Author: damazah@gmail.com

For the first time, an artificial intelligence system has created a series of previously unknown viruses capable of infecting and eliminating certain types of bacteria. This breakthrough opens up new possibilities for combating bacterial resistance. However, it also raises concerns about the potential misuse of this technology to design biological weapons.For several years now, scientists have been able to synthesize viruses from scratch; these are typically used to develop and evaluate antiviral drugs and vaccines, as well as to expand our understanding of how these microorganisms behave. However, the production of these viral genomes has primarily relied on replicating previously…

Nature, Published online: 07 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02462-zTargeting shared proteins could help to control bacterial subtypes that current vaccines do not protect against.

Key eventsHalf-time: Middlesbrough 0-0 WrexhamPlenty of huffing and puffing but not a lot of quality. The sky looks nice.Share45 min: One minute added. Whittaker overruns the ball in the Wrexham box and goes down under Thomason’s challenge. Nothing given.Share43 min: Smith tries to drive past Ayling down the Wrexham left but the experienced Boro captain keeps up and is sharp in the tackle.Wrexham’s O’Brien goes into the book for bumping Lankshear over on halfway.ShareUpdated at 21.44 CEST41 min: Rathbone is next to try his luck for Wrexham. The ball falls kindly for him on the edge of the box but he…

By Enitan Abdultawab Nigerian comedian and actor Samuel Perry, popularly known as Broda Shaggi, has broken his silence months after he was reportedly shot while filming in Ogun State. Broda Shaggi was reportedly injured in March while filming around the Sango-Ota Bridge. He was initially taken to a hospital in the Alakuko area of Lagos before being transferred to another facility in Ikeja. Since the incident, the skit maker has largely stayed away from the public eye, leaving fans waiting for an update on his condition. However, in a recent message shared on his WhatsApp channel, Broda Shaggi thanked his…

Ukraine continues to strike warehouses and logistics hubs run by Wildberries, which it says aids Moscow’s war efforts.Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine have killed at least six people, local authorities say, as Moscow and Kyiv trade intensifying strikes targeting each other’s economic and energy infrastructure.A wave of Russian attacks killed two people and wounded six in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region on Friday, with strikes reported in five districts, governor Oleksandr Hanzha wrote on Telegram. He said five people were killed on Thursday in the same region by a barrage of Russian attacks.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listRussia’s military…

ICRC facilitates first known transfer of detainees between Congolese government and M23 rebels in North Kivu.Published On 7 Aug 20267 Aug 2026The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has released 15 prisoners and handed them over to rebels from ⁠the Congo River Alliance/March 23 movement (AFC/M23) in the east of the country.The release was announced by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitated this first known transfer of prisoners under last year’s Qatar-mediated deal to end the fighting in the region.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe handover happened on Thursday and Friday after months of…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.An explosives-laden drone discovered at Leipzig Halle airport this week was intended to blow up an aeroplane, according to German investigators, who are racing to establish whether Russian intelligence agencies or their proxies might be behind the attack.The drone was equipped with military-grade explosives, including Semtex and PETN, police have concluded, as an investigation into the incident was declared a matter of national security on Friday. Chancellor Friedrich Merz convened a meeting of the national security council to discuss it. “All of this does…

Cloudflare is the latest company to join the race to build a new web browser. But instead of pitching a Chrome alternative to consumers, the internet infrastructure provider launched Kitesurf, a cloud-hosted browser designed specifically for AI agents. AI software is evolving from chatbots that answer questions to agents that can complete tasks on users’ behalf. Browsers are a critical part of this transition, as they’ll need to navigate the web and use websites, as humans do. Unlike traditional web browsers built for humans, a browser built for AI agents doesn’t care about visual elements, like themes, tabs, or browser…

By Peter Duru, Makurdi Former Benue state governor and leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the state, Chief Samuel Ortom, has dismissed as false and misleading reports alleging that he and other party leaders are plotting to replace the party’s 2027 governorship candidate, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, with the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Dr. Pius Akutah. Ortom, in a statement issued by his Media Assistant, Zege Terhide, said the report circulating on social media was a “mischievous” distortion of a recent meeting involving prominent Benue stakeholders. The former governor explained that he, alongside the Senate…

Scientists have made the first viruses designed by artificial intelligence in a milestone that raises hopes for new medicines but also concerns over how to ensure the technology remains safe.The viruses are specific kinds known as bacteriophages, which only infect bacteria and are used around the world to treat patients with persistent infections. In lab tests, a cocktail of the AI-designed viruses killed E coli bugs that were resistant to natural bacteriophages.Dr Brian Hie, a chemical engineer at Stanford University in California, used genome language models, the genetic equivalent of the large language models behind AI chatbots, to design functioning…