The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • Russian missile meant for Ukraine lands on own village

    Russian missile meant for Ukraine lands on own village

    Russian civilian authorities yesterday said a missile accidentally hit a Russian village in the Voronezh border region during the latest heavy Russian airstrikes on Ukraine.

     Governor of the region, Alexander Gusev, wrote on Telegram that seven homes were damaged as a result of accidental release but there were no injuries.

     The incident took place in the village of Petropavlovka, around 140 kilometers from north-eastern Ukraine.

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     Gusev spoke of an “accidental release” of the projectile and did not specify the type of weapon.

     Unauthenticated videos circulated on social media that allegedly showed severe damage to several houses in the village.

     According to Kyiv, Russia fired at Ukraine in several waves with combat drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic weapons.

  • Understanding the Global Recognition Award

    Understanding the Global Recognition Award

    Illinois State University celebrated when Dr. Nancy S. Lind received the Global Recognition Award for decades of teaching, nonprofit consulting and international development. When Avenue Z, a marketing communications firm, was honoured with the same award, the focus was on blending artificial intelligence with influence strategies that clients could measure in new ways. A family services provider, Global Nest Family, received this recognition for refining cross-border fertility care. In travel, names such as Raffles Bali and Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket got the award for elevating guest experiences and sustainable hospitality. Even at the individual level, professionals like Vineet Kumar were recognised with the award for applied data science that improved sales optimisation and profitability inside global enterprises.

    Alongside these diverse honourees was a small team of engineers at a young search company who saw their conversational search interface suddenly reframed, not just as clever coding, but as work worthy of international attention. Their story, like those of Avenue Z, Dr. Lind, Global Nest Family, Raffles Bali, Centara, and Vineet Kumar, captures the essence of the Global Recognition Award. It is not about novelty for its own sake but about contributions that reshape professions, industries, and communities in ways that can be measured and understood by peers around the world.

    A Platform for Excellence

    The award, which has grown more visible in recent years, is a platform that celebrates excellence across borders. Its organisers describe a simple but ambitious aim: to provide recognition for achievements that combine innovation with results, and to give companies and individuals the tools to tell their stories to wider audiences. The promise is as much about credibility and visibility as it is about a certificate or a trophy. A win becomes a signal that can open doors with clients, investors, and partners who want to see proof that ideas are not only good on paper but powerful in practice.

    A Rigorous Selection Process

    The Global Recognition Award’s selection process is rigorous and transparent, ensuring that only individuals and organisations demonstrating exceptional achievements are honored. The evaluation is conducted by a distinguished panel of judges, comprising industry experts, thought leaders, and global influencers. The program emphasizes rigor by combining professional judgment with structured assessment methods.

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    The key selection criteria include:

    •            Frequency and credibility of nominations: Candidates must receive multiple nominations from credible industry leaders, peers, and stakeholders attesting to their consistent impact.

    •            Excellence and professional output: Awardees must exhibit an unwavering commitment to innovation, leadership, and measurable contributions in their respective fields.

    •            Positive societal impact: The award prioritises individuals and organisations whose work fosters economic growth, promotes sustainability, or improves community well-being.

    •            Inclusivity and diversity: The Global Recognition Award honours leaders who champion diversity, equity, and inclusion, reflecting a socially responsible approach to leadership and innovation.

    These stringent criteria ensure that honourees embody the highest standards of excellence and global influence.

    Expertise in Evaluation

    Applicants enter online, supplying evidence of impact in categories that range from technology and finance to hospitality, education, and design. Once a shortlist is compiled, judges take over. Their profiles are published on the program’s website, with panels organized by sector. A fintech entry, for example, will be evaluated by people who understand compliance, risk, and customer adoption. A hospitality entry is assessed by people who can tell when service is more than marketing copy. This alignment of expertise ensures that candidates are not only judged by numbers but by the informed reading of their peers.

    To balance differences across judges and categories, the Global Recognition Award employs statistical models such as Rasch analysis. This framework transforms qualitative judgments into a single linear scale. In practice, that means a hotelier’s record of sustainable service can be scored on the same continuum as a software engineer’s breakthrough in cybersecurity, because the system accounts for differences among judges and allows results to be calibrated. The process safeguards fairness across vastly different fields while holding steady to the need to reward excellence.

    Awards’ significance, eligibility and scope

    The Global Recognition Award is widely recognised for its role in fostering leadership, innovation, and development across industries. The Merit Award of Excellence in International Renewable Energy, for instance, acknowledges pioneers in climate change solutions, energy equity, and environmental sustainability. Its growing international recognition highlights its impact in shaping future leaders and driving progress on a global scale.

    The Global Recognition Award maintains a global approach, inviting nominations from individuals and organisations worldwide. The awards assess nominees based on their impact at local, national, and international levels. This inclusivity ensures that leaders making a difference beyond their immediate regions are also acknowledged.

    Annual Number of Awards/Winners and Their Impact

    Despite receiving hundreds of nominations each year, the Global Recognition Award remains highly selective, granting awards to only twenty distinguished recipients annually. In each award category, only one recipient is honored, further enhancing the prestige and exclusivity of the recognition.

    Every winner’s announcement reads like a condensed case study: here is what the entrant set out to do, here is the method, and here is the outcome that made it stand out.

    Across the years, the award has built a gallery of winners whose stories illustrate the program’s range. In 2021, GreenPower Technologies, a renewable energy firm in Canada, received honors for engineering scalable microgrids that brought electricity to off-grid communities in Latin America. In 2022, Sophia Healthcare in Singapore was selected for pioneering digital diagnostic tools that cut hospital waiting times by half and improved early cancer detection. The same year, Beldon Consulting, a London-based firm, was recognized for leadership in sustainable finance, designing frameworks that helped investors channel billions into green bonds. In 2023, Raffles Bali emerged as a standard-bearer for luxury travel rooted in cultural authenticity, while Illinois State University’s Professor Nancy Lind reminded the academic world that decades of steady service can be as transformative as a startup breakthrough. That same year, the award also shone a spotlight on a Nigerian agritech company, Fresh Harvest Solutions, for devising farm-to-market digital platforms that helped smallholder farmers increase their incomes.

    These stories reveal how the award spans sectors while holding steady on its criteria. The communication firm’s innovation mattered because it changed how influence can be tracked and acted upon. The professor’s honour mattered because her teaching and consulting built capacity across borders and generations. The resorts’ recognition mattered because their service standards and authenticity set benchmarks for an entire industry. The data scientist’s award mattered because his work made an enterprise more efficient and competitive. The renewable energy company’s recognition mattered because its technology reached vulnerable communities that had long been excluded. The healthcare firm’s honor mattered because its diagnostics saved lives. The unifying theme is impact that can be seen and measured.

    Recognition as a Starting Point

    For participants, the recognition is not an end in itself but a starting point. The program provides press materials and brand assets to help winners broadcast their achievement. The underlying idea is that recognition is most powerful when it is shared, when it becomes part of conversations with customers, students, investors, or travelers. In an economy where attention is fleeting, an independent award can anchor a story and make audiences pause. That is why so many winners emphasize not only the honor but what they plan to do with it. They see it as a bridge to new opportunities and new influence.

    A Stage, Not a Trophy Case

    Across the announcements of 2021, 2022, and 2023, a pattern emerges. The programme is not confined to one sector or one type of accomplishment. It celebrates a data scientist in New Jersey, a marketing firm in New York, a professor in Illinois, a family services company with international reach, a luxury resort in Bali, an agritech startup in Nigeria, a renewable energy innovator in Canada, and a healthcare provider in Singapore. What connects them is not their field but their contribution. Each has moved their profession forward in ways that can be explained, measured, and scored by a panel of peers. Each has shown leadership that translated into results beyond their own offices. Each has demonstrated a form of excellence that resonates when held up to global light.

    The Global Recognition Award translates achievements into a common language of innovation, results, and leadership. And it tells the wider world that in an era of crowded signals, these are the names worth noting.

  • Pope denounces violence against children in Gaza

    Pope denounces violence against children in Gaza

    Pope Francis said children dying in wars, including in Gaza, are the “little Jesuses of today” and that Israeli strikes there were reaping an “appalling harvest” of innocent civilians.

    Francis also called the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants “abominable” and again appealed for the release of around 100 hostages still being held in Gaza.

    Speaking from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below, he took another swipe at the armaments industry, saying it ultimately controlled the “puppet-strings of war”.

    The 87-year-old Pope, celebrating the 11th Christmas of his pontificate, called for an end to conflicts, political, social or military, in places including Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and he defended the rights of migrants around the world.

    “How many innocents are being slaughtered in our world! In their mothers’ wombs, in odysseys undertaken in desperation and in search of hope, in the lives of all those little ones whose childhoods have been devastated by war. They are the little Jesuses of today,” he said.

    He gave particular attention to the Holy Land, including Gaza, where, according to Palestinian health officials, Israeli air strikes killed at least 78 people in one of the besieged enclave’s deadliest nights of Israel’s 11-week-old battle with Hamas.

    Read Also; New Year: Gov Alia pardons 12 inmates

    Pope Francis also highlighted the central role women have played in salvation history and that they still have for bringing peace to the world of the 21st century.

    Addressing a congregation of seven thousand Catholics from all continents who gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica on New Year’s Day, including cardinals, bishops, women and men religious, lay people, and ambassadors from the 184 countries that have diplomatic relations with the Holy See, Francis spoke about the role God gave to women in the history of the world, and the important role women have to play today in both the church and society.

    He began by reminding them, “God becomes man, and he does so through a woman, Mary.

    She is the means chosen by God, the culmination of that long line of individuals and generations that ‘drop by drop’ prepared for the Lord’s coming into the world. She stands at the very heart of the mystery of time. It pleased God to turn history around through her, the woman.”

    “The Mother and Child mark a new creation, a new beginning,” the pope said; “the Lord, a tiny child in his mama’s arms, has united himself forever to our humanity, to the point that it is no longer only ours, but his as well.”

    Pope Francis, speaking in a strong voice after recovering from pneumonia, said: “The church needs Mary in order to recover her own feminine face” which, he said, means making “space for women and [being] ‘generative’ through a pastoral ministry marked by concern and care, patience and maternal courage.” His words echoed the increasingly pressing call that has come from Catholics around the world through the synods on the family, the Amazon, and the ongoing Synod on Synodality, asking church leadership to open up greater spaces and roles of responsibility for women in the church of the 21st century.”

    He also called on those in St. Peter’s Square and worldwide to pray for peace in countries suffering from war, and especially “the martyred Ukraine, Palestine and Israel.” He also asked them to pray for the bishops and priests in Nicaragua “who have been deprived of their liberty in recent days.” He expressed his closeness to them, and to the entire church and people of Nicaragua, and appealed “for a dialogue that can overcome the problems.”

    He concluded by wishing everyone Happy New Year and asked them not to forget to pray for him.

  • Chad names former opposition leader as PM for transition govt

    Chad names former opposition leader as PM for transition govt

    Chad’s transitional government appointed a former opposition leader Success Masra, who recently returned from exile as its new prime minister.

    Masra will serve as the country’s prime minister through the transition to civilian rule, Mahamat Ahmad Alhabo, Chad’s new secretary-general of the presidency, said on state television.

    Masra, president of The Transformers opposition party, fled Chad in October 2022. The country’s military government at the time suspended his party and six others in a clampdown on protests against interim leader Mahamat Idriss Deby’s decision to extend his time in power by two more years.

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    More than 60 people were killed in the protests, which the government condemned as “an attempted coup.”

    An agreement between the country’s minister of reconciliation and Masra’s political party two months ago allowed the exiled politician and other opposition figures to return to Chad.

    The passage last month of a referendum on a new constitution was a crucial stepping stone toward scheduled elections this year, which could return the country to civilian rule.

    Deby was declared the head of state after his father’s death in April 2021. Opposition political parties called the handover of power a coup d’etat, but later agreed to accept Deby as interim leader for 18 months.

  • West is Russia’s enemy, not Ukraine itself, says Putin

    West is Russia’s enemy, not Ukraine itself, says Putin

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that the true enemy of his country is the West rather than Ukraine itself.

    “The point is not that they help our enemy, but they are our enemy, they solve their issues with their (Ukraine’s) hands,” Putin said during a meeting at a military hospital in the Moscow region.

    Stating that this has been the case “for centuries” and that it continues today, Putin said that Ukraine itself is not an enemy for Russia, but rather those that intend to “destroy Russian statehood” and inflict a “strategic defeat” of Moscow on the front line.

    Read Also; New Year: Gov Alia pardons 12 inmates

    “There are people who sympathise with us, but there are so-called (Western) elites for whom the existence of Russia, at least in its current quality, in its current size, as they think, is unacceptable,” Putin further said.

    Russia’s president went on to argue that Western elites “nurtured” Ukraine for a long time to create the conflict seen today.

    “Unfortunately for us, they achieved, created this conflict and are trying to solve their task with the help of Ukrainians, namely the task of fighting Russia,” he said.

    Commenting on Ukraine’s recent strike on the Russian city of Belgorod which resulted in the death of 24 people, Putin said Russia should not strike back at places with civilian populations in Ukraine despite “everything boiling inside”.

    He said that Russia will not leave “a single crime of this kind” go “unpunished,” further describing the strike that took place on Saturday as a “terrorist attack”.

    Ukraine’s armed forces are doing this to intimidate Russia and create uncertainty in the country, Putin further said, adding: “But we, for our part, will increase the blows that I said.”

    He went on to say that Moscow wants to end the conflict “as quickly as possible” and “only on our terms.”

  • Republic of Congo President Tshisekedi re-elected

    Republic of Congo President Tshisekedi re-elected

    Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has been re-elected for a second term after getting more than 73% of the vote in a December 20 poll, the country’s election commission CENI said on Sunday.

    The declaration of the result follows days of opposition complaints about the way the election was conducted.

    Announcing the results in the capital Kinshasa, Denis Kadima, head of CENI, said Tshisekedi had obtained more than 13 million votes out of over 18 million valid votes, adding that turnout was more than 43%.

    Cheers erupted  from Tshisekedi’s supporters present at the declaration after Kadima announced that Tshisekedi was provisionally elected.

    Political parties, candidates and those mandated by them have two days to challenge the outcome of the election at the Constitutional Court. The court then has seven days to rule on the case and proclaim the final result.

    Opposition frontrunner Moise Katumbi, who came second with 18%, has already ruled out mounting a legal challenge to CENI’s results, citing the alleged lack of independence of state institutions.

    Other opposition candidates have not clarified whether they will challenge the results.

    Read Also: EU cancels Congo election observation mission

    Earlier on Sunday a group of nine opposition presidential candidates, including Katumbi, and six leaders of political parties asked supporters to take to the streets to protest after the release of the provisional results.

    Joint declaration

    “We categorically reject the sham election … and its results,” the main opposition candidates said in a joint declaration. They demanded fresh elections be held with a new electoral body on a date to be agreed by all.

    “We call on our people to take to the streets en masse after the proclamation of the electoral fraud,” they said.

    The government of Congo had previously rejected calls for a rerun of the elections.

    Logistical setbacks, an election day over-run, and an opaque vote count have fuelled a dispute that threatens to further destabilise a country roughly the size of Western Europe which is the world’s top producer of cobalt and other prized industrial commodities.

    Since election day, some of Tshisekedi’s main challengers, including former oil executive Martin Fayulu, have been calling for a re-run of the contest and of legislative elections, accusing CENI of allowing the vote to be tipped in the president’s favour.

    CENI and the government have dismissed these allegations and also warnings from independent observer groups that the unscheduled extension of voting and other incidents on election day, and during the tabulation of votes, may have compromised the credibility and legal footing of the poll.

  • British-Nigerian health advocate bags King Charles honours list

    British-Nigerian health advocate bags King Charles honours list

    British-Nigerian mental health advocate Alfred Oyekoya has been honoured as a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s New Year’s Honours List.

    Oyekoya made the disclosure in a statement yesterday in Lagos.

    Oyekoya, Director of BAME Mental Health Support (BMHS), was honoured by King Charles III in recognition of his commitment and service to his community.

    With a distinguished career spanning voluntary, public, and private sectors, Oyekoya has continually championed positive change.

    Oyekoya’s culturally relevant approach involves not only addressing stigmas but also building resilience in community groups.

    His initiative has positioned BMHS as a trusted organisation for minority ethnics in Wales, working collaboratively with several organisations to address health inequalities.

    Oyekoya’s voluntary role as one of the Poverty Truth Commissioner with Swansea Local Authority, has enhanced collaboration with diverse groups of individuals to amplify the voices and experiences of those affected by poverty.

    Read Also: PHOTOS: Tinubu meets King Charles III at COP28

     The New Year Honours list recognises the achievements and service of people across the UK, from all walks of life. The 2024 New Year Honours list is published in The Gazette.

     Alfred  was named by The Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales as among Wales’ top 100 changemakers.

      “I am really pleased and deeply appreciative of the honour. I dedicate the award to God, my family, and the amazing team at BMHS,” he said.

     Alfred has continually championed positive change with his  culturally relevant approach  addressing stigmas and  also building resilience in community groups.

     This has positioned BMHS as a trusted organisation for minority ethnics in Wales, working collaboratively with several organisations to address health inequalities.

     A statement noted that his steadfast advocacy to address structural discrimination within regulatory frameworks particularly within the context of mental health support, is a defining feature of his distinguished career.

    He regularly consults with the Welsh Government and other national panels.

    “While the bulk of our work through BAME Mental Health Support may not be visible on social or media platforms due to the privacy of service users, this recognition underscores the importance of grassroots efforts.

    “Despite the absence of a digital footprint, supporting over 1,500 individuals monthly has garnered attention from authorities who recognise the significance of our work at the grassroots level.

    “This acknowledgment fuels my motivation to continue advocating for positive change and well-being,” he said.

    The New Year Honours list recognises the achievements and service of people across the United Kingdom (UK), from all walks of life.

    UK nationals and citizens of 15 Commonwealth countries to which the King is monarch are eligible to be nominated.

    More than 1,200 recipients were awarded for their exceptional achievements.

    Individuals were recognised for being dedicated community champions, role models in sport, pioneers in the arts, passionate health workers, and supporters of young people.

  • Israeli airstrike on Christmas Day kills 100 people

    Israeli airstrike on Christmas Day kills 100 people

    • Netanyahu vows to expand campaign
    • Egypt floats plan to end war

    No fewer than 70 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Christmas Eve in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the centre of Gaza, Palestinian authorities in the besieged strip said.

    Reports also indicated that 23 people were killed in another Israeli strike on Khan Younis, bringing the total number of deaths overnight to over 100. The figure marked the date as one of the deadliest.

    The Palestinian health ministry said at least 12 women and seven children were among those who died in a late-night strike, which destroyed several houses in the refugee camp.

    Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesperson for the health ministry, called the airstrike a “massacre”, adding that the death toll was likely to climb.

    Footage from the camp showed dozens of injured, including children, being rushed to the nearby Al-Aqsa hospital, while some of the bodies were piled outside in body bags.

    It comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will expand its Gaza ground offensive in the coming days despite international efforts to halt the fighting.

    Speaking to members of his Likud Party yesterday, Netanyahu said the war “isn’t close to finished.”

    Netanyahu spoke after returning from a visit to troops fighting inside Gaza. The comments came as Egypt is floating an ambitious proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war.

    “We are not stopping. We are continuing to fight and we are expanding the fight in the coming days,” Netanyahu said. “The will be a long battle and it isn’t close to finished.”

    Egypt put forward an ambitious, initial proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war with a cease-fire, a phased hostage release and the creation of a Palestinian government of experts who would administer the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, a senior Egyptian official and a European diplomat said yesterday.

    A father who lost his daughter and grandchildren in the strike told the BBC the family had fled from the north for safety in central Gaza.

    At least 70 people are believed to have been killed in the attack, Palestinian authorities said.

    “They lived on the third floor of one of the buildings,” he said, adding that the walls collapsed on them. “My grandchildren, my daughter, her husband – all gone.

    “We are all targeted. Civilians are targeted. There is no safe place. They told us to leave Gaza City – now we came to central Gaza to die,” the man told the broadcaster.

    Read Also: UN Security Council weighs Gaza ‘cessation of hostilities’ resolution

    The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident.

     “Despite the challenges posed by Hamas terrorists operating within civilian areas in Gaza, the IDF is committed to international law including taking feasible steps to minimise harm to civilians,” the Israeli forces said.

    The Palestinian health ministry said another 10 members of one family were killed in an Israeli strike on their house in the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza.

    tions were cancelled in Bethlehem, the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank city, the biblical birthplace of Jesus.

    Egypt has put forward an ambitious, initial proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war with a cease-fire, a phased hostage release and the creation of a Palestinian government of experts who would administer the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, a senior Egyptian official and a European diplomat said yesterday.

    Word of the proposal came as Israeli airstrikes heavily pounded central and southern Gaza, crushing buildings on families sheltering inside. In the Maghazi refugee camp, rescue workers were still pulling bodies from the wreckage hours after a strike that killed at least 106 people, according to hospital records seen by The Associated Press — one of the deadliest of Israel’s air campaign.

    The Egyptian proposal, worked out with the Gulf nation of Qatar, has been presented to Israel, Hamas, the United States and European governments but still appeared preliminary. It falls short of Israel’s professed goal of outright crushing Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, which triggered the war. It would appear not to meet Israel’s insistence on keeping military control over Gaza for an extended period after the war. It also is unclear if Hamas would agree to relinquish power.

  • One birthday and the world went on holiday

    One birthday and the world went on holiday

    • By Jimoh Ibrahim

    Yes, let’s keep empiricism for a while. Those who think there is no God can now tell from the events of 25th December (The common Christian traditional birthdate of Jesus, a date first asserted officially by Pope Julius I in 350 AD) every year how the birthday of the son of the creator, our Lord Jesus Christ, the entire world was shot down for the peace of celebration and not war. What can be more empirical, and if Jesus was not born on that day, why are you observing the holiday? Our relationships, peace of mind, and, ultimately, eternal destiny. The Bible claims to be God’s inspired Word and repeatedly declares its message is valid—without any error. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that each one of us determines for ourselves whether the Bible is indeed the Word of God. What cannot be disputed remains in the celebration of the 25th of December for everyone observing the holiday and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, exchanging gifts, eating the best food, and observing prayers. It is the only day of the year we all take to happiness in his remembrance. While law courts are closed, lawmakers close chambers. Even Presidents went on holiday!

    A big fear of living after death is that we will give an account to God about how we responded to Jesus Christ’s offer of salvation through His death on the cross. On the other hand, if the Bible is not true and God does not exist, then we are free to live as we please. If God does not exist, we will solely experience the consequences of our choices. The philosophy of “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die” is a logical response if there is no God and the universe has no purpose. Without God, we are free to live as we please. But the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and this explains the apprehension of fear of going to heal and the need to be kind to humanity as we observe on 25th December every year celebrating the birth of Jesus.

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    Yes, for those still waiting for God to speak to them directly as evidence of God revealing himself to humanity, don’t forget that it is impossible for any human, or even Satan, to predict future events with precise accuracy, for the Bible said. “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:9–10). The evidence from hundreds of fulfilled prophecies regarding the life and death of Jesus Christ provides the most substantial and evident proof of the Bible’s divine inspiration. A few examples cited by the signature of God include the undisputed evidence that The Bible’s primary purpose is to reveal God’s plan of salvation. However, whenever Scripture deals with history, archaeology, nature, medicine, or science, it reveals advanced knowledge that is true and verifiable. Such biblical statements were first recorded far in advance of the knowledge available during the time of the original.

    Human writers believe that the Bible’s wisdom, knowledge, and ethics proclaim its supernatural origin to anyone seeking answers to life’s most profound questions. The wisest people of all cultures and times are committed to its truths. And that the Scriptures contain advanced medical and sanitation knowledge from thousands of years ago. This medical knowledge has saved countless lives. In addition, its lifesaving commands still prove their worth today, as the Bible remains living proof. Again, don’t forget that Historians of the ancient world and recent archaeological finds confirm the names of kings and kingdoms and the dates of wars and mass migrations mentioned in the Bible. Recent breakthroughs in astronomy, physics, and medical science have shown that God’s Word is accurate, and there is no evidence to the contrary.

    The holiday is here, and as we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is essential to reflect on the lessons of the celebration on days like this, as the gap is gradually closing and the reality that Jesus will soon be here. There is no escape but a sound reward for human kindness. I do know that there is no number of sins here that can justify your missing heaven. It is my assurance that you will make it.

    I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year in advance.

    • Jimoh Ibrahim holds a Doctorate in Management Science from the University of Cambridge and another Doctorate in Modern War Studies from the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom. He is the Senator representing Ondo South at the Nigerian Senate.
  • Pope Francis calls for peace in warring nations, denounces weapons industry

    Pope Francis calls for peace in warring nations, denounces weapons industry

    Pope Francis yesterday blasted the weapons industry and its instruments of death that fuel wars as he made a Christmas Day appeal for peace in the world and in particular between Israel and the Palestinians.

    Speaking from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to the throngs of people below, Francis said he grieved the abominable attack of Hamas against southern Israel on October 7 and called for the release of hostages. And he begged for an end to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and the appalling harvest of innocent civilians as he called for humanitarian aid to reach those in need.

    Francis devoted his Christmas Day blessing to a call for peace in the world, noting that the biblical story of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem sent a message of peace. But he said that Bethlehem is a place of sorrow and silence this year.

    Francis’ annual Urbi et Orbi (“To the City and the World”) speech typically offers a lament of all the misery facing the world, and this year’s edition was no different. From Armenia and Azerbaijan to Syria and Yemen, Ukraine to South Sudan and Congo and the Korean peninsula, Francis appealed for humanitarian initiatives, dialogue and security to prevail over violence and death.

    He called for governments and people of goodwill in the Americas in particular to address the troubling phenomenon of migration and its unscrupulous traffickers, who take advantage of innocents just looking for a better life.

    Read Also: Pope Francis signs decree forbidding same-sex marriage

    He took particular aim at the weapons industry, which he said was fuelling the conflicts around the globe with scarcely anyone paying attention. “It should be talked about and written about, so as to bring to light the interests and the profits that move the puppet strings of war,” he said. “And how can we even speak of peace, when arms production, sales and trade are on the rise?”

    Francis has frequently blasted the weapons industry as merchants of death and has said that wars today, in Ukraine, in particular, are being used to try out new weapons or use up old stockpiles.

    He called for peace between Israel and Palestinians, and for the conflict to be resolved through sincere and persevering dialogue between the parties, sustained by strong political will and the support of the international community.

    Vatican officials said about 70,000 people filled St. Peter’s Square for Francis’ noonday speech and blessing. They included many people flying Palestinian flags, as well as some Ukrainian ones.

    Francis’ address from the loggia marked his main appearance for Christmas Day, though he is expected to deliver a blessing on Tuesday, the feast of St. Stephen, which is also a holiday in Italy. Rounding out the holiday, he is to celebrate a New Year’s Eve vigil in the basilica and Mass the following day.