Last night, the 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards honored the best film and television performances of the year and once again, Black Panther smiled home with the 'Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture'.

 See the full list of nominees and winners below...

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:

Christian Bale, "Vice"

Bradley Cooper, "A Star Is Born"

Rami Malek, "Bohemian Rhapsody" *WINNER

Viggo Mortensen, "Green Book"

John David Washington, "BlacKkKlansman"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:

Emily Blunt, "Mary Poppins Returns"

Glenn Close, "The Wife" *WINNER

Olivia Colman, "The Favourite"

Lady Gaga, "A Star Is Born"

Melissa McCarthy, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:

Mahershala Ali, "Green Book" *WINNER

Timothee Chalamet, "Beautiful Boy"

Adam Driver, "BlacKkKlansman"

Sam Elliott, "A Star Is Born"

Richard E. Grant, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:

Amy Adams, "Vice"

Emily Blunt, "A Quiet Place" *WINNER

Margot Robbie, "Mary Queen of Scots"

Emma Stone, "The Favourite"

Rachel Weisz, "The Favourite"

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:

"A Star Is Born"

"Black Panther" *WINNER

"BlacKkKlansman"

"Bohemian Rhapsody"

"Crazy Rich Asians"

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture:

"Ant-Man and the Wasp"

"Avengers: Infinity War"

"The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"

"Black Panther" *WINNER

"Mission: Impossible -- Fallout"

Television Awards

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries:

Antonio Banderas, "Genius: Picasso"

Darren Criss, "Assassination of Gianni Versace" *WINNER

Hugh Grant, "A Very English Scandal"

Anthony Hopkins, "King Lear"

Bill Pullman, "The Sinner"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries:

Amy Adams, "Sharp Objects"

Patricia Arquette, "Escape at Dannemora" *WINNER

Patricia Clarkson, "Sharp Objects"

Penelope Cruz, "Assassination of Gianni Versace"

Emma Stone, "Maniac"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series:

Jason Bateman, "Ozark" *WINNER

Sterling K. Brown, "This Is Us"

Joseph Fiennes, "The Handmaid's Tale"

John Krasinski, "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan"

Bob Odenkirk, "Better Call Saul"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series:

Julia Garner, "Ozark"

Laura Linney, "Ozark"

Elisabeth Moss, "The Handmaid's Tale"

Sandra Oh, "Killing Eve" *WINNER

Robin Wright, "House of Cards"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series:

Alan Arkin, "The Kominsky Method"

Michael Douglas, "The Kominsky Method"

Bill Hader, "Barry"

Henry Winkler, "Barry"

Tony Shalhoub, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" *WINNER

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series:

Alex Borstein, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"

Alison Brie, "Glow"

Rachel Brosnahan, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" *WINNER

Jane Fonda, "Grace and Frankie"

Lily Tomlin, "Grace and Frankie"

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series:

"The Americans"

"Better Call Saul"

"The Handmaid's Tale"

"Ozark"

"This Is Us" *WINNER

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series:

"Atlanta"

"Barry"

"Glow"

"The Kominsky Method"

"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" *WINNER

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series:

"Glow" *WINNER

"Marvel's: Daredevil"

"Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan"

"The Walking Dead"

"Westworld"

Zenith bank is the latest institution to incur controversial On Air Personalty(OAP), Daddy Freeze, wrath after they launched a mobile application that makes payment such as tithes, offering and other donations to churches easy.

Daddy Freeze who is known for coming hard on religion leaders took to his Instagram page after  Zenith Bank made the pronouncement to call them out by asking the financial institution if they have now become a christian bank or what.

“Disappearing post: This post is so disturbing to me, I’m actually traumatized,” he wrote on Instagram.

“Questions:

1: is Zenith Bank now a Christian Bank?

2: Does Zenith Bank have an app for Muslims and traditionalists to pay their offering and tithes as well?

3: Is Zenith Bank Suggesting that church is now a ‘Business’?”

According to him, it is unscriptural to give tithe which he described a fraudulent.

He added: “I have accounts with zenith bank as I have banked with them almost all my productive life, but personally, I’m totally disappointed in this.”

The Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, has adjourned indefinitely further hearing on the non assets declaration charge filed against suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghe by the Federal Government.

At the resumed hearing of the case today, the chairman of the Tribunal, Danladi Umar, said its decision to suspend Justice Onnoghen’s trial was based on the order of the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

“Inview of the Court of Appeal order for stay of proceedings and out of respect for the Court of Appeal, the tribunal hereby adjourn this matter sine-die (indefinitely) pending the determination of the Appeal before the Court of Appeal”, Mr. Umar ruled.

Only the CCT Chairman and the third member of the panel, Mrs. Julie Amabo, attended the sitting.

Last night, Nigerian popstar Davido shut down the 20,000 capacity O2 Arena in London.

He now joins Drake, Rihanna, Kanye West, Elton John, Adele, Prince, Celine Dion, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake on the list of Artistes who have sold out the venue as Headliners.

He also becomes the second African Artist to sell out the O2. after Wizkid did so in June 2018.

Fresh reports confirm that the Nigerian police have sealed off the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria,  Justice Walter Onnoghen, who was suspended by President Buhari, last week,

According to a report by Punch, the move appears to stop any possibility of Onnoghen accessing the office as policemen were said to have sealed the office and ejected all administrative staff in the axis of the CJN office as early as 7am on Monday.

A source said, “the police have sealed the office of the CJN. Officers and men of the Force went to the administrative staff offices at about 7am and ordered clerical and other staff who were already at their desks to leave after which they locked up everywhere.”

Rhe National Judicial Council has fixed Tuesday for an emergency meeting to deliberate on the sudden suspension of Onnoghen and swearing in of Justice Tanko Muhammad as the Acting CJN by President Buhari.

Lawyer and Humanrights activist, Femi Falana, has asked suspended Chief Justice of Niferia CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen, to resign honorably after his suspension must have been lifted by President Buhari.

Onnoghen who admitted in his letter to the Code of Conduct Tribunal that he forgot to declare some of his assets after he assumed office in March 2017, was suspended by President Buhari on Friday January 25th.

 “The government should as a matter of urgency, lift the suspension on the Chief Justice since the Chief Justice as so much to on his own admitted that he did not declare his assets, he should do the needful by calling it quits”.

He added that after the suspension has been lifted, Justice Onnoghen should quit the bench because he has already admitted that he failed in his duty to declare his asset as required by the constitution.

The Senior Advocate further argued it was wrong for President Buhari to have sspended Justice Onnoghen based on an ex parte order of the code of conduct tribunal. He said by so doing the President did not follow due process, stressing that the government must learn to obey the rule of law.

“You can’t fight corruption without following due process,” Falana said.

As the general elections draw nearer, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has excluded Amina Zakari and other national commissioners from the collation of presidential poll results. The electoral body had initially designated Zakari to lead the collation center during the Presidential election on February 16th. This followed a public outcry with many claiming that Zakari is a relative of President Buhari, an allegation that has been denied by the Presidency and Zakari herself.

According to The Nation newspaper, the collation of election results would be done at the collation secretariat and not the collation centre.

“No national commissioner is in charge of collation of presidential poll results. It is true that there is what is called collation centre but it is separate from the collation secretariat, which is responsible for the collation of results.

“No national commissioner will be appointed into the secretariat committee. So, Hajiya Amina Zakari or any national commissioner does not have anything to do with the collation of results.” a source told the Nation

Emiliano Sala's family have launched a private search for the footballer and the pilot of the missing plane in the hope that they might still be alive.

The search for the missing plane was called off last week after days of searching with no trace of the plane or its occupants.

But Emiliano Sala's family and friends have refused to give up hope and intend to continue with the search with funds raised from a GoFundMe campaign, which has so far raised more than £277,000 donated by more than 4,300 people.

The GoFundMe appeal was launched by Sport Cover, a Paris-based football agency run by the new Cardiff City player’s agent Meissa N’Diaye.

Romina Sala, Emiliano Sala's sister

Relatives and friends of the Argentinian striker arrived in Guernsey on Saturday after the official rescue operation was called off. One of the world’s leading shipwreck hunters, David Mearns, has been brought in to lead the search and is expected to use the latest underwater technology.

The rescue mission for Sala and missing pilot David Ibbotson will be launched next week after bad weather passes over the English Channel.

David Ibbotson

Mr Mearns, who was said to be speaking on behalf of the family, said they wanted to be near where the plane was last located and to have some of their questions answered.

He said:

The family still have some hope, they’re looking at this as a missing person, a missing plane, and until they are satisfied, that’s the mode that we’re in.

Its Adekunle Gold's birthday today and his wife, Simi just shared an interesing photo from their wedding to celebrate him.

Simi however disabled comments on the post as she's been under pressure to share more photos from her wedding.

Below is her birthday message to her hubby;

Light of my life. I love you. I also really like you and the way you do ur tins.

I’m such a lucky babe. You’re also lucky af, but iss ur beday, so yea, let’s focus on the celebrant.

I know God knows how much I want you to shine and prosper and win and laugh and be happy, so I pray God grants my heart desires. Happy birthday Champ

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected the withdrawal of Oby Ezekwesili as presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN).

According to the electoral commission, it is too late for any candidate to withdraw from contesting any position in the upcoming elections.

Ezekwesili announced her withdrawal this morning saying she wanted to give room for a coalition against candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC). But reacting via a statement, Rotimi Oyekanmi, chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, said November 17 was the last date for withdrawal. 

The statement read: “It is impossible for any presidential candidate to withdraw from the race now. According to the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2019 General Elections, the last day for withdrawal by candidates or replacement of withdrawn candidates by political parties was 17th November, 2018 for Presidential and National Assembly Elections. 

The deadline for Ezekwesili or any candidate in that category to withdraw or be replaced has passed.

Section 35 of the electoral act, which gives deadline from withdrawal from any election, states: “A candidate may withdraw his candidature by notice in writing signed by him and delivered by himself to the political party that nominated him for the election and the political party shall convey such withdrawal to the Commission not later than 45 days to the election.”

Rapper, Pusha T has left fans buzzing after he indicated in a tweet that someone is about to restart their beef with many linking it to his enemy Drake, who likely might be ready to respond to his "The Story of Adidon" diss track.

In the tweet, Pusha T issued a stern and possibly final warning to Drake writing: 'You tried, you failed...I’m hearing you wanna try again, this time I’m not gonna play with you, any of you.'

Well, it's no news that the pair made major headlines last year when they both released diss tracks, with Pusha T revealing in "The Story of Adidon" diss track that Drake welcomed a secret son with a French pornstar.

President Buhari has forwarded a proposed New National minimum wage of N27,000 to the National Assembly for consideration and legislative approval.

Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, confirmed this when he read President Buhari’s letter on the floor of the Senate during plenary today Thursday January 24th.

Recall that the National Council of State, a body of past and present leaders of Nigeria, approved the N27, 000 minimum wage at their meeting in the state house on Tuesday January 22nd.

Its just a couple of weeks into the New Year and there's already been 19 mass shootings in the United States.

On Wednesday, five people were murdered after a gunman took hostages in a Florida bank, forced them to the floor and began shooting, authorities said. 

Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund and Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman briefed reporters but declined to elaborate on the motive for the shooting, which took place around noon at the SunTrust bank in Sebring, about 94 miles southeast of Tampa.

The suspect was identified by Hoglund as Zephen Xaver, 21, a Sebring resident. A photo published by the Highlands News-Sun shows police taking a handcuffed white male, wearing a T-shirt and khaki shorts, from the scene.

"It's been a tragic day in our community. We have suffered a significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime" Hoglund said adding that "at least" five people were "senselessly murdered" in the ordeal. It wasn't clear whether the victims were bank employees or customers. 

The gunman apparently entered and locked the bank, then forced customers to lie on the floor.

According to the Gun Violence Archive website, this is the 19th mass shooting for 2019 in less than a month.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said his government was breaking relations with the United States and gave diplomatic personnel 72 hours to leave the country after President Donald Trump on Wednesday backed the country's opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, as interim president. 

Hours later, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement saying the U.S. does not recognize the Maduro regime as the country's government. "Accordingly the United States does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations with the United States or to declare our diplomats persona non grata." 

Guaidó, 35, the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, had earlier declared himself interim president as hundreds of thousands marched in Caracas demanding an end to Maduro's government.

In a statement, President Trump said: "In its role as the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people, the National Assembly invoked the country’s constitution to declare Nicolás Maduro illegitimate, and the office of the presidency therefore vacant. The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law".

Most countries in Latin America, as well as Canada, recognized Guaidó as interim president after he took the oath before his supporters. Leftist allies, Cuba and Bolivia, were the only two in the region that voiced support for Maduro. Mexico's new leftist president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would not take sides and said support for Guaidó is a violation of sovereignty.

The search for Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala's missing plane has been called off with the striker and Brit pilot Dave Ibbotson presumed dead.

According to the Sun UK, Guernsey Police confirmed it is 'no longer actively searching' for the missing pair or the light aircraft which vanished over the Channel Islands on Monday.

Harbour Master Captain David Barker said: "We have been unable to find any trace of the aircraft, the pilot or the passenger.

"We reviewed all the information available to use, as well as knowing what emergency equipment was on board, and have taken the difficult decision to end the search.

"The chances of survival at this stage are extremely remote."

The search crew reportedly searched for 24 hours across three days and covered around 1,700sq. miles without finding a trace of wreckage or the victims.

Search pilot Mike Tidd added: “The area has been very well covered; there is absolutely no chance of finding anybody alive now.

“The only thing we might be able to do would be pinpoint where the aircraft went in but I think the radar trace is going to be the best opportunity of doing that.”

The small private plane carrying the Argentine striker from Nantes Airport to Cardiff when it went missing off Alderney in the Channel Islands on Monday night. The 28-year-old was set to be unveiled by Cardiff City as their new £15million signing the next day before his disappearance.

Nigerian rapper, MI has accused American rapper J.Cole of stealing his style for his new song "Middle Child" which dropped few days ago.

While replying a Twitter user who brought it to his attention, comparing it to his 'Head of the family' in his 'Illegal Music 2' mixtape, the Nigerian rapper wrote: 'SMH.. n***as been biting my style for years.'

Moments ago, the Court of Appeal in Abuja declared former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke as the authentic presidential flag-bearer of the Social Democratic Party, SDP.

The appellate court, in a unanimous judgement by a three-man panel of Justices, vacated a judgement of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, which had on December 14, 2018, voided the emergence of Duke as SDP’s candidate for the 2019 Presidential Election.

The High Court had maintained that Duke’s emergence was in violation of a zoning arrangement the party adopted with a view to ensuring that a President and National Chairman of the party do not emerge from the same Geopolitical Zone.

Consequently, the lower court voided all the votes that were ascribed to Duke who was declared winner of the primary election, on the premise that he is from the Southern part of the country as the incumbent National Chairman of the party. It declared Prof. Jerry Gana who came second at the primary contest, being the only candidate from the Northern part of the country with the highest valid votes cast.

However, in its judgement, the appellate court held that the high court judgment was “perverse and wrong”. It held that the lower court’s verdict was a violation of Duke’s right to freedom from discrimination, adding that Gana was bound by an undertaken he signed to support any candidate that emerged from the presidential primary contest.

The appellate court described the purported zoning formula as “a mere political arrangement” to help SDP to win elections, saying it had nothing to do with the qualification of a candidate. It held that Gana’s complaint was not that there was any violation of the Electoral Act, but that Duke who is from the Southern part, was not qualified to contest the presidential election. “Such a complaint does not disclose a cause of action”, Justice Abdul Aboki who read the lead judgement held.

The appellate court resolved all the issues against Gana and ordered him to pay N500, 000.00 cost to all the five Appellants in the matter.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zenith Bank, Peter Amangbo has identified the quality of ownership and faulty business strategies as the cause of bank failure in Nigeria.

Amangbo said a bank is prone to fail if the lender is established by different characters that have personal agenda. He stated the need to have an anchorman and a unified objective that drives the operation of the bank.

Bua group

He made this assertion during an interview with Vanguard, citing the number of banks that were in operation between 1988 and 1989, disclosing many of them failed because of lack of focus among the founders. Adding that quality of management is essential to keep a bank in operation.

“to me, i think on a scale, the first thing i will probably say is ownership. if the ownership is not right, forget it, it can never survive. if you come together and have people who are not of like minds, there is no way it can survive. if you check, as at 1988 and 1989, we had about 126 banks.

“how come many of them failed? it is because people of all forms of characters, without focus came together to own the banks. you have your own agenda, and others have their own agenda. the second thing is the quality of management which also will derive from the quality of ownership.”

He also faulted the system of bank shareholders seeking an internal loan, stressing that once a shareholder request for a loan, other shareholders will follow-up. Amangbo gave an insight into how Zenith Bank handled such request.

“when you start a bank and you start borrowing from the bank, it is a problem. we even have it as a policy that time that none of our shareholders should borrow money from us.

“if anything, they were giving us deposits. if shareholder a takes a loan, shareholder b will start looking and asking for his own and so on. so those are the key things.”

Zenith Bank consolidation plan

Last year, Access Bank and Diamond Bank announced a consolidation agreement that will transform the two lenders into one of the biggest lenders in Nigeria and Africa. Despite the move unsettling the balance in the banking sector, Amangbo said Zenith is one of the banks that loves to grow organically.

He said each bank has their own style and structure, adding that Zenith Bank has its own strategy, which doesn’t necessarily mandate Zenith to dance to the same tune or walk in the same path of other lenders.

“the way that you want to dance depends on your style and structure. we have our own strategy.

“if you look at zenith, we always grow organically; if you look at the consolidation in 2004 during the soludo consolidation era, many banks came together; some 10 banks, some 12 banks, some 13 banks; it depends on what they want.

“we are one or two banks that did not merge with anyone. today you are in a better position to compare each of the banks in terms of any parameter whether in terms of profit or size; you can judge what position zenith bank belongs. everybody must dance their own way; some people are better in some areas and you leave them and focus on your own. at the end of the day, it will be better for the industry.”

Consolidation: Crisis or deliberate strategy

Amangbo has described consolidation of banks as more of a deliberate strategy to grow within the ranks than it is of crisis or distress of a lender. In the interview, he stated though most merger and acquisition is regulatory induced, consolidation decision is taken based on deliberate business strategy.

“so we can decide to come together not necessarily being in distress before we can talk of acquisition. do you know how many companies that the likes of apple and microsoft acquire on a regular basis? they would have probably acquired over 100 medium and small fintechs, not necessarily because of the issue of distress; it is a deliberate business strategy.

“i want to remove the issue of distress. the issue of m & a in the banking industry in nigeria is always regulatory induced. there are very few cases that you can think of that are not regulatory induced.”

Amangbo noted that consolidation without distress shows the sector and economy are maturing. He said a company can offer itself for a merger without having to wait until distress period, but when such offer is on the table, the companies involve must weigh the value proposition and corporate benefit.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected the N27,000 new National Minimum Wage adopted by the National Council of State today. 

Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, the NLC General Secretary, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja. According to him, the council has no jurisdiction determining another amount after a Tripartite Committee has submitted its report.

“It is abysmal of government to be delaying the submission of an Executive Bill to the National Assembly and by wrongfully adopting N27,000 through the council of states,” he said. Ozo-Eson, however, said the NLC has called an emergency National Executive Council meeting for Friday to weigh on the deadline given to government within which to submit an executive bill to the National Assembly. 

The NLC general scribe added that the Federal Government was only projecting a shutdown of the economy with its latest action. “This is because workers should not be held responsible for any development after its NEC meeting on Friday,’’ he said.

Spanish giant, Barcelona have officially unveiled Ghanaian footballer, Kevin-Prince Boateng as their latest player in front of fans in Nou Camp this afternoon.

The club brought in the 31-year-old former Tottenham, Portsmouth and AC Millan striker on loan from Italian side Sassuolo to replace Munir El Haddadi who moved to Sevilla two weeks ago.

According to reports, Barcelona paid 2 million euros (£1.76m) for the loan deal.

Boateng who will wear Jersey No.19 was all smiles on Tuesday while posing in Barcelona's famous home strip for the first time at the Nou Camp.

The nominations for this year's Academy Awards have been announced in Los Angeles with Olivia Colman's period comedy-drama, The Favourite and Netflix's black-and-white epic Roma leading this year's Oscar race, with 10 nominations each.

The other contenders include A Star Is Born and Vice with eight each, followed by Black Panther with seven. Black Panther is the first superhero movie to be nominated for best picture. 

Colman is among the British acting nominees, alongside her co-star Rachel Weisz and Christian Bale for Vice.

See the full list below...

Best picture

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

Roma

A Star is Born

Vice

Best director

Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

Adam McKay (Vice)

Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)

Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)

Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War)

Best actor

Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Christian Bale (Vice)

Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate)

Best actress

Glenn Close (The Wife)

Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)

Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)

Best supporting actor

Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Richard E Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born)

Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)

Sam Rockwell (Vice)

Best supporting actress

Emma Stone (The Favourite)

Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

Amy Adams (Vice)

Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Marina De Tavira (Roma)

Best adapted screenplay

If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)

A Star Is Born (Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters and Eric Roth)

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty)

BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee, David Rabinowitz, Charlie Wachtel and Kevin Willmott)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)

Best original screenplay

Green Book (Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga)

The Favourite (Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara)

Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)

Vice (Adam McKay)

First Reformed (Paul Schrader)

Best animated feature

Incredibles 2

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Isle of Dogs

Mirai

Best documentary

Free Solo

Minding the Gap

RBG

Hale County This Morning, This Evening

Of Fathers and Sons

Best foreign language film

Roma (Mexico)

Cold War (Poland)

Shoplifters (Japan)

Capernaum [Lebanon]

Never Look Away [Germany]

Best cinematography

Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)

Cold War (Lukasz Zal)

Never Look Away (Caleb Deschanel)

The Favourite (Robbie Ryan)

A Star Is Born (Matty Libatique)

Best costume design

Black Panther (Ruth E Carter)

The Favourite (Sandy Powell)

Mary Poppins Returns (Sandy Powell)

Mary Queen of Scots (Alexandra Byrne)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Mary Zophres)

Best film editing

Bohemian Rhapsody (John Ottman)

Vice (Hank Corwin)

BlacKkKlansman (Barry Alexander Brown)

The Favourite (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)

Green Book (Patrick J Don Vito)

Best makeup and hairstyling

Border

Mary Queen of Scots

Vice

Best original score

If Beale Street Could Talk (Nicholas Britell)

Mary Poppins Returns (Marc Shaiman)

Isle of Dogs (Alexandre Desplat)

BlacKkKlansman (Terence Blanchard)

Black Panther (Ludwig Goransson)

Best original song

Shallow (A Star Is Born)

All the Stars (Black Panther)

I’ll Fight (RBG)

The Place Where Lost Things Go (Mary Poppins Returns)

When a Cowboy Trades his Spurs for Wings (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs)

Best production design

The Favourite (Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton)

First Man (Nathan Crowley and Kathy Lucas)

Roma (Eugenio Caballero and Barbara Enriquez)

Mary Poppins Returns (John Myhre and Gordon Sim)

Black Panther (Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart)

Best sound editing

First Man

A Quiet Place

Bohemian Rhapsody

Black Panther

Roma

Best sound mixing

A Star Is Born

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Man

Roma

Black Panther

Best visual effects

First Man

Avengers: Infinity War

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Ready Player One

Christopher Robin

Best animated short

Animal Behaviour

Bao

Late Afternoon

One Small Step

Weekends

Best documentary short

Black Sheep

End Game

Lifeboat

A Night at the Garden

Period. End of Sentence.

Best live action short

Detainment

Fauve

Marguerite

Mother

Skin

Facebook has announced it will not accept political advertisements from outside Nigeria ahead of the upcoming general elections in a bid to prevent "foreign interference" around the polls

The new policy also takes effect in Ukraine, where presidential elections will be held in March. Political ad buyers in these countries must confirm their identity and location and their ads will be archived in an online library for seven years, the company said in a statement.

Facebook rolled out new measures to increase transparency about political advertising after data firm Cambridge Analytica obtained the personal data of as many as 87 million users ahead of the 2016 US elections.

UK authorities fined the social media giant with a £500,000 ($645,000) last October, saying that it failed to safeguard user data. In India, where general elections will be held in April, Facebook said it will begin to archive electoral ads in an online library starting February.

Facebook announced last week that it will roll out additional ad transparency tools in the EU in May. "By shining a light on political ads, news organizations, regulators, watchdog groups and people anywhere in the world can hold advertisers and us more accountable," Facebook wrote in the blog post.

The new plan is similar to those the company rolled out in the United Kingdom and Brazil in 2018. Political ad-buyers in the United States must provide Facebook with their Social Security information, a copy of a government-issued ID, and a US address.

The National Council of State has approved N27,000 as the minimum wage for the country. The council gave the approval during their meeting at the state house in Abuja on Tuesday January 22nd.

Disclosing this to newsmen, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said the Federal Government will be topping the approved amount by N3,000 to make it 30,000 for all Federal workers. He said the states are at liberty to augment the new agreement as they see fit.

Following the Council’s approval, a minimum wage bill is expected to be sent to the National Assembly on Wednesday January 23rd.

The National Council of State is a body of past and present Nigerian leaders. At the council meeting today were former presidents Goodluck Jonathan, Olusegun Obasanjo, Ernest Shonekan, former military leader Abdulsalim Abubakar amongst others

Fresh reports indicate that the Federal Government is not leaving any stone unturned in its effort to trace and repatriate illicit funds that might had been looted and stashed away in far away Dubai, United Arab Emirates by influential but fraudulent politicians and top government officials.

According to a report by Vanguard, the Federal Government has dispatched the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu and some other top officials of the anti-graft agency to Dubai with a view to gathering intelligence on stolen assets in that country.

The aim is to be able to seize such property with ease and bring the owners to justice in line with its anti-corruption disposition,” a source close to the deal, told Vanguard on Tuesday. Vanguard learnt from an EFCC source that Magu and his lieutenants are taking advantage of the ongoing three-day event of the 2019 Intersec Security Summit in UAE to meet with the Dubai intelligence community to strategise on how to close in on owners of illicit cash and property in that nation, a tourist destination for most Nigerian elite.

A top federal government official who described the government’s latest move as timely, said that the Dubai summit is one of the largest security and intelligence gatherings in the world where concerted efforts are taken to prevent illicit funds from undermining the national security.

The government official said: “I can tell you authoritatively that the Nigerian team led by Magu, met with the Dubai intelligence last Monday in company of crack detectives for intelligence sharing and cooperation.

This is directly connected to the illicit assets tracing and financial flow vis-a-vis the commission’s active surveillance on vote-buying and monitoring of its funding source. You will recall that the purpose of those who looted our commonwealth is to bring in the illicit funds into the country in order to undermine national security and engage in voter inducement.

Please note that the development is capable of scaring investors, discouraging investments and crippling the economy,” the top officials said.

The development came barely 24 hours after the Minister of Information, Mr. Lai Mohammed, raised the alarm that some unnamed elements were planning the disrupt the forthcoming elections but did not give any evidence to buttress the claim, citing security reports as his basis.

The Special Assistant on Media to the EFCC Chairman, Tony Amokeodo, however declined to confirm or deny the story, saying however that his boss and some crack detectives from the commission were outside the country for serious assignment but did not name the particular country.

Eight-time Olympic gold medalist and world's fastest man, Usain Bolt has given up on his bid to become a professional football player, saying "it was fun while it lasted."

This comes after the 32-year-old Jamaican who spent eight weeks at A-League club Central Coast Mariners from August last year, eventually turned down an offer of a professional contract in November.

During his time with the Australian club, he played in two pre-season friendlies, scoring twice against Macarthur South West.

Speaking with ESPN over his bid to become a professional footballer, he said his time as a footballer was enjoyable, but he has given up on it.

"I don't want to say it wasn't dealt with properly, but I think we went about it, not the way we should and you learn your lesson, you live and you learn. It was a good experience. I really enjoyed just being in a team and it was different from track and field and it was fun while it lasted

"I'm just doing many different things ... the sports life is over, so I'm now moving into different businesses, I have a lot of things in the pipeline, so as I say, I'm just dabbling in everything and trying to be a business man now."

Usain Bolt who still holds the 100-metre and 200-metre world records retired from his sprint career in 2017.

Mr Peter Amangbo is the Group Man-aging Director/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, and he is Vanguard Newspaper’s Banker Of The Year, 2018. The Board of Editors of Vanguard Newspapers were faced with the task of picking from topmost impressive five banks in terms of some selected key performance indicators including earnings, profitability and asset quality, as well as the consistency of the performance over the last three years. Zenith Bbank stood out, and the man in the saddle took the lead in our rating scale. Peter Amangbo Coupled with his outstanding performance, we reckon with the fact that with a relatively unknown name in the industry, he stepped into the big shoes of the two previous CEOs of the great institution, Godwin Emefiele, who handed over to him to assume the position of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN; and the founding CEO, Jim Ovia, Nigeria’s leading light in banking and finance. Amangbo has so far sustained the impressive trend. He has stayed the course, and the figures speak volume of his capability so far.

Today’s Zenith Bank

Strong earnings capacity and growth, solid and liquid capital base, strengthened enterprise risk management practices, good returns on investment and excellent customer service are some of the hallmarks of today’s Zenith Bank under the stewardship of Mr. Amangbo. Zenith Bank remains a dominant player in the Nigerian banking industry, indeed a leader amongst tier-1 category of banks. It remains a net placer of fund in the industry with most banks running on Zenith Bank’s liquidity. In fact, Amangbo told us in a chat that Zenith Bank has never taken fund from any bank in the Nigerian banking environment with prevalence of inter-bank lending. Our check reveals that Zenith Bank still controls a significant share of the high end corporate clients in strategic sectors of the economy. The bank uses its strong balance sheet and liquidity as well as efficient trade finance processes and services, to continuously grow and support businesses.

Risk Management: Under Amangbo, Zenith Bank maintains a strong focus on superior ERM practices. Consequently, despite the tough operating environment, the bank’s Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio came in at 4.9 per cent with a coverage ratio of 238.4 per cent.

Impressive Dividend Payout: The investors in Zenith Bank have good returns as the bank under Mr. Amangbo continued to upscale dividend payout year after year despite the recessionary circumstance under which he assumed leadership of the bank. The bank paid a dividend of N1.75 per share for both FY2013 and FY2014. One year after he took over, the bank paid N1.80 per share for FY2015 and N2.02 per share for FY2016. A final dividend of N2.45 per share was paid for FY2017, which in addition to the N0.25 per share earlier paid as interim dividend amounted to N2.70 per share. An interim dividend of N9.42 billion, being N0.30 per share from the retained earnings account was paid in H1 2018. Amangbo told us he was optimistic that the shareholders of Zenith Bank would smile further at end of the 2018 financial audit and dividend season.

Consolidating Earnings/ Profitability: In spite of the macroeconomic backdrop, Zenith Bank has delivered an attractive earnings profile, supported by improving operating efficiency.  Profit Before Tax, PBT, increased Year-on-Year (YoY) by 9.7 per cent from N152.5 billion in the third quarter 2017 to N167.3 billion in the corresponding period of 2018. The 13.4 per cent  YoY growth in net interest income and 69.5 per cent reduction in impairment loss accounted for the PBT growth. Net Interest Margin – NIM (Adjusted) increased YoY by 14.3 per cent  (from 8.4 per cent  in Q3 2017 to 9.6 per cent  in Q3 2018), demonstrating the Group’s ability in delivering optimal pricing for its interest-bearing assets and liabilities even in a declining yield environment. The bank’s Cost of Funds (CoF) decreased from 5.4 per cent recorded in Q3 2017 to 3.3 per cent in Q3 2018 as the bank continues to focus on its drive for low cost deposit mix. Consequently, the Cost-to-Income Ratio decreased by 1.0 per cent YoY, from 52.9 per cent in Q3 2017 to 52.2 per cent in Q3 2018. Amangbo said he expects a further improved ratio for the full year, as the full year AMCON charge was taken in the first half 2018, accounts. Fees on electronics products grew by over 100 per cent as the bank continues to improve on its electronic platforms and increase its share of the retail business.

Further on efficiency

Funding cost optimimisation continues to be central to Zenith Bank’s operations. A massive 31 per cent drop in interest expense was achieved in the 9-months to September 2018 accounts as it continues its drive towards cost optimisation. Despite the significant increase in AMCON charge, the Zenith Bank was able to contain its operating expenses growth at 6 per cent YoY. Mr. Amangbo said he expect a further moderation in operating expenses for the full year end 2018 results as the bank continued to improve on operational efficiency.

Balance Sheet, Assets Quality

In addition to the efficiency and risk management for superior performance, one of the fundamentals of Zenith Bank brand is Building A Shock-Proof Balance Sheet. Thus, the bank thrives on strong and liquid balance sheet led by securities portfolio and interbank placements. Zenith Bank’s assets are well funded by a significant deposit base and the balance sheet remains robustly capitalised, providing a buffer for further growth. The bank also leverages a deposit-funded loan portfolio, with largely term loans to top-rated corporates. Moreover, the deposit base is predominantly current accounts which supports attractive net interest margin extraction with increasing savings account balance. The Zenith Bank Group adopts a complete and integrated approach to risk management that is driven from the Board level to the operational activities of the bank. Risk management is practised as a collective responsibility coordinated by the risk control units and is properly segregated from the market facing units to assure independence. The process is governed by well defined policies and procedures that are subjected to continuous review and are clearly communicated across the group. The leadership of the bank ensures a regular scan of the environment for threats and opportunities to improve industry knowledge and information that drives decision-making in Zenith Bank. Group maintains a proactive approach to business and ensures an appropriate balance in its risk and reward objectives. Risk culture is continuously being entrenched through appropriate training and acculturation. Amangbo and his team strive to maintain a well diversified loan portfolio across sectors to support and sustain the impressive asset quality.

About Amangbo

Mr. Peter Olisamedua Amangbo holds a B.Eng. Degree (Electrical and Electronics Engineering) from University of Benin and an MBA from the University of Warwick, Coventry in the United Kingdom. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, FCA. He joined Zenith Bank from PriceWaterHouse (now PriceWaterHouseCoopers) as a Senior Consultant in the Financial Services Group. Prior to this appointment to the position of MD/CEO of Zenith in 2014, Amangbo has been an Executive Director of the bank since 2005 and has over 24 years cognate banking experience all of which has been with Zenith Bank. He was a pioneer Non-Executive Director of Zenith Bank UK. He has attended the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD, France and Wharton Graduate School of Business, USA. He took courses on Strategic IQ Programme, Strategic Thinking and Management for Competitive Advantage, and Execution in Action – The Art of Turning Strategy into Action at the Harvard Business School, Wharton School of Business and HSM – New York respectively.

Prince Philip was involved in a car crash on Thursday near Sandringham but sustained no life-threatening injuries.

The 97-year-old Duke was driving his Land Rover on a country road near Sandringham, Norfolk, when he says he was 'dazzled by the sun' and he collided with a Kia carrying two women and a 10-month-old baby. His Land Rover rolled over and he had to be pulled out through the sunroof.

Roy Warne, 75, was a witness to the crash and first on the scene. He narrated what happened immediately after the crash.

He described seeing the Land Rover roll across the A149 "like a somersault", adding "it was turning on its side over and over." Roy, who was travelling with his wife Victoria at the time, stopped his car and rushed to help, eventually pulling the Duke from his seat after smashing through the windscreen and sunroof.

The car Prince Philip collided with had two women and a 10-month-old baby in it as it emerges the Duke of Edinburgh was bleeding at the scene

He also claimed he had the Duke's blood on his hands while he helped him out.

He said:

I looked down and had the Prince’s blood on my hands. All I could think is, thank goodness there wasn’t more.

Asked what the Duke first said when he was freed, he replied: "I can't remember, but it was nothing rude. He was obviously shaken, and then he went and asked if everyone else was all right."

Barrister Roy said the Duke's first words to him while he lay trapped were: "My legs, where should I put my legs?".

Roy said he placed his hands under Prince Philip's armpits and gently pulled him from the smashed car. He said that when The Duke of  Edinburgh stood up, his first thoughts were for others involved in the crash.

He added:

The roof was where the window should have been, because it was on its side. I think I helped him out through either the sunroof or the front windscreen, but I'm a bit blurred about that.

He was disorientated and humbled. I believe he was very sorry about what had happened.

He was very shaken and then he went and asked if everyone else was alright.

Roy said that when he came upon the scene of the accident, he first attended to the passengers and baby in the blue Kia because he thought it was going to burst into flames when he saw smoke rising from it.

The car Prince Philip collided with had two women and a 10-month-old baby in it as it emerges the Duke of Edinburgh was bleeding at the scene

He said he could hear a baby screaming in the back of the car and that his mother was "understandably hysterical".

Roy told Radio 4 Today:

The person in the car behind me also stopped and a passenger from that car actually took the baby in his arms after we had freed it from the baby harness.

One of them had a broken arm. They were very shaken. One of them was the mother of the child and she was quite upset.

I think there's no doubt that it was hit (by the duke's car). That's my recollection.

I didn't see it come from the side road, I saw it careering and tumbling across the road and ending up on the other side. It would take a massive force and it had rolled on the other side as well.

Two women required hospital treatment after the crash, with one suspected of suffering a broken arm.

American actress, Taraji P. Henson will be honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame this year.

Ana Martinez, the Producer Of the Hollywood Walk Of Fame announced the good news that the Oscar-nominated actress, 48, will be receiving a Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on Monday, January 28, 2019.

“Taraji P Henson is a powerful woman and a powerful actress.  She is an entertainer that fans cannot take their eyes off of due to her great acting ability. We welcome her bright star on our Walk Of Fame.”

She will be honoured with the 2,597th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, after Hollywood actress, Viola Davis received the 2,596th star at last year ceremony.

It was also confirmed that Boyz In The Hood director John Singleton and singer Mary J Blige will speak at the ceremony.

Nigerians, including comedian Basket Mouth, have reacted after it emerged that a woman was awarded $21 million after she was fired for refusing to work on Sundays for religious reasons.

60-year-old Marie Jean Pierre, a former dishwasher at the Conrad Miami Hotel, worked with the establishment for more than 10 years. But she was fired in March 2016 because she missed work for six Sundays to attend Bethel Baptist Church in Miami.

Pierre, a devout Christian missionary born in Haiti, said that she had informed her employer when she was hired that she could not work on Sundays because of her religious beliefs. When she was then assigned to work on Sunday, she skipped work and went to church. After missing work for six Sundays, her employment was terminated.

During an interview on Wednesday, she told NBC 6 Miami:

I love God. No work on Sunday, because Sunday I honor God

Pierre sued her former company for terminating her employment. Her lawsuit argued that her former employer had violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex or national origin.

A jury in federal court ruled in her favor on Monday, granting her $21 million in damages, plus $35,000 in back wages and $500,000 for emotional pain and mental anguish.

Following the court ruling, Nigerians took to social media to react and it's hilarious.

Basket mouth wrote:

$21m??!!!! And Globacom tour was on sundays that year oh!!!! kai....and I don’t play with my Sundays oh!!! $21m.....N7.5BN....Kai!!

PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who arrived the US yesterday January 17th, has explained why he stayed away from the country for 13 years. He explained this in an interview with VOA Hausa Service in Washington DC

Read excerpts from the interview below

VOA: What has been in the news for many years has come to past right now I’m together with the former Vice President of Nigeria and the Presidential flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after he had just returned from some interactive session with some high ranking Congress Men and Women. Your excellency, now that you have visited Washington D.C, does it have to do with those who said you cannot come to the United State of America or the visit is for what purpose?

Atiku: Aliyu I told you before that my coming to the United States is in the hands of Americans, if they decided to issue a Visa to me I will definitely come and if they refused to give me I cannot come. And now they have issued it to me and I am here. I’m having some positive discussions with some of the officials. I was in the Congress and I had discussions with some high ranking Congress men and Women about Nigeria and how Nigeria intends to improve her relationship with the United States of America.

VOA: After visiting the Congress, do you intend to meet with some other people?

Atiku: Yes, by tomorrow (Friday) I will go to the State Department in order to have vital discussions with some of their officials.

VOA: Will you also meet with the members of the United States Chamber of Commerce?

Atiku: Yes, I will meet them tomorrow (Friday) by the Grace of God.

VOA: Who invited you to the United State?

Atiku: I was invited by many organizations in the United States.

VOA: Before some people are saying that you cannot come to the United States of America but now you are here people will stop doubting.

Atiku: The whole thing is about misinformation

VOA: What do you mean by misinformation?

Atiku: Because for a very long time they have been lying to them (Nigerians) and they agreed; I tried to explain to them but they refused to listen. And I hope now people are going to understand.

VOA: Your coming to America has shown that you are going to have some interactions with some top officials of the United States are they in support of your candidacy?

Atiku: Yes.

VOA: Are you convinced that the United States Government is in support of your candidacy?

Atiku: There is no doubt because the United States is ready to support any country that is practicing democracy.

VOA: People know you as a businessman; do you think that your business background and experience will influence the United States Government to support you?

Atiku: One good thing is that Nigeria is a country that is practicing democracy and everyone knows that we have played a significant role and have done a lot to sustain democratic governance in Nigeria and it is very important.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has disclosed plans by the Federal Government to invite the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, for questioning once he returns from his visit to the United States.

Speaking to state house correspondents today, Mohammed said Atiku is expected to come forward for questioning over his alleged role in the collapse of former Bank PHB. He said fresh evidence before the government suggests that Atiku benefited from slush funds that led to the collapse of Bank PHB.

Mohammed said the government has in its posession “paper trail which shows that he benefited from N156 million.”

'“It started from an internal memo dated 13 January 2009 asking that a draft in favour of Atiku Abubakar of 156 million should be raised,” he said

According to Premiumtimes, the Minister added that another memo on the same date was raised to confirm that the amount was raised from a “claimant management account.”

He said the government has proof of the account mandate, cheque and account statement showing Mr Abubakar as the signatory to the account that received the money.

“We want him to stay in the US for as long as he wants but he has to explain to Nigerians when he returns,” he said.

Speaking further on the visit of the former vice president to the U.S., the minister said the government had earlier issued a statement advising the U.S. not to issue him a visa. He, however, said it remains the prerogative of the U.S. government to issue visa to anyone

“We are not perturbed one bit. He can go ahead and get a U.S. green card. That will not save him from imminent defeat in the forthcoming election,” Mohammed said.

A High Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has granted bail to embattled Senator Dino Melaye who is currently being held at the SSS medical health center in Abuja.

Dino is being held at the medical center after he slumped following his arrest by the police on January 4th. He was rushed to the Police clinic on that same day and then transferred to the SSS medical center last week. A statement from the police says Dino has questions to answer regarding a gun attack on a police man carried out by himself and his thugs in July 2018.

Delivering judgement in his bail application filed by his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) Justice Yusuf Halilu, said the bail was granted in view of Melaye's failing health and that Melaye would have to be healthy to face trial.

He said since the Senator cannot be arraigned on the stretcher or ‎on his hospital bed, he should be allowed on bail to attend to his health. As part of the bail conditions, Melaye is to produce three sureties, one of who must be the Clerk of the National Assembly, who must undertake to produce him when he is to be arraigned in respect of a charge already filed against him.

The judge said the other two sureties must be owners of properties within the Abuja metropolis.