Saudi Arabian women will be able to drive trucks and motorcycles, officials have said three months after the kingdom announced a historic decision to end a ban on women driving.

In September, King Salman issued a decree saying women will be able to drive from next June as part of an ambitious reform push in the conservative kingdom.

The Saudi General Directorate of Traffic gave details of the new regulations that will follow the lifting of the ban on the official Saudi Press Agency late on Friday.

“Yes, we will authorise women to drive motorcycles” as well as trucks, it said, adding that the royal decree stipulates that the law on driving will be “equal” for both men and women.

There will be no special licence plate numbers for female-driven cars, it said.

But women involved in road accidents or who commit traffic violations will be dealt with at special centres that will be established and run by women.

Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world to impose a ban on women driving and its maintenance was seen around the world as a symbol of repression in the Gulf kingdom.

Its historic decision to allow women to drive from next June has been cheered inside the kingdom and abroad — and comes after decades of resistance from female activists, many of whom were jailed for flouting the ban.

Saudi Arabia has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women.

Under the country’s guardianship system, a male family member — normally the father, husband or brother — must grant permission for a woman’s study, travel and other activities.

Source: pulsenews

Comedian, Lepacious Bose, took to her Instagram page on Wednesday, December 13, 2017, where she wrote about her past struggles with weight loss and how she now admires herself.

Her weight struggle

“So I notice I have never gotten into the WCW thing lol…. I finally decided to crush on ME today.  Don’t get me wrong I am absolutely in love with myself, I love to take pictures and talk about my weight loss experience but that took over 25 years of my life. The devil stole 25 years of my life due to weight and hypothyroidism. I suffered in silence because no one understood my issues, I didn’t even understand myself.

She was constantly suicidal

“I hated myself and was constantly suicidal yet I made people laugh (what an irony). I cracked jokes about my weight because it was the only way I knew to look like I didn’t care. Yet I cared!!! Countless times I would have a great performance but drive home in tears, it was a crazy, roller coaster feeling. It was not just the weight it was much more but I could not explain it. I was scared. I would be on stage and have a brain fog and forget a joke right in the middle of delivery, just go blank, and have to come up with stuff on the spur of the moment to cover for the lapse, I started to dread performing.

“Trust me I have gotten into my car before and took me about 10mins to remember exactly where I was going, I just sat there, tears of frustration rolling down. (One day I will write it all in a book). It’s hard enough to loose weight but to loose weight while having hypothyroidism is almost like fighting demons, I just wanted to sleep and not wake up, why won’t God be kind and do that for me? I could not sleep unless I was heavily sedated with sleeping pills and could not boot in the morning without a strong cup of coffee….

Losing more weight

“Am still trying to lose about 20kg, it’s getting harder lol… It’s getting more difficult to say no to things I used to love lol…. It’s been almost 5 years on this crazy but amazing journey, 5 years of pain, tears, frustration, laughter, joy and triumph…. 5years of wanting so badly to Bing on a bowl of ice cream or a bag of malteasers but not giving in. 5 years of dreaming of chease cake lol…. I might dream for a long time. 5 years and a lifetime to go, because I AM WORTH FIGHTING FOR. MY NAME IS LEPACIOUS BOSE AND I AM A THYROID WARRIOR, A SURVIVOR. #stilltoolegittoquit,” she wrote.

Lepacious Bose pulled a surprise on everyone when she drastically lost a lot of weight after years of weight struggle.

Since then she has become a voice for those who are on the journey to losing weight. She once called out some fans who criticised the weight of fellow comedian, Seyi Law‘s daughter.

Source: pulse.ng

See photos from the event below:

A Nigerian Lady known as Chizzy Simmons has emerged the overall outstanding graduate from her school in the United States.

Chizzy was honored as the University of Louisianna (UL) college of science outstanding graduate and the overall UL outstanding graduate for fall 2017.

She shared the exciting news on her Instagram page and congratulatory messages have been pouring in since then.

Nollywood actress and newlywed Adesua Etomi Wellington took time out on December 11th to share the thing she has learnt from God in recent times.

Sharing these points on her Twitter page, she outlined her them in numerical fashion while backing them up with scriptural references in some instances.

Here is what she shared with her fans on twitter:

On the 10th of December, Kemi won the ‘Her Network, Woman Of The Year Award 2017’, and in her appreciation post, she talked about finding her purpose and how she managed to stay true to her dreams.

See her Instagram post below

Granted, we don’t have winter in Nigeria, but there’s no denying we’ll be the envy of other country at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeong Chang, South Korea. Our bobsled team, which is the first out of Africa, is already taking media attention.

And right now it seems we have another bit of history waiting to be made as Simidele Adeagbo is one race away from becoming the first woman skeleton athlete from Africa to take part in the competition.

(Photo: Simidele Adeagbo)

Adeagbo is a retired track and field athlete, having held the National Collegiate Athletic Association All-American and triple jump school record for four times. Her interest in skeleton was sparked six months ago when she heard about the amazing Nigerian bobsled team. Determined to shatter the glass ceiling in athletics, she went for a trial in August and was successful.

Because there are no ice tracks in Johannesburg where she lives, Adeagbo prepares by watching videos of past runs and also using tips and tricks compiled by other athletes. When she can, she travels to Canada where she trains on ice tracks that run as far as 1.5km long.

But with these preparations, there can be changes in the weather which make skeleton quite unpredictable. The 36-year-old, who is in love with Davido’s Fia’ because it reminds her that what she’s doing is “for the continent and for the people back home”, isn’t disturbed by this.

Although she injured her chin in her last competition, there’s no stopping her from the fifth race in Lake Placid, New York, which will see her achieve that dream of qualifying for the Winter Olympics on January 11, 2018.

culled from konbini.com

As part of the social reforms by the crown prince, Saudi Arabia has lifted a 35-year ban on cinemas.

The first cinemas are expected to open in March 2018. The aim is to reach 2,000 screens in more than 300 cinemas by 2030.

The industry is expected to contribute about $24 billion to the economy and creating over 30,000 jobs.

Announcing the move on Monday, the culture minister, Awwad Alawwad, said:

“This marks a watershed moment in the development of the cultural economy in the kingdom.

Opening cinemas will act as a catalyst for economic growth and diversification. By developing the broader cultural sector we will create new employment and training opportunities, as well as enriching the kingdom’s entertainment options.”

According to a ministry statement reported by the official Saudi Press Agency,  movies would be edited according to the “standards of the Kingdom” and would not “contradict with Sharia Laws and moral values.”

The kingdom hasn’t had public cinemas since the early 1980s. Conservatives who consider cinemas as sinful and harmful to the culture were instrumental in shutting them down in the 1980s.

Since his rise to power in 2015, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been shaking up the place with series of social and economic reforms, including allowing women to drive and allowing women into sports stadiums.

The social reforms are part of a plan for the kingdom’s economy post oil era.

news credit: pulsenews

In a post shared on her IG page, actress Liz Anjorin, recounted her tear-jerking growing up story. She narrated how as a young lady selling at an Amala joint, she became pregnant for a man who was from a prominent family and how she suffered rejection from the family members.

She also recounted how she had to leave her daughter for 10 years just so she can go out to seek a better life for both of them.

Read her compelling story below…

I’m locking it down today for Almighty Allah, my late mum and the people that have been patronizing me… Infact yestday was a joyful day for me and it’s also a day that draws me back to my childhood memories, but i was down since 2am till now , i cant even attend to pple properly cos smone is missing .. though nobody knows all this about me except I tell them bcos I don’t keep friends but today. i’ve be been librating pple on my platform wit orisirisi stories but today am tell u mine for pple to knw life is not a bed of rose.
I give glory to Allah for His genuine love and His protection..

Each time i think about it, I get scared on how to make it bcos I was born with a silver spoon but everything scattered that I can’t even be identified with a panda spoon as a child… I grew up with my mum alone on the street, we hustle together, we were both forsaken and forgotten on street, we both worked 20hrs, slept for 2hrs and arranged our goods for 2hrs: it was tough and lonely.. it got to a point that i asked my mum the whereabouts of my dad and she told me; u can only meet ur dad and his family when u make it in life..‎

I hawk early in the morning b4 school opens and I have to rush back to an uncompleted KIOSK we lives to pick something for school in order not to be late for that day lectures… For a very long time we don’t eat meat except raining season when we picked tiny snails to eat, we picked carton on refuse-disposal to sleep and whenever it rained we both remained standing.. Whenever she went hustling, i did “Omo odo alamala’ and that was where I met my baby father.

Mum, u told me to have a baby bcos u don’t want the two of us to perish on the street.. Yes! I followed your words but i was turn down by my baby father’s elder brother: if u are seeing this post let me remind u of what u said to my baby daddy in front of me and my mum then, you said; mama ko possible se eyin le gba iru e, omo commissioner wa n be aburo mi o fe, what did he see in this poor servant of a poor restaurant, u guys are stinking leave my house or i loose the dogs and my Mother in-law(Iya ijebu) ran after us and said;.omo mi, u will follow me to Jos bcos my son confessed to me that he was the one dat defiled u.. ‎

Even when I gave birth to the innocent girl, this man(my baby daddy brother) refused to touch her till date despite the fact that my baby daddy died few months after I gave birth to my daughter.. even after we lost the child’s father: you didn’t give us a dime bcos I be omo nobody to you but thanks to my baby father’s mother(Iya Ijebu terminus market Jos), she stood by me then… ‎ I remember when we were going to Jos, mama told me to hide and lied to u that she want to pee in order to hide me @fagba bus-stop and immediately u saw me u told ur mother dat i cant step into ur car and u dropped mama loads instantly and zoomed-off.. I sat on motor-engine from ido to Jos(you can imagine how painful it was)..

I can’t even remember how many times I fell down with the pregnancy trying to sell to customers what we don’t have in mama’s shop bcos I believe I must make money for her, she must not regret of bringing me to Jos bcos her son warned her.. I got to Jos with one cloth and Ghana-must-go bag filled with nylon.. she told me to change my cloth but i was shivering, so she opened the bag and saw plenty nylon, then she said; did u mistakenly pick someone’s refuse and I told her dat, that was the nylon i do slept on, then she opened her wardrobe and gave me 10 new wrappers.. She never called me to ask for money, even when I sent money to her, she told me not to send money again and get on my feet first.

I can never forget you(my mother in-law) iya rere…‎ On my baby naming ceremony, she sat as my husband and she did an elaborated naming for my baby.. Since i got to Jos my baby father didn’t talk to me till the day he left dis sinful world(rip), bcos his brother made him realized that it’s very ridiculous for him to let a low servant like me have a baby for him.. ‎Don’t let me tell u all what i went through in the labour room… even the doctor was wondering if i was holy mary they brought out scissors to help the virginity, i can’t even forget how i held the bed sheet and gnashed my teeth on the wet cloth during the cutting and sewing of my V…
.
My suffering doubled again cos I had a baby girl, they made me realized that female child holds no value in their family and male child is the real child.. I endured and cried often; I couldn’t even imagine what my poor mother was going through all alone at that moment bcos she had me with menopause, she is aged already and that’s what prompted me to determine and focus that I’ve to make it in life.. i left the baby when she was a year and half old and I never set my eyes on her until she clocked 10yrs bcos of the tortured and molestation I received from pple as omo nobody.. their molestation made me to determined to die on the street or make it and go back for the child, so I came to Lagos from Jos. When i got to Lagos i didn’t go to my mum bcos she will be so disappointed in me bcos she won’t understand what I passed through except iya ijebu… Everybody don’t want omo nobody in their midst, the day i left my daughter, she was crying bitterly and dat day i re-named her to

So i became church rat, i slept in churches, do odd jobs in day time.. May God bless the churches i slept in then but i can’t forget how many times i was beaten with bunch of broom bcos I was framed as emere(wizard) cos i was fair in complexion with slit read hair… It was so tough in my toilet cleaning job…

source: stagist.com, instagram

Chidinma Ekile is an artist, actor and philanthropist who shot into limelight after winning Project Fame 2010. The musician is recognized for her hit songs Kedike, Emi Ni Baller and more melodies.

The songbird had a chat with Guardian Life about a few things as she covers the magazine, but one part of the interview really had us talking.

Chidinma was born blind.

“I was born blind. I just couldn’t see for some months.”

However, the singer has used that experience for good.

“I felt the need to help kids that find themselves in such situations or worse. So every time I travel to these places, I try to extend a hand of love to these children.”

Here is the cover photo:

Watch behind the scenes for the cover shoot @guardiannigeria on IG

credit: guardiannigeria, stargist.com