Morocco vs Nigeria: Nigeria beat Morocco to win 10th WAFCON title

July 27, 2025July 27, 2025OJ Laboye Leave a comment

Nigeria’s Super Falcons claimed their tenth Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) after defeating Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses 2-3 in the 2024 WAFCON final in Rabat, on July 26th, 2025.

Interestingly, Nigeria’s comeback from an initial 2-0 domination by Morocco, during the first half, was triggered by Esther Okoronkwo’s penalty goal in the 64th minute, followed by Folasade Ijamilusi’s equaliser in the 71th minute, with an assist from Okoronkwo.

Later in the 88th minute, Jennifer Echegini netted the winning goal after a right cross from Okoronkwo, officially signalling the accomplishment of ‘Mission X’ in the WAFCON 2024 final.

Ghana vs South Africa: Ghana finish third place after defeating SA to clinch 2024 WAFCON bronze

Meanwhile, Ghana’s Black Queens defeated South Africa’s Banyana Banyana to clinch their first WAFCON medal since 2016. Banyana Banyana, who defeated Morocco three years ago, were reportedly defeated 4-3 on penalties by Ghana after a 1-1 draw at the Stade Larbi Zaouli in Casablanca on July 25, 2025.

Ghana clinched a bronze medal for finishing third place at the 2024 WAFCON.

Sources:

Dove, E. (2025). Ghana beat South Africa on penalties to take WAFCON bronze. ESPN. https://www.africa.espn.com

Miller, B. (2025). Nigeria win 10th Wafcon as comeback stuns Morocco. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/live

Uma Thurman joins Charlize Theron and others for ‘The Old Guard 2’

June 23, 2025June 23, 2025OJ Laboye Leave a comment

Uma Thurman is returning to the action genre after a long hiatus as she joins the cast of The Old Guard 2. The film is the sequel to The Old Guard — starring Charlize Theron — which was reportedly released on Netflix in 2020.

Famous for her role in the Quentin Tarantino-directed Kill Bill movies, Uma Thurman recently discussed the upcoming ‘Old Guard’ film when she appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon which aired on June 17th, 2025.

According to reports, Fallon playfully asked Thurman if she joined the franchise to show everyone how it’s done, then she replied “I didn’t think I was going to show anyone how it was done after watching Charlize in ‘The Old Guard 1’.”

Thurman, who played villain Discord in the sequel added that she thought Theron did “so fantastic” in the original, while praising her as ‘phenomenal’ and ‘incredible’.

The actress also hinted that there might be a The Old Guard 3, saying “There’s whispers, there’s whispers” but that would be for the movie fans to decide.

Sources:

Julian, M (2025). Uma Thurman Teases Her OLD GUARD 2 Villain and Comments On The Possibility Of A Third Entry. Comicbookmovie.com

Nied, M (2025). Uma Thurman Opens Up About Her Decision to Step Away from Action Films After Kill Bill. People.com

Benfica vs Auckland City: Auckland City FC battles Primeira Liga’s Benfica in FIFA CWC Group C fixture

June 20, 2025June 23, 2025OJ Laboye Leave a comment

Reports reaching us say that Club World Cup Group C match between Benfica and Auckland City FC has been paused due to a weather delay. However, Benfica already leads with a 1-0 after a penalty goal by Angel Di Maria.

Today, at the Inter&Co stadium in Orlando, Benfica — which dragged a draw with Boca Juniors during their FIFA Club World Cup 2025 opener on June 16th — faces Auckland City, which suffered a 10-0 defeat to German giants Bayern Munich in their opening match on June 15th.

Fans could watch Benfica Vs Auckland City on DAZN.

Benfica later won the match with a 6-0 against Auckland City.

Source:

Froston, N & Mathews, M (2025). Benfica Vs Auckland City live updates: Weather delay after Di Maria penalty goal. The Athletic. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/live-blogs/

What happened at Trooping the Colour 2025?

June 14, 2025June 14, 2025OJ Laboye Leave a comment

There were over 1,350 soldiers of the Household Division and King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery in this year’s Trooping the Colour celebration, which held on Saturday, June 14.

Occasionally, the British sovereign celebrates his birthday two times annually, including Trooping the Colour on the second Saturday of June; since the reign of King George II, whose November birthday was considered too cold for a celebratory parade. The British Army refers to Trooping the Colour as the ‘King’s Birthday Parade’.

Every Trooping the Colour celebration is highlighted by an appearance of the British royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony, to watch the Royal Air Force (RAF) or Red Arrows flypast.

According to BBC live reports, members of the British royal family who stood on the palace balcony to watch the Red Arrows flypast this year include: King Charles III, Queen Camilla, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester Richard and Birgitte, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh Edward and Sophie, The Prince of Wales William, Prince Louis, Prince George, The Princess of Wales Catherine, Princess Charlotte, The Duke of Kent Edward, The Princess Royal Anne and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.

Thousands of people, reportedly descended on central London to attend the parade, including anti-monarchy protesters who chanted “not my King”, while the people chanted “we love the King” and “God save the King”.

Sources:

Coughlan, C & Cole, H (2025). King and Queen join royals on Buckingham Palace balcony for Red Arrows flypast. BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk

Court, M (2025). Why does King Charles III have two birthdays to celebrate? The National. https://www.thenational.scot/news/25239586/

The British Army (2025). Trooping the Colour – The King’s Birthday Parade – The British Army. https://www.kbp.army.mod.uk

Oscars 2018: Jordan Peele Makes History with Best Original Screenplay Win

March 6, 2018OJ Laboye Leave a comment

Jordan Peele. Photo: CNN

“This is history in the making right here”, host Jimmy Kimmel opened the 90th annual Academy Awards with a monologue. Hollywood’s biggest and most glamorous night held on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

There was indeed a couple of historical moments at the 90th Academy Awards and one of such moments was when comedian and filmmaker Jordan Peele collected the ‘Best Original Screenplay’ award for his film Get Out. The movie was nominated in four categories, however, its single win reportedly makes Jordan Peele the first African-American recipient of a ‘Best Original Screenplay’ Academy Award.

Meanwhile, Frances McDormand who won the ‘Best Actress’ Oscar for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri delivered a speech, which seemed to be in support of women in Hollywood, the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. This saw the women stand up to applaud her after she said “If I may be so honoured to have all the female nominees stand with me. All the filmmakers, the producers, the writers, the composers”.

Furthermore, the New York Times has a detailed report on how Lupita Nyong’o and Kumail Nanjiani made an appeal on behalf of “Dreamers” before introducing the ‘Best Production Design’ award. The “Dreamers” are undocumented immigrants in the US, under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, which was reportedly ended by the Trump administration in September, 2017.

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Oscars 2018: Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Shape of Water’ Wins Best Picture

March 6, 2018OJ Laboye Leave a comment

The Movie Database/Fox Searchlight

Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy drama The Shape of Water was a big winner at the 90th annual Academy Awards considering its four wins, including ‘Best Picture’.

The movie was nominated in the ‘Best Picture’ category with Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Get Out, The Post, Phantom Thread, Lady Bird and Call Me by Your Name.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water stars Sally Hawkins (as Eliza Esposito), Doug Jones (as Amphibian Man), Michael Shannon (as Strickland), Octavia Spencer (as Zelda), Lauren Lee Smith (as Elaine Strickland), among others.

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Bill Gates to Appear as a Guest Star on ‘The Big Bang Theory’

February 22, 2018OJ Laboye Leave a comment

Photo: The Verge

Microsoft founder Bill Gates will make a guest appearance in an upcoming episode of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory. Warner Bros and CBS revealed to CNN that Gates will appear as himself in an episode of the series, to be aired in March 2018. The Big Bang Theory has reportedly had iconic figures from different fields, such as Buzz Aldrin, Stephen Hawking, Steve Wozniak, Stan Lee and Tesla’s Room Musk, as guest stars.

However, this will not be the first time that the philanthropist appears as a guest star in a sitcom, considering he has previously appeared as himself on Frasier in 2001.

The Big Bang Theory stars Jim Parsons, Kacey Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Kunal Nayyar, Melissa Rauch, Simon Helberg, among others and is reportedly set to return to small screens, in its 11th season on Thursday, March 1, at 8PM on the CBS network.

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‘Black Panther’ Director Pens Open Letter to Fans as Movie Keeps Breaking Box Office Records

February 21, 2018OJ Laboye Leave a comment

Photo: Marvel Studios

The director of Black Panther Ryan Coogler has reportedly written an open letter of appreciation to lovers of the superhero movie.

According to a news article on CNBC’s website, Coogley reveals how he is “struggling to find words to express” his gratitude to fans of the movie who “bought out theaters”, posted about the movie on social media and even picked Wakanda-themed costumes to wear. In the emotional letter, published on the social media accounts of Marvel Studios, the director confesses: “To see people of all backgrounds wearing clothing that celebrates their heritage, taking pictures next to our posters with their friends and family, and sometimes dancing in the lobbies of theaters — often moved me and my wife to tears.”

Meanwhile, Variety.com reports that Black Panther has added $21 million to its box office earnings on Tuesday, making the highest Tuesday gross for a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.
The superhero film which has grossed $462.3 million worldwide, reportedly recorded $263.1 million in the first week of its debut in US movie theaters. Variety predicts that the movie could be one of over 30 films with $1 billion worldwide earnings, by the end of its run.

Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman, Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright and Daniel Kaluuya.

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Shawn Mendes, DaVido and Lil’ Kleine are the 2017 MTV EMAs’ Biggest Winners

November 14, 2017OJ Laboye Leave a comment

MTVEMA.com/ghanadat.com/Spotify Canadian singer Shawn Mendes, popular Nigerian artiste DaVido and Dutch rapper Lil’ Kleine were the biggest winners at the 24th annual MTV European Music Awards (EMAs), held recently at the SSE Arena in London.

Eminem, who picked up the ‘Best Hip-Hop’ award and the UK’s Stormzy, performed at the ceremony hosted by Rita Ora. There were also performances by Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes.

Shawn Mendes was presented with not less than four prizes including awards in the ‘Best Artist’, ‘Best Canadian Act’ and ‘Biggest Fans’ categories. The teenager was also the winner of the ‘Best Song’ award for There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back.

Pere crooner DaVido picked up the award for ‘Best African Act’, as well as, ‘Best Worldwide Act’ prize. Similarly, actor and rapper Lil’ Kleine (from the Netherlands) won the ‘Best Dutch Act’ and ‘Best Worldwide Act’ awards.

Other winners include America’s sweetheart Camila Cabello (‘Best Pop’), Coldplay (‘Best Rock’), Fifth Harmony (‘Best US Act’), Ed Sheeran (‘Best Live Act’), Anitta (‘Best Brazilian Act’) and Dua Lipa (‘Best New Act’).

Camila Cabello | via Instagram Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar won in the ‘Best Video’ category, while Zayn Malik picked up the ‘Best Look’ award. Taylor Swift had six nominations but did not leave with any award. However, the ‘Global Icon Award’ went to U2.

Evidently, DaVido could not contain his excitement in a series of social media posts. After he was presented with the ‘Best Worldwide Act’ award, he posted an image with the following caption in upper case letters “AHHH ANOTHER 1!!!! 2 EMA’S !!!! THIS SHIT EMOTIONAL !!! SAY HELLO TO MTV EMA’S 2017 BEST AFRICAN ACT AND BEST WORLDWIDE ACT”.

Davido | via Instagram The official website of the MTV EMAs says the awards are “about the fans just as much as they are about their favorite artists.” adding that “Fans determine the night’s winners by voting for their favorite artists in the weeks leading up to the show”.

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Post Malone’s ‘Rockstar’ Becomes Longest Reigning Hip-Hop Track on Billboard Hot 100 in 2017

November 13, 2017OJ Laboye Leave a comment

Post Malone | via Cloudinary.com Post Malone’s hit track with 21 Savage Rockstar has reportedly stayed on top of Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for 4 weeks in 2017, making it the longest reigning hip-hop track on the chart this year.

This news comes after earlier reports of Post Malone’s being named the Most Streamed Artiste in the world. Rockstar reportedly racked its 5th week at number one on the Streaming Songs chart with about 46 million streams in the U.S.

According to Billboard, Rockstar which concurrently tops both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, has reigned the longest on the Hot 100 chart out of all the 5 hip-hop tracks that notched up to number one this year, including Cardi B’s Bodak Yellow, Migos’ Bad and Boujee and Kendrick Lamar’s Humble.