Author: damazah@gmail.com

Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg is one of several universities in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt that could face reforms.Credit: Imago/Joko/AlamyScientists are raising the alarm about proposals from the far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) that they say could severely limit academic freedoms at German universities and research institutes.The AfD is predicted to become comfortably the largest party in elections in two German states, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in September. Although most German parties currently have a policy not to enter into any coalition with the AfD at the state or national level, the AfD could form a government…

Canada midfielder Stephen Eustaquio has described his dramatic stoppage time winner against South Africa as a moment of collective belief after his late strike secured the country’s first ever FIFA World Cup knockout victory and booked a place in the Round of 16. Eustaquio emerged as Canada’s hero with a 92nd minute goal that settled a tense Round of 32 encounter in Los Angeles, sending the Canadian supporters into wild celebrations and breaking South African hearts. The landmark victory capped a memorable evening that also saw Canada celebrate their maiden knockout triumph and Alphonso Davies make an emotional return to…

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up Donald Trump‘s appeal of a $5 million jury judgment against him in writer E. Jean Carroll’s claim that he sexually abused and defamed her. The case was one of two brought by Carroll. Another jury verdict, still under appeal, awarded her around $83 million in damages for defamation. Trump has denied Carroll’s claims, which stem from a 1990s incident at a New York department store. More to come.

The Nigerian Navy has disrupted the movement of illegally refined petroleum products in Rivers State through an intelligence-led operation conducted under Operation DELTA SENTINEL. This is contained in an operational report issued by the Director of Naval Information, Abiodun Folorunsho, on Sunday in Abuja. Mr Folorunsho, a navy captain, said the operation was carried out by personnel of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) SOROH deployed to the Orashi Forest area of Okolomade Community in Abua/Odual Local Government Area of Rivers. He said the area borders Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, where the naval team conducted the intelligence-led operation. According…

Annual Edtech Top 40 now examines Canvas LTI usage in K–12 education, emphasizing institutional control and interoperability as they build more intentional edtech ecosystemsSALT LAKE CITY, June 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Instructure, the leading learning ecosystem and maker of Canvas LMS, today released the 2026 Edtech Top 40, an annual report revealing how K-12 educators and students engage with digital learning tools. For the first time, the report moves beyond general web traffic data and into actual classroom usage, drawing on Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) launch data from over 1,000 integrated tools in…

The war in Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz have inflicted deep economic pain on many countries and sent some industries into a tailspin as they struggled with higher prices for energy, fertilizer and chemicals.It may also have given China a competitive edge.While the energy shocks and supply chain challenges stemming from the war have posed some challenges for China, the country has largely managed to avoid the kind of inflation spike and cascading economic and political effects that have afflicted many other nations.The reason: China’s oil and gas reserves and clean energy supplies have allowed…

Nigeria recorded a 21 per cent increase in intra-African trade in 2025, with total trade rising to $9.02 billion as the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) continued to unlock new export opportunities and deepen regional commercial integration, as businesses leveraged preferential market access and lower trade barriers. The latest African Trade Report 2026 released by Afreximbank showed that Nigeria’s trade with the rest of Africa increased from $7.47 billion in 2024 to $9.02 billion in 2025, consolidating the country’s position among the continent’s leading intra-African trading nations. According to the report, the growth was driven by Nigeria’s…

The assumption that if you equip young Africans with digital skills, employment will follow has been proven wrong over the years. Millions of young Africans continue to graduate from school each year for economies that cannot absorb them. At the same time, artificial intelligence is already shaping the nature of work, routine tasks, and changing the skills employers demand.   For years, the response has centred on digital skills. Governments have launched coding programmes, development organisations have funded digital literacy initiatives, and private companies have invested in technical training. These efforts have expanded access to digital education, but they have not…

Andy Burnham will set up No 10 North as the “nerve centre of a rewired Britain” to oversee a devolution of power and resources across the UK that he said would deliver the change the country desperately needed.The prime minister-in-waiting said the Westminster system was “broken” and that a “more of the same” approach would neither improve living standards or restore people’s faith in how politics worked for them.In his first speech since Keir Starmer announced he was standing down, Burnham repeatedly returned to the theme of a decade of “change” but also set out concrete policies to transform how…

A widely used agricultural pesticide may pose a greater threat to brain health than previously recognized. Researchers at UCLA Health report that long-term exposure to chlorpyrifos near the home is associated with a more than 2.5-fold increase in the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. The study, published in Molecular Neurodegeneration, combined evidence from hundreds of people with laboratory experiments designed to uncover exactly how the pesticide affects the brain. The results suggest that chlorpyrifos can damage critical nerve cells involved in movement and may play a direct role in the development of Parkinson’s disease. Why Parkinson’s Disease Matters Parkinson’s disease…