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By Vincent Ujumadu An unspecified number of people are feared dead, while several others remain trapped after a three-storey students’ hostel collapsed in Oko, the host community of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State. The building, identified as Elite Five Star Lodge, is located beside Tonimas Filling Station in the Amokpala area behind the institution. The cause of the collapse has yet to be determined. Rescue operations are ongoing, with volunteers, operatives of the Anambra State Police Command, the Anambra State Fire Service, and the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) working to…

Wildfires are rampaging through vast areas of land in southwestern Europe, forcing France and Spain to evacuate more than 325,000 people from their homes.Some of the worst fires in France since World War II come just weeks after record-breaking heatwaves scorched Europe. Authorities have deployed thousands of firefighters to battle the blazes.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listOn Sunday, France’s Interior Minister, Laurent Nunez, said about “115,000 hectares (284,171 acres) have burned in wildfires in France since the start of the year”. In Spain, 119,458 hectares (295,187 acres) of land have been burnt as of July 22 , according…

Nume Ekeghe Open Market Operation (OMO) bills accounted for the largest share of activity in Nigeria’s fixed income market last week, as investors executed transactions worth N6.86 trillion across Treasury bills, FGN bonds, OMO bills and Sukuk, reflecting sustained demand for high-yield government securities amid elevated interest rates. Trading data showed that OMO bills attracted the highest turnover by value at N3.36 trillion, representing nearly half of the total market activity, despite accounting for only 498 trades. This underscores the dominance of institutional investors in the OMO segment, where larger ticket transactions continue to outweigh volumes in other asset classes. …

As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the biological sciences, it is pushing the future of biology in two opposing directions. AI can help bad actors generate recipes for biological weapons with just a few keystrokes and computational prompts. At the same time, AI can track disease outbreaks and deliver critical public health information to millions of people in real time – potentially stopping a deadly outbreak in its tracks. What we are dealing with in this moment is profound: a race between offense and defense. Between the proliferation of dark biology, where deadly pathogens are engineered in secret, and the promise…

Andy Burnham has told the BBC “the NHS will collapse” if social care is not reformed but said he could not put a timeline on changes.In his first major interview since becoming prime minister, Burnham said he would not want to leave office without bringing in “substantial change” to the social care system.The prime minister also suggested making it harder to claim benefits, saying the country had to get serious about getting the welfare bill down.Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has meanwhile written to the prime minister, saying he should rule out tax rises or increased borrowing to fund social care…

The Jodrell Bank Observatory, which has housed the UK’s largest telescope for nearly 70 years, has lost its funding and could now close, the BBC understands.The observatory and its network of telescopes have been pivotal to the country’s study of distant galaxies and training future astronomers. Scientists have described the decision as “heartbreaking” and “scientifically misguided”.All scientific observations at Jodrell are expected to cease on the 1 April 2028 unless alternative funding can be found.The funding body, the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) agency, said it had to focus investment on projects that deliver “the greatest long-term impact”.The site was…

Jesse RogersJul 27, 2026, 07:00 AM ETCloseJesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.Multiple AuthorsIt seems like, for much of the 2026 season, the question in the National League — and Major League Baseball as a whole, really — has been: Who are the biggest threats to the Los Angeles Dodgers?The teams in that category as we come out of the All-Star break and enter the second half of the season: the Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies.Atlanta and Milwaukee lead their respective divisions, while Chicago and Philadelphia hold the first and second…

Charli XCX dropped an extended version of her new album, Music, Fashion, Film (B-Sides Edition), on iTunes on Sunday. The digital release features three additional tracks: “I Keep On Thinking Bout You Every Single Day and Night,” “Playboy Bunny,” and “If You Take the Music Then What Has She Got?” The three songs were previously shared with fans on Charli’s @b.sides alt-account on Instagram. They were included as actual b-sides on limited-edition, physical 7-inch single releases for her tracks “Rock Music,” “SS26,” and “Camera,” and as part of the Music, Fashion, Film physical box set. The singer acknowledged that she…

Africlana, founded by Mubarak Mohammed Yusuf, today announces the rollout of its tech-enabled export platform designed to connect African SMEs directly to high-value buyers in the UK, US, EU and across the global diaspora. The launch comes as diaspora remittances to Africa hit a record $100+ billion in 2024 according to the Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID), with over $51 billion annually spent on household consumption. This creates a proven demand base for authentic African food and consumer goods that current supply chains cannot efficiently serve. Addressing Africa’s Structural Export Gap For decades, African SMEs have been…

Segun James  A presidential aspirant of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Hon. Julius Olajide Filani, has called on the National Assembly to investigate the implementation of the 2025 and 2026 budgets. Filani also urged the legislature to consider appropriate constitutional measures over what he described as alleged breaches of the Appropriation Act by some agencies of the government. He made the call in a statement issued  in Abuja. The YPP chieftain said his position followed recent comments by the Senate Chief Whip, Senator Tahir Monguno, regarding challenges associated with the implementation of the 2025 budget. According to Filani, the issues raised…