Author: Editor

A PERSON died of bird flu in Mexico in the first confirmed case of a human infected with the H5N2 variant, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. The 59-year old, who died on April 24 after developing fever, shortness of breath, diarrhoea and nausea, had “no history of exposure to poultry or other animals” and “multiple underlying medical conditions”, the WHO said in a statement. The resident of the State of Mexico was hospitalised in Mexico City and died the same day, the statement said. It was the “first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with an influenza A(H5N2) virus reported…

SOMALIA has won a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council – hailed as a significant step for the worn-torn nation. It will be the first time the country, which descended into civil war more than 30 years ago, has held the position since the 1970s. The top table at the UN determines how the organisation should respond to conflicts around the world. Analysts say Somalia’s battle to bring an end to its turmoil and its fight against militants will help inform the UN’s decisions. There are 10 rotating non-permanent members on the council, along with the five permanent…

At LEAST 150 people, including 35 children, are feared dead in a massacre in a village in central Sudan blamed on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group fighting the army. The rivals have been battling over control of the country for more than 13 months. The RSF has not commented on the accusations, but on Thursday boasted of attacking two army positions. Footage circulating on social media after Wednesday’s raid showed dozens of bodies wrapped in white shrouds prepared for burial in Wad al-Nourah in Gezira state. That video was filmed by activists from a neighbourhood resistance committee,…

SIX people have been rescued while 14 other miners are still being trapped, 48 hours after a mining pit collapsed in Galadima-Kogo, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. This newspaper could not independently establish if the six people rescued were alive or dead. The permanent secretary, Niger State Ministry for Mineral Resources, Alhaji Yunusa Mohammed Nahauni, blamed the management of the mining company for the collapse. During a visit to the site of the tragedy where one person was reported dead on Tuesday, the commissioner said the collapse was due to lack of compliance and synergy between the mining…

THERE would be 100 more incorrect refereeing decisions made per season if clubs vote to scrap video assistant referees (VAR), the Premier League has claimed. The league sent a briefing document to all 20 clubs before the annual general meeting on Thursday, 6 June, explaining the reasons why it feels VAR should remain. Wolves formally submitted a resolution to the Premier League in May, which triggered a vote on the continued use of VAR. Premier League clubs are unlikely to vote through this proposal, though in-game VAR announcements are set to be introduced. The Premier League sent a ‘VAR Improvement…

THE Israeli military says it has taken “operational control” over eastern areas of Bureij refugee camp and the town of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, as dozens of Palestinians were reported killed. On Wednesday morning, the military said troops backed by air strikes had begun an operation against “terrorists and terrorist infrastructure above and below ground”. Residents reported intense bombardment and the charity Médecins Sans Frontières said at least 70 dead people – the majority women and children – had been brought to a local hospital since Tuesday. It came as US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators meet in Doha and…

THE Government of Cuba has demanded the country’s removal by the United States Government, from the list of countries allegedly sponsoring terrorism, stressing that Cuba has done nothing to be included in the list. Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the call in a statement made available to this newspaper by its Embassy in Abuja condemning the US official media reports submitted to the Congress by the Secretary of State on 15 May, 2024. The Cuban government described the reports as “one more of the arbitrary reports that normally describe countries without any international mandate or recognition.” The statement also…

SOUTH Africa’s ruling ANC said Wednesday it had reached out to rivals to form a government of national unity, after failing to win an outright majority in last week’s general election. The final tally gave President Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress 159 members in the 400-seat National Assembly, its lowest score in a general election. ANC spokeswoman Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri told reporters the party held “explorative” talks with several others, as it attempts to secure enough parliamentary support to form a government and elect a president. Its decision making body was to meet on Thursday to vet all options, including trying…

TWENTY-TWO Chinese nationals have pleaded guilty to committing cyber-related crimes in Zambia. They are among 77 suspects who were arrested in April in connection to what authorities described as a “sophisticated internet fraud syndicate”. The swoop on a Chinese-run company in the capital, Lusaka, followed an alarming rise in internet fraud cases in the country, targeting people in countries around the world. The Chinese nationals are set to be sentenced on Friday, local media report. There have been increasing cases of Zambians losing money from their mobile and bank accounts through money-laundering schemes which extend to other foreign countries, the…

THE Federal Government, through the National Orientation Agency (NOA), has unveiled the approved version of Nigeria’s reintroduced national anthem. The Director-General of the NOA, Lanre Issa-Onilu, unveiled the standardised version of the anthem on Wednesday in Abuja. He urged Nigerians to pay close attention to the words in lines three and five of the national anthem that was reintroduced. On May 29, 2024, on the one-year anniversary of the current government, President Bola Tinubu signed the National Anthem Bill 2024 reverting to the old national anthem, “Nigeria, we hail thee” from “Arise, O Compatriots”. The President said the latest national…

NO fewer than 30 state governments of the federation spent N986.64bn on recurrent expenditures, including refreshments, sitting allowances, travelling, utilities, etc., in the first three months of 2024. The states’ budget implementation reports, which were obtained from Open Nigerian States, a website supported by BudgIT that acts as a repository for public budget data, were analysed. For the first three quarters of the year, our correspondent examined budget implementation data from thirty states; data for six states was not available. Benue, Imo, Niger, Rivers, Sokoto and Yobe States were the ones without Q 1, 2024 data. A breakdown showed that…

EURO 2024, beginning in Germany on June 14, is a mouth-watering prospect, as France and England lead the heavyweight contenders for a tournament which will be played out in some of the continent’s finest stadiums across a football-mad nation. The setting for the month-long competition is important, given the underwhelming nature of the last Euros three years ago, held all over the continent rather than in one country, and played before limited crowds during the Covid pandemic. This time all fans will descend on 10 stadiums in Germany, many with memories of the unforgettable summer of 2006 when the country…

FRANCE’s President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Palestinian Authority should “ensure the governance” of the Gaza Strip, the presidential office said. Macron in phone talks backed the proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal presented by US President Joe Biden. “This deal should reopen a credible perspective for the implementation of a two-state solution, the only one able to provide Israel with the necessary security guarantees and to respond to the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians,” he said. “Gaza must be an integral part of a future Palestinian state, and a reformed…

SOME of UK’s top universities could see their attractiveness decline due to hits to funding and tighter regulations on overseas students, the annual QS 2025 university rankings warned on Tuesday. Four British universities retained their spots in the top 10 of more than 1,000 universities ranked by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a benchmark ranking alongside the Times and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Imperial College London, renowned for its science teaching, shot up from sixth to second place, dethroning for the first time the historically dominant “Oxbridge” duo, with Oxford and Cambridge ranking third and fifth respectively. More than half (52) of…

FLOODING caused by torrential rain and fierce winds on South Africa’s eastern coast has killed at least 22 people, local authorities said on Tuesday. Flooding hit several locations in two eastern provinces, two rare tornados were spotted, temperatures plunged and snow fell in some central regions. At least 11 people died in Eastern Cape, a spokesperson from Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, at the heart of the floods, told AFP. More than 2,000 people have been evacuated from Nelson Mandela Bay, notably from makeshift homes in the municipality’s slums. Local authorities launched an appeal for donations of clothing, food and blankets.…

POLICE in Nairobi have arrested a 19-year-old teenager captured on video assaulting a police officer in Mirema, Nairobi County. The video, which went viral on Sunday, shows the driver assaulting the officer, who ended up in a ditch. Authorities tracked down the suspect on Sunday evening, subjecting him to intensive overnight questioning. Reports suggest the interrogation involved torture and insults. The teenager claimed it was his first altercation with a police officer and that the officer had demanded an excessive bribe. The suspect believed to be a gang leader from Mwiki with 10 pending court cases, was arrested in a…

VINICIUS Junior was Monday named by UEFA chiefs as Champions League player of the season after spearheading Real Madrid to European glory, with teammate Jude Bellingham picking up the young player award. Brazilian forward Vinicius scored six goals and made five assists in Real’s victorious campaign, including the second in the 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund in the final at Wembley on Saturday. Victory meant Real were crowned European champions for a record-extending 15th time. “I’m very happy to be able to win another Champions League with this club, which has given me so much,” 23-year-old Vinicius said. England midfielder…

PALESTINIANS who have returned to Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza in recent days have expressed shock at the level of destruction following a three-week Israeli military operation there against Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. One displaced man who was among the more than 60,000 people who fled the intense battles and bombardment in the camp and its surrounding area last month said he had witnessed “horrifying scenes”. “Even the sand beneath our feet is scorched; it’s unbearable to walk on,” he told BBC Arabic. “The streets are strewn with rubble and demolished buildings. Words fail to describe the…

INDIA’s six-week election was staggering in its size and logistical complexity, but also in the “unprecedented” scale of online disinformation. The biggest democratic exercise in history brought a surge of false social media posts and instant messaging, ranging from doctored videos to unrelated images with false captions. Raqib Hameed Naik, from the US-based India Hate Lab, said they had “witnessed an unprecedented scale of disinformation” in the elections. “Conspiracy theories… were vigorously promoted to deepen the communal divide,” said Naik, whose organisation researches hate speech and disinformation. With seven voting stages stretched over six weeks, AFP fact-checkers carried out 40…

KENYAN investigators found seven more bodies on Monday as exhumations resumed in a forest where hundreds of victims of a doomsday starvation cult were buried in mass graves, police said. The remains of 436 people have now been unearthed in a remote wilderness inland from the Indian Ocean coastal town of Malindi in a grisly case that shocked Kenya and the world. Images broadcast on Kenyan television showed seven blue plastic body bags lined up on the ground in Shakahola Forest before being transferred to a vehicle. “We exhumed seven bodies today. In one grave, there were four bodies while…