Author: damazah@gmail.com

I’ve always thought of myself as a good person: a good citizen and a good member of my community – at least in the ethical sense of the word. I presumed being good required refraining from harming the world and the people within it. An example of this being that I never litter.However, when I moved home to Staffordshire after graduating in the summer of 2025, my understanding of what it means to be a good citizen – what it means to be “good” altogether – changed significantly.It began earlier this year. I was on a walk with my dog…

Airlines and airports have called for the new EU biometric border check system to be suspended during the peak summer holiday period, warning that some flights are leaving half full and passengers are struggling in queues of up to five hours.In a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, airlines and airports asked for an option to suspend checks under the system over fears the situation will get much worse during the busy summer season.“We have reached a critical point,” said the industry groups ACI Europe, which represents airports, and Airlines 4 Europe and the…

The MP for Lincoln and the Middle East minister, Hamish Falconer, and the Reform MP Robert Jenrick have voiced anger at the cancellation or delay of key transport infrastructure projects to fund the defence investment plan.Falconer and Jenrick were among MPs who have had cuts to road improvements in their constituencies, with savings contributing towards the increase in defence spending. Two roads in the East Midlands are among those where investment cuts have been made to fund a £15bn uplift in defence.The mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward, said she had been unaware of the forthcoming cuts until Keir…

Mary Nnah The 9th edition of the Lagos Leather Fair opened on Saturday, June 27, with Hon. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, commending the fair for driving industrialisation, creating jobs, and aligning with the federal government’s economic diversification agenda. She reaffirmed the government’s commitment to scaling local value chains, supporting artisanal craftsmanship, and creating an enabling environment for micro, small, and medium enterprises to compete internationally.   Founder of the Lagos Leather Fair, Mrs. Femi Olayemi, said the platform was launched in 2017 out of frustration with the structural gaps holding the sector back and belief…

Nature Communications, 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-72566-7. How did Botticelli’s model really die? Credit: Sandro Botticelli/Public domain Credit: Sandro Botticelli/Public domain One of 15th-century painter Sandro Botticelli’s most famous works is the Birth of Venus, depicting the naked goddess, newly birthed, standing in a giant scallop shell. The model for the painting (disputed by some historians) was allegedly Simonetta Vespucci (nee Cattaneo), a renowned beauty in Florentine high society whom Botticelli greatly admired. He painted her five times before her untimely death in her early 20s. Her open coffin was carried through the streets of Florence. The poet Poliziano dubbed her “the…

Every time you think the idiocy has hit rock bottom, it discovers a new level. It turns out there’s an even deeper hole you can dig for yourself than climate-science denial: heat-stress denial. Across the billionaire press last week, columnists and leader writers minimised the health impacts of the heatwave, particularly in schools. Expect more of this next week, when temperatures are forecast to soar again.An editorial in the Telegraph (which represents the newspaper’s view) titled “Hot weather alarmism treats the public like children” maintained that “unlike in the seventies, when people were largely trusted to look after themselves, officialdom…

Briton Moses Itauma has been ordered by the IBF to hold talks with Cuba’s Frank Sanchez about fighting for the vacant heavyweight title.Last week Oleksandr Usyk relinquished his IBF, WBA ‘super’ and WBC belts.The IBF said that, “in accordance with IBF championship rules”, it wants Sanchez, who is number one in their heavyweight rankings, to fight number three contender Itauma.It said they have until 29 July to reach an agreement.Itauma, 21, is scheduled to fight Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic at London’s O2 Arena on 29 August in what he has called his “toughest fight”. He could pull out of the Hrgovic…

Yash‘s “Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups” has released “Ladies & Ladies,” a promotional video centered on the film’s formidable female cast and their complex, commanding characters within the dark universe of Geethu Mohandas’ forthcoming action drama. The video opens with a provocative age-based disclaimer that reads: “Kids… stay away. Parents… make sure your kids stay away. Grandparents… make sure your kids’ kids stay away. Great Grandparents… at your own risk.” Moving away from passive romantic roles, the video establishes a fierce, combative tone anchored by an ominous female voiceover that declares, “Love makes monsters of women. It is a beautiful…

‘Uh oh, look at these!” I call to my friends, Annie and Mike. “Ominous,” remarks Annie. Mike raises an eyebrow. We’re hiking the Pevensey Levels, marshland first drained in 772, home now to sheep and cattle, but also water spiders, living underwater in air-filled webs. The ground is pocked with endless impressions of horseshoes.“It’s almost as if an army came this way,” I say.And we laugh, but only because we missed that army by 959 years. Annie, Mike, Fflos the dog, and I are on our first day of following the 1066 Country Walk across East Sussex, beginning at Pevensey,…

Dreijährige Zusammenarbeit für einen breiteren Zugang zu wirtschaftswissenschaftlicher Forschung mit der Webinar-Reihe „What Economists Really Do“ LONDON, July 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Die EBC Financial Group (EBC) hat ihre strategische Partnerschaft mit dem Fachbereich Wirtschaftswissenschaften der University of Oxford um weitere drei Jahre verlängert. Damit setzen die Partner eine Zusammenarbeit fort, die wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Forschung einem breiteren Publikum weltweit zugänglich macht. Im Rahmen der erneuerten Partnerschaft wird die EBC eine jährliche Ausgabe der Webinar-Reihe „What Economists Really Do“ des Fachbereichs als Sponsor unterstützen und so dazu beitragen, wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Forschung und Erkenntnisse Studierenden, Forschenden, Alumni sowie einer breiten Öffentlichkeit zugänglich zu…