Author: damazah@gmail.com

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja  The Federal Government has successfully settled over N39.6 billion in longstanding pension liabilities under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS). The Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Mrs. Tolulope Odunaiya, made the disclosure when she paid a visit to thè Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele. Odunaiya’s briefing during the visit highlighted the clearance of inherited pension obligations that had remained outstanding for years. According to a statement issued by the Head, Information and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Finance, Efe Ovuakporie, the PTAD Executive Secretary told the…

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 24: Adbert Alzolay #73 of the Chicago Cubs stands in the dugout during a game against the Colorado Rockies at Wrigley Field on September 24, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)Getty ImagesThe New York Mets have spent much of the 2026 season searching for bullpen depth, taking chances on veteran relievers attempting to work their way back from injuries or inconsistent performances, though the team hasn’t had much success on that front.And now, as virtually everything that can go wrong for the Mets continues to do so, one of the team’s latest bullpen…

Replacing people with AI doesn’t seem to be that easy to do, if Meta can be seen as an example. Reuters reports that at an internal town hall Thursday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told staff that the pace of AI agent development had not “accelerated in the way” executives had previously expected them to. Earlier this year, Meta laid off some 8,000 employees — approximately 10% of its corporate workforce — and reassigned another 7,000 to various AI groups, including one called Agent Transformation, Bloomberg reported. During this week’s meeting, Zuckerberg apparently commented on these job cuts — noting that they were…

From the front garden of the red-brick terrace where she has lived for nearly three decades, Coral McKeown, 50, points to the gleaming new council house she was supposed to move into five years ago.It sits behind heavy metal fences surrounded by building work and an empty construction vehicle. She does not expect it to be ready until next year at the earliest.This is Collyhurst Village, where lines of beige-brick terrace properties make up the first element of Manchester’s Victoria North, a 15,000-home addition to the government’s slate of new towns.The project in Andy Burnham’s former backyard illustrates why the…

The LINK spacecraft, which Lee’s team came up with, is a three-armed robot, about the size of a fridge, bristling with cameras and guidance systems and driven by small thrusters.Launched on Friday, the spacecraft will spend the next few weeks waking up its systems one-by-one: power, navigation, the cameras and sensors it will rely on, and check that each one survived the ride.Although the Pegasus XL rocket on which it rode has flung LINK close to Swift’s orbit, there is still much work for the three-armed robot to do to get close to Swift – the observatory’s altitude is shifting…

SportsLine’s team of experts have revealed their World Cup parlay and soccer predictions for Friday’s matches Jul 3, 2026 at 6:00 am ET • 1 min read The last three Round of 32 contests at the 2026 World Cup will take place on Friday, July 3 with defending champions Argentina in action against upstarts Cape Verde headlining the day’s matches. Egypt and Australia get the party started in the afternoon, while Colombia face Ghana in the final game of the day. SportsLine experts like Jon Eimer, Martin Green and Brad Thomas have given their analysis for Friday’s game, and we’ve…

About 40,000 free tickets to the two-day Youth Beatz festival were distributed to young people and their families this year.It was first held in 2009 and currently receives £179,000 in annual funding from Dumfries and Galloway Council. Other headliners at this year’s event were rapper Example and a DJ set from two members of boyband The Vamps. A council spokesperson said the overwhelming majority of feedback from the weekend was very positive, and described the event as successful. They added: “Dumfries and Galloway Council is aware of a small number of concerns raised regarding language used during one of the…

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of N150 million linked to Nigerian lawmaker Nicholas Mutu to the federal government. Mr Mutu, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), having defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in mid-2025, is a six-term member of the House of Representatives representing Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency of Delta State. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale. According to the commission, Judge Joyce Abdulmalik “made the order on Thursday after granting its application…

The federal government has cleared N39.6 billion in outstanding pension arrears, settling longstanding liabilities owed to more than 24,000 retirees under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS). The payment, announced on Friday, covers pension obligations inherited from defunct public enterprises and financial institutions, bringing relief to thousands of pensioners who had waited years for their entitlements. The development was disclosed during a meeting between the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, and the Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Tolulope Odunaiya, according to a statement issued by the ministry’s Head of Information and…

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has announced a planned partnership with the Knights of St. Mulumba (KSM) and the Papal Knights and Medalists of Nigeria to address prison congestion and efforts to “uphold the human rights of persons deprived of liberty in Nigeria.” According to a statement by the Director of Corporate Affairs and External Linkages, NHRC, Fatimah Mohammed, on Thursday, the partnership was officially formalised on Monday when the National President of the Papal Knights and Supreme Knight of the KSM, Steve Adehi, led a delegation to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja. The NHRC’s National Preventive Mechanism (NPM),…