The Most Reverend Cherry Vann, who is also Bishop of Monmouth, became both the UK’s first female Archbishop as well as the first openly gay Archbishop in the world, in July.

Speaking ahead of delivering her first Christmas message as Archbishop, she said she had been hurt by attacks over her sexuality, but added those with different opinions should not be forbidden from expressing their views.

It follows the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Gafcon) describing her appointment as “another painful nail in the coffin of Anglican orthodoxy”.

Speaking to BBC Wales, the Archbishop said: “There are still patches all over the place where people continue to struggle with women in leadership and I have to respect that.

“The Church in Wales is working hard to welcome LGBT+ people, but also I respect that there are people in the Church in Wales who find that really difficult.

“Some, sadly, have felt the need to leave and I take that very seriously”.
Archbishop Vann was elected by her fellow bishops with a two-thirds majority, following the retirement of her predecessor, Andrew John, in the summer.

He retired after issues with safeguarding, excessive drinking and church members overstepping sexual boundaries came to light at Bangor Cathedral.

Archbishop Vann said the vast majority of people had been supportive about her election, but added others had been “quite hostile”.

“It can be very hurtful”, she said.

“It’s hard to hear some of the things that people say, but I think it’s important that there is the space for them to say that.

“I don’t want people to feel shut down or silenced just because I hold a different view.

“But it does nevertheless hurt because it feels like an attack on who I am and who God has made me to be.

“We have to find a way as a Church to respect one another’s views and find a commonality in our faith in Christ, despite our differences”.

Archbishop Vann said that despite the widespread interest in her election because of her sex and gender, they were not the most important things to her.

“Other people find it fascinating”, she said.

“I had a lot of people contact me rejoicing at my election and saying how much hope and strength they get from the fact that there is now a woman in the role – and a civilly partnered woman at that.

“I’ve had the opposite as well. That’s just life”.

In her Christmas message, the Archbishop said she had chosen a passage from the Gospel of John about finding light in the darkness, a popular choice at carol services.

“It’s really about how the coming of Jesus into the world is the light in the darkness – and there’s plenty of darkness around in the world at the moment”, she said.

“Our message as Christians is that Jesus comes into all that difficulty and despair and brings the light of hope and love and joy, because of who he is”.

After a turbulent year for the Church in Wales, Archbishop Vann said she was very conscious of her responsibility to fix the issues that led to her predecessor’s departure.

Asked whether her time as Archbishop should be judged against her ability to change the culture within the Church, she said it presented a significant challenge.

“I think there is a big cultural issue in the Church”, she said.

“Anybody who has tried to change the culture in an organisation will tell you it takes a long time.

“This is a big thing and I guess that there will still be work to do when I retire.

“(We need) to take a greater care for those who have been damaged by the Church, of which sadly there are many.

“But I am hopeful that we are already making changes.

“There are many people who are determined to make a difference and ensure that the Church is a place where, when things go wrong, they are dealt with properly”.

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Mario Rodriguez, a model who landed a minor role in Perry’s 2016 movie Boo! A Madea Halloween alleges in a new lawsuit that Perry sexually assaulted him and made unwanted sexual advances while promising him roles. Rodriguez is seeking $77 million in damages.

Rodriguez is being represented by attorney Jonathan J. Delshad, who also represented Derek Dixon, another actor who made similar allegations against Perry, 56, earlier this year.

Alex Spiro, an attorney for Perry, says in a statement on December 26, “Having recently failed in another matter against Mr. Perry, the very same lawyer has now made yet another demand from more than a decade ago, which will also be a failed money grab.” However, Delshad says Dixon’s claims “are alive and well, and none of them have failed; they were just moved to a different court,” as the case is relocated from California to Georgia.

In the lawsuit obtained by PEOPLE, Rodriguez claims that in 2015 he was approached by a trainer while at a Los Angeles gym who said Perry wanted to meet him. Rodriguez said Perry soon spoke to him over the phone and offered him a small role in the Madea Halloween film. He went on to play “Frat Guy #10” in the movie.

The complaint alleges multiple instances when Perry would invite Rodriguez over to his home under the guise of discussing future work projects, only to make sexual advances while drinking. In November 2018, Perry allegedly “grabbed [Rodriguez’s] penis,” and Rodriguez repeatedly told Mr. Perry to stop, and Rodriguez had to “physically struggle to get away.”

Perry allegedly would tell Rodriguez to “let it happen” and “If you were to just be with me, I would take care of you….” Rodriguez’s lawsuit claims that after two incidents, Perry allegedly apologized, handed him $5,000, and sent him away.”

At a final alleged encounter in April 2019, “More than ever before, it was clear that Mr. Perry would do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, to whomever he wanted, no matter how many times he was rejected.”

The lawsuit claims Perry would “randomly reach out to” Rodriguez through 2024, and “when Perry became aware that Rodriguez was going to file this action, Perry once again reached out to Rodriguez by text,” telling him he “did so much to help Rodriguez” and he “was feeling betrayed.”

In a Dec. 13 Instagram video, Rodriguez spoke about feeling “scared and ashamed,” explaining why he hadn’t previously come forward, though he did not mention Perry by name in the post, just a “powerful director “that everybody knows.”

“I stayed quiet for much too long. And I just want to say I’m really sorry, man. Because if I had spoken up sooner, I could’ve saved somebody that this probably happened to after me,” he says at one point to his nearly 1 million followers in the clip. “I just want to say sorry for that, whoever that may be. It could’ve stopped with me if I had said something… But I’m speaking up now.”

Dixon, who starred on Perry’s TV series The Oval, filed a $260 million lawsuit against Perry in June, alleging sexual harassment, assault, and retaliation, which the filmmaker denies.

In September, one of Perry’s lawyers, Matthew Boyd, claimed Dixon is “an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam.” He added at the time, “Tyler will not be shaken down, and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”

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The military government is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which sparked widespread opposition and spiralled into a civil war.

Observers say the junta, with China’s support, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating stalemate.

More than 200 people have been charged for disrupting or opposing the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty.

Polling began on Sunday after reports of explosions in at least two regions of Myanmar.

Three people were taken to hospital following a rocket attack on an uninhabited house in the Mandalay region in the early hours of Sunday, the chief minister of the region confirmed to the BBC. One of those people is in a serious condition.

Separately, more than ten houses were damaged in the Myawaddy township, near the border with Thailand, following a series of explosions late on Saturday.

A local resident told the BBC that a child was killed in the attack, and three people were taken to hospital in an emergency condition.

Voters have told the BBC that the election feels more “disciplined and systematic” than those previously.

“The experience of voting has changed a lot,” said Ma Su ZarChi, who lives in the Mandalay region.

“Before I voted, I was afraid. Now that I have voted, I feel relieved. I cast my ballot as someone who has tried their best for the country.”

First-time voter Ei Pyay Phyo Maung, 22, told the BBC she was casting her ballot because she believed that voting is “the responsibility of every citizen”.

“My hope is for the lower classes – right now, the prices of goods are skyrocketing, and I want to support someone who can bring them down for those struggling the most,” she said.

“I want a president who provides equally for all people.”

The Burmese junta has rejected criticism of the polls, maintaining that it aims to “return [the country] to a multi-party democratic system”.

After casting his vote at a highly fortified polling station in the capital, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing told the BBC that the election would be free and fair.

“I am the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, a civil servant. I can’t just say that I want to be president,” he said, stressing that there are three phases of the election.

Earlier this week, he warned that those who refuse to vote are rejecting “progress toward democracy”.

Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures convicted under the law against disrupting polls, which was enacted in July.

They were each handed a seven-year jail term after criticising a film promoting the elections, state media reported.

“There are no conditions for the exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly,” the United Nations’ top human rights official, Volker Türk, said.

Civilians are “being coerced from all sides”, Mr Türk said in a statement on Tuesday, noting that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats asking people to boycott the polls.

The military has been fighting on several fronts, against both armed resistance groups who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own militias. It lost control of large parts of the country in a series of major setbacks, but clawed back territory this year following relentless airstrikes enabled by support from China and Russia.

The civil war has killed thousands of people, displaced millions more, destroyed the economy and left a humanitarian vacuum. A devastating earthquake in March and international funding cuts have made the situation far worse.

All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge logistical challenge for holding an election.

Voting is set to take place in three phases over the next month in 265 of the country’s 330 townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Results are expected around the end of January.

There is not expected to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it difficult to forecast a possible turnout.

Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and independent candidates will contest only at the state or regional levels.

Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League of Democracy, which scored landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and many of the party’s key leaders have been jailed under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while others are in exile.

“By splitting the vote into phases, the authorities can adjust tactics if the results in the first phase do not go their way,” Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts told the Myanmar Now news agency.

Ral Uk Thang, a resident in the western Chin state, believes civilians “don’t want the election”.

“The military does not know how to govern our country. They only work for the benefit of their high-ranking leaders.

“When Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s party was in power, we experienced a bit of democracy. But now all we do is cry and shed tears,” the 80-year-old told the BBC.

Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has called for political dialogue to precede any election.

Ministers say the DRC has not made the changes required under the toughening up of the UK’s asylum rules announced in November.

Fast-track visa processes will no longer apply to people from the country, while the Home Office said VIPs and politicians would no longer get preferential treatment when coming to the UK.

Meanwhile, the Home Office said Angola and Namibia had agreed to step up efforts to repatriate their citizens, after being threatened with sanctions alongside the DRC.

A government source said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood would not hesitate to ban visas for other countries refusing to take citizens back.

The Home Office said Angola and Namibia agreeing to improve their processes marked the “first delivery success from last month’s asylum reforms”.

The government had warned it would stop granting visas to people from Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo if their governments did not rapidly improve co-operation on removals.

A Home Office source said the agreements could see thousands of people removed and deported.

Under the government’s changes to the UK’s asylum system, refugee status will become temporary, guaranteed housing support for asylum seekers will end and new capped “safe and legal routes” into the UK will be created.

Announcing the changes last month, Mahmood had warned visa penalties would be applied to countries that failed to co-operate with the returns policies, including an “emergency brake” on visas for countries with high asylum claims until they take back citizens in the UK illegally.

The Home Office had said that returns from the DRC, Angola and Namibia were being frustrated – with paperwork not being processed or people being required to sign their own documents – giving them an effective veto.

It had warned that the three countries faced penalties for their “unacceptably poor and obstructive returns processes”.

It said there had been some engagement by the DRC but “unless co-operation rapidly improves” further measures could be imposed, including the possibility of a complete visa ban on people from the country coming to the UK.

Home Secretary Mahmood said: “We expect countries to play by the rules. If one of their citizens has no right to be here, they must take them back.

“I thank Angola and Namibia and welcome their co-operation. Now is the time for the Democratic Republic of Congo to do the right thing. Take your citizens back or lose the privilege of entering our country.”

Zelensky made the comments en route to Florida, where he will meet US President Donald Trump on Sunday to discuss a new 20-point peace plan agreed by American and Ukrainian envoys.

The 10-hour missile and drone barrage directed at Ukraine’s capital killed two people and left 32 injured, local authorities said.

Damage to energy infrastructure left 40% of residential buildings in Kyiv and nearby districts without heating, according to Ukraine’s minister for development, Oleksiy Kuleba.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said long-range precision weapons were used to target energy facilities, which it claimed were being used “in the interests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex”.

Writing on Telegram, Zelensky said that Russia directed almost 500 drones and 40 missiles towards Kyiv, targeting energy and civilian infrastructure.

Pictures showed gaping holes in apartment buildings and homes on fire following the strikes.

The apartment block of BBC journalist Anastasiya Gribanova was struck, leaving some homes on the higher levels of the high-rise building in flames. Gribanova, who was in the building’s elevator at the time, was unharmed.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said that 68 people were evacuated from a retirement home in the eastern Darnytskyi district.

“Russian representatives are having long conversations, but in reality the Daggers [missiles] and Shaheds [drones] are speaking for them,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want to end the war.

“This sick activity can only be responded to with really strong steps. America has this opportunity, Europe has this opportunity, many of our partners have this opportunity,” he wrote, urging allies to show strength against Russian aggression.

The attack saw Poland, which shares a 530km-long (320 miles) border with western Ukraine, ready its fighter jets, ground-based air defence systems and radar reconnaissance.

Later on Saturday morning, it concluded that there had been no violation of the country’s airspace.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed almost 200 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions, including eight over Moscow.

Zelensky briefly met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday, ahead of his Florida meeting with Trump.

Speaking in Nova Scotia, Zelensky said the latest bombardment of Kyiv was “Russia’s answer [to] our peace efforts and this really shows that Putin doesn’t want peace”.

Carney pledged $2.5bn CAD (£1.35bn) in economic assistance to Ukraine, but agreed that “lasting peace” would require “a willing Russia”.

Zelensky then took a call with European leaders to discuss diplomatic “priorities” ahead of his meeting with Trump, adding that “strong positions are needed” to move forward with the plan.

Security guarantees and territorial concessions for Ukraine are likely to return to the table, issues on which Russia has previously been unwilling to compromise.

Also on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a command and control centre overseeing Moscow’s war, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

Wearing army fatigues, Putin said if Kyiv did not want to resolve the conflict peacefully, Russia would accomplish its objectives militarily, according to comments in state media.

The new 20-point draft is a revised version of an earlier 28-point plan, which was drafted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, but widely seen as being too favourable to Russia.

The Ukrainian president has voiced optimism around the new draft, describing it as “a foundational document on ending the war”, but Trump warned that Zelensky “doesn’t have anything until I approve it” in an interview with Politico.

The draft reportedly includes security guarantees from the US, NATO, and European allies for a coordinated military response if Russia were to invade Ukraine again.

Control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas has been a sticking point in talks so far, but now Zelensky has said a “free economic zone” could be an option.

Trump told Politico he expected to see the new draft on Sunday.

“I think it’s going to go good with him. I think it’s going to go good with [Vladimir] Putin,” Trump said in the interview, adding that he expects to speak with Russia’s president “soon”.

The incident was caused by a crash between two trucks, sparking a chain reaction that set at least 10 vehicles on fire, local police said.

A 77-year-old woman from Tokyo was killed, and another body was discovered in the driver’s seat of a burnt-out truck. Five people were seriously injured and 21 suffered minor injuries, police said.

There was a heavy snow warning in place at the time of the crash. Police believe icy road surfaces likely caused the trucks to skid.

The crash happened on the Kan-etsu Expressway in Minakami, Gunma prefecture, about 160km (100 miles) north-west of Tokyo, at about 19:30 local time (10:30 GMT) on 26 December.

It took about 7.5 hours to put out the fire, police said.

Following the incident, a section of the highway was closed, with a long line of vehicles, many charred beyond recognition, stuck in the outbound lane. Work is under way to tow them away.

A man in his 60s, whose vehicle was involved in the accident, told local media outlet NHK he heard a loud explosion from the far end of the pile-up and saw fire during the crash. The blaze then spread to other vehicles, he said.

He said he was evacuated to a nearby toll gate with about 50 other people and spent the night in the hallway there.

Nexco, which operates the road, said checks were needed to see if the surface was damaged by the fire.

The company is warning travellers not to use the highway.

Adverts for gym and diet plans pop up in your socials and back-to-work chat turns to what everyone is cutting out, taking up or finally getting right in January.

Yet most New Year’s resolutions don’t last. Many of us will have abandoned our goals by mid-January.

But this year can be different. We’ve asked some experts for their tips on how to make – and keep – your New Year’s resolutions.

1. Be realistic

Will 2026 be the year you’ll “lose weight”, “change career” or “move house”?

Beware – these are not actionable plans, they’re pressure statements, warns Dr Claire Kaye, a former GP and confidence coach.

Resolutions often fail because they are unclear, unrealistic and too broad, she says.

She advises writing down what’s working in your life, what’s draining you or no longer fits, and where are you running on autopilot.

“When you understand what you want more of, not just what you want to escape, change becomes far more sustainable,” she says.

Write down your goals focusing on “direction and experience rather than a fixed point”.

She suggests “Lose weight” can be reframed as: “I want to feel more energised and comfortable in my body, and understand what helps me feel that way.”

Instead of “change career”, it could be: “I want to explore what work gives me energy and meaning, and identify one small step towards more of that.”

2. Don’t use these two words

Another thing to avoid when writing down your goals is fixed language like “always” or “never”, says psychologist Kimberley Wilson.

It creates an all-or-nothing approach that is extremely hard to stick to.

Promising yourself “I’ll always go for a run on a Wednesday” or “I’m never drinking again” just sets you up for a fall.

“A classic example is around diet or exercise and people think that if they mess up one day then the whole thing is pointless,” she tells BBC’s What’s Up Doc podcast.

She says people can develop tunnel vision, judging a single choice in isolation, when what’s needed is a wider perspective that puts one moment into the context of many.

Dr Kaye says goals should be written with flexible phrasing such as “I want to experiment with”, “I want to create more space for” or “I’m learning what works for me when”.

3. Plan for relapse

You’ve been so good for weeks then one missed run, one takeaway, one late night and suddenly your winning streak is over and you feel defeated.

The reason why some resolutions fail is because “people make plans for their best selves”, says Wilson.

“They are not prepared for being up late or having a hard day at work and at that point they don’t have a plan to put into practice,” she says.

Wilson says it’s important to accept relapse as part of the process – it doesn’t mean you’ve failed as persistence matters more than perfection.

Dr Kaye says it’s important to remember “the goal isn’t to be perfect, it’s to avoid turning one moment into a full abandonment of the plan”.

If you slip up, “the most helpful response is curiosity rather than criticism” and instead of waiting for the following week or next month to start again, you should treat every day as a reset.

4. Stack your habits

One way to help your New Year’s resolutions succeed is a technique known as “habit stacking” where you link a new behaviour to something that is already part of your daily routine, says career coach Emma Jefferys.

“So for example, after I brush my teeth, I’ll do ten push-ups. After I pour my wine, I’ll write for ten minutes. After I put my kids to bed, I’ll stretch,” she says.

“You’re not adding more to your plate, you’re weaving the new behaviour into the architecture of what you already do.”

Rather than relying on motivation alone, Jefferys says curating your environment for success can also make a big difference.

“So, if you want to read more, then keep the book on your pillow so you have to move it before bed,” she says.

5. Make it positive

If your New Year’s resolution is to save more or budget better, experts say it’s more likely to stick if it’s tied to something positive.

Tom Francis, head of personal finance at Octopus Money, says “having a clear and exciting goal whether that’s a holiday or an emergency fund makes saving feel purposeful rather than restrictive”.

He also says it’s important to not try and change too much as that’s rarely sustainable.

“Pick just two or three clear priorities – for example, saving £1,200 towards a dream holiday might feel overwhelming, but £100 a month feels achievable,” he says.

If you have an unexpected expense it’s ok to slow down, he says.

“Reducing a monthly saving from £100 to £20 for example would still mean you are moving forward and what matters most is keeping the habit alive.”

In a court filing for an expedited appeal, the rap mogul’s attorney argued that he was improperly sentenced, and that the conduct that resulted in his conviction was not criminal in nature.

Attorney Alexandra Shapiro called Combs’ 50-month prison sentence “unlawful, unconstitutional, and a perversion of justice”.

She asked an appeals court to order that Combs be resentenced, should the panel choose not to throw out his conviction in its entirety.

The request is the latest attempt by his team to reduce his sentence or throw out his conviction.

The Southern District of New York, which prosecuted Combs, declined to comment on the request to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Combs’ lawyers had previously said they would appeal his sentence and conviction.

Federal prosecutors in New York accused Combs of using his money, power, and the threat of violence to coerce women into unwanted sexual encounters.

During a high-profile trial this spring, the jury heard from two of Combs’ ex-girlfriends, Cassie Ventura and a woman who testified as “Jane Doe”. They said Combs abused them and forced them to participate in so-called “freak-offs” with male escorts.

The jury found Combs not guilty of the two most serious charges: racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. They convicted him of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

In September, after his conviction, Combs asked Judge Arun Subramanian to consider an acquittal or new trial, citing objections over the way an anti-prostitution statute known as the Mann Act was used to prosecute Combs. That bid was not successful.

Ahead of his sentencing, Combs’ attorneys argued he should receive a brief sentence that would essentially amount to time served, a request that would have paved the way for a swift release. Prosecutors, however, asked the judge to send Combs to prison for at least 11 years.

US District Judge Arun Subramanian ultimately sentenced Combs to more than four years in prison. He said he considered Combs’ contributions to society and testimonials from family and friends, but “a history of good works can’t wash away your record”.

Combs’ appeal argues that Judge Subramanian did not properly follow sentencing guidelines when sending him to 50-months in prison.

It argues the judge “flouted” new guidelines and improperly considered conduct for which Combs had been acquitted when formulating his punishment. The filing argues the judge “acted as a thirteenth juror” in the case and calls the sentence “draconian”.

Before Judge Subramanian issued his sentence, Combs apologized to Ms Ventura and “Jane.”

“My actions were disgusting, shameful, and sick,” Combs said. “I got lost in excess, I got lost in my ego.”

Combs is also facing dozens of pending civil lawsuits, which accuse him of sexual assault, rape and sexual exploitation.

Many of the lawsuits allege that the rapper used his fame and power to silence accusers through threats. Some detail allegations that the rapper – or those who worked for him – drugged people at parties before alleged assaults.

Representatives for Mr Combs have repeatedly said he “never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone – man or woman, adult or minor”.

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He called for an end to conflicts around the world during his Urbi et Orbi address, which the pontiff traditionally delivers on Christmas Day to worshippers gathered in Vatican City.

Speaking about Ukraine, the Pope said: “May the clamour of weapons cease, and may the parties involved, with the support and commitment of the international community, find the courage to engage in sincere, direct and respectful dialogue.”

His plea comes as US-led negotiations on a deal to end the fighting continue.

The US has sought to put together an agreement acceptable to both sides, but direct talks between Russia and Ukraine have not taken place during this latest round of diplomatic efforts.

Pope Leo also decried turmoil and conflict plaguing other parts of the world, including Thailand and Cambodia, where deadly border clashes have flared up despite a ceasefire in July.

He asked that the South East Asian nations’ “ancient friendship” be restored and “to work towards reconciliation and peace”.

During an earlier Christmas Day sermon in St Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo lamented the conditions of homeless people worldwide and the damage caused by conflicts.

“Fragile is the flesh of defenceless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,” he said.

He said the story of Jesus’ birth showed that God had “pitched his fragile tent” among the people of the world. “How, then,” he asked, turning his attention to the conditions of Palestinians, “can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?”

Gaza has been devastated by Israeli bombardment in a two-year war, triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

Winter storms have compounded the plight of the territory’s 2.1m population, nearly all of whom have been displaced and whose homes have been damaged or destroyed.

Aid agencies have called for Israel to allow more tents and urgently needed supplies into Gaza.

COGAT, the Israeli military body which controls Gaza’s border crossings, has dismissed claims of deliberate aid restrictions, saying almost 310,000 tents and tarpaulins had been delivered since the start of the ceasefire in October.

“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” the president wrote on Truth Social.

“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” he went on. “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.”

“Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper. May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues,” the president concluded.

CNN said it has reached out to the White House for additional comment.

Trump has focused for the last several months on the plight of Christians in Nigeria, including calling in November on his secretary of defence to “prepare for possible action” and warning the US would enter Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” to protect the Christian population of Africa’s most populous country.

In October 2025, the European Union began rolling out its Entry/Exit System (EES). This new digital border-management tool records biometric data and the entry and exit dates of non-EU nationals travelling in and out of the Schengen area.

Once fully implemented in April 2026, the system will replace manual passport stamping with digital screening, making the process more efficient and secure – and marking a significant shift in how some travellers cross European borders.

The change is part of a broader global trend. Countries like Australia, Japan and Canada already use biometric data at border crossings, while the United States has announced plans to expand similar systems.

As digital processing becomes the norm, it could quietly spell the end to a time-honoured travel ritual: collecting passport stamps.

“Versions of passport stamps go all the way back to the Middle Ages or Renaissance,” said Patrick Bixby, a professor at Arizona State University and author of License to Travel: A Cultural History of the Passport. “[A wax seal] would be put on letters of conduct by sovereigns in Europe. That’s kind of the beginning, at least as far as I’m concerned.”

While travel documents – and stamps of some kind – have existed for centuries, it wasn’t until the early 20th Century that modern passports began to take shape.

After World War One, the League of Nations helped formalise passport standards as borders became more tightly regulated.

By the 1950s, the more modern tradition of receiving passport stamps had become markers of mobility and status as the world entered the “golden age” of travel, when flights became more accessible to the general public.

“[It was] really only after World War Two and the resumption of international travel [that] the stamps begin to take on the kind of sentimental value that they have now,” said Bixby.

With the possibility of stamps disappearing, reactions among travellers are mixed.

“I’ll genuinely miss passport stamps,” says Hristina Nabosnyi, who lives in London. “For me, they’ve always been more than just proof of entry – they’re little memory markers of places visited and countries I travelled to.”

New York-based writer Elle Bulado agrees. “Losing passport stamps feels bittersweet. Although I recognise the need for quicker and more effective processes, receiving a stamp has always felt like a little acknowledgement,” she said. “It’s evidence that you crossed a border and arrived somewhere you could only dream of. I will miss that custom if stamps vanish.”

Others are more pragmatic. Jorge Salas-Guevara, president and founder the tour company New Paths Expeditions, is excited about how much time the new digitised process could save. “I spend about 250 to 300 days a year on the road, crossing borders constantly, so for people like me this change is a relief.”

Though some travellers will miss the nostalgia of collecting passport stamps, many have plans to mark their travels in other ways instead, such as collecting fridge magnets or other souvenirs.

Still, for Bixby, there will always be something special about having a tangible record of your travels. “This is [really] a bigger question about analogue versus digital,” he said. “There’s something about having [a document] that was with you when you were there. [It creates] a kind of aura around the physical object that dissipates when everything becomes digitised.”

Speaking on Friday via his X handle, Moore said the strikes, conducted in coordination with the Nigerian government, marked “just the first step to ending the slaughter of Christians and the security crisis affecting all Nigerians.”

“President Trump has been clear that the killing of Christians in Nigeria must end.

“As I stated at the outset: Do not test President Trump‘s resolve in this matter,” the congressman added.

The comments came after reports that US forces, under President Donald Trump’s direction, carried out airstrikes against ISIS-linked terrorist elements in North West Nigeria. In a separate post, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington acted with Nigeria’s cooperation.

“The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end. The Department of War is always ready…Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation,” Hegseth wrote.

The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the strikes were part of structured security cooperation with international partners to combat terrorism and violent extremism.

Moore recently concluded a fact-finding mission in Nigeria to investigate alleged attacks on Christian communities, describing the experience as deeply disturbing.

Leading a five-member congressional delegation, he visited IDPs, survivors of terrorist attacks, Christian leaders, and traditional rulers in Benue State.

The team also met with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Attorney General, Lateef Fagbemi.

Speaking on Fox News, Moore recounted harrowing cases, including a woman who lost five children while pregnant, and another who lost her husband, two daughters, and her unborn child, describing the violence as deliberate targeting of Christians.

“This is one of the most dangerous states in Nigeria. They are trying to erase Christians in Benue and across Nigeria from their ancestral homeland,” Moore said.

He confirmed that President Trump tasked him and House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole to submit a report with recommendations by the end of the month, following Nigeria’s designation as a “Country of Particular Concern” over alleged Christian killings.

Police launched a manhunt for the 12 unidentified gunmen who had opened fire at patrons at around 01:00 local time (23:00 GMT Saturday) in the Bekkersdal establishment, near Johannesburg.

On Wednesday, provincial deputy commissioner of police, Major General Fred Kekana, said nine of the arrested suspects are Lesotho nationals, while one is from Mozambique.

Another suspect, believed to be a South African mineworker, was also detained.

Murders in South Africa – which has one of the highest rates in the world – are often the result of arguments, robberies and gang violence.

While the attack appeared “unprovoked” at the time, preliminary investigations now appear to suggest a motive linked to illegal mining turf wars.

During the attack, gunmen continued to shoot as people fled the tavern, killing two as well as a taxi driver who had dropped off a passenger nearby.

Upon making the arrests, several unlicensed firearms including an AK-47 rifle, were found in the suspects’ possession.

There are about 3m legally held firearms in South Africa and at least the same number of unlicensed weapons, according to statistics cited by Gideon Joubert from the South African Gunowners’ Association,

Although 2025 has seen a decline in reported mass shootings, there has been a significant increase in incidents where four or more people are either killed or injured since 2020, Claire Taylor, a researcher at campaign group Gun Free South Africa, told the BBC.

Among the most common locations for these attacks are licensed taverns or illegal drinking spots, known locally as shebeens.

Sunday’s shooting occurred just two weeks after another attack at the Saulsville Hostel in the capital Pretoria, where eleven people including a three-year-old child were killed.

Nahum Daso told local media that another 35 people were injured in the blast in the Gamboru market of Maiduguri, the state capital, during evening prayers.

Unverified footage on social media appears to show the aftermath of the explosion, with people standing in a market area with dust particles in the air.

No group has admitted carrying out the attack, but militants have previously targeted mosques and crowded places in the area with suicide attacks and improvised explosive devices (IED).

Maiduguri has been central to an insurgency by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province.

Military operations by Boko Haram to create an Islamic caliphate in Borno state began in 2009.

Security measures against the group have failed to prevent sporadic attacks against civilians in north-east Nigeria.

Spot gold rose 0.1% to $4,492.51 per ounce by 0359 GMT, after touching a record high of $4,525.19 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for February delivery climbed 0.3% to a record high of $4,520.60.

Silver gained 1.2% to $72.27 an ounce, after hitting an all-time peak of $72.70 earlier, while platinum jumped 3.3% to $2,351.05 after rising to a historic high of $2,377.50.

Palladium climbed almost 2% to $1,897.11, its highest level in three years.

“Precious metals have become more of a speculative narrative around the idea that, with de-globalisation, you need an asset that can act as a neutral go-between, without sovereign risk, particularly as tensions between the U.S. and China persist,” said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.

Thin year-end liquidity exaggerated recent price moves, but the broader theme was likely to endure, with gold targeting $5,000 over the next six to twelve months and silver potentially pushing toward $80 as markets respond to key psychological levels, Spivak added.

Gold has surged more than 70% this year, its biggest annual gain since 1979, driven by safe-haven demand, expectations of U.S. rate cuts, robust central-bank buying, de-dollarisation trends and ETF inflows, with traders pricing in two rate cuts next year.

Silver has jumped more than 150% over the same period, outpacing gold on strong investment demand, its inclusion on the U.S. critical minerals list and momentum buying.

Gold and silver have “been hitting the accelerator pedal this week” with fresh record highs, reflecting their appeal as stores of value amid expectations of lower U.S. rates and lingering global debt, said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

Platinum and palladium, primarily used in automotive catalytic converters to reduce emissions, have surged this year on tight mine supply, tariff uncertainty, and a rotation from gold investment demand, with platinum up about 160% and palladium gaining more than 100% year to date.

“What we’re seeing in platinum and palladium is largely catch-up,” Spivak said, adding that the thin nature of those markets leaves them vulnerable to sharp swings, even as they broadly track gold, once liquidity returns.

Two traffic police officers saw a “suspicious individual” near a police car on the city’s Yeletskaya Street, and when they approached the suspect to detain him, an explosive device was detonated, Russia’s Investigative Committee has said.

The two police officers died from their injuries, along with another individual who was standing nearby.

The blast took place close to the location where a senior Russian general was killed in a car bombing in the capital on Monday.

Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov died after an explosive device – which had been planted under a car – was detonated.

“These radical activists and weaponised NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states – in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, suggested that a “witch hunt” was taking place.

The State Department described Breton as the “mastermind” of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation on social media firms.

However, it has angered some US conservatives who see it as seeking to censor right-wing opinions. Brussels denies this.

Breton has clashed with Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and owner of X, over obligations to follow EU rules.

The European Commission recently fined X €120m (£105m) over its blue tick badges – the first fine under the DSA. It said the platform’s blue tick system was “deceptive” because the firm was not “meaningfully verifying users”.

In response, Musk’s site blocked the Commission from making adverts on its platform.

Reacting to the visa ban, Breton posted on X: “To our American friends: Censorship isn’t where you think it is.”

Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was also listed.

US Undersecretary of State Sarah B Rogers accused the GDI of using US taxpayer money “to exhort censorship and blacklisting of American speech and press”.

A GDI spokesperson told the BBC that “the visa sanctions announced today are an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship”.

“The Trump Administration is, once again, using the full weight of the federal government to intimidate, censor, and silence voices they disagree with. Their actions today are immoral, unlawful, and un-American.”

Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that fights online hate and misinformation, was also handed a ban.

Rogers called Mr Ahmed a “key collaborator with the Biden Administration’s effort to weaponize the government against US citizens”.

The BBC has reached out to the CCDH for comment.

Also subject to bans were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, a German organisation that the State Department said helped enforce the DSA.

In a statement to the BBC, the two CEOs called it an “act of repression by a government that is increasingly disregarding the rule of law and trying to silence its critics by any means necessary”.

“We will not be intimidated by a government that uses accusations of censorship to silence those who stand up for human rights and freedom of expression,” they added.

Rubio said that steps had been taken to impose visa restrictions on “agents of the global censorship-industrial complex who, as a result, will be generally barred from entering the United States”.

“President Trump has been clear that his America First foreign policy rejects violations of American sovereignty. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting American speech is no exception,” he added.

Sophie Hunt, 34, from Northampton, had multi-organ failure and died after she went into cardiac arrest three times on 9 March 2022, two days after having a Brazilian butt-lift (BBL) and a tummy tuck.

Her family told the inquest into her death at Northampton Coroner’s Court that they were concerned she had not been fit for the surgery, which took place at the private Nisantasi Hospital in Istanbul.

“If she hadn’t had the surgery, she would be alive still,” her sister Aimee Hunt told the BBC.

“They still haven’t stated what the complications were. It’s not really an answer. No one can really tell,” she added.

She added that the family “want more answers” over Ms Hunt’s death.

The inquest was told Ms Hunt was taken by ambulance to the Avrupa Safak Hospital in Istanbul, which has a specialist cardiac intensive care unit, where she later died.

In a statement read to the court, Sandra Hunt, Ms Hunt’s mother, said her daughter lost consciousness after the surgery and had swelling in her hands.

Sandra said paperwork from the hospital showed “some of her ECG (electrocardiogram) readings indicate an abnormal heartbeat”, which she has been told was not healthy.

She added: “We believe she was not fit for the surgery.”

She also expressed concerns there may have been a complication from the BBL procedure if too much fat was injected or removed from Ms Hunt’s body.

The coroner, Sophie Lomas, told the inquest that because Ms Hunt died in another country, she “does not have the jurisdiction to fully investigate what happened in that hospital”.

Ms Lomas added: “I have to reach the findings on the information I do have.”

“Sophie Hunt died due to complications of a surgical procedure carried out whilst abroad,” she concluded.

Lost consciousness

A report provided by Turkey’s Council of Forensic Medicine said: “The individual had no known medical illnesses.”

It added she had an abdominoplasty, also known as a tummy tuck, and liposuction on 7 March 2022, before she experienced “sudden loss of consciousness”.

The Turkish investigation found Ms Hunt died “as a result of abdominoplasty and liposuction procedures and the complications that developed thereafter”.

A post-mortem examination was carried out by Professor Kevin West when Ms Hunt’s body was repatriated to the UK.

The coroner said Prof West concluded she died due to complications of the surgery, but he said the “exact cause of cardiopulmonary arrest is unclear”.

Aimee Hunt said she had been worried about her sister travelling abroad due to the risks, as “it seemed like a big surgery to have”.

“Sophie was outgoing, funny, fun to be around, caring, kind and a brilliant mum,” she added.

Gen Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad and four others were on board a Falcon 50 aircraft flying out of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Tuesday evening.

In a post on X, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the signal with the business jet was lost at 20:52 local time (17:52 GMT) – about 42 minutes after it took off from Ankara’s airport.

The Tripoli-bound jet had issued an emergency landing request before contact was lost. The aircraft’s wreckage was later found south-west of Ankara, and an investigation is now underway into what caused the crash.

In a later post on X, Yerlikaya wrote that police had spotted the debris near the village of Kesikkavak, in the Haymana district.

He said the “public will be informed of further developments”.

In Libya, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, the prime minister of the country’s internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU), said he had received news of the deaths of Gen Haddad and other senior Libyan military officials on board the jet.

The prime minister called it a “great loss” for the nation, saying Libya had “lost men who served their country with sincerity and dedication”.

Gen Haddad and his team had been in Turkey for talks aimed at further strengthening military and security co-operation between the two countries.

Turkey has played an increasingly dominant role in Libya after intervening in 2019 to prevent an army from the east of the country from driving out the internationally-recognised government in Tripoli, and has built close political, military and economic ties.

According to flight tracking website Flight Radar, the plane was last recorded at 15:01 local time (21:01 GMT) over Galveston Bay, near Scholes International Airport.

The aircraft was taking part in a medical mission on behalf of the Michou y Mau Foundation, which provides care to Mexican children with severe burns.

Mexico’s Secretariat of the Navy said one person remains missing and two others were rescued alive.

Video footage shared with AP news agency showed the wreckage of the plane in the water, with witnesses and police officers seen entering the water to search the debris.

Sky Decker, a local yacht captain, said he took two police officers to the site of the nearly submerged plane, before jumping in and finding a badly injured woman trapped.

He said: “I couldn’t believe. She had maybe three inches of air gap to breathe in.

“And there was jet fuel in there mixed with the water, fumes real bad. She was really fighting for her life.”

Earlier the Mexican Navy Secretariat said search and rescue operations were under way in co-ordination with the US Coast Guard.

Video taken near Scholes International Airport in Galveston showed rescuers including a dive team working in dense fog.

In a statement shared on X, the Michou y Mau Foundation sent “our deepest condolences to the families of the victims of this tragedy”.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., rejected arguments by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the fee conflicts with federal immigration law and will lead many companies, hospitals and other employers to cut jobs and the services they provide to the public.

“The parties’ vigorous debate over the ultimate wisdom of this political judgment is not within the province of the courts,” Howell wrote, opens new tab.

“So long as the actions dictated by the policy decision and articulated in the Proclamation fit within the confines of the law, the Proclamation must be upheld.”

Howell is an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Chamber’s executive vice president and chief counsel, Daryl Joseffer, said many small and medium-sized businesses will be unable to afford the fee.

“We are disappointed in the court’s decision and are considering further legal options to ensure that the H-1B visa program can operate as Congress intended,” Joseffer said in a statement.

The H-1B program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers with training in speciality fields. Technology companies in particular rely heavily on workers who receive H-1B visas. The program offers 65,000 visas annually, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees, approved for three to six years.

Trump’s order would sharply raise the cost of obtaining H-1B visas, which typically carried fees of about $2,000 to $5,000 depending on various factors.

The Chamber, in its lawsuit, says the new fee would force businesses that rely on the H-1B program to choose between dramatically increasing their labour costs or hiring fewer highly-skilled foreign workers.

A group of Democratic-led U.S. states and a coalition of employers, nonprofits and religious organisations have also filed lawsuits challenging the fee.

Trump, in an order imposing the fee, invoked his power under federal immigration law to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals that would be detrimental to U.S. interests.

Howell on Tuesday said Trump had adequately backed up his claim that the H-1B program was displacing U.S. workers, including by citing examples of companies that laid off thousands of Americans while simultaneously petitioning for H-1B visas.

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Jane Ansah’s visit will be in a private capacity, but the reported size of both her entourage and the overall cost of the trip has ignited fierce criticism. The details have been disputed by her office.

The row began after the circulation of an alleged leaked letter to the Malawi High Commission in London, signed by Secretary for Foreign Affairs Chauncy Simwaka, listing 15 individuals set to accompany Ansah.

In power since October, the vice-president’s government has pledged to manage the economy competently and has already announced a raft of austerity measures.

Malawian media have published further alleged details about the visit, reportedly from leaked documents saying it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

While the vice-president’s office has confirmed the trip, it has disputed the information in circulation about how much the state is spending.

“These documents did not originate from any government institution and do not reflect official records or approved government expenditures,” the vice-president’s press secretary Richard Mveriwa said in a statement.

“The Office of the Vice President remains committed to transparency, accountability, and the responsible use of public resources, and strongly condemns the deliberate spread of false information intended to mislead the public.”

The spokesperson did not, however, say anything about the number of people making the trip, said to include two accountants, four security personnel, three assistants to the vice-president, and other officials.

A Malawian human rights organisation, the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) said it finds the reported size of the delegation “deeply troubling, particularly given that the trip is explicitly described as private yet appears to be financed using public resources”.

Ansah was the running mate to President Peter Mutharika, who soundly beat incumbent Lazarus Chakwera in September’s election.

They promised a “return to proven leadership” that would manage the economy better than the Chakwera administration.

Among the announced cutbacks in government spending are a reduction of both domestic and international travel by senior government officials.

When he was sworn in, Mutharika promised to be prudent. He said his government would not be a “feast” for members of the administration and supporters.

The HRDC said the vice president’s UK trip, due to start on 26 December, directly contradicted the government’s own rhetoric on austerity and called it a “double standard”.

“While Malawians are continuously urged to tighten their belts, endure hardship and accept reduced public services in the name of fiscal discipline, senior political leaders appear to exempt themselves from these very principles,” the organisation said.

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The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo in Buffalo, New York, following an announcement by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, Michael DiGiacomo. Cole has since been turned over to the Department of Homeland Security.

According to court records outlined by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who handled the prosecution, the offence dates back to October 30, 2022.

Cole was said to have improperly accessed a Snapchat account belonging to an individual identified as the Victim and obtained nude photographs stored on the account.

Investigators said Cole subsequently contacted the Victim using a Google Voice telephone number and demanded a payment of $200. Prosecutors said he threatened that if the money was not paid, he would damage the Victim’s reputation by releasing the nude photographs to the Victim’s family and friends.

An initial payment of $200 was made via CashApp as instructed, but the Victim later cancelled the transaction. Despite this, the Victim later discovered that some of his Snapchat contacts had already received the nude photographs.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of the Special Agent in Charge, Philip Tejera.

U.S. authorities have not disclosed further details about immigration proceedings, but confirmed that Cole has been handed over to the Department of Homeland Security following the completion of his custodial sentence.

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The State Department declined to provide a list of the diplomats being recalled. A senior department official said on Monday the move was “a standard process in any administration”, but critics said that was not so.

“An ambassador is a personal representative of the president, and it is the president’s right to ensure that he has individuals in these countries who advance the America First agenda,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Nearly 30 senior diplomats were among those ordered back to Washington, people familiar with the matter said.

They were posted to smaller countries where the top U.S. representative has traditionally been from the Foreign Service, which is made up of career officials not aligned with a political party, the people said.

The recalled diplomats were encouraged to find new roles in the State Department, a second U.S. official said.

The American Foreign Service Association representing foreign service officers said it was working to confirm which members were recalled after some reported being notified by phone with no explanation – a process its spokesperson called “highly irregular.”

“Abrupt, unexplained recalls reflect the same pattern of institutional sabotage and politicization our survey data shows is already harming morale, effectiveness, and U.S. credibility abroad,” spokesperson Nikki Gamer said in an email.

The State Department declined to respond to Gamer’s comments.

Trump has sought to place loyalists in senior roles since starting his second term after encountering resistance during his first term advancing his foreign policy priorities within the U.S. national security establishment.

Jeanne Shaheen, ranking Democrat on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, assailed the Republican administration’s removal of the diplomats while about 80 ambassadorial posts remain vacant.

“President Trump is giving away U.S. leadership to China and Russia by removing qualified career Ambassadors who serve faithfully no matter who’s in power,” Shaheen posted on X. “This makes America less safe, less strong and less prosperous.”

“On a personal level, I don’t want the word ‘detty’ to be associated with anything Ghana… that’s something I’m not very comfortable with,” Kofi Okyere-Darko said.

“Detty”, West African Pidgin for “dirty”, is used to express unrestricted fun when it comes to seeing the year out.

The celebrations are thought to be a huge boost to Ghana’s economy. Last December, more than 125,000 international visitors, many of whom were diasporans, flocked to Ghana.

It was a notable increase over the number of people arriving in any other month, and the same held true for the three years before that.

Government branding avoids the term “Detty December” and instead pushes a tourism initiative named “December in Ghana,” Mr Okyere-Darko, who oversees his country’s relationship with its sizeable diaspora, told the BBC at the Ghana Diaspora Summit in the capital, Accra.

“The young people somehow prefer ‘Detty December’, but officially, that’s not the name,” he said.

“I don’t think December is what attracts people to Ghana. People started coming to Ghana a long time ago. I remember December in Ghana at the turn of the millennium, with initiatives like Akwaaba UK.

Mr Okyere-Darko responded positively to suggestions that the season could be rebranded in a way that still appeals to younger audiences, saying that December in Ghana could be shortened to the initials “D.I.G.. Let’s dig it!”

The phrase Detty December gained popularity roughly eight years ago, after Nigerian musician Mr Eazi launched his Detty Rave festival in Accra.

This December, festivals, parties and concerts have Accra teeming with diasporans and other tourists. They are mostly from the US and Europe, with ages ranging from early 20s and mid-40s, and are out socialising seven days a week.

US hip-hop legend Busta Rhymes performed in Accra as part of the Rhythm and Brunch concert on Saturday, while popular UK rapper Giggs is playing at the Afro Paradise festival on 31 December.

Local stars such as Samini – considered to be the “godfather” of Ghanaian dancehall – and Reggie Rockstone will also play at major events later this month.

Ghana in recent years has been promoting itself as a destination for people from the continent and the African diaspora to visit. In 2019, the government launched the Year of Return – an initiative encouraging those with African roots to invest in the country.

The influx of foreign visitors in December is seen as a positive by many, but some locals complain of price gouging, overcrowding and intense traffic during this period.

This year has proven that December in Ghana no longer revolves around non-stop partying.

Alongside the expected concerts and festivals, there is a growing calendar of investment seminars, networking sessions and cultural showcases, offering the diaspora routes into property, minerals, fashion and textiles.

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Nigeria’s federal government described the latest release as a “moment of triumph and relief”, after one of the country’s worst mass kidnappings.

More than 250 children and staff were abducted from St Mary’s Catholic school in Papiri on 21 November. Earlier this month about 100 of the children were released.

The authorities confirmed “the rescue of the remaining 130 children and staff” in a statement, saying “not a single pupil is left in captivity”.

Niger state police chief Adamu Abdullahi Elleman told the BBC that they were being “examined by security forces and will be taken to their school tomorrow [Monday] to reunite with their families”.

Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who is in charge of the school as the Catholic cleric who heads the region, also confirmed the development.

He said the local governor had informed him of the release of the remaining schoolchildren and teachers, and “asked me to come and receive them”.

Parents are in high spirits over the news of the release, Abdullahi Rofia, a local emergency worker in Papiri where the school is located, told the BBC. The parents are expected to gather at the school later in the day.

On Sunday, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said the total of freed students was now 230.

Since the kidnapping, the exact number of people taken and how many have remained in captivity has been unclear.

On 8 December, authorities secured the release of 99 children and one teacher, reportedly leaving at least 165 others with the kidnappers.

However, the Niger state police chief told the BBC that the 130 who have now been released account for all the remaining abductees, faulting the initial figures released by the school management.

It has not been formally made public how the government secured the latest release – or whether any ransom was paid.

The announcement by Onanuga included pictures of children smiling and waving. The students are expected to arrive in the Niger state capital, Minna, on Monday.

When the earlier release happened the governor of neighbouring Nasarawa state, Abdullahi Sule, told local media that the federal government had played a key role, adding that the behind-the-scenes efforts could not be disclosed for security reasons.

The Christian Association of Nigeria reported that 50 students managed to escape at the time of the kidnapping.

November’s abduction was the latest incident in a number of targeted attacks on schools and places of worship in north and central Nigeria.

The attack on St Mary’s was preceded by mass kidnappings just days earlier.

On 18 November, two people were killed and 38 abducted in an attack on the Christ Apostolic Church in Kwara state, and a day before that, two were killed and 25 Muslim students abducted from Government Girls’ Secondary School in Kebbi state.

All those taken in the Kwara and Kebbi attacks have since been freed.

It is not clear who is behind these kidnappings – most analysts believe they are carried out by criminal gangs seeking ransom payments.

On 9 December Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said his government would continue to work with Niger and other states “to secure our schools and make the learning environment safer and more conducive for our younger ones”.

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Russia’s Investigative Committee said Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov died on Monday morning after an explosive device planted under a car detonated.

Sarvarov, 56, was the head of the armed forces’ operational training department, the committee added.

It said one theory being investigated was that the bomb was planted with the involvement of Ukrainian intelligence services. Ukraine has not commented.

Investigators have been sent to the scene, in a car park near an apartment block in the south of Russia’s capital.

Images from the area show a badly damaged white car with the doors blown out, surrounded by other vehicles in a parking lot.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a number of military officials have been targeted in the Russian capital.

Gen Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow in April, while Gen Igor Kirillov died in December 2024 when a device hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely.

A Ukrainian source later told the BBC that Kirillov was killed by Ukraine’s security service, though this was never confirmed on the record. As a matter of policy, Ukraine never officially admits or claims responsibility for targeted attacks.

Musk’s 2018 pay package, once worth $56 billion, was restored by the Delaware Supreme Court on Friday, two years after a lower court struck down the compensation deal as “unfathomable.”

The Supreme Court said that a 2024 ruling that rescinded Musk’s pay package was improper and inequitable.

Earlier this week, Musk became the first person ever to surpass $600 billion in net worth on the heels of reports that his aerospace startup SpaceX was likely to go public.

In November, Tesla shareholders separately approved a $1 trillion pay plan for Musk, the largest corporate pay package in history, as investors endorsed his vision of morphing the EV maker into an AI and robotics juggernaut.

Musk’s fortune now exceeds that of Google co-founder Larry Page, the world’s second-richest person, by nearly $500 billion, according to Forbes’ billionaires list.

Musk’s second most valuable asset, his estimated 42% stake in SpaceX, is now worth $2 billion less than his Tesla holdings (at an estimated $336 billion), based on a private tender offer launched this month that valued Musk’s rocket maker at $800 billion, up from $400 billion in August.

Still, it could be SpaceX rather than Tesla that makes Musk the world’s first trillionaire, with the rocket maker said to be targeting an IPO in 2026 that could value the company at around $1.5 trillion.

Nigeria’s federal government described the latest release as a “moment of triumph and relief”, after one of the country’s worst mass kidnappings.

More than 250 children and staff were abducted from St Mary’s Catholic school in Papiri on 21 November. Earlier this month, about 100 of the children were released.

The authorities confirmed “the rescue of the remaining 130 children and staff” in a statement, saying “not a single pupil is left in captivity”.

Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said on Sunday the total of freed students was now 230.

Since the kidnapping, the exact number of people taken and how many have remained in captivity has been unclear.

It has not been formally made public how the government secured the latest release – or whether any ransom was paid.

The announcement by Onanuga included pictures of children smiling and waving. The students are expected to arrive in the Niger state capital, Minna, on Monday.

When the earlier release happened the governor of neighbouring Nasarawa state, Abdullahi Sule, told local media that the federal government had played a key role, adding that the behind-the-scenes efforts could not be disclosed for security reasons.

The Christian Association of Nigeria reported that 50 students managed to escape at the time of the kidnapping.

November’s abduction was the latest incident in a growing number of targeted attacks on schools and places of worship in north and central Nigeria.

The attack on St Mary’s in November was preceded by mass kidnappings just days earlier.

On 18 November, two people were killed and 38 abducted in an attack on the Christ Apostolic Church in Kwara state, and a day before that, two were killed, and 25 Muslim students were abducted from Government Girls’ Secondary School in Kebbi state.

All those taken in the Kwara and Kebbi attacks have since been freed.

It is not clear who is behind these kidnappings – most analysts believe they are carried out by criminal gangs seeking ransom payments.

On 9 December, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said his government would continue to work with Niger and other states “to secure our schools and make the learning environment safer and more conducive for our younger ones.

The US Central Command (Centcom) said fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery “struck more than 70 targets at multiple locations across central Syria”. Aircraft from Jordan were also involved.

It said the operation “employed more than 100 precision munitions” targeting known IS infrastructure and weapons sites.

President Donald Trump said “we are striking very strongly” against IS strongholds, following the 13 December IS ambush in the city of Palmyra in which two US soldiers and a US civilian interpreter were killed.

In a statement on X, Centcom, which directs American military operations in Europe, Africa and the Indo-Pacific, said Operation Hawkeye Strike was launched at 16:00 Eastern Time (21:00 GMT) on Friday.

Centcom commander Admiral Brad Cooper said that the US “will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists who seek to harm Americans and our partners across the region”.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation “is not the beginning of a war – it is a declaration of vengeance.

“If you target Americans – anywhere in the world – you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.

“Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue,” the US defence secretary added.

Posting on Truth Social, President Trump said the US “is inflicting very serious retaliation, just as I promised, on the murderous terrorists responsible”.

He said the Syrian government was “fully in support”.

Meanwhile, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OBHR) said IS positions near the cities of Raqqa and Deir ez Zor were targeted.

It said that a prominent IS leader and a number of fighters were killed.

IS has not publicly commented. The BBC was unable to verify the targets immediately.

Centcom earlier said that the deadly attack in Palmyra was carried out by an IS gunman, who was “engaged and killed”.

Another three US soldiers were injured in the ambush, with a Pentagon official saying that it happened “in an area where the Syrian president does not have control.”

At the same time, the SOHR said the attacker was a member of the Syrian security forces.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the identity of the gunman has not been released.

In 2019, a US-backed alliance of Syrian fighters announced IS had lost the last pocket of territory in Syria it controlled, but since then the jihadist group has carried out some attacks.

The United Nations says the group still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.

US troops have maintained a presence in Syria since 2015 to help train other forces as part of a campaign against IS.

Syria has recently joined an international coalition to combat IS and has pledged to co-operate with the US.

In November, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa – a former jihadist leader whose coalition forces toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2024 – met Trump at the White House, describing his visit as part of a “new era” for the two countries.

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.

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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