ONE of South Africa’s hottest rap artists, Kiernan Forbes, known as AKA, has been shot dead outside a restaurant in the southeastern city of Durban, his family said Saturday. The 35-year-old won multiple South African awards, was nominated several times for a Black Entertainment Television (BET) Award in the United States, and was once nominated for an MTV Europe Music Award. “It is with extreme sadness that we acknowledge the passing of our beloved son,” his parents Tony and Lynn Forbes said in a statement posted on AKA’s Twitter account. “Our son was loved, and he gave love in return.”…
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THE newly-appointed Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Yusha’u Ahmed, has given assurance of safety to Youth Corps members during the forthcoming general elections. Ahmed gave the assurance during his official visit to the Oyo State NYSC Orientation Camp on Friday in Iseyin, Oyo State. He informed the corps members that he had on assumption of duty visited all service chiefs in the country to get assurance from them for the protection of Corps members on election duties. He, however, urged the Corps members to abide by the rules and regulations guiding their participation as umpires in…
RUSSIAN forces have bombarded power facilities across Ukraine as officials said a new Russian offensive was under way in the east. Ukraine’s air force said 61 of 71 Russian missiles had been shot down on Friday. But energy minister German Galushchenko said Russia had hit power facilities in six regions with missiles and drones, causing blackouts across most of Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly attacked civilian infrastructure far from the front lines, leaving millions of Ukrainians without power, heat or water for days at a time in the middle of winter. The barrages have often followed Ukrainian diplomatic or battlefield advances.…
TURKEY’S most devastating earthquake since 1939 has raised big questions about whether such a large-scale tragedy could have been avoided and whether President Erdogan’s government could have done more to save lives. With elections on the horizon, his future is on the line after 20 years in power and his pleas for national unity have gone unheeded. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has admitted shortcomings in the response, but he appeared to blame fate on a visit to one disaster zone: “Such things have always happened. It’s part of destiny’s plan.” Turkey lies on two fault lines and has earthquake building codes…
SHEIKH Saud bin Ibrahim Shuraim has resigned as Imam and Khateeb of Masjid Al Haram, Makkah The Imam excused to re-new his contract with the General Presidency in latter months of 2022 citing personal reasons. The Imam can however return in a temporary role to lead Taraweeh Prayers which will be confirmed in due course ahead of Ramadan. Inside the Haramain earlier reported that a prominent Imam had resigned. Well placed sources have informed Inside the Haramain that the Imam can renew his contract and come back at his discretion. It is pertinent to mention that the General Presidency for…
A TWO-Day curfew has been called in a northern province of Equatorial Guinea, called Kié-Ntem, after 20 people died of an as-yet unidentified illness. The deaths were confirmed by the head of Olamze District Hospital, which is a short distance across the border in Cameroon. According to the Cameroonian health authorities, the victims contracted some form of haemorrhagic fever because their symptoms included nosebleeds, weakness, vomiting blood, fever and diarrhoea. The cases of contagion and deaths are from three localities in northern Equatorial Guinea. Four of the victims came from the same family. Contamination occurs through direct contact with the…
SOMALIA has reopened its embassy in the UK after 32 years, in a ceremony attended by ambassador Abdulkadir Ahmed Kheyr, Olympic champion Mo Farah and Somali-Canadian model Sabrina Dhowre, among others. The embassy in London is expected to provide consular services to the nearly 500,000-strong diaspora community in the UK who are eligible for Somali citizenship, and other services including travel documentation and marriage certificates. It will also host cultural and other informative events. Ambassador Kheyr said that reopening the embassy was a positive step in strengthening UK-Somali relations. The Somali embassy in London was officially closed in 1991 following…
ENGLAND forward Beth Mead and Argentina star Lionel Messi have been shortlisted for the Fifa Best Player awards for 2022. Mead won the Golden Boot and player of the tournament awards as she helped England win Euro 2022. She is up for the Best Fifa women’s player, while Messi is nominated for the men’s award. Messi inspired Argentina to win the 2022 World Cup, scoring seven goals and being named best player. The Paris St-Germain forward is up against club-mate Kylian Mbappe – whose France side were beaten by Messi’s Argentina in the final – and Real Madrid striker Karim…
MANCHESTER City have been “already sentenced” over alleged financial rule breaches, says manager Pep Guardiola. The Premier League charged City with more than 100 breaches of its financial rules on Monday. A two-year ban from European competitions for breaching Uefa’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) in 2020. “The club proved they were completely innocent,” said Guardiola. “What’s happened since Monday is the same as what happened with Uefa. We have already been condemned. “You have to understand that 19 teams in the Premier League are accusing us without us having…
THE top humanitarian aid agency in the US government has pledged $85m (£70m) in urgent life-saving relief for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) funding will go towards shelter, cold weather supplies, food, water and healthcare. The moves comes as countries around the world send search crews and aid to the region, where over 20,000 have died. Rescuers say supplies are needed now or more people will die from the cold. In a statement on Thursday, USAID said it is also providing “hygiene and sanitation assistance to keep people safe and healthy”. The…
RUSSIA’S latest aerial attack on Ukraine saw missiles cross Moldovan airspace, Ukrainian and Moldovan officials have said. Kyiv’s top general said missiles also flew above Romania – a claim denied by Romania, but later repeated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr Zelensky said the missiles represented a “challenge” to Nato, of which Romania is a member country. A Russian government spokesperson deflected questions about the incident. During a regular call with journalists, Dmitry Peskov told the BBC it was a matter for the defence ministry, which is yet to comment. Moldova’s country’s defence ministry described the missile flyover as a…
President Buhari presides over the Council Of State Meeting at the Statehouse, Abuja. 10th Feb, 2023.
ENGLAND manager Sarina Wiegman and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola have been shortlisted for Fifa Best Awards. Wiegman guided England to European Championship glory on home soil last year, the team’s first major trophy. The Dutchwoman, who also won the Euros as Netherlands boss in 2017, claimed the Fifa Best Award in 2017 and 2020. City manager Guardiola is one of three finalists in the men’s coach category and won the Premier League title last season. The others are Lionel Scaloni, who led Argentina the winning World Cup in Qatar, and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, who clinched a La…
CRISTIANO Ronaldo scored four times to move past the 500 career league goal mark as Al Nassr beat Al Wehda 4-0 in the Saudi Pro League. The Portugal forward, who turned 38 on Sunday, struck in a 40-minute period either side of the break. He has now scored 503 league goals for five different clubs in five different leagues. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner joined Al Nassr in December, reportedly on a salary of £177m per year. However, he did not enjoy the most prolific of starts with his new employers, managing one goal from the penalty spot in his…
THOUSANDS of people across the globe have offered to adopt the baby girl who was born under the rubble of a collapsed building in north-west Syria, following Monday’s earthquake. When she was rescued, baby Aya – meaning miracle in Arabic – was still connected to her mother by her umbilical cord. Her mother, father and all four of her siblings died after the quake hit the town of Jindayris. Aya is now in hospital. “She arrived on Monday in such a bad state, she had bumps, bruises, she was cold and barely breathing,” said Hani Marouf, the paediatrician looking after…
MORE than 21,000 people are now known to have died in Monday’s earthquakes in Turkey and Syria – though the UN warns the disaster’s full extent is still unclear. Rescuers are still searching rubble for survivors, but hopes are fading more than four days since the first quake. Tens of thousands of people have spent a freezing fourth night in makeshift shelters, after losing their homes. Turkey’s president called the quake “the disaster of the century”. A major international relief effort is gathering pace. On Thursday the World Bank pledged $1.78bn (£1.38bn) in aid to Turkey including immediate finance for…
A GROUP of UK-based Nigerian professionals and investors who are partnering with the Odu’a Investment Company Limited to build a big housing estate in Ibadan, say they were inspired to come home and invest at a meeting in London years ago with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, even as he details required steps to address Nigeria’s huge housing deficit. The VP spoke at the commissioning of the Westlink Iconic Villa – a joint venture project of Odu’a Investment Company Limited and Chapter Four Estates Management Limited owned by UK-based Nigerians, on the requirements for addressing the housing deficit in Nigeria.…
UNITED Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has confirmed that the first UN relief convoy has arrived in north-western Syria, but added that much more aid to the rebel-controlled area is needed. In a statement, Mr Guterres said the convoy was made up of six trucks carrying shelter and other “desperately needed relief supplies”. “More help is on the way but much more, much more is needed,” he said. “We must put people first.” His words come after local Syrian volunteer organisation, the White Helmets, tweeted their disappointment that equipment needed for air rescue efforts had not been sent with the…
THE ongoing Club World Cup is being used as a trial run for another potential refereeing revolution in football, with fans in the stadium able to hear officials explain decisions taken following VAR reviews. Referees being hooked up with microphones is nothing new in other sports such as the NFL, but it is only now being tested in football, just as the sport is still getting used to Video Assistant Referees and semi-automated offside technology. And so Uruguayan referee Andres Matonte was able to succinctly explain why he awarded a late penalty to Real Madrid after coming across to review…
TEN people were killed when a makeshift gold mine collapsed in western Burkina Faso, a miners’ association said on Thursday. “In the early hours of February 8, miners… were trapped” near the town of Hounde, according to Abasse Derra, an official with the local gold miners’ association. “The death toll so far is 10,” he added giving a provisional toll confirmed by Moussa Ouedraogo, another member of the association. Collapses are frequent at Burkina Faso’s gold mining sites, where local communities feel they receive little benefit. Gold has overtaken cotton to become the poor West African country’s main export, with…