Author: Salako Temitope

Former President, Donald Trump suffered a pair of legal setbacks on Thursday as Judges spurned his calls to dismiss criminal charges in an effort to overturn his 2020 loss in Georgia and keeping classified records after leaving office. Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Thursday rejected Trump’s argument that the case accusing him of illegally holding onto classified documents should be thrown out on the basis of his argument as they were his personal records rather than government properties. Trump had argued that his retention of highly sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office in…

South African 24-year-old defender and Olympian Luke Fleurs has been killed in a hijacking incident in Johannesburg, his employer, Kaizer Chiefs said on Thursday. The footballer was shot while waiting to be attended to at a gas station in the Honeydew suburb in Johannesburg, according to police. “Luke Fleurs tragically lost his life last night during a hijacking incident in Johannesburg. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this difficult time,” Kaizer Chiefs said in a statement. According to police spokesperson Mavela Masondo, the attackers fled with Fleur’s vehicle and police were investigating a case of…

Hamas official Osama Hamdan said on Thursday there has been no progress in Gaza ceasefire talks despite the Palestinian group showing flexibility. Hamdan said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was placing obstacles hindering both parties from reaching an agreement, and that he is “not interested” in releasing Israeli hostages. “The occupation government is still evading, and negotiations are stuck in a vicious circle”, Hamdan said at a press conference held in Beirut. Egyptian and Qatari efforts, backed by the United States, have so far failed to achieve a ceasefire. While Hamas wants any ceasefire agreement to secure an end to…

Tanzania’s central bank raised its key interest rate on Thursday to stay ahead of lingering inflationary pressure from global economic developments despite satisfactory local conditions, its governor said. The bank raised its key rate to 6.0% on Thursday from 5.5%. The Bank of Tanzania had announced a rate of 5.5% in January after announcing earlier that month it would start using a benchmark interest rate to signal its monetary policy direction. “The decision … is based on the macroeconomic forecast made in March … which requires an increase in the scope of monetary policy actions to contain the lingering inflationary pressures,”…

Zimbabwe, on Wednesday, declared a state of disaster over a devastating drought that’s sweeping across much of southern Africa, with the country’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa saying it needs $2 billion for humanitarian assistance. The declaration was widely expected following similar actions by neighboring Zambia and Malawi, where drought linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon has scorched crops, leaving millions of people in need of food assistance. “Due to the El Nino-induced drought … more than 80% of our country received below normal rainfall,” President Emmerson Mnangagwa said in a speech calling for international aid. The country’s top priority, he said, is “securing food…

As scheduled, a phone conversation between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold since the Israeli strikes on Monday killed the employees of the US-based charity World Central Kitchen. The bodies of six foreign staff of WCK — Australian, British, Polish and US-Canadian citizens — were repatriated from Gaza via Egypt on Wednesday, while the Palestinian employee was laid to rest in Gaza. Biden said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the attack which sparked strong condemnation worldwide including from a host of national leaders, the UN secretary-general and the pope. Biden and Netayahu were also expected…

Following the death of 144 people in a mass shooting and fire at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in an attack that was claimed by the Islamic State militant group, Russia has seen a significant jump in the number of people signing contracts to join the armed forces, the Defence Ministry disclosed Wednesday. In a statement credited to the Defence Ministry, more than 100,000 people have signed contracts with the military since the start of the year, including about 16,000 in the past 10 days alone. “During interviews conducted over the past week at selection points in Russian cities,…

The proposals by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg would give the Western alliance a more direct role in coordinating the supply of arms, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine as it fights Russia’s military presence, diplomats say. NATO foreign ministers met on Wednesday to discuss how to put military support for Ukraine on a long-term footing, including a proposal for a 100 billion euro ($107 billion) five-year fund and a plan seen as a way to “Trump-proof” aid for Kyiv. The plans will be discussed during a two-day meeting in Brussels that will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North…

“This is the biggest earthquake I have ever experienced,” said the woman who asked to be identified by her family name, Chan. Taiwan’s biggest earthquake in at least 25 years killed seven people on Wednesday, injuring more than 700, with 77 trapped in tunnels and collapsed buildings, authorities said, as rescuers used ladders to help some people descend to safety. The quake hit at a depth of 15.5 km (9.6 miles), just as people were headed for work and school, setting off a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines that was later lifted. Television broadcast images of buildings tilted at…

For the first time in nearly four years, Tesla posted a fall in quarterly deliveries and missed Wall Street estimates. The performance has been described as “ugly” as price cuts failed to stir up demand in a highly competitive market. The company’s shares fell 5.3% in early trading and were on track to lose about $30 billion in market value. The electric automaker’s deliveries fell 8.5% from a year ago. The last time it posted a sales fall was in the second quarter of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the automaker to shut down production. Although, Tesla’s market capitalization is…