Category News

‘Diogo’s day’ – emotional Anfield tribute for Jota

By in News, Sports News

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport journalist

Liverpool winger Federico Chiesa dedicated his side’s dramatic win over Bournemouth in their Premier League opener to the late Diogo Jota, describing it as ‘Diogo’s day’.

Reds forward Jota died at the age of 28 in a car crash in northern Spain in July, alongside his brother Andre Silva, 25.

Emotional tributes were paid before, during and after Friday’s 4-2 victory at Anfield – sealed by two late goals for the defending champions – with Mohamed Salah in tears as he applauded the fans at full-time.

Italian Chiesa, who scored Liverpool’s third goal in the 88th minute before Salah’s added-time effort, told BBC Sport: “[The goal] was a great moment for me, but my thoughts go to Diogo. I think for what we have seen, it was his day.

“The feeling the fans gave me, chanting his song all the way through the match, it was very emotional, very emotional for me. I have to say that after the goal my thoughts went to his family, his brother Andre. That’s the only thing I could say.”

With Jota’s family in attendance, a rousing rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ before kick-off was followed by a period of silence as a fan-led mosaic in the Kop and Sir Kenny Dalglish stand were held up to read ‘DJ20’ and ‘AS30’.

Getty Images

Liverpool led 2-0 before Antoine Semenyo struck twice to level for Bournemouth.

“Normally at 2-2 everyone knows which player I look to at that moment in time,” said Reds boss Arne Slot.

“I would have loved to bring in Diogo Jota, but I could not for terrible reasons. But the fans and the players did what he did for us many times in the past.

“The main emotion I think should be how impressive and how powerful the tribute for Diogo was.

“I actually didn’t want to go in after the game because I found it so special, how our fans reacted today.

“I think Mo felt, after the game, how special that was. He probably also felt the emotion because we all knew his (Jota’s) family is here, his wife is here, his children are here.

“For them, it might be special to hear how much he is loved over here. What the fans did. But we also feel the emotions of how much grief they still have.”

A moment of silence will be held at all Premier League matches this weekend, with players wearing black armbands, while messages and images will be shown on the big screens in stadiums.

Liverpool’s players will have a ‘Forever 20’ emblem on their shirts and stadium jackets throughout the season.

The Reds won a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title last season with Jota wearing the number 20 shirt, which the club decided to retire after consulting with the former Portugal international’s wife Rute Cardoso and family members.

Mohamed Salah tearfully applauds the Liverpool fans following the win against BournemouthAFP via Getty Images

Related topics

  • Liverpool
  • Premier League
  • Football

Kate Garraway raises a glass as she celebrates late husband Derek Draper’s birthday

By in Entertainment News, News

Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway surrounded herself by her pals as she lifted a drink to her late husband Derek Draper following his tragic death last year aged 56

Kate Garraway marked the second birthday without her husband Derek Draper(Image: PA)

Kate Garraway has marked her late husband Derek Draper’s birthday by raising a toast alongside her pals. The Good Morning Britain host, 57, has been open about the difficulties she has faced following her husband’s death.

Derek sadly died in January last year at the age of 56, nearly four years after battling complications from Covid-19. Following his death, Kate shared an emotional tribute, revealing that she had stayed by his side during his final moments.

She had opened the doors of their home to film crews, who documented her life as she juggled being a carer, mum and TV star. It comes after Darius Danesh’s ex-wife speaks out after pop star died after refusing operation.

READ MORE: Lucy Mecklenburgh says she sleeps in separate bed to Ryan as she fumes over pregnancyREAD MORE: Vogue Williams quits drinking after blacking out drunk at lavish showbiz wedding

Kate Garraway and her mates
Kate was joined by her pals as they marked Derek’s birthday(Image: kategarraway/Instagram)

Kate was supported by her pals as she marked Derek’s 58th birthday. The group beamed for a selfie together as Kate raised a glass up to the camera.

She was joined by BBC Radio 6’s Chris Hawkins, meteorologist Clare Nasir and her manager Vickie. “Happy 58th birthday, Derek Draper…Cheers to you. We miss you x,” Vickie said.

Article continues below

Kate re-shared the photo to her own social media account and her 1.3million followers. She heartbreakingly shared the sad news of Derek’s death last year.

“It breaks my heart to say that my wonderful husband Derek has passed away,” she wrote in a heartfelt post. “He spent his last days surrounded by family, and I held his hand through those final hours.”

Since Derek’s death, Kate has been candid about her financial burden as well as difficulties of parenting daughter Darcey, 19, and son William, 15, solo.

During a discussion on Good Morning Britain, she revealed that the cost of Derek’s round-the-clock care left her in overwhelming debt. “At the time of his passing, we had two unresolved appeals for funding, but they just kept getting delayed,” she said.

“I’m fortunate to have a well-paying job, but even with that, I had to cover all the costs myself. Now I’m left with an unmanageable amount of debt. If I’m in this position, how are other families supposed to cope?”

In March, Kate shared how parenting alone has been her most challenging aspect of Derek no longer being there. Speaking to Daily Mail Weekend Magazine, Kate said: “This is the hardest part of grieving.

“There are so many moments where I just think, ‘Derek, where are you?’” She reflected on how parenting had always been a shared responsibility between them, something they did instinctively without assigning strict roles.

“Now, I have to take on everything – the fun parent, the one keeping everyone on track, and the one panicking, yelling, ‘Oh my God, you’re going to fail everything!’” she admitted. “I make so many mistakes, but don’t we all? Is there really such a thing as a perfect mother?”

Kate also shared how she is hit by a “tsunami of sadness” in the middle of the night as she wakes up panicking thinking she hasn’t given Derek his medicines.

Article continues below

“Being a carer, its joys and its responsibilities, stays with you even after you have lost the person,” she wrote in a piece for The Sun. “I still wake up in the middle of the night panicking that I haven’t given him his medicine, or that I have forgotten to move him every hour to prevent the painful contractions in his limbs.

“The next second I realise he no longer needs that care. There is a moment of relief — that I did not let him down — before a tsunami of sadness hits.”

READ MORE: Handy teeth whitening gadget shoppers take on nights out that makes them ‘so much whiter’

Trimmed-down Whyte weighs lightest in 10 years

By in News, Sports News
Leigh Dawney/Queensberry

Moses Itauma v Dillian Whyte

Venue: ANB Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Date: Saturday, 16 August

A trimmed-down Dillian Whyte looked in terrific shape – at his lightest weight in 10 years – for Saturday’s heavyweight bout with fellow Briton Moses Itauma in Saudi Arabia.

The 37-year-old Londoner tipped the scales at 17st 6½lb (110.9kg), more than a stone lighter than his previous bout.

“By the grace of God, training has been good and things have worked out,” underdog Whyte said.

Itauma, 20, weighed in a pound heavier at 17st 7½lb (111.35kg) at Friday’s weigh-in in Riyadh.

The southpaw from Chatham, Kent, has stopped 10 of his 12 professional opponents and is a heavy favourite to extend his unbeaten record.

There was a slightly intense atmosphere after the pair exchanged words during the face-off at Thursday’s news conference, where Itauma accused Whyte of “playing a sheep to catch the wolf”.

“I’m a chilled guy until people mess about with me,” Whyte reflected the next day.

Asked what he saw when he looked into Whyte’s eyes after the weigh-in, Itauma said: “A wounded animal.”

Earlier, Liverpool’s WBA featherweight world champion Nick Ball weighed exactly on the 9st (57.15kg) limit, with Australian challenger Sam Goodman a pound lighter.

What information do we collect from this quiz?

Can Whyte turn back the clock?

Whyte lost his only world title bid to Tyson Fury in 2022 and has struggled for consistency in recent years.

Whether he can turn back the clock remains to be seen. He weighed 18st 9lb (118.38kg) during a lacklustre win over Ebenezer Tetteh last December.

But eight months on, he appears in the best shape of recent years and wore a grim, serious look as he took to the stage.

He is at his lightest since his win over Marcelo Nascimento in 2015.

With 31 wins from 34 fights, Whyte insists he still harbours world title ambitions. A defeat by Itauma would all but end those hopes.

Itauma has also slimmed down for his toughest test to date, weighing nine pounds lighter than at his previous fight – a destructive second-round stoppage of Mike Balogun in May.

A win on Saturday would edge Itauma closer to a world title shot. The Slovakia-born fighter is seen by many as the future face of British heavyweight boxing.

“I just want to get to the easy bit, the fight,” Itauma said.

Related topics

  • Boxing

Liverpool avoid late Bournemouth scare to win Premier League opener

By in News, World News

Liverpool talisman Mo Salah and fellow forward Federico Chiesa struck late goals as the Premier League champions began the defence of their title by beating Bournemouth 4-2 in a thriller on the opening night of the season at Anfield.

On a bittersweet Friday evening charged with emotion after the July death of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota, newcomer Hugo Ekitike bagged a goal on his league debut to put the hosts ahead after 37 minutes, and Cody Gakpo doubled the lead in the 49th.

But Antoine Semenyo, who was the target of racist abuse in the first half that led to a pause in the game, pulled one back for the visitors in the 64th minute and completed a double 12 minutes later to rock Liverpool and shock the home fans.

However, substitute Chiesa sent the Liverpool faithful away happy with an 88th-minute strike after goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic swatted away a ball into the box by Salah, who scored himself deep into added time to wrap up the three points.

Salah chased the ball past the defence before cutting inside and firing into the bottom corner with a goal that put the Egypt international joint-fourth with Andy Cole on the all-time Premier League scorers’ list with 187.

An emotional Salah pointed to the heavens and flapped two hands to mimic Jota’s shark goal celebration.

He headed for The Kop stand after the final whistle and wiped away tears while applauding the fans who were singing Jota’s song to the tune of Bad Moon Rising.

Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo scores their second goal [Peter Powell/Reuters]

The night started with an emotional minute’s silence for Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who died in a car crash. Fans fought back tears as they sang You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Ekitike, who has joined from Eintracht Frankfurt, was the most impressive of manager Arne Slot’s close-season signings in a spending spree topping 300 million pounds ($406.53m).

“Obviously, I think it was a good performance, I could do better,” said Ekitike, who held up two fingers in one hand, and made a zero with the other after his goal, a tribute to Liverpool’s Jota, who wore number 20.

“But the most important thing was winning, the mentality we showed. Obviously, we wanted to win tonight for the people who came and for Diogo,” added the 23-year-old forward.

The game was halted for several minutes after Bournemouth’s Ghana international Semenyo reported the racist abuse.

“It’s totally unacceptable,” Bournemouth captain Adam Smith said. “Kind of in shock to be honest that it happened. In this day and age, it shouldn’t be happening.

12 Killed In Kano Road Accident

By in News, Nigeria News

At least 12 people have been confirmed dead in a road accident in the Garun Malam Local Government Area of Kano State.

The incident, which occurred along the Zaria–Kano Highway, around Samawa Village in the early hours of Friday, involved a DAF Trailer with registration number KMC 931 ZE, loaded with goods and passengers.

Channels Television learnt that the incident was caused by a mechanical fault when the trailer’s cab hook broke, causing the cab to detach from the trailer’s body and resulting in loss of control.

READ ALSO: Remi Tinubu Donates ₦110m To Families Of Kano Athletes Killed In Accident

As a result, 12 out of 19 people involved in the crash were said to have been killed, leaving five injured and two rescued unhurt.

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), in a statement by the Corps Public Education Officer, Assistant Corps Marshal Olusegun Ogungbemide, the deceased were moved to Nasarawa Hospital Mortuary, while the injured are receiving treatment at Kura General Hospital.

Reacting to the crash, the Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed, described the tragedy as avoidable and urged transport operators to phase out old, mechanically unsafe vehicles from their fleets.

Mohammed warned against the dangerous practice of loading goods, animals, and passengers in the same vehicle, adding that such violations would attract stiffer sanctions going forward.

While commiserating with the families of the deceased, the corps marshal reiterated the FRSC’s commitment to intensifying enforcement on speed violations, overloading, and poor vehicle maintenance, particularly among truck operators.

“The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has once again called on transport owners to prioritise periodic fleet renewal and proper vehicle maintenance following a tragic lone crash that claimed 12 lives at Samawa Village, Garun Malam Local Government Area of Kano State, on August 15, 2025,” the statement partly read.

He pointed out that the recurring loss of lives from preventable crashes underscored the urgent need for haulage companies to adopt modern fleet renewal practices and adhere to safety regulations.