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Published On 21 Jul 202621 Jul 2026The first 48-team World Cup has barely finished, but Gianni Infantino has already acknowledged the possibility that football’s biggest tournament could one day grow larger still, a move that could fundamentally alter the economics of the sport.Speaking to Swiss television during the tournament, the FIFA president said a 64-team ⁠World Cup was among the ideas that could be examined once the final was over, reopening debate over how large the game’s showpiece event could realistically become.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe logistical implications of another expansion are obvious. A bigger tournament would…

Imagine fighting on the front lines against terrorists, calling for urgent air support, and hearing nothing but silence not because planes weren’t available, but because the generals in charge weren’t on speaking terms. A bitter inter-service rivalry between the leadership of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration directly compromised frontline combat operations by leaving ground troops stranded without air cover, a presidential aide has revealed. Speaking on The Link Up Podcast, Daniel Bwala, a special adviser to President Bola Tinubu, claimed that deep-seated animosity between the top military brass routinely blocked critical…

When most people in Africa’s tech ecosystem think about the Zipline, the drone logistics company headquartered in California, the first thing that comes to mind is its contribution to Rwanda’s medical supply chain, where it began operations in 2016 by delivering blood and medical supplies to rural communities. Not many know that Zipline has spent the last four years building a network in Nigeria, delivering vaccines and medicines by drone to communities in Kaduna, Cross River, and Bayelsa states. Now, the company is preparing an expansion backed by a US government grant across Nigeria, evolving from state-by-state partnerships to engaging…

Andy Burnham is unknown in Brussels, but that will soon change. In his schedule for the autumn is an EU-UK summit that may underscore the same dilemmas that have confronted previous British prime ministers in the relationship with Europe.EU leaders were quick to offer congratulations to Britain’s prime minister, the seventh since the 2016 Brexit referendum. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said she looked forward to strengthening the EU-UK partnership “for the security of our shared continent” and “the prosperity of people on both sides of the Channel”. The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, invited Burnham to visit…

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged African governments to strengthen national hepatitis programmes and expand access to vaccination, testing, and treatment, warning that millions of people across the continent continue to miss out on life-saving services despite the availability of effective interventions. In a statement issued ahead of World Hepatitis Day, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Mohamed Janabi, said viral hepatitis remains a major public health challenge across the region, even though new hepatitis B infections declined by 25 per cent between 2015 and 2024. Mr Janabi noted that while effective vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments are available, many…

Credit: CN-STR/AFP via GettyThe latest Chinese-built large language model (LLM) is impressing scientists with its size and capabilities. Last week, Beijing-based Moonshot AI unveiled ‘Kimi K3’, a powerful reasoning LLM that can handle large swathes of text. The company’s own tests found that K3 can match or outperform rival US models on tasks such as coding and manipulating spreadsheets.Not since DeepSeek has a Chinese artificial-intelligence model caused quite so much buzz. “It is a turning point,” says Joel Pearson, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, who studies how AI is impacting people’s lives. “People…

An emotional Cameron Menzies dubbed his win against Luke Humphries “the biggest moment of my darts career” after his dramatic upset secured his place in the next round of the World Matchplay Darts.Menzies pulled out an incredible Big Fish checkout to beat world No 2 Humphries 10-7 in his first-ever triumph at Winter Gardens. The monumental victory was a full-circle moment for the Scot, and represents a remarkable turnaround in fortune just eight months after he required surgery for punching a table during his first-round defeat to Josh Manby at the World Championship. Please use Chrome browser for a more…

Abbey Road will present Japanese photographer Masayoshi Sukita with the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Abbey Road Music Photography Awards. Best known for his 44-year collaboration with David Bowie, Sukita took the iconic cover shot for Bowie’s 1977 Heroes album. He is also known for photographing Iggy Pop, Marc Bolan, Joe Strummer, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and David Sylvian. David Bailey received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. Sukita was born in Kyushu, Japan, in 1938. In 1965 he moved to Tokyo, taking fashion photographs and filming TV commercials. He became a freelance photographer in 1970, and between 1970…

A young woman has died, and a student sustained injuries after a fire gutted a four-room apartment on Nabor Street, off Ikpa Road, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, in the early hours of Monday. Although the cause of the fire has yet to be officially determined, residents who witnessed the incident alleged that an electric scooter battery left charging overnight triggered it. The landlady of the compound, Patricia Udoukpo, stated she woke at approximately 04:30 after noticing thick smoke rising from the roof of one of the apartments she had let to tenants. “When I saw the smoke, I screamed, asking…

Arizona voters head to the polls on Tuesday to choose party nominees in races that could help determine who controls the US House of Representatives and whether Republicans can flip one of the country’s most competitive Democratic governorships.Once considered reliably Republican, Arizona has swung between the two parties in recent election cycles. Democrat Joe Biden narrowly won the state in 2020, while Donald Trump reclaimed it in the 2024 presidential election.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe biggest contest is the Republican primary for governor, where four candidates are competing to challenge Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs in November. The…