February 11, 2020

Sudan To Hand Bashir To ICC For Darfur Crimes

Sudan has agreed to hand ousted autocrat Omar al-Bashir and others to the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur, a member of Khartoum’s ruling body said Tuesday.

The Hague-based ICC has charged Bashir and three of his former aides with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sudan’s western region during a devastating conflict from 2003.

“Those who have been indicted by the ICC, they have to go there,” Mohamed Hassan Al-Taishay, a member of the ruling sovereign council, said in a statement.

“One of them is Al-Bashir and (there are) three others,” he later told …

Couple Make History With Ireland’s 1st Same-Sex Marriage

A Belfast couple on Tuesday made history by becoming the first same-sex couple to get married in Northern Ireland, following a landmark change in the law last year.

Robyn Peoples, 26, and Sharni Edwards, 27, tied the knot in an afternoon ceremony in a hotel in Carrickfergus, near Belfast, after the new legislation came into effect on Monday.

The legal change followed campaigning by Amnesty International and partner organisations in the “Love Equality” coalition, which hailed it as “a landmark moment for equality in Northern Ireland”.

“We are literally living the dream, it’s incredible,” Edwards, a waitress from Brighton on

Ultra-Rare Snowfall Carpets Baghdad

Residents of Baghdad rushed to have snowball fights or take photographs Tuesday as the Iraqi capital woke carpeted in white by only its second snowfall in a century.

The last recorded snowfall in the city was in 2008, but it was a quick and mostly slushy affair — and prior to that, it had been a century since Baghdad saw any flakes.

Iraqis young and old said it was the first time they had ever seen snow falling in Baghdad.

AFP / SABAH ARARThe only previous snowfall in Baghad in the past century was a short and mostly slushy

Syrian Helicopter Downed As Ankara Threatens Damascus

Tensions escalated Tuesday between Syria’s regime and rebel-backer Turkey as a Syrian military helicopter was shot down and Ankara warned of a “heavy price” for any attacks on its forces.

The new flare-up, a day after regime shelling killed five Turkish troops, came as government forces battling rebels in northwestern Syria took full control of a key highway linking the country’s four largest cities.

The advance marked another step in President Bashar al-Assad’s campaign to retake Syria’s last rebel-held pocket, where nearly 700,000 civilians have fled violence since December in the largest exodus since the start of the war.

AFP

British Man Linked To At Least 9 Coronavirus Cases

(CNN) A British man linked to a number of coronavirus cases after traveling from Singapore to a French ski chalet to the UK has fully recovered.

The patient, Steve Walsh, is believed to have infected at least nine other people during his stay in the French Alps after contracting the virus in Singapore. He released a statement Tuesday revealing his name and thanking the UK’s National Health Service for its help and care.
Walsh had attended a conference at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Singapore in late January, hosted by the gas analysis company Servomex, which has since confirmed that

Fresh Crisis Hits Ohanaeze Over Suspension Of Chieftains

The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo is in another round of crisis following the reported sack of its Secretary General, Uche Okwukwu.

This is contained in a press statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Prince Uche Achi-Okpaga, on Tuesday.

He also named the President General of Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro as among those suspended.

He said the decision was arrived at during the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Imeobi held on Sunday.

However, Isiguzoro has carpeted the said suspension, describing it as inconsequential.

He said in a statement signed by Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, Secretary General,

Governor Makinde Swears-In 5 New Permanent Secretaries

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Tuesday swore-in another set of five Permanent Secretaries in the Civil Service of Oyo State.

The Governor while performing the swearing in, called on the new permanent secretaries to see their appointments as a call to service.

He maintained that the appointments were based on merit and qualification.

The new permanent secretaries include Mrs. Atere Aminat Bamidele, Ministry of Education; Dr. Adeyanju Olusoji Alaruru, Hospital Management Board; Mrs. Fasina Adenike Ayobami, Ministry of Finance; Mr. Segun Ajekiigbe, Ministry of Energy and Mrs. Grace Olabisi Oderinde, Teaching Service Commission.

Makinde urged the new permanent

US Immigration Ban Will Be Resolved In Single-Digit Month

The United States of America, Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, on Tuesday, hinted that the Immigration ban placed on Nigeria is a temporary measure that will hopefully be resolved “in a single-digit month.”

The Ambassador gave the hint on Tuesday during a courtesy call to the Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila.

The Speaker, according to a statement by his Spokesperson, Lanre Lasisi, expressed displeasure over the measure taken by the United States, and called for clarification on the ban.

Gbajabiamila during the meeting raised the issue of the ban, said that “There’s still no clarity on the

B’Haram: Sen. Shettima Reacts To Killing Of 30 Travellers

Senator Kashim Shettima, immediate past governor of Borno State has advised the Nigerian Defence Headquarters to speedily constitute a credible panel that should transparently generate facts on how 30 passengers lost their lives on Sunday night in Auno, Bormo state.
DAILY POST reported that the attack happened at Auno along the Maiduguri – Damaturu road leaving 30 people killed and 18 vehicles destroyed.

The terrorists stormed the area at about 9:50pm on Sunday.

Borno state governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum has since visited the scene of attacked.

However, those who followed the governor and other security sources confirmed that

Christmas Message: We Stand With Kukah - Catholic Church

Insecurity: Bishop Kukah Tears Buhari Govt Apart

The Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has described Nigeria as a nation like a ship, stranded on the high seas, rudderless and with broken navigational aids.

Speaking at the funeral mass of Seminarian Michael Nnadi at Good Shepherd Seminary, Kaduna, Bishop Kukah reminded the congregation, “We have gathered around the remains of Michael in supplication but also as solemn witnesses to the penetrating darkness that hovers over our country.”

Bishop Kukah explained, “Today, our years of hypocrisy, duplicity, fabricated integrity, false piety, empty morality, fraud and Pharisaism have caught up with us. Nigeria is on the crossroads

soldier

Soldier In Kirikiri For Demanding For Promised Weapons

The exclusive interview with a soldier who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for asking a brigade commander who promised them weapons to fight Boko Haram terrorist in Maiduguri, where the weapons were after over 30 soldiers in his troops were killed.

The soldiers who pass through so much pain, because of injustice in military were first sentence to deaths.

On the interview with pulsetv Africa the soldier said that he was sentence not because he committed crime, but in the cause of his job.

He said they were …

EFCC

EFCC Reacts To Trending Photo Of ‘Port Harcourt Cell’

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has reacted to a trending tweet showing pictures purported to be the EFCC Port Harcourt Zonal Office Holding Cell.

EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade, in a statement on Tuesday, said the photos were a mischief and a calculated attempt to smear the agency’s reputation.

It noted that EFCC has a high degree of decency and cannot be the open dumping facility, surrounded by razor-wired walls, depicted in the picture.

“It is important to further clarify that EFCC detention centres are known for their remarkable care for detainees in line with our avowed respect for