Author: Amina Mohammed

Novak Djokovic said Friday there was a chance he may have played his last Australian Open after retiring with a muscle tear in the semi-finals to leave his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam crown in tatters. The 37-year-old’s upper left leg was again heavily taped after hurting it in the quarter-finals and the Serb called it quits after losing the first set 7-6 (7/5) to Alexander Zverev. Djokovic left the court to a mixture of boos and applause as the German reached his first Melbourne final. “There is a chance. Who knows,” Djokovic said when asked if he…

Air pollution in the Thai capital forced the closure of more than 350 schools on Friday, city authorities said, as Bangkok was ranked the world’s seventh-most polluted major city by air quality monitor IQAir. Seasonal air pollution has long afflicted Thailand, like many countries in the region, but this week’s hazy conditions have shuttered most schools since 2020. “Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has closed 352 schools across 31 districts due to air pollution,” the authority said in a message shared on its official LINE group. On Thursday, more than 250 schools in Bangkok were closed due to pollution, as officials urged…

The Nigerian Labour Congress has called on telecommunication subscribers to “reject” the Federal Government’s new 50 per cent tariff hike. In a statement shared on its X handle, NLC wrote “Reject This Tariff.” The Federal Government approved a 50 per cent increase after operators initially requested a 100 per cent increase. The hike, the first in over a decade, is aimed at revitalising the struggling telecom sector, which contributes about 14 per cent to Nigeria’s economy. Responding to the development, NLC described the increment as a burden on Nigerians. It wrote“N16.50 per minute, calls costs increased from N11 per minute.…

A nascent socio-political group, Democrats for Justice, Equity and Fairness (DJEF) has alleged that certain interests in the National Assembly are pursuing devious plots against the immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, to discredit his personality. The DJEF in a statement signed by its publicity secretary, Dr John Hassan, and made available to newsmen in Abuja, said “there are devious plots being hatched by certain interests in the National Assembly to rubbish the achievements of Emmanuel as governor and bring his personality to a public odium”. The group noted that those behind these callous schemes have…

Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has reinstated Mr Jonathan Paragua Zamuna as the substantive Chief of Piriga Chiefdom in the Lere local government, in compliance with the judgement delivered by the Industrial Court in Kaduna. The monarch was sacked by the administration of Governor Nasir El-Rufai a few days before the end of the tenure following the recommendations from the state Ministry of Local Government Affairs which relied on section 11 of the Traditional Institutions Law No 21 of 2021. Not satisfied with his removal, the embattled chief approached the National Industrial Court for redress. On June 14, 2024,…

Elon Musk on Wednesday cast doubt on a $500 billion AI project announced by US President Donald Trump, saying the money promised for the investment actually wasn’t there. The comments were a rare instance of a split between the world’s richest man and Trump, with Musk playing a key role in the newly installed administration after spending $270 million on the election campaign. In his first full day in the White House, Trump on Tuesday announced a major investment to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence led by Japanese giant SoftBank and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. Trump said the venture, called Stargate, “will…

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday indicated he may impose fresh sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin refuses to negotiate a deal to end the war in Ukraine. “Sounds likely,” Trump told reporters at the White House, when asked if the United States would apply additional sanctions on Moscow if the Russian president did not come to the table. Prior to his inauguration on Monday, Trump vowed to end the Ukraine war immediately upon taking office, raising expectations he would leverage aid to force Kyiv to make concessions to Russia, which invaded in February 2022. In unusually critical remarks…

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has urged telecom operators to prioritise service improvements following the recent approval of a 50 per cent increase in telecommunications tariffs by the Nigerian Communications Commission. In a statement released on Wednesday via its official X handle, the FCCPC acknowledged the financial pressures faced by telecom operators due to rising operational costs but emphasised that consumer interests must remain central to any tariff adjustments. “We unequivocally state that consumer interests remain paramount,” the FCCPC said, stressing that any increase in telecom tariffs must lead to tangible improvements in the quality of service. The…

Angry students of the University of Ibadan in Oyo State have staged a peaceful protest against the 82-day power outage at the University College Hospital. UCH Ibadan is the teaching hospital where medical students from UI are trained. The teaching hospital has been experiencing a power outage since last year due to debts owed to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC). Addressing journalists, the President of the UI Student Union Government, Comrade  Bolaji Aweda, described the blackout as persistent, saying it has crumbled academic activities within the hospital and the university. He said the situation has lingered for over 82…

Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has announced a cash reward of N2m each to three best-graduating students of the Gateway Polytechnic, Saapade. Abiodun announced the cash reward at the 5th combined convocation of the Polytechnic held at the institution’s auditorium on Wednesday. The three students, who emerged best in their respective sessions, were Suliyat Yusuf for the 2023/2024 session, Victor Omontuhen for the 2022/2023 session, and Theresa Agu for the 2021/2022 session. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, also noted that his administration has earmarked N200m for education development across the state. The governor said, “Our…