Author: Prima News

Meta has increased its planned investment in its Hyperion data centre in Louisiana to more than $50 billion, as the company expands one of its biggest artificial intelligence infrastructure projects. The company said on Monday that the Hyperion facility in Richland Parish will now be built to support up to 5 gigawatts (GW) of compute capacity.  Earlier plans had projected the site would deliver more than 2GW to support the training of large language models, the technology behind tools such as ChatGPT. The investment is significantly higher than the $27 billion estimate disclosed in October when Meta and Blue Owl…

The National Sports Commission has applauded Nigeria’s U-18 men’s basketball team after they secured qualification for the 2026 FIBA U-18 AfroBasket championship with an unbeaten run at the FIBA Africa Zone 3 Qualifiers in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, The PUNCH reports. The Junior D’Tigers produced a flawless campaign to emerge Zone 3 champions, winning all four matches to seal an automatic ticket to the continental championship scheduled to hold in Ivory Coast from August 3 to 16. Their qualification means both Nigeria’s male and female U-18 teams will compete at the tournament after the girls also booked their place. Nigeria wrapped…

Global oil prices surged at the start of the week after renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran heightened fears of supply disruptions in the Middle East, reigniting inflation concerns and rattling financial markets. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark for Nigerian crude oil, climbed above $79 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded above $74 per barrel as traders responded to escalating geopolitical tensions that threaten the uninterrupted flow of crude through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategic energy corridors. The latest rally follows reports of fresh military exchanges involving the United…

***Says: We were forced to trek through forest at night  ***lThey ate cocoyam, noodles, drank from a waterfall for 56 days —Victims’ relative  By Evelyn Usman & Adeola Badru IBADAN— THE principal bducted alongside teachers, students and pupils in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, Mrs Racheal Alamu, yesterday, recounted the harrowing 56-day ordeal in captivity, revealing that children were beaten into silence, male teachers chained and blindfolded, while the victims were repeatedly forced to undertake dangerous midnight treks through forests to evade security operatives. Mrs Alamu spoke after she and the rescued teachers and pupils were officially handed over to Governor Seyi Makinde at the Governor’s Office, Secretariat in Ibadan. Describing life in captivity, she…

The value of import duty waivers granted on military hardware, healthcare supplies, manufacturing inputs, food commodities, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles and other items rose to ₦34 trillion between March 2000 and December 2025. The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adeniyi, disclosed this on Monday when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance during an investigative hearing at the National Assembly. Mr Adeniyi said the waivers, granted through Import Duty Exemption Certificates (IDECs), significantly reduced the revenue the Service could have generated for the government “IDEC approvals reached about ₦34 trillion in 2025, 60 per cent…

Dutch football referee Rob Dieperink has died at the age of 38, just weeks after he was removed from the list of officials for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Dieperink had been selected to serve as a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) at the tournament before his appointment was withdrawn in May following a police investigation in the United Kingdom. He was arrested in April over an allegation of sexual assault involving a teenage boy. After a full investigation, authorities concluded there was not enough evidence to support the case, and no charges were filed. The Royal Dutch Football Association described…

Venezuelan authorities confirmed on Monday that at least 1,719 people have died following the earthquakes of 24 June, with some 5,000 more injured. Around 12,000 people have been displaced, and officials have yet to confirm a figure for the missing.Read the latest news here.Survivors still emergingIn a press briefing for correspondents in New York, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Venezuela, Gianluca Rampolla, said that seven people were pulled alive from the rubble on Sunday as search efforts continue.  He also reported that the UN and Venezuelan authorities had agreed to procure 10,000 body bags in anticipation of the death…

In 2005, Nokia sold its billionth mobile phone, a budget-friendly device that went to a customer in Nigeria. By then, the company, based in Espoo, Finland, was making one of every three cellphones globally.But just nine years later, the mobile-device maker offloaded its entire handset division to Microsoft for pennies on the dollar, compared to what it had been worth at its peak. Nokia had risen from obscurity in the 1990s to become a worldwide cultural phenomenon by the turn of the millennium, its signature devices featured in TV shows and movies, announcing their presence with instantly recognizable Nokia ringtones.…

Petrol Price has fallen by up to ₦167 per litre as crude oil declines and more reductions is expected tjhis week. NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, has continued its downward trend across Nigeria over the past three weeks, driven by falling global crude oil prices despite renewed tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude traded at about $76 and $71 per barrel, respectively, on Saturday, easing after an earlier spike triggered by renewed hostilities involving the United States, Iran and Israel. The report noted that U.S.…

Gold prices declined on Monday as renewed tensions between the United States and Iran sent crude oil prices sharply higher, prompting investors to reassess inflation expectations and the outlook for global interest rates. Spot gold fell by more than one percent, while U.S. gold futures also traded lower as the rally in energy prices shifted market attention toward the potential economic impact of sustained geopolitical instability in the Middle East. The latest decline came after fresh military developments involving the United States and Iran raised concerns over possible disruptions to oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping…