Author: damazah@gmail.com

Afrobeats star, Sarah Aderibigbe, popularly known as Ayra Starr, is set to become the first major African artist to headline an NFL halftime show when she performs at the 2026 NFL London Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars on October 11. The National Football League announced this in a statement on Thursday, with the singer also confirming the performance in a post shared on her official Instagram account. The game is scheduled for Sunday, October 11, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, with the halftime performance forming part of the NFL’s 2026 International Games. “I am so excited…

*Says ‘we’re bringing back Okpara’s agro-industrial revolution’ *Hails Gov Mbah’s proactiveness, promises communities bountiful benefits The South East Development Commission, SEDC, says it is set to reignite the agro-industrial revolution that made the defunct Eastern Region the fastest growing economy in the world between 1954 and 1964. The Commission said it was embarking on three Agromechanisation projects, one in each of the three senatorial zone of Enugu, Abia, Imo, Anambra, and Ebonyi State, in partnership with the state governments, starting with Enugu. The Commission gave the assurances at Nomeh, Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State during a community…

Onuminya Innocent  The Zamfara State Government has commenced town hall meetings for the preparation of the 2027 Annual Budget Estimate, signaling a shift toward more inclusive governance in the state. The opening ceremony was held on Wednesday in Gusau, the state capital. Speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Professor Yahaya Zakari, said the engagement was designed to ensure that the budget reflects the real needs of the people. He noted that the exercise aligns with the administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability. Zakari disclosed that the town hall meetings would be held across the three senatorial…

Not many people would count paying $18bn they didn’t expect to when they woke up that morning as a victory. Yet for Meta, the owners of Facebook and Instagram, the agreement with 52 US attorneys general to settle claims that it designed its products to be addictive to children, and misled people about their safety, could be described as a win of sorts.Meta denies wrongdoing, and the amount it plans to pay will be spread over a decade. Some of it is contingent on other big tech firms not named in its case coughing up too. The cash is chump…

An MS has said she has faced criticism for attending the National Eisteddfod because she is a member of Reform.The party’s deputy Welsh leader, Helen Jenner, said online commenters said she had no right to be at the Welsh language festival because of her membership of the right-wing party.Jenner, who grew up on Anglesey, said the criticism was ridiculous but that it didn’t bother her.She made the comments to the BBC Wales political podcast, Walescast.”I see the odd comment [online], surprisingly, from some quite professional people making remarks about me.”She said a recent comment had claimed she had “no right…

Michael Sheen has welcomed the reaction to his documentary investigating Wales’ toxic waste legacy, saying he hopes it pushes the relevant authorities to “find a solution”.Dozens of people contacted BBC Wales following coverage of Sheen’s investigation into chemical giant Monsanto and the dumping of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).One of them was a former Monsanto worker who spent three years helping to seal toxic waste underground and said staff had “cheap” protective equipment and were not told what they were burying.Eastman Chemical Company, which is responsible for Monsanto’s legacy production in the UK, did not respond to either Sheen and his team…

One pitcher returns, another gets hurt. It has been the story of the season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who got walked off by Ha-Seong Kim and the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night (ATL 6, LA 5), and also lost righty Roki Sasaki to a blister. He will be placed on the 15-day injured list, manager Dave Roberts announced after the game.”When I was facing the first hitter in the fourth inning, I actually didn’t feel anything coming beforehand,” Sasaki said through an interpreter after the game (via MLB.com). “My skin just ripped off, and then after that, it got…

Nigerian content creator and streamer, Carter Efe, says Afrobeats star, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, helped him make the biggest amount of money of his life through a livestream. Carter made the disclosure in a recent episode of the Cocktails & Takeaways podcast, while speaking about his streaming career, his relationship with Davido and the growth of digital content creation in Nigeria. He said Davido’s participation in one of his livestreams attracted a large audience and significantly increased his earnings. ”Davido made me the biggest money of my life on a stream in one night. I became a big…

When I wrote the Filter’s guide to the best electric toothbrushes, one brand I didn’t need a sample from was Suri. I already owned one of its brushes, drawn in by its impressive commitment to sustainability in a sector that seemed blissfully unbothered by the climate crisis unfolding around us.Unfortunately, a few things held it back from taking the top spot, and I’m pleased to say that these have mostly been addressed with the Suri Pro 2.0. Is it the best you can buy? Still not quite, but the gap has significantly closed, and there are fewer caveats than ever…

Adults aged 50 and over are becoming more visible in West African drug operations, although data availability and official understandings of this phenomenon vary across states. Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) website suggests that at least 32 people aged 60 to 101 have been arrested in Nigeria since January. When suspects aged 50-59 are included, arrests rise to 48. Rough calculations suggest a ratio of about one elder to every five younger adults arrested. NDLEA Media and Advocacy Director Femi Babafemi told ISS Today that available data, including ‘consistent arrests of suspects aged 55 to 80 nationwide, already…