Author: Osas Monday

Ecuadorans cast their ballots Sunday in an election that will help decide how the country tackles a surge in cartel-linked violence — a high-stakes choice at home, with repercussions for drug flows worldwide. Incumbent Daniel Noboa — at 37 years old, one of the world’s youngest presidents — is asking Ecuador’s almost 18 million population for reelection, after a brief but bloody first term in office. His nation is at the center of a turf war between rival international cartels and mafias vying for lucrative trafficking routes from the clandestine coca plantations of Colombia and Peru to nightclubs in…

The UN Human Rights Council announced Tuesday it would hold an urgent session on the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which is gripped by violence. Friday’s special session will focus on “the human rights situation in eastern DR Congo”, council spokesman Pascal Sim told reporters in Geneva. He said the DRC requested the session on Monday. The council is the United Nations’ top rights body and was not due to meet until late February. Last week, the Rwandan-backed armed group M23 and Rwandan troops seized Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu — a mineral-rich region in the DR…

Thousands of people were leaving the Greek island of Santorini by sea and air for a third day on Tuesday (Feb 4) as an unprecedented series of earthquakes shook the top travel destination. Some 6,000 people have already left the island, known for its spectacular cliffside views and a dormant volcano, which has been hit by hundreds of tremors since last week, officials said. Another quake with a magnitude of 4.9 hit early on Tuesday morning amid other smaller tremors. No injuries or damage were reported on Santorini and the neighbouring islands of Anafi, Ios and Amorgos, which have…

Hundreds of Congolese nationals protested on Tuesday at the EU offices in South Africa to demand sanctions against Rwanda over its support for rebels in the turbulent eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda-backed armed group M23 seized the major city of Goma last week in a lightning offensive, and has vowed to march across the vast country to the capital Kinshasa. Fighting has stopped in Goma — a city of more than a million people — but clashes have spread to the neighbouring province of South Kivu and heightened an already dire humanitarian crisis in the mineral-rich region. About…

6 hours ago In response to the recent anthrax outbreak in Zamfara State, the Rivers State Government has launched a statewide vaccination 6 hours ago The Ogun State Police Command has arraigned Oba Abdulsemiu Ogunjobi, the Olorile of Orile-Ifo, on a three-count charge of conspiracy, assault, and conduct likely. Police spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed this in a short statement on Tuesday. Adejobi said Ogunjobi, a retired police officer, was charged before the court with conspiracy, assault, and conduct likely. Ogunjobi… 6 hours ago The family of Governor Seyi Makinde, on Tuesday, announced that Engr. Olufunmilayo Sunday Makinde, the deceased oldest…

Rwandan-backed armed group M23 announced a humanitarian “ceasefire” from Tuesday in DR Congo’s perennially explosive east, days before a planned crisis meeting between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Last week, the M23 and Rwandan troops seized Goma — the provincial capital of North Kivu, a mineral-rich region that has been blighted by war for over three decades. Fighting has stopped in the city of more than a million but clashes have spread to the neighbouring province of South Kivu, raising fears of an M23 advance to its capital Bukavu. A political-military coalition of groups called…

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are losing ground to the army due to strategic blunders, internal rifts and dwindling The post Sudan's RSF falters amid blunders, supply shortfalls appeared first on The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News.

The gates at a Johannesburg LGBTQ clinic called OUT have been closed for more than a week and HIV prevention and treatment services suspended for its 6,000 clients. The lights are also off at the University of the Witwatersrand’s HIV project, a leader in the provision of services to sex workers in South Africa, a country with one of the largest HIV-positive populations in the world. They are among the several South African HIV/AIDS healthcare providers that have been confused, angry and scrambling for survival since US President Donald Trump issued a 90-day freeze last week on Washington’s foreign…

In a bold move to strengthen security in Akwa Ibom State, Governor Umo Eno has officially flagged off the construction of a Command and Control Centre, a key component of his ARISE Agenda. The facility is designed to digitally manage and oversee security operations across the state, ensuring real-time information sharing and rapid response to incidents. Speaking at the launch, Governor Eno commended the relentless efforts of the state’s security agencies. He emphasised that the new centre would render the state increasingly inhospitable to criminal elements, stating that it would serve as a one-stop shop for gathering and disseminating…

Seven suspects were arraigned on Monday before the Kwara State High Court, Ilorin, over the murder of Mojisola Awesu, a student of the State College of Health Technology, Offa, which occurred last year. The court could not hear their pleas because the two principal accused persons were not represented in court. Justice Ibrahim Yusuf ordered that the principal accused persons, Happiness Adebayo and Timileyin Kolawole, be remanded in a correctional facility while the case was adjourned till the 24th of this month for the proper arraignment of the accused persons. Our reporter recalled that the deceased, Awesu, was reportedly…