Author: damazah@gmail.com

CoffeeNormally we stay around Plaka, so Anana is the coffee shop I go to most often. There’s also Behold The Man in Exarchia, which is one of the coolest coffee shops I’ve been to. Exarchia has a really rebellious, anti-establishment feel and this place completely fits that – it has great music, great coffee and it’s just very cool. I don’t think there’s a coffee shop in London that’s quite like it. DC‘Casual and low-key’: Anäna Cafe, Plaka, Athens.My favourite is also Anana; It’s casual and low-key, with somewhere to sit down and relax. I’ll have a freddo espresso (espresso…

Young people whose complex disabilities mean they have little prospect of getting a paid job should get fast-track access to disability benefits, an official review of youth employment will say.The review, by the former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn, will say 16- to 24-year-olds with the most severe lifelong needs should be guaranteed swift and unconditional benefit support rather than having to prove they cannot work.Currently, many disabled youngsters and their families have to endure repeated lengthy, adversarial and often distressing assessments to access personal independence payment (Pip) and universal credit health benefits.The guarantee could include young people with profound…

The scientists collaborated with the conservation charity the Mount Elgon Foundation, external. They interviewed local people, including wildlife scouts and community elders. Accounts described elephants selecting particular plants when they seemed unwell, and mothers reportedly giving medicinal plant material to their calves.From this, the researchers concluded that the elephants use 35 different plant species, and that 25 of those are known locally to have medicinal uses. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, external, did not name the interviewees – keeping participants anonymous so they felt free to share their stories.Their accounts reveal some intriguing details. In one testimony,…

Former Kaduna Central Shehu Sani has warned that an Atiku Abubakar victory in the 2027 presidential election would end Nigeria’s informal rotational presidency arrangement and could trigger resentment in the southern part of the country. Mr Sani made the comment on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday. He said political parties should field southern candidates in the 2027 presidential election and allow the North to take its turn in 2031. “If Atiku wins, it means that is the end of rotational presidency in Nigeria, and there is going to be hard and bitter feelings from the southern part of Nigeria,”…

A cabinet minister under Sir Keir Starmer has said Andy Burnham’s government is not focused enough on boosting economic growth and needs to act with “more urgency”.Speaking to the BBC two months after being sacked in Burnham’s cabinet reshuffle upon entering office, Peter Kyle said he wasn’t making a “criticism” but “pointing to the potential that we have as a country and as a government”. “If the destination means prosperity, it means freedom for people to do new things, and it means security for people and families, then why wouldn’t we put our foot down and get there quicker,” the…

Dr Ken Collins, of the University of Southampton, who supervised the study, said: “Studland Bay is becoming a powerful example of how practical conservation measures can reverse habitat damage and deliver measurable environmental improvements.”Brown, who is also lead ecologist for the National Trust, said: “These results are incredibly exciting, and a huge encouragement to all the organisations and individuals who have given so much time and support to the partnership. “The impact has been beyond our expectations, and thanks to robust monitoring and research, we have the science to prove how the eco-moorings benefit seagrass and all the species that…

Vanessa Obioha writes that Coca-Cola’s new 75th anniversary campaign song reflects how deeply the brand is intertwined with the everyday moments that shape Nigerians’ memories. I remember as a child how Coca-Cola was always that drink that was never missing at birthday parties. Sometimes, when my mother returned from work tired, she would ask for a bottle of Coke to refresh herself first. My siblings and I would hover around, waiting for her to call one of us to share the Coke with her. Imagine my delight, then, when these memories came rushing back while listening to the ‘Coca-Cola 75th…

Gaza City, Gaza Strip – The partially collapsed roof above Masada Abu Jarad’s apartment is now made up of broken concrete with twisted steel bars protruding from its edges.And underneath the section of the room that is now open to the elements after the building’s partial collapse, Masada’s family have pitched a tent to provide shelter.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe 60-year-old knows the structure is dangerous. The Palestinian Red Crescent and the Civil Defence visited the family last week and warned them that they should leave. But in Gaza, where Israel refuses to allow proper reconstruction to take…

Somkid Pheuk-ngam, a 67-year-old who lives near a canal just north of central Bangkok, told the AFP news agency: “The water keeps coming in. It’s hard to go out now. It’s like at my waist level now.”I cannot go anywhere. I have been closing my shop for two days now.”She said water levels in the city appeared to be worse than in 2011, when Bangkok was impacted by nationwide flooding.Hundreds were killed across Thailand then in an extreme weather event that lasted for three months. So far, no casualties have been reported in Bangkok from this latest flooding.The Thai Meteorological…

By Emmanuel Jonathan When Professor George Onyemaechi Ugwu began confronting the grim realities of maternal and neonatal deaths in hospitals and communities, he faced a question that continues to challenge health professionals worldwide: how can preventable deaths among mothers and newborns be reduced? Rather than accept the statistics as inevitable, he set out to find answers. That decision launched a remarkable journey from the hospital bedside to the highest levels of health policy and governance, establishing him as one of Nigeria’s leading voices in maternal and child health. Today, Professor Ugwu is a distinguished obstetrician and gynaecologist, public health physician,…