered to house a refugee.
Now, Mr Garnett said he has fallen in love with Miss Karkadym and wants to spend the rest of his life with her. Read more
Banky W wins PDP House of Reps primaries in Lagos (Vanguard)
Mr Olubankole Wellington (Banky W) a Nigerian celebrity was on Monday, declared winner of the PDP primaries for Eti-Osa constituency House of Representatives ticket for the 2023 general elections.
Banky W had a landslide victory, polling 28 out of 31 votes cast by delegates at the primaries.
Recall that the delegates consisted of 31 adhoc members of the PDP and one national delegate.
PDP primaries: I’ll wait as long as it takes – Banky W
Banky W contested against a legal practitioner, Mr Sam Aiboni who polled three votes.
The Returning Officer, Mr Ayodele Kazeem, who declared the results, described the process as peaceful and transparent. Read more
Dismissed policeman bags life imprisonment for defiling 9-year-old pupil (Punch)
An Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court on Monday sentenced a dismissed policeman, Mohammed Alidu, to life imprisonment for defiling a nine-year-old school girl in a police barracks.
Justice Abiola Soladoye, in her judgment, held that Alidu was a disgrace to the police because he failed to uphold law and order and went about frolicking with an underage girl.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that Soladoye held that the prosecution had convincingly proved the charge of defilement against the convict beyond any reasonable doubt.
She said the survivors’ evidence was fully corroborated by the medical evidence. Read more
Lagos Arewa community directs members to obey okada ban (Tribune)
The Arewa community in Lagos State on Sunday directed all its members across the state to comply with the provisions of the laws existing in Lagos, including the one which a few days ago placed a total ban on the operation of commercial motorcycles called okada in six local governments and nine local councils developed areas, saying the law was not new having been in existence for over 10 years.
The community, under the aegis of Lagos State Arewa Community General Assembly (LASACOMM), said this in a 9- point communiqué issued at the end of its meeting, pointing out that it took this unanimous decision as its members were law-abiding and will always continue to intimate on all its members to continue to be law-abiding and operate only within the ambits of the law.
The Assembly, in the communiqué signed by its Secretary-General, Alhaji Musa Saleh, while throwing support for all measures taken by the Lagos State government in its efforts towards protecting the life and prosperities of all Lagosians, condemned in totality the activities of all criminal elements who it said were mostly foreigners from Niger Republic, Chad, Cameroon and other Neighbouring countries who had infiltrated the ranks of those genuine riders and thereby perpetrating all forms of crime in the state and were constituting serious threats to the lives and properties of Lagosians.
It, therefore, called on the security agencies in the state to identify and arrest all those criminal elements masquerading as Okada riders. Read more
Lagos explosion: Gas plant owner dies, lawyer insists on N800m compensation (Punch)
Justice Oyindamola Ogala of the Lagos State High Court, on Monday, struck out the criminal charges against the owner of Fash Oil Limited, Alhaji Waidi Fashola, popularly known as Larafash, following his death.
The cause of the sudden death of the defendant is unknown.
The Lagos State Government had dragged Fashola to court following an explosion at his gas plant, Bestroof, on Cardoso Road, Baruwa Estate, Ipaja.
No fewer than eight people died in the explosion, which happened on October 8, 2020, on Baruwa Estate, in the Ipaja area of the state. Read more
Lagos begins lectures for intending 2022 pilgrims
(Guardian)
The Lagos State Government has urged intending pilgrims for the 2022 holy pilgrimage to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board to attend weekend lectures in their respective councils.
The lectures, which commenced on Saturday, May 21, 2022 in all the designated councils are designed to keep the pilgrims abreast of the ethics and activities of hajj exercise both in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
The state’s Commissioner for Home Affairs, Anofiu Olanrewaju Elegushi, in a statement signed by the Board Secretary, Imam Hakeem Kosoko, said the weekend lectures would run simultaneously for at least three weeks.
Elegushi further disclosed that the lectures would afford the pilgrims the opportunity to learn from the Ulamah (Islamic scholars) and also expose them to facts about some historical sites in the Holy land. Read more
States lose battle over LG funds’ management (Nation)
The 36 Governors lost on Monday in their opposition to Federal Government’s efforts to monitor their handling of Local governments’ funds.
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed a suit filed to that effect by the 36 states, through their Attorneys General and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).
The States, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/563/2019, challenged the legality of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) Guidelines, which came into effect on June 1, 2019.
The NFIU 2019 guidelines required among others, that the States/Local Governments Joint Accounts should be used only for receiving funds and subsequently transferring them to Local government accounts only. Read more
PDP Primaries: Ortom wins, serving senators lose (DailyTrust)
Governor Samuel Ortom has won the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 election in Benue North West senatorial district.
Ortom’s emergence followed his adoption by delegates from the seven local government areas which make up the Benue North West senatorial zone.
He was in March this year endorsed as the sole PDP senatorial candidate by the stakeholders from the zone to contest the Senate seat.
The governor told journalists in Makurdi shortly after he was declared winner that he appreciates his people for always standing by him.
He said he was pleased to be given another opportunity to seek to serve the state at the Senate when eventually his tenure as governor would have been completed. Read more
He took advantage of me because he’s stronger, 15-year-old rape victim laments (Vanguard)
A 15-year-old girl, has narrated to the court how a 20-year-old man, Stephanus Stephen, overpowered her and forcefully raped her twice in her father’s living room, in Ondo town, Ondo state.
The Victim told a Chief Magistrate court in Ondo town, that the accused person forcefully defiled her twice at her father’s house between February and May 2022 at No 5 Morolayo street, Valentino in Ondo.
She told the court that ” l was asleep in my family’s living room when Stephen came to meet me and started touching me, I was scared. So, I started shouting, but nobody was around. It was just myself and him in the house.
“He forced himself on me and raped me. He was stronger than me. He also told me not to talk and that if I should tell anyone, he would kill me. I was very scared to tell anybody because of his threat. Read more
Nigeria’s GDP Records 3.11% growth in first quarter of 2022 (DailyTrust)
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Production (GDP) has sustained a positive growth to record a 3.11 per cent in the first quarter of 2022.
But the figure is a slight drop from the 3.98 per cent recorded in Q4.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the Statistician-General of the Federation and CEO of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Semiu Adeyemi Adediran, said the Nigerian economy has maintained a positive trend for the sixth consecutive quarter after the economic shock by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adeniran stated that in nominal terms, the aggregate GDP stood at N45.32trn, which is higher when compared to the first quarter of 2021 which recorded N40.01 trillion a 13.25 per cent growth.
However, Nominal GDP in the preceding quarter of Q4 2021 stood at N49.28trn. Read more
Morgan Freeman among 963 from the US ‘permanently banned’ from Russia (Mirror)
Iconic Hollywood star Morgan Freeman has been banned from entering Russia as the nation’s government, headed by dictator Vladimir Putin, bitterly hits out at American sanctions.
The 84-year-old actor will now be unable to admire the colourful domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow’s Red Square, or enjoy a luxury train journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway after being named in a list of 963 Americans that are banned from the soviet nation.
The Russian government has targeted the Bruce Almighty star and added him to a list of ‘permanently banned’ individuals.
The move comes as Vladimir Putin’s government attempts to retaliate against severe sanctions implemented against Russia due to their illegal invasion of Ukraine which has been raging since February. Read more
Surgeon testifies that Depp’s severed finger story is ‘inconsistent’ (Unilad)
The actor is in the midst of a defamation trial with his ex-wife Amber Heard, which he launched over an article she wrote in 2018, in which she claimed she was a survivor of domestic abuse.
Though the article did not name Depp, he claims it had a detrimental impact on his career, and saw him lose millions in potential earnings.
The 58-year-old is suing the Aquaman star for $50 million, and she countersuing him for $100m.
During the trial, one of the main talking points has been an incident that occurred in Australia back in 2015, when Depp lost part of one of his fingers. Read more
Vanessa Hudgens is announced as the host for 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards (DailyMail)
Hudgens returns to the MTV stage following a highly-acclaimed hosting stint in 2020 for the inaugural MTV Movie & TV Awards: Greatest of All Time special, paying homage to the biggest and best moments in film and television with irreverent award categories, memorable presentations and performances from today’s hottest stars.
Hudgens began her career in the world of musical theatre at eight.
She was then seen in ‘Evita,’ ‘Carousel,’ ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ ‘The King & I,’ ‘The Music Man,’ ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Damn Yankees’ gave Vanessa the opportunity to showcase her impressive singing and acting skills.
She made her feature film debut in Catherine Hardwicke’s controversial ‘Thirteen’ starring Holly Hunter and Evan Rachel Wood. Read more
Harry Styles’ claims the fastest-selling album of 2022 so far (MN)
Harry Styles is off to an explosive start on this week’s Official Albums Chart as Harry’s House claims the fastest-selling album of 2022 so far after just one weekend of sales and streams, the Official Charts Company can confirm.
Already boasting the biggest first-week figures since Adele’s 30 in November 2021, Harry’s House has racked up over 61,000 chart sales so far. It puts Harry Styles firmly on the way to a personal best this week – Harry’s House already surpasses the final opening week sales of the One Direction singer’s previous studio albums. Harry Styles totalled just under 57,000 UK chart sales in its first week in May 2017, while 2019’s Fine Line managed 49,000. Harry’s self-titled debut also looks set to return to the Top 40 as it rises to Number 28 midweek.
Elsewhere in the Top 5, German synthpop group xPropaganda – comprising Propaganda members Claudia Brücken and Susanne Freytag – eye a Number 2 entry this week with their debut collective album The Heart is Strange.
The Clash’s 1982 record Combat Rock is on track to return to the Top 5 this week thanks to a special edition re-release. The reissue, featuring twelve new tracks across limited edition CD and triple vinyl formats, sees the record land at Number 3 midweek. Combat Rock originally peaked at Number 2 upon its initial release. Read more
Netflix Lost 3.6 Million Paid Subscribers In US In Q1 (TechShout)
As Netflix admitted that it is fast losing paid subscribers, data analytics provider Antenna has revealed that the subscription platform actually saw 3.6 million cancellations in the US, its most matured market, in the first quarter (Q1) this year.
The quarterly loss is over one million more than what Netflix faced in both Q1 2021 and Q4 2021.
By the end of March, Netflix’s active monthly churn rate was 3.3 per cent.
“Data indicates that Netflix’ active monthly churn rate increased +0.95p points month-over-month in January. By the end of March 2022, Netflix active monthly churn rate was 3.3 per cent,a the US-based analytics company said in a blog post. Read more
Watch the breath-taking trailer for David Bowie docufilm, “Moonage Daydream” (Loundersound)
A first trailer for the upcoming David Bowie docufilm, Moonage Daydream, has been released.
Directed by Brett Morgen (Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, Jane), Moonage Daydream is set to feature never-been-seen footage from Bowie‘s personal archives alongside rare performance recordings. It’ll receive its debut screening tonight (May 23) at the Cannes Film Festival, and will be released for world-wide viewing in September.
The film promises to take viewers on an “immersive” journey through “sublime, kaleidoscopic imagery, personal archived footage, unseen performances”, backed by Bowie’s own music and words. Read more
Love Island 2021 cast: What are they doing now? (HeatWorld)
Love Island 2021 was the year we finally reunited with our fave reality TV show after bosses were forced to postpone the show the previous year because of the coronavirus pandemic, and boy was it worth the wait.
From Toby Aromolaran changing his mind every single day before finally realising he was in love with Chloe Burrows to one of the most DRAMATIC Casa Amor twists that saw Liam Reardon nearly lose ‘love of his life’ Millie Court after he kissed and shared a bed with Lillie Haynes.
Who could also forget the Shakespearean love drama that involved Liberty Poole choosing self-love over her doomed romance with Jake Cornish? Oh and hurricane Faye Winter when she discovered Teddy Soares’ flirty antics in Casa Amor?
As we get ready ready to obsess over a new bunch of Islanders as a load of sexy singletons enter the most famous villa on the planet to find love and potentially bag a whopping £50,000 – lets have a look at the class to 2021 to see what they’ve been up to. Read more
Mbappe not ruling out Real Madrid move in future (BBC)
Kylian Mbappe says the dream of one day playing for Real Madrid is “never over” despite opting to sign a new contract and stay at Paris St-Germain.
The France striker, 23, rejected a move to the Spanish champions at the weekend to sign a new three-year contract PSG.
However, speaking to BBC Sport’s Guillem Balague on Monday, Mbappe has not ruled out a move to Real later in his career.
“You never know what can happen in the future,” he said.
“I give up to think about the future, I only think about the present and the present is I signed a new contract for three years more at Paris St-Germain.” Read more
Man City’s Mendy pleads not guilty to 9 sex offences (France24)
Manchester City and France footballer Benjamin Mendy denied nine sexual offences against six young women as he appeared in court on Monday.
The 27-year-old player stood in the dock at Chester Crown Court and repeated: “Not guilty” as the charges were put to him and he entered pleas for the first time.
The defender denies seven counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted rape, relating to six complainants.
All the alleged offences are said to have taken place at his home address near Macclesfield, northwest England, between October 2018 and August last year. Read more
‘Lakowe is ready for World Corporate Golf Challenge’ (Guardian)
It is the gathering of some of the best golfers in the country at the Lakowe Lakes Golf and Country Club, Lagos and the prize is enticing.
The occasion is the national finals of the World Corporate Golf Challenge (WCGC), which runs from today to Sunday, with players vying for honours, including the ticket to represent the country at the world finals of the competition.
To ensure that players and fans coming to watch the event have an unforgettable experience, the organisers have aligned with their major sponsors, Pepsi and Singleton from the Guinness stable, among others, to put together a fantastic show.
WCGC is the largest World Corporate Golf Tournament in the world and Falcon Golf Development Company (Falcon Golf) is the events franchise holder in Nigeria. Read more
Scotland: Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney omitted from World Cup play-off squad (BBC)
Kieran Tierney has been omitted from Scotland’s squad for the World Cup play-off semi-final with Ukraine on 1 June, but Nathan Patterson is included.
Both defenders are recovering from surgery and have not played since the end of March.
Steve Clarke has named a pool of 28 for a possible five fixtures next month.
If Scotland get past Ukraine at Hampden, they face a match with Wales in Cardiff on 5 June for a place at the World Cup in Qatar. Read more
NBA official asks Mavericks bench player Theo Pinson to change shirt before Game 3 of Western Conference Finals (USAToday)
The Dallas Mavericks’ bench has been a point of contention in the Western Conference Finals, and the latest issue surrounds Theo Pinson’s white shirt.
Before Dallas’ 109-100 loss to the Golden State Warriors Sunday night, referee Marc Davis went up to Pinson and asked if Pinson would change his white shirt.
Pinson, who was not playing and wearing civilian clothes, appeared to be confused at first and then Davis explained that because the Warriors were wearing their white jerseys, Pinson’s wearing his could lead to confusion for players in the game.
“Hey, do me a favor,” Davis said. “This is crazy. Can you change your shirt? Will you do that for me?” Read more
Charles Leclerc costs rapper Drake almost £200,000 at Spanish GP after betting fail (Express)
Charles Leclerc has cost rapper Drake £186,000 after being forced to retire during the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. Drake had placed a huge bet on the Ferrari man to land victory in Barcelona ahead of the race, which was ultimately won by Max Verstappen.
Drake has a partnership with cryptocurrency platform Stake and used it to back Leclerc, who had won two of the opening five Grands Prix. “First F1 bet, let’s see how it goes,” the Canadian wrote on Instagram as he anxiously awaited the result of the Spanish contest.
The 35-year-old was probably confident of winning his bet as Leclerc started on pole and led the race for 27 laps. And had he gone on to cross the finish line in first place, Drake would have been set for a return of £470k.
But the Monegasque driver saw his hopes of clinching top spot fall by the wayside after his Ferrari suddenly lost power before the halfway stage. And Verstappen took full advantage as he leapfrogged his title rival at the top of this season’s standings after Sergio Perez ceded his lead for his Red Bull team-mate late on. Read more
Djokovic, Nadal glide to round two, Osaka out at French Open (France24)
Reigning champion Novak Djokovic won in straight sets on his return to Grand Slam action at the French Open on Monday and 13-time Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal eased to victory, but Naomi Osaka crashed out in the first round.
Djokovic defeated Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 in the first night session at full capacity in Paris in his first match at a major since losing last year’s US Open final.
His attempt to defend his Australian Open title in January ended in chaos and controversy when he was deported from Melbourne for refusing to get vaccinated.
“I’m happy to be back. Roland Garros is one of the biggest tournaments in the world, and the memories from last year still are fresh in my head, in my mind,” said Djokovic. Read more