Author: News Room

The City of Baltimore and its mayor, Brendan Scott, filed lawsuits against Kalshi and Polymarket over allegations that the companies violated local gambling laws.In a Thursday notice, the Baltimore mayor’s office said that the two prediction market companies operated “illegal, unlicensed sports-betting platforms” and misled users about the ”legality and regulatory status of their products.” The lawsuits are centered on claims disputing Kalshi’s and Polymarket’s characterization of event contracts, arguing that the trades amount to unlawful wagers under state laws.“These companies are running sportsbooks without licenses and betting that a new label will put them above the law,” said Scott.…

Olivia Munn is speaking candidly about how she’s doing amid her breast cancer journey. “I have been wanting to answer everyone’s questions about my breast cancer journey for quite a bit of time now,” Munn, 46, said in an Instagram video. “So this is going to be my first in my series. I’ve just been waiting for like, ‘When’s the right time?’ like, ‘When do I not look exhausted?’” Munn received her breast cancer diagnosis in 2023, but opted to keep her journey private until the following year. “This is healing for me too because I know that just simply…

The Cross River House of Assembly has approved an upward review of the 2026 supplementary appropriation bill of the state to N963 billion. The revised figure represents an increase of N1.45 billion from the earlier N961 billion provision, which translates to a 0.15 per cent rise. The approval followed consideration of the report of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation during the sitting of the assembly on Thursday. Presenting the report, the committee Chairman, Cyril Omini, representing Yakurr II State Constituency, said that the review addressed additional financial requirements. Mr Omini further said the adjustment was designed to achieve…

The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has led a group of strategic investors in the recently completed $2.5 billion private placement by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE (DPRP). In a statement issued on Thursday, AFC said the latest investment reflects its model of providing early-stage risk capital and recycling funding into the next generation of transformative projects once assets reach stable and cash-generative operations. DPRP owns the approximately $20 billion integrated refining and petrochemical complex located on a 2,500-hectare site in Lagos. The refinery has a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day and processes crude petroleum…

Oil rig Not by speeches. Not by photographs. Not even by signature bonuses. But by whether, three years from now, we can point to producing wells, instead of framed licence certificates. The 2025 Licensing Round is over. The countdown has begun. Ninety days may not sound like a long time. But in Nigeria’s petroleum history, it could make all the difference. Every now and then, something important happens in Nigeria without attracting the attention it deserves. It is almost as if we have become conditioned to ignore quiet successes, while reserving all our energy for loud failures. A fuel queue…

Grammy-winning Nigerian music star, Ayodeji Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, will headline the opening night of the 2026 Detty December Fest in Lagos. The festival organisers, Livespot360, announced this in a post shared on their official Instagram page on Thursday. According to the organisers, the festival will be held from December 18 to 30, featuring 13 days of music, culture and creativity across two stages. “The countdown to December begins. Wizkid headlines the opening night of Detty December Fest 2026,” the organisers said. The grand opening concert featuring Wizkid is scheduled for Friday, December 18, at 6 pm at the…

Matic, my current favorite robot vacuum, just got a big upgrade. The company has launched Matic Cues, which brings voice and gesture control to the robot. Now, you can talk directly to your vacuum to tell it what you want it to do, or just point at a mess to have it spot-clean.The feature launches today, August 13 at 2 pm ET, and will show as an option in the Matic app under Settings > Matic Cues. The update arrives just ahead of a planned price hike on September 9, which will see the WALL-E-style robot’s price go from $1,245…

Bitcoin (BTC) edged away from weekly lows on Thursday after the US Producer Price Index (PPI) narrowly cooled in July.Key points:Bitcoin avoids further downside as US PPI data provides a boost to US equities.Cleveland Fed president stays hawkish on the outlook for interest-rate policy. Bitcoin long liquidations make $61,000 a key level to watch.July PPI extends cooler US inflation trendBTC/USD was up around 0.5% on the day near $63,900 with volatility broadly absent, data from TradingView showed.BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewThe July US Producer Price Index (PPI) print was unchanged month-on-month at 0.2%, while year-on-year increased 4.7% versus an anticipated 4.9%,…

Aaron Rodgers reportedly funded a batch of controversial security cameras in his New Jersey neighborhood amid concerns about his privacy.  Rodgers, 42, donated $37,000 to the township of Cedar Grove, New Jersey, to fund new automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras for its police department in 2024, according to a FOIAball report on Wednesday, August 12.  “We’ve received a generous donation of new ALPR cameras … a very generous donation that the police department is receiving,” the town’s manager said during a city council meeting at the time. “These are very heavily used tools in the law enforcement toolkit, so…

Nnimmo Bassey, director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), says Bayelsa is one of Nigeria’s most polluted states, given the hydrocarbon extraction associated with the oil and gas industry. Mr Bassey, a renowned environmentalist, stated this during a one-day capacity-sharing programme with the people of Nembe on Thursday in the Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa. According to him, Bayelsa is one of the most polluted states in Nigeria and possibly in the world. He said the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission Report, published in May 2023, recorded a per capita oil pollution level of 1.5 barrels…