NATO Signs $1.2bn Artillery Shell Deal

 

The push to refill stocks and ramp up output comes as doubts swirl over future support for Ukraine from key backer the United States.

NATO on Tuesday signed contracts worth $1.2 billion to acquire over 200,000   155-millimetre artillery shells in the face of Russia’s invasion on Ukraine.

Members of the Western military alliance have drained their stocks sending shipments of heavy ammunition to help Ukraine’s forces battle Russia in a brutal war of attrition.

The latest deals — signed with French firm Nexter and Germany’s Junghans Microtec — are estimated by officials to cover around 220,000 shells and deliveries to NATO members will start at the end of 2025.

“It is important that our allies refill their own stocks as we continue to support Ukraine,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said.

The US-led alliance last year launched a plan to bolster defence production and has since inked joint procurement contracts for ammunition worth some $10 billion.

Those include a deal to buy up to 1,000 European-produced Patriot air defence missiles that was signed last month.

The European Union has also launched its own efforts to increase defence production, but the 27-nation bloc is falling far short of a target of supplying Kyiv one million artillery shells by March.

The push to refill stocks and ramp up output comes as doubts swirl over future support for Ukraine from key backer the United States.

Stoltenberg insisted that Kyiv’s supporters “will support Ukraine with the systems and the weapons and ammunition they need to prevail as a sovereign, independent country.”

He said the alliance for now did not “see any direct or imminent threat against any NATO ally” from Russia and had stepped up its eastern defences to dissuade Moscow from any aggression.

Health Ministry In Hamas-Run Gaza Says War Death Toll At 25,490

 

The latest toll included 195 fatalities in the past 24 hours

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Tuesday at least 25,490 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory in the war between militants and Israel.

The latest toll included 195 fatalities in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, while at least 63,354 people had been wounded since the war erupted on October 7.

Strike On Busy Market Kills 25 People In Russian-Held Donetsk

Both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of a sharp escalation in attacks on civilian areas in the past two months.

A strike on a crowded market in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine left at least 25 people dead and 20 wounded on Sunday, Moscow-backed officials said.

Both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of a sharp escalation in attacks on civilian areas in the past two months.

Shattered storefronts and broken glass could be seen in videos shared by Russian state media, along with what appeared to be bodies lying on the ground nearby.

“At the moment, information about 25 dead has been confirmed. At least 20 more people have been injured,” said Denis Pushilin, head of the region’s Russian-controlled administration.

He blamed Ukraine for the strike, calling it a “horrific” attack on a civilian area.

Ukraine did not immediately comment, and AFP was not able to immediately verify the circumstances of the attack.

Officials said the strike hit a southwestern suburb of the city, less than 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the eastern front.

‘People screamed’

Local resident Tatiana said she heard an incoming projectile overhead, and hid under her market stall.

“I saw smoke, people screamed, a woman was crying,” she told a local media outlet.

“Where is there anything military here? It’s just a market,” another resident named Tatiana told the same outlet. “This is one of the strongest blows in recent times,” she said.

The toll marks one of the deadliest in Donetsk since Moscow launched full-scale hostilities against Ukraine in February 2022.

Donetsk, occupied by Russia and its proxy forces since 2014, has been repeatedly targeted by what Moscow has called indiscriminate Ukrainian shelling.

Moscow called Sunday’s attack a “barbaric terrorist attack” that showed the need for its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“Security threats and acts of terrorism should not be committed from the territory of Ukraine,” its foreign ministry said.

Gas terminal ablaze

News of the attack came as Russia reported another blaze on its energy infrastructure, this time at a gas terminal in the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga.

Kyiv earlier this week claimed responsibility for two attacks on oil depots in Russia, including one in the same Leningrad region where Ust-Luga is located.

Operator Novatek said there were no victims and the fire was “currently localised” at the site, some 110 kilometres (70 miles) west of St Petersburg near the Estonian border.

Novatek said the fire was caused by an “external factor”, without providing any further detail.

Ukraine, which has targeted Russian oil and gas infrastructure throughout the almost two-year conflict, did not immediately comment on the incident.

“No casualties as a result of a fire at Novatek’s terminal in the port of Ust-Luga. Personnel were evacuated,” Aleksandr Drozdenko, governor of Leningrad Oblast, said.

He shared a photo showing firefighters spraying water on a large fire at the terminal.

The RIA-Novosti news agency said a 100 cubic metre container was ablaze.

The Ust-Luga complex processes natural gas condensate into naphtha, jet fuel and ship fuel components, according to Novatek’s website.

Biden Calls Netanyahu, Says Palestinian State Still Possible

 

Biden and Netanyahu, who have a complicated relationship stretching back some 40 years, last spoke on December 23 and the silence between them since has led to repeated questions about a rift.

US President Joe Biden said Friday it was still possible Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could agree to some form of Palestinian state, after the two leaders spoke for the first time in nearly a month amid tensions over the Gaza war.

Their call came a day after Netanyahu said he opposes allowing Palestinian sovereignty in the wake of the conflict with Hamas, deepening Israeli divisions with key backer Washington over the conduct of Israel’s offensive and what comes next.

But Biden said after the call that it was not impossible Netanyahu might come round to some form of so-called two-state solution, mooted for decades as a way to end tensions in the Middle East, despite the Israeli premier’s comments.

“There are a number of types of two-state solutions. There’s a number of countries that are members of the UN that… don’t have their own militaries,” Biden told reporters after an event at the White House.

“And so, I think there’s ways in which this could work.”

Asked what Netanyahu was open to, Biden replied: “I’ll let you know.”

Biden and Netanyahu, who have a complicated relationship stretching back some 40 years, last spoke on December 23 and the silence between them since has led to repeated questions about a rift.

Netanyahu has pledged to destroy Hamas and demilitarize Gaza following the October 7 attacks on Israel, and is increasingly resistant to US pressure for a plan that includes any form of Palestinian statehood that could threaten his country.

The Israeli premier said on Thursday that his country “must have security control over all the territory west of the Jordan (River)” and that he had made this clear to Israel’s “American friends”.

“This is a necessary condition, and it conflicts with the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty,” Netanyahu said in public remarks.

 ‘Promise and possibility’

The White House said earlier that Biden had pushed the issue with Netanyahu when they spoke, but said the call had not been in direct response to the Israeli’s comments.

“The president still believes in the promise and the possibility of a two-state solution” for both Israelis and Palestinians, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

The call also discussed US hostages still among those held captive by Hamas since the October 7 attack on Israel, he added.

Biden and Netanyahu have often been at loggerheads in the past, with the Democratic US president last year pressing the right-wing Israeli premier over controversial judicial reforms.

But Biden has stood firmly behind Israel since October 7, even travelling to the country after the attacks, where he publicly embraced Netanyahu and pledged full US support.

Fresh tensions have emerged since then however as the toll of the Israeli offensive on Gaza has mounted, with Biden warning that Israel could lose support by “indiscriminate bombing” and pushing for a two-state solution.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week said Israel would not get “genuine security” without a “pathway to a Palestinian state.”

The October 7 attacks resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Militants also seized about 250 hostages, around 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza.

Israel’s relentless air and ground offensive has killed at least 24,762 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, young children and adolescents, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Five Dead As Israeli Strike Hits Residential Building In Damascus

The targeted neighbourhood is known to be a high-security zone home to leaders of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and pro-Iran Palestinian factions.

An Israeli strike on Damascus killed five people in a building where “Iran-aligned leaders” were meeting on Saturday, a war monitor said, as regional tensions soar over the Israel-Hamas war.

“An Israeli missile strike targeted a four-storey building, killing five people… and destroying the whole building where Iran-aligned leaders were meeting,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The British-based monitor with a network of sources inside Syria said the targeted neighbourhood is known to be a high-security zone home to leaders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and pro-Iran Palestinian factions.

“They were for sure targeting senior members” of those groups, said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

The mid-morning strike, which caused a large plume of smoke to billow into the sky, was also reported by Syrian state media.

“An attack targeted a residential building in the Mazzeh neighbourhood in Damascus, resulting from an Israeli aggression,” the official SANA news agency reported. It did not say if there were any casualties.

An AFP correspondent at the scene said the destroyed building was cordoned off with ambulances, firefighters and Syrian Arab Red Crescent rescue teams all present at the site.

Civil defence were busy searching for survivors under the rubble of the totally collapsed building, he said.

The Mazzeh area is also home to the United Nations’ headquarters, embassies and restaurants.

“I heard the explosion clearly in the western Mazzeh area, and I saw a large cloud of smoke,” a resident told AFP.

“The sound was similar to a missile explosion, and minutes later I heard the sound of ambulances,” he added.

Hundreds of Israeli strikes

During more than a decade of civil war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces as well as Syrian army positions.

But it has intensified attacks since the war between Israel and Hamas, which like Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement is an ally of Iran, began on October 7.

In December, an Israeli air strike killed a senior general with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the military force said.

Razi Moussavi was the most senior commander of the Guards’ foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, to be killed outside Iran since a US drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020 killed the Force’s commander, Qasem Soleimani.

In the same month, air strikes in eastern Syria, “likely” carried out by Israel, killed at least 23 pro-Iran fighters, the Observatory said at the time, reporting four more dead in the country’s north.

Recent months have also seen regular cross-border exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Israel rarely comments on individual strikes targeting Syria, but it has repeatedly said it will not allow arch foe Iran, which backs President Bashar al-Assad’s government, to expand its presence there.

Since 2011, Syria has endured a bloody conflict that has claimed over half a million lives and displaced several million people and plunged.

Source: AFP

Salah Ruled Out Of Two AFCON Games As Senegal, Cape Verde Reach Last 16

The 31-year-old came off late in the first half of the Pharaohs' 2-2 draw with Ghana on Thursday.

Record seven-time champions Egypt were dealt a major blow on Friday as captain Mohamed Salah was ruled out of two Africa Cup of Nations games with a hamstring injury, while holders Senegal and Cape Verde qualified for the last 16.

The Egyptian Football Association confirmed in a statement that Liverpool star Salah would not be able to return for his country unless they reach the quarter-finals at the tournament.

The 31-year-old came off late in the first half of the Pharaohs’ 2-2 draw with Ghana on Thursday.

He will therefore sit out Monday’s final group game against Cape Verde and any last-16 tie that would follow that.

After drawing their opening two games, Egypt need to beat Cape Verde to be guaranteed of advancing in second place in Group B.

That would tee up a last-16 tie in San-Pedro on January 28, while they could also potentially qualify as one of the best third-placed teams.

Salah will therefore only feature again at the competition if Egypt make it to a quarter-final on February 2 or 3.

Senegal, who beat Salah’s Egypt on penalties in the final of the last AFCON, clinched a spot in the next round with one group game to spare thanks to a 3-1 win over Cameroon in Yamoussoukro.

Ismaila Sarr of Marseille put the reigning champions ahead early on and later set up Habib Diallo to make it 2-0.

Jean-Charles Castelletto pulled one back, but Senegal were not to be denied a convincing victory and talisman Sadio Mane put the outcome beyond doubt late on.

Senegal have a maximum six points after two Group C matches, while Cameroon have only one and their hopes of advancing to the last 16 are in the balance.

“I remember that in 2017 we lost to Cameroon in the quarter-finals, so during this match we did everything to win,” said Marseille forward Sarr.

Bebe stunner

Later on in Group C Guinea, again missing star striker Serhou Guirassy, beat Gambia 1-0 at the same venue thanks to Aguibou Camara’s second-half goal.

The result leaves Guinea second in the section on four points, meaning they need just a draw against Senegal in their next match to guarantee qualification for the last 16, while a victory will see them progress as group winners.

Cameroon and Gambia will meet each other next and can both hope to at least progress as one of the four best third-placed sides.

Earlier, Cape Verde became the first team to qualify for the last 16 thanks to a convincing 3-0 win over Mozambique in Abidjan.

Former Manchester United forward Bebe set the Atlantic Ocean island nation on their way with a remarkable first-half free-kick from 40 metres at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium.

Captain Ryan Mendes doubled their lead just after half-time and Kevin Pina wrapped up the win with a stunning strike midway through the second half.

Cape Verde’s biggest ever AFCON victory leaves them on six points from two games and means they are now certain to top Group B, after they beat Ghana 2-1 in their opening game.

“I don’t know how far we can go. Now we are into the last 16 and we just need to keep working as we have been,” said Mendes.

“We know it won’t be easy but we believe in ourselves and in our work.”

Cape Verde already know they will stay in Abidjan for a last-16 tie against a third-placed team on January 29.

Mozambique, appearing at their fifth Cup of Nations, have still never won a match in 14 attempts at the tournament.

 Tanzania sack coach

Meanwhile, Tanzania fired coach Adel Amrouche after he was banned for eight matches and fined $10,000 over comments about Morocco, a Confederation of African Football (CAF) official told AFP.

His dismissal was confirmed by the Tanzanian Football Federation with Hemed Suleiman promoted from assistant coach to caretaker boss for the rest of their AFCON campaign.

The Group F outsiders lost 3-0 to Morocco on Wednesday and still have to play Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Before Amrouche was axed, a CAF official said “(the organisation) has suspended the coach for eight matches after comments he made about Moroccan officials in a TV interview”.

Algeria-born Amrouche alleged Moroccan officials within CAF decide who referees matches involving the senior men’s national team, and at what time they kick off.

Davos Free-Trade Champions Fret Over War, Climate

 

Before Hamas's attack on Israel in October, the World Trade Organization had forecast global trade growth of 3.3 per cent, an improvement from 0.8 per cent in 2023.

After COVID and the war in Ukraine, free-trade boosters in Davos fretted over a new bout of turmoil in global supply chains due to rising geopolitical frictions.

The Israel-Hamas conflict, Yemeni rebels attacking ships in the Red Sea and tensions over Taiwan weighed on political and business elites at the five-day meeting of the World Economic Forum, which wrapped up Friday.

“There are geopolitical dynamics that are on our minds with respect to obviously the potential disruption of supply chains,” Francesco Ceccato, CEO of Barclays Europe, told AFP on the sidelines of the WEF.

“We thought we had normalised those after Covid. Clearly, that’s a little bit more precarious after … what is happening every day in the Red Sea,” he said.

Before Hamas’s attack on Israel in October, the World Trade Organization had forecast global trade growth of 3.3 per cent, an improvement from 0.8 per cent in 2023.

But WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told the forum this week that she was now “less optimistic” about world trade in 2024 due to “worsening geopolitical tensions”.

She added, however, that it would be “much better than what we saw in 2023. Unless a major war breaks out, then all bets are off.”

– Disruptions for ‘few months’ –

 The Red Sea route carries about 12 per cent of global maritime trade, but the attacks have prompted many companies to take a massive and costly detour around the southern tip of Africa.

Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen say they are targetting Israel-linked ships in protest over the war in Gaza.

US and UK military forces have launched a series of strikes against rebel sites in Yemen.

The Huthis have “changed global trade and global shipping costs,” said Karen Harris, an economist at the consulting firm Bain & Co.

Vincent Clerc, the CEO of Danish shipping giant Maersk, said the conflict will probably disrupt supply chains “for a few months at least. Hopefully less, but it could be also longer because it’s so unpredictable”.

Automakers Tesla and Volvo were forced to temporarily suspend some production in Europe due to a shortage of parts.

Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, told the Davos conference that shipments of liquefied natural gas “will be affected” by the Red Sea tensions.

 

-Taiwan tensions

 

There are concerns along other major trade routes.

Taiwan’s presidential election last weekend renewed US-China tensions over the democratic island, which China considers a part of its territory that must be brought back under its control, by force if necessary.

Speaking in Davos, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recalled that a huge amount of commerce flows through the Taiwan Strait.

“If that were to be disrupted, it would affect the entire planet. And it’s about the last thing we need, especially coming back from Covid,” Blinken said.

Taiwan itself is a major producer of semiconductors, the microchips that are vital for a range of products from smartphones to cars.

“Any disruption in the flow of that product is going to be, again, a watch item or a concern,” Ceccato said.

 

– Green and tech trade spats –

 

Microchips are already at the heart of a trade spat between Washington and Beijing as the United States has tightened export curbs on the technology over national security concerns.

China is also squabbling with the European Union over the bloc’s probe into Chinese electric car subsidies.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang took the podium on Wednesday to slam “discriminatory” trade measures on green and tech trade.

Europe is also concerned about the huge subsidies for clean technologies in the United States under the Inflation Reduction Act.

But German Finance Minister Christian Lindner warned the EU against following in the Americans’ footsteps.

“We have to avoid a subsidy race,” Lindner told Friday’s panel.

 

 Panama drought

 

On top of geopolitical tensions, climate change has also played tricks on global trade.

A drought and water shortages linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon reduced ship traffic through the Panama Canal.

“We have more sources of disruptions,” said Tobias Meyer, CEO of German logistics group DHL.

“It’s more likely that two, three, four of these events somehow accumulate. And that leads then in the system of transport to certain bottlenecks,” he said.

Harris said each disruption “simply reinforces the return on investment for near-shoring, re-shoring” — the act of bringing production home or closer instead of relying on factories across the world.

Canada a 'safe haven' for 'transnational crime networks and their dirty money': U.S. report

 

'Canada remains a financial haven for kingpins, kleptocrats, oligarchs, and corrupt officials to reinvest stolen funds from their countries'

OTTAWA – Canada has become a “safe haven” and international hub for notorious crime groups as illicit trade in the country is “booming,” according to a report by an American think tank. 

“Canada has become a safe zone for the world’s most notorious crime groups and threat networks that are harming Canada’s national security and imperiling the security of other nations,” warns a report published in late November by the International Coalition Against Illicit Economies (ICAIE).

Production and trafficking or narcotics, fentanyl and fake pharmaceuticals, cross-border money laundering and illegal alcohol are just some of the illicit markets that are growing in Canada and threatening Canadians’ security, the report’s authors highlight. 

“Today, Canada is not merely a consumer of illicit goods and contraband, but increasingly serves as a hub of illicit trade, production and distribution of illicit goods, an exporter of such contraband, and a money laundering safe haven for a potpourri of criminal networks,” wrote authors Calvin Chrustie and David M. Luna. 

“Canada remains a financial haven for kingpins, kleptocrats, oligarchs, and corrupt officials to reinvest stolen funds from their countries in real estate, energy, mining, and other sectors.” 

The report notes that tens of billions of dollars are laundered through Canada annually from the proceeds of crime such as human, drug and weapons trafficking.  

It also says multinational crime syndicates are increasingly setting up shop in Canada.  

“Canada has become a major global refuge for transnational crime networks and their dirty money, including the world’s most notorious networks and their leaders like Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán and the Sinaloa cartel, Chinese drug kingpin Tse Chi Lop, Hezbollah Financier Altaf Khanani, and other bad actors,” reads the report. 

Mexican cartels sell cocaine and methamphetamine to criminal biker gangs in Canada with the help of Iranian and Chinese criminal networks, the report illustrates. On the West coast, Chinese syndicates help smuggle illegal and lethal drugs like fentanyl and heroin through Canada’s borders. 

If such crimes have proliferated across the country, it’s because of a “historic dismissal” of the threat of transnational crime by governments at all levels as well as Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies for years, reads the report. 

Canada sorely lacks a federal strategy to both assess the breadth of the problem and co-ordinate its enforcement and intelligence agencies — like the RCMP, CSIS, CBSA and even the military — to fight growing illicit markets. 

The report calls on politicians at all levels to urgently recognize the issue and take action, issuing dozens of recommendations such as creating a Canadian National Security Strategy and prioritizing severing the flow of illegal goods across the country’s borders. 

In an interview, Chrustie — a senior partner at Critical Risk Team consulting firm and a former RCMP senior operations officer — said another key issue is that Canadian laws have not kept up with the times and need significant reform. 

“Stop saying you’re fixing the problem unless you’re having substantive discussions about legal reform, including the Charter, because the other things won’t work,” he said. 

He pointed a finger at rules around disclosure of evidence in trials that he says don’t adequately protect sensitive information and evidence, particularly when it’s obtained from allied intelligence and police agencies such as the FBI. 

“Nothing will change unless we change our disclosure laws to allow us to collaborate and co-operate with our foreign partners, because our laws don’t allow us to protect their information and their intelligence,” he said, singling out the 1991 Supreme Court ruling that compels prosecutors to disclose “all relevant information” to the defence in criminal cases. 

He said another issue is that Canada has a “national” police force in the RCMP, but not a “federal policing” force that is focused on fighting modern crimes of national significance, like the drug trade or money laundering. 

In other words, the government needs to get the RCMP out of contract policing in provinces and let it focus on federal policing. 

“You don’t see (the U.S.) Drug Enforcement Agency agents doing highway patrol. You don’t see the DEA arresting drunks. The DEA are targeting the Triad and the cartels for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. They take it seriously, they know it’s very difficult,” Chrustie said. 

“The people (at the RCMP) are fantastic, but it’s just not sustainable,” he added. “The model is broken.” 

AFCON 2023: Aina, Bassey, Onyeka Were Remarkable Against Ivory Coast - Oliseh

 

Former Nigerian international, Sunday Oliseh has lauded Super Eagles trio of Ola Aina, Calvin Bassey and Frank Onyeka for their remarkable performance against Ivory Coast in Thursday’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Recall that Nigeria handed the host a 1-0 defeat in their Group A clash at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium with a second-half penalty settling the encounter.

Reacting to the victory, the former Ajax star via hos official X handle, formerly known as Twitter singled out the trio of Bassey, Onyeka and Aina as Eagles best players against Ivory Coast.

“Ola Aina! Ola Aina!! Ola Aina!!! What a vintage, Naija like, exceptional performance he put up, as Super Eagles got their groove on to down Cote D’ivoire 1-0.

“Frank Onyeka & Calvin Bassey worked herculean too! Bravo boys!!”

Nigeria leapfrog the Elephants to go second in Group A and are behind leaders Equatorial Guinea, who beat Guinea-Bissau 4-2 earlier on Thursday, on goal difference.

Don’t Worry About ‘Japa’, Nigeria Will Train More People — Tinubu

 

With Nigeria’s unemployment rate at a new record high of 33.3 percent, the mass exodus known as the ‘Japa’ phenomenon is in full swing. 

President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, assured Nigerians not to be bothered about the mass exodus of skilled workers from the country, assuring the citizens that the Federal Government in collaboration with sub-nationals will train more persons to fill the professional gap now conspicuous in health, tech and other sectors.

The President spoke in Owerri, the Imo State capital, during the second term inauguration of Governor Hope Uzodimma.

Addressing the people of the state shortly after the governor took the oath of office, Tinubu said the education of children and youths is a priority for the administration of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“You see the priority in industrialisation. Healthcare will receive more allocation and more attention.

“Don’t worry about what you are hearing about the Japa syndrome, we will train more people and we will supply them self,” he said.

The President also assured the people of the South-East that “the peace you are enjoying here will be better and we will work more to achieve that peace”.

‘Japa’, a colloquial for the emigration phenomenon that hit Nigeria hard since the COVID-19 pandemic, has caused unprecedented shortage of skilled manpower in many sectors, especially the health sector which contends with myriad issues like poor pay and welfare package.

The United Kingdom, the United States and Canada are top destinations for Nigerian youths who are relocating in pursuit of better education, employment and security purposes, among other reasons.

With Nigeria’s unemployment rate at a new record high of 33.3 percent, the mass exodus known as the ‘Japa’ phenomenon is in full swing.

Ghana Secures Debt Deal As Part Of IMF Loan

 

Ghana received its first $600 million tranche of the IMF loan in May last year.

Ghana has reached an agreement with external creditors for a debt restructuring that was key to its $3 billion credit line with the IMF, the government and the lender said.

Fund (IMF) to help shore up its public finances and better manage its heavy debt load.

Ghana’s economic outlook will be a major part of campaigning for the presidential election in December when President Nana Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party will seek an unprecedented third term in office.

Ghana received its first $600 million tranche of the IMF loan in May last year.

The external debt deal helps clear the way for approval of another $600 million payment.

“This development constitutes a significant positive step towards restoring Ghana’s long-term debt sustainability,” a Finance Ministry statement said late Friday.

Last year Ghana successfully carried out a restructuring of its domestic debt.

Ghana suspended payments on the majority of its external debt, essentially defaulting due to challenges in addressing its substantial balance of payments deficit.

The restructuring parameters encompass both bilateral and commercial debt, including Eurobonds.

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva welcomed Ghana reaching “an agreement in principle with their official creditors on a debt treatment, consistent with the objectives of the IMF-supported program, which aims to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability”.

She said the deal “clears the path for IMF Executive Board consideration” of the first review of Ghana’s three-year agreement “in the next few days”.

The Ghanaian government expects approval from the IMF Board will also prompt the World Bank Board to review $300 million in development financing for the country.

Tinubu Approves N683b As 2024 Intervention Fund For Public Tertiary Schools

 

The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, Sonny Echono, made this disclosure on Friday at the Fund’s strategic planning meeting with heads of beneficiary institutions in Abuja.

President Bola Tinubu has approved N683,429,268 billion as the 2024 intervention fund for public tertiary schools in the country.

The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, Sonny Echono, made this disclosure on Friday at the Fund’s strategic planning meeting with heads of beneficiary institutions in Abuja.

According to him, from the total, 90.75 per cent is earmarked for direct disbursement, 8.94 per cent for some designated special projects, and 2.27 per cent is budgeted for response to emerging issues.

He also disclosed that each university shall get for the Year 2024 intervention cycle, the total sum of N1,906,944,930.00, polytechnic N1,165,355,235.00

while each College of Education has N1,398,426,282.00.

The intervention fund is expected to go a long way in addressing the long the decades-long calls for better funding of schools in Nigeria. Lecturers in the country’s public schools have often resorted to strikes to drum home their demands which also included better pay and improved facilities for learning institutions.

In late 2022, university lecturers suspended an eight-month strike over pay, welfare, and crumbling facilities, the latest industrial dispute to hit Africa’s most populous nation.

The strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had shut down federal government-owned universities since February 14 that year despite talks with the government to find a truce.

That strike was the second longest by ASUU, known for its work stoppages. In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the university teachers went on strike for nine months.

The demands of the lecturers are the same as in previous strikes — higher pay, improved welfare, increased funding, and upgraded facilities.

Supreme Court Affirms Lawal’s Election As Zamfara Governor

 

The apex court set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal Abuja, which had declared the Governorship Election as inconclusive and ordered a re-run in three Local Government Areas of the state.

The Supreme Court was affirmed the election of Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Zamfara Governor.

Abuja, which had declared the Governorship Election as inconclusive and ordered a re-run in three Local Government Areas of the state.

Also read: Supreme Court Reverses Sack Of Gov Yusuf, Affirms His Election

The Court of Appeal had in November nullified the election of Lawal’s election.

He was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election. In a shocking victory that dislodged then-incumbent Bello Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he polled a total of 377,726 votes. Matawalle scored 311,976 votes.

The APC candidate, now serving as the Minister of State for Defence, had accused INEC of subverting his victory at the poll by failing to include the results of some ward areas.

In an earlier ruling on September 18, the Zamfara Election Petitions Tribunal held that the petition was devoid of merit. While upholding Lawal’s victory, the tribunal awarded the N500,000 fine against the petitioners.

An unsatisfied Matawalle, as observers expected, took the matter to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, to challenge the decision of the lower court.

Respite came for Matawalle at the appellate court as the three-member panel led by Justice Oyebisi Folayemi, nullified the return of Governor Lawal as the winner of the governorship poll.

Justice Sybil Nwaka ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election in three local government areas of the state, where elections had not been held previously or where results from various polling units were not counted.

But the governor proceeded to the apex court to seek redress.

Supreme Court Reverses Sack Of Gov Yusuf, Affirms His Election

 

Justice Okoro held that the tribunal was wrong in deducting the votes accrued to the governor.

The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Abba Yusuf as Governor of Kano State, reversing the decision of the Court of Appeal and the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which sacked the governor.

Justice John Okoro, who read the lead Judgement, said the Court of Appeal was wrong in affirming the decision of the tribunal, which held that Yusuf did not win the majority of lawful votes cast in the governorship election of March 18, 2023.

Also read: Supreme Court Affirms Sanwo-Olu’s Election, Dismisses LP, PDP’s Appeals

In determining the case, the apex court raised two issues: whether the lower court was right in deducting 165,616 from the votes the Independent National Electoral Commission announced for the governor and whether the lower court could determine the issue of party membership.

In the judgement, Justice Okoro held that the tribunal was wrong in deducting 165,616 votes accrued to Yusuf in the election on the grounds that the ballot papers were not signed and stamped by officials of INEC.

According to him, Section 71 of the Electoral Act relied upon by the tribunal to deduct the disputed votes does not apply in the instant case.

The Supreme Court panel of five Justices, subsequently went ahead to restore the deducted 165,616 votes to reinstate the victory of Yusuf in the governorship election.

On the second issue, the Supreme Court again faulted the Court of Appeal for holding that Yusuf was not a member of the NNPP as of the time he contested the election, adding that the issue of nomination and sponsorship is a pre-election matter and outside the jurisdiction of the court.

Justice Okoro observed that contrary to the appellate court, the tribunal never held that Yusuf was not qualified to contest the poll but that his name was not in the NNPP’s membership register submitted to INEC.

The apex court subsequently set aside the judgment of the two lower courts for being perverse and restored the electoral victory of Abba Yusuf.

Gov Yusuf’s Court Of Appeal Sack

A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Moore Adumein, in a unanimous judgement in November,  sacked Governor Yusuf and declared Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the 18 March election in Kano State.

The Court of Appeal, in addition to that, disqualified Governor Yusuf as a candidate in the election, on the grounds that he was not a member of the NNPP as of the time of the election.

The three-person panel would also deduct 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total votes claiming the votes are invalid because the ballot papers were not stamped or signed.

In its judgement, the court maintained it acted in the public interest when it permitted the APC to tender papers during the trial since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had given the APC access to materials piecemeal to undermine the petitioner’s claim.

It also ruled that the 1999 Constitution did not support Yusuf’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun’s contention that the APC should have included its candidate Yusuf Ganuwa as a party in the tribunal proceedings because a candidate is allowed to be represented by his political party during legal procedures.

According to the court, political parties are required by the 1999 Constitution to maintain a membership register and provide it to INEC and the tribunal upon request.

AFCON2023: Onuachu Replaces Injured Umar Ahead Sunday’s Opener

 

Umar now joins the likes of Leicester City's midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi and Bayern Leverkusen's, Victor Boniface on the injury list.

Paul Onuachu will replace the Real Sociedad forward Sadiq Umar, who has been ruled out of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to be held in Cote d’Ivoire.

Umar reportedly suffered a knee injury in Nigeria’s 2-0 loss to Guinea in a friendly game in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

He now joins the likes of Leicester City’s midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi and Bayern Leverkusen’s, Victor Boniface on the injury list.

A post on X by the Suoer Eagles handle revealed this on Friday and It read: Sadiq Umar is out of the AFCON 2023 squad due to injury; Paul Onuachu replaces him.”

Onuachu had been named in the  Super Eagles’ provisional 40-man squad for the AFCON but was dropped for the final 23-man list by Jose Peserio.

Umar  is expected to return to Spain for treatment Peserio’s men will kick start their campaign against Equatorial Guinea in their Group A opening game on Sunday, January 14th.

Supreme Court Affirms Sanwo-Olu’s Election, Dismisses LP, PDP’s Appeals

 

 

The apex court affirms the judgement of the Court of Appeal Lagos, dismissing the appeal of Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party for lacking in merit.

The supreme court has affirmed the election of Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Governor of Lagos State.

Also read: Supreme Court Set To Deliver Judgements In Kano, Plateau, Five Gov Disputes

The five member panel in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justices Lawal Garba and Adamu Jauro, affirmed the declaration of the APC’s candidate as winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election, after dismissing two separate appeals challenging his victory.

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party (LP), who came second and Abdulazeez Adediran popularly known as Jandor of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who came third had challenged the election of Sanwo-Olu on grounds of alleged irregularities, malpractices non-compliance as well as non-qualification.

They had specifically argued that the Deputy Governor, who acquired citizenship of the United States of America, is not qualified to contest elective position and as such his nomination as deputy Governor was unlawful null and void.

They also argued that his alleged unlawful nomination affects the qualification of Sanwo-Olu, hence the court should nullify their participation in the governorship election.

However, both the tribunal and the Court of Appeal in their respective decisions dismissed the two appeals for failure to prove allegations made in their petitions.

The apex court in its judgement, held that it has found no cogent reason to deviate from the concurrent judgments of the tribunal and Court of Appeal which held that Sanwo-Olu was lawfully elected as Governor of Lagos State.

The appellate court in a unanimous judgement held that acquisition of a foreign national those not bar any citizen by birth from contesting election.

Justice Lawal stated that the only condition a citizen with dual citizen can lose his right to be elected as governor is when he denounces his Nigerian citizenship by birth.

The apex court subsequently dismissed the two appeals for lacking in merit.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC had polled 762,134 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Rhodes-Vivour, who scored 312,329 votes, with Jandor coming a distant third with 62,449 votes.

Supreme Court Set To Deliver Judgements In Kano, Plateau, Five Gov Disputes

 

The courtroom is quite filled as everyone anxiously wait for the arrival of the five man panel of Justices, in a few minutes.

Governors of Plateau, Bauchi, Kano and Zamfara states have arrived the Supreme Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, as the apex court delivers verdicts in the governorship election disputes involving at least seven sitting governors elected last March and sworn in on May 29, 2023.

Governors Abba Yusuf (Kano), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi) and Dauda Lawal (Zamfara) are already seated in the courtroom alongside their lawyers as they await the arrival of justices of the apex court to deliver judgements.

Also read: 

The courtroom is quite filled as everyone anxiously wait for the arrival of the five man panel of Justices, in a few minutes.

Former Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, is in the court room.

Ebonyi state is also on the cause list and the Ebonyi state Governor, Francis Nwifuru, just arrived the courtroom. Nasarawa State is however absent.

The courtroom is filled with Journalists and accredited political party leaders.

Meanwhile, the Justices are being awaited into the court room for the judgment delivery.

The states where their governors are expected to know their fates on whether to remain in office or not, are Kano, Plateau, Bauchi, Cross River, Abia, Zamfara, Cross River and Ebonyi.

The panel of Justices has being increased to 8 with Justice John Okoro leading.

The Justices have arrived and resumed immediately.

Yusuf VS Gawuna

Late December, the apex court reserved judgement in the appeal filed by the Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, challenging the verdict of the Court of Appeal and the State Election Petitions Tribunal, which removed him from office.

The five-member panel led by Justice John Okoro reserved the judgement after the parties adopted their brief of arguments.

In September, the tribunal nullified the victory of Yusuf, the candidate of the New Nigeria’s Peoples Party (NNPP) in the March 18 governorship election.

The tribunal also affirmed Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected governor of Kano.

On November 13, the Court of Appeal upheld the verdict of the tribunal. In its ruling, the Appeal Court agreed with the judgement of the tribunal, ruling that the fielding of Abba Yusuf was in breach of the Electoral Law as he was not qualified to contest that election. But the governor proceeded to the Supreme Court to seek redress.

Mutfwang VS Goshwe

On January 9, 2024, the Supreme Court reserved judgement in the appeal filed by the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, seeking to overturn the verdict of the Court of Appeal which nullified his election.

A five-member panel of justices led by Justice John Okoro reserved judgement after hearing arguments from parties for and against the appeal.

The governor through his counsel, Kanu Agabi, prayed the court to uphold the judgement of the Tribunal and set aside the judgment of the appellate court because the respondents have no right to question how a party elects its state executives.

He said the respondents (Nentawe Goshwe and the All Progressives Congress) can not plead that the governor did not score the number of lawful votes ascribed to him at the same time say the election was invalid.

In November, the Appeal Court in Abuja sacked Mutfwang and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a Certificate of Return to Goshwe but the governor proceeded to the apex court to seek redress.

Lawal VS Matawalle

Last November, the Appeal Court nullified the election of Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal.

Lawal, of the main opposition PDP, was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election. In a shocking victory that dislodged then-incumbent Bello Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he polled a total of 377,726 votes. Matawalle scored 311,976 votes.

The PDP candidate, now serving as the Minister of State for Defence, had accused INEC of subverting his victory at the poll by failing to include the results of some ward areas.

In an earlier ruling on September 18, the Zamfara Election Petitions Tribunal held that the petition was devoid of merit. While upholding Lawal’s victory, the tribunal awarded the N500,000 fine against the petitioners.

An unsatisfied Matawalle, as observers expected, took the matter to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, to challenge the decision of the lower court.

Respite came for Matawalle on Thursday as the three-member panel led by Justice Oyebisi Folayemi, nullified the return of Governor Lawal as the winner of the governorship poll.

Justice Sybil Nwaka ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election in three local government areas of the state, where elections had not been held previously or where results from various polling units were not counted.

But the governor proceeded to the apex court to seek redress.

Mohammed VS Abubakar

Also in November, the appellate court affirmed the victory of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State in the March 18 governorship election.

The appeal was filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Sadique Abubakar, following the tribunal judgment upholding Mohammed’s victory.

The panel of three justices were unanimous, awarding no cost as the court ruled that each party to the matter should bear their costs.

The presiding judge, Justice Chidi Nwaoma Uwa, read the judgment in the order of the appellant’s plea before the appeal court.

On plea number one, the appellant pleaded that the election be nullified because the forms and booklets used in the election were not properly filled. The court ruled that the appellant failed to prove this allegation with the needed evidence.

Sanwo-Olu VS GRV, Jandor

The Appeal Court in Lagos in November affirmed the judgment of the tribunal, confirming the return of Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Obafemi Hamzat as the Governor and Deputy Governor of Lagos state.

The justices of the court of appeal in a unanimous decision dismissed the appeal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) for lack of merit.

In March, INEC declared Sanwo-Olu as the winner of the Lagos governorship election.

Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes to defeat his close challenger, LP’s Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour also known as GRV, who scored 312,329 votes. PDP’s Abdulazeez Adediran popular as Jandor came a distant third with 62,449 votes.

Not satisfied, the LP and PDP candidates approached the Lagos State Election Petitions Tribunal to nullify Sanwo-Olu’s victory.

In its ruling on September 25, the tribunal dismissed Adediran and Rhodes-Vivour’s suit seeking to nullify the victory of Sanwo-Olu at the poll.

Displeased with the verdict, the duo approached the appellate court but the higher court dismissed their suits. Both men subsequently approached the apex court which is expected to deliver a judgement on Friday.

Nwifuru VS Odii

The Supreme Court had on Tuesday reserved judgement in the Ebonyi State governorship election appeal.

Last November, the Court of Appeal in Lagos had affirmed the election of APC’s Fran­cis Nwifuru as the duly elected governor of Ebonyi State in the March 18 governorship election.

The three-member panel presided over by Justice Jummai Sankey, in its unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal filed by PDP’s Chukwuma Odii and upheld the earlier verdict of the tribunal but the PDP candidate approached the apex court to seek redress.

Fubara Meets With Tinubu In Aso Rock, Keeps Mum After Visit

 

This is Fubara's first visit to the Villa since the signing of the 8-point agreement after Tinubu waded into the controversy between him and his predecessor Nyesom Wike.

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday met with Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Fubara who arrived at the Presidential Villa at about 5:40 pm went straight to the office of the President where they are currently meeting behind closed doors.

Also read: Israel Denies Bombing Gaza Ambulance, Killing Medics

The reason for the visit is yet to be ascertained at the time of filing the report. He also did not speak to the press after the meeting.

This is Fubara’s first visit to the Presidential Villa since the signing of the 8-point agreement after President Tinubu waded into the controversy between him and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) who is also his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.

Rivers State has been embroiled in a crisis falling a fallout between Fubara and Wike.

The rift between Wike and Fubara split lawmakers in the House with 27 of them decamping from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a party in whose central government Wike currently serves as minister.

The feud also saw the emergence of parallel sittings, an impeachment plot against the governor, the demolition of the Assembly complex, and a gale of resignations of pro-Wike commissioners in Fubara’s cabinet.

In October, the President and some elder statesmen intervened in the crisis but it degenerated into a full-blown fight. Worried by the situation, Tinubu again met with political gladiators in the oil-rich South-South state on December 18, 2023, and a truce was reached.

At the meeting which had in attendance Fubara, Wike, ex-Rivers governor, Peter Odili; and some traditional rulers from the state as well as Vice President Kashim Shettima; and the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, some resolutions were made.

Among these is that the warring parties agreed that all matters instituted in the courts by Fubara, and his team, be withdrawn immediately.

Fubara Absent At Wike’s Luncheon

Despite efforts at resolving the lingering feud between the duo, the crisis seemed to be far from being over with the noticeable absence of Governor Fubara at the luncheon hosted by Wike in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Sunday.

While Wike was present at the event with many of his allies, Fubara and his men both in the House of Assembly and the two other organs of government were conspicuously absent.

It was not clear whether the Wike camp invited Fubara and his men but the governor and his people were not present and it was not mentioned that they sent in delegates.

Some of Wike’s men present include Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule, as well as 24 other lawmakers who had cross-carpeted with him from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Wike, who donned a black shirt and a butter-coloured jacket, was flanked by ex-governors in the PDP G5 — Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu).

Also, Zacchaeus Adangor, George-Kelly Alabo, and some other commissioners in Wike’s camp who resigned from Fubara’s cabinet last month in the heat of the crisis were at the Sunday luncheon.

Others include the Chairman of Port Harcourt Local Government Area, Allwell Ihunda; Senator Barinada Mpigi from Rivers South East; Kelechi Nwogu from Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency; and ex-Speaker Rivers Assembly, Awaji Igbani.

Israel Denies Bombing Gaza Ambulance, Killing Medics

 

The roof of the ambulance was completely destroyed and part of the vehicle crushed.

The Israeli military on Thursday denied it had bombed an ambulance in the central Gaza Strip a day earlier which killed four medics and two other people.

“A review was conducted based on the details provided to the IDF (Israeli military) which shows that no strike was carried out in the described area,” the army said in a statement to AFP.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society had said six people were killed Wednesday in an Israeli strike on their ambulance at the entrance to the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza.

The roof of the ambulance was completely destroyed and part of the vehicle crushed, AFP photos show.

Jagan Chapagain, the head of the International Federation for Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, called the attack “unacceptable” in a social media post and said “I strongly condemn their killing.”

Crowds of mourners gathered Thursday for the funerals of the medics, a shredded and bloodied Palestinian Red Crescent uniform placed atop one of the white shrouds.

The Red Crescent said the ambulance had been on Salah al-Din Road, a highway running north-south through the Gaza Strip that has in the past been used by thousands of Palestinians fleeing the Israeli military advance.

Earlier on Wednesday afternoon, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said multiple people were killed in an Israeli strike near a hospital in Deir al-Balah.

Over 23,350 people have been killed, mostly civilians, in more than three months of war between Hamas and Israel, according to the latest Gaza health ministry toll.

Before Wednesday’s ambulance strike, the health ministry said more than 120 ambulances had been destroyed and at least 326 healthcare workers killed since the start of the conflict.

The war erupted with the bloody Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in around 1,140 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The Israeli military says 186 soldiers have since been killed fighting in Gaza.

South Africa Drags Israel To UN Court Over Gaza ‘Genocide’

 

Pretoria has lodged an urgent appeal at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Israel to "immediately suspend" its military operations in Gaza.

South Africa on Thursday accused Israel of breaching the UN Genocide Convention, arguing that even the deadly October 7 Hamas attack could not justify such alleged actions, as it launched a landmark case at the top UN court.

Pretoria has lodged an urgent appeal at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Israel to “immediately suspend” its military operations in Gaza.

Israel has dismissed the case as “atrocious” and “preposterous” and vowed to set out a robust defence on Friday.

“No armed attack on a state territory, no matter how serious… can provide justification for or defend breaches of the convention,” said Pretoria’s Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.

“Israel’s response to the October 7 attack has crossed this line and given rise to the breaches of the convention,” he added.

The Gaza war erupted when Hamas launched its unprecedented attack, which resulted in about 1,140 people killed in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel has responded with a relentless military campaign that has killed at least 23,357 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

A world away from the death and destruction in Gaza and Israel, robed lawyers battled it out over technical legal arguments in the Peace Palace in The Hague.

South Africa argues Israel is breaking its commitments under the UN Genocide Convention, a treaty signed in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust.

Top lawyer for South Africa Adila Hassim said Israel’s bombing campaign aimed at the “destruction of Palestinian life” and had pushed Palestinians “to the brink of famine”.

“Genocides are never declared in advance, but this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows incontrovertibly a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies a plausible claim of genocidal acts,” she said.

As a fellow signatory to the treaty, South Africa can take Israel to the ICJ, which rules on disputes between countries and is often described as the “World Court”.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has long been a firm supporter of the Palestinian cause, often linking it to its own historic struggle against the white-minority government, which had cooperative relations with Israel.

South Africa has acknowledged the “particular weight of responsibility” of accusing Israel of genocide. It “unequivocally” condemned the Hamas attacks that sparked off the war in Gaza.

 ‘Atrocious and preposterous’

Israel President Isaac Herzog has already hinted at his country’s likely defence against what he called an “atrocious and preposterous… claim”.

“We will present proudly our case of using self defence… under international humanitarian law,” he said.

Herzog said the Israeli army was “doing its utmost under extremely complicated circumstances on the ground to make sure that there will be no unintended consequences and no civilian casualties”.

The United States is backing its ally Israel, with the State Department describing the charges as “unfounded”.

“In fact, it is those who are violently attacking Israel who continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

As it is an urgent procedure, the ICJ could rule in a matter of weeks.

Its rulings are final and cannot be appealed. However, countries do not always follow the court’s verdicts — the ICJ has ordered Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine, for example.

But a court ruling against Israel would certainly increase political pressure on the country, with many speculating it could serve as a pretext for sanctions.

Cecily Rose, assistant professor of public international law at Leiden University, noted the court did not have to rule on the fundamentals of the case at this stage — that issue will likely take years.

“Instead, the court would only be evaluating whether there is a risk of irreparable prejudice to rights held under the Genocide Convention, in particular the right of the Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts that threaten their existence as a group,” Rose told AFP.

Dutch police kept rival demonstrations apart in The Hague. Hundreds of pro-Israeli protesters waving flags marched through the streets while a smaller group of pro-Palestinian supporters brandished placards saying: “End Israel apartheid.”

Pro-Israeli protester Ada Deyl, an 80-year-old pensioner, said: “I think it’s a shame that Israel — who is doing all the right things and is attacked by Hamas — is now facing a lawsuit.”

On the other side, Zohar Janovitch, 40, alleged that Israeli leaders had “explicitly expressed their disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians.”

Trump’sump’s Wife, Melania Announces

 

Knavs' cause of death was not announced.

Former US first lady Melania Trump has announced the death of her mother Amalija Knavs. She was 78.

“It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of my beloved mother,” Trump posted late Tuesday on X, the former Twitter.

“Amalija Knavs was a strong woman who always carried herself with grace, warmth, and dignity,” she said, adding: “We will miss her beyond measure and continue to honor and love her legacy.”

Melania Trump’s mother came to the United States from Slovenia with her husband Victor Knavs, and following a years-long immigration process the couple took the oath to become US citizens in 2018, while Donald Trump was president.

After becoming legal permanent residents, they obtained citizenship through the sponsorship of their adult daughter, taking advantage of the very family reunification visa process that then-president Donald Trump himself had derided as “chain migration” and said should be abolished.

In 2017 Melania Trump became the first presidential wife to be born outside the United States since Louisa Adams in 1825.

Trump himself had campaigned heavily on restricting US immigration. As president he urged the building of a wall on the southern border with Mexico and restricting other forms of immigration and visa mechanisms.

Knavs’ cause of death was not announced.

In Slovenia, she worked at local textile factory Jutranjka, first introducing daughter Melania to the fashion business as a child model for the company in the mid-1970s. Her husband Viktor was an entrepreneur.

Donald Trump released a statement on his Truth Social media platform overnight, calling it “a very sad night” for the Trump family.

“Melania’s great and beautiful mother, Amalija, has just gone to a beautiful place in the sky,” he added. “She was an incredible woman, and will be missed far beyond words!”

Spain PM Sanchez Faces First Parliamentary Test Since Re-Election

 

Faced with the likelihood that the decrees will be blocked, the government reached out to the PP, but its leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo was unmoved.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday faced his first parliamentary test since re-election, with Catalan separatists refusing to back him in the first key vote of the legislature.

The lower house was to vote on three decrees adopted in December by Spain’s left-wing government that must receive parliament’s green light within a month.

The texts concern the renewal of anti-inflation measures, the functioning of the justice system and measures demanded by Brussels to unblock 10 billion euros of European funding.

The vote will be the first test of Sanchez’s fragile network of parliamentary support that handed him a new four-year mandate after finally putting together a working coalition in November.

He actually come second in July’s general election behind the right-wing opposition Popular Party (PP).

It looked set to be an uphill battle with hardline Catalan separatist JxCat party’s seven lawmakers, and five more from the hard-left Podemos saying they will vote against it in a ballot scheduled for the day’s end.

Without that support in a vote, the texts will not pass, given that the right-wing opposition has also pledged to vote against it.

“There can be no reason, no political outlook nor ideology that can justify not supporting our citizens, our families and our factories,” said cabinet minister Felix Bolanos, a member of Sanchez’s Socialist party, calling for support as the parliamentary debate opened.

Spanish media reports said Sanchez’s administration told its allies it would change the way of adopting such measures from a decree to a draft law proposal that would open them up to amendments but slow their implementation.

JxCat, which is headed by its self-exiled leader Carles Puigdemont, agreed to back Sanchez’s return to power in exchange for a controversial amnesty law linked to the failed 2017 Catalan independence bid that sparked Spain’s biggest political crisis in decades.

But until now, they have refused to support him in Wednesday’s vote on the grounds that one of the decrees could endanger the amnesty law that is currently passing through parliament.

They are also demanding the government sanction businesses who moved their headquarters out of Catalonia during the independence crisis.

Faced with the likelihood that the decrees will be blocked, the government reached out to the PP, but its leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo was unmoved.

“I will not take part in any rescue of Pedro Sanchez,” he said.

Global Unemployment Set To Worsen In 2024 – UN

 

The UN's labour agency said the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down, with ongoing geopolitical tensions and persistent inflation triggering aggressive moves by central banks.

The global unemployment rate will increase slightly in 2024, the United Nations said Wednesday as it raised concerns about stagnant productivity, worsening inequalities and inflation biting into disposable income.

The UN’s labour agency said the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down, with ongoing geopolitical tensions and persistent inflation triggering aggressive moves by central banks.

That said, global growth in 2023 was modestly higher than anticipated, and labour markets showed surprising resilience, the International Labour Organization said.

However, real wages declined in most of the G20 countries as wage increases failed to keep pace with inflation, said the ILO.

The 2022 global unemployment rate stood at 5.3 percent and made a modest improvement last year to 5.1 percent.

However, in 2024 an extra two million workers are expected to be looking for jobs, raising the global unemployment rate to 5.2 percent.

Disposable incomes have declined in the majority of G20 nations and, generally, the erosion of living standards resulting from inflation is “unlikely to be compensated quickly”, the ILO said.

Widening inequalities and stagnant productivity are causes for concern, the ILO said in its World Employment and Social Outlook Trends report for 2024.

The study assesses the latest labour market trends, including unemployment, job creation, labour force participation and hours worked — then links those to their social outcomes.

The report found that some of the data, notably on growth and unemployment, are “encouraging”, ILO chief Gilbert Houngbo said.

But a “deeper analysis reveals that labour market imbalances are growing and that, in the context of multiple and interacting global crises, this is eroding progress towards greater social justice”, Houngbo added.

The report found that only China, Russia and Mexico “enjoyed positive real wage growth in 2023”.

Real wages fell in other G20 countries, with Brazil (6.9 percent), Italy (five percent) and Indonesia (3.5 percent) experiencing the sharpest declines.

“Falling living standards and weak productivity combined with persistent inflation create the conditions for greater inequality and undermine efforts to achieve social justice,” said Houngbo.

“And without greater social justice we will never have a sustainable recovery.”

SDP’s Ardo Withdraws Appeal Against Fintiri’s Re-Election

The SDP candidate withdrew his appeal against Governor Ahmadu Fintiri's re-election at the Supreme Court after the Tribunal and appellate court affirmed the governor's victory.

The 2023 governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Adamawa State, Umar Ardo, has withdrawn his appeal against Governor Ahmadu Fintiri’s re-election at the Supreme Court.

Ardo had sought the nullification of Fintiri’s re-election on the grounds that there was substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act, corrupt practices, threats, and violence during the exercise

Counsel for the SDP, Sylvester Imanobe, said the party had 6,000 votes during the election and the court pointed out that there was a difference between the integrity of the election and numerical strength.

Towards this end, they saw the mood of the court and took the hint to withdraw the appeal.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja had in November dismissed a petition filed by Ardo, challenging Fintiri’s victory in the 2023 polls.

Delivering ruling, Justice Ugochukwu Ogakwu affirmed a previous decision of the Tribunal led by Justice Theodora Uloho, which had dismissed Ardo’s petition for being incompetent and not properly filed.

The appellate court held that the appellants did not prove the allegations of corrupt practices and non-compliance to the Electoral Act, against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Justice Ogakwu said there was no basis to grant the appeal.

The SDP candidate and his party had filed a petition at the State Governorship Election Tribunal after Fintiri was declared the winner of the poll.

Ardo had sought the nullification of Fintiri’s re-election on the grounds that there was substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act, corrupt practices, threats, and violence during the exercise.

Ardo subsequently appealed the tribunal’s judgment but the appellate court dismissed his petition.

The SDP candidate further approached the Supreme Court but later withdrew his appeal against the governor.

Gabriel Attal Picked As France’s Youngest PM

 

Following days of speculation, Macron late Monday accepted the resignation of Elisabeth Borne, 62, who stepped down along with the rest of the government after serving less than two years in office.

French leader Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday picked Gabriel Attal as prime minister to give new momentum to his presidency, with the 34-year-old becoming France’s youngest and first openly gay head of government.

Following days of speculation, Macron late Monday accepted the resignation of Elisabeth Borne, 62, who stepped down along with the rest of the government after serving less than two years in office.

The overhaul comes ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris and European parliament elections this summer where Macron’s centrist forces risk defeat at the hands of the far-right under Marine Le Pen.

A wider cabinet reshuffle is expected this week as Macron seeks to sharpen his team for the final three years of his presidency.

“The president of the republic appointed Mr Gabriel Attal prime minister, and tasked him with forming a government,” a presidential statement said.

Attal is set to to bring a major change of style to the office of the prime minister following Borne, only the second woman to lead the French government.

Her austere and no-nonsense demeanour won respect from colleagues but not necessarily popularity from the public, whereas Attal is the most popular figure in government after his stint at the politically crucial education ministry.

The appointment of Attal had been expected after Borne’s resignation on Monday and the absence of the swift announcement fuelled talk that heavy-weight government figures were unhappy over Attal’s meteoric promotion.

However sources close to those said to be behind the tensions, including Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, vehemently denied this.

– ‘Fragile as ever’ –

Borne’s resignation letter to Macron, a copy of which was seen by AFP, hinted that she would have preferred to stay in her job.

“While I must present the resignation of my government, I wanted to tell you how passionate I was about this mission,” she wrote.

Commentators see the reshuffle as essential to relaunch Macron’s centrist presidency for its last three years and prevent him becoming a “lame duck” leader after a series of crises.

Since he defeated the far right to win a second term in 2022, Macron has faced protests over unpopular pension reforms, the loss of his overall majority in parliamentary elections and controversy over immigration legislation.

While Macron cannot run again in the 2027 presidential elections, relaunching his government is seen as crucial to helping prevent Le Pen from becoming president.

The conservative daily Le Figaro said Borne was leaving a political situation “that remains as fragile as ever.

“Changing a face at the top doesn’t change the overall picture,” the newspaper said, adding Borne’s successor was facing “an overwhelming pile of political emergencies” including the task of uniting a fragmented nation.

– ‘Offensive strategy’ –

Under the French system, the president sets general policies and the prime minister is responsible for day-to-day government management, meaning the latter often pays the price when an administration runs into turbulence.

European Parliament elections in June will pose a major test, with Macron’s Renaissance party risking embarrassment at the hands of Le Pen’s National Rally (RN).

He will go toe-to-toe ahead of the European elections with another rising star of French politics, the even younger Jordan Bardella, just 28, who is now party leader of the far-right RN.

Constitutional expert Benjamin Morel told AFP that Attal’s appointment signals a “very offensive strategy with a view to the European elections” in June.

But political scientist Bruno Cautres said he would “not solve the problem of the majority, nor the main problem which is where the the mandate (of Macron) is heading”.

Other key posts are also subject to uncertainty, in particular that of Darmanin, 41, a right-winger said to covet the post of foreign minister held by Catherine Colonna.

The new head of government will be the fourth prime minister since 2017 under Macron, who critics accuse of micro-managing and centralising power in the Elysee