South African court orders former President Jacob Zuma back to jail after ruling medical parole

South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled on Monday November 21, that the decision to release former President Jacob Zuma on early medical parole was “unlawful” and that he should return to prison to finish his sentence for contempt of court.

Last year, Zuma was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment after ignoring a court order to testify at a government inquiry into widespread corruption during his near-decade as president, a tenure that ended in 2018 when incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa replaced him.

In September 2021, Zuma was released on medical parole after serving a fraction of the sentence.

But in December, the high court set aside the parole decision and ordered him to return to jail.

Zuma appealed that ruling and judgment was delivered on Monday, a month after the department of correctional services said his prison sentence had ended.

“In other words, Mr. Zuma, in law, has not finished serving his sentence. He must return to the Escourt Correctional centre to do so,” the Supreme Court of Appeal’s judgment read.

The court took issue with the department’s claim that Zuma’s sentence had ended while the appeal was still being heard.

It also found that the decision by the former national commissioner of correctional services to grant Zuma medical parole against the advice of the Medical Parole Advisory Board, a specialist body, was unlawful.

“On any conceivable basis, the commissioner’s decision was unlawful and unconstitutional. The high court was correct to set it aside,” the judgment said.

Actress Nicki Aycox dies passes away after two-year battle with leukemia

American actress, Nicki Aycox – best known for roles such as Meg Masters on The CW’s Supernatural and Jaimie Allen on TNT’s Dark Blue, has passed away at the age of 47 following a battle with cancer.

The star was diagnosed with leukemia in 2020 and died from the disease on Thursday, November 17.

Her death was confirmed on social media by her sister-in-law, Susan Raab Ceklosky.

“My beautiful, smart, fierce, incredibly talented, and loving sister-in-law, Nicki Aycox Raab, passed away yesterday with my brother, Matt Raab, by her side.

Nicki and Matt had a wonderful life together in California. She was definitely a fighter and everyone who knew her loved her.”

Aycox initially thought she had contracted Covid-19 after becoming ‘very ill’ but was later told she had cancer and underwent difficult chemotherapy treatments and stem cell transplants.

The actor appeared in several episodes of Supernatural between Seasons 1 and 4 in the episodes “Scarecrow,” “Shadow,” “Salvation,” “Devil’s Trap” and “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester.”

She appeared in Season 5 through archived footage. She also made appearances in shows such as Cold Case, CSI: Miami, Dark Angel and X-Files.

She retired from acting after Dead on Campus in 2014 and built an audience through her website, Cashews, and Olives, which is a lifestyle blog with a focus on vegan cooking recipes.

Actor Chris Hemsworth announces he’s taking time off acting days

Chris Hemsworth has revealed he will be taking a break from acting to spend time with his family days after revealing that he has high risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

The Thor star, 39, told Vanity Fair, he has decided to take ‘time off’ after filming a confronting episode about death on his new Disney+ docu-series Limitless.

‘Doing an episode on death and facing your own mortality made me go, “Oh God, I’m not ready to go yet”,’ he said.

‘I want to sit and be in this space with a greater sense of stillness and gratitude. And then you start talking about kids and family…’ Chris explained:

‘It really triggered something in me to want to take some time off. And since we finished the show, I have been completing the things I was already contracted to do.’

He said he has decided to have a ‘good chunk of time off’ with his wife Elsa Pataky and their three children – India, 10, and twin boys Sasha and Tristan, 8.

It comes after Chris discovered he is genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s, causing him to confront his ‘own mortality’ while filming the show.

After having bloodwork done for the program, he was informed he is ‘between eight and 10 times’ likelier to develop Alzheimer’s than the general population, because he is one of only two to three percent of people with two copies of the gene APOE4.

American Music Awards 2022: Taylor Swift makes history as the most-Awarded Artist in AMAs History

Taylor Swift made history at the American Music Awards on Sunday, November 20, becoming the first artist to earn 40 wins at the 50th annual show.

The “Anti-Hero” singer took home six awards from six nominations, including favorite female pop artist, favorite pop album, and favorite female country artist.

During her favorite pop album acceptance speech, Swift said she “never expected or assumed” her re-recorded albums would mean anything to fans, as she recalled and thanked those who helped her spend “hours and hours in the studio, meticulously re-creating” Red.

She thanked the artists who joined her for the re-recorded version of her 2012 album, her “All Too Well” video stars and “I Bet You Think About Me” director Blake Lively and co-star Miles Teller.

Swift later returned to the stage to accept the award for best music video for “All Too Well,” thanking the fans for their support for the song, which Swift indicated was what allowed her to release the 10-minute version and make her short film starring Sink and O’Brien.

And for her final win, Swift spoke about how her support from her fans to release “more music” over the past few years than she did “in the entire decade preceding that,” kept her going and contributed to her happiness.

“You, the fans, made it clear that you wanted to hear lots of music that I would make. You encouraged me. So I found the more music I made and the more music I put out, the happier I was,” Swift said in part.

“I have the fans to thank essentially for my happiness, and I love you more than I can say.” Swift extended her run as the artist with the most American Music Awards, with Michael Jackson following in second place with 26 wins and Whitney Houston with 22 trophies to her name.

Twitter unblocks Kanye West’s account after it was locked following antisemitic posts

Kanye West is back on Twitter after his account was locked following a series of antisemitic posts.

On November 20, Sunday night, Ye posted a tweet to see if his account was working.

“Testing Testing Seeing if my Twitter is unblocked,” he wrote.

It comes after West vowed to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”

The rapper has repeatedly denied that his comments were racist, including saying that he doesn’t believe in the term “anti-semitism” because it’s “not factual”.

However, he later offered some sort of apology in an interview with Piers Morgan, saying:

“I’m sorry for the people that I hurt with the ‘death con’… I feel like I caused hurt and confusion”.

Former Emir of Kano, Sanusi at the naming ceremony of his newborn daughter in Saudi Arabia

The 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi ll, is pictured with family members during the naming ceremony of his newborn daughter, Zainab Khausar, in Saudi Arabia.

The former monarch and his fourth wife, Sa’adatu Barkindo, recently welcomed their second child together.

Sanusi married Sa’adatu, who is the daughter of Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa, the Lamido of Adamawa in 2015.

They welcomed their first child together on May 5, 2020.

Theranos founder, Elizabeth Holmes sentenced to 11 years in prison for fraud

38-year-old Elizabeth Holmes, who was once described by Forbes as one of the richest Selfmade billionaires in America, has been sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison for fraud.

Despite being currently pregnant with her second child. A federal judge on Friday November 18, jailed theTheranos founder for defrauding investors in her now-defunct blood-testing startup that was once valued at $9 billion.

The founder of health technology company, Theranos, was at a point worth $4.5billion and hailed as a genius on the verge of changing the health sector.

She has since been exposed as a fraudster who deceived Silicon Valley investors, including media mogul, Rupert Murdock, into funding her start up with false promises.

Her company gained worldwide recognition in 2013 after she claimed she had invented a revolutionary blood testing kit that only required small amounts of blood and performed accurate results in as little as 20 minutes.

Turns out it was all lies and her company was a hoax used to swindle investors, according to prosecutors in her trial.

She was reported to the FBI by some investors after she failed to show what their money had been used for. After a thorough investigation, she was arrested for fraud.

Her attorneys had wanted her to get only 18 months in prison but prosecution said her arrogance and lack of acknowledgement of wrongdoing through out the trial deserved 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors said during the trial that Holmes misrepresented Theranos’ technology and finances, including by claiming that its miniaturized blood testing machine was able to run an array of tests from a few drops of blood.

The company secretly relied on conventional machines from other companies to run patients’ tests, prosecutors said. Holmes testified in her own defense, saying she believed her statements were accurate at the time.

She was convicted on four counts but acquitted on four other counts alleging she defrauded patients who paid for Theranos tests. Theranos Inc promised to revolutionize how patients receive diagnoses by replacing traditional labs with small machines envisioned for use in homes, drugstores and even on the battlefield.

The judge agreed and sentenced her to 11 years in prison and she was also asked to return $121million to investors. Before handing down the sentence, Davila called the case “troubling on so many levels,” questioning what motivated Holmes, a “brilliant” entrepreneur, to misrepresent her company to investors.

“This is a fraud case where an exciting venture went forward with great expectations only to be dashed by untruths, misrepresentations, plain hubris and lies,” the judge said.

Holmes, dressed in a dark blouse and black skirt, hugged her parents and her partner after the sentence was handed down.

Forbes dubbed Holmes the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire in 2014, when she was 30 and her stake in Theranos was worth $4.5 billion.

Theranos collapsed after a series of Wall Street Journal articles in 2015 questioned its technology. Actress Amanda Seyfried in September won an Emmy Award for portraying Holmes in the limited series “The Dropout.”

Instagram sheds a tear for Twitter as “RIP Twitter” trends amid mass resignations

Many Twitter users are saying their goodbyes to the platform, including Instagram, as “RIP Twitter” trends.

Due to the massive layoffs and other Twitter employees opting to resign rather than face the new working conditions, many fear Twitter is dying.

“Twitter is shutting down” and “RIP Twitter” are trending following reports the platform is running a skeletal crew after many employees quit.

Many fear this signifies the beginning of the end for the platform and they are already saying their goodbyes to friends they made on Twitter.

Even Instagram’s official Twitter account tweeted about the shut down.

Roslyn Singleton, ‘Ellen Show’ star is dead

Roslyn Singleton, the lady who went viral for her emotional appearances on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and “America’s Got Talent,” has lost her battle with brain cancer.

Roslyn died at the age of 39 on Tuesday, November 17. Her husband, Ray Singleton who broke the news, said;

“Our wife earned her wings yesterday while peacefully sleeping right at home where she wanted to be.

“This road ahead is going to be incredibly long & difficult! She taught us all something.

“She’s where we’re all trying to get one day so no need to be sad! Now we celebrate her legacy, her impact, her story & her spirit! She will live forever.”

The couple gained fame in 2020 when Ray uploaded a video of himself serenading his wife with Daniel Caesar’s “Get You” before she went into surgery for brain cancer.

Although he took the video to “make her smile” after she came out of surgery, it landed the newlyweds on “The Ellen Show,” and Ray even auditioned for Season 16 of “America’s Got Talent.”

His performance brought the room to tears as Roslyn admitted that she had “been crying since he started” singing.

The North Carolina Navy veteran was first diagnosed in 2013, with her tumor the size of an orange. She had been in remission for six years when she was diagnosed with another brain tumor.

The Singletons appeared this year in the OWN network docuseries “Black Love,” which shares love stories from the Black community.

Woman says she stopped giving tithes, offerings in church and used the money to build a house for her widowed neighbour

A Kenyan woman, Mary Nkatha has narrated how she managed to build a house for her widowed neighbour who was living in a dilapidated house.

Nkatha said she got a lucrative business deal last year and instead of making donations in church, she instead opted to save the money for a house.

Speaking to Tuko Kenya, Nkatha said she stopped giving offerings and tithes in church and decided to build a house for her neighbour who has been struggling since the death of her husband.

“After I thought about how pastors are taking advantage of other Kenyans in the name of tithe, I stopped giving in church and instead saved all that money so that I could build a house for my struggling neighbour,” she said.

Nkatha said when the idea came to mind, she approached the widow who was living in a shanty and conveyed her interest to build her a better house and she gladly accepted. The house is now complete and her neighbour is now living comfortably.

Nkatha said she still goes to church but has stopped giving tithes and offerings.

Naira redesign targets looted funds – EFCC boss, Abdulrasheed Bawa

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has said the decision to redesign the naira is aimed at returning hidden public funds.

The antigraft agency boss made this known in his recent interview with Deutsche Welle DW Hausa Service.

According to him, the Federal government wants people who hid the funds to deposit them in bank accounts. The EFCC chair insisted that there was no political motive behind the idea.

According to him, President Buhari had evaluated and accepted the advice put forward by the Central Bank of Nigeria on the redesign of the naira.

“These public funds were embezzled and we want them to return them; we have not told anyone not to bring this money out.

What the government said was to deposit the money into bank accounts, or else sanctions may follow.The redesigning of the naira in law is expected to be done after every eight years; Nigeria has 20 years without redesigning, almost 80% of the naira is not in the bank and the CBN is in the hands of people; so how can the government succeed? How can a country get 25% of foreign exchange which is a benefit from its currency in 10 days?

There is no political motive behind this; some people siphoned and hid public funds and that is why we want them to bring them out.

We are also calling on Nigerians and even non-Nigerians that all channels are accessible; if anyone knows someone who hid suspicious money, they should alert us and we will investigate it; when we investigate the money and get it, the whistleblower also gets 5 per cent.”he said

UFC star Israel Adesanya arrested at New York airport

Nigerian-born New Zealand UFC star, Israel Adesanya was arrested at JFK Airport on Wednesday, November 16, after allegedly trying to board a plane with brass knuckles.

Port Authority police said Adesanya who tried to walk through security around 2 p.m, was taken into custody by Transportation Security Administration staff who found the banned item in his possession.

Brass knuckles are illegal in the state of New York, however, the UFC star’s manager claims the fighter was given them as a present by a fan.

Adesanya was later released after being questioned by officials at the airport.

Adesanya’s manager Tim Simpson said in a statement;

“Israel was handed a gift by a fan, which he put in his luggage.

“When flagged at the airport, Israel quickly disposed of the item, and co-operated with authorities. He has complied accordingly, with that the matter was dismissed and he is on his way home.”

Although Adesanya was reportedly not charged after his arrest, the incident still serves as another blow for the UFC’s former middleweight champion, following his stunning fifth round defeat to Pereira at Madison Square Garden on Saturday November 12.

Adesanya was ahead on all three cards, 39-37, after four full rounds in the main event bout in New York, nearly finishing Pereira at the end of the first round.

Things changed dramatically in the fifth and deciding round however, as history repeated itself and Pereira once again landed the shock knockout blow on his opponent.

Pereira is the only man to have knocked Adesanya out in his professional fighting career, having scored a pair of kickboxing victories over the Kiwi in 2016 and 2017.

I will support my father outside of political arena – Ivanka Trump says she will not be involved in Donald Trump’s 2024 run

Minutes after her father, Donald Trump announced another run for the White House on Tuesday, November 15, Ivanka Trump released a statement saying she didn’t plan to be involved in the campaign.

This comes after a CNN report last week that Trump’s daughter and her husband, Jared Kushner, would not campaign on behalf of Donald Trump.

“While I will always love and support my father, going forward I will do so outside of the political arena,” said Trump, who did not attend Donald Trump’s announcement at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday evening.

“This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family.”

“I am grateful to have had the honor of serving the American people and I will always be proud of many of our Administration’s accomplishments.

Rapper, Blueface arrested for attempted murder

Blueface has been arrested for attempted murder.

The American rapper and his girlfriend Chrisean Rock were sitting on a bench looking at their phones on Tuesday, Nov. 15, when a swarm of undercover officers ran over and grabbed him before throwing him against a wall.

He was handcuffed outside Lo-Lo’s Chicken & Waffles in Vegas in what appears to have been an undercover operation.

He has been charged with felony attempted murder with the use of a deadly firearm or tear gas, according to legal documents connected to the warrant, TMZ reports.

He’s facing an additional charge of discharging a gun into a house, building, vehicle or craft.

The incident that got Blueface arrested occurred on October 8th.

Ariana Grande’s brother mugged by young boys, including a 13-year-old

Ariana Grande’s brother Frankie Grande was viciously mugged in Midtown Manhattan, including by a 13-year-old, police said Tuesday, Nov. 15.

39-year-old Frankie Grande, a social-media personality, was walking on Eighth Avenue between 43rd and 44th streets around 6 p.m. Nov. 9 when the 13-year-old and a 17-year-old cohort smashed the victim in the back of the head, cops said.

Police said Grande was robbed of his Louis Vuitton bag with his iPhone, AirPods, sunglasses and wallet. He refused medical attention at the scene.

The two accused teen muggers were nabbed when they tried to use the celebrity big brother’s card nearby. They had on them an imitation pistol and razor blade, police said.

The pair was charged with robbery, grand larceny, unlawful use of a credit card, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property, menacing and harassment, according to police.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s partner, Georgina Rodriguez’s sister reveals she is ‘broke and isn’t getting help’ from her

The sister of Cristiano Ronaldo’s glamorous partner, Georgina Rodriguez has disclosed that she is broke and has been living as a squatter without receiving any help from her.

Patricia Rodriguez said she is going through a difficult moment financially, stressing that she is ruined and that she has been living as a squatter for three years.

She told Spanish TV show Socialite yesterday:

‘I’m broke and my sister doesn’t help me. What hurts me the most are my children, not me. ‘After all, I can get by on a piece of bread, but my children, who are her nephews and nieces.

‘I wasn’t expecting this from my sister. Sometimes I have enough to eat, other times I don’t. Sometimes I have enough to pay the rent, other times I don’t.’

The 33-year-old said her relationship with her model sister, 28, who shares two children with Ronaldo, has been turbulent, particularly following the death of their father in 2019.

Patricia said she ‘still didn’t have his ashes’ because of her sister. In a desperate plea, she said: ‘Georgina, I need help, you’re my sister.

‘I know you have no obligation or responsibility, but as you are supportive of and so good with others, at least be so with your nephews and nieces.

‘If you don’t want to help me, help your nephews and nieces.’

Nigeria becomes 6th most populous country as world’s population hits 8 billion

Nigeria is now the 6th most populous country in the world following a report released by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The international agency in its report released on Tuesday, November 15, said the global population has reached an estimated 8 billion.

More than half of the projected population is concentrated in just eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.

Some of the projections made in UN’s World Population Prospects 2022 include India surpassing China as the world’s most populous country in 2023, world’s population growing to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and reaching a peak of around 10.4 billion people during the 2080s.

It is projected that the world’s population will remain at that level until 2100. The report also noted that fertility has fallen markedly in recent decades for many countries.

It read;

“Today, two-thirds of the global population lives in a country or area where lifetime fertility is below 2.1 births per woman, roughly the level required for zero growth in the long run for a population with low mortality.

The populations of 61 countries or areas are projected to decrease by 1 percent or more between 2022 and 2050, owing to sustained low levels of fertility and, in some cases, elevated rates of emigration,” the report reads.

“More than half of the projected increase in the global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.

“Countries of sub-Saharan Africa are expected to contribute more than half of the increase anticipated through 2050.” Commenting on the report, António Guterres, UN secretary-general, said;

“This year’s World Population Day falls during a milestone year when we anticipate the birth of the earth’s eight billionth inhabitant.

This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognise our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates.

“At the same time, it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another.”

NIS retrieves over 500 national ID cards and PVCs from foreigners in Katsina

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says 513 national identity cards and permanent voter cards (PVCs) have been retrieved from foreigners in Katsina.

Kelechi Ekeoba-Jones, NIS controller in the state, who disclosed this to NAN on Monday, November 14, 2022, during a media briefing at the newly established Jibia border command.

He said the special border command in Jibia recovered 202 PVCs and 311 national identity cards from non-Nigerians in the state.

“Some foreign nationals were found in possession of the Federal Republic of Nigeria voter cards and national identity cards issued to them in various states of the country,” he said.

“A total of 513 voter and national identity cards were retrieved from them in various formations of the command.

“Therefore, we are soliciting the support of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to engage us whenever a voter registration exercise is going to be conducted again.

“Only the immigration officials can identify foreigners through our techniques whenever they come to register at any registration centre across the country

“We are calling on INEC, at any point of registration, they should solicit the help of our people to avoid registering foreigners.

“So also, the body responsible for the national identity card registration, it should engage more of our officers whenever the exercise will commence because it’s very important” he added.

Former US VP Mike Pence finally reacts to Trump’s January 6 tweet

Former US Vice President, Mike Pence said former President Donald Trump’s words on social media during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol were “reckless” criticizing Trump for being “part of the problem” that day.

Pence was fiercely loyal in public through the constant controversies that defined the Trump administration, but in the wake of the January 6 riot during which Trump supporters chanted to hang Pence, and he has occasionally criticized his former boss, most notably in February, when he publicly denounced Trump’s election ‘lies.

Trump said Pence in his capacity as vice president, had the authority to unilaterally reject Electoral College votes.

But Pence said he had no right to overturn the election and despite being threatened by the Trump supporters who mobbed the capitol building still certified the eltion results alongside the House of Representatives.

Pence was asked on ABC News about Trump’s tweet during the attack that said Pence didn’t have the “courage” to unilaterally overturn the results.

“It angered me,” Pence told ABC’s David Muir after a long pause. “But I turned to my daughter, who was standing nearby. And I said, ‘It doesn’t take courage to break the law, it takes courage to uphold the law.’

The president’s words were reckless. It was clear he decided to be part of the problem,” the former vice president continued in one of his strongest rebukes of his former boss to date.

Trump, for his part, has said Pence “very greatly disappointed me” on the day the electoral votes were certified.

The former vice president has been coy about his plans for 2024. He has long been viewed as a potential aspirant for the Republican presidential nomination, but has not formally declared a bid and would almost certainly face strong opposition from Trump, whose supporters he would need in a primary fight.

Trump is set to announce his 2024 campaign on Tuesday November 15, former adviser Jason Miller said in a podcast appearance.