Author: Opalim Lifted

Colombia beat Uruguay 1-0 in Wednesday’s Copa America semi-final despite playing the second half with only 10 men to set up a title decider against defending champions Argentina, before the night descended into chaos as players clashed with fans. The semi-final in Charlotte, North Carolina ended with Uruguayan players confronting Colombian fans in the stands as security personnel struggled to restore order. South American governing body CONMEBOL said it was investigating the incident. With the majority of the 70,000-plus crowd cheering on Colombia from the start, Jefferson Lerma scored the winner after Uruguay forward Darwin Nunez had missed three good…

Barring a last-minute change in plan, President Bola Tinubu will on Thursday meet with members of organised labour, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, to further discuss the new national minimum wage. The presidency has scheduled the meeting for 4:00 p.m., source said. The president of TUC, Festus Osifo, confirmed this to reporters on Wednesday. “The president has invited the organised labour (NLC and TUC) for a consultation tomorrow, July 11,” he said in a short text message. The Nigerian government and organized labour have been at loggerheads over the implementation of a new minimum wage…

England will get the chance to exorcise their UEFA European Championship final demons after a dramatic 2-1 semi-final victory over the Netherlands – courtesy of Ollie Watkins’ sensational stoppage-time strike – set up a date with Spain in Berlin. Bidding to become just the sixth team to make successive Euro finals after their penalty fiasco at Wembley three summers ago, England took more risks early on, but that policy ultimately granted their opponents a stunning opener. Xavi Simons pickpocketed a labouring Declan Rice and fired into the far top corner from distance, sending the Westfalenstadion’s ‘Oranje Muur’ into ecstasy. An…

Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory Police command have arrested a man identified as Nuhu Ezra with a human skull and bones in the Lugbe Area of the nation’s capital. The suspect claimed he found the body parts while hunting in a bush in Kuje. A statement on Wednesday by the FCT spokesman, Josephine Adeh, said Ezra was planning to sell the body parts for N600,000. Adeh said, “The operatives of the FCT police command attached to Iddo police division on July 9, 2024, at about 9:00 p.m., acting on credible intelligence, trailed and arrested one Nuhu Ezra ‘m’ of…

Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) officials are turning back many Nigerian and Indian visitors from airports as part of border control measures. The Montreal airport refused entry to over 40 Indian visitors on Air Canada Flight No. AC-51 and asked them to return home. Similar incidents are being reported by the Nigerian diaspora, with an affected individual in Canada reporting that a family friend came in and was harassed and sent back to Nigeria the next day. Another person reports an incident on June 29 in which a person’s uncle was turned back with an option to file for refuge,…

The House of Representatives Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development has engaged in a face-off with the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye over an alleged diversion of 1.5 billion naira meant for payment of contractors by officials of the ministry. The face-off which occurred during an investigative hearing by the Committee started when the Minister was asked to give an account of how monies meant for contractors paid by the Accountant General office were expended by the ministry. In her account, the Minister said that 30 per cent of the total sum meant for contractors where paid to…

Newcastle United co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi are set to leave the club. They took a 10% share in Newcastle when they helped to orchestrate the Saudi Arabian-backed £305m takeover of the club in 2021. The husband and wife’s share has since decreased to six per cent as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Reuben family have increased their own shares. Staveley and Ghodoussi have now sold their remaining stake and will leave the club, BBC sports reported. The pair have been instrumental in the day-to-day running of the club since the takeover, which gave PIF an…

Nigerians are faced with a price hike for bread, a staple food in nearly every home. Checks showed that one of the most popular foods is scarce as fuel. While the commodity is rare, its prices have skyrocketed. Many of the residents could no longer afford their darling food and, as such, turned to other not-too-cheap alternatives like noodles, millet porridge, bean cake, among others. The commodity prices have also increased by 20 to 40 percent. Many shop owners and consumers have vehemently lamented the obnoxious development, appealing for urgent action to redress the ugly trend. One of the bakers…

The Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team, ngCERT, has raised alarm over the rise in ransomware attacks on critical institutions in Nigeria. The ngCERT disclosed this in a recent statement, noting that Phobos ransomware attackers commonly gain entry into vulnerable networks. According to ngCERT, the most at-risk entities include providers of information technology and telecommunication services, such as managed cloud services, whose clients include critical government agencies, financial institutions, telecommunications, education, healthcare, service providers and non-governmental organisations in Nigeria. Although specific affected organizations or entities in Nigeria were not mentioned, ngCERT assured that it was actively collaborating with vulnerable and affected…

Argentina took a shot at music artist Drake after the Canadian lost $300,000 on a bet his country would beat the defending champions in Tuesday’s Copa America semi-final, using rap rival Kendric Lamar’s song to send him a message. Chronicle NG reported that Drake posted an image on Instagram that showed his bet would have given him a $2.88 million payout if Canada won, but goals from Julian Alvarez and Lionel Messi moved Argentina into a fourth final in five editions. The World Cup winners responded to Drake’s post with a photo, opens new tab accompanied by the caption: “Not…