Author: Opalim Lifted

President Bola Tinubu has signed four executive orders, including the suspension of the 5% excise tax on telecommunication services as well as the escalation of excise duties on locally manufactured products. Dele Alake, special adviser on special duties, communications, and strategy to the president, disclosed this on Thursday to state house correspondents. Nigerian calls for Twitter ban, says UK collects £1.24m company tax He stated that the President also signed the Finance Act (Effective Date Variation) Order, 2023, whose commencement date is now deferred to September 1, 2023. According to the presidential spokesman, this is to ensure adherence to the…

The National Examination Council (NECO) unveils its Online Result Verification and Confirmation platform known as e-Verify. NECO e-Verify is an online result verification solution that guarantees instant authentication of academic and basic information about prospective candidates for admission and employment into academic institutions and work. Speaking at the launch of the portal in Abuja,NECO Registrar, Prof. Dantani Wushishi, explained that the introduction of the NECO e-Verify was due to the growing need for verification and confirmation of results by institutions both at home and abroad. He noted that before now, all requests for verification and confirmation of results were routed…

Meta Platforms on Wednesday launched a direct challenge to Twitter with Threads, garnering millions of users in hours as it sought to take advantage of its rival’s much-weakened state after a series of chaotic decisions from owner Elon Musk. Those quick to join the new platform included celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez as well as prominent politicians such as Democratic U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “Let’s do this. Welcome to Threads,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in his first post on the app, along with a fire emoji. He said the app logged 10 million sign-ups in seven…

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has issued a fresh two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government over the implementation of a 200% increment in the salary structure of its members, among other demands. The resolution was reached on Wednesday at a virtual Extraordinary National Executive Council Meeting (E-NEC) to appraise the level of implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the government on May 19, 2023, following a five-day warning strike embarked upon by the Association on May 17, 2023. In a press statement that was co-signed by NARD President Orji Innocent, Secretary General Chikezie Kelechi, and…

Bauchi State Chief Magistrates’ Court has sentenced Auwal Usman for using a machete to slash off his friend’s two hands in the state. Haruna Mamma, the presiding judge, found Usman guilty of slashing his friend’s hands with a machete after a physical struggle. Yusuf Musa, the police prosecutor, informed the court that the suspect, a native of Dogon Ruwa village in Ari, in Bauchi State’s Ningi Local Government Area, had a dispute with Sabo Abduwa, which led to a fight. Musa added that during the fight, the convict brought out a machete and cut the hands of his friend. While…

The Rio de Janeiro government named an anti-racism law after Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. on Wednesday, which will see sporting events stopped or suspended in the event of racist conduct. Brazil forward Vinicius was racially abused by fans when Madrid played Valencia in May, the 10th such incident involving the 22-year-old that LaLiga has reported to prosecutors that season. Tottenham sign Empoli’s goalie Guglielmo Vicario on 5-year deal   Local media said the law was inspired by the player’s response to the incident at Valencia’s Mestalla stadium, where the game was paused for several minutes while the player pointed at…

Police in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have arrested a man for urinating on a tribal worker in public. Pravesh Shukla has been charged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, a law meant to protect historically oppressed communities. He was arrested after a video showing him urinating on the man was widely shared on social media. The incident has sparked outrage across the country. Mr. Shukla has not commented on the incident. Some politicians of the main opposition party Congress have alleged that he is associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),…

A court in India has given 10-year jail terms to 10 men for beating a Muslim man to death four years ago. Tabrez Ansari, 24, died days after being attacked by people who accused him of stealing a motorcycle in the eastern state of Jharkhand. A video showing Ansari being forced to chant chants praising Hindu gods while pleading for his life went viral and led to huge outrage in India. His family alleged that the police denied him treatment despite his injuries. The state police denied any wrongdoing. The video footage from the night of June 19, 2019 showed…

Former Spain and Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has been appointed head coach of Paris St-Germain. The 53-year-old Spaniard replaces Christophe Galtier, who has been sacked despite winning the Ligue 1 title in his one season in charge. Luis Enrique has signed a two-year contract with the French champions. It is his first role since he stepped down as Spain manager in December after Spain’s defeat by Morocco on penalties in the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup. His last job in club management was at Barcelona, where he won nine trophies in three seasons between 2014 and 2017, including…

The US Secret Service is investigating after cocaine was found at the White House on Sunday night. The discovery in the West Wing, which contains the Oval Office and other working areas for presidential aides and staff, led to a brief evacuation. Secret Service agents found the suspicious powder in an area that is accessible to tour groups while doing a routine inspection. President Joe Biden and his family were at Camp David in Maryland at the time. A senior law enforcement official told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that the substance was found in a storage facility routinely…