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  On-loan Newcastle United midfielder from Arsenal, Joe Willock has won the EA Sports Premier League player of the month award for May. The 21-year-old, who joined the Magpies from Arsenal on loan in January, enjoyed a superb month at St. James’ Park, with his final-day strike at Fulham his seventh goal in seven successive league outings. Four of his eight goals since joining the club came in the final month of the season, with strikes against Leicester City, Manchester City, and Sheffield United adding to his goal against Fulham last weekend.   Willock came out on top after a public vote, beating Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale, Liverpool’s Alisson Becker and Sadio Mane, Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke, Aaron Ramsdale of Sheffield United, Nicolas Pepe of Arsenal, and Leeds United’s Rodrigo to take the prize.  

  Mali’s constitutional court has installed military coup leader, Colonel Assimi Goïta, as transitional president. The court explained that its decision followed the “vacancy in the presidency”. Goïta had declared himself interim president on Wednesday, two days after seizing power, the second time. Goita led the mutiny that ousted ex-President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August 2020. Interim President, Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister, Moctar Ouane were detained by the military on Monday. They were held along with Defence Minister, Souleymane Doucouré. Goita, the former interim Vice President, said they were removed for violating the transition charter. “We had to choose between disorder and cohesion within the defence and security forces, and we chose cohesion”, he defended his actions on Friday.  

Nigerians are asking for justice for Comfort Otega Benjamin, a girl found raped and murdered in Jos on her 16th birthday. On May 23, photos of the celebrant were shared online, with loved ones asking for help in finding Comfort, who was supposed to be celebrating her 16th birthday. They said she had left home on May 22 and didn't return.     Sadly, on the evening of May 23, her body was found at Nasarawa Gwong in Jos North. She had been raped and murdered. She has now been laid to rest.     Twitter users are asking that the culprits be fished out and made to face the consequences of their actions.  

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the academic qualification of the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.   In a judgment delivered on May 28, the apex court ruled that APC and one of its chieftains, Edobor Williams have failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.   The court added that the party members failed woefully to prove their case as they did not provide any disclaimer from the school that the certificate, whose authenticity they challenged, was not issued to Obaseki by the institution.   It proceeded to uphold the March 18, 2021 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which earlier affirmed the January 9, 2021 judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja upholding the authenticity of the first decree certificate in Classics issued to Obaseki by the University of Ibadan (UI).

The Oscars have been postponed for a second consecutive year, and relaxed eligibility rules allowing films to skip film theaters will be kept in place due to the pandemic, the Academy said on Thursday. The 94th Academy Awards will now take place on March 27, 2022, exactly a month later than originally planned, and are set to return to their traditional venue at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre. After ratings nosedived for this year’s unusual, pandemic-affected Oscars which were held at a Los Angeles train station the postponement avoids potentially costly clashes with the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics. American football’s biggest event takes place in Los Angeles next year on February 13, while the global winter sports extravaganza is due to be held in Beijing from February 4-20. But the impact of Covid-19 which transformed Hollywood’s award season last year, shuttering film theaters, delaying dozens of major films and forcing many ceremonies to go online — also continues to be...

Barack Obama, former US president, has praised Marcus Rashford, Manchester United forward, for his anti-poverty campaign in England. He commended the 23-year-old’s quest for social service, noting that he is “way ahead of where I was” at that age. Obama said such positive force exhibited by Rashford is liable to ignite a genuine social movement. The 44th US president said this in a Zoom meeting organised by Penguin Books, British publishing house, to discuss ‘Promise Land’, Obama’s memoir, community projects, among other issues. “Even if you do something positive on a small scale, that’s making a difference, and it’s the accumulation of people doing positive things over time that makes us a little bit better with each successive generation,” Obama said. In reaction, Rashford said it was “surreal” to speak with the former president from his kitchen in Manchester. “I mean, it’s quite surreal isn’t it? I’m sitting in my kitchen in Manchester, speaking to president Obama. But ...

Italian football club, Juventus have unveiled Massimiliano Allegri as its new manager after sacking Andrea Pirlo on Friday, May 28.   Pirlo, 42, (pictured below) endured a difficult 2020-21 season where his team lost the league, crashed out of the champions league last 16 and struggled to qualify for next seasons UEFA Champions League.   Pirlo only took over from Maurizio Sarri last summer but managed to get his hands on two trophies, the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana in his only season at Juventus. Allegri - who won five straight league crowns between 2015 and 2019 at Juventus is now back. He has signed a four-year contract worth £8million per year. Allegri has been out of management since leaving Juve in 2019. In an emotional club statement, Juventus confirmed the news of Allegri's return, writing: "Welcome back home, Max."