The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • Zambia cholera death toll rises to 222

    Zambia cholera death toll rises to 222

    Zambia Health Ministry yesterday reported that the number of people who have died of cholera in Zambia has risen to 222, while the total number of cases has reached 5,462.

     The latest numbers from the health ministry indicate that the waterborne disease has expanded to the seventh province since the new incidents in October 2023. 

    This followed the death of 27 people and 567 new cases in the previous 24 hours, data released by the ministry on Sunday showed.

    Read Also: Court adjourns Nnamdi Kanu’s N1b suit against Fed Govt, DSS till March 4

    According to the ministry, 340 people were discharged during the same period, bringing total discharges to 4,172, while the number of people remaining hospitalized stands at 1,059.

    According to the Health Ministry daily update, the number of affected districts has reached 31 in seven out of the country’s 10 provinces. Lusaka, the country’s capital, is the hardest hit.

    The ministry has designated the China-built National Heroes Stadium as a cholera treatment centre.

  • Ex-Gambian minister tried in Swiss court for crimes against humanity

    Ex-Gambian minister tried in Swiss court for crimes against humanity

    Former Gambian Interior Minister, Ousman Sonko, who fled the country and went into hiding in Switzerland, was charged with crimes against humanity yesterday when he appeared before a Swiss court.

     Sonko first served in the military, was known as the “torture commander” to the then Gambian president Yahya Jammeh, then as Chief of Police, and from 2006-16 as interior minister before fleeing to Switzerland.

    The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland said on its website that the prosecution “accuses the defendant in particular of having, in the context of five events between 2000 and 2016, participated, ordered, facilitated and/or failed to prevent killings, acts of torture, acts of rape and numerous unlawful detentions,”

    Sonko’s lawyer, Philippe Currat, told DPA that his client rejected all accusations.

    Among other things, the lawsuit concerns a case of a soldier who was suspected of plotting a coup. He was allegedly killed by Sonko and accomplices in 2000.

    Sonko is said to have raped and tortured his widow several times.

    Read Also: Court adjourns Nnamdi Kanu’s N1b suit against Fed Govt, DSS till March 4

    Towards the end of Jammeh’s rule, Sonko fled Gambia in 2016 and was arrested in 2017; after he was recognised at an asylum shelter in Switzerland and the organisation Trial International proceeded to file a lawsuit.

    The trial is taking place at the Swiss Criminal Court in Bellinzona. It is expected to last until at least the end of January.

    The prosecution is based on the principle of universal jurisdiction. Crimes against humanity are considered so serious that they can be brought to court in any country in the world.

    A former Gambian soldier for example has been tried in Germany for involvement in atrocities committed during Jammeh’s rule.

    A court in the German town of Celle sentenced him to life in prison at the end of November.

  • Over 240 people still missing after Japan earthquake

    Over 240 people still missing after Japan earthquake

    The number of people missing after a massive earthquake struck the west coast of Japan on New Year’s Day rose to more than 240 on Friday.

    According to local media reports, the government has doubled the number of soldiers deployed to the disaster area to 4,600 to support the emergency services.

    Four days after the quakes struck, the clock was ticking in the search for survivors.

    There were dozens of reports that people remain under collapsed houses.

    Read Also: ‘Huge earthquake’ awaits Israel if it doesn’t stop Gaza attack, Iran warns

    The mountains of rubble, damaged roads, landslides and aftershocks continue to hamper the efforts of rescue teams.

    In Ishikawa Prefecture, the hardest hit, at least 700 people are still cut off from the outside world.

    The report said that around 30,000 households had lost their power supply and 80,000 households had lost their water supply.

    According to the local authorities, around 33,000 people still have to hold out in hundreds of emergency shelters.

    Since the earthquake on New Year’s Day with a magnitude of 7.6, the region on the Sea of Japan has been shaken by more than 150 aftershocks.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • Oscar Pistorius returns home after leaving South African jail on parole

    Oscar Pistorius returns home after leaving South African jail on parole

    Former track star Oscar Pistorius was released from prison on parole, South Africa’s Department of Corrections said on Friday.

    Pistorius spent almost 11 years in jail after the murder of his then-girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

    The 37-year-old was now a parolee and “at home,” the authority said in a brief statement.

    The Olympic and Paralympic athlete killed the 29-year-old Steenkamp, a law graduate and model, with four shots through the bathroom door of his villa in Pretoria on Valentine’s Day night in 2013.

    The sprint star, who has been a double-amputee since infancy, was sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison following a trial that immersed South Africa, and was followed closely around the world.

    During the trial, Pistorius testified that he had fired several times because he had mistaken his girlfriend for a burglar.

    Read Also: Oscar Pistorius to Appeal 13-year Murder Sentence

    Nonetheless the court ultimately rejected his evidence and convicted him of murder.

    After spending nine years at a prison near Pretoria, he was released on parole by a panel after determining he had completed the minimum detention requirement under South African law.

    His probation will last five years and comes with strict supervision by law enforcement authorities. At the time of the killing, Pistorius was at the peak of his career.

    The “Blade Runner,” as he was known, won six gold medals at the 2012 Paralympic Games on custom-made carbon prostheses.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • Defendant attacks judge during sentencing in Vegas courtroom

    Defendant attacks judge during sentencing in Vegas courtroom

    A Nevada judge was attacked Wednesday by a defendant in a felony battery case who leaped over a defense table and the judge’s bench, landing atop her and sparking a bloody brawl involving court officials and attorneys, officials and witnesses said.

    In a violent scene captured by courtroom video, Clark County District Judge Mary Kay Holthus fell back from her seat against a wall and suffered some injuries but was not hospitalized, courthouse officials said.

    A courtroom marshal was also injured as he came to the judge’s aid and was hospitalized for treatment of a bleeding gash on his forehead and a dislocated shoulder, according to the officials and witnesses.

    The attack occurred about 11 a.m. at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas.

    The defendant, Deobra Delone Redden, 30, was wrestled to the floor behind the judge’s bench by several court and jail officers and courtroom staff members — including some who are seen throwing punches.

    He was arrested and jailed at the Clark County Detention Center, where records showed he faces multiple new felony charges including battery on a protected person — referring to the judge and court officers.

    “It happened so fast it was hard to know what to do,” said Richard Scow, the chief county district attorney who prosecuted Redden on a case that stemmed from an arrest last year on allegations that Redden attacked a person with a baseball bat.

    Redden’s defense attorney, Caesar Almase, did not respond to later telephone and email messages seeking comment.

    Read Also: Nigerian diaspora community mourns student killed by Canadian policemen

    Redden was not in custody when he arrived at court Wednesday. He wore a white shirt and dark pants as he stood next to Almase, asking the judge for leniency while describing himself as “a person who never stops trying to do the right thing no matter how hard it is.“

    “I’m not a rebellious person,” he told the judge, later adding that he doesn’t think he should be sent to prison. “But if it’s appropriate for you then you have to do what you have to do.”

    As the judge made it clear she intended to put him behind bars, and the court marshal moved to handcuff him, Redden yelled expletives and charged forward — amid screams from people who had been sitting with Redden in the courtroom audience.

    Records showed that Redden, a Las Vegas resident, was evaluated and found mentally competent to stand trial before pleading guilty in November to a reduced charge of attempted battery causing substantial bodily harm. He previously served prison time in Nevada on a domestic battery conviction, state records show.

    Holthus, a career prosecutor with more than 27 years of courthouse experience, was elected to the state court bench in 2018 and again in 2022.

    In a statement, court spokesperson Mary Ann Price said officials were “reviewing all our protocols and will do whatever is necessary to protect the judiciary, the public and our employees.”

    ABCnews

  • 103 dead in bomb blasts near Iran general Qasem Soleimani’s tomb

    103 dead in bomb blasts near Iran general Qasem Soleimani’s tomb

    • Supreme leader pledges ‘harsh response’ to explosion

    No fewer than 103 people have been killed by two bomb explosions near the tomb of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on the fourth anniversary of his assassination by the United States, Iran’s state media report.

    State broadcaster Irib said dozens more people were wounded when the blasts hit a procession near the Saheb al-Zaman mosque in the southern city of Kerman.

    It cited Kerman’s deputy governor as saying it was a “terrorist attack”.

    Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has pledged a “harsh response” after two blasts ripped through the gathering.

    “The evil and criminal enemies of the Iranian nation once again created a disaster and martyred a large number of people in Kerman,” Khamenei said in a statement.

    “Iran and many of its families are grieving for their loved ones. The callous criminals could not bear the affection and fervor of the people visiting the shrine of their esteemed commander, Qasem Soleimani,” he added.

    Videos showed bodies on a road and ambulances rushing to the scene.

    It was not clear who was behind the explosions and there were no immediate claims from any groups.

    But Arab separatists, Islamic State (IS) and other Sunni jihadist groups have said they have carried out deadly attacks on security forces and Shia shrines in the country in recent years.

    Soleimani was seen as the most powerful figure in Iran after the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, before he was killed in a US drone strike in neighbouring Iraq in 2020.

    Read Also: A ticking bomb

    Yesterday’s incident comes amid heightened tensions in the region after the deputy leader of the Iran-backed Palestinian group, Hamas, was killed in an apparent Israeli drone strike in Lebanon.

    Footage broadcast by state TV showed hundreds of people had gathered on the eastern outskirts of the general’s hometown of Kerman when the two explosions took place.

    Iranian media reported that the first reportedly occurred at 14:50 local time (11:20 GMT), about 700m (2,300ft) from the Garden of Martyrs cemetery around the Saheb al-Zaman mosque.

    The second took place about 15 minutes later, around 1km away from the cemetery, they said.

    The hard-line Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, cited sources as saying that “two bags carrying bomb” were apparently detonated “by remote control”.

    “We were walking towards the cemetery when a car suddenly stopped behind us and a waste bin containing a bomb exploded,” a witness was quoted by Isna news agency as saying.

    “We only heard the sound of the explosion and saw people falling.”

    State media cited the local emergency services department as saying 103 people had been killed and another 141 wounded by the blasts. Some of the wounded were in a critical condition, they added.

    The Iranian Red Crescent said the dead included at least one paramedic who was dispatched to the scene of the first explosion and was hit by the second.

    Footage appeared to show that Soleimani’s tomb was not damaged.

    As commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ overseas operations arm, the Quds Force, he was an architect of Iranian policy across the region.

    He was in charge of the Quds Force’s clandestine missions and its provision of guidance, funding, weapons, intelligence, and logistical support to allied governments and armed groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

    Then-U.S. President Donald Trump, who ordered the 2020 assassination, described Soleimani as “the number-one terrorist anywhere in the world”.

  • Doctors in England begin longest strike in NHS history

    Doctors in England begin longest strike in NHS history

    Hospital doctors in England yesterday began their longest consecutive strike in the seven-decade history of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS).

    Junior doctors — those below consultant level — started a six-day walkout, in a major escalation of their long-running pay dispute with the UK government.

    The industrial action comes at one of the busiest times of the year for the state-funded NHS, when it faces increased pressure from winter respiratory illnesses.

    It also quickly follows a three-day strike held by doctors just before Christmas.

    The NHS said the latest stoppage, which could see up to half of the medical workforce on picket lines, would have “a significant impact on almost all routine care”.

    “This January could be one of the most difficult starts to the year the NHS has ever faced,” said its national medical director, Stephen Powis.

    The strike is due to end at 0700 GMT next Tuesday.

    The British Medical Association (BMA) announced the walkout in December after a breakdown in talks with the government.

    The union said junior doctors have been offered a 3.0-percent rise on top of the average 8.8-percent increase they were given earlier this year.

    It rejected the offer because the cash would be split unevenly across different doctor grades and would “still amount to pay cuts for many doctors”.

    Junior doctors have gone on strike at least seven times since March.

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and hospital leaders have criticised the action.

    Health policy is a devolved matter for the administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with the UK government overseeing England.

    Read Also: Junior doctors in England begin longest NHS strike in history

    Junior doctors in Wales are due to walk out for 72 hours from January 15.

    Those in Northern Ireland have voted for potential strike action.

    Their Scottish counterparts have struck a deal with the government in Edinburgh.

    The NHS typically sees a rise in the number of people in hospital in the two weeks after Christmas, due to people delaying seeking treatment in order to spend the festive season with loved ones.

    The service is already facing huge backlogs in waiting times for appointments and surgery, blamed on treatment postponement during Covid but also years of under-funding.

    Julian Hartley, the chief executive of NHS Providers which represents hospital groups in England, said the effect of the strikes on patients would be “significant”.

    “The vast majority of planned operations, appointments, and so on, will have to be stood down,” he told BBC television.

    Consultants will cover for junior doctors and emergency and urgent care such as maternity and intensive care services will be operating.

    But there are fears that Covid, flu and other seasonal conditions could also hit staffing.

    “We’re deeply concerned about the kind of impact over the coming days,” said Hartley.

  • Junior doctors in England begin longest NHS strike in history

    Junior doctors in England begin longest NHS strike in history

    Junior doctors in England on Wednesday, January 3, begin their longest consecutive strike in the seven-decade history of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS).

    The strike will run from 7am Wednesday, January 3, to 7am on Tuesday,  January 9, the longest in the history of the NHS,

    Health service executives said the strike could mean “one of the most difficult starts to the year the NHS has ever faced”, when it faces increased pressure from winter respiratory illnesses.

    But the British Medical Association (BMA) has said it was forced to take action and reject the government’s December pay offer as it failed to compensate for real-terms pay cuts going as far back as 2008.

    The NHS said the latest walkout, which could see up to half of the medical workforce on picket lines, would have “a significant impact on almost all routine care”.

    “This January could be one of the most difficult starts to the year the NHS has ever faced,” said its national medical director, Stephen Powis.

    The British Medical Association (BMA) announced the walkout in December after a breakdown in talks with the government.

    The union said junior doctors have been offered a 3.0 per cent rise on top of the average 8.8 per cent increase they were given earlier this year.

    Read Also: Abia govt uncovers ‘Japa’ doctors still collecting salaries

    It rejected the offer because the cash would be split unevenly across different doctor grades and would “still amount to pay cuts for many doctors.”

    Junior doctors have gone on strike at least seven times since March.

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and hospital leaders have criticised the action.

    Health policy is a devolved matter for the administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with the UK government overseeing England.

    Junior doctors in Wales are due to walk out for 72 hours from January 15.

    Those in Northern Ireland have voted for potential strike action.

    Their Scottish counterparts have struck a deal with the government in Edinburgh.

    The NHS typically sees a rise in the number of people in hospital in the two weeks after Christmas, due to people delaying seeking treatment in order to spend the festive season with loved ones.

    The service is already facing huge backlogs in waiting times for appointments and surgery, blamed on treatment postponement during Covid but also years of underfunding.

  • Nigerian students, others no longer able to bring dependants, says UK

    Nigerian students, others no longer able to bring dependants, says UK

    The United Kingdom Home Office says overseas students including those from Nigeria will no longer be able to bring family members to the country.

     The UK Home Office said in a New Year post on X (formerly Twitter) “We are fully committed to seeing a decisive cut in migration,”

     “From today (Monday), new overseas students will no longer be able to bring family members to the UK.”

     The Home Office, however, exempted postgraduate research or government-funded scholarship students from the ban.

    “Postgraduate research or government-funded scholarships students will be exempt.”

     The UK is one of the 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 over 33.3 percent, the mass exodus known as the ‘Japa’ phenomenon is in full swing.

    The United Kingdom had first announced moves to stop overseas students from bringing migrants to the UK in mid-2023. The move was part of an immigration crackdown on students moving family members to the UK.

     At least 135,788 family members reportedly tagged along as students moved into Britain for study in 2022 nine times more than in 2019.

     “Last year, 59,053 Nigerian students brought over 60,923 relatives,” a report said.

     The UK also announced that it would raise the minimum salary threshold for a skilled worker visa and prevent overseas health and social care staff from bringing family dependents to Britain.

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office trumpeted the proposals as “the biggest clampdown on legal migration ever”.

    Read Also: Full list of blacklisted foreign universities in Nigeria

    But critics said it would damage the state-run National Health Service (NHS), which faces staff shortages.

     Immigration is set to be a key issue in nationwide elections that must be held by January 2025 at the latest, and which the main opposition Labour Party is currently favoured to win.

     Sunak has pledged to reduce new arrivals and has been under pressure ever since statistics released last month showed that net migration to Britain hit a high in 2022.

     The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of people who arrived in Britain last year was 745,000 more than the number who left.

     Interior minister James Cleverly said his plan would result in 300,000 fewer people coming to the UK in the coming years.

    “Enough is enough,” the home secretary told parliament as he laid out his proposals, which will take effect early next year.

  • Harvard president resigns over plagiarism allegations

    Harvard president resigns over plagiarism allegations

    Harvard University’s president, Claudine Gay has resigned after facing allegations of plagiarism and criticism over her comments about antisemitism on campus.

    Her time was the shortest presidency in the University’s history.

    The most recent accusations came yesterday, published anonymously in a conservative online outlet.

    In a letter announcing her resignation, she said it was in the “best interests” of the university for her to step down.

    “It has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigour,” she said.

    Gay added that her resignation would allow Harvard to “focus on the institution rather than any individual. This is not a decision I came to easily. Indeed, it has been difficult beyond words,”

    She said she had been subjected to personal threats and “racial animus”.

    Gay was also engulfed by scandal after she declined to say unequivocally whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated Harvard’s code of conduct, during testimony to Congress alongside the heads of MIT and the University of Pennsylvania last month.

    The university’s governing Harvard Corporation backed her after her appearance before Congress but did criticize her response to the October 7 attack in Israel as the campus community reacted to the war in Gaza.

    More than 70 lawmakers including two Democrats called for her resignation, while several high-profile Harvard alumni and donors had called for her departure.

    Still, more than 700 Harvard faculty members had signed a letter supporting Gay.

    The 53-year-old served as president for six months and was the first black person, and only the second woman, to be appointed to lead the Ivy League university.

    Read Also: Osun APC blasts Aregbesola, says ex-gov dishonoured agreement by Tinubu, Akande

    Born in New York to Haitian immigrants and is a professor of political science who in July became the first Black president of 368-year-old Harvard University, in Cambridge, outside Boston.

    The university’s governing Harvard Corporation said in a statement that Gay would resume her faculty position after resigning.

    “We thank President Gay for her deep and unwavering commitment to Harvard and the pursuit of academic excellence,” it said.

    “While President Gay has acknowledged missteps and has taken responsibility for them, it is also true that she has shown remarkable resilience in the face of deeply personal and sustained attacks,” the statement added.

    The corporation also said the search for a new president of the university will begin in due course.

    “While some of this has played out in the public domain, much of it has taken the form of repugnant and in some cases racist vitriol directed at her through disgraceful emails and phone calls. We condemn such attacks in the strongest possible terms. The search for a new president of the university will begin in due course.”