Author: News Room

The Christmas season is universally known for its heavy financial implications. Parents fret over the loads of expectations from their children and dependents. Institutions frantically arrange for special bonuses or gifts for staff. Friends excitedly make plans for the best way to appreciate each other, which is the essence of Boxing Day. Indeed, it is all about buy me this, buy me that. This is why, to meet up with the purchasing frenzy, wholesale and retail outlets strategically stock up for the season. There is no excuse for not having what the people want. But it gets crazier. The question…

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has dismissed speculation that he plans to defect to the All Progressives Congress, insisting that he remains in the Peoples Democratic Party despite the opposition party’s ongoing leadership challenges. Makinde spoke on Wednesday in Abuja during the public presentation of a book titled ‘Headlines and Soundbites: Media Moments that Defined an Administration’, written by a former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. Addressing an audience made up of political leaders and other dignitaries from across party lines, the Oyo governor said he was not prepared to follow any PDP governors who have defected…

The Aurora Tech Award has unveiled its Top 100 founders to watch for 2026. In a statement made available to The PUNCH, the company noted that this year, a record 3,400 applications were submitted from 127 countries, reflecting unprecedented growth from last year’s 2,018 submissions across 116 nations. The Aurora Tech Award is a global award dedicated to supporting outstanding female tech founders from emerging markets. Winners receive up to $50,000 in non-dilutive funding, tailored support and resources, and access to an industry-leading network of investors and experts. The Top 100 highlights the global breadth of women-led innovation, with the…

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich to release £2.5bn from the sale of Chelsea Football Club for victims of the war in Ukraine or face legal action. Abramovich pledged in 2022 that the proceeds from the sale would be used to support victims of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, the money has remained frozen in a UK bank account amid a dispute over how it should be spent. The government wants the funds to be used strictly for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. At the same time, Abramovich has insisted they should support “all victims of…

Snap just launched a new Quick Cut video editing tool right inside Snapchat that “helps Snapchatters turn their favorite Memories into beat-synced, ready-to-share videos in seconds.”With Quick Cut, you can select multiple photos or clips and then “instantly preview a rendered video,” and the feature is accessible from multiple places in the app, including from Memories and your camera roll. When you’re making a video, Quick Cut also automatically adds music and syncs it to the clips you’re putting together, though you can change the track if you’d like, and you can add lenses to your Quick Cut video, too.…

Today in crypto: Caroline Pham, the acting chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is set to leave the regulator to join MoonPay. Meanwhile, HashKey debuted on Hong Kong’s HKEX following a $206 million oversubscribed initial public offering, and Bhutan plans to deploy 10,000 Bitcoin to develop its special administrative region, the Gelephu Mindfulness City.Acting CFTC chair to join MoonPay after leaving agencyCaroline Pham, the acting chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will leave the financial regulator to join MoonPay, following the Senate confirmation of her successor.In a Wednesday X post, MoonPay confirmed reports that Pham would…

Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner’s kids — son Jake and daughter Romy — broke their silence on the couple’s tragic deaths and brother Nick Reiner’s arrest in connection with their murder. “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day. The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience,” read the statement released to TMZ on Wednesday, December 17. “They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends.” The statement continued: “We are grateful for the outpouring…

The Federal Government has dispatched a high-level delegation to Burkina Faso to engage the country’s leadership over the continued detention of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) pilots and crew members. The delegation comprises senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, and is led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar. Sources familiar with the mission told Zagazola Makama that the delegation is currently in Ouagadougou for peaceful and constructive engagements with Burkinabè authorities, including a scheduled meeting with President Ibrahim Traoré. A senior official said the visit is…

The Edo State Government has said it is using “deodorant” and governmental performance to sanitise the pollution created by the People’s Democratic Party, PDP-led government over the last eight years in the state. DAILY POST reports that Prince Kassim Afegbua, the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, stated this while responding to a press statement by the main opposition party, the PDP, in Benin City on Wednesday. The PDP press statement was titled, “Edo State under Okpebholo: A year of drift, democratic rupture, and systematic destruction of institutional legacy.” The party accused the Governor Okpebholo-led APC government of squandering state…

Not less than 12 miners have been killed by gunmen, with many unaccounted for in the Faan District of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State. The Berom Educational and Cultural Organization, BECO, which disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Wednesday, said the gunmen attacked the miners while they were engaging in their mining activity on Tuesday night. In the statement issued by the BECO Chairman, Dagallang Davott, who also doubles as the Secretary of the Mining Committee in Barkin Ladi, the gunmen suspected to be Fulani militas, attacked the miners while they were carrying…