Author: Opalim Lifted

Iraqi security forces have killed a senior Islamic State, ISIS group leader responsible for foreign operations, according to the country’s prime minister, with US President Donald Trump saying later Friday his “miserable life was terminated”. Although Iraq proclaimed in 2017 the defeat of the jihadist group on its territory, IS cells have remained active and carry out sporadic attacks against Iraq’s army and police. Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufayi “was considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world”, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on social media platform X. The jihadist, sanctioned by the United States in…

US President Donald Trump was inadvertently struck in the face by a boom microphone Friday as he fielded questions from reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.  The fuzzy end of the extended microphone – sometimes referred to as a “dead cat” in the industry – struck the US president in the mouth and slid across part of his face as he closed his eyes and leaned back to avoid further contact. Trump, 78, glared at the reporter and raised both eyebrows in apparent amusement as the mic was quickly pulled away. “She just made television tonight,” the president quipped,…

An American Airlines Boeing jet caught fire after landing at Denver International Airport in Colorado on Thursday, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. There were 172 passengers and six crew members aboard, the American Airlines said, according to local media. All passengers were safely evacuated from the American Airlines plane but 12 people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, Denver International Airport said in a post on social media platform X. Dramatic video images widely shared on social media showed billowing smoke around the jet on the ground near the terminals and passengers standing on a wing as…

Adewole Adebayo, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate in the 2023 presidential election, has announced his intention to run again in 2027. Speaking on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Friday, Adebayo said SDP is not engaged in any discussions regarding a coalition with other political entities. He said SDP is committed to maintaining its independence and pursuing its own agenda ahead of the 2027 presidential race. His remarks come amid political realignments following the defection of Nasir el-Rufai, former Kaduna state governor, from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the SDP. El-Rufai had suggested the possibility of a broader…

Nigerian-born June Ashimola appeared in a UK court to disprove claims of her death and reveal she’s alive, ending a long-running probate wrangle. Ashimola had been declared dead in 2019, without leaving a will, Mirror, a UK-based news publication reports. Her £350,000 estate was granted to Ruth Samuel on behalf of a man named Bakare Lasisi, who had reportedly married Ashimola in 1993. People began questioning the authenticity of Ashimola’s death certificate and questioning if she was indeed dead when she was seen in her home country, Nigeria. Samuel and Lasisi shrugged it off, with the thought that someone was…

A yet-to-be-identified lady died after jumping off the Third Mainland Bridge into the Lagos lagoon. Benjamin Hundeyin, the police spokesperson in the state, confirmed the incident. Hundeyin said the incident occurred on Thursday, adding that she was confirmed dead by a team of doctors. “On 13/3/2025 at about 1600hrs, at about 1500hrs of the same date, an unidentified lady, whose name is yet unknown, reportedly jumped from Third Mainland Bridge into the water at UNILAG waterfront,” the statement reads “She was recovered at the University of Lagos shore-slip-way by a team of marine police attached there. Accident kills one, injures…

Renaissance Africa Energy Holdings said it has successfully completed the acquisition of Shell’s 100 percent equity holding in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC). The company announced the development in a statement on Thursday. Renaissance is a consortium formed by ND Western, Aradel Energy, First Exploration & Production (E&P), Waltersmith, and Petrolin. In January 2024, Shell said it agreed to sell its Nigerian inshore oil assets to Renaissance Africa for over $1.3 billion, subject to regulatory approvals. However, on October 21, when the federal government announced the approval of other divestment deals, the Shell-Renaissance transaction did not scale…

Swedish businessman Carl Lundstroem, co-founder of illegal file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, has died in an aeroplane crash in Slovenia, according to the far-right party he was linked to. Slovenian police confirmed on Wednesday to AFP that they found a body — “likely of the pilot, a Swedish citizen” — but declined to identify him pending forensic research. The plane crashed into a wooden cabin in the Velika Planina area of northern Slovenia on Monday, but bad weather prevented rescuers from recovering the body until Tuesday. Swedish far-right party Alternative for Sweden said in a post that Lundstroem had died…

Many inmates are said to be dying in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) due to poor feeding and the high level of food racketeering in detention facilities. The Secretary of the Independent Investigative Panel on the Alleged Corruption, Abuse of Power, Torture, Cruel, Inhumane, and Degrading Treatment of Inmates Against the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Dr. Uju Agomoh, stated this at the panel’s ongoing public hearing in Abuja. She said that inmates are starving because in all of the facilities we went to during our inspection visit as a panel during the last week of February (2024),…

An American Airlines plane engine caught fire at Denver International Airport on Thursday. This happened after the aircraft was diverted there, officials said, forcing passengers to deplane onto the aircraft’s wing as smoke enveloped the plane. Passengers onboard the American Airlines flight 1006 were quickly evacuated at the gate. A government source familiar with the incident told CNN that the flight was en route to Dallas-Fort Worth from Colorado Springs, before landing in Denver around 5 p.m. local time. Videos of the incidents have gone viral on socials, showing dozens of passengers exiting the aircraft and standing on the plane’s…