Author: Editor

JUST hours after Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, made minor changes to his cabinet, he also appointed his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, to be head of the military. Analysts say the appointment puts Museveni’s son in line to be president – but only if Museveni, in power for nearly four decades, is unable to continue. Museveni’s son, generally referred to as Muhoozi, was named chief of defense forces Thursday night, replacing General Wilson Mbusa Mbadi, who was appointed a junior minister of trade. The 49-year-old Muhoozi has been away from active military command for two years. He was removed from his previous…

MARKUS Jooste, the former head of the Steinhoff retail group that was at the centre of a huge corporate fraud case in South Africa, has died. Police said Mr Jooste succumbed to a gunshot wound in hospital, with local media reporting he shot himself at his home in the southern town of Hermanus. “The circumstances surrounding his death are being investigated,” police spokesperson Andre Traut said. The Steinhoff group included European retailers such as the UK’s Poundland. Local media says Mr Jooste once had a “near-mythical” reputation as an exceptional businessman, credited with turning the small Johannesburg furniture-seller Steinhoff into…

THE Minister of Information and Culture, Mohammed Idris says the Federal Government has attracted 30 billion dollars Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to the real sector of the economy. Idris said this when he met with the business community in Kano on Friday. “These investment commitments covering manufacturing, telecoms, healthcare, oil and gas, and others are already being realised. “The Nigerian economy grew by 3.46 per cent (year-on-year) in Q4 2023, compared to 2.54 per cent in the preceding quarter; a better performance than anticipated. “Capital importation into Nigeria was up 66 per cent in Q4 2023, compared to Q3 2023,…

VICE-CHANCELLOR of the National Open University of Nigeria NOUN), Professor Olufemi Peters, has described the death of the immediate past Director of Management Information Systems (DMIS) at the university, Professor Muhtari Alhassan, as a monumental loss to the academic community. Alhassan died in the early hours of Friday, March 21, 2024 after a brief illness. In a condolence message that he personally signed, Peters described Alhassan as “a committed staff of the university,” adding, “His dedication to his role and trustworthiness was exemplary.” The NOUN VC also said: “He was very simple and unassuming. A credible confidant indeed.” Recalling the…

Q – Salaamu Alaikum Ya Sheikh. With regard to fasting, I started fasting in London and broke my fast in Riyadh. What is the ruling on the time difference? Aaliyah Kabir, Bauchi A – Your fast is valid, because with regard to breaking the fast, what matters is the place where the fasting person is when the sun sets; the time difference does not matter, whether the day is long or short. In Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (10/296) it says: The scholars are unanimously agreed that the fast lasts from dawn until sunset, and each person who fasts is subject to…

THREE professional footballers in Argentina linked to the alleged rape of a sports journalist in a hotel room were placed under house arrest Thursday. A judge ordered a 90-day house arrest for three of the four defendants, who all play for first-division club Velez Sarsfield. The fourth player was released on bail. All four were also suspended from their team, which sits third in Argentina’s top league and features Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone among its former players. The case arose after a 24-year-old sports journalist alleged she was raped after being invited by Uruguay international Sebastian Sosa to a…

THE United States has circulated for the first time a draft UN resolution calling for an “immediate” ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, as warnings grow of famine in besieged Gaza. Washington had blocked previous Security Council texts using the word “immediate” but US top diplomat Antony Blinken confirmed the shift in position on Wednesday. Blinken, who is to meet five Arab foreign ministers in Egypt on Thursday, stressed any immediate truce must be linked to the release of hostages snatched by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attack that set off the war. The Israeli bombardment of Gaza continued overnight…

MORE than 100 Australians were evacuated from a remote northern Australian town Thursday, as severe flooding from ex-tropical cyclone Megan was expected to hit. More than 100 residents of the small town of Borroloola were airlifted by the Australian Defence Force to Darwin, more than 970 kilometres (600 miles) away. The evacuation comes after 700 residents were left stranded as the cyclone passed through on Tuesday. The storm caused minimal immediate damage, but nearby McArthur River was set to peak at 18 metres (60 feet), three metres above its 2001 record, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. “After a midnight…

A RWANDAN-BORN man has been arrested in Ohio on charges of hiding his involvement in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Federal prosecutors accuse Eric Tabaro Nshimiye of concealing his involvement in the mass murders, including personally hacking people to death. Mr Nshimiye has lived in Ohio since 1995 after fraudulently gaining refugee status in the US, prosecutors say. He has previously denied participating in the genocide. He is due to appear in federal court in Boston at a later date. “[Mr] Nshimiye is accused of lying to conceal his participation in one of the greatest human tragedies of all time,” Homeland…

FORMER prime minister Amadou Ba has stepped out of the shadows telling supporters the “bandits” will not win as he battles to be Senegal’s next president after Sunday’s election. Before a crowd of hundreds in the central town of Diourbel, he claimed the role of a last bastion against disorder. The once discreet technocrat has reincarnated himself as a feisty orator and the uncontested candidate of the president’s governing coalition. “We don’t want Senegal to fall into the hands of sasai,” or bandits in the Wolof language, said the man President Macky Sall has picked to replace him. All present…

Q – Salaamu Alaikum, Ya sheikh, I was wondering what a woman can do on laylat al-qadr if she is menstruating at that time. Can she earn extra rewards for engaging herself in worship? if so, what is permissible for her to do so that night? Hannatu Sabo Ibrahim, Abuja A – A woman who is menstruating may do all acts of worship apart from praying, fasting, circumambulating the Ka’bah and doing i’tikaaf in the mosque. It was narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to stay up at night during the last ten…

THE Palestine Football Association has called on football’s international governing body, FIFA, to sanction Israeli teams over the war in Gaza. The PFA asked for its proposal, which it said six other member nations had endorsed, to be on the agenda at FIFA’s upcoming congress in May. Israel’s football association on Wednesday responded to the petition by saying it had “always followed FIFA regulations and always will.” The PFA’s statement, released on Tuesday, said “the loss of innocent lives, including no less than 99 footballers” and the “destruction of residential units… are clear violations of international laws.” “All the football…

MORE than 800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of Ramadan, showing the stark human cost of the failed attempts by the US and others to secure a ceasefire before the holy month. Between the mornings of March 11 and March 20, 811 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, according to data from the enclave’s health authorities. Another 1,336 people were injured, reported the Hamas-run Health Ministry, whose daily casualty updates are considered reliable by the UN and other humanitarian agencies. Also, Dozens of mourners gathered in the village of Aqraba, near the West Bank city of Nablus,…

A RUSSIAN court on Wednesday sentenced a Saint Petersburg woman to eight days in jail for writing “no to war” on a ballot paper during the country’s presidential election in protest at President Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine campaign. The three-day vote over the weekend saw Putin running unchallenged for a fifth Kremlin term, which would extend his rule until at least 2030. The election was marred by ballot spoiling, with Putin warning in his victory speech that Russians who did so “have to be dealt with”. Saint Petersburg’s Dzerzhinsky district court said it ordered Alexandra Chiryatyeva to be jailed for eight…

A SOUTH African bank said on Wednesday a court had ordered a halt to outgoing payments from ex-president Jacob Zuma’s accounts in a dispute over loans for improvements to his private home while in power. The First National Bank (FNB), said the measure was the result of legal action taken by the liquidators of another bank, which is owed money by the 81-year-old politician. “FNB was instructed by the High Court to place a hold on outgoing payments from former President Zuma’s FNB accounts. The accounts are not closed as incoming payments are unaffected,” FNB told AFP. “This instruction from…

SENEGAL’s president has told the BBC he does not regret delaying this year’s elections, a move that sparked deadly protests. Macky Sall said he did not make the decision alone – he was responding to concerns raised by parliamentarians. After a violent backlash, many feared the relatively stable nation was slipping into political crisis. But the attempt to push the election back by 10 months was blocked by Senegal’s top court. The vote will now take place on Sunday – a month after it was initially due. “I have no apology to make, I have done nothing wrong,” President Sall…

Q – I was going to travel on a particular day, so I broke the fast in my house then I had intercourse with my two-week old new bride. What do I have to do? Please note that I thought that the expiation was to make up that day only, I did not know that it is fasting for two consecutive months or feeding ten poor persons. Ali Abba Inuwa, Kaduna A – The evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah, and scholarly consensus, indicates that the traveller may break the fast of Ramadan, then make up the number of days…

MANCHESTER United teenager Kobbie Mainoo has earned his first England call-up for their forthcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium. Mainoo is emerging as one of United’s brightest young stars in a breakthrough season for the 18-year-old. Established in United’s central midfield after 20 impressive appearances this term, Mainoo has been rewarded with a promotion to the England squad as they build towards Euro 2024. Mainoo moved into Gareth Southgate’s senior group having initially been named in the England Under-21 squad. “Kobbie Mainoo has received his first call-up to the England senior squad,” England’s Football Association said in a statement said…

GAZA’s two million people are experiencing “severe levels of acute food insecurity”, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. This was first time an entire population had been so classified, he said when questioned by the BBC about conditions in the territory. Mr Blinken called on Israel to prioritise providing for those in need. UN agencies have said north Gaza could face famine by May without a pause in the fighting and a surge in aid. Mr Blinken’s warning came during a trip to the Philippines as US officials announced that he would travel to the Middle East, his…

POLICE in Haiti have killed at least three people while repelling an attack on the country’s central bank. A “group of criminals” targeted the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) on Monday, an employee told AFP, leaving up to four dead and a guard injured. The bank itself thanked security forces for “protecting our community”. Haiti has been rocked by weeks of violence after gangs raided prisons, released thousands of inmates and forced the prime minister to resign. In a statement on X, BRH said: “Following an incident yesterday near [our] site on Rue Pavee, security forces and the…