Author: damazah@gmail.com

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldNo tankers have loaded at Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal, for at least a week, according to shipping and satellite data providers, suggesting the renewed US naval blockade has brought Tehran’s crude sales to a halt. Washington reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports in mid-July after an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz collapsed. Kharg Island, which is critical to Iran’s oil industry, fell idle on July 31, according to ship tracking company Kpler and consultancy…

After months of talking with tech industry leaders, the Trump administration finalized a framework this week for how it will test new artificial intelligence models for safety and cybersecurity risks. So far, the White House is keeping details of the framework private, in a blow to transparency and potential boon for secretive AI companies.On Tuesday, staff from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google, Nvidia and Microsoft attended a private meeting with White House officials to review the AI framework. Multiple outlets have since reported that although the volunteer vetting process for new AI models has been settled, the White House does not…

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Friday, former Det Sup Blaik, who led the Thames Valley Police investigation, pointed to remarks by the judge who sentenced PC Harper’s killers. Mr Justice Edis referred to their case of manslaughter as being “very close to a case of murder in its seriousness”.The former officer called for prisoners who were judged to have had a high level of culpability for a manslaughter offence to be excluded from the scheme.Allowing them to walk free would “undermine” the judicial process and impact police morale, Blaik said, before urging the government to have a “long, hard think”…

Global plastic production has more than doubled since 2000 to roughly 460 million tonnes per year, about half of it destined for single-use products (1). After accounting for reprocessing losses, only about 9% of plastic waste is ultimately recycled, whereas nearly half is landfilled, about a fifth is incinerated, and the rest is mismanaged or leaks into ecosystems (1, 2). As governments negotiate a legally binding global plastics treaty (3, 4), they should recognize that recycling alone cannot solve plastic pollution and prioritize reducing production and reusing materials.

Clubs in the National League system must remove brick or concrete walls around pitches or use padding to cover them following a safety review prompted by the death of Chichester City forward Billy Vigar.Former Arsenal youth striker Vigar, who was 21, died in September 2025 after suffering a brain injury when he collided with a concrete barrier trying to keep a ball in play during a match at Wingate and Finchley.Following a safety review, the Football Association has published new pitch perimeter criteria which “no longer permits solid brick, breeze block or concrete barriers around pitches” for clubs competing across…

Unnamed member of funk legends reportedly suffers “cardiac incident” prior to Chase Center tour stop with Lionel Richie; gig will be rescheduled, band says Earth, Wind, and Fire postponed their concert in San Francisco Thursday after an unnamed member of the band suffered a “medical emergency” before their scheduled gig with Lionel Richie. “We are unable to perform as scheduled tonight at Chase Center in San Francisco due to a medical emergency involving a member of our band,” the group wrote on social media Thursday. “As a result, tonight’s show with Lionel Richie will be rescheduled, with a new date…

Nigerian singer Peter “Mr P” Okoye has alleged that his late mother, Josephine Okoye, repeatedly urged his brothers, Paul and Jude Okoye, to apologise to him and his wife, Lola Omotayo-Okoye, over the family’s treatment of them, but said the apology never came before her death. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the singer’s mother died in 2012 at a hospital in India following heart surgery. Doctors initially admitted her to St. Nicholas Hospital on Lagos Island before transferring her abroad for further treatment. Mr P made the claim in the latest instalment (part eight) of his ongoing tell-all video series on social media, where…

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Nigeria has launched a new project aimed at strengthening the resilience of an oil-producing community in Akwa Ibom State against the devastating impacts of oil spills. The project, funded by CARITAS Canada and titled “Strengthening Community Resilience to Oil Spill Impacts in Akwa Ibom State,” was inaugurated during an inception meeting held on Thursday in Eket, bringing together government officials, community leaders, traditional rulers, civil society groups and development partners. The initiative will focus on the Okoro Utip community in Ibeno Local Government Area, where residents have complained for years about the environmental and socio-economic consequences of oil pollution.…

In a post on social media, the school later shared a call for blood donations.Other schools in the vicinity suspended classes so students could return home early.PM Anutin expressed condolences for the victims of the school shooting. He said the tragedy “shouldn’t have happened”, adding “this is why the government do not allow [citizens] to possess firearms”.”I don’t just feel sorry for the victims but I feel sorry that this happened. How can this happen in our country,” he said.Thailand has strict gun laws, which punishes the illegal possession of arms with up to 10 years in jail. Enforcement of…

Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo Plc, has acquired an additional 138 million shares in the financial services group, valued at about ₦18.1 billion. The transaction was announced on Friday in a regulatory filing signed by the group’s Company Secretary, Abiola Baruwa. Mr Otedola acquired an additional 138,041,465 shares at ₦131.2 per share through Calvados Global Services Limited. The new share purchase represents 0.30 per cent of the company’s outstanding shares, bringing Mr Otedola’s total stake in the financial services group to 27.16 per cent of the company’s issued share capital. Mr Otedola now holds approximately 11.9 billion shares in…