Author: damazah@gmail.com

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is coming under pressure over the decisions about both Rosebank and Jackdaw.Visiting victims of the West Midlands wildfire on Friday, he told BBC Five Live that there needs to be a focus on adapting to the changing climate, including considering aerial firefighting resources.But he said there needs to be a “pragmatic approach” towards domestic oil and gas.He added: “We won’t be able to stop using oil and gas for some time. That’s just a fact.”The question is whether we can accelerate use of it so that we pay for the transition.”The consultation on Jackdaw closed last…

Sheffield United’s owners are focused on the new season despite the club’s former owners suggesting they face a “real prospect” of administration ahead of an insolvency court hearing on Wednesday.Sky Sports News reported last month that the club’s previous owners, United World, had issued a winding-up petition against the current owners. United World, which sold Sheffield United to COH Sports Bidco, claims it is still owned £35m for the takeover.If the £35m owed to United World is paid the threat of administration goes away.As things stand, though, Sky Sports News understands that a winding-up hearing will take place on August 19 -…

Duane Davis looks on during opening statements of his murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court in the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 17, 2026. The trial of the former gang leader accused of orchestrating the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur began on August 10, 30 years after one of America’s most high-profile unresolved killings. The proceedings, expected to last a month, will likely not make clear who fired the shots that killed the California hip-hop legend on the night of September 7, 1996, while he was…

Heavy rains have flooded homes and roads in southern Lima, while river overflows, landslides, and road closures continue to affect Peru’s southern regions. In Lima, overwhelmed drainage systems have worsened the flooding as authorities warn that rains will intensify.Published On 17 Aug 202617 Aug 2026Click here to share on social mediashare-nodesSharegoogleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo

Construction on a US-Mexico border project in Big Bend national park has halted, the Trump administration said Monday, as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) evaluates the controversial project in Texas.“CBP is pausing all construction activity in Big Bend National Park while I visit and conduct a personal, on-the-ground evaluation,” CBP’s head, Rodney Scott, wrote in a social media post.Footage of bulldozers ploughing through the 800,000-acre (325,000-hectare) Chihuahuan desert national park emerged earlier this month, after the Trump administration did not announce and initially denied construction on a multibillion-dollar “smart wall” expansion in the park. Last year, Congress approved $46.5bn for…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Every country has its own bar culture. Britain’s pubs are so established in the national psyche that they’re often a tourist draw in their own right. In an effort to support local communities, the UK government is moving to stop pubs from being redeveloped to other, more lucrative, uses. Boozers would be better off though if the pub trade, and not its premises, got more support.Housing secretary Angela Rayner has clamped down hard. Pubs can now only be redeveloped if they have…

Another big element of Reform’s planned cuts comes from taking away benefits from foreign nationals. It claims around £20bn could be saved from its £50bn target if they were banned from getting benefits including Universal Credit (UC).More than a million UC claimants were born overseas including around 700,000 EU citizens who arrived in the UK before Brexit and have the right to live and work in the country.It’s important to bear in mind that around half of EU citizens claiming UC are in employment. The government doesn’t provide figures for the number of foreign nationals claiming other benefits.But taking away…

Astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish discovered pulsar stars using a radio telescope constructed near Cambridge, UK.Credit: Hencoup Enterprises/Science Photo LibraryThe Engine of Scientific Discovery: How New Methods and Tools Spark Major Breakthroughs Alexander Krauss Oxford Univ. Press (2026)Popular accounts of notable scientific breakthroughs (including artificial intelligence) often portray them as the product of a solitary genius or sudden, unexpected insight. A classic example is physicist Albert Einstein’s breakthroughs about the nature of light, matter and time, which were all published in 1905 while he was working as a technical expert at the Swiss patent office.AI scientists are changing…

Rodri has said it is “a dream” to play for Barcelona after landing in Catalonia on Monday to complete his move from Manchester City. Spain’s World Cup-winning captain will have a medical on Tuesday after City accepted Barcelona’s third bid of £65.4m.“Very happy to arrive,” Rodri said at Barcelona’s El Prat airport. “There have been some very intense days, but I’m happy that everything has been resolved. For me it’s a dream to play for Barcelona. I’m excited about being with my teammates, many of them I already know. Now it’s time to get to work and give my best.”The…

Simon took legal action against the venue’s owner Morrison Bro’s Ltd, claiming he had been discriminated against on the grounds of “unlawful belief-based discrimination”.This was agreed between the two parties by joint minute, though the company initially defended the case.His lawyer claimed the venue had “dragged out proceedings” despite knowing any defence was “untenable” and that it had admitted acting unlawfully “on the eve of the hearing”.He told the court this led to his client to incur “avoidable expenses at every stage”, and called on the court to award him expenses incurred to date.Responding, the venue’s lawyer, Darren Cox, disputed…