Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka powered into her fourth Australian Open final in a row with a dominant win over Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina on Thursday in a politically charged encounter. There was no handshake afterwards as top-ranked Sabalenka triumphed 6-2, 6-3 and faces either Elena Rybakina or Jessica Pegula for her third Melbourne title. It denied the […]
The United Kingdom has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting ongoing efforts to strengthen security, peacebuilding and institutional resilience in Nigeria. A high-level event began on Tuesday in Abuja, organised by the Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiNG) Programme, which brought together senior government officials, security agencies, programme partners, and civil society leaders to review […]
Kyiv said on Thursday that it had received from Russia 1,000 remains of people that Moscow said were Ukrainian soldiers killed fighting the Kremlin’s army. The exchange of prisoners of war and the remains of killed soldiers is one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow, which invaded Ukraine in February […]
The Federal Fire Service (FFS) saved 2,106 lives and N934.70 billion worth of property in different fire incidents across Nigeria in 2025, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. The statistics were made available to NAN on Thursday in Abuja by FFS Deputy Controller-General, Ijeoma Achi-Okidi, who is in charge of Policy, Planning, Research and […]
A burst of heavy gunfire and explosions erupted early on Thursday near the international airport in Niger’s capital Niamey before halting within hours, residents told AFP. Videos filmed by residents of the area showed streaks of light in the sky with the sound of loud explosions, while other images showed flames several metres high and […]
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday warned striking staff of the Federal Capital Territory Administration to return to work immediately or face legal action, following a National Industrial Court ruling ordering an end to the strike that has disrupted public services in Abuja for over a week. Briefing journalists shortly […]
Key opposition figures on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), including Atiku Abubakar, David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, met in Abuja yesterday for a book launch that doubled as an early show of force, signalling growing unity against the ruling APC ahead of 2027. The event was the public presentation of ‘The Loyalist’, […]
Northern leaders have disagreed with the federal and state governments over amnesty being granted to terrorists who have turned the region into a killing field. The leaders’ angst is coming against the backdrop of plans by Katsina State governor, Dikko Radda, to grant amnesty to 70 terrorists, as part of an agreement reached between the […]
The Borno State acting Governor, Umar Kadafur has signed a N892.4 billion budget for the 2026 appropriation bill passed by the State House of Assembly into law. Governor Babagana Zulum had initially presented a budget of N890.3 billion to the Assembly on 29 December 2025 for this fiscal year, which was subsequently increased by N2.37 […]
President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve a bill seeking to amend the Court of Appeal Act to increase the number of justices from 70 to 110, as part of reforms aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s appellate justice system. The request was conveyed in a letter addressed to the President of the Senate, Senator […]
The Federal Government has released N50 billion from the N200 billion Needs Assessment Fund (NAF) promised under its recent agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said additional N50 billion would be released soon, bringing the total disbursement to N100 billion. Meanwhile, former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) of […]
An interim investigation report into the alleged coup plot against President Bola Tinubu’s government has revealed that a clandestine network of military officers coordinated by an Army Colonel (name withheld) had planned the takeover, with funding, recruitment, and operational planning traced directly to him. The report, sighted by The PUNCH on Tuesday, indicated that the […]