Author: Opalim Lifted

At least 11 people were injured after a truck loaded with explosives detonated beside a police station in the Colombian city of Cucuta, near the Venezuelan border, just six days before the inauguration of President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella. According to AFP, the blast injured eight police officers and three civilians. Images from the scene showed the vehicle engulfed in flames, damaged buildings and emergency responders securing the area. “This was an atrocious, violent act… and what happened is regrettable,” George Quintero, security secretary for Norte de Santander department, told reporters. De la Espriella, a right-wing politician, is due to…

Italy has suspended its Schengen free-travel agreement with Spain after authorities said about 60,000 people crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city in North Africa. Antonio Tajani, Italy’s foreign minister, said the suspension was temporary and aimed at “safeguarding the security of our citizens and defending the European borders”. The move was announced on Friday, just as Spain said more than 48,000 migrants had returned to Morocco. The Schengen Agreement is a treaty that abolished internal border checks among participating European countries, including Spain and Italy. Citizens of Schengen countries can cross the internal borders of all member…

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he wants to forgive protesters who hurled insults at him during youth-led demonstrations sparked by anger over examination paper leaks. The protests, organised by the online Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, spread across New Delhi and other Indian cities, becoming one of the biggest challenges faced by Modi’s government in recent years. Some protesters were seen in widely shared videos making abusive remarks against the prime minister, prompting online backlash from Modi supporters and police complaints, local media reported. Speaking in a video posted on Instagram, Modi said some young protesters crossed the…

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group, has agreed to begin disarming under a ceasefire arrangement aimed at paving the way for a new civilian administration in Gaza. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced an agreement providing for Hamas’ “complete disarmament,” describing it as a major breakthrough towards establishing a new Palestinian-led government in the territory. Trump said the deal marked “a major milestone” in the implementation of his 20-point peace plan and would be carried out in carefully sequenced phases. He said Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza as the disarmament process progresses, while an international stabilisation force would work…

At least 18 migrants have died after thousands attempted to reach the Spanish exclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco, triggering a major humanitarian and border security crisis. Ceuta, an autonomous Spanish city on North Africa’s Mediterranean coast, has witnessed an unprecedented surge in migrant arrivals over the past 24 hours. A police source told AFP on Friday that it was impossible to determine how many people crossed overnight as thousands continued to pour into the enclave. “There was a steady stream of people all night long,” the source said, adding that although the flow slowed after dark, migrants “continued to…

The Federal Government has said it will soon publish a detailed breakdown of how savings from the removal of fuel subsidy have been spent, amid growing public concern over the impact of the reforms. Speaking at the African Emerging Markets Forum in Abuja, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said savings from the removal of fuel subsidies and foreign exchange market reforms had largely been absorbed by rising debt-servicing costs and increased government spending. According to Oyedele, fuel subsidies and what he described as an implicit foreign exchange subsidy previously cost Nigeria about five…

Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his recent remarks that hunger has always existed in Nigeria, arguing that such comments fail to reflect the severity of the economic hardship currently facing millions of citizens. Reacting in a statement on Friday, Obi acknowledged that hunger has long been a challenge in Nigeria but maintained that the current situation has deteriorated significantly under the present administration. According to him, while previous governments also grappled with food insecurity and poverty, the responsibility of any administration is to improve living conditions rather than explain…

Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk is available to return to playing immediately after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) partially upheld his appeal against a four-year ban for doping. The Ukraine international, 25, has not played a competitive match since November 2024, having been provisionally suspended by the Football Association the following month after returning an “adverse finding” for banned substance meldonium. He was subsequently given the maximum four-year ban by the FA but appealed against the decision to CAS, who have ruled Mudryk can return to competition “with immediate effect” after he accepted breaking anti-doping rules and agreed to…

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) says it will embark on a nationwide strike from August 10 if the federal government fails to address its demands. In a communiqué issued after its Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) held in Gombe, the association said the demands include the payment of salary and allowance arrears, as well as the resolution of welfare issues affecting doctors across federal health institutions. The communiqué was signed by Mohammad Suleiman, NARD president; Shuaibu Ibrahim, secretary-general; and Abdulmajid Yahya Ibrahim, publicity and social secretary, on Thursday. NARD said the decision was reached after its members reviewed the…

The Federal Government has announced plans to phase out subsidy payments in the power sector from 2027. Joseph Tegbe, the minister of power, announced the plan during a media interactive session on Friday, while speaking on the power sector debt. He said the subsidy will be gradually removed, but noted that Nigerians will not be deprived of any benefits. The minister also reiterated that there is no plan to increase tariffs in the immediate term. “We have the mandate of Mr. president to clear the legacy debt and come up with sustainable structures to make sure this doesn’t pile up…