Author: damazah@gmail.com

What’s the edgiest region in the UK? I don’t mean in the sense of sketchy or fashionable, but where on the map of these four nations feels most at the margins of everywhere else? For my money, the north Cumbrian coast is a strong contender. Hemmed in by the Lake District fells on one side and the Solway Firth and Irish Sea on the other, this strip of towns and villages, farms and nature reserves, clinging to the low-lying littoral, has been battling nature, weather, geology and geography throughout its history.Coastal erosion is part of the challenge. Like the railway…

Thirty-three state governments have spent at least N512.10bn on Government Houses, Governors’ Offices and travel in the first six months of 2026, about 4,713 times higher than the combined six-month salary of Nigeria’s 36 governors. Ogun State Police Command had dismantled an illegal baby factory syndicate in Abaren Village, Mowe, rescuing two heavily pregnant women and four children while arresting six suspects. Country music icon, Dolly Parton, has died at the age of 80, prompting United States President Donald Trump to order American flags lowered across the country for one week. No fewer than 19 oil licences in Nigeria’s upstream…

The matte black brick building has stood in the heart of Seoul for 50 years. It is also unusual for the slit-like windows that run across its fifth floor. Each looked out of small cells, some of which were painted blood red to evoke fear.There, in 1981, South Korea’s military dictatorship tortured Yoo Dong-woo, a former factory worker, for organizing labor protests. His ribs were broken, some of his teeth were knocked out, and blood constantly pooled in his mouth.“So, this is how a person dies,” he recalled thinking at the time.Mr. Yoo and his cause survived. South Korea is…

ToplineTrump-backed wealth fund executive and former state Senator Mike Mazzei won the GOP’s nomination for the Oklahoma gubernatorial race on Tuesday, after winning a runoff against state Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who the president had labeled as a “fake Republican.”Oklahoma Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Mazzei delivers his closing remarks at a televised debate in Tulsa.Associated PressKey FactsThe race was called by the Associated Press at 11 p.m. ET with nearly all ballots counted, and Mazzei secured 50.3% of the vote, scoring a narrow win against Drummond, who got 49.7%.Both candidates advanced to the runoff after neither secured an outright majority…

The head of Nine Entertainment sees a “world of growth in publishing” on the horizon backed by laws designed to force tech platforms into commercial deals, even as the network cuts costs across its newsrooms.Parliament passed revamped media bargaining laws last week, clearing the way for levies on global tech platforms that fail to strike deals with Australian news outlets for the use of their journalism.Nine’s chief executive officer, Matt Stanton, told analysts on Wednesday he expected platforms such as Google and Facebook owner Meta to contribute amounts comparable to those under their previous arrangement, struck in 2021.“There’s a number…

Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher who is challenging the Republican senator Dan S. Sullivan of Alaska, won a spot on the general election ballot on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. His emergence from the state’s nonpartisan primary poses a headache for the incumbent. Dan J. Sullivan is not expected to wage a competitive general-election campaign. But Republicans have worried for months that some voters may confuse the two Sullivans in November, potentially depriving Senator Sullivan of votes and lifting his well-funded Democratic challenger, former Representative Mary Peltola, to victory.Senator Sullivan and Ms. Peltola easily earned spots on the…

St Helens legend Jonny Lomax has announced he is to retire at the end of the Super League season.The 35-year-old, who has not featured since fracturing his jaw in the defeat by Warrington Wolves in June, has made 388 appearances for Saints, winning five Grand Finals, one Challenge Cup and a World Club Challenge.He won four caps for Great Britain and 11 for England, including a World Cup final appearance against Australia in 2017.”Over the last 20 years, I have been able to live out a boyhood dream. Achieving far more than I could ever have imagined. Representing and captaining…

Presidents across party lines celebrated Dolly Parton on Tuesday following her death, speaking to the country icon’s ability to transcend politics through her work that often spoke louder than words. On Tuesday, former Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and George Bush each paid tribute to Parton, while President Donald Trump ordered that flags be flown at half-staff for the next week to honor “one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER.” In their statements, the former presidents praised both Parton’s music and philanthropic endeavors. In 2020, Parton donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University, which helped fund coronavirus research and Moderna’s…

This lovely summery “curry” is a cold, refreshing dish from Karnataka in India, and is eaten widely in Tamil Nadu, just 20 miles across the Palk Strait from my ancestral Tamil homeland in north and eastern Sri Lanka. Along with chefs Louis and Seb in our development kitchen, we decided that smacking the cucumbers helps give them a silky texture, and means the fragrant yoghurt base can get into all the nooks and crannies. It’s wonderful with plain rice and a side of fenugreek-heavy hot Tamil pickle, made with English gooseberries rather than superfood nelli, both of which are said…

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has faulted the Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) for including the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in the 2026 federal budget. The finding is contained in the commission’s investigation into the activities of the organisation, which the federal government has said never existed. According to the report, the Budget Office processed and onboarded the purported council into the 2026 budget despite gaps in its documentation and without independently verifying the legal instrument establishing it. The investigation found that the BOF relied on an administrative code issued by…