Author: Opalim Lifted

TikTok faces a US ban after it lost an appeal on Friday against a law requiring the video-sharing app to divest from its Chinese parent company by January 19. The potential ban could strain US-China relations just as president-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office on January 20. TikTok will likely take the case to the Supreme court and will be looking to Trump, who has emerged as an unlikely ally, arguing that a ban would mainly benefit Meta’s platforms owned by Mark Zuckerberg. Trump’s stance reflects broader conservative criticism of Meta for allegedly suppressing right-wing content, including Trump’s ban…

The Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park has been postponed on safety grounds because of severe weather caused by Storm Darragh. An amber weather warning for strong winds was issued for Merseyside on Saturday morning amid disruptive conditions across the UK. The game was called off after a meeting between both clubs and representatives from Merseyside Police and Liverpool City Council. “Whilst we appreciate this will be deeply disappointing for supporters, the safety of fans, staff and players is of paramount importance,” an Everton statement read. Liverpool said the decision was “due to the risk to safety…

Afe Babalola, the senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says he took legal action against Dele Farotimi, a human rights advocate, to address the “falsity of his allegations and hold him account for his actions”. On Tuesday, operatives from the police command in Ekiti arrested Farotimi in Lagos over a petition about alleged defamation and cyberbullying. Farotimi had, in a statement, alleged that officers attached to the Ekiti police command had perfected plans to abduct him from Lagos. He accused the command of deploying questionable means to lure him for arrest despite honouring the invitation of the zone 2 police headquarters…

Muhammad has overtaken Noah as the top name for baby boys in England and Wales in 2023. New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that more than 4,600 boys were registered with the name Muhammad last year. In the 2023 rankings released on Thursday, Noah came in second while Oliver was third. Muhammad, an Arabic name that means ‘praiseworthy,’ was the second most popular name in 2022. It has been in the top 10 most popular names for baby boys in England and Wales since 2016. The name, however, witnessed an increase in numbers, going up from…

A late strike from Ademola Lookman secured Atalanta a hard-fought 2-1 win over AC Milan on Friday, lifting the hosts to the top of Serie A. Three minutes before fulltime, a corner sailed across the box and an unmarked Lookman headed in the winner for Atalanta. The result propelled the hosts to the top of the standings with 34 points, two ahead of Napoli who will play Lazio at home on Sunday. Milan are seventh with 22 points. The win meant Atalanta matched their record nine-match winning streak in Serie A, equalling the run they achieved from February to July…

A crocodile attacked and killed a woman as she worked on a palm oil plantation in central Indonesia, local police said, with her body later recovered from the animal’s clutches. Indonesia is home to several species of crocodiles that regularly attack and kill humans. The 44-year-old woman was working with a colleague in West Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo when the crocodile chased the pair, biting the victim on her left hand and dragging her into a ditch. The woman’s colleague tried to pull her from the animal’s jaws but lost the fight, before running to alert police…

More than 1,500 primary and middle school pupils on Friday boycotted classes in North Macedonia’s capital Skopje after a boy accused of bullying returned to their school, local media reported. The third grader (aged eight to nine) has been accused of repeated bullying over a number of years in a rare case that has shocked the public and brought the country’s education system under scrutiny. According to parents of pupils at the school, the boy’s bullying began two years ago when aged just six or seven and included verbal and physical harassment, beating, vandalism of school equipment, sexual harassment and…

Renowned Muslim scholar and preacher, Muyideen Bello died in the early hours of Friday, today. His death was confirmed by an Ibadan-based preacher, Sheik Almudeer Ajiginni on his Facebook page. Here are the eight things to know about the late Islamic scholar Muyideen Bello 1. Sheikh Muyideen was born in 1940 into the family of Alhaji Bello Ajani and Alhaja Ubaidat Bello of Arolu Compound, Ita Olukoyi, Ibadan. 2. He began his elementary western and secondary education at 1.D.C Primary School, Elekuro, Ibadan. 3. He was a student of Mahdul Arabiy, Elekuro from 1963 to 1967, where he was armed…

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said it was on “maximum alert” over a mystery disease that has killed dozens of people in just over a month. The illness causes flu-like symptoms — fever, cough and headaches — and has been described by Congolese authorities as “an unknown public health event”. First detected in late October, cases have so far been limited to the Panzi region, around 700 kilometres (435 miles) southeast of the capital, Kinshasa. “We are on maximum alert, we consider this to be a level of epidemic that we need to monitor,” Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba…

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has sold the first cargo of Port-Harcourt low sulfur straight run fuel oil (LSSR) to Dubai-based Gulf Transport & Trading Limited (GTT). The company is expected to load the cargo in the coming days onboard the Wonder Star MR1 ship, signalling the commencement of operations at the plant and the exportation of petroleum products. The ship will load 15,000 metric tons of the product, which translates to about 13.6 million litres. Although the volume coming from the NNPC into the global market is still small, the development has the potential to impact the…