The United States has listed Nigeria among 14 countries identified for recruiting or using child soldiers, warning that the designation could trigger restrictions on certain forms of military assistance.

The listing is contained in the 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which covers the period from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026.

According to the report, restrictions under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) could affect international military education and training, foreign military financing, excess defence articles, peacekeeping operations and licences for direct commercial sales of military equipment, unless a presidential waiver is granted.

Nigeria was listed alongside Afghanistan, Burma, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Iran, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen.

The report also retained Nigeria on Tier 2 for human trafficking, a category for countries whose governments do not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking but are making significant efforts to comply.

However, the US raised concerns about corruption and alleged official complicity in human trafficking crimes.

“The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees allegedly complicit in trafficking crimes or provide details or other actions taken against complicit officials from previous years,” the report stated.

The report also faulted Nigeria’s efforts to protect trafficking victims, stating that 675 victims received assistance in 2025, compared with 2,058 in the previous year.

It said support services, particularly for male victims, remained limited, with only one dedicated non-governmental organisation shelter for adult male victims operating during the reporting period.

The report further stated that shelters operated by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) restricted residents’ freedom of movement, while access to certain protection services depended on victims cooperating with law enforcement proceedings.

Despite these concerns, the report acknowledged increased government efforts in investigating, prosecuting and securing convictions in human trafficking cases compared with the previous reporting period.

Three Nigerian sisters who drowned in the sea off Brighton, southern England, have been ruled to have taken their own lives following an inquest into their deaths.

The sisters, Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, lived together in Greenford, west London. They had become increasingly withdrawn following the death of their mother in 2010.

The inquest heard that the sisters visited an area of Birmingham close to where their mother died on May 11 before travelling to Brighton the following day.

According to report, they were later seen on the town’s eastern seafront in the early hours of May 13, when they entered the sea in difficult conditions. None of the sisters could swim.

Their father, Joseph Jacobsen, described the loss of his three daughters as heartbreaking.

Coroner Penelope Schofield said the court could not speculate on the reasons behind the sisters’ actions.

Evidence presented at the inquest showed that a taxi carrying the sisters arrived in Brighton at 10.21pm on May 12. The driver reportedly noticed that they were quiet during the journey.

Closed-circuit television footage later showed the sisters on Brighton’s eastern seafront. They were last seen alive at 2.42am on May 13.

The inquest also heard that police examining Christina’s laptop found 227 references to water and 179 references to suicide. Christina had reportedly experienced anxiety and depression following their mother’s death.

Rebecca’s medical records contained no significant information relevant to the inquest, while Jane was not registered with a doctor.

Toxicology tests found no evidence of drugs or alcohol in the sisters’ systems, and investigators found no evidence of violence.

Jane was brought ashore by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and pronounced dead. Christina was recovered by an RNLI lifeboat, while Rebecca’s body was later washed ashore. Both were pronounced dead by paramedics.

The inquest examined the circumstances surrounding the deaths and the sisters’ movements in the hours before they entered the water.

Portugal’s Economy Minister, Manuel Castro Almeida, says Cristiano Ronaldo matters to Portugal in ways that reach far beyond football. “Many people know Portugal only because of Cristiano Ronaldo,” he stressed.

His comments land as the fallout from Ronaldo’s sudden exit from the national team camp continues to dominate the headlines.

Speaking in remarks carried by the Portuguese website The Resident from the Now channel, the minister painted Ronaldo as a huge asset for Portugal’s image on the world stage. “Cristiano Ronaldo has an enormous impact in promoting and highlighting Portugal’s image,” he said. He went further still, likening the Portugal star to “the most famous company in Portugal”

On the row between Ronaldo and coach Jorge Jesus, Castro Almeida pleaded ignorance. He insisted he was “not an expert” and refused to judge who was in the right.

His focus stayed on Ronaldo’s wider worth to Portugal and its standing abroad.

That global recognition, the Economy Minister argues, makes Ronaldo “a value and an asset” to the country. “It would be good if Portugal could continue to rely on this asset,” he said.

He added: “From the angle of enhancing Portugal’s image and reputation, Cristiano holds extremely important value, and it would be very good for Portugal to continue to benefit from this potential.”