Author: damazah@gmail.com

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…

The Trump administration is paying another $1.2 billion to cancel an offshore wind lease, this time to German utility RWE.  The energy company said in an announcement that the wind farms would have been built off the coasts of California, Louisiana, and New York. Instead, RWE will spend $900 million to buy a small stake in a Louisiana liquid natural gas export terminal. The New York wind farm would have generated more than 3 gigawatts, according to Heatmap News. The remaining $300 million will go toward buying natural gas turbines to power 15 peaking power plants around the country. Peaking…

Burnham is ‘definitely not’ too blokey, says ministerHome office minister Anna Turley has responded to a report that Andy Burnham is “too blokey” on social media because of his references to football and downing pints at the pub.The Times reported that a No 10 team had advised the prime minister to tone down his “blokeish” videos online that attempts to appeal to a wider audience.In one such video to promote his recently announced 20% cut in business rates, Burnham is sat with chancellor John Healey ranking pub snacks (he picked crisps as his top choice, while Healey went for pork…

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, have called for greater adoption of non-interest finance to mobilise long-term capital to support Nigeria’s productive economy. They spoke on Thursday at the ‘Beyond Interest’ private intelligence forum organised by The Alternative Bank in Victoria Island, Lagos. The forum brought together investors, entrepreneurs, wealth creators, institutional decision-makers and public-sector leaders to examine the role of patient capital in driving sustainable economic growth. Opening the forum, Chairman of The Alternative Bank, Muhtar Bakare, said Nigeria’s challenge was not a lack of capital but the absence of trust…