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THE British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum will give back gold and silver artifacts looted during colonial times from Ghana’s Asante royal court, the museums and the palace said on Thursday. The Ghana agreement for a long-term loan of the items comes as international momentum grows for museums and institutions to restore African artifacts from former colonial powers Britain, France, Germany and Belgium. The returning items include a 300-year-old Mponponso sword used in Asantehene swearing-in ceremonies, a gold peace pipe and cast gold soul-washers’ badges, among other treasures. The artifacts were taken after the third Anglo-Asante War in…

HUMAN Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday accused the Burkina Faso army of killing at least 60 civilians in drone strikes which the government said targeted insurgents. The deaths occurred in three military drone strikes since August, two at crowded markets and another at a funeral, the rights group said in a report. Military leader Captain Ibrahim Traore, who came to power after a 2022 coup, has focused on a strong security response to attacks by groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State. HRW said it had interviewed dozens of witnesses between September and November and analysed photographs, videos and satellite…

NATIONAL Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has asked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf to abandon the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) for the APC. Addressing newsmen after a stakeholders’ meeting in Kano, Ganduje said the meeting resolved to open APC doors to others who want to join the ruling party. “We are appealing to those who want join APC to come. In particular, we are inviting the Governor of Kano and his NNPP to join APC,” Ganduje said. The national chairman asked party members not to get discourage over the loss of the governorship election…

FORMER presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, has said ex-President Muhammadu Buhari was a victim of the crisis of expectations. Shehu, the ex-Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Buhari, also said Nigerians also expect lofty feats from their leaders, which have not augured well in the time past. He spoke at the 21st Trust Dialogue with the theme:” Tinubu’s Economic Reforms: Gainers and Losers”. The former presidential media aide said some of the problems Buhari had were as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the war between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, which affected grain importation. Shehu,…

Africa Cup of Nations last-16 pairings in the Ivory Coast (all times GMT): Saturday Angola v Namibia (1700) In Bouake Nigeria v Cameroon (2000) In Abidjan Sunday Equatorial Guinea v Guinea (1700) In Abidjan Egypt v Democratic Republic of Congo (2000)In San Pedro Monday Cape Verde v Mauritania (1700) In Abidjan Senegal v Ivory Coast (2000) In Yamoussoukro Tuesday Mali v Burkina Faso (1700) In Korhogo Morocco v South Africa (2000) In San Pedro

THE Israeli military has desecrated graves at more than a dozen cemeteries in Gaza, a new investigation appears to have confirmed. CNN said it had reviewed satellite imagery and social media footage showing the destruction of cemeteries. The news outlet’s staff said they had witnessed the desecration while traveling in an Israeli army convoy. The evidence showed a “systemic practice” by Israeli forces in areas they have advanced into, CNN said. Israel launched its air and ground onslaught on Gaza on 7 October, and has so far killed almost 25,000 people in the Palestinian territory. Palestinian officials and human rights…

RUSSIA said Wednesday that an IL-76 military transport plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war had crashed in the western Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine. Unverified videos on social media showed a large plane, purportedly in the Belgorod region, falling from the sky on its side before crashing in a fireball. “At around 11 am Moscow time (0800 GMT), an IL-76 aircraft crashed in the Belgorod region during a routine flight,” Moscow’s defence ministry was quoted as saying by the RIA-Novosti news agency. “On board were 65 captured Ukrainian army servicemen being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew…

FIGHTING in southeastern Niger has left 10 soldiers wounded and several dozen insurgents dead, the government said. Fighters from the Boko Haram group on Tuesday attacked a special intervention batallion positioned at the airport in N’Guigmi, a garrison town in the Diffa region near the border with Nigeria, Niger’s defence ministry said. The clash, which started around 01:50 am (0050 GMT), lasted about 20 minutes before the attackers were routed towards the banks of Lake Chad, the ministry said in a statement late Wednesday. With air support, the attackers were located as they got into pirogue canoes on the lake,…

NAMIBIA’s President Hage Geingob, 82, is flying to the US to receive “specialised” medical treatment for cancer, his office has said. It comes less than a week after his office said that medical tests revealed that he had “cancerous cells”. The 82-year-old would receive “novel therapy” in the US for a week, before returning to continue with his treatment in Namibia, his office added. Vice-President Nangolo Mumba will be acting president during his absence. Concerns about Mr Geingob’s health have been growing, with reports saying that he admitted last year that he had become frail. “You see how I’m standing…

A RARE chance for Chinese football fans to see Cristiano Ronaldo play in their country was scuppered Tuesday, as organisers said the Portuguese star had an unspecified “health” issue that caused two matches to be postponed. The pair of friendlies featuring his club, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, were originally scheduled to be held in the southern city of Shenzhen against Shanghai Shenhua and Zhejiang FC on Wednesday and Sunday, respectively. “For me, today is a sad day,” Ronaldo told a Tuesday evening press conference, during which he apologised to Chinese fans. “In football, some things you cannot control, and as you…

THE Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip has said a total of 25,490 Palestinians have been killed, with another 63,354 injured in Israeli strikes on the territory since October 7. The toll includes 195 people killed in the last 24 hours, the ministry added. Figures from the ministry are deemed as largely accurate by the UN, but do not differentiate between militants and civilians. Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has surrounded the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis and that it has killed “fighters” amid heavy fighting in the past 24 hours. Israel said the city, the…

TURKEY’s parliament on Tuesday ratified Sweden’s NATO membership after more than a year of delays that upset Western efforts to show resolve in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Lawmakers voted 287-55 in favour of the Nordic nation’s bid to become the 32nd member of the alliance after it won the public backing of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish leader is expected to sign Sweden’s ratification document and conclude Ankara’s role in the protracted saga in the coming days. Turkey’s green light leaves Hungary as the last holdout in an accession process that Sweden and Finland began in…

A MAN has been arrested on suspicion of 76 murders after telling a public inquiry he started last August’s deadly fire in a Johannesburg building. The 29-year-old confessed while giving evidence at the inquiry, police said. Last year fire gutted the Usindiso building in Marshalltown, where many poor people were living, claiming 77 lives and leaving many injured. The tragedy highlighted the issue of buildings abandoned or neglected by their owners in South Africa. A South African Police Service spokesperson said the suspect, who cannot be identified, is expected to appear in court soon. He is also expected to face…

FAMINE is stalking parts of Ethiopia. The epicentre is in the northern Tigray region. Villagers who have not yet recovered from the ravages of the recent war in the region are now stricken by severe drought. Reports of hundreds of children dying of starvation are trickling in from remote areas. What is particularly disturbing is that this crisis is unfolding so early in the season. The main harvest in Tigray and neighbouring Amhara is in November, and this is the time of year when food should be most plentiful. But the federal government in Addis Ababa denies that a famine…

THE federal government has inaugurated a committee tagged “Project Implementation Committee” for the provision and installation of surveillance systems on the Abuja-Kaduna highway. According to the spokesman of the Ministry of Defence, Henshaw Ogubike, this is part of the strategies being put in place to address the raging security challenges, particularly on the highways. Ogubike quoted the Minister, Abubakar Badaru in a statement on Tuesday to have said that the provision of the surveillance systems along the Abuja-Kaduna highway would also cover the railways. Badaru disclosed that the eight-man committee would fast-track their assignment and that they must deliver within…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission will arraign the immediate-past governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, on Wednesday, January 24, before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, over alleged money laundering to the tune of N4,008,573,350. Our correspondent gathered on Tuesday that the ex-governor will be arraigned on nine count charges. The development comes over a week after the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede vowed to review all abandoned high-profile cases, especially those involving former Governors and Ministers. An impeccable source revealed, “We found that Obiano moved N4,008,573,350 from security votes into different accounts. The money at various…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has justified his cabinet of 47 ministers saying the number reflects the diversity of roles required to run an efficient government. The president expressed doubt about reducing his cabinet, saying no guarantee this would boost performance He also urged the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria to propagate the message of tolerance and hope amongst Nigerians, warning that the opposite could damage the country beyond repair. Tinubu, who emphasised the role of faith leaders in fostering unity and peace in the country, also said his administration would not relent in addressing corruption and other vices as…

A NEW report has projected that the Central Bank of Nigeria may ask commercial banks with international banking licence to raise their capital base to over N900bn. This came a few months after the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, said the apex bank would be asking lenders to raise more capital in order to support the Federal Government’s vision to grow the economy to $1tn. According to the Banking Sector FY 2024 Outlook produced by CardinalStone Securities, a non-bank securities trading firm, Nigeria banks may be required to boost their capital, with projections indicating an increase ranging from…

LIVERPOOL say the leg injury Mohamed Salah suffered at the Africa Cup of Nations is “worse than first feared”, but Egypt remain hopeful he can return for a potential semi-final. Salah was injured in Egypt’s 2-2 draw with Ghana on Thursday in Group B. Egypt reached the knockouts on Monday after a dramatic 2-2 draw with Cape Verde as Salah watched from the stands. Liverpool said the 31-year-old will return on Wednesday for an “intensive rehabilitation programme”. The club added Salah’s injury was “worse than first feared”, but he will be treated with a “view to being back in action…

THE Israeli military has fired artillery shells at the headquarters of the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the organisation says. The PRCS wrote on X that the shelling coincided with “intense gunfire from Israeli drones, resulting in injuries among internally displaced individuals who sought safety on our premises”. Khan Younis has come under a sustained assault in recent days, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties, with the Israeli military saying it’s attempting to root out Hamas fighters in the city. Meanwhile, Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said that all…