EPL FOOTBALL: Hull Relegated, Newcastle Survive, Gerrard's Liverpool Farewell Turns Sour On Final Day Of Drama

Stoke City 6-1 Liverpool: Gerrard distraught

Hull City were relegated and Newcastle United survived the drop on a dramatic final day of the Premier League season on Sunday.

Newcastle's 2-0 win over West Ham United at a raucous St James' Park where Moussa Sissoko scored after 54 minutes and Jonas Gutierrez added a second late on meant they finished with 39 points while Hull ended on 35 after drawing 0-0 at home with Manchester United.

United finished with 10 men after Marouane Fellaini was sent off late in the game for stamping on Hull's Paul McShane.

Hull had two goals disallowed in a two-minute spell during the first half, and their failure to beat United for the first time in eight Premier League matches means they go down along with already-relegated Burnley and Queens Park Rangers.

Steven Gerrard's final appearance in a Liverpool shirt ended in disastrous style as a rampant Stoke City struck five first-half goals to ruin the departing captain's goodbye.

Mame Biram Diouf scored a brace before Jonathan Walters, Steven N'Zonzi and Charlie Adam left a stunned Liverpool five down at the break. Gerrard managed to salvage a consolation goal in the second-half before former Red Peter Crouch compunded Brendan Rodgers' side's misery.
AP/Reuters/SkySports 

11 Kidnapped Victims Regain Freedom In Ekiti

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose

No fewer than 11 persons, including an 11-year-old boy, kidnapped across Ekiti State in the last three weeks were at the early hours of Saturday released by their captors.

They included a lecturer at Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Dr. Folasade Alade; a lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Dr. Femi Omisore; wife of a former Chief Medical Director of EKSUTH, Dr. Kikelomo Adegun, and a nurse with the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, Margret Aladeneka.

Others were Biliaminu Abiola, Mrs. Lydia Agnes and her daughter, Mrs. Foluke Abiola, Mrs. Yemi Abiola, Mrs. Funmi Ogunlola, Mrs. Folake Adeniyi and Jimi Johnson.

Kashamu’s Arrest: Stop Blame Game, Get Ready For Extradition Proceedings, NDLEA Tells Kashamu; We’Ve Received US Formal Extradition Request

Kashamu Buruji; Photo: The News Nigeria

The National Drug Law enforcement Agency, NDLEA, on Sunday told Buruji Kashamu to be set for extradition proceedings and not blame anyone for his predicaments.

Mr. Kashamu, a senator-elect, has been under house arrest by the NDLEA since Saturday morning, with the agency set to drag him to court on Monday to face extradition to the U.S. where he is wanted for drug-related offences.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, politician blamed his current predicament on former President Olusegun Obasanjo and a PDP leader, Bode George, whose wife heads the NDLEA.

However, in a statement on Sunday, the agency’s spokesperson, Ofoyeju Mitchell, said, “We expect Kashamu as a distinguished senator-elect to demonstrate ample confidence in the Nigerian judicial system and stop the blame game.”

FIFA - THE ULTIMATE FIXER HIMSELF WINS: "Mountain Goat" Blatter Keeps Going And Going

Sepp Blatter, who is expected to be re-elected as FIFA president for a fifth term on Friday

Sepp Blatter, who is expected to be re-elected as FIFA president for a fifth term on Friday, likened himself to a Swiss mountain goat on Sunday, famed for their stubborn endurance.

Blatter will face a challenge for the presidency from Jordanian Prince Ali bin Al Hussein at the FIFA Congress on Friday after contenders Michael van Praag of the Netherlands and Luis Figo of Portugal pulled out of the contest on Thursday.

Thousands Attend Funeral Of Killed Burundi Opposition Figure

Zedi Feruzi was the head of the opposition party Union for Peace and Development [Citi FM]

Thousands of people in Burundi's capital on Sunday attended the funeral of an opposition leader killed in a drive-by shooting.

Young people singing patriotic songs carried the coffin of politician Zedi Feruzi, stopping traffic as they marched for 90 minutes through Bujumbura, the capital, to a Muslim cemetery.

Feruzi and a body guard were killed Saturday night in a drive-by shooting. Feruzi's killing has caused many of Burundi's opposition figures to go into hiding, saying that those who oppose President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term are not safe.

MTN Feels The Fuel Scarcity Pinch, Needs Fuel To Prevent Shut-Down

MTN, Nigeria's leading cell phone provider says it urgently needs diesel to prevent shutting down services across Africa's biggest oil producer.

A months-long fuel shortage already has grounded many aircraft and vehicles and silenced some radio stations.

An erratic electricity supply has most businesses dependent on diesel generators.

MTN Nigeria posted a message on Twitter overnight saying most of its base stations and switches are powered by generators. The company with 50 million subscribers in Nigeria says it may be compelled to suspend service if it does not receive significant amounts of fuel in the next 24 hours.

The crisis began with oil suppliers saying the government owes them as much as US$1 billion. Oil tanker drivers unpaid by the suppliers are striking along with other oil workers, aggravating the situation.

Mathematician John Nash, Who Inspired "A Beautiful Mind", Killed In Car Crash

John Nash

Mathematician John Nash, a Nobel Prize winner who inspired the movie "A Beautiful Mind," was killed in a car crash along with his wife in New Jersey, state police said on Sunday.

The couple were in a taxi cab whose driver lost control and crashed into a guard rail on Saturday afternoon while driving on the New Jersey Turnpike, said Sgt. Gregory Williams, a spokesman for the New Jersey State Police.

They were thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, Williams said.

Nash was 86 and his wife was 82, and were living in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, according to New Jersey police.

Nash was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics in 1994 for his work on game theory and the mathematics of decision-making.

The Oscar award-winning film "A Beautiful Mind" starring Russell Crowe was loosely based on Nash's longtime struggle with schizophrenia.

Jonathan Handing Over Nation In Deep Crisis —APC

Alhaji Lai Mohammed

The All Progressives Congress has said President Goodluck Jonathan is handing over a nation in deep crisis, even as his administration continues to contrive more crises without making any effort to solve any of them.

In a statement in Abuja on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party however appealed to Nigerians not to lose hope, despite the daunting challenges they were currently facing in “this atmosphere of contrived chaos”, saying help was on the way.

I Don’t Know What Fuel Subsidy Means — Buhari

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari granted an interview to the Abuja-based, Daily Trust, published on Sunday based on a number of wide-ranging topical issues in the build up to the handover of power on May 29.

GRAPHITTI NEWS reproduces the interview as published by Daily Trust.

Here are the excerpts: