Author: damazah@gmail.com

On the day he was notified that he was a finalist for the 2019 Thomson Reuters Young Journalist Award, Amos Abba anticipated a flourishing long-term career. Down the line, his investigations into water contamination by a multinational company, illegal activities of loan sharks, and the erroneous Nigerian military airstrikes that killed civilians held power to account and established him as an award-winning journalist at the peak of his profession. But today, he no longer works as a full-time journalist in Nigeria. “I was just exhausted,” Mr Abba said. “If I had depended on my take-home for the month, it was…

Nigel Farage’s campaign against the World Health Organization (WHO) is moving to the US with a new board of lobbyists, raising questions over why the Reform UK leader is involved in an American pressure group.The Action on World Health campaign, co-founded by Farage, is relocating to the US state of Delaware as a charitable foundation and grassroots non-profit.As part of its relaunch, it has hired Farage’s longtime friend and Brexit campaigner Andy Wigmore for its board, alongside Gerry Gunster, an American lobbyist and political strategist who worked on Farage’s leave campaign for the 2016 EU referendum.Andy Wigmore. Photograph: Future Publishing/Getty…

Key eventsOpening summaryThe UK is set to get some respite from this week’s record-breaking heat over the weekend, but much of the rest of Europe remains in the grip of an intense heatwave as it shifts eastwards.Germany provisionally recorded its highest ever temperature yesterday with 41.3C near the city of Saarbrücken close to the French border. Forecasters say the hottest conditions are now spreading into central and eastern Europe, including Poland and the Balkans, over the weekend.The Ironman European Championship taking place tomorrow in Frankfurt has been forced to adapt to the extreme conditions, with organisers shortening both the cycling…

Sneaky worms Taenia solium can infect people in two ways: by eating cysts in undercooked meat or ingesting eggs through fecal contamination. The parasite infects pigs, and when they ingest eggs from feces, the worms hatch in the pigs’ guts, bore through the intestines, get into the bloodstream, and migrate into a variety of tissues and muscles. There, they form into encapsulated larvae called cysticerci. If a person eats undercooked meat containing cysticerci, the larvae will develop into adult tapeworms in the person’s intestinal tract and live there, possibly for years. Meanwhile, those infected people will be shedding eggs in…

Two weeks before Josh Simons stood down as the Makerfield MP for his benefit, Andy Burnham was at Salts Mill in Shipley celebrating the life and work of the poet Tony Harrison. It was a small gathering, with actors, directors, writers and family members paying homage. Burnham wasn’t the only politician to speak; Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, is another fan (in 2020 he put down an early day motion in parliament that recognised how Harrison had “always written, and spoken, for the people”). But Burnham’s was the most incisive illustration of how literature in general and poetry in…

Tracy Hutchinson has a rare mutation of the TP53 geneTracy Hutchinson I started to wonder if something funky was going on when multiple people in my family got cancer around the same time. In 1990, my older sister Rebecca was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, when she was 21 and I was 14. While she was undergoing rigorous chemo, my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. Rebecca passed away in 1994 and then, a couple of years after that, my dad got bowel cancer. While he was undergoing treatment, my mum got cancer in her other breast. She survived that,…

.Failures in U17, U20, U23, Super Eagles too heavy to keep current NFF board .Five benchmarks for new board; change must begin with structural reforms By Douglas Baye-Osagie  The Nigeria Football Federation elections are set for September, and the anger is louder than ever. Nigerians are still in pain over missing the 2026 World Cup — the biggest World Cup in history with 48 teams and 10 African countries represented. This absence has forced every fan, ex-international, and stakeholder to ask one painful question: who is accountable? Elections without benchmarks are just ceremonies. Corporations have KPIs. Governments have manifesto scorecards.…

As predicted, the Toronto Maple Leafs selected Gavin McKenna with their first overall pick at the 2026 NHL Draft on Friday. To some surprise, however, longtime Leafs fan and famed Canadian singer Justin Bieber was on hand to make the official announcement. “Mr. McKenna, we would like to draft you to the Toronto Maple Leafs,” Bieber declared from the draft stage at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. Naturally, McKenna, a native of Whitehorse, Yukon, walked up to the star’s hit song “Yukon.” During his post-draft interview with Bieber, McKenna, who will join the team after a solid season…

Key highlights:Student success capabilities within Ellucian Student, powered by AI and purpose-built for higher education, won a 2026 EdTech Cool Tool Award.The recognition highlights degree auditing, smart planning & registration, and credential discovery capabilities that help institutions support clearer academic pathways.The EdTech Awards recognize organizations and technologies transforming education and enriching the lives of learners worldwide.RESTON, Va., June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Ellucian, the leading higher education technology solutions provider, announced it has been named a winner in the 2026 EdTech Cool Tool Awards in the Best Student Success Planning and…

France defeated Norway 4-1 in their final Group I match with a commanding performance to secure top spot in the group, while Senegal stunned Iraq 5-0 in the final Group matches of the FIFA World Cup. France wasted no time in taking control as Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring in the seventh minute after a fine pass from Kylian Mbappe. The same combination produced the second goal in the 20th minute, with Mbappe again providing the assist for Dembele to complete his brace. Norway responded a minute later through Thelo Aasgaard, who finished from Andreas Schjelderup’s assist to cut the…