THE African Union has reiterated its zero-tolerance approach to undemocratic changes of power on the continent. On the final day of a summit in Addis Ababa, the AU said it would maintain the suspension of Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Sudan – which are all ruled by military leaders following coups. The commissioner for political affairs, Bankole Adeoye, said the AU was ready to help those countries return to constitutional order and help democracy take root. Leaders at the summit also agreed to press ahead with plans for a free trade deal including almost every country in Africa.
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FACEBOOK and Instagram owner Meta will launch a paid subscription service starting at $11.99 a month allowing users to verify their accounts, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Sunday, following a similar move by Elon Musk at Twitter. Meta Verified, which will roll out first in Australia and New Zealand this week, will let users “verify your account with a government ID, get a blue badge, get extra impersonation protection against accounts claiming to be you, and get direct access to customer support,” Zuckerberg said. “This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services,” he wrote in a statement…
TURKEY has ended rescue efforts in all but two provinces, almost two weeks after a massive earthquake killed tens of thousands of people, the country’s disaster agency said. Searches will continue in Kahramanmaras and Hatay, the agency’s chief said. However, hopes of finding anyone else alive in the rubble are fading fast. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Turkey and announced $100m (£83m) in humanitarian aid. The epicentre of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on 6 February was in Kahramanmaras. More than 44,000 people are confirmed to have lost their lives in south-eastern Turkey and northern Syria. The…
SYRIA’S military says five people have died after what it alleged were Israeli missiles hit the capital Damascus and surrounding areas on Sunday. Officials said a building was hit in the central Kafr Sousa neighbourhood, killing four civilians and one soldier. The densely populated district is home to a large, heavily guarded security complex. Israel’s military declined to comment on the strike when approached by Reuters news agency. Israel frequently attacks targets in Syria linked to Iran and Hezbollah militants but rarely acknowledges its actions. However, attacks on residential areas are rare. Sunday’s attack was the first since a devastating…
MARCUS Rashford scored twice to continue his hot streak and help Manchester United overcome Leicester in the Premier League. Rashford is in the form of his career and is leading United’s resurgence, taking his tally to 24 goals for the season with strikes in each half at Old Trafford. Both efforts were clinical finishes, latching on to passes from Bruno Fernandes and Fred before bearing down on goal and coolly slotting past Danny Ward. Substitute Jadon Sancho finished off a fine team move to seal all three points for Erik ten Hag’s side, but it could have been a very…
NEYMAR was carried off on a stretcher before Lionel Messi scored a 95th-minute winner as Paris St-Germain gained an incredible win over Lille. PSG had been 2-0 ahead and 3-2 behind after goals from Lille’s Bafode Diakite, Jonathan David and Jonathan Bamba transformed the match. Kylian Mbappe, who opened the scoring, grabbed his second in the 87th minute to give PSG hope of victory. Messi then won it in dramatic fashion with a 22-yard free-kick. Despite the win, PSG’s main concern will be for Brazil forward Neymar after the 31-year-old, a goalscorer in the first half, was kicked on his…
A MIDDLE-AGED woman, known as Mama Dada, has reportedly set herself ablaze in her rented apartment over her inability to offset a loan of N70,000 she took from a microfinance bank popularly known as LAPO. Our correspondent gathered that the deceased got burnt beyond recognition as the entire building located at the Oke-Keesi, Itoko area of Abeokuta. LAPO is known for lending money to traders and other small-scale business owners with specific instructions for repayment plans. An eyewitness, Bolanle Ajayi, a resident of the area, said that the woman killed herself after she was unable to pay back a loan…
RIVERS state governor,Nyesom Wike, says the state will not vote a presidential candidate that will jail or kill him when elected into office. Speaking on Saturday at the Obio-Akpor LGA campaign rally organised by the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign council, Wike said Rivers will only vote for a presidential candidate that has the unity of Nigeria at heart. Wike also commended the governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for their stance on power shift to the south. He said the APC governors’ position is proof that they understand the essence…
SIX days to the presidential and National Assembly elections, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, has suspended the redeployment of Deputy Inspectors-General of Police (DIGs), Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs) and Commissioners of Police for election duties. The police boss, on February 7, this year, redeployed some DIGs, AIGs and CPs ahead of the country’s general elections. The redeployment was part of the strategies of the police authority to ensure that officers and men of the Force are not partisan before, during and after the elections. However, a signal issued by the Force Secretary, was made available to our source…
AHEAD of the 2023 general elections, the people of troubled Birnin-Gwari in Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State said they have started reaching out to various terrorist groups for the successful conduct of the poll in the area. The Chairman of the Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressive Union, Ishaq Kasai, in a statement on Saturday, said the development became necessary in view of the prevailing security challenges where about 100 communities were sacked while no fewer than 50,000 were internally displaced by terrorists in the LG. The statement was titled, ‘2023 general elections: only reaching out to terrorist groups will allow…
BAYERN Munich could be overtaken by Union Berlin at the top of the Bundesliga on Sunday after the champions’ losing streak against Borussia Monchengladbach continued. After Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano was sent off early on, Gladbach quickly took the lead through Lars Stindl. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting equalised before half-time, but Jonas Hofmann and Marcus Thuram put the hosts in command. Mathys Tel scored late but the 3-2 loss leaves Bayern a point clear of Union. Bayern, who are aiming for record 11th consecutive Bundesliga title, have now lost their past five matches against Gladbach. Union Berlin are the German top-flight’s…
Aston Villa 2 vs Arsenal 4 OLEKSANDR Zinchenko insists Arsenal can achieve “everything they want” after Mikel Arteta’s side twice came from behind to beat Aston Villa and reignite their Premier League title hopes. The Gunners scored twice in stoppage time to return to the top of the table and end a run of three games without a win. Ollie Watkins gave Villa an early lead and Philippe Coutinho, making his first Premier League start under former Gunners boss Unai Emery, added a second after Bukayo Saka equalised. Zinchenko then restored parity on the hour, before the drama kicked into…
WITH the estimated death toll still mounting, the massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6 is among the 10 deadliest of the past 100 years, with over 41,000 dead as of Friday. 1976: 242,000 dead, China A quake measuring 7.8, according to the Chinese authorities, (7.5 according to the US Geological Survey), strikes near the industrial city of Tangshan in northeastern Hebei province. The official death toll is given as 242,000 but is believed to be significantly higher. Western experts put the toll as high as 700,000, which would make it the second most deadly in the…
THE death toll on Saturday rose to more than 44,000 from the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria with the body of former Ghana international footballer Christian Atsu also found beneath a collapsed building in Antakya. The number of people found alive under the rubble have dropped to only a handful in recent days and the head of Turkey’s disaster agency, Yunus Sezer, said rescue operations would be “largely completed” by Sunday night. State news agency Anadolu initially reported on Saturday three people were found alive nearly two weeks after the the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit on February 6. But the…
THE most powerful trade union in Tunisia is staging rallies in a number of cities in protest against President Kais Saied. Thousands of members of the UGTT union denounced the soaring cost of living and the recent arrests of prominent anti-government figures, including a top union official. At the biggest demonstration in the southern city of Sfax, protesters brandished banners, reading “Tunisia is not for sale” and “Stop the attack on union freedoms”. President Saied has accused what he called “traitors” of being responsible for price rises and food shortages.
THE body of Burkina Faso’s revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara is to be buried Thursday alongside 12 comrades at the spot where they were assassinated in a coup three decades ago, the country’s junta has said. No date had previously been set for the reburial, announced earlier this month. “The burial of the remains of Captain Thomas Sankara and his twelve companions murdered on October 15, 1987 will take place on Thursday, February 23,” said Communications Minister Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo in a press release Friday. Ouedraogo said the ceremony — which Sankara’s family have said they will not attend — will happen…
UDECHUKWU Obi Osakwe has been appointed a non-executive director of the leading hospitality brand Transcorp Hotels Plc, effective February 17, 2023, subject to the approval of shareholders. Osakwe’s appointment comes following the retirement of Mr. Alexander Adeyemi from the Board after serving for close to 4 years. Osakwe brings to the Board his extensive experience in Finance and Management Consulting, having held critical roles across the public and development sectors. He is an experienced Chartered Accountant, Finance Director, and strong finance professional with a demonstrated history in the Management Consulting Industry. He has worked with Donor Organizations such as the World…
AIR Peace on Saturday announced that there would be flight disruptions as a result of the low visibility caused by the bad weather. The airline noted that the weather in some of its destinations which is currently below operating minimum has led to the diversion of Lagos-Ilorin and Lagos-Kano flights. According to a statement by the management of the airline via its official Instagram handle apologised to affected passengers, adding that the weather was under the control of the airline. The statement reads, “The weather in some of our destinations is currently below operating minimum and this has inevitably created…
THE body of former Ghana international Christian Atsu has been found after a huge earthquake in Turkey, local media reported Saturday, quoting his manager. Atsu, 31, was caught up in a 7.8-magnitude quake that rocked Turkey and Syria on February 6, killing more than 43,000 people in both countries. There were initial reports he had been rescued a day after the quake, but these turned out to be false. His manager in Turkey, Murat Uzunmehmet, told DHA news agency on Saturday that his body had been found under the rubble in the Turkish southern province of Hatay. “We have reached…
QATAR”S SHEIKH Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, the chairman of one of Qatar’s biggest banks, has confirmed his foundation will bid to buy Manchester United. BBC Sport understands that Ineos, owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, also officially made a bid before Friday’s 22:00 GMT ‘soft deadline’ for proposals. Billionaire Ratcliffe had already stated his interest in buying United. The Glazer family, who bought United in 2005, are considering selling as they “explore strategic alternatives”. Sheikh Jassim’s Qatari consortium said: “The bid plans to return the club to its former glories. “The bid will be completely debt free via Sheikh Jassim’s…