Author: Editor

AN annual international competition for the Holy Quran is due to begin Friday in Saudi Arabia with a pool of prizes worth SR4 million (N800 million). The 43rd edition of the International King Abdulaziz Competition for the Holy Quran memorisation, recitation and interpretation, will take place at the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site in Mecca, for 11 days with the participation of contestants from 117 countries. The event is organised by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance and held under the auspices of King Salman bin Abdulaziz. This year’s competition has seen the value of its total…

THE Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), has elected Dr. Sule Yau Sule of Image Merchants Promotion alongside 16 others as members of the Governing Council of the Institute. The members were elected at the end of the Institute’ Annual General Meeting in Abuja. The Institute is run by a 22-member Governing Council made up of 17 elected members and 5 nominees of the Federal Government. The Spokesperson’s Digest, a publication of PRNigeria reports that the elected members would form an Electoral College to elect the President and Vice President, who are to also double as Chairman and Vice Chairman of…

DOZENS of Afghan women granted scholarships to study in the United Arab Emirates have been blocked from leaving Afghanistan, one of the women told AFP on Thursday, following outcry from their Emirati sponsor. Laila, 22, was one of around 30 women who had been sponsored to study in the UAE by prominent Emirati businessman Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, but were stopped from departing on their flights from Kabul airport on Wednesday. Women and girls were banned from attending high school and university in Afghanistan after Taliban authorities took control of the country in August 2021. “It was our only hope…

VLADIMIR Putin has broken his silence over Yevgeny Prigozhin’s reported death – some 24 hours after the Wagner chief’s private jet crashed. Russia’s president said the head of the mercenary group was a “talented person” who “made serious mistakes in life”. Mr Putin also sent condolences to the families of all 10 people said to be on board the plane that went down north-west of Moscow on Wednesday evening. However, he stopped short of explicitly confirming Prigozhin’s death. From the moment the plane came down, there has been frenzied speculation about what caused the deadly crash and whether Prigozhin was…

POLICE in Zimbabwe have arrested 41 election monitors for allegedly trying to disrupt the voting process. Those being held, from civil society groups, were allegedly co-ordinating the release of results from Wednesday’s general election, police say. They are being charged with breaking electoral law, their lawyers say. Civil society groups have tried to do their own vote count to compare results with the official tally in light of disputes over past election results. The 41 are being accused of attempting to announce results before the state elections body – who by law are the only ones who can declare a…

SOMALIA’s ban on TikTok, which is set to take effect on Friday evening, has outraged many users who make a living off the app. The self-proclaimed “president of Somali TikTokers” is nervous about his financial future. Bilaal Bulshaawi, one of the prominent faces on Somali social media, says the app has totally transformed his life. “Before, there were many times when I couldn’t afford to pay for a tuk-tuk ride but now I drive a car and enjoy my luxury lifestyle. I travel to different Somali regions for tourism,” Bilaal told the BBC. He started using the platform when he…

DEFENDING world titleholder Tobi Amusan, on Wednesday, qualified for the final of the 100m hurdles event at the ongoing World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Running in lane seven, Amusan won the second semi-final despite having a slow start. She is now looking all fired up for Thursday’s final race and defend the title she won last year in Oregon. Amusan was only cleared to run last week over an alleged breaking of the anti-doping rules but the Nigerian came through as a semi-final winner in 12.56sec. She was pushed all the way by young Jamaican Ackera Nugent, who enjoyed an…

CHELSEA, Inter Milan and Monaco have all enquired about signing Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun. Arsenal’s valuation of the 22-year-old, believed to be in the region of £50m, has meant that Chelsea have not made an offer as things stand. French side Monaco have reportedly had a bid rejected by Arsenal, with Serie A club Inter also interested. The American enjoyed an excellent campaign on loan at Ligue 1 side Reims last season, scoring 22 goals. Arsenal would be willing to let Balogun leave if a suitable offer was made, with the forward seemingly not a part of manager Mikel Arteta’s…

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he was “not surprised” at news that Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, may have died in a plane crash in Russia. “I don’t know for a fact what happened, but I’m not surprised,” Biden said. “There’s not much that happens in Russia that (President Vladimir) Putin is not behind,” Biden told reporters after taking an exercise class with his family near Lake Tahoe. “But I don’t know enough to know the answer” of what may have happened to the powerful former Putin henchman, he said. Prigozhin’s name was on the…

AT least 26 people have been killed and more are feared missing after a railway bridge under construction collapsed in north-eastern India, officials said. The incident occurred near the town of Sairang, in the state of Mizoram. Up to 40 workers were at the site when part of the bridge collapsed, according to local media reports. The cause of the incident is not yet clear and the railway authority has opened an investigation. Three people have so far been rescued. That includes an injured worker who had to be brought down from the top of one of the bridge’s 100m-high…

HEAVY clashes continue around a strategic army base in the Sudanese capital Khartoum as the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fight amid raging conflict. The army said in a statement posted on its Facebook page on Tuesday night that it repelled yet another attack by RSF fighters on the Armoured Corps military base in the Al-Shajara area, south of Khartoum, and inflicted heavy losses on the paramilitary force. For its part, the RSF claimed to have taken control of parts of the base and captured large quantities of weaponry, in a statement it shared…

THE European Union has launched a new air bridge carrying humanitarian supplies to the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), where millions of people are facing hunger. The bloc said almost 200 tonnes of food, medicine and other supplies were being flown to the regional capital, Goma. A similar operation took place earlier this year. Almost six million people have been displaced in the eastern DR Congo, where fighting between government forces and rebel groups has intensified. Aid workers have warned they’re close to being unable to provide humanitarian support because of a lack of funding, accusing…

WAGNER boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list of a plane which crashed in Russia, killing all 10 on board. He was believed to be on board the plane. Earlier, a Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone reported that the jet was shot down by air defences in Tver region, north of Moscow. Prigozhin led a failed mutiny against the Russian armed forces in June. Prigozhin is the head of the Wagner mercenary group, which he established in 2014. A wealthy businessman with a criminal record, he was known as “Putin’s chef” because he provided catering for the Kremlin. In…

SERENA Williams has given birth to her second daughter, her husband announced Tuesday, adding that both were “happy & healthy” after the difficult birth of the tennis star’s first child left her fighting for her life. “I’m grateful to report that our house is teaming with love: a happy & healthy newborn girl and happy & healthy mama,” her husband, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, posted on Instagram alongside a photograph of himself with a beaming Williams hugging both her daughters. Addressing his 41-year-old wife, he told her she had “given me another incomparable gift — you’re the GMOAT,” a new…

A POPULAR airport in France will be renamed in honour of Queen Elizabeth II after receiving permission from the King, officials in the town have said. Le Touquet, in northern France, received the blessing from the King on Monday, its town hall said. Touquet-Paris-Plage airport will be Elizabeth II Le Touquet-Paris-Plage International Airport. The town hall said the tribute to the “Great Queen” would also recognise the “most British of French resorts”. A date for the inauguration has not been set. It comes after the original proposal was made to the British Crown six days after the death of the…

A BUS transporting mostly Venezuelan migrants crashed in central Mexico on Tuesday, leaving at least 15 people dead and 36 injured, authorities said. The vehicle collided with a trailer on a highway connecting the states of Puebla and Oaxaca, the Puebla government said on social media platform X, formerly called Twitter. “Unfortunately 15 people lost their lives and 36 more were injured,” it said. Oaxaca Governor Salomon Jara said that he had instructed authorities in the southern state to provide support to the injured. “We send a hug and our condolences to the families of the deceased,” he wrote on…

ZIMBABWEANS are going to the polls in presidential and parliamentary elections after a campaign dominated by the country’s soaring inflation. The day has been declared a public holiday to allow the 6.62 million registered voters a chance to vote. President Emmerson Mnangagwa faces 10 challengers, including Nelson Chamisa of the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC). A presidential candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to win. If there is no outright victor, a presidential run-off will be held in six weeks on 2 October. It is first election since the death of Robert Mugabe, the man who…

A QURAN – neatly handwritten more than 200 years ago by an Indonesian imam who had been banished to the southern tip of Africa by Dutch colonisers – is the pride of Cape Town Muslims who jealously guard it at a mosque in the city’s historic Bo Kaap district. Builders found it in a paper bag in the Auwal Mosque’s attic, while they were breaking it down as part of renovations in the mid-1980s. Researchers believe that Imam Abdullah ibn Qadi Abdus Salaam, affectionately known as Tuan Guru, or Master Teacher, wrote the Quran from memory at some point after…

GARY Neville says Manchester United’s handling of the Mason Greenwood investigation has been “pretty horrible” and lacked strong leadership. Greenwood, 21, will leave the club by mutual agreement after a six-month internal investigation. It came after charges against the player, including attempted rape and assault, were dropped in February. “It was clear from day one that he wouldn’t play for Manchester United again,” said former defender Neville. Speaking on Sky Sports Monday Night Football, Neville, 48, who made 602 appearances for United, added: “The process in getting there has been pretty horrible. When you have significant situations, and difficult situations…

FORMER prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has returned to Thailand after 15 years in exile, hours ahead of a vote that determines who will be the country’s next leader. Thailand’s most successful elected leader has long been feared by conservative royalists, who have backed military coups and contentious court cases to weaken him. But now the brash, politically-ambitious telecoms tycoon is back, presumably after striking a quiet deal with the same men who unseated his party in a 2014 coup to keep him out of prison. He has sentences of up to 10 years outstanding from criminal cases he says were…