Author: Editor

AT least 73 migrants are missing and presumed dead after their boat sank off the Libyan coast, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). Only seven people survived Tuesday’s shipwreck but are in “extremely dire conditions” in hospital. So far 11 bodies have been recovered by the Libyan Red Crescent and police. The boat was heading to Europe on a route the IOM has called “the world’s deadliest migratory sea crossing”. More than 130 people have already died this year making the dangerous journey over the Mediterranean Sea. The IOM added that more than 1,450 deaths were recorded…

THE United States will work to maintain lines of communication with China despite a rift over an alleged surveillance balloon, a top US diplomat said Wednesday. The United States and China have “never stopped communicating and trying to understand each other” despite the cancellation this month of a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said his deputy, Wendy Sherman. “We have, we are and we will maintain open lines of communication with the PRC so we can responsibly manage the competition between our countries,” Sherman said, using the acronym of the People’s Republic of China. “We do not see…

WORLD Bank chief David Malpass announced Wednesday he would step down by the end of June from his position heading the development lender. “After a good deal of thought, I’ve decided to pursue new challenges,” the 66-year-old was quoted as saying in a statement from the bank, having informed its board of his decision. “This is an opportunity for a smooth leadership transition as the Bank Group works to meet increasing global challenges,” Malpass added. His tenure at the World Bank, spanning four years, saw the group face global crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of…

POLICE in Lagos State have commenced an investigation into the death of Toyin Adeniji, one of the aides of prominent Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, Chief Dapo Sarumi. Adeniji, 47, was reportedly shot dead by suspected cultists in the Agege area of the State. It was gathered that the deceased was at the front of his house at Oyewole Road, Agege when the gunmen invaded the area and shot him at close range. Seven other persons, who were outside of the PDP chieftain’s house in Agege narrowly escaped death as the gunmen shot sporadically. Policemen from Area ‘G’’ Ogba have cordoned…

ANOTHER round of violent protests broke out on Wednesday in several states across the country, including Oyo, Delta, and Edo, over the scarcity of the new N200, N500, N1,000 notes and rejection of the old naira bills. The protests turned violent in Ibadan, Oyo State and Udu, near Warri, the commercial hub of Delta State. Ibadan There were demonstrations in different parts of Ibadan, such as Mokola, resulting in a gridlock along Eleyele/Eruwa road. Cars were turned back at some point while some schoolchildren were forced to return home as a result of the protest. Commercial activities were grounded as…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday morning, met with the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. According to senior presidency sources, the meeting, which was held at Buhari’s official residence, explains his 40-minute delay before arriving at the Council Chambers to chair this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting. Our source said, President Buhari arrived at the Council Chambers at around 10:40 am, about an hour after the usual time of 10:00 am. This comes four days after the APC held its campaign rally at Eagle Square, Abuja. Although the reasons for the…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, arrested one Salman Umar Hudu, a 38-year-old indigene of Kano, at a hotel in Abuja, for falsely representing himself as the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, and other officers of the commission. The suspect is said to have also obtained N100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) from a person he convinced that he can ‘handle’ any matter with the EFCC. According to an EFCC statement on Wednesday,  the suspect has giving useful information and will be charged to court upon conclusion of the investigation.

THE Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, on Tuesday in Abuja, alleged that persons under probe by the commission were orchestrating the call for his sack. Bawa said this at a news conference in reaction to what he termed as sponsored campaign of calumny against him by a Civil Society Organisation. The EFCC chairman, who spoke through the commission’s Spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said he would not be distracted by the antics of the group. According to him, the group has through press conferences and street protests called for his sack over alleged disobedience of court orders. He…

MORE than 40,000 people have been killed in the Turkey-Syria earthquake, but hope persisted as a 77-year-old man was rescued from rubble in Turkey’s Adiyaman, some 212 hours after the quake. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has acknowledged problems in the initial response to the 7.8 magnitude quake that struck early on Feb. 6 but has said the situation is now under control. “We are facing one of the greatest natural disasters not only in our country but also in the history of humanity,” Erdogan said in a televised speech in Ankara. The search for survivors was about to end in…

HUNGARY’S economy entered recession in 2022 according to official data published Tuesday, as soaring energy prices drove inflation higher. Hungarian GDP shrank by 0.4 per cent in the last three months of 2022, after a fall of 0.7 per cent during the third quarter, said the national statistics office KSH. Hungary’s last technical recession — defined as at least two successive quarters of contraction — occurred in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic hit the economy. The latest recession comes as Hungary reels from soaring inflation which reached an EU-high of almost 26 percent in January, the highest in the central…

MIKEL Arteta will “only be satisfied” if his Arsenal side are given two points back for the VAR error that allowed Brentford’s equaliser to stand in Saturday’s Premier League match. Referees’ body PGMOL has apologised to Arsenal after “human error” was to blame for the incorrect VAR decision. VAR operator Lee Mason did not draw the guidelines to check for offside on Ivan Toney’s equaliser. “It wasn’t human error, it was not understanding your job,” said Arteta. “That’s not acceptable, I’m sorry. “It cost Arsenal two points that are not going to be restored so we are going to have…

PSG 0 vs Bayern Munich 1 KINGSLEY Coman repeated his 2020 Champions League final heroics as Bayern Munich beat Paris St-Germain in their last-16 first-leg tie. The Frenchman volleyed home the winner early in the second half in Paris. Coman also scored the only goal when Bayern overcame his former club PSG to win the trophy three years ago. Substitute Kylian Mbappe, back after injury, looked to have rescued a draw for the hosts, but his late effort was ruled out for offside in the build-up. Ligue 1 champions PSG have now lost their last three matches in all competitions.…

MANCHESTER City manager Pep Guardiola has apologised to Steven Gerrard for comments he made about the ex-Liverpool captain’s slip against Chelsea. Defending City over alleged financial rule breaches, Guardiola referenced Gerrard’s mishap when the Reds lost 2-0 to Chelsea late in the 2013-14 season. Liverpool went on to narrowly miss out on the Premier League title to City. “I apologise to Steven Gerrard for my unnecessary and stupid comments,” said Guardiola. “He knows how I admire him and his career and what he has done for this country I am living and training in.” The infamous slip by Gerrard, who…

SAUDI Arabia has been chosen to host the Fifa Club World Cup for the first time, from 12-22 December. The announcement comes three days after Real Madrid lifted the trophy in Morocco, following a thrilling 5-3 win over Al-Hilal, the first Saudi club to reach the final of the tournament. Saudi will be only the sixth host since the competition’s inception in 2000. The country’s sports minister said hosting the tournament signalled “our desire to be a force for good”. Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sporting events in recent years, but has been accused of using events to ‘sportswash’…

FORMER US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced Tuesday she is running for president in 2024, challenging fellow Republican candidate Donald Trump by proposing a “new generation” of leadership in Washington. “I’m Nikki Haley and I’m running for president,” the 51-year-old former governor of South Carolina and the child of Indian immigrants said in a video statement. “It’s time for a new generation of leadership — to rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our border, and strengthen our country, our pride and our purpose,” she said in the video shot in Bamberg, the South Carolina town of her birth. Casting…

THE United Nations launched an appeal for $397 million on Tuesday to help earthquake victims in Syria, where the disaster has killed thousands of people and left millions more in desperate need of aid. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, announcing the appeal at the UN headquarters in New York, said the funds would bring “life-saving relief” for nearly five million Syrians and would cover a period of three months. He added that the world body was in the “final stages” of a similar appeal for Turkey. “One week after the devastating earthquakes, millions of people across the region are struggling for survival,…

A CRASH between an armoured truck and a bus has killed 20 people and injured another 60 in South Africa’s northern province of Limpopo, the reginal transport department said on Tuesday. “Twenty people were tragically killed in an accident, where a cash-in-transit truck lost control and collided head-on with an oncoming bus” on a highway on Monday, the department said in a statement. Ten of the injured were in serious condition and have been transported to hospital. Police divers were searching a river that runs along the highway “for people who might have been swept away.” The cause of the…

EIGHT people were killed after a ferry and a motorised canoe collided on Lake Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), local officials said Tuesday. Four men and four women aboard the canoe died in the accident, which occurred on Saturday in the port of Bukavu, the transport minister of South Kivu province, Mathieu Alimasi Malumni, told AFP. The canoe was leaving for Idjwi, an island in the middle of the large volcanic lake, when it collided with the Emmanuel 3, a ferry that shuttles between Bukavu and Goma, the capital of the neighbouring North Kivu province. Alimasi said…

THE Katsina State Government on Monday withdrew the misappropriation of the N11bn case against former Governor Ibrahim Shema. The Director of Public Prosecution of the State Ministry of Justice Malam Abdulrahman Umar disclosed this in a press briefing on Monday. This is coming seven years after the state government under the leadership of Governor Aminu Masari and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) dragged Shema and three others to court over the alleged misappropriation of the state Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) fund. The anti-graft agency had hitherto filed 24-count charges bordering on the criminal breach of…

THE Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 216 diphtheria cases from Kano, Yobe, Lagos, and Osun states. This is even as the death toll has hit 40 in the country. The NCDC also said the suspected cases in the country are now 523 from five states – Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Lagos, and Osun states. The Lead of the Diphtheria/Pertussis Technical Working Group in the NCDC, Dr Bola Lawal revealed this at a webinar titled ‘Diphtheria Outbreak in Nigeria: A Case of Re-Emergence or Improved Surveillance,’ monitored by our correspondent on Monday. Diphtheria is a serious bacterial infection…