The intensifying conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has provoked fears of a regional war. Several of the DRC’s nine neighbouring countries, as well as South Africa, already have a military presence on the ground. For the last 30 years, successive conflicts in eastern DRC have turned the heart of the African Great Lakes region into a tinderbox ready to catch fire. During the two biggest wars between 1996 and 2003, around 10 African states sent troops either to support Kinshasa or armed groups. – M23 and Rwandan forces –Anti-governmental group the M23 (March 23 Movement),…
Author: Osas Monday
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US President Donald Trump said Thursday he wants to hold talks with Russia and China on a mutual reduction in military spending, with a possible summit for the countries’ leaders. Outlining his vision for a shake-up in the world order, Trump also said he would “love” to have Russia back in the G7, from which it was suspended in 2014 after Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. “I think it was a mistake to throw him out,” Trump said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump — who sees himself in his second term as a global peacemaker — also…
Togo’s first-ever senatorial elections will take place on Saturday, cementing a new constitution vehemently rejected by opposition parties that say it will let President Faure Gnassingbe hold on to power indefinitely. Several have said they will boycott the vote, and civil society groups have also denounced the parliamentary reform for the small west African nation as rigged. Gnassingbe has led the country of around nine million people since 2005, when he took over from his father who had been in power for 38 years. The Senate elections had originally been scheduled for February 2 but the government postponed them…
On Thursday 13th February, court proceedings in the case of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) vs former FBN Holdings (also known as First HoldCo Plc) Chairman Dr Oba Otudeko, former First Bank Managing Director Stephen Onasanya, and others was adjourned to 17th March 2025. At the hearing, the defendants’ counsel challenged the court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter. Dr Otudeko’s legal team, led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, argued that the subject matter of the charge arose from a standard banker-customer relationship which had been completely resolved over 8 years ago, with the EFCC itself involved in…
At least 20 people were injured, some of them very seriously, after a car crashed into a crowd of people on Stiglmaierplatz in the city centre before 11 am (1000 GMT) on Thursday. This is according to a Munich fire brigade spokesman. The driver was promptly detained by officers, Munich police said in a post on X. “There is no further danger from him at the moment. We have no reason to believe that there is any danger to the public,” Munich police spokesman Thomas Schelshorn said. He added that it remained initially unclear whether the crash was an…
The German Defence Company Helsing will produce 6,000 more HX-2 combat drones for Ukraine, following an already completed delivery of 4,000 combat drones. The company made the announcement in Munich on Thursday. According to the company, the HX-2 combat drone has a range of up to 100 kilometres, and the use of artificial intelligence technology makes the drone resistant to electronic warfare and jamming. In addition, several HX-2 drones could be combined into swarms and controlled by one operator, the company said. Helsing also announced that the first “resilience factory’’ production facility for local production had been put into…
Russia has once again launched a massive night-time aerial attack on Ukraine, with 140 drones, sources from Kiev said on Thursday morning. The Ukrainian military stated that 85 of these drones were shot down and the location of 52 were lost and was attributed to electronic countermeasures. Damage was reported in the Kharkiv and Odessa regions. Oleh Kiper, the Regional Governor of the Southern Odessa Region, wrote on Telegram that a woman was injured in the attacks. “Port infrastructure and an inoperative educational institution were additionally damaged,” he said. The Russian Ministry of Defence reported on Thursday morning that…
The ECOWAS Court on Thursday dismissed a suit filed by a Nigerian woman, Lovina Adonor, seeking to compel the Federal Government to pay her reparation for the destruction of her shrine. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adonor, a self-acclaimed priestess, had filed the suit marked: ECW/CCJ/APP/61/22, seeking the enforcement of her fundamental human rights against Nigeria. Adonor had in her submission claimed that her shrine was attacked and vandalised by some private individuals, forcing her to flee the community due to threats to her life. She also alleged that the Nigerian government failed to provide adequate…
Beyond putting its work in some of the world’s poorest countries in doubt, US President Donald Trump’s sudden move to shut down USAID has left many of its thousands of employees in shock and despair. Promising to slash federal spending, Trump’s government has put almost all of the more than 10,000 employees at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on leave and promised to shut down the organization. One employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, sobbed in a conference call involving current and former USAID staff with journalists. “We’re not being treated like humans right now,” she said.…
South Korea’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol will get another hearing next week before judges decide on whether to formally remove him from office over his martial law decree, the country’s Constitutional Court said Thursday. The former prosecutor has remained defiant throughout weeks of hearings, blaming a “malicious” opposition for his December bid to suspend civilian rule. The attempt only lasted six hours as the opposition-led parliament voted the declaration down and later impeached him over the move. Yoon was detained last month on insurrection charges, becoming the first sitting South Korean head of state to be arrested. Thursday’s…