CHINA’s President Xi Jinping says the killers of nine Chinese goldmine workers in the Central African Republic (CAR) must be “severely” punished. Two Chinese workers were also wounded when gunmen stormed a mining site near the central town of Bambari on Sunday. The local mayor blamed a rebel group for the killings. But the rebels said Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group were behind the attack. The Wagner group has not yet commented on the claim. Its fighters are widely reported to have been deployed to mineral-rich CAR to help government forces defeat the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC),…
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KENYAN police have tear-gassed opposition leader Raila Odinga’s convoy in the capital, Nairobi, as he spearheaded the biggest protest against President William Ruto’s government since it took office. The protests have also spread to other cities, with a university student reportedly shot dead in Kisumu. Mr Odinga accuses the government of being “illegitimate”, and of failing to tackle the high cost of living. Mr Ruto has rejected the claims. Kenya’s highest court upheld his victory in last year’s election, but Mr Odinga insists that the election was “stolen”. He has been driving through Nairobi’s residential suburbs to rally his supporters…
KANO state government has lifted the dawn to dusk curfew imposed in the state with a view to avoid breakdown of law and order following tensions generated from the announcement of the results of the governorship and state Assembly elections. The state commissioner for information and internal affairs, Malam Muhammad Garba, made the announcement lifting the curfew in a statement issued Monday night . He said the decision to lift the curfew was after careful review of the situation and the relative calm throughout the state. The commissioner called on commercial banks , public servants and the people in the…
GUBERNATORIAL candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasir Gawuna, is now leading his New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) rival in Kano State, Abba Kabiru Yusuf. Yusuf was ahead in the results so far declared but Gawuna bounced back and secured a marginal lead. So far, 14 Local Government Areas have been declared at the state collation center. The LGAs are Rano, Rogo, Makoda, Kunchi, Wudil, Karaye, Tsanyawa, Minjibir, Gabasawa, Ajingi, Bagwai, Kabo, Shanini and Albasu. The APC has so far polled 237,146 votes while NNPP has 235,956 votes, leaving a margin of 1,190. Below are details: Below are details:…
AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic became the oldest scorer in Serie A history, although his side lost 3-1 to Udinese. Ibrahimovic, 41, scored a retaken penalty at the end of the first half after his first effort had been saved by home goalkeeper Marco Silvestri. It was the Swede’s first goal since returning from a serious knee injury. But Udinese scored through Roberto Pereyra’s low shot, a goal from Beto in first half injury-time before Kingsley Ehizibue added a third on 70 minutes. Ibrahimovic helped Milan win the Serie A title last season before needing surgery in the summer on an…
ERLING Haaland scored his second hat-trick in five days as Manchester City cruised into the FA Cup semi-finals by hammering Championship leaders Burnley at Etihad Stadium. Haaland followed his five-goal haul against RB Leipzig in the Champions League by claiming another three to take his tally for the season to 42. He is just two short of the record held by Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mohamed Salah for most goals in a season for an English top-flight club during the Premier League era. Julian Alvarez added two goals and substitute Cole Palmer also scored on a sobering night for former…
FORMER US President Donald Trump said he expects to be “arrested” Tuesday over an alleged hush-money payment to a porn star in 2016 and he urged his supporters to protest, as prosecutors gave signs of moving closer to an indictment. “Leading Republican candidate & former President of the United States of America will be arrested on Tuesday of next week,” the 76-year-old billionaire said Saturday on his Truth Social platform, adding: “Protest, take our nation back!” An indictment would make Trump the first former US president to be charged with a crime, marking an explosive and unpredictable development in the…
AT least 12 people have died after a powerful earthquake struck the southern coast of Ecuador. Buildings have been damaged in several cities following the 6.7 magnitude quake, which hit at around midday local time (17:00 GMT). The southern province of El Oro was the worst affected, where emergency services have reported people remain trapped inside collapsed houses. Eleven deaths were in El Oro and one in Azuay province, authorities said. Machala and Cuenca were among the cities that suffered damage to buildings and vehicles, as emergency services rushed to help people. The epicentre was near Balao, about 50 miles…
A LARGE crowd gathered around the open sides of the makeshift courtroom in the village of Kamanyola in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in early March to watch the culmination of a trial of 15 military officers for the rape of minors. They watched in silence, some craning to see better, as a soldier stripped the epaulettes off a colonel whom a judge had just ordered be dishonourably discharged from the army and sentenced to seven years in prison for raping a local 14-year-old girl last September. “The fact that a very high-ranking officer has been sentenced…
THE United Kingdom’s interior minister, Suella Braverman, has arrived in Rwanda to discuss an agreement in which the UK will relocate undocumented refugees and migrants there as she doubles down on a plan that has been mired in legal challenges and controversy. Last year, the UK agreed to send tens of thousands of people more than 4,000 miles (6,400km) away to Rwanda as part of a 120-million-pound ($146m) deal. No flights have taken off yet because opponents are challenging the policy in the courts. The deal with Rwanda is a major part of Britain’s plans to detain and deport asylum…
OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), have arrested 10 people suspected of vote buying with N1.9 million cash in Gombe State. The EFCC Kano Zonal Commander, Farul Dogondaji, who is currently in Gombe State for election assignment, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that the suspects were arrested in Gombe, Akko, Nafada and Kwami Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state. He said that 10 suspects were apprehended with 43 wrappers trying to induce eligible voters in the affected LGAs. He said that all the suspects were arrested while attempting to share…
RIVERS State Governor, Nyesom Wike has rated the conduct of the Governorship and State Assembly elections in Rivers State as peaceful. Wike also said there is an improvement in the conduct of today’s election compared to the Presidential and National Assembly polls, three weeks ago Unlike in the Presidential election where the governor experienced a delay in the accreditation process, today’s screening was easy and fast. Speaking just after casting his ballot at his polling unit 7 in Ward 9 in Rumuepirikom community in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area, the governor was of the opinion that INEC showed that they were…
OFFICERS of the Nigerian Army have allegedly arrested unspecified number of political thugs in the university town of Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Saturday morning. Though, some media reports put the number of those arrested at 140, a high-ranking police officer who pleaded for anonymity said the thugs arrested by soldiers were only five in number. This is even as the chairman of Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Walter Ozioko, who was accused of hiring the said thugs distanced himself from the incident. Ozioko, said he had no need to hire hoodlums since his party, the…
CRISTIANO Ronaldo has been picked in Portugal’s squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Luxembourg this month. There were question marks about the 38-year-old forward’s international future following the 2022 World Cup. He left the pitch in tears after Portugal were eliminated by Morocco at the quarter-final stage. Roberto Martinez has since replaced Fernando Santos as the team’s manager and picked Ronaldo in his first squad. Martinez said Ronaldo “is very important for the team” and “I do not look at the age”. Portugal host Liechtenstein on 23 March and are away to Luxembourg three days later. Ronaldo,…
HUNDREDS of people including Ghana’s president have paid their last respects to Christian Atsu, who died in last month’s earthquake in Turkey. He was honoured with a state funeral in the capital, Accra. “In life I love you darling, in death I’ll do the same,” read the tearful tribute from the footballer’s widow, Marie-Claire Rupio. She was overcome with emotion and handed her speech to Atsu’s sister to finish reading. “You did not go alone, for part of me went with you,” it continued. “Your smile, your love I see in our children’s smiles.” Representatives of Ghana’s national team and…
FORMER president Donald Trump wrote his first posts on his reinstated Facebook and YouTube accounts Friday, more than two years after he was banned over the US Capitol insurrection. “I’M BACK,” Trump said, alongside a 12-second video clip that appeared to show him giving his victory speech after winning the 2016 election, as he exclaimed: “Sorry to keep you waiting — complicated business.” The 76-year-old Republican leader — who is running for president again — has been unable to post any content for his 34 million Facebook followers and 2.6 million YouTube subscribers. The platforms benched Trump days after the…
THE International Criminal Court on Friday announced it had issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children. The Hague-based ICC said it had also issued a warrant against Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, on similar charges. Russia is not a member of the ICC. It was unclear how the ICC planned to enforce the warrant. “Today, pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued warrants of arrest for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova,” the…
SOUTH African police have said that the planned opposition protests on Monday are not a mere shutdown but an attempt to overthrow the government. The opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is organising nationwide marches to protest against the country’s power crisis and has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign. “This is an attempt to overthrow the government. This is not a shutdown, but it’s anarchy,” KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, said on Friday while briefing media on security plans to deal with threats posed by the protests. “The magnitude of threats differs from other planned shutdowns and…
VIOLET Frank’s two grandchildren serve as reminders of her missing daughter-in-law. It is feared her name will be added to those of more than 300 who died when Cyclone Freddy struck Malawi at the beginning of the week. The youngsters had gone to stay with Violet just days before and escaped the fate of their mother, who fell victim to the unforgiving power of a landslide. “She was with my son in their matrimonial home in Chilobwe. He stepped outside their home when he heard neighbours screaming and things falling with a loud bang outside their house,” Violet said. “Luckily,…
A NON-GOVERNMENTAL Organization (NGO), Heal, Nourish, and Empower on Thursday launched holistic humanitarian interventions for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Katsina State. The project, which is out to address psychological trauma and severe acute malnutrition among children of the IDPs, was also aimed at providing psychosocial support, mental healthcare, and enrollment in school. The convener of the project, Fatima Mamman Daura, while speaking during the flag-off of the special humanitarian intervention project by the Office of the Senate President through the National Productivity Centre (NPC) with MUSVEC, in partnership with GREENADO for empowerment training and support; NEEM Foundation for psychosocial…