Author: Amina Mohammed

The first human death from bird flu in the United States has intensified calls for the government to ramp up efforts to stave off the threat of another pandemic — particularly ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Health experts around the world have for months been urging US authorities to increase surveillance and share more information about its bird flu outbreak after the virus started spreading among dairy cows for the first time. On Monday, Louisiana health authorities reported that a patient aged over 60 was the country’s first person to die from bird flu. The patient,…

The Peoples Democratic Party has apologised following the incident in which one of its staff members, Emmanuel Okoronkwo, assaulted The SUN correspondent, Ndubuisi Orji. The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, expressed regret over the incident during a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday and assured all that the matter would be investigated. Recall that the PDP Press Corps condemned the assault on Orji, by Okoronkwo, a PDP staff member linked to the recently ousted PDP National Secretary, Sam Anyanwu, on Monday. The Chairman of the PDP Press Corps, Samuel Ogidan, in a statement, disclosed that the incident occurred at…

Social media giant Meta announced Tuesday a significant rollback of its content moderation policies, including the termination of its third-party fact-checking program in the United States. “We’re going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X (formerly Twitter), starting in the US,” Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on social media. Zuckerberg said that “fact checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the US.” Meta’s announcement repeated many of the complaints made by Republicans and X-owner Elon Musk about fact-checking…

The Labour Party on Tuesday, issued a seven-day ultimatum to President Bola Tinubu, urging him to reprimand and caution the All Progressives Congress spokesman, Felix Morka, over an alleged threat to its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi. The ultimatum follows a heated exchange between the ruling party and the Obidient Movement, sparked by concerns over the perceived threat to the former Anambra State governor’s life. The hostility was a fallout of Sunday’s interview on Arise Television, where Morka claimed that Obi has ‘crossed the line’ in his recent criticism of Tinubu’s administration. Morka claimed that Obi is desperately seeking to…

The Nigerian Police Force have announced the arrest of 751 suspects for cybercrime-related fraud in the year 2024. The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi who reeled out the score card explains that 14 convictions have been secured during the period under review with 508 cases. Adejobi also explains that a total of $840, 000 was recovered for victims of cyber crimes, while a total of N914 million, as well as a total of over $115,000, are frozen in different bank accounts and crypto wallets. A further breakdown of the report according to the force PRO includes the recovery of…

Britain plans to criminally charge people who create and share sexually explicit deepfake images to better protect women and girls, a minister said Tuesday. The government also plans to designate taking intimate images without consent and installing equipment to that end as new offences, with perpetrators facing up to two years in prison, the Ministry of Justice said. It is already an offence in the UK to share or threaten to share intimate images, including deepfakes. But currently, it is only an offence to create an image without consent in certain circumstances, such as so-called upskirting. Victims minister Alex Davies-Jones…

During a visit to Tokyo on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that ties with Japan were stronger than ever, days after President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel’s takeover of US Steel. Business groups say the move could have a chilling effect on Japan’s standing as the biggest foreign investor in the United States, just as Washington seeks closer relations to counter China. Two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and with Marco Rubio slated to replace Blinken, the top US diplomat recalled that he came to Japan on his first trip in 2021. The visits at…

Retired military personnel on Tuesday barricaded the entrance to the Ministry of Finance in Abuja with canopies and chairs, demanding the full payment of their long-overdue entitlements. This protest follows a similar action in December, during which the retirees shut down the ministry over the government’s failure to settle their claims. For months, the retirees were told there were no funds to clear their entitlements, despite an official approval for payment. They are owed a 20% to 28% salary increment covering January to November 2024. The retirees are also demanding payments for other outstanding benefits, including Palliatives for the period…

The United States Congress has officially certified Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, clearing the way for his return to the White House on January 20, 2025. The certification, which took place during a joint session of Congress on Monday, marked the final step in validating the Electoral College results from November’s election. According to Al-Jazeera, Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic rival in the race, oversaw the proceedings. The ceremony was brief and without incident, a stark contrast to the events of January 6, 2021, when a violent attack on the Capitol disrupted the certification of Trump’s…

A devastating earthquake in China’s remote Tibet region killed at least 53 people and collapsed “many buildings” on Tuesday, state media reported, with tremors also felt in neighbouring Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and parts of India. Videos published by China’s state broadcaster CCTV showed houses destroyed with walls torn apart. Rescue workers waded through rubble strewn across the ruins in the aftermath of the earthquake, footage showed, while some gave locals thick blankets to keep warm. Surveillance images published by CCTV showed people running through a store’s aisles as shelves shook violently, sending objects like toys tumbling to the ground. In…