Author: damazah@gmail.com

When heat waves descended on California this summer, Shreyas Sudhakar, founder and chief executive officer of heat pump installation firm Vayu, took his chance.Just 54 percent of homes in the state have central air-conditioning, but rising temperatures are making cooling a must-have. Sudhakar saw the hot weather as an opportunity to sign up multiple households to a heat pump “group-buy” scheme, offering them a chance to purchase technology that provides carbon-free heating and cooling at a discount. After advertising the venture online, he was flooded with queries.Heat pumps often cost more than cooling-only air conditioners, which is why adoption hasn’t…

Heirs Life Assurance, the specialist life insurance company of Heirs Insurance Group, has appointed Pastor Jerry Eze as an Independent Non-Executive Director on its Board, effective 10 August 2026. The appointment reinforces Heirs Life Assurance’s commitment to expanding financial inclusion and accelerating insurance adoption by strengthening public trust, consumer education, and long-term financial resilience across Nigeria. Despite being Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria’s insurance penetration remains below one percent – among the lowest globally – highlighting the need to expand financial protection and build greater public trust in insurance. As Heirs Life continues to pursue its mission of making insurance accessible…

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is suing Crystal Palace over a banner unfurled by the London club’s fans depicting him holding a gun to midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White’s head, according to reports on Monday. Marinakis’ legal team lodged the defamation claim against Palace and “persons unknown” at the High Court in London on Monday, nearly a year on from the banner being displayed during the 1-1 Premier League clash between the two clubs at Selhurst Park. Alongside the image, the banner read: “Mr Marinakis is not involved in blackmail, match-fixing, drug trafficking or corruption.” The Greek shipping and media magnate has…

One talk by Arday is “cancelled at the request of the speaker” and others are removed from listings.

Vanessa Obioha Award-winning filmmaker, actress and producer Funke Akindele has announced her next feature film, ‘The Four: No One Fights Alone’ set for a global cinema release in December. Produced by Funke Akindele Network (FAAN TV) and distributed by FilmOne Entertainment, the announcement marks the next chapter for one of Africa’s most commercially successful filmmakers, whose films have consistently redefined the possibilities of Nigerian cinema. Set between the picturesque Odu Community and the vibrant pulse of the city, the film follows Esosa and three fiercely loyal women whose journey to fight for the future of a young man they love…

Super Falcons midfielder Christy Ucheibe has apologised to Nigerians and admitted the team has no excuse for their failure to secure automatic qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, after the defending champions were eliminated from the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations by Cameroon. Nigeria suffered a 1-0 quarter-final defeat to the Indomitable Lionesses at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca on Sunday, with Myriam Maeva Nyadjou’s thunderous 19th-minute strike proving enough to end the Super Falcons’ hopes of defending their continental crown and securing one of the four automatic World Cup tickets available through the WAFCON semi-finals.…

Independent MP accuses Labor of ‘listening to the money and the power’ on gambling ad policyKate Chaney, who was on the inquiry with the late Labor MP Peta Murphy that handed down the landmark ‘you win some, you lose more’ report on gambling harm, says so far it seems the talks between the Coalition and Labor on a gambling reform package are “disappointing”.Speaking to the ABC’s RN Breakfast a little earlier, the independent MP says the government has listened to the gambling lobby instead of the evidence.Part of the government’s proposed reforms limit online gambling ads on television to three…

The Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Zacch Adedeji, has defended President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, arguing that the administration deserves commendation rather than criticism for removing fuel subsidy and unifying the foreign exchange market. Mr Adedeji spoke in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics. He said the reforms were necessary because the Tinubu administration inherited an economy burdened by an unsustainable fuel subsidy regime, an opaque foreign exchange market, an underperforming oil sector and a narrow tax base. According to him, the government’s decision to remove the subsidy was implemented alongside the unification of the foreign…

By now, any serious gamer is familiar with a favorite title becoming unplayable after a centralized online server gets shut down, or being unable to purchase and download a digitally delisted, critically acclaimed title from yesteryear. Can anything be done about this video game preservation problem? To help answer that question, we’ll be hosting a live conversation with Ross Scott, the founder of the Stop Killing Games campaign, on August 11 at 2:30 pm ET as part of the Ars Live series. As Ars’ Senior Gaming Editor, I’ve documented countless examples of once vibrant games being left for dead by…

Civil society and public health organisations have urged President Bola Tinubu to withhold assent to a proposed amendment to Nigeria’s tobacco control law, warning that some provisions could weaken existing safeguards against tobacco and nicotine addiction, particularly among young people. The groups made the call at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, titled “Why Nigeria Must Reject Harmful Amendments to the National Tobacco Control Act.” The event was organised by the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), in collaboration with Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) and other tobacco control organisations. Beyond asking Mr Tinubu to withhold assent, the…