Worldwide Updates

We need a Lizzo and Rihanna collab ASAP! After her performance at the 2019 MTV VMAs, the 31-year-old Fenty designer and singer sent the “Truth Hurts” singer, also 31, a hysterical and NSFW compliment on Instagram. “She said I f–k the stage like it was my side bitch,” Lizzo shared with Entertainment Tonight. “Don’t get mad, Rihanna. I am not trying to blow up your spot, but that was a hard ass line! I might take that line.” Lizzo went on to say that she’s dying to collaborate with Rihanna in the future. “Listen, we need a video of Rihanna in the studio, period,” Lizzo continued. “I am not going to bother her, ’cause I know what that feels like, so I am going to let her do what she ought to do. I love Rihanna.”

The music-streaming site has revealed the list of 20 songs that were most streamed this summer globally and the top 20 songs that were most streamed in the United States. The list was compiled of streams from June 1st to August 20th. The global top song of the summer had an astonishing 565 million (and counting!) streams this summer. Most Streamed Songs – Globally   1. “Señorita” – Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes   2. “I Don’t Care (with Justin Bieber)” – Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber   3. “bad guy” – Billie Eilish   4. “Old Town Road – Remix” – Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas X   5. “Callaita” – Bad Bunny, Tainy   6. “Beautiful People (feat. Khalid)” – Ed Sheeran, Khalid   7. “Otro Trago” – Darell, Sech   8. “Someone You Loved” – Lewis Capaldi   9. “Goodbyes (Feat. Young Thug)” – Post Malone, Young Thug   10. “Sunflower – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” – Post Malone, Swae Lee   11. “Rans...

While accepting the award for Video of the Year at the 2019 MTV VMAs last night, Taylor Swift used her speech to promote the Equality Act. The 29-year-old singer launched a petition earlier this summer to urge Senate to vote on the act. “We deserve equal rights under the law. I want to thank everyone who signed that petition because it has half a million signatures, which is five times the amount it would need to warrant a response from the White House,” Taylor said while pretending to check her watch. While the Obama administration would respond to all petitions that reached 100,000 signatures, the Trump administration has not continued the practice. Now, White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere is responding to Taylor using the same statement they released about the Equality Act back in May. “The Trump Administration absolutely opposes discrimination of any kind and supports the equal treatment of all; however, the House-passed bill in its current form is filled with poison pill...

Gigi Hadid is sending her birthday love to Blake Lively! A few days after Blake‘s 32nd birthday, the 24-year-old model took to Instagram on Tuesday (August 27) to share a cute photo of the two ladies hanging out in Blake‘s kitchen. “It’s this Queen’s birthday week and I just want to say how grateful and lucky I am to have a friend like you, B. You are a real one and inspire me in so many ways,” Gigi wrote. “I will only be able to thank you enough by making you endless oatmeal griddle cakes and training your children to be world class disposable-camera photographers. I love you ! Wishing you every blessing. 🥞🧁🎈 @blakelively”

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, has ordered the immediate posting of CP Ahmad Abdulrahman to Enugu State Command as Commissioner of Police. He takes over from CP Suleiman Balarabe, who has been redeployed to the Force Intelligence Bureau, FCID, Abuja, as the CP-in-charge of Intelligence. Frank Mba, Force spokesman, in a statement on Tuesday, said CP Ahmad Abdulrahman holds double Masters Degrees – one in Criminal Justice and another in Conflict, Peace & Strategic Studies, both from the Kaduna State University. A graduate of Political Science & Administration from the University of Sokoto, Ahmad also holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Corruption Studies from the University of Hong Kong. Until his recent posting, Ahmad was the Commissioner of Police in charge of Intelligence at the FCID, Abuja. “He has held many command positions across the Federation, viz. Kaduna, Bayelsa and Ekiti Commands. “His posting as the CP Enugu State is predicated upon his action-orien...

Bishop Wale Oke, the National Deputy President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), says churches in Nigeria are deviating from the cause of soul winning. Oke made the observation on Tuesday in Ibadan while hosting the leadership of Foursquare Gospel Church, Lagos. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oke is also the Presiding Bishop of Sword of the Spirit Ministries, Ibadan. The delegation of Foursquare church led by the outgoing General Overseer, Rev. Felix Meduoye, had visited Oke to introduce the new General Overseer-elect, Rev. Sam Aboyeji. According to the renowned cleric, the focus of most churches recently and those behind them is the pursuit of mundane issues that are not preparing people, especially Christians, for eternity. He expressed regrets that churches were fast losing focus by drifting from their primary charge of assignment, which he said, was to enlist people into the kingdom of God. “My concern is the church is drifting. We have left our primary assig...

The Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Lands and Urban Development in Enugu State, Mr. Augustine Udeh, who was abducted on Sunday evening between Isu-Awaa and the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Ituku-Ozalla, along the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, has been rescued. Speaking on phone, Mr. Udeh who has reunited with his family, said he is hale and hearty and thanked God for his rescue. The Permanent Secretary, who disclosed that no ransom was paid, also thanked Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State for his swift interventions, especially the effective security measures his administration has put in place, which he said saw to his release. Mr. Udeh equally appreciated the efforts of the security agencies and went further to thank the civil servants of the state for their prayers and support.

The National Examination Council (NECO) on Tuesday released its June/July Senior Secondary School Examination results and recommended the de-recognition of three schools in Katsina, Kebbi and Oyo states for two years, for their involvement in mass cheating during the examinations. The Acting Registrar of the council, Alhaji Abubakar Gana, disclosed this during the release of the 2019 June/July Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) results in Minna, saying that a total of 1,163,194 registered for the examination. NAN quoted him as saying that a total of 40,630 cases of malpractices were recorded, representing 3.53 percent in 2019; as against 20,181 in 2018. He said that the number of candidates that sat for the examination was 1,151,016, including 146 blind students. According to him, the candidates who made credit and above in English language were 984,152, which represented 85.50 per cent; while candidates who made credit in mathematics were 954,399; representing 83. 03 per cen...

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an Islamic human rights organisation has again attacked Governor Nyesom Wike and his administration over the alleged demolition of a mosque in Rivers State. The group in a statement on Wednesday by its Director, Isahq Akintola, also called Wike a pathological liar for “denying pulling down Trans-Amadi mosque”. “Was it knocked down by invading elephants? Was there a cyclone in Port Harcourt? Wike can say that to the marines. Nigerians have seen a manifestation of the five evils Chamberlain spoke about in Rivers State: brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution”, it read. The group recalled that “Just two months ago (June 2019), he said, ‘Rivers State is a Christian state and I have no apologies for saying that.’ “A cleric from the South West who was in the gathering commended him for making such a declaration. Any reasonable person will tie the two incidents together. We are constrained to congratulate Wike for walking his talk. It w...

United States international Carli Lloyd has been asked by an NFL team to kick in their final pre-season game, her trainer James Galanis has said. The two-time World Cup winner, 37, was invited to an NFL training session last week and a clip of her kicking a 55-yard field goal went viral. The 2015 World Player of the Year was then approached by several NFL teams. "One was willing to put her on the roster," said Galanis. "She was told [she could] play on Thursday." US women's football team talks with national federation over equal pay break down He added: "I don't want to say who it is [the team]. But she is playing Thursday with the national team, so that was the conflict."

West Indian fast bowler Cecil Wright or ‘Cec’ as he is fondly called started playing cricket when Gary Sobers, Wes Hall, Garfield Sobers and Sir Vivian Richards were around. Wright has now finally decided to call time on his illustrious career at the age of 85. His last game is on 7th of September at home for Uppermill Cricket Club against Springhead. “I wish I knew the reason for my longevity, but I couldn’t tell you what it is,” he said, who estimated that he had played in over two million games The pacer represented Barbados against Jamaica and has bowled to Hall. He moved England in 1959 and played for Crompton in the Central Lancashire League. He decided to permanently stay back in England and pursue his career as a professional cricketer after he met Enid, his wife. In the sixty years that he has been actively playing, he has grabbed more than 7000 wickets. At one stage, he took 538 wickets in five seasons at a very impressive average of 27.

Barcelona officially opened the new Johan Cruyff Stadium, which will host games for Barca B and their women's teams, with a fitting Under-19 friendly clash between the Spanish giants and Dutch power Ajax. The new 6,000-seater stadium – located at the club's training ground in the suburbs of the city – pays tribute to the legendary Cruyff, who played for the Blaugrana between 1973 and 1978 before coaching them between 1988 and 1996. Cruyff died in 2016 and is widely credited with laying the foundations for the unprecedented success the club has enjoyed over the past 15 years. Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets were among the Barca stars in attendance at the opening, which saw the two clubs Cruyff is widely associated with facing off at the youth level. Club captain Messi, along with Busquets, Pique and Sergi Roberto, stood in the centre circle prior to Tuesday's match as Cruyff's son, Jordi, took a ceremonial kickoff to officially open the stadium.

Inter Milan have agreed a deal with Manchester United to sign Alexis Sanchez on loan, as per reports. The 10-month deal will cost Manchester United around £6m and Inter have not agreed an option to buy Sanchez at the end of the season. The Serie A side are expected to contribute around €5m (£4.5m) of the Chile forward's salary, according to Sky in Italy, and he is set to arrive in Milan on Wednesday for a medical. Sanchez impressed in Chile's Copa America campaign this summer, but is yet to feature for United this season after suffering an injury during the third-place play-off. He did play in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Sheffield United as he continues his rehabilitation. Inter already signed Romelu Lukaku from United for a fee of around £73m earlier this month.

The Spanish Grand Prix will remain on the Formula 1 calendar at Barcelona next season after striking a fresh deal for 2020. Spain's only F1 race was under serious threat but the Barcelona circuit has signed what appears to be a new one-year agreement to host the event again. The circuit has announced it will implement a "strategic plan with the will to create a larger project for the facilities" and secure the "feasibility" of the event. Its statement added: "The plan will serve as a framework to define the role that F1 shall have on a longer-term [basis]." According to F1, more than half a million spectators have attended the race over the last three years and reported data from the circuit that this year's grand prix generated €163m for the region. F1 CEO Chase Carey said the parties would seek to agree a longer-term deal in the coming months and thanked Catalan president Quim Torra for "vital support" during the negotiations. "The...

The bottom half of the U.S. Open men’s draw, where three-times champion Rafa Nadal resides, was blown wide open on Tuesday after four of the top-10 seeds crashed out at the first hurdle of the year’s final Grand Slam. Austria’s Dominic Thiem, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, Russian Karen Khachanov and Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut were all sent packing before Nadal restored some semblance of order to his half of the draw. Spanish 10th seed Roberto Bautista, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last month, was the first top-10 casualty as he lost 3-6 6-1 6-4 3-6 6-3 to Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin. Eighth seed Tsitsipas, who reached this year’s Australian Open semi-final, was the next out the door as he fell 6-4 6-7(5) 7-6(7) 7-5 to Russian Andrey Rublev during a match in which the Greek lashed out at the umpire. Austrian fourth seed Thiem, who was projected to meet Nadal in the semi-finals, then followed his peers to the exits as he suffered a 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-2 loss to unseeded Italian ...