Author: damazah@gmail.com

I’m nearly 30 and my first serious relationship just ended a month ago. It lasted eight months, she was my first girlfriend and first kiss, etc. She broke up with me in a very kind and respectful way, and I have been … OK, I guess.The thing is, everyone has been saying to me, “But you must feel so much more confident now.” I don’t. My self-esteem and confidence wasn’t exactly soaring before I met her, but now I feel even less so. It just feels like most people are less tolerant or accepting of my shortcomings.If this wonderful, understanding…

United States President Donald Trump has said that a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia is “totally subject” to the kingdom normalising relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords.Trump’s statement on Thursday, a day after the agreement was announced, has cast confusion over an already opaque deal, the full details of which have not been released.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listIn a post on his Truth Social Account, the US president wrote that the agreement “will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords”.Saudi Arabia did…

Google’s cloud chief Thomas Kurian said the company’s existing customers are shelling out “roughly 50% more” than they’ve already committed to spend on its products, which helped drive its red-hot cloud growth during the second quarter. “Our existing customers have increased their spend when they make a commitment to us,” Kurian told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday. “They’re spending roughly 50% more than the commitment, and so it comes down to the differentiation in our product portfolio, the strength we have in our go-to-market execution, and you see that in both top line and operating income growth.”Kurian’s comments come after Google…

Google has been fined €890m (£759m) by the EU for allegedly abusing its power by favouring its own apps and services over those from rivals.It is the first major action against the tech giant under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), a landmark law aimed at curbing the power of the world’s biggest tech companies.The Commission argued Google’s practices limited consumer choice and gave its own services an unfair advantage over rivals.But the firm criticised the decision, arguing the EU’s requirements could damage services used by millions of European customers.”To comply, we are having to strip away real-time Search features…

Andy Burnham has paused an early release scheme for 6,000 prisoners that was due to start in September after an outcry from crime victims.The prime minister said an “urgent review” will aim to “minimise risk to the public” amid concerns that killers, rapists and sex abusers would be freed on tags.Probation officers have warned that a “sense of chaos” had descended across the Prison Service, with staff unable to make preparations for the mass release.The mother of police officer Andrew Harper said on Thursday that the proposed early release of her son’s killers was “another letdown” for their family.In a…

Funmi Ogundare  The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Thursday, called on the Lagos State Government to sustain investments in child nutrition and ensure every child under five is reached through the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW). It stressed that about three million children in the state depend on timely nutrition and healthcare interventions. Speaking at the official flag-off of the 2026 first round of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week held at the Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Secretariat, UNICEF Chief of Office, Lagos, Celine Lafoucriere, commended the wife of the Lagos State Governor, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, for her…

Three businesses that are being investigated by police who are looking into illegal waste activity have forfeited a total of more than £275,000.West Mercia Police said additional crimes had been identified in its investigation across Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire.The force added that more assets were under review and a money laundering investigation was still active. It comes after two men were arrested at an address in Drakes Broughton, Worcestershire, in January. Six firearms were seized at that location, along with about £18,000 in cash.Another location involved in the investigation was a farm in Peopleton, Worcestershire, where electrical goods suspected to…

There have been legal clashes over the sharing of the former players’ medical information since the action began in 2020.Lawyers for the governing bodies are asking for cases they claim do not have all the required documents to be struck out, in order to prevent more delays ahead of a trial.In a further development, lawyer Richard Boardman, who has represented the claimants through Rylands Garth, will no longer be acting on the ex-players’ behalf.In a statement released after Wednesday’s hearing, former Wales union forward Alix Popham said the former players thanked Rylands Garth for its work but felt the switch…

Twenty years ago, Mitsuko Uchida released a studio recording of Beethoven’s last three piano sonatas that remains a benchmark. Now comes this performance recorded live in Tokyo last October.Those who have loved her previous recording won’t find big surprises – her interpretations remain similar, albeit at times a little broader or more elastic, and with less obvious urgency in, say, the brief second movements of Op 109 and 110. Yet, even from a pianist who has been playing these pieces for so many decades, the music emerges as if new: nothing sounds predetermined. Nor did Suntory Hall, which seats about…

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday sentenced three terrorists linked to the May abduction of school children and teachers in Orire Local Government Area (LGA) of Oyo State, to a life imprisonment. Justice Salim Ibrahim sentenced the three men after they pleaded guilty to some of the 10 terrorism charges preferred against them by the federal government. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abdulrazak Umar (a.k.a. Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid), Yunusa Musa (a.k.a. Yunusa bin Musa) and Shamsu Adamu Sani (a.k.a. Abu Itisar), pleaded guilty to counts four and six. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the three…