A FORMER judge in South Africa, who was impeached for misconduct four months ago, has been sworn in as an MP for ex-President Jacob Zuma’s party. John Hlophe was among the 58 uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) MPs sworn in as the party ended its boycott of the parliament formed after the 29 May elections. MK, which is set to become the official opposition, has appointed Dr Hlophe to lead its team in parliament. This is despite Dr Hlophe being impeached as a judge following findings of misconduct. An investigation found Dr Hlophe, who was the leading judge in the Western Cape…
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POLICE authorities in Rivers State have declared a former Niger Delta militant leader Gabriel ‘General’ Asabuja wanted. The Rivers State Commissioner for Police Tunji Disu said this on Monday when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by News Point Nigeria. Asabuja was seen in a viral video making some strong comments amid the local government council crisis rocking Rivers State. But Disu has condemned the action, saying, “That video caused a lot of panic in the state. It gives a lot of concern to everybody even out of the state. I want to assure you that we are…
BARRING any last-minute change of plan, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) is expected to meet today to deliberate on salient matters aimed at tackling some of the problems bedevilling the country. This newspaper gathered that the meeting is expected to consider some serious matters of state including the vexed issue of the minimum wage impasse that had been ongoing between the federal government and organized labour. The tripartite committee set up by the federal government recently submitted its report to President Bola Tinubu. While the federal government has agreed that it can pay N62,000 minimum wage, the organised Labour consisting…
ENGLAND, France, and Netherlands progressed to the knockout stages of Euro 2024 on Monday after Albania lost 1-0 to Group B winners Spain thanks to an early Ferran Torres goal in Duesseldorf. England have qualified from Group C and France and Netherlands from Group D as at least three of the four best third-placed teams at the tournament. All three sides play their final group-stage matches on Tuesday, where they will seek a top-two finish in order to ensure a kinder draw for the last-16 stage. England have four points and sit top of Group C before their match against…
PALESTINIAN medics and rights advocates have denounced the killing of a top medical official in Gaza by the Israeli military, accusing Israel of systematically targeting the health system in the besieged enclave. Israel bombed a clinic in Gaza City late on Sunday, killing Hani al-Jaafarawi, Gaza’s director of ambulances and emergency, and four other people. The targeted clinic, which offered general health, paediatric and dental services, was also put out of commission by the Israeli attack. “The Israeli war jets bombed the clinic and destroyed its rooms completely,” said Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Ismail Algoul, reporting from Gaza City. “The…
WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange has been freed from prison in the United Kingdom and is set to travel home to Australia after he pleads guilty to a single charge of breaching the espionage law in the United States. Assange, 52, will plead guilty to one count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents, according to a filing in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. He was freed from the UK’s high-security Belmarsh prison on Monday and taken to the airport whre he flew out of the country. Assange will appear at a court…
THE head of the United Nations children’s agency, Unicef, says Sudan is one of the worst places in the world for children. Catherine Russell says it now has the largest displacement of children anywhere, with millions facing malnutrition and most not in school She is travelling to the country torn apart by more than a year of brutal civil war as warnings of famine grow louder. The pillars of Sudan’s food economy have collapsed, and both warring parties – the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – are restricting the delivery of desperately needed…
FAMOUS Malian singer Rokia Traoré has been arrested at the main international airport in Italy’s capital Rome over a conviction in Belgium arising from a child custody dispute. She was arrested at Fiumicino airport as she flew in for a concert, Italian media reported. A spokesperson for the airport told the AFP news agency on Sunday that border police had confirmed her arrest. Traoré was initially detained in France in 2020 on a Belgian arrest warrant after failing to heed a court order to hand over her child to her Belgian father. Months after she was conditionally released, she flew…
WITHIN four years, politically exposed personalities (PEPs) in Nigeria have doubled their investment in the real estate sector of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, according to an investigation on Business Day. The newspaper reports that the investigation is part of ‘Dubai Unlocked,’ a six-month probe of UAE’s booming and secretive property market led by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) together with more than 70 media partners. Economy Post is said to be the only Nigerian firm which participated in the project. The newspaper reported that as of 2020, 800 houses were traced to Nigerian PEPs, but four years…
VP Shettima Expected, As Nda-Isaiah Hosts Amuka, Yusuf, Olorunyomi, Other Icons THE Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, will chair the unveiling of Writing for Media and Monetising It, the new book on getting rewards from valuable content written by the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP, Azu Ishiekwene, and published by Premium Times Books. The event will take place on Wednesday, June 26, at 10 am at the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja. A “two-in-one event”, it would also feature a panel discussion themed “Reflections on the Media.” A statement by Azu and Premium Times Books described the unveiling as “one…
THE health Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Fahd al-Jalajel, has disclosed that 1,301 pilgrims died during the 2024 hajj. Speaking on the state television, Jalajel said 83 percent of the deceased made the pilgrimage without the necessary permits. Al-Jalajel said these unauthorized pilgrims walked long distances under the intense sun. “We dealt with large numbers of people affected by heat stress. Regrettably, the number of mortalities reached 1,301, with 83 percent being unauthorised to perform hajj and having walked long distances under direct sunlight, without adequate shelter or comfort,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported. Al-Jalajel said the…
SUBSTITUTE Niclas Fullkrug scored a late equaliser for Germany as they rescued a draw with Switzerland to top Group A. The Swiss thought they were going through to the last 16 as group winners after an early goal from Dan Ndoye until Fullkrug headed in the equaliser. There was an outburst of celebration from home supporters behind the goal as Germany maintained their unbeaten start to Euro 2024. It was a blow to Switzerland, who had defended resolutely for more than 90 minutes but they still progress to the knockout stages. Murat Yakin’s side knew victory would see them leapfrog…
ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated that he is open to a “partial” deal that would facilitate the return of some captives still held in Gaza, even if not all. He reiterated, however, that he would not agree to any deal that stipulated an end to Israel’s war on Gaza, despite previous claims by the United States that an Israeli proposal would be a pathway to ending the offensive. “The goal is to return the kidnapped and uproot the Hamas regime in Gaza,” he said in an interview with Israeli media outlet Channel 14 on Sunday. Tens of thousands…
A WOMAN from Texas has been charged with attempted murder after she tried to drown a three-year-old Palestinian girl, according to United States media reports, citing local police. The incident, which took place on May 19 in Euless, Texas, is being described by civil rights groups as racially motivated. According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Texas), the accused, 42-year-old Elizabeth Wolf, attacked the girl at the swimming pool at her family’s apartment complex. The child’s mother and six-year-old brother were also present. “Mrs. H, the mother, who wears hijab [Islamic headscarf] and modest swimwear, was watching her children in…
KENYA’s President William Ruto said he was ready for “a conversation” with thousands of young protesters who held nationwide demonstrations this week to oppose proposed tax increases, a presidency official said Sunday. Led largely by Gen-Z Kenyans who have livestreamed the demonstrations, the protests caught the government off-guard, as discontent mounts over Ruto’s economic policies. “Our young people have stepped forward to engage on the affairs of their country. They’ve done their democratic duty, to stand and be recognised. I’m proud of them,” Ruto said in quotes shared by presidency spokesman Hussein Mohamed on X, formerly Twitter. “We’ll have a…
A US tourist from New Mexico was killed by an elephant, after it attacked her vehicle while parked during a safari drive in Zambia on Wednesday. The animal pulled Juliana Gle Tourneau, 64, out of the vehicle and trampled her, officials said. Ms Tourneau was with a group that had stopped near the Maramba Cultural Bridge in Livingstone due to traffic from an elephant herd when one of the animals attacked, a police official told the Zambian national broadcaster ZNBC. This marks the second fatal elephant attack on a US tourist in the southern African country this year. Gail Mattson,…
PORTUGAL coach Roberto Martinez said it was lucky that none of the multiple fans who invaded the pitch during his team’s Euro 2024 game against Turkey on Saturday had ill intentions after several supporters ran on looking for a selfie with Cristiano Ronaldo. The Group F match in Dortmund, which Portugal won 3-0, was interrupted on several occasions in the second half as pitch invaders got away from security in an attempt to take a photograph with the 39-year-old superstar. The first fan, a young boy wearing a red tracksuit top, emerged from the stand behind the benches midway through…
UNITED Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed increasing concern over the escalating war of words and deadly border clashes between Israel’s military and Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters. UN peacekeepers are working to calm the situation and prevent “miscalculation” after both sides heightened their rhetoric and raised the possibility of full-scale conflict, he said on Friday. “One rash move – one miscalculation – could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border and, frankly, beyond imagination,” Guterres told reporters. “Let’s be clear: The people of the region and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.” A UN…
A SENIOR US Department of State official and expert on Israeli-Palestinian affairs has resigned this week, United States media reported, amid the eight-month war in Gaza that has killed more than 37,400 Palestinians. Andrew Miller, the deputy assistant secretary for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, cited personal reasons for his decision to leave his job, The Washington Post newspaper reported on Friday. Miller told colleagues that he wanted to spend more time with his family as the current conflict which started in October had “become all-consuming”, the report said. He was a sceptic of US President Joe Biden’s “bear hug” approach towards Israel’s…
A 21-YEAR-OLD protester died after being hit by a tear gas canister during protests in Kenya this week, a human rights commission official said Saturday, in the second fatality resulting from the youth-led demonstrations. Led largely by young Kenyans who have livestreamed the demonstrations, the protests against tax hikes have been galvanised by widespread discontent over President William Ruto’s economic policies. Thursday’s demonstrations in Nairobi were mostly peaceful, but officers fired tear gas and water cannon throughout the day in an attempt to disperse protesters near parliament. According to a Kenya Human Rights Commission official, 21-year-old Evans Kiratu was “hit…