MEDIA tycoon Rupert Murdoch and ex-police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith have abruptly called off their engagement weeks after announcing it, reports say. Vanity Fair quotes a source close to Mr Murdoch, 92, as saying he had become uncomfortable with what were described as the outspoken evangelical views of Ms Smith, 66. Mr Murdoch, who split with fourth wife Jerry Hall in 2022, is yet to comment. But his engagement with Ms Smith was announced only last month. The two met in September at an event at his vineyard in California. In March, the businessman told the New York Post, one…
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ISRAELI police have attacked dozens of worshippers in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound injuring seven people, according to witnesses. The raid took place before dawn on Wednesday with Israeli police claiming they were responding to “rioting”. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported injuries but did not elaborate on how many people were hurt. It said in a statement that Israeli forces were preventing its medics from reaching Al-Aqsa. “I was sitting on a chair reciting (Qur’an),” an elderly woman told the Reuters news agency while sitting outside the mosque, struggling to catch her breath. “They hurled stun grenades, one of them hit…
PRESIDENT Paul Kagame of Rwanda has said he is looking forward to retiring and handing over power after 23 years in office. Speaking at a joint press briefing with his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, Kagame said a succession plan is being actively discussed by the ruling party terming his retirement an “inevitability”. Mr Kagame said he was not necessarily interested in choosing his successor but rather creating an environment that would give rise to people who can lead. “We have been having this discussion within our [ruling] party since 2010 but circumstances, challenges and history…
THE Zimbabwean government says it has ordered an investigation into reports of gold smuggling and money laundering. Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa says the authorities take allegations raised in a TV documentary series by the broadcaster Al-Jazeera very seriously. She said that anyone involved in corruption and fraud would face the full wrath of the law. The TV programmes use undercover reporters to reveal what they say are criminal networks linked to a subsidiary of Zimbabwe’s Central Bank, smuggling gold to Dubai. Gold has become the country’s biggest export.
DONALD Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to criminal charges stemming from hush-money paid to a porn star before the 2016 election, at a historic court hearing in New York. The 76-year-old Republican former president faces dozens of counts in the case, which threatens to upend the 2024 White House race. Trump turned himself in earlier for the court hearing held amid tight security and a global media frenzy, as the Republican billionaire becomes the first American president in history to face criminal charges. In a spectacle playing out on live television — with rival protesters rallying outside — the hearing…
THE Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Awwal Gambo, has approved appointments of senior officers comprising Rear Admirals and Commodores as part of the routine reorganisation in the service. The Director of Information, Nigerian Navy, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, made this known in a statement on Monday in Abuja. Ayo-Vaughan said the new appointments resulted from the promotion of 128 senior officers in December 2022, mainly 52 rear admirals and 76 commodores. He said the new appointments saw Rear Adm. Garba Abubakar being reappointed as the Nigerian Navy Delegate to the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile,…
FIFA said on Monday it had withdrawn the 2023 under-17 World Cup from Peru “given the inability of the host country to fulfil its commitments to completing the infrastructure required”. The governing body of world football said the 24-team competition would still be staged on the planned dates, November 10-December 2 and it “will now designate a new host in due course”. The biennial competition was due to be held in Peru in 2021 but was cancelled because of the Covid pandemic. Brazil won as hosts in 2019. FIFA said in its statement that “despite a very positive working relationship”…
NOVAK Djokovic returned to number one spot in ATP rankings published Monday despite missing US tournaments last month because of his lack of a Covid vaccination. Carlos Alcaraz had taken the top ranking from Djokovic after victory in Indian Wells, but the Spaniard bowed out of the semi-finals of the Miami Open on Friday to allow the Serb back for a record 380th week as No.1. Djokovic has a 380-point lead over Alcaraz, with Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in third, more than 1,000pts behind the leading duo. ATP rankings as of April 3 1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 7,160 pts (+1) 2.…
THE Chinese balloon that flew over the US earlier this year managed to gather intelligence from military bases for days before it was shot down, US media report. The balloon was able to transmit data to Beijing in real time, NBC News reported, citing US officials. The craft picked up electronic signals rather than taking pictures, according to one official quoted by the network. The White House didn’t confirm the report. But US officials say they managed to limit the balloon’s intelligence-gathering abilities as it floated over the country. On Monday, a defence department spokesperson said that the FBI was…
ABOUT 30 people have been injured – some seriously – after a passenger train derailed in the western Netherlands, officials say. Emergency services say the overnight crash happened after the train transporting about 50 people hit construction equipment near the village of Voorschoten. Earlier reports had said this followed a collision with a freight train. Rescuers and medics are now working on the scene, helping the injured. The crash happened at about 03:25 local time (01:25 GMT) on Tuesday. Pictures from the scene showed overturned carriages, and a plume of smoke rising in the night sky. Several ambulances were seen…
RWANDA’s Paul Kagame retained the chairmanship position. Consolee Uwimana was elected by 1,945 votes – about 93% of the votes cast. Observers say promoting her is the party’s way of giving more power to women and keeping the ethnicity quota balanced in its top leadership. Ms Uwimana is a veteran banker and businesswoman who served as a senator until 2019. Rwanda’s next general elections is scheduled for 2024. President Kagame has been president of the East African nation since 2000. A controversial referendum in 2015 removed a two-term constitutional limit for presidents. On Sunday, Mr Kagame got 99.8% of the…
A KENYAN family on Sunday handed over a passport belonging to South Sudan President Salva Kiir, which got lost in a 1993 plane crash. The travel document along with those belonging to other passengers who were on board the plane that crashed in Kenya’s north-western Baringo County, had been safely kept by the family for 30 years. The family in Sawmill village had also collected President Kiir’s armlets from the scene of the accident. South Sudan Presidential Affairs Minister Barnaba Benjamin led a delegation that received Mr Kiir’s travel documents and armlets at a ceremony attended by villagers. At the…
DONALD Trump left Florida on Monday for New York where he will surrender to criminal charges, taking the United States into uncharted and potentially volatile territory. The 76-year-old Republican, the first American president ever to be criminally indicted, will be formally charged Tuesday over hush money paid to a porn star during the 2016 election campaign. Dozens of people, many waving pro-Trump banners and American flags, lined the route as Trump’s motorcade raced from his Florida mansion to the airport where he boarded his private Boeing 757 emblazoned with his name on the fuselage. Trump was seen waving to the…
KANO State Executive Council has approved the appointment of Oba Dr. Senator Moshood Olalekan Ishola Balogun Aliiwo and Prof. Attahiru Jega, former Vice Chancellor and INEC chairman as Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of the Governing Council of the state owned Sa’adatu Rimi University of Education, Kumbotso, respectively. This followed the receipt of operational license from the National Universities Commission (NUC), which recognized the institution as the 61st state university and 222nd university in the Nigerian university system. The state commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Malam Muhammad Garba, who announced this after the council’s meeting held at the Council Chambers, Government…
AC Milan hammered runaway Serie A leaders Napoli 4-0 on Sunday in an incredible performance which slammed the brakes on their opponents’ charge to a first league title in over three decades. Rafael Leao outshone Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the battle of the wing wizards with a brilliant brace while Brahim Diaz and Alexis Saelemaekers netted the other goals for the rampant defending champions who move up to third. The biggest win of the Serie A season for Stefano Pioli’s side was also a third league defeat for Napoli, whose huge lead at the top of the table has been cut…
PARIS Saint-Germain suffered a second home defeat in a row Sunday, falling 1-0 to Lyon as they saw their lead at the top of Ligue 1 cut to six points. After losing 2-0 at home to Rennes two weeks ago, it was Lyon’s Bradley Barcola who inflicted the latest loss for PSG at the Parc des Princes. The goal by Barcola — who had come on as replacement for injured Amin Sarr — made up for a missed penalty by Alexandre Lacazette in the first half. It is the Parisians’ fifth Ligue 1 loss this season, all of them in…
FINNISH conservative leader Petteri Orpo has won a nail-biting three-way election race, defeating Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s centre left. “We got the biggest mandate,” said the leader of the National Coalition Party, after a dramatic night in which the result gradually swung away from Ms Marin’s Social Democrats. Mr Orpo secured 20.8% of the vote, ahead of the right-wing populist Finns Party and the centre left. The populists won a record 20.1%. It is a bitter defeat for Ms Marin, who increased her party’s seats and secured 19.9% of the vote. She continues to enjoy high poll ratings and has…
FORMER US president Donald Trump is “gearing up for a battle” ahead of his scheduled court hearing on Tuesday, his lawyer has said. Mr Trump is expected to fly to New York City from his Mar-a-Lago home on Monday to face charges related to hush money payments made to a porn star. He then plans to return to Florida following his court hearing, where he will address his supporters. Mr Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing. His lawyer, Joe Tacopina, promised that any charges against the former president will be fought vigorously. “He’s someone who’s going to be ready…
BURKINA Faso has expelled journalists from two leading French newspapers, in the latest move against France by Burkina Faso’s military junta. Sophie Douce of Le Monde and Agnès Faivre of Libération arrived in Paris after being given 24 hours to leave. The expulsions follow the publication of a Libération investigation into a video which showed children being executed in military barracks. The authorities described it as manipulation disguised as journalism. The two newspapers condemned the expulsions as a major setback for press freedom in the former French colony. Douce said plain-clothed security officers had visited her house on Saturday and…
SUELLA Braverman has insisted Rwanda is a safe country for migrants, despite evidence that 12 Congolese refugees were shot dead by police there in 2018. When asked on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme about the shootings, the home secretary said she was “not familiar” with the case. The government plans to send some migrants to Rwanda if they arrive in the UK through illegal routes. The High Court has found Rwanda to be safe, Ms Braverman said. But she acknowledged the plans were still facing a legal challenge. She also refused to commit to a date for achieving…