Author: damazah@gmail.com

My sister-in-law wrote and published an emotionally charged “memoir” of family dislocation and trauma, in which she massaged the truth of her family’s past to portray my partner as emotionally damaged. (In fact, he is empathetic and was beloved by those he worked with.) Theirs was a complex family story, and there were many omissions and mistruths, which she failed to factcheck with us.She tried to de‑identify her brother, but he would be recognisable to anyone with a rudimentary ability to search the internet. Legal action was considered, but decided against. Who gets to tell a story in these times? Whose story is more “true”?…

The BRICS group of nations adopted a new declaration calling for conflict prevention, stronger multilateral ties, and condemning terrorism as well as unilateral trade measures. The declaration also expressed concerns over the 7-month-long war in the Middle East and called for maximum restraint, dialogue, and diplomacy, according to Reuters. The New Delhi Declaration 2026 was adopted at the 18th BRICS Summit, held in India this weekend. It was a two-day summit that brought together Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, alongside partner countries such as Nigeria, collectively accounting for about 40 per cent…

One hit Ukraine’s security service headquarters — the first direct drone strike on a government building in Kyiv. Another nearly struck President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plane as it was about to take off from Moldova. Hundreds more set warehouses ablaze and shut down Ukraine’s ports.Russia’s new jet-powered Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones have pummeled Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, evading air defences at a much higher rate than their propeller-driven predecessors to pose a major new threat. It is a striking shift for a military whose battlefield gains since Vladimir Putin’s invasion in 2022 have come at huge human cost and heavy…

Blizzard originally tried to bring the StarCraft universe to the world of 3D shooters way back in 2002 with StarCraft: Ghost. It sat in development hell for years until Blizzard president Mike Morhaime confirmed that it had been canceled in 2014. Now Blizzard is giving it another go with the simply titled StarCraft. Dan Hay, a VP at Blizzard, took the stage at BlizzCon today to reveal that after more than a decade of lying dormant, StarCraft would be returning in 2030. But, rather than another top-down real-time strategy installment, the new title would be an open-world shooter.He then showed…

Angela Rayner has defended her decision to pause plans to redraw local council boundaries, saying she wanted to ensure they would survive legal challenge.The local government secretary also told the BBC she wanted to be “clear-eyed” about what the planned shake-up in 16 areas of England was likely to achieve.It comes after earlier this week she abandoned proposals in four other areas, in the face of legal threats from Reform and Conservative-led authorities.The surprise announcement on Monday has thrown the reorganisation plans into doubt, and drawn criticism from local leaders preparing for the changes.Councils in affected areas have been drawing…

Rivers United Technical Adviser Finidi George has called on football fans in Akwa Ibom to turn out in numbers and support the Nigerian champions as they look to secure a place in the next round of the CAF Champions League. Finidi spoke ahead of the second leg of Rivers United’s first preliminary-round tie against Ivorian side San Pedro at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, with the Nigerian side taking confidence from a 1-1 draw in the first leg. With the decisive encounter approaching, the former Super Eagles coach said his players are ready for the challenge and believes…

It is no spoiler to say I am going to reveal the final moments of Peter Farrelly‘s fantastic crowd pleasing biopic chronicling the making of the 1976 classic, Rocky, that not only made Sylvester Stallone a major star, but also became one of the greatest behind the scenes stories in Hollywood history. Stay all the way through the very last of the credits and you will be rewarded with the only scene in this saga not recreated for the movie. Introducing Stallone for the first time on The Tonight Show to promote Rocky, Johnny Carson tells a bit of the…

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It is just past noon on a midweek day, and already every table at Au Bon Acceuil cafe-bistro in the northern Burgundy village of Saint-Martin-sur-Ouanne is taken.The three-course lunch menu today – including a choice of a hefty chunk of steak with chips or a meaty lasagne – is just €18, but villagers are not only here for the food.After an eight-month closure, the bistro, previously called Café de la Gare, recently reopened – and locals want it to stay that way.“It’s so important to have a cafe-bistro in a village like this. We couldn’t let it stay closed,” said…

In the year since Kirk’s killing, dozens of lawsuits have been filed across the country by people fired for their comments about the activist, arguing their terminations violated their rights to free speech. The suits have led to substantial pay outs in some cases.Brown agreed to a $485,000 (£355,000) financial settlement – about 12 times Brown’s annual salary. Darren Michael was reinstated by the Austin Peay State University and in January, the school agreed to pay him $500,000 to settle legal claims. The school did not respond to a request for comment.In the largest settlement reviewed by the BBC, the…