Author: Editor

THE UN’s top legal body has now heard two days of powerful legal argument on the “crime of all crimes”: genocide. It is now for the judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to decide whether Israel, in its war in Gaza, is guilty of an attempt to “destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part,” as defined by the 1948 Convention on Genocide. There could hardly be a more weighty matter. Both sides have played heavily on the strong emotions swirling around the conflict that erupted on 7 October last year. Around 1,300…

CAPE Verde has become the third African nation and first West African to be declared malaria free, even as the disease continues to kill hundreds of thousands of people on the continent, the World Health Organization said Friday. The Atlantic archipelago of about 500,000 inhabitants follows Mauritius in 1973 and Algeria in 2019. Worldwide some 43 countries have been certified as malaria-free by the WHO, which requires showing that the domestic chain of transmission has been broken for at least three consecutive years. “I salute the government and people of Cabo Verde for their unwavering commitment and resilience in their…

FIGHTING between rival Sudanese forces, including air strikes on the capital Khartoum, have killed at least 33 civilians, pro-democracy lawyers said overnight to Friday. Sudan has been gripped by nearly nine months of war pitting army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his former deputy, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. The war has claimed at least 12,190 lives according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project, and the United Nations says more than seven million people have been displaced. On Thursday, 23 civilians were killed and several more wounded by aerial bombing in Khartoum’s Soba…

GOVERNOR Agbu Kefas of Taraba state has described as devastating news of the demise of ace journalists Isa Gasau who passed on Thursday night. Isa Gusau, until his death, was spokesman to Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno state. He has also held high media profiles with other governors of Borno state. Governor Kefas said Gusau, a consumate news man,  will be sorely missed by his colleagues and the people of Borno state where he worked as spokesman in various governments. He prayed for the repose of Gusau soul while condoling with family and associates of the late reporter. Governor Kefas…

FORMER England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson says he has “best case a year” to live after being diagnosed with cancer. The 75-year-old Swede was the first foreign coach to manage England and led the side to the quarter-finals of the 2002 and 2006 World Cup and 2004 Euros. “I’m going to resist for as long as I can,” Eriksson told Swedish Radio P1. “I have an illness that’s serious. Best case a year, I have worst case a lot less. It’s impossible to say exactly, so it’s better to not think about it.” Eriksson, who had a 42-year career in management,…

THE Israeli military on Thursday denied it had bombed an ambulance in the central Gaza Strip a day earlier which killed four medics and two other people. “A review was conducted based on the details provided to the IDF (Israeli military) which shows that no strike was carried out in the described area,” the army said in a statement to AFP. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society had said six people were killed Wednesday in an Israeli strike on their ambulance at the entrance to the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza. The roof of the ambulance was completely destroyed and…

A HUGE ancient city has been found in the Amazon, hidden for thousands of years by lush vegetation. The discovery changes what we know about the history of people living in the Amazon. The houses and plazas in the Upano area in eastern Ecuador were connected by an astounding network of roads and canals. The area lies in the shadow of a volcano that created rich local soils but also may have led to the destruction of the society. While we knew about cities in the highlands of South America, like Machu Picchu in Peru, it was believed that people…

SOUTH Africa on Thursday accused Israel of breaching the UN Genocide Convention, arguing that even the deadly October 7 Hamas attack could not justify such alleged actions, as it launched a landmark case at the top UN court. Pretoria has lodged an urgent appeal at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Israel to “immediately suspend” its military operations in Gaza. Israel has dismissed the case as “atrocious” and “preposterous” and vowed to set out a robust defence on Friday. “No armed attack on a state territory, no matter how serious… can provide justification for or defend breaches of…

VOTERS in the Comoros choose a new president on Sunday with incumbent Azali Assoumani, who has already extended his time in office through constitutional change, voicing confidence of winning a third consecutive term against a divided opposition. Nearly 340,000 people are eligible to vote in the predominantly Muslim Indian Ocean archipelago, whose population is under a million but nearly half live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. Known for vanilla and fragrant flowers used in luxury perfume, Comoros proclaimed independence in 1975 from France, which is home to a large diaspora. Several opposition figures have urged voters…

REAL Madrid beat Atletico Madrid in extra time in a Spanish Super Cup semi-final thriller in Saudi Arabia. Atletico’s Mario Hermoso and Real’s Antonio Rudiger scored headers before Ferland Mendy flicked in Dani Carvajal’s cross to put Real ahead. Antoine Griezmann scored a club record-breaking 174th goal for Atletico and Rudiger netted an own goal before Carvajal forced extra time. A late Stefan Savic own goal and Brahim Diaz strike won the game for Real. Atletico keeper Jan Oblak had gone forward in injury time with Diaz beating him in a race starting in his own half before slotting into…

THE Israeli army kept bombing the Gaza Strip and killing innocent palestinians on Wednesday as US top diplomat Antony Blinken met the head of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said it killed dozens of “fighters” and hit another 150 targets in Hamas-run Gaza, where the health ministry said 147 people had been killed over the previous 24 hours. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas spoke with Blinken of the need “to stop the Israeli aggression against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank”, which has also been torn by deadly unrest, said the…

SPANISH Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday faced his first parliamentary test since re-election, with Catalan separatists refusing to back him in the first key vote of the legislature. The lower house was to vote on three decrees adopted in December by Spain’s left-wing government that must receive parliament’s green light within a month. The texts concern the renewal of anti-inflation measures, the functioning of the justice system and measures demanded by Brussels to unblock 10 billion euros of European funding. The vote will be the first test of Sanchez’s fragile network of parliamentary support that handed him a new…

THE Somali armed group al-Shabab has seized a United Nations helicopter, along with about eight people, both passengers and crew, local sources have told the BBC. The helicopter landed in territory held by the group in central Somalia. The UN’s mission in Somalia (Unsom) confirmed an “aviation incident” involving a UN-contracted helicopter conducting a medical evacuation. It did not mention al-Shabab, but said “response efforts are under way”. A UN memo on the incident seen by AFP news agency says the helicopter crash-landed about 70km (43 miles) southeast of Dhusamareb and no UN staff were on board. The personnel were…

LIBERIA’s former chief justice and justice minister Gloria Maya Musu-Scott has been sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of her niece. It marks the fall from grace of one of Liberia’s most famous judges and politicians, who prided herself as a champion of women rights. Musu-Scott, 70, is now in jail, hoping to overturn the ruling on appeal. A judge sentenced the retired judge after a jury convicted her for the murder of Charloe Musu, 29. Musu-Scott’s trial heard that she – along with three other women – had “wilfully, intentionally, purposely and maliciously inflicted several bodily…

FORMER Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has described the book by Femi Adesina, former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to former President Muhammadu Buhari, as “very wise and proactive”, as it gives the “the most reliable account’ of his experiences at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja. Professor Osinbajo made the comment in Lagos over the weekend when Adesina formally presented a copy of the book, entitled: Working With Buhari; Reflections of a Special Adviser, Media and Publicity (2015-2023), to the former Vice President. The book will be launched on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja…

CHELSEA missed a host of chances as Championship side Middlesbrough earned a slender advantage in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at a boisterous Riverside Stadium. Hayden Hackney scored the only goal, opening up his body to slide home an Isaiah Jones cross in the first half. Cole Palmer missed three presentable opportunities as Chelsea, who had 18 shots, but only five on target, failed to score for the sixth time this season. “It is difficult to talk about our performance,” Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino told BBC Radio 5 Live. “We created some chances, but we were not…

THE cost of war on Gaza’s civilians is “far too high”, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. Mr Blinken said Israel needed to remove barriers so more essential aid could be allowed into Gaza. But he said Israel faced a huge challenge in fighting an enemy in Hamas which had embedded itself within the civilian population. Mr Blinken was speaking after meeting Israeli leaders on his fourth trip to the country since the conflict began. America’s top diplomat told a press conference in Tel Aviv that leaders in the region shared US concerns about the “dire humanitarian situation”…

CUBA’s cash-strapped government announced Monday that fuel prices will soar by more than 500 percent beginning February 1, part of a series of economic measures aimed at reducing the deficit. The cost of a liter of regular gasoline will rise from 25 pesos (20 US cents) to 132 pesos, while the price of premium gasoline will jump from 30 to 156 pesos, Minister of Finance and Prices Vladimir Regueiro said on state television. Authorities also said tourists to the struggling island nation will pay for fuel in foreign currency. Cuba’s government, which subsidizes almost all essential goods and services, announced…

THE army chiefs of landlocked Ethiopia and the self-declared Republic of Somaliland have been discussing military co-operation as concern grows over a deal that could give Ethiopia a naval base on the Gulf of Aden. The two sides signed a deal on 1 January to give Ethiopia commercial and military access to the sea. Somalia called it an act of aggression. It considers Somaliland as part of its territory and has vowed to defend its sovereignty. Somaliland, a former British protectorate, seceded from Somalia in 1991 but is not internationally recognised as an independent state. Ethiopia’s Field Marshal Birhanu Jula…

MIGRATION activists are sounding the alarm this week about mass expulsions and arbitrary arrests in Tunisia, where authorities are seeing more migrants arrive for attempted Mediterranean crossings from the North African nation to Europe. The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights on Monday accused the government of waging a campaign of repression against migrants at the expense of humanitarian concerns, “to satisfy European blackmail and ensure a steady stream of financial and logistical support.” It said in a statement that witness accounts indicated the situation had become particularly dire around Tunisia’s borders with Libya and Algeria as well as…