On Monday at the EXCO Chambers in the Government House, Benin City, the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki officially sworn in Joseph Eboigbe as the new Secretary to the State Government (SSG). Before his new role, Eboigbe served as the Governor’s Special Adviser on Budget and Economic Planning and later as Commissioner for Finance. His appointment follows the resignation of Osarodion Ogie, who stepped down to pursue his political ambition as the deputy governorship candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the upcoming September 21 gubernatorial election. In his remarks, Governor Obaseki praised Eboigbe’s professional expertise, describing him as…
Author: Omolemi Eboisetale
Donald Trump will be interviewed Monday live on X by its billionaire owner Elon Musk — an influential supporter — as the Republican ex-president works to reignite online enthusiasm for his sagging White House campaign. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has emerged as a major voice in US politics but is accused of turning the platform formerly known as Twitter into a megaphone for right-wing conspiracy theories. “This is unscripted with no limits on subject matter, so should be highly entertaining!” 53-year-old Musk, who has an estimated net worth of $235 billion, posted in a preview of the interview on…
Russia on Sunday acknowledged Ukrainian troops had pierced deep into the Kursk border region in an offensive that a top official in Ukraine said aimed to “destabilise” Russia and “stretch” its armed forces. Kyiv has deployed thousands of troops to the surprise operation, a Ukrainian security official told AFP, seizing the battlefield initiative after months of slow Russian advances across the east. “We are on the offensive. The aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilise the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border,” the security official…
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has intensified its efforts to combat oil theft in the South-South region, successfully destroying 13 illegal refining sites in a recent operation. This operation, conducted along the Imo River, is part of a broader strategy to curtail the activities of economic saboteurs involved in oil theft and illegal refining. According to Air Vice Marshal Edward Gabkwet, the Director of Public Relations and Information for the Nigerian Air Force, the operation was carried out by personnel attached to Operation Delta Safe. The illegal refining sites were strategically located in challenging terrains, which the perpetrators exploited to…
Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement said an Israeli air strike on Sunday killed two fighters from the Iran-backed group, with the health ministry reporting another death from an attack days ago. Hezbollah has traded near-daily fire with Israel in support of its ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza. Tensions have skyrocketed since a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs late last month killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr, just hours before the assassination, blamed on Israel, of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. An “Israeli strike that targeted the village of…
President Joe Biden, in his first TV interview since dropping out of the White House race, warned that Republican candidate Donald Trump was “a genuine danger to American security.” “Mark my words, if he wins… this election, watch what happens,” Biden told CBS News in a pre-taped interview broadcast on Sunday. “He’s a genuine danger to American security. Look, we’re at an inflection point in world history… and democracy is the key.” Biden, 81, has kept a low profile since withdrawing after his flailing debate performance against Trump underlined fears about his age and mental abilities. In the short TV…
Turkey began unblocking Instagram Saturday evening after depriving access to millions of users for nine days. “Following our negotiations with representatives of Instagram, we will unblock access starting from 9:30 pm (1830 GMT) after they agreed to respond to our demands,” transport and infrastructure minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on X. Instagram access began to progressively return after that time, AFP reporters noted. “Since the beginning, we have wanted social media platforms to respect the laws of the Republic,” Uraloglu insisted. The platform had been blocked since the morning of August 2 for reasons that were never fully explained. Saturday evening…
Iran condemned a “barbaric” Israeli air strike on a school in Gaza housing displaced Palestinians that left dozens dead on Saturday, calling it a “war crime”. The attack showed once again that Israel “does not respect any of the rules and regulations of international law and moral and human principles,” foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement. He said the strike was “a clear example of the simultaneous perpetration of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity” by Israel. Kanani called for “firm action by Muslim and freedom-loving countries around the world to support the Palestinian nation and…
The control of Tuberculosis (TB) in Anambra State is being severely hindered by a lack of funding, according to Dr. Ugochukwu Chukwulobelu, the Manager of the Anambra State Tuberculosis, Leprosy, and Buruli Ulcer Control Program. Speaking at a recent Consultative Breakfast Meeting on Tuberculosis in Awka, Chukwulobelu highlighted the urgent need for increased financial support to combat the rising incidence of TB in the state. The event, organized by the Gender Perspective and Social Development Centre as part of the Fund TB Project, brought together stakeholders from the private sector and civil society. The project, implemented by five NGOs across…
Celine Dion took a jab at Donald Trump on Saturday for using at an election rally the song she wrote and sang for the disaster movie “Titanic,” about the ocean liner’s sinking. The Republican presidential candidate has been lampooned on social media after playing the 1997 track “My Heart Will Go On” at a rally in the US state of Montana on Friday, as a video of Dion performing the song was shown on a big screen. Dion’s management team and her record label, …. Sony Music Entertainment Canada, said in a statement on X the use of the song…
Twin jailbreaks in Bangladesh killed at least 12 inmates and freed hundreds more in the chaotic days after the ouster of autocratic premier Sheikh Hasina, officials told AFP Saturday. An interim government is struggling to restore law and order with police going on strike after Hasina’s sudden resignation and flight abroad after 15 years in power. This week’s prison escapes, both north of the capital Dhaka, are the latest in a series of breakouts during weeks of nationwide unrest leading up to her toppling. Six convicts were killed at Jamapur Prison on Thursday after prison guards were assaulted by escapees,…
North Korea will move more than 15,000 flood victims to the capital, state media said Saturday, as leader Kim Jong Un insisted recovery efforts would be “based on self-reliance” despite offers of aid from abroad. Pyongyang last week said a record downpour in late July had killed an unspecified number of people, flooded dwellings, and submerged swathes of farmland in its northern regions near China. On a visit to flood-hit Uiju on Friday, Kim said the government planned to accommodate around 15,400 flood victims from the northern region at facilities in the capital until their destroyed homes are rebuilt, according…