Author: damazah@gmail.com

The BBC’s Orla Guerin goes on patrol with Ecuador’s police, who are grappling with a huge surge in drug crime.Drugs have been pouring into Ecuador from neighbouring Colombia and Peru – the two biggest producers in the world. Powerful home-grown gangs, with links to Mexican cartels and Albanian mafia groups, are then helping to smuggle the cocaine onwards. Last year, Ecuador’s murder rate was one of the highest in the world, with more than 9,200 people killed, according to the country’s interior ministry.

Workers producing garments at a textile factory that supplies clothes to fast fashion e-commerce company Shein in Guangzhou in southern China’s Guangdong province. (Photo by Jade GAO / AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesShein has spent the better part of three years chasing a stock market listing, first in New York, then in London and now, finally, in Hong Kong. But the numbers it revealed to prospective investors this week suggest that the pitch has gotten considerably tougher.The fast-fashion giant swung to a $99 million loss in the first quarter of 2026, a stark reversal from the same period…

Apple has released iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS 26.6. Apart from potential security hotfixes, these are likely the last updates before the arrival of iOS 27, macOS 27, and so on. All of today’s releases include minor bug fixes, and there are numerous security updates: more than 150 for macOS 26.6. Apple also rolled out macOS 14.8.8 and macOS 15.7.8 for older devices, also focused on security fixes. In terms of new features, you won’t find many in these releases, as they mainly pave the way for the next major OS update, likely to hit sometime in September. Most…

David-Chyddy Eleke takes a look at debates over the recent controversy of the non-listing of Anambra State as beneficiary of the $27million World Bank’s HOPE Governance programme. Recently, the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo in Anambra State came under attack after the release of list of states that will benefit in the World Bank-supported Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity–Governance (HOPE-GOV) Programme, which runs into $27million incentives for states that were rated to be high in performance in the Zero Disbursement-Linked Results (DLRs). The programme domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, is a collaboration between…

On a chilly day in December 1945, Bernard Lovell, a physicist at the University of Manchester, struck out for the Cheshire countryside to study cosmic rays, the streams of high-energy particles that crisscross the universe. Peering at the signals from his army surplus radar, he made an unexpected discovery: radio reflections from the ionised trails of shooting stars.The work marked the birth of radio astronomy at Jodrell Bank. A year later, engineers at the site mounted a radar on the base of a searchlight, providing sweeping access to speeding meteors. When Sputnik launched in 1957, they had just completed the…

Bill BarnwellJul 27, 2026, 06:25 AM ETCloseBill Barnwell is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. He analyzes football on and off the field like no one else on the planet, writing about in-season X’s and O’s, offseason transactions and so much more.He is the host of the Bill Barnwell Show podcast, with episodes released weekly. Barnwell joined ESPN in 2011 as a staff writer at Grantland.Multiple AuthorsFor decades, identifying the best defensive draft class in NFL history has been easy. The vaunted Class of 1981 sent six players to the Hall of Fame, with legendary second overall pick Lawrence Taylor…

Famous, or infamous, people make for good subjects of movies, whether documentaries, essay films or fiction features. Just look at the lineup of this year’s Locarno Film Festival, whose 79th edition, running Aug. 5-15, features all sorts of screen stories about bold or recognizable names. From a German entertainment figure and an Italian film and series creator to a U.S. prisoner sentenced for an “unintended crime,” the program of the Swiss festival allows you to learn more about people who have been in the headlines. Plus, there is also a cinematic letter to a documentarian of modern Lebanese history and a fiction…

For decades, the Niger Delta has powered Nigeria’s economy, generating the oil wealth that has financed national development. Yet, beneath that prosperity lies a region burdened by polluted rivers, degraded farmlands and disappearing livelihoods. At the 2026 Correspondents’ Week of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Rivers State Council, environmental advocates warned that unless urgent remediation is undertaken, the country’s oil-rich heartland risks leaving future generations with a legacy of environmental devastation rather than prosperity. Blessing Ibunge reports  For nearly 70 years, the Niger Delta has fuelled Nigeria’s economy. Its crude oil has financed national budgets, built highways and…

Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti The Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekit has discharged and acquitted a man, Ogboninu Sunday, of a murder charge brought against him by the state government over the death of one Olaiya Wasiu following a dispute allegedly triggered by missing buckets. Justice Bamidele Omotoso of High Court 6 held that the prosecution failed to establish the charge of murder against the defendant, bringing to an end a case that had attracted attention since the incident occurred in Osan-Ekiti in June 2025. The prosecution had alleged that Ogboninu killed the deceased on June 21,…

NewsFeedNew York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced a new plan to sell grocery baskets at city-run stores at 30% below retail prices. The baskets will be sold at five city-run stores and are his latest effort to offer savings to New Yorkers.Published On 28 Jul 202628 Jul 2026Click here to share on social mediashare-nodesSharegoogleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo