Author: News Room

Three-time champions Nigeria will discover their opponents for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Tuesday when the Confederation of African Football conducts the draw for the tournament to be jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. The qualifying draw will be held at the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association in Cairo ahead of the finals, which are scheduled to take place from June 19 to July 17, 2027. Tagged AFCON PAMOJA 2027, it will be the first edition in the competition’s history to be co-hosted by three countries. Nigeria won the tournament in…

KB Financial Group, the parent company of South Korea’s largest bank, KB Kookmin, completed a stablecoin pilot for offline payments and cross-border remittances through the Kaia blockchain.KB tested the lifecycle of a South Korean won-denominated stablecoin, including issuance, merchant settlement and remittances, with Kaia, electronic payments company KG Inicis and fintech firm OpenAsset, local outlet Yonhap reported.The stablecoin pilot adds to the growing list of legacy financial institutions in South Korea experimenting with stablecoins. In late April, one of the nation’s largest credit card providers, Shinhan Card, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation to test stablecoin payments.KB…

Actor Russell Andrews announced that he has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS. “I am a person living with ALS. I was diagnosed in the late fall of last year. It’s been humbling,” Andrews, 64, said during a Saturday, May 16, appearance on CNN’s The Story Is With Elex Michaelson alongside his fiancée, actress Erica Tazel. Andrews, whose credits include roles in Straight Outta Compton and Better Call Saul, said he first experienced symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease, which affects the brain and spinal cord, during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I thought I had a stroke during…

The Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, has signed into law a bill which the government says seeks to monitor and control foreign aid to opposition groups in the country but which the opposition says gives the government more powers to clamp down on the civic space. The country’s Presidential Press Unit (PPU) disclosed in a statement on Sunday that the legislation has been signed into law, according to Reuters. The bill, which Kampala claims seeks to wean the country from foreign influence, scaled through parliament only two weeks ago. It criminalises promoting foreign interests over Uganda’s interests, targeting local organisations and…

When countries begin to study your institutions, frameworks, and implementation systems, it means your ideas are starting to travel beyond your borders. Nigeria is gradually becoming more than a producer of successful startups. It is becoming a reference point for how African countries can organise digital innovation ecosystems. For years, I have watched Nigeria’s technology ecosystem exist inside a strange contradiction. International investors celebrated its energy, startups raised billions in funding, and Nigerian founders became regular faces on global innovation lists, yet at home the ecosystem was often reduced to conversations about poor infrastructure, inconsistent regulation, and economic instability. Now…

The Lagos State Government, on Monday, revealed that emergency response operations carried out across the state in 2025 helped save properties valued at N118.32 billion from fire incidents, while assets estimated at N19.72 billion were destroyed by various fire outbreaks within the same period. The disclosure was made by the Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, Mr Olugbenga Oyerinde, during the 2026 Ministerial Press Briefing held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, Ikeja. Oyerinde, while presenting the performance report of agencies under the ministry, stated that the figures demonstrated the increasing effectiveness of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue…

Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, has emerged as the consensus All Progressives Congress, APC, senatorial candidate for the Borno South Senatorial District election ahead of the 2027 general polls. Ndume disclosed this in a statement on Monday after he was returned unopposed through an affirmation process at the venue of the primary held in Maiduguri, Borno State capital. The lawmaker had emerged as a consensus candidate, as his main rival for the seat, Abdullahi Askira, last month withdrew voluntarily from the race. The Deputy Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly premised his decision not to contest for the ticket with…

One person has been killed and two others injured following a clash between armed men and residents of Unguwan Marke area in Munsal Ward, Liman Katagum District of Bauchi Local Government Area. The incident, which was contained in a post shared on X on Sunday night by security analyst, Zagazola Makama, was said to have occurred around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. According to the report, a group of armed men, allegedly posing as members of a hunters’ association, stormed the community and attempted to remove the roof of a building belonging to one Isah Garba from Balakum village in Alkaleri Local Government Area.…

Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand has commented on Xabi Alonso’s decision to become the next Chelsea manager. The Englishman expressed surprise regarding the choice made by Liverpool legend Alonso, who signed a four-year contract with the Blues. Alonso, who made 210 appearances for Liverpool, had a successful playing career at Anfield. He was part of the Reds’ memorable victory in the 2005 Champions League final held in Istanbul. Even though Alonso departed from Liverpool in 2009, the Merseyside club has always held a special place in his heart. Since establishing himself as a coach at the senior level, Alonso has…

The House of Representatives member representing Ekiti Central Federal Constituency II, Biodun Omoleye, on Monday rejected the result of the All Progressives Congress primary election for the constituency. Omoleye, who alleged “widespread irregularities, voter suppression, and intimidation during the exercise”, which he said subverted constituents’ wishes, promised that he would challenge the results to regain his mandate in a constitutional manner. The lawmaker, in a statement in Ado Ekiti on Monday by his Media Director, Gloria Femi-Ige, called on the party leadership at all levels “to urgently intervene and probe the alleged irregularities surrounding the conduct of the primary election.…