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KENYAN authorities ignored “credible reports” about a doomsday cult in which more than 400 members were found buried in shallow graves, a state-funded human rights watchdog has said. The bodies of 429 people, including children, were discovered in Shakahola, a forest near the town of Malindi, last year. Survivors and victims’ families said that cult leader Paul Mackenzie had urged his followers to fast in order to “go see Jesus”. In its report, The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) criticised security officers in Malindi for “gross abdication of duty and negligence” prior to the deaths. “They not only…

Q – What is the food that is permissible to give for Zakatul-Fitr? Nura Jamilu, Hadejia A – It is reported in the hadith that it is to be given from five things. They are wheat, barley, dried dates , raisins and cottage cheese. However, some of the research scholars have mentioned that specifying these five things was done because they were used at that time. Therefore, they permit giving it from whatever is the common food of the land like rice for example, and corn in the land where it is used as food and so forth. = Q…

BRAZIL’s new boss Dorival Junior started his bid to revive the five-time world champions with a 1-0 win against England as teenage sensation Endrick bagged his first international goal in Saturday’s friendly at Wembley. Coming off their worst period for over 60 years, Brazil hope Dorival Junior can trigger a revival in time to challenge for the 2026 World Cup. This was a first significant step in the right direction for the Selecao, who marked their manager’s debut with victory against an England side expected to make a strong challenge to win Euro 2024. On a cathartic evening for Brazil…

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has made a renewed call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. “It is time to silence the guns,” he said, speaking from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with the enclave. He also called on Israel to give “total, unfettered” access to humanitarian goods throughout Gaza. A UN-backed food security assessment this week said 1.1 million people in Gaza were struggling with catastrophic hunger and starvation. It added that a man-made famine in the north was imminent between now and May. Mr Guterres, who said he had come to Rafah “to spotlight the pain…

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin says all four gunmen who carried out a deadly attack at a packed concert venue in Moscow have been arrested. At least 133 people were killed and more than 140 injured when the attackers stormed the building, firing indiscriminately and setting it alight. Authorities said 11 people were detained in total, and the four gunmen were caught while heading to Ukraine. The Islamic State (IS) group says it was behind the attack. On Saturday Amaq, the IS channel on Telegram, posted an image of the four masked men they claimed were involved in the assault. Russia…

AFTER weeks of political unrest, people in Senegal are voting for a new president. Seventeen candidates are on the ballot, each hoping to replace President Macky Sall who is barred from running again after reaching the two-term limit. The election had been due to take place last month but Mr Sall postponed it, triggering deadly opposition protests and a democratic crisis. Senegal had until then been praised as a bastion of democracy in West Africa. Seven million people are eligible to vote in Sunday’s election. Among those in the running for Senegal’s top job is the governing BBY coalition’s candidate,…

A MASS grave containing the bodies of at least 65 migrants has been found in Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said. The IOM said the circumstances of their deaths and their nationalities are still unknown but they believe they died being smuggled through the desert towards the Mediterranean. The organisation, part of the United Nations, said it was “profoundly shocked” by the discovery. Libya is investigating, the IOM said. The grave was found in south-west Libya, it said. An IOM spokesperson said: “Each report of a missing migrant or a loss of life represents a grieving family…

THE All Progressives Congress (APC)has brought smiles to the faces of it’s teeming members and supporters to cushion the effects of prevailing economic hardship and in the spirit of the Holy month of Ramadan by donating food items worth millions of naira. A statement issued by Malam Muhammad Garba, Chief of Staff to the National Chairman of the party, said the distribution of the palliatives, which was flagged off on Saturday in Dawakin  Kudu local Government was part of the party’s continued effort to identify with it’s members. He said the donation was funded by leaders of the party, prominent…

Q – If a man did the marriage contract at a time when he was not praying, and the husband and wife, the wife’s father, and the two witnesses also were not praying, and the one who did the marriage contract did not do it in the correct manner, rather he did it in a language other than Arabic and he did not recite the Shahaadatayn (twin declaration of faith) or say the words of the marriage contract, what is the ruling on this marriage? Is this marriage regarded as legitimate or not? If they have repented from not praying…

RUSSIA and China on Friday vetoed a US-led draft resolution at the Security Council on a ceasefire in Gaza, joining Arab countries in saying it did not pressure Israel, with Moscow accusing Washington of a “hypocritical spectacle.” The United States, Israel’s main ally which has vetoed previous ceasefire calls, put forward the resolution in which the Security Council would have supported “the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire” and for the first time condemned the October 7 attack by Hamas. Veto-wielding Russia and China were joined in opposing the resolution by Algeria, the current Arab nation on the Security…

CATHERINE, Princess of Wales, on Friday announced that she has cancer and is in the early stages of chemotherapy, asking for “time, space and privacy” as she completes her treatment. Kate, as she is widely known, said the discovery of cancer, after successful abdominal surgery in January, was “a huge shock” but she was “well and getting stronger every day”. The 42-year-old princess did not disclose the exact nature of the cancer but described the last few months since she went into hospital as “incredibly tough” for her and her family. “In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London…

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…