Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

MOKWA, Nigeria (AP) — On May 29, Mallam Hassan Umar stood waist-deep and barefoot in muddy water, his eyes on the remnants of his Arabic school, now reduced to sludge and shattered wood by devastating floods.The Islamic teacher, clutching only the threadbare clothes he escaped with, started shouting the names of the pupils he housed and might never see again. Some pupils tried to escape with him through the back of the house, which also doubled as the school. But that attempt quickly turned perilous. The tightly packed layout of the neighborhood, combined with the absence of a proper drainage…

It’s easy to read a text offering what is clearly a fake job and think, “Who in the world would fall for this?” Of course, Temu or Target isn’t going to send me an unsolicited message with a too-good-to-be-true employment offer out of the blue. Except scammers don’t do things that don’t work — so while it may seem obvious to you, there are people who absolutely fall for these tricks, and no one is immune.Scam texts have exploded in recent years (which I probably don’t have to tell you — if you have a cellphone, you’re most likely well…

CNN  —  Universal Pictures on Wednesday unveiled the trailer for the sequel to the 2024 hit “Wicked,” based on the Tony-winning Broadway musical. The promo clip for the new film, which is titled “Wicked: For Good,” seemingly picks up just where last year’s first installment left off, with Glinda (Ariana Grande) in a tower high up in the Emerald City at night, beckoning for her schoolmate, friend and de facto rival Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) to make herself known. From there, viewers are treated to fleeting glimpses of Elphaba working her magic, Glinda adorning herself with a glittering crown and a…

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a chance to make a whole slew of history in these NBA Finals.The Oklahoma City star is the first reigning MVP who’ll play in the finals — they start Thursday night when the Thunder play host to the Indiana Pacers — since Golden State’s Stephen Curry in 2016. He could become the first player to win a scoring title and an NBA title in the same season since Shaquille O’Neal did it for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1999-2000.And sometime in Game 1 or Game 2, Gilgeous-Alexander will likely hit another milestone.He comes…

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — If the series opener of the Stanley Cup Final is a hint of things to come, the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers are about to give everyone a memorable show.The two best teams in the NHL over the past couple of years traded hits, goals and saves through an instant-classic Game 1 that ended with Leon Draisaitl scoring 19-plus minutes into overtime.It was at the same time tight-checking and also wildly entertaining. Even Panthers coach Paul Maurice on the losing end could appreciate the value of must-see hockey.“Its potential (is) just a spectacular seven-gamer,” Maurice said…

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Hajj is the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that is required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to do it.It is a spiritual highlight for those fortunate enough to go, but it is also grueling and stressful.Pilgrims conduct their rituals outdoors, among huge crowds, walking up to 25 kilometers (15 miles) a day. There is often no privacy or personal space. Languages, routines and surroundings can feel unfamiliar, and the emotional impact of doing the Hajj can also take its toll.Here are some ways to be well at…

In a Bloomberg interview Wednesday night in downtown San Francisco, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai pushed back against concerns that AI could eventually make half the company’s 180,000-person workforce redundant. Instead, Pichai stressed the company’s commitment to growth through at least next year. “I expect we will grow from our current engineering phase even into next year, because it allows us to do more,” Pichai said, adding that AI is making engineers more productive by eliminating tedious tasks and enabling them to focus on more impactful work. Rather than replacing workers, he referred to AI as “an accelerator” that will drive…

Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth said the social media giant’s partnership with defence technology startup Anduril marks a “return to grace” for Silicon Valley’s relationship with the military.”The Valley was founded on a three-way investment between the military, academics, and private industry. That was the founding of it,” Bosworth said during an interview at the Bloomberg Tech summit in San Francisco on Wednesday.”There would be no technology if we weren’t all tasked with the problem of keeping naval ballistic trajectories during the first two world wars. That is the heart and soul of the investment that led to what we are…

Despite what some experts have characterized as an environment increasingly hostile to AI R&D, North America continues to receive the bulk of AI venture dollars, according to data from investment tracker PitchBook. Between February and May of this year, VCs poured $69.7 billion into North America-based AI and machine learning startups across 1,528 deals. That’s compared with $6.4 billion that VC firms invested in European AI ventures across 742 deals across the same period. Asia-based startups have fared a bit worse than their European counterparts, according to PitchBook. Between February and May, VCs invested just $3 billion in Asia-based AI…

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — When the Edmonton Oilers needed a spark to open the Stanley Cup Final, Leon Draisaitl scored just more than a minute in.When they needed the tying goal after falling behind to the defending champion Florida Panthers, Connor McDavid delivered the perfect pass.And when Game 1 was threatening to drag into a second overtime, McDavid found Draisaitl for the winner.Draisaitl and McDavid took over Wednesday night when it mattered most, delivering a series-opening 4-3 victory that put them three wins from the championship they’ve been working toward for a decade.“They don’t take many nights off, that’s for…