Author: Editor

THE US Senate has approved a controversial landmark bill that could see TikTok banned in America. It gives TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, nine months to sell its stake or the app will be blocked in the United States. The bill will now be handed over to US President Joe Biden, who has said he will sign it into law as soon as it reaches his desk. ByteDance has told the BBC that it did not have an immediate response to the move. Previously the firm said it would oppose any attempt to force it to sell TikTok. If the US…

THE UN called Tuesday on Britain to reconsider plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, warning it threatened the rule of law and set “a perilous precedent globally”. The UK government’s controversial Rwanda scheme has been beset by legal challenges since 2022, but was passed by parliament late on Monday after a marathon tussle between the upper and lower chambers. UN rights chief Volker Turk and UN refugee head Filippo Grande called in a statement on the government to “reconsider” the scheme, urging it to instead “take practical measures to address irregular flows of refugees and migrants, based on international…

MORE than 50,000 people have been displaced by clashes in a disputed area in northern Ethiopia, the United Nations said, as the international community expressed concern about the violence involving fighters from rival regions. “The number of people displaced by the armed clashes in Alamata Town, and Raya Alamata, Zata and Ofla… since 13/14 April has reached more than 50,000,” the UN said late Monday, citing local authorities in the disputed area, which is claimed by Tigray and neighbouring Amhara. “The humanitarian situation is dire, with thousands of women and children in need of broad humanitarian support to survive,” it…

A FORMER governor of Imo State Emeka Ihedioha has left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), 26 years after joining one of Nigeria’s leading political parties. Having been one of the party’s founding members, Ihedioha cited a variance of “personal beliefs” as part of his reason for quitting the PDP. “Regrettably, in recent times, the party has taken on a path that is at variance with my personal beliefs. Despite my attempt to offer counsel, the party is, sadly no longer able to carry out internal reforms, enforce its own rules, or offer credible opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress,”…

INTER Milan sealed their 20th Italian title by beating arch-rivals and nearest challengers AC Milan in a historic Derby della Madonnina. Francesco Acerbi was unmarked to head in Benjamin Pavard’s flick-on from a corner to give Inter the lead. Marcus Thuram latched onto a long ball and was given too much time to cut in before smashing their second into the bottom corner at the San Siro. England’s Fikayo Tomori headed in from close range to give Milan brief hope. There were three red cards in injury time as tempers boiled over. Milan’s Theo Hernandez and Inter’s Denzel Dumfries were…

ISRAEL’s military intelligence chief has resigned after taking responsibility for failures leading to the Hamas attack on October 7, the military said on Monday, as Israel carried out more shelling in war-battered Gaza overnight. General Aharon Haliva is the first top Israeli official to step down for failing to prevent the Hamas attack, which triggered the war in Gaza and brought the government and military under intense scrutiny in Israel. “The intelligence division under my command did not live up to the task we were entrusted with,” Haliva said in his resignation letter. “I carry that black day with me…

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday promised that deportation flights of asylum seekers to Rwanda will begin in “10 to 12 weeks”, as the plan entered its final stage in parliament. “We are ready, plans are in place and these flights will go, come what may,” Sunak told a Downing Street news conference, hours before parliament is set to approve the contentious proposal. Sunak says it is essential to deter record numbers of asylum seekers crossing the Channel to England from France in small boats and has made it a key pillar of his Conservative party’s pitch to voters.…

AN EGYPTIAN statue aged more than 3,000 years old has arrived back home, over three decades since it was stolen and smuggled out of the country, authorities have said. The statue depicts a head of the ancient Egyptian King Ramses II, who was one of Egypt’s most powerful rulers. It is “part of a mass statue depicting King Ramses II seated next to a number of Egyptian gods”, the ministry of tourism and antiquities said on Sunday. The artefact, which dates back to more than 3,400 years, was taken from the Ramses II temple in the ancient city of Abydos.…

THERE are reports from Mali that at least 100 civilians are being held by suspected insurgents after being kidnapped last week. Local residents told the AFP news agency that they were travelling in three buses when the attackers forced them to drive in the direction of a forest between Bandiagara and Bankass. Six days on, there has been no sign of the dozens of hostages. This area of Mali’s Mopti region has seen frequent attacks by insurgents. Following several recent attacks in the area, people are getting increasingly frustrated. Civil society organisations in Bandiagara have been staging protests denouncing the…

JUDE Bellingham scored a late winner as Real Madrid beat Barcelona to move 11 points clear at the top of La Liga after an enthralling El Clasico. Bellingham smashed into the roof of the net as the clock ticked into stoppage time as Real twice came from behind at the Bernabeu. Andres Christensen scored the opener for Barcelona but a Vinicius Jr penalty had the game level at half-time. Fermin Lopez made it 2-1 to Barca before Lucas Vazquez equalised again. The victory puts Real firmly on track to reclaim the title with just six games left to play this…

PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel will increase “military pressure” on Palestinian militant group Hamas in a bid to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza. “In the coming days we will increase the military and political pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free our hostages,” Netanyahu said in a video statement on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover, threatening to “deliver additional and painful blows” without specifying. Despite an international outcry, Netanyahu has repeatedly said that the army will launch a ground assault on Rafah, a southern Gaza city so…

NO one can know the mind of Sydney shopping mall killer Joel Cauchi, but psychiatrists say one underlying cause of his rampage is evident: he had schizophrenia, stopped his medication and fell out of treatment. People have searched for a fathomable motive since the April 13 knife attack at Bondi Junction, in which five women and a male security guard were stabbed to death and another dozen wounded, including a nine-month-old girl. Cauchi’s parents have said their son was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 17 and was successfully treated for about 18 years. A serious mental disorder, schizophrenia…

THE United Nations Support Mission in Libya called Sunday for an investigation into a political activist’s death while detained at an eastern military base controlled by military strongman Khalifa Haftar. UNSMIL also demanded the “immediate release” of other prisoners it said were being detained “arbitrarily” by the war-torn country’s eastern-based authorities. In a statement on X, the UN mission said it was “deeply saddened by the death of activist Siraj Dughman while in custody at Rajma military camp” and urged the Libyan “authorities to conduct a transparent and independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death”. Plagued by political instability…

HUNDREDS protested on Sunday against the US troop presence in military-ruled Niger where a delegation from Washington is expected within days to arrange an orderly withdrawal. The United States had on Friday agreed to withdraw its more than 1,000 soldiers from the African nation where Washington built a $100 million base to fly a fleet of drones. The demonstration in the northern desert town of Agadez, home to a US air base, was called by a group of 24 civil society associations that have backed the regime since last year’s coup. “This is Agadez, not Washington, US army go home,”…

FORMER Super Eagles stars have expressed different opinion over hiring a foreigner as coach of the senior national team. Following Jose Peseiro’s departure after guiding the Eagles to the Africa Cup of Nations final in Ivory Coast in February, discussions have intensified over the Portuguese ideal successor with over 60 candidates reportedly applying for the job. With the Nigeria Football Federation on the verge of announcing Peseiro’s replacement, foreigner contenders Danny Buijs, Domenec Torrent and Antonio Conceicao and homeboy Emmanuel Amuneke are reportedly front runners for the position. Former Eagles defender, Abbey George, argued that local coaches might struggle to…

MARK Robins scored the goal that helped launch Manchester United’s era of dominance. Now he is plotting to deepen their misery in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday as Coventry boss. The 54-year-old scored against Nottingham Forest in the third round of the competition in 1990, a goal that turned out to be a turning point in the history of United and was widely credited with saving Alex Ferguson’s job. Robins also scored the winner in the semi-final against Oldham and United went on to lift the cup, the first of a cascade of trophies under Ferguson, who oversaw their…

AN Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah killed at least 10 people, including six children, hospital authorities said, as Israel pursues its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory. Funerals were held on Saturday for those killed in the deadly strike on Rafah’s western Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood the night before, according to Gaza’s civil defence. At al-Najjar Hospital, the site of the area’s main morgue, relatives sobbed and hugged white-shrouded children’s bodies. “Hamza my beloved. Your hair looks so pretty,” a mourning grandmother said. The fatalities included Abdel-Fattah Sobhi Radwan, his wife Najlaa…

TENS of thousands of demonstrators have hit the streets of Spain’s Canary Islands to demand changes to the model of mass tourism they say is overwhelming the Atlantic archipelago. An estimated 57,000 people joined the protests, which began at midday (11:00 GMT) on Saturday, Spanish media reports said, citing the central government’s representative in the islands. Flag-waving crowds packed the streets of the main towns across all of the archipelago’s seven islands, chanting and whistling, and holding placards with slogans like: “The Canary Islands are not up for sale!”; “A moratorium on tourism”; and “Respect my home”. “It’s not a…

AT least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s capital Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko river on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief…

TOGO’s parliament has given final approval to a new constitution extending the president’s term, after critics denounced the move as a coup. The West African country will move from a presidential to a parliamentary system. President Faure Gnassingbé’s supporters argue the changes reduce his powers by transforming the presidency into a ceremonial role. But the opposition said the reforms remove limits on his stay in office. Their removal would enable him to remain president until 2031, they said, after which he could be appointed to the new position of “president of the council of ministers” – in effect prime minister…