PRESIDENT TINUBU SENDS DELEGATION OF ISLAMIC LEADERS TO NIGER FOR ANOTHER DIALOGUE.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the return of a delegation of Islamic leaders to the Niger Republic, for another round of dialogue with the military junta, led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani.
The decision was made after a meeting between the President and top clerics led by Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi who were recently in Niamey, the Niger Republic capital, two weeks ago for dialogue.
Since the government of President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown on July 26, 2023, ECOWAS reacted by imposing sanctions on Niger and has not ruled out using force against the army officers.
The regional body has approved the deployment of a “standby force to restore constitutional order” in Niger as soon as possible.
However, they have still given room for dialogue in finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
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PRESIDENT TINUBU SAYS ONLY HOMEGROWN SOLUTIONS CAN SOLVE AFRICA’S PROBLEM.
President Bola Tinubu, has submitted that African nations have a better chance of overcoming economic and security challenges by looking inward for solutions and honouring pledges and agreements.
He stated this while receiving Letters of Credence from three envoys at the State House.
The diplomats are: Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Awall Wagris Mohammed; Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, Miriam Morales Palmero, and Ambassador of United Arab Emirates, Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi.
In a side meeting with the Ethiopian envoy, the President assured him that Nigeria will continue to strengthen its ties with African countries in the areas of trade, security and economic growth.
Mohammed congratulated the President for the historic decisions he has taken in the country, and the impact of the policies on the continent, assuring him of his dedication to improve relations between Nigeria and Ethiopia.
In another meeting with the Ambassador of Cuba, Tinubu commended the nation for excelling in the advancement of indigenous medical sciences and accessible health care at the grassroots, all while ensuring the stability of their surrounding region.
The President noted that Nigeria and Cuba share some cultural similarities that can be explored to improve the lives of citizens, especially in tourism and other economic sectors.
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KENYA SAYS TIKTOK AGREES CONTENT MODERATION DEAL.
TikTok has agreed to moderate content on its app in Kenya.
The country’s presidency said days after parliament received a petition to ban the popular video-sharing platform.
TikTok, owned by Chinese technology giant ByteDance, is facing intense scrutiny across the world due to privacy and security concerns.
“Short-form video hosting service TikTok will work with Kenya in reviewing and monitoring its content,” President William Ruto’s office said in a statement after a call with TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew.
“This new development means that inappropriate or offensive content will be expunged from the platform,” it added.
Thursday’s announcement comes barely 10 days after Kenyan legislators received a petition from a private citizen demanding that TikTok be banned in the East African country for promoting obscenity.
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SUDAN ARMY CHIEF MAKES FIRST FORAY OUTSIDE HEADQUARTER IN MONTHS OF WAR.
Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is seen outside his headquarters for the first time since fighting with paramilitaries erupted more than four months ago, army videos showed.
Some of the footage filmed before dawn and posted on the army’s Facebook page showed Burhan speaking to soldiers, with the caption indicating that he was at the Wadi Seidna air base north of Khartoum.
In separate daytime images posted later, he is seen surrounded by civilians in the capital’s twin city of Omdurman, where residents also reported fighting.
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GABON’S BONGO SEEKS ELECTION TRIUMPH AFTER STROKE RECOVERY.
Voters in Gabon head for the polls on Saturday with President Ali Bongo Ondimba eager for a clear victory after a seven-year term in which health problems fuelled attacks on his fitness to govern.
The small oil-rich central African state has been ruled by Bongo since 2009, when he was voted in to succeed his father Omar, Gabon’s president for nearly 42 years.
The campaign has seen Bongo working hard for victory after his re-election in 2016, when a wafer-thin margin of just 5,500 votes was disputed as fraudulent by his rival Jean Ping.
That was followed by a stroke in October 2018 that sidelined Bongo for 10 months.
His prolonged absence stoked accusations he was incapable of governing effectively, and rumours spread that a lookalike was standing in for him.
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UNITED KINGDOM TO PROBE CASE OF MAN WRONGFULLY JAILED FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS.
The United Kingdom government has ordered an independent inquiry into the case of a man who spent 17 years in prison before his rape conviction was quashed on appeal.
The inquiry will look at the role of Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service in the conviction and subsequent appeals to identify the causes of “the significant miscarriage of justice” Andrew Malkinson suffered.
Justice Minister Alex Chalk said Andrew Malkinson suffered an atrocious miscarriage of justice, and he deserves thorough and honest answers as to how and why it took so long to uncover.
“A man spent 17 years in prison for a crime he did not commit while a rapist remained on the loose. It is essential that lessons are learned in full.”
Malkinson, 57, was convicted of rape in 2004 despite there being no DNA evidence.
The Court of Appeal overturned his conviction after new DNA testing linked the crime to another man.
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MYANMAR EXTRADITES SEVEN SUSPECTS TO CHINA OVER ONLINE SCAMS.
Myanmar authorities have handed over seven people suspected of involvement in online scams targeting Chinese citizens to Beijing authorities.
Criminal syndicates are accused of kidnapping or luring citizens of China and other countries to lawless enclaves along Myanmar’s northern and eastern borders and forcing them to work as online scammers.
The scammers typically target their compatriots and groom them for weeks before cajoling them into ploughing money into fake investment platforms and other ruses.
Two suspects were handed over to Chinese authorities at Yangon International Airport, according to a statement in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar.
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GROUP OF SEVEN POWERS CONDEMN FAILED NORTH KOREAN SATELLITE LAUNCH.
Foreign ministers from the G7 group of rich democracies condemned North Korea’s failed bid to launch a spy satellite, arguing that it used banned ballistic missile technology.
In a joint statement, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US, and the EU said North Korea’s move “poses a grave threat to regional and international peace and stability”.
North Korea’s second bid to put a sky satellite in orbit failed, three months after a first crashed into the ocean, but still outraged nuclear-armed authoritarian states’ critics.
The satellite was to have been carried to orbit in a staged rocket that uses the same technology as ballistic missiles — which Pyongyang is forbidden from developing under UN resolutions.
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DONALD TRUMP ARRESTED IN ELECTION CASE.
Former US President Donald Trump has been arrested at a Georgia jail on racketeering and conspiracy charges and released on a $200,000 bond after having a historic mug shot taken.
Trump, who is accused of colluding with 18 other defendants to overturn the 2020 election result in the southern state, spent less than 30 minutes inside Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail before leaving in a motorcade for the airport.
Like the other defendants in the case who have surrendered so far, the 77-year-old Trump had his mug shot taken during the booking process — a first for any serving or former US president.
In the photograph released by the sheriff’s office, he scowled at the camera while dressed in a dark blue suit, white shirt and red tie.
Speaking to reporters after his arrest, Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said it was a “very sad day for America.”
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NORTH KOREA SAYS SPY SATELLITE LAUNCH ENDS IN FAILURE.
North Korea says its second attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit failed, three months after the first one crashed into the ocean.
Leader Kim Jong Un has made the development of a military eye in the sky a top priority, with his nuclear-armed country claiming it is a necessary counterbalance to growing regional activity by US forces.
The National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) “conducted the second launch of reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1”.
“The launch failed due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight,” NADA said, adding that the problem was “not a big issue” and that it would attempt another launch in October.
The South Korean military said it detected the launch of the purported space rocket at around 3:50 am (1850 GMT Wednesday) and that it flew over the Yellow Sea.
It added that a search and retrieval operation for the wreckage had begun.
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