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POPE Francis escaped two attempts on his life during his historic trip to Iraq in March 2021, according to excerpts from his forthcoming autobiography published Tuesday by Italian media. The pontiff’s Vatican security detail received an urgent warning from the British secret services, Francis wrote. “A woman packed with explosives, a young suicide bomber, was heading towards Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit,” he wrote in “Hope”, which goes on sale in over 80 countries in January. “And a van had also set off at great speed with the same intention,” he added, according to excerpts from…

DR CONGO on Tuesday filed a criminal case against European subsidiaries of tech giant Apple, accusing them of illegally using “blood minerals” in its supply chain. The Democratic Republic of the Congo alleges that Apple has bought contraband supplies from the country’s conflict-racked east and Rwanda, zones in which the materials are alleged to be mined illegally and then integrated into global supply chains before ending up in tech devices. Apple’s French and Belgian units also deployed deceptive commercial practices to persuade consumers that its supply chains were clean, according to a statement from lawyers representing the DRC. AFP has…

NAMIBIA’s state-owned telecoms company has fallen victim to what is known as a ransomware attack resulting in the leak of sensitive customer data, including reportedly information about top government officials. Telecom Namibia said the data had been released after it refused to engage with a group of hackers known as Hunters International. The company said that it is now investigating how such a massive breach of its system occurred. Outgoing President Nangolo Mbumba has condemned the cyberattack. He called for it be dealt with the “urgency it deserves”, adding that cybersecurity was a matter of national security, his spokesman Alfredo…

MARCUS Rashford has been marginalised and put up for sale by Manchester United as part of a cultural reboot deemed necessary to transform the club after standards were allowed to decline for more than a decade. Sir Jim Ratcliffe is intent there can be no passengers and is ready to cut his losses on Rashford if there are suitors in January. A willingness to take short-term pain in pursuit of long-term gain was also behind Dan Ashworth’s exit as sporting director after five months when United had paid £5m to bring him from Newcastle. Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were dropped…

SEVERAL countries have condemned Israel’s plan to expand settlements in Syria’s occupied Golan Heights after the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad by opposition fighters. Multiple Middle Eastern nations and Israel’s ally Germany on Monday denounced Israel’s decision to double the Israeli settler population in the illegally occupied Syrian territory. The criticism comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity in Syria after the ouster of al-Assad as the new caretaker government takes over. Israel approved the settlement expansion days after the Israeli military seized more Syrian territory after al-Assad’s fall. Syria has also been under intense Israeli bombardment with hundreds…

CHINA on Monday vowed to push for “healthy and stable” ties with South Korea after Seoul’s Constitutional Court launched proceedings against impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. The South Korean parliament suspended Yoon from office on Saturday over his short-lived attempt to suspend civilian rule, which plunged one of Asia’s biggest economies into its worst political turmoil in years. The Constitutional Court has around six months to determine whether to uphold the impeachment. “South Korea is China’s important close neighbour and friendly cooperative partner. Promoting the healthy and stable development of China-South Korea ties accords with the common interests of both…

THE Senegalese government said Saturday it will investigate dozens of deaths resulting from political violence between 2021 and 2024, despite an amnesty rushed through by the previous government. “To leave these deaths unpunished would send a bad signal,” Justice Minister Ousmane Diagne told members of parliament. “We assure you that all light will be shed.” “Responsibility will be established and those who instigated them will be held accountable,” he added. Bassirou Diomaye Faye was elected president of Senegal at the end of March after three years of unrest under his predecessor Macky Sall (2012-2024) that left dozens dead, according to…

ADEMOLA Lookman has been crowned the 2024 African Footballer of the Year in a historic event that confirms his status as one of the best players in the world in the current calendar year. The Super Eagles of Nigeria forward shook off competitions from South Africa’s Ronwen Williams, Cote d’Ivoire’s Simon Adingra, Achraf Hakimi of Morocco, and Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy to win the prize. His win means the award remains in Nigeria after teammate Victor Osimhen won it last year. The Atalanta of Italy player, who personally received the award in Marrakech, Morocco on Monday night, described it something…

To Establish Trust Fund, Bank For Poverty Alleviation IN its determination to face and address  humanitarian challenges in the state, the  Kano State government has earmarked three billion Naira for various interventions  in the year 2025. This was disclosed by the Technical Adviser to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Allieviation, Dr. Aminu Magashi Garba while briefing journalists shortly after  meeting with members of the state House Assembly during the 2025 budget defence. Dr. Magashi who delivered the budget defence presentation on behalf of the ministry, revealed that apart from the three billion Naira proposed budget for the programmes…

PEP Guardiola admitted he did not see Manchester City’s staggering collapse in form coming after conceding twice late on to lose 2-1 to Manchester United on Sunday. City have won just once in 11 games in all competitions, a run that includes eight defeats. After an unprecedented four consecutive Premier League titles, City’s defence of their crown looks over before Christmas. Guardiola’s men trail leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand, by nine points and sit outside the Champions League places in fifth. “I don’t have defence, I’m the boss, I’m the manager. I have to find a solution…

AN ISRAELI air strike has killed Palestinian journalist Ahmed Al-Louh and five Palestinian Civil Defence workers in central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp. Al-Louh, who worked as a cameraman for Al Jazeera alongside other media outlets, was killed on Sunday in the strike on the Civil Defence post in the central Gaza camp, according to medics and local journalists. The attack occurred as Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 28 Palestinians on Sunday, medics said. Allouh is the third journalist killed in Gaza in the last 24 hours. Al Jazeera Arabic reported that Al-louh was working while killed,…

BRAZILIAN President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was discharged Sunday from a Sao Paulo hospital following emergency surgery last week to treat an intracranial hemorrhage. “I am here in one piece… returning home,” the 79-year-old leftist leader said as he made a surprise appearance at a news conference by his medical team at Hospital Sirio-Libanes. Lula had successful surgery Tuesday in which doctors drilled through his skull to relieve pressure that built up after a blow to the head in October, when he fell in a bathroom in his presidential residence. On Thursday he underwent a follow-up operation to minimize…

THIRTY-NINE people have been killed in two attacks in recent days in western Niger, near the border with Burkina Faso, Niamey’s defence ministry said Saturday. “Two horrific tragedies happened in the communities of Libiri and Kokorou, criminals cornered by constant operations by defence and security forces launched attacks on defenceless civilian populations,” the defence ministry said in a statement. The “barbaric acts” saw 21 people killed in Libiri and 18 in Kokorou, including children, the ministry said. The operations took place from December 12 to 14, the statement said without detailing when the attacks happened. The communities are located in…

A LEADING Togo opposition party has said it will refuse to take part in the country’s first elections for the senate, with the vote a key step towards implementing a contested new constitution. Slated for February 2, the upper house polls are part of an overhaul abolishing the election of the head of state by universal suffrage and introducing a parliamentary system. Opposition politicians and civil society leaders have slammed the new constitution as a ploy by President Faure Gnassingbe to hold on to power indefinitely. “The National Alliance for Change (ANC) expresses its firm and deliberate rejection of the…

BAYERN Munich suffered their first Bundesliga loss under coach Vincent Kompany with a 2-1 defeat at Mainz on Saturday. The loss allowed defending champions Bayer Leverkusen, who won 2-0 at Augsburg, to cut Bayern’s gap at the top to four points. Lee scored in each half against an uncharacteristically poor Bayern, who are now just four points clear after Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-0 win at Augsburg. Injuries meant Kompany was unable to call on several first team regulars including Harry Kane, Manuel Neuer, Alphonso Davies, Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry and Joao Palhinha. Kane’s absence was particularly telling in the first half,…

ISRAEL is still attacking homes and schools across the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring several people just one day after dozens were massacred in a strike on Nuseirat camp. Dawn raids on Saturday killed four members of the Saadallah family in their home in Jabalia, two people in a school northeast of Gaza City and one person sheltering in a tent south of Khan Younis, Palestinian news agency Wafa said. Later that day, the military killed seven people in a strike on Al-Majida Wasila School in the northern Al-Rimal neighborhood west of Gaza City, according to Wafa. The news agency…

BRAZILIAN police have arrested a former defence minister and top ally of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro as part of an investigation into an attempted coup to overturn the results of the South American country’s 2022 election. General Walter Braga Netto was formally accused last month, alongside Bolsonaro and 35 others, of plotting a coup to keep the former far-right president in office following his failed re-election bid. Prosecutors have yet to file formal charges against Braga Netto, who served as Bolsonaro’s chief of staff from 2020 to 2021 and as defence minister from 2021 to 2022. The arrest on Saturday stemmed…

NAMIBIA’s main opposition party said on Saturday that it plans to file a legal challenge against the results of last month’s disputed election. The announcement by the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) came a day after a court granted it and another opposition party the right to inspect material from the polls. They have claimed there were irregularities in the presidential and parliamentary polls held on 27 November. Namibia’s ruling South West Africa People’s Party (SWAPO) won both the votes, extending its 34-year grip on power. The IPC says the data will help it to substantiate their allegations ahead of…

OPPOSITION groups in Guinea say they are outraged at an announcement by the junta that the transition to democratic rule will extend beyond the end of the year. A spokesperson for the ruling authority said conditions for the transitional period to end have not yet been met. In negotiations with the regional bloc, ECOWAS, the junta which seized power in a coup in September 2021 had promised a return to elections and civilian rule within two years. In July, it presented citizens with a draft of a new constitution which imposes a strict two-term limit for the presidency, each for…

DUTCH clubs, Ajax, VVV Venlo and Roda JC Kerkrade are leading the rally to raise at least €170,000 – about N272,109,812.23 – for their former player and ex-Nigeria international, Tijani Babangida, who is in the Netherlands with his wife for treatment after being involved in a ghastly accident earlier this year. In May, Babangida and his family were involved in an accident along the Kaduna–Zaria Road, losing his one-year-old son, Fadil, his younger brother, Ibrahim and also leaving him, his wife and their maid with varying degrees of injuries. After initial treatments at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital and…