Author: damazah@gmail.com

When Vera Drew made her ambitious debut film “The People’s Joker,” she didn’t know if anyone else in the world would understand her deeply personal superhero movie parody about transitioning. The first time she met a trans person who connected with the film after a public screening was a “mindblowing” experience. “There had been other trans directors, but something that was that fiercely independent and coming at it from this personal perspective of a trans coming out story – I didn’t really know if there was any sort of audience for that,” Drew tells Variety. “I kind of just thought…

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja  The Kayode Olasekun Foundation (KOF) has launched a humanitarian intervention aimed at cushioning the impact of economic hardship on vulnerable residents, with its founder, Francis Kayode Olasekun, declaring that the initiative will go beyond the distribution of palliatives to sustainable empowerment. A statement signed by the founder and made available to THISDAY in Abuja on Tuesday, explained that the Foundation had already held its pilot palliative outreach in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State. The statement noted that the Foundation distributed food items and cash assistance to widows, students, single mothers, elderly persons, vulnerable families and other residents struggling…

The US Department of State has canceled more than 175,000 visas since Donald Trump returned to office, quadrupling the pace of revocations under Joe Biden’s final year in the White House, according to a new tally released by the department this week.The announcement said the revocations targeted foreign nationals who allegedly broke the terms of their visas, committed crimes, called for violence against Americans, defrauded US citizens, abused the immigration system or endangered national security. Many followed run-ins with law enforcement, the department said, with assault, drunk driving, theft and drug offenses the leading causes, alongside reckless driving, sexual assault,…

The US military says one of its helicopters has fired missiles to disable “the steering gear” of a cargo ship attempting to violate the US blockade of Iranian ports.In a statement, US Central Command (Centcom) says its MH-60 aircraft on Tuesday fired two hellfire missiles into the engine room of the Panama-flagged M/V Vela Nova vessel, as it attempted to transit the Gulf of Oman.Centcom says it acted after “the ship’s civilian crew ignored repeated warnings from American forces”. It adds that the vessel “is no longer transiting to Iran”.Iran has so far not commented on the issue. The US…

President Bola Tinubu has approved a new investment framework designed to unlock up to $50 billion in deep offshore oil and gas investments and revive major projects that have remained stalled for decades. The framework replaces project-by-project negotiations with transparent eligibility criteria and a rules-based investment architecture intended to provide greater certainty for investors and improve Nigeria’s competitiveness in attracting global capital. According to a statement issued on Tuesday by Bayo Onanuga, the president’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, the reform is expected to support the next generation of deep offshore developments, beginning with the approximately $10 billion Bonga…

It seems like a pretty full-featured app. Meta says that with the Threads VR app, you can do things like browse feeds, make posts, like and reply to posts, visit profiles, search, and watch videos — you know, Threads stuff.“We designed the new Threads app for Meta Quest to make using VR more social than ever,” Meta says. “Whether you want to keep up with conversations during a game, riff on the latest TV show or hit album with friends, or simply do fast check-ins between daily tasks, Threads can enhance your VR experience with a dedicated native app.”

Labour has pledged to stop using asylum hotels, a costly form of accommodation that has become a focal point for anti-migrant protests.The government has sought to house migrants at military sites across the country instead, announcing in June that it planned to open three more including the site in Bicester, Oxfordshire.The plans have prompted protests there, with residents of nearby Piddington voting to stage a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK.Burnham said on Tuesday that he would listen to and address the concerns being raised.”I don’t know the issue yet in detail, but in some ways, as I understand it,…

Books have never been trendier, but studies show that as more and more things compete for our frazzled attention spans, we’re reading less and less. This is a problem because reading has a wealth of cognitive benefits that we’re in danger of missing out on. To find out why declining literacy could affect everything from memory to IQ, Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample. She also hears from Prof Falk Huettig, an experimental psychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and author of The Perks of Being a Bookworm

Super Eagles forward, Kelechi Iheanacho made an immediate impact on his Bursaspor debut, scoring and providing an assist as the Turkish second-tier side opened their 2026/27 campaign with an impressive 2-0 away victory over Bodrum on Sunday. The Nigerian star wasted little time announcing his arrival, playing a direct role in both goals as Bursaspor made a perfect start to their promotion campaign. Iheanacho completed a free transfer to the Turkish second-tier club in July, bringing an end to months of uncertainty over his future following a productive loan spell with Celtic last season. Despite struggling with injuries during his…

Birmingham-born Davis played the sympathetic and witty receptionist Dawn, who was also the love interest of Tim Canterbury, played by Martin Freeman in Ricky Gervais’s TV comedy classic – which last month celebrated its 25th anniversary.After The Office, Davis went on to feature as Dianne in 2004 comedy-horror film Shaun of the Dead and Etta Candy in 2017’s Wonder Woman, as well as Hilda Spellman in Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.More recently, she played Eva in the Disney Channel’s action comedy series The Villains of Valley View.In her Instagram post – which was accompanied by a video of…