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By Benjamin Njoku Rapper and singer Oludemilade Martin Alejo, popularly known as Ycee, says Nigeria’s education sector is decaying because the government keeps prioritizing the wrong things. He spoke on a recent episode of the Afropolitan Podcast, calling out a trend where young artists churn out “meaningless content” just to go viral. Ycee described the moment as an “Olodo uprising”, a time when shallow entertainment, anti-intellectualism, and virality get rewarded while thoughtful, brain-stimulating work struggles for attention. “The society is not celebrating academic excellence. We are trying so much to accommodate unintelligent and ignorant people because we don’t want them…

Joanne McNally in 1986 and recreating the image in 2026Joanne McNally in 1986 and 2026. Later photograph: Pål Hansen/The Guardian. Styling: Andie Redman. Hair and makeup: Liv Davey. Archive photograph: courtesy of Joanne McNallyBorn in County Roscommon in 1983 and raised in Dublin, Joanne McNally is a standup comedian and writer. Her breakthrough came with the one-woman show Bite Me, and her subsequent tour, Prosecco Express, included a 78-night run at Dublin’s Vicar Street. She co-hosts the hit podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me with Vogue Williams. Her standup show Pinotphile is touring Ireland and the UK until December. She hosts Unacceptable with…

Bahrain said it was attacked by Iran with drones on Saturday, apparently in response to overnight US strikes on Iran. A ship in the strait of Hormuz was also attacked.Bahrain’s foreign ministry said a “number of drones” were launched at the country, though there were no immediate reports of damage. It condemned the attack and described it as a “flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents”.No damage or casualties were reported in the attack on a tanker in the strait of Hormuz. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Iran was suspected to be behind it.Iran’s Islamic…

…says Nigeria must master cross-cultural commerce to win global investment Nigeria must fundamentally rethink the way its businesses and government delegations engage with international partners, as poor cross-cultural understanding continues to undermine trade, investment, and diplomatic outcomes, according to a new policy briefing by the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics LTD/GTE.   The report, titled The Cultural Key: Why Nigerian Businesses and Government Delegations Fail Abroad – And How to Master the Art of Cross-Cultural Commerce, argues that many overseas trade missions have become exercises in symbolism rather than vehicles for delivering tangible economic gains.   Signed by Dele…

The day that Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire, Gilberto Rubio, a security officer in the San Francisco area, said he was thinking about how to cut back on meals to save money.Jessica Ordeñana, a bartender in midtown Manhattan, was worrying about air conditioning ahead of a heatwave because she can’t afford her soaring electricity bills.Ordeñana and Rubio are just two of the millions of workers in the US struggling to make ends meet in an economy in which inflation has wiped out recent gains in wage growth and consumer confidence is at an all-time low, even as wealth…

As well as being the most popular politician in the country – for now – Andy Burnham is also the most popular man at Westminster. Labour MPs, the unions, Whitehall civil servants, political advisers and thinktanks are all among those battling for the ear of the next prime minister.“There are so many different demands all at once. But the supply of face time with Andy is significantly smaller than the demand. It’s been like laying down a new train track simultaneously with driving the train at 200mph,” one close ally said.Burnham arrived back at Westminster on Monday, in a black…

Red tape is making it “far easier” to cut woodlands down in Wales than to create new ones, a charity has warned.Chris Matts, from the Woodland Trust, said “nature-based systems” are some of the most important tools for tackling climate change, but said bureaucracy was an issue.Government statistics show the number of trees being planted is increasing, but conservationists have said it is not keeping up with targets.The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit predicts that, based on current planning rates, Wales will only meet 10% of its target by 2030, “lagging behind” other devolved nations.The Welsh government said the statistics…

Key events24th over: New Zealand 86-3 (Ravindra 42, Mitchell 16) Another good over from Bashir, just a couple off it and he beats Mitchell’s outside edge with the final delivery that skids on with the arm. The players are going to slurp some electrolytes. Have I mentioned this game is finely poised?Share23rd over: New Zealand 84-3 (Ravindra 41, Mitchell 15) Stokes shows his side how it is done once again, six relentlessly accurate and Ravindra examining balls from the Stuey B End. A maiden.Share22nd over: New Zealand 84-3 (Ravindra 41, Mitchell 15) Bashir gets into his groove in his third,…

It is always an emotional blow to see former US president Barack Obama pop up on one’s screen. The Instagram algorithm sends me a lot of him, because it knows I always click on him being charming with babies, statesmanlike in speeches, cool at rallies, articulate and witty at anything, endlessly composed, compassionate, intelligent, handsome, thoughtful – a fully functioning adult human, if you want the short version. The algorithm does not know that I jack-knife in pain before I click and weep softly at how far we – the US sneezed, but the UK has surely caught a cold…

Investigators uncovered 117 dead dogs at a northern California animal rescue sanctuary, with many of the canine remains having evidence of gunshots.Miranda’s Rescue, a sanctuary outside Fortuna, California, described itself as a “no-kill” facility. Investigators said the organization accepted hundreds of dogs each year from shelters across the San Francisco Bay Area in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding.The Humboldt county sheriff’s office announced on Friday that investigators had completed their excavation of the property, marking the latest development in a months-long investigation. Acting under a search warrant for grounds and buildings for evidence related to animal…