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The Queen often hosts private events at her home in Buckingham Palace, and it has been revealed that on Wednesday, she invited a selection of guests for a lunch in the 1844 room. The monarch invited her son, the  Duke of York , to the meal, along with guests Ms Judith McNicol - Director, National Railway Museum, Ms Jane Lush - Deputy Chair, BAFTA, Ms Felicity Aston – an explorer, Vice Admiral Timothy Fraser - Chief of Joint Operations, Mr. Peter Glenser - Chairman, BASC, Mr. Willie Cameron - Director, Highlands & Islands Tourism, Mr. Anthony Joss - Welsh Livestock Welfare, abd Sir David Adjaye – an Architect. The 1844 Room is of special significance in the Palace, as it is the room where Her Majesty meets her valued guests, including Angelina Jolie and Barack and Michelle Obama. The Queen has had a busy week, and on Tuesday undertook her first ever solo royal engagement with her granddaughter-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge. The pair paid a visit to King's College London to ...

The planned upward review of the Value Added Tax up to 50 percent was disclosed by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Babatunde Fowler, in Abuja when they appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance. The duo, who was in the Senate to explain details of the 2019-2021 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper expected to be the benchmark for the 2019 budget deliberations, added that the increment in VAT would enable the Federal Government fund the new national minimum wage. Fowler further explained that the proposed payable VAT by Nigerians, based on the increment, would actually be between 35 percent (6.75%) and 50 percent (7.25%). The government is currently charging five percent VAT on all products in the country. Fowler said the FIRS’s goal was to achieve an N8 trillion revenue generation target this year. He said: “By the end of this year, we should be ready for an...

The Nigerian Senate has approved N30, 000 as minimum wage for workers in Nigeria. The national minimum wage bill will become effective after the president, Muhammadu Buhari, assents to it. The chairman of the ad-hoc committee set up to review the bill, Francis Alimikhena, presented a report on Tuesday. The report recommended that N30, 000 be approved as minimum wage for Nigerian workers. It also recommended that the federal government put in place a procedure to review revenue sharing formula to enhance state capabilities towards implementation of the new wage. The committee also suggested that relevant agencies should compute the cost implication of the bill on the 2019 budget and forward same to the National Assembly. N75, 000 was recommended as fine ‘for not keeping records of employees. The lawmakers adopted all the recommendations. The Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, commended the federal government for its effort on the bill. The Minority Leader...

Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi has been called into the England squad for the first time ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Montenegro. The teenager joined up with Gareth Southgate's squad at St George's Park just hours after travelling to Bristol to join Aidy Boothroyd's Under-21s side. The call-up comes after Chelsea team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Manchester City pair Fabian Delph and John Stones pulled out through injury, along with Manchester United's Luke Shaw. Southgate drafted in Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse earlier on Monday and 18-year-old Hudson-Odoi will also have the chance to impress as he pushes for an international debut. "It's been a crazy day but getting my first [senior] international call-up is an amazing feeling," said Hudson-Odoi. "Today has been a very long day for me because I had to travel to Bristol first for the Under-21s and then, getting told that I have to come over ...

Follow my blog with Bloglovin Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world.  Ethiopia is the only country in Africa that was never formally colonized; however, it had to defeat the Italians twice to remain independent. Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in the world, having been founded in 980 B.C.  1.  Ethiopia is about 7.5 years behind the United Kingdom.  2.  Ethiopia is the only country in the world to have 13 months in a year.   3.  Ethiopians measure time from when the sun rises and count time on the opposite side of the clock. When the sun rises at 6 o’clock it is said to be 12 o’clock 4.  The legendary Ark of the Covenant, the relic said to hold the 10 Commandments, is claimed to be housed in a church in Ethiopia. 5.  Ethiopia is one of only two nations in the world never to have been occupied. This is despite the Italians twice trying and failing to take the country. In...

© REX/Shutterstock Mandatory Credit: Photo by REX/Shutterstock (9159181e) Queen Elizabeth II signs the 70th Anniversary Review Document after attending The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery 70th parade in Hyde Park The King's Troop 70th Anniversary Parade, Hyde Park, London, UK - 19 Oct 2017 She may be one of the most photographed women on the planet, but Her Maj is also a bit of mystery. No doubt she actually quite likes it that way. She's said to live by her mum, the Queen Mother's motto of "never complain, never explain." Even her signatures reflect the fact that she's often two different people.  While the rest of us commoners have just the one way of signing our names, the Queen has two and they're both unique in their own way. When the Queen is in "work" mode, i.e. signing official documents or guest books while on state visits, she'll sign off as 'Elizabeth R', where the 'R' stands for regina. She'll ...

No fewer than 1,600 Batch ‘A’ corps members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Kogi were discharged from their one year service on Thursday.  Rev. Adedapo Tayo, the Assistant Director, Press and Public Relations, NYSC, disclosed this in an interview with NAN on Thursday in Lokoja. Reports have it that the passed out corps members received their discharge certificates simultaneously in the 21 local governments of their primary assignments across the state. Tayo gave thanks to the Almighty God for keeping the lives of the corps members, saying no life was lost during the period under review. He said that two corps members: Dr Alabi Boluwaji, KG/18A0445 and Seun Oyelude, KG/18A0007, received the State’s Honours award. ”As part of the end of service year activities, the corps members engaged in sanitation projects, visitation to Federal Prisons and Orphanag in the state. ”Also, the corps members, on Wednesday, celebrated their end of year programme at the Glass H...