Author: damazah@gmail.com

Dozens of high-powered and illegal ebikes have been seized by police on Sydney’s northern beaches just weeks after the force was granted new powers to destroy dangerous bikes.The operation was part of a coordinated push with the New South Wales government to ensure people only ride legal ebikes that have not been modified to reach high speeds.One of the ebikes seized on Friday belonged to a 14-year-old boy from Warriewood. Police said it was capable of reaching speeds of more than 90km/h.NSW police said they seized 36 “illegal ebikes”. The operation was launched on the northern beaches “following recent incidents…

Chicago rapper Lil Durk has been acquitted of all charges in a murder-for-hire scheme, in which a man was fatally gunned down in 2022.Prosecutors had accused Lil Durk, born Durk Banks, of putting a bounty on Atlanta rapper Tayquian Bowman’s life in retaliation for the 2020 shooting death of Banks’s friend, fellow Chicago rap star King Von.The state alleged that associates of Only the Family, Banks’s alleged criminal enterprise and record label, tracked Bowman to a gas station in West Hollywood in 2022, where they opened fire on his car. Bowman’s cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, was fatally shot in the ambush.Kacey…

Bennett Oghifo  Toyota and IVECO have announced a new collaboration under EMPOWER – the EU-funded Horizon Europe project dedicated to advancing zero-emission heavy-duty transport – marking a significant milestone in the development of next-generation fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) for the heavy-duty transport sector. Under the EMPOWER project, Toyota will provide the fuel cell system for IVECO’s new-generation FCEVs. Leveraging the complementary strengths of the two companies, Toyota contributes its most advanced fuel cell technology, built on more than three decades of innovation, development and commercialization across mobility and industrial applications. IVECO leads the overall vehicle development, integration and validation…

New Mexico’s Supreme Court is punishing a lawyer for including AI-fabricated witnesses and fake police testimony in an appeal for his client’s murder conviction, according to a report from Reuters. In a filing on Wednesday, the court fined Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt for failing to “verify the factual claims and legal authority in his AI-generated brief.”The filing says the brief “contained false testimony from wholly fabricated witnesses,” along with “false testimony” about the shooter’s clothing and appearance. Justice C. Shannon Bacon questioned how Aarons wasn’t aware of the risks posed by AI during an August hearing,…

By Juliet Umeh A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Chille Igbawua, has dismissed calls for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race, describing suggestions that his age and health should disqualify him as unfounded. Igbawua, a former member of the House of Representatives and adviser to the ADC National Chairman, spoke during an interview on Arise Television. Reacting to calls for Atiku to step aside for a younger opposition candidate, Igbawua said: “I do not know where he has data on Atiku’s health. Atiku has not changed his age, but whether at that…

Farmers across the Niger Delta are set to gain greater access to certified seeds and quality planting materials following a two-year partnership between the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) and the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND). The organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at NASC’s corporate headquarters in Abuja to expand community-based seed production, strengthen certification and inspection, develop local seed enterprises and mobilise investment in Nigeria’s domestic seed industry. The partnership combines NASC’s regulatory and quality-assurance mandate with PIND’s market systems expertise and networks of Community Seed Entrepreneurs, Farm Service Providers, Business Service Providers,…

Nicola Olyslagers has had the best worst night of her career after missing out on becoming a new “Ultimate” athletics high jump champion, only to learn to her surprise that she had still leapt to the biggest payday of her life.Australia’s world champion managed to only clear 1.95m on the first night of World Athletics’ inaugural Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Friday (Saturday AEST), struggling with her approach on a difficult surface on a cold night as Ukraine’s Olympic champ Yaroslava Mahuchikh beat her to the title with a 1.99m leap.Olyslagers’ runner’s-up spot earned her US$75,000 (AU$105,000) – US$5,000 more…

Mix together a beloved film simmering for decades, a sprinkling of social media hype and a generous glug of star power and you just might conjure up the long-awaited sequel to Practical Magic. The 1998 fantasy romcom, starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witchy sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, received mixed reviews from critics when it was first released.But it’s put a spell on a new generation discovering it online, with some now regarding the film as a cult classic and autumn staple.The demand for a follow-up by this new wave of fans helped convince Bullock and Kidman to…

For more than four decades, Adewale Ayuba has made an indelible mark on Nigeria’s Fuji music scene, rising from a young artiste to one of the genre’s most distinctive and influential voices. Yet, behind the fame, Bonsue Fuji and decades of musical success lies a different path Ayuba believes he could have taken. The veteran artiste says if not for Fuji music, he would have been a teacher, a profession he continues to hold in high regard and one that reflects his enduring belief that music, like teaching, should educate, inspire and leave a lasting impact. In this exclusive interview…

The Lagos State Police Command has summoned some officers who allegedly assaulted a man, Olugbenga Adeleke, after his complaint video went viral on social media on Friday. The spokesperson for the command, Abimbola Adebisi, told Saturday PUNCH on Friday that the Divisional Police Officer of Ebenezer Police Station, Alagbado/Ojokoro, had been directed to produce the officers on Monday. Adeleke, who petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, and human rights organisations, alleged that he was assaulted, unlawfully detained and extorted by some policemen attached to the station. The victim who is a resident of Akera Tide community in the Alakuko/Alagbado…