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The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) have stepped up efforts to address unfair practices in marketplaces, with a renewed focus on price tagging, product labelling and businesses’ obligations to honour returns and refunds where applicable. The initiative was unveiled on Wednesday during a stakeholders’ engagement organised by both agencies in Ikeja, Lagos, as regulators sought greater compliance with consumer protection laws through dialogue with businesses. Speaking at the event, the Executive Vice Chairman of the FCCPC, Tunji Bello, said consumer confidence remains central to a healthy marketplace, particularly in Lagos,…

In September 2024, a handful of patients showed up at the emergency room in the coastal city of Fano, Italy, with mysterious symptoms: a rash on their hands and feet, fever, nausea, and diarrhea. Doctors sent for various tests until one came back with a positive result for dengue, a viral infection spread by mosquitoes, usually in tropical regions of the world. They tested the other patients, and, sure enough, they had dengue too. The strange thing? None of the patients had recently traveled to a country where they might expect to pick up a dengue infection. The only thing…

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ibadan branch, has condemned the Oyo State Government for non-payment of three years’ rent allowances and the 2026 leave/vacation allowances to judges. The Oyo State Chief Judge, Iyabo Yerima, had sent a letter to Governor Seyi Makinde requesting the payment of the unpaid rent allowances for years 2024, 2025, and 2026. The letter, a copy of which was seen by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), was with reference number OYSJ/ISY/RA/018 and dated 5 June 2026. The letter is titled ‘Third reminder Re: Payment of Rent Allowances to Oyo State Judges for Year 2024, 2025,…

Ngake was born in Douala, the largest city in Cameroon, around 200 miles to the west of the nation’s capital Yaounde.She is reluctant to reflect too much on that time, having distanced herself from thoughts of her homeland for more than a decade, but it is clear that childhood brought “challenges”, many, many challenges. It is also clear that through sport, specifically weightlifting, she found a talent which could elevate her.Ngake dreamed of not only personal success, but profound change. She aimed to help influence a shift in perceptions around female sport by showcasing the power of strong women in…

The judge said that, as of April, Parry’s costs were estimated to be £715,361, while Gourlay’s were £487,132.She ordered Winehouse to pay interim payments to each of the women – £569,330 to Parry and £394,521 to Gourlay – within the next two weeks.He must also pay the women’s legal costs on an indemnity basis, which means those recovering their costs generally get a higher percentage of what they spent than is usual, and it is often awarded when one side has behaved particularly unreasonably.Clarke said that in pursuing his claim, Winehouse had “deliberately turned this case into large-scale and expensive…

Three Greek firefighters have died while tackling wildfires on the island of Crete and in the south of the mainland, the Greek fire department has said, as extreme heat hinders efforts to control blazes ravaging southern Europe.The arc of brutal fires, which runs from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean, and from the Scottish Highlands to the south of Spain, has alarmed experts because many of the fires have been out of control and burning close to towns and cities.Temperatures exacerbated by the climate crisis reached 38C on Wednesday in Bordeaux in France, where firefighters kept a huge blaze…

In response, the Saudis pumped as much oil as they could – around five million barrels per day – through their east-west pipeline to their export terminal on the Red Sea, on their opposite coast, at Yanbu. From there it was loaded onto tankers that headed south, out into the Arabian Sea and off to markets in Asia. So far so good. But on 13 July, the Saudis bombed Sanaa airport just outside the Yemeni capital. The strike was claimed by Yemen’s Saudi-supported government, which said it wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. In retaliation, the Houthis attacked…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.France has issued a deportation order for Xenia Fedorova, a Russian author and television commentator known for espousing pro-Kremlin positions on media outlets owned by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré.Fedorova ran the state-backed Russia Today in France before it was shut down by the government shortly after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The 45-year-old pivoted to appearing regularly on Bolloré’s CNews, a rightwing 24-hour news channel, hosting a show on Christian values and commenting on the news on various programmes.Casting…

Apple’s new Upgrade program is here, allowing you to lease select models of iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Watches with a relatively low monthly payment. The company promises you won’t pay more than the full price of the device over the course of the one- to three-year lease, and in some cases, you’ll pay hundreds of dollars less.The basics of the program make it sound like an amazing deal… so surely there must be a catch, right?The answer basically depends on how you use the Upgrade Program. At least with current pricing, a diligent user really should be able to make…

For campaigners perpetually disappointed by the failure of England’s political classes to fix England’s creaking adult social care system, the fear was that Andy Burnham’s long-trailed speech would be less Brave New World, more Groundhog Day.Burnham acknowledged he had been here before. Back in 2010, as health and social care secretary, he unveiled extensive proposals to overhaul social care, only for them to collapse amid right-wing media hostility and furious political rows about “death taxes”.The new PM might talk a good game about expending political capital on an issue close to his heart, but recent history suggests that social care…