BIGNEWS24HOURS: 10/27/13

Sunday 27 October 2013

Dozens Killed As Flood Hit Eastern India

39 people have died in India after days of heavy and persistent rain triggered flooding across the eastern part of the Asian country

A major oil field with almost 1.3 billion barrels of deposits has been discovered by Algeria’s national energy firm Sonatrach, in the south of the country, Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi announced Saturday.

At least 51 people have been killed after ten car bombs exploded in several areas of Baghdad province, pushing the October death toll from Iraq violence past 600, according to Iraqi officials.

Football | Absa Premiership

SuperSport United returned to the top of the South African Premiership table on Sunday after surviving an incredible missed scoring chance by Bloemfontein Celtic.
The teams drew 1-1 at Atteridgeville near Pretoria, enabling United to join Moroka Swallows on 15 points and claim first place on goal difference.
But it took an early candidate for 'miss of the season' to save SuperSport from a shock home loss against bottom-half Celtic.

Football | Barclays Premier League

Swansea and West Ham shared the points in a goalless Premier League draw at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.
The Hammers repeatedly troubled a relatively short in stature Swansea defence from set-pieces, something that will gave been noted by Cardiff ahead of next weekend's south Wales derby,
Razvan Rat's free-kick was hooked off the line by Angel Rangel while West Ham's Guy Demel and Kevin Nolan also missed good chances.

Football | Spain

David Villa ended his seven-game scoring drought with a double as Atletico Madrid closed to within a point of Barcelona at the top of La Liga with a 5-0 win over Real Betis. /p>
Eighteen-year-old sensation Oliver Torres got the hosts off the perfect start on his full league debut with the fastest goal this season after just 13 seconds.

Football | Italy

AS Roma's dramatic 1-0 win at Udinese further highlighted the impressive job Rudi Garcia is doing at the Serie A leaders, who are five points clear of Napoli and Juventus after winning their ninth game in a row.
Garcia's side were missing talisman Francesco Totti and in-form Gervinho, and were forced to play the final half hour with 10 men after Maicon's sending off.
Despite his dismissal Roma managed to improve their game and thoroughly deserved their victory courtesy of American Michael Bradley's 82nd minute winner.

Football | Barclays Premier League

Roberto Soldado scored his third penalty of the season to earn Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 victory over Hull City at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
The Spain striker's controversial spot-kick 10 minutes from time got Andre Villas-Boas' side out of jail against Steve Bruce's promoted Tigers, with this victory leaving the north London club fourth in the Premier League table.
Bruce packed the defence with five players to ward off the threat of Andros Townsend and Aaron Lennon on the Spurs flanks.

Football | Zambia

Kalulushi Modern Stars breathed life into their hopes of surviving relegation from the MTN FAZ Super League after they played out a 2-2 draw away to Roan United in a week 27 fixture played at Konkola Stadium on Sunday.
Shadreck Musonda put the visitors in front with his 5th minute penalty but Lyson Sikaonga levelled for the home side twenty minutes later.
Roan United looked like they had grabbed the win when Chileshe Kabwe scored from a free-kick in the 76th minute but a late equaliser in additional time by Joseph Bwalya meant the two sides had to share the spoils.

Football | Barclays Premier League

Manager Andre Villas-Boas lamented what he called "negativity" and a lack of support from Tottenham Hotspur fans during the 1-0 win over Hull City at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
Spurs secured victory thanks to an 80th-minute goal by Spaniard Roberto Soldado, the third time this season the €30 million buy from Valencia has earned his side all three points from the penalty spot.
Villas-Boas's team lost 3-0 to West Ham United in their previous home Premier League match and the Portuguese said the fans were subdued against Hull.

Football | Champions League

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure met a top official with soccer's governing body on Sunday to discuss allegations that he was the victim of racial abuse from fans during a match in Russia in midweek.
The Ivory Coast international held talks with Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb at Stamford Bridge on the day his City team were beaten 2-1 by Premier League title rivals Chelsea.

Football | Barclays Premier League

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho paid tribute to Fernando Torres after the Spain striker made one goal and scored a late winner to earn a 2-1 victory over Premier League title rivals Manchester City on Sunday.
"He's sharp, he's powerful, he believes in his heart," Mourinho told reporters after his side climbed to second in the table, two points behind leaders Arsenal, the team they meet in the fourth round of the Capital One (League) Cup on Tuesday.

Football | Barclays Premier League

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini walked straight down the players' tunnel without shaking hands with counterpart Jose Mourinho after Chelsea snatched a 90th-minute winner on Sunday.
Mourinho celebrated wildly by jumping into the crowd and embracing fans after a defensive mix-up allowed Fernando Torres to secure a 2-1 victory in the Premier League.

Football | Barclays Premier League

Fernando Torres's perseverance was rewarded when his last-minute goal saw Chelsea to a 2-1 win at home to title rivals Manchester City on Sunday that catapulted the London club into second place in the Premier League table.
The match was heading for a draw when, after Willian had helped the ball forward, a mix-up saw City defender Matija Nastasic head the ball past his own keeper, Joe Hart, with the onrushing Torres turning the ball into an empty net.
Torres's winner left Chelsea just two points behind leaders Arsenal and atoned for his dramatic 29th minute miss when, with the match still goalless, he somehow shot over the bar from 10 yards out.

Rugby | International Rugby

England prop Alex Corbisiero has stressed fears for his long-term rugby future are misplaced after insisting his latest knee injury is not related to the one he suffered last season.
The front-row forward has all but ruled himself out of England's opening end-of-year international against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday after twisting his left knee playing for Northampton just over a fortnight ago.

Boxing | International

Kell Brook remained undefeated when he stopped Vyacheslav Senchenko in Sheffield on Saturday night.
The fight, an eliminator to fight IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander from the United States next year, was over after 2 minutes and 56 seconds of the fourth round.

Tennis | ATP

Russian Mikhail Youzhny claimed his second title of the year as he upset home favourite David Ferrer 6-3, 7-5 to win the Valencia Open on Sunday.
Ferrer was aiming for his fourth title in his home region, but was far from his stubborn best as Youzhny's power and depth of ground strokes proved too much for the No 1 seed.
"I can only thank my team for helping me get to this part of the season and being able to win a tournament," said Youzhny.

Tennis | WTA

China's Li Na will meet Serena Williams in the final of the WTA championships after beating Czech Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-2 on Saturday, becoming the highest-ranked player ever from an Asian country.
Title holder Williams struggled early on with her own game before overcoming Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-4 2-6 6-4 in the other semifinal to set up a clash between two players over 30.
Li's victory means she will climb to third in the rankings and can finish the season on a high in her first WTA Championships final on Sunday.

Football | Germany

Hamburg SV cruised to a 3-0 victory at Freiburg on Sunday to continue their climb up the Bundesliga table under Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk.
The visitors, who have now drawn two and won two matches to move up to 12th spot under the former Netherlands coach, got a lot of help from Freiburg keeper Oliver Baumann, who fumbled for all three Hamburg goals.

Football | Barclays Premier League

Sunderland climbed off the bottom of the Premier League table with a 2-1 home win over arch-rivals Newcastle in the north-east derby on Sunday.
Fabio Borini's blistering 18-yard shot six minutes from time saw the Black Cats to a first league win of the season, following seven defeats and a draw, after Steven Fletcher's fifth-minute header had given them the lead.

Steven Fletcher heads Sunderland in front against Newcastle

Fabio Borini's dramatic late strike helped Sunderland beat Newcastle and secure a first win of the season which lifts them off the bottom of the Premier League table.

The home side took the lead when striker Steven Fletcher headed in Adam Johnson's cross after five minutes.

Wife to-be, Lola Omotayo, had a surprise bachelorette party planned out for her, oh well it wasn’t really a surprise.

The just concluded Felabration 2013 festival, was an event not to be forgotten in a long time. We witnessed a lot of funny, controversial and thrilling scenes from the various performing acts.

I was just talking about the craziness that went down at the Felabration when I hadn’t even seen this photo yet.

Do all of you still remember Ego??
Ego Ihenacho Ogbaro, the petite lady was the only female vocalist with Lagbaja’s band until she left to pursue a solo career in 2007.

2face isn’t just a musician, he is also a very serious businessman and has investments in a lot of areas all over the world; but this time, he was just playing the role of his first talent – a musician.

Ace comedian, Basket Mouth acted as the Nigerian delegate that received his fellow American comedians that came into 9ja for a visit.

Boko Haram emir Abubakar Shekau makes his first major video appearance

An arrested member of the outlawed Boko Haram sect Saturday revealed many of the sect members are living as if in hell and if not for fear that they could be killed if caught by the group they would have fled their forest camps.

The last batch of 212 Ogun pilgrims to Saudi Arabia returned to the State on Saturday.

This is contained in a statement signed by Alhaji Qudus Kafidipe, Information Officer, Ogun Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abeokuta on Saturday.

Football | Absa Premiership

Maritzburg United returned to winning ways in the Absa Premiership when they defeated provincial rivals AmaZulu 2-0 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
United took the lead early in the second half through an own-goal from Marc Van Heerden before Thokozani Sekotlong doubled the advantage midway through the half.

Football | International

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has reiterated the need for tougher sanctions to be used to combat racism, arguing that fines are not an effective deterrent.
Speaking at the FA's 150th anniversary gala dinner, he said: "We need to eliminate teams from a competition or deduct points. Only by such decisions is it possible to go against racism and discrimination. If we don't do that it will go on and go on. We have to stop it; we need the courage to do it."

Golf | Champions Tour

Kenny Perry bogeyed the final hole on Saturday to drop into a five-way tie for the lead in the Champions Tour's AT&T Championship.
The Charles Schwab Cup points leader followed his opening 65 with a 71 to match Mike Goodes, Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie and Anders Forsbrand at 8 under. Perry leads Langer in the Schwab Cup race by 494 points as the season finishes next week.

Mercy Johnson

Background

I am Mercy Johnson, an actress. I was born 29 years ago and I am the fourth child in a family of seven. My father is an ex-military officer and I left my mother at the age of two to live with him. Due to the nature of his job, he was constantly transferred from one station to another. I am proud of him because he taught me all I needed to know from childhood to adulthood.

Helen Apreala

Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema

Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi

Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah

Jose Mourinho has been speaking about the unpredictable nature of this season's Barclays Premier League ahead of tomorrow's game against Manchester City.
The Blues go into the game unbeaten in seven and having won four consecutive matches, the last of which coming with a 3-0 Champions League victory against Schalke in Gelsenkirchen.
Our 1-0 reverse at Everton last month, up to now, remains our only defeat in the Premier League, and with tomorrow's opponents having already lost twice - at Cardiff City and Aston Villa - the Portuguese believes there is no such thing as an easy game.

Football | Ethiopia

Ethiopia's Walia Ibex are set to play an international friendly against Burkina Faso between November 4 and 5.
Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) confirmed the friendly ahead of their return leg against African Champions Nigeria in Calabar where they will be hoping to overcome a 1-2 home loss.
EFF had been talking to Cameroon to try and organize a friendly but the same had not yet been confirmed by the normalisation committee.

Football | Malawi

Holders Mighty Wanderers advanced to the 2013 Standard Bank Knock-Out Trophy final after beating favourites Kamuzu Barracks (

Wingers Mike Kaziputa and Cuthbert Sinetre’s goals in each half broke the resistance of the Carlsberg Cup champions KB who were hoping for a double.
The Blantyre-based Wanderers date in the final on November 2 2013 the winner of Sunday’s semifinal between Silver Strikers and Civo United at Silver Stadium.

Football | Brazil

Authorities say four fans were shot before a second division match in northeastern Brazil, the latest case of fan violence for the 2014 World Cup host.
Police said two fans were shot in their feet and two in their legs during a confrontation before Saturday's match between America and Ceara just outside the host city of Natal, where America is based. Two fans remained hospitalized, but their lives were not at risk.
Police officer Fabio Sandrine told the G1 website that Ceara fans driving by the stadium fired at the America fans waiting outside.