Author: Opalim Lifted

England and Greece players held a minute’s silence in remembrance of George Baldock before Thursday’s Nations League match at Wembley. Both sets of players wore black armbands in tribute to Baldock, while the visitors also held up a Greece shirt with his name and a number two on the back. The England-born Greece international defender drowned in a swimming pool at his home in Glyfada, southern Athens, on Wednesday night. Baldock, who joined Greek side Panathinaikos last summer after seven years with Sheffield United, was capped 12 times by Greece. Baldock’s family said they are “heartbroken” by the sudden passing…

Fuel prices shot up again at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) pumps and private filling stations nationwide, dealing another blow to Nigerians already suffering the worst economic crisis in a generation. Nigerians are already battling soaring inflation and food costs, as well as a battered Naira currency. The NNPCL has not commented on the sudden increase of roughly 15 to 20 percent seen at pumps nationwide. Chronicle NG reports that it marks the second such hike in just over a month. In early September, the NNPCL acknowledged huge debts to fuel suppliers and announced a roughly 40 percent…

No fewer than 28 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced families in the central Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Red Crescen says. More than 50 people were injured in the attack on Rufaida al-Aslamia school, which the medical group said was near its headquarters in Deir al-Balah. A video from the site showed people hurrying to rescue the injured under a cloud of smoke and dust, while numerous youngsters were seen receiving treatment at the local al-Aqsa Hospital. The Israeli military stated that the “precise” strike targeted Hamas fighters operating inside a “command-and-control…

Hurricane Milton smashed trees, ripped roofs off buildings, and flooded streets on Thursday, leaving residents on the Florida coast examining a trail of devastation in a state still reeling from another big storm two weeks ago.  Hurricane Helene formed in late September 2024 and rapidly intensified as it swept over the Gulf of Mexico. It killed more than 200 people. It strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 km/h) before reaching landfall on September 27 near Perry, Florida. Meanwhile, more than three million homes and businesses in Florida were without power after a…

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has commenced recruitment for its Direct Short Service Commission (DSSC33/2024) aimed at enlisting qualified graduates and post-graduates for training as officers in various professional fields. This was contained in a statement signed by Air Vice Marshal AH Bakari, as recruitment begins on October 14, 2024, the Nigerian Air Force disclosed. The online registration will close on November 26, 2024. Applicants are advised to carefully review the disciplines required before submitting their application, as multiple submissions or errors will result in automatic disqualification. “Only one application can be made as application once submitted cannot be corrected.…

In a bid to enhance ease of doing business, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) launched an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) Code *829# specifically targeted at improving taxpayers’ satisfaction. FIRS chairman, Zacch Adedeji, launched the code at the Revenue House in Abuja as part of activities making this year’s Customer Service Week which has the theme Above and Beyond. The initiative makes Nigeria the sixth African country to deploy USSD code for simplifying tax payment processes. In a statement by Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman said taxpayers on any mobile telecommunication network in the…

The body of British-born Panathinaikos and Greece defender George Baldock was found on Wednesday in a swimming pool at his home in the southern Athens suburb of Glyfada, police sources said. The cause of death remained unknown. Police tried cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the 31-year-old former Premier League player but could not revive him, a police official said. The time of death was put at 10pm (1900 GMT). Baldock, who was of Greek ancestry and was capped 12 times for the country, joined Panathinaikos in May from Sheffield United after the English side were relegated from the top flight. He also…

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) on Wednesday notified its customers of an impending migration of its core banking application system to a new one, which would cause a temporary disruption in banking services. In a message sent to customers, the bank outlined the switch as part of its ongoing commitment to enhancing customer experiences through improved technology. The bank said transition is scheduled to begin on Friday, October 11, 2024, and would result in the early closure of all GTBank branches nationwide at 12:00 p.m. on the same day. It stated that branches would remain closed throughout the weekend and are…

A rare deluge of rainfall left blue lagoons of water amid the palm trees and sand dunes of the Sahara Desert, nourishing some of its most drought-stricken regions with more water than many had seen in decades. Southeastern Morocco’s desert is among the most arid places in the world and rarely experiences rain in late summer. The Moroccan government said two days of rainfall in September had exceeded yearly averages in several areas that get an average of less than 250 millimetres (10 inches) annually, including Tata, one of the areas hit hardest. In Tagounite, a village about 450 kilometres…

A Turkish Airlines pilot died after collapsing mid-flight, forcing the Turkish national carrier to make an emergency landing in New York, the airline said on Wednesday. The plane had taken off from the western US coastal city of Seattle on Tuesday evening, airline spokesman Yahya Ustun wrote on X. Trump’s running mate, JD Vance plane makes emergency landing  “The pilot of our Airbus 350, flight TK204, from Seattle to Istanbul, collapsed during the flight,” he wrote. “After an unsuccessful attempt to provide first aid, the flight crew, which included another pilot and a co-pilot, decided to make an emergency landing,…