Author: damazah@gmail.com

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Eury Pérez was pulled after pitching seven perfect innings Sunday, and the Miami Marlins nearly blew an eight-run lead before holding on for a 9-8 victory over the Athletics.Marlins reliever Lake Bachar replaced Pérez to start the eighth and issued a leadoff walk to Lawrence Butler as fans booed. That was the first baserunner for the A’s, and Josh Kuroda-Grauer then dunked a pop-fly single into shallow right field for their first hit.Carlos Cortes followed with an RBI double, Max Muncy walked and Jonah Heim launched a grand slam that shaved Miami’s lead to 8-5.Brian Serven…

The 200th anniversary of the United States brought two years of celebrations before the actual bicentennial, on July 4, 1976. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip accompanied President Ford on a tour of the land her predecessors had lost, while a spectacular parade of ships sailed from New York City to Boston. A train of 50 wagons recreated a settlers’ journey on the Oregon Trail, while another troop re-enacted Washington’s crossing of the Delaware. Johnny Cash served as Grand Marshal of the July 4 parade in Washington D.C., which inaugurated a new Smithsonian and the city’s first subway line to…

SOLA ONI contends that markets should not be judged solely by how convenient they are for foreign capital When FTSE Russell announced its proposal to reclassify Nigeria from “Unclassified” to “Frontier Market” status, effective 21 September 2026, many Nigerians welcomed the move as long-overdue recognition of the remarkable progress made in the country’s capital market.  The performance of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), supported by broader macroeconomic and regulatory reforms, appeared to provide a compelling case for Nigeria’s return to the Frontier Market Index. However, some market observers remained cautiously optimistic. They argued that the decisions of global index providers…

Tens of thousands of people comprising leaders, candidates and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State on Sunday staged a ‘Thank You’ rally in Ilorin for the successful conduct of the party’s primaries and in support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Kwara APC governorship candidate, Mr. Yakubu Danladi Salihu; and all other candidates in the forthcoming general election. Dubbed Kwara Ndupe Rally, the event saw thousands of the party’s faithful crisscrossing major roads in Ilorin metropolis – from Queen Elizabeth School – Surulere – Oja-Oba – Post Office to the party’s secretariat in GRA…

Kayode Tokede  Amidst uncertainty in the business environment, banks borrowing from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) dropped by 96.04 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) to N2.33trillion in half year (H1) of 2026 from N58.91 trillion in the corresponding period of 2025.  Nigerian banks borrow from the CBN through  Standing Lending Facility (SLF) window in a move to meet critical overnight obligations. CBN data showed that banks use of SLF declined in 2026  half year compared to 2025, reflecting stronger liquidity and reduced reliance on the apex bank.  Also, the data showed that banks took caution after the CBN withdrew regulatory forbearance letting…

Anthropic. The Information. The session before a long holiday weekend. It was a toxic combination that crushed chip stocks on Thursday. The market was closed Friday in observance of the Fourth of July — so, understandably, Thursday’s trading volume was light, which made stocks vulnerable to big swings. Here’s what happened. Tech media outlet The Information put out a story Thursday, reporting that Anthropic is in talks with Samsung to manufacture a custom artificial intelligence chip. Anthropic’s prowess as a maker of leading AI models is already setting the company up for one of the biggest initial public offerings of…

The new statistics released by PEER were made public as a result of a lawsuit PEER and other groups filed to compel the Chemical Safety Board to disclose industrial chemical releases as required by the Clean Air Act. A federal judge ruled in 2019 that communities have a right to know what hazardous chemicals are released nearby. Yet Trump’s EPA removed a public data tool designed to inform communities of nearby risks last year. President Trump has also tried to eliminate the Chemical Safety Board by withholding funding, though Congress has continued to fund the agency. Earlier this year, the…

Ademola Adeleke is the Governor of Osun State and a man currently fighting on several fronts at once to keep his job. Adeleke won the governorship on the PDP platform in 2022. When a national leadership crisis tore the PDP apart, he left and adopted the Accord Party as his vehicle for re-election. The August 15, 2026, election is now weeks away. The APC’s candidate against him is Bola Oyebamiji, presented as a financial expert, and the party is pressing every lever available to push Adeleke out before the polls. The most serious attack is legal. A Federal High Court…

The federal government has distributed drugs, ambulances, and emergency obstetric and newborn care equipment worth approximately ₦10 billion to health facilities in Bauchi State. The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, inaugurated the distribution on Saturday. Mr Pate stated that the intervention is part of federal efforts to strengthen healthcare delivery and improve maternal, newborn, and child health services across the state. In addition to general equipment, the government has provided free delivery kits for pregnant women, alongside sexual and reproductive health commodities. According to the Minister, general hospitals and 20 primary healthcare (PHC) centres will receive…

Norway’s forward #09 Erling Braut Haaland celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the 2026 World Cup round of 16 football match between Brazil and Norway at the New York/New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford on July 5, 2026. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP) Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway sealed a stunning 2-1 upset over Brazil on Sunday to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. Manchester City striker Haaland headed Norway into the lead on 79 minutes and then crashed in a second in the 90th minute at the MetLife Stadium to bury Brazil’s hopes of a sixth World…