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SON, BPP Tighten quality standards for public procurement with new digital platform James Emejo and Deborah Adekoya in Abuja Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Enoh, has attributed the weak local patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products to concerns over quality assurance.  He spoke at the unveiling of the Digital Standards Platform (DSP), an initiative by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), in Abuja over the weekend. DSP aimed to strengthen product standards, restore consumer confidence and reposition Nigerian manufacturers for domestic and global markets. The minister noted that consumers would naturally embrace locally…

Chinedu Eze The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has commenced investigation to expose a syndicate allegedly issuing licenses to foreign aircraft maintenance engineers who work for Nigerian airlines at outrageous prices. The NCAA in a letter reference: NCAA/DOLTS/GEN/VOL.V/22726/2; dated June 29, 2026, titled, ‘Letter of Investigation of Aircraft Maintenance Engineer’s License (AMEL) Number 6520,’ and signed by the Director, Operations, Licensing and Training Standards (DOLTS), Captain D. Spiff on behalf of the Director General, NCAA, it said it discovered irregularities with the application process, procedures and relevant documents including payment concerning the licence and the ratings converted. According to the…

According to the New York Times, federal agents have been told that the FBI will no longer be investigating confrontations involving ICE agents. The DHS and DOJ denied the change in policy to The Times. The reported change in guidance follows renewed scrutiny of violence by ICE agents who have killed two people in the last two weeks. The shootings in Maine and Texas were just the latest civilian deaths at the hands of ICE agents, who have attempted to intimidate witnesses following its recent spate of high-profile killings.The new guidance would end FBI investigations of assaults against DHS agents.…

Andy Burnham’s vision for cleaning up Westminster politics is a utopian one: ending the dominance of the whipping system, Whitehall power hoarding and the “insidious briefing culture” of the bubble.In his first speech on becoming Labour leader, he warned his party it “won’t beat Britain’s new right if we are consumed by infighting and pulling in different directions”.Burnham is not wrong to try to weed out some of the endemic problems of factionalism in British politics that result in power struggles, rather than a focus on where agreement can be found.But the tensions between his aims are already there: to…

Witt added: “By combining generations of angler knowledge with state-of-the-art animal tracking technology, we’re building the evidence needed to secure a future for these remarkable species.”The shark project also involves the Angling Trust, the Marine Biological Association (MBA) and the Pat Smith Database.MBA senior research fellow Dr Bryce Stewart said: “Important and vulnerable shark species live in English waters, yet significant knowledge gaps remain regarding their distribution and abundance.”He said the data they collect will “help us to identify the actions needed to secure their future”.Follow BBC Devon on X, external, Facebook, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas…

It ended almost as Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump had planned. Earlier on a seemingly endless World Cup final day, the trophy had, in a scene perfectly of a piece with the event’s excess, been let out of a Louis Vuitton trunk. Now they shuffled up to the podium together and presented it to a beaming Rodri, fumbling the moment slightly when Trump lingered for Spain’s team photo. After shrugging off anything resembling embarrassment they had made their exit, golden glitter sparkling on a bobbly pitch and the reverberations from a football event of unprecedented scale pulsing far beyond this…

The show began with a pre-recorded video of Mars praying in a church for a good performance, before he emerged beneath visuals of a stained-glass window in a red suit bejewelled with roses.It was a suitably theatrical opening to a two-hour, 15-minute set. But for those who had avoided spoilers, Risk It All, a slow R&B ballad from Mars’ latest album, The Romantic, was perhaps an unexpected opener. Any surprise was short-lived. Within minutes, Mars sat behind a pair of bright red congas for Cha Cha, signalling the start of a set that moved between R&B, funk, Latin influences and…

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Opening summary: US says it is launching ninth night of strikes on IranHello and welcome to our live coverage of developments in the Middle East.The US military says it is beginning its ninth night of strikes on Iran, with an interim deal aimed at ending the war appearing to have all but collapsed.“The strikes will continue degrading Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the strait of Hormuz,” US Central Command said on X on Sunday.The attacks on Sunday come after a US service member was killed in Iraq the previous day during a “controlled…

The death brings the number of US soldiers killed since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran to 17.Published On 19 Jul 202619 Jul 2026The United States military has announced the death of another soldier, saying he was killed in northern Iraq “during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance” from a downed Iranian drone.In a statement on Sunday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the soldier died on July 18 and that a second service member suffered mild injuries during the detonation.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listIt did not name the soldier who died.The death on Saturday brought…