Author: damazah@gmail.com

OPay, a leading fintech company in Nigeria, has announced an extension of the application deadline for the National Innovation Challenge, a flagship component of the newly expanded OPay Scholars Programme 2026, from June 14 to July 3, 2026. The extension follows overwhelming interest from tertiary institution students across the country and numerous requests from prospective applicants seeking additional time to complete and submit their entries. Students in tertiary institutions across Nigeria can still apply now as a team of five students via website. The OPay Scholars Programme is an expanded education and talent development platform designed to empower the next…

EXPLAINERParis and other European cities are experiencing temperatures above 40C (104F), reaching levels normally seen across the Middle East.A blistering heatwave has gripped much of Europe, prompting the highest-level red alerts in parts of the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy.Authorities have warned of health risks, wildfires and travel disruptions as extreme temperatures persist.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listWith temperatures approaching record highs, officials have taken emergency measures, including a localised alcohol ban in parts of France under red alert, nationwide heat warnings in Germany and the cancellation of a World Cup fan zone screening in Madrid, where…

The dazzling sight of more than 60m stars at the heart of Earth’s galaxy has been captured by a space telescope designed to reveal the mysterious dark forces that shape the universe.Astronomers used the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope to capture the largest, most detailed image ever taken of the visible light pouring from the centre of the Milky Way. The telescope’s camera is rare in being sensitive enough to separate individual stars in the crowded region known as the galactic bulge.The enormous image marked the start of a new age of discovery of planets outside Earth’s solar system, researchers…

Favour Ashe delivered one of the greatest sprint performances ever witnessed on Nigerian soil on Tuesday, storming to a personal best of 9.93 seconds to win the men’s 100 metres title at the Commonwealth Games Trials in Lagos. The performance, achieved with a legal wind reading of +0.5m/s, made Ashe the fastest Nigerian man ever on home soil and capped a historic final at the Yaba College of Technology Sports Complex. Nicholas Fakorede finished second in a personal best of 9.98 seconds, while Chidera Ezeakor also produced a lifetime best of 10.03 seconds to place third. The race entered Nigerian…

Speaking about the debate, which she attended, Nelson said she was devastated that the issue wasn’t being tackled with more urgency.”I cannot tell you how heartbreaking it is to know that my children’s lives could have looked completely different,” she said, fighting back tears. “They could have been walking by now. They didn’t have to be on breathing machines. “I have to give them medicine every four hours. I have to turn them every two hours, because they can’t do that themselves. I have to make sure they’re not choking… because this disease has affected their muscles with their swallowing.”To…

Over- and under-ripe strawberries have opposite problems but the same solution: roast them. This intensifies their flavour, and also allows you to add sugar to sweeten flavourless, under-ripe fruit, while at the same time cooking away any blemishes or unpleasant soft patches.No-churn roast strawberry ice-creamRoast strawberries make the best ice-cream because they contain less water than fresh fruit: the roasting dehydrates them, intensifying flavour and removing excess water, which in turn helps to prevent ice crystals and a grainy texture. The sugar from the condensed milk, a splash of vodka and a pinch of salt help, too, lowering the freezing…

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has announced Thursday, July 9, 2026, as the official passing-out date for members of the 2025 Batch ‘B’ Stream I serving across the country. The announcement was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by the scheme’s Director of Information and Public Relations, Caroline Embu, and shared on the NYSC’s official X handle. According to the statement, activities leading up to the passing-out ceremony commenced on June 23. The NYSC said the low-key exercise would culminate in the distribution of Certificates of National Service to eligible corps members across all local government areas of…

London, Oldham, Bradford and Keighley will be the first towns and cities investigated by an independent grooming gangs inquiry, it was announced on Wednesday.The independent inquiry into grooming gangs has confirmed that its three-part hearings will investigate Whitehall departments and politicians alongside local councils, the NHS and national police institutions.Chaired by Anne Longfield, it will compel individuals and institutions to explain what they “did or did not do to protect children from being sexually abused”, a statement said.There has been months of lobbying from survivors and campaigners over which areas will be included.The commissioners had said the inquiry would not…

Nume Ekeghe  Financial system is expected to receive a substantial liquidity injection of N3.39 trillion this week, with maturing Open Market Operation (OMO) bills accounting for about 86 per cent of the anticipated inflows, according to the latest weekly market report by the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA). The projected inflows represent a sharp increase from the N1.53 trillion recorded in the previous week and are expected to significantly improve liquidity conditions across the banking system after a period of tightening. FMDA noted that OMO maturities worth N2.93 trillion would constitute the largest source of liquidity this week, dwarfing inflows…

But the people who put together climate.gov didn’t go away. While the government didn’t hesitate to delete inconvenient climate information, dedicated volunteers outside the government managed to preserve copies of much of the material, which the federal government is prohibited from copyrighting. The volunteers and former climate.gov admins got together and launched climate.us. On Tuesday, the team announced that it had completed the project to restore everything lost when climate.gov shut down. The website features Climate.gov’s 15-year collection of climate news and stories, expert blogs, visual status reports on key climate indicators, maps and data pathways, climate literacy resources, classroom…