Author: damazah@gmail.com

The FIFA World Cup 2026 final is set to deliver a spectacle unlike any in the tournament’s history after FIFA and Global Citizen confirmed that global music icon Justin Bieber has joined the star-studded lineup for the inaugural FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show. Bieber will co-headline the groundbreaking performance alongside Madonna, Shakira and South Korean supergroup BTS when the world’s biggest football event reaches its climax on 19 July, at the New York New Jersey Stadium. The historic 11-minute halftime show marks the first time a FIFA World Cup final will feature a Super Bowl-style entertainment performance, bringing together…

I never actually watched an episode of Little House on the Prairie, though it bestrode my late 70s-early 80s’ childhood like a ginghamed colossus. This is for the simple reason that Michael Landon’s bouffant hair frightened me. Bouffant hair is such a bad thing. But so great is the power of both the cultural cringe and osmosis that even the most militant Britisher of a certain age has absorbed to some degree the story of the pioneering Ingalls family and its on-screen aesthetic. For the younger folk – it’s tradwifery for children.The series was of course based on the books…

Technology entrepreneur and founder of Chams Holding Company Plc, Sir Demola Aladekomo, will chair QEDNG Creative Powerhouse Summit 2.0 on August 11 at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. Organised by Mighty Media Plus Network Limited, publishers of QEDNG, the summit will bring together policymakers, business leaders, investors and creative professionals to discuss the future of Nigeria’s creative and cultural industries. The theme of this year’s edition is Creativity, Culture and Nigeria’s Next Chapter. Publisher of QEDNG and convener of the summit, Olumide Iyanda, said Aladekomo’s record as an entrepreneur and technology pioneer makes him well-suited to chair the event. “Sir…

Key eventsAs per the UK Health and Safety Agency’s guidance issued earlier this week, parts of the country are now covered by amber heat-health alert, until 9pm on Sunday.The regions affected are the East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East and South West, UKHSA said.Meanwhile, the UK Met Office said the current spell of hot weather is likely to continue into the next week, with today and tomorrow expected to be the hottest days in this heatwave with temperatures of up to 36C.The temperatures should start very gradually going down from Sunday night, it said.ShareGreat Britain’s grid…

Hundreds of snakes, including cobras, have escaped from flooded breeding farms in southern China as severe storms continue to batter parts of the country.State media reported that a snake farm in Hengzhou, in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was hit by flood waters after days of heavy rainfall caused by typhoon Maysak, prompting warnings for nearby residents.A dramatic video shared by state media showing local people using dip nets to catch snakes and a cobra poking its head above a torrent of muddy water went viral. Local media reported that the types of the escaped snakes included water snakes, king ratsnakes…

Indonesia imported Russian crude oil for the first time since a deal struck between the two nations in April, a sign of how Moscow has taken advantage of the Iran conflict to grow its customers.

Last week, thousands of SamKnows routers were bricked after a government program ran its course. In 2020, as part of a program conducted by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Australian government’s chief competition regulator, thousands of volunteers received routers to help test and report on the typical speed and performance of broadband plans in Australia. (More specifically, the Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) program targeted fixed-line broadband services provided over the NBN, Australia’s government-owned wholesale open-access broadband network, as well as services delivered over other access networks.) According to the final report that the ACCC distributed, the routers are…

Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate for the 2027 governorship election in Ebonyi State, Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, in this interview speaks on how Nigeria can develop to become a strong economic nation, outlines his gubernatorial agenda to include economic diversification, industrialisation, infrastructure, healthcare, security, party politics and why he believes Ebonyi deserves a new direction. You contested the 2023 governorship poll and back in the race for 2027. What inspired your decision to run again? Leadership remains Nigeria’s greatest challenge. Every nation is blessed with human and natural resources, but without the right leadership those resources cannot be translated into prosperity for…

Good morning. Andy Burnham is due to become Labour leader a week tomorrow and, as nominations open for a leadership election that will not happen because Burnham is set to be elected unopposed, we are learning a bit more about how he intends to lead his party and his country.Yesterday, in a letter to Labour MPs, Burnham told them he would never use party discipline to “stifle debate” and says they should raise problems and policy ideas “without fear or favour”. Jessica Elgot has the story here.The full text of the letter is available here.And Burnham has also published an…

Explosions were reported Wednesday night across Iran as the US launched strikes on the country, hours after President Donald Trump declared that the ceasefire was over. Mr Trump had also earlier threatened to “hit Iran very hard” on Wednesday night. Al Jazeera reported explosions in Sirik, Bushehr, Konarak and Chabahar. Air defence systems were activated in several parts of the country. Iran retaliated by attacking US interests in Bahrain and Kuwait. Mr Trump earlier said the US may “de-nuclearise” Iran without a deal. “It’s easier”, Mr Trump said. He also emphasised that the US’s primary goal with the war is…