Author: Opalim Lifted

Tunde Onakoya has embarked on his second attempt to break the Guinness World Record (GWR) for the longest chess marathon. The Nigerian chess champion and founder of Chess in Slums Africa commenced the attempt on Thursday at the Times Square, New York City. The chess guru aims to play several chess games for 70 hours without losing a single game. Onakoya is only allowed five-minute breaks every hour during the course of the attempt. In a recent X post, Onakoya shared a video of the countdown leading to his world record attempt as he was surrounded by fans cheering him…

Tottenham snatched an aggregate 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt to reach the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday after Dominic Solanke converted from the spot to secure a 1-0 win in the second leg of their quarter-final. The Premier League side will face Norway’s Bodo/Glimt in May for a spot in the final. Solanke gave Tottenham the lead from the spot two minutes before halftime after the visitors were awarded a penalty for a foul by goalkeeper Kaua Santos on Spurs midfielder James Maddison. Maddison headed the ball before clashing with the arriving Santos, and the referee pointed to the spot…

Chelsea booked their place in the Europa Conference League semi-finals despite a disappointing defeat at home to Legia Warsaw in the second leg of their last-eight tie. The Blues hit back through Marc Cucurella’s close-range finish after the Polish visitors had stunned Stamford Bridge with a Tomas Pekhart penalty for the 10th-minute opener. But Enzo Maresca’s men had no answer following Legia’s second from French defender Steve Kapuadi in the 53rd minute. However, their 3-0 win in the first leg in Poland was enough to send Chelsea into a last-four meeting with either Rapid Vienna or Djurgarden, whose game went…

The Presidency on Thursday reassured Nigerians that President Bola Tinubu remains fully engaged in the affairs of the nation, despite currently being abroad in Europe. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, confirmed in a statement that the President’s absence is temporary and remains within the previously communicated timeframe of approximately two weeks. Tinubu, who travelled from Paris to London over the weekend, is said to have maintained constant communication with key government officials. According to Onanuga, the President has been actively managing national matters from overseas, including issuing directives to security chiefs in response to…

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has signed a new two-year contract with the club. The 33-year-old centre-back’s previous contract had been set to expire at the end of the season. But the Dutchman has joined forward Mohamed Salah, who signed a two-year extension last week, in committing his future to the club. “It was always Liverpool,” said Van Dijk, who had been linked with a move to Paris St-Germain. “That was the case. It was always in my head, it was always the plan and it was always Liverpool.” The Dutchman, who has made 314 appearances for the Reds, was…

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu for staying in France when there are urgent national issues deserving his attention in Nigeria. In a statement issued on Wednesday by his media office, Atiku said the country “is in a full-blown state of emergency,” citing the killings in Plateau and Benue states and the resurgence of Boko Haram terrorists in Borno. On April 2, Tinubu departed for France on a two-week “working visit”. The presidency said during the “short working visit,” Tinubu will review his administration’s achievements so far. But the opposition has knocked the president over the trip…

African nations have been urged to unite in developing a coordinated strategy and implementing practical frameworks to combat resource theft and facilitate the recovery of stolen assets across the continent. This call to action was made at the inaugural meeting of the African Asset Recovery Practitioners Forum (AARP), currently underway in Nairobi, Kenya. Themed “Supporting Efforts of African Union Member States to Effectively Implement the Common African Position on Asset Recovery (CAPAR)”, the three-day forum has attracted representatives from 31 African countries, alongside international organisations and civil society groups. In a statement, Dele Oyewale, Head of Media & Publicity at…

Newcastle United roared to third place in the Premier League – and closer to Champions League qualification – with a crushing victory over Crystal Palace at St James’ Park. Still without manager Eddie Howe, who continues to recover from pneumonia, the Magpies delivered a ruthless first-half display to race to a 4-0 lead and deal another blow to the Eagles’ own hopes of playing in Europe next season. Jacob Murphy set the tone for the big win with the 14th-minute opener as the winger’s right-foot strike from a very tight angle squeezed past Dean Henderson at his near post. Palace…

Bukayo Saka scored a goal and missed a penalty as Arsenal held off Real Madrid to reach the Champions League semi-finals in an incident-packed match at the Bernabeu. Arsenal had a 3-0 aggregate lead to defend after their superb victory in the first leg last week – and they were given the chance to silence the noisy home support when they were awarded a 13th-minute penalty. Saka stepped up but his weak, dinked effort was saved by Thibaut Courtois. However, the England forward made amends for his miss when he effectively killed off the tie with a fantastic chipped second-half…

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede has offered an insight into how terror organisations have managed to sustained operations in the country for over a decade. Olukoyede stated this recently during a lecture delivered to members of Executive Intelligence Management Course 18 at the National Institute for Security Studies, Abuja. In his paper titled “Violent Non-State Actors in Security Management: Issues, Challenges and Prospects for Peace and Development in Africa: EFCC Perspective”, Olukoyede warned that violent non-state actors ranging from insurgents, bandits, kidnappers and separatist agitators to cybercriminals pose a significant threat to Nigeria’s territorial…