Author: damazah@gmail.com

Another former government minister has been hired by a controversial US AI company, this time Palantir, which has appointed Andy Burnham’s former ministerial colleague Tom Watson.The Labour peer and former deputy leader will operate alongside Palantir’s UK and Europe chief executive, Louis Mosley, as the company attempts to fend off pressure on Burnham’s government to axe its £330m NHS contract. It is also fighting Sadiq Khan in court over the Labour London mayor’s block on a £50m contract to use its AI in Metropolitan police investigations. Palantir also wants to win more public sector work in the UK, where it…

After examining the results of thousands of clinical trials, a swarm of AI agents suggested that a protein that dampens immune responses could be the target for a promising treatment for lung cancer.Credit: Eoneren/GettyIt’s a pharmaceutical-company executive’s dream: tens of thousands of employees working day and night, uninterrupted by meals, sleep or distraction, to find the next blockbuster drug.A sophisticated artificial-intelligence system called the Virtual Biotech, which is described today in the journal Science1, is a step towards this vision.The Virtual Biotech comprises as many as 37,000 agents — AI systems that autonomously interact with large language models (LLMs) or…

Soft, feather-light and topped with a thick strip of icing: few things are as irresistible to me as an iced finger bun. Here, I’ve flavoured the fondant with blackcurrant jam, which lends a gentle tartness to balance the sweetness, though almost any good-quality jam will work. A simple tanzhong (a cooked flour-and-milk paste) gives the buns their wonderfully fluffy crumb and keeps them soft for longer. For a more indulgent version, split the buns along the top and fill with whipped cream and a spoonful of jam instead. They’re best assembled just before serving, and make a particularly lovely afternoon…

The House of Lords has long been derided as a stuffy relic of the past. But now its benches, usually filled with haughtily dressed men, could soon resemble something more akin to “dress-down Friday”.One of the nation’s most storied chambers of power has enacted a rule change: men are no longer required to wear a tie in the House of Lords. Instead, they should opt for “business attire”.Ties have long been a knotty item of neckwear. For some, they are a nuisance: too tight and they are uncomfortable, too loose and they look a bit shabby. For others, such as…

Andy Burnham is under further pressure to take control of ailing Thames Water from a cross-party group of MPs who are calling for ministers to break off talks with the US hedge funds who are effectively running the company.Adding their voices to demands that the prime minister takes public control of the company, which has debts of £20bn and is being controlled by a group of 100 hedge funds and distressed-debt investors, the MPs said in a report that ministers should consider emergency legislation to take control of its financial affairs to stabilise the company.Alistair Carmichael, the chair of the…

Air Peace has disputed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority’s (NCAA) August flight disruption report, saying the regulator underreported its flight operations and failed to properly account for external factors that contributed to delays during the month. In a statement issued on Thursday, the airline said it operated 2,564 flights in August, compared with the 1,864 flights recorded for it in the NCAA report. The airline said the difference of more than 700 flights affected the calculation of its reported delay rate and did not accurately reflect its operational performance. PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported that the NCAA recorded 7,961 domestic…

AI companies like OpenAI are insinuating themselves into the pathway from education to work. Soon they may claim it entirely, a disastrous result for students.We know that students are using AI at school and at university. In conversations with those I teach, I’m struck by the trust many place in it. They turn to ChatGPT and similar tools for personal problems as well as study help. Some even doubt their abilities without AI.Institutions are working hard to adapt. But we need to urgently look up from the use of AI to pay attention to big AI companies’ attempts to take…

A Russian strike hit a shopping centre in Zaporizhzhia, southeastern Ukraine, sparking a major fire. Peace talks between Ukraine and Russia remain stalled, even as the US broker a pause in the fighting.Published On 18 Sep 202618 Sep 2026Share Fire engulfs Zaporizhzhia shopping centre after Russian strike on social mediashare-nodesSharegoogleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo

Nature, Published online: 17 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02898-3Impacts by space objects have obscured some of the evidence of the planet’s contraction over the past 4.5 billion years.

For many communities, the first line of defence against crime is not always the police station or a security checkpoint, but the people who know the neighbourhood, its residents and its terrain. Based on this knowledge, former Delta State Commissioner and public policy analyst, Magnus Onyibe, believes Nigeria can harness more effectively as it searches for answers to its security challenges. In his new book, The Imperative of State Police in Nigeria, Onyibe makes the case for bringing policing closer to communities, strengthening grassroots intelligence and giving local institutions a greater role in keeping their neighbourhoods safe. Sunday Ehigiator brings excerpt What…