ISRAEL’s new far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has instructed police to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces, calling the Palestinian national symbol an act of “terrorism”. Israeli law does not outlaw Palestinian flags but police and soldiers have the right to remove them in cases where they deem there is a threat to public order. Sunday’s directive from Ben-Gvir, who heads the ultranationalist Jewish Power party in Benjamin Netanyahu’s new far-right government and as national security minister oversees the police, appears to signal a hardline and uncompromising attitude towards Palestinian expressions of identity and free speech and pro-Palestinian…
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By Bala Ibrahim THE people of Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, and home to the PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, have joined the bandwagon, by going in the popular trend of supporting the increasingly attractive train of the Tinubu/Shetima campaign caravan, which has made an alarming appearance in the city today. The trio of President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu and the party’s Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, stormed the state with a force that clearly ridiculed the rumours of aloofness from the campaign, that is spread by the…
FRENCH Football Federation president Noel le Graet has apologised for “clumsy remarks” he made about Zinedine Zidane’s potential interest in coaching the national team. In an interview with French radio, 81-year-old Le Graet said he “wouldn’t even have taken his call” if Zidane had been in touch. Le Graet said on Monday the comments “do not reflect” his views. France boss Didier Deschamps signed a new contract until 2026 on Saturday. “I would like to apologise for these remarks, which absolutely do not reflect my views nor my consideration for the player he was and the coach he has become,”…
OUSMANE Dembele scored a first-half winner as Barcelona moved three points clear at the top of La Liga by edging to victory against Atletico Madrid. Dembele scored with a sweet side-foot finish following Gavi’s lay-off and also hit a post in the second half. Atletico could have levelled in added time but Antoine Griezmann’s effort was cleared off the line by Ronald Araujo. Both sides finished with 10 men after Stefan Savic and Ferran Torres were dismissed for a scuffle. The two former Manchester City players grappled each other off the ball, ending up on the turf, and were shown…
NEWLY promoted, Bendel Insurance of Benin, yesterday, returned to top-flight league in grand style, when the team defeated Akwa United in the Match Day One fixture of the Nigeria Professional League played at the Akwa Ibom International Stadium, Uyo. Star boy, Imade Osehenkhoe, put the Benin Arsenal in the lead in the 37th minute to record the first goal of the new season of the abridge league. The hosts, the Promise Keepers, threw everything at their visitors to level score, but to no avail, as the Benin-based team frustrated their hosts’ attempt to equalise. Insurance’s Ismael Seriki extended their…
IN an interview with the UK’s ITV news channel, Prince Harry agreed when the interviewer said that he and his brother, Prince William, had a dispute over Africa. In a highly personal and explosive 90-minute interview Harry, who now lives in California, agreed with the suggestion that he had a sibling rivalry with his sibling, which spilled over into charity work in Africa. The prince conceded that his brother did not want him to get too involved in charity work in Africa because William saw the continent as his “thing”, in the words of interviewer Tom Bradby. It is not…
A MAN has appeared in court accused of throwing an egg towards King Charles III during a walkabout. Harry May, 21, of Moreton Road South, Luton, is charged with a public order offence relating to the King’s visit to the town on 6 December. Mr May appeared at Luton Magistrates’ Court, where prosecutors said the case could only be heard by the Chief Magistrate. The next hearing is at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday. The defendant, who gave his full name as Harry Spartacus May, is accused of using threatening/abusive words/behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. Prosecutor Matthew…
NEARLY 90% of people in Henan, China’s third most populous province, have now been infected with Covid, local health officials say. Provincial official Kan Quancheng revealed the figure – amounting to about 88.5 million people – at a press conference. China is battling an unprecedented surge in cases after abandoning zero-Covid policies in December. The move followed rare protests against lockdowns, quarantines and mass tests. Mr Kan did not specify a timeline for when all the infections happened – but as China’s previous zero-Covid policy kept cases to a minimum, it’s likely the vast majority of Henan’s infections occurred in…
THE vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Datti Baba-Ahmed, says if he and Peter Obi are elected into office in February, their administration will take sports, especially football, seriously. Nigeria’s national team, the Super Eagles, were knocked out of the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon in 2022 and failed to make it to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, losing the spot to Ghana. Baba-Ahmed spoke during an appearance alongside the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on The Peoples Townhall, a live event organised by Channels Television and its partners on Sunday. He said they would…
THE Edo State Police Command has revealed that the gunmen, who invaded the Train station in the State on Saturday, have started making contacts with families of some of the kidnap victims. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Chidi Nwabuzor, disclosed that a family of one of the kidnap victims was at a Police Station to report that the kidnappers contacted them to pick up some of their relatives that were earlier kidnapped. He stated that though, on getting to the said place and waiting for several hours, the family members did not receive their loved ones as said…
FORMER military president, General Ibrahim Babangida IBB has travelled to Germany, our correspondent gathered yesterday. It was learnt that IBB travelled yesterday with his second son, Aminu and a security aide and will return after the general elections. It was also learnt that the former leader took off from the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja with all his other children at the airport to bid him farewell. A close family source told LEADERSHIP that IBB had sought to travel as usual to evade any controversy ahead of the general elections and also undertake his usual medical checks. The source said; “His…
Man City 4 vs Chelsea 0 MANCHESTER City cruised into the FA Cup fourth round with a routine victory over a desperately poor Chelsea at Etihad Stadium. This was a far cry from what has traditionally been a hugely competitive meeting between two Premier League giants as City wrapped up a tie with either Oxford United or Arsenal in the next round by the interval. City’s win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Thursday was hard-fought but this was a stroll, Riyad Mahrez setting them on their way with a brilliant 23rd-minute free-kick before World Cup winner Julian Alvarez scored…
CAMEROON’s Under-17s face a race against time to field a team for regional African Cup of Nations qualifiers after more players failed age tests ordered by Samuel Eto’o, president of the country’s governing body, Fecafoot. The former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker’s insistence on using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) screening saw the squad ravaged at their training camp in Mbankomo, on the outskirt of Yaounde. Of the initial 30-member group, 28 failed the tests. But News Point Nigeria now understands Cameroon have suffered a fresh setback as 15 new players also failed tests on Tuesday making the number 43, with…
FORMER Belgium manager Roberto Martinez is on the brink of becoming the new boss of Portugal. The Spaniard has been in talks to replace Fernando Santos, who stood down as manager after Portugal’s quarter-final loss to Morocco at the World Cup. Martinez also left his role with Belgium following the team’s group-stage exit in Qatar. The former Everton and Wigan manager was appointed in 2016 and was out of contract after the World Cup. Belgium, who claimed third place in 2018, went into the tournament as the world’s second-ranked team by Fifa. Listen on Sounds banner.
ON 6th of January, 2023, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, along side Hon. Minister of Water Resources, Engr.Sulaiman H. Adamu formally flagged off a multi-billion Naira water project in a bid to end the age-long water supply challenges in Gombe Metropolis and environs. The project commenced with the signing of memorandum of understanding between Gombe State Government and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources in August 2021. The physical implementation of the project commenced with the award of contract in May 2022 to Jidadu Ventures Nigeria Limited at the total contract sum of 11.492 billion naira and engineering consultancy services to…
ATTEMPTS by elements of Organised Criminal Groups to use various disingenuous modes of concealment to import consignments of illicit substances into Nigeria and export same to the United Kingdom, and United Arab Emirate through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja and Tincan seaport in Lagos have been thwarted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA. No less than 37.5 kilograms of such illicit consignments were intercepted in the past week, with the arrest of 11 suspects in interdiction operations that led to the seizure of almost four tons of skunk in Kaduna, Kano and Lagos state.…
ANTHONY and Danielle Wilson awoke at their Essex home to find their Range Rover had vanished. The vehicle was later found loaded on a container at a UK port bound for the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa. The Wilsons’ experience, police warn, is becoming increasingly common. It took thieves just 63 seconds to steal the Wilsons’ Range Rover Sport from their gated home in a village near Bishop’s Stortford. The theft was caught on the family’s CCTV system. It shows two people involved – one stealing the Wilsons’ car and another driving the vehicle they arrived in. “You…
MALI’s junta leader has pardoned 49 Ivorian soldiers arrested in July and accused of conspiring against the Malian government, the presidency said in a statement on Friday. The soldiers’ arrest sparked a diplomatic dispute between Mali and neighbouring Ivory Coast, and widespread condemnation from regional leaders against a country already at odds with the international community. They were arrested at the airport in Mali’s capital Bamako last July. Malian authorities said the troops were acting as mercenaries, while Ivory Coast said they were part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali. Three who were women were later released, while…
WIKIPEDIA’s parent company has denied claims the Saudi government infiltrated its team in the Middle East. Two international human rights groups said Saudi officials had altered or deleted content on the website. The claims came after Wikimedia carried out its own investigation and suspended 16 users for “conflict of interest” editing in the Middle East. Wikimedia said “material inaccuracies” had been published but no evidence of Saudi infiltration was found. Wikipedia relies on teams of volunteer administrators and editors for its content. A statement by Smex and Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn) accused the Saudi government of using…
ANA Montes – among the best-known Cold War spies caught by the US – has been released from prison after more than 20 years in custody. The 65-year-old spent almost two decades spying for Cuba while employed as an analyst at the Defence Intelligence Agency. After her arrest in 2001, officials said she had almost entirely exposed US intelligence operations on the island. One official said she was among “the most damaging spies” caught by the US. Michelle Van Cleave, who was head of counter-intelligence under President George W Bush, told Congress in 2012 that Montes had “compromised everything -…