Foreign Affairs

IRANIANS MOURN AS PRESIDENT, EBRAHIM RAISI, IS BURIED Iranians are mourning the death of President Ebrahim Raisi who was killed in a helicopter crash along with his foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian in a mountainous and forested area in the country’s East Azerbaijan province amid dense fog. Six other people in the helicopter, including crew members, were also killed. The late …

CONGOLESE ARMY FOILS COUPLE ATTEMPT AGAINST PRESIDENT FELIX TSHISEKEDI Congo’s army said it had foiled a coup attempt early Sunday and arrested the perpetrators, including several foreigners, following attacks on the presidential palace and the residence of a close ally of Congo’s president that left three people dead in the capital, Kinshasa. At first, local media identified the armed men …

IRANIAN PRESIDENT, FOREIGN MINISTER, DIE IN HELICOPTER CRASH Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister have been declared dead after a helicopter crash in hilly terrain and freezing weather, an Iranian official said on Monday, after search teams discovered the wreckage. “President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash … unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead,” the official …

WHY BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION SHUNNED PRINCE HARRY, WIFE VISIT TO NIGERIA The British High Commission in Nigeria has failed to acknowledge the presence of Prince Harry. Harry and his wife, Meghan, arrived in the most populous black nation on earth, on Friday, and there have been different activities to welcome them. The couple was received by military authorities on Friday …

OBAMA’S WIFE MAY REPLACE BIDEN AS DEMOCRATS CANDIDATE IN US ELECTION Speculation is swirling within the Democratic Party that President Joe Biden may announce his decision not to seek re-election at the party’s convention in Chicago in August 2024, instead proposing Michelle Obama, the wife of former President Barack Obama, as his preferred candidate. The German publication Der Spiegel has …

NO MORE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN TOGO, PARLIAMENT TO CHOOSE PRESIDENT Togo’s President, Faure Gnassingbe, has signed a new constitution eliminating presidential elections, his office said late Monday, a move that opponents say will allow him to extend his family’s six-decade rule. Civil society groups in the West African nation have called for protests. Parliament will now choose the president. The …

POLITICIANS TRADE BLOWS IN CHURCH AT FUND RAISING A scheduled fund raising event has resulted in chaos after a presiding legislator’s conduct apparently irked opponents. The microphone he was using was snatched away from him, with a group of angry youths chasing off the podium, deeper down the auditorium. Teargas cannister was lobbed at the pulpit as tension escalated, sending …

THOUSANDS OF DOCTORS CONSIDERING LEAVING UK – GMC Factors driving thousands of doctors to consider leaving the UK have been revealed in new research published by the General Medical Council (GMC). The GMC had commissioned independent research into the reasons doctors may be considering, or have already made, a move abroad. The report, Identifying groups of migrating doctors, also makes …

US CRITICIZES ‘ARBITRARY ARRESTS’ OF GODWIN EMEFIELE, NNAMDI KANU The United States Government has criticized the arbitrary arrests of Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), by security personnel in Nigeria. In its ‘2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Nigeria,’ published Tuesday on …

APC SUPPORTERS ATTACKED, PREVENTED IGBO VOTERS FROM VOTING DURING 2023 ELECTION – US REPORT The United States Government has analysed how supporters of Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), attacked and prevented supporters of opposition parties, particularly Igbo people, from exercising their voting rights during the Lagos State governorship election in March 2023. In a report titled, ‘2023 …