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  US President Donald Trump has warned FIFA would be making a "terrible mistake" if it got rid of Gianni Infantino as head of world football’s governing body.   Infantino has come under pressure following his failed plan to sell off stakes in the men's World Cup to private investors.   In a message posted to Truth Social on Monday night, Trump said FIFA would "never be as successful or profitable" without Infantino.   "FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino," Trump posted.   "He is fantastic, having just presided over the most successful World Cup, by four times, ever presented. If he is gone, it will never be as successful or profitable again! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT." Confederations from Europe, North America, and Asia said Monday in an "open letter to the football family" that Infantino's failed commercial proposa...

  Somali referee Omar Artan will make history on Wednesday, August 11,  when he becomes the first non-European official to referee the UEFA Super Cup between Paris Saint‑Germain and Aston Villa.   UEFA awarded the 34-year-old Artan the game a few days after he was refused entry to the US to officiate at the World Cup.     The FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, suggested he was powerless to overrule Donald Trump’s administration. Somalia is one of 12 countries on a travel ban list introduced last year by the US.   Speaking in an interview with UEFA, Artan said: “It was a very tough period. A lot of people have sympathy for me because when someone has been working a lot of years and is supposed to do something, and then can’t do it, it’s very challenging. I really appreciate the support I received throughout the world, though; I’m so grateful.”   Artan has prepared for the match at the Red Bull Arena by taking charge of league games in Somalia and the Kuw...

  Veteran Nollywood actress Rita Edochie has publicly dismissed a ₦1 billion defamation lawsuit filed against her by her colleague and co-wife, Judy Austin, at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja.   Judy filed the legal writ following an ongoing family feud and shared the court papers on her verified Instagram page, demanding general damages and a public apology. In the lawsuit filed at the FCT High Court in Abuja , the claimant made several specific demands. Judy is seeking ₦1 billion in general compensation for alleged defamatory statements made against her, along with an additional ₦50 million to cover the cost of the legal proceedings. The suit also requests a full, unreserved apology published in at least two national newspapers and across Edochie's social media platforms, alongside a court order compelling Edochie to take down all allegedly defamatory online posts.   Hours after the court documents went viral, Rita Edochie fired back via I...

  Beyoncé is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit over an alleged unauthorised sample used on her hit song “Alien Superstar,” according to court documents obtained by TMZ. Hirose Enterprise and producer Shuji Hirose are suing Beyoncé and several music companies over the alleged unauthorised use of material from another song. According to the lawsuit, Hirose Enterprise owns the rights to a song titled “Moonraker,” performed by musician John Holiday. The company alleges that Beyoncé sampled the spoken-word introduction from the song for “Alien Superstar,” which was released as part of her 2022 album, “Renaissance.” The lawsuit claims Beyoncé and her team did not obtain a licence to use the sample before the album was released. However, they allegedly obtained a licence from Holiday several weeks after the album’s release. Hirose, however, claims that Holiday had transferred his entire interest in the song decades earlier and therefore did not have the authority to grant the licenc...

  The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says Nigeria plans to allocate all of its crude oil production to the domestic market by 2030 as local refining capacity expands. According to a report by S&P Global, Nigeria produced 1.74 million barrels of crude oil per day in June and plans to increase production to 3 million barrels per day by 2030. Nigeria has historically exported most of its crude oil to refiners in Europe and Asia. However, the country is increasingly focusing on expanding its domestic refining capacity to strengthen energy security and boost national revenue. The NMDPRA told the publication that Nigeria’s current domestic refining capacity stands at about 1.12 million barrels per day. The authority said it has also engaged the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to enforce legal provisions requiring local producers to supply crude oil to domestic refineries.  Rabiu Umar, NMDPRA chief executive off...

  Actress Judy Austin has dragged her ex-husband, Emmanuel Obasi, to court over alleged defamatory statements he made against her. In a Writ of Summons filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Judicial Division, Judy asked the court to compel Obasi to pay her the sum of N1 billion in general damages for defamation.   According to the court papers, which she shared on social media this morning with the caption ‘Enough is Enough’, Judy asked the court to compel Obasi to publish a full and unreserved retraction and apology in at least two widely circulated national newspapers and across his social media platforms, issue a restraining order against him and his agents from further publishing defamatory contents about her, take down all defamatory posts he has made against her, pay her the sum of N100m as cost for presecuting this suit, pay her N500m as aggravated damages over the defamatory posts he has made about her in the past, pay her N500m in exampla...

  The Department of State Services has released a carpenter, Mustapha Marwana, who was wrongly arrested over the  May 15 abd#ction and killing of pupils and teachers in Oriire, Oyo State. A security source who spoke to Punch, said the Director-General of the service, Tosin Ajayi, ordered Marwana's release after investigators cleared him of any link to the attack. The security source said a DSS panel carried out a thorough probe into Marwana’s alleged involvement in the inicident before clearing him.   The panel was said to have found that the Katsina-born artisan was not a member of any terrorist organisation and had no operational ties to the Ansaru terrorist group blamed for the attack.     “Following the review, investigators found no evidence linking the carpenter to membership, financing, logistics or operational activities of the terrorist group.  Consequently, the DSS DG ordered his immediate release and approved the payment of initial N3 million as ...