Author: Editor

NEARLY 200 people have been charged in a sweeping nationwide crackdown on healthcare fraud schemes with false claims topping $2.7bn, the United States Department of Justice has said. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Thursday charges against doctors, nurse practitioners and others across the US accused of a variety of scams, including a $900m scheme in Arizona targeting dying patients. “It does not matter if you are a trafficker in a drug cartel or a corporate executive or medical professional employed by a healthcare company. If you profit from the unlawful distribution of controlled substances, you will be held accountable,”…

PROTESTERS took to the streets of Kenya again on Thursday, with some calling for President William Ruto’s resignation despite his recent decision to scrap a controversial tax bill. The demonstrations in Nairobi, though smaller than Tuesday’s massive turnout, were still marked by tension following violent clashes earlier in the week, where nearly two dozen people lost their lives. On Tuesday, tens of thousands had flooded Nairobi’s city centre as lawmakers debated and passed the contentious legislation. The situation deteriorated into violence as demonstrators stormed buildings and set parts ablaze. Rights groups reported at least 23 fatalities and over 300 injuries…

SOUTH Africa’s main coalition partners are at loggerheads just weeks after agreeing to share power, as President Cyril Ramaphosa accuses Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen of trying to create a “parallel government” in breach of the constitution. He is said to have made the explosive allegation in a letter to Mr Steenhuisen on 25 June, which has been seen by local media. Markets have slumped with the news of the deepening rift, at a time when Mr Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) and the DA are supposed to be divvying up cabinet posts and settling into office. When the…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kassim Shettima on Thursday met with governors of the 36 states of the Federation and ministers to deliberate on a new minimum wage for workers in the country, as well as other economic matters. The President and the governors met at the 141st meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), which took place in the Council Chamber of the State House in Abuja, the nation’s capital. The Vice President chaired the meeting with state governors, deputy governors and ministers before the arrival of the President. Thursday’s meeting comes about two days after the Federal…

MORE than three weeks after a mining pit collapsed in Galkogo, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, over 30 miners have remained trapped, victims’ families and residents said. This newspaper recalls that labourers were working inside the 400-metre-deep pit owned by African Minerals and Logistics Limited when it caved in on June 3 after a heavy rain the previous day. While government agencies, including the police, claimed that 20 people were trapped and six had been rescued, families and locals insisted that 50 individuals were trapped. They said the six people were not rescued as claimed by government officials…

GEORGIA are through to the last 16 of Euro 2024 after Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Portugal, a historic triumph in the former Soviet Republic’s first appearance at a major international tournament. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia gave Georgia a shock lead against a second-string Portugal team with just over a minute on the clock in Gelsenkirchen. Georges Mikautadze then ensured Georgia would claim the biggest football victory in the Black Sea nation’s history with a 57th-minute penalty. Willy Sagnol’s team qualified from Group F as one of the four best third-placed finishers after their first-ever European Championship win, which set up a daunting…

A USUALLY staid swearing-in procedure where Indian parliamentarians take their oath of office has exploded into a controversy after veteran opposition legislator Asaduddin Owaisi chanted “Jai Palestine” after reading out the pledge on Tuesday. In Sanskrit, the word “jai” literally translates to victory, but is used more broadly to connote support, so in effect, Owaisi’s slogan amounted to: “Long live Palestine.” Parliamentarians from the governing Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have accused him of violating the very constitutional pledge he was taking by, according to them, demonstrating loyalty to another nation – a charge Owaisi has denied.…

BOLIVIAN police have arrested the leader of an attempted coup, hours after the presidential palace in the capital La Paz was stormed by soldiers. Armoured vehicles and troops had taken up position on Murillo Square where key government buildings are located. They all later withdrew. The rebel military leader in charge, Gen Juan José Zúñiga, had said he wanted to “restructure democracy” and that while he respected President Luis Arce for now, there would be a change of government. He is now under arrest. President Arce condemned the coup attempt, calling on the public to “organise and mobilise… in favour…

KENYA’s President William Ruto has said he will not sign a finance bill that led protesters to storm Parliament in anger over rising costs, adding that the bill containing tax hikes would “be withdrawn”. “I concede and therefore I will not sign the 2024 finance bill and it shall subsequently be withdrawn,” Ruto said in a televised address on Wednesday. “The people have spoken.” Ruto said he would now start a dialogue with Kenyan young people, without going into details, and work on austerity measures – starting with cuts to the budget of the presidency – to make up the…

THE International Criminal Court (ICC) has convicted the former head of the Islamic police in Mali’s historic city of Timbuktu for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Prosecutors say al-Hassan ag Abdoul Aziz ag Mohamed ag Mahmoud led a “reign of terror” in Timbuktu after it was overrun in 2012 by the al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine group. Hassan, who remained emotionless as the verdict was read out in the Dutch city of The Hague, was acquitted on charges linked to rape, sexual slavery and imposing forced marriages on women. Judges also found he played no role in the destruction of ancient…

ENGLAND secured the top spot in Group C despite again failing to fire at Euro 2024 as Slovenia also progressed to the knockout stages thanks to a 0-0 draw in Cologne. The Three Lions were already assured of a place in the last 16 but were booed off in Cologne and can expect more criticism after failing to improve on underwhelming performances in edging past Serbia and drawing with Denmark. England will have to wait until Wednesday’s final group games to find out which of the four best third-placed teams they will face in the last 16. But more questions…

IN the early morning hours of May 15, the cargo vessel Borkum stopped off the Spanish coast, lingering in the waters a short distance from Cartagena. At the port, protesters waved Palestinian flags and called on authorities to inspect the ship based on suspicions that it carried weapons bound for Israel. Leftist members of the European Parliament sent a letter to Spanish President Pedro Sánchez requesting that the ship be prevented from docking. “Allowing a ship loaded with weapons destined for Israel is to allow the transit of arms to a country currently under investigation for genocide against the Palestinian…

THE International Criminal Court on Tuesday said it had issued arrest warrants for Russia’s top army chief and ex defence minister over strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure that constituted alleged war crimes. The ICC warrants are the latest in a series of actions by the court over the Ukraine war, including an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The warrants, issued on Monday but made public on Tuesday, concerned the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu. The pair are accused of the war crimes of directing attacks at civilian targets and causing excessive…

SEVERAL people have been killed after police fired live rounds at protesters trying to storm Kenya’s legislature, where lawmakers voted to pass a contentious finance bill that would hike taxes. Thousands of people joined the youth-led demonstration in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Tuesday to demand that lawmakers vote against the bill amid soaring tensions over a cost-of-living crisis in the country. But legislators voted to pass the bill, and some then fled the chamber as protesters breached the complex of the Parliament of Kenya. Parts of the Parliament building were set ablaze. Police eventually managed to drive the protesters…

A FORMER judge in South Africa, who was impeached for misconduct four months ago, has been sworn in as an MP for ex-President Jacob Zuma’s party. John Hlophe was among the 58 uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) MPs sworn in as the party ended its boycott of the parliament formed after the 29 May elections. MK, which is set to become the official opposition, has appointed Dr Hlophe to lead its team in parliament. This is despite Dr Hlophe being impeached as a judge following findings of misconduct. An investigation found Dr Hlophe, who was the leading judge in the Western Cape…

POLICE authorities in Rivers State have declared a former Niger Delta militant leader Gabriel ‘General’ Asabuja wanted. The Rivers State Commissioner for Police Tunji Disu said this on Monday when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by News Point Nigeria. Asabuja was seen in a viral video making some strong comments amid the local government council crisis rocking Rivers State. But Disu has condemned the action, saying, “That video caused a lot of panic in the state. It gives a lot of concern to everybody even out of the state. I want to assure you that we are…

BARRING any last-minute change of plan, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) is expected to meet today to deliberate on salient matters aimed at tackling some of the problems bedevilling the country. This newspaper gathered that the meeting is expected to consider some serious matters of state including the vexed issue of the minimum wage impasse that had been ongoing between the federal government and organized labour. The tripartite committee set up by the federal government recently submitted its report to President Bola Tinubu. While the federal government has agreed that it can pay N62,000 minimum wage, the organised Labour consisting…

ENGLAND, France, and Netherlands progressed to the knockout stages of Euro 2024 on Monday after Albania lost 1-0 to Group B winners Spain thanks to an early Ferran Torres goal in Duesseldorf. England have qualified from Group C and France and Netherlands from Group D as at least three of the four best third-placed teams at the tournament. All three sides play their final group-stage matches on Tuesday, where they will seek a top-two finish in order to ensure a kinder draw for the last-16 stage. England have four points and sit top of Group C before their match against…

PALESTINIAN medics and rights advocates have denounced the killing of a top medical official in Gaza by the Israeli military, accusing Israel of systematically targeting the health system in the besieged enclave. Israel bombed a clinic in Gaza City late on Sunday, killing Hani al-Jaafarawi, Gaza’s director of ambulances and emergency, and four other people. The targeted clinic, which offered general health, paediatric and dental services, was also put out of commission by the Israeli attack. “The Israeli war jets bombed the clinic and destroyed its rooms completely,” said Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Ismail Algoul, reporting from Gaza City. “The…

WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange has been freed from prison in the United Kingdom and is set to travel home to Australia after he pleads guilty to a single charge of breaching the espionage law in the United States. Assange, 52, will plead guilty to one count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents, according to a filing in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. He was freed from the UK’s high-security Belmarsh prison on Monday and taken to the airport whre he flew out of the country. Assange will appear at a court…