Headline

Police Drop Charges Against World Number One Golfer, Scheffler

Published

2 years ago

May 30, 2024

Prosecutors in Kentucky on Wednesday dropped all charges against top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler, who was arrested after allegedly ignoring police at a traffic stop outside the US PGA Championship.

Scheffler, 27, was handcuffed and led away by officers in the pre-dawn incident on May 17, before having his mugshot taken in an orange jumpsuit and then returning from jail to the Valhalla course and teeing off for his second round.

Scheffler allegedly drove onto a curb near the course entrance after police set up a traffic stop due to a separate road accident in which a local man working at the tournament had been killed.

A police report said Scheffler had disobeyed orders to stop his car and accelerated, dragging to the ground police officer Bryan Gillis, who was hospitalized with bruising and swelling. Attorneys for Scheffler denied Gillis was dragged by the golfer’s vehicle.

On Wednesday, Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell lodged a motion in court to dismiss all charges against Scheffler and the judge agreed.

O’Connell told the court that the evidence against Scheffler did not meet the standard of probable cause.

“Based on the totality of the evidence my office cannot move forward in the prosecution of the charges filed against Mr Scheffler,” O’Connell said.

Scheffler meanwhile reacted with relief in a statement posted on Instagram.

“I hold no ill will toward Officer Gillis. I wish to put this incident behind me and move on, and I hope he will do the same,” Scheffler said.

“Police officers have a difficult job and I hold them in high regard. This was a severe miscommunication in a chaotic situation.”

– ‘Big misunderstanding’ –

Scheffler had been charged with felony assault on a police officer, criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.

His lawyer Steve Romines denied any wrongdoing, adding Scheffler was driving a marked player’s vehicle when he received conflicting signals from police officers at the traffic control.

Romines had stressed that his client would fight the charges and was “not interested in any sort of settlement negotiations or anything.”

On the morning of his arrest, world number-one Scheffler released a statement saying “there was a big misunderstanding of what I thought I was being asked to do.”

O’Connell told the court in Louisville that Scheffler’s claim of misunderstanding “is corroborated by the evidence.”

Fans cheered as Scheffler walked onto the course and gave him a standing ovation before he struck his first shot.

Current Masters champion Scheffler, who finished the US PGA tournament in a four-way tie for eighth place, said the day after his arrest “I was shaking. I would say in shock and in fear.”

The officer who arrested Scheffler was reprimanded for not turning on his body-worn camera during the arrest, the local police chief said this week.

AFP

Headline

12 Die, 30 Missing In Peru Landslide

Published

5 hours ago

December 1, 2025

Editor

At least 12 people, including three children, died in a landslide at a river port in central Peru on Monday, and 30 were reported missing, officials said.

The landslide submerged a boat with about 50 passengers on board, and another with none, as they were docked at the port of Iparia in the Amazon jungle region of Ucayali, according to a police report cited by the Andina news agency.

Six people were injured, it added, and a search and rescue operation was underway at the start of the Peruvian rainy season.

Without giving a toll, Peru’s COEN national emergency operations centre said on X that tragedy struck at dawn due to “erosion” of the bank of the Ucayali river.

It said the navy has been called in to help.

AFP

Headline

Nigeria Grants Asylum To Guinea-Bissau Opposition Candidate

Published

5 hours ago

December 1, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian embassy in Guinea-Bissau has granted asylum to Fernando Dias da Costa, the country’s opposition presidential candidate, following alleged threats to his life after last week’s military coup, The Cable Reports.

The coup was announced by military officers on Wednesday, just days after Guinea-Bissau’s presidential election in which both incumbent President Umaro Embaló and his main challenger, da Costa, claimed victory before official results were released.

Nigeria condemned the takeover and urged an immediate return to constitutional order.

In a letter to the President of the Economic Community of West African States Commission, Omar Touray, dated November 30, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, said President Bola Tinubu had approved asylum and protection for da Costa inside the Nigerian embassy in Bissau.

Tuggar wrote that the decision was made “in response to threats made against da Costa’s life.”

“In this regard, it would be appreciated if you would kindly mandate the ECOWAS Stabilisation Support Mission in Guinea-Bissau to provide him protection and security while in the premises of the Nigerian embassy,” the letter stated.

The foreign affairs minister’s Special Assistant on Media and Communications Strategy, Alkasim Abdulkadir, confirmed the letter’s authenticity to The Cable on Monday.

He said, “The decision of the Federal Government of Nigeria to grant asylum and provide protection to Fernando Dia Da Costa falls squarely within Nigeria’s sovereign responsibility and longstanding commitment to regional peace, stability, and democratic governance.”

He added that Nigeria acted “in the broader interest of de-escalation,” saying the government had exercised its discretion “to prevent further deterioration of tensions and to promote social cohesion in Guinea-Bissau and the wider West African sub-region.”

According to Abdulkadir, the intervention aligns with ECOWAS principles and reflects Nigeria’s role as a stabilising force in West Africa.

Following the coup, ECOWAS held an emergency virtual summit of heads of state and subsequently suspended Guinea-Bissau from the regional bloc until constitutional order is restored.

Headline

Trump To Attend FIFA World Cup Finals Draw On Friday

Published

6 hours ago

December 1, 2025

Editor

The White House on Monday confirmed US President Donald Trump would attend the draw for the FIFA World Cup finals in Washington later this week.

The United States will co-host the 2026 tournament alongside Canada and Mexico.

“On Friday, President Trump will attend the FIFA World Cup final draw at the Kennedy Centre,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Trump has made the World Cup a centrepiece event of both his second presidency and the 250th anniversary of US independence next year.

But the giant sporting extravaganza has not escaped the political turmoil caused by Trump’s hardline stance on a host of issues.

Trump, a Republican, has raised the possibility of moving games from some US host cities amid a crackdown on what he says is crime and illegal migration in some Democratic-run areas.

AFP