ISRAEL has continued to launch attacks on Gaza, causing massive casualties despite the ruling of the International Court of Justice. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, additional 174 have been killed and 310 wounded since the court ordered Israel to desist from all acts of genocide in Gaza, including killing Palestinians and causing serious mental harm. On Friday, the court stated that Israel must take measures to prevent and punish incitement of genocide and take necessary steps to caution its military. The court had also ordered Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and other services to help civilians. Health authorities…
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BRITAIN’s King Charles III spent a second day in hospital on Saturday where he was visited by his wife Queen Camilla following scheduled prostate surgery. Camilla was seen arriving by a back entrance at the London Clinic, a private hospital in the capital, where he underwent the procedure on Friday. Charles’s daughter-in-law Catherine Princess of Wales, 42, is currently also at the hospital where she has spent 12 days following abdominal surgery. Reports have said Charles, 75, was expected to spend two days in hospital and that he was “doing well” after the surgery. Royal officials took the unusual step…
BURKINA Faso says it has received 25,000 tonnes of free wheat from Russia. Confirming the news on Friday, one minister called the delivery a “priceless gift”. Ties between Moscow and Ouagadougou have been strengthening since the military took power in two successive coups in 2022. Last month Russia re-opened its embassy in Burkina Faso, which been closed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Burkina Faso has at the same time been distancing itself from former colonial power France, and last year it ordered its troops to leave. Burkina Faso is one of the world’s most-neglected crises, humanitarians say. About…
DEMONSTRATIONS are taking place across major cities in Kenya to protest against the rising cases of femicide and other violence against women. Hundreds have gathered in Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, Nyeri and Lodwar, some carrying placards with the names of those who were killed. A 2022 survey found at least one in three Kenyan women had endured physical violence at some point in their lives. “I am here because I’m angry,” 33-year-old Winnie Chelagat told the BBC. “It is wrong, we are tired and we want something to be done about it.” Men and boys must take responsibility for their own…
THERE seem to be no end in sight for the carnage as dozens were reportedly killed when soldiers and gunmen clashed in two villages of Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, on Saturday morning. The clash occurred after Governor Caleb Mutfwang relaxed the 24-hour curfew imposed on the area. Mutfwang had said following improvement of security, the curfew should be from 8am to 4pm. Sources told our correspondent that about 30 gunmen were killed while some soldiers sustained injuries during the clash at Satguru and Tyop villages. A security operative, who requested anonymity, told this newspaper, “The incident occurred…
NIGERIA striker Victor Osimhen will leave Napoli this summer and join “either Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain or an English club”, the Italian club’s president and owner Aurelio De Laurentiis said on Friday. De Laurentiis was responding to an interview that Osimhen, who is with Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations, gave to American television network CBS, in which the 25-year-old striker said he had already “made up” his mind about his next move. Questioned by Italian media after a meeting of the Italian Football League, De Laurentiis said he was not surprised, even though Osimhen signed a contract extension…
SOUTH Africa on Friday hailed a ruling by the United Nations’ top court that Israel should do everything it can to prevent any acts of genocide in Gaza. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague handed down its verdict in a landmark case brought by Pretoria also ordering Israel to allow humanitarian access to the Palestinian territory. “Today marks a decisive victory for the international rule of law and a significant milestone in the search for justice for the Palestinian people,” South Africa’s ministry of foreign affairs said. “The decision is a momentous one,” it added, thanking the…
THE proportion of people in England and Wales who are married or in a civil partnership has fallen below 50 percent for the first time, latest figures show. Figures from the Office for National Statistics, published on Thursday, estimate that in 2022 only 49.4 percent of the adult population were in a legal union. The figure for 2021, also just published, was 49.7 percent. Similarly, the estimated number of civil partnerships almost doubled over the last decade, from 120,000 in 2012 to 222,000 in 2022, the ONS said. The record low figure for marriage or civil partnerships overall was down…
THE Kenyan High Court has blocked the government from deploying police officers to fight gangs in Haiti. The judge argued that the deployment would be illegal as the National Security Council lacks the legal authority to send police outside Kenya. He added that the council can only deploy military, not police, for peacekeeping missions such as Haiti. Last year, Kenya had volunteered to lead a multinational security force in Haiti to quell gang violence. The judge further explained that Kenyan law only allows the government to deploy police officers to another country if a reciprocal agreement exists between Kenya and…
MALI’s military rulers ended a 2015 peace deal with Tuareg rebels in the country’s north, a move that could further destabilise the Sahel nation. In a statement read on state television, the junta spokesman Col Abdoulaye Maïga said it ended the deal due to a “change in [the] posture of certain signatory groups” and “acts of hostility” by the lead mediator of the deal, Algeria. The peace agreement was seen as key to maintaining stability in the country, as Tuaregs had carried out violent acts against the central government since 2012. There has not been any reaction from the Algerian…
LIVERPOOL manager Jurgen Klopp insisted Thursday it is far too early in the season to talk about another quadruple bid by his side after they reached the League Cup final. The Premier League club had a shot at winning four trophies in the one season two years ago after defeating Chelsea — their opponents in next month’s final — at Wembley. But they had to settle for a domestic Cup double, after also defeating Chelsea in the FA Cup final, with the Reds narrowly beaten to the Premier League title by Manchester City on the last day of the season…
THE UN’s top court could issue emergency measures ordering Israel to halt its military operations in Gaza. The session of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday is part of a case brought by South Africa alleging that Israel is committing genocide. Both countries testified when the case opened two weeks ago. Israel has vehemently rejected the allegation. A ruling against Israel is not enforceable by the court but would be politically significant. More than 25,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – have been killed and tens of thousands injured, according to the health ministry in Gaza. South…
ALABAMA has executed convicted murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith with nitrogen gas, the first time the method of capital punishment has been used in the US. Smith, 58, lost two final appeals to the Supreme Court and one to a federal appeals court, arguing the execution was a cruel and unusual punishment. In 2022, Alabama tried and failed to execute Smith by lethal injection. He was convicted in 1989 of murdering a preacher’s wife, Elizabeth Sennett, in a killing-for-hire. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Smith is the first person to be put to death using pure nitrogen gas anywhere…
THE British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum will give back gold and silver artifacts looted during colonial times from Ghana’s Asante royal court, the museums and the palace said on Thursday. The Ghana agreement for a long-term loan of the items comes as international momentum grows for museums and institutions to restore African artifacts from former colonial powers Britain, France, Germany and Belgium. The returning items include a 300-year-old Mponponso sword used in Asantehene swearing-in ceremonies, a gold peace pipe and cast gold soul-washers’ badges, among other treasures. The artifacts were taken after the third Anglo-Asante War in…
HUMAN Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday accused the Burkina Faso army of killing at least 60 civilians in drone strikes which the government said targeted insurgents. The deaths occurred in three military drone strikes since August, two at crowded markets and another at a funeral, the rights group said in a report. Military leader Captain Ibrahim Traore, who came to power after a 2022 coup, has focused on a strong security response to attacks by groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State. HRW said it had interviewed dozens of witnesses between September and November and analysed photographs, videos and satellite…
NATIONAL Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has asked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf to abandon the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) for the APC. Addressing newsmen after a stakeholders’ meeting in Kano, Ganduje said the meeting resolved to open APC doors to others who want to join the ruling party. “We are appealing to those who want join APC to come. In particular, we are inviting the Governor of Kano and his NNPP to join APC,” Ganduje said. The national chairman asked party members not to get discourage over the loss of the governorship election…
FORMER presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, has said ex-President Muhammadu Buhari was a victim of the crisis of expectations. Shehu, the ex-Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Buhari, also said Nigerians also expect lofty feats from their leaders, which have not augured well in the time past. He spoke at the 21st Trust Dialogue with the theme:” Tinubu’s Economic Reforms: Gainers and Losers”. The former presidential media aide said some of the problems Buhari had were as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the war between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, which affected grain importation. Shehu,…
Africa Cup of Nations last-16 pairings in the Ivory Coast (all times GMT): Saturday Angola v Namibia (1700) In Bouake Nigeria v Cameroon (2000) In Abidjan Sunday Equatorial Guinea v Guinea (1700) In Abidjan Egypt v Democratic Republic of Congo (2000)In San Pedro Monday Cape Verde v Mauritania (1700) In Abidjan Senegal v Ivory Coast (2000) In Yamoussoukro Tuesday Mali v Burkina Faso (1700) In Korhogo Morocco v South Africa (2000) In San Pedro
THE Israeli military has desecrated graves at more than a dozen cemeteries in Gaza, a new investigation appears to have confirmed. CNN said it had reviewed satellite imagery and social media footage showing the destruction of cemeteries. The news outlet’s staff said they had witnessed the desecration while traveling in an Israeli army convoy. The evidence showed a “systemic practice” by Israeli forces in areas they have advanced into, CNN said. Israel launched its air and ground onslaught on Gaza on 7 October, and has so far killed almost 25,000 people in the Palestinian territory. Palestinian officials and human rights…
RUSSIA said Wednesday that an IL-76 military transport plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war had crashed in the western Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine. Unverified videos on social media showed a large plane, purportedly in the Belgorod region, falling from the sky on its side before crashing in a fireball. “At around 11 am Moscow time (0800 GMT), an IL-76 aircraft crashed in the Belgorod region during a routine flight,” Moscow’s defence ministry was quoted as saying by the RIA-Novosti news agency. “On board were 65 captured Ukrainian army servicemen being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew…