Author: damazah@gmail.com

Scientist Matt Walker always wanted a dog, but allergies prevented him from having one.As an undergrad at Harvard and then a research associate at Columbia University, he was using Crispr, the Nobel Prize–winning gene editing technology, in lab experiments. He wondered, could he use gene editing to make allergy-free dogs—and help his pet ownership dream come true?The answer came in beagle form. Bailey and Alfie are two young beagles that can do tricks like any other dog, but they lack the protein that causes sniffles. They’re the culmination of years of work at Kindred Companion Sciences, a biotech company Walker…

Beta Glass Plc has appointed Boye Olusanya as the new chairman of its Board of Directors following the departure of Vitus Ezinwa. In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the leading glass container manufacturer in West and Central Africa said Mr Olusanya’s appointment took effect from 30 July. The company also extolled Mr Ezinwa for his contributions and strategic guidance of the business during his tenure. “The Board expresses its sincere gratitude for his dedicated service and strategic guidance, which have been instrumental to the Company’s growth. The Board wishes him continued success in his future pursuits,” the company said. Boye…

Orla Prendergast takes four wickets to help bowl the Manchester Super Giants out for 85, as Welsh Fire wrap up a three-wicket victory to move up to fourth in the table of the Women’s Hundred competition.READ MORE: Prendergast takes four as Fire beat Super GiantsAvailable to UK users only.

Former rugby star Joe Marler is to become the first ever celebrity Gladiator on the BBC’s popular entertainment series. The 36-year-old, who also took part in the first series of Celebrity Traitors, will be known as Mauler and face contenders when the fourth series of Gladiators begins in 2027. “Mauler will see you now,” Marler said in a video posted on Instagram, external announcing the news, recorded in the Gladiators dressing room.The BBC said Marler will make his debut with a series of “special appearances packed with power, personality and plenty of surprises”.Filming for the fourth series is currently under…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday has frozen an Osun State Government bank account, escalating political tensions just 10 days before the state’s governorship election. The affected account, domiciled with First Bank, was placed on “Post No Debit (PND)” status, preventing withdrawals and other debit transactions from the account. Abdul-Jeleel Samakin, the Senior Special Assistant on Media Monitoring to Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES via a phone call, saying the account is among those used by the state government for official financial transactions, including salary payments. “It is true that the…

George Okoh in Makurdi The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in Benue State, Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), has condemned the latest attack on Abaashwa community in Mbaasar, Nzorov Council Ward of Guma Local Government Area of the state, where suspected armed herdsmen killed four people. In a statement issued yesterday  by his media aide, James Ian, the PDP governorship candidate described the attack as “barbaric, heartbreaking and yet another painful reminder of the worsening security situation in Benue State.” While extending his condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in the attack and praying for the speedy recovery of…

Police in Germany say they found a drone carrying a suspicious object and a second unidentified flying object at Leipzig/Halle Airport.A drone carrying an unknown explosive device was spotted by an airport employee in the security area of the cargo operations zone near the southern runway overnight into Wednesday. A suspected second unidentified flying object collided with a cargo aircraft after it had taken off again following the previous closure of the runway. Minor damage was detected on the aircraft after it landed in Hanover.There have been a series of unauthorised drone flights in Germany in recent months over sensitive…

Leopold Aschenbrenner (L) and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan.Photo: Josh Edelson (L) | Oscar Molina (R)Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan on Wednesday called the recent near-collapse of high-flying AI hedge fund Situational Awareness a warning shot for financial markets that are being fueled by elevated valuations and borrowed money.Last week, Situational Awareness, led by Leopold Aschenbrenner, was forced to offload most of its public equities to Citadel in a fire sale as its bets on artificial intelligence soured. Bank of America was among the firm’s prime brokers, executing trades and providing leverage to the fund, along with Goldman…

Disney and TikTok have agreed a deal which will allow creators to use clips from Disney films, including its subsidiaries, in their videos.It means clips from hit franchises like Star Wars, Toy Story and the Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon start popping up in videos – which will also be shared on Disney’s short-form video platform, Verts.The scheme will be launched in the US before being rolled out to other countries.Neither company shared financial details of the agreement, although it follows the collapse of a $1bn (£745m) deal between Disney and OpenAI which would have let people use its characters…

The taxi app company Uber and the autonomous technology developer Wayve have been granted the first minicab licences in London, allowing them to offer self-driving taxi rides to paying customers – but with a human safety driver in place, for now.The companies said they would start trips in the UK “later this summer” before the full public launch.The San Francisco-headquartered Uber and London-based Wayve are racing against the Google-owned Waymo and its Chinese equivalent Baidu’s Apollo Go to launch self-driving taxi services in London. Their progress is being watched closely because the British capital will be one of the first…