SAUDI Arabia has executed a Jordanian man whose family say he was tortured into confessing to drugs charges. Hussein Abu al-Khair, 57, had eight children and was a driver for a wealthy Saudi. He was arrested in 2014 while crossing the border from Jordan into Saudi Arabia, accused of smuggling amphetamines. He was later sentenced to death, after a trial criticised by Amnesty International as “grossly unfair”. His sister, Zeinab Abul Al-Khair, said he had told her from jail that he had been strung up by his feet and beaten. “He never imagined a forced confession would be allowed in…
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THOUSANDS of demonstrators staged fresh protests in Greece on Sunday as anger grows over the country’s deadliest rail crash, ratcheting up pressure on the government over the tragedy. Protesters flooded Athens’ Syntagma Square in front of parliament, waving banners that read “We won’t forget, we won’t forgive” and “We will become the voice of all the dead”. Fifty-seven people, many of them students, were killed when a passenger train and freight train collided head-on in central Greece on February 28. Four railway officials have been charged but public anger has focused on long-running mismanagement of the network, and the country…
SUSPECTED rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces have killed at least 17 people in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo – the second mass killings in less than a week. They also set fire to buildings during the dawn raid on Kirindera in North Kivu province. On Wednesday, 45 people were killed during a raid on two villages by the same rebels – who are said to have links to the Islamic State group. Peace talks have been tried, but the international response to the crisis in eastern DR Congo is to send in more soldiers. The Ugandan army has…
ABOUT 30 migrants were missing and presumed drowned after the overcrowded boat they were on capsized during a rescue attempt by a cargo ship off Libya’s coast, Italy’s coastguard said. Seventeen migrants were saved and a search was underway for the missing after the early-morning attempted rescue in a search-and-rescue zone under the jurisdiction of Libya, the coastguard said. “During the rescue operations… the boat capsized during the transfer of the migrants: 17 people were rescued and recovered by the (cargo) vessel while approximately 30 migrants were missing,” said the coastguard. The latest disaster in the Mediterranean comes exactly two…
THE Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, has handed over 11 victims of human trafficking to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP Sokoto. The service spokesman, Tony Akuneme, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja. Mr Akuneme, a controller of corrections, said that the victims were repatriated back to Nigeria by the Niger Republic Police and handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service at the Illela Border Command. According to him, the Comptroller of Immigration, Illela Border Command, Ado Rano-Sabo revealed this on Friday March 10 while handing the victims over to the Zonal Commandant…
THE Dangote Articulated Truck Driving School has graduated 50 trainees who have passed through a specially designed and rigorous educational curriculum. The articulated truck driving school at Obajana in Kogi State is Nigeria’s first and only accredited truck driving academy. The school was commissioned last year by the former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Dr. Boboye Olayemi Oyeyemi, who described it as a significant step towards taming the menace of auto crashes involving articulated trucks in Nigeria. Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the Divisional Director Transport (DDT), Mr. Ajay Singh, said the new Batch C graduates…
THE remains of the late Senate President in the Second Republic between 1979 and 1983, Senator Joseph Wayas, have yet to be buried 14 months after death. News Point Nigeria reports that Wayas died in December 2021. Following the demise, the Cross River State Governor, Prof Ben Ayade, inaugurated a funeral committee immediately to plan for his burial. The committee was chaired by a two-time Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Kanu Agabi. However, after over a year, the late Wayas has yet to be laid to rest as family sources said there was no finance to attend…
FOLLOWING their triumphs in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, the Beach Soccer AFCON and the African Nations Championships in Algeria, Senegal have now added the U-20 AFCON title to their glittering trophy collection. The Teranga Cubs of Senegal defeated the Young Scorpions of Gambia 2-0 at the Cairo International Stadium Saturday. Goals from Soulayemane Faye and Mamadou Camara in either half were enough to give the Cubs their first-ever title on four attempts. They now become the first African country to simultaneously hold the continent’s most prestigious prizes. It will be noted that Senegal have played in three consecutive…
REAL Madrid secured their first La Liga win in three matches as they came from behind to beat Espanyol. Espanyol started positively as Joselu put the Catalan strugglers ahead after eight minutes. But goals from Vinicius Jr and Eder Militao turned Real’s fortunes around, and they saw out victory with a late Marco Asensio strike. Real, who are six points off the top with an extra game played, face leaders Barcelona in El Clasico next weekend. Carlo Ancelotti’s usage of Eduardo Camavinga as a makeshift left-back proved unwise as he was beaten on the wing by Ruben Sanchez, who provided…
NAPOLI bounced back from last weekend’s loss to Lazio to continue their apparent cruise towards the Serie A title with victory over Atalanta. Luciano Spalletti’s side were kept quiet in the first half by an Atalanta side who defended in numbers. But second-half goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Amir Rrahmani secured their 22nd league win of the season. Napoli are now 18 points clear at the top of the table with 12 league games left. Atalanta sit in sixth. Victor Osimhen, Serie A’s top scorer with 19 goals, twice came close to an opener after the break but saw a…
HUNDREDS of thousands of Israelis have taken part in what some are calling the biggest protest in the country’s history. Protests against government plans for a radical overhaul of the judicial system have been running for 10 weeks. Record numbers of demonstrators turned out in cities such as Haifa, while about 200,000 are believed to have taken to the streets in Tel Aviv. Critics say the reforms will undermine democracy. But Benjamin Netanyahu’s government says planned changes are better for the electorate. Organisers said as many as 500,000 pro-democracy protesters took to the streets nationwide on Saturday, in what the…
A BABY given less than a 10% chance of surviving when she was born at 22 weeks has beaten the odds and is thriving, her parents have said. Imogen weighed 515g (1lb 1oz) when she was born at Swansea’s Singleton Hospital on 6 September. Now, after 132 days in hospital, the six-month-old is back home in Bridgend. Her mother Rachel Stonehouse, 28, said: “Imogen has gone through so much and more than we will ever go through in our lifetime and she smashed it.” The world’s most premature surviving baby is thought to be Curtis Zy-Keith Means from the USA,…
POPULAR South African artiste, Costa Tsobanoglou, professionally known as Costa Titch, has passed on. The ‘Big Flexa’ rapper reportedly died while thrilling fans at the Ultra Music Festival held in Johannesburg on Saturday. In videos making rounds on the internet, the singer fell down during the performance, but continued singing after he was picked up by his bodyguard. He however slumped a second time and had to be carried off stage. South African media personality, Phil Mphela, confirmed the news via Twitter late night on Saturday. Mphela wrote in his tweet, “RIP: Costa Titch. Nelspruit-born artist and dancer, real name…
ANGOLA said on Saturday it will send a military unit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, after a ceasefire it brokered between rebel militiamen and government troops collapsed. The DR Congo’s restive east has witnessed a flare up in violence since a militia called M23 took up arms again in late 2021, going on to capture swathes of territory. Angola has played a mediator role in the conflict, but the latest ceasefire it negotiated collapsed on Tuesday on the same day it was due to take effect. On Saturday, the country’s presidency said that it “will send a unit” of…
ONE of the leading contenders for the senate presidency, Senator Jibrin Barau of the All Progressives Congress has hosted over 70 senators-elect to solicit their support ahead of the inauguration of the 10th parliament that will usher the leadership of the upper chamber. Barau, who is a third-timer at the red chamber currently representing Kano North Senatorial District. Although he is yet to publicly declare his interest to run for the coveted seat, he has deployed his foot soldiers to meet key stakeholders, including ranking federal lawmakers. He currently chairs the Senate Committee on Appropriations. It was gathered that over…
GOVERNOR Babagana Zulum of Borno has visited families of the 30 fishermen killed on Wednesday by terrorists at Mukdolo village, Ngala Local Government Area (LGA) of the state. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the affected fishermen from Dikwa LGA had gone fishing in the village, but were ambushed and killed by terrorists. A statement from the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Mallam Isa Gusau on Saturday, said Zulum met with the bereaved families at the palace of the Emir of Dikwa, Alhaji Ibrahim Ibn Ibrahim-Elkanemi. “On behalf of the government and people of…
WAKILI Kabiru-Muhammad, Nasarawa West Senatorial candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the Feb. 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections have dragged INEC to the election tribunal over the omission of the party’s logo. Speaking to newsmen shortly after filing his petition on Saturday in Lafia, Kabiru-Muhammad said the logo of his party was not clearly captured on the ballot papers by INEC. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC and Ahmed Aliyu-Wadada of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the winner of the election are the first and second defendants in the case respectively. He alleged…
AN ABUJA-BASED middle-aged man, who identified himself as Mustapha, has narrated how he uncovered a heap of Independent National Electoral Commission’s sensitive materials, comprising results and declaration sheets. Mustapha, who appeared in a viral video obtained by our correspondent, displayed some yet-to-be-filled sensitive materials littered close to the refuse site, around Jikwoyi area in Karu Amac municipality of the Federal Capital Territory. Our correspondent reports that from the empty declaration of result sheet sighted, no fewer than seven candidates with seven political parties, which include Dogo Bukar, Action Alliance; Nijhu Jonathan, African Democratic Congress; Golkos Gaius All Progressives Congress; Abubakar…
SPANISH prosecutors on Friday charged Barcelona with corruption over payments the club made to a former vice president of Spain’s referees’ committee through a company owned by him. According to the prosecution, the Catalan club paid a total of more than 7.3 million euros to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, former referee and ex-vice president of the refereeing committee of the Spanish football federation between 1994 and 2018. Two of the club’s former presidents, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, as well as Enriquez Negreira are facing the same charge, originating from the Barcelona prosecutor’s office. Enriquez Negreira was allegedly paid…
US hedge fund Elliott Investment Management has made it through to the second stage of the bidding process in the potential sale of Manchester United. Representatives from the company are understood to have been at Old Trafford on Thursday to watch the team’s 4-1 win against Real Betis in the Europa League. The BBC and Sky Sports said the US firm’s proposal was to offer financing to interested parties, including current owners the Glazers if they decide to remain at the club, rather than seeking to buy the Premier League giants outright. Elliott previously owned AC Milan before the Italian…