Author: damazah@gmail.com

Spotify‘s Premium customers grew to 300 million in the second quarter of 2026, after the music streamer gained 7 million paying subscribers, exceeding its previous guidance. Total monthly active users, including those on the free, ad-supported tier, stood at 777 million as of the end of Q2. That slightly undershot previous guidance of 778 million, which the company attributed to ongoing “product optimizations” in the quarter. For Q2, the company reported revenue of €4.78 billion, up 14% and in line with its forecast. Operating income came in at €655 million and gross margin hit an all-time high of 33.4% (above…

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt Nigerian-born technology leader, Obiageli Obii Okafor, has made history by becoming the first African woman to win the prestigious Women in Telecoms Champion award at the Comms Council UK Awards 2026, a landmark recognition for outstanding contributions to the United Kingdom’s telecommunications industry. The award celebrates women driving innovation, leadership, and lasting impact across the UK’s telecoms sector, and marks another milestone in Okafor’s remarkable journey from Nigeria to the global technology stage. A Senior Product Manager at 8×8, Okafor also founded PMHelp, a non-profit organisation that has empowered more than 52,000 professionals across over 70…

By Kayode Akinmade For many years, Ijebu-Ode was synonymous with poor roads. Travelling through the ancient town often meant navigating potholes, flooded streets during the rainy season and painfully slow journeys that took a toll on both commuters and vehicles. That reality shaped public perception and, for a long time, deservedly so. Today, however, Ijebu-Ode is telling a different story. Since assuming office on May 29, 2019, Governor Dapo Abiodun has embarked on one of the most extensive road renewal programmes in the town’s history, transforming critical transport corridors and improving mobility across residential, commercial and recreational districts. The transformation…

Vanessa Obioha Big Brother introduced another round of game-changing twists on Monday night with the new gameplay called Conspiracy Hour, overhauling the nomination process and leaving 16 housemates facing possible eviction. The latest shake-up began with the introduction of Conspiracy Hour, a strategic feature that allows housemates to deliberate and decide whether to save themselves or another housemate. Housemates entered the Conspiracy Zone one at a time and could invite as many allies as they wished for a one-minute strategy session. While contestants could be summoned into the zone multiple times by different housemates, Biggie laid down one strict rule:…

A woman and a child walk past Iranian-made Zolfaghar missiles displayed at Azadi Square in Tehran on July 24, 2026. Afp | Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump has warned that the latest round of negotiations with Iran is the “last chance” to bring an end to the five-month conflict. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office late on Monday that talks are “going on right now,” at the request of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and others.However, Tehran continues to deny that any direct negotiations with the U.S. are taking place — or that there are plans to…

Iyobosa Uwugiaren argues that for Kaduna State whose political history has been shaped as much by religious identity as by public policy, Governor Uba Sani’s decision to pick a Christian as his running mate ahead of the 2027 gubernatorial poll carries enormous symbolic weight. By the time Governor Uba Sani stood before the people of Kaduna to announce Mr. Jerry Adams as his running mate for the 2027 governorship election, the significance of the moment had already transcended politics. In many homes across Kaduna, from the bustling streets of Kaduna North to the rolling hills of Southern Kaduna, the conversation…

The impending collision – predicted to happen at about 02:35 EDT (06:35 GMT) on Wednesday – is expected to captivate astronomers, both amateur and professional.”It’s something really huge smashing into the Moon. It’s not remotely dangerous, we can just watch the show,” says Dr Matt Bothwell, public astronomer at the University of Cambridge.”It’s going to impact and its going to send up a huge plume of dust, maybe 50km into the air or more, and that’s going to spread sideways over time,” Bothwell said.Given the Moon’s lack of atmosphere and far weaker gravitational pull, the moment of impact will be…

Fenerbahce are ready to make an ambitious move to sign Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford ahead of AC Milan’s Rafael Leão and Crystal Palace’s Ismaïla Sarr, while Barcelona are closely monitoring the progress of negotiations between Manchester City and Real Madrid over the signing of midfielder Rodri. Join us for the latest transfer news and rumors from around the globe.Transfers home page | Men’s summer grades | Women’s gradesTrending rumorsManchester United forward Marcus Rashford is likely to move on this summer. Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images- Fenerbahce are ready to make an ambitious move to sign Manchester United forward Marcus…

Ariana Grande is making it clear that her upcoming break was not a reaction to anything and was planned in advance. During a performance at the United Center in Chicago on Monday night, Grande took a moment to address the audience and speculation around her persona. “So basically, the announcement that was made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing,” she told her fans at the Chicago stop of the Eternal Sunshine Tour. “It is something that I had decided to plan that I had quietly made a long time ago and it’s a decision that was made from…

A Metro Bank customer has told of his fight to get more than £14,000 back after its systems failed to stop a fraud involving the AI chatbot Claude.Zoli Rutter, a businessman from Sussex, had a total of £14,244 taken from his bank account. The scam involved fraudsters buying credits to use Claude.When Metro Bank messaged Rutter to ask whether an attempted transaction was legitimate, he replied “no”, but the criminals were able to make a series of subsequent transactions of between £90 and £200.The fraud is the latest to be linked to Anthropic, the company behind the Claude family of AI tools.In…