News
Canada Gets Fresh Prime Minister

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s prime minister on Friday, taking charge of a country rattled by a breakdown in US relations since President Donald Trump’s return to power.
The ruling Liberal Party overwhelmingly backed Carney to replace Justin Trudeau, betting his experience leading two central banks through historic crises will reassure Canadians facing a potentially devastating trade war.
Carney, who turns 60 on Sunday, is a political novice who has never won an elected public office but his campaign skills will be tested soon with Canada likely headed for a general election in weeks.
The threats posed by Trump are expected to dominate the vote.
The US president has sought to bludgeon Canada, imposing sweeping import tariffs and threatening further levies while claiming the country is not “viable” on its own and should be annexed by Washington.
Carney, who was sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister at a ceremony in Ottawa, has described Trump’s stance as the most serious challenge Canada has faced in a generation
Everything in my life has prepared me for this moment,” Carney said Sunday after winning the Liberal Party leadership race.
He was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before serving as governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008-2009 financial crisis and led the Bank of England through the turmoil surrounding the Brexit vote.
He has sought to present himself as purpose-built to lead a country through a trade war with the United States, once Canada’s closest ally but now a country that Carney says Canada can “no longer trust.”
At a Group of Seven meeting in Quebec, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Carney would bring a “new dynamic” to US diplomacy
Speaking before Carney was sworn in, Joly said she and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is at the G7, were working on setting up a call between Trump and Carney “in the next couple of days.”
Tightening race –
Trump’s tariffs and insults have upended Canadian politics.
At the start of the year, the Liberals were trailing the Conservatives by 20 points in the polls.
But in the weeks since Trudeau announced his plans to resign on January 6, the race has tightened to a near draw.
“Carney is arriving at a good time. He has emerged as a figure people seem to trust to take on Donald Trump,” University of Winnipeg politics professor Felix Mathieu told AFP.
On the week Trump’s sweeping 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports came into force, Carney visited a steel plant in Hamilton, an industrial city near the US border in the province of Ontario.
Wearing a hard hat and goggles, Carney said he was ready to work out a trade deal with Trump.
But he insisted there must be “respect for Canadian sovereignty” in any negotiation.
– Distance from Trudeau –
Trudeau posted a goodbye message to Canadians on Thursday after nearly ten years in power, saying he was “proud to have served a country full of people who stand up for what’s right.”
Trudeau’s support had plummeted over the past year, but his standing partially rebounded following a series of resolute speeches in response to Trump.
Carney has made clear efforts to distance himself from Trudeau with moves aimed at attracting more centrist voters.
He has said addressing climate change will be a top priority but he is scrapping Trudeau’s “divisive” carbon tax on individuals and families while advancing market-led solutions.
And he is stopping a tax on capital gains that would have applied to the wealthiest Canadians, which the Trudeau government said was essential to shore up Canada’s finances.
We think builders should be incentivized for taking risks and rewarded when they succeed,” he said on Sunday.
AFP
News
Trump declares war in Ukraine could end after productive discussions with Putin

US President Donald Trump has disclosed that the war between Russia and Ukraine could end soon.
According to Trump, this comes after productive discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump stated this in a post on his Truth Social, adding that he had requested that Putin spare the lives of completely surrounded Ukrainian troops.
“We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,” Trump said.
The Truth Social post did not say whether Trump and Putin had spoken to each other.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had used the meeting to convey to Trump through Witkoff.
Peskov added that Russia and the US would work out the timing of a phone call between their presidents once Witkoff had briefed Trump.
The US president has said he wants Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a swift ceasefire to pause fighting in a conflict which he has warned has the potential to spiral into World War Three and has already cost many lives on both sides.
News
MEET Nigerian born Joshua Beckford, youngest person to attend Oxford University

Joshua Beckford gained worldwide recognition as the youngest person ever to study at Oxford University.
The youngster was admitted at age six (taking part in courses which were part of an online learning platform for gifted children) and gained distinctions in both Philosophy and History.
When Beckford’s father, Knox Daniel, wrote to Oxford University advocating for his son’s admission, it was a bold move to challenge the conventional age limits for a programme aimed at children aged eight to 13.
His record remains unmatched, with the next youngest Oxford student being at least two years older at the time of admission.
By 10 months old, Beckford could already identify letters and numbers. At age two and a half, he could read fluently using phonics and had begun learning Japanese and some Mandarin.
Aspiring to become a neurosurgeon, Beckford has already demonstrated remarkable medical knowledge.
Using the Microsoft Surgery Simulator, he has mastered complex surgical procedures, including cataract removal, hernia repair and leg fracture correction. His proficiency with surgical instruments showcases his extraordinary abilities beyond his years.
Beyond medicine, Beckford is multi-talented, excelling in art, Information Technology (IT), sports and foreign languages.
In 2017, Beckford was named Positive Role Model of the Year at the UK’s National Diversity Awards.
The Illumination Foundation of North Carolina also listed him among the Top 30 Most Extraordinary People worldwide who have made societal impact.
Beckford serves as an ambassador for the Boys Mentoring Advocacy Network (BMAN), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to mentoring young boys and adolescents in Africa. Within BMAN, he holds the role of Low-Income Families Education (L.I.F.E) Support Ambassador across six countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and the United Kingdom where he was born.
Joshua Beckford also serves as the face of the National Autistic Society’s Black and Minority (BME) campaign. Diagnosed with high-functioning autism himself, he helps to spread the campaign’s mission.
In 2019, Beckford and his father travelled to Nigeria to launch a live mentoring session, delivering a keynote speech at the University of Lagos before an audience of nearly 5,000 people. Their visit was to raise funds for building a secondary school in Kaduna State, providing education to children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
According to a statement on UNILAG’s website, the proposed school was to include classrooms, an administrative block, a laboratory, an ICT Centre and an agriculture green garden and was to be named Joshua Beckford Community School.
News
Dayo Amusa opens up on alleged affair with KWAM 1

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Nollywood actress Dayo Amusa has opened up on alleged romance with Fuji music icon King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, better known as K1 De Ultimate (KWAM 1).
Speaking on Oyinmomo TV, she dismissed the rumors, made it clear that what they share is far from romance.
She described their connection as one built on deep respect and unwavering support, a bond that has nothing to do with the assumptions people make when they see a man and a woman close.
Amusa spoke of K1 not just as a friend, but as a father figure, a guiding force, and an unwavering pillar in her life..
The movie star revealed how he became her silent anchor in ways she never saw coming, wiped her tears, and pushed her forward when everything seemed to be working against her especially in her movie career, where his influence and support gave her the strength to rise beyond limitations.
For Amusa, a man like that is a presence to be cherished, no matter how many times the world tries to twist the narrative.
This follows her fiery social media outburst in November 2024, where she fiercely shut down relentless speculations and invasive questions about her newborn’s father.
What began as a wave of congratulatory messages quickly spiraled into a frenzy of gossip, fueled by none other than the notorious blogger Auto Bola. The actress soon found herself at the center of a paternity storm, her joy overshadowed by whispers and relentless online probing.
Auto Bola, with her never-ending videos, refused to back down, hammering Dayo with demands to unveil her child’s father.
In her relentless pursuit of a scandal, she dragged King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, assumed he is Amusa’s baby daddy.
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