Author: damazah@gmail.com

The family of a missing farmer, Abdulazeez Abiodun, popularly known as Kebe, has appealed to security agencies to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death after his body was allegedly found in a bush in Isin Local Government Area of Kwara State. Speaking with PUNCH Online on Tuesday, the deceased’s second daughter, Abdulazeez Rofiat, urged security agencies, human rights organisations, the media and well-meaning Nigerians to ensure that those responsible for the alleged killing of her father are identified and brought to justice. Rofiat said her father left his residence in Isalu, Isin Local Government Area, at about 7 a.m. on…

The Yobe and Adamawa state governments have stepped up security measures to check violent crimes associated with illegal mining in some of their states’ rural communities. These measures may not be unconnected with the allegations that the quest for solid minerals such as gold was responsible for banditry and insurgency in some parts of the country. An investigation carried out by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) revealed that there are more than 27 solid minerals in different parts of Yobe, including gold, limestone, gypsum, trona, diatomite, granite and kaolin, while Adamawa has more than 26 solid minerals, such as…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Baby boomers are the generation cutting back most on alcohol consumption, outstripping Gen Z’s abstinence, as moderation takes hold at every level of society.Seventy-one per cent of boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, consumed alcohol in the past six months — the lowest drinking rate of any other generation and down 2 percentage points from three years ago, according to IWSR, a market researcher for the global beverage industry. By contrast, 74 per cent of Gen Z who are at the legal…

Forget the sale of the century. The auction house Sotheby’s is gearing up for the sale of the epoch. On July 14 it will open live bidding on assorted fossils, but the pièce de résistance is lot 20, a rare 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton.The specimen—dubbed Gus—is billed as one of the largest, most complete T. rexes ever found. Gus is expected to fetch up to $30 million and will go to the highest bidder, whether public museum or private collector. The latter have played an increasingly prominent role in buying fossils, with auction houses, according to paleontologists, contributing to the trend by…

Andy Burnham will walk into No 10 on 20 July to a bulging in-tray of policies, proposals – and problems. One he may be less aware of is a ticking political timebomb launched by David Lammy in his role as justice secretary, which could affect millions of people who have chosen not to marry.Under Lammy’s proposal, couples who have lived together for three years, or who have a child together, would automatically acquire marriage-like legal obligations they never agreed to, meaning either partner could ask a court to make financial orders if the relationship ends.I have opposed automatic cohabitation rights…

I have studied climate tipping points1 for more than 20 years, and I’m increasingly concerned that scientists have overlooked the most dangerous aspect of these for societies. The potential collapse of major parts of the Earth system — from ice sheets to ocean circulations — will profoundly alter the warming planet and tip it irreversibly into a different state2. But the greatest risks might not lie at that endpoint.Is a monster web of ocean currents headed for collapse? The race is on to find outHow we get there — how the tipping unfolds — is more important, and there is…

Key events“Shortish but vicious” is William Fotheringham’s summary:Stage 10, Tuesday 14 July: Aurillac to Le Lioran, 166.6kmA shortish but vicious stage through the luscious Aveyron and Cantal. A special steam train will convey fans to Le Lioran and Pogacar may well get his personal locomotives moving over the seven categorised climbs including the Puy Mary and the Col de Pertus, the latter coming at 14km to go. The ascents are short but steep so the issue is the cumulative effect of so many efforts; one or two putative contenders will lose the race here. The first test for Pogacar and…

The song comes off the British singer’s recent debut LP, Visitor Sienna Spiro stopped by The Tonight Show to perform her song “Great Expectation,” taking the late-night show stage alongside a live band and two back-up singers. The British singer offered a sultry, impassioned rendition of the anthemic song. “Great Expectation” comes off Spiro’s debut album, Visitor, which dropped earlier this month. She shared a music video for “Great Expectation” on the day of release, which shares its visuals with her live performance on The Tonight Show, including its red and white backdrop. In a review, Rolling Stone wrote of…

The Adamawa State Police Command has arrested two suspected kingpins allegedly involved in defrauding customers by selling dummy phones through a network of agents across the state. According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the command’s spokesperson, SP Suleiman Nguroje, the suspects, Audu Abubakar and Nasiru Hassan, both residents of Bauchi Street in Yola North Local Government Area, were arrested following complaints from victims who discovered that the phones they purchased were non-functional replicas. “Operatives of the Adamawa State Police Command have arrested two suspects for allegedly defrauding unsuspecting customers by selling them dummy phones instead of original working…

Good morning. The US has launched its third consecutive night of strikes on Iran, hours after Donald Trump said Washington would reinstate a maritime blockade on the country and charge ships for safe passage. The UAE said two ⁠national tankers ⁠were ​targeted by two Iranian cruise missiles in ⁠the southern lane of the strait ⁠of Hormuz in Omani territorial ​waters, ‌killing one ‌Indian crew member and wounding ‌eight others, including four seriously.Iran and the US are in theory nearly halfway through the 60-day period of an interim deal that was supposed to set up talks for a permanent end to…