Entertainment

Prince William reveals Earthshot Prize winners in global bid to tackle climate crisis

Celebrities have joined Prince William in London for the inaugural awards ceremony of his Earthshot Prize, an ambitious environmental program aimed at finding new ideas and technologies around the world to tackle the climate crisis and Earth’s most pressing challenges.

Actors and activists strode down a green carpet at Alexandra Palace in north London. Emma Watson, Emma Thompson and David Oyelowo joined Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, in handing out the awards, with a £1m going to each winner.

Guests were asked to “consider the environment when choosing their outfit,” so Watson arrived wearing a gown made of 10 dresses from the charity Oxfam.

British actress Emma Watson wore a white gown made from 10 dresses from the charity Oxfam at the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in London.
William launched the Earthshot Prize through his charity, the Royal Foundation, last year with plans to name five winners every year until 2030.

In a video pre-recorded for the ceremony, William said: “We are alive in the most consequential time in human history. The actions we choose or choose not to take in the next 10 years will determine the fate of the planet for the next thousand.

“A decade doesn’t seem long, but humankind has an outstanding record of being able to solve the unsolvable … The future is ours to determine. And if we set our minds to it, nothing is impossible.”

I want to say something to all the young people watching tonight:

For too long, we haven’t done enough to protect the planet for your future.

But Earthshot is for you.

In the next ten years we are going to act. We are going to find the solutions to repair our planet. pic.twitter.com/sDHwUn7FSn

— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) October 17, 2021
The Republic of Costa Rica picked up the “protect and restore nature” award for its efforts to protect forests, plant trees and restore ecosystems. The policy pays citizens to protect the rainforests and restore local ecosystems, reversing decades of deforestation and leading to a boom in ecotourism.

Costa Rica’s president, Carlos Alvarado, said the award was received “with pride but humility”, adding that “what we have achieved in this small country in Central America can be done anywhere.”

Indian company Takachar won the “clean our air” prize for developing pioneering technology to help end the burning of agricultural waste. Their cheap, small-scale, portable device attaches to tractors and converts crop residues into sellable products such as fuel and fertiliser, further helping to reduce smoke emissions by up to 98%.

Other winners included Coral Vita, a land-based coral farm in the Bahamas with a project to restore dying coral reefs by growing coral in tanks at a rate 50 times quicker than traditional methods.

The northern Italian city of Milan won the “food waste hubs” award as the first major city to enforce a city-wide food waste policy to recover food from local supermarkets and restaurants and distribute it to citizens in need, recovering about 130 tonnes of food a year, or an estimated 260,000 meals.

The “fix our climate” award went to a joint Thai-German-Italian team for the AEM Electrolyzer, which uses renewable energy to make clean hydrogen by splitting water into its constituent elements.

Each of the finalists – chosen by experts from more than 750 nominations – will be given help from companies to develop their projects.

Sir David Attenborough, Christiana Figueres, Dani Alves and a host of stars and performers including Ed Sheeran and Yemi Alade also attended the event.

The ceremony comes just days ahead of the Cop26 UN climate change summit in Glasgow, which begins on 31 October.

Earlier this week William took a swipe at billionaires embroiled in a space tourism race, saying in an interview with the BBC that the world’s greatest minds should be focused on repairing Earth instead of “trying to find the next place to go and live”.

The Queen was also recently overheard criticising world leaders who “talk” but “don’t do” enough about the planetary crisis.

Entertainment

Popular TikToker involved in ‘Justice For Mohbad’ movement dies during live stream

A popular TikToker known as Disturbing, who was involved in the ‘JUSTICE FOR MOHBAD’ movement has d!ed during a live stream.

A video making the rounds on social media shows the moment he suffered what looks like a seizure before passing away in front of the camera.

Investigative journalist, Temilola Sobola, shared the viral footage on Instagram.

“A popular TikToker known as Disturbing who was also into JUSTICE FOR MOHBAD passed away some hours ago while he was on a live video,” he captioned the post.

Reacting to the incident, some social media users alleged that Disturbing had been seen vocally cursing individuals linked to the late singer Mohbad’s case, including Mohbad’s mother, widow, his brother Adura, and Liam, during his live broadcast.

The cause of his death cannot be ascertained at the time of filing this report, however some people suggested that it may be a result of substance abuse or heart attack.

The deceased is survived by his mother, a pregnant wife and children.

Entertainment

Court remands musician Terry Apala over naira mutilation in Lagos

Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, April 25, 2025, remanded a musician, Terry Alexander Ejeh, otherwise known as Terry Apala, in a Correctional Centre for alleged mutilation of the Naira notes.

He was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Friday, April 25, 2025, on a one-count charge of mutilating the Naira notes.

The charge reads: “That you, TERRY ALEXANDER EJEH, on the 5th day of January, 2025, at La Madison Place, Oniru, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst dancing during a social event, tampered with Naira notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by marching on the same and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.”

He pleaded not guilty to the offence when it was read to him.

In view of his plea, the prosecution counsel, S.I. Suleiman, prayed for a trial date and also urged the court to remand him in a Correctional Centre.

The defence counsel, Felix Nwabuda, informed the court of a bail application dated April 23, 2025 and prayed the court for a short date for the hearing of the application.

“ Whilst praying the court for a short date for the hearing of the bail application, I will be craving the indulgence of the court to release the defendant to the defence.

“We undertake to produce him in court. He will not evade hearing. He came in from the United Kingdom on April 23, 2025; and on the invitation of the EFCC, he came on his own.”

The prosecution counsel, however, opposed the application, saying, “ the application is alien and unheard of.”

“I urge the court to afford us the opportunity to look at the application and respond properly so that the court can make a well -informed ruling,” he said.

In a short ruling, Justice Aluko refused the application of the defence.

Justice Aluko adjourned till May 5, 2025 and ordered the remand of the defendant in the Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending the determination of the bail application.

Entertainment

We can not continue like this – AGN president reacts to death of Nollywood actors poisoned on movie set

The president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Emeka Rollas, has reacted to the death of two unidentified Nollywood actors who were poisoned on a movie set in Owerri, the state capital.

Nollywood actor Stanley OnTop, in a post via his Instagram page on Friday, revealed that four actors were rushed to the Federal University Teaching Hospital Owerri, and two were pronounced dead on arrival.

He said the two deceased persons and other crew members ate rice and drank wine provided by the unnamed movie director after shooting a movie.

Reacting, the president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) shared an update on Instagram on Sunday, stating that the actors in question were not members of the Guild. He expressed concern over the increasing number of unlicensed filmmakers in the country.

He also urged all actors and actresses to get ready for the annual prayer gatherings aimed at preventing deaths in the industry.

He wrote: “So sad some actors who are not members of Actors Guild just lost their lives while filming in Owerri. We have repeatedly warned that Actors must join the Guild to practice in Nollywood..

“Barely a week after the memorial service of our member Late JNR Pope, tragedy struck in Owerri involving two promising young actors.

“They are not members of the Actors Guild of Nigeria but this points to two things:

“1. The devil still wants this pattern of mass death repeated on an annual basis. If not for God the death toll in Owerri could have been four persons. Exactly the same number last year in Asaba. Please let all Actors and indeed Nollywood prepare for this year’s prayer outingwith @realjerryeze @streamsofjoyabuja

“2. We cannot continue like this. Everywhere in the country people just wake up and equip themselves with cameras and they have become Nollywood

“This is a bad trend. These people camp themselves in an unhealthy, unverified environment making content. Content creators have to be licensed.”