Exeter loose-head prop Scott Sio has signed a new contract to stay with the Premiership club for an undisclosed term. The Australian has made 41 appearances for the Chiefs since moving from Super Rugby side Brumbies in the summer of 2022. The 32-year-old has won 74 caps for the Wallabies and played in the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups but accepted that he may not play for his country again after moving overseas to England. “There are lots of younger players coming through and I hope to continue to be part of their development while also growing as a player and…
Author: GuruTrends
The world’s longest-serving manager. When Stephen Baxter was handed the unenviable task of leading a Crusaders revival midway through the 2004-05 season, not even in his wildest dreams could he have imagined repeating that sentence, or the journey that led him to it. After reaching the pinnacle of Irish League football in the mid-90s, almost a decade of decline resulted in the north Belfast club scrapping for their top-flight status, and their very existence, by the time Baxter contemplated hanging up his boots. Nineteen games, 953 games and 12 trophies later, he leaves Seaview as their most successful manager of…
He had spats with Steven Gerrard. He picked up red cards. And he was an explosive figure in the heart of Hibernian’s defence. Those fiery days are all part of the Ryan Porteous backstory, but these are changed days for the 25-year-old defender. He’s been a mainstay for Watford since joining the Hornets in January 2023 and with 10 assured appearances for the national team to his name, Porteous is maturing nicely and looks set to be a key player for Scotland at Euro 2024. But when he reflects on his rollercoaster years in the hothouse of Scottish domestic football,…
An award winning play about sexual assault and the legal system is being used to help train judges in Northern Ireland. Jodie Comer starred in Prima Facie in both the West End and on Broadway. A recorded version of the show is being made available to judges who deal with sexual assault cases in Northern Ireland’s courts. Ms Comer played the character of Tessa in the one-woman show about a barrister who defends people accused of sexual assault, before she herself is raped by a colleague. The play examines how the current legal system treats victims and survivors of sexual…
Ian Gelder, who played Kevan Lannister in fantasy series Game of Thrones, has died at the age of 74. The British actor’s career spanned decades and included roles in Torchwood, His Dark Materials, Doctor Who, Snatch, The Bill and more. Gelder died on Monday, five months after being diagnosed with bile duct cancer, his husband and fellow actor Ben Daniels announced on Instagram. He said Gelder was a “wonderful actor” and an “absolute rock” to him. Daniels said his partner of 30 years had coped with his “dreadful illness with such bravery” and that he had stopped working to care…
Ofcom has warned social media sites they could be banned for under-18s if they fail to comply with new online safety rules. The media regulator has published draft codes of practice which require tech firms to have more robust age-checking measures, and to reformulate their algorithms to steer children away from material they should not see. But parents of children who died after exposure to harmful online content have described Ofcom’s new rules as “insufficient” – one told the BBC change was happening “at a snail’s pace.” In statements, Meta and Snapchat said they had extra protections for under-18s, and…
Defender Clinton Mola and midfielder Sam Hutchinson are among four players released by Reading after the 2023-24 season. Left-backs Nesta Guinness-Walker and Matty Carson are also not staying with the League One club. Reading have opened talks with defender Kelvin Abrefa and midfielder Tivonge Rushesha over new contract offers to stay. Mola made 36 appearances in all competitions this season after joining as a free agent last September. Hutchinson joined Reading in the summer of 2022 but injuries have limited him to only 26 games across the last two campaigns. The Royals have activated one-year extensions on contracts for Femi…
A Berlin senator and former mayor of the German capital has been attacked by a man in a local library in the latest of a spate of assaults on German politicians. Franziska Giffey, a well known figure in Germany’s centre-left SPD, was briefly treated in hospital after she was hit on the head and neck with a bag “filled with hard contents”, police said. Politicians and campaign workers have been targeted in recent days, especially in eastern Germany. Last Friday, a lead candidate in next month’s European elections was seriously hurt while putting up posters in Dresden. Matthias Ecke, 41,…
The US last week paused a bomb shipment for Israel over concerns it was going ahead with a major ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior US administration official says. The shipment consisted of 1,800 2,000lb (907kg) bombs and 1,700 500lb bombs, the official told CBS News, the BBC’s media partner in the US. Israel has not “fully addressed” US concerns over humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah, the official says. Israel made no immediate comment. Overnight, there were further Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, hours after Israeli forces backed by tanks took control…
About €3.7m (£3.2m) worth of cannabis has been seized by An Garda Síochána (Irish police) and Revenue Customs Service in two separate joint operations on Tuesday. The two consignments of herbal cannabis, with a combined weight of about 184kgs, were seized in Wexford and Dublin. A man in his 60s was arrested in relation to the operation in Dublin, while a man in his 50s was arrested in connection with the Wexford seizure. Both men were taken into custody by Gardaí. The Dublin seizure had an estimated market value of about €2.8m (£2.4m), while the drugs taken in Wexford are…
Israel says it is reopening the Kerem Shalom crossing with southern Gaza for aid deliveries, four days after it was closed because of Hamas rocket fire. Lorries from Egypt with food, water and medicine have arrived at the crossing, according to the Israeli military. The UN had expressed alarm on Tuesday over what it called Israel’s “choking off” of Gaza’s two main aid arteries. It came after Israeli troops took full control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Overnight, there were fresh Israeli air strikes in the nearby city of Rafah, where the Israeli military says it…
Russia has launched a “massive” early morning missile and drone attack on energy facilities across Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. More than 50 missiles and 20 drones were used in the attack, Mr Zelensky said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. It marks the latest in a string of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, which Moscow insists is a legitimate military target. The strikes targeted seven regions across the country and took place on a major national holiday commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War 2. Writing on social media, Mr Zelensky drew…
Technology companies will have to take more action to keep children safe on the internet, following the introduction of the Online Safety Act. But the new rules will not come in until 2025 – and critics say they do not go far enough. How much time do UK children spend online? Children aged eight to 17 spend between two and five hours online per day, research by the communications regulator Ofcom suggests. Time spent online increases with age. Nearly every child over 12 has a mobile phone and almost all of them watch videos on platforms such as YouTube or TikTok.…
Breaking! POS Agents Must Register With CAC, Get July 7 Deadline The Corporate Affairs Commission has set a two-month deadline for Point of Sale operators in the country to register their agents, merchants and individuals, latest by July 7, 2024. The Registrar-General/Chief Executive Officer, CAC, Hussaini Magaji, SAN, met with some fintech companies, also known as PoS, on Monday in Abuja, during which the agreement was reached. Magaji said the measure aims at safeguarding the businesses of fintech customers and strengthening the economy, the commission stated via its social media handle, posting as @cacnigeria1. Magaji stated that the move complies…
Scientists are racing to trace deep ocean species before they are lost, with the help of photographers who have a taste for danger. In 2010 four friends, carrying 32kg (71lb) worth of camera equipment, sunk beneath the waves of Sodwana Bay, off the east coast of South Africa. It was then that photographer, Laurent Ballesta stared directly into the eyes of a creature once thought to have died out with the dinosaurs – and took the first ever photograph of a living coelacanth. “It’s not just a fish we thought was extinct,” says Ballesta. “It’s a masterpiece in the history of evolution.” Venture…
Coastal highway project: Seyi Tinubu has right to pursue business interests, Presidency tells Atiku The Presidency on Monday said the ongoing demolition of buildings to pave the way for the Lagos-Calabar highway will not deter foreign investments into Nigeria. It also said the president’s son, Seyi Tinubu, a board member of Ogun state-based tile and sanitary ware manufacturer, CDK Industries Ltd, poses no conflict of interest to the project. The Presidency was responding to comments by the flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, who alleged that the Coastal Highway project is being expedited solely…
“My moustache is… very pointed, very aggressive.” Playful and provocative, Salvador Dalí’s moustache was more than mere facial hair but a bold artistic statement. In an exclusive BBC interview the Surrealist artist shared the secret behind the most famous moustache in the world. In 1955, Spanish artist Salvador Dalí – who was born this week 120 years ago – sat down with veteran broadcaster Malcolm Muggeridge on the BBC’s Panorama, and spoke about the most potent symbol of his artistic identity – his moustache. Muggeridge conceded that he should really be asking the famed Surrealist about the bizarre dreamlike images that…
EFCC arrests BDC operators as naira falls to N1416 per dollar Agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are said to have taken several Bureau De Change operators into custody in the well-known Wuse Zone 4 market. It was learned that the EFCC agents had started conducting frequent searches in order to rid the market of arbitrary dealing and cleanse the street vendors. On Tuesday, however, resistance to this approach resulted in gunfire and damage to the operative’s vehicles. Two currency traders who were present during the incident gave details of the operation to journalists, stating that the…
“He is full of love” – Video of Davido showering encomium on Wizkid singing prowess resurfaces online (Watch) Superstar Afrobeats musician David Adeleke, better known by his stage name Davido, has received praise for being a kind and kind man in the wake of his viral throwback video. Cybernauts have discovered footage of DMW chairman talking about the “Essence” crooner in the thick of the conflict between the two business rivals, Davido and Wizkid. The much younger Davido could be seen complimenting Wizkid’s vocal abilities in the old video. The video captured Davido the “Omo Baba Olowo” superstar talking…
Wales’ Lauren Price aims to win her first world title on Saturday in her backyard when she takes on Jessica McCaskill. Cardiff’s Utilita Arena hosts their Olympic champion and in her BBC Sport column Hannah Rankin previews what it would mean for Price to dethrone the WBA welterweight champion McCaskill. When I first met Lauren Price, what struck me was her focus. It was about six years ago at Team GB’s Olympic base in Sheffield. She was a very serious person. Driven, focused and quietly confident, that’s how I would describe her then. But she was talented, obviously talented. When…