Miley Cyrus has released a new single, “My Sad Christmas Song”. Shortly after the release there were reports she had split from her new love, Cody Simpson, who was photographed on Saturday spending time with a Playboy model.
But Cyrus wrote on Instagram that the new song was inspired by events around the holidays a few years ago.
“[I] was feeling like shit cause I couldn’t be with the one I loved. Even with a house full of family and friends I still felt alone,” the singer said. “In ways that still feels relevant and someone reading this right now could possibly relate!”
Cyrus acknowledged that the holidays can be a tough time for a lot of people and sent out an encouraging message to her fans.
“If you feel lonely this season just know YOU ARE COMPLETELY MADE OF MAGIC!” she said.
“You are as special as a snowflake, beautifully unique and I hope inside your soul feels light, hope, peace, and joy knowing how singularly amazing YOU are! Love always wins!”
9ice is set to wed. Abolore Adegbola Akande is set to marry his babymama, Olasunkanmi Ajala this month.
The mother of one of his daughters, Michelle Abolanle Akande, took to Instagram to share the beautiful news, while also sharing their pre-wedding photos ahead of their big day.
The event planner wrote: 'You're my fairytale in the making..... #countdowntoforever #beautyand9ice,'. Two more photos below...
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, says his administration will collaborate with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in the areas of Agriculture, industrialisation and corporate social responsibility.
Sule, who disclosed this while chatting with journalists at the Government House, Lafia, shortly after his return from Saudi Arabia on Monday, said the collaboration was to move the state forward.
Sule, who was in has Saudi Arabia for the lesser Hajj, said he visited the headquarters of the IDB in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, in a bid to further strengthen the existing ties between the Bank and Nasarawa State.
According to the Governor, he met with the IDB officials in order to explore areas of opportunities and strengthen collaboration with the IDB for its continuous support to Nasarawa State.
He said the discussions centred on the need for the bank to explore opportunities in Agriculture and Industrialisation in the state.
He expressed gratitude at having met with the Bank’s Vice President for African Affairs, Dr Mansur Mukhtar, Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance.
“We are looking at other areas where they can support us some more. We have so many areas where we strongly believe in the corporate social responsibility that the bank provides.
“We are also interested in the facilities that the bank provides at very reasonable and accommodating rates that we can afford to even use the opportunity to take off if there are any other facilities that we have that are accruing interest.
“We looked at all those areas, and then there are areas of social support that they give in the areas of teaching, training, as well as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the rest of that,” the governor explained.
Saudi Arabia has sentenced to death five persons accused of the brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the country’s Istanbul consulate last year October.
Five people, yet to be identified, will be executed and another three will be imprisoned for 24 years, according to a statement read at the public prosecutor’s office in Riyadh on Monday.
Washington D.C based Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi government and Crown Prince Salman, was killed and dismembered inside the kingdom’s consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul by a team of Saudi agents.
The Saudi public prosecutor said it was the result of a “rogue operation” and put 11 unnamed individuals on trial.
The prosecutor said that Saud al-Qahtani, a senior Saudi royal adviser, was investigated but later released without being charged.
Grisly details about the killing, including allegations that the journalist’s body was chopped up, made headlines and strained relations between Riyadh and many of its western allies, except Donald Trump’s United States.
Rapper Lil Wayne flew into Miami on Monday aboard a private jet that was stopped by federal agents who later found drugs and a firearm on the aircraft, according to law enforcement sources.
Charges could be filed in federal court.
Miami-Dade Police had received a tip about weapons and marijuana possibly being transported on Wayne’s plane, and then alerted federal authorities so they could obtain a search warrant to inspect the aircraft at Miami-Opa locka Executive Airport, the sources said.
During the search, investigators found cocaine and a gun, they said.
The federal search, which included investigators with the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other agencies, was carried out Monday evening. Miami-Dade police officers also took part in the search.
Miami defense attorney Howard Srebnick said his client, Lil Wayne, was “cleared” to leave the scene Monday evening by federal investigators.
Four persons, suspected to be members of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra have been arrested in Aba Market by Nigerian soldiers for selling a banned Biafran newspaper.
The men were picked up under the Nigerian Army “Exercise Atilogwu Udo 1’’, now ongoing in the South eastern states and Cross River.
Col. Aliyu Yusuf, Deputy Director, Public Relations of 82 Division of the Nigerian Army said on Tuesday in Enugu, the four vendors were arrested by troops of sector 2 in Abia on Nov. 19.
He gave the names of the vendors as Sunday Elom, Martins Ogwuchukwu, Chineme Obiechifula and Innocent Mike.
He also said they have been handed over to the appropriate security agency for further action.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said the N50 being charged Nigerians who use Point of Sale (POS) machines for transactions, is a misinterpretation of its directive by rogue merchants.
CBN Director of Payment System Management, Musa Jimoh said no one should pay extra on goods and services.
He was speaking on Channels Television’s Business Morning programme when he made this known.
Owners of Petrol stations have been the only merchants asking consumers who pay with cards to pay the extra N50.
Jimoh explained that the N50 stamp duty is a fee regulated by an act that directs merchants to pay all necessary taxes as regulated by government agencies.
“Stamp duty has been misinterpreted. Our circular that talks about merchants paying stamp duties according to the law does not say that the stamp duty should be paid by the consumer; that is a misrepresentation of CBN directive.
“What our directive says is that merchants should pay all necessary tax as regulated by government agencies including stamp duty.
“What we told the merchants is that we would like the banks to ensure that the merchants comply with this directive by ensuring that every single payment that customers make to them, the merchants pay the regulated stamp duty of N50.
“What has happened is that they have actually transferred this fee blatantly and openly to the consumers; this is very wrong. No single individual should pay N50 in addition to the cost of the goods.
“Stamp duty is not to be paid by individuals that are consuming the goods and services of the merchants, the merchants who are receiving the money are the ones who are supposed to pay.”
Mr. Jimoh explained that because the stamp duty is not regulated by the CBN, there are no plans to stop stamp duties.
“Stamp duty is not a CBN regulated fee, it is a fee regulated by an act, and so we can’t change or push anything in that direction.
“The stamp duty remains and cannot be changed by the CBN, what we are doing is to ensure that the institutions we regulate (the banks) become more responsible to ensure that these fees are collected and given to the government”, he said.
Goods worth several millions of Naira were destroyed after fire razed down a section of the Onitsha Bridgehead Market, in Anambra state, east of Nigeria.
The fire gutted heaps of yam tubers, wooden doors and chairs, mattresses, saw machines, crates of soft drinks, amongst other goods in the market.
It was learnt that the fire, which lasted for about an hour, burnt down over 40 shops before it was put off by traders, using fire extinguishers.
No life was lost and nobody sustained any injury.
The cause of the fire has not been ascertained yet.
A victim, Mr Jude Nwufo, who lost wooden doors and chairs, said that the fire started from his section of the market and later spread to other sections
“We suddenly realised there was fire without any sign. We were able to put it off with water and fire extinguishers,” he said.
The affected traders put the worth of the goods destroyed by the fire at several millions of naira.
Also, Mr Daniel Achu, who lost saw machines, appealed to government for financial assistance to enable them bounce back to business.
However, the President-General of Bridghead Markets Traders Union, Mr Sunday Obinze, told newsmen that they suspected that the fire could have resulted from electrical fault.
Obinze said the executive of the market would review some of its safety measures to avert future occurrence.
Rapper-turned-mogul Jay-Z and tennis star Serene Williams are among the two celebrities who have thrown their weight behind Indonesian coffee chain Kopi Kenangan’s expansion plans, pumping in an undisclosed amount into the second round of the start-up’s Series A funding.
Founded in 2017 by school friends Edward Tirtanata, James Prananto and Cynthia Chaerunnisa, Kopi Kenangan raised US$20 million from Sequoia India in June. Last year, Kopi Kenangan pulled in US$8 million in seed funding from Alpha JWC. Series A funding is the name given to a company’s first significant funding from investors to grow the business.
The latest round of investments come courtesy of Williams-backed Serena Ventures and Arrive, an arm of entertainment company Roc Nation, which was founded by billionaire singer Jay-Z.
Basketball star Caris LeVert and Jonathan Neman, CEO of Sweetgreen, a start-up connecting food growers and consumers, have also injected cash into the Jakarta-based grab-and-go coffee chain.
“Kopi Kenangan has the vision to take [the brand] internationally on the global stage. That is why we decided to find investors that could help us with such brand-building,” the firm’s CEO Tirtanata told The Jakarta Post.
The beverage chain, which operates over 200 stores in 18 cities across the archipelago, has ambitious plans to add more than 1,000 new outlets over the next two years and expand across Southeast Asia.
It has been described as unabashedly “local” by American online publisher TechCrunch, which earlier this year described how its top-selling drink was “Es Kopi Kenangan Mantan”, a sweetened coffee with milk that uses palm sugar.
Kopi Kenangan, which sources ingredients and milk from local farmers, also expanded its online presence this year by launching an app that enables customers to pre-order to avoid queues in outlets.
Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro was hospitalized Monday after an accident at his home in Brasilia, the latest health scare for the 64-year-old.
“President Jair Bolsonaro fell at the Alvorada Palace. He was treated by the medical team of the Presidency of the Republic and taken to the Armed Forces Hospital,” a presidential spokesman said in a statement published by the G1 news portal.
According to the statement, Bolsonaro was given a cranial CT scan, “which did not detect any changes.”
Institutional Security Minister Augusto Heleno arrived at the hospital shortly after the presidential convoy and told Globo television that Bolsonaro “is fine,” but must remain under observation.
A Federal High Court Judge, Ahmed Mohammed has withdrawn from a lawsuit filed by Omoyele Sowore for his release from custody of the Department of State Service.
The Judge made a formal withdrawal from the case on Monday, in Abuja.
Ahmed said it’s the right thing to do since Sahara Reporters, a news platform owned by Omoyele Sowore accused him of taking a bribe to influence court judgement.
Justice Mohammed disclosed that though he was prevailed upon by the prosecution (EFCC) and defence teams to continue on the case of former Governor of Benue State, Senator Gabriel Suswam after Sahara Reporters first shared its report in 2016, Justice Okon Abang took over the case after a similar report was published in June 2019.
He added that if his judgement goes in favour of the #RevolutionNow convener it will be seen as being blackmailed by him; if it goes against the media personality it will be interpreted as a payback.
Mohammed said; “Justice is rooted in confidence. That is to say, none of the parties should have fear or apprehension that he will not get justice before a court.”
The case file has been sent back to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court Justice John Tsoho, for reassignment to another judge.
The owner of Quilox Club and a member of the House of Representatives, Shina Peller has been released on bail.
Peller was yesterday detained at Maroko Police Station in Lagos.
Lagos police’s spokesman, Bala Elkana, said he was detained and arrested for mobilising thugs to invade a police station after the vehicles of some of his club’s customers were towed for obstructing the free flow of traffic in the state.
However, the House of Reps member was released on bail after his case was transferred to the State’s Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, following the directives of the Commissioner of Police Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu.
Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has condemned the attack unleashed on activist, Deji Adeyanju by hoodlums in Abuja yesterday.
Adeyanju was attacked on Monday during a protest in front of the headquarters of the National Human Rights Commission.
The protest was staged to canvass for obedience to a court order by the Buhari administration.
Pictures and videos posted on Twitter show hoodlums, and counter-protesters descending on him and beating him to stupor.
Some commentators on Twitter claimed that the police watched the attack without making any effort to protect Adeyanju.
Reacting to the attack on Monday night, Atiku wrote on Twitter: “Like I said before, without rule of law, there can be no rule at all. Govt must be seen to be working to protect those who hold contrary views. As such, perpetrators of the brutality against the activist, Deji Adeyanju must be brought to book. Their act stands condemned. -AA”
The Presidency has described human rights activist, Femi Falana as a liar for misinforming the public that President Muhammadu Buhari is planning a third term agenda.
Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu said in a statement on Monday that Falana, had boarded the free-publicity train, full of those seeking personal media attention in claiming the president is planning a third term in office.
“To repeat: All and every claim that is made that suggest President Muhammadu Buhari will stand for a third term in office is false.
“To reiterate, the President reminds all of those who wish it were otherwise, whether because they want a third term, or because they seek to make false claims for the purposes of their own publicity of the statement made on 2nd October 2019, which is repeated in full, below:
“The Presidency wishes to correct internet-based gossip and uninformed media commentary regarding presidential term limits, given credence by so-called support groups, staging street demonstrations asking President Muhammadu Buhari to do a third term.
“There are no circumstances – nor set of circumstances – under which President Buhari may seek to amend the Constitution regarding the two-term term limit on holding office as President.
“President Buhari intends to serve his full second elected term in office, ending 2023 – and then there shall be a general election in which he will not be a candidate.
“There is not even the faintest possibility that this will change.
“It is important to note that there was a past attempt to change the Constitution to allow for the then incumbent president to stand for a third term. That attempt was wrong, unconstitutional – and rightly rebuffed. No such attempt will happen under this President,” he said.
Shehu said “Buhari is a democrat. He respects the Constitution. Any activity aimed at altering the two-term limit will not succeed and shall never have his time nor support.”
A 56-year-old Nigerian, Anthony Oluseye Akinyemi has died in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), less than 24 hours after he was detained.
Akinyemi was found unresponsive in his cell at the Worcester County Jail in Snow Hill, Maryland, on Saturday morning, according to an ICE statement published on its website.
His cause of death is believed to be suicide. He was the third person to die in ICE custody, Detention Watch Network said on Twitter.
“Anthony Oluseye Akinyemi, 56, was pronounced dead at 5:23 a.m. local time December 21, 2019, after he was found unresponsive in his cell and efforts by facility staff and emergency personnel to revive him were unsuccessful. The preliminary cause of death appears to be self-inflicted strangulation; however, the case is currently under investigation”, the ICE statement read.
Akinyemi had been in custody for less than 24 hours after being convicted of sexually assaulting a minor in Baltimore on Friday.
Some unknown gunmen in the late hours of Sunday, invaded the official residence of the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Water Resources, Mr Nengi Talbot, and abducted his six year old son, Antonio.
The police confirmed the abduction took place at about 10:30pm on Sunday at the Commissioners’ quarter in Opolo axis of Yenagoa, the state capital.
As at Monday, the boy was still being held hostage by his abductors in an unknown location.
The abductors have neither contacted the family nor made a ransom demand.
Nine people died and more than 100 were hospitalised after drinking local liquor made from coconut sap in two separate incidents in the Philippines, police said Monday.
Eight people died after drinking a local brand of the traditional liquor, known as lambanog, at a get-together in Rizal town in Laguna province, some 70 kilometres south of Manila, a police report said.
At least 122 residents from the town were also rushed to hospital suffering with stomach aches, vomiting, and numbness in some parts of the body, with some collapsing and losing consciousness, it added.
The ninth victim died in nearby Candelaria town in Quezon province on Sunday, three days after he drank an unbranded bootleg lambanog with neighbours.
Six people from there were also rushed to hospital, including two who were comatose, the police report added.
China will cut tariffs on hundreds of products ranging from frozen pork to high-tech parts next year, lowering trade barriers to support the economy.
In a statement, Chinese authorities said import tariffs on 859 items would be reduced from 1 January.
The world's second largest economy has typically used high tariffs to protect local industries.
China is fighting a long-running trade war with the US and faces a series of domestic challenges.
The ministry of finance said the tariff changes would be made to "increase imports of products facing a relative domestic shortage, or foreign speciality goods for everyday consumption".
That includes tariff rates on frozen pork - due to be lowered to 8% from 12% for some countries - as China struggles to cope with an outbreak of African swine fever.
Properties worth millions of naira were on Sunday destroyed by fire at the popular Ekiosa Market in Benin, Edo State.
The fire also gutted a five-storey office complex of the Edo Property Development Agency, located on the Sakponba Road.
The market fire, which started around 11am, caught the residents, most of who were still in church, unawares and forced many of them to abandon church services to salvage the situation.
One of the shop owners, Mrs Grace Edomo, said she was there when the market went up in flames, but could not state what actually started the fire.
“I was in my shop when I saw flames of fire in the market. My husband and I were inside the shop when he said he wanted to go home; as he was about to go, I looked outside and saw fire in the centre of the market. Unfortunately, there was nobody to help extinguish the fire since when it started,” she stated.
