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He didn’t leave it at that, though; Mangan found Timby on Instagram and followed up with a message inviting her out.”It was short and sweet, and it was really genuine, too,” says Timby – and she took him up on the offer.What followed was a series of whirlwind dates – lunches, dinners, sightseeing and shopping trips. Timby extended her time in Ireland and documented much of it for her newfound following – but she didn’t reveal anything about her new beau. They wanted to save the burgeoning romance for themselves.When Timby eventually had to fly home, there were “tears at…

Nigeria’s equities market capitalisation crossed the N162 trillion mark for the first time, closing at a record N162.16 trillion on Friday as the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) climbed 1.42 percent to a new high of 249,804.56 points. The market value rose by N2.27 trillion from Thursday’s N159.89 trillion, surpassing the previous record of N161.8 trillion reached on May 13. The latest milestone comes just days before Nigeria’s return to FTSE Russell’s Frontier Market classification, scheduled to take effect at the opening of trading on September 21. FTSE Russell confirmed the reclassification in August following its assessment of improvements in foreign…

Many business owners who increasingly rely on open source models have urged the Trump administration not to restrict access to Chinese models. And China, which has dismissed accusations of frontier model copying, has called on the US to listen to its business community or else risk putting the US at a further economic disadvantage. Policy research conducted for Congress and submitted to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in March suggested that the US may already be at a disadvantage because it focused too heavily on maintaining a lead in frontier AI while failing to advance its own open…

The UK Youth Parliament is at risk of being axed within months, BBC News has learned, as the government is not committing to funding it any longer.The parliament was launched in 2000 to boost interest in politics among young people and has more than 300 elected members aged between 11 and 18.Once a year, the young politicians are allowed to hold debates in the House of Commons chamber, on a day when MPs are not sitting.Some MPs and young people say axing it would be a blow for youth democracy, while others say it is not providing value for money.The…

Every summer, Seoul turns a deep green, growing dense and lush under humid skies.But this year, one tree was visibly suffering. “Green leaves were falling to the ground, which shouldn’t happen at that time of year,” recalls Jung, who lives near the streetside ginkgo in Buam-dong, a largely residential neighbourhood in the north of Seoul.The tree is beloved by locals, who believe it has occupied its spot for more than 100 years. So Jung couldn’t ignore what she was seeing. With each passing day, her curiosity turned to concern.A rotting carpet of familiar fan-shaped leaves soon surrounded the tree, a…

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State says he will neither be a godfather nor impose his successor on the state after serving his second tenure in 2031. Mr Otti spoke on Thursday in Umuahia while receiving a former governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Ngozi Johnson-Chukwunenye, and her supporters into the Labour Party (LP). He said that leadership succession should be based on identifying the most suitable person for the job, rather than perpetuating a “sit-tight” culture. He said the person who would succeed him would be better equipped to provide quality leadership to the people. “The most important…

Donald Trump announced on Friday that the US had struck an Arctic security pact with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland, after threatening for much of his second term to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory by force.The full scope of the deal Trump described as “very important, historic, and special” was not immediately clear. But soon after his announcement in a post on Truth Social, the leaders of Denmark and Greenland issued statements indicating the deal would be signed by the three governments on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly in New York City next week.In his social…

The Police Command in Cross River State has commenced an investigation into an alleged threat by a police officer attached to the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) against James Anam, the chairman of Calabar Municipality Local Government Council. Sunday Eitokpah, the police spokesperson in the state, disclosed this in a statement on Friday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the officer was allegedly heard in the viral video threatening Mr Anam that “armed robbers would soon visit him” during an altercation with VCRU operatives in Calabar. Mr Eitokpah, an assistant superintendent of police, said the video, which had…

By Adeola Akinremi In Ayn Rand’s mystery story, the Atlas Shrugged, there is something Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, can absorb: reason. Rand’s 1957 book remains valuable and useful outside the world of her fiction. She argues that reason is helpful for everyone. It is not only needed by a theoretical scientist in his laboratory, but by all of us, at all times. The heroes of Atlas Shrugged are thinkers. They demonstrate an ongoing commitment to understanding their work, themselves and the world around them. They choose their goals and values through thought, never putting their desires above the…

Australia is considering banning the use of smart glasses with camera recording abilities in government offices, as privacy fears over the technology grow.The BBC’s Tabby Wilson is in Sydney to find out what people think – and where else they might want them banned.