Author: damazah@gmail.com

In November 2023 – a lifetime ago in the field of artificial intelligence – some of the most powerful people in the world descended on Bletchley Park, the wartime codebreaking hub in Buckinghamshire, to talk about AI safety. In attendance were the then US vice-president, Kamala Harris, the AI bosses Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, delegations from 28 countries, two of the three so-called “godfathers” of AI, and Elon Musk.The first iteration of ChatGPT had been released only a year earlier, and there was already plenty of evidence that AI models could be used for ill, from spreading misinformation to…

When a 21-member Chinese rescue team reached Gyirong on 28 August, one rescuer told Reuters: “As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but ruins.”The crossing had only recently recovered from another major flood. In July 2025, flooding shut Rasuwagadhi for nearly six months. It reopened on 1 January after China built a temporary bridge.Traffic had since returned. Chinese border authorities say more than 100,000 people had passed through Gyirong by June, while Nepali immigration records show 53,742 arrivals and departures at Rasuwagadhi in the year to mid-July. The two figures are based on different reporting periods and…

Barcelona’s teenage star Lamine Yamal and Raphinha both struck twice as the champions beat Rayo Vallecano 5-2 on Monday to continue their perfect start to the campaign. Sergio Camello netted a brace for the visitors at Camp Nou but Hansi Flick’s Barca managed to record a third win from three matches from an entertaining battle. With his first goal, Yamal, 19, hit the milestone of 50 for the club — two years younger than Barcelona icon Lionel Messi was when he managed the feat. “We have to keep working, for now it’s three wins from three, and we have to…

Prosecutors had argued during the trial that although Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang, did not fire the gun that killed Shakur, he ordered the shooting and supplied the gun that his nephew Orlando Anderson used to open fire.They told the court that Davis had planned the shooting as retaliation after Anderson was involved in a fight with Shakur and the rapper’s crew in Las Vegas just hours earlier. For 30 years, the case remained one of America’s most famous cold cases, spurring countless conspiracies – but never a conviction, until now. Shakur’s murder…

With the nearly 50-year United Nations peacekeeping mandate in southern Lebanon set to expire at the end of 2026, proposals for a European Union mission to fill some part of the vacuum have attracted attention.Lebanon, still under almost daily Israeli bombardment with a fifth of its territory occupied and about 335,000 people still displaced, is expected to be on the agenda during an EU defence and foreign ministers meeting in Ireland this week.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s diplomatic service, has circulated a proposal for a three-year military and civilian mission…

Pogroms in the occupied West Bank continue, with Israeli forces demolishing homes in Birzeit and Nablus, and settlers attacking Palestinians.Published On 1 Sep 20261 Sep 2026Israeli forces have demolished more Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, as settlers attacked residents of the village of Burqa in an escalation of violence ahead of Israeli elections in October.The pogroms on Monday came as Ireland pushes for sanctions on goods from illegal Israeli settlements at an informal meeting of European Union ministers this week.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listIn the town of Birzet, north of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers demolished two…

For most Nigerian workers, Retirement is the single largest financial goal of their lives. It is bigger than the house you hope to own. Yet many people treat pension contributions as a routine deduction rather than the foundation of their future. Under Nigeria’s current system, that mindset is dangerous. The responsibility for a comfortable retirement now sits largely with the individual. From Defined Benefit to Defined ContributionBefore 2004, public-sector workers belonged to an unfunded Pay-As-You-Go Defined Benefit scheme. The government promised a pension based on final salary and years of service. No money was set aside in advance. When you…

While battery swapping has struggled to take off in much of the world, Canadian auto parts giant Magna International believes the model could work at scale in India, where millions of two- and three-wheelers and a fast-growing delivery economy create a different set of economics. And it’s placing that bet on Yuma Energy, a Bengaluru-based firm that operates a battery-swapping network for electric two- and three-wheelers. Yuma, which spun out of Indian mobility startup Yulu in early 2023, has completed more than 60 million swaps to date and now has about 100,000 batteries deployed across its network. Magna is now…

John Healey has asked junior Treasury staff – including IT workers and apprentices – to send him ideas for his October budget, saying he will listen to all suggestions regardless of grade or profession.The chancellor’s unorthodox approach comes as he faces a tricky autumn with expected inflation rises, sluggish growth and potential cuts from other departments to fund extra defence spending.Healey, who was Andy Burnham’s surprise choice for chancellor, is understood to have written to staff at the Treasury campuses in London, Norwich, Leeds and Darlington asking them to send him ideas.He said he did not only want to hear…

Uncovering this hidden structure could eventually allow researchers to design superconducting materials and devices with greater control and precision. As scientists pursue quantum computers, ultra-efficient electronics, and other advanced technologies, a detailed understanding of how electrons behave inside superconductors will become increasingly important.ng-standing puzzle about their behavior and offers a clearer view of superconductivity that could eventually guide the development of improved materials for quantum computers, ultra-efficient electronics, and advanced sensors.Some scientific surprises emerge not from discovering something entirely new, but from taking a closer look at something researchers thought they already understood.For decades, physicists have investigated superconductors—materials capable of…