Author: damazah@gmail.com

England’s regional mayors will be able to break out of the “death grip of the Treasury” by borrowing to invest in big projects under “transformational” plans to shift power out of Whitehall.For the first time, mayors will keep a share of income tax generated in their area from 2028, as well as business rates totalling tens of millions of pounds by April 2027.These will replace existing grants rather than being additional money, but local leaders said no longer relying on ringfenced Treasury handouts would “transform” their funding.Oliver Coppard, the Labour mayor of South Yorkshire, said: “It’s really important because it…

“Landmark” paper finds disease originated with European contact

The top stories and transfer rumours from Friday’s newspapers…Bruno Guimaraes futureArsenal have moved closer to agreeing a deal for Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes worth in the region of £80m including add-ons – The Times Arsenal are closing in on a deal for Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes – The Sun Arsenal are increasingly confident of signing Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle United following the exit of manager Eddie Howe – ESPNPremier LeagueManchester United are weighing up a move for left back Lewis Hall amid the latest disarray at Newcastle – The Sun Atletico Madrid have rekindled their interest in Tottenham defender Cristian…

I’m sure that Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and the team behind Starz‘s new drama Fightland have some appreciation for the worlds of professional boxing and London’s criminal underbelly. But somewhere in the show’s creative journey and the blending of British television veterans and scribes from inside Jackson’s Power-verse, a lot of the specificity vanished into the ether.  The series premiering on Starz is, more than anything else, blandly familiar, mining all the tropes of several popular genres without finding anything distinctive in the combination. More often than not, Fightland feels like a show made by people who watched a lot…

Depending on where you buy and drink wine, catarratto will be very familiar or very obscure. There was a time in the 2010s when I’d have put good money on it being the house white in half of Hackney’s restaurants, and if you’ve ever picked up a sub-£15 natural white wine at an independent bottle shop, catarratto will probably have featured. If, however, you buy wine from bigger retailers and have a taste for fruity, sun-soaked whites, chances are you’ve been drinking catarratto without even knowing it.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something…

By James Ogunnaike The Ogun State Police Command on Thursday said it has commenced efforts to rescue students of the Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Saapade, abducted by gunmen during an attack on a private off-campus hostel in Ipara, assuring residents that tactical operations are ongoing to secure their release. The Command also cautioned members of the public against spreading unverified information capable of undermining ongoing rescue operations and investigations. It was gathered that the students were abducted on Wednesday night when suspected kidnappers stormed a privately owned hostel located along Paraga Road in Ipara, an area outside the institution’s main campus.…

The federal government says it will provide 25,000 free cataract surgeries nationwide by the end of 2027 as part of efforts to reduce avoidable blindness and improve access to quality eye care. The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, announced this on Thursday at the 49th Annual Scientific Conference of the Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA) and the African Council of Optometry (AFCO) meeting in Abuja. Mr Salako said the surgeries would be carried out under the Renewed Hope Health Connect initiative, which aims to bring healthcare services closer to underserved communities across the country. He said…

For many people, August is just another month on the calendar. But across Eastern Nigeria, it signals something much more meaningful. It is the season when daughters return home. From bustling cities across Nigeria and the diaspora, women make the journey back to their hometowns for the annual August Meeting, a yearly tradition that has continued for generations. While many recognise it as a gathering of women, those who have experienced it firsthand understand that it is much more than an annual reunion. It is where communities reconnect, families reunite, and important decisions about the future of the hometown are…

Flock Safety cameras have been pilloried for facilitating the AI-powered surveillance of private citizens and for targeting immigrants for years. But now safety advocates are also claiming that their physical location can pose potential roadside hazards.At the bottom of a tree-lined hill on a narrow, two lane rural road in Greene county, Ohio, stands a black metal rod with a camera and solar panel attached at the top.The camera, an automated license plate reader (ALPR), is owned by Flock Safety and is painted black, making it difficult to see.Its dark color isn’t the only thing that makes it a potential…

Available for 35 daysScientists have long referred to the Goldilocks zone – the region around a star where conditions are not too hot and not too cold but “just right” for life. Joined by a live audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK, Tom Whipple asks what are the true limitations of alien life? How do we spot it? And have we been looking too narrowly? Planetary scientist at MIT Sara Seagar discusses her team’s mission to Venus where, on the surface, temperatures can reach 500 degrees Celsius and it rains sulphuric acid. Above the rain, up in…