Author: damazah@gmail.com

The Federal Government has announced significant progress in the implementation of the Nigeria Industrial Policy (NIP) 2025, recording over $380 million in strategic financing commitments within its first 90 days and advancing key initiatives aimed at boosting local manufacturing, exports, skills development and industrial infrastructure. A 90-day progress report released by the Office of the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, stated that the policy has moved beyond its launch phase into active implementation, with measurable interventions underway across its eight strategic pillars. The report revealed that, alongside securing more than $380 million in financing commitments, the ministry…

Far-right millionaire Abelardo de la Espriella, who was endorsed by United States President Donald Trump, has won Colombia’s presidential election, according to preliminary results.De la Espriella, 47, achieved a narrow victory against his left-wing challenger, Senator Ivan Cepeda, who was backed by outgoing leftist President Gustavo Petro.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listDe la Espriella’s victory in Sunday’s run-off will set the stage for an overhaul of the economic, foreign and domestic policies pursued under Petro, who tried to address Colombia’s inequality, conducted peace talks with armed groups and severed ties with Israel over its genocidal war on Gaza.…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Pharmaceuticals sector myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.AbbVie is buying biotech Apogee Therapeutics in a $10.9bn deal, strengthening its pipeline for immunology and inflammation medicines.As part of the deal, Apogee’s shareholders will receive $135.11 a share in cash, a 49 per cent premium to the biotech’s closing price on Thursday, AbbVie said in a statement on Monday. Apogee’s shares rose 47 per cent to $132.70 in early New York trading while AbbVie rose 4.5 per cent to $226.22. The acquisition, AbbVie’s largest in more than half a decade, confirms…

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan has entered what its disaster authority is calling a “critical” weather window.The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Sunday issued a nationwide alert, warning of thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, urban flooding, and an elevated risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) across the country’s northern regions over the next 12 to 24 hours.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe alert identified Hunza and Skardu areas in the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region in the north and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the northwest among the most vulnerable areas to a possible climate disaster.Authorities also warned of flooding in…

Lucid Motors is laying off 18% of its workforce, or around 1,500 employees, just four months after the EV maker cut 12% of its staff. The company said on Monday that it has also “eliminated the second shift” of EV production at its factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. The cuts are part of a bid by Lucid’s new CEO, Silvio Napoli, to “simplify the company, sharpen execution, and position Lucid to become more competitive over time,” the company said in a statement. The lay-offs come as the electric vehicle market in the United States has cooled, with major automakers pulling…

The police in Abia State, South-east Nigeria, say they have arrested Agwu Ukpo, a 37-year-old man who was filmed assaulting a woman, Amarachi Chinyere, in the state. The police spokesperson in Abia State, Maureen Chinaka, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday. The viral video clip A video clip circulating on Facebook showed Mr Agwu aggressively assaulting Chinyere inside an apartment in Aba, the commercial hub of the state. The man, who wore only shorts, was heard in the clip threatening to kill the woman as he pinned her down while repeatedly and aggressively hitting her with his fists. PREMIUM…

Gradually, brands at all levels of the markets got in on the game, including Allen Edmonds and Wolf & Shepherd, and luxury labels like Tom Ford, Loro Piana and Cole Haan. (The Cole Haan versions are the ones Roman Roy wore.) Wolf & Shepherd even had the N.B.A. Hall of Famer Steve Nash playing basketball in its “dress sneakers.”“Eventually, dress sneakers started appearing on ESPN sports commentators,” Guy said. Then Silicon Valley embraced them as a way to signal that the “move fast and break things” founders had reached a (slightly) more professional stage of business. From there, it was…

That game, in particular, highlighted two clear differences to the Southgate era.The first being the speed of play through the middle third.Southgate’s sides, perhaps more traditionally, built up short – looking to progress the ball more slowly. They wanted to keep the ball, move up the pitch as a unit before – when pinning the opposition in their own third – trying to break down the low block.That worked particularly well against teams who conceded control and were reluctant to press high. But with football always developing, games towards the end of Southgate’s reign featured England facing increasingly clever defensive…

Hayley Williams swaggers on stage with a guitar and begins gleefully raging about her antidepressant of choice. Mirtazapine, a pop-punk ode to the drug that “makes me eat” and “makes me sleep”, swiftly rouses the audience into a boisterous singalong. Her chemistry with the crowd is so potent that it’s easy to forget this is Williams’s first London gig since supporting Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour with her band Paramore in 2024, and her first ever European tour as a solo artist. “I remember so many of you,” she says, beaming at the crowd. She points at someone in…

I have two children aged eight and four. My eight-year-old is very bright. She’s in year 3 and doing year 6 maths. Her state school has large classes and limited resources, so I challenge her by doing fun maths at home. I wanted to try getting her into a grammar school (our local state secondaries do not get good results), but lots of local parents pay for their children to have private tutors, which I can’t afford.I fear my children will be penalised and stuck in a cycle of not fulfilling their potential. This hits personally because I was diagnosed with…