Author: Editor

THE man who masterminded a $130m (£100m) banking scandal that caused national outrage in South Africa has been jailed for 15 years, the country’s police service has said. Tshifhiwa Matodzi was the chairperson of VBS Mutual Bank, which collapsed in 2018 after being looted for years. The scam stretched from impoverished rural villages all the way to government circles, and defrauded ordinary South Africans. In court on Wednesday, Matodzi pleaded guilty to 33 counts, including corruption, theft, fraud, money laundering, and racketeering. The former bank boss’s combined sentence amounts to 495 years as he was handed 15 years for each…

RWANDA has said it is not required to refund the UK after a multi-million pound migrant deal between the two countries was scrapped. New UK Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer announced at the weekend that the plan to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda was “dead and buried”. The scheme was forged by the previous Conservative government, which since revealing the plan in 2022 has paid Rwanda £240m ($310m). Legal challenges meant the scheme never took off and the UK expressed hope on Monday that some money from the deal could be recouped. The following day, a…

THE family of Nura Alhaji Tijjani from Kabuga Tudun Yola, Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State, have lamented the prolonged detention of their breadwinner, who was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) three years ago. They are seeking the release of Tijjani or, at the very least, for him to be taken to court to begin his trial, as they remain unaware of the charges against him. This newspaper reported that Tijjani, a POS operator along BUK Road, was arrested alongside his shop attendant, Nasiru Abdullahi Abdulhamid, on July 13, 2021, around 6 PM, and…

LAMINE Yamal, 16, became the tournament’s youngest-ever goalscorer as Spain came back to beat France 2-1 in Munich on Tuesday and reach the Euro 2024 final. Trailing after Randal Kolo Muani headed in a Kylian Mbappe cross in the ninth minute, Spain turned the match around in four minutes, scoring twice against a side that had only conceded once in five previous games in this tournament. Yamal, who turns 17 a day before Sunday’s final against either the Netherlands or England in Berlin, equalised with a superb strike from outside the box, curling a long-range effort into the top corner…

UNITED Nations human rights experts have accused Israel of carrying out a “targeted starvation campaign” that has resulted in the deaths of children in Gaza. “Israel’s intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza,” 10 independent UN experts said in a statement on Tuesday. Israel’s diplomatic mission to the UN in Geneva dismissed the statement and accused the experts of “spreading misinformation” and “supporting Hamas propaganda”. Gaza health authorities have said at least 33 children have died of malnutrition, mostly in northern Gaza, which…

A TAIWANESE sergeant has been indicted for allegedly photographing and leaking confidential defence information to China, prosecutors said Tuesday. Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has ramped up military and political pressures on the island in recent years. The sergeant, surnamed Chen, worked at a navy training centre and was recruited by an unspecified number of people who “collected intelligence for mainland China” via messaging apps in 2022, said Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office. “Between April 2022 and February 2023, he photographed secret national defence information in (the counties of) Pingtung, Yilan and other places with his mobile phone,”…

A SPANISH tourist has been trampled to death by elephants after climbing out of his car to take photos of the herd at a game reserve in South Africa. The unnamed 43-year-old man was visiting Pilanesberg National Park on Sunday morning with his fiancee and two other people when the attack happened, according to police. The group had been driving around in their own vehicle before spotting three elephants with three calves, officers said. Once the man got out of the car and walked towards the herd, the matriarch became “agitated” and charged at him, said Pieter Nel, a spokesman…

A YOUNG Tanzanian portrait artist who was convicted last week of cybercrimes has been released from prison after social media users raised more than $2,000 (£1,600) to pay his fine. Shadrack Chaula was ordered by a court to pay the fine or face two years in prison after he admitted recording a video that went viral on social media, showing him burning a picture of President Samia Suluhu Hassan while insulting her. “Thank you very much fellow Tanzanians for coming to my rescue,” Mr Chaula told journalists shortly after his release on Monday. The case sparked an uproar in the…

ABOUT 72 hours after two journalists and their family members were abducted in the Danhonu community of Kaduna Millennium City; their whereabouts have remained unknown while their relatives continued to stay closer to their telephone hoping someone would call. This came as the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, and the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, joined the growing list of groups and individuals condemning the abductions of the journalists and members of their families, describing their kidnap as heinous and unacceptable. In their separate statements, NEF and AYCF, called on security agencies to ensure their unconditional and immediate release. Recall that…

HAMAS says escalating Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip are not helping negotiations to end the war and has accused Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of creating obstacles to the talks. In a statement on Monday, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh warned that the “catastrophic consequences of what is happening in Gaza” could “reset the negotiation process to square one”. Netanyahu and his army will bear “full responsibility for the collapse of this path”, Hamas quoted Haniyeh as saying. The statement said Haniyeh made “urgent contact” with mediators Qatar and Egypt over the expanding actions of the Israeli military, which issued…

RUSSIA struck cities across Ukraine on Monday with a missile barrage that killed 31 people and heavily damaged a Kyiv children’s hospital in an assault condemned as a ruthless attack on civilians. Dozens of volunteers, doctors and rescue workers were digging through debris of a part of Okhmatdyt paediatric hospital in a desperate search for survivors after the rare day-time bombardment, AFP journalists on the scene saw. The first responders ran for cover when sirens and a explosion sounded after the initial strikes — a repeat attack that left four dead at a maternity hospital in a separate district of…

SENEGALESE President and West Africa’s ECOWAS “facilitator” Bassirou Diomaye Faye called Monday for dialogue and peaceful reconciliation with three countries that recently split from the bloc. The military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso broke away from the Economic Community of West African States earlier this year and formed a confederation of their own on Saturday. ECOWAS heads of state met in Abuja on Sunday and deplored the “lack of progress in interactions” with Burkinabe, Malian and Nigerien authorities, who came to power in a series of recent coups. “We cannot stand idly by”, Senegal’s President Faye said in…

US troops have completed a withdrawal from their base in Niger’s capital of Niamey and will fully depart from Agadez in the north before a September 15 deadline set by the country’s military rulers, both countries said Sunday. Niger’s military leaders scrapped a military cooperation deal with Washington in March, after seizing power in a July 2023 coup. The United States had around 650 soldiers in Niger as part of anti-jihadist missions in several Sahel nations of West Africa, including a major drone base near Agadez. “The defence ministry of Niger and the US Defence Department announce that the withdrawal…

THREE weeks down and with one week to go, Euro 2024 has reached the semi-final stage and is getting ready for two heavyweight ties as France take on Spain and England meet the Netherlands. France and Spain go head-to-head in Munich in the first last-four clash on Tuesday, which brings together the best team at the competition so far and the best European nation at each of the last two World Cups. Spain are through to a second consecutive European Championship semi-final after dramatically knocking out hosts Germany on Friday when Mikel Merino’s late header gave them a 2-1 win…

AT least 27 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza, marking another grim day as the war on the besieged territory enters its 10th month. One of the attacks since dawn on Sunday targeted a school sheltering displaced people west of Gaza city, killing at least four Palestinians. In central Gaza, the Israeli army struck a residential building in the al-Zawayda area, killing six people. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said the dead included two children. The killings came a day after the targeting of a United Nations-run school for displaced Palestinians, in which at least 16 people…

FRANCE’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he would offer his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron on Monday after his party failed to win a majority in parliamentary elections. But he added that, if his resignation is refused, he was ready to remain in office “as long as duty demands”, with the Paris Olympics due to begin in three weeks. Meanwhile, an alliance of French left-wing parties was on course Sunday to become the biggest parliamentary bloc by beating the far right and President Emmanuel Macron’s coalition, according to surprise projected results. No one group won an absolute majority in the…

LIBERIAN President, Joseph Boakai, has announced a voluntary 40 per cent reduction in his salary. This was disclosed in a statement shared on the website of the Liberian Government on Saturday which said the move aligned with Boakai’s commitment to fiscal integrity and national financial security. This is coming days after some lawmakers arrived at the parliament in tricycles popularly known as ‘Keke’ in protest against the non-payment of funds for their vehicles by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. Boakai said the announcement reflects his determination to lead by example in strengthening government accountability and demonstrating solidarity with…

PRESIDENT William Ruto of Kenya has scrapped the budget for the office of first lady after nationwide protests. Ruto announced this in a live broadcast. “Offices such as that of the First Lady have existed before, but from tomorrow we are going to do away with that and other offices so that we can check our spending,” he said. Additionally, the President confirmed that Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) positions will not be filled, following a court ruling that declared the positions unconstitutional. “On CASs, the court declared themselves on that and we have respected that. No CAS will be appointed…

ENGLAND’s quest for a first major tournament win in 58 years remained alive after another late fightback before beating Switzerland 5-3 on penalties to book their place in the Euro 2024 semi-finals. After the 120 minutes finished level at 1-1, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was the Three Lions’ hero in the shoot-out as he saved Switzerland’s first spot-kick from Manuel Akanji. Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold converted their penalties to send England into a semi-final meeting with Turkey or the Netherlands in Dortmund on Wednesday. After needing Bellingham’s 95th-minute equaliser before going on to beat…

AT least 16 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli attack on a United Nations-run school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip, the Gaza Government Media Office said, as Israel continues to pound the besieged coastal territory. In a statement on Saturday, the Government Media Office said more than 75 people also were injured in the attack on al-Jaouni school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. “We condemn the Israeli occupation [for] committing these ongoing crimes and massacres against civilians, children and women,” it said. The Nuseirat facility, run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), is the…