Author: Editor

THE leader of a Kenyan starvation sect went on trial for manslaughter on Monday over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers in one of the world’s worst cult-related tragedies. Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and dozens of other suspects pleaded not guilty in January to multiple counts of manslaughter, one of several cases against them over what is known as the “Shakahola Forest Massacre”. Mackenzie appeared in a magistrate’s court in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa along with 93 other suspects, prosecutors and court officials said. “There has never been a manslaughter case like this…

THE independent electoral commissions in Kwara and Anambra states have fixed September 21 and 28 respectively for local government (LG) elections. The Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission said it has set machinery in motion to conduct the local government election next month to usher in the democratically elected chairmen for the 16 LG councils in the North Central state. While the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said it is ready for the exercise, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) expressed reservation over the planned exercise. For nearly five years, the 16 local government areas in Kwara State have been run…

ISRAEL issued new evacuation orders overnight covering areas of southern Gaza as it pressed on with its assault on the enclave, despite global condemnation of a devastating strike on a school-turned-shelter. The Israeli military issued the order to clear parts of the city of Khan Younis, including part of an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone from which the army said rockets had been fired, early on Sunday. The order came a day after an Israeli air strike on al-Tabin School in Gaza City reportedly killed more than 100 people sheltering there. The area that the new evacuation order covers is one of…

IN his first interview since dropping out of the presidential race, US President Joe Biden has told broadcaster CBS that he made the decision in order to maintain democracy in the United States. Speaking on the CBS News Sunday Morning programme, Biden said: “The polls we had showed that it was a neck-and-neck race, would have been down to the wire … But what happened was, a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was gonna hurt them in the races.” “And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be…

A LANDSLIDE at a rubbish dump in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, has killed at least 18 people, authorities have reported as they continue to search for survivors. Police announced the death toll on Sunday, two days after torrential rain broke off a huge chunk of rubbish at Kiteezi, the city’s only landfill site. The landslide buried people, livestock and homes as residents slept. Authorities had reported eight confirmed deaths on Saturday, but the number of casualties has risen as rescuers dig for survivors. Authorities said on Sunday that the death toll had risen to 18, according to the Associated Press. “The…

PAUL Kagame has been sworn in for a fourth term as Rwanda’s president after winning 99% of the vote in last month’s election. While some hail Mr Kagame for bringing peace and stability to his country after the 1994 genocide, others accuse him of running a repressive regime in a country where ordinary people are afraid to openly criticise him. Rights groups say the margin of his electoral victory is proof of the lack of democracy in Rwanda. Only two candidates were allowed to stand against Mr Kagame in the 15 July election. In his four presidential elections, he has…

MANCHESTER City avenged their FA Cup final defeat to Manchester United to lift the Community Shield 7-6 on penalties on Saturday, after a 1-1 draw at Wembley. The game exploded into life in the final 10 minutes as Alejandro Garnacho gave United the lead before Bernardo Silva levelled in the 89th minute. Pep Guardiola’s men then edged a marathon shoot-out as Jadon Sancho and Jonny Evans failed to score for United. City have won the Premier League for a record four consecutive seasons but it is the first time in that run that they have won the season opener after…

A DEADLY Israeli attack on a school in Gaza has renewed calls for the United States to stop providing staunch support for Israel, including weapons transfers that rights advocates say are fuelling atrocities in the Palestinian enclave. The Gaza civil defence agency said more than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens more were injured on Saturday when Israel launched an attack on al-Tabin school in Gaza City. “The US & allies are claiming a ceasefire is near. But all Palestinians see is more death, dislocation, & despair. The genocide continues,” James Zogby, co-founder and president of the Arab American Institute,…

DONALD Trump’s campaign has said some of its internal communications have been hacked and suggested it was targeted by Iranian operatives. US news website Politico reported on Saturday that it had been emailed campaign documents including internal research carried out on Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance. “These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election,” a campaign spokesman told the BBC. Politico said it had confirmed the authenticity of the documents. The BBC has not independently verified the claims. The campaign did not give any further details…

A US court has convicted a Mozambican former finance minister over a 10-year-old conspiracy that triggered the worst economic crisis in his home country since independence. Manuel Chang was found guilty of accepting pay-offs through US banks for approving secret loans. The loans were intended to pay for a fleet of tuna fishing ships and other projects, leading to the affair being dubbed the “tuna bond” scandal. But the loans were plundered, leaving Mozambique $2bn (£1.5bn) in debt. Chang was arrested in South Africa in 2018, and extradited to the US the following year to face fraud and money-laundering charges.…

GLOBALLY, freedom of expression is enshrined in international agreements, like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.” Yet, in practice, the situation is more complex. In some countries, citizens enjoy broad freedoms to express themselves openly and without fear. In others, this right is curtailed, often harshly. In the last year, 451 million people across 10 countries experienced a deterioration of their freedom of expression; only 335 million people across 5 countries saw improvement. The largest decline over the last year took place in Burkina Faso (-24 points),…

SPAIN continued their recent dominance of international football by edging past France – who fought back from 3-1 down to force extra time – to win Olympic men’s gold at Paris 2024. The hosts took an early lead but in a pulsating match they quickly fell two goals behind before half-time, then mounted a stunning second-half comeback. However, Thierry Henry’s side could not see the job through as Spain substitute Sergio Camello kept calm in the most tense of situations to score twice in the extra period. Both goals sparked jubilant celebrations among the Spanish, who mobbed Rayo Vallecano forward…

MORE than 100 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike on a Gaza school sheltering displaced people, according to Palestinians officials in Gaza. “The Israeli strikes targeted the displaced people while performing Fajr (dawn) prayers, [which] led to a rapid increase in the number of casualties,” the Gaza Government Media Office said in a statement following the attack on Saturday morning. Gaza’s civil defence agency said three Israeli rockets hit the school, describing the incident as a “horrific massacre”, with some bodies catching fire. Al Jazeera’s Hamda Salhout, reporting from Amman, Jordan, said that the bodies…

AN airplane carrying 58 passengers and four crew crashed Friday in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state, killing everyone on board, local officials said. The aircraft, a French-made ATR 72-500 operated by the airline Voepass, was traveling from Cascavel in southern Parana state to Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos international airport when it crashed in the city of Vinhedo. Images broadcast on local media showed a large plane nosediving at high speed, while others showed a large column of smoke rising from the crash site in what appeared to be a residential area. “There were no survivors,” the city government in Valinhos — which…

A BRITISH terror suspect has been deported to the UK after completing a lengthy prison sentence in Kenya. Jermaine Grant, 41, was arrested in London on Thursday after arriving on a flight from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. He was jailed in 2011 after bomb-making equipment was discovered in his flat in Mombasa, a Kenyan coastal city. Grant is thought to have shared the flat with Samantha Lewthwaite, who is dubbed the “White Widow” and is wanted in connection with London’s 7/7 bombings. After he was arrested in 2011, Kenyan police accused Grant of plotting to bomb tourist hotels on the country’s…

THE family of an 11-year-old girl allegedly killed by a US diplomat in Zimbabwe in a road accident in June have told the BBC they want him to return to the country and apologise to them in person. Ruvarashe Takamhanya is believed to have been run over by a vehicle driven by the diplomat as she was on her way to school in Dema, a town 40km (24 miles) south-east of the capital, Harare. Her parents say they realise the US diplomat has diplomatic immunity but an apology might help them recover from the pain and give them a sense…

THE Kano State Government has filed a fresh fraud charge against the immediate past governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, his Commissioner for Local Government, Murtala Garo, and two others. News Point Nigeria reports that the charges, documented and submitted by the Kano State Ministry of Justice, accuse the defendants of conspiring to divert over ₦57.43 billion meant for the 44 local government areas of Kano State. This colossal sum, intended for developmental projects and public services, was allegedly funnelled into personal accounts and used to acquire luxurious properties both locally and internationally. The charge sheet names Garo, Lamin Sani, and Muhammad…

THE Senate has raised concern over 1.5bn dollars approved in 2021 for the turn-around maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery with little or no result. Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Chairman, Senate Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate the Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, raised the concern during an interactive session with stakeholders on Wednesday, in Abuja. Mr Bamidele, who is also the Senate Leader, said it was unfair and wrong to treat public companies shabbily while private businesses were flourishing and thriving. He recalled that the Federal Executive Council, FEC, had approved the plan by the Ministry of Petroleum…

THE prolific Soufiane Rahimi scored twice and captain Achraf Hakimi netted a stunning free-kick as Morocco hammered Egypt 6-0 on Thursday to take Olympic men’s football bronze. Rahimi’s brace took him to eight goals at the Olympics, cementing his status as the tournament’s top scorer, while Abde Ezzalzouli, Bilal El Khannouss and Akram Nakach also scored in a comprehensive win at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes. Hakimi’s late strike put the icing on the cake as Morocco claimed a first Olympic football medal and a first for North Africa. Morocco, who beat Argentina in their opening group game…

QATAR, Egypt and the United States have called on Israel and Hamas to resume talks to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as Israel’s continued bombardment of the territory has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and raised fears of further regional escalation. In a joint statement on Thursday, the three countries urged Israel and Hamas “to resume urgent discussion” on August 15 in Doha or Cairo “to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay”. “It is the time to conclude a ceasefire agreement and release hostages and prisoners,” they said. “We have worked for…