Author: Fatimah Idera

Rail passengers across parts of England have been warned to expect delays and cancellations throughout New Year’s Eve after signalling cables were stolen in South Yorkshire. National Rail said the theft occurred on the route between Doncaster and Sheffield and was first reported on Wednesday. While disruption was initially expected to ease by mid-morning, officials later confirmed that problems were likely to continue until the end of the day. Several operators have been affected, including Northern, whose local services in South Yorkshire, as well as trains running from Doncaster to Hull and Scarborough, have faced disruption. Long-distance services have also…

Nigeria’s adoption of Fifth Generation (5G) technology continues to grow steadily, with about 6.38 million subscribers now connected to the network, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). As of November, NCC data shows that Nigeria has about 177.4 million active telecom subscribers across all networks, with 5G users accounting for 3.6 per cent of the total. The country is now in its third year of commercial 5G operations, having attracted close to $1 billion in spectrum licensing fees and significant investments by major operators, particularly MTN and Airtel, in infrastructure and network expansion. Despite this progress, 5G coverage remains…

The health of some Palestine Action detainees on hunger strike in UK prisons has sharply declined, according to campaign group Prisoners for Palestine, amid continued government silence on their demands. The detainees have been refusing food since 20 October in protest at their ongoing pre-trial detention and what supporters describe as politically motivated prosecutions linked to pro-Palestine activism. Campaigners accuse the UK government of allowing the situation to worsen in order to preserve military and commercial ties with Israel. In response to official inaction, the group Justice For The Hunger-Strikers targeted the Labour Party’s London headquarters this week, splashing red…

All Eurostar services to and from London’s St Pancras International have been suspended following a power failure affecting trains operating through the Channel Tunnel. The Eurostar statement confirmed that all services have been halted until further notice but did not give a timeline for when operations might resume. The disruption has also affected Le Shuttle services, which transport cars and freight vehicles through the tunnel. Long queues of cars and lorries have built up at Folkestone, with the operator warning passengers to expect severe delays. The Channel Tunnel typically carries tens of thousands of passengers and vehicles daily during the…

Nigerians have criticized rampant reckless truck parking and overspeeding following a recent accident involving Nigerian-born boxer Anthony Joshua and his two friends. New Daily Prime earlier reported that the incident which occurred on Monday along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway claimed the lives of his two friends on the spot. A significant number of Nigerians have taken to social media to express their views. Many claimed the road is notorious for frequent accidents, while others attributed the situation to a lack of government enforcement. Olamide Lawrence, a Facebook user, described the Nigerian-born boxer’s survival as a miracle, emphasizing the situation as a…

Delays in finalising a key post-Brexit deal with the European Union are costing the UK up to £100m a week, according to new parliamentary analysis. The agreement, known as a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal, would reduce checks and paperwork on food and drink traded between the UK and the EU by aligning standards. Although Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced a major reset in relations with the EU earlier this year, the SPS deal has yet to be completed. Research by the House of Commons Library suggests the deal could be worth up to £14m a day once fully…

The world’s largest accounting body, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), is pulling the plug on remote exams starting this March. After a few years of allowing students to test from home, a practice that began as a necessity during the pandemic, the organization has decided that the risks simply outweigh the benefits. The rapid rise of sophisticated AI tools that make it increasingly difficult to ensure everyone is playing by the rules. Helen Brand, the CEO of the ACCA, admitted that the technology used to cheat is now evolving faster than the safeguards designed to stop it. It’s…

Health experts have warned people against buying weight-loss injections from social media sellers or other unregulated sources, as demand for the drugs continues to surge. Medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro have become increasingly popular, with studies showing Mounjaro can help users lose an average of around 20% of their body weight over 72 weeks. But limited NHS access, the need for a prescription and high private costs have fuelled a growing black market. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a fresh warning, urging people to only buy weight-loss medicines from registered UK pharmacies or legitimate…

A new plan aimed at transforming end-of-life care in south Wales has been launched by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, with a focus on giving people with life-limiting illnesses more personalised support closer to home. The health board will work in partnership with charities including Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie and City Hospice to deliver the palliative and supportive care strategy. Around 3,900 people in the Cardiff and Vale area die each year from conditions requiring palliative care, a figure expected to rise to about 5,000 by 2040. Despite most people saying they would prefer to die at home,…

Angola and Namibia have agreed to take back illegal migrants and foreign national offenders after the UK government threatened visa sanctions for countries refusing to co-operate. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had warned in November that visa bans would be imposed on Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) unless they improved their returns processes. The Home Office said Angola and Namibia had now “met the gold standard” by agreeing to strengthen their systems. However, officials said the DRC had failed to make sufficient progress. As a result, preferential visa treatment for VIPs and senior decision-makers from the country…