The suspect, a Portuguese man who was found dead on Thursday, entered the country through the diversity lottery immigrant visa programme (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she has paused the visa scheme under Trump’s direction to “ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous programme”.

US officials said they believe the suspect, 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, also killed Portuguese Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro earlier this week.

The programme makes up to 50,000 visas available each year through a random selection process among entries from countries with low rates of immigration to the US.

Writing on social media, Noem said Trump had previously “fought to end” the scheme in 2017 after eight people were killed in a truck-ramming attack in New York City.

Uzbekistan national Sayfullo Saipov, an Islamic State supporter who is serving multiple life sentences for the attack, entered the US through the DV1 scheme, according to Noem.

Her comments come just hours after Neves Valente was found dead in a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, from what police believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police said video evidence and tips from the public led investigators to a car rental location where they found the suspect’s name and matched him to their person of interest, following a six-day multi-state manhunt.

He was found dead with a satchel and two firearms. Evidence in a car nearby matched to the scene of the shooting at Brown University in Providence, according to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.

Brown University President Christina Paxson said Neves Valente was enrolled at the Ivy League school from the autumn of 2000 to the following spring, and was studying for a PhD in physics.

He had “no current active affiliation” to Brown, she said.

Officials said they believe Neves Valente shot and killed MIT professor Nuno F Gomes Loureiro, 47, on Monday at his home in Brookline, which is about 50 miles (80km) from Providence.

Both men had studied at the same university in Portugal in the late 1990s, police said.

Officials said the cases were linked when the suspect’s vehicle was identified via CCTV footage and a witness at Brown University.

The same car was spotted near the scene of the professor’s shooting, which happened just two days later.

Authorities have not provided any suspected motive for either of the attacks.

Two students were killed and nine others were injured as a gunman burst into Brown University’s engineering building on 13 December and opened fire during final exams.

They have been identified as Ella Cook, 19, a second-year student from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, an Uzbek-American who had just started at the university.

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on the social platform X that at Trump’s direction, she is ordering the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the program.

“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she said of the suspect, Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente.

Neves Valente, 48, is suspected in the shootings at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others, and the killing of an MIT professor.

He was found dead Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.

Neves Valente obtained legal permanent residence status in 2017, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley said.

The diversity visa program makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to people from countries that are underrepresented in the United States, many of them in Africa.

Congress created the lottery, and the move is almost sure to invite legal challenges.

Nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 visa lottery, with more than 131,000 selected, including spouses, as the winners.

After winning, they must undergo vetting to win admission to the United States. Portuguese citizens won only 38 slots.

Lottery winners are invited to apply for a green card. They are interviewed at consulates and subject to the same requirements and vetting as other green-card applicants.

Trump has long opposed the diversity visa lottery. Noem’s announcement is the latest example of using tragedy to advance immigration policy goals.

After an Afghan man was identified as the gunman in a fatal attack on National Guard members in November, Trump’s administration imposed sweeping rules against immigration from Afghanistan and other countries.

While pursuing mass deportation, Trump has sought to limit or eliminate avenues to legal immigration. He has not been deterred by the fact that they are enshrined in law, such as the diversity visa lottery, or in the Constitution, as with a right to citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil. The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear his challenge to birthright citizenship.

In a post on X, the Minister described the incident as “heart-wrenching” and assured the public that the matter is being pursued through diplomatic channels.

“My attention has been drawn to a heart-wrenching video reporting the killing of a Ghanaian student by the name Nana Adjei in Latvia,” he wrote.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has commenced immediate investigations through relevant diplomatic channels. We shall provide the public with regular updates.”

Mr. Ablakwa also warned that Ghana would not tolerate harm against its citizens abroad, stressing that “nobody harms a Ghanaian in any part of the world and gets away with it.”

My attention has been drawn to a heart-wrenching video reporting the killing of a Ghanaian student by name Nana Adjei in Latvia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has commenced immediate investigations through relevant diplomatic channels.

We shall provide the public with…

— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) December 18, 2025

The renewed government action follows the death of 21-year-old Nana Agyei, a first-year Electrical Engineering (Adaptronic) student at Riga Technical University, who reportedly fell from the sixth floor of his apartment building on Baznicas Street on June 4, 2025. He had enrolled at the university in July 2024.

While Latvian authorities described the incident as a fall, the family has rejected that account, insisting that the circumstances surrounding his death raise serious questions.

According to the family, the student sent a disturbing voice note three days before his death, claiming he had been poisoned, suggesting he may have been harmed.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has assured the public that updates will be provided as investigations continue.

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Avian flu – a type of influenza – is entrenched across South and South-East Asia and has occasionally infected humans since emerging in China in the late 1990s. From 2003 to August 2025, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported 990 human H5N1 cases across 25 countries, including 475 deaths – a 48% fatality rate.

In the US alone, the virus has struck more than 180 million birds, spread to over 1,000 dairy herds in 18 states, and infected at least 70 people – mostly farmworkers – causing several hospitalisations and one death. In January, three tigers and a leopard died at a wildlife rescue centre in India’s Nagpur city from the virus that typically infects birds.

Symptoms in humans mimic a severe flu: high fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches and, at times, conjunctivitis. Some people have no symptoms at all. The risk to humans remains low, but authorities are watching H5N1 closely for any shift that could make it spread more easily.

That concern is what prompted new peer-reviewed modelling by Indian researchers Philip Cherian and Gautam Menon of Ashoka University, which simulates how an H5N1 outbreak might unfold in humans and what early interventions could stop it before it spreads.

In other words, the model published in the BMC Public Health journal uses real world data and computer simulations to play out how an outbreak might spread in real life.

“The threat of an H5N1 pandemic in humans is a genuine one, but we can hope to forestall it through better surveillance and a more nimble public-health response,” Prof Menon told the BBC.

A bird flu pandemic, researchers say, would begin quietly: a single infected bird passing the virus to a human – most likely a farmer, market worker or someone handling poultry. From there, the danger lies not in that first infection but in what happens next: sustained human-to-human transmission.

Because real outbreaks start with limited, messy data, the researchers turned to BharatSim, an open-source simulation platform originally built for Covid 19 modelling, but versatile enough to study other diseases.

The key takeaway for policymakers is how narrow the window for action can be before an outbreak spirals out of control, the researchers say.

The paper estimates that once cases rise beyond roughly two to 10, the disease is likely to spread beyond primary and secondary contacts.

Primary contacts are people who have had direct, close contact with an infected person, such as household members, caregivers or close colleagues. Secondary contacts are those who have not met the infected person but have been in close contact with a primary contact.

If households of primary contacts are quarantined when just two cases are detected, the outbreak can almost certainly be contained, the research found.

But by the time 10 cases are identified, it is overwhelmingly likely that the infection has already spread into the wider population, making its trajectory virtually indistinguishable from a scenario with no early intervention.

To keep the study grounded in real-world conditions, the researchers chose a model of a single village in Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu – the heart of India’s poultry belt.

Namakkal is home to more than 1,600 poultry farms and some 70 million chickens; it produces over 60 million eggs a day.

A village of 9,667 residents was generated using a synthetic community – households, workplaces, market spaces – and seeded with infected birds to mimic real-life exposure. (A synthetic community is an artificial, computer-generated population that mimics the characteristics and behaviours of a real population.)

In the simulation, the virus starts at one workplace – a mid-sized farm or wet market – spreads first to people there (primary contacts), and then moves outward to others (seconday contacts) they interact with through homes, schools and other workplaces. Homes, schools and workplaces formed a fixed network.

By tracking primary and secondary infections, the researchers estimated key transmission metrics, including the basic reproductive number, R0 – which measures how many people, on average, one infected person passes the virus on to. In the absence of a real-world pandemic, the researchers instead modelled a range of plausible transmission speeds.

Then they tested what happens when different interventions – culling birds, quarantining close contacts and targeted vaccination – kicked in.

The results were blunt.

Culling of birds works – but only if done before the virus infects a human.

If a spillover does occur, timing becomes everything, the researchers found.

Isolating infected people and quarantining households can stop the virus at the secondary stage. But once tertiary infections appear – friends of friends, or contacts of contacts – the outbreak slips out of control unless authorities impose much tougher measures, including lockdowns.

Targeted vaccination helps by raising the threshold at which the virus can sustain itself, though it does little to change the immediate risk within households.

The simulations also highlighted an awkward trade-off.

Quarantine, introduced too early, keeps families together for long stretches – and increases the chance that infected individuals will pass the virus to those they live with. Introduced too late, it does little to slow the outbreak at all.

The researchers say this approach comes with caveats.

The model relies on one synthetic village, with fixed household sizes, workplaces and daily movement patterns. It does not include simultaneous outbreaks seeded by migratory birds or by poultry networks. Nor does it account for behavioural shifts – mask-wearing, for instance – once people know birds are dying.

Seema Lakdawala, a virologist at Atlanta-based Emory University, adds another caveat: this simulation model “assumes a very efficient transmission of influenza viruses”.

“Transmission is complex and not every strain will have the same efficiency as another,” she says, adding that scientists are also now starting to understand that not all people infected with seasonal flu spread the virus equally.

She says emerging research shows that only a “subset of flu-positive individuals actually shed infectious influenza virus into the air”.

This mirrors the super-spreader phenomenon seen with Covid-19, though it is far less well characterised for flu – a gap that could strongly influence how the virus spreads through human populations.

What happens if H5N1 becomes successful in the human population?

Dr Lakdawala believes that it “will cause a large disruption, likely more similar to the 2009 [swine flu] pandemic rather than Covid-19″.

“This is because we are more prepared for an influenza pandemic. We have known licensed antivirals that are effective against the H5N1 strains as an early defence and stockpiled candidate H5 vaccines that could be deployed in the short term.”

But complacency would be a mistake. Dr Lakdawala says if H5N1 becomes established in humans, it could re-assort – or intermingle – with existing strains, amplifying its public-health impact. Such mixing could reshape seasonal influenza, triggering “chaotic and unpredictable seasonal epidemics”.

The Indian modellers say the simulations can be run in real time and updated as data comes in.

With refinements – better reporting delays, asymptomatic cases – they could give public-health officials something priceless in the early hours of an outbreak: a sense of which actions matter most, before the window for containment snaps shut.

Held at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development headquarters, the high-level conference highlighted Ghana and the UK’s shared commitment to sustainable development, inclusive growth, and economic resilience across the continent. Ghana’s role as co-host signals renewed international confidence in the country’s economic turnaround and reform efforts.

Senior global financial leaders attended the event, including Ludovic Ngatsé, Chairperson of the Boards of Governors of the African Development Bank, and the Presidents of the Islamic Development Bank Group, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, and the OPEC Fund for International Development.

Speaking at the conference, Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Finance, Hon. Thomas Nyarko Ampem MP, emphasized the country’s dedication to Africa’s development agenda:
“Ghana is proud to have co-hosted this important conference and to champion Africa’s voice in shaping development priorities. Earlier this year, Ghana joined four other countries in pledging US$16 million to the ADF—the first time all five countries in our constituency contributed. This demonstrates our commitment to reforms and partnerships that deliver tangible results for our people.”

UK Minister for Development, Jenny Chapman, expressed the UK’s pleasure in co-hosting the event alongside Ghana, underscoring the long-standing partnership with the African Development Bank and the shared goal of sustainable, inclusive growth. She noted that the UK’s evolving role in Africa—shifting from donor to investor—supports countries pursuing reforms to grow their economies and reduce dependence on aid.

In May 2025, Ghana pledged US$5 million to the African Development Fund alongside The Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Sudan, marking a historic increase in African participation. The countries’ commitments reflect fiscal and governance reforms aligned with the Bank’s emphasis on performance and co-financing.

ADF-supported projects in Ghana have targeted women-led micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and expanded access to energy through mini-grid solutions, reinforcing inclusive growth and energy security.

The ADF-17 replenishment is expected to deepen African ownership of the continent’s development agenda. Ghana’s co-hosting also aligns with President John Dramani Mahama’s Reset Agenda, positioning Accra as a hub for global development dialogue and advocating for fairer, country-led development models and global financial reforms.

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The troops were formally sent off at a parade addressed by President John Mahama, who described the mission as a humanitarian duty rooted in solidarity and shared history between Ghana and the Caribbean.

Addressing the soldiers, President Mahama said the deployment reflected Ghana’s long-standing commitment to helping countries in need.

“We’re gathered here today for a solemn and proud national duty to see off officers and men of the Ghana Armed Forces who have been selected to represent Ghana on a humanitarian reconstruction mission to Jamaica following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa.”

“This deployment reflects Ghana’s solidarity with the people of Jamaica and our shared history, values, and bonds within the African-Caribbean family,” the President said.

He recalled that Ghana had already sent humanitarian relief to countries affected by crises, including Jamaica, Cuba and Sudan.

“After the destruction of the hurricane, Ghana dispatched humanitarian assistance to the friendly people of Jamaica and Cuba and also to the displaced people of Sudan,” President Mahama said.

“This humanitarian assistance included food aid, locally produced Ghanaian rice, blankets, mattresses, plastic buckets, medicines, and other such accoutrements.”

According to the President, Ghana’s response is driven by its own experience with disasters and recovery.

“Our nation understands the pain of natural disasters and the long road to recovery. Today’s mission reinforces Ghana’s commitment to humanitarian response, disaster recovery and reconstruction, and South-South cooperation, Pan-African and Afro-Caribbean solidarity,” he said.

President Mahama praised the Ghana Armed Forces for their readiness to serve beyond the country’s borders and said that the assignment was strictly humanitarian.

“I commend the Ghana Armed Forces for their professionalism, for their discipline, and their readiness to serve not only at home but anywhere in the world, duty calls. This mission is not a combat mission. It is a mission of compassion, skill, and service.”

He disclosed that the decision to send engineering troops followed direct discussions with Jamaica’s Prime Minister after the initial relief supplies were delivered.

“After we dispatched the first batch of humanitarian assistance, I made a phone call to the Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Honourable Andrew Hornace, to express Ghana’s solidarity with the people of Jamaica,” the President said.

“He thanked me for the assistance we had dispatched and in our discussion he said what they need currently is assistance with rebuilding and providing shelter for the people who have been displaced.”

President Mahama said Ghana then offered further practical support.

“And so I offered to send a regiment of our engineering corps to help with the assistance and also send them some tents to provide temporary shelter.”

“We’re dispatching those tents by sea so that we can provide temporary shelter, but in the meantime, our troops are going to help with reconstruction, with building, and also providing support for the people of Jamaica,” he explained.

He told the soldiers they would be engaged in engineering works, technical and logistical support, and community-focused assistance.

“Your conduct will reflect the values, discipline, and humanity of the Ghanaian soldier. You’re ambassadors of the Republic of Ghana. Your actions will shape how Ghana is perceived abroad.”

The President urged the troops to uphold discipline, professionalism and respect for local authorities, while looking out for one another.

“We expect you to uphold professional excellence, respect for local authorities and communities you work in, to exercise discipline, integrity and teamwork, and protect one another and return home safely,” he said.

President Mahama expressed confidence that the contingent would maintain Ghana’s strong reputation in international missions.

“Ghana has already carved out a good reputation for service abroad, and I know that those of you who are dispatching today will hold the flag of Ghana high and you will not let us down,” he said.

The President assured Jamaica of Ghana’s continued support.

“Through you, Ghana is going to convey a clear message to the people and government of Jamaica that they are not alone and that Ghana stands in solidarity with them,” President Mahama said.

“Ghana stands with them in this moment of rebuilding and recovery. This mission symbolises a bridge of solidarity across the Atlantic, grounded in shared history and mutual respect.”

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Dinisia Reis Embalo, the wife of Umaro Sissoco Embalo, arrived in Lisbon on the same flight from Guinea-Bissau as another passenger who was arrested by Portuguese authorities on Sunday following an anonymous tip-off.

The latter passenger, who was transporting nearly five million euros ($5.9 million) in cash, was suspected of smuggling and money laundering, police said in a statement.

Dinisia Reis Embalo’s charge was “linked” to that investigation, a judicial police spokesperson told AFP without giving further details.

Classified as ‘military flight’

The flight carrying both individuals had originally been classified as military and had been due to continue to the southern Portuguese city of Beja.

However, “subsequently it was verified that the nature of the flight and its destination were different”, police previously said.

Portuguese media have reported that the first suspect was a man close to Guinea-Bissau’s overthrown President Embalo, who fled after the military ousted him in a November 26 coup.

Public broadcaster RTP identified him as businessman Tito Gomes Fernandes.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said on Tuesday he was in touch with the authorities in Guinea-Bissau in an attempt to forge a “return to constitutional order.”

Aliko Dangote, Nigeria’s richest man, has escalated his fight with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), accusing it of allowing in cut-price fuel imports that squeeze local refineries, including his 650,000-barrel-per-day Lagos plant, Africa’s largest.

Dangote has urged a formal probe of NMDPRA chief Farouk Ahmed, citing governance concerns and claims of personal spending beyond declared income.

Lawmakers warned the row could trigger a fuel supply crunch over the holidays and said regulatory uncertainty threatens energy security and investor confidence.

The motion put by House member Francis Waive mandates the House’s petroleum committees to resolve the dispute and report back within four weeks.

Members say Dangote refinery is a “strategic national investment” that could end Nigeria’s reliance on fuel imports, earn much-needed foreign exchange, and moderate prices.

They said disputes between the regulator and the country’s largest domestic refiner risked disrupting supply, price volatility, and policy inconsistency.

Lawmakers did not immediately disclose hearing dates.

A radio and TV presenter and podcaster was gunned down as he was leaving Zambesi House near Carlton Centre on Tuesday.

The video footage shows the suspect approaching Stock and opening fire shortly after noon. 

According to Gauteng Acting Provincial Commissioner Major-General Fred Kekana, the suspects also left cartridges at the scene. He confirmed that Stock had his firearm on him and nothing was taken.

Warrick Stock, 40, who was popularly known as DJ Warras was killed on Tuesday.

Kekana said video footage shows the suspect sitting near Warras’ car and one other suspect, dressed in something that appears to be a security uniform. Police are actively tracing the suspects and the weapon.

He highlighted challenges posed by the building near the scene where the majority of occupants are unauthorised. He said that Warras was allegedly a co-owner of the Zambesi House, and investigations into the ownership and its occupants are ongoing.

Authorities are appealing to eyewitnesses and members of the community who may have seen the suspects to come forward. “We know they walked a long distance after the shooting, and officers have been tracking them to determine their whereabouts,” Kekana said.

The motive for Warras’ killing remains under investigation. While there are suggestions it could relate to hijacked buildings, police say they are keeping an open mind and following all leads.

The White House said the restrictions were intended “to protect the security of the United States” and will come into force on 1 January.

Full-entry restrictions will be imposed on people from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria as well as Palestinian Authority passport holders.

The administration also moved Laos and Sierra Leone, which were previously subject to partial restrictions, to the full ban list and put partial restrictions on 15 other countries, including Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Trump, who has tightened immigration controls since returning to the White House in January, said the expanded travel ban was necessary because of what his administration described as failures in screening and vetting systems overseas.

Officials cited high visa overstay rates, unreliable civil records, corruption, terrorist activity and a lack of cooperation in accepting deported nationals.

The announcement followed the arrest of an Afghan national suspected of shooting two National Guard troops over the Thanksgiving weekend, an incident the White House pointed to in highlighting its security concerns.

This is the third time Trump has imposed a travel ban.

During his first term, he introduced a similar order in 2017, which sparked protests and legal challenges at home and abroad. The policy was later upheld by the US Supreme Court.

The White House said the restrictions would remain in place until affected countries show “credible improvements” in identity management, information-sharing and cooperation with US immigration authorities.

A number of exceptions apply and the ban will not affect lawful permanent residents, many existing visa holders, diplomats, or athletes travelling for major sporting events. Officials said case-by-case waivers would also be available where travel is deemed to be in the national interest.

Countries with full restrictions:

• Afghanistan
• Burkina Faso
• Burma
• Chad
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Haiti
• Iran
• Laos
• Libya
• Mali
• Niger
• Republic of the Congo
• Sierra Leone
• Somalia
• South Sudan
• Sudan
• Syria
• Yemen
• Individuals travelling on Palestinian Authority issued or endorsed travel documents are also subject to a full suspension of entry

Partial restrictions:

• Angola
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Benin
• Burundi
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Cuba
• Dominica
• Gabon
• The Gambia
• Malawi
• Mauritania
• Nigeria
• Senegal
• Tanzania
• Togo
• Tonga
• Venezuela
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

Special case:

• Turkmenistan (restrictions remain for immigrants but have been lifted for non-immigrant visas)

Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer, but relies heavily on imports, and Dangote’s refinery was meant to change that.

Dangote said if imports continue unchecked, they will threaten jobs, investment and energy security.

Speaking at his 650,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery in Lagos, Dangote said imports were being used “to checkmate domestic potential”, creating jobs abroad while Nigeria struggles to industrialise.

“You don’t use imports to checkmate domestic potential,” he told reporters.

Dangote called for an official inquiry into Farouk Ahmed, head of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, citing concerns over his management of the sector and allegations of private expenditures exceeding legitimate earnings.

Ahmed did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but he has previously said Dangote refinery wants a monopoly on petroleum products sales, but the refinery’s output can not meet local demand.

Last month, the regulator urged the president to drop plans to ban imports of refined petroleum products because local output cannot meet the national demand of 55 million litres daily.

Dangote disputes this, saying the regulator was distorting the refinery’s actual capacity by reporting offtake statistics instead of the true production data.

The refinery, designed to end Nigeria’s reliance on imported fuel and save billions in foreign exchange, says it has been unable to secure all the required crude it needs because the regulator has failed to implement a rule that guarantees crude supply to local refiners before exports

Dangote said the refinery imports 100 million barrels of crude oil annually — a figure expected to double after expansion of the refinery and limited domestic supply.

Despite these hurdles, Dangote vowed to continue with expansion plans for the facility and safeguard his investment, which he said is “too big to fail”.

He also reiterated plans to list the company on the local stock market and pay dividends in U.S. dollars so “every Nigerian can own a piece of the economy.”

Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, has long depended on imports due to mothballed state refineries.

Trump accused the broadcaster of defamation and of violating a trade practices law, according to court documents filed in Florida. He asked for $5bn (£3.7bn) in damages on each of the claims.

The BBC has apologised to Trump, but rejected his demands for compensation and disagreed that there was any “basis for a defamation claim”.

Trump’s legal team accused the BBC of defaming him by “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech”. The BBC has not yet responded to the lawsuit.

Trump said last month that he planned to sue the BBCfor the documentary, which aired in the UK ahead of the 2024 US election.

“I think I have to do it,” Trump told reporters of his plans. “They cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth.”

In his speech on 6 January 2021, before a riot at the US Capitol, Trump told a crowd: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”

More than 50 minutes later in the speech, he said: “And we fight. We fight like hell.”

In the Panorama programme, a clip showed him as saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

The BBC acknowledged that the edit had given “the mistaken impression” he had “made a direct call for violent action”, but disagreed that there was a basis for a defamation claim.

In November, a leaked internal BBC memo criticised the editing of the speech and led to the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and its head of news, Deborah Turness, to resign.

Before Trump filed the lawsuit, lawyers for the BBC had responded in length to the president’s claims.

They said there was no malice in the edit and that the programme did not harm Trump, as he was re-elected shortly after it aired.

They also said the BBC did not have the rights to, and did not, distribute the Panorama programme on its US channels. While the documentary was available on BBC iPlayer, it was restricted to viewers in the UK.

In his lawsuit, Trump cites agreements the BBC had with other distributors to show content, specifically one with a third-party media corporation that allegedly held licensing rights to the documentary outside the UK.

The BBC has not responded to these claims, nor has the corporation commented on the alleged distribution agreement.

The suit also claims that people in Florida may have accessed the programme via a VPN or the streaming service BritBox.

“The Panorama Documentary’s publicity, coupled with significant increases in VPN usage in Florida since its debut, establishes the immense likelihood that citizens of Florida accessed the Documentary before the BBC had it removed,” the lawsuit said.

The attackers stormed into Evangelical Church Winning All in the mainly rural farming district of Aaaaz-Kiri during Sunday morning service, opening fire and then abducting some of the congregants.

Five of the gunmen were killed, according to Kogi state’s information commissioner, Kingley Fanwo, but he said others managed to escape despite being wounded.

Officials describe the assailants as “bandits” – a term used locally for criminal gangs who typically kidnap people for ransom.

Only two weeks ago, gunmen raided a church in the nearby town of Ejiba, kidnapping a pastor, his wife and several church members.

They are still being held, despite efforts by security agencies to secure their release, local residents say.

“The security onslaught in neighbouring Niger and Kwara states is pushing the bandits more towards Kogi state,” Fanwo told the BBC.

These latest incidents underline Nigeria’s persistent insecurity, particularly in parts of the north-western and central regions, where armed criminal gangs have carried out a wave of mass abductions, attacks on villages and assaults on places of worship in recent weeks.

The biggest of these saw more than 250 children and 12 members of staff reportedly kidnapped from St Mary’s Catholic School in in Papiri, Niger state, at the end of November.

The Nigerian government had claimed that jihadist groups Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa Province (Iswap) were to blame in most cases, but this has been disputed by analysts who tell the BBC they were committed by criminal gangs.

In recent weeks, President Bola Tinubu has ordered security chiefs tostep up intelligence-led operations to curb kidnappings, and approved the deployment of extra troops and police to known hotspots.

Authorities also say joint military and police task forces have recorded successes in dismantling some armed groups. Yet the attacks continue largely unabated, especially in rural communities where security presence is thin and response times are slow.

“On Dec. 15, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters,” SOUTHCOM wrote on X. “Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking.”

At least 95 people have now been killed in strikes on suspected drug boats as part of a campaign, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, that the Trump administration has said is aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking. The US military most recently struck a suspected drug boat on December 4 in the Eastern Pacific, killing four people on board, according to another social media post from US Southern Command.

The latest strikes come as questions about the Trump administration’s offensive on the alleged drug boats continue to mount.

The Trump administration has told Congress that the US is in an “armed conflict” against drug cartels that began with its first attack on September 2. The US military carried out a follow-up strike on the suspected drug vessel operating in the Caribbean that day, after an initial attack did not kill everyone on board, CNN previously reported, which some Democratic lawmakers and legal experts said could amount to a war crime.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said Monday there will be an all-senators briefing Tuesday on the strikes, featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“The American people deserve oversight. We intend to deliver it,” he said in a post on X.

Rubio and Hegseth are also expected to provide a classified briefing for House lawmakers Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the plans.

The administration has labeled those killed “unlawful combatants” and claimed the ability to engage in lethal strikes without judicial review due to a classified Justice Department finding.

The strikes are part of a monthslong pressure campaign on Venezuela that has included moving thousands of troops and a carrier strike group into the Caribbean and repeated threats against President Nicolas Maduro.

Last week, the US announced new sanctions on shipping companies and boats it says help move Venezuelan oil, a day after it seized a sanctioned tanker off the country’s coast.

The replica of the Statue of Liberty was placed outside Havan’s megastore in Guaíba, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. Guaíba Mayor Marcelo Maranata confirmed that the ‘Statue of Liberty’ collapsed as winds reached 80-90 km/h but no one was hurt thanks to immediate isolation by Havan staff.

The viral video showed the statue slowly leaning forward before crashing into the empty parking lot as winds hit over 90 km/h.

The clip shows the statue tilting and then toppling to the ground, while vehicles continue moving on a busy road nearby. The replica was installed near a fast-food outlet.

The 11-meter base held firm, and quick action by onlookers to move vehicles prevented any damage or injuries.

“On Monday afternoon (15th), our city was hit by strong wind gusts that reached 80 mph. Since the first moment, we’ve been on the streets following the situation closely. The Civil Defense and the Secretary of Infrastructure are fully mobilized, attending to events and ensuring the safety of the population. In case of an emergency, contact the Civil Defense at 199,” he said in an Instagram video.

The replica of Statue of Liberty was located in the car park of a Havan retail store and the incident happened on December 15, Monday. The structure collapsed in the city of Guaíba, near Porto Alegre, within the metropolitan area of Rio Grande do Sul and fortunately, no injuries were reported at the site.

Reports claim that the statue belonged to the Havan retail chain. “The area was immediately isolated by the company, following all safety protocols,” Havan said in a statement, adding that debris removal started hours later with no interruption to store operations. The retailer emphasized the statue met technical standards across its nationwide replicas and launched an internal probe, as per Times Now.

Strong wind warning in Rio Grande do Sul

Earlier in the day, the local civil defence had issued a red alert warning due to severe winds. Residents were urged to remain indoors, disconnect electrical devices, and secure doors and windows as a safety measure.

Defesa Civil issued cell broadcast alerts that interrupted mobile phones, including those on silent mode, warning of severe storms, strong winds exceeding 90 km/h, and potential hazards such as falling structures. Residents were advised to avoid open areas and remain alert to trees, poles and signboards.

The low-pressure system reached the metropolitan region of Rio Grande do Sul by mid-afternoon, triggering dense cloud formation and isolated gales as extreme heat collided with a cold front. Meteorological agencies reported wind gusts consistent with earlier forecasts, confir ..

Former deputy Louis Hamlet was once a bailiff inside the Shelby County Civil and Chancery Courthouse on Adams Street.

On Thursday, Hamlet asked the Tennessee Post Commission to consider delaying a vote on his certification while he waits for his civil service hearing to play out.

“I just got two questions,” one of the commissioners asked. “Did you engage in oral sex inside of the courtroom?”

“I didn’t engage in oral sex, she engaged in oral sex. I received, yes,” Hamlet admitted.

“Okay, were there citizens in the building at the time?” the commissioner asked.

“I can’t say, my court was down,” Hamlet replied.

FOX13 Investigates obtained Hamlet’s disciplinary file from the initial investigation. In it, he admits to sexual activity in a courtroom with a woman, which came to light after the woman reported Hamlet to Sheriff’s Special Victims Unit and Bureau of Professional Standards.

“The complaint alleges that Deputy Hamlet forced her to engage in sexual acts several times,” said Detective Durrell Taylor.

The woman said Hamlet threatened her with his gun. But records show investigators found her accusations to be false, and charges were never filed.

In his hearing in Nashville, Hamlet maintained what happened was consensual.

“As you heard the detective give you the information on the false allegations of sexual misconduct did not happen,” he said. “And, as he said, I told the truth behind it.”

Still, the Sheriff fired Hamlet in August for violating the department’s policies of personal conduct and prohibited activity while on duty. Hamlet has multiple federal lawsuits and complaints filed against the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

And while this might sound like a modern way of taking care of our beloved pets after they’ve passed away, this grave site on the outskirts of Berenike (aka Berenice Troglodytica) in Egypt suggests that humans have been practising burial rites for their beloved animals for thousands of years.

Back in 2011, Archaeozoologist Marta Osypinska and her coworkers at the Polish Academy of Sciences discovered the graveyard just outside the city walls of the ruined ancient seaport on the Egyptian Red Sea Coast. 

After nearly 10 years of decoding their findings, they revealed that the cemetery is thought to date from the 1st or 2nd century CE, and contains the remains of 585 animals: including 536 cats, 32 dogs, and a number of other animals such as monkeys, birds, and even a fox. 

Yet besides the skeletal remains of the animals being located all in one place, the archaeologists found strong evidence that the creatures were not just scavengers or ritual sacrifices – rather, they were buried with special care and attention, and the evidence suggests that they were domesticated, making Berenike arguably the oldest pet cemetery in the world. 

“In our opinion, the described features suggest that the Berenike finds could be defined as a cemetery of house-kept pets,” wrote Marta. “Instead of as a parallel to the known Egyptian deposits related to sacral or at least magical rites.”

While excavating, the team found no contemporaneous human burials on the site – inferring that the area, located near an ancient trash heap, was dedicated to animal burials only.

Furthermore, none of the remains were mummified – as religious sacrifice would dictate – nor did any of the bones show signs of deliberate killing. 

Instead, the scientists found skeletal evidence of long-term injuries or illnesses that would have made them useless as working animals, which meant that their owners would’ve had to feed and take care of the pets in a region where most resources were expensive and imported.

Additionally, many of the dogs found were smaller in size – including one that could have served as an Ancient Egyptian lap dog.

Yet perhaps the most compelling evidence for Berenike being a pet cemetery was exactly how the animals were laid to rest. Each was carefully buried within the sediment, and several of the cats and monkeys had decorative collars or were found with mementos from their life, like a dried cow’s tail that would’ve been used as a toy.

Image credit: Couleur / Pixabay

Nevertheless, Berenike is not the only ancient cemetery dedicated to pets. Hunter-gatherer cultures in Russia’s Lake Baikal region buried a dog in their human cemetery, while three dogs were intentionally buried by Native Americans in Illinois nearly 10,000 years ago – and archaeologists have even found older specimens across Europe, including a 27,000-year-old canid buried with a mammoth bone in its mouth, dating back to before dogs were even domesticated.

And some scientists urge caution when saying that a buried animal was a “pet”, saying that humans have used animals for protection and to clear vermin for thousands of years, and that just because they were well taken care of, doesn’t mean that there was a strong connection between them. We might be using our current love for our pets to cloud our view of the past.

Despite these valid critiques, Marta remains steadfast in her belief that Berenike was a dedicated pet cemetery. She points out that cats were highly valued in Ancient Egyptian society, and that the mass amount of animals buried with care in one area suggests an exception to the criticism. 

“Too often, this sphere of social life is considered as modern behaviour exclusively,” she said in her paper. “The finds at Berenike seem to break with this stereotype.”

And regardless where you stand on the issue, it is sweet to think that for thousands of years we’ve appreciated animals for their companionship instead of their practical use. 

The conferment recognises President Mahama’s contributions to African unity, cultural diplomacy, and engagement with traditional leadership across the continent.

This honour adds to President Mahama’s growing list of traditional titles within the Yoruba cultural sphere, reflecting his rising stature among traditional authorities in the region.

The Ooni of Ife, one of the most revered custodians of Yoruba heritage, continues to play a pivotal role in preserving cultural traditions, promoting interfaith harmony, and supporting socio-economic development across Nigeria and the wider African diaspora.

Find more photos below:

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Speaking in Ife State in Nigeria on Monday, Mr Mahama said he remained optimistic that prosperity in Nigeria would invariably translate into shared progress for Ghana, given the deep cultural, economic and social ties between the two countries.

He noted that Ghana and Nigeria share common values, intertwined histories and complementary ambitions, positioning both nations as natural partners in regional development and continental leadership.

“I know that there is a historic bond between the people of Ghana and the people of Nigeria. When Nigeria prospers, Ghana prospers. When Ghana prospers, Nigeria prospers. God brought two of us together, we are like twins of the same mother,” he said.

The ceremony was at a traditional event at which President Mahama was installed as Aare Atayeto Oodua of the Source by the overlord of the Ife Kingdom.

He described the honour as a symbol of unity, shared heritage and a renewed commitment to strengthening people-to-people relations between the two West African neighbours.

The highly respected Yoruba title, interpreted as “a President who reorders the global space for the good of humanity,” was bestowed in recognition of President Mahama’s leadership record and his consistent advocacy for global cooperation, fairness, and sustainable development.

The honour places him among a select group of leaders recognised for their broader impact beyond national borders.

The installation ceremony followed several days of traditional preparations at the Ooni’s palace, marked by customary rites and cultural observances.

The palace precincts were transformed with rich traditional décor as chiefs, dignitaries, and members of the Yoruba community assembled to witness what was described as a historic and symbolic event.

This latest recognition adds to President Mahama’s growing list of traditional honours within the Yoruba cultural sphere.

In October 2015, he was conferred with the title Aare Atolase of Offa by the Offa Kingdom in Kwara State, in acknowledgement of his contributions to leadership, peace, and diplomacy on the African continent.

Observers say the honour is expected to deepen cultural and diplomatic relations between Ghana and Nigeria, highlighting the enduring historical ties between the two countries.

The Ooni of Ife, one of the most revered traditional authorities among the Yoruba people, continues to play a prominent role in advancing cultural heritage, interfaith unity, and socio-economic development across Nigeria and the African diaspora.

My future lies with Bawumia, not Kennedy Agyapong – Adwoa Safo

Former MMDCEs appeal to Mahama for payment of end-of-service benefits

Just a few days after soldiers took power in Guinea-Bissau while a presidential election vote count was still under way, leaders of the West African grouping Ecowas rapidly concluded that Sunday’s attempted overthrow of Benin’s President Patrice Talon was one destabilising step too far.

In support of his government, Nigerian warplanes bombarded mutinous soldiers at the national TV and radio station and a military base near the airport in Cotonou, the largest city.

Ecowas also announced the deployment of ground troops from Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone to reinforce the defence of constitutional order.

This is a region that has been shaken by repeated coups since 2020, and which little more than 10 months ago saw the putschist regimes in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger completely withdraw their countries from Ecowas – the Economic Community of West African States – of which they had all been founding participants 50 years ago.

So, faced with the prospect that yet another civilian government might be overturned by discontented soldiers, the presidents of the remaining Ecowas member states rapidly reached the conclusion that the attempted coup in Cotonou could not be allowed to succeed.

Learning from past mistakes

Having fought off early morning putschist attacks on Talon’s home and the presidency offices, loyalist forces had already reaffirmed government control across the city, locking down the main central administrative district.

But it was proving hard to break down the last-ditch resistance of rebel troops who had shown they were ready to use lethal force without regard for civilians.

In response, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, Benin’s eastern neighbour and much the largest military power in the region, authorised air strikes, while Ecowas leaders decided to despatch ground troops the same day.

Among those sending forces is Ghana’s President John Mahama, who leads a resilient democracy but has made friendly diplomatic overtures to the Sahelian military regimes.

In acting so quickly, Ecowas has perhaps learned a lesson from its misjudged response to the 2023 coup in Niger.

On that occasion it was not practically organised to intervene militarily in the hours after the elected head of state, Mohamed Bazoum, had been detained by coup leaders – the only moment, perhaps, when a rapid commando raid to rescue him and secure key buildings might have had any chance of success.

By the time the bloc had threatened intervention and begun to plan it, the chance had gone: the new junta had consolidated control over the Nigérien army and mobilised popular opinion in its support.

Faced with the prospect of intervention becoming full-scale war, and under strong domestic popular pressure to avoid any such bloodbath, Ecowas leaders backed off – opting to rely on sanctions. And when those also proved counter-productive, they settled for the diplomatic path alone.

This time around, in Benin, the situation was quite different: Talon was still in full control, even if some would-be putschists were still resisting. So he, as the internationally recognised president, could legitimately request support from fellow member countries in the regional bloc.

And this seems to have had popular support in Cotonou.

Many Béninois citizens do have grievances against the current government, notably over the exclusion of Les Démocrates, the main opposition party, from the forthcoming presidential election.

But there is a strong culture in Benin of trying to achieve change through political and civil society action, rather than force.

Béninois are rightly proud of their country’s role as the pioneering instigator of the wave of peaceful mass protest and democratisation that swept across francophone Africa in the early 1990s.

While the complaints against Talon aired by the would-be putschists during their brief appearance on national television are widely shared, there has been absolutely no sign of any popular support for their attempt to get rid of the government by force.

So Benin represented a particularly favourable context for a forceful Ecowas intervention in defence of constitutional civilian rule.

Indeed, if anything, the coup plotters are likely to become the target of growing public anger as news of casualties circulates. At least one civilian – the wife of Talon’s key military adviser – was killed.

In recent days two top military officials abducted during Sunday’s failed coup attempt have been rescued, but security forces are still searching for the coup leader Lt Col Pascal Tigri and other plotters.

Simmering grievances

This was just the latest in a string of coup attempts across the region, though most of the others have succeeded.

They have all occurred in a context of fragility and pressure in West Africa at a time of Islamist violence across the Sahel, now spreading into the northern regions of many coastal countries.

There is disenchantment with traditional political elites. Even where economies are growing, there is a desperate shortage of jobs and viable livelihoods for the region’s rapidly growing young population.

However, while the regional context is widely shared, the driving factors for the coups are often local – specific to each country.

The lack of popular support for the Cotonou putschists stands in stark contrast to the mood on the streets of Conakry, the capital of Guinea, in September 2021, when the special forces commander, Col Mamady Doumbouya led the overthrow of then-President Alpha Condé.

Like Talon, Condé had first been democratically elected but later secured re-election in questionable conditions, and presided over a significant erosion of political freedoms. Yet in Guinea, Condé had presided over violent abuse on a far greater scale than in Benin.

In addition, Condé had then strong-armed his way to a third term aged 83. In contrast the 67-year-old Talon has promised to step down next April, albeit having adjusted the electoral rules to almost guarantee an easy victory for his chosen successor, Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni.

Another key difference is Condé’s deeply disappointing economic track record, whereas Talon has presided over strong growth and improving services.

Further north, the wave of coups in the Sahelian countries in recent years were also driven by local conditions.

In Mali and Burkina Faso, military commanders had grown frustrated with the weak leadership elected presidents were providing in the campaign against Islamist insurgents. In both countries, troops had repeatedly suffered brutal losses while their civilian governments appeared incapable of mobilising the extra weapons or sometimes even food that the troops needed.

There was also deep resentment at France’s inability to bring the jihadists to heel, despite the high-tech weaponry at the disposal of its forces then deployed across the Sahel.

Also in Mali, some nationalist sections of political and military opinion were frustrated with the functioning of a 2015 peace agreement with former Tuareg separatists in the far north, overseen by UN troops. Hardliners even accused French forces of actively preventing Bamako from deploying national army units to the north.

In Niger, the circumstances surrounding the 2023 putsch were equally distinctive.

President Bazoum’s political support had been eroded by his very publicly close partnership with France, and particularly his request that Paris provide troops to defend the north-western border from incursions by Mali-based jihadists.

However, his vocal support for judges probing a corruption scandal in defence procurement also risked alienating powerful elements of the military.

The coup that followed soon afterwards in Gabon, in August 2023, was similarly the product of local frustrations. In this case, the opaque management of election results saw an implausible victory awarded to President Ali Bongo, in frail health after a slow recovery from a stroke.

So, circumstances vary widely. And recent events confirm the trend.

The region certainly does face a real crisis of security and, in many countries, politics or development too.

But national conditions are often the major driver for each upheaval or coup attempt.

Many suspect the military takeover in Guinea-Bissau aimed to forestall a possible opposition election victory.

Whereas the Benin rebels seem to have been motivated by a mix of army grievances and broader political and economic complaints.

But they strikingly misjudged the popular appetite in Cotonou for any violent or radical system change.

The endorsement follows a unanimous recommendation by the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, which nominated President Mahama as the sole candidate from the sub-region.

The recommendation was adopted during the Council’s 95th Ordinary Session held in Abuja and subsequently forwarded for formal endorsement on Sunday, December 14, 2025.

ECOWAS expressed appreciation to member states for their support of Ghana’s candidacy, citing the country’s contributions to regional integration and its strong standing in international diplomacy.

In a statement, the Council reaffirmed ECOWAS’ commitment to supporting candidates from member states for leadership positions in international organisations, including the African Union, to ensure that the region’s interests are effectively represented and protected.

The Council noted that the endorsement reflects ECOWAS’ resolve to strengthen West Africa’s influence within continental and global institutions, particularly the African Union.

The recommendation now calls on the Authority of Heads of State and Government to formally adopt the declaration endorsing Ghana’s bid for the AU Chairmanship in 2027.

The group representing more than 100 doctoral students has petitioned Downing Street and Keir Starmer asking for help to persuade the Ghanaian government to pay the backlog of tuition fees and living allowances running into millions of pounds.

Prince Komla Bansah, the president of the group of students, said some have already been deported by the Home Office after their universities withdraw their registrations for non-payment; while others have been evicted from their accommodation or forced to borrow money to survive.

Bansah said: “For most of these students, I don’t know how they survive. Some of them may be working part-time but it’s very hard to do that while studying for a PhD. From what I can gather from our meetings with the students, a lot of them are in debt and getting loans from back home.”

The petition sent to Downing Street says the funding crisis “is so severe that some colleagues are now facing court cases over unpaid rent. To survive, some have had to depend on food banks because they have no money to feed themselves.”

The students affected are at institutions spread across Britain, including University College London, Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and the universities of Nottingham, Bradford, Warwick, Lincoln and Liverpool.

Ghanaian authorities said that after President John Mahama’s new administration was sworn in last January, it found inherited debts to about 110 institutions in the UK worth an estimated £32m.

Alex Kwaku Asafo-Agyei, the registrar of the Ghana scholarship secretariat in Accra, said an audit of all scholarships given out by the last administration was continuing while a pause had been placed on new scholarships to the UK.

After his appointment in April, Asafo-Agyei said he went on a “fact-finding mission” to the UK and drew up instalment plans with some of the institutions. But he said some of the universities had since rescinded the agreements.

Asafo-Agyei said Ghana had made “significant payments to our partner institutions in the UK and we have agreed to amicably resolve these issues so that our students are not at a loss”. He added that he was “not at liberty to make such disclosures without express approval from above”.

Asafo-Agyei declined to answer how much of the debt has been paid so far.

About 30 of the Ghanian PhD students said the scholarship secretariat had failed to pay their tuition fees since 2024, with some barred from officially graduating, submitting work or accessing their university’s facilities.

Others have missed support payments for more than three years, while Bansah said the government had also failed to renew its letters of support for scholarship holders already studying in the UK.

Bansah said: “We all agree that the new government only came into power in January but the reality is that the government was already aware of the situation and it still hasn’t made the payments.

“Meanwhile, there is evidence that they have still awarded foreign scholarships, so why are they still awarding scholarships when they know there is still a major problem with the UK?”

Earlier this year, more than 180 Ghanaian students at the University of Memphis in the US complained about missing payments from the secretariat.

Students from other countries have also struggled with the same problems. In 2020, Nigerian students protested outside their high commission in London after some students lost course places. More recently, hundreds of South African students in Russia faced eviction from campus after delays in receiving government scholarships.

Brumelda Zuma became one of South Africa’s newest MPs on Wednesday, representing uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), the opposition party led by her father.

Her half-sister, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, resigned from parliament following allegations that she had tricked 17 men into fighting for Russia as mercenaries in Ukraine. Zuma-Sambudla has denied these accusations.

Brumelda Zuma’s appointment suggests the former president intends to ensure his family is represented in parliament.

She was sworn in alongside three other MK members, who, the party said, “bring a wealth of experience and dedication” to parliament.

She said she would focus mostly on ensuring that South Africans had “good public services” because “that is what I studied”.

MK said Brumelda Zuma had a degree in public administration.

Brumelda Zuma has not previously had a national profile, unlike her half-sister who had represented South Africa in the Pan-African Parliament.

MK previously said it was Zuma-Sambudla’s decision to resign as she wanted to focus her efforts on ensuring the return of those trapped in Ukraine’s war-torn Donbas region.

She was implicated in the Russia recruitment scheme after South Africa’s government revealed it had received distress calls from more than a dozen citizens who had joined mercenary forces.

The men are aged between 20 and 39 and are trapped in Donbas.

One of Zuma-Sambudla’s most prominent accusers is another half-sister, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube.

Zuma-Mncube filed a criminal complaint against Zuma-Sambudla and two other people, accusing them of luring the men to Russia “under false pretences” and then handing them to a Russian mercenary group “without their knowledge or consent”.

She said that eight of them were her relatives.

Police have confirmed they are carrying out an investigation.

Working as a mercenary or fighting for another army is illegal under South African law, unless the government authorises it.

Zuma-Sambudla has said in an affidavit that she thought the men were going to Russia for “lawful” training.

She is currently also on trial on terrorism-related charges over social media messages she posted during deadly protests in 2021. She has denied the charges.

Jacob Zuma formed MK in 2023 after a massive fall-out with current President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The MK party came in third place in South Africa’s general election last year, and became the main opposition party in parliament after the second-biggest party joined a coalition government led by Ramaphosa.

In a recorded video message, broadcast on Channel 4 for the Stand Up To Cancer campaign, the King said his treatment was being reduced and he urged people to take up offers of cancer screening, saying “early diagnosis quite simply saves lives.”

The type of cancer he is being treated for has not been revealed and the King, 77, will continue to receive treatment and monitoring.

Clare Garnsey, associate medical director of Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, said his message was “very powerful”.

The King, who revealed his diagnosis in February last year, is not described as being in remission or “cured” but the regularity of his treatment will be significantly reduced in the new year.

In his video message, recorded in Clarence House two weeks ago, he said that he was “troubled” to learn that nine million people around the UK are not up to date with the cancer screening available to them.

“That is at least nine million opportunities for early diagnosis being missed,” he said.

He added: “Too often, I am told, people avoid screening because they imagine it may be frightening, embarrassing or uncomfortable.

“If and when they do finally take up their invitation, they are glad they took part.

“A few moments of minor inconvenience are a small price to pay for the reassurance that comes for most people when they are either told either they don’t need further tests or, for some, are given the chance to enable early detection, with the life-saving intervention that can follow.”

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Miss Garnsey said she, “like the majority of health professionals who work in the cancer field” was “really thankful” for what the King said.

“I think the message was very powerful about the importance of early diagnosis and how important it is that we all attend for our screening,” she added.

She said it is “really helpful” to healthcare professionals when people in “positions of influence” – such as the King – speak publicly about their experiences with cancer.

These messages highlight that it “can happen to anybody”, she said, and raise awareness of the potential symptoms someone may experience.

Royal biographer and friend of King Charles, Jonathan Dimbleby, said the King’s message demonstrated the “unique role of the sovereign”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said the King’s decision to speak openly about his treatment in such “warm, gentle, thoughtful, kind terms” was “quite extraordinary and it has great impact”.

He said the King’s message will give people “great reassurance” to hear of someone who “has a cancer and lives with that cancer”.

“It makes you recognise […] that it’s not a death sentence,” he added.

Dimbleby’s father, broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, died at age 52 in 1965.

“When he died, he had been frightened to say, in advance to himself even, that he had cancer,” he said, adding that the word cancer was “hardly usable then”.

He said it took “guts” for the King to share such a personal message publicly, but that “the fact that he came out and did that will save lives, and people will be less frightened of saying ‘we must go and get a test’.”

Dimbleby said that when it was announced that the King was having treatment for an enlarged prostate in 2024, there was a considerable surge in searches to the NHS website.

“No one else could have done this,” he added.

What can be general symptoms of cancer?

Different types of cancer all have their own symptoms – but the NHS says general symptoms can include:

• A new lump or swelling
• Sweating a lot or a high temperature
• Feeling more tired than usual
• Unusual bruising or bleeding
• Unusual pain anywhere in the body
• Unexpected weight loss or loss of appetite
• Needing to pee more often or more urgently, or pain when you pee

Until now the King has said little publicly about his illness.

In his video message, King Charles said he knew how “overwhelming” a diagnosis can feel, but stressed that early detection is “key” to give patients the “precious gift of hope”.

The NHS has three cancer screening programmes – for bowel, breast and cervical cancer – available to certain age groups.

These tests can detect a problem even before someone experiences symptoms.

In his message, the King also urged people to use the screening checker online tool.

She revealed the initiative during an engagement with Ghanaian businesses and partners, highlighting the government’s commitment to strengthening trade ties with the United Kingdom.

According to the High Commissioner, the Ghana Trade House will serve as a dedicated outlet for showcasing and distributing Ghanaian goods, including processed foods, textiles, crafts, and other export-ready products. The facility is intended to enhance visibility for local producers and provide a structured entry point into the competitive UK market.

“I have a plan for a Ghana Trade House, and that is underway. It will give our exporters in Ghana an opportunity for their products to be on the market here in the UK,” she stated.

The initiative is part of Ghana’s broader effort to deepen economic cooperation with the UK and support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in accessing global markets. Trade experts note that such an outlet could significantly boost exports by offering a reliable distribution channel, reducing marketing costs, and improving brand recognition for Ghanaian products abroad.

H.E. Benson emphasized that the Trade House is not only a commercial venture but also a strategic move to strengthen investor confidence. She noted that the High Commission is working closely with stakeholders, including trade agencies and private sector partners, to ensure smooth implementation.

The facility will also promote cultural exchange and showcase Ghana’s rich heritage to international consumers. The High Commissioner encouraged Ghanaian exporters to prepare to take advantage of the opportunity once the Trade House becomes operational, reaffirming the mission’s commitment to supporting Ghanaian businesses internationally.

“This is a major step toward expanding our footprint in the UK market, and we are committed to supporting our producers every step of the way,” she said.

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One building was unoccupied, while the second was hosting an Aqiqah, a traditional Muslim celebration marking the birth of a child, the Fez prosecutor stated in a press release.

The prosecutor said the death toll was preliminary and that an investigation has been opened.

Eight families lived in the building where the celebration was taking place, they said.

BUILDINGS HAD SHOWN CRACKS

A survivor, who lost his wife and three children, told local Medi1 TV early that rescuers had been able to retrieve one body, but he was still waiting for the others.

State-owned broadcaster SNRT News footage showed rescue workers and residents digging through the rubble.

“My son, who lives upstairs, told me the building is coming down. When we went out, we saw the building collapsing,” an old woman wrapped in a blanket told SNRT News, without giving her name.

SNRT News reported that witnesses at the scene stated the buildings in the Al-Mustaqbal neighbourhood, a densely populated area in the west of the city, had exhibited signs of cracking for some time.

Besides the judicial probe, a technical and administrative investigation has also been launched to determine what caused the four-storey buildings to collapse, local authorities said in a statement.

The buildings were erected in 2006 as part of a government scheme under which residents of shantytowns in the city build their own homes on allocated plots.

WORST BUILDING COLLAPSE IN 15 YEARS

Fez, a former capital dating back to the eighth century and the country’s third-most-populous city, was among cities caught up in a wave of anti-government protests two months ago over deteriorating living conditions and poor public services.

Adib Ben Ibrahim, housing secretary of state, said in January that approximately 38,800 buildings across the country had been classified as being at risk of collapse.

Wednesday’s collapse is one of the worst in Morocco since the fall of a minaret in the historic northern city of Meknes, which killed 41 people in 2010.

YOUTHS ANGRY AT LACK OF SERVICES, POVERTY

Most of Morocco’s population, financial and industrial hubs and vital infrastructure are concentrated in the northwest, with the rest of the country reliant on farming, fisheries and tourism.

In October, youth-led unrest revealed deep-seated anger over poverty and public services as the government pushes on with ambitious infrastructure projects and the opening of modern stadiums ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

Fez, one of the cities to host the World Cup and this month’s African Cup of Nations soccer tournament, has some of the country’s poorest neighbourhoods.

“Very excitingly, for me and for the country, we’ve just launched the ‘Trump Gold Card,’” the president said at a White House roundtable event.

The visa website, trumpcard.gov, launched Wednesday afternoon and includes a link of the official application, promising “U.S. residency in record time.”

“For a $15,000 DHS processing fee and, after background approval, a contribution of $1 million, receive U.S. residency in record time with the Trump Gold Card,” the official website reads.

How long will the ‘gold card’ process take?

Once the application materials are submitted, the process will take “weeks” and will include an interview, according to the site. Additional fees to the State Department may apply “depending on the applicant.”

“The applicant will need to attend a visa interview and submit any additional documents in a timely manner,” the website says.

The site notes a successful applicant will receive lawful permanent resident status as an EB-1 or EB-2 visa holder, employment-based visas awarded to individuals who have “extraordinary” or “exceptional” abilities.

Trump admin previews ‘platinum card’

The website also previews that a “Trump Platinum Card” is coming soon and invites foreign nationals to add their names to a waiting list. For $5 million dollars, the administration promises that eligible applicants will be able to “spend up to 270 days in the United States without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income.”

“Foreign nationals can sign up now and secure their places on the waiting list for the Trump Platinum Card. When launched, and upon receipt of a $15,000 DHS processing fee and $5 million contribution, they will have the ability to spend up to 270 days in the United States without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income,” the website reads. 

The site does not specify when the platinum option will be available.

Officials criticize traditional immigration process

Trump’s latest immigration crackdown, prompted by the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC, has halted or tightened every legal and illegal form of foreign entry to the US in recent weeks, but the president first announced the ‘gold card’ program in February.

Trump said at the time it would offer a citizenship pathway for wealthy foreigners in exchange for a $5 million dollar fee. He later signed an executive order in September directing the pathway’s creation with the same pricing arrangement released Wednesday.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in February the visa would modify the government’s preexisting EB-5 immigrant investor visa program, which allows foreign investors to pump money into US projects that create jobs and then apply for visas to immigrate to the US.

“We will modify the EB-5 agreement,” Lutnick said. “(Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi (Noem) and I are working on it together. For $5 million, they’ll get a license from the Department of Commerce. Then they’ll make a proper investment.”

Immigration law experts previously said ending the EB-5 program or significantly changing it would require Congress to act.

Despite persistent questions about how the plan will be implemented, Trump has suggested millions of gold cards could be sold, and Lutnick said in February the plan could raise $1 trillion to pay down the national debt.

Lutnick has previously criticized the traditional green card process that allows immigrants to live and work permanently in the US, arguing it forces the country to take in the “bottom quartile” of immigrants.

“We’re going to only take extraordinary people at the very top,” Lutnick said.

Residents and military sources said soldiers were fleeing the assault on Uvira, the last government-held city in the mineral-rich region.

US President Donald Trump brokered a peace deal last week between DR Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame to end the long-running conflict but fighting has continued.

Shops and schools have closed, with terrified residents staying indoors amid fears that rebels had taken control of some government buildings.

But South Kivu Governor Jean-Jacques Purusi dismissed reports that the rebels were in the city as “completely unfounded rumours”.

Residents told the BBC that Uvira was in lockdown on Wednesday, with some reporting gunfire in the city that is just 27 km (17 miles) from Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura.

A local rights official told AP news agency that there was a “risk of a massacre” if the remaining soldiers mounted strong resistance.

“It’s chaotic, nobody’s in charge. Uvira is done for,” a Burundian officer told AFP news agency.

“Three bombs have just exploded in the hills. It’s every man for himself,” a resident told AFP, while another added: “We are all under the beds in Uvira – that’s the reality.”

Military and security sources said the rebel fighters advanced from the north, near the Burundian border.

In an interview with UN-backed Radio Okapi, Purusi denied Uvira had fallen to the M23, saying the city remained under the control of government forces.

The US, European Union, and eight European nations have accused Rwanda of supporting the rebel offensive, and have called for an immediate halt to the fighting

In a joint statement, they voiced “profound concern” about the violence, and said it had a “destabilising potential for the whole region”.

They urged the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) to “immediately halt offensive operations” in eastern DR Congo, and called on its troops to withdraw from the region.

A spokesman for the US state department said that Rwanda “continues to provide support to M23 [and] must prevent further escalation”.

But Rwanda has denied any involvement in the fighting, accusing DR Congo’s government and its ally, Burundi, of violating a ceasefire.

In a statement on X, the Rwandan foreign ministry said the ceasefire violation “cannot be placed on Rwanda” and said the Congolese and Burundian armies had “systematically” bombed villages close to Rwanda’s border.

UN experts say Rwanda’s army is in “de facto control of M23 operations”.

About 200,000 people have fled their homes in eastern DR Congo since the latest round of fighting started early this month, the UN says.

It said at least 74 people had been killed, mostly civilians, and 83 admitted to hospital with wounds.

A Burundian administrative source told AFP that he had recorded more than 8,000 daily arrivals over the past two days, and 30,000 arrivals in one week.

The latest offensive comes nearly a year after the M23 rebels seized control of Goma and Bukavu, the other two main cities in eastern DR Congo.

The M23 is not part of the US-brokered peace deal, and is in separate talks with DR Congo’s government in mediation efforts led by Qatar.

In a national address on Monday, Tshisekedi accused Rwanda of “deliberate violations” of the peace accord.

“This is a proxy war aimed at challenging our sovereignty over a highly strategic area, rich in critical minerals and economic potential that is crucial to the future of our nation,” Tshisekedi said.

For its part, Rwanda accused the armies of DR Congo and Burundi of bombing villages near its border, forcing more than 1,000 civilians to flee into its territory.

Eastern DR Congo has been wracked by conflict for more than 30 years, since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Several peace deals going back to the 1990s have collapsed.

Numerous armed groups have competed with the central authorities for power and control of the potential fortune in this vast nation.

The new condition would affect people from dozens of countries who are eligible to visit the US for 90 days without a visa, as long as they have filled out an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form.

Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has moved to toughen US borders more generally – citing national security as a key reason.

Analysts say the new plan could pose an obstacle to potential visitors, or harm their digital rights.

The US expects a major influx of foreign tourists next year, as it hosts the men’s football World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico, and for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The proposal document was filed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of which the agency is part.

US media reported that it appeared in the Federal Register, which is the official journal of the US government. The BBC has asked DHS for comment.

The proposal says “the data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last 5 years”, without giving further details of which specific information will be required.

The existing ESTA requires a comparatively limited amount of information from travellers, as well as a one-off payment of $40 (£30). It is accessible to citizens of about 40 countries – including the UK, Ireland, France, Australia and Japan – and allows them to visit the US multiple times during a two-year period.

As well as the collection of social media information, the new document proposes the gathering of an applicant’s telephone numbers and email addresses used over the last five and 10 years respectively, and more information about their family members.

The text cites an executive order from Trump in January, titled “Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats”.

The Trump administration has previously required foreign nationals to make their social media accounts public if they are applying for student visas or H1B visas for skilled workers – the latter of which now also entail a much higher fee.

A senior state department official said of the student visa policy: “It is an expectation from American citizens that their government will make every effort to make our country safer, and that is exactly what the Trump Administration is doing every single day.”

Officers were instructed to screen for those “who advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to national security; or who perpetrate unlawful anti-Semitic harassment or violence”.

As part of the administration’s broader effort to toughen borders, officials recently said an existing travel ban – affecting 19 countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean – could soon be expanded.

That move was announced in the wake of a shooting attack on two National Guard members in Washington DC, in which an Afghan man has been named as the suspect.

The new proposal regarding ESTA data collection for tourists invites views from the public for 60 days.

Sophia Cope, of digital rights organisation the Electronic Frontier Foundation, criticised the plan, telling the New York Times that it could “exacerbate civil liberties harms”.

Meanwhile, immigration law practice Fragomen suggested there could be practical impacts as applicants could face longer waits for ESTA approvals.

Experts have previously suggested that the changes to travel policies introduced under Trump have had an impact on the American tourism industry.

Earlier this year, the World Travel & Tourism Council said the US was the only one of 184 economies that it analysed that was expected to see a decline in international visitor spending in 2025.

Other Trump administration policies have also appeared to impact tourism to the country, such as many Canadians boycotting US travel as a form of protest against Trump’s tariffs.

October marked the 10th straight month of decline in the number of Canadian travellers to the US. In the past, Canadians have made up about a quarter of all international visitors to the US, spending more than $20bn (£15.1bn) a year, according to the US Travel Association.

The friends were told that their clothing was “in conflict with Afghan and Islamic values”, a Taliban spokesman told the BBC, adding the values in Peaky Blinders went against Afghan culture.

In videos posted online, the men, who have been released, can be seen posing in flat caps and three-piece suits similar to those worn in the series set in England soon after World War One.

Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, they have imposed a number of restrictions on daily life in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

“Even jeans would have been acceptable, but the values in the Peaky Blinders series are against Afghan culture,” Saiful Islam Khyber, a spokesman for the Taliban government’s provincial department of Vice and Virtue in Herat city told the BBC.

The men, all in their early twenties, come from the town of Jibrail in Herat province. They were ordered to report to the Taliban’s “morality police” on Sunday, and presented themselves for questioning in Herat the following day.

“They were promoting foreign culture and imitating film actors in Herat,” Khyber wrote on social media, adding that they had undergone a “rehabilitation programme”.

They were not formally arrested, “only summoned and advised and released”, Khyber told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

“We have our own religious and cultural values, and especially for clothing we have specific traditional styles,” he said.

“The clothing they wore has no Afghan identity at all and does not match our culture. Secondly, their actions were an imitation of actors from a British movie. Our society is Muslim; if we are to follow or imitate someone, we should follow our righteous religious predecessors in good and lawful matters.”

The men could be seen thanking officials for their advice and saying they were unaware they had violated any laws in a video released by the ministry after they were questioned – though it is unclear under what circumstances the interview was recorded.

“I have innocently been sharing content that was against Sharia which had many viewers,” one said in the recording.

He said he had been “summoned and advised”, and would no longer do “anything like this”.

In an interview with YouTube channel Herat-Mic uploaded at the end of November, before they were summoned, the friends said they admired the fashion displayed in the series, adding that they had received positive reactions from locals.

“At first we were hesitant, but once we went outside, people liked our style, stopped us in the streets, and wanted to take photos with us,” one of the men said, according to a translation by CBS News.

In a speech at a casino in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, the president told supporters he had “no higher priority than making America affordable again”.

But while fuel and egg prices have fallen, other food is more expensive and Americans remain unhappy about the cost of housing, childcare and healthcare.

Democrats have capitalised on Trump’s vulnerability on the economy in recent state and city elections, leaving many Republicans uneasy about next year’s midterm elections.

Tuesday’s event in a swing district of Pennsylvania was the first of what the White House said would be a series of rallies aimed at bringing its economic message to voters.

But at one point in his remarks, the Republican president again portrayed concerns about affordability as a Democratic “hoax”.

The White House blames the former president, Joe Biden, and US central bank interest rates for the lingering economic pain.

The Federal Reserve has twice reduced rates, leaving them at about 3.9%, and financial markets expect the bank to cut them further later on Wednesday. Inflation, however, remains above the Fed’s 2% target at 3%.

In recent weeks, Trump’s administration has removed tariffs from dozens of food products and touted its rollback of fuel efficiency standards and Trump-branded retirement accounts for children as cost-of-living fixes.

In an excerpt from an interview with Politico released on Tuesday, Trump was asked what grade he would give the economy.

“A plus-plus-plus-plus-plus,” he said.

In a sign the policy pivot might be cutting through, Trump’s approval rating rose three points to 41% in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

But many Americans remain downbeat over the economy.

Alaina Hunt, 37, told the BBC she lost her job in April as a designer at a construction company in Oklahoma City, partly because of Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium.

The construction sector “really took a hard hit very early on”, she said, adding that she had applied for at least 75 jobs to no avail.

She said that rising grocery bills – about $25 extra per week – had added to the strain.

“I was able to scrape by a lot easier in years before,” said Ms Hunt, who voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024. “I don’t think that the federal government is listening at all.”

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, was sceptical of Trump’s messaging on the economy. He told CBS News that the president’s view “does not reflect the reality on the ground here in a community where many Pennsylvanians voted for him in the last election”.

Citing issues such such as trade tariffs, Shapiro continued: “The record is clear: his policies have hurt the very communities that propelled him to the White House.”

The economic data itself paints a mixed picture.

US consumer confidence fell in November to its lowest level since the spring.

But the stock market continues to hover near record highs. And forecasters expect the economy to expand by 1.9% this year, slower than last year’s 2.8% but still better than expected.

Some recent data also indicates the job market may be picking up, after a significant hiring slowdown earlier this year.

At the rally, Trump said “prices are coming down tremendously from the highest prices in the history of our country.”

But prices are not falling – which is disinflation – rather, prices are rising at a slower rate.

As of September, inflation stood at 3%, the same rate as in January when the president took office and stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

It is still way below a peak of 9.1% under former President Joe Biden when the US faced its worst inflation in four decades.

Overall prices have surged 25% over the last five years, generating widespread frustration, despite wage growth over that period.

Beth Richardson, a 45-year-old from Kansas, said she had been floored by some of the prices at the grocery store near her, recalling a pack of Mentos gum she picked up recently that rang up to almost $5 with tax.

“I’m like, I’m just going to go die now because this cannot be,” she said.

Ms Richardson was laid off from her job in sales support at a tech-related company in late 2023, after the firm shifted jobs overseas. She voted for Kamala Harris last year.

She said while she knew presidents were often blamed for economic forces over which they had little control, she felt in this case Trump and his policies, like tariffs, were “shooting ourselves in the foot”.

On Tuesday night, Trump called tariffs his “favourite word”, pointing to hundreds of billions of dollars of US revenue from the import taxes.

Many Trump supporters have said they still support the president, despite feeling the pinch themselves.

John Mohring, 60, a widower and construction worker from Kenosha, Wisconsin, has backed Trump since 2016.

He said grocery prices started rising before Trump returned to the White House “and it doesn’t seem like it’s going down”.

He now typically spends $100 on groceries just for himself, even when avoiding buying meat and sticking with cheaper items.

Still, Mr Mohring said he backed the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs on imported goods and his border policies.

“I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt,” Mr Mohring added.

Brad Smith, a corn and soybean farmer in north-western Illinois, was hurt earlier this year when China, previously a major buyer of US soybeans, froze its purchases amid a trade war with Washington.

But the market, he said, had been gradually recovering since late October, when the two countries reached a deal and China resumed some purchases.

Trump on Monday also announced a $12bn aid package for US farmers.

Mr Smith said he still believed in Trump’s plans for the economy, despite being getting caught in the crossfire.

“There’s probably bigger things at play other than just the soybean and corn market,” Mr Smith said.

“The whole America First idea is good.”

Brumelda Zuma became one of South Africa’s newest MPs on Wednesday, representing uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), the opposition party led by her father.

Her half-sister, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, resigned from parliament following allegations that she had tricked 17 men into fighting for Russia as mercenaries in Ukraine. Zuma-Sambudla has denied these accusations.

Brumelda Zuma’s appointment suggests the former president intends to ensure his family is represented in parliament.

She was sworn in alongside three other MK members, who, the party said, “bring a wealth of experience and dedication” to parliament.

She said she would focus mostly on ensuring that South Africans had “good public services” because “that is what I studied”.

MK said Brumelda Zuma had a degree in public administration.

Brumelda Zuma has not previously had a national profile, unlike her half-sister who had represented South Africa in the Pan-African Parliament.

MK previously said it was Zuma-Sambudla’s decision to resign as she wanted to focus her efforts on ensuring the return of those trapped in Ukraine’s war-torn Donbas region.

She was implicated in the Russia recruitment scheme after South Africa’s government revealed it had received distress calls from more than a dozen citizens who had joined mercenary forces.

The men are aged between 20 and 39 and are trapped in Donbas.

One of Zuma-Sambudla’s most prominent accusers is another half-sister, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube.

Zuma-Mncube filed a criminal complaint against Zuma-Sambudla and two other people, accusing them of luring the men to Russia “under false pretences” and then handing them to a Russian mercenary group “without their knowledge or consent”.

She said that eight of them were her relatives.

Police have confirmed they are carrying out an investigation.

Working as a mercenary or fighting for another army is illegal under South African law, unless the government authorises it.

Zuma-Sambudla has said in an affidavit that she thought the men were going to Russia for “lawful” training.

She is currently also on trial on terrorism-related charges over social media messages she posted during deadly protests in 2021. She has denied the charges.

Jacob Zuma formed MK in 2023 after a massive fall-out with current President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The MK party came in third place in South Africa’s general election last year, and became the main opposition party in parliament after the second-biggest party joined a coalition government led by Ramaphosa.

In a wide-ranging interview with Politico, he said “decaying” European countries had failed to control migration or take decisive action to end Ukraine’s war with Russia, accusing them of letting Kyiv fight “until they drop”.

European leaders have made attempts to carve out a role in the US-led efforts to end the war, which they fear will undercut the long-term interests of the continent in favour of a quick resolution.

In response, the UK’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said all she saw in Europe was “strength”, citing investment in defence as well as funding for Kyiv.

She added two presidents were “working for peace” – referring to Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – and “one president – President Putin – has so far simply sought to escalate the conflict with further drone and missile attacks”.

Trump continued to increase pressure on Zelensky to agree to a deal to end the conflict, and urged him to “play ball” by ceding territory to Moscow. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Zelensky, writing on X later on Tuesday, said Ukraine and Europe were working actively on “all components of potential steps toward ending the war”, that the Ukrainian and European elements of the plan were now more developed and that Kyiv was ready to present them to “our partners in the US”.

Trump’s latest public criticism of Europe comes a day after European leaders came together in London to discuss their continued joint efforts to stop the fighting in Ukraine.

Asked whether Europe could help end the war, the US president said: “They talk but they don’t produce. And the war just keeps going on and on.”

US officials have held separate talks with Ukrainian and Russian officials in recent weeks in an attempt to broker an end to the war. So far, no agreement has been reached.

Ukraine’s president has pressed European and Nato leaders to help deter the US from backing a deal that Kyiv fears would leave it exposed to future attack.

On Sunday Trump suggested, without evidence, that Zelensky was the main obstacle to peace.

He told reporters that Russia was “fine” with the peace plan outlined to both sides by the US, that contained major concessions for Ukraine and which allies feared would leave it vulnerable to a future invasion.

In the Politico interview, he claimed Ukrainian negotiators “loved” the US-backed proposal and alleged Zelensky had not yet read it.

Trump also repeated previous calls for Kyiv to hold elections and claimed it was “using war” as a reason not to do so.

He said: “You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”

Zelensky’s five-year term as president was due to end in May 2024, but elections have been suspended in Ukraine since martial law was declared after Russia’s invasion.

Speaking to reporters after Trump’s comments were released, Zelensky said he was “ready for the elections” and he would ask for proposals to be drawn up which could change the law.

Elections could be held in the next 60 to 90 days if security is guaranteed with the help of the US and other allies, Zelensky told reporters.

Elsewhere in the Politico interview, Trump also claimed ideological divisions now threatened to fracture Washington’s alliances with Europe.

Asked whether leaders he viewed as weak could still be allies, he replied: “It depends”, adding: “I think they’re weak, but I also think that they want to be so politically correct. I think they don’t know what to do.”

The president’s remarks came after his administration released its new 33-page National Security Strategy, which warned of Europe’s potential “civilisational erasure” and questioned whether some nations could remain reliable allies.

Russia welcomed that strategy – which did not cast Russia as a threat to the US – as “largely consistent” with Moscow’s vision.

Trump also warned on Tuesday that many countries in Europe “will not be viable countries any longer” if they keep on the way they are going, adding: “What they’re doing with immigration is a disaster.”

He singled out Hungary and Poland as doing a “very good job” on immigration, but said most European nations were “decaying”.

Responding on Tuesday to the strategy, German chancellor Friedrich Merz said some parts were plausible and some understandable, but other elements were unacceptable from a European point of view.

He rejected the idea that the US needed to “save democracy” in Europe, saying Europeans could address such questions themselves.

The strategy also followed similar rhetoric to Trump’s speech to the UN earlier this year, where he had harsh criticism for Western Europe and its approach to migration and clean energy.

Two men entered the Mário de Andrade Library during visiting hours and overpowered a security guard and an elderly couple before fleeing toward the nearby Anhangabaú metro station, according to CNN affiliate CNN Brasil, citing information from the country’s military police.

One of the suspects was arrested Monday, CNN Brasil reported, citing the man’s attorney, and police are on the hunt for the second suspect.

Since October, the library and the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo have collaborated on an exhibition called “From book to museum,” featuring works by artists, including Matisse, Brazilian painter Candido Portinari and French artist Fernand Léger.

The thieves stole eight prints by Matisse and five prints by Portinari on display, according to a statement from the Municipal Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy, a local government department focused on fostering arts and culture.

While it’s not immediately clear how much the pieces are worth, the secretariat stated that the pieces “have cultural, historical, and artistic value, and therefore cannot be assessed solely in economic terms.”

Matisse, who died in 1954, was one of the most influential artists of the 20th-century known for his use of bold, expressive colors. Besides painting, he was well-practiced in printmaking, producing more than 800 prints using a range of techniques from linocut to lithography.

Among the stolen works were pages from Matisse’s “Jazz,” a limited-edition book containing vibrant images derived from his famous paper cut-outs, and featuring the French artist’s written reflections on art and life.

Sunday’s heist follows a brazen burglary in October, when thieves dressed in yellow vests used a truck-mounted ladder to scale Paris’s Louvre Museum. They took nine pieces of jewelry valued at more than $100 million in what was considered the most audacious art theft at the museum since the Mona Lisa was stolen in 1911.

The October heist was also seen as an example of how thieves are increasingly targeting cultural institutions — not for prized paintings, but for artifacts that can be dismantled and melted down for the value of their raw materials.

Museums are a “relatively soft target” compared to highly secured buildings like banks, according to Remigiusz Plath, secretary of the International Committee for Museum Security.

Speaking previously to CNN, Plath said that museums face the unique challenge of balancing robust security with the public’s freedom to see and engage with their collections.

“You can actually go in there, when the museum is open, and see it right in front of you,” he said. “And if you apply blunt force, just like a roof, you’re right there — there are not many thresholds to go through to have access to these raw materials.”

The foot bones and a jawbone with teeth still attached belonged to an ancient human relative called Australopithecus deyiremeda, a more primitive species than Lucy, according to a study published November 26 in the journal Nature.

Should they hold up to further scrutiny, the findings could knock Lucy, one of the most recognizable names in human evolution, from her important spot in the family tree.

The eight bones that make up the Burtele foot were excavated in 2009 by a team led by paleoanthropologist Yohannes Haile-Selassie. 

Coexisting species

In 2009, a team led by paleoanthropologist Yohannes Haile-Selassie, a professor at Arizona State University and the study’s lead author, found the eight foot bones within 3.4 million-year-old sediments at the Burtele locality at Woranso-Mille in Ethiopia’s Afar region. The site is close to where Lucy’s partial skeleton was discovered in 1974.

The team knew the foot came from a different species than Lucy’s because it had an opposable toe, suggesting it had a greater ability to grasp and would have easily climbed trees. However, there wasn’t enough information to name a new species based on the foot fossils alone.

Not long after, Haile-Selassie, director of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State, found teeth and other fossil fragments dating from 3.33 million to 3.59 million years ago and in 2015 reported that they belonged to a new species researchers dubbed Australopithecus deyiremeda. This designation was met with skepticism from some experts in human evolution given the small number of fossils.

The latest study reports the discovery of further Australopithecus deyiremeda fossils and includes the puzzling foot bones in the designation.

Lucy’s species was long thought to be the only hominin to live between 3.8 million and 3 million years ago. The finds, however, provide clear evidence that two related hominin species coexisted at the same time around what is now the Woranso-Mille site, raising questions about how they managed to live together.

Haile-Selassie, second from left, and his crew at the Woranso-Mille site. Dale Omori

The study reported that A. deyiremeda would have walked on two legs, and most likely pushed off on its second digit instead of its big toe like modern humans do today.

“What that means is that bipedality — walking on two legs — in these early human ancestors came in various forms. The whole idea of finding specimens like the Burtele foot tells you that there were many ways of walking on two legs when on the ground,” Haile-Selassie said in a statement, adding that “there was not just one way until later.”

The team was also able get a sense of what A. deyiremeda likely ate by using a technique known as isotope analysis that looks at chemical signatures of different carbon forms preserved in eight of the teeth. It found that the species consumed mostly trees and shrubs, whereas Lucy ate a wider variety of food, including grass-based plants.

“This is the first time that we’re showing that Australopithecus deyiremeda and Australopithecus afarensis were able to coexist because one, they were different in terms of their locomotive adaptation, and two, they were consuming different dietary resources,” Haile-Selassie said in a video shared by Arizona State. “So, there was no competition,” he added.

A 3D rendering of the jawbone, which belonged to a juvenile A. deyiremeda who would have been around four years old. Anna Ragni 

The new fossils and attribution of the foot bones should result in a broader acceptance of A. deyiremeda as a genuine species, said Fred Spoor, a research leader at the Centre for Human Evolution Research at London’s Natural History Museum. Spoor was not involved in the research but wrote a commentary published alongside the new study.

Fitting A. deyiremeda into the evolutionary tree, he added, may result in some new “twists” in the human story that could see Lucy lose her “iconic status” as the ancestor of all later hominins, including our own species, Homo sapiens.

A finding that ‘will cause quite a stir’

The jawbone was found in 29 pieces, 27 of which were recovered by picking through sifted dirt. Yohannes Haile-Selassie

Lucy was shorter than an average human, reaching about 3.3 feet (1 meter) in height. She had an apelike face and a brain about one-third the size of a human brain. Her fossil showcased a mixture of humanlike and apelike traits and provided the first definitive proof that ancient human relatives walked upright 3.2 million years ago.

For decades after the skeleton’s discovery, Lucy’s species was thought to be the sole common ancestor group of all later hominins, Spoor noted. But more recent discoveries of older hominins that likely walked upright have suggested that Lucy was not the earliest human ancestor, although most still think her species was ancestral to our own lineage. The new research, Spoor said, challenged that line of scientific thought; our own genus, Homo, might not have descended directly from Lucy’s species.

When researchers compared A. deyiremeda with other Australopithecus species, they found that some of its features, particularly its foot and jaw, resembled a species that Lucy was thought to have given rise to — a hominin known as Australopithecus africanus, which lived between 2 million and 3 million years ago. Other features, including A. deyiremeda’s diet, closely resembled a more primitive Australopithecus species known as Australopithecus anamensis, which lived 4.2 million to 3.8 million years ago.

It seems likely that A. deyiremeda descended from A. anamensis, and if that’s the case, then A. afarensis might not be the ancestor of all later human species, Spoor said in a statement. It’s an unexpected finding that “will cause quite a stir” among scientists, he added.

Many A. deyiremeda fossils are tiny fragments, which require painstaking work to collect. Dale Omori

Put simply, the study suggests that A. anamensis sits at the base of this family tree, giving rise to at least three sister species (A. afarensis, A.
deyiremeda and A. africanus). Previously, scientists drew a straight line of descent from A. anamensis to Lucy’s species to A. africanus and ultimately to Homo sapiens. The presence of multiple species makes it unclear which gave rise to later hominins.

“For decades, we’ve been inundated with textbooks and documentaries that say that Lucy and her relatives are our ancestors,” Spoor said.

“The new research suggests that A. anamensis wasn’t just the ancestor of Lucy, but that many other human species could descend from it as well, including our own.”

Ryan McRae, a paleoanthropologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, said this study was the first paper to suggest the possibility that Lucy’s species could have been an evolutionary dead end — meaning it wasn’t a direct ancestor of modern humans. Such an explanation is, of course, still just a hypothesis.

“I don’t think there is enough conclusive evidence to say which of the two options, deyiremeda or afarensis, is an ancestor for sure. It’s possible neither are and there are still more species to find,” he said via email.

“Regardless of who was ancestral to whom, though, our family tree keeps getting bushier and bushier.”

Haile-Selassie plans to return to Ethiopia and the surrounding region soon to hunt for more Australopithecus fossils, which will help expand what scientists know about these species and how they relate to each other.

“We need more fossils of A. deyiremeda and A. anamensis to answer the questions we still have about them,” he said in the statement.

The announcement was made by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, during the 55th session of the Mediation and Security Council at the ministerial level in Abuja on Tuesday.

Omar Touray said the worsening situation in the sub-region demands urgent attention and collective action.

According to him, recent developments highlight the “imperative of serious introspection on the future of our democracy and the urgent need to invest in the security of our community.”

The emergency declaration comes on the back of a troubling wave of unconstitutional takeovers in parts of West Africa.

In the past few years, countries including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea-Bissau have experienced coups or attempted coups, while security agencies in Benin and other states have also reported foiled mutinies.

Officials say Tuesday’s meeting was convened to assess the growing threats—ranging from military interventions to violent extremism—and to consider measures that can help stabilise the region.

ECOWAS has faced criticism in recent months, particularly after Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger announced their withdrawal from the bloc earlier this year.

More updates are expected as the ministerial council continues its deliberations in Abuja.

The virus is a mix of two major types of the mpox virus, and was found in someone who recently returned from travelling in Asia.

Officials say they are still assessing the significance of the new strain.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says it is normal for viruses to evolve. Getting vaccinated remains the best way to protect against severe disease – although an mpox infection is mild for many.

The new virus strain contains elements of two mpox strains, called clade Ib and clade IIb. It currently has no name.

UK health officials recently encouraged gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men to make sure they were vaccinated against mpox.

That call came as a strain called ‘clade Ib’ showed early signs of local spread in some European countries.

‘Clade IIb’ is linked to a global outbreak of mpox in 2022 which affected many countries worldwide.

In the UK, vaccination is available for groups of people at highest risk of catching mpox:

• those who have multiple sexual partners
• those who engage in group sex
• those who visit sex-on-premises venues

Health officials say the vaccine is 75-80% effective at protecting against mpox.

There have been no studies on how well the vaccine protects against this latest strain, although it’s thought there will be a high degree of protection.

Dr Katy Sinka, head of sexually transmitted infections at UKHSA, said genomic testing had allowed it to be detected.

“It’s normal for viruses to evolve, and further analysis will help us understand more about how mpox is changing.

“Getting vaccinated is a proven effective way to protect yourself against severe disease, so please make sure to get the jab if you are eligible,” she said.

Prof Trudie Lang, director of the Global Health Network at the University of Oxford, said there were “excellent systems” to identify cases and control onward infection in the UK, but in other parts of the world, in more vulnerable populations, “this is harder to achieve”, where access to vaccines is not as reliable.

Prof Lang said if further cases of this strain appeared in the UK and elsewhere, it would be important to understand how it’s being spread and how ill it makes people, in order to assess whether it’s more or less dangerous than previous strains.

There have been nearly 48,000 confirmed cases of mpox globally in 2025, and 2,500 in the past month, with most occurring in central Africa.

Dr Boghuma Titanji, assistant professor of medicine at Emory University, said the new strain is what experts feared would happen if mpox continued to spread worldwide.

“The more mpox circulation we permit, the more opportunities the virus has to recombine and adapt, further entrenching mpox virus as a human pathogen that is not going away,” she said.

What is mpox?

Mpox can be a unpleasant illness.

Common symptoms are lesions or a skin rash, which can last for two to four weeks, plus fever, headaches, back pain, muscle aches and tiredness.

The virus spreads from person to person through close physical contact, coughs or sneezes and touching infected clothing, bedding or towels.

Health officials say anyone who thinks they might have mpox, should contact NHS 111 for advice on what to do.

The military takeover attempting to overthrow President Patrice Talon, which lasted a few hours before authorities announced it had been foiled, was the latest in a series of recent coups across Africa — most following a similar pattern of disputed elections, constitutional upheaval, security crises and youth discontent.

In a statement detailing Sunday’s events, Government Secretary Edouard Ouin-Ouro said the mutinous soldiers attacked Talon around 5 a.m. before being “overwhelmed by the fierce resistance of the loyal soldiers.”

The government confirmed the involvement of Nigerian and Ivorian troops in helping to thwart the coup, saying the Nigerian military had “(used) its military aircraft, which immobilised some of the armoured vehicles.”

Authorities said that although several arrests have been made over the coup, its apparent leader remained on the run and was being hunted. Two senior military officers held hostage by those carrying out the coup had also been released, officials said. Authorities did not specify the number of casualties.

An ongoing investigation into the coup will “identify all the perpetrators and their sponsors, whoever they may be” and will assess the damage in the aftermath, Ouin-Ouro said in the statement issued after a high-level cabinet meeting chaired by the Benin leader.

How the coup unfolded

A group of soldiers calling themselves the Committee for Refoundation stormed the national television station on Sunday morning to announce the coup.

Led by Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri, eight soldiers appeared in a broadcast announcing the removal of Talon, the dissolution of the government and the suspension of state institutions.

Before the coup, Tigri was a member of Talon’s protection detail. As an artillery officer, he commanded a National Guard battalion between 2023 and 2025.

By Sunday afternoon, the coup was foiled by Benin’s military, supported by Nigerian air and ground forces, which launched attacks against fleeing coup participants.

Calm on Monday returned to Cotonou, Benin’s administrative centre, with soldiers on the streets.

Talon described the coup late Sunday as a “senseless adventure,” and said the situation was under control. He vowed to punish mutineers and ensure the safety of hostages, including some believed to be senior military officers. He didn’t disclose their identities, and it wasn’t clear how many were held.

The Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, said Sunday that it had deployed a standby force to Benin to help preserve democracy. The troops included personnel from Nigeria, Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. The size of the force was unclear.

A Nigerian government spokesperson said in a statement that Talon had requested Nigeria’s help. It wasn’t clear how many personnel or how much equipment had been deployed.

Regional challenge

Nigeria and the ECOWAS regional bloc hadn’t intervened in a member state since 2017, when it sent troops to Gambia to force then-President Yahya Jammeh to vacate power following his election loss.

The bloc, led by Nigeria, tried to intervene in Niger after the country’s 2023 coup. At that time, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu led the bloc. His threat to intervene if the junta didn’t restore the ousted democratic government resulted in a standoff between the bloc and three junta-led countries, and they later left the bloc.

Analysts say Nigeria has a strategic interest in defending its borders — which it shares with Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon — especially now, while it experiences a severe security crisis.

“The coup in Benin is one too many. Nigeria cannot afford to be encircled by hostile governments,” Oluwole Ojewale, a senior security researcher at Dakar-based Institute for Security Studies, told The Associated Press.

As West Africa battles a surge in coups, analysts say ECOWAS lacks consistency in its response. In Gabon and Guinea-Bissau, the bloc was less assertive, and it has watched some other leaders stay in office via constitutional changes.

“You can make the argument that Tinubu needed to show some strength in preserving democracy, but this now speaks to ECOWAS’ double standard,” said Cheta Nwanze, a partner at the Lagos-based SBM Intelligence geopolitical consultancy firm.

Despite a history of coups following its independence from France in 1960, Benin has enjoyed relative calm in the past two decades. The country is set to elect a new president in April, because Talon is set to leave office after a decade in power.

The victim, identified as Agnes Obetta, was among a group of mourners kidnapped while returning from a burial ceremony.

Her death comes in the wake of a Nigerian Army operation on Friday, December 5, which led to the rescue of 14 abducted persons from Orokam Forest in Benue State, a location that borders Udenu LGA.

Seven of those rescued were residents of Ezimo, while others included victims abducted in different locations, among them two individuals from neighbouring Umuosigide.

According to a family source, Mrs Obetta died shortly after ransom was paid to secure her freedom. The source said the victims had just been released when gunshots erupted not far from the hideout, forcing them to flee in panic.

“When they later regrouped to begin the journey home, she was nowhere to be found,” the source said.

Her son and some villagers launched a search the following morning and found her unconscious in the bush. She was rushed to a hospital in Orokam, but complications prompted a referral to another facility in Obollo-Afor. Her blood pressure was reportedly extremely high, and despite efforts by medical staff, she passed away.

It was also gathered that the captives endured harsh conditions and were poorly fed throughout their ordeal.

A political leader in Udenu LGA, Hillary Onah, has called for a full account of what transpired during the operation. He claimed that Mrs Obetta’s first son was still with the kidnappers as they counted the ransom when the gunfire began, allegedly from a security team attempting a rescue.

Onah said the kidnappers escaped with the ransom amid the chaos, while the victims scattered into the bush. He insisted that the community deserves clarity on the circumstances that led to the tragedy.

The 33-page document, unveiled by the US administration last week, suggests Europe is facing “civilisational erasure” and does not cast Russia as a threat to the US.

Combatting foreign influence, ending mass migration, and rejecting the EU’s perceived practice of “censorship” are mentioned as other priorities in the report.

Several EU officials and analysts had pushed back on the strategy, questioning its focus on freedom of expression and likening it to language used by the Kremlin.

“The adjustments we’re seeing… are largely consistent with our vision,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in an interview published by Russia’s state news agency TASS on Sunday.

“We consider this a positive step,” he said, adding that Moscow would continue to analyse the document before drawing strong conclusions.

The strategy adopts a softer language towards Russia, which EU officials worry could weaken its response to Moscow in ending the war.

In the document, the EU is blamed for blocking US efforts to end the conflict and says that the US must “re-establish strategic stability to Russia” which would “stabilise European economies”.

It appears to endorse efforts to influence policy on the continent, noting that US policy should prioritise “resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations”.

The new report also calls for the restoration of “Western identity”, and claims that Europe will be “unrecognisable in 20 years or less” and its economic issues are “eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilisational erasure”.

“It is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies,” the document states.

In stark contrast, the document celebrates the influence of “patriotic European parties” and says “America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit”.

As the EU engages in ongoing talks with the Trump administration to set out a peace deal in Ukraine, some officials emphasised their lasting relationship with the US, while raising “questions” over the document.

“The US will remain our most important ally in the [Nato] alliance. This alliance, however, is focused on addressing security policy issues,” German Foreign Minister Wadephul said on Friday.

“I believe questions of freedom of expression or the organisation of our free societies do not belong [in the strategy], in any case at least when it comes to Germany,” he added.

In a social media post addressed to his “American friends”, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that “Europe is your closest ally, not your problem” and noted their “common enemies”.

“This is the only reasonable strategy of our common security. Unless something has changed.”

Meanwhile, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt wrote that the document “places itself to the right of the extreme right”.

The US has been growing closer to the far-right AfD party in Germany, which has been classified as extreme right by German intelligence.

Promoting an “America First” message, the strategy says the US intends to target alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, considering possible military action in Venezuela.

The US also calls on an increased defence spending from Japan, South Korea, Australia and Taiwan.

Democrats in Congress warned that the document could shatter US foreign relations.

Representative Jason Crow of Colorado, who sits on House committees overseeing intelligence and the armed forces, called the strategy “catastrophic to America’s standing in the world”.

New York Representative Gregory Meeks said it “discards decades of value-based, US leadership.

This was after the neighbouring country came under sudden attack from coup plotters at dawn on Sunday.

In a statement issued by his Special Adviser, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu praised the military for answering Benin’s urgent call for help and acting quickly to protect constitutional order in the 35-year-old democracy.

Acting on two separate requests from the Government of Benin, President Tinubu ordered Nigerian Air Force fighter jets into Beninoise airspace to take control and help dislodge the coup plotters.

The armed group had seized the National TV station and regrouped at a military camp as they attempted to topple President Patrice Talon.

Benin’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a Note Verbal, appealed for immediate Nigerian air support “in view of the urgency and seriousness of the situation and to safeguard the constitutional order, protect national institutions and ensure the security of the population.”

A second request asked Nigeria to deploy more air assets for surveillance and rapid intervention, under Benin-led coordination.

The Benin authorities also sought Nigerian ground forces “strictly for missions approved by the Beninese Command authority in support of the protection of constitutional institutions and the containment of armed groups.”

According to Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, all requests from Benin were executed without delay.

He confirmed that Nigerian ground forces were already deployed in the country.

“Ours is to comply with the order of the Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces, President Tinubu,” he said.

The crisis in Benin erupted when soldiers led by Colonel Pascal Tigri announced a coup, seized national broadcasting, and declared the suspension of all democratic institutions.

Hours later, loyal government forces — with Nigeria’s support — retook control of the National TV station and moved to flush out the coup plotters.

Following the restoration of democratic and constitutional order, President Tinubu applauded the Nigerian military for its role as a stabilising force in the region.

“Today, the Nigerian armed forces stood gallantly as a defender and protector of constitutional order in the Republic of Benin on the invitation of the government,” he said.

He stressed that the intervention was in line with ECOWAS protocols.

“Our armed forces acted within the ambit of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.

“They have helped stabilise a neighbouring country and have made us proud of their commitment to sustaining our democratic values and ideals since 1999. Nigeria stands firmly with the government and people of the Republic of Benin.”

The statement, signed by Bayo Onanuga, affirmed Nigeria’s readiness to stand by democratic institutions across the region in times of instability.

The Commission explained that the decision is grounded in Article 25(e) of the 1999 Protocol on Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security, which empowers the regional body to intervene when constitutional order is threatened.

The Chair of the ECOWAS Authority has therefore activated the standby arrangement to support Benin during the crisis.

Under the new directive, the regional force will draw troops from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. These forces are to work alongside the Government and the Republican Army of Benin to preserve constitutional rule and safeguard the country’s territorial integrity.

The deployment comes against the backdrop of rising tension in Benin, where soldiers reportedly seized key state installations in what appears to be a coup d’état.

ECOWAS had earlier condemned the development and called for the immediate restoration of democratic governance.

The blaze is suspected to have broken out after a cylinder exploded in the kitchen area of the club in Arpora village around midnight on Saturday local time, CNN affiliate News18 reported.

Fourteen of the victims are believed to have been staff, and the nationalities of the tourists are not yet confirmed, police told the English-language Indian news channel.

Seven people are being treated for injuries, including one person with 60% burns, it added

Goa, a small state on India’s west coast known for its beaches and Portuguese heritage, attracts hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists and millions of domestic tourists every year.

“Today is a very painful day for all of us in Goa,” the state’s Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said Sunday morning in a post on X.

Videos on social media showed fire trucks and ambulances lining up to help the injured.

Goa’s Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on X that the injured were taken to Goa Medical College and Hospital, and are receiving “the best possible medical care,” with teams working through the night.

Some of the victims succumbed to burn injuries and others died due to suffocation, News18 reported.

“In this moment of profound grief, we stand firmly with the affected families, assuring them of our unwavering support in every possible way,” Rane added.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the fire was “deeply saddening” and pledged that his office would offer compensation of up to 200,000 rupees ($2,200) to each family of those killed and 50,000 rupees ($556) to the injured.

“My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones,” he said on X.

“May the injured recover at the earliest.”

An inquiry has been ordered to “examine the exact cause of the fire and whether fire safety norms and building rules were followed,” Sawant said.

Early reports suggest the venue lacked the mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC) and violated fire regulations, the Director of Fire and Emergency Services Nitin Raiker told News18 on Sunday.

“Fire services were rushed towards the spot immediately,” Raiker told the channel.

“In half an hour we extinguished the fire. NOC was not given, fire norms were not followed by the club.”

“The army solemnly commits to give the Beninese people the hope of a truly new era, where fraternity, justice and work prevail,” said a statement read by one of the soldiers who was flanked by half a dozen others, several wearing helmets.

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“The constitution is suspended. All institutions are dissolved (and) political party activities suspended until further notice.”

A government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The announcement came as Benin was preparing for a presidential election in April that would mark the end of the tenure of incumbent Patrice Talon, in power since 2016.

Benin’s ruling coalition had nominated Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni to be its candidate, positioning a man seen as a key architect of its economic policies to pursue the administration’s current reform agenda if elected.

Talon’s decision to step down after two terms was a rare move in the West and Central Africa region where democratic norms are increasingly under pressure.

A coup last month in Guinea-Bissau was the ninth in the region since 2020.

The two pilots on board successfully ejected before the crash and were reported safe.

No casualties were recorded, and no houses or other properties were affected by the incident.

A source, who spoke to Channels Television on phone, said that the crash occurred at about 4:10 p.m on Saturday near Karabonde town.

The Nigerian Air Force in a statement by its Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, detailed how it the incident happened.

NAF said the aircraft had an emergency shortly after take-off.

It said the development prompted the “pilots to act swiftly and with remarkable composure.

“They expertly manoeuvred the aircraft away from populated areas before executing a safe ejection. The crew is currently undergoing routine medical evaluation,” the NAF statement read in part.

Meanwhile, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, has praised the pilots for the “courage, discipline and sound judgement which prevented loss of life”.

NAF commended “the exceptional bravery and professionalism of its Alpha Jet pilots who safely ejected following an in-flight emergency during a post-inspection functional check flight today, 6 December 2025, at Nigerian Air Force Base Kainji”.

Air Marshal Aneke has directed the immediate constitution of a Board of Inquiry to investigate the incident.

The Nigerian Air Force reassured Nigerians of its commitment to stringent safety standards and operational excellence.

NAF said it remained dedicated to safeguarding its personnel while protecting the lives and property of citizens in line with its constitutional mandate.

“The adoption of this bill is part of reforms … to have a justice that responds to the deep aspirations of our people,” Minister of Justice Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said in a Facebook post late Thursday.

The death penalty was abolished in the country in 2018.

The bill has to be adopted by parliament and reviewed by the courts before becoming law.

Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, called the move a “serious setback for human rights in Burkina Faso,” and alarming “in the context of the ongoing crackdown on political opponents, human rights activists and journalists in Burkina Faso.”

Since taking power in a 2022 coup, the West African country’s military leaders have launched sweeping reforms, including postponing elections that were expected to restore civilian rule and dissolving the country’s independent electoral commission.

Burkina Faso has increasingly silenced critical media outlets in recent years. It suspended the BBC and Voice of America radio stations for their coverage of a mass killing of civilians carried out by the country’s armed forces, as well as arrested three prominent journalists earlier this year.

The country is one of several West African nations where the military has taken over in recent years, capitalising on widespread discontent with previous democratically elected governments over security issues. The military government has been accused of human rights abuses and the detention of journalists critical of the government.

The landlocked nation of 23 million people is among the countries struggling with a security crisis in the arid Sahel region south of the Sahara in recent years. It has been shaken by violence from extremist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

Forty-year-old Oluwaseun Adekoya, also known by aliases including “Ace G.,” “Legendary,” “Santa” and “Sammy LaBanco,” was sentenced on Monday in Albany, New York, following his conviction earlier this year on charges of bank fraud conspiracy, money-laundering conspiracy and nine counts of aggravated identity theft.

His conviction followed a three-week trial that detailed how he coordinated a sophisticated web of criminal activity from his luxury apartment in New Jersey.

According to evidence presented in court, Adekoya used publicly available records to identify individuals with high-value home-equity credit lines at credit unions across the United States.

He then acquired their Social Security numbers, account information and other personal data through encrypted messaging platforms, including Telegram.

This information was passed to a nationwide network of managers and operatives equipped with fake driver’s licences to impersonate victims and withdraw funds from their accounts.

Prosecutors said Adekoya insulated himself from detection by using multiple burner phones, encrypted communications and bank accounts opened in other people’s names to launder his share of the proceeds.

He also reinvested some of the stolen money into the criminal enterprise by purchasing travel tickets, forged documents and rental cars for accomplices.

Acting United States Attorney John Sarcone described Adekoya as a “flagrant serial offender” who had used the privilege of permanent residency “to steal the identities of innocent Americans so he could live lavishly … without an ounce of remorse.”

He added that the sentence ensured Adekoya “deserves every last day” of the two decades he will serve.

The investigation began in May 2022 after Broadview Federal Credit Union in Albany detected suspicious transactions and alerted the FBI. The inquiry exposed Adekoya as the ringleader of an operation that spanned several states and involved at least 13 other conspirators, all of whom pleaded guilty before his trial.

FBI agents arrested Adekoya in December 2023, recovering numerous burner phones, designer items, luxury watches, a 51,000-dollar engagement ring, and 26,000 dollars in a bank account linked to money laundering. These assets have since been forfeited.

US District Judge Mae D’Agostino, who handed down the sentence, noted Adekoya’s long history of identity theft and fraud offences stretching back to 2008.

In addition to his prison term, he must serve five years of supervised release, pay more than $2.2 million in restitution, and face removal from the United States after completing his sentence.

His co-conspirators received sentences ranging from time served to 11 years’ imprisonment. They included individuals from New York, Virginia, Wisconsin and Alabama who played roles in impersonation, logistics, money movement and document procurement.

The case involved extensive cooperation from FBI field offices across the United States and multiple state and local law enforcement agencies.

The US Attorney’s Office said the sentence brings an end to nearly two decades of criminal activity that exploited financial institutions and ordinary citizens across the country.

The President touched down on Saturday, December 5, and is scheduled to deliver opening remarks on the theme, “Education as Justice in Times of Crisis.”

He will also contribute to a high-level panel discussion on “Economic Empowerment in Africa: Pathway to Inclusive Prosperity,” where he is expected to articulate Africa’s strategic opportunities for sustainable and inclusive growth.

Beyond the Forum’s plenary sessions, President Mahama will hold bilateral talks with the Emir of Qatar to deepen cooperation between the two nations.

He travelled to Doha aboard a Qatar Airways Executive Jet provided by the State of Qatar and is expected to conclude his engagements and depart on Sunday.

Ato Forson beats all to lead NDC flagbearership race – Global…

On his first day in office in January, President Donald Trump signed an order to end birthright citizenship for those born to parents who are in the country illegally, but the move was blocked by multiple lower courts.

No date has been set yet for the Supreme Court arguments, and a ruling is months away.

Whatever the court decides could have major implications for Trump’s immigration crackdown and for what it means to be an American citizen.

For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution has established the principle that anyone born in the country is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to diplomats and foreign military forces.

The language of the amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”

Trump’s executive order seeks to deny citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on temporary visas. It is part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to reform the nation’s immigration system and combat what they have called “significant threats to national security and public safety”.

The administration has argued the 14th Amendment clause “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means the amendment excludes children of people who are not in the country permanently or lawfully.

Cecillia Wang, national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the plaintiffs in the case, told the BBC’s news partner CBS that no president can change the 14th Amendment’s fundamental promise of citizenship.

“For over 150 years, it has been the law and our national tradition that everyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen from birth,” Ms Wang said in a statement.

“We look forward to putting this issue to rest once and for all in the Supreme Court this term,” she added.

The US is one of about 30 countries – mostly in the Americas – that grant automatic citizenship to anyone born within their borders.

After legal challenges were brought to Trump’s executive order, several federal court judges ruled that it violated the Constitution, while two federal circuit courts of appeals upheld injunctions blocking the order from going into effect.

Trump then went to the Supreme Court to fight the injunctions. In a win for Trump, the court ruled in June that the injunctions issued by the lower courts exceeded their authority, though it did not address the issue of birthright citizenship itself.

The 14th Amendment was passed in the wake of the US Civil War in order to settle the question of the citizenship of freed, American-born former slaves.

US Solicitor General D John Sauer has argued that the amendment was adopted “to confer citizenship on the newly freed slaves and their children, not on the children of aliens temporarily visiting the United States or of illegal aliens”.

He has said it’s a “mistaken view” that birth on US soil confers citizenship and has argued that that understanding has had “destructive consequences”.

About 250,000 babies were born to unauthorised immigrant parents in the US in 2016 – a 36% decrease from a peak in 2007, according to The Pew Research Center.

By 2022, the latest year that data is available, there were 1.2 million US citizens born to unauthorised immigrant parents, Pew found.

A study published in May by the thinktank Migration Policy Institute and Pennsylvania State University’s Population Research Institute suggested that repealing birthright citizenship could increase the size of the unauthorized population in the US by an additional 2.7 million by 2045 and by 5.4 million by 2075.