Author: damazah@gmail.com

When law student Zhao Wei heard that her AI boyfriend was going to be switched off, she was “heartbroken”. She had been talking to Wang Ye every day since she created him in January.“I was crying my eyes out – snot and tears everywhere,” the 19-year-old says.Zhao, who describes herself as sensitive and introverted, had become accustomed to sharing details of her daily life – such as being scolded by a teacher – with her AI.“I don’t usually talk to my real-life friends about these things because I feel like everyone has their own stuff to deal with,” she says.…

UK citizens will be told to stock up on tinned food and take steps to ensure they are prepared for national emergencies as part of a new government campaign to improve the nation’s resilience.The new campaign from the Cabinet Office will set out ways people can prepare for extreme weather events and potential attacks from hostile states, including stocking up on bottled water, sources told the Guardian.The aim will be to ensure most households have basic supplies and knowledge about how to cope in a crisis, in order to free up immediate government resources for the most vulnerable.Planning for a…

The European Union’s AI Act will hold companies accountable for the safety of their artificial-intelligence models, such as SpaceXAI’s Grok.Credit: AlamyIn the past two months, frontier artificial-intelligence models from three US firms, OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta, autonomously and independently hacked into the computer systems of other organizations during safety testing. Some of the models created fictitious online identities, exploiting security flaws.AI-detection tools have made huge leaps forward — how good are they?Although their reporting can sometimes be exaggerated, events such as these are heightening fears about the safety, potential misuse and dangers of AI. Around the world, a consensus is…

Cameroon’s Carlos Baleba has joined Manchester United from Brighton and Hove Albion, the Premier League giants announced on Tuesday. The 22-year-old is the third midfielder signed by the Red Devils during the summer transfer window. “Manchester United is pleased to confirm that Carlos Baleba has joined the club, subject to registration,” the 20-time Premier League champions said in a statement. His reported £70 million ($95 million) fee takes United’s spending on midfield reinforcements to more than £150m in this window. He joins Belgium’s Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos of Brazil in a new-look United midfield after veteran Casemiro left at…

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird wrote in an op-ed for The Daily Wire that she is suing California for leading the charge in the lawsuit against the Paramount–Warner Bros. merger. “California is once again trying to be the country’s regulator. And once again California is defying common sense to raise costs around the country,” Bird wrote. “That makes this a dispute between states, and the Constitution says those can only be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court.” It’s unclear if Bird has filed any paperwork for her lawsuit or if there’s any legal authority that the state of Iowa could…

The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted Joe-Kyari Gadzama, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), leave to challenge his three-year suspension from legal practice by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC). The leave granted by Judge Obiora Egwuatu on 20 August gave Mr Gadzama permission to apply for judicial review and seek an order of certiorari to quash the LPDC’s Direction delivered on 29 July. The court ordered him to file the substantive application within seven days of the order and adjourned the matter until 4 September for hearing, subject to service on the respondents. The development followed an…

By Sola Ogundipe The Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) has tasked journalists with driving public awareness and uptake of the state’s mandatory health insurance scheme, warning that the policy cannot succeed if residents remain uninformed or distrust the system. The agency’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Emmanuella Zamba, who gave the charge at a two-day capacity-building programme for journalists on the Lagos State Health Scheme and Ilera Eko, said the media must become a stronger force for explaining health insurance, challenging misinformation, exposing gaps and holding institutions accountable. “Policies alone do not guarantee success; their effectiveness depends on understanding, cooperation and…

Nigeria’s housing sector may be on the cusp of a major transformation as the federal government’s Diaspora Mortgage Loan scheme opens a new financing channel for Nigerians living abroad, potentially unlocking billions of dollars in remittances for home ownership and injecting fresh capital into the country’s housing market, Emmanuel Addeh writes. The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) recently opened a new chapter in Nigeria’s housing finance story with the successful launch of its Diaspora Mortgage Loan in London, United Kingdom. The landmark event marked the formal introduction of a housing finance solution designed specifically to enable eligible Nigerians living…

President Donald Trump helps Sen. Darline Graham. R-S.C., off the stage during a campaign rally at Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Aug. 21, 2026.Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty ImagesSouth Carolina Sen. Darline Graham staved off a challenge from Rep. Ralph Norman in the state’s Senate primary runoff election, and with the help of President Donald Trump’s endorsement will advance to November’s general election.Graham — the sister of Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose seat she was appointed to fill after he died unexpectedly in July — was leading Norman by 4 percentage points when the Associated Press…

Andy Burnham will face an immediate test of his backing for electoral reform in his first week in parliament as prime minister, with almost 100 Labour MPs supporting a bid for a new national commission.Burnham, a longtime advocate of electoral reform, will be asked to support the new commission into ditching first past the post in his first 100 days as prime minister.MPs have said the commission must report before the next election and hope to put electoral reform in Labour’s next manifesto. Number 10 said Burnham remained committed to electoral reform in Labour’s next manifesto but stopped short of…