NEWS

Burkina Faso has dissolved all political parties and political formations and repealed the laws governing their operation. The decision was announced in a statement by the presidency’s communications directorate after junta leader Ibrahim Traoré presided over a meeting of the council of ministers. Minister of Territorial Administration and Mobility, Émile Zerbo, said the move was deliberate and far-reaching. He said the “great and important decision is part of the re-founding of the state.” According to the presidency, the proliferation of political parties in the country had resulted in political drift, encouraged divisions among citizens, and weakened the nation’s social fabric. The statement said the dissolution was aimed at preserving national unity, strengthening the coher...

South Africa has declared Israel’s top diplomat in the country “persona non grata” and ordered him to leave within 72 hours, the foreign ministry said on Friday, January 30, citing what it described as a “series of violations”. Relations between the two countries have already been severely strained, following South Africa’s decision in 2023 to approach the United Nations’ top court, arguing that Israel’s war on Gaza, an illegally occupied Palestinian territory, amounted to genocide. In a statement, the foreign ministry said the Israeli government had been formally informed that its charge d’affaires, Ariel Seidman, had been “declared persona non grata” and was “required to depart from the Republic within 72 hours”. “This decisive measure follows a series of unacceptable violations...

The Bauchi State Economic Council has approved the payment of monthly stipends to Imams and Pastors across the state. Governor Bala Mohammed presided over the council meeting on Friday, January 30, which was attended by senior officials from the finance and revenue sectors. Briefing journalists after the meeting, the Head of Civil Service, Barri. Mohammed Sani Umar, said the approval covers Imams of Juma’at mosques as well as clerics from different Christian denominations, stressing that the payments would be made without discrimination. “The council has approved the payment of monthly stipends to Imams of Juma’at mosques and Pastors of various Christian denominations across the state,” Umar said. “The payments will be implemented without discrimination.” He added that the gove...

Yoruba nation activist Sunday Adeyemo, widely known as Sunday Igboho, has revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu granted him permission to return to Nigeria after spending nearly five years in exile. Igboho returned to the country on Monday, having fled Nigeria in 2021 after he was declared wanted by the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari over allegations of illegally stockpiling arms and ammunition. On July 1, 2021, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), supported by military personnel, stormed Igboho’s residence in Ibadan in an attempt to arrest him. During the raid, two of his associates were killed, while 13 others were taken into custody. In a statement released on Friday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Igboho said his return was made po...

Achievers University, Owo, in Ondo State, has expelled no fewer than 15 female students over acts of indiscipline bordering on the production of s3x videos. The affected students were reportedly found to have violated the institution’s rules and regulations by engaging in the recording and sharing of inappropriate videos. The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Prof. Bode Ayorinde, disclosed this during the university’s matriculation ceremony held on Friday, January 30, 2026. Ayorinde warned students against behaviours that could jeopardise their academic future, stressing that the university operates a zero-tolerance policy on indiscipline. “You place your phone in front of you, dance nak3d and tag Achievers University—I will dismiss you. Social media should ...

An Abidjan court on Friday sentenced a Malian politician to three years in prison for insulting Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara. Mamadou Hawa Gassama, a member of junta-ruled Mali’s transitional parliament, referred to the long-standing Ivorian leader as an “enemy of Mali” during an interview with Malian media in September 2022. Diplomatic relations between Mali and Ivory Coast have been tense since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, which brought General Assimi Goita to power in Bamako. Ouattara has strongly opposed the coups which have shaken several countries in West Africa’s Sahel region in recent years.  Gassama was arrested after a stay in Ivory Coast in July and detained. He was prosecuted for “insulting” the head of state and “disseminating offensive expre...

U.S. President Donald Trump has sued the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department for $10 billion over the disclosure of his tax returns to the media in 2019 and 2020. The president sued alongside his two oldest sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and the Trump Organization. The complaint names the IRS and the Treasury Department as defendants. In a complaint filed in Miami federal ‍court, Trump, his adult sons, and his namesake company said the agencies failed to take “mandatory precautions” to prevent former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn from leaking their tax returns to “leftist media outlets”, including the New York Times and ProPublica. The plaintiffs said they suffered “significant and irreparable harm” to their reputations and financial interests, and ma...

The son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway has gone on trial on r@pe charges. Marius Borg Hoiby, Mette-Marit's 29-year-old son from a relationship before she married Crown Prince Haakon, has been charged with a total of 38 counts, some of which date back to 2018. He faces up to 16 years in prison if the Oslo district court finds him guilty. The trial, scheduled to last until March 19, is expected to attract intense media coverage. "When it comes to the Norwegian royal family, it is without a doubt the biggest scandal" in its 120-year history, Trond Noren Isaksen, a historian and expert on Norway's monarchy, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "There have been controversies surrounding the choice of spouses, about renovations of the palace and these kinds of thi...

French lawmakers on Wednesday, Jan. 28, unanimously approved a bill seeking to end the notion of "marital duty" following criticism from women's rights groups that it undermines s£xual consent and enables marital r@pe. The text – backed by more than 120 MPs in the lower house National Assembly – clarifies in the civil code that cohabitation does not create any obligation for spouses to have sexual relations. The cross-party bill will now have to go through the Senate upper chamber for approval. The French civil code lists four duties attached to marriage – fidelity, support, assistance and cohabitation – but it does not mention s£xual obligation.  However, older court rulings sometimes interpreted cohabitation as implying a "share...

South Africa’s major cinema chains have withdrawn a documentary on US First Lady Melania Trump just days before its scheduled release, with the local distributor citing “the current climate” as the reason. The documentary, titled Melania, was absent from the listings of Nu Metro and Ster Kinekor cinemas on Thursday, January 29, a day ahead of its planned international release on January 30. Local media reports indicated that the South African distributor, Filmfinity, had abruptly dropped the film. According to the distributor’s head of marketing, Thobashan Govindarajulu, the decision was taken due to the prevailing climate in the country, although no further clarification was provided. Attempts to obtain additional details from the company were unsuccessful. Nu Metro later confirm...