Author: damazah@gmail.com

By Yinka Kolawole The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has disclosed plans by the Federal Government to publish indicators tracking poverty, incomes and inequality to assess the impact of the government’s economic reforms on the living standards of Nigerians. He said the move is aimed at addressing criticism of the reform programme suggesting that gains in revenue, foreign exchange liquidity and investor confidence have yet to translate into meaningful relief for households facing high food, transport and living costs. Speaking at a ‘ conference organised by BusinessDay newspaper, in Lagos, yesterday, Oyedele said the government…

Zoox has issued a software recall after one of its robotaxis struggled to navigate a smoke-filled emergency fire scene in June. The Amazon-owned company said Friday that it has shipped a software update that should address the issue to its fleet of 105 vehicles. Nobody was on board the vehicle during the June incident, and Zoox told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it is not aware of injuries associated with the problem. The NHTSA’s report doesn’t state where the June incident took place. Zoox didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Zoox’s recall comes just a…

Andy Burnham set to become UK prime minister but faces challenges including the cost of living crisis and two wars.Published On 17 Jul 202617 Jul 2026Andy Burnham, a left-leaning former mayor of Manchester, has been elected leader of the United Kingdom’s governing Labour Party, putting him in line to become prime minister in the coming days.Burnham promised to restore hope to the country as he was confirmed as the party head on Friday. He will be appointed PM on Monday, replacing outgoing premier Keir Starmer, and has promised to unite the country and fight off the challenge from the populist…

Funmi Ogundare  Babies Matter Medical Centre (BMMC), a Lagos-based specialist neonatal hospital, has received two international honours at the LUXlife Parent and Baby Awards 2026 in the United Kingdom, winning the Best Advanced Neonatal Care Centre 2026 – Nigeria and the Preterm Infant Medicine Excellence Award 2026 for its outstanding contribution to specialist neonatal intensive care. The recognition marks a major milestone for the hospital, which has emerged as a referral centre for the treatment of premature and critically ill newborns in Nigeria.  As part of the honours, the medical centre will also feature on the front cover of the…

Robert Laidlow is as at home in the realms of science and technology as he is in the world of classical music. As this NMC debut album demonstrates, his intricate, wildly imaginative work is eminently approachable, even if the core concepts are highly complex.Robert Laidlow: Reality EatersWarp, a terse, 12-minute piano concerto, proposes a musical solution to Einstein’s field equations as the intrepid Joseph Havlat boldly goes where no pianist has gone before amid the distorting fabric of orchestral space-time. Strident orchestral lines spiral ever upwards, stretching instruments to their limits, while the piano maintains its course towards a serene…

For all the talk about new signings – of which Liverpool will certainly make more this transfer window – Szoboszlai’s new contract will be one of the most important deals in Andoni Iraola’s first summer at Anfield.Szoboszlai is a brilliant footballer and Liverpool see him as a future leader. Securing his services with his best years ahead of him is a much better look for the club after the way they lost Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate to Real Madrid.With the dressing room losing the likes of Salah, Robertson and Konate this summer – and Alisson and Virgil van Dijk’s…

India’s local box office closed the first six months of 2026 at INR6,398 crore ($664.7 million), the highest-grossing first half of any year since the pandemic, according to a new report from Ormax Media. The figure, which does not include global collections, surpasses the same period in 2025 by nearly INR650 crore ($67.5 million). “Dhurandhar: The Revenge” was the standout performer of the period, contributing approximately 20% of the total India box office for the first half of the year – a concentration that points to a widening gap between tentpole releases and the rest of the market. Six films…

Like many people, I’m becoming more concerned about sustainability and the ingredients in my personal care products. Natural deodorants have become more appealing, especially with refillable options becoming more common. Unlike antiperspirants, which tend to use aluminium salts to reduce sweating, natural deodorants are usually aluminium-free. Instead, many use absorbent powders, such as tapioca starch, to soak up moisture, alongside ingredients such as sodium bicarbonate to help neutralise the odour caused by bacteria.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.Once confined to health shops, they’re now firmly mainstream, with…

Michael Olugbode in Abuja China has announced plans to offer developing countries 5,000 opportunities for artificial intelligence (AI) training and seminars over the next five years, as President Xi Jinping called for a new global system to ensure that the rapidly advancing technology does not deepen inequality between rich and poor nations. Xi made the announcement on Friday at the opening ceremony of the 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai, where he unveiled a broad international cooperation agenda targeting AI development, capacity building and governance. The Chinese leader also announced plans to establish…

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan The head of Digital Switch Over (DSO) at the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mrs. Clementine Wamba, has stressed the need for broadcasting stations and practitioners nationwide to work towards meeting the 2028 global deadline for the switch over. She made the call in her presentation titled, “DSO Big Picture: Free TV Audience Measurement and the Evolving Media Landscape”, at the 2026 NBC South West Summit held in Ibadan. Wamba harped on the need for practitioners to adopt DSO in the transmission of news and other programmes in order to meet future challenges, stating that any country…