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World Bank Approves $632m Loan for Nigeria.

The World Bank has approved new loans totaling $632 million to support key sectors in Nigeria, including nutrition and basic education, despite growing concerns over the country’s rising debt. According to the bank’s website, the loans include $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project and $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All program. Both were officially approved on Monday as part of the World Bank’s broader strategy to aid Nigeria’s development in healthcare, education, and community resilience. The funding aims to enhance nutrition outcomes and improve access to quality education for Nigerian children. This follows the World Bank’s approval of a separate $500 million loan on March 28, 2025, for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme, which seeks to strengthen livelihoods, food security, and financial support for vulnerable households and businesses.

UK to Increase Visa Fees Starting April 9

Our Reporters5 days ago5 days ago01 mins

The United Kingdom has announced a visa fee increase from April 9, affecting multiple categories, including study, visit, sponsorship, and transit visas. Under the revised fees, a six-month tourist visa will now cost £127, up from £115—a nearly 7% increase. The cost of a two-year visitor visa has risen from £432 to £475, while five-year and ten-year visitor visas now cost £848 and £1,059, respectively. Students and their dependents will also see a 10% hike, with the previous £490 fee increasing to £524. Transit visa fees have also been adjusted, with air passengers now paying £39 instead of £35, and land travellers paying £70 instead of £64. The increases extend to visa extensions, skilled worker visas, naturalisation, and electronic travel authorisations (ETAs). However, premium services such as fast tracks and premium sponsorships remain unchanged. The fee adjustments come as part of the UK government’s broader efforts to manage immigration numbers.

Tony Elumelu Bags IMF Appointment

Our Reporters5 days ago5 days ago03 mins

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appointed Heirs Holdings Founder and Group Chair, Tony Elumelu, to its Advisory Council on Entrepreneurship and Growth, convened by IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva. Elumelu, Africa’s leading advocate of entrepreneurship whose Foundation has funded, mentored and trained over 25,000 African entrepreneurs since 2015, champions entrepreneurship as the engine for the economic transformation of Africa. The Advisory Council comprises global business leaders, policymakers, and academics, dedicated to identifying and addressing regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. The council’s mandate is to recommend policies that enhance resource allocation, stimulate innovation, and catalyse sustainable private sector-led economic growth. Elumelu will be instrumental in ensuring that Africa’s entrepreneurial potential is central to global economic policymaking. A self-made entrepreneur, Elumelu’s embracing of entrepreneurship is fundamental to his concept of Africapitalism, his belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development, making long-term investments, that deliver social and economic value. Other members of the Council include: Harberger Professor of Economics, University of Chicago, Professor Ufuk Akcigit; Saudi Ambassador to the United States, HRH Ambassador Reema Bandar Al-Saud; Chair, CEO, and Co-Founder of Salesforce, Mr. Marc Benioff; Executive Chair, Banco Santander, Ms. Ana Botín; Chairman, Tata Group, Mr. Natarajan Chandrasekaran; Chief Executive, Vodafone Group, Ms. Margherita Della Valle; Founder, Chairman and CEO, Vista Equity Partners, Mr. Robert Smith and Argentine Minister of Deregulation and State Transformation, Mr. Federico Sturzenegger. Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Advisory Council on Wednesday, the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, noted: “The Council brings together a group of leading thinkers and practitioners in business, finance, academia, and policymaking to share their views and experiences on how macroeconomic and financial policies can provide a supportive environment for innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity–key ingredients for a thriving private sector and strong economic growth.”

Delta Government Intervenes, Orders Withdrawal of Query to Nursing Student Over Viral Video

Our Reporters5 days ago5 days ago02 mins

The Delta State Government has reportedly intervened to stop disciplinary action against Osato Edobor, a nursing student at the Delta College of Nursing, Agbor, who was issued a 24-hour query over a viral video. The video, which was traced to Edobor’s TikTok page, quickly spread across social media, becoming one of the most shared posts on Facebook in Nigeria. The college authorities responded by issuing a query, demanding that Edobor explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against her. However, the release of the query letter on social media sparked widespread outrage. Many social media users, activists, human rights lawyers, and concerned Nigerians condemned the college’s action, arguing that the student was simply expressing herself. Amid growing backlash, the Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Onojaeme, announced in a Facebook video that he had instructed the college provost to withdraw the query. He emphasized that the government was not interested in victimizing anyone and confirmed that Edobor had acknowledged the withdrawal of the letter. Dr. Nelson Egware, Senior Special Assistant to the Delta State Governor on Media, also confirmed the government’s intervention in response to a post by Omoyele Sowore. Egware stated that the letter would be withdrawn and urged all parties to learn from the incident to prevent similar occurrences in the future. The government’s swift action has been praised as a balanced approach to maintaining order while respecting the right to free expression.

Trump administration officials accidentally text a reporter Yemen ‘war plans’

Our Reporters1 week ago1 week ago02 mins

The White House has confirmed a report by The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who says senior Trump administration officials accidentally included him in a Signal chat group in which they discussed plans to conduct strikes in Yemen Goldberg was included in a group chat in which US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top officials discussed upcoming strikes against Yemen’s Houthis. Trump announced strikes on March 15, but in a shocking security breach, Goldberg wrote that he had hours of advance notice via the group chat. “The message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told reporters. The security breach provoked outrage among Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Chris Coons, who wrote on X that “every single one of the government officials on this text chain have now committed a crime.” Signal, an open-source, encrypted messaging application, is not approved by the US government for sharing sensitive information.

US-Russia Talks On Ukraine Begin In Saudi Arabia

Our Reporters1 week ago1 week ago07 mins

US and Russian officials opened talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday on a partial ceasefire in the Ukraine war, a day after delegates from Washington and Kyiv had their own discussions. US President Donald Trump is pushing for a rapid end to the three-year war and hopes talks in Riyadh could pave the way for a breakthrough. Both sides have proposed different plans for temporary ceasefires, but cross-border attacks have meanwhile continued unabated. Originally planned to take place simultaneously to enable shuttle diplomacy — with the United States going back and forth between the delegations — the talks are now taking place one after the other. Russia’s TASS news agency said at around 0730 GMT that the US-Russian talks had begun. The meeting between the Ukrainian team, led by defence minister Rustem Umerov, and the Americans finished up late Sunday night. “The discussion was productive and focused — we addressed key points including energy,” Umerov said on social media, adding Ukraine was working to make its goal of a “just and lasting peace” a reality. Valentyna Guk searches for pieces of glass for mosaic fragments among debris of a heavily damaged building in Kharkiv on March 7, 2025, amid the Russia invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Ivan SAMOILOV / AFP)Trump envoy Steve Witkoff voiced optimism that any agreement struck would pave the way for a “full-on” ceasefire. “I think you’re going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries. And from that you’ll naturally gravitate to a full-on shooting ceasefire,” he told Fox News. But the Kremlin on Sunday downplayed expectations of a rapid resolution. “We are only at the beginning of this path,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV. He said there were many outstanding questions over how a potential ceasefire might be implemented. Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected a joint US-Ukrainian call for a full and immediate 30-day pause, proposing instead a halt in attacks only on energy facilities. Local resident walk among the debris near a damaged house, a day after a Russian strike on a suburb of Odesa, southern Ukraine on March 7, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Oleksandr GIMANOV / AFP) Peskov said the “main” focus in its talks with the United States would be a possible resumption of a 2022 Black Sea grain deal that ensured safe navigation for Ukrainian farm exports via the Black Sea. “On Monday, we mainly intend to discuss President Putin’s agreement to resume the so-called Black Sea initiative, and our negotiators will be ready to discuss the nuances around this problem,” Peskov said. Moscow pulled out of the deal — brokered by Turkey and the United Nations — in 2023, accusing the West of failing to uphold its commitments to ease sanctions on Russia’s own exports of farm produce and fertilisers. A senior Ukrainian official previously told AFP that Kyiv would propose a broader ceasefire, covering attacks on energy facilities, infrastructure and naval strikes. Both sides launched fresh drone attacks on the eve of the negotiations. Ukrainian officials said a Russian drone attack overnight Saturday killed three civilians in Kyiv, including a five-year-old girl and her father. AFP reporters in the capital saw emergency workers treating the wounded early Sunday in front of damaged residential buildings hit in the strike. Deadly strikes on the well-protected city are rarer than elsewhere in the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his country’s allies to put fresh pressure on Russia. “New decisions and new pressure on Moscow are needed to bring an end to these strikes and this war,” he posted on social media on Sunday. Moscow heads into the Saudi talks after a rapprochement with Washington under Trump that has boosted confidence in the Kremlin. Peskov said Sunday that the “potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in a wide variety of spheres between our countries cannot be overstated”. “We may disagree on some things but that does not mean we should deprive ourselves of mutual benefit,” he added.