Author: Opalim Lifted

Erling Haaland scored on his 100th Manchester City (Man City) appearance as the Premier League champions began their title defence with a win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Haaland opened the scoring on 18 minutes with a dinked finish over Robert Sanchez for his 91st City goal since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022. Former Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic made the game safe late on with a curling shot from just outside the penalty area. A low-key match only fleetingly burst into life, with Kevin de Bruyne curling just wide from the edge of the box shortly after Haaland’s opener,…

One year ago, President Bola Tinubu inaugurated his ministerial cabinet where, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo and 46 other ministers were announced to oversee the affairs of the various ministries.  Emerging as one of the shining lights in President Tinubu’s administration has been the interior minister, Tunji-Ojo who hit the ground running from day one by visiting all the agencies under the ministry and what caught the attention of Nigerians was a particular visit he made to the Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters. Astonishingly, the prevalent bull in the China shop at that time was a complete scarcity of passport booklets creating a backlog…

Paetongtarn Shinawatra was endorsed as prime minister by Thailand’s king on Sunday, two days after parliament elected her, paving the way for her to form a cabinet in the coming weeks. Paetongtarn, 37, becomes Thailand’s youngest prime minister just days after ally Srettha Thavisin was dismissed as premier by the Constitutional Court, a judiciary central to Thailand’s two decades of intermittent political turmoil. Daughter of divisive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Paetongtarn won by nearly two-thirds in a house vote on Friday to become Thailand’s second female prime minister and the third Shinawatra to take the office, following Thaksin and…

Canadian rapper, Drake, has lost a $450,000 bet as Israel Adesanya submitted to Dricus du Plessis. Drake put the money on the ‘Last Stylebender’ Adesanya to reclaim his UFC middleweight belt in the main event. But that did not go according to plan, as Adesanya lost by choke submission. The Canadian rapper would have won $850,000 if Adesanya had won the fight. The ‘Hotline Bling’ crooner is notorious for losing sport bettings. He has backed fighters such as Alex Pereira, Nate Diaz, Leon Edwards, and even Francis Ngannou when he fought Anthony Joshua.

Dricus du Plessis submitted Israel Adesanya in the fourth round of a captivating contest to retain his middleweight title at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia. The South African, 30, rocked Nigeria-born New Zealander Adesanya with a right hook before dragging him down and securing a rear-naked choke. Following the contest, Du Plessis paid tribute to Adesanya as the pair settled their differences after a heated build-up. “To share this octagon with a legend… this man has done so much for this sport and I’m really sorry it came across that I disrespected he was from Africa – it was never…

Inter Milan’s Serie A title defence began unconvincingly with a 2-2 draw at Genoa on Saturday as a last-gasp goal from Junior Messias secured a point for the hosts. Inter, missing key players Stefan de Vrij and Piotr Zielinski, could not find the margins to start their campaign with a win, despite a brace from striker Marcus Thuram. Alessandro Vogliacco gave Genoa a shock lead after 20 minutes by tapping in a rebound off the bar. Ten minutes later, Thuram showcased his aerial prowess by heading in a lofted cross from Niccolo Barella to level the scores. Thuram almost earned…

A volcano has erupted following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck off Russia’s east coast, spurting a column of ash miles into the air, according to state-run media. The Shiveluch volcano is around 280 miles from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a coastal city with a population of about 180,000 that lies in Russia’s eastern region of Kamchatka. “According to visual evaluations, the ash column is rising as high as 8 kilometers (5 miles) above the sea level,” TASS reported Sunday morning local time, adding the volcano had released a gush of lava. There are no reports of people injured, TASS said. According to the…

A former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) Omoyele Sowore, on Saturday charged Nigerian students to partake in the upcoming second leg of the #EndBadGovernance protest. The second leg of the protest tagged ‘FearlessInOctober’ will hold in October across Nigeria. Sowore gave the charge while comparing Nigerian students to their Bangladeshi counterparts who took part in a massive revolt against their leaders. The activist cum politician said the revolt by Bangladeshi students led to he resignation of the country’s Prime Minister. Sharing two pictures, Sowore said: “A Tale of Two Religious Countries – BANGLADESH and NIGERIA! The first…

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun has ordered the rescue of the 20 medical students who were abducted in Otukpo, Benue State. A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumiyiwa Adejobi on Saturday in Abuja, said the IGP condemned the kidnapping of students. The medical students were abducted in Otukpo, Benue State en route to the annual convention of the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students in Enugu. Egbetokun described their abduction as “truly appalling, callous, and unacceptable”. He said, “In a display of unwavering commitment to the rescue, safety, and well-being of the young Nigerians,…

President Bola Tinubu has congratulated former head of state, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, on his 83rd birthday. A statement issued on Saturday by Ajuri Ngelale, President’s spokesman recalled that General Babangida, fondly called IBB, was Nigeria’s military president from 1985 to 1993. Tinubu saluted the former head of state on this special occasion, noting his endeavours towards the development of the nation, especially in infrastructure and otherwise, notably the completion of the Third Mainland Bridge which at the time was the longest bridge in Africa. He acknowledged the role of General Babangida in the sculpting of modern Nigeria, and commends…