Author: Editor

ANGOLA said on Saturday it will send a military unit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, after a ceasefire it brokered between rebel militiamen and government troops collapsed. The DR Congo’s restive east has witnessed a flare up in violence since a militia called M23 took up arms again in late 2021, going on to capture swathes of territory. Angola has played a mediator role in the conflict, but the latest ceasefire it negotiated collapsed on Tuesday on the same day it was due to take effect. On Saturday, the country’s presidency said that it “will send a unit” of…

ONE of the leading contenders for the senate presidency, Senator Jibrin Barau of the All Progressives Congress has hosted over 70 senators-elect to solicit their support ahead of the inauguration of the 10th parliament that will usher the leadership of the upper chamber. Barau, who is a third-timer at the red chamber currently representing Kano North Senatorial District. Although he is yet to publicly declare his interest to run for the coveted seat, he has deployed his foot soldiers to meet key stakeholders, including ranking federal lawmakers. He currently chairs the Senate Committee on Appropriations. It was gathered that over…

GOVERNOR Babagana Zulum of Borno has visited families of the 30 fishermen killed on Wednesday by terrorists at Mukdolo village, Ngala Local Government Area (LGA) of the state. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the affected fishermen from Dikwa LGA had gone fishing in the village, but were ambushed and killed by terrorists. A statement from the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Mallam Isa Gusau on Saturday, said Zulum met with the bereaved families at the palace of the Emir of Dikwa, Alhaji Ibrahim Ibn Ibrahim-Elkanemi. “On behalf of the government and people of…

WAKILI Kabiru-Muhammad, Nasarawa West Senatorial candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the Feb. 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections have dragged INEC to the election tribunal over the omission of the party’s logo. Speaking to newsmen shortly after filing his petition on Saturday in Lafia, Kabiru-Muhammad said the logo of his party was not clearly captured on the ballot papers by INEC. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC and Ahmed Aliyu-Wadada of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the winner of the election are the first and second defendants in the case respectively. He alleged…

AN ABUJA-BASED middle-aged man, who identified himself as Mustapha, has narrated how he uncovered a heap of Independent National Electoral Commission’s sensitive materials, comprising results and declaration sheets. Mustapha, who appeared in a viral video obtained by our correspondent, displayed some yet-to-be-filled sensitive materials littered close to the refuse site, around Jikwoyi area in Karu Amac municipality of the Federal Capital Territory. Our correspondent reports that from the empty declaration of result sheet sighted, no fewer than seven candidates with seven political parties, which include Dogo Bukar, Action Alliance; Nijhu Jonathan, African Democratic Congress; Golkos Gaius All Progressives Congress; Abubakar…

SPANISH prosecutors on Friday charged Barcelona with corruption over payments the club made to a former vice president of Spain’s referees’ committee through a company owned by him. According to the prosecution, the Catalan club paid a total of more than 7.3 million euros to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, former referee and ex-vice president of the refereeing committee of the Spanish football federation between 1994 and 2018. Two of the club’s former presidents, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, as well as Enriquez Negreira are facing the same charge, originating from the Barcelona prosecutor’s office. Enriquez Negreira was allegedly paid…

US hedge fund Elliott Investment Management has made it through to the second stage of the bidding process in the potential sale of Manchester United. Representatives from the company are understood to have been at Old Trafford on Thursday to watch the team’s 4-1 win against Real Betis in the Europa League. The BBC and Sky Sports said the US firm’s proposal was to offer financing to interested parties, including current owners the Glazers if they decide to remain at the club, rather than seeking to buy the Premier League giants outright. Elliott previously owned AC Milan before the Italian…

TOTTENHAM manager Antonio Conte said he would “die for this club” until the end of the season but admitted the contract he signed at the start of his tenure was strange. Poor recent results and the looming end of the Italian’s contract have led to mounting speculation that he will soon leave the club. But Conte urged “time and patience” on the eve of his team’s match against Nottingham Forest. “If you ask me now am I ready now to die for this club? Yes,” he said on Friday. “Until the end, I am ready to die for this club.…

IRAN and Saudi Arabia have agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies within two months, according to Iranian and Saudi state media. The agreement was reached on Friday during talks in Beijing. Iranian state media posted images and video of Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, with Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban and Wang Yi, China’s most senior diplomat. “After implementing the decision, the foreign ministers of both nations will meet to prepare for an exchange of ambassadors,” Iranian state television said. In the footage aired by Iranian media, Wang…

FACEBOOK owner Meta is working on a new “text sharing” social media network, it said Friday, in a project seen as a potential rival to embattled Twitter. Since billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter in October, the platform has suffered outages, layoffs, and seen advertisers flee over the lack of content moderation. But so far no major alternative to Twitter has emerged, leaving global leaders, politicians, celebrities, and companies little choice but to continue to communicate via the platform. Following reports on news websites Platformer and India-based Moneycontrol, Meta confirmed on Friday that it was beginning to work on the…

SOUTH Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has dismissed claims that his new cabinet is bloated and says he is committed to restructuring the government. Opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen on Thursday asked President Ramaphosa in parliament if it was fair for ministers to be “living like rock stars” while ordinary citizens suffer. “[They have] 98 mansions worth over a billion rand, free generators, free electricity and high-end luxury vehicles,” Mr Steenhuisen said. “Well, I don’t know about rock stars,” the president responded. Mr Ramaphosa denied the opposition leader’s claims that South Africa had the largest cabinet across the globe,…

MORE than 1,000 Africans trying to reach Europe have been rescued in a single night off Tunisia, the coast guard said Friday, after a wave of violence against black migrants. Last month President Kais Saied ordered officials in the North African country to take “urgent measures” to tackle irregular migration, claiming without evidence that “a criminal plot” was underway to change Tunisia’s demographic makeup. His comments fuelled attacks, evictions, and other retaliation against migrants, international rights groups said Thursday, after West African countries, flew home hundreds of their fearful nationals. Tunisia’s coast guard said in a statement that it had…

THE National Population Commission (NPC) has said that the postponement of the 2023 gubernatorial and state house of assembly elections will affect the conduct of the 2023 Housing and Population Census. Recall that the census which would hold after 17 years was scheduled for March 29 to April A staff member of the commission, who does not want his name in print as the decision is yet to be taken told this newspaper that the exercise would now hold between May 3 to 7. “The census will hold now from May 3 to 7 and it is a recommendation that…

PRESIDENT-Elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has condoled the family and colleagues of the National Welfare Officer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Friday Nwosu, who died Thursday evening in Abuja. Late Nwosu was until his death a leader of the party in Abia State and a member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party. In a statement by his media office on Friday, Asiwaju Tinubu said Nwosu’s death had left a gaping hole in the party. “I received with shock and grief the news of the sudden death of Chief Nwosu. He was a dedicated party man and…

Man United 4 v Real Betis 1 MANCHESTER United manager Erik ten Hag hailed goalscoring skipper Bruno Fernandes as the star man in his side’s Europa League last-16 first-leg victory against Real Betis. Fernandes had taken the brunt of huge criticism heaped on United following Sunday’s record 7-0 Premier League humiliation at Liverpool. But Ten Hag confirmed in the build-up the Portuguese would remain captain if Harry Maguire was not on the field – and Fernandes repaid that faith with an outstanding contribution to a much-needed win. It included his eighth goal of the season as he headed home Luke…

Sporting Lisbon 2 v Arsenal 2 ARSENAL manager Mikel Arteta says his side must “improve massively” if they are to continue winning games after the Gunners were held by Sporting Lisbon in an entertaining Europa League last-16 first leg. France defender William Saliba put the Premier League leaders ahead with a towering header before Sporting took advantage of poor defending to score either side of half-time through Goncalo Inacio and Paulinho. An own goal by the hosts’ Japanese midfielder Hidemasa Morita ensured Arsenal will start on level terms when the teams meet in the return leg at Emirates Stadium next…

MALAYSIA’S former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has been charged with abuse of power and money laundering in connection with the awarding of government contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Muhyiddin, who led the country from March 2020 through the worst of the pandemic, pleaded not guilty to the six charges at a Kuala Lumpur court on Friday morning. The charges were filed after Muhyiddin was questioned by investigators from Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency for a number of hours on Thursday over a government support programme that his government introduced to help building contractors during the coronavirus lockdown. He faces four counts of…

A NUMBER of people have been killed in a shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness meeting hall in the north German city of Hamburg. Police say the gunman acted alone and is thought to be dead. It is unclear if the attacker is among the six or seven fatalities reported by German media. As yet, “there is no reliable information on the motive”, police say. A number of people were also injured in the shooting on Deelböge street in the city’s Gross Borstel district. Police say they found a dead person at the scene who they believe may have been a…

AMNESTY International on Thursday called on Ethiopian authorities to restore access to social media networks including Facebook, TikTok and Youtube as a blockade on some platforms entered its second month. In a statement, Amnesty said the blockade clearly violated rights to freedom of expression and access to information and “further stains the country’s already dismal record on media freedom”. “Amnesty International urges the Ethiopian authorities to lift this blockade without delay and to end this culture of interfering with people’s right to express themselves and to seek and receive information,” said deputy regional director for East and Southern Africa Flavia…

FOURTEEN migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have drowned off the coast of the Tunisian city of Sfax, the coastguard said on Thursday.Fourteen migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have drowned off the coast of the Tunisian city of Sfax, the coastguard said on Thursday. “Coastguard patrols last night intercepted a group whose boat had sunk, rescuing 54 people of various sub-Saharan African nationalities, and recovering 14 bodies,” the authority said in a statement on Facebook. Black migrants in Tunisia have complained of a rising tide of racist violence since President Kais Saied accused them last month of causing a crime wave and representing…