The Ogun State Government has appointed 1,200 political assistants to serve as change agents and enhance civic engagement across the state.
The governor in a statement issued in Abeokuta by his special Adviser on media and strategy, Kayode Akinmade, says this is in fulfillment of his commitment towards deepening democratic participation and broaden access to dividends of democracy
Akinmade also described the move as a strategic effort to strengthen democratic governance across all nooks and crannies of the state.
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“The assistants — five from each of the 236 wards in Ogun State — will ensure greater local participation in governance, effectively bridging the gap between the grassroots and the state government” he said
“The newly appointed political assistants are to support the delivery of democratic dividends, articulate the needs of their respective wards, and communicate these needs to the state government.
“They are also expected to provide accurate feedback from the government to the wards and vice versa”.
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The Special Adviser emphasized that this initiative fulfills Governor Abiodun’s electoral promise to carry every ward along in his administration’s development programs and to run an all-inclusive government that values the people’s inputs in shaping policies and initiatives.
Months after calling time on her Scotland career, Christine Belisle marks her return with a remarkable starting place in the World Cup quarter-final against England in Bristol.
The 41-time capped prop was added to the squad on Monday following injuries to Elliann Clarke and Lisa Cockburn.
The Canada-born 31-year-old was overlooked when an extended training squad for the tournament was chosen at the end of May and appeared to announce her international retirement via a social media post.
Her most recent outing for Scotland came in the WXV2 event in October of last year.
Jade Konkel makes her first start of the World Cup as Rachel McLachlan drops to the bench and Evie Gallagher moves to open-side flanker to accommodate the experienced number eight.
Molly Poolman, who replaced Cockburn after 24 minutes in the 40-19 pool stage loss to Canada, returns to the bench to provide cover for Belisle.
Scotland beat Wales and Fiji to finish as runners-up in Group B, while England cruised to wins over Australia, United States and Samoa, finishing with a +191 points difference.
Months after calling time on her Scotland career, Christine Belisle marks her return with a remarkable starting place in the World Cup quarter-final against England in Bristol.
The 41-time capped prop was added to the squad on Monday following injuries to Elliann Clarke and Lisa Cockburn.
The Canada-born 31-year-old was overlooked when an extended training squad for the tournament was chosen at the end of May and appeared to announce her international retirement via a social media post.
Her most recent outing for Scotland came in the WXV2 event in October of last year.
The match on Sunday could be a final bow for Jade Konkel, who returns to the back row in place of Rachel McLachlan, meaning Evie Gallagher moves to open-side flanker.
The number eight will retire at the end of the tournament, after becoming Scotland’s first contracted professional women’s rugby player in 2016.
Joining Konkel and Gallagher in the back-row is skipper Rachel Malcolm, who makes her 53rd appearance as captain – a record number across the men’s and women’s teams in Scotland.
Molly Poolman, who replaced Cockburn after 24 minutes in the 40-19 pool stage loss to Canada, stays on the bench to provide cover for Belisle.
Easson opts for ‘experienced’ Belisle and ‘destructive’ Konkel
While Belisle’s initial omission from the squad came as a shock, Bryan Easson described the phone call to bring her in from the cold as “fairly straightforward”.
“When you have the opportunity to have another tighthead of experience, Christine was quite an easy one for us,” said the head coach.
“It was fairly straightforward, to be honest.”
The decision to start Konkel was a trickier one though, with the impressive McLachlan missing out to accommodate the veteran back-row.
“That was a tough call for us because I think Rachel McLachlan has been outstanding,” Easson said.
“She made 17 tackles last week, and from an attack point of view she’s a bit of glue as well. You look at Rhona Lloyd’s try, she was a link for that.
“But when you’re playing against a team like England with their physicality, and you’ve got a ball carrier and quite a destructive defender like Jade, it was key.
Former Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona has hit out at Thomas Skinner after he grabbed a reporter’s phone and stormed out of an interview for Strictly Come Dancing
Kerry Katona slams Strictly Come Dancing’s Thomas Skinner over phone-grabbing scandal(Image: Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images))
Kerry Katona has hit out at Strictly Come Dancing’s new contestant, Thomas Skinner, after he grabbed a journalist’s phone and stormed out of a recent interview. The 34-year-old was being interviewed alongside the rest of the 2025 line-up by journalists at BBC’s Elstree Studios this week when he suddenly stormed out.
The contestant grabbed a reporter’s phone after being asked a question as they asked him to stop. He had arrived at the table of journalists with fellow contestant Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. A female reporter asked him what motivated him to sign up for Strictly and, in that moment, he realised he was being recorded on a phone during the press event.
“What’s that?”, he demanded, before picking up the woman’s phone and taking it from the table.
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Kerry hit out at Thomas’ antics(Image: Instagram/@kerrykatona7)
The former Apprentice star faced backlash over his interview antics
Thomas received a lot of backlash over the incident, and Kerry shared her two pence in her column for new! magazine.
Kerry said: “I read last week about the drama during the Strictly press launch, where Thomas Skinner, who was on The Apprentice, stormed out after getting angry at a journalist recording him. Whatever was going on behind the scenes, I think that’s a bit ridiculous!
“That’s what happens at press days. I worked for years to get to where I am, so have always been humble and nice to people doing their job, but sometimes overnight celebrities haven’t had that same journey.”
Skinner recently stormed out of an interview
Following the incident, Thomas gave his side of the story on his Instagram Stories. He wrote: “To set the record straight of the back of yesterday.
“During one of the interviews, a journalist placed their phone on the table to record the conversation.
“I happened to catch a glimpse of the screen and saw numerous messages – not about Strictly but about a personal story from my past.
“I’ve been through some difficult times in my life, which I have worked hard to move on from. In that moment, seeing it there caught me off guard. I felt it was best to step away and gather myself.”
Skinner went on: “This had nothing to do with Strictly or the interviews themselves. I’m sorry I picked up someone else’s phone and I don’t even know if the journalist realised their messages were visible, and I don’t want to suggest any bad intentions on their part.
“What I do want to say is how excited I am to be part of Strictly this year. I’m so grateful for all the love, kindness and support I’ve been shown so far. It means the world to me, and I can’t wait to give it my all on that dancefloor. Bosh.”
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Four teams will converge on Edgbaston for the biggest occasion in the county cricket calendar on Saturday – T20 Blast Finals Day.
Three games spread out across 11 hours in front of 25,000 spectators in full party mode – what’s not to love?
And as ever with this great event, there are plenty of reasons to back each side’s chance of glory.
After two seasons of complete southern dominance, there is an even split of two teams apiece from the North and South Groups.
Big guns Lancashire Lightning are aiming for a return to the glory years, Hampshire Hawks and Somerset want to prove who is the pre-eminent modern T20 powerhouse, while Northamptonshire Steelbacks hope to demonstrate that the smaller counties on the circuit can also perform on the big occasion.
A great collective performance can trump a team of stars, or alternatively one player’s brilliance with bat or ball can take a match away from opponents single-handedly.
Saturday’s schedule
Can weakened Red Rose bloom?
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Lancashire are back at Finals Day for the first time in three years and a 10th time overall, but their success rate on the big stage is low.
Despite often arriving packed full of stellar names, they have only been successful once back in 2015.
Ironically, that was probably when they had a team least likely to win it, with Gavin Griffiths handed his T20 debut in the semi-final and playing key roles in both that game and the final.
Fast forward 10 years and the captain from 2015, Steven Croft, is now interim head coach.
He has tried to pick up the pieces in County Championship Division Two during a tumultuous campaign. In the T20 Blast, Lancashire have been far happier.
They won the North Group, and then thanks to a splendid 85 not out from Liam Livingstone, they saw off Kent in the quarter-final to book their spot at Edgbaston.
But in a manner similar to 2015, it is more a case of who is unable to play for the Red Rose than who can.
England’s T20 series with South Africa deprives them of Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Luke Wood and Saqib Mahmood, while of their overseas players, Ashton Turner has been recalled by Cricket Australia and Chris Green is at the Caribbean Premier League.
The situation is far from ideal, as T20 skipper Keaton Jennings acknowledged, but they have to find a way to succeed.
“We’re still confident we can win two games on the day,” Croft told BBC Radio Lancashire.
“We usually get some good players plucked away from us, so we’re used to it. It’s frustrating, but it is what it is.
Edgbaston regulars ‘confident’ of success
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Somerset are well versed in Finals Day. This is their record-equalling 11th appearance in the semi-finals and their fifth consecutive year at the event.
Seven of those 11 appearances have ended with them in the final, yet they have only won the trophy twice in 2005 and 2023, finishing runners-up on five occasions, including painfully last year to neighbours Gloucestershire.
After coming through the group stage relatively unscathed with 11 out of 14 wins, in the quarter-final against Bears last weekend it looked like Somerset were on the verge of going out.
That was until the soon-to-depart Sean Dickson stepped up to the crease and hit an unbeaten 71 from 26 balls to send his side back to Edgbaston.
Somerset are without some big names in Birmingham. The seam-bowling duo of New Zealander Matt Henry and Australia’s Riley Meredith – the latter the top wicket-taker in the competition – have both been recalled by their countries in recent weeks, while batter Tom Banton also remains unavailable because of being away with England.
Still, head coach Jason Kerr said the side are “incredibly confident”.
“We saw that in the quarter-final we never know when we’re beaten,” Kerr told BBC Radio Somerset.
England old boys at heart of Northants revival
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After Leicestershire and Hampshire, Northants can become the third team ever to have been three-time winners and the Steelbacks have an in-form 40-year-old inspiration.
Ravi Bopara hit 105 not out off just 46 balls in the win over Surrey to reach Finals Day, while Ben Sanderson and George Scrimshaw accounted for five wickets and are on 26 each in total in this season’s competition.
Head coach Darren Lehmann, in his first season at the club and who signed a contract extension until 2027 last month, oversaw his side’s first win at The Oval in 26 years as the former Australia coach has created a strong T20 outfit.
Captain David Willey says the underdogs feel “a lot of excitement and nerves”, and the former England international will hope to become a champion again after deciding the 2013 final against Surrey with a hat-trick.
“Ben [Sanderson] and myself managed that big occasion,” Willey said of the win over Surrey. “It’s just about doing that for an extended period at Edgbaston.”
Willey’s father, former Northants player Peter Willey, says his son “hardly listens to me at all”.
A parting gift for Birrell
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This will also be a record 11th T20 Finals Day appearance for Hampshire and they face Northants in the second semi-final.
The Hawks are one of the most successful sides in the format, holding the joint-most wins in the competition and they are looking to take home the title for a record fourth time.
They previously won the Blast in 2010, 2012 and most recently in 2022 when they beat Somerset and Lancashire on the day.
Hampshire won at Durham by 26 runs in the last eight to seal their spot, batting first and setting an impressive score of 221 which the hosts were unable to catch.
“Finals Day is the best day on the calendar,” bowler Chris Wood told BBC South Today.
“When you lift the trophy at the end it is a very satisfying feeling. Two of those three finals have come down to the last ball.
“We like to put on a crazy game of cricket, hopefully it isn’t as crazy as that at the weekend and we can get to the final.”
News broke this week that this will be the final T20 campaign for Hampshire’s head coach Adi Birrell, who will leave the club at the end of the current season following a seven-year stint at Utilita Bowl.
Birrell joined in 2019 and won the T20 Blast with the Hawks in 2022.
“What a man is all I can say really,” Wood added.
“When he came in, the club was in a tough spot in Championship cricket and although we haven’t won it, we have made massive strides.
Jonathan Howard, who plays Carl Webster on ITV’s Coronation Street, has been left horrified after his car was smashed in Manchester
Corrie star horrified as his car is ‘smashed up’ upon Manchester homecoming(Image: ITV)
Coronation Street actor Jonathan Howard has spoken out after his car was vandalised in Manchester, calling it a “welcome back gift” from local troublemakers.
Howard, 38, who plays Carl Webster on the ITV soap, returned to the UK earlier this year after a stint in Hollywood.
His homecoming, however, took a frustrating turn when he parked his car in Manchester and later discovered that the back windows had been smashed.
Thieves in the area are known for opportunistic attacks, targeting vehicles for quick thefts. Posting a picture of the damaged car, Jonathan joked: “Nice little welcome back gift from the Manchester scallies.”
Since joining the cobbles, Howard has made a big impact as Kevin and Debbie Webster’s previously unseen younger brother.
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The actor’s car was vandalised upon his return to the UK(Image: Instagram)
Coronation Street actor Jonathan Howard plays Carl Webster(Image: ITV)
Carl’s arrival quickly stirred drama as he seduced his brother’s wife, Abi, and turned his business ventures into a dodgy garage offering fake MOTs.
His willingness to bend the rules caused even more drama when he became involved with stolen cars, trying to raise money to pay off blackmail from Tracy Barlow, who discovered his affair with Abi.
However, Carl’s love life endevours didn’t stop there. Fans were stunned last month when it was revealed that he had embarked on a new relationship with former footballer James Bailey.
Howard explained the motivation behind his character’s bold moves as he explained: “Carl likes living life on the edge, he is a hedonist and a free spirit, he is attracted to a person regardless of their gender and if he sees something he wants he goes for it with no real thought to the consequences of his actions.
Fans were stunned when Carl embarked on a new relationship with former footballer James Bailey
“He is frustrated that Abi has gone away with Kevin and he needs something to distract himself. There is a spark between him and James so he goes for it. Tracy was also offering herself to him but he isn’t stupid and he knows that would be a dangerous move, James on the other hand is less complicated and more fun.”
Carl’s escapades have made him one of the most unpredictable characters on Coronation Street between his romantic entanglements and his shady business dealings.
Whether he’s facing police scrutiny for stolen cars, trying to manage tension and drama with his family, or navigating affairs, his wild storylines have been keeping viewers hooked and on the edge of their seats.
