Author: damazah@gmail.com

…. KPMG cuts graduate intake by 29 percent, Deloitte by 18 percent, EY by 11 percent and PwC by 6 percent     Accounting entry-level graduate job listings in the United Kingdom (UK) have fallen 44 percent year-on-year, while graduate recruitment at its biggest accounting firms is also declining, signalling a structural squeeze on the traditional entry point into finance as artificial intelligence (AI) and offshoring reshape the profession. For instance, KPMG has cut its graduate intake by 29 percent, Deloitte by 18 percent, EY by 11 percent and PwC by 6 percent. EY has also delayed graduate start dates…

Benson Okoronkwo has remained an unelected but permanent parliamentarian, historian and provocateur in the Nigerian-American Diaspora. Chido Nwangwu writes on how Okoronkwo agrees with late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s indictment of Nigerian rulers/leaders for criminally using their “authority” to steal, pillage and destroy the resourceful country of Nigeria. Inspirational music and messages usually travel across generations, cultures and climes.   I think that the cascading toll of insecurity, kidnappings and escalating poverty have since combined with Nigeria’s peripatetic leadership to give its citizens this shameful agony, wickedness and corruption-madness, which the great, late music and political genius, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, characterized as  “Authority…

Linus Pauling was one of the most brilliant scientists of the 20th century. He won two Nobel prizes and transformed our understanding of chemical bonds and the structure of proteins. Late in his career, though, he became famous for something very different: a passionate belief that very high doses of vitamin C could help people with cancer. Many doctors scoffed. When Pauling himself later died of cancer aged 93, he was held up as a classic case of the “halo effect”: being a genius in one field doesn’t guarantee wisdom in another. Half a century on, the story looks more…

I haven’t been able to use New York Yankees star and three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge in this column because No. 99 has been out since May 31 due to a stress fracture in a right rib. But some good news emerged this week as Judge was cleared for “light activity” and remains confident he will play again this season. Just don’t expect that to be before September. Manager Aaron Boone said this week that Judge would basically need more than a full spring training to ramp up whenever cleared. With Judge missing so much time, we might not even…

E.W. Scripps CEO Adam Symson briefed Wall Street analysts Friday on the company’s “transformation plan,” which has entailed cutting 12% of its total workforce amid an embrace of AI. The layoffs, mostly at the company’s local TV stations, come as the company adopts a 24-hour streaming news model enabled by artificial intelligence. Symson rose through the corporate ranks as a digital executive at Scripps, a nearly 150-year-old company which also owns the ION broadcast network, newspapers and multicast networks. During the company’s second-quarter earnings call, Symson described a “revolution” in the way the company generates local news programming. “We’re leaning…

By Edwin Philip, Lafia The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Waidi Shaibu, has urged personnel of the Nigerian Army to avoid substance abuse, stressing that sound mental health is essential for achieving operational objectives. Shaibu also said Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) should not be seen as a sign of weakness but as a battle injury of the mind that requires proper attention and support. The COAS, represented by the Commander, Army Headquarters Garrison, Maj.-Gen. John Lar, stated this on Wednesday during a four-day sensitisation seminar held at the Headquarters of 4 Special Forces, Doma, Nasarawa State. “I want to…

It remains unclear exactly why tens of thousands of migrants attempted to cross into Ceuta, but the EU’s Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner has suggested criminal networks spreading disinformation were to blame – an assertion the Spanish government has agreed with.The crossings came after Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily returned to Morocco.The two exclaves have long been a bone of diplomatic contention between Spain and Morocco, which does not recognise Spanish sovereignty over them.The number of people swimming to Ceuta at once has raised questions about why…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldNo tankers have loaded at Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal, for at least a week, according to shipping and satellite data providers, suggesting the renewed US naval blockade has brought Tehran’s crude sales to a halt. Washington reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports in mid-July after an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz collapsed. Kharg Island, which is critical to Iran’s oil industry, fell idle on July 31, according to ship tracking company Kpler and consultancy…

After months of talking with tech industry leaders, the Trump administration finalized a framework this week for how it will test new artificial intelligence models for safety and cybersecurity risks. So far, the White House is keeping details of the framework private, in a blow to transparency and potential boon for secretive AI companies.On Tuesday, staff from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google, Nvidia and Microsoft attended a private meeting with White House officials to review the AI framework. Multiple outlets have since reported that although the volunteer vetting process for new AI models has been settled, the White House does not…

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Friday, former Det Sup Blaik, who led the Thames Valley Police investigation, pointed to remarks by the judge who sentenced PC Harper’s killers. Mr Justice Edis referred to their case of manslaughter as being “very close to a case of murder in its seriousness”.The former officer called for prisoners who were judged to have had a high level of culpability for a manslaughter offence to be excluded from the scheme.Allowing them to walk free would “undermine” the judicial process and impact police morale, Blaik said, before urging the government to have a “long, hard think”…