Latest news with #Nigerian
South Wales Argus
15 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
Ncuti Gatwa: The Sex Education star who brought a flirty-spin to the Doctor
His path to success has been a long and winding one, with struggles with depression and homelessness, before landing the role of a lifetime and a dream for thousands of young actors. The 32-year-old took on the role of the Time Lord previously filled by Matt Smith, David Tennant – who was brought back to be the 14th Doctor where he ushered in a bi-generation storyline that led to Gatwa becoming the 15th Doctor – and actress Jodie Whittaker. Varada Sethu and Ncuti Gatwa. (Ian West/PA) Born in Rwanda before moving to Scotland, where he was raised, Gatwa began his career as an extra on the 2014 sitcom Bob Servant. In 2016, he played Demetrius in a production of A Midsummer's Nights Dream at Shakespeare's Globe, before his big break came when he was cast in Sex Education as Eric Effiong, a young gay British-Nigerian who is best friends with Otis, the show's lead character. The Netflix show, which ran from 2019 until 2023, documented Eric's growth as he deals with his family's acceptance of his sexuality while he embraces his Nigerian heritage. Ncuti Gatwa. (Ian West/PA) He also falls in love with Adam (Connor Swindells), who bullied him in the first series, and has ups and downs in his friendship with (Otis Milburn) Asa Butterfield. However, Gatwa's seemingly meteoric rise, which led to him being cast in the 2023 blockbuster Barbie, has been far from plain sailing. Writing in The Big Issue in May 2020, he said he ended up homeless after running out of savings in the months before he landed his role in Sex Education. 'Being a 25-year-old man with no money or job affected my sense of self-worth,' he wrote. 'Rejection became unbearable. Auditions weren't just acting jobs, they were lifelines.' He continued: 'One friend gave me money towards paying off the prior month's rent and offered to let me move into their spare room rent free for a while. 'Great, I thought. An opportunity to get back on my feet and start paying people back. 'On moving-in day, he changed his mind. As I was standing on the street with my suitcases, one thought came into my head: 'I'm homeless'.' While everything appeared fine to the outside world, Gatwa was losing weight because he could not afford to eat properly. 'To the outside world everything seemed fine. I was temping at Harrods,' he wrote. 'I'd wake up from the double bed I shared with my best friend, leave the house without a hair out of place in a slick-looking trench coat and polished brogues. Ncuti Gatwa. (Ian West/PA) 'I would get compliments for looking so presentable. When I lost weight due to eating only one meal a day, people told me how lean and healthy I looked.' In reality, Gatwa had developed depression, though he kept it from his friends out of fear of being a 'burden', and later worked through the mental health condition. He joined Doctor Who in 2023 when Russell T Davies, who was behind the programme's 2005 revival, took over from showrunner Chris Chibnall – who steered Whittaker's run and worked with her and Tennant previously on Broadchurch. Gatwa's turn in the science fiction show was praised by reviewers for his first season's starting episodes Space Babies and The Devil's Chord. The Guardian said that he 'will make this show far more fun than it's been for years', praising him for being 'naturally able to express the dazzling extremes' of the character, while The Times said he 'sparkles as a charismatic Doctor with otherworldly energy'. However, Davies, who had success with Channel 4's It's A Sin and Queer As Folk as well Doctor Who spin-offs The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood, has recently faced accusations that he has pushed the show in a 'woke' direction. A small number of social media critics have pointed to the diversity of the cast, a drag queen villain, and introduction of transgender and non-binary characters. However, both he and Gatwa have strongly dismissed this criticism as from a minority, with Davies telling BBC Radio 2's 20 Secrets From 20 Years: 'Someone always brings up matters of diversity. 'And there are online warriors accusing us of diversity and wokeness and involving messages and issues. 'And I have no time for this. I don't have a second to bear (it). Because what you might call diversity, I just call an open door.' Gatwa told Attitude magazine in 2024 that the hateful comments the sci-fi show has received after casting a black man is 'fascinating, because there's so much energy they're putting into it … I think they need to go find a hobby is one thing'. During his time, he has had companions in the form of Andor actress Varada Sethu, and former Coronation Street actress Millie Gibson, who played Gatwa's companion Ruby Sunday since the 2023 Christmas episode The Church On Ruby Road. Highlights have included a Regency-themed episode that saw him have a burgeoning romance with the character Rogue, played by Mindhunter actor Jonathan Groff, the explosive Boom episode and the arrival of the classic Time Lord villain, the Rani. Since Doctor Who, Gatwa has been in a re-imagined version of Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest at the National Theatre, and is set to be in West End play Born With Teeth – which re-imagines the relationship between rival playwrights Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. He has also been in the Second World War show Masters Of The Air with Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan, and the upcoming The Roses with two-time Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch, and Academy Award-winner Olivia Colman.
UPI
2 hours ago
- Climate
- UPI
At least 151 killed in Nigerian flash flooding
People search for victims after Friday's flash flooding killed at least 151 in Mokwa, Nigeria, following torrential rains on Wednesday and Thursday. Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/EPA-EFE May 31 (UPI) -- Torrential rains over two days caused flash flooding that killed at least 151 people in Mokwa, Nigeria. The death toll is expected to climb in the city that has a population of more than 416,000 and is located 235 miles west of the Nigerian capital of Abuja, the BBC reported Saturday. The flash flooding was Friday. The Niger State Emergency Management Agency initially reported 115 deaths but revised the number to 151 and expects to find more deceased victimsas the flood waters recede. Floodwaters swept the bodies of many victims into the Niger River that flows below the city on Thursday and Friday. More than 500 homes and 3,000 people were impacted by the flash flooding that caught local officials by surprise. Many families lost multiple members. A total of 11 people were reported as rescued and taken to local hospitals for treatment. Localized flooding was expected before the storm, but the severity overwhelmed the city. "We had to knock on some doors, but before people could escape, the flood had already caught up," shop owner Umar Jamil told The New York Times. "We have seen many bodies floating in the river, but we couldn't help," he said. It had been 60 years since a flood of such magnitude struck the city, Mokwa leader Muhammad Shaba Aliyu told the BBC. The city is located along the northern bank of the Niger River, and the floodwaters caused a local bridge to collapse into the river. The bridge's collapse left many motorists stranded as the flash flooding worsened. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu ordered all available emergency and security personnel to "intensify ongoing search and rescue operations" in Mokwa, the BBC reported. Torrential rains began falling Wednesday and continued through Thursday, leading to Friday's deadly flash flooding. The flooding occurred near the start of Nigeria's rainy season, which lasts from April through October.
France 24
3 hours ago
- Sport
- France 24
Australian sprinter Kennedy tastes 100m victory in Nairobi
Kennedy, 21, came from behind to beat Bayanda Wazala of South Africa and Kenya's African 100m record holder Ferdinand Omanyala into second and third positions respectively in Nairobi. "As soon as I saw the 9.98 I was thrilled, the feeling was so surreal. I couldn't believe it," said an ecstatic Kennedy, who in January ran a world-leading 6.45sec in the 60m in Canberra. Kennedy is one half of an exciting duo of young Australian sprinters, led by the 17-year-old sensation Gout Gout. Walaza, 19, who will hope to make his mark for South Africa in this summer's World Championships in Tokyo, timed 10.03sec in second and said he was picking up experience all the time. "I am still getting my way into the 100m. I am learning from these people, including Akani (Simbine) and Omanyala, who are my mentors," he said. Earlier South Africa's Zakithi Nene recorded the fastest time in the world over 400m with a sparkling personal best of 43.76sec, beating Nigerian Chidi Okezi (44.89sec) into second place. The 27-year-old Nene, who previous best was 44.22sec at the South African championships in April, made up for the disappointment of finishing runner-up to American Jacory Patterson at the Rabat Diamond League last weekend. Kenyan-born Jonah Koech, competing for the United States, upstaged his former compatriots to win the 800m in a personal best 1min 43.32sec. It was Koech's second track victory in a week after his shock maiden Diamond League victory in the 1500m in Rabat. Trinidadian two-time world javelin champion Andersen Peters' hopes of winning his first Kip Keino title were shattered when he finished seventh with a disappointing 77.49m. Brazilian Luiz Mauricio da Silva dominated the event with a new personal best of 86.34m to finish ahead of Germany's former Olympic champion Thomas Rohler (80.79).
Economic Times
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Economic Times
A lonely footballer breathes life into clay
News of cross-cultural exchanges and transnational cooperation in the arts have become oxygen for my determined optimism in an increasingly divided world. The Oscars earlier this year delivered tankfuls of hope with the Iranian auteur-in-exile Mohammad Rasoulof's Farsi film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Daane-ye anjeer-e ma'abed), in the fray as Germany's entry in the Best International Feature race, while Britain entered a Hindi language production - British Indian director Sandhya Suri's Santosh - in that category. Both were premiered last summer at the Cannes Film Festival, an event that routinely throws up instances of blurring borders. One such heartening collaboration at the just-concluded Cannes 2025 bears a stamp of India. A Doll Made Up of Clay - part of the official selection for the students' competition at the fest - is written and directed by Kokob Gebrehaweria Tesfay, an Ethiopian student of Kolkata's Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), and recipient of the ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) African Scholarship. Produced by a fellow student, Sahil Manoj Ingle, this 23-min short features a multiracial, multinational team, including a Bangladeshi editor, Mahmud Abu Naser. It blends Yoruba and Bengali dialogues, and is about a Nigerian footballer in Kolkata, played by Ibrahim Ahmed -- a Nigerian footballer in Kolkata. It is, as Kokob told me in an interview on the eve of his Cannes premiere, 'a collective effort' and a truly international creation. In the film, Ibrahim plays Oluwaseyi, a youngster stranded in India after an injury stalled his dream of building a career in football. Battling loneliness, depression, financial deprivation and racism, Oluwaseyi finds solace in the arms of a woman (played by Geeta Doshi), who is haunted by her past. Kokob, grandson of a priest from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, brings his awareness of Christian imagery and African folklore to the film, in addition to his observations of Hindu iconography. Oluwaseyi is Christian. A painting of Jesus' mother, Mary, is given prominence, while the rosary is a constant presence. In his desperation to repair mind and body, Oluwaseyi turns to a healing tradition from his homeland, amalgamating it with a belief articulated by an elderly local who sculpts Durga idols - the common factor in both is faith in the power and divinity of clay. Indian filmmakers have often been guilty of stereotyping and exoticising people of Africa, on rare occasions when they have been represented on screen here. Sudani from Nigeria, a 2018 Malayalam hit directed by Zakariya Mohammed, is an uncommon example of Indian cinema featuring an important African character portrayed with empathy. That film was charming, but it steered clear of the racism prevalent in India. In A Doll Made Up of Clay, Kokob boldly addresses this truth despite his fondness for Kolkata, which he now calls 'my second home', and India, which he describes as 'the home of cinema'. He is conscious of the difference between his own experience of the country, as a light-complexioned African, in contrast with Ibrahim, whose black skin and Muslim name have made him the target of prejudice. His film, Kokob said, 'is 80% Ibrahim's story, and 20% fiction'. The overlap between the pain of an actual person and a scripted version of him is mirrored by cinematographer Vinod Kumar's frames capturing a desolate, muddied Kolkata, and the poignance conveyed by sound designer Soham Pal, along with music composer Himangshu Saikia. The film urges us to introspect, even while being a cause for celebration since it showcases SRFTI's - and India's - laudable effort to nurture and partner with global talent. 'At this time full of conflict,' Kokob told me, 'it's an awesome feeling that as people from four different countries, we have come together for art. The world is going through a hard time, but we have become one for cinema.' (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. What's slowing Indian IT's AI deals? The answer is hidden in just two words. Jolt to Çelebi could turn a big gain for this Indian firm that once had deep Turkish ties Nestlé India's outgoing CEO Narayanan weathered the Maggi storm; Tiwary must tackle slowing growth Uncle Sam vs. Microsoft: Which is a safer bet to park money? ONGC squandered its future once. Can it be different this time? Will revised economic capital framework lead to higher RBI dividend to govt? These large- and mid-cap stocks can give more than 30% return in 1 year, according to analysts Buy, Sell or Hold: Emkay Global upgrades SAIL to buy; YES Securities sees 13% upside in VA Tech Wabag Railways stocks: Time to be contrarian; will bearish analysts go wrong again? 6 stocks, 2 with buy recos, 4 with sell recos
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Death toll from Nigeria flash floods rises to 151
At least 151 people in central Nigeria are now known to have died following flash floods that destroyed homes and displaced thousands of residents earlier this week. The Niger State Emergency Management Agency (Nsema) confirmed to the BBC the death toll had risen sharply from 115, after floods hit the town of Mokwa. A Nsema spokesman told the BBC more than 500 households with a population in excess of 3,000 people were affected. Some families are said to have lost between two and five relatives including children. The agency warned the death toll could rise further after people were washed into the River Niger below the town. Local authorities said 11 people had been rescued and taken to hospitals for treatment. Nsema said the Tiffin Maza and Anguwan Hausawa districts of Mokwa were worst affected. Mokwa's district head Muhammad Shaba Aliyu said it has been 60 years since the community had suffered this kind of flooding. "I beg the government to support us," Mr Aliyu said. But the officials appear to be overwhelmed by the scale of destruction as families desperately seek food and shelter. Mokwa is located at the edge of the River Niger, a transit point between the northern and southern part of Nigeria. A bridge linking the northern and south-western parts of the country has collapsed in the floods and left motorists stranded. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu directed "all relevant emergency and security agencies to intensify ongoing search and rescue operations". Torrential rain fell in the region on late Wednesday into Thursday, causing flash floods. Nigeria's rainy season is just beginning and usually lasts from April to October. Authorities have warned of heavy downpours in at least 15 of the country's 36 states. Floods kill at least 110 people after heavy rain in Nigeria Could Nigeria's careful ethnic balancing act be under threat?
