Author: damazah@gmail.com

The BBC’s Caitríona Perry spoke to Kerry Kennedy, the niece of late president John F Kennedy, about demolition threats to the performance centre named after him. A US federal judge ruled the Trump administration must give 30 days’ notice before any “demolition” occurs to the Kennedy Center, as President Donald Trump warned the Washington DC performing arts venue could be “ripped down”. The order comes after Trump was photographed onboard Air Force One looking at a poster with a headline that appeared to tout the demolition of the site. Protesters also gathered at the venue on Friday to demonstrate against…

Nigerian airlines have attributed a significant share of flight delays and cancellations to airport congestion, inadequate infrastructure and adverse weather, saying some disruptions occur outside their control. The operators, however, acknowledged that airlines are responsible for delays within their control and said passengers should also understand their rights when disruptions occur. They spoke on Tuesday during the Aviation Day of the 23rd Akwaaba African Travel Market in Lagos, themed “Delayed and Cancelled Flights: The Rules and the Rights of Passengers — The Airline Perspective.” The discussion comes amid growing concerns over flight disruptions in Nigeria. PREMIUM TIMES previously reported that…

Executive Order 22 bans executive branch officials from signing nondisclosure agreements for data center projects, requires expedited noise regulations, and requires a review of backup-generation operations used by data centers, among other requirements. The order also establishes an AI task force responsible for evaluating how the state government can address risks to Virginians like workforce displacement and data privacy issues, and determining how existing law can be applied to AI harms.The order represents the latest signal that states are taking data center and AI policy into their own hands as Congress and President Donald Trump have been slow or resistant…

The government has no credible plan for the future of British Steel, MPs have claimed.A report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST) had not set out how British Steel, which runs its main plant in Scunthorpe and has operations in Teeside, would become profitable.MPs warned steel tariffs could drive firms out of business or to move abroad.A spokesperson for DBIST said it welcomed the report and would review the recommendations, adding securing the long-term future of the UK steel sector “was in the national interest”.A 26-page report, external, published on…

Uber was ordered to pay $40m to the parents of a 23-year-old woman who was killed after a driver kicked her and a friend out of his car by the side of a California freeway, according to newly public arbitration documents.An arbitrator, retired Calfornia judge Richard A Stone, found that the ride-share company was “vicariously liable” for the driver’s negligence.In August 2023, two women, Emily Normandin-Parker and Luna Moore, hailed an Uber after a night out in Orange county. The driver pulled over on the 73 freeway after Normandin-Parker vomited in the car, attorneys said. While Moore and the driver…

Retirees in Cross River State have appealed to Governor Bassey Otu to review and harmonise their pensions. The Chairman of the Association of Retirees in the state, Daniel Effiong, made the appeal while speaking with reporters on Friday in Calabar. Mr Effiong said pension payments had not been adjusted since 2014, despite successive increases in the national minimum wage. He claimed that some retirees were currently receiving as little as N4,000 monthly, describing the amount as grossly inadequate to meet basic needs, including food and medication. Mr Effiong said many former state workers were also still awaiting payment of their…

Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc has appointed two independent non-executive directors, Laoye Jaiyeola and Chinedu Ikwudinma, to the board of Sterling Bank Ltd, a subsidiary of the company. The appointments were announced in a regulatory filing signed by Sunny Kanabe, the company secretary, on Wednesday, which noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria has approved them. The company also disclosed the retirement of the bank’s directors following the expiration of their respective tenures. The directors are Michael Ajukwu, who is retiring as an Independent Non-Executive Director; Olusola Oworu, who is retiring as an Independent Non-Executive Director; and Olaitan Kajero, who…

The Federal Communications Commission yesterday approved Paramount Skydance’s plan to sell large equity stakes to the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Under US law, companies with licenses to run broadcast stations need FCC approval to have direct or indirect foreign ownership exceeding 25 percent of the company’s stock. Paramount says its indirect foreign ownership will reach 49.5 percent after it receives investments from the sovereign wealth funds and filed a petition asking the FCC to waive the foreign ownership limit. Paramount, the owner of CBS, holds FCC licenses for the 28 local CBS…

Industry stakeholders are set to converge for the eighth edition of Lagos Transport Fest, with discussions focusing on trade corridors, urban mobility, electric vehicles and transport infrastructure financing. Themed ‘Building a Connected, Competitive and Sustainable Transport Economy,’ the event will examine investments, technologies and policies shaping Nigeria’s transport and logistics sector. According to the organisers, discussions at the event holding December 1 will cover the development of multimodal trade corridors linking ports, rail, roads and logistics hubs; the evolution of Lagos’ urban mobility system; the commercial pathway for electric vehicles and cleaner mobility; and financing models for developing, operating and…

The Police Command in Akwa Ibom State has rescued two persons involved in a boat mishap along the Ibaka waterways in Mbo Local Government Area of the state. Timfon John, the police spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, disclosed this in a statement in Uyo on Friday. Ms John, a deputy superintendent of police, said the incident occurred at about 1:30 p.m. on 17 September when a blue W23 speedboat christened “LET’S PRAY” sank while travelling on the waterway. She said preliminary investigation showed that the boat driver attempted to adjust the boat’s seacock to allow accumulated water onboard to drain. Ms…