SRN NEWS

By Field Level Media Oct 24 (Field Level Media) – Michigan State quarterback Alessio Milivojevic was ruled out of Saturday’s road game against No. 9 UCLA with an undisclosed injury, multiple outlets reported. The injury leaves true freshman Kayd Coffman to start for the Spartans (2-5, 0-4 Big Ten), with backup QB Cam Fancher also out with an injury. Coffman has appeared in one game this season, seeing mop-up duty in a 31-3 loss to Wisconsin on Oct. 3 when Fancher was injured. He did not attempt a pass in his brief appearance. Milivojevic had been listed as questionable to play earlier this week as Michigan State rides a five-game losing streak heading into Saturday’s game at Pasadena, Calif. In seven games this season, Milivojevic has completed 65.4% of his passes for 1,263 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. UCLA (6-0, 4-0) knows all about quarterback injuries. The Bruins lost starter Nico Iamaleava to a knee injury during an Oct. 10 victory at Oregon. Cal Poly transfer Ty Dieffenbach took over and finished off the victory over the Ducks then led the Bruins to a 17-7 victory over Wisconsin last week in his first career FBS start. (–Field Level Media) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Field Level Media Oct 24 (Field Level Media) – Orlando Magic star forward Paolo Banchero is nursing a low-grade high-ankle sprain, the team announced Saturday. The Magic did not disclose a recovery timetable, with ESPN reporting the injury diagnosis typically carries a timetable of four-to-six weeks. Banchero sustained the injury during the third quarter of the Magic’s 115-93 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. “Most of all my ankle sprains have always been to the outside, so this is kind of foreign to me,” Banchero told the Orlando Sentinel. “So a little scary in that way.” Banchero, 23, has averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds in two games (both starts) this season. The former No. 1 overall draft pick in 2022 has averaged 22.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 272 games (all starts) in five seasons for Orlando. (–Field Level Media) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Camillus Eboh and Ben Ezeamalu KADUNA, Oct 24 (Reuters) – President Bola Tinubu formally launched his campaign for a second term on Saturday in the northern city of Kaduna, where he sought to convince voters that painful economic reforms are beginning to pay off despite a lingering cost-of-living crisis. Tinubu, 74, faces a contest ahead of a January 16 election that is likely to be dominated by the economy and security. His main challengers include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, who finished second and third respectively in 2023. By midday, thousands of supporters of the president’s All Progressives Congress party had filled much of the 10,000-capacity Ranchers Bees Stadium, with more arriving as the rally got underway. “Thank you for this massive showing up. It is a promise. Come 2027, January 16, you must go out massively and elect me again,” Tinubu told the crowd. OPPOSITION CREATED PROBLEMS, SAYS TINUBU Since taking office in 2023, Tinubu has scrapped fuel subsidies, devalued the naira and introduced other reforms credited with improving public finances, foreign reserves and investor sentiment. But the measures have also fuelled Nigeria’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. Petrol prices rose to about 1,400 naira ($1.05) a litre in Lagos and Abuja in September and as much as 1,500 naira in parts of northern Nigeria, adding to pressure on household budgets. Tinubu dismissed opposition complaints about hunger and poverty, arguing that his rivals created those problems. “They created the hunger. They created the poverty. We are trying to eradicate it.” Phrank Shaibu, a spokesperson for the Atiku campaign, told Reuters the president was attempting to dodge responsibility. “Mr President, blaming the opposition for hunger is either delusion or a staggering case of political amnesia,” he said. Security will provide another test. Nigeria continues to battle armed bandits and kidnappers in the northwest and a 17-year Islamist insurgency in the northeast, where militants have stepped up attacks on military positions. Tinubu nevertheless enters the race with a formidable political machine. His camp says he has the backing of 32 of Nigeria’s 36 state governors, potentially giving him an unprecedented organisational advantage, although past elections have shown governors cannot always deliver their states to presidential candidates. His toughest electoral test could come in the north, where Atiku, a veteran northern politician with an established support base, will seek to erode the president’s vote. Tinubu has said he will not attend campaign rallies in all 36 states as he needs to remain focused on governing. The party’s proposed timetable has him personally attending rallies in 12 states, culminating in a major closing rally in his home state of Lagos on January 9.     ($1 = 1,330.6400 naira) (Reporting by Camillus Eboh. Writing by Ben Ezeamalu; editing by Barbara Lewis) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

Oct 24 (Reuters) – Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis said they launched attacks on Saudi oil facilities and airports on Saturday, and the Saudi-led coalition fighting the group said it downed two missiles, as clashes between the two sides intensified. On another front of an escalating conflict reignited by the Iran war, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said the Houthis also fired three ballistic missiles at coast guard sites in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden. Saudi authorities did not comment directly on the Houthi statements, though they reported missile debris falling near the site of one of the purported oil targets. It was not immediately clear if any of the reported attacks had hit their targets in the kingdom or had been intercepted. SAUDIS REPORT DEBRIS FROM INTERCEPTED MISSILES Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco facility in Yanbu, the Rabigh oil refinery, crude oil pumping stations and the East-West Pipeline. He also said the group targeted King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, an airport in Najran and an airbase in Khamis Mushait. The Saudi-led coalition earlier said it destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by Houthis towards Yanbu and Taif. Saudi Civil Defense said debris from intercepted missiles had fallen in the Mecca and Medina regions, home to Islam’s holiest sites visited by millions of Muslim pilgrims every year. It said parts of the intercepted missiles fell in Wadi al-Mughammas in Mecca, while debris also fell in areas in Jeddah, Taif and Rabigh. It was not clear if that was linked to the Houthis’ reported targeting of Rabigh oil refinery. The renewed fighting has shattered a 2022 UN-brokered truce that largely halted cross-border attacks between the Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government, and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa. The escalation has opened another front in the US-Israeli war on Iran. In Yemen, the Interior Ministry of the internationally recognised government said two of the Houthis’ missiles had struck a coast guard headquarters, while a third hit a coast guard building in the Tawahi district. Houthi spokesman Saree said the group’s forces had targeted Saudi-backed military gatherings at what he called Al-Nasr camp and a naval military base in Aden, saying Saudi officers were overseeing the mobilisation there. There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition on that assertion. Earlier on Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defense briefly issued alerts warning residents of potential danger in Taif and Yanbu, as well as in the holy city of Mecca and the kingdom’s second-largest city, Jeddah. About 10 minutes later, the agency said the threat had passed. The Houthis warned airlines earlier this month against using Saudi airspace, exempting only the airspace over Mecca and Medina, as they intensified attacks on the kingdom. (Reporting by Yasmine Ghania, Eman Abouhassira, Ahmed Tolba and Enas Alashery; Editing by Alison Williams, Mark Potter and Andrew Heavens) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Field Level Media Oct 24 (Field Level Media) – The Cleveland Browns activated running back Dylan Sampson off injured reserve Saturday. Sampson, who was placed on IR Sept. 15 with a knee injury, will not have an injury status for the Browns (4-2) in their game against the host Tennessee Titans (1-5) on Sunday in Nashville, Tenn. Sampson, 22, was hurt returning a kickoff in the first quarter of Cleveland’s 34-10 loss to the host Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 13. He rushed 65 times for 175 yards and added 33 catches for 271 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games (two starts) during his rookie season last year. Sampson was selected by Cleveland in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of University of Tennessee. Also on Saturday, the Browns announced safety Grant Delpit has cleared concussion protocol and has no injury status for Sunday’s game. The team also placed guard Teven Jenkins (back) on injured reserve and elevated defensive tackle Sam Kamara from the practice squad. (–Field Level Media) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com