Author: Editor

IN the bustling heart of Cairo, coffee shops teem with Gazans who managed to flee at the start of Israel’s devastating war on Hamas. Although they have found safety, they remain worried about loved ones back home. In the past few days here, Egyptian intelligence officials have been meeting Hamas leaders to shore up the shaky ceasefire. Tens of millions of Egyptians – tuning into the constant news updates – already feel their country’s intimate involvement in the war in Gaza. But now – with President Trump’s surprise post-war vision, which proposes displacing two million Palestinians to “a parcel of…

THE Head of Financial Crime of cryptocurrency firm, Binance, Tigran Gambaryan, has named the Nigerian lawmakers who allegedly demanded a $150 million bribe from him. Gambaryan was freed in October 2024 after the Federal Government dropped charges of money laundering against his firm. He had been detained for months and was released following an intervention from the US government. While in detention, Gambaryan had accused some lawmakers of demanding bribe from him to stave off his arrest and prosecution. In a statement on X on Friday, Gambaryan named the lawmakers as the Deputy Spokesperson for the House of Assembly, Philip…

NO alcohol will be allowed at the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia, says the country’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. In an interview on LBC, Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud said alcohol would not be sold anywhere during the tournament, including hotels. FIFA confirmed Saudi Arabia would host the men’s World Cup in 2034. “At the moment, we don’t allow alcohol,” Prince Khalid told LBC. “Plenty of fun can be had without alcohol – it’s not 100% necessary and if you want to drink after you leave, you’re welcome to, but at the moment we don’t have alcohol.”…

ISRAEL’s continuing deadly raids in Jenin have killed at least 25 Palestinians and displaced nearly 20,000 this year, the camp’s media committee said. On Thursday, it said that the Israeli army has also prevented water from reaching four main hospitals in the region and said that 35 percent of Jenin city’s residents have also been deprived of water. Since a ceasefire in Gaza was announced last month, Israel has increased the frequency and intensity of its attacks in Jenin and across the occupied West Bank, leaving behind widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis. On Thursday, the Israeli army launched an…

A UNITED States general has announced there are currently about 5,000 active-duty soldiers along the country’s southern border with Mexico, as part of President Donald Trump’s overall push to crack down on immigration. General Gregory Guillot, the head of US Northern Command, told lawmakers on Thursday he expects that number could increase further. He also revealed that the military has heightened its activities in the domain of cross-border intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Drug cartels were the primary target. “We have also increased some uniquely military capabilities that will get after … the cartels, which are driving the illegal migration,”…

A KENYAN court on Thursday sentenced a former county governor to 12 years in prison for corruption, alongside his wife and three others. Ferdinand Waititu, former governor of the major county of Kiambu, is one of the most high-profile officials to be convicted under the government’s anti-corruption drive. The court in Nairobi found him guilty of fraud and conflict of interest, the state prosecution service said in a statement. Prosecutors had accused him of corruption in the awarding of road-building contracts worth 588 million Kenyan shillings ($4.5 million), according to media reports. In his ruling, Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzioki ordered…

LIBERIAN President Joseph Boakai has suspended more than 450 top government officials, including ministers, for failing to declare their assets to the anti-corruption agency. They will be off work without pay for a month or “until they submit the required declarations”, according to the presidency. Boakai said that the officials had contravened the code of conduct for state officials by not being transparent about what they own. The president, who had pledged to fight corruption when he came into office last year, said failure to comply undermined efforts to combat corruption and ensure accountability. Among those suspended include the ministers…

SUPER Eagles coach Eric Chelle said he is banking on legends like Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, and others to help motivate his players in their 2026 World Cup Group C qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe. The Super Eagles need to win both games to bounce back to the reckoning in the six-team group where they are placed fifth with just three points from four matches. Chelle has been meeting up with the players in Europe priming them for the battles ahead. According to mainlandmetro.co.ng, Chelle is optimistic of having the cooperation of the likes of Okocha and Kanu…

SIX months into his role as Bayern Munich manager, Vincent Kompany’s side are eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and on course to regain the title they relinquished to Bayer Leverkusen last season. The 38-year-old coach was brought in after Bayern ended the 2023-24 season 18 points off the top spot in third under Thomas Tuchel – their worst league finish since 2010-11. Kompany became the Bundesliga’s first black manager and only the second black manager in any of Germany’s professional football leagues. However, he is not the first in his family to make history as a…

THE Israeli army issued a forced evacuation threat for Nur Shams refugee camp as it continues its deadly operation across the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces “stormed” the camp’s al-Ayada neighbourhood on Wednesday, using loudspeakers at a mosque to tell residents to immediately leave the camp, which has been under Israeli siege since earlier this week, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. The report added that Israeli forces deployed at the entrances to the camp fired “live bullets and sound bombs” to sow panic among residents, with soldiers “assaulting young men” and “expelling the elderly without allowing them to take…

LUXEMBOURGER authorities seized almost a tonne of cocaine hidden in a stone crusher “of Colombian origin” in a record bust for the small European state, prosecutors said on Wednesday. Police detained two suspects after they discovered white powder worth up to 160 million euros ($165 million) inside the machine on Thursday last week. It took forensics police almost a week to extract “all the packages” stashed inside the crusher’s three rollers after the apparatus was taken to a safe location for dismantling. In total, authorities found “a little over 889 kilogrammes” of cocaine, the Grand Duchy’s public prosecutor’s office said.…

GHANA’s former finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta has been declared a fugitive by prosecutors over his alleged involvement in multiple corruption cases when he was in government. Ofori-Atta had left Ghana to evade investigations, and all necessary steps would be taken to bring him back, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyabeng said. Ofori-Atta has been accused of causing financial losses to the state, including over a controversial national cathedral, which remains a hole in the ground despite the alleged spending of $58m (£46.6m) of government money. Ofori-Atta has not commented on the allegations. According to Agyabeng, the ex-minister’s lawyers said he was out…

A PARAMILITARY force in Sudan has stormed the country’s largest displacement camp, looting and setting fire to the market and several homes, a local refugee group has said. The Zamzam camp in North Darfur has been hit by intense artillery shelling since late last year, but this is the first time the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been accused of sending in fighters. An eyewitness told the BBC the situation at the camp was “extremely catastrophic”, and there were many casualties. The nearby city of el-Fasher, one of the centres of the civil war that erupted in 2023, is already…

REAL Madrid, on Tuesday, secured a dramatic 3-2 victory over Manchester City in the Champions League Knockout Round Play-offs, with Jude Bellingham netting a stoppage-time winner to seal the win at the Etihad Stadium. The home side took the lead in the 19th minute through Erling Haaland, who converted an assist from Joško Gvardiol to put City ahead. Pep Guardiola’s men maintained their advantage going into halftime, but Real Madrid responded strongly after the break. Grealish, who had made a fine start, then went off injured and after Haaland hit the bar shortly after the break, Real took control. In…

ISRAEL’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to resume the war on Gaza unless Hamas releases the captives held there by Saturday. The continuation of the ceasefire, which began on January 19, has been called into question after Hamas officials said Israel has violated key provisions of the agreement, prompting it to call off the release of three more captives on Saturday. “If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon [10:00 GMT], the ceasefire will end, and the [Israeli army] will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated,” Netanyahu said in a post on X. Hamas…

CANADIAN Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday that his country will resist any US tariffs on steel, announced by President Donald Trump, that he said would hit the US’s “closest ally”. Such tariffs would be “entirely unjustified” and “Canadians will resist strongly and firmly if necessary”, he said during a conference on artificial intelligence(AI) in Paris. “Our response will of course be firm and clear,” Trudeau told AFP, after Trump said last month that the US would impose tariffs on steel from Canada, which is among the biggest steel importers to the United States. “We are the US’s closest…

THE Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have attacked Congolese government forces in the South Kivu province, breaking a two-day lull in fighting. Heavy shelling began on Tuesday morning, three days after a summit of East and Southern African leaders called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. The rebels have seized vast swathes of land in the eastern DR Congo, including the major city of Goma. They are now pushing towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu – another key city in the region. Around 2,900 people have been killed since early January as a result of the hostilities, the latest UN figures…

SOUTH Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has sacked two of his vice-presidents, the country’s spy chief and other senior officials. The dismissals were announced in a series of presidential decrees read on the state broadcaster. No reasons were given for the move. South Sudan has five vice-presidents as part of a 2018 peace agreement to end a civil war. The oil-rich nation became the world’s newest country in 2011 after seceding from Sudan – but it was then engulfed by civil war after Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar fell out. The 2018 power-sharing agreement has been fraught with problems. One…

REAL Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has defended his club’s decision to boycott last year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony. The Spanish giants stayed away from October’s prestigious ceremony in Paris because they felt Vinicius Jr deserved the award, not Manchester City midfielder Rodri. Real’s move was widely criticised, with those against believing it was petty and showed a lack of respect. In addition, it cost Ancelotti the chance to collect his award in person after being named coach of the year. Yet, before Tuesday’s Champions League play-off clash with City at Etihad Stadium, the 65-year-old former Chelsea, Juventus and AC Milan coach…

HAMAS will delay the release of more Israeli captives planned for Saturday “until further notice”, due to Israeli violations of the ceasefire in Gaza, the Palestinian group has. Abu Obeida, the spokesperson of Hamas’s armed wing – the Qassam Brigades, said in a statement on Monday that the captives will “remain in place until the occupying entity complies with past obligations and compensates retroactively”. Israel and Hamas are in the middle of a six-week ceasefire during which Hamas is releasing dozens of the captives taken during its October 7, 2023, attack in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Abu Obeida…