The Federal Government has suspended its recruitment process into its paramilitary agencies such as the Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Fire Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and Nigerian Correctional Service.
In a statement dated July 16, 2025, the Secretary to the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services, Maj-Gen A.M. Jibril (rtd), said the application portal would be reopened on Monday, July 21, 2025.
“As part of an effort to optimize the efficiency of its system, the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB) announces that the portal dedicated to the recruitment into its paramilitary agencies has been temporarily suspended.
“The portal will be available again from Monday, July 21st, 2025,” Jibril stated.
A file photo of NSCDC personnel. X@official_NSCDC
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The Board secretary explained that the suspension would help ensure the system can efficiently handle the high volume of applications and allow for a smooth, transparent, and fair recruitment process.
A file photo of Immigration personnel
“This development will ensure that the portal accommodates the high volume of applications while guaranteeing a smooth, transparent, and fair recruitment process.
Olivia Smith’s £1 million move to Arsenal from Liverpool has made her the most expensive signing in women’s football history.
The 20-year-old, who made her Champions League debut at age 15, has agreed to a four-year deal with the champions league team.
Smith’s move surpasses the previous record set by Chelsea, who signed American defender Naomi Girma from San Diego Wave for $900,000 in January.
Smith remarked, “It’s an honor and privilege to sign for Arsenal.”
Smith, who turned professional in 2023, signed for Liverpool from Portuguese side Sporting for a club record-setting $ 200, 000 transfer.
Smith is an “exciting young player” who can “make a big contribution,” according to Renee Slegers, head coach at Arsenal.
In her first season at Liverpool, she finished seventh overall in 20 Women’s Super League games.
Analyzing “An eye-catching recruit”
Emma Sanders
Women’s football news correspondent for BBC Sport
After winning the Women’s Champions League, Arsenal vowed to improve their squad and not sit back.
With Smith widely regarded as one of the WSL’s most exciting young players with a high ceiling of potential, this recruit has an eye-catching eye.
She has already established herself in the WSL with a successful season at Liverpool, giving pace and directness to Arsenal’s attacking line-up.
Arsenal have a long history of interest in Smith, but they were forced to sign her by Liverpool in 2024, and they have always been willing to pay when necessary.
After breaking their club record last summer by signing Smith, the Reds will now view this as good business despite losing one of the best young players in the world. They have already made a profit of almost $800,000.
Up until the sum of £1 million was presented, Liverpool’s managing director Andy O’Boyle rejected numerous offers. Liverpool will be able to invest gradually with the £1 million payment in instalments.
This season, the club hopes to use this money to improve the squad in a number of ways.
Liverpool will profit from any upcoming sales thanks to the sell-on clause.
Smith had several suitors, but it is believed that Arsenal’s recruitment presentation impressed her.
via Portugal, Penn State, and Ontario to WSL.
Elizabeth Botcherby
journalist for BBC Sport
Smith started playing football at age five when she signed for Whitby Iroquois SC, and she made her debut at age 12 in the youth team for Canada.
Three years later, in Chongqing, China, she was thrust onto the international stage, playing alongside Brazil and New Zealand.
Smith then competed for Canada in the Concacaf Women’s U20 Championships in 2022 and 2023, and in 2024 he was chosen to play in Canada’s World Cup that year.
She was named the tournament’s best young player after winning 6-0 over El Salvador in the 2024 Gold Cup.
Smith is regarded as the key to Canada’s hopes of capturing international recognition as well as the persona of Christine Sinclair’s talisman record goalscorer.
Smith won the golden boot in her debut season with 18 goals in 11 games with North Toronto Nitros in League 1 Ontario, making her debut club debut in 2022.
After deciding to leave her university eligibility to pursue a career, she signed a three-year contract with Sporting in July 2023, spending one season playing college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions.
For former head coach Mariana Cabral, Smith’s potential was unmistakable. They fought off opposition from Chelsea and PSG.
We were like, “Yep, let’s sign her,” about 30 seconds into the video. She was a complete package, which is unusual, Cabral said to BBC Sport.
She also had physicality and technical skills, according to the author. She can nutmeg you like that and is explosive and strong.
She contacted us because she wanted to begin her professional career. She liked us because our playing style was very possession- and aggressive at the time, and she needed more time to develop.
“But we knew that Portugal would serve as a stepping stone for her, and she would eventually find greater things.”
Smith made 22 league starts (13 goals, nine assists) during her first season in Europe, helping Sporting finish second overall.
Leading the attack at Liverpool
Only 76 minutes into her WSL career, Smith scored against West Ham, making her team’s first attacking threat. She immediately became the team’s main attacking threat.
She led all other players in terms of goalscoring, scoring only three goals in her 20 league starts.
Smith also led the opposition in both touches (92) and shots (50), with 16 of his attempts on target and a 14% conversion rate.
She established herself as a player for the big occasion, recording nine goals and one assist in 25 appearances.
She opened the scoring for Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at Anfield and scored the team’s first WSL goal.
More than just a goalscorer, “The girl has it all.”
Smith has enjoyed good company thanks to her goalscoring prowess.
In comparison to her debut WSL seasons, she outscored Mayra Ramirez (4), Vivianne Miedema (4), and new Arsenal team-mate Alessia Russo (3), Opta claims, but only two other players over the age of 20 combined scored more goals than Vicky Lopez (10), Cora Zicai (9) and Vicky Lopez (10) in the leagues’ top five.
Arsenal can expect more from their seven-figure signing than just goals, though.
Smith has a variety of options. She spent the majority of last season playing as a striker, but she also averaged a lot of time playing the right, perhaps most impressively in the FA Cup semi-final.
Fara Williams, a former England international, called her “a weapon down the right-hand side” as she spoke about that game.
She has the technical, physical, tactical, and tactical parts, according to Cabral, “you can be very talented but you can’t have the mental part of being focused on your work, being ambitious, and resilient.”
She belongs to the group you want on your team. Give her the ball, and she will be able to adjust. That is unique.
Fans and journalists also need patience. You want everything in today’s society, whether it is right away or even yesterday.
She is not yet at her best, according to reports. She has the power to unlock.
Netflix has dropped the first trailer for Stranger Things season five, and we’ve found a way to watch every episode with a free Netflix subscription
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Stranger Things fans have finally caught a glimpse at the show’s final chapter as Netflix unveiled the first season five trailer. One of the streamer’s most-watched series of all time returns later this year for what looks to be an explosive finale, and there’s a way to watch every episode without paying for a Netflix subscription.
That’s because Sky gives its customers free Netflix access with its TV packages, which now start at £15 per month for the Essential TV bundle. As well as Stranger Things, Squid Game and Bridgerton, this also includes a Discovery+ subscription and more than 100 TV channels like Sky Atlantic at no extra cost.
The deal comes on a 24-month term, with Netflix Standard with Ads included for the duration, which usually costs £5.99 when joining directly. Sky also lets those with an existing subscription keep the same account, so they don’t pay twice.
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There’s the option to upgrade to Netflix Standard or Premium for £6 or £11 respectively. Just remember that Sky usually raises its prices every April; this year, Sky introduced a 6.2% increase, so we could expect a similar change in April 2026.
Virgin Media also throws in a free Netflix subscription with some of its own TV packages, but these are much more pricey than Sky. The lowest priced option is the £64.99 Biggest Combo bundle; usually £78.99, this provides more than 200 TV channels, Sky Sports, Sky Cinema and 516Mbps broadband.
Get Netflix free with Sky
from £15
Get the deal here
Sky is giving away a free Netflix subscription with its new Sky Stream TV bundles, including the £15 Essential TV plan.
After almost a decade on screens, Stranger Things is returning for ‘one last adventure’. Season five will premiere with volume one (episodes one to four) on November 27, followed by volume two (episodes five to seven) on Boxing Day, and the finale on New Year’s Day.
It marks the end of Netflix’s third most-watched series of all time and comes more than three years after season four, but if the latest footage is anything to go by, it’ll be worth the wait. According to the official synopsis, season five takes place in the autumn of 1987, with the gang united by a single goal: to find and kill Vecna.
“But he has vanished – his whereabouts and plans unknown,” the synopsis reads. “Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding.
The gang are determined to find and kill Vecna
“As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming – and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone standing together, one last time.”
Among the stars returning for the final season are Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery and Maya Hawke. Joining them is Terminator star Linda Hamilton as Dr. Kay.
Fans have flocked to social media since the trailer dropped, with one excited fan writing on X: “Oh my god, it looks so good. I can’t wait.”
Winona Ryder returns as Joyce Byers
Another said: “Can’t believe it’s coming to end. Ready but not ready.”
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Some are frustrated by the long wait between seasons, as this fan said: “I’m going to watch this, but I’ll never again watch a series that takes so long between seasons. It’s ridiculous.”
Janet Street-Porter has been one of the longest serving panellists on the show after joining in 2011, and she has now shed light on what the future holds for her on the show
The Loose Women star slammed ITV as she “confirmed” her future
Loose Women star Janet Street-Porter has opened up about her future on the hit ITV show amid much upheaval for the programme.
Janet Street-Porter first stepped foot onto the Loose Women set back in 2011 and has been a regular on the show ever since.
But it wasn’t her first foray into the media industry. After going to university to study architecture, she later quit in a bid to get into fashion journalism.
After progressing quickly, she was appointed fashion editor of the Daily Mail in her early twenties.
Later making the switch to TV, she has, in recent years, been a focal part of the Loose Women panel. Amid significant changes at the show, she now stands as one of its longest-serving panellists.
She first appeared on Loose Women in 2011(Image: LightRocket via Getty Images)
One major change came in May when ITV announced that it would be reducing the show’s run from 52 weeks to just 30, starting in 2026. Giving her verdict on the decision, she recently told The Guardian: “I don’t agree with how they’ve done the cuts.”
Janet confirmed that she will remain on the show (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
In light of the news that the show will see a reduction in output, Janet revealed she is certain about where she stands regarding her future on the programme: “Oh, I know I’m going to keep that job. Don’t waste your bloody time trying to get a scoop on that.”
There have also been reports of several other changes, including the cutting of 220 jobs, the removal of celebrity guests, and the axing of the live audience element.
Janet is one of the longest serving members of the show
Another star of the show, Nadia Sawalha, shared her thoughts on the loss of the live audience, telling her Coffee Moaning podcast: “From next year there will be no Loose Women audience,” adding, “I am totally devastated by this fact. I can’t get over it at all.”
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In recent years, the show has introduced a number of new faces, with former Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver now a permanent panellist on the show alongside ex-Love Islander Olivia Attwood. Podcaster GK Barry became the youngest panellist when she joined the show last year.
BBC Sport’s Alex Scott, Nedum Onuha, Anita Asante and Steph Houghton look at why Norway were awarded a penalty in their quarter-final against Italy, despite forward Ada Hergerberg being in an offside position.
Liverpool are in advanced talks to sign Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike in a deal worth more than £70m.
Multiple sources have indicated that Liverpool aim to have the transfer wrapped up by this weekend.
Newcastle have had a £70m offer for Ekitike rejected by Frankfurt, with Liverpool’s offer expected to surpass it.
Liverpool have also shown a major interest in Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, but the Magpies are adamant the Swede is not for sale at any price.
Liverpool have signed midfielder Florian Wirtz in a potential British record £116m deal this summer and paid £40m and £30m respectively for full-backs Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong.
