Author: damazah@gmail.com

The current rate of tree planting in Northern Ireland will have to more than triple by 2032, to get on track for 12% woodland cover by 2050. The first tree planting action plan for Northern Ireland sets out 10 strategic actions over the next five years. The Environment Minister Andrew Muir said there was “lots to do”, including raising awareness of the benefits of tree cover. With just 8.6% woodland cover, Northern Ireland is one of the least wooded areas in Europe. In UK terms, it lags behind Scotland (19%), Wales (15%), England (10%) and also the Republic of Ireland,…

Until last week, Folarin Balogun had been making headlines for all the right reasons. The United States striker, whose Nigerian roots continue to attract attention back home, has been one of the standout players at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. His three goals helped the tournament co-hosts reach the knockout stage, earning praise for his performances and strengthening his growing reputation on the international stage. Today, however, Balogun is making headlines for a very different reason. Instead of talking about his goals, football is talking about FIFA’s decision to allow him to play in the Round of 16 despite receiving…

An Associated Newspaper spokesperson said: “Mr Justice Nicklin today cleared the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, and dismissed every single one of the 97 allegations made by the claimants.”In every case, the judge accepted the honesty of our journalists’ evidence on how they sourced their stories.”This is a magnificent vindication of the Daily Mail’s journalism.”They added the court case has “wasted so much valuable court time and more than £50m in legal costs”.Paul Dacre, Associated Newspapers’ editor-in-chief and ex-Daily Mail editor, said the action had been “trumped-up” adding it “should never have been brought to trial”.He added he…

New Orleans students vaulted past their peers on this year’s LEAP tests, making the city school system one of the most improved in Louisiana and the state’s top-growing large district.Across all tested subjects and grades, New Orleans public school students grew 3 percentage points, according to results from the spring tests released Monday. The year-over-year gains landed New Orleans on the state’s list of most-improved school systems and pushed it past comparable districts, including East Baton Rouge, which grew 2 points, and Jefferson Parish, whose scores were flat. Search for each school’s scores here.New Orleans is the only school system…

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arrested Bello Abubakar, a personal physician of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over alleged false statements made during a court-approved medical visit for the former governor. The anti-corruption agency also accused Mr El-Rufai of abusing the court-approved hospital visit by allegedly receiving political associates while he was expected to undergo medical consultation, describing the development as a violation of the court’s order. The allegations are contained in a statement issued by the commission on Tuesday. According to the ICPC, the Kaduna State High Court had scheduled 6, 7…

Leaders have gathered in Ankara for a two-day summit slated to cover defence spending and the Russia-Ukraine war.Published On 7 Jul 20267 Jul 2026United States President Donald Trump has declared he is “very disappointed with NATO” on the first day of a summit of leaders of the mutual defence alliance in Turkiye that exposed tensions over European defence spending, the Russia-Ukraine war and the future of Greenland.Trump arrived in Ankara on Tuesday for the summit along with other NATO leaders. The main session will be on Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe summit comes at a fragile time…

BetKing, Nigeria’s leading gaming and entertainment brand, has announced StreamFest 2026, a five-day live-streaming event that marks the company’s position as the first Nigerian sportsbook to launch a streaming-first entertainment channel. StreamFest will take place from 8 July to 12 July 2026, airing exclusively on BetKing’s platform via YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitch and Kick, 6 pm –10 pm daily. The event boasts a prize pool of N50 million and will be hosted by Brain Jotter and Trench Boy, Nigeria’s top content creators. StreamFest will feature live gaming activities such as Chicken Keke, Giga Hot 40, King of Spin, Gates of…

On Monday, Decagon CEO Jesse Zhang published a provocative new theory, posted under the title “Everyone is wrong about open source AI in the enterprise.” The post grapples with one of the most interesting contradictions of today’s AI economy: More mature AI deployments are switching to lighter models, he says, even at his own company. But the overall spend on expensive state-of-the-art models has barely budged. It’s a new way to think about the relationship between frontier and open source models. In Zhang’s telling, they aren’t competitors, and open source models’ success isn’t coming at the expense of frontier labs.…

***Court awards N100m fine against ADC chieftain over suit against judges By Ikechukwu Nnochiri ABUJA — The Court of Appeal in Abuja will today hear substantive appeals seeking to set aside the judgment that ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to deregister African Democratic Congress, ADC, and four other political parties. The appeals will be heard by a three-member panel, led by Justice Abba Mohammed. The panel had, on June 25, okayed a full-blown hearing of the appeals after house-keeping proceedings that enabled the parties in the matter to identify and regularise all the processes they had filed. Aside from…

The Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) has given the federal government 21 days to address outstanding salary and welfare issues or face a nationwide indefinite strike. The association’s President, Nosa Orhue, announced the ultimatum on Tuesday in Abuja after a meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC). Mr Orhue said the government must conclude negotiations within the next 21 days, warning that the union would reconvene after the deadline to decide its next course of action if there was no meaningful progress. According to him, the association had engaged government through dialogue for more than 24…