Author: damazah@gmail.com

…Insists 10,430 cases are diagnoses, not fresh infectionsBy Chioma Obinna The Lagos State Government on Thursday dismissed widespread reports that the state recorded 10,430 new HIV infections in 2025, clarifying that the figure represents newly diagnosed cases and not fresh infections, even as it announced a historic move to directly procure antiretroviral drugs, becoming the first sub-national government in Nigeria to do so. Addressing journalists at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Lagos, Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency, Dr. Folakemi Animashaun, said the reports had been widely misinterpreted and risked creating unnecessary panic among residents.…

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday inaugurated the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, tasked with preparing the legal framework for implementing citizens’ state police nationwide. The inauguration took place at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where the President was represented by. his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila. This development follows the National Assembly’s Constitution Alteration (State Police) Bill, 2026, which proposes a dual policing structure comprising the Federal Police Service and 36 State Police Services. President Tinubu noted that while the constitutional amendment establishes the framework for state police, the National Policing Bill is required to provide the legal…

By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja The Federal Government (FG) incurred an electricity tariff subsidy obligation of N358.32 billion in the first quarter of 2026 as it continued to bridge the gap between cost-reflective electricity tariffs and the rates paid by consumers, according to the latest report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). The Commission, in its First Quarter 2026 report released on Monday, said the subsidy represented a N60.46 billion, or 14.44 per cent, decline from the N418.79 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025, largely due to lower electricity offtake by distribution companies (DisCos) rather than improvements in tariff…

Reform UK Deputy leader Richard Tice has written to the boss of the National Crime Agency (NCA) asking if he will investigate whether the body is responsible for leaking his private financial information to the media.Payments made to his organisations were flagged to the NCA as part of its Suspicious Activity Reports programme, something Tice says he only became aware of when he was contacted by the Guardian newspaper.Reform UK believe the paper’s information is likely to have come from the NCA.A spokesperson for the agency said “The NCA does not confirm or deny the receipt of suspicious activity reports…

A homegrown catnip lotion has proven “just as effective as Deet” as a mosquito repellant in trials carried out in Uganda.Catnip, or Nepeta cataria, is a common herb from the mint family. The chemical in the plant that causes feline euphoria – nepetalactone – also has insect-repelling properties but this has not previously been commercialised.New tools are vital in the fight against malaria, the disease spread by mosquitoes that infects about 282 million people a year and killed 610,000 in 2024 – the majority of them young children in African countries. There are concerns about rising resistance to insecticides, as…

ATLANTA — Lionel Messi is once again the star for Argentina.With Egypt leading 2-0 with just over 10 minutes to go, the Albiceleste captain assisted on Argentina’s first goal, scored their second in the 84th minute to tie the game, and then played his part to prompt Enzo Fernández’s game-winner in the second minute of stoppage time to send his country into the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup with a thrilling 3-2 win.His equalizer on Tuesday sent the Argentina-heavy crowd into a frenzy inside the pressure cooker of Atlanta Stadium. The bowing began in the stands before transforming into…

Blessed with impressive multi-year access to the Burning Man Festival, its participants and bureaucracy, but undone by indecisiveness in its structure, themes and purpose, Jehane Noujaim and Vikram Gandhi’s The Man Will Burn is an engaging puzzlement.  Over its rushed and disjointed four-hour running time, the HBO docuseries offers some sense of the community that Burning Man offers and cultivates, as well as its evolving infrastructure and internal political conflicts; some awareness of the inherent and overwhelming whiteness and privilege underlying the event; some insight into several tumultuous years in Burning Man’s history; and some interest in the challenges facing…

For nearly 70 years, Bonny Island remained one of Nigeria’s most economically strategic yet physically isolated communities, accessible only by water or air despite its immense contribution to the nation’s oil and gas industry. Today, that long-standing isolation has finally come to an end with the completion of the Bodo-Bonny Road, a landmark project delivered through a partnership between the Federal Government and Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG). From decades of unfulfilled promises to the engineering feat that made it possible, Blessing Ibunge writes that the road is transforming mobility, trade, investment and livelihoods, while reconnecting Bonny to the Nigerian mainland For decades,…

Shares of KPIT Technologies Ltd were little changed in early trade on Wednesday after Goldman Sachs maintained its ‘Neutral’ rating on the stock but cut its target price. The brokerage cited weaker client activity, a slower recovery in electric vehicle research and development (EV R&D) spending, and a muted growth outlook for FY27.Goldman Sachs cut its target price on KPIT Technologies stock to Rs 637 from Rs 740 and now expects the company to report a 5.2 percent sequential decline in revenue for the June quarter. It also sees FY27 revenue growth remaining flat as headwinds in the first half…

Cairo, Egypt – It was a night bookended by triumph and tears as Egyptians watched their team lead against reigning world champions Argentina by two goals in Atlanta – only for the match to turn on its head in the space of 13 minutes and knock the Pharaohs out of the World Cup in the round of 16.Football is a passion in Egypt, and millions of fans had watched the match in cafes, squares, and homes. The dream of reaching the quarterfinals in North America seemed within touching distance after an impressive and dogged performance against the world champions.But, having…