The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has increased the fees for 32-page five-year and 64-page 10-year travel passports. In a statement on Thursday, Immigration spokesman, A.S. Akinlabi, said the reviewed fees would take effect from September 1, 2025. The new fees, which take effect from September 1, 2025, are about 100% increment over the old fe es. “The review, which only affects Passport Application fees made in Nigeria, now sets a new fee threshold for 32-page passports with 5-year validity at N100,000 and 64-page passports with 10-year validity at N200,000. “Meanwhile, Nigerian Passport Application fees made by Nigerians in diaspora remain unchanged at $150 for a 32-page passport with 5-year validity and $230 for a 64-page passport with 10-year validity,” Akinlabi said. The Service reiterated its commitment to balancing quality service delivery with the need to ensure Passport services are accessible to all Nigerians. With Nigeria’s unemployment rate at a new record high, the mass...

A shooting at a school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has killed two people and injured about 20, a United States Department of Justice official says. The shooter is also dead, the official says. Minneapolis police said earlier that they responded to a shooting at a Catholic church and school in the south end of the city on Wednesday, and authorities added that the shooter had been “contained”. “I’ve been briefed on a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and will continue to provide updates as we get more information,” Governor Tim Walz wrote on X. The shooting comes after a wave of false reports of active shooters at college campuses around the US as students return from summer break. “I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence,” Walz said without providing details on potential victims. “There is no active threat to the community at this time. The shooter is contained,” the City of Minneapolis said. “The families of chi...

Norway has opened the world’s first commercial carbon storage service, with the Northern Lights consortium — led by Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies — injecting CO₂ beneath the North Sea seabed. Captured emissions are liquefied, shipped to the Oygarden terminal, and piped 2.6km underground for permanent storage. The first injection came from Heidelberg Materials’ cement plant in Brevik. Northern Lights, largely state-funded, has signed three contracts in Europe and can store 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂ annually, with capacity projected to rise to five million tonnes by 2030. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is used for industrial applications like producing fertilizers and synthetic fuels, as well as in the food and beverage industry for carbonation and food preservation. It also serves as a coolant (dry ice), a fire extinguisher, a medical gas, and in greenhouses to boost plant growth. Furthermore, it's used for welding, metal fabrication, and to enhance oil recovery, with future applications i...

South Africa's opposition leader, Julius Malema,  who is also the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), paid a courtesy visit to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at Lagos House, Marina, on Saturday, August 23, 2025 . “Today, I received Mr. Julius Malema, President of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters, on a courtesy visit at Lagos House, Marina,” Sanwo-Olu stated in a post on his official X handle on Saturday night. The governor also shared photos from the visit. The EFF, in a post on its official X handle on Sunday, said Malema was expected to address the Nigerian Bar Association during the association’s annual general conference in Enugu on Sunday, August 24, 2025. The event is scheduled to be held at the Enugu State International Conference Centre, Enugu. The South African opposition leader had in May vowed to keep using controversial chants that featured in a contentious White House meeting between the US President Donald Trump and South Africa’s Presiden...

  The Federal Government of Nigeria is presently considering a loan funding of $238 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to expand Nigeria’s national electricity grid network, especially the transmission segment of the power value chain. This was part of the outcome of deliberations at the just-concluded Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) in Yokohama, Japan, where the Nigerian delegation was led by President Bola Tinubu, and attended by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and others. The national delegation held high-level engagements with Japanese stakeholders, including Toshiba, Hitachi, Japan’s Transmission & Distribution Corporation, and Energy Exchange corporations, focusing on transmission infrastructure, operational efficiency, and strategies to reduce system losses. The proposed loan was built on the recent Federal Executive Council (FEC) approvals for counterpart funding of ₦19 billion to catalyse a loan ...

President Donald Trump said he plans to patrol Washington’s streets on Thursday with troops he deployed to the US capital in a show of force against what he claims is a “crime emergency.” Trump ordered hundreds of National Guard to deploy in Washington last week vowing to “take our capital back,” despite protests by some residents and statistics showing violent offenses falling. “I’m going to be going out tonight I think with the police and with the military of course… We’re going to be doing a job,” the Republican told Todd Starnes, a host for right-wing media outlet Newsmax. He spoke one day after his vice president, JD Vance, was greeted by boos and shouts of “Free DC” — referring to the District of Columbia — on his own meet-and-greet with troops deployed in the city. The DC National Guard has mobilized 800 troops for the mission, while Republican states Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia are sending a total of around 1,200 more. Reports sugge...

  Uganda has reached a deal with the United States to take in migrants deported from the US. This was confirmed by Uganda's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, August 21, 2025, according to multiple news reports. However, the agreement comes with specific conditions: Uganda will only accept deported migrants who do not have criminal records. Unaccompanied minors will not be accepted under the agreement. Uganda has expressed a preference for individuals of African nationalities to be the ones transferred to Uganda under the agreement. The agreement is a temporary arrangement for "third-country nationals who may not be granted asylum in the United States but are reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their countries of origin", according to Uganda's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The detailed modalities of how the agreement will be implemented are still being worked out. Migrants deported from the US may be reluctant to return to their home countries du...

The US State Department, under the Trump administration, has revoked more than 6,000 student visas this yea.  The revocations have sparked debate and concerns about the potential impact on the US's ability to attract international talent and maintain its global leadership in higher education. Rubio, to the delight of President Donald Trump’s right-wing base, has proudly moved against students using an obscure law that allows him to rescind visas for people deemed to counter US foreign policy interests. The Trump administration has also more broadly sought mass deportations of people in the United States illegally. “The State Department has revoked over 6,000 student visas for overstays and law violations, the vast majority being assault, DUI, burglary and support for terrorism,” a State Department official said. The official said that about 4,000 of the visas were for violations of the law. The State Department did not break down the visas by nationality. Rubio has vowed to be aggr...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is at the White House today, Monday, August 18, 2025. He is meeting with President Donald Trump and a delegation of European leaders to discuss the ongoing war with Russia and efforts towards a peace agreement. This meeting follows Trump's recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The discussions are focusing on potential security guarantees for Ukraine and the possibility of land concessions to Russia in exchange for peace, according to reports. This marks Zelenskyy's first visit to the White House since a heated meeting in February. Several European leaders are at the White House today, August 18, 2025, accompanying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for talks with President Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine. The European leaders include: Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary-General. Keir Starmer, British Prime Minister. Friedrich Merz, German Chancellor. Em...

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded a summit in Alaska on August 15, 2025, without reaching a deal to end the war in Ukraine After an abrupt ending to three hours of talks with aides, Trump and Putin offered warm words but took no questions from reporters — highly unusual for the media-savvy US president. “We’re not there yet, but we’ve made progress. There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said. He called the meeting “extremely productive” with “many points” agreed, although he did not offer specifics. “There are just a very few that are left; some are not that significant, one is probably the most significant,” Trump said without elaborating. Putin also spoke in general terms of cooperation in a joint press appearance that lasted just 12 minutes. “We hope that the understanding we have reached will… pave the way for peace in Ukraine,” Putin said. As Trump mused about a second meeting, Putin smiled and said in English: “Next time in Moscow.” T...

By Oluseye Arowolo, Ibadan -Nigeria. A Nigerian based in Canada, who is a trained nurse by profession and a gospel singer, Evangelist Rachael Owojori bares her mind on why she combine being a nurse with singing to win souls for Jesus Christ, embarking on Humanitarian services, her experience with music promoters among other vital issues. Rachael Owojori is an household name in gospel music circle both in Nigeria and in diaspora. According to her, the two main purpose of being a gospel singer is to win souls for Jesus Christ and give back to the society, especially, the less privileged through humanitarian services unlike other singers who cherish amassing wealth by building mansions and riding exotic cars. Rachael Owojori revealed that she has dedicate her life to putting smile on the faces of the less privileged and evangelize through her ministration in social gathering, concerts and churches. Recently, she featured in series of gospel singer in Canada and other countries. Speaking a...