Author: damazah@gmail.com

‘I’ve never seen this many young people out on the streets,’ says Hannah Ellis-Petersen.For days, tens of thousands of Indians have been marching under the banner of the Cockroach Janta party.The Guardian’s south Asia correspondent tells Helen Pidd the protesters are reclaiming a slur after India’s chief justice reportedly referred to unemployed young people as ‘cockroaches’ and ‘parasites’. Their anger erupted after leaks of exam papers forced millions of students to resit tests. The scandals have also been linked to dozens of suicides in recent years.Since then, the movement has gathered momentum, with protests against corruption and unemployment, and demands,…

Yemen’s Houthi fighters claim to have attacked shipping in the Red Sea – a move that threatens to further escalate the already volatile situation in the Middle East.By forcing ships to turn back from the narrow Bab El Mandeb strait, they have threatened to choke off the main maritime route from Europe to Asia. It comes as US-Iran strikes continue and while a deal to develop Saudi Arabia’s nuclear industry prompts fears of an arms race. So is the Middle East becoming more dangerous?So far, 2026 is sadly proving to be one of the more violent years for parts of…

With 48 years experience working in the oil and gas and industrial sectors across six continents in multicultural environments, and managing multicultural employees with over 10 of those years spent in Nigeria and Africa, the Chief Operating Officer of Blue Seal Energy Group, Lloyd Robertson, truly understands the marketplace, client’s needs, the business drivers and how to be successful.  In this exclusive interaction with Peter Uzoho, Robertson shares his experiences, the company’s investment in Nigeria as well as future plans. Excerpts:  Blue Seal Energy Group is into the manufacturing of chemical products that serve the oil and gas and other industrial…

Pro-Israel Trump ally sits down with Ukrainian president as she says Russia is helping Iran kill US soldiers.Published On 24 Jul 202624 Jul 2026Laura Loomer, a far-right American activist and close ally of US President Donald Trump, has met and interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reversing years of hostility towards Ukraine.Loomer said she interviewed Zelenskyy on Thursday for her show on the social media platform Rumble, after telling her nearly 2 million followers on X that she had been wrong to repeat Russian propaganda.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe right-wing commentator said she does not care if Republicans…

Watts is not alone. A 2022 study from the University of Bath estimates that about 4.6% of people in the UK have climate anxiety, which is recognised as a form of mental distress by professional bodies and the NHS. Young people and women are among the groups most at risk, according to a study published in 2025.”Anticipatory anxiety”, related to heatwaves in particular, has become more common, say psychologists Dr Caroline Hickman from the University of Bath and Dr Emma Lawrance from the University of Oxford.”Once people have been through a traumatic event like a flood or a heatwave, they…

Donald Trump hosted the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at the White House on Thursday for the team’s second trip to the White House in two years.The team gave the president a custom jersey and a World Series championship ring during a ceremony at the Rose Garden. Four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, star first baseman Freddie Freeman, World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and manager Dave Roberts were among those in attendance, while several players – most notably star shortstop Mookie Betts and utility man Kike Hernández – opted not to attend.“Special winners, unbelievable,” Trump said. “I would not be surprised…

The book collection of the creator of The Snowman and Fungus the Bogeyman has gone on sale at Oxfam’s Hove bookshop in East Sussex and online.More than 1,000 books from the collection of Raymond Briggs, the beloved British author and cartoonist, were donated by his estate after his death aged 88 in 2022.Briggs’s personal library spans comics, illustration, novels and social history, including works by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and Winnie-the-Pooh illustrator EH Shepard as well as a signed first edition of Graham Rawle’s Woman’s World, the 2005 book composed of fragments from women’s magazines.Other illustrators featured in Briggs’s library…

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Professors Lai Olurode and Sylvester Akhaine have urged Nigerians, particularly public officeholders, to emulate the late former Governor of Lagos State, Lateef Jakande, describing his legacy of selfless service, integrity, patriotism and people-centred governance as a model for national development. They said Jakande’s achievements in education, healthcare, housing, infrastructure, and his level of contentment, unwavering commitment to Nigeria, remain enduring examples of purposeful leadership. They spoke at the 4th Lateef Jakande Memorial Lecture instituted by the Nigerian Guild of Editors, held at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday. The NGE had in 2023 started…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.One of the world’s biggest AI investors said the emergence of the latest Chinese models has significantly raised competition with US rivals and will cut the cost of adoption globally.GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, has put AI at the heart of its investment strategy, ploughing billions of dollars into the emerging technology over the past few years.It led a $30bn funding round for Anthropic in February, positioning itself for a massive windfall if the company behind Claude follows through on plans to…

Peptides are inching closer to the mainstream.A panel of experts on Thursday narrowly recommended that the Food and Drug Administration reclassify four popular peptides—including one endorsed by podcaster Joe Rogan—to allow certain pharmacies to legally dispense them.In an at-times emotionally charged meeting that lasted more than 11 hours, members of an FDA advisory committee heard data presentations from FDA staff on four unapproved peptides—BPC-157, KPV, TB-500, and MOTs-C—as well as testimony from health care practitioners, patients, pharmacies, and clinics.Members voted eight to six, with one abstention, to add three of the four peptides to the agency’s bulks list, meaning compounding…