Author: damazah@gmail.com

Thursday’s primary in the southern state of Tennessee has provided the first test of the state’s new congressional district map, redrawn in May.Tennessee was one of roughly 10 states to reconfigure its map since 2025, as part of a partisan push to gain an advantage in the 2026 United States midterm election.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe election is seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s second term in office, and the Republican leader has cheered redistricting efforts in right-leaning states like Tennessee, as part of a broader national plan to maintain his party’s control of Congress.Each…

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has alerted Nigerians to the circulation of a suspected counterfeit asthma medicine, warning that its use could lead to treatment failure and other serious health risks. The agency made this known on Friday in a public alert shared on its official X account, saying the suspected falsified product, Ulmicort 0.5 mg/ml Inhalation Suspension, was detected during market surveillance conducted by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. According to NAFDAC, AstraZeneca informed the agency that the product closely resembles its registered asthma medicine, Pulmicort (Budesonide) Nebulising Suspension, and could mislead healthcare professionals and…

Researchers have uncovered a potential new way to treat autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by restoring the function of an important brain receptor. The study, led by Director Eunjoon Kim of the IBS Center for Synaptic Brain Dysfunctions, focused on a glycine transporter known as Slc6a20a/SLC6A20. The team found that reducing the activity of this transporter could help restore NMDA receptor (NMDAR) function. These receptors play a major role in communication between brain cells and are essential for learning, memory, and other cognitive processes. A More Targeted Way to Restore Brain Signaling Reduced NMDAR activity has been linked to several neurological…

Andrew Flintoff has stepped down as head coach of the England Lions.Flintoff began in the role in September 2024, meaning he leaves just under two years in. In June it was announced Flintoff would become head coach of Sydney Thunder in Australia’s Big Bash League. On the decision, Flintoff said: “Unfortunately I’ve made the decision to step away from my role with the Lions. Not only have I enjoyed my time having the opportunity to work with the best young cricketers in the country, but have taken great pride in seeing them develop. Please use Chrome browser for a more…

Singer Self Esteem has landed her first major movie role, starring in a film set in 1980s Wales.The coming of age story, Mountain, directed by Celyn Jones, was filmed in his home town of Holyhead, on Anglesey.Peter Mullan, Iwan Rheon and Seth Isaac Thomas will star alongside Rebecca Lucy Taylor, who goes by the stage name Self Esteem.The film tells the story of a neglected young boy in 1980s Wales, looking for friendship and community when he meets a man living alone on a mountain.Jones said filming the project, which wrapped earlier this year, had been “an emotional and spiritual…

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has raised the alarm over a suspicious credit into one of his private bank accounts domiciled with one of Nigeria’s leading commercial banks. This was contained in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, on Friday in Abuja. According to the statement, the transfer, with the narration “Contribution Electioneering Campaign,” originated from a person totally unknown to the former vice president. “Neither His Excellency nor his campaign solicited, authorised or has any knowledge of the individual or entity behind the unauthorised…

Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has formally assumed office as Chairman of the Governing Board of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), following his appointment by President Bola Tinubu. Fayose was inaugurated on Friday in Abuja by the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, alongside other members of the agency’s governing board. The inauguration was announced in a statement issued by Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. Other members inaugurated included Alhaji Ahmadu Abubakar, Mr. Ilyasu Makinta and three additional non-executive directors, while Mr. Abba Aliyu was formally installed as the Managing Director…

Cassidy says he will vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general: ‘I will be criticized for this vote’Senator Bill Cassidy, the last Republican who was undecided about Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general, said he would vote to confirm Blanche.He noted that while Blanche, who previously served as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, is “not perfect”, it is ultimately a decision between him or “another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively”.“This is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr Blanche in very specific circumstances,” Cassidy said on the Senate floor, explaining…

…. KPMG cuts graduate intake by 29 percent, Deloitte by 18 percent, EY by 11 percent and PwC by 6 percent     Accounting entry-level graduate job listings in the United Kingdom (UK) have fallen 44 percent year-on-year, while graduate recruitment at its biggest accounting firms is also declining, signalling a structural squeeze on the traditional entry point into finance as artificial intelligence (AI) and offshoring reshape the profession. For instance, KPMG has cut its graduate intake by 29 percent, Deloitte by 18 percent, EY by 11 percent and PwC by 6 percent. EY has also delayed graduate start dates…

Benson Okoronkwo has remained an unelected but permanent parliamentarian, historian and provocateur in the Nigerian-American Diaspora. Chido Nwangwu writes on how Okoronkwo agrees with late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s indictment of Nigerian rulers/leaders for criminally using their “authority” to steal, pillage and destroy the resourceful country of Nigeria. Inspirational music and messages usually travel across generations, cultures and climes.   I think that the cascading toll of insecurity, kidnappings and escalating poverty have since combined with Nigeria’s peripatetic leadership to give its citizens this shameful agony, wickedness and corruption-madness, which the great, late music and political genius, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, characterized as  “Authority…