Author: starconnect
By SCM Sport Correspondent at London Stadium EAST LONDON went completely wild on a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon as West Ham United flexed their big-city muscles to roar back from a goal down and hammer Portsmouth 3-1 in a fiery EFL Carabao Cup opening round clash. In front of a staggering, record-smashing crowd of 53,369 fans inside London Stadium — the highest attendance ever recorded in the history of the Carabao Cup first round — it was Argentine sharpshooter Valentín “Taty” Castellanos and talismanic skipper Jarrod Bowen who stole the entire show. For thirty-odd minutes, a historic cup upset seemed…
Admin I Saturday, August 08, 2026 ABUJA – Nigeria’s U20 boys, Flying Eagles are up against the Young Stallions of Burkina Faso on Sunday in the final match of this year’s WAFU B U20 Championship ongoing in the Ivorian city of Yamoussoukro. While the seven-time African champions seek to retain their trophy, won in Lome in October 2024, Sunday’s encounter will also determine the second team from WAFU B zone to join hosts Ghana in the Africa U20 Cup of Nations finals next year. It is the second time the Abdu Maikaba-led side will battle the Burkinabes in this…
Admin I Saturday, August 08, 2026 ABUJA, Nigeria – With a ticket to next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup finals at stake, champions Nigeria will take no prisoners when they confront neighbours and rivals Cameroon in a potentially-explosive Women Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final duel in Casablanca on Sunday. Both teams clash again in this most crucial stage four years after the Super Falcons pipped the Lionesses 1-0 to book their ticket to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in Down Under, courtesy of a second-half decisive header by Rasheedat Ajibade. Cameroon’s Lionesses have been one of the…
By SCM International Desk I Saturday, August 08,2026 A COLD-BLOODED killer faces life behind bars today for executing an 18-year-old outside a bustling Wembley nightclub. Gunman Ashley Wallace, 40, shot helpless teenager Tyrece Balcha following a tense row outside the venue in South Way, Wembley, in the early hours of September 21, 2025. On Friday, an Old Bailey jury found Wallace guilty of murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life following a painstaking investigation by Metropolitan Police detectives. The court heard how emergency services rushed to the scene at around 5:30 am after frantic 999…
By Emmanuel Thomas l Saturday, August 08, 2026 KANO, NIGERIA — In a spectacle of joy, colour, and communal relief, no fewer than 1,500 couples tied the knot simultaneously in a state-funded mega mass wedding in Kano State, northern Nigeria The ceremony saw 3,000 brides and grooms exchange vows across the ancient commercial city. For millions watching, it was more than just a giant celebration—it was a lifeline for low-income families pushed to the brink by crippling inflation. In traditional northern Nigerian culture, getting married is an expensive affair. Tradition requires grooms to pay a substantial dowry, while brides’…
By SCM News Desk I Saturday, August 08,2026 ABUJA — The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asserted that the latest global assessment by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), which classified Nigeria as a fully authoritarian regime, is an international validation of the systemic democratic erosion Nigerians face daily under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In a press statement issued on Saturday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP Interim National Working Committee, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the main opposition party declared that the country’s governance structure under President Tinubu now exhibits…
By SCM International Desk I Saturday, August 08, 2026 TEHRAN — Iran’s highest security body declared on Saturday that it will not allow the reopening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz unless the United States meets a stringent list of conditions, demanding a full withdrawal of American forces from the Persian Gulf, an end to sanctions, and the unfreezing of billions of dollars in blocked assets. In a official statement released by Tehran, Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), stated unequivocally that the vital maritime choke point—through which roughly a fifth of…
By Titus Eleweke, Editor, South East I Saturday, August 08.2026 AWKA, Anambra – The Management of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Amaku, Awka, has set the record straight regarding the circumstances surrounding the demiss of a patient, Mrs. Uche-Chukwudokwe Amarachi, whose case, according to the hospital, had initially been managed at a private hospital before she was brought to the teaching hospital. The management frowned at what it described as a negative and misleading narrative circulating on social media, which it said was capable of tarnishing the reputation of the hospital and the healthcare professionals involved…
By abiodun KOMOLAFE I Saturday, August 08, 2026 IJEBU-JESA, Osun – Hope springs eternal, and with elections just days away to determine the next governor of Osun State, we should strive to keep the hope alive. The saber-rattling, threats and counter-threats should stop because everyone in the state is a bonafide stakeholder. Whatever the outcome of the election, it is meant to prepare for the future. Osun needs a visionary – a thinker-leader, gentle as a dove but wise as a serpent, not an autocrat drunk on power or privilege – with a plan to tackle the very…
The NDDC Director EHSS, Engr Jeremiah Oritsejolone (2nd left), presenting an iPad to a UNIUYO student, Mr Bokeime Joel Emmanuel (2nd right), during Project New Nigeria and voter Education and sensitisation at the University of Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State. With them are the Convener, Project New Nigeria, Mr. Samuel Nzidee (right) and the NDDC Deputy Director, EHSS, Mrs Chioma Nwakwue (left) By SCM Correspondent I Saturday, August 08, UYO, Akwa Ibom — The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has launched a comprehensive civic sensitisation campaign aimed at educating tertiary institution students on the critical importance of voter…