THREE people have been killed and four others seriously injured in a stabbing attack at a festival in the western German city of Solingen, authorities said. At about 10pm local time on Friday (20:00 GMT) a single, unidentified man attacked multiple people with a knife and the perpetrator remains at large, police said. Police said the attack occurred at a festival to honour Solingen’s 650th anniversary, which is located in North Rhine-Westphalia state, Germany’s most populous and bordering the Netherlands. Fatal stabbings and shootings in Germany are relatively uncommon. “It tears my heart apart that there was an attack on…
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BERHANE Abrehe – a former Eritrean finance minister and fierce critic of the country’s president – has died in prison, his family say. The 79-year-old was Eritrea’s longest serving minister of finance, but he was removed from his role in 2012 following clashes with President Isaias Afwerki. Six years later, he was jailed after releasing a book where he described the president as a “dictator” who needed to resign. His family told the BBC that the authorities, who rarely confirm the deaths of senior officials in custody, had notified them of Mr Berhane’s death. The government also rarely shares where…
SUDAN’s warring parties have ended peace talks in Switzerland by agreeing to improve access for humanitarian aid, with two routes identified to ensure the flow of resources to civilians. But mediators at the peace talks noted that the Sudanese army’s absence from the discussions hindered progress in the discussions to end the country’s 16-month-long war. Friday marked the conclusion of the 10-day peace talks, led by the United States in the Swiss city of Geneva. During the talks, a group of mediators representing countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates tried to negotiate more aid and protection…
THE Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the election of Senator Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the November 11, 2023 governorship election in Imo State. Last November, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Uzodimma, the then candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the November 11, 2023 governorship election in Imo State. According to INEC, Uzodimma polled 540,308 votes to beat Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 71,503 votes; and Athan Achonu of Labour Party (LP) who secured 64,081 votes. But the LP and PDP…
BAYER Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso said Thursday that Bayern Munich are the Bundesliga title favourites this season, despite his side’s incredible league and cup double last campaign. “For me, the favourites are Bayern, that’s clear,” Alonso said at a press conference ahead of Friday’s Bundesliga season opener away at Borussia Moenchengladbach. “Our goal is to stay in the top four. That’s realistic — we have a good squad.” Leverkusen won the Bundesliga for the first time in club history, condemning Bayern to a first trophyless season since 2011-12 and ending their 11-year reign in Germany. In addition to new coach…
LAST week, Fitch Ratings downgraded Israel’s credit score from A+ to A. Fitch cited the continued war in Gaza and heightened geopolitical risks as key drivers. The agency also kept Israel’s outlook as “negative”, meaning a further downgrade is possible. After Hamas’s deadly attack on October 7, Israel’s stock market and currency nosedived. Both have since bounced back. But concerns about the country’s economy persist. Earlier this year, Moody’s and S&P also cut their credit ratings for Israel. So far, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and decimated the economy in the besieged Palestinian enclave. There…
AN Indonesian court has ordered two companies that distributed a toxic cough syrup that killed more than 200 children to pay compensation to each family whose child died or was injured after taking the medication. The companies, Afi Farma and CV Samudera Chemical, will have to pay as much as much as 60 million rupiah ($3,850) to the families. About 120 children survived the poisoning that caused acute kidney disease, some with disabilities. Suspicions were first raised about the cough syrups in 2022 after children began to get seriously ill after taking what their parents thought were everyday cold medications.…
THE second-largest diamond ever found – a rough 2,492-carat stone – has been unearthed in Botswana at a mine owned by Canadian firm Lucara Diamond. It is the biggest find since the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond, found in South Africa in 1905 and cut into nine separate stones, many of which are in the British Crown Jewels. The diamond was found at Karowe mine, about 500km (300 miles) north of Botswana’s capital, Gaborone. Botswana’s government said it was the largest diamond ever discovered in the southern African state. The previous biggest discovery in Botswana was a 1,758-carat stone found at the…
THE World Food Programme (WFP) says a convoy of humanitarian aid has entered the Sudanese region of Darfur, offering temporary respite after Sudan’s forces sealed sections of the border with Chad to aid deliveries in February. The United Nations agency on Wednesday said that more than a dozen trucks delivered food assistance for about 13,000 people threatened with famine in western Darfur’s Kereinik region. The agency added that it had food ready to move for 500,000 people. More than six million people face food insecurity across Darfur, as do more than 25 million, or about half the population, across the…
IN the shadowy corridors of Tehran’s power, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at the end of July – widely believed to have been carried out by Israel – shattered a fragile equilibrium. The timing of this escalation in the longstanding conflict between Iran and Israel could not have been worse, with newly sworn-in President Masoud Pezeshkian still getting used to his role when this geopolitical fireball was hurled into his lap. For Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the assassination of the Palestinian group’s leader was more than a provocation, it was an existential challenge. The explosion that…
UKRAINE has launched one of its largest drone attacks on Moscow, as it presses on with a major incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, Russian authorities said. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday that air defence forces shot down 11 drones over Moscow and its surrounding region, with some reportedly downed over the city of Podolsk some 38km (24 miles) south of the Kremlin. “This is one of the largest ever attempts to attack Moscow with drones,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app. No damage or casualties were reported. Drone attacks on Moscow are rare. Ukraine’s…
THE last elephant in South Africa’s national zoo has been released back into the wild after 40 years of captivity. The elephant, named Charlie, was captured in 1984 from Zimbabwe’s Hwange national park when he was two years old. He was taken to Boswell Wilkie Circus in South Africa and trained to perform tricks. In the early 2000s he was transferred to the country’s national zoo. In recent years, animal welfare groups have pushed for the elephant to be freed due to concern for his health. On Tuesday, EMS Foundation, which advocates for the rights of wildlife, announced that after…
QATAR Airways has acquired a 25% stake in the privately owned South African carrier Airlink. The announcement was made Tuesday (Aug. 20). No financial details of the deal were immediately disclosed. Airlink flies to more than 45 destinations in southern and East Africa. The deal will enhance an existing code-share agreement between the airlines, they said. “Our investment further demonstrates how integral we see Africa being to our business’ future,” the CEO of the Qatari state-owned carried said. Abidjan, Abuja, Accra, Harare, Luanda and Lusaka are among the African cities newly added to the extensive Qatar Airways network.
KANO State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) has secured a post no debit on account linked to the alleged local government contract scam in the state, blocking N160million while moving to recover N440million. This is as investigators of the commission are expected to continue the quizzing of some of the key figures in the investigation. It was also gathered that Musa Garba Kwankwaso, nephew of the leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, will be quizzed by the investigators, on Thursday. He is expected to answer questions regarding the involvement of his company, Novomed Pharmaceuticals, in the alleged…
THE 2023/24 Premier League season has showcased an array of outstanding talent, and the PFA Premier League Team of the Year celebrates the best of the best. This year’s lineup features a blend of defensive solidity, midfield creativity, and attacking prowess. This was disclosed in a series of posts on Tuesday on the Professional Footballers Association X account, #PFA. This newspaper reported on Monday that the Professional Footballers’ Association Awards will take centre stage, celebrating the elite of the Premier League on Tuesday night. Five Arsenal players, the Manchester City quartet, Aston Villa goal machine and Liverpool captain made the…
DOZENS of pro-Palestinian protesters in the United States charged a line of police in an intense standoff with officers outside the Israeli consulate on the second night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago. Protesters on Tuesday chanted “Let them go!” as police handcuffed at least four people and led them away from the demonstration. Officers carrying wooden clubs shouted “move” and penned the demonstrators in on the street, preventing them from marching. Some demonstrators set a US flag on fire in the street as the celebratory roll call for Vice President Kamala Harris took place inside the United…
THE US Treasury Department unveiled sanctions against former Haitian president Michel Martelly on Tuesday for trafficking drugs, including cocaine, destined for the United States. The actions taken by Washington echo similar moves from the Canadian government, which imposed sanctions in 2022 against Martelly and two ex-prime ministers, accusing them of profiting from armed gangs. Martelly, a former musician who served as president of the Caribbean nation between 2011 and 2016, “abused his influence to facilitate the trafficking of dangerous drugs, including cocaine, destined for the United States,” the US Treasury said in a statement. He was also involved in “laundering…
EIGHT police officers in Kenya have been suspended on suspicion of helping a suspected serial killer escape from custody, police have said. In July police said Collins Jumaisi Khalusha had confessed to the murders of 42 women, including his wife, since 2022. Mr Khalusha’s lawyer denied the claim, saying his client had been tortured to confess. He had been held at a police station since being arrested in July, but on Tuesday police said that Mr Khalusha and 12 others escaped after being “aided by insiders”. An incident report from the station says police discovered the detainees were missing at…
“I want to go home,” Kenyan Eulita Jerop tells the BBC from Lebanon, where she is employed as a domestic worker. But the terms of her employment make it difficult for her to leave, despite fears of an all-out war in the country. She has been terrified by the unfamiliar sounds she has heard overhead on the outskirts of the capital, Beirut. The 35-year-old has been working there for the past 14 months. “It was so scary. We were told it wasn’t bombs, but it was [planes breaking] the sound barrier,” she says. “But the sounds were hitting so hard.”…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has appointed Daser David as the new President/Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI). This was disclosed in a statement on Tuesday by the presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, describing the appointee as “an academic and industry expert with a deep understanding of digital technologies and educational leadership.” Also appointed were two directors for the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT). They are Reuben Oshomah as Executive Director, Marketing; and Adama Kure, Executive Director, Finance and Administration. “Mr. Oshomah has extensive experience in communications satellite marketing and strategic business development, while Mr. Kure is a seasoned finance…