Afrobeats star Ayra Starr has confirmed that she has officially moved out of Nigeria.
During an online live session, the singer admitted to moving to New York, marking a new chapter in her personal life and career.
Though it has been less than two months since her relocation, the singer says the city already feels like home.
“Moved to New York in less than two months officially, but I’m always in newyork regardless, I’ve always been in New York, I’m a newyorker in my spirit,” she shared.
According to her, the bustling rhythm of New York echoes the familiar chaos and energy of Lagos, the city she grew up in.
“I’m a New Yorker in my spirit, I feel it; New York reminds me so much of Lagos,” she said.
The presence of a large African and Nigerian community in the city, she added, has made the transition feel natural.
“There’s a lot of Nigerians here, there’s a huge African diaspora here so it feels like home.” (Vanguard)
Brazil’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro to begin serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a failed coup, after he exhausted all appeals.
The brash former army captain who fired up Brazil’s right and reshaped the country’s politics is ending a divisive career jailed in a small room at police headquarters equipped with a TV, mini-fridge, and air-conditioning.
Bolsonaro, 70, was convicted in September over a scheme to stop Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 elections that included a plot to kill the veteran leftist.
Prosecutors said the scheme failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass.
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal to his sentence earlier this month and, on Tuesday, ruled the judgement was now final, with no further challenges allowed.
The court also ordered a military tribunal to decide whether Bolsonaro should be stripped of his captain’s rank.
Bolsonaro had been under house arrest until Saturday, when he was detained at police headquarters in the capital, Brasilia, for tampering with his ankle monitor using a soldering iron.
Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes said there had been “very serious indications of a possible attempt to flee” during a planned vigil organised by Bolsonaro’s son outside his home.
The justice pointed to the location of the nearby US embassy and Bolsonaro’s close relationship with US President Donald Trump, suggesting he may have tried to escape to seek political asylum.
During a hearing on Sunday in Brasilia, Bolsonaro stated he “experienced a certain paranoia” due to medications he was on and that he had no intention of fleeing.
Earlier, Bolsonaro had claimed he used a soldering iron on the monitoring bracelet out of “curiosity”.
The court ruled Bolsonaro will remain detained in the officers’ room — a secure space for protected prisoners — where he is currently held in Brasilia. (Punch)
President Bola Tinubu has declared a nationwide security emergency in response to escalating insecurity across the country, directing the military and police to immediately recruit additional personnel.
Under the new directive, the Nigeria Police Force is to recruit 20,000 additional officers, raising the total approved recruitment figure to 50,000. The president also authorised the temporary use of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camps as police training depots, complementing the ongoing upgrade of police training facilities nationwide.
Tinubu further ordered that officers withdrawn from VIP security duties undergo accelerated retraining before deployment to security-challenged areas.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has also been instructed to deploy all trained forest guards to flush out terrorists and bandits operating from forested areas. The agency is to recruit additional personnel to strengthen security across these locations.
The President commended security agencies for their coordinated efforts that led to the rescue of 24 abducted schoolgirls in Kebbi State and 38 worshippers in Kwara State.
He urged them to sustain momentum in rescuing the remaining abducted students of a catholic school in Niger State and other citizens still in captivity.
Tinubu warned that there must be “no compromise, no collusion, and no negligence,” promising full federal support to ensure operational success.
Tinubu called on the National Assembly to commence legislative reviews enabling states that seek to establish state police to do so.
On education and religious gatherings, the President advised states to reconsider operating boarding schools in remote, unsecured areas and urged mosques and churches in vulnerable locations to prioritise security and work with law enforcement.
Addressing herder farmer conflicts, Tinubu emphasised that the creation of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development aims to end recurring clashes.
He urged herder associations to embrace ranching, discontinue open grazing, and surrender illegal weapons, noting that the federal and state governments will collaborate to implement lasting solutions.
The President expressed condolences to families affected by recent attacks in Kebbi, Borno, Zamfara, Niger, Yobe and Kwara states. He also paid tribute to fallen soldiers, including Brigadier-General Musa Uba.
He urged Nigerians to remain resilient, avoid fear and despair, and stand united to defend the nation’s freedom and values, assuring that his administration remains committed to national unity and peaceful coexistence. (RadioNigeria)
Chelsea romped to a dominant 3-0 win at home to 10-man Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Pep Guardiola’s much-changed Manchester City went down to their first defeat of the campaign against Bayer Leverkusen.
In a battle between the second-placed sides in the Premier League and La Liga, Chelsea emerged emphatic winners thanks to goals from 18-year-old Estevao and Liam Delap after a Jules Kounde own-goal had given the 2021 Champions League winners a first-half lead.
The visitors played just over half the encounter a player down following captain Ronald Araujo’s dismissal for two bookable offences on the stroke of half-time.
After stalling last time out — Chelsea being held 2-2 by Qarabag and Barca drawing three-apiece with Club Brugge — both sides came into the match at Stamford Bridge looking to get their campaigns back on track.
Victory propelled Chelsea to fifth in the league phase standings on 10 points.
“It’s a big win, especially because the other team was Barcelona,” Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said.
After two Enzo Fernandez strikes were disallowed for offside, the hosts finally took the lead on 27 minutes.
A short-corner routine ended with Marc Cucurella firing the ball across the box. Pedro Neto’s attempted flick towards goal had the Barcelona defenders tying themselves in knots before France international Kounde inadvertently knocked it into his own net.
The game took a decisive turn in the 44th minute when Araujo received a second yellow card for a poor challenge on Cucurella.
Much of the pre-match build-up centred on talk around the young starlets on both sides, but it was Chelsea’s Estevao who stole the show over Barcelona’s Spain winger Lamine Yamal.
A moment of magic by the Brazilian teen put the game beyond the Spanish champions as he received the ball on the right before beating two defenders and lashing it into the roof of Joan Garcia’s net five minutes before the hour.
“I don’t really have any words to sum up how I’m feeling right now,” Estevao told Amazon Prime. “It really was the perfect night.”
Substitute Delap then put the game to bed in the 73rd minute.
A second defeat has the Catalans down in 15th spot, but Barcelona coach Hansi Flick insisted he was “really positive” about their chances of automatic qualification to the last 16.
“We’ve got players coming back now and there are three games to play and nine points to win,” the German said.
Guardiola surprisingly rested the majority of his stars at the Etihad, with Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Gianluigi Donnarumma all left out of the starting line-up as Man City went down 2-0 to Leverkusen.
A first loss of the campaign for Man City, coming hot on the heels of Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Newcastle in the Premier League, leaves the 2023 winners on 10 points.
“I take full responsibility, still I think the players that started were exceptional players but we missed something needed at the highest level,” Guardiola said.
“I think playing every two or three days we need to make changes but seeing the result, maybe it’s too much.”
While defeat shall likely not prove fatal to their hopes of reaching the knockout stages, it was a chastening 100th European match in charge of City for Guardiola.
Slack defending allowed Alex Grimaldo the chance to put the away side in front in the 23rd minute, before Patrik Schick glanced in a second half-an-hour later. (JapanToday)
Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Embalo says he was arrested while he was inside the presidential palace today.
Also arrested are the chief of staff, General Biague Na Ntan, deputy chief of staff General Mamadou Traore, and the interior minister, Botche Cande.
According to the president, no force was used against him during what he says was a ‘coup d’etat,’ which he says was led by the army chief of staff.
Reporters on the ground say they heard gunfire at the National Electoral Commission headquarters and in the surrounding areas.
The country has been awaiting results from Sunday’s presidential election which President Embalo had said he won 65 per cent of the votes cast.
Embalo’s camp and that of opposition candidate Fernando Dias de Costa have claimed first-round victory in the November 23 presidential election.
Military officers in Guinea-Bissau announced Wednesday they were taking “total control” of the country, the AFP reported.
The officers also suspended the country’s electoral process and closed its borders, three days after the poverty-stricken West African nation’s legislative and presidential elections.
In the early afternoon, General Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, told members of the press that a command “composed of all branches of the armed forces, was taking over the leadership of the country until further notice”.
He read the announcement seated at a table and surrounded by armed soldiers.
The tumultuous West African country has experienced four coups since independence, as well as multiple attempted coups.
N’Canha, in his declaration, claimed to have uncovered a plan to destabilise the country “involving national drug lords” that had included “the introduction of weapons into the country to alter the constitutional order”.
In addition to halting “the entire electoral process”, he said military forces had suspended “all media programming” and imposed a mandatory curfew.
Guinea-Bissau is among the world’s poorest countries and is also a hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a trade facilitated by the country’s long history of political instability. (Channels)
President Bola Tinubu has forwarded the names of three non-career ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation.
The nominees are Kayode Aare (Ogun State), Aminu Dalhatu (Jigawa State), and Ayodele Oke (Oyo State).
The letter was read during plenary by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
Akpabio has, therefore, directed the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs to review the nominations and report back to the chamber within one week.
This is the first list of ambassadorial nominees sent to the Senate by Tinubu since he became the President on May 29, 2023.
There had been calls on the President to appoint ambassadors and high commissioners for foreign missions.
Concerns over the non-appointment of ambassors were reignited in the wake of the threat by
A former Nigerian External Affairs Minister, Bolaji Akinyemi, had argued that, despite internet access to information, diplomacy still required personal ambassadorial contact.
“I believe credible appointments should be made to the vacant ambassadorial posts. We need to fill them,” Akinyemi said during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today in September. (Channels)
The twenty-four schoolgirls abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Maga, in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, have been rescued.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed this in a statement issued on Tuesday.
He said the President commended the security agencies for their efforts in securing the freedom of the victims and called on them to intensify operations to rescue students who are still in captivity.
“I am relieved that all the 24 girls have been accounted for. Now, we must urgently deploy more boots on the ground in vulnerable areas to prevent further kidnappings. My government will provide all necessary support to achieve this,” the statement quoted the President as saying.
PUNCH Online had reported that bandits stormed the school hostel last Monday, abducting 24 female students.
Following the attack, Tinubu ordered the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi to coordinate rescue efforts, commended security agencies for the series of releases but warned that the job was not yet done.
In the days that followed, gunmen struck a Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, abducting 38 worshippers during a vigil, while another gang raided St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Agwara LGA of Niger State, seizing over 300 pupils and teachers, according to the police and the Catholic Diocese of Kontagora.
The attacks sparked national outrage and renewed calls for stronger protection of schools in rural areas, especially in the North-West, where banditry remains widespread. (Punch)
At least eight people have been abducted during a late-night raid on Biresawa village in the Tsanyawa Local Government Area of Kano State, leaving the community and its neighbours gripped by fear and uncertainty.
Locals described the attackers as heavily armed, storming the village between 11 pm and midnight on Monday.
“They came as usual, and from our findings so far, two males and six females were taken away by the bandits. Up till now, there is no news on their whereabouts,” a community source said.
One of the victims’ relatives, Kabiru Usman, recounted that the bandits approached from neighbouring Tsundu village.
“They came on foot, armed with guns. They kidnapped my wife, Umma; my 17-year-old daughter, Fati; my brother’s wife; and two other women. We tried to stop them, but our weapons were no match for them,” he recalled.
Usman added that residents had alerted security agencies after noticing unusual movement.
“Before the attack occurred, we received a report that they were heading towards us, and we notified the police and military in advance,” he said.
Other communities, including Sarmawa, Yan Chibi, and Gano villages, also experienced attacks. A Yan Chibi resident narrated how dozens of motorcycle-riding bandits stormed the area.
“About 50 bandits riding motorcycles came into our community, shooting in the air. We all ran for safety and later discovered that they had abducted some people, mostly women. I can’t tell the exact number, but over 10 people were taken,” he recounted.
A member of the local vigilante group said they had been alerted to the presence of “strange faces” in the area and mobilised in anticipation of an attack.
However, after the abductions, the bandits escaped into neighbouring Katsina State, forcing the vigilantes and residents to retreat.
“Many families have adopted the strategy of not sleeping in their homes at night,” the vigilante added, highlighting the climate of fear that now grips the region following recent attacks in Shanono and Bagwai LGAs.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Kano, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, confirmed the incident, noting that investigations are ongoing and the exact number of abducted victims has not yet been officially determined. (Channels)
Ukrainian sumo wrestler Danylo Yavhusishyn said Monday that he had surprised even himself by becoming the first from his country to win a tournament in the ancient Japanese sport.
The 21-year-old, who fled the war in Ukraine three years ago, is set to be promoted to sumo’s second-highest rank this week after winning the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament.
The victory earned Yavhusishyn, who is known by his ring name Aonishiki, his first title in only his 14th tournament.
He did it by beating Mongolian grand champion Hoshoryu on Sunday.
“To be quite honest I wanted to win the tournament but I didn’t really think that I could,” he told reporters in Fukuoka. “I’m really happy.”
Yavhusishyn was born in central Ukraine and took up sumo at the age of seven, becoming a national champion at 17.
His age meant he narrowly avoided Ukraine’s military draft for men aged 18 and older after Russia invaded and he sought refuge in Germany, before moving to Japan.
His parents stayed in Germany and he arrived in Japan knowing nothing of the language.
Yavhusishyn said he spoke to his parents after winning the tournament and that he had also received messages from friends in Ukraine.
“I’ve had lots but I haven’t been able to reply to them all yet,” he said. “It will take time to reply to them all but I’ll start doing them one by one after this.”
Yavhusishyn became the second Ukraine-born professional sumo wrestler when he made his debut in July 2023, following in the footsteps of Serhii Sokolovskyi, better known as Shishi.
Yavhusishyn’s promotion to sumo’s upper divisions was the fifth fastest since the current system of six tournaments a year was introduced in 1958.
He kept his title hopes alive at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament by beating Hoshoryu on the penultimate day, then triumphed over the Mongolian again to clinch the title.
“It was the last tournament of the year, so I wanted to give a good account of myself so that I wouldn’t end the year with any regrets,” said Yavhusishyn. (JapanToday)
The Bauchi State Police Command has confirmed the death of five officers and the neutralisation of several bandits following an ambush in Sabon Sara village, Darazo Local Government Area of the state.
This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the Police Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Wakil.
According to Wakil, the incident occurred on November 22, 2025, when combined police tactical units, acting on intelligence, embarked on a visibility patrol to prevent and manage farmer–herder conflict around the Sabon Sara axis.
He said a distress report from a Good Samaritan earlier alerted the Command that personnel from the Rapid Response Squad; 10 PMF, Bauchi; the Anti-Kidnapping Unit; and the State Intelligence Department had been ambushed by unidentified Fulani youths during the operation.
The ambush led to the death of five officers: Ahmad Muhammad (SID), ASP Mustapha Muhammad (10 PMF), Inspector Amarhel Yunusa (10 PMF), Inspector Idris Ahmed (10 PMF), and Corporal Isah Muazu (AKU).
“The injured are currently receiving medical attention, while the bodies of the fallen officers have been deposited at the mortuary.”
He added that efforts were underway to track and apprehend the attackers, assuring the public that the police command remained committed to bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Wakil noted that the Commissioner of Police, Sani-Omolori Aliyu, had visited the scene for an on-the-spot assessment and commiserated with the families of the slain officers, while restating the command’s resolve to uphold its mandate of protecting lives and property. (Punch)
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