‘IT WAS A BIT STRANGE’: David De Gea Reacts to His penalty save

 

Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea made a rare penalty save from West Ham United’s Mark Noble on Sunday – and found the build-up ‘a bit strange’.

Kanye West applies to officially change his name to Ye

 

Kanye West has formally applied to change his name to Ye, nearly three years on from tweeting about changing his name. As BBC reports, Kanye West cited "personal reasons" for the name change in court documents filed with Los Angeles Superior Court. The application for the formal name change comes nearly three years after Kanye West tweeted about wanting to be called "Ye", a few months after releasing his 2018 album ye. In the same year, he spoke about the name change during radio interview, revealing it also has a religious meaning, "I believe 'ye' is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means 'you'," he told host Big Boy. "So I'm you, I'm us, it's us. It went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye - just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything." He's due to host a third listening party for his long-awaited album Donda tomorrow (26 August), and has relocated from Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz stadium to Chicago's Soldier Field stadium for the event. A picture has since made the rounds online of a team building a replica of his childhood home in the stadium.

Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell all smiles as they film Mission: Impossible 7

Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell have been spotted filming scenes for Mission: Impossible 7 in Birmingham.

Ellie Brown breaks silence on night out with Jack Grealish

Love Island star Ellie Brown has broken her silence over photographs showing her enjoying a cheeky chat with football hunk Jack Grealish on a night out.

Nicki Minaj and husband Kenneth Petty sued by woman he was convicted of attempting to rape

Nicki Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty have been sued by the woman he was convicted of attempting to rape in 1994.

The victim has filed a lawsuit alleging that the chart-topping rapper Minaj and Petty, who share an 11-month-old son, have been “harassing and intimidating” her to force her to take back her claims.

The woman, now 43, was attacked at knifepoint as a 16-year-old in Queens, New York City, by Petty.

He was arrested on suspicion of rape and later pleaded guilty to attempted rape and served four-and-a-half years in prison.

Minaj, 38, is accused of contacting the victim’s family and lying to her social media followers about the incident.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, claims Minaj offered her $500,000 (£360,000) to drop the story.

After Petty, 43, was arrested in March 2020 for failure to register as a sex offender in California, it is alleged the victim was contacted by a childhood friend who acted as an intermediary between her and Minaj.

He gave the musician the woman’s number and Minaj is alleged to have called and offered to fly her and her family to Los Angeles if she could “help” her, according to the lawsuit.

The woman declined the offer, it is claimed.

She also turned down Minaj’s offer to have her publicist draft a statement recanting the rape allegation, the lawsuit states.

During her conversation with the hip hop star, the accuser is said to have told her: “I need you to know woman to woman, that this happened.”

Within days of the conversation, it is claimed, the woman and her family “suffered an onslaught of harassing calls and unsolicited visits”.

It is then claimed the accuser’s brother called her and stated two people contacted a family member saying Minaj had offered half a million dollars if she wrote a letter recanting her rape allegation against Petty.

The woman is said to have hung up and been left “distraught”.

It is also claimed there was a $20,000 (£14,000) cash offer and Minaj offered to send the woman’s daughter a video message for her 16th birthday “as a bonus”.

The lawsuit says the woman has not worked since May 2020 “due to severe depression, paranoia, constant moving, harassment and threats” from Minaj, Petty and their associates.

She is currently living in isolation in Florida out of fear of retaliation, it states.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp questions Man Utd transfer strategy

Jurgen Klopp is wasting no time in laying the gauntlet down to Manchester United, with the Liverpool boss questioning how the Red Devils can afford the likes of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane.

The managerial mind games have started early this season, with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp questioning how Manchester United can afford their transfer business.

Klopp will hope to see his side back at the top of the Premier League this term after a disappointing campaign last time around, and is wasting no time laying the gauntlet down to opposite number Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

United are fourth-favourites to regain the title they last won under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 and haven't been shy about splashing the cash this summer.

Jadon Sancho arrived in a £73million deal from Borussia Dortmund just after the European Championships, while an agreement is also in place to sign Raphael Varane for Real Madrid.

Varane is expected to cost £41million, which means United's transfer spend will be north of £100million when the Frenchman finally puts pen to paper at Old Trafford.

By contrast, United have recouped barely any money in transfer revenue, with the little known duo of Johan Guadagno and Charlie McCann both having left the club for undisclosed fees.

Speaking ahead of Liverpool's Premier League opener against Norwich City, he said: "We all know the situation of Chelsea and City and PSG.

"What United are doing, I don't know how they did it. We have our own way to do it. We are allowed to spend the money we earn.

"This year we spent before we earned money by buying Konate. It's not about me being surprised [by rival spending], I've been here long enough to know they always find a solution to these things.

N791 billion disbursed to farmers: CBN

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has disbursed N791 billion to over three million farmers across the 36 states under its Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP).

The director of the Development Finance Department of the bank, Yusuf Yila, disclosed this on Friday in Abuja during an interaction with journalists.

Mr Yila said the apex bank had reduced the interest rate on loans from nine per cent to five per cent to encourage more farmers to have access to the credit.

The ABP was launched on November 17, 2015, and was designed to provide farm inputs and cash to Small Holder Farmers (SHFs).

The programme was intended to link anchor companies involved in food processing and SHFs of the required key agricultural commodities through commodity associations.

He added that the programme had helped farmers improve their yields, especially maize, from initial two metric tons per hectare, to five metric tons per hectare, while that of rice to four metric tons per hectare.

Mr Yela stated that the bank was also investing in reducing post-harvest losses of farm produce by encouraging dry season farming, describing it as “better in reducing such losses.

“Agriculture works better in the dry season because you cannot control water during the rainy season, but you can control it during the dry season by using irrigation. The bank is also building silos and irrigation dams to reduce losses,’’ he said.

Mr Yila further explained that the apex bank had disbursed about N312 billion in energy infrastructure support through the National Mass Metering Programme.

He noted that the programme was initiated to bridge the six million metering gap in the country, adding that 670 thousand meters had been distributed nationwide.

“We are also ensuring value addition in the scheme by ensuring the meters are not fully imported but assembled in Nigeria,” said Mr Yila. “By that, we are creating thousands of jobs and also supporting economic diversification.’’

(NAN).

JSS1 student sues Ekiti Government to court

 A JSS1 female student at Mary Immaculate Secondary School , Ado- Ekiti, Miss Gift Agenoisa, has sued the Ekiti Government before a state High Court, seeking N15m in damages for breach of fundamental human rights.

In a suit number HAD/01/CR/2021 and sworn to at the Ado-Ekiti High Court on her behalf by Mrs. Odunayo Agenoisa, the student claimed that her suspension from school by government infringed on her rights.

The plaintiff described as “cruel and inhuman” the alleged treatment meted to her for coming to school with “indecent hairstyle.”

Joined in the suit are the school principal, Mrs. Oluwasanmi F.M (first respondent), the Commissioner for Education, Dr. Olabimpe Aderiye (second respondent), the Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission (third respondent) and the Ekiti State Government (fourth respondent).

In the affidavit attached to the originating summons, the plaintiff claimed that she was singled out of school assembly on May 22, and given 20 lashes of  on the order of the school principal for “indecent hairstyle.”

In her originating summons deposed to by her counsel, Mr. Timmy Omotoso, and brought pursuant to Order 2 rules 1,3,4,5 and 6 of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules 2009 as preserved by Section 315 of the 1999 Constitution, the applicant demanded N15m damages for her suspension.

She also demanded her immediate reinstatement back to school with unfettered access to all services being rendered therein.

The plaintiff claimed that the beating she got that day resulted in bruises, life-threatening scars and bloodstains on her uniform, adding that she fainted and was rushed to the Police clinic in Ado-Ekiti, where she was resuscitated.

She claimed further that her letters of protest to the wife of Ekiti State Governor and some relevant government agencies were not responded to, hence, her resort to legal redress.

The plaintiff added that she had been denied access to the school premises and her class on the orders of the principal since then.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that on May 22, the plaintiff’s father and a Police Sergeant, Elijah, allegedly mobilised four armed policemen to the school to manhandle some teachers for scolding his daughter who was said to have come to school with an “indecent hairdo” against the school rules and regulation.

(NAN)

DSS invites ex-Adamawa gov, Bindow, others over ‘anti-Buhari’ meeting

A former Governor of Adamawa State, Senator Jibrilla Bindow was grilled by the Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday.

It was gathered that his questioning by the state service was related to a meeting he attended, where some attendees reportedly abused President Muhammadu Buhari and wished him dead.

Ripples Nigeria had reported that the leaked audio of the same meeting, led to the suspension of the All Progressives Congress (APC) caretaker chairman in Yola South, Suleiman Adamu, by the national body of the party.

Speaking on the saga, the media aide to the governor, Sadiq Abdullateef in a statement, confirmed the interaction between the DSS and Bindow on Wednesday, noting that some other people were also invited by the secret police.

He listed five other persons interviewed by the DSS on the same development as Kabiru Mijinyawa, former speaker Adamawa house of assembly; Sulaiman Adamu, acting APC chairman Yola south; Mustapha Barkindo, former adviser during Bindow’s administration; Abubakar Umar Sirimbai, former commissioner, and Yusha’u Adamu.

The statement however cleared Bindow of any blame for attending the meeting, noting that those who recorded and leaked the audio of the meeting were only trying to blackmail Bindow.

Also, the statement explained that when Bindow noticed that some people who attended the meeting were cursing President Buhari, he cautioned them but before the audio was leaked to the public, it had been doctored.

The statement read: “Former Adamawa State Governor, Senator Muhammad Umar Jibrilla Bindow was invited to a party meeting because some members of the party were aggrieved about the just concluded primaries, which he attended as an elder of the party.

”It’s worthy of note that, there was no program in the said meeting, he went there and sat and listened to the aggrieved members’ complains, and there was an unwarranted outburst from some members which he cautioned, it’s sad that some people are using that outburst with a recording to malign the former governor.

”The said recording was doctored and if you listened to it very well, there are some conversations that were skipped, Senator Bindow cautioned the members making those unwarranted utterances thrice in the meeting and even threatened to walk out.

”His words were, ‘please this is not right, you don’t wish anybody death because of political reasons, talk less of our leader and father, the president. Let’s make progress please, or I am leaving’.

”But because it’s a planned recording to malign and create problems where there is none, his utterances condemning what has been said wasn’t even in the circulated recording.

”As far as we are concerned, we were invited to a meeting and things were said in public and Senator Bindow cautioned the people making those utterances and that was it.

”President Muhammadu Buhari is like a father to Bindow and he will never entertain anything of such on the president.”

For a population of 200 million Nigerians, each citizen owes the World Bank at least N24,080.

Nigeria, having borrowed $11.7 billion (about N4.816 trillion) is the fifth highest borrower from the World Bank Group and among the 10 highest debt risk exposure globally, a report said.

The World Bank in the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) financial statement of the International Development Association (IDA), its subsidiary, said India is leading with $22bn debt, Bangladesh next with $18.1bn, Pakistan, $16.4bn, Vietnam, $14.1bn, and Nigeria has $11.7bn debt.

Nigeria’s $11.7bn or N4.816tr is nearly one third of the 2021 national budget, which is put at N13.6tr.

For a population of 200 million Nigerians, it means each citizen owes the World Bank at least N24,080 in terms of per head distribution.

African countries next to Nigeria are Ethiopia with $11.2bn, Kenya with $10.2bn, Tanzania with $8.3bn, Ghana with $5.6bn, and Uganda, $4.4bn.

In 2022, the organization said the single borrower limit (SBL) has been set at $45bn, about 25 percent of $180.9bn of equity as of June 30, 2021.

The bank offers concessional loans and grants to the poorest developing countries who are its members.

“As of June 30, 2021, the 10 countries with the highest exposures accounted for 66% of IDA’s total exposure,” it noted.

The report also said $19.5bn loans would be disbursed to Nigeria, which includes $1.46bn loan approved but not yet signed, $6.61bn signed loan commitment, and $11.47bn outstanding loan.

Twitter has agreed to set up Nigeria office in 2022 – FG

 

The Federal Government has said the social networking site, Twitter, has agreed to set of Nigerian office in 2022.

Lionel Messi To Become PSG's Highest-Paid Player After Taxes

According to reports, Lionel Messi will climb ahead of soon-to-be Paris Saint-Germain teammates Neymar and Kylian Mbappe as the French club's highest-paid player.

The Four Most Dangerous Sex Positions Men Should Run Away From

If you see yourself engaging in these four sex positions most times, read this before it's too late

Injuries during sex are more common than you think and the positions you experiment with have a lot to do with it.

Bachelorette's Katie Thurston and Blake Moynes Reveal How Many Times They've Had Sex

 

After getting engaged on The Bachelorette's season finale, Katie Thurston and Blake Moynes were on the hot seat to divulge how many times they've made love.

Nigeria’s COVID-19 infections hit 178,086

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says the country’s COVID-19 infections continue to rise as the total number of cases hits 178, 096, as at Aug. 8.

The NCDC made this known via its wedsite on Monday morning, confirming additional 471 infections.

It named Lagos and Akwa-Ibom as states leading the bulk of the nationwide surge.

The News Agency Of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the new infections indicate a decrease from the 473 cases announced a day earlier.

The agency said the 471 additional infections were recorded in 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

It noted that Lagos State emerged as an early hotspot for coronavirus and had continued to have some of the highest cases in the country.

It said the state with an ambitious plan to fight back the virus, reported the hghest infections of the day with 219 new cases and had continued to lead the country’s chart both in confirmed and active cases.

The public health agency stated that nearly half of the new COVID-19 Delta Variant infections nationwide were in Akwa Ibom, a situation that made the Federal Government to consider changing its vaccine distribution mechanism to hot spots.

The health institute added that the spike in cases had been pronounced in Akwa Ibom.

It noted that though the state had seen the highest rate of new infections in the past two weeks it, however, registered 102 cases.

Others included; Ondo (37), Oyo (33), Kwara (19), Rivers (16), Ekiti (15), Delta (14), Ogun (7), FCT (5), Niger (2), Edo (1) and Katsina (1).

It stated that 291 people had recovered and were discharged from various isolation centres in the country on Saturday.

The agency said that till date, 165,763 recoveries had been recorded nationwide in 36 states and the FCT.

The NCDC added that the country had also tested more than 2.5 million samples for the virus out of the country’s roughly 200 million population.

It stated that the country’s COVID-19 average test positivity rate was six per cent.

The health agency said two new deaths were recorded on Saturday raising the total number of fatalities in the country to 2,187.

The NCDC said a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at Level 2, continued to coordinate the national response activities.

Meanwhile, in spite of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic causing havoc in the country, the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 has announced the postponement of distribution of the second batch of COVID-19 Moderna vaccines doses donated by the United State of America.

The exercise was earlier scheduled to begin on Aug.10, at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja.

It postponed the exercise due to some unforeseen circumstances.

The NCDC advised Nigerians to get vaccinated regardless of whether they had COVID-19 or not.

With the COVID-19 cases rising and vaccination rates on the decline, health experts say they are concerned about the next chapter in the pandemic, especially for Nigerians with underlining sicknesses.

Buhari, PFN Mourn Badejo, Say His Legacy Worthy Of Emulation

Wilson Badejo

President Muhammadu Buhari and Bishop Wale Oke, president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), alongside others, have expressed shock over the demise of Rev. Wilson Badejo, the third General Overseer of Four Square Gospel Church in Nigeria from 1999 to 2009.

Buhari, while commiserating with his family and the Christian community, described Badejo as a worthy Christian leader who stood out, gave his life for the service of God and impacted humanity.

A message on Sunday through Buhari’s Special Ad­viser, Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, stated: “President Muhammadu Buhari sends heartfelt condolences to the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, and Christendom in general, over the passage of the formerGeneralOverseer, Rev. Dr. Wilson Badejo, aged 74.

“The President describes the departed as ‘a dedicated servant of God, who led the Foursquare Gospel Church for 10 years, and was committed to standing in the gap for not just his organisation, but Nigeria as a whole.’

“President Buhari prays that God will comfort the entire Bade­jo family, urging them to take so­lace in the fact that their father, a veterinary doctor, author, cleric, and public speaker, set a standard to be emulated by all and sundry.”

FG postpones COVID-19 vaccination scheduled to resume on Tuesday

Mass inoculation of Nigerians with the second batch of COVID-19 vaccines will no longer commence on Tuesday August 10 as earlier scheduled, says the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 (PSC).

The vaccination was billed to commence at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja, following the receipt of a consignment of Moderna vaccine doses donated by the American government to intensify the battle against the virus.

Spokesman to PSC on COVID-19 Willie Bassey, made this known in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja.

The PSC announced the second phase of vaccination against the virus having received four million doses of moderna vaccines donated by the United States government through COVAX.

U.S. President Joe Biden had in May pledged to share 80 million vaccines with countries around the world to protect the most vulnerable. Of this number, Africa is expected to receive 25 million.

The first shipments to Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Ethiopia and now Nigeria have been delivered.

According to Mr Bassey, the exercise was postponed due to some unforeseen circumstances.

The statement reads in part; “This is to announce the postponement of the national flag-off of phase 11 vaccination programme earlier scheduled for Tuesday this week due to unforeseen circumstances.

“A new date will be communicated,” it said.

Following the increasing COVID-19 cases linked to the highly transmissible delta variants, the government confirmed the third wave of the pandemic in the country.

As of August 7, the country has recorded 177,615 coronavirus cases and 2,185 fatalities, data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) shows.

Although the country commenced inoculation of its citizens against COVID-19 in early March, only 3,938,945 eligible persons across 36 states and FCT have so far been vaccinated.

Out of the figure, 2,534,205 people have been vaccinated for the first dose and 1,404,205 have received their second dose of the vaccine.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine with which Nigeria commenced vaccination, is given in double doses. A person is required to come back for a second shot, some weeks after taking the first jab.

However, following the exhaustion of approximately four million doses of vaccines delivered through the COVAX facility, the government announced the close of vaccination of the first batch.

COVAX is a United Nations-backed effort that promises access to vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries’ populations.

To achieve herd immunity against the virus, the Nigeria government had set an ambitious goal of vaccinating 40 per cent of its over 200 million population before the end of 2021, and 70 per cent by the end of 2022.

To achieve this, “the vaccine roll-out will be in four phases, starting with health workers, frontline workers, COVID-19 rapid response team, laboratory network, policemen, petrol station workers and strategic leaders,” the executive director, National Primary health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, had said.

Mr Faisal said the second phase would capture older adults aged 50 years and above and those with comorbidities aged between 18 and 49 years of age.

He said; “Phase 3– Those in states/LGAs with high disease burden and who missed phases 1 and 2, and Phase 4 will include other eligible populations as vaccines become available.”

Meanwhile, the country is also expecting about 700,000 doses in the coming week and another 3.9 million doses by mid August.

(SOURCE: NAN)

Kanye West has claimed Kim Kardashian is ‘still in love with’ him in new Donda track

Kanye West has claimed that Kim Kardashian still has feelings for him in a new track premiered at a Donda event.

On Thursday (5 August), the rapper held his second Donda listening party at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, revealing a new song on his 10th studio album – thought to be titled “Lord I Need You”.

The song references the couple’s ongoing divorce. “Time and space is a luxury / But you came here to show that you’re still in love with me,” West raps, appearing to reference how Kardashian attended both of his listening events for the album with their children.

He also debuted updated lyrics to the song “Love Unconditionally”, changing the original words of “I’m losing my family” to “I’m losing all my family / Darling, come back to me”.

Other lyrics in the song include: “She’s screaming at me / Honey, why could you leave? / Darling, how could you leave? / Come back tonight, baby / Come back tonight, darling, please / Darling, how could you leave?”

Donda, which is named after West’s late mother, has suffered multiple delays and was most recently scheduled for release on 23 July, but the album never manifested.

It was then supposed to come out Friday 6 August, but at the time of writing it has still not materialised.

Donda is West’s first album since the release of his 2019 gospel album Jesus Is King and since Kardashian filed for divorce in February after six years of marriage.

Britney Spears’ conservator begs dad Jamie to ‘stop the attacks’ as he claims there is ‘no grounds’ for rule to be removed

Britney Spears’ conservator Jodi Montgomery has begged her father, Jamie Spears, to stop ‘attacking’ her and ‘misrepresenting’ a phone call between them. 

Ms Montgomery who currently has responsibility for all decisions about Britney’s person, claimed Jamie is ‘manipulating’ the conversation they had in order to get a ‘tactical advantage’ in court as Britney battles to get the conservatorship rule she has been under since 2008 removed. 

Jamie had claimed in a court document that Montgomery had discussed a 5150 psychiatric hold as a possibility for the singer, which Ms Montgomery denies.

The statement, released to 'People' by Ms Montgomery’s attorney Lauriann Wright, claims: ‘Ms. Montgomery is saddened that her telephone call to Mr. Spears, made out of genuine concern for Ms. Spears, and intended to re-establish a working relationship with Mr. Spears towards Ms. Spears’ mental health and well-being, is now being misrepresented and manipulated to gain some sort of tactical advantage in the pending proceedings to remove him as Conservator.

‘We all need to focus on one thing, and one thing only – the health, well-being and best interests of Britney Spears.’

The statement comes after Jamie filed a court document opposing Britney’s request that he be removed from his role as conservator ‘immediately’. 

The statement adds; ‘It is in Ms. Spears’ best interests that her father step down as her Conservator, so he can go back to just being Ms. Spears’ father, and working on a healthy, supportive father-daughter relationship.

‘Mr. Spears’ declaration misrepresents what Ms. Montgomery said to him in relation to a potential 5150 psychiatric hold for Ms. Spears.  At no time did Ms. Montgomery express to Mr. Spears that Ms. Spears would currently qualify for such a hold.

‘The concern that Ms. Montgomery did raise to Mr. Spears during their telephone call is that forcing Ms. Spears to take the stand to testify or to have her evaluated would move the needle in the wrong direction for her mental health.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has explained what Raphael Varane will bring to Manchester United

Raphael Varane is expected to complete his transfer to Man United from Real Madrid next week.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Raphael Varane will bring a 'new dimension' to Manchester United.

Varane, 28, is set to undergo a medical next week to complete his £43million transfer from Real Madrid.

United hope to finalise the deal by, or on, Wednesday and Solskjaer has already suggested Varane will be on the bench against Leeds United next Saturday.

Varane is due to become United's third summer signing after Tom Heaton and Jadon Sancho and Solskjaer is pleased with the club's business so far.

"We have built a playing squad with a good spread of ages," Solskjaer said in his programme notes. "Some really talented young lads, some very experienced senior professionals and some who are right in their prime.

"But what unites everyone, both the players and the staff, is the hunger and enthusiasm that we all have for success. We are all- ready to take that step on our journey and that requires constant evolution.

"We have already significantly strengthened our squad for the 2021-22 campaign with returning players and the signings of Tom Heaton and Jadon Sancho, and the impending arrival of Raphael Varane will bring another new dimension to our collective approach."