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Businesses could face costs of up to £2.9bn a year because of a crackdown on zero hours contracts, according to the government’s own analysis.Labour’s employment reforms are set to cut the number of hours staff can work before they must be offered guaranteed time.Official analysis released on Wednesday showed it could cost employers between £350m and £2.9bn, based on the eventual threshold of hours the policy impacts.Skills Minister Baroness Jacqui Smith said the reforms would ensure workers are “fairly paid” but business groups said the cost to employers was “disproportionate” compared to how much it would help workers.Government analysis said…

Reykjavík, Iceland, falls into complete darkness as the solar eclipse reaches totality on 12 August Continue reading…

Super Falcons coach Justin Madugu has defended his team selection and tactical decisions ahead of Thursday’s crucial 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup play-off against South Africa. Speaking alongside captain Rasheedat Ajibade at the pre-match press conference, Madugu responded to criticism of his squad rotation and tactics following Nigeria’s disappointing quarter-final exit from the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. The coach said his decisions were always aimed at helping Nigeria win. “The ones that I win, you say it is the players that are good, but when we lose now, it is the coach that is bad,” Madugu said. “Every…

When Chelsea Wolfe was interviewed by the Guardian in 2015 about her fourth album, Abyss, she revealed that her music had been informed by the bouts of sleep paralysis she’d suffered from since childhood. The condition – a transitional state between being awake and asleep – affects sufferers in different ways. Some wake up feeling paralysed, others see ghosts or demonic figures. For the California-born singer-songwriter, it meant “waking up, and you can move your body and your eyes are open, but there are figures and people from your dreams still present in your room”.Chelsea Wolfe: The Dark No surprise,…

Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, have shifted attention to Spain after ending their three-game tour of China with an impressive 88-77 victory over the hosts in Foshan on Wednesday. The win gave the reigning African champions a timely confidence boost as they continue preparations for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin. Elizabeth Balogun led Nigeria’s scoring with 26 points, while Grace Efosa added 19 as D’Tigress responded strongly after losing the opening two games of the series, 70-67 and 69-65. Final score (CREDIT: D’Tigress Facebook Page) The final victory also provided head coach Rena Wakama with…

Alleges 30 APC members killed within a month Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo Senator representing Osun East Senatorial District, Femi Fadahunsi, yesterday accused the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, of allegedly importing political violence and terrorism into the senatorial district ahead of Saturday’s governorship election. It would be recalled that Adeleke called for arrest of Fadahunsi over reported incitement against supporters of Accord Party. Meanwhile, Fadahunsi, who spoke at a press conference in Osogbo yesterday, alleged that more than 40 people had been killed in the district in the last one year, accusing the state government of failing to prevent the…

FC Barcelona has already contacted the entourage of a striker which is its ‘Plan B’ should a pursuit for Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez fail according to Jijantes and SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.Getty ImagesFC Barcelona has already contacted the entourage of a striker which is its ‘Plan B’ should a pursuit for Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez fail according to Jijantes and SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.According to some local media outlets in the Valencia region, Villarreal’s Georges Mikautadze has already agreed to join the Catalans after Sporting Director Deco reached out to his representatives.The Georgian fits the profile of an…

All over the world, a slow, insidious change is taking place in the composition of the livers of more than a billion people.While the presence of fat in a normal, healthy liver is negligible, many adults and even children have livers where fat exceeds 5 percent or even 10 percent of the organ’s total weight. Its unnatural presence causes inflammation, cell damage, and the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis, all hallmarks of fatty liver disease, a condition that now impacts approximately 30 percent of adults worldwide.If left to linger, progressive fat accumulation can ultimately lead to liver failure,…

Polls open in Clacton, as research shows Farage has spent more than £10,000 in byelection fight against Count BinfaceGood morning. In the media, August is known as the “silly season”. With parliament not sitting and many people on holiday, there is less proper news than normal, which means the nonsense stories get (even) more attention than usual. We are almost slap bang in the middle of the month, and today we’ve got a silly season classic in Clacton, where Nigel Farage, the Reform UK candidate, is fighting a byelection in which his main opponent is a joke candidate who dresses…

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