ALMBLOG

  North Korea’s Kim Jong Un inspects missiles days before visiting Beijing for military parade     North Korean leader Kim Jong Un examined a “newly inaugurated” missile production line on Sunday before a planned trip to Beijing to witness a massive military parade alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin. During Sunday’s inspection, Kim learned about the “overall condition of the state missile production capacity,” North Korean state media reported on Monday. Images published by KCNA appeared to show Kim at an undisclosed location inspecting several dozen missiles in various stages of production and talking with uniformed officers. Kim’s inspection this Sunday comes as he prepares to travel to  Beijing,  where China’s military parade on Wednesday will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II following Japan’s formal surrender. North Korea has  ramped up its weapons program  in the last few years, rapidly modernizing its armed forces, dev...

      Tianjin, China  By MorufAkanbi oloyede Sulaimon   —  Chinese leader Xi Jinping has cast his country as a force for global economic stability and pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to support its partners, at a time when President Donald Trump wages a global tariff war and has decimated foreign aid under his “America First” policy. Xi’s comments came during an address on Monday that is the centerpiece of a two-day summit orchestrated to play-up China’s global leadership and its close and enduring partnership with Russia, as the two neighbors seek to rebalance global power in their favor at the expense of the US and its allies. “We should leverage the strength of our mega-sized markets and economic complementarity between member states and improve trade and investment facilitation,” Xi told world leaders in the Chinese port city of Tianjin for a summit of the Beijing- and Moscow-backed Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The Chinese leade...

     The Premier League concludes for the international break with a mouthwatering clash as last season’s top two meet at Anfield on Sunday (4.30pm), both putting their 100% starts on the line as they seek to strike an early-season psychological blow.     You have to go back to September 2012 for our last triumph at Anfield when Mikel Arteta was patrolling our midfield, but there are many reasons for Gooners to feel optimistic. We are unbeaten in our last six games against the Reds, haven’t suffered a league defeat on the road since November and are unbeaten against the ‘Big Six’ in our last 22 matches. All that, coupled with the momentum built following our victories against Manchester United and Leeds United mean we head to the home of the champions filled with confidence and looking to make a statement regarding our own title ambitions this time around. CHAMPIONS’ CHALLENGING START      While ourselves and Liverpool are the only two sides with ...

By MorufAkanbi Oloyede Sulaimon ,             Kwankwaso can’t dictate 2027 alliance for NNPP – Factional chair   30th August 2025                The factional National Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Agbo Major, has said the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, cannot force an alliance on the party. The statement came as a reaction to Kwankwaso’s speech at a meeting of his Kwankwasiyia group on Thursday in Abuja, where he announced that the NNPP was open to alliances ahead of 2027.     He said, “Aside from the obvious betrayal of trust, we regret that Kwankwaso has continued to use the NNPP name to make negotiations and comments that may cause unrest in the country.   Related News  Imo APC chieftain asks El-Rufai to contest against Tinubu   Obasanjo visits Alaafin of Oyo   2027: I won’t criticise Jonathan on television - Omokri   “...

      By MorufAkanbi      AT the centre of Nigeria’s political drama is Nyesom Wike, the former Governor of Rivers State and now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). His influence in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is still strong and could shape its future.    For years, Wike was the key figure in the PDP’s southern base. As governor, he built alliances, funded campaigns, and helped other governors win elections. His time in Rivers State gave the party strength in the region, while his connections across Nigeria made him powerful within the party.    But those same networks also caused problems. In 2022, after Atiku Abubakar from the North became the PDP’s presidential candidate, Wike demanded that the party’s national chairman should come from the South. This followed the usual practice that the candidate and chairman should not come from the same region. When the party refused, Wike and four other governors formed the ...

Business News             Following the federal government’s decision to reduce domestic borrowing, investors subscription to FGN bonds in the eight months of 2025 went down to N4.98 trillion, about 12.5 per cent decline when compared to N5.64 trillion in the comparable period of 2024.  This is according to the bond auction results data released by the Debt Management Office (DMO). The reduction follows a deliberate cut in bond offerings, as the government seeks to temper its borrowing amid elevated interest rates and mounting concerns over the country’s rising public debt profile. FGN Bonds are debt securities (liabilities) of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) issued by the DMO for and on behalf of the federal government. FGN bonds are considered the safest of all investments in the domestic debt market because it is backed by the ‘full faith and credit’ of the government, and as such it is classified as a risk-free debt instrument. They h...

 by; MorufAkanbi:     Lagos Chapter of The League of Freedomites of the God’s Kingdom Society (GKS) has awarded a bursary to three youths in the zone at the special thanksgiving that climaxed the yearly 2025 Youth Assembly of the ministry. The service was presided over by a senior minister and member of the Executive Board, Joshua Chukwudi, who also read the address of the President of the church, Felix Ekundayo Adedokun, titled: ‘Labour Not For The Meat That Perisheth’. Chairman of Lagos Chapter of the League of Freedomites, Professor Chris Osegenwume, announced names of the awardees. They are Olukowade Olujimi Samson of Shogunle Branch, a student of the University of Lagos, who is studying Systems Engineering; David Duoyo Ekisowei, and Deborah Ekiyokeye Ekisowei of the Federal University, Otuoke, in the Departments of Chemistry, as well as History and International Studies, respectively, and of the Apapa branch.  Explaining the criteria for the award, Osegenwume s...

    By MorufAkanbi Oloyede Sulaimon:     Following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s visit to Brazil , Air Peace is set to begin a direct flight from Lagos to São Paulo. According to the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who revealed this in a statement, this was one of the  agreements  reached between Tinubu and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during Tinubu’s state visit to the country. “Increasing the direct connections between Nigeria and Brazil is another essential step to strengthen the ties between our societies. We have approved the launch of a direct flight, to be operated by Nigeria’s largest airline company, Air Peace, between Lagos and São Paulo,” the Brazilian President said at a joint conference with Tinubu. Tinubu and Lula da Silva witnessed the signing of agreements and MOUs at the Palácio do Planalto in Brasília after the bilateral meeting between both countries. Related News Tinubu, Lula s...

   The naira has continued appreciation against the d The Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange data showed that the naira firmed up slightly to N1,535.04 against the dollar on Friday from  However, at the black market, the naira remained flat at N1,550 on Friday, the same rate recorded the previous day. A week-on-week analysis of the performance of Nigeria’s currency showed that the naira lost N2.53, or 0.17 percent, at the official market when compared to N1,532.51 traded on 15th August 2025. But the naira appreciated by N10, or 0.65 percent, at the black market to N1,550 per dollar this Friday, up from N1,560 last week Friday. The development comes as the country’s external reserves continued to surge and stood at $41.08 billion as of August 21, 2025, according to CBN data. N1,535.78 on Thursday.  This showed that the naira sustained appreciation at the official foreign exchange market with a N0.74 gain on a day-to-day basis. ollar at the official foreign exchange ma...

Elon Musk accuses Apple and OpenAI of stifling AI competition in antitrust lawsuit Aug. 25, 2025, 2:32 PM ET By MorufAkanbi oloyede Sulaimon  Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence. The 61-page complaint filed in Texas federal court follows through on a threat that Musk made two weeks ago when he accused Apple of unfairly favoring OpenAI and ChatGPT in the iPhone's app store rankings for top AI apps. Musk's post insinuated that Apple had rigged the system against ChatGPT competitors such as the Grok chatbot made by his own xAI. Now, he is detailing a litany of grievances in the lawsuit — filed by xAI and another of his corporate entities, X Corp. — in an attempt to win monetary damages and a court order prohibiting the alleged illegal tactics. The double-barreled legal attack weaves together several recently unfolding narratives to ...

  The strike is part of a broader strategy to dismantle criminal hideouts, weaken their networks, and put an end to the cycle of killings, kidnappings, and extortion that have plagued innocent citizens.          In a statement signed and issued on Saturday by the Katsina State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Nasir Mu’azu, the NAF carried out a decisive air operation this morning at Pauwa Hill in Kankara Local Government Area the State and rescued 76 kidnap victims, including women and children.     The commissioner believed that the rescue of the kidnapped victims further underscores the effectiveness of coordinated air and ground operations, as security forces intensify their efforts to flush out bandits and restore confidence among the people. “The Katsina State Government, through the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, commends the Nigerian Air Force, the Nigerian Army, and all security agencies for their coura...

        Nigeria and Japan have taken significant steps towards strengthening collaboration in the mining sector. Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, and officials of the Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security have pledged to work out plans to encourage Japanese mining companies to invest in Nigeria’s vast solid minerals industry. The commitment emerged during deliberations at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African  Development in Yokohama, Japan, where President Bola Tinubu concluded talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, according to a statement on Sunday.          JOGMEC President Michio Daito welcomed Alake and his team, acknowledging Nigeria’s mineral wealth but stressing the need for broader economic information to help Japanese firms evaluate potential risks. “We need more information on power generation for industries, tax incentives, labor, duty waivers, free trade zones, and...