Author: damazah@gmail.com

Democratic socialist candidates backed by New York City mayor win key primaries, ousting two sitting congressmen.New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s slate of progressives has swept establishment-backed Democrats in New York’s closely watched congressional primaries, ousting two sitting congressmen in a show of force for the democratic socialist leader of the United States’s largest city.On Tuesday, Adriano Espaillat, who leads the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and is in his fifth term, was defeated by Mamdani’s most polarising pick, Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist who once helped organise pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listDan Goldman,…

Defense stocks plummeted on Wednesday after a report that Germany will abandon plans to build six warships, fuelling investor fears that the boost to defense contractors from increased government spending may not fully materialize.Berlin is planning to scrap a multi-billion-euro project to build the F126 frigates, according to the Financial Times, citing two people familiar with the matter. It would have been the biggest warship commission since the Second World War. Instead, Berlin will buy eight smaller Meko A-200 frigates, according to the report. German munition maker Rheinmetall, a big beneficiary of German government contracts, fell as much as 14%…

Apple users get a small amount of free storage, but once that runs out they are encouraged to pay for iCloud to back up photos, videos, messages, contacts and other content from their devices.Prices range from 99p a month for 50GB to £54.99 a month for 12TB.Apple does not give rival storage services full access to its devices, saying this is for security reasons – although it also means iCloud has more features than non-Apple alternatives.Which? claims that since 2018 Apple has effectively locked users into its services and overcharged them as a result.The consumer group filed its claim against…

Andy Burnham is expected to replace Rachel Reeves as chancellor and offer her a more junior cabinet position if he becomes prime minister, the BBC understands.A spokesperson for Burnham said no decisions had been made about who he would appoint.The MP for Makerfield is the only candidate to have emerged so far for the Labour leadership, and has met Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for talks as he prepares for a likely entry to No 10.Senior Cabinet minister Darren Jones ruled himself out of the running for the leadership on Wednesday, and if there are no other candidates, Burnham could…

In April, South Africa withdrew its draft national artificial-intelligence policy after the document was found to have cited several fabricated academic references. These sources turned out to be AI ‘hallucinations’. The policy had been partially drafted using AI. The irony was hard to ignore: a framework designed to govern AI was undermined by the very technology it sought to regulate.But beyond the hallucinated citations lies a deeper issue. The document reflected a broader assumption that is increasingly visible in AI policy worldwide: that global AI systems will be built by replicating and expanding the same computational and infrastructure model that…

Colombia defeated DR Congo 1–0 in a closely fought Group K match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Daniel Munoz scoring the decisive goal in the 76th minute. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the match was played on Wednesday at the Estadio Akron, Zapopan, Guadalajara, Mexico. The match was evenly balanced for much of the game, as both teams showed determination and discipline in defence. Colombia enjoyed more possession and looked more dangerous going forward, while DR Congo relied on quick counter-attacks and a compact defensive shape to frustrate their opponents. The first half ended scoreless,…

What kind of play is The Cherry Orchard? As a new production starring Helen Hunt and Kenneth Branagh beckons in Stratford, I am reminded that it is a question people have been asking since the play’s inception. Chekhov himself wrote that what had emerged in his play was “not a drama but a comedy, in places almost a farce”. Stanislavski, who directed the Moscow premiere in 1904, violently disagreed. “It is a tragedy,” he told Chekhov, “whatever prospect of a better life you hold out in the last act.”While the debate continues, I hope we shall not be told by…

The winners of the 2026/27 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season will receive a minimum prize money of ₦1 billion, the biggest financial reward ever offered in Nigerian domestic football, following a series of far-reaching reforms unveiled by the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). The announcement was made on Tuesday by NSC Chairman Shehu Dikko after a high-level strategic meeting with the commission’s leadership and the NFF at the NSC headquarters in Abuja. Mr Dikko described the decision as part of a broader plan to transform Nigerian football through improved player welfare, stricter professional standards,…

• Tinubu assures Miebach of Nigerian youths’ competence Deji Elumoye in Abuja Mastercard’s Global Chief Executive Officer, Michael Miebach, has said the company is bringing into the Nigerian economy $2 billion in foreign exchange, while preventing nearly $200 million in fraudulent financial activities. Miebach spoke yesterday, when he led a delegation from the company to President Bola Tinubu at State House, Abuja. The Mastercard CEO also assured Tinubu of his company’s commitment to helping to achieve the administration’s economic reforms. Tinubu told the delegation that Nigeria’s teeming youth population was the country’s greatest asset, assuring foreign investors of a ready-to-learn,…

• Akpabio pledges safeguards to prevent abuse by political office holders  •Governors demand substantial control of appointment process • Funding still contentious issue amid 3% FAAC revenue proposal   •Senate defers debate, mourns deceased rep • N’Assembly to make security funding first-line charge, says Kalu  •Insists state police not  licence for political capture Emmanuel Addeh, Chuks Okocha, Sunday Aborisade and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja President Bola Tinubu yesterday formally transmitted the proposed State Police Bill to the Senate, setting the stage for a major overhaul of Nigeria’s policing architecture, as the Upper Chamber signalled their readiness to fast-track consideration of the…