Diamond Celebrities

Lionel Messi clinched his sixth Ballon d’Or award on Monday after yet another scintillating season for the Argentine. The 32-year-old saw off competition from the likes of Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk to win the prestigious accolade, which is voted for by journalists. Messi won the award for the first […]

Nine people are dead after a plane crashed shortly after takeoff Saturday in Chamberlain, South Dakota, authorities said. Among the nine dead are two children and the pilot, Brule County States Attorney Theresa Maule Rossow said in a statement. There were 12 people on the plane. The three survivors were taken to Sioux Falls for […]

The biggest challenge to Nigeria is “…from the mindsets and entities rooted in the idea of violence as a means to change,” a presidential aide has said. Garba Shehu, spokesperson to President Muhammad Buhari, said this in a statement Sunday night. Mr Shehu said he was reacting to a statement by a former military chief, […]

People in China are now required to have their faces scanned when registering new mobile phone services, as the authorities seek to verify the identities of the country’s hundreds of millions of internet users. The regulation, announced in September, was due to come into effect Sunday. The government says it wants to “protect the legitimate […]

A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, lost her ability to speak and subsequently fell into a coma due to the complications of the cancer she had, her husband has said. Diezani’s husband, Rear Admiral Alison Madueke (retd.), said this in his recently published book titled, ‘Riding the Storms with God on My Side’. […]

The Federal Government has re-assured Nigerians of its commitment towards ending HIV/AIDS by the year 2030, in line with the global target. The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire said at a press conference organised to mark this year’s World AIDS Day in Abuja that  government had redoubled its efforts to reduce the spread of […]

The First Lady, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, has alerted that things are getting out of hand in the country, noting that her husband alone cannot handle the challenges of the nation and admonished the political class to work together to bail the country of out of the challenges. She also berated state governors for failing to […]

President Muhammadu Buhari will begin a two-legged trip out of Abuja on Friday (today), first to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea,  for a summit and another five-day visit to his country home, Daura, in Katsina State. He will be away till Wednesday next week. The Presidency explained on Thursday that Buhari would be in Malabo to attend […]

The All Progressives Congress has distanced itself from the suit seeking an amendment of the Constitution to allow President Muhammadu Buhari run for a third term in office. Charles Enya reportedly filed the suit (FHC/AI/CS/90/19) before a federal high court in Abakiliki, Ebonyi State. The ruling party said the suit filed by  Enya, “a self […]

The house of representatives has approved the request by President Muhammadu Buhari to increase value added tax (VAT) from 5 percent to 7.5 percent. The lower legislative chamber approved the request during Thursday’s plenary session. Buhari sent the finance bill in October. The senate also passed the bill a week ago amid opposition from some lawmakers. The […]

The FCT Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ayuba Gora, says driving with the aid of Google map using mobile phones is a serious traffic offence. Mr Gora said this at the inauguration of the 2019 Ember Months Campaign by Lugbe Unit Command of the FRSC in Abuja on Wednesday. According to […]

Three men falsely convicted of murder in the US state of Maryland have been set free after 36 years in prison. Alfred Chestnut, Andrew Stewart and Ransom Watkins had been sentenced to life in 1984 for killing a 14-year-old boy a year earlier. They were freed in Baltimore on Monday after a judge cleared their […]

Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, says his journey battling cancer has been uncomfortable but easy. The literary icon was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014 when he went for a routine checkup. Speaking to BBC, Soyinka said the disease was discovered in its early stage so it was easy to control and treat. He said he […]

A passenger plane had to make an emergency landing in Russia after one of its pilots suffered a heart attack and later died. The Aeroflot flight, which was en route from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Anapa on Sunday, made an emergency landing at Platov International Airport in Rostov-on-Don, according to Russian state news agency […]