Oriontimes

  By Oriontimes Sports Desk, Madrid Bureau The 2025 edition of El Clásico lived up to its fierce reputation on Sunday night, not just for the football, but for the fury that followed it. Real Madrid ’s 2–1 victory over Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu ended in a tense altercation involving Vinícius Júnior and Lamine Yamal , sparking scenes of chaos near the tunnel. Witnesses and Spanish outlets reported that the young Barcelona winger, Lamine Yamal, exchanged words with the Brazilian forward after the final whistle. The verbal exchange, believed to stem from Yamal’s earlier comments about Real Madrid being “favoured by referees,” escalated when Yamal reportedly told Vinícius, “Let’s go talk inside.” According to AS and Standard UK , Vinícius attempted to charge toward the dressing room tunnel, visibly enraged, before being restrained by teammates and security officials. Dani Carvajal and Antonio Rüdiger were seen stepping in to defuse the situation as match officials hurri...

  By Oriontimes European Desk Paris, France — French authorities have arrested two suspects in connection with the audacious theft of royal jewels worth an estimated €88 million from the Louvre Museum in Paris. The suspects, both in their 30s, were apprehended on Saturday, one at Charles de Gaulle Airport while attempting to board a flight to Algeria , and the other in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb of Paris. According to the Paris Prosecutor, Laure Beccuau , the men are known to police for prior robbery-related offenses. The heist, which stunned the world on October 19, took place inside the Louvre’s iconic Galerie d’Apollon , home to France’s crown jewels . The thieves reportedly posed as maintenance workers, used a stolen truck with a lift to gain access through a window, smashed display cases, and fled the scene within minutes on motorbikes. Although the arrests mark a major breakthrough in the investigation, authorities say the stolen treasures have not yet been recovered, ...

    By Oriontimes | Abuja Bureau Abuja — Nigerian Senator and businessman, Ned Nwoko , has defended the practice of polygamy , saying he feels “sorry for men with only one wife.” Speaking during an interview on Sunday, Nwoko argued that polygamy provides men with greater stability and emotional balance, likening it to standing on multiple legs instead of one.  “That is a different topic for discussion on another day. Yes, every man should do that. The example I give is this: just imagine telling you to stand on one foot or leg. You know how difficult it is. But to stand on two, three, four is much more balanced. That’s just the example I give,” he explained. The Delta-born lawmaker, who is married to four women including actress Regina Daniels , emphasized that managing multiple wives is not as complicated as many assume, adding that it brings harmony when properly understood and guided by cultural values. Nwoko’s statement has sparked a wave of debate across social med...

   By Oriontimes Sports Desk | October 2025 French football legend Thierry Henry  has revisited the defining moment that led to his exit from  Juventus  and his historic move to  Arsenal  in 1999. Speaking in a recent interview, Henry recounted how a meeting with then-Juventus sporting director  Luciano Moggi  and coach  Carlo Ancelotti  changed the course of his career. According to the former  World Cup  winner, he had been called into an office after a  Serie A  game, only to be told that the club planned to loan him to  Udinese  as part of a deal to sign Brazilian striker  Marcio Amoroso . “Moggi said he believed in me,” Henry recalled, “but then he told me I would be going on loan to Udinese. That was when I knew it was time to go. I felt disrespected.” The young Frenchman reportedly walked out of the meeting and vowed never to wear the black-and-white shirt again. At the time,  Arsène We...

  By Abioye Tosin Lawrence | Oriontimes Editorial When Peter Obi declared that “ Yahoo boys are geniuses who need redirection, not condemnation,” it stirred mixed reactions across the nation. Yet, beneath the surface of controversy lies an inconvenient truth, that many of these young men are reflections of a failed system, not the root of its failure. Nigeria ’s streets are filled with the disappointed brilliance of a generation that was told to “be creative.” They obeyed. They studied hard, earned degrees, and waited for opportunities that never came. They built dreams without scaffolds, hoping integrity alone would feed them in a society that rewards cunning over character. In a land where leadership kills innovation, where politics is a marketplace of deceit, and where religion preaches prosperity without productivity, it becomes easier to see how desperation is born. These so-called Yahoo boys are not inherently evil, they are casualties of neglect, survivors of a nation that...

By Oriontimes Abuja Bureau The Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Member representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency of Osun State , Honourable Dr. Busayo Oluwole Oke , has congratulated the newly appointed Service Chiefs , describing their emergence as both a mark of confidence and a renewed call to patriotic duty. Hon. Oke said the appointments come at a critical juncture in Nigeria’s security trajectory , as the nation consolidates gains recorded against terrorism, insurgency, and banditry across various regions. He lauded the President’s decision, noting that the new appointees are “tested officers with proven records of diligence, discipline, and commitment to national unity.” While felicitating the new Chief of Defence Staff , Lt. General Olufemi Oluyede ; Chief of Army Staff , Major-General W. Shaibu ; Chief of Naval Staff , Rear Admiral I. Abbas ; Chief of Air Staff , Air Vice Marshal S.K. Aneke ; and Chief of Defence Intelligence , Major General E.A.P....

 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MOVES TO COUNTER U.S. SENATE BILL ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Oriontimes | Abuja – October 21, 2025 The House of Representatives has expressed strong concern over a bill recently introduced in the United States Senate seeking to redesignate Nigeria as a “ Country of Particular Concern ” for alleged violations of religious freedom. The motion, raised under Matters of Urgent Public Importance by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu , called for a coordinated diplomatic and legislative response to what he described as “a mischaracterisation of Nigeria’s complex security and religious freedom landscape.” Lending his voice in support of the motion, the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Busayo Oluwole Oke , described the U.S. bill as “a clear distortion of Nigeria’s social and religious realities.” He commended the Deputy Speaker for bringing the issue to national attention and emphasised the need for a unified front between...