Author: damazah@gmail.com

The Federal Reserve may soon be drawn into the Trump administration’s efforts to back the embattled currency of U.S. ally Japan. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wants the apolitical Fed to expand a lending facility that would enable Japan to support its currency without roiling the sensitive U.S. Treasurys market. That request comes as new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh is seeking to rewrite the relationship between the Treasury and the Fed. How the two collaborate could have important consequences for the management of the $29 trillion Treasurys market and could see the Fed take on a new role backing U.S. financial…

Palantir CEO Alex Karp on Monday once again warned that AI frontier labs are too untrustworthy for enterprises. The CEO, who famously studied philosophy and earned a PhD in social theory, implied in Palantir’s quarterly shareholder letter that these were the kinds of capitalists who gave rise to Marxist socialism. “There are Marxist overtones and undertones to our business,” he wrote in a letter to shareholders about Palantir’s outstanding quarter he wrote. “Others, including many of those building large language models, intend, knowingly or otherwise, to capture the means of production of their purported partners.” To be clear, AI labs…

Last month, British student Alex Chui became the all-time most successful contestant at the International Mathematical Olympiad.Chui, a year 13 student at Tonbridge School in Kent, scored 100 per cent in this year’s event, held in Shanghai, winning him a gold medal, and bringing his tally of medals to seven, five of them golds.No other contestant in the history of the IMO, which has been running since 1959 and brings together school-age contestants from more than a hundred countries, has won a medal seven years in a row.I asked Alex if he had a favourite puzzle, and he suggested the…

Benjamin Nygren was quickly back on the goal trail as Celtic began the defence of their Premiership title with a 1-0 home win over Dundee. Before the game, Celtic fans cheered as the captain, Callum McGregor, unfurled the flag which confirmed again a 14th title win in 15 seasons.It was all a bit flat in a first half with Martin O’Neill’s side struggling to get into their stride as the visitors posed problems. However, the Sweden midfielder Nygren, so prolific last season with 21 goals, struck with a close-range header in the 52nd minute and the goal proved enough to…

In an alternate timeline, Paramount would be reporting quarterly earnings this week as Warner Bros. Discovery, one of its subsidiaries, would no longer be releasing its own separate financials. As it stands now, however, both companies are due to report – Paramount on Tuesday afternoon and WBD before the market opens Thursday. An antitrust challenge of the companies’ planned $110 billion merger by the attorneys general of 12 states along with the Writers Guild of America has put the deal on hold, with a judge soon to set a trial date. On their second-quarter earnings conference calls with Wall Street…

James Emejo in Abuja Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, will deliver the keynote address at the 2026 National Spokespersons Awards and Economic Confidential Annual Lecture, as Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR) announced plans for the 2026 National Spokespersons Awards (NS-Awards) and the Economic Confidential Annual Lecture.This will be the most expansive edition of the event since inception, according to IMPR—publishers of PRNigeria, Economic Confidential and Spokespersons Digest.The event will takw place on August 13, 2026, in Abuja.Managing Director of IMPR, Mr. Yushau A. Shuaib, who announced the programme, said the annual…

James Emejo in Abuja The National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) have forged a strategic alliance to strengthen agricultural financing and policymaking through the deployment of credible, harmonised and evidence-driven data.The move aimed at improving investment outcomes and accelerating Nigeria’s food security agenda.The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by both agencies at the NADF headquarters in Abuja.The agreement seeks to institutionalise collaboration in the generation, validation, analysis and exchange of agricultural statistics for planning, programme implementation and impact assessment.Speaking at the signing ceremony, Executive Secretary/Chief Executive, NADF, Mohammed Ibrahim, described quality data as…

 Kayode Tokede Despite persistent macro-economic pressures arising from inflationary trends, high interest rates and geopolitical tensions, Nigeria’s leading corporates demonstrated remarkable resilience in the first half of 2026. At the close of business for the first half ended June 30, 2026, 10 of the country’s largest listed companies posting a combined revenue of approximately N14.4 trillion, representing a 36 per cent increase over the N10.59 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025. The companies also recorded a combined profit before tax (PBT) of N4.99 trillion, up by 66.7 per cent from N2.99 trillion declared in the first half of…

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel sidestepped investors’ questions about pre-order demand for the company’s long-awaited Specs smart glasses during Monday’s earnings call, just weeks before the device’s September launch event. “What we’re hearing from folks is really that they want to try Specs,” Spiegel told investors. “It’s obviously a high consideration purchase at $2,195. Obviously, developers and folks who are familiar with the platform really understand it and understand the technical leaps we’ve made with with this generation. I think for the broader public and consumers, it’s going to be really important for folks to go hands-on. Our upcoming launch event…

A former neo-Nazi activist with convictions including for harassing a Jewish MP has been selected as a Conservative candidate for a local election in Somerset.Joshua Bonehill-Paine, the creator of the viral Crewkerne Gazette series of AI clips, is due to stand for election to Somerset council next year in a new Crewkerne South district. He told the Guardian he was an executive member of the Tories’ Yeovil branch, working as an events organiser.“The branch and indeed party are fully aware of my past. Our chairman has been a vocal advocate and has supported me since I became a member of…