Author: News Room

For one month, the world will speak a common language: football. From the bustling streets of Lagos and Casablanca to the cafés of Buenos Aires, the boulevards of Paris and the plazas of Mexico City, billions of people will become part of the same conversation. They will celebrate together, argue together, dream together and suffer together. The FIFA World Cup is back, not just back, but transformed. The 2026 edition, hosted jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico, is the most ambitious World Cup in history. It is the first to feature 48 teams. The first to be staged…

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has ordered the grounding of a privately operated aircraft, and suspended the operator’s Permit for Non-Commercial Flight (PNCF) after it landed on a roadway near Asaba, before departing the area without regulatory clearance. The incident occurred on Wednesday morning in the Ogwashi-Uku area, close to Asaba Airport. In a statement by its director of public affairs and consumer protection, Michael Achimugu, the aviation industry regulator said preliminary information showed the aircraft encountered difficulties during an attempt to land at Asaba Airport, and subsequently executed a missed approach. “Reports from officials at the scene indicate…

The Director-General of the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT), Usman Aliyu, has said the private sector remains critical to strengthening healthcare systems and reducing Nigeria’s cancer burden. Mr Aliyu stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at a two-day Stakeholder Engagement and Capacity Building Programme organised by Innova Healthcare Nigeria Ltd., themed “Innova Healthcare Nigeria – Bringing the Total Oncology Solution.” He said meaningful progress in cancer control requires strategic partnerships, innovation, and sustained investment across the cancer care continuum, adding that collaboration is essential to improving access to quality treatment nationwide. The NICRAT boss described the engagement…

Popular actor Alex Ekubo’s final journey home began in Lagos on Wednesday, as scores of entertainers attended his service of songs. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the family announced burial arrangements for the actor, who died at 40 after battling advanced metastatic kidney cancer. His colleagues, friends, and dignitaries filled The Monarch Event Centre for the service of song, dressed in white as requested by the Ekubo family in the burial arrangements. Attendees included Funke Akindele, Kate Henshaw, Chioma Akpotha, Ebele Okaro, Nancy Isime, Ruth Kadiri, Nkechi Blessing, Stan Nze, Blessing Obasi, Ik Ogbonna, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, singer Chike, and socialite…

Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court, in Lagos, on Wednesday ordered the remand of popular social media influencer and self-styled relationship therapist, Blessing Okoro, fondly called Blessing CEO, in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service pending the commencement of her trial on September 24, 2026. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arraigned Okoro on a six-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence, forgery, possession of false documents, fraudulent conversion and retention of proceeds of alleged unlawful activities amounting to N13m. At the proceedings, EFCC counsel, H.U. Kofanaisa, informed the court that the anti-graft agency had…

Tension flared at the Ifo Local Government Secretariat on Wednesday as angry residents rejected assurances by the council chairman, Mr Olamilekan Kushimo, that the evacuation of a controversial dumpsite in the area would take time, insisting that urgent action was needed to avert a public health crisis. The protesters, carrying placards with various inscriptions, marched from the NNPC filling station to the council secretariat, briefly disrupting traffic on the old Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. Residents said the dumpsite had become a major health hazard and had contributed to the deterioration of the only access road linking the expressway to more than 80…

First City Monument Bank Limited has appointed Bismarck Rewane as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of its Board of Directors following approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria. It stated in a statement that the appointment brings one of Nigeria’s leading economists to the board of the lender as it seeks to strengthen its governance and strategic leadership. Rewane has more than 40 years of experience spanning macroeconomic research, investment banking and strategic management. He is the Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, a financial advisory and economic research firm. A Fellow of the Nigerian Economic Society, Rewane previously…

Galatasaray president Dursun Özbek has shut the door firmly on any summer departure for Super Eagles captain Victor Osimhen, insisting the club have no intention of selling the Nigerian striker despite growing interest from some of Europe’s most powerful clubs. Özbek delivered his clearest statement yet on the matter in an interview with Sabah, acknowledging that elite interest in Osimhen was natural given his performances, but making the club’s position unambiguous and added that the striker is happy in Turkey. “It is very natural for every successful player at Galatasaray to be on the radar of major European clubs. “This…

Advisers to some of the largest financial institutions are taking more of an interest in stablecoins and tokenization than in Bitcoin, which could help pull crypto out of its current slump, said Bitwise investment chief Matt Hougan.Hougan said in a note on Wednesday that he recently spoke with more than 40 advisers who were “still interested in crypto” but are “more interested today in stablecoins and tokenization than they are in Bitcoin.”“It was pretty hard to engage with advisors on Bitcoin this week,” he said. “In call after call, they expressed much more curiosity over the real-world applications of crypto…

Marcia Cross gave fans an inside look at the recent Desperate Housewives reunion in Paris. “I will never be able to express how absolutely moved I was and still am by the tsunami of love that poured out of everyone at the convention,” the actress, 64, wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, June 10. “ Each and every one of you touches me with your hearts and souls. And the reunion with our cast mates was sheer heaven.” Cross, who played Bree Van de Kamp on Desperate Housewives for eight seasons, was one of the several stars who attended the fan…