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Jennifer Garner recently told the “Shut Up Evan” podcast that paparazzi would go to dangerous lengths to get photos of her and her children. “If I went through a yellow light, 15 cars would go through the red behind me,” Garner said. “They would drive up onto people’s lawns, even on a hillside. We were trying to have our little one play soccer, and the association asked us to stop because there were 20 cars coming. So it wasn’t just about us. It was just an industry that had gotten out of control.” She added, “If you show up and…

Chiemelie Ezeobi The European Union (EU) and the Government of Portugal have strengthened their maritime security partnership with the Nigerian Navy through the donation of two patrol boats and specialised maritime crime investigation equipment to boost efforts against piracy, crude oil theft and other transnational crimes in the Gulf of Guinea. The assets were handed over at the Joint Maritime Security Training Centre, Navy Town, Ojo, Lagos, under the European Union’s €15 million maritime security programme being implemented by the Government of Portugal across the ECOWAS region. The initiative is designed to enhance operational readiness, institutional capacity and regional cooperation…

SALT LAKE CITY — So how much confidence does your next-door neighbor, or the woman at church, or maybe the guy at work have in higher education?The answers likely vary if they live in Utah or if they’re college graduates or Republicans or Democrats.Earlier this year, a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics survey revealed a sizable majority of Utahns — 67% — reported “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of confidence when asked about the state’s colleges and universities.But Beehive State residents have less confidence in higher education institutions nationally, with just over half of survey respondents — 53%…

Japan logged its first official kokushobi or “cruelly hot day” on Tuesday since the new term for when temperatures top 40 degrees Celsius was introduced in April. The Japan Meteorological Agency coined the new designation to warn the public of the heat dangers of days that were once freak weather events but have now become more common.The central Japan cities of Gujo and Tajimi in Gifu prefecture, along with Toyota in Aichi prefecture, all hit 40C. Gujo’s 40C and Toyota’s 40.1C were all-time highs recorded at their respective weather stations.Across 914 weather stations nationwide, 278 registered temperatures exceeding 35C or…

In 2024, the Amazon rainforest experienced its worst forest fires in over two decades, which the Copernicus Climate Change Service put down to “climate extremes and human activity”. “The 2025 figures are significant and show that it is possible to reduce the burned area in the country,” Vera Arruda, a researcher at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) and co-ordinator at MapBiomas, told the BBC.”The 31% drop compared to the historical average – driven primarily by the lowest number of fires recorded in the Amazon in 41 years – is positive news, but it does not yet allow us to…

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, says Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves has presently risen to 52.52 billion dollars. Cardoso said this on Tuesday in Abuja, while presenting a communique issued at the end of the 306th meeting of the apex bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). He had earlier announced the decision of the MPC to retain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 26.5 per cent. The committee also retained the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points. Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks was retained at 45.00 per cent, Merchant…

It took me a while to realise what the man sitting next to me on the train was doing. He was flicking through pictures of a little girl on his phone; zooming in on some, cropping the images. Hardly unusual, of course, except that on closer inspection the pictures were very clearly of the toddler sitting opposite us, playing with her parents. On a crowded train of people mostly staring obliviously at our own phones, a stranger had been covertly photographing that little girl over and over again. And if it hadn’t been for that very visible phone screen giving…

Bamako, Mali – The ambush that killed at least 50 Malian soldiers and struck a joint convoy of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and Russia’s Africa Corps, which replaced the Wagner Group as Moscow’s military presence in Mali, near the northern town of Anefis on July 18 was more than another battlefield setback.It underscored how Mali’s armed groups are becoming increasingly coordinated, exposing the limits of the military government’s security strategy, despite growing Russian military support.The Malian military confirmed the assault and said it had launched counter-operations, while Africa Corps later released footage it said showed drone strikes targeting fighters…

By Ayobami Okerinde Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has criticised the 2026 FIFA World Cup, saying the month-long tournament “lost its credibility”, urging football stakeholders to reclaim the game from political influence. In a post on his X account on Tuesday, Blatter said Spain deserved to win the 2026 World Cup but insisted that politics must not be allowed to overshadow the game. “The longest World Cup has come to an end – with the right champions. But on the way to the final whistle, the tournament had lost its credibility,” Blatter wrote. “Politics must not be allowed to overshadow…

Dixon Q. Dern, the longtime entertainment attorney who worked at CBS, Desilu and United Artists TV; who represented clients such as Desi Arnaz and the Television Academy; who often served as an arbitrator for labor disputes; who helped incorporate CAA and who was a pioneer in syndicated sales and pre-financing for TV, died on July 19. That, according to an obituary posted by Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills. He was 97. Dern began his career as an in-house counsel for United Artists Television, Desilu and CBS before founding his own firm where he represented Desi Arnaz, the Television Academy, Village Roadshow,…