TWELVE Libyan officials have received sentences ranging between nine and 27 years in prison for their role in catastrophic dam collapses that killed more than 4,000 people last September. Entire neighbourhoods in the city of Derna were swept away, and evacuation efforts were botched. The convicted officials were responsible for managing water resources and maintaining the dams. They were charged with crimes including negligence, premeditated murder and wasting public money, Reuters reported. Three of the defendants were also ordered to repay money obtained through illicit means, the public prosecutor’s office said. Four others put on trial were acquitted. An international…
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THE Super Falcons will be hoping to get their first win of the women’s football event of the Paris 2024 Olympics when they take on world champions Spain in their second Group C game at the Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes on Sunday (today). Randy Waldrum’s ladies suffered a 1-0 defeat to Brazil in their opening game at the Matmut Atlantique Stadium in Bordeaux on Thursday, with Gabi Nunes scoring the decisive goal in the 34th minute to condemn Nigeria to their first competitive defeat in regulation time since losing to Zambia in the third-place playoff at the 2022 Africa…
REAL Madrid unveiled Brazilian teenager Endrick, who has joined the European champions on a six-year deal, in an event at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday. Endrick, who turned 18 last week, arrives from the Brazilian club Palmeiras, where he won two league titles and a Super Cup. He made his international debut aged 17 against Colombia last November, going on to score his first goal against England in a 1-0 win in March. He was a member of Brazil’s Copa America squad, making his first international start in the quarter-final with Uruguay which they lost on penalties. “I don’t have…
MORE than 50 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in central and southern Gaza, with one air raid hitting a school where thousands of displaced people were sheltering, according to Palestinian officials. At least 30 people were killed in an Israeli attack on Khadija School in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Saturday. Fifteen children and eight women were among those killed in the attack on the school in Deir el-Balah, Gaza’s Government Media Office said, and more than 100 people were wounded. The Israeli military said in a statement it had targeted a “Hamas…
ISMAEL ‘El Mayo’ Zambada is one of the most notorious names in drug war history, synonymous with the fearsome power and corrosive influence of the most important drug cartel in the world. The last of an original generation of drug cartel leaders, he created the Sinaloa Cartel alongside Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman from the remnants of the Guadalajara Cartel after it collapsed in 1989. But unlike his infamous partner who was twice jailed and escaped, El Mayo was able to evade capture for some 35 years. Until now. US authorities arrested him in El Paso, Texas on Thursday. He has…
THE lawyer for Niger’s ousted President Mohamed Bazoum has told the BBC as the country marks a year since the coup that he fears the former head of state could face the death penalty. Last month Niger’s top court stripped Mr Bazoum of his immunity from prosecution, paving the way for him to be tried for treason – which is punishable by death – and other alleged offences. Mr Bazoum, 64, and his wife Hadiza have been held in detention for the last year with no telephone access and no visits allowed apart from a doctor, lawyer Moussa Coulibaly said.…
LOUIS van Schoor, a convicted mass murderer in South Africa known as the “Apartheid Killer”, has died. The 72-year-old had been in hospital with an infection in his leg. His daughter told the BBC he died on Thursday afternoon “due to complications from sepsis”. Van Schoor’s death came less than a week after a BBC investigation into his past, which exposed horrific new details about a series of killings he carried out in the late 1980s during the final years of white-minority rule. The sister of one of his victims has told the BBC she hopes the police will re-open…
DANGOTE Refinery has reaffirmed that its diesel is of superior quality compared to imported equivalents and meets international standards. This is coming over the recent comment of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, that the quality of the refinery diesel is inferior to the imported products. This newspaper reports the refinery said none of the imported diesel into Nigeria can compete with that of Dangote refinery in terms of quality and this can be confirmed by any expert who intends to test our products and those imported independently. Dangote Group Chief Commercial Officer,…
MORE than 180,000 Palestinians have fled bombardment around the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis in four days, the United Nations has said. Recent “intensified hostilities” in the Khan Younis area, more than nine months into the Israeli war, have fuelled “new waves of internal displacement across Gaza”, said the UN humanitarian agency OCHA on Friday. It said that “about 182,000 people” have been displaced from central and eastern Khan Younis between Monday and Thursday, while “hundreds of other people remain stranded in eastern Khan Younis”. The Israeli military on Monday issued evacuation orders for parts of the southern city,…
A GERMAN man sentenced to death by a court in Belarus appeared on television Thursday to ask for a pardon. Rico Krieger, 30, was convicted under six articles of Belarus’s criminal code in a secretive trial held at the end of June, the Viasna Human Rights Centre reported. “I really hope that President (Alexander) Lukashenko will forgive me and pardon me,” the German national told Belarusian public television, according to a statement quoted by the Russian news agency TASS. He said that he had been asked by Ukraine to photograph military sites in Belarus in October 2023 and that he…
NINETY-FIVE Libyan nationals have been arrested on suspicion of receiving training at an “illegal” military camp in South Africa, police have said. Officers raided the farm in White River – a small town in the northern province of Mpumalanga – on Friday. They said they found military tents, licenced firearms and other military equipment. Cannabis and cocaine were also found at the camp, the police said. Officers conducted the raid after receiving intelligence on Wednesday. According to national police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe, the Libyans allegedly “misrepresented themselves” on their visa applications by saying they would be training as security guards.…
A UGANDAN activist, one of dozens detained this week for participating in banned demonstrations, was sexually assaulted in custody, his lawyer has said. More than 90 youths were arrested and some were charged with being a public nuisance following anti-corruption protests that hit the capital, Kampala. Some of those released from detention have also reportedly said they had been sexually assaulted while in police cells, sparking widespread criticism. But police denied the allegation. The two days of anti-corruption demonstrations went ahead on Tuesday and Thursday despite a warning from President Yoweri Museveni that the protesters were “playing with fire”. The…
A FEW days after the founder of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, alleged that some officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited have blending plants in Malta, indications have emerged that Nigeria imported fuel worth $2.25bn from the foreign country in nine years. According to information on Trade Map, Nigeria imported petroleum oils obtained from bituminous minerals worth $2.8bn in 2023, jumping by a 342 per cent increase from $47.5m in 2013. Nigeria imported fuel worth $59.98m in 2014; $117.01m in 2015 and $13.32m in 2016. It was observed that from 2017 to 2022, there was no…
GRAND Slam record-breakers Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were placed on an Olympics second-round collision course in the draw for the Paris Games on Thursday. Nadal, a singles gold medallist at the 2008 Olympics, is playing in his final Games having also won doubles gold in Rio in 2016, while Djokovic was a bronze medallist in singles in 2008. Serbia’s Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion and top seed in Paris following the withdrawal of world number one Jannik Sinner, begins his campaign against Australia’s Matthew Ebden. “I am excited for this duel in the second round, and I will…
AT least five people have been arrested and police used pepper spray on protesters on the streets of Washington DC. This came after large numbers of people gathered to protest against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke to US lawmakers Wednesday. Netanyahu blasted the demonstrators, calling them “Iran’s useful idiots” Speaking to the US Congress, he said America and Israel “must stand together” and that “our enemies are your enemies” He recalled the Hamas attacks of 7 October – when 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage – calling it a day that “will live in…
NORTH Korean hackers are attempting to steal nuclear and military secrets from governments and private companies around the world, the UK, US and South Korea have warned. They say the group – known by the names Andariel and Onyx Sleet – is targeting defence, aerospace, nuclear and engineering entities to obtain classified information, with the aim of advancing Pyongyang’s military and nuclear programs and ambitions. The group has been seeking information in a wide range of areas – from uranium processing to tanks, submarines and torpedoes – and has targeted the UK, US, South Korea, Japan, India and elsewhere. US…
A HEATWAVE in Morocco has killed at least 21 people in a 24-hour period in the central city of Beni Mellal, the health ministry announced on Thursday. The meteorology department said soaring temperatures affected much of the North African country from Monday to Wednesday, reaching 48ºC in some areas. In Beni Mellal, “the majority of deaths involved people suffering from chronic illnesses and the elderly, with high temperatures contributing to the deterioration of their health conditions,” the regional health directorate said in a statement. Morocco has suffered a sixth consecutive year of drought and record heat this winter, with the…
INTERNATIONAL rights campaigners called Thursday for the Ugandan government to free dozens of protesters who have been arrested and charged for taking part in anti-corruption rallies this week. Inspired by widespread protests against the government in neighbouring Kenya led largely by Gen-Z activists, Ugandans took to the streets of the capital Kampala on Tuesday to demand action in the wake of several high-profile graft scandals. About 60 people, including a prominent TV and radio presenter and three young protest leaders, have been remanded in custody on charges including being a “common nuisance”, according to their lawyers. President Yoweri Museveni, who…
CHAOS and confusion reigned on Wednesday as Morocco beat Argentina 2-1 in their opening game of the men’s Olympic football tournament, but only after a late equaliser for the South American side was disallowed and the final minutes were played out in an empty stadium following crowd trouble. Argentina thought they had escaped from the Group B match in Saint-Etienne with a 2-2 draw when Cristian Medina scored in the 16th minute of added time. But as their players celebrated, projectiles including bottles and plastic cups rained down from the stands and several spectators entered the pitch, with the referee…
THE Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has broadcast a drone video that it said showed air defence facilities, planes and fuel storage units at Israel’s Ramat David airbase, nearly 50km (30 miles) into Israeli territory. The footage included labels pointing out apparent military infrastructure, including the short-range Iron Dome air defence system which is designed to destroy rockets. The video, more than eight minutes long, was mostly filmed on Tuesday, the Iran-aligned group said. The video also included nighttime shots that Hezbollah said were captured “earlier” and other images the group said were taken earlier in July. The caption said it…