Author: News Room

The Africa Cup of Nations will break new ground on Friday when Angola and Zimbabwe meet in the competition’s first-ever Boxing Day fixture, as Group B action continues at the Stade de Marrakech in Morocco, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. The meeting between the Red Devils and the Warriors comes amid a tournament already steeped in history, with the 2025 edition becoming the first AFCON to begin in December since the competition was founded in 1957. It is only the second time the continental showpiece has featured December fixtures, following the 1963 tournament in Ghana, which concluded on December 1. In…

Last week, a devastating fire engulfed Gombe’s Kasuwar Katako Timber Market, destroying shops and goods worth an estimated N600m and leaving at least 60 traders facing sudden economic hardship, writes CHIMA AZUBUIKE The smell of burnt timber still hung thick in the air as dawn broke over the Railway Station axis of Gombe metropolis. What only hours earlier had been a bustling commercial hub supplying wood and building materials to Gombe State and much of the North-East was reduced to blackened ruins, twisted zinc sheets and smouldering heaps of ash. The inferno that swept through the popular Gombe Timber Market,…

X’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, makes the social media platform more truth-friendly with responses that oppose users who turn to it to confirm political biases, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said.“The easy ability to call Grok on Twitter is probably the biggest thing after community notes that has been positive for the truth-friendliness of this platform,” Buterin said on Thursday. ”The fact that you don’t see ahead of time how Grok will respond is key here,” he added. “I’ve seen many situations where someone calls on Grok expecting their crazy political belief to be confirmed and Grok comes along and rugs them.”Buterin…

Love Is Blind season 3 stars Alexa and Brennon Lemieux celebrated Christmas together amid their ongoing divorce. Alexa, 31, shared photos of the pair’s festivities to her Instagram Stories on Thursday, December 25. In the pics, their daughter, Vienna, wore themed holiday pajamas and sat in front a mountain of wrapped presents. After opening her gifts, Vienna cuddled up to dad Brennon, 35, for another social media pic. Alexa and Brennon, who got married in June 2021 after appearing on season 3 of the pod experiment, announced their separation earlier this month. Related: What to Know About Love Is Blind’s…

The presidency has announced that Femi Gbajabiamila remains the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu and has not been replaced. Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said this in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES. Read the full statement below. The attention of the presidency has been drawn to a viral falsehood circulating on social media suggesting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has replaced his Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, with his Principal Private Secretary, Hakeem Muri-Okunola. There is absolutely no truth to this story. We advise Nigerians to disregard it entirely. The Chief of Staff remains in his position.…

The Presidency has denied a widely circulating report that President Bola Tinubu has replaced his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila with his Principal Private Secretary, Hakeem Muri-Okunola. It described the report as false, urging Nigerians to disregard such claims. A statement by Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, said Gbajabiamila and Okunola still retainsl their positions. The statement read: “The attention of the Presidency has been drawn to a viral falsehood circulating on social media suggesting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has replaced his Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, with his Principal Private Secretary, Hakeem Muri-Okunola. “There is absolutely no truth…

A team of Nigerian Immigration Service personnel in Jigawa State has intercepted six suspected trafficking victims at the Babura Plantation Border Patrol Base, foiling an attempt to smuggle them to Europe via Libya and Niger Republic. Arewa PUNCH recalls that only recently, the Jigawa NAPTIP Command warned residents to be cautious of criminals exploiting innocent and unsuspecting individuals who, during the festive period, disguise their travel gesture as opportunities abroad, but which often leads to human trafficking. Our correspondent gathered that the suspects were attempting to cross the border undetected, but the vigilant NIS officers thwarted their plans. According to…

A teenager identified as Chidera has been killed during a suspected robbery attack in the Mmiata Anam area of Anambra State. The incident reportedly occurred on Monday. An anti-cultism advocacy platform, Naija Confra, stated in a post on Thursday that Chidera was allegedly accosted by a group of boys said to be from the Umuoba community. The platform further stated that the assailants reportedly demanded money from him and attempted to rob him. He was, however, said to have been killed in the course of the attack. “Earlier today, Naija Confra reported an incident in Mmiata Anam, Anambra State, where…

If Lagos were a person, she would be wearing a N5m sequined gown while standing under the golden glow of a thousand festive lights, outshining the stars themselves. This December, the city has reached its annual fever pitch. From the newly cleared construction lanes of the Eti-Osa/Lekki-Epe Expressway to the strobe-lit inner sanctums of Victoria Island, the “Detty December” machine is in full throttle. We are dancing on the edge of a N58tn budget, trying to drown out the “Budget of Restoration” with the heavy bass of Afrobeat concerts. As the diaspora returns with Houston-tinged accents, London road-slang, or even…

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria has renewed its call for the privatisation of Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries, urging the Federal Government to transparently conclude the process by the first quarter of 2026. The association said the timely privatisation of the refineries operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited would eliminate the recurring fiscal burden on the government, improve operational efficiency, attract private capital and technical expertise, and align Nigeria’s refining sector with global best practices. In a statement, the PETROAN National President, Billy Gillis-Harry, said sustained public funding of the refineries has failed to deliver…