France has become the first country in the world to explicitly include the right to abortion in its constitution.

Parliamentarians voted to revise the country’s 1958 constitution to enshrine women’s “guaranteed freedom” to abort.

The overwhelming 780-72 vote saw a standing ovation in the parliament in Versailles when the result was announced.

President Emmanuel Macron described the move as “French pride” that had sent a “universal message”.

However anti-abortion groups have strongly criticised the change, as has the Vatican.

Abortion has been legal in France since 1975, but polls show around 85% of the public supported amending the constitution to protect the right to end a pregnancy.

And while several other countries include reproductive rights in their constitutions – France is the first to explicitly state that an abortion will be guaranteed.

It becomes the 25th amendment to modern France’s founding document, and the first since 2008.

Following the vote, the Eiffel Tower in Paris was lit up in celebration, with the message: “My Body My Choice”.

Before the vote, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told parliament that the right to abortion remained “in danger” and “at the mercy of decision makers”.

“We’re sending a message to all women: your body belongs to you and no one can decide for you,” he added.

While resistance from right-wingers in parliament failed to materialise, President Macron has been accused of using the constitution for electoral ends.

Critics say the revision is not necessarily wrong in itself, but unnecessary, and accused the president of trying to use the cause to boost his left-wing credentials.

Since 1975 the law has been updated nine times – and on each occasion with the aim of extending access.

France’s constitutional council – the body that decides on the constitutionality of laws – has never raised a query.

In a 2001 ruling, the council based its approval of abortion on the notion of liberty enshrined in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man, which is technically part of the constitution.

So many jurists say abortion was already a constitutional right.

The constitutional change was prompted by recent developments in the US, where the right to abortion was removed by the Supreme Court in 2022. Individual states are now able to ban the procedure again, ending the right to an abortion for millions of women.

The move to enshrine abortion in the French constitution has been welcomed by many.

“This right (to abortion) has retreated in the United States. And so nothing authorised us to think that France was exempt from this risk,” said Laura Slimani, from the Fondation des Femmes rights group.

“There’s a lot of emotion, as a feminist activist, also as a woman,” she said.

But not all support it, with the Vatican repeating its opposition to abortion.

“There can be no ‘right’ to take a human life,” the Vatican institution said in a statement, echoing concerns already raised by French Catholic bishops.

It appealed to “all governments and all religious traditions to do their best so that, in this phase of history, the protection of life becomes an absolute priority”.

ALSO READ:

• French Senate backs enshrining right to abortion in constitution

• Why Macron hopes abortion rights are a political winner

The US Supreme Court has struck down efforts by individual states to disqualify Donald Trump from running for president using an anti-insurrection constitutional clause.

The unanimous ruling is specific to Colorado, but it also overrides challenges brought in other states.

Colorado had barred Mr Trump from its Republican primary, arguing he incited the 2021 Capitol riot.

The court ruled that only Congress, rather than the states, has that power.

The top court’s decision clears the way for Mr Trump to compete in the Colorado primary scheduled for Tuesday.

Mr Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination and looks likely to face a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden in November’s general election.

On Monday, the ex-president immediately claimed victory following the ruling, taking to his Truth Social media platform to claim a “big win for America”. The message was followed by a fundraising email sent to supporters of his campaign.

Speaking from his estate in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, soon afterwards, he said that the decision was “very well crafted” and will “go a long way towards bringing our country together, which it needs”.

“You can’t take someone out of a race because an opponent would like it that way,” Mr Trump added.

Colorado’s Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, said that she was disappointed by the ruling and that “Colorado should be able to bar oath-breaking insurrections from our ballot”.

Additionally, the watchdog group that brought the case in Colorado, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew), said in a statement that while the court “failed to meet the moment”, it is “still a win for democracy: Trump will go down in history as an insurrectionist”.

Maine and Illinois had followed Colorado in kicking Mr Trump off the ballot on similar grounds.

The efforts in both those states were put on hold while his challenge to the Colorado ruling was escalated to the Supreme Court.

“We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office,” the court’s opinion says. “But states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Sections 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency.”

The nine justices ruled that only Congress can enforce the 14th Amendment’s provisions against federal officials and candidates.

Part of the Civil War-era amendment – Section 3 – bars federal, state and military officials who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the US from holding office again.

Groups including Free Speech For People had argued that the attempt to delay the peaceful transfer of power on 6 January 2021 matched the definition of insurrection outlined in the amendment.

One of the court’s justices, Amy Coney Barrett, wrote separately that the fact that all nine justices agreed on the outcome of the case is “the message that Americans should take home”.

“The court has settled a politically charged issue in the volatile season of a presidential election,” Justice Barrett wrote. “Particularly in this circumstance, writings on the court should turn the national temperature down, not up.”

But the court’s three liberal justices argued that the ruling seeks to “decide novel constitutional questions to insulate this Court and [Trump] from future controversy” by announcing “that a disqualification for insurrection can occur only when Congress enacts a particular kind of legislation”.

“In doing so, the majority shuts the door on other potential means of enforcement,” they added.

Atiba Ellis, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, told the BBC that while the court’s concerns about Mr Trump’s exclusion from the ballot are “fair”, the ruling “may have far-reaching consequences”.

“It opens the door to constitutional interpretation matters that weren’t at issue in the case. The decision throws the problem to Congress at a time when partisan deadlock will guarantee inaction on this matter,” Mr Ellis added. “The decision effectively ensures that the question of the former president’s constitutional eligibility under Section 3 will not be resolved prior to the 2024 election.”

Another legal scholar, Albany Law School’s Ray Brescia, said the court’s decision prevents a situation in which there is a “patchwork of states with different processes”.

“If the court was to allow Colorado to proceed in this way, what’s to stop some rogue prosecutor in another state from saying that a candidate from a different party is not a viable candidate because they engaged in insurrection?” he said.

Republican voters in Colorado and 14 other states will vote on Tuesday in a marathon contest dubbed Super Tuesday.

The former president is widely expected to sweep the board and defeat his sole remaining opponent, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, in every battleground.

ALSO READ:

• Nikki Haley beats Donald Trump in Washington DC for first primary victory

• Trump’s legal defeat in Colorado may turn into political gold

Haiti‘s government declared a 72-hour state of emergency on Sunday after armed gangs stormed a major prison.

At least 12 people were killed and about 3,700 inmates escaped in the jailbreak.

Gang leaders are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whose whereabouts are unknown since he travelled to Kenya.

Gangs control around 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Gang violence has plagued Haiti for years.

A government statement said two prisons – one in Port-au-Prince and the other in nearby Croix des Bouquets – were stormed over the weekend.

It said the acts of “disobedience” were a threat to national security and said it was instituting an immediate night-time curfew in response, which started at 20:00 local time (01:00 GMT on Monday).

Haitian media reported that police stations were attacked, distracting authorities before the coordinated assault on the jails.

Speaking to the BBC from Haiti, Serge Dalexis from the International Rescue Committee said that many police stations were under gang control on Friday, with “many police killed over the weekend”.

Among those detained in Port-au-Prince were suspects charged in connection with the 2021 killing of President Jovenel Moïse.

Gang violence has further escalated since his assassination in 2021. Mr Moïse has not been replaced and presidential elections have not been held since 2016.

In the capital, gangs have erected barricades to prevent security forces from encroaching on their territory, while their strongholds in Port-au-Prince’s vast shantytowns are still largely on lockdown.

Schools and many businesses are closed, and there are reports of looting in some neighbourhoods.

People are scared and the streets are empty, Boby Sander from the humanitarian aid organisation Food for the Hungry told the BBC.

Since Friday, 15,000 people have been displaced from their homes and many are now staying in a school building in the centre of Port-au-Prince, Mr Sander said.

His organisation has only been able to provide them with hygiene kits to last a few days. “We don’t have adequate capacity to deal with the complexity of the need increasing,” he added.

The latest upsurge in violence began on Thursday, when the prime minister travelled to Nairobi to discuss sending a Kenya-led multinational security force to Haiti.

Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier (nicknamed Barbecue) then declared a co-ordinated attack to remove him.

“All of us, the armed groups in the provincial towns and the armed groups in the capital, are united,” said the former police officer, who is accused of being behind several massacres in Port-au-Prince.

Haiti’s police union had asked the military to help reinforce the capital’s main prison, but the compound was stormed late on Saturday.

On Sunday the doors of the prison were still open and there were no signs of officers, Reuters news agency reported. Three inmates who tried to flee lay dead in the courtyard, the report said.

A journalist for the AFP news agency who visited the prison saw around 10 bodies, some with signs of being shot.

One volunteer prison worker told the Reuters news agency that 99 prisoners – including former Colombian soldiers jailed over President Moïse’s murder – had chosen to remain in their cells for fear of being killed in crossfire.
Anger at the shocking levels of violence, on top of the political vacuum, have led to several demonstrations against the government, with protesters demanding the resignation of the prime minister.

Under a political deal, he was due to stand down by 7 February – but planned elections were not held and Prime Minister Henry remains in post.

Speaking to the BBC’s Newsday, Claude Joseph – who was serving as acting prime minister when President Moïse was assassinated and who is now head of the opposition party called Those Committed to Development – said Haiti was living through a “nightmare”.

“He [Ariel Henry] agreed to step down on 7 February. Now he decides to stay, despite the fact that there are huge protests throughout the country asking him to step down… now those criminals are using violent means to force him to step down.”

ALSO READ:

• Haiti violence: Gangs free 4,000 inmates in mass jailbreak

• Gunfire near Haiti airport disrupts flights for second day

A UN team has concluded there are “reasonable grounds to believe” sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, was committed during the Hamas attacks in Israel on 7 October.

They also said there was “convincing information” that hostages had been subjected to sexual violence.

The trip was led by Pramila Patten, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Hamas has denied its gunmen sexually assaulted women during the attacks.

“The mission team found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred in multiple locations during the 7 October attacks,” the UN report said.

These happened in at least three locations – the Nova music festival site and its surroundings, Road 232, and Kibbutz Re’im, it added.

On 7 October Hamas gunmen infiltrated southern Israel, where they killed about 1,200 people and took 253 others hostage.

Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which 30,500 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Reports of sexual violence carried out by Hamas – which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and others – began to emerge soon after 7 October and have accumulated steadily ever since.

The BBC has also seen and heard evidence of rape, sexual violence and mutilation of women.

In the report, the UN said it had “found clear and convincing information that sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment has been committed against hostages”.

It also said it “has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing against those still held in captivity”.

The UN team visited Israel between 29 January and 14 February.

The mission made up of Ms Patten and nine experts and was not investigative in nature, but designed to gather and verify allegations, the UN said.

It added that 33 meetings were held with Israeli representatives, and more than 5,000 photographic images were examined as well as 50 hours of video footage.

The report said that “despite concerted efforts to encourage” victims to come forward, the team was unable to interview any of them.

Some allegations of rape and sexual violence could not be verified or were “unfounded”, the report explained, including the graphically publicised case of a pregnant woman whose womb was reportedly torn open and her foetus stabbed.

It also said it had not been able to establish a discernible pattern of genital mutilation.

The UN team said it also received information about sexual violence against Palestinian men and women in detention settings, during house raids and at checkpoints after 7 October.

Israel has rejected similar allegations made previously by a panel of independent UN experts as “despicable and unfounded”.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has accused the UN of trying to “keep quiet the serious UN report”.

He criticised UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for not convening the Security Council to discuss the findings and in order to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that Mr Guterres “has fully supported” Ms Patten’s work in her visit to Israel.

“In no way, shape or form did the secretary-general do anything to keep the report ‘quiet.’ In fact, the report is being presented publicly today,” Mr Dujarric said.

ALSO READ:

• Israeli report says Hamas sexual violence ‘systematic and intentional’

• We are not representing Hamas – SA Foreign Minister

The United States government has imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, along with other senior officials, for corruption and human rights abuses.

On Monday the US government said leaders in Zimbabwe were siphoning off public resources for personal gain.

This move scraps the old executive sanction order introduced in 2003 and moves 11 individuals and three entities onto the global list – the Global Magnitsky sanctions program.

“These illicit activities support and contribute to a global criminal network of bribery, smuggling, and money laundering that impoverish communities in Zimbabwe, southern Africa, and other parts of the world,” a statement said.

The US also criticised the targeting of civil society and severe restrictions on political activity.

As well as President Mnangagwa, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga and businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei have also been sanctioned.

Mr Mnangaga’s wife, Auxillia Mnangagwa, was also hit with sanctions because she “facilitates her husband’s corrupt activities”.

The US government said the egregious behaviour of some of the most powerful people and companies in Zimbabwe matched the actions of the worst human rights abusers and corrupt actors in the world.

The US assured that “sanctions on theses individuals and entities do not represent sanctions on Zimbabwe or its public”.

The government of Zimbabwe has not commented on the latest allegations but has dismissed previous sanctions as part of a Western plot to bring about political change.

ALSO READ:

• ‘Life is hell’: Zimbabwe flood survivors lament loss of land, livelihoods

• Shock in Zimbabwe as Finance Minister named Africa’s best

Children are dying of starvation in northern Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief says.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency’s visits over the weekend to the Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals were the first since early October.

In a post on social media, he spoke of “grim findings”.

A lack of food resulted in the deaths of 10 children and “severe levels of malnutrition”, while hospital buildings have been destroyed, he wrote.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reported on Sunday that at least 15 children had died from malnutrition and dehydration at the Kamal Adwan hospital.

A 16th child died on Sunday at a hospital in the southern city of Rafah, the Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported on Monday.

Dr Tedros reported “severe levels of malnutrition, children dying of starvation, serious shortages of fuel, food and medical supplies, hospital buildings destroyed” in northern Gaza, where an estimated 300,000 people are living with little food or clean water.

“The lack of food resulted in the deaths of 10 children,” he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The visits were the WHO’s first in months “despite our efforts to gain more regular access to the north of Gaza”, he wrote.

“The situation at Al-Awda Hospital is particularly appalling, as one of the buildings is destroyed,” he added.

The UN warned last week that famine in Gaza was “almost inevitable”.

A senior UN aid official warned that at least 576,000 people across the Gaza Strip – one quarter of the population – faced catastrophic levels of food insecurity and one in six children under the age of two in the north were suffering from acute malnutrition.

And the regional director of the UN’s children’s agency, Unicef, said “the child deaths we feared are here, as malnutrition ravages the Gaza Strip”.

“These tragic and horrific deaths are man-made, predictable and entirely preventable,” Adele Khodr said in a statement on Sunday.

The Israeli military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign to destroy Hamas – which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK, US and others – after the group’s gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 back to Gaza as hostages.

More than 30,500 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.

ALSO READ:

• Israel-Gaza war: Kamala Harris urges more aid for starving Gazans

• Journalists call for foreign media access to Gaza in open letter

Nikki Haley has defeated Donald Trump in the Republican primary in Washington DC.

This is her first victory over the former President in the 2024 campaign to become the Republican presidential candidate.

She lost in South Carolina, her home state. But she is the first woman to win a Republican primary in US history.

Mr Trump however has a huge lead over Ms Haley and is likely to face Joe Biden in the November election.

The BBC’s US partner CBS reports that Ms Haley will receive all 19 Republican delegates who were up for grabs in Washington DC, giving her 43 delegates nationwide – well behind Mr Trump’s 247.

Ms Haley, a former US ambassador to the UN, won 62.9% of the vote, to Mr Trump’s 33.2%.

It is seen as a largely symbolic win, as the capital is a heavily Democrat-leaning jurisdiction, with only about 23,000 registered Republicans in the city.

Local party officials said 2,035 Republicans participated in the primary, the Washington Post reported.

Ms Haley’s campaign national spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said: “It’s not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos”.

The Trump Campaign, however, was quick to dismiss Ms Haley’s win, calling her the “Queen of the Swamp”.

“While Nikki has been soundly rejected throughout the rest of America, she was just crowned Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and DC insiders that want to protect the failed status quo. The swamp has claimed their queen,” Trump Campaign press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said.

Mr Trump has dominated every state primary or caucus so far in the Republican campaign, and is poised to win more delegates this week, on Super Tuesday, when voters in 15 states and one US territory will nominate their candidate. It is the biggest day of nominating contests, with 874 Republican delegates’ support at stake.

Ms Haley has vowed to stay in the race until at least 5 March, when thousands of people in will cast their votes on Super Tuesday.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris says people in Gaza “are starving” and has urged Israel to “significantly increase the flow of aid” there.

She said “there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks”, which would “get the [Israeli] hostages out”.

Earlier, Israel did not attend truce talks in Egypt, saying Hamas was not giving a list of hostages still alive.

Hamas told the BBC it was unable to do so because of the Israeli bombing.

Hamas’s team and mediators from the US and Qatar are understood to be in Egypt’s capital Cairo for the planned negotiations.

Pressure for a ceasefire deal intensified after Thursday’s incident outside Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian enclave where at least 112 people were killed when crowds rushed an aid convoy and Israeli troops opened fire.

Speaking at an event in Alabama on Sunday, Ms Harris said: “What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration.

“As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”

The vice-president stressed that “our common humanity compels us to act”, reiterating President Joe Biden’s commitment “to urgently get more life-saving assistance to innocent Palestinians in need”.

On Monday Ms Harris is due to have talks in Washington with Benny Gantz, an influential member of Israel’s war cabinet, to discuss a possible ceasefire deal and increased humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Ms Harris said “there is a deal on the table and as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal. Let’s get a ceasefire. Let’s reunite the hostages with their families, and let’s provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza.”

She also said “the Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses.”

She was speaking in Selma, Alabama, at an event marking the 1965 attack by state troopers on civil rights demonstrators, known as Bloody Sunday.

The Israeli military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign to destroy Hamas after its gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 back to Gaza as hostages.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says at least 30,410 people, including 21,000 children and women, have been killed in Gaza since then, with some 7,000 missing and 71,700 injured.

A senior Hamas official, Dr Basem Naim, told the BBC’s Newshour programme on Sunday that the group was unable to provide Israel with a full list of surviving hostages. “Practically it is impossible to know who is still alive because of the Israeli bombardment and blockage. They are in different areas with different groups.

“We have asked for a ceasefire to collect that data”, he said, adding: “we cannot accept any preconditions”.

The UK, US and their Western partners consider Iranian-backed Hamas to be a terrorist organisation.

ALSO READ:

• Israel-Gaza war affecting people of diverse backgrounds; let’s pray for peace – Agyinasare

• Israel-Gaza war: More than 100 reported killed in crowd near Gaza aid convoy

France is preparing to become the first country in the world to put the right to abortion in its constitution.

On Monday, parliamentarians from the upper and lower chambers will meet in special session in the Palace of Versailles, summoned by President Emmanuel Macron.

If, as expected, they vote for the government’s motion by a three-fifths majority, then the country’s 1958 constitution will be revised to enshrine women’s “guaranteed freedom” to abort.

It will be the 25th amendment to the Fifth Republic’s founding document, and the first since 2008.

Spurred by the end of federal protection of abortion rights in the US two years ago, supporters are exuberant over the revision – which they see as insurance against any similar backpedalling in France.

Polls show around 85% of the French public support the reform. Resistance from right-wingers in parliament has failed to materialize.

Opposition, instead, has largely focused on the politics of the move: President Macron is accused of debasing the constitution for electoral ends.

Critics say the revision is not necessarily wrong in itself, but unnecessary – and they see a weakened president trying to use the cause to boost his left-wing credentials and to flush out opposition to abortion.

Political

President Macron lacks a majority in the National Assembly and faces an uphill task getting any reforms into law.

His January reshuffle of his government meanwhile slanted it to the right.

Following controversial laws last year on pension reform and immigration, this has given the jitters to left-leaning components of his Renaissance party – for whom the abortion revision is now a welcome re-balancing.

“It is a big relief to be able to proclaim our unity again on an issue over which the whole of the party can agree. There have been a lot of tensions inside Renaissance, but now we can remind ourselves of the values we share,” said one left-wing member of the party who asked not to be identified.

But, in taking up what had originally been a left-wing parliamentary initiative, Mr Macron was doing more than just shoring up his left-wing support. He was also setting a trap.

With European elections approaching in June, the president hoped the constitutional revision on abortion might open a clear fault line between his party and its main opponents, Marine Le Pen’s far-right.

If enough parliamentarians from the right and far-right objected to the reform, then they could easily be cast as reactionaries.

Unfortunately for him, neither the Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) nor the conservative Republicans (KLR) took the bait.

Given a free vote in Assembly and Senate debates which preceded Monday’s special congress, most right-wing parliamentarians voted for the bill.

No parallel

Which is not to say many of them did not have misgivings about the constitutional reform. They just decided it was not worth fighting.

In fact the main argument against the revision has nothing to do with the matter of abortion. The argument is over whether abortion is a matter for the constitution.

In France, the right to abortion has been enshrined in law – not, as it was in the US, by a single supreme court ruling – since 1975.

Since then the law has been updated nine times – and on each occasion with the aim of extending access.

France’s constitutional council – the body that decides on the constitutionality of laws – has never raised a query.

In a 2001 ruling, the council based its approval of abortion on the notion of liberty enshrined in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man, which is technically part of the constitution.

So, according to many jurists, abortion is already a constitutional right.

“Beyond being a symbol,” says Anne Levade, a law professor at Paris-Sorbonne University, “the revision will change absolutely nothing.”

Misuse of constitution?

She and other experts worry the purpose of the constitution – to set out a sparse set of immutable rules inside which law and politics can function – risks being undermined if it becomes a repository for a succession of “rights”.

What if in the future elected representatives become convinced having a child is also a right? Will surrogate motherhood be put in the constitution? Or what about gay marriage? Or the attainment of carbon reduction targets?

“There is a French particularity which leads politicians – in an almost Pavlovian way – to look for a constitutional change each time they want to signal the importance they attach to an issue,” Levade laments.

Supporters of the reform however say it must happen to guard against a new wave of “reactionary” social change in Europe that could bring to power those who are minded to restrict the right to abortion.

They point to countries like Malta, Hungary and Poland where limits are already in place or the subject of much debate.

“In women’s rights, symbols count,” feminist lawyer Rachel-Flore Pardo said of the constitutional change.

“Tomorrow they become our battlements. To wait until abortion was actually under threat would be to wait too long.”

ALSO READ:

• France announces new visa fees for foreign students, tougher dependent rules

• I’m not a fan of IGP Dampare but… – Frances Essiam

Swiss voters have given themselves an extra month’s pension each year – in a nationwide referendum focusing on living standards for the elderly.

The government had warned that the increased payments would be too expensive to afford.

But almost 60% of voters said ‘yes’ in Sunday’s poll. Separately, 75% rejected raising the pension age from 65 to 66.

The maximum monthly state pension is €2,550 (£2,180; $2,760) – not enough, many say, to live on in Switzerland.

The cost of living in Switzerland, particularly in cities such as Zurich and Geneva, is among the highest in the world.

Health insurance premiums, which are obligatory for everyone, have been rising fast, and older people sometimes struggle to pay them.

Women who may have had work breaks to raise a family, and immigrants recruited decades ago to work in Swiss factories, restaurants, or hospitals, can find it particularly difficult to make ends meet.

More and more people are working into their 70s not out of choice, but out of necessity. Meanwhile among the younger generation, work related stress and burnout are increasing.

The proposal to increase pensions came from the trades unions – but was opposed by the Swiss government, parliament, and business leaders, who argued it was unaffordable.

Voters in Switzerland often take their government’s advice about money matters: a few years ago they actually rejected an extra week’s holiday a year.

This time they said enough was enough, using the power that Switzerland’s system of direct democracy gives them to vote themselves an extra month’s pension each year.

The initiative also secured the required double-majority: getting the popular vote, and also majorities in most of the country’s 26 cantons.

The result was described as a “historic victory for retirees” by Avivo, a Swiss association that defends the rights of current and future pensioners.

The move brings the state pension into line with Switzerland’s salary system, which is also paid in 13 instalments, meaning workers get a double payment in November.

The system was originally designed to help people ahead of Christmas, and the annual tax bill. As Swiss retirees pointed out, pensions were taxed too, and Christmas fun did not stop at 65.

In a further sign the Swiss are keen that life should not be all work and no play, they also overwhelmingly rejected raising the retirement age.

These votes would, the government said repeatedly, have to be paid for.

Voters, though, looking at Switzerland booming economy, whose success is in large part thanks to their hard work, clearly believe their country can afford it.

ALSO READ:

• Swiss nationals donate ultrasound machine to Ayikuma CHPS Compound

• Swiss prosecutor calls for criminal probe into FIFA President

A series of explosions have rocked Crimea, after a reported Ukrainian drone attack on the peninsula which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Video posted online shows a blast allegedly near a fuel depot in the south-eastern city of Feodosiya.

Russian officials said 38 drones had been shot down. The Kerch bridge which connects Crimea with Russia was temporarily closed.

The attack comes as Ukraine continues to urge allies to boost arms supplies.

Russian troops have recently made gains in Ukraine as Kyiv struggles to sustain its forces with Western-made arms. Moscow took control last month of the key eastern town of Avdiivka.

However, according to British military intelligence, this has come at a huge cost. In its latest update, it said February had been the deadliest for the Russians since the start of the full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022 – with 983 killed and wounded per day.

“Today, Russia has highly likely lost over 355,000 personnel killed or wounded during the Ukraine war,” it said. It is not clear how the figure was reached.

Russia does not provide a record of casualties.

A few days ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Ukraine had lost 31,000 troops since 24 February 2022. He also claimed that 180,000 Russian troops had been killed since then.

Russia has not reported any damage from the latest attack on Crimea, although eyewitnesses have reported windows shaking and car alarms going off. Kyiv has not confirmed its forces were involved.

On Saturday, a Russian drone hit a block of flats in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, killing at least 12 people, including five children. Sunday is a day of mourning in Odesa and the region.

In a separate development on Sunday, Russia targeted the southern Kherson region, killing one person and injuring another three, according to Ukrainian officials.

They also said 16 people were injured in Russian shelling of the town of Kurakhove, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

Russian forces have launched thousands of Iranian-made drones at Ukrainian targets since they invaded the country more than two years ago.

In retaliation Ukraine has targeted Russian sites, notably oil facilities.

On Saturday a drone struck a residential building in St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. About 100 people were evacuated and there were no reports of casualties.

With its airbases, troop concentrations, training grounds and the Black Sea fleet, Crimea has been a key target for the Ukrainians.

At one point last year, it was thought that it intended to launch a full-scale attack to retake the peninsula.

In particular, Ukraine has repeatedly hit Russia’s Black Sea fleet. Satellite images last year showed many of the Crimea-based warships had left the peninsula for the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

Last month, the Russian landing ship Caesar Kunikov was sunk off the coast of Crimea, according to Ukraine’s armed forces.

Its sister ship Novocherkassk was hit while in port in Feodosiya in December last year.

In one of the biggest strikes on the Black Sea fleet, last September Ukraine attacked naval targets and port infrastructure, using as many as 10 missiles and three unmanned boats. It caused a large fire at a Sevastopol shipyard.

Ukraine’s biggest scalp in naval warfare has so far been the sinking of Russia’s flagship Black Sea missile cruiser, the Moskva, in April 2022.

Ukraine has also targeted the Kerch bridge several times as it is an important resupply route for Russian forces occupying parts of the country’s south.

Kyiv has repeatedly said it plans to retake Crimea and all territories seized by Russia.

Ukraine is critically dependent on weapons supplies from the US and other Western allies to keep fighting Russia – a much bigger military force with an abundance of arms and artillery.

Ukrainian troops have been running out of ammunition as supporters of former US President Donald Trump in Congress refuse to approve a $61bn (£48bn) military aid package.

ALSO READ:

• Nato allies reject Emmanuel Macron idea of troops to Ukraine

• Ukraine war: Indians ‘duped’ by agents into fighting for Russia

Armed gangs have stormed the main prison in Haiti‘s capital Port-au-Prince, releasing many inmates.

The vast majority of about 4,000 men held there have now escaped, a local journalist told BBC News.

Among those detained were gang members charged in connection with the 2021 killing of President Jovenel Moïse.

Violence in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has worsened in recent years. Gangs aiming to oust PM Ariel Henry control 80% of Port-au-Prince.

The latest upsurge in violence began on Thursday, when the prime minister travelled to Nairobi to discuss sending a Kenyan-led multinational security force to Haiti.

Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier (nicknamed “Barbecue”) declared a co-ordinated attack to remove him.

“All of us, the armed groups in the provincial towns and the armed groups in the capital, are united,” said the former police officer, who is thought to be behind several massacres in Port-au-Prince.

A wave of shootings left four police officers dead and five injured. The French embassy in Haiti advised against travel in and around the capital.

Haiti’s police union asked the military to help reinforce the prison, but the compound was stormed late on Saturday.

On Sunday the doors of the prison were still open and there were no signs of officers, Reuters news agency reported. Three inmates who tried to flee lay dead in the courtyard, the report said.

One volunteer prison worker told the Reuters journalists that 99 prisoners – including former Colombian soldiers jailed over President Moïse’s murder – had chosen to remain in their cells for fear of being killed in crossfire.

Violence has been rife since President Moïse’s assassination. He has not been replaced and elections have not been held since 2016.

Under a political deal, elections were to be held and the unelected Mr Henry was due to stand down by 7 February, but that did not happen.

In January, the UN said more than 8,400 people were victims of Haiti’s gang violence last year, including killings, injuries and kidnappings – more than double the numbers seen in 2022.

ALSO READ:

• Gunfire near Haiti airport disrupts flights for second day

• Wife of Haiti’s assassinated President indicted in his killing

Some 170 people including women and children have been “executed” in attacks on three villages in Burkina Faso, a public prosecutor has said.

Aly Benjamin Coulibaly appealed for witnesses to help find those who attacked Komsilga, Nordin and Soro.

Separately, army chiefs warned of the increased risk of attacks by militants, “including attacks on urban centres”.

The country’s army seized power in 2022, but more than a third of Burkina Faso is controlled by insurgents.

Mr Coulibaly said he had launched an investigation into the village attacks in Yatenga province on 25 February.

The AFP news agency reported that dozens of women and children were among the dead.

It was not known which group was behind the attacks.

They are not believed to be related to other recent violence – attacks on a church as well as a mosque and army bases – elsewhere in the country.

On Friday, the country’s army chief warned soldiers to stay vigilant due to an increased risk of suicide attacks by militants.

He said there were also “fears of a series of large-scale attacks” against security forces in cities.

Humanitarian workers say Burkina Faso is one of the world’s most-neglected crises.

Years of rampant insecurity has forced more than two million people from their homes, and the UN estimates that a quarter of all children under five have stunted growth resulting from hunger.

The military seized power two years ago promising to win the battle against rebels, yet the violence continues.

“The epicentre of terrorism has now conclusively shifted out of the Middle East and into the central Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa,” said the Institute for Economics and Peacepicentere earlier this week.

The Sahel includes Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger among other nations.

Flights at Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti’s capital have been disrupted for the second straight day by heavy gunfire nearby, as the Caribbean nation grapples with surging gang violence and political instability.

The US Embassy in Haiti issued a security alert on Friday, warning of gunfire and disruptions to traffic near the domestic and international terminals of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport, as well as surrounding areas including a hotel and the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police.

“The US Embassy is temporarily halting travel of official US personnel to the airport and instructing any US personnel at the airport to remain there,” the embassy said.

It comes a day after shootings erupted across Haiti’s capital, forcing flight cancellations and killing at least four people during an attack on a police station.

American Airlines said Thursday it had suspended its daily service between Miami and Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince.

“We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed,” spokesperson Laura Masvidal told CNN.

Haitian airline Sunrise Airways told CNN that it suspended “all flights until further notice to ensure the safety of passengers, ground crews, and aircraft.”

Rapid gunfire near the airport had “caused damage to some aircraft and endangered users” of the domestic terminal, according to Sunrise Airways.

A US flight carrying dozens of Haitian deportees was also canceled, according to a source with knowledge of the operation and a lawyer for one of the deportees.

Immigration lawyer Philip Issa told CNN on Friday that his client was removed and taken back to detention facilities after boarding the plane in Miami Thursday.

“It’s baffling that we’ve continued to deport people to Haiti when the conditions are so dire,” he said, while also complaining that US authorities had failed to provide food to the detainees or let them out since 4 p.m. the previous day.

CNN has reached out to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment.

Surging gang violence

Haiti has been gripped by a wave of unrest and gang violence in recent years.

Warring gangs control much of Port-au-Prince, choking off vital supply lines to the rest of the country. Gang members have also terrorized the metropolitan population, forcing some 200,000 people to flee their homes amid waves of indiscriminate killing, kidnapping, arson and rape.

Some 1,100 people were killed, injured, or kidnapped in January alone, in what the United Nations called the most violent month in two years.

More than 8,400 people were victims of such violence through last year, according to a report from the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BIUH).

Waves of crime and violence began to sweep across Haiti following the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise in 2021.

Public frustration has mounted against Prime Minister Ariel Henry for his failure to put a lid on the unrest, especially after he failed to hold elections supposedly slated for last month, citing the escalating violence.

On Wednesday, Henry told other Caribbean nations’ leaders during a regional summit that he would hold polls no later than August 31 next year, his first confirmation on when a vote will finally go ahead.

Leaders from the CARICOM regional bloc – a political and economic grouping of 20 developing countries and mostly island states – said they agreed to dispatch a team to assess the electoral needs of Haiti.

A powerful Haitian gang leader said gun fights that broke out across Port-au-Prince on Thursday were aimed at overthrowing Henry’s government, multiple media outlets reported.

Jimmy Cherizier, known as “Barbecue,” said in a video shared on social media that the battle will “not only topple the Ariel [Henry] government,” but “change the whole system,” according to international news agencies and Haitian media. CNN cannot independently verify the video’s authenticity.

An attack on Bon Repos Police Station, north of Port-au-Prince, on Thursday left at least four people dead and three wounded, a security source told CNN.

Three other people were injured in separate attacks across the capital – one at the airport, a second near a prison in downtown Port-au-Prince, and a third inside the prison, the security source said.

In the vast expanse of the salt industry, Daniel McKorley, stands as a beacon of innovation. As the Founder and CEO of The McDan Group of Companies, he carries the torch for modernisation in salt production.

His recent address at the Global Conference on Advances in Salt and Marine Chemicals in India illuminated the pressing need for transformative change within the industry.

Mr. McKorley’s fervent advocacy for research and technology reverberated throughout the conference halls. With eloquence, he painted a portrait of possibility, highlighting how advancements in these areas could revolutionize salt harvesting.

It was not merely about increasing profits, but about ushering in a new era of sustainability and efficiency.

In his address, Mr. McKorley dissected the challenges plaguing the global salt industry with surgical precision.

Lack of innovation, outdated infrastructure, and technological deficiencies formed the trifecta inhibiting progress. Yet, he didn’t dwell on the negatives; instead, he offered a roadmap to redemption.

His proposal was simple yet profound: invest in research and development, embrace cutting-edge technologies, and forge partnerships that transcend borders.

From automated mining to drone-assisted surveillance, the arsenal of innovation he suggested was formidable. It wasn’t just about enhancing productivity; it was about minimising environmental impact and securing the industry’s future in a rapidly evolving world.

But Mr. McKorley’s vision extended beyond mere profit margins.

He recognised the critical role salt plays in pharmaceuticals and envisioned a collaborative ecosystem that ensured its uninterrupted supply.

His call for a global consortium of salt producers and pharmaceutical companies echoed a sentiment of unity amidst diversity, where knowledge sharing and resource optimization were paramount.

As he wrapped up his address, Mr. McKorley underscored the imperative of public-private partnership. It wasn’t a solitary journey; it was a collective endeavor to sculpt a future where salt wasn’t just a commodity but a catalyst for progress.

ALSO READ:

• Ada Traditional Council seeks state security for Songor Salt Project

• Songhor lagoon project: Minister speaks highly of ElectroChem [Listen]

The United States on Thursday cautioned that it might limit foreign aid to Ghana if President Nana Akufo-Addo signs a new bill criminalising LGBTQI+ activities into law.

Ghana’s Parliament on Wednesday approved legislation that could lead to prison sentences of up to three years for identifying as LGBTQ+ and five years for forming or supporting LGBTQI+ organizations.

US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller expressed concerns about the potential consequences of the bill, stating, “So we have made very clear what our opinion is on that law – you can look at my statement yesterday – and we have made that clear in private conversations with the Government of Ghana as well. I don’t think I should get any more specific than that, but if this bill becomes law, it would certainly have a chilling effect on foreign investment and tourism in Ghana”. 

He added that the enactment of the bill could affect U.S. assistance to the country.

“You’ve seen that same chilling effect bear fruit in Uganda, which passed a very similar law in the past, and I can say that should the bill pass, it would potentially have ramifications on U.S. assistance in the country”.

While the bill awaits Akufo-Addo’s assent, he has indicated his willingness to approve it if it aligns with the wishes of the majority of Ghanaians.

The United States provided over $211 million in assistance to Ghana in fiscal year 2022, supporting various sectors including agriculture, malaria prevention, and AIDS combat efforts. The extent to which aid would be affected by the new law remains uncertain.

Although many African nations criminalize same-sex relationships, recent legislative efforts across the continent have sought to reinforce such laws.

Ghanaian parliamentarian Sam George, who sponsored the bill, celebrated its passage online, emphasizing the protection of national values.

However, the proposed legislation drew swift condemnation from the United States, echoing similar criticism directed at Uganda for its harsher anti-LGBTQ+ measures.

State Department spokesperson Matt Miller underscored Ghana’s tradition of tolerance and respect for human rights, expressing concern that the bill could undermine these values.

In Uganda, the law includes severe penalties such as the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” and life imprisonment for “homosexuality,” prompting the U.S. to restrict $20 million in aid to the country.

Amnesty International has urged President Akufo-Addo not to sign the bill, emphasizing the importance of respecting the human rights of all individuals.

Amnesty’s country director for Ghana, Genevieve Partington, condemned the legislation, citing reports of rights violations against LGBTQ+ individuals since the bill’s introduction in parliament.

ALSO READ:

• Anti- LGBTQI+ Bill: We’re ready for you in court – Prof Gadzekpo told

• Anti-LGBTQI Bill: Sam George issues stern warning to US

A Ghanaian journalist and LGBTQI+ activist, Ignatius Annor, is heartbroken over the passage of the anti-LGBTQI+ Bill.

Mr Annor has said the news of the passage on Wednesday, February 28, hit hard that he couldn’t concentrate at work and had to take the day off.

In a Facebook post, the US-based journalist said he feels the pain of every Ghanaian yearning to be themselves and has also lost an opportunity to visit his family.

“Here is what I know, living in truth is the most powerful tool I know,” he stated.

Ignatius for the first time in February 2021 openly declared he was gay.

According to Ignatius Annor, he had kept his alignment with the community a secret for fear of losing his job and the stigma that it could generate.

Although his mother in January 2017, mentioned such a community is “demonic”, the activist believes his mother’s stand was because of “what has repeatedly been fed into the mind and ultimately the hearts of people.”

Read the full post below:

Meanwhile, the Bill currently proscribes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activities and criminalises their promotion, advocacy and funding.

Persons caught in these acts would be subjected to six months to three-year jail term with promoters and sponsors of these acts bearing a three to five-year jail term.

The Bill would now require presidential assent to come into force.

But critics have called on Akufo-Addo to reject the Bill, arguing it violates and infringes on fundamental human rights and have threatened to initiate legal action against it.

ALSO READ:

• I’m gay, fear forced me to deny it – Ghanaian journalist comes out on…

• Reject anti-LGBTQI+ bill – Akufo-Addo told

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has declared a national disaster to tackle the prolonged drought affecting the country.

Addressing the nation on Thursday afternoon, Mr Hichilema said 84 districts out of a total of 116 were affected.

Zambia has been experiencing poor rain, with fears mounting that the country may experience hunger and struggle to meet its electricity demands as most of its energy is from water sources.

Water levels at Kariba Dam – which Zambia and neighbouring Zimbabwe use for hydroelectricity – had fallen to about 11.5% of usable storage as of last December.

The president said the drought would affect the generation of more than 450 megawatts of power.

He said almost half of the land used for planting crops had been affected by the dry spell.

Mr Hichilema said his government would work to ensure that additional maize and other food was brought into the country to make up the deficit.

He said he would use Zambia’s defence forces “in this fight to save our lives and save families and create a longer term solution to drought”.

“We will work together to get together farmers to plant more crops. We shall also enhance the social support programmes for the farmers that have been affected by the drought,” he said.

“We call upon all our local and international partners to avail any excess food on hand to provide relief. Some partners have already extended their commitment to offer their support, such as the British, the UN system, the World Bank Group and others.”

He called on farmers to use irrigation methods to cope with the dry spell. An estimated one million farmers have been affected by the drought.

Mr Hichilema said his government would work with different stakeholders, opposition politicians and the church to tackle the situation.

Social media has been awash with videos and pictures of fields with dying crops.

ALSO READ:

• Supporting flood emergency response in Congo

• Ghana and Zambia to boost cooperation, trade and investment

President Joe Biden and Donald Trump have made competing visits to the US border in Texas, each seeking to stress they can tackle illegal immigration.

The issue is one of the most polarising in US politics, and will be central to this year’s presidential election.

November’s contest looks likely to be another showdown between the two men.

Mr Biden accused his Republican rival – who spoke of the “very dangerous” situation at the border – of hindering his efforts to crackdown on crossings.

Republicans in the House of Representatives have blocked bipartisan border reforms, in what Democrats say is an effort masterminded by Mr Trump to deny them a win before the election.

In Texas, Mr Trump said he would “take care” of the issue of illegal immigration if he was re-elected. He has previously promised mass deportations if he wins power again.

The issue is an intense focus because more than 6.3 million migrants have been detained crossing into the US illegally during Mr Biden’s tenure – a higher number than under previous presidencies.

However, experts say the reasons for the spike are complex – with some factors pre-dating his government and sitting outside American control.

In his speech, Mr Trump said “thousands” of migrants from the Middle East and Africa were illegally crossing from Mexico. In fact, the majority of those caught doing so are from Latin America.

He also attacked what he has recently termed “Biden migrant crime”, although there is no national data giving evidence of migrant-driven crime waves in US cities.

Supporters and protesters alike assembled during Mr Trump’s visit to Eagle Pass, a Democrat-run town where Republicans are making political headway by attacking Mr Biden’s running of the border.

Enriqueta Diaz, 81, told the BBC she backed Mr Trump’s proposals to further militarise the border. “You have to follow the law,” she said, pointing out that her own mother, a Mexican, had gone through a citizenship process herself.

Mr Trump met the state governor, Republican Greg Abbott, who has battled the federal government by trying to use powers of his own to halt illegal crossings – as well as bussing migrants to northern cities.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden – who quipped that he did not realise his “good friend” Mr Trump was due to visit Texas on the same day – headed to meet border officials in Brownsville.

Speaking after Mr Trump, he stressed the urgency of action and need for more resources to police the border. The bipartisan border reform bill had been “derailed by rank partisan politics”, he said.

He launched a direct appeal to his rival to “join me” on the issue.

The president travelled to Texas with Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has became the target of Republican fury over the illegal immigration issue.

Earlier this month, Mr Mayorkas became the first US cabinet member to be impeached over accusations from his political adversaries that he had failed to do enough to stop illegal migration.

Mr Biden has defended his colleague, who is unlikely to be convicted because the US Senate is narrowly controlled by members of his party.

Mr Trump has made the issue of illegal immigration central to his political career, and embarked on the building of a border wall with Mexico during his 2016-20 presidency.

He is only opposed by Nikki Haley in his quest to win the Republican nomination to run for the White House again. On the Democratic side, Mr Biden is largely uncontested in his own presidential bid.

The importance of the border issue has been highlighted by polling. More than two-thirds of respondents to a poll in January by the BBC’s US partner CBS said they disapproved of Mr Biden’s handling of it.

In another Texan border city, Laredo, the manager of a community centre described to the BBC how border agents were bussing migrants and asylum centres because they were “overwhelmed”.

Far beyond Texas, the influx of illegal migrants has pushed processing facilities and social services in major American cities to the brink – straining Mr Biden’s ties with some Democratic state officials.
Migrants who recently arrived in Chicago – having been sent there from Texas under the initiative of Mr Abbott – described to the BBC their struggles finding shelter and work.

Karen Diaz, who entered the US last month from Venezuela with her three young children, said she simply wanted a steady job rather than handouts.

Dilcia Guillen-Oliva, who arrived from Honduras just five days ago, said she had been sleeping in a church and on public buses as she struggled to find place in a shelter.

In a separate development on Thursday, a federal judge blocked a controversial new law planned by Mr Abbott in Texas that would criminalise illegal border crossings under the threat of jail-time.

SB4, as it is known, intends to give officials sweeping powers to arrest anyone suspected of illegally crossing from Mexico.

But in his ruling, the judge sided with the Biden administration, which argues that the planned legislation would interfere with the powers of the federal government. Mr Abbott has vowed to appeal.

ALSO READ:

• Biden slams Trump criticism of Nato as ‘shameful’

• Trump calls Biden ‘enemy of the state’ over FBI raid

At least 112 Palestinians are said to have been killed and 760 injured trying to get desperately needed aid in Gaza.

Crowds descended on a convoy of lorries on the coastal road south-west of Gaza City, in the presence of Israeli tanks.

Israel’s military say tanks fired warning shots but did not strike the convoy. Some Palestinians say troops fired directly at them.

A Palestinian witness told the BBC most of those who died had been run over as lorry drivers tried to move forward.

Israeli aerial footage shows hundreds of people on and around lorries, while graphic videos posted online show bodies loaded on to emptied aid lorries and a donkey cart.

Giving the figures of 112 dead and 760 injured, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry accused Israel of a “massacre”.

The UN Security Council has scheduled a closed-door emergency meeting to discuss the incident.

France said “fire by Israeli soldiers against civilians trying to access food” was “unjustifiable” and US President Joe Biden expressed concern the incident would complicate efforts by mediators to broker a temporary ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

The medical charity MSF said it was “horrified” and called for an “immediate and sustained ceasefire”.

The incident came hours before Gaza’s health ministry announced that more than 30,000 people, including 21,000 children and women, had been killed in Gaza since the start of the current conflict on 7 October. Some 7,000 were missing and 70,450 were injured, it said.

The UN is warning of a looming famine in the north of the territory, where an estimated 300,000 people are living with little food or clean water.

The Israeli military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign to destroy Hamas – which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and others – after its gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 253 hostages.

Thursday’s incident took place shortly after 04:45 (02:45 GMT) at the Nabulsi roundabout, on the south-western edge of Gaza City.

A convoy of 30 lorries carrying Egyptian aid was making its way north along what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described as a “humanitarian corridor” when it was surrounded by civilians, with people climbing on to the trucks.

“Some began violently pushing and even trampling other Gazans to death, looting the humanitarian supplies,” said the IDF’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm Daniel Hagari. “The unfortunate incident resulted in dozens of Gazans killed and injured.”

Israeli tanks, he said, “cautiously tried to disperse the mob with a few warning shots” but pulled back “when the hundreds became thousands and things got out of hand”.

“No IDF strike was conducted towards the aid convoy,” he said, insisting the Israeli military had been trying to help the aid convoy reach its destination.

Another IDF spokesman said some civilians had approached Israeli soldiers at a nearby checkpoint, ignoring warning shots. Fearing a threat, the soldiers fired at them in a “limited response”, he said.

A Palestinian witness, speaking to the BBC, described panic in the crowd and among the drivers, who tried to move forward. Most of those who died were run over, the witness added.

Hamas rejected the IDF’s account, citing “undeniable” evidence of “direct firing at citizens, including headshots aimed at immediate killing”.

Dozens of casualties in a critical or severe condition were brought to the nearby al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where medics were unable to cope with the sheer volume and severity of cases.

One man at the hospital who was cradling the body of this dead friend, Tamer Shinbari, told the BBC he had gone to the Nabulsi roundabout hoping to get a bag of flour for his family. He said Israeli soldiers had opened fire “and the aid lorry ran over the bodies”.

All or most of the casualties being treated at two other hospitals, Kamal Adwan and al-Awda, were said by officials there to have bullet or shrapnel wounds.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a rival of Hamas based in the occupied West Bank, accused Israeli forces of a “heinous massacre”.

A spokesman for UN Secretary General António Guterres said he condemned the incident and called again for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages”.

The north of Gaza suffered widespread devastation after being the focus of the first phase of the Israeli ground offensive and has been largely cut off from humanitarian assistance for several months.

Last week, the World Food Programme said it had been forced to suspend aid deliveries to the area after its first convoy in three weeks had been surrounded by crowds of hungry people close to an Israeli checkpoint and had then faced gunfire in Gaza City.

On Tuesday, a senior UN aid official warned that at least 576,000 people across the Gaza Strip – one quarter of the population – faced catastrophic levels of food insecurity and one in six children under the age of two in the north were suffering from acute malnutrition and wasting.

Ten children died from dehydration and malnutrition at hospitals in northern Gaza in recent days, the health ministry said.

ALSO READ:

• Journalists call for foreign media access to Gaza in open letter

• Gaza doctors: ‘We leave patients to scream for hours and hours’

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in collaboration with the Civil Service Training Centre (CSTC), has implemented a new Learning Management System (LMS) to help train civil servants using e-learning.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, February 29, JICA Expert, Masashi Yamanaka noted that this e-learning platform will help strengthen civil servants’ skills and capacity, adding that it is essential to improve education and training.

Explaining the concept of LMS, he stated that the platform uses a hybrid learning system where 70 per cent of the training is done online and 30 per cent is done in person.

This allows civil servants the opportunity to use laptops, phones and other technological devices to take the training classes when they cannot make a trip to the training centre.

“Our vision is to provide more opportunities for everyone to be trained. In Accra, you can still do training in person and places like Kumasi, they can do Zoom training. But there are a lot of regions with limited or no access to the internet. In that case, they can use the e-learning,” Mr Yamanaka explained.

“So this is not replacing all the training with e-learning, no. We are just increasing our options so that we can cover more population and get more opportunities for more people,” he added.

Additionally, JICA provided funding for purchasing professional quality video cameras, photocopiers, hybrid training rooms and studios, 16 laptop computers and other equipment to improve learning and training, Mr Yamanaka said.

Yearly, the Civil Service Training Centre (CSTC) trains about 5,000 lower and middle-level personnel in the civil and public service.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the in-person tutoring in place, making classes move online, but with many challenges including poor internet connectivity.

JICA helped CSTC develop an e-learning platform and created e-learning courses to aid in implementing the centre’s new learning management systems.

The nearly two-year project that began in June 2022, aims not just to strengthen the human resource capacity of the civil service but also increase the number of trainees yearly which in turn improves the civil service.

JICA hopes that by the close of the project in March 2024, four e-learning courses namely ADIIB Analogous Grade Cohort-1, Cohort-2, Cohort-3, and Report Writing Skills Course will be completed.

A pilot run of the project has seen a favourable response from participants. The delivery of the courses will, however, commence soon.

Mr Yamanaka noted that there are also ongoing efforts to develop courses that implement kaizen, a Japanese term meaning change for the better or continuous improvement.

He believes that continuously and consistently developing people’s skills regardless of how small will ensure the growth of the civil service and in turn benefit the country.

“If you improve yourself by 1% every day continuously, it can have a great impact. Gradually, there will be accumulation of more growth, and you will become greater than today.”

“We believe that we can do the same thing here in Ghana. If we continue improving our field every day, then it will take us to the peak, that is how we can change the course of the country,” Mr Yamanaka added.

Meanwhile, CSTC is open to collaborating with any potential client to work on tailor-made courses for the institution.

Also speaking at the event, the Principal at the CSTC, Mrs Dora Dei-Tumi, said she is hopeful the institution will be able to expand its services and grow the number of civil servants trained every year.

She noted that it is important to train these civil servants to improve their skills and capacity and, in turn, offer good services to Ghanaians and use the training to push for their promotion.

A leading critic of Chad’s military leader, Mahamat Déby, has been killed in a shootout with security forces, officials say.Y

Yaya Dillo’s death comes after the government blamed him for a deadly attack on the country’s security agency. He denied the accusation.

On Wednesday, heavy gunfire was heard near his party’s headquarters in the capital, N’Djamena.

Mr Dillo was also a cousin of President Déby, who has been in power since 2021.

Mr Déby was named by the army to succeed his father who was killed by rebels after three decades in power.

The unrest in the Central African country follows the announcement that presidential election will be held on 6 May.

These elections are intended to return the country to constitutional rule.

Before his death, Mr Dillo was widely predicted to be his cousin’s main opponent in the election.

He was the leader of the Socialist Party Without Borders (PSF).

Communications Minister Abderaman Koulamallah told the AFP news agency that Mr Dillo had died on Wednesday “where he had retreated, at the headquarters of his party. He didn’t want to surrender and fired on law enforcement”.

The authorities said 12 others also died in the shootout.

Mobile phone and internet networks in Chad have been down since the reported attack on the National Security Agency (ANSE) headquarters.

Amaury Hauchard, a journalist based in N’Djamena, told the BBC on Thursday evening: “For 24 hours, people have not had access to the internet – only a few hotels have access.”

He added that Mr Dillo’s death had raised doubts about whether the election could still be held as planned

On Wednesday, Mr Dillo said the accusation he was behind the ANSE attack was intended “to make me afraid so that I don’t go to the election”.

The PSF denied the government’s version of events, saying its members were the ones who had come under attack.

The party’s general secretary told Reuters news agency that soldiers had targeted them while they were trying to retrieve the body of their colleague Ahmed Torabi.

Mr Torabi had been arrested and shot dead on Tuesday, before his body was dumped outside the ANSE building, the PSF said.

The government had accused Mr Torabi of attempting to assassinate the president of the Supreme Court.

This was not Mr Dillo’s first violent run-in with security forces.

When running against the current president’s father, Idriss Déby, for the presidency in 2021, state forces killed Mr Dillo’s mother, son and three others, the PSF said.

The party said the assailants were attempting to arrest Mr Dillo.

At the time, the government contested the PSF’s death toll, saying three people had been killed.

ALSO READ:

• Chad set for first election since end of civilian rule

• Chad fighting: Heavy gunfire in N’Djamena after attack on security HQ

A UN report unveiled today, Wednesday, February 2024, underscores the urgent necessity for a worldwide transition from the era of waste to one where garbage is seen as valuable resource.

The report emphasizes that without prompt action on waste management, the annual global cost is forecasted to nearly double by 2050, reaching an astonishing $640.3 billion.

The report predicts that municipal solid waste generation will increase from 2.3 billion tonnes in 2023 to 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050. In 2020, the direct global cost of waste management was approximately $252 billion.

However, when considering the hidden costs of pollution, adverse health effects, and climate change resulting from inadequate waste disposal practices, this figure escalates to $361 billion.

According to the report’s modeling, implementing waste prevention and management measures could potentially reduce net annual costs by 2050 to $270.2 billion.

However, projections suggest that transitioning to a circular economy model, characterised by waste avoidance, sustainable business practices, and comprehensive waste management, could yield a net gain of $108.5 billion per year.

Titled ‘Beyond an Age of Waste: Transforming Rubbish into Resources’, this recent publication by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warns of a projected two-thirds increase in municipal waste and nearly doubled costs within a generation, emphasizing the criticality of substantial waste reduction for a sustainable and affordable future.

UNEP’s Executive Director, Inger Andersen highlighted the intrinsic relationship between waste generation and GDP, noting that many rapidly growing economies are grappling with the challenges posed by escalating waste volumes.

She stressed the importance of identifying actionable strategies towards a more resourceful future and underscored the crucial role of decision-makers in both the public and private sectors in transitioning towards a zero-waste paradigm.

“….. this Global Waste Management Outlook can support governments seeking to prevent missed opportunities to create more sustainable societies and to secure a liveable planet for future generations,” Madam Andersen said. 

The GWMO 2024 serves as both a guide and a rallying cry, urging collective action to drive bold and transformative solutions. It aims to reverse the detrimental effects of current waste management practices and deliver tangible benefits to every individual worldwide.

President of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), Carlos Silva Filho, emphasized the pivotal role of these actions in expediting the realization of the 2030 Agenda.

“As a partner and supporter of the GWMO since its inception, ISWA will ensure it is now disseminated and implemented on the ground by providing the support needed to address the challenges currently observed,” Mr Filho said.

The lead author of the report, Zoë Lenkiewicz, stressed that the findings underscore the urgent need for a global shift towards a zero-waste approach. She emphasized the importance of enhancing waste management practices to mitigate pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and adverse effects on human health.

Madam Lenkiewicz highlighted the fact that waste pollution transcends borders, making it imperative for all stakeholders to commit to waste prevention and invest in areas lacking proper waste management infrastructure.

“The solutions are available and ready to be scaled up. What is needed now is strong leadership to set the direction and pace required, and to ensure no one is left behind,” said Zoë Lenkiewicz.

Known as UNEP’s Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 (GWMO 2024), the report offers the most comprehensive update on global waste generation and management costs since 2018.

Through meticulous life cycle assessments, the analysis illuminates the potential benefits and drawbacks of maintaining the status quo versus embracing the transition to zero waste and circular economy societies.

France’s upper house of parliament, the Senate, has voted overwhelmingly to enshrine women’s right to abortion in the constitution.

The proposal, approved earlier by the lower house, the National Assembly, was backed by 267 votes to 50 on Wednesday.

Abortion has been legal in France since 1974 but pressure has grown to further cement it in law.

There is concern that the right to termination is being eroded in ally nations like the US and Poland.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called a special, repeat vote on Monday involving both houses meeting together away from Paris in the suburb of Versailles.

If the joint session approves the constitutional amendment with a majority of at least three-fifths, there will be no need to put it to a referendum.

An Ifop opinion poll taken in November 2022, when the National Assembly was voting on the legislation, suggested 86% of people supported the amendment.

None of the country’s main political parties question the right to abortion but the language used in the amendment was revised after the 2022 vote, when the National Assembly endorsed the “right” to abortion.

Last month it voted again to back the “freedom” to have an abortion after Mr Macron’s government called for Article 34 of the constitution to be amended to cite “the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed”.

This new wording on “guaranteed freedom” was approved by the Senate on Wednesday.

Posting on X, Mr Macron said he was committed to making women’s freedom to resort to termination “irreversible” by inscribing it in the constitution.

Reacting to the vote, Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti said his country was close to a “historic day” when it becomes “the first country in the world to protect in its constitution the freedom of women” to decide what happens to their bodies.

Speaking to AFP news agency, several conservative senators said they had felt under pressure to approve the amendment.

“If I vote against it, my daughters will no longer come for Christmas,” said one woman, who asked to remain anonymous.

Debate over abortion has raged in the US since the Supreme Court there rescinded the nationwide right to a termination in June 2022.

As of last month, 21 of the country’s 50 states have either total or partial abortion bans on the books, with some including harsh punishments for doctors and others who assist in accessing the procedure, including jail time, steep fines and the loss of medical licences.

Poland’s Constitutional Court imposed a near-total ban on abortion in that country in 2020. It is now permitted only in cases of rape or incest or when pregnancy threatens a mother’s health or life.

The order covers almost 50,000 people, including former child soldiers and children born out of rapes and forced marriages.

Ongwen was a ruthless rebel commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

He is currently serving a 25-year prison term in Norway for multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He was originally abducted as a child and forced to join the LRA but went on to become one of the leaders of the notorious rebel group. During his trial, his argument that he should also be treated as a victim was rejected by the court.

The crimes were committed by his rebel fighters in northern Uganda in the early 2000s.

As part of the extensive compensation package, everyone who suffered, directly or otherwise, as a result of what Presiding Judge Bertram Schmitt described as Ongwen’s “unimaginable atrocities” will be awarded €750 ($812; £642).

Judge Schmitt described physical, moral, material, community and transgenerational harm, and explained the remainder of the $56m would constitute collective reparations, to be invested in projects designed to rehabilitate and rebuild broken lives.

The LRA was formed in the late 1980s in Uganda, where it said its goal was to install a government based on the biblical Ten Commandments.

It was eventually forced out of the country in 2005.

As a reminder of the many ways in which communities were affected by the LRA, an extensive list of the ruthless acts committed by Ongwen was read out during the hearing.

These included a catalogue of harrowing sexual and gender-based crimes that came to characterise Ongwen’s campaign of terror.

Judge Schmitt recounted that soldiers had raped a woman with a stick used for cooking while her husband was forced to watch, babies were thrown into bushes and left to perish because their crying made it hard for new mothers to carry looted goods, women and girls were “distributed” to soldiers and kept as sexual slaves – many forced to bear children after rape or forced marriage.

Children kidnapped and trained to be child soldiers were also among the victims – some were forced to kill others, as lessons to anyone who considered attempting to escape.

“Tens of thousands of individuals suffered tremendous harm due to the unimaginable atrocities committed,” as rebel fighters led by Ongwen attacked four camps for displaced people in northern Uganda, said Judge Schmitt.

Entire communities and families witnessed the attacks, after which people had to walk through villages strewn with dead bodies.

The court acknowledged it would take time before any payments were actually distributed and that not all victims would receive the amount at the same time – priority would be given to the most vulnerable people with the greatest need.

Ongwen has been declared indigent so the money will come from the Trust Fund for Victims.

The trust relies on voluntary contributions from ICC member states and to a lesser extent other public and private donors.

The trust’s mandate is to fulfil reparation orders and provide victims with physical and psychosocial rehabilitation or support.

During the hearing, the judge said the trust didn’t currently have enough to cover the full $56m reparations, and urged countries, organisations, corporations and private individuals to step up and support its mission.

A compensation plan must be submitted to the ICC by September 2024.

The ICC, located in the Dutch city of The Hague, was set up to prosecute war crimes and crimes of humanity and genocide.

The ICC believes reparations symbolise and promote hope and resilience within war-ravaged communities and serve as evidence of the court’s commitment to restorative justice.

Heavy gunfire has been heard in Chad’s capital N’Djamena following a deadly attack on the headquarters of the National Security Agency (ANSE).

Several people were killed in Wednesday’s attack, the government said – blaming the opposition Socialist Party Without Borders (PSF).

Its leader, Yaya Dillo, told the AFP news agency the allegation was a “lie”.

The unrest comes a day after the announcement that Chad will hold presidential elections on 6 May.

N’Djamena residents reported hearing intense gunfire near the PSF’s main office on Wednesday and said they had seen several military vehicles heading there.

One witness told Reuters that the PSF buildings had been cordoned off.

Communication Minister Abderaman Koulamallah said the earlier attack on the ANSE buildings was led by Mr Dillo, who denied he was there – telling AFP the accusation was intended “to make me afraid so that I don’t go to the election”.

One of Mr Dillo’s colleagues, the PSF’s general secretary, told Reuters that contrary to the government’s claim that its members had attacked the ANSE building, they had been the ones to come under attack from soldiers while trying to retrieve the body of their colleague Ahmed Torabi.

The PSF official said Mr Torabi was arrested and shot dead on Tuesday, before his body was dumped outside the ANSE buildings.

According to the government, Mr Torabi had attempted to assassinate the president of the Supreme Court.

Relatives and party members who tried to get to his body were shot at on Wednesday morning, resulting in multiple fatalities, the general secretary said.

Mr Dillo also denied any links to the assassination attempt, which he described as “staged”, according to AFP.

The government said PSF members had been arrested or were being sought over the attack on the ANSE headquarters and would be prosecuted.

“Anyone looking to disturb the democratic process under way in the country will be prosecuted and brought to justice,” the government said in a statement quoted by AFP.

It is not clear if Mr Dillo was among those arrested, but in a Facebook post on Wednesday morning he said the military had come for him at his party headquarters.

In addition to the violence, internet connectivity has been disrupted in the country, according to internet watchdog Netblocks.

Mr Dillo is a vocal opponent of his cousin, President Mahamat Déby, who came into power in 2021 after the latter’s father was killed by rebels after three decades in power.

Mr Déby promised to return the country to civilian rule – but delayed it for more than two years.

The May election is supposed to mark the end of the political transition.

The Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) designated President Déby as its candidate for the upcoming elections, but he is yet to openly comment on whether he will run.

Former colonial power France has been backing Mr Déby since the start of the transition, raising eyebrows both in and out of the country.

France currently has about 1,000 troops in Chad to fight jihadist groups across West Africa.

The opposition said the electoral commission is far from neutral and it fears an extension of the Déby dynasty.

ALSO READ:

• Chad set for first election since end of civilian rule

• Chad ‘repaying $100m debt to Angola with cattle’

More than 50 journalists have sent an open letter calling on Israel and Egypt to provide “free and unfettered access to Gaza for all foreign media”.

The letter is signed by correspondents and presenters for broadcasters with UK bases, including the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen, Lyse Doucet and Mishal Husain.

It says the need for comprehensive on-the-ground reporting is “imperative”.

Israel’s military says its troops have taken journalists on escorted trips in Gaza to allow them to report safely.

Palestinian journalists and media workers have reported from inside Gaza since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October, but dozens have been killed, injured or gone missing.

In the letter, the 55 journalists write that “foreign reporters are still being denied access to the territory, outside of the rare and escorted trips with the Israeli military”.

The escorted trips are highly controlled and often only to show tunnels that the military says are used by Hamas or weapons stores.

Only one foreign journalist has been granted entry into Gaza through Egypt on an escorted visit. CNN’s Clarissa Ward – who is among the signatories of the letter – was able to spend only a few hours on the ground in the southern border city of Rafah with an Emirati medical team in December.

The letter calls on Israel’s government to “openly state its permission for international journalists to operate in Gaza”.

It also asks Egyptian authorities to allow foreign press access to the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

The letter continues: “It’s vital that local journalists’ safety is respected and that their efforts are bolstered by the journalism of members of the international media. The need for comprehensive on-the-ground reporting of the conflict is imperative.

“The risks of conflict reporting are well understood by our organisations who have decades of experience of reporting in warzones around the world and in previous wars in Gaza.”

The broadcasters represented in the letter are the UK’s BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky News, and the US outlets ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC.

A number of journalists who signed the letter have been reporting from Israel during the conflict.

In November, the BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen travelled with Israeli forces into Gaza. While the BBC had editorial control of the report, the section with the Israeli forces was viewed by them.

When asked for comment on the letter, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said: “The IDF is currently conducting a war against the terror organisation Hamas.

“In order to allow journalists to report safely, the IDF accompanies them when in the battlefield.”

Last month, the Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Jerusalem accused Israel of imposing an unprecedented ban on independent foreign press access to Gaza, after the Israeli High Court of Justice rejected a petition from the organisation and ruled that restrictions on entry were justified on security grounds.

The FPA said defence authorities had told the court that journalists in Gaza could be put at risk in wartime and endanger soldiers by reporting on troop positions. They also argued that it was too dangerous for Israeli personnel to be present at the Israeli border to facilitate press entry to Gaza.

The court’s ruling also cited defence authorities as stating that the Rafah crossing was “under the control and sovereignty” of Egypt, and that “to the best of [their] knowledge” the Egyptian government was allowing foreign journalists to enter Gaza. However, in late October a senior Egyptian official said it was the Israeli military stopping journalists from entering.

Almost 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry says.

Israel’s military launched an air and ground campaign after Hamas’s attacks on Israel on 7 October, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 253 others were taken hostage.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 83 Palestinian and two Israeli journalists and media workers have been killed since the start of the war.

ALSO READ:

• Israel-Gaza war: Netanyahu and Biden spar over support for conflict

• Israel condemns Brazil’s Lula likening Gaza war to Holocaust

The Supreme Court will decide if ex-President Donald Trump is immune from being prosecuted on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election.

The 6-3 conservative majority court decided on Wednesday to hear Mr Trump’s claims that he should be shielded from criminal liability.

The ruling marks the first time the court has weighed in on such a case.

A US Court of Appeals panel has already rejected Mr Trump’s argument that he enjoys presidential immunity.

Mr Trump had claimed in the landmark legal case that he was immune from all criminal charges for acts he said fell within his duties as president.

But the appeals court ruled unanimously against the 77-year-old, writing that: “We cannot accept former President Trump’s claim that a president has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralise the most fundamental check on executive power – the recognition and implementation of election results.”

He appealed the case to the Supreme Court and asked to put that decision on hold.

On his Truth Social site, Mr Trump welcomed Wednesday’s decision and contended that without immunity “Presidents will always be concerned, and even paralyzed, by the prospect of wrongful prosecution and retaliation after they leave office”.

“This could actually lead to the extortion and blackmail of a President,” he wrote.

Mr Trump was charged last year with witness tampering and conspiracy to defraud the US in federal court in Washington DC over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.

Jack Smith, who was appointed as special counsel in the investigation, brought the charges against Mr Trump, and pushed for the trial to be held this year.

The court could have let the appellate court judgement stand, which would have allowed the trial proceedings to resume.

Instead, a minimum of four of the nine justices voted to take up the case. That suggests that there is some debate within the court on whether Mr Trump has some immunity from prosecution.

The decision has the potential to seriously delay the trial, which was originally scheduled for March.

Arguments in the Supreme Court case are scheduled for the week of 22 April, and any trial will have to wait until after a decision is made.

Although a decision could come swiftly, the justices could rule that the former president is immune from prosecution, or issue a decision that further delays legal action.

Justice Department guidelines limit prosecutorial action in politically sensitive investigations from within 60 days of an election – meaning prosecutors face a deadline of early September.

And if Mr Trump wins in November, there is a growing possibility that the case never reaches trial. His Justice Department officials could drop or indefinitely suspend the special counsel investigation or he could take the unprecedented step of issuing a pardon for himself.

The Republican front-runner candidate for president is facing a host of other federal and state criminal charges.

The former president is facing a trial starting in late March on charges of falsifying business records over hush-money payment he made to a porn star.

The Supreme Court is also hearing arguments in a separate case weighing whether Mr Trump can be disqualified from running for a second term under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection ban.”

Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty in all the cases, frequently referring to them as political “witch hunts”.

An elderly Italian couple and their son, who were kidnapped by jihadists in Mali in May 2022, have been released, Italy’s government has said.

The three were in good health, and due to return to Rome, it added.

The family were Jehovah’s Witnesses who were reportedly planning to set up a church when they were abducted from their home outside the southern city of Koutiala.

Their domestic worker, a Togolese national, was abducted along with them.

The worker’s fate is unclear.

The release of the couple, Rocco Langone and Maria Donata Caivano, and their son, Giovanni Langone, was secured by Italy’s intelligence agency and the foreign ministry, thanks to their contacts with community leaders and Mali’s intelligence agencies, the Italian government said.

The statement gave no further details of the circumstances around their release.

The family had lived in an area that was heavily infiltrated by jihadists, and the kidnappings were carried out by a faction linked to an al-Qaeda affiliate known as the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (JNIM), it said.

The couple are reported to be in their 60s and their son in his 40s.

Mali has been hit by an insurgency for more than a decade, with jihadists often kidnapping foreign nationals for ransom or to demand the release of fellow fighters.

The military seized power in a coup in 2021, accusing the government of failing to do enough to quell the insurgency.

It expelled French troops and UN peacekeepers and brought in Russia’s Wagner group to help fight the jihadists, but there is no sign of the insurgency ending.

ALSO READ:

• Jehovah ’s Witness sues country for receiving life-saving blood transfusion against her will

• Seven killed in attack on Jehovah’s Witnesses hall

The authorities in Chad have said the country’s delayed presidential elections will take place in May.

The vote is supposed to mark the end of a political transition that began in 2021, when former President Idriss Déby died after three decades in power.

In defiance of the constitution, his son Gen Mahamat Déby was named his successor and promised to return the country to civilian rule.

The transition was delayed and Mr Déby is expected to stand as a candidate.

Analysts say the electoral commission is far from neutral and the opposition fears an extension of the Déby dynasty in Chad.

Who is Mahamat Déby, the new leader of Chad?

Born in 1983, General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno is one of the sons of the late president Idriss Déby.

At the time of his father’s death, he was the head of the presidential guard and participated in numerous military operations throughout their career.

Despite his apparent lack of governmental experience, Mahamat Déby is charged with conducting a military transition which will last 18 months, until elections are due to take place.

ALSO READ:

• Sudanese refugees starve to death in Chad

• Chad’s leader signs peace deal with rebel groups

Several Nato countries, including the US, Germany and the UK, have ruled out deploying ground troops to Ukraine, after French President Emmanuel Macron said “nothing should be excluded”.

Mr Macron said there was “no consensus” on sending Western soldiers to Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has warned of direct conflict if Nato troops deploy there.

Russian forces have recently made gains in Ukraine and Kyiv has urgently appealed for more weapons.

Mr Macron told a news conference on Monday evening: “We should not exclude that there might be a need for security that then justifies some elements of deployment.

“But I’ve told you very clearly what France maintains as its position, which is a strategic ambiguity that I stand by.”

The French leader was speaking in Paris, which is hosting a crisis meeting in support of Ukraine, attended by heads of European states, as well as the US and Canada.

A full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin is now in its third year, with no signs that the biggest war in Europe since World War Two could end soon.

Mr Macron’s comments prompted responses from other European and Nato member countries.

US President Joe Biden believes the “path to victory” is providing military aid “so Ukrainian troops have the weapons and ammunition they need to defend themselves”, a White House statement said.

“President Biden has been clear that the US will not send troops to fight in Ukraine,” it added.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said there had been no change to the agreed position that no European country or Nato member state would send troops to Ukraine.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said the country had no plans for a large-scale military deployment to Ukraine, beyond the small number of personnel already training Ukrainian forces.

The office of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy’s “support does not include the presence of troops from European or Nato states on Ukrainian territory”.

Mr Peskov, on behalf of the Kremlin, called Mr Macron’s suggestion “a very important new element” adding it was absolutely not in the interests of Nato members.

“In that case, we would need to talk not about the probability, but about the inevitability [of direct conflict],” he said.

Earlier, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg denied considering whether troops would be sent to Ukraine, although he insisted the alliance would continue to support Ukraine, which is not a Nato member.

That position has been echoed by a number of Nato member states including Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Russia has an abundance of artillery and is a far bigger military force than Ukraine, whose troops are critically dependent on modern weapons being provided by Western allies, particularly the US.
‘Most intense’ meeting

On Tuesday, Mr Biden urged congressional leaders to approve $95bn (£75bn; €69bn) US aid package, which includes $60bn for Ukraine, during a meeting in the Oval Office.

The package has been facing an uphill battle in the US House of Representatives. Republican House speaker Mike Johnson held firm in the meeting insisting on more border reforms first.

Mr Johnson has said the crisis on the Mexico-US border is his priority and Mr Biden had already offered to include the reforms in the package – but the Republicans are holding out.

Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said it was the “most intense” Oval Office meeting he had ever been part of.

The US is by far the largest contributor of military aid to Ukraine and had committed €42.2bn (£36bn; $45bn) as of 15 January, Kiel Institute data showed.

Germany ranks second with commitments of €17.7bn in the same time period, followed by the UK which provided €9.1bn of military aid.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who took part in Monday’s meeting in Paris by video link, said that “everything we do together to defend against Russian aggression adds real security to our nations for decades to come”.

ALSO READ:

• Ukraine war: Indians ‘duped’ by agents into fighting for Russia

• Ukraine war: Dozens of Russian troops ‘die in air strike’

Popular support for Israel in the US will help it fight “until total victory” over Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

In a statement, Mr Netanyahu cited polls showing that more than 80% of Americans support Israel during the conflict in Gaza.

His comments come after US President Joe Biden warned that Israel risks losing global support in the war.

US officials say they are working on a possible ceasefire deal.

In his statement on Tuesday, Mr Netanyahu said that, since the beginning of the conflict, he has been leading a campaign “countering international pressure to end the war ahead of time and mobilise support for Israel.”

“We have significant successes in this area,” Mr Netanyahu added, citing a recent Harvard-Harris poll showing that 82% of the American public supports Israel. “This gives us more strength to continue the campaign until complete victory.”

On Monday, Mr Biden said the US hopes to have a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza “by next Monday.”

The US president also suggested later on that Israel could “lose support from around the world” if it “keeps up with this incredibly conservative government they have”.

Another poll, from the Associated Press and Norc, found that about half of US adults in January believed Israel had “gone too far” – up from 40% in November.

White House and State Department officials on Tuesday confirmed that negotiations on a temporary ceasefire were continuing, but declined to give details on the substance of the talks or potential timelines.

John Kirby, the White House’s National Security Council spokesperson, said that “significant progress” had been made towards a deal last week to allow hostages to leave Gaza and let humanitarian assistance in.

“We’re building on that progress this week and the president and his team remain engaged around the clock with multiple partners in the region,” Mr Kirby added.

“But as the president said just in the last 24 hours or so there’s no deal as of yet. And there’s a lot more work to do.”

The ceasefire, Mr Kirby said, would “hopefully” allow for a six-week pause, significantly longer than previous pauses in the fight.

“Maybe that could lead to something more in terms of a better approach to end the conflict,” he said.

At the State Department, spokesman Matthew Miller said that US diplomats – working with Qatar, Egypt and Israel – are “trying to push this deal over the finish line”, but that “ultimately, we would need Hamas to say yes.”

A Hamas official had earlier told BBC News the group’s priorities were on ending hostilities, rather than the release of hostages.

Israel launched a large-scale air and ground offensive in Gaza after Hamas gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 253 hostages, some of whom have since been released.

The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip says at least 29,878 people have been killed in the territory since then – including 96 deaths in the past 24 hours – in addition to 70,215 who have been wounded.

ALSO READ:

• Israel-Gaza war: World Food Programme stops deliveries to northern Gaza

• Israel sets March deadline for Gaza ground offensive in Rafah

Police are investigating after a priest almost sipped bleach instead of wine during Mass in what is the latest in a h@te campaign of intimidation against him.

Father Felice Palamara was just about to take a sip from the chalice during Holy Communion when he smelt a strong odour of cleaning product and stopped just in time.

The chaotic scene unfolded in front of dozens of worshippers at the Church of San Nicola di Pannanconi near Vibo Valentia in southern Italy.

Police were immediately called to the church, and took the chalice away for further examination. It was later confirmed that the wine contained enough bleach to cause the man’s d£ath.

The priest has a reputation for speaking out against organised crime in the area, and it is thought that it could have been a mafia hitman who filled the cup with bleach.

Speaking after the scary brush with d£ath, he told local news outlets: “Thankfully I am doing ok but I am convinced these attacks have nothing to do with the local people as I have always got on well with them ever since I arrived.”

He later told his congregation: “My vendetta is love, my shield is forgiveness and my armour pity. I’m serene, and besides offering pity and forgiveness. I hope that justice is done and there is clarity on these criminal episodes.”

A police source told the Daily Mail that the source of the bleach could have been one of many different groups – but vowed that it was “being taken very seriously”.

They said: “We aren’t sure whether it’s organised crime or someone with a grudge against the church, S@tanists or just cranks but it’s being taken very seriously. The incident with the bleach could have had serious repercussions and Father Palamara could have been left in a very bad way had he drunk it.

“The most likely theory is organised crime and the local mafia but until we know for sure nothing is being ruled out and an open mind is being kept.”

An investigation is still ongoing, with the priest given 24/7 security in the meantime.

A New York City medical school will offer students free tuition following a $1bn donation from the 93-year-old widow of a major Wall Street investor.

The gift to Albert Einstein College of Medicine came from Dr Ruth Gottesman, a former professor at the Bronx school.

It is one of the largest ever donations made to a US school and is the largest ever made to a medical school.

The Bronx, New York City’s poorest borough, is ranked as the unhealthiest of New York’s 62 counties.

In a statement, university dean Dr Yaron Yomer said that the “transformational” gift “radically revolutionises our ability to continue attracting students who are committed to our mission, not just those who can afford it”.

Tuition at the school is nearly $59,000 each year, leaving students with substantial debt.

The statement from Einstein noted students in their final year will be reimbursed for their spring 2024 tuition, and from August, all students, including those who are currently enrolled, will receive free tuition.

The donation “will free up and lift our students, enabling them to pursue projects and ideas that might otherwise be prohibitive”, Dr Yomer added.

Dr Gottesman, now 93, began working at the school in 1968. She studied learning disabilities, ran literacy programmes and developed widely used screening and evaluation protocols.

Her late husband, David Gottesman, founded a prominent investment house and was an early investor in Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet’s multinational conglomerate. He died in September 2022 at the age of 96.

Dr Gottesman said in a statement that the doctors who train at Einstein go on to “provide the finest healthcare to communities here in the Bronx and all over the world”.

“I am very thankful to my late husband, Sandy, for leaving these funds in my care, and l feel blessed to be given the great privilege of making this gift to such a worthy cause,” she added.

About 50% of Einstein’s first-year students are from New York, and approximately 60% are women. Statistics published by the school show that about 48% of its medical students are white, while 29% are Asian, 11% are Hispanic and 5% are black.

In an interview with the New York Times, she recalled that her late husband had left her a “whole portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway stock” when he died with the instructions to “do whatever you think is right with it”.

“I wanted to fund students at Einstein so that they would receive free tuition,” Dr Gottesman said she immediately realised. “There was enough money to do that in perpetuity.”

She added that she occasionally wonders what her husband would have thought of the donation.

“I hope he’s smiling and not frowning,” she said. “He gave me the opportunity to do this, and I think he would be happy – I hope so.”

Dozens of people have been shot dead at a mosque on the same day that a church was attacked, say the authorities in Burkina Faso.

It was during early-morning prayers that the gunmen surrounded the mosque in Natiaboani town.

“The victims were all Muslims, most of them men,” a local resident told the AFP news agency.

More than a third of Burkina Faso is currently under the control of Islamist insurgents.

The attackers are suspected to be Islamist fighters who also targeted soldiers and a self-defence militia stationed locally that same day.

Local media describe (in French) a huge invasion by hundreds of machine gun-wielding militants on motorbikes.

Unverified reports on social media suggest the death toll from the mosque attack could be much higher than the count given by officials.

Natiaboani, where those attacks happened, is in Burkina Faso’s troubled eastern region where multiple armed groups operate.

That same day, at least 15 worshippers were killed in an attack on a Catholic church during Sunday mass in Essakane in the country’s north-east. A church official said suspected Islamist militants were to blame.

No link has been formally made between the two attacks, but Burkina Faso’s privately owned L’Observateur Paalga newspaper has questioned whether they were part of a coordinated plot.

Attacks on religious figures are not uncommon in Burkina Faso.

A priest who was kidnapped from the northern town of Djibo five years ago is still missing. And in 2021, the main imam of the same town of Djibo was kidnapped by armed men and found dead days later.

Humanitarian workers say Burkina Faso is one of the world’s most-neglected crises.

Years of rampant insecurity has forced more than two million people from their homes, and the UN estimates that a quarter of all children under five have stunted growth resulting from hunger.

The military seized power two years ago promising to win the battle against insurgents but the violence continues.

ALSO READ:

• Burkina Faso: At least 15 dead in Catholic church attack

• 42 soldiers and soldiers’ aides killed in 2 more attacks in Burkina Faso

Sweden has cleared its final obstacle to joining Nato after Hungary’s parliament voted to ratify the bid.

The Nordic nation applied to join the defence alliance after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Every member must approve a new joiner, and Hungary had delayed, accusing Sweden of being hostile to it.

But last week Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the two countries were now “prepared to die for each other”.

All Nato members are expected to help an ally which comes under attack.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said it was a “historic day” and a “big step” for Sweden to abandon 200 years of neutrality.

“Sweden is an outstanding country, but we are joining Nato to even better defend everything we are and everything we believe in,” he said.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Hungarian decision made the alliance “stronger and safer”.

The parliament’s approval must now be signed by the president – after which a formal invitation is sent to Sweden to join the 31-member group.

The process usually lasts a few days.

Mr Orban is a nationalist politician with close ties to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. He has often blocked EU efforts to send military aid to Ukraine.

Sweden is one of the EU countries which have accused Hungary of backsliding on the EU’s democratic principles.

In turn, Mr Orban’s spokesman Zoltan Kovacs accused officials in Sweden of sitting on a “crumbling throne of moral superiority”.

Last week, however, Mr Orban hosted his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson and announced his support for Sweden’s membership.

Monday’s vote of Hungarian MPs was almost unanimous – 188 to 6.

In his speech, Mr Orban sharply criticised unnamed Nato allies for exerting pressure on his government to end the 21-month delay.

“Hungary is a sovereign country and does not tolerate being dictated to by others, on the content or timing of decisions,” he said.

Map showing Nato member states, including those which have joined since 1997 (Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) and those applying to join now (Sweden, Ukraine, Georgia, Bosnia & Herzegovina) (map used from July 2022)

Turkey had been the other Nato country to withhold approval of Sweden’s application in a row over what it called Sweden’s support to Kurdish separatists. It eventually lifted its veto in January.

Sweden and its eastern neighbour Finland, both long considered militarily neutral, announced their intention to join Nato in May 2022.

Finland formally joined in April last year, doubling the length of the alliance’s border with Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his army into Ukraine in 2022 in the expectation it would check Nato’s expansion and weaken Western collectivism.

In fact, with the addition of Sweden and Finland, the opposite has happened.

ALSO READ:

• Nato chief says Donald Trump comments ‘undermine all of our security’

• Biden slams Trump criticism of Nato as ‘shameful’

Donald Trump is appealing against a New York judge’s ruling that he must pay $454m (£360m) in penalties and interest in a civil fraud case.

This month’s judgement was $355 million, but the amount has soared with interest, which will keep accruing by at least $112,000 per day.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has said if Mr Trump does not pay, she will seek to seize some of his assets.

He was found to have inflated property values to obtain better loan terms.

Judge Arthur Engoron also banned the former US president from doing business in the state for three years.

Monday’s appeal from the Republican presidential frontrunner means yet another legal case of his will drag further into election season as he prepares for a likely rematch against Democratic President Joe Biden in November.

Mr Trump had said all along he planned on appealing against the ruling, calling it a political witch hunt.

His lawyer, Alina Habba, said on Monday they hope the appeal court “will overturn this egregious fine and take the necessary steps to restore the public faith in New York’s legal system”.

In their court filing, the attorneys said they were asking the appellate division to decide whether Judge Engoron’s court “committed errors of law and/or fact” and whether it “abused its discretion” or “acted in excess of its jurisdiction”.

The former president’s lawyers have also argued that he was wrongly sued under a consumer-protection statute typically used to rein in businesses that rip off customers.

Mr Trump’s legal team has previously challenged rulings by Judge Engoron at least 10 times, including a gag order.

The appeals process could last a year or longer.

Mr Trump could be granted a pause on collection of the judgement if he offers up money, assets or an appeal bond covering the amount owed. It is unclear what route he will take.

Mr Trump’s two adult sons and co-defendants, Donald Jr and Eric, were ordered to pay $4m each and are barred for two years from doing business in New York. They have maintained there was no wrongdoing and joined their father’s appeal on Monday.

Adding to the drain on his cash reserves, the ex-president was last month ordered to pay $83m after losing a defamation case to E Jean Carroll, a woman he was found to have sexually abused.

According to a Forbes estimate, Mr Trump is worth about $2.6bn. Though it is unclear how much cash he has on hand, he testified last year he has $400m in liquid assets.

The civil trial that began in October focused mostly on determining penalties against Mr Trump since Judge Engoron had already ruled the ex-president liable for business fraud.

He faces another case in his hometown of New York City next month. In those criminal proceedings, it is alleged that Mr Trump falsified business records to conceal hush money paid to an adult film star before the 2016 election.

On Monday, the Manhattan prosecutor who is bringing that case asked a judge for a gag order on Mr Trump.

The district attorney’s office said such a measure was needed to protect jurors, witnesses and court staff from Mr Trump’s “long history of making public and inflammatory remarks”.

Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, called the request an “unconstitutional infringement” Mr Trump’s rights.

He reiterated the former president’s claims that the indictments against him are partisan attempts to prevent his re-election.

ALSO READ:

• Donald Trump suggests Harry would get deported if elected again

• Donald Trump’s hush-money trial set to begin in March

Ministers of environment and leaders from over 180 nations convened in Nairobi for the commencement of the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6), advocating for enhanced multilateral efforts to combat the triple planetary crisis encompassing climate change, nature loss, and pollution.

This year’s Assembly agenda encompasses negotiations on various resolutions, spanning from nature-based solutions and highly hazardous pesticides to land degradation, drought, and the environmental implications of minerals and metals.

UNEA-6 intends to discuss 19 resolutions, which are a component of a larger effort to stimulate more ambitious multilateral environmental initiatives. These endeavours aim to tackle challenges such as climate change, the decline in species populations, and global pollution that leads to premature death.

The resolutions address a spectrum of issues, including the circular economy, solar radiation modification, fostering effective, inclusive, and sustainable multilateral actions toward climate justice, the prudent management of chemicals and waste, as well as strategies to tackle sand and dust storms.

President of UNEA-6 and Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development for the Kingdom of Morocco, Leila Benali, emphasised that the world is currently experiencing significant upheaval, impacting numerous individuals. Therefore, it is crucial for the world’s response to show that multilateral diplomacy is capable of delivering effective solutions.

“As we meet here in 2024, we must be self-critical and work towards inclusive, networked and effective multilateralism that can make a tangible difference to people’s lives,”she stated.

Madam Benali advocates for the inclusion of voices beyond government representatives, specifically emphasising the importance of involving the youth, indigenous people, and local communities.

She highlights the significance of addressing issues related to gender and human rights, ensuring that no one is marginalised or excluded from the discussion.

“And today, and at this UN Environment Assembly, we must accelerate multilateral action to strengthen the environmental foundation of sustainable development,”she added.

The UN Environment Assembly serves as the paramount decision-making body on environmental matters globally, boasting a membership that encompasses all 193 UN Member States. Meeting biennially, it assumes the responsibility of setting priorities for worldwide environmental policies and formulating international environmental legislation. Subsequent decisions and resolutions adopted by Member States during the Assembly sessions also delineate the operational framework for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

Executive Director of UNEP, Inger Andersen emphasised the necessity of setting aside political differences and directing attention towards the preservation of our planet—an entity rich with biodiversity.

She underscored the urgency of elevating global perspectives towards a shared objective: paving the way for a sustainable and secure future.

“We do this by agreeing on the resolutions before UNEA-6 to boost multilateral action for today and tomorrow, and secure inter-generational justice and equity,”she said.

Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry for the Republic of Kenya Soipan Tuya highlighted that the timing of UNEA-6 coincides with a crucial period where the global community is urged to expedite the execution of the UN 2030 Agenda to maintain progress towards sustainable development.

She lamented that poverty continues to persist as a stark reality for millions in developing regions worldwide, including Africa, pointing out the escalating global economic inequality as a concerning trend.

“It is against this backdrop that the world will be looking to us here in Nairobi this week to renew hope. And hope we must provide,” Madam Andersen added.

More than 7,000 delegates representing 182 UN Member States, including over 170 Ministers, have registered for UNEA-6, convened under the theme of “effective, inclusive, and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.”

The attendees this week will encompass Heads of State, government representatives, members of civil society, and private sector stakeholders.

Throughout the event, a series of leadership and multi-stakeholder dialogues, along with over 30 official side events and associated activities, are anticipated to lay the groundwork for bolstered future global and regional coordinated efforts by the United Nations, Member States, and partners, aimed at delivering impactful planetary action.

UNEA-6 will also underscore the significance of collaboration with multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).

These international agreements address critical environmental issues of global or regional concern and serve as vital instruments of international environmental governance and law.

Donald Trump says he would not throw Prince Harry an immigration lifeline if he was elected President again -suggesting he would be left to fend for himself and maybe get deported.

The ex-president spoke with the Daily Express, a UK publication, over the weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event in Maryland and he made no bones about the fact that he does not like the Duke of Sussex, and very clearly said Harry’s immigration status might come under scrutiny.

Mr Trump said, “I wouldn’t protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That is unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.”

He finished that sentiment by slamming the Biden administration for what he characterises as going easy on Prince Harry as it pertains to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) controversy – more on that in a bit – by adding, “I think they have been too gracious to him after what he has done.”

Now, what Mr Trump seems to be alluding to here is this DHS battle that the Prince is involved in indirectly -namely, a watchdog group suing the federal government in an attempt to obtain docs from Harry’s immigration papers/application for his visa.

As you are probably well aware, the guy is not a United States (U.S) citizen yet – and last year, he confessed in his memoir that he had done a number of drugs before coming on over to the States.

The watchdog group says this is a clear admission that violates DHS entry protocol and they’re demanding the agency fork those papers over to prove it — but Homeland Security is putting up a fight, arguing Harry has a right to privacy. They also say he might have been BS’ing … and this “confession” in the book doesn’t amount to a statement under oath.

What Mr Trump’s implying here, it seems, is that the DHS under his watch would let the chips fall where they may … which could, theoretically, end with PH getting kicked outta the U.S.

ALSO READ:

• Prince Harry says he’s ‘considered’ becoming a U.S. citizen

• Prince Harry drops libel claim against Mail on Sunday publisher

At least a dozen Indians have been duped by agents into fighting for Russian forces in the country’s war with Ukraine with reports saying one of them was killed in a missile strike.

Hemal Ashwinbhai from Gujarat state died in a missile attack last week, The Hindu newspaper reported over the weekend.

Hemal’s father had told the BBC on 23 February that he spoke to his son three days ago. He said that he was posted 20-22km (12-13 miles) inside Ukraine’s border and called him every few days when he got access to the mobile network.

The distraught families of the remaining men have now appealed to the federal government to get them back home.

The duped men, aged between 22 and 31 and hired as “helpers in the military establishment in Russia,” were allegedly sent to the battlefield under the pretext of “training,” according to their families.

Indian sources in Russia suggest dozens of Indians have joined the Russian army. However, a Russian defence ministry source informed The Hindu that the actual number recruited in the past year is approximately 100. The BBC has reached out to the Russian Embassy in Delhi, but there has been no response yet.

India’s foreign ministry has acknowledged “that some Indian nationals have enlisted for support roles with the Russian army”.

“Each and every such case brought to the attention of the Indian Embassy in Moscow has been strongly taken up with the Russian authorities and those brought to the attention of the ministry have been taken up with the Russian Embassy in New Delhi. Several Indians have already been discharged as a result,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also urged “all Indian nationals to exercise due caution and stay away from this conflict”.

Videos of some of the men, explaining how they were tricked by agents and sent to the battlefield have shocked their families, all of whom are poor – their parents and siblings are either tuk-tuk drivers, tea sellers or handcart sellers.

Victims and families allege agents demanded 300,000 rupees ($3,619; £2,857), promising a Russian passport after a few months of army service. Agents reportedly recruit people from India, UAE, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, with fees reaching up to 1.2m rupees.

The BBC spoke to some of their relatives, who say the men were lured by the promise of higher salaries and didn’t know what they were getting into. The identities of the men still in Russia are not being revealed to protect them.

“My 28-year-old son worked in a packaging company in Dubai. He, along with three friends, saw an agent’s video offering jobs in Russia with a promised salary of 90,000 to 100,000 rupees, compared to their current earnings of 35,000 to 40,000 rupees. They paid the agent 300,000 rupees through loans. Please help bring my son back,” his father, who sells tea and eggs on a handcart in the state of Karnataka told BBC Hindi, breaking down on the phone.

His story mirrors those of others from the states of Telangana, Gujarat, Kashmir, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, all allegedly deceived. Only one person has successfully escaped Moscow and returned home.

One man from Uttar Pradesh speaking from a safe location in Moscow in a video shot in end-January said that they were “were brought here by BabaVlog [a YouTube channel run by an Indian], and promised a salary of 150,000 rupees [a month]. We were not told that we are being drafted in an army.” The BBC reached out to the channel but didn’t receive a response.

Those allegedly deceived lack war combat experience with one man from Uttar Pradesh, dressed in army fatigues, stating in a video message that he was recruited through a social media platform.

“In Moscow, we signed a contract in Russian and unwittingly became soldiers sent to fight in the war. We’ve been deceived,” says the man, claiming that he and two other Indians have suffered combat injuries, gesturing with his seemingly injured right hand.

“Please get us out of this place. Otherwise, they will send us to the front. There is artillery [fire] and drones falling all over. We have zero experience in fighting a war. The agents have put us in this fix,” he adds.

Speaking over the phone from the Russia-Ukraine border, a man from Kashmir reported being stranded in Mariupol in Ukraine with an Indian companion and nine people from Nepal and Cuba. He said he had injured his foot during training.

“My commander kept saying that use your right hand to shoot, use your left hand to shoot, shoot above, shoot down,” he recalled.

“I had never touched a gun. It was extremely cold, and with the gun in my left hand, I ended up shooting my foot.”

The brother of one of the men said he didn’t know whether the Indians were “in the Wagner private army or the Russian army. They’re some 40km [24 miles] from the Ukraine border. They’ve been promised Russian citizenship in three months”.

Only Shaikh Mohammed Tahir from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, managed to avoid training or deployment in the war zone. “I worked in a car battery workshop here,” said the 24-year-old. He returned to India last week.

The issue made headlines after Asaduddin Owaisi, a MP from Hyderabad city, raised it. On 23 January, he wrote to the foreign ministry, seeking government intervention to bring the men back home.

Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of India’s main opposition Congress party, alleged that some 100 Indians have been “recruited in the Russian army as helpers” in the past year.

“Shockingly, some of them been forced to fight alongside Russia’s forces on the Russia-Ukraine border. Some of the workers have also said that their passports and documents had been seized, leaving them stranded and rendering them incapable to return home,” he said.

When the war began in 2022, there were some reports of a few Indians volunteering to join the Ukrainian army. But the presence of Indians on the Russian side in combat roles has been reported for the first time.

The BBC also spoke to an Indian in Russia who served near the Ukraine border and is no longer in the army. He said that his experience was that the Russian army was transparent and shared its contracts online. But he added that people who didn’t know Russia were being deceived by agents.

About 45% of the world’s population is expected to participate in elections in 2024.

However, amidst an era of Artificial Intelligence-led misinformation and disinformation, research suggests that partisan-funded pink slime news sites may outnumber legitimate local news outlets in the United States of America.

This phenomenon is likely to be replicated in other parts of the world where elections are scheduled for this year.

President and founder of DC Media LLC and a former managing editor of USA TODAY, Donna Leinwald Leger, warned that if left unchecked, this trend could significantly dilute the media landscape and erode trustworthiness among journalists.

Addressing 13 African journalists participating in the 2024 International Visitor Leadership Program on Media Responsibility in An Age of Disinformation, under the Edward R. Murrow program for Journalists, Donna stressed the urgent need for professional journalists to enhance trust among their audience and differentiate themselves from pink slime news sites.

She highlighted how politicians and vested interests deliberately exploit social media and other online platforms to disseminate falsehoods for their own agendas.

Donna also demonstrated how politicians and unscrupulous individuals might use Artificial Intelligence to replicate the voices of political leaders, celebrities, and other dignitaries to mislead the public.

Moreover, Donna mentioned that in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has banned AI-generated robocalls following an incident in January where a phony call, mimicking President Biden’s voice, advised New Hampshire voters to stay home during the state’s primary.

The FCC’s decision stems from the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits marketing calls that use artificial or prerecorded voice messages. Callers utilizing AI technology must obtain prior consent from the individuals they are contacting.

The Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists – Media Responsibility in an Age of Disinformation, organized under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, aims to equip journalists in the African region with the skills to detect and combat misinformation and disinformation in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

The program introduces participants to experts from academia, the media industry, and other stakeholders, facilitating the exchange of best practices.

The 13 participants hail from Ghana, Algeria, the Central African Republic, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Haiti, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Niger, Sierra Leone, and South Africa.

They are expected to share their experiences with their colleagues back home to collectively combat the menace of disinformation.

ALSO READ:

Driver dead, several injured in accident involving mourners at Assin Juaso

1,079 people were brought in dead in 2023 – Tema General Hospital

2023/24 GHPL MD18 Wrap: Kotoko shocked by Heart of Lions as Hearts of Oak cruise over RTU

At least 15 people have been killed and two others injured following an attack on a Catholic church in north-eastern Burkina Faso on Sunday.

It took place during Sunday worship in Essakane village in Oudalan province – close to the border with Mali. Few details have been given.

A church official indicated the gunmen were suspected Islamist militants.

There was no immediate response from the authorities in the West African country’s capital, Ouagadougou.

A statement by the head of the local diocese, Abbot Jean-Pierre Sawadogo, said 12 people were killed instantly, while three others died at the hospital.

“In this painful circumstance, we invite you to pray for those who died in faith, for the healing of the wounded, and for the consolidation of grieving hearts,” the statement reads.

It the latest atrocity in the country to be attributed to Islamist militants.

More than a third of Burkina Faso is currently under the control of insurgents.

The authorities have been battling Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State, which have taken over large swathes of land and displaced millions of people in the Sahel region.

In the last three years, churches have been targeted and scores of worshippers killed.

Burkina Faso, which is ruled by a military dictatorship, recently pulled out of the regional political and economic bloc, Ecowas, along with its Sahel neighbours, Mali and Niger.

They cited lack of support from Ecowas in the fight against terrorism as one of the reasons for wanting to exit the union.

The three junta-led countries had already been suspended from the bloc, which had been urging them to return to democratic rule.

Earlier this month, Burkina Faso’s military-backed president Ibrahim Traoré said Russian troops could deploy to fight jihadists in the West African country if needed.

ALSO READ:

• At least 35 civilians killed in Burkina Faso attack

• 2 Ghanaian tomato traders killed in Burkina Faso armed robbery attack

A man has set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC, according to emergency services.

The incident happened at around 13:00 local time (18:00 BST) on Sunday.

Officers from the US Secret Service extinguished the flames before the man was taken to hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries, the city’s fire department reported.

The Washington police department is investigating alongside the Secret Service and other relevant authorities.

A bomb disposal unit was sent to the sight over concerns about a suspicious vehicle that could have been connected to the individual.

This was later declared safe after no hazardous materials were found.

No embassy staff members were injured in the incident, a spokeswoman for the embassy told the New York Times.

It is not the first time someone has self-immolated in front of an Israeli diplomatic mission in the US.

In December, a protester set themselves on fire in front of the Israeli consulate in the US state of Georgia.

Police said the demonstrator used petrol, and a Palestinian flag was found at the scene on that occasion.

ALSO READ:

• Policeman fires gun and assaults civilians at Kaneshie [Photos+Video]

• Fire destroys NPP Chairman’s 15-bedroom house [Photos]

These days, Ukraine remembers the beginning of tragic events that dramatically changed the recent history of our state, with an impact far beyond, on the history of the entire European continent and the world.

Ten years ago, the unprovoked armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine launched the process of destruction of the world order created after the Second World War, based on international law.

Let us remember the temporary occupation and attempted annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol in 2014, followed by the temporary occupation of parts of the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The impunity that Russia felt, in the absence of a decisive response by the international community to these crimes, caused a series of terrible events, culminating in February 2022 with a full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

The series of aggression followed by occupation demonstrate a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, international law and human rights, through the demolition of cities and villages, numerous victims among the civilian population, tortures, and thousands of people left dead and wounded.

Russia also resorts to nuclear blackmail and undermines fundamental foundations of the international security and non-proliferation architecture.

Russia intends to legitimize an attempt to illegally annex Ukrainian territories by holding so-called “referenda” and “elections”, the results of which were not recognized by the international community.

By trying to organize “so-called elections” on the temporarily occupied territories, the Kremlin rudely violated international law, delegitimizing results of such “elections” throughout the all the territory of the federation, as well as the very status of its future President.

The arrest warrant for Putin issued by the International Criminal Court, resulting from the war crime of illegal deportations and transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children to the territory of the aggressor state, has become one of the important consequences of the Russian occupation within Ukraine.

Such crimes do not have a statute of limitations. The war criminals must be apprehended and handed over to international justice.

The heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people disrupted colonial and imperial ambitions of Putin and his plans to separate Ukraine from Europe. His intentions to erase Ukraine from the world map, to turn Ukraine into its colony, and to destroy Ukrainian identity, have failed.

Ukrainian people continue to demonstrate courage and heroism, fighting day-by-day for its existence, preservation of its statehood and survival.

The people of Ukraine and Ghana are aligned in the defence of democracy and rules-based order around the world.

An absolute majority of the world community members have condemned the Russian aggression and confirmed their commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

In these extremely difficult times, we are sincerely grateful to our international partners for their political support, military, financial and humanitarian assistance, and increased sanctions to pressure the aggressor state.

Ukraine will never surrender to the aggressor. Only a complete restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders will ensure peace and stability in Europe and the world.

Ukraine understands the need to create a new international security system that would effectively respond to today’s threats and challenges. The role of Ghana in this process will be significant.

We appreciate the solidarity and principled position of the Republic of Ghana in matters of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. We are determined to further develop and strengthen existing relations between our countries. This is evidenced by the opening of the Embassy of Ukraine in Ghana at the end of 2023, as well as the intensification of bilateral contacts.

On 16 January 2024, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, met with the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, on the sidelines of the WEF in Davos, to discuss concrete ways to deepen relations between Ukraine and Ghana. The Head of our State thanked Ghana for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine on the international stage.

Despite Russian aggression, Ukraine will continue to be a reliable guarantor of food security at the global level. We consider Ghana as an important partner for the supply of Ukrainian agricultural products to African countries.

We are confident that through joint efforts with our partners, we will ensure the implementation of the Peace Formula of the President Zelenskyy as the only effective roadmap aimed at restoring comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in Ukraine and security for the whole world.

We look forward to the Global Peace Summit at the level of heads of state and government, leaders of international organizations, and call on Ghana to join the Summit, and participate in the implementation of the points of the Peace Formula.

We are convinced that through joint efforts we will be able to achieve the full restoration of the territorial integrity and peace in Ukraine and in Europe.

We are convinced that our Ghanaian partners will stand side by side with Ukraine until our joint victory.

ALSO READ:

• Ukraine war: Dozens of Russian troops ‘die in air strike’

• Russia takes Avdiivka from Ukraine, biggest gain in 9 months

The Eiffel Tower in Paris was expected to reopen to visitors on Sunday after six days of closure due to strikes.

Workers first walked out on Monday in a dispute over the way the tower was managed.

Its operator, Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), said a deal was reached with unions on Saturday.

It is the second such strike at the iconic landmark in the last three months, as Paris looks ahead to hosting the 2024 Olympic Games this summer.

SETE apologised to ticket holders and said they would be reimbursed for bookings impacted by the action, which resulted in the loss of some 100,000 admissions.

The powerful Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) union said that staff had decided to strike over SETE’s business model, which it claimed was based on an inflated estimate of future visitor numbers, and an underestimation of the cost of maintenance and renovation.

Stéphane Dieu, speaking on behalf of the union, accused SETE of seeking profitability in the short term.

Strikers have also expressed concern over the state of the monument, which Le Monde reported had not been repainted for 14 years, rather than the usual seven, with other repair work falling behind schedule.

This week’s strike was first planned to take place across five days, but CGT on Friday announced that staff had voted to extend the strike to Saturday after rejecting SETE’s initial proposal.

On Saturday, SETE said it reached an agreement with the unions “under which the parties will regularly monitor the company’s business model, investment in works and revenue through a body that will meet every six months”.

With an aim to balance its books by 2025, it added that both sides also agreed to see an investment of some €380m (£325m) to 2031 toward works and maintenance of the landmark.

On Thursday, French Culture Minister Rachida Dati suggested the Eiffel Tower be classified as a “historical monument” to allow the state to help fund works if needed.

The Eiffel Tower last closed on 27 December as workers launched a protest – again over its management – to mark the centenary of the death of the tower’s creator, Gustave Eiffel.

Eiffel, a civil engineer, made his name building bridges and viaducts for the French railway network. However, he was best known for the tower, which was designed to show off France’s modern industrial prowess on a world stage, as the centrepiece of the 1889 Paris Exposition, or world’s fair.

Built in little more than two years, it was at the time the tallest building in the world and soon became a defining image of the French capital.

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) on Saturday, February 24 said it received the preliminary report from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) regarding the helicopter crash that claimed the life of Dr Herbert Wigwe, former Group CEO of Access Holdings, his wife, son and two others.

The Director, of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NSIB, Bimbo Oladeji, made the disclosure in a statement in Lagos.

The tragic incident occurred on February 9, involving an Airbus Helicopter EC130B4 in Halloran Springs, California.

Initial findings suggest the helicopter suffered catastrophic damage as it caught fire before the crash due to adverse weather conditions.

Speaking on the NTSB report, Oladeji said:

“The preliminary report on the Airbus Helicopter EC130B4, registered as N130CZ and operated by Orbic Air, LLC, under Part 135 regulations for on-demand flights, outlines crucial details surrounding the tragic incident.

“Departing from Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California, the helicopter journeyed to Boulder City Municipal Airport in Nevada via Palm Springs International Airport.

“However, during its flight, adverse weather conditions characterized by rain and a mix of snow were encountered, as reported by witnesses.

“Reports from law enforcement and eyewitnesses also indicated that several individuals travelling along Interstate 15 (I-15) observed a “fireball” in the area, prompting calls to emergency services.

“Subsequently, the wreckage of the helicopter was discovered in the high, mountainous desert and scrub-brush-covered terrain near Halloran Springs, California.”

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has lifted all commercial and economic sanctions imposed on the Republic of Niger.

The country last year deposed its democratically elected leader, Mohammed Bazoum printing a drastic response from the ECOWAS which had declared zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes in government.

Already, Niger together with Mali and Burkina Faso has announced that they were exiting the regional bloc owing to inhumane sanctions.

But at an extraordinary summit today, February 24 in Abuja, Nigeria, ECOWAS stated that it was lifting all sanctions off Niger while expecting that established protocols of free movement within the bloc will remain unchanged.https://www.youtube.com/embed/bw_Gk1nZrBU?si=oq-el6o7pLww9Js_

Speaking at a news conference, the President of the ECOWAS commission, Omar Alieu Touray explained that the decision is aimed at addressing existential threats facing the region and called on the three junta-led nations that have quit the bloc to rescind their decision.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu who doubles as the chairperson of the ECOWAS heads of state stressed that the existential threats faced by the subregion demands that leaders re-examine their approach to constitutional order.

ALSO READ:

MoMo vendor drinks DDT over GH¢16,000 debt [Photos]

He promised her marriage as 3rd wife, now he wants a 4th but all is not well

Revoke appointment of our staff to MMDAs – CLOGSAG to gov’t

I learnt that life wasn’t fair from a very young age and in the worst way possible. My stepfather used to abuse me sexually and when I finally got the courage to report him, he only got three months counselling as punishment and was allowed to live with me again.

My mother took him back because of financial reasons but she kept us separate. They slept in the downstairs part of the house and we slept in the upstairs part. Still, I was traumatized and lived in fear. As if I hadn’t been through enough trauma, I was introduced to a man who I thought loved me but he sex trafficked me.

When I was around 14 years old, one of my neighbours came over to my house and invited me to a pool party.

“It’s going to be fun.” She said.

“Sure. I’d love to.”

I didn’t have many friends so it felt nice to be included in something for once. I grabbed my swimsuit and followed the girl. Before we got to the location, we ran into a small crowd of teenagers. There was one guy who stood out in the crowd. He had everyone’s attention and everyone wanted to talk to him. My friend started walking towards them and I followed her.

“Hi Greg, I want you to meet my friend Wendy. Wendy, this is Greg.” She said to the guy.

Greg turned to me, smiled and stretched his hand out to me then said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

At that moment, I felt weak in my knees. My heart started racing and I couldn’t stop smiling.

“Can I get your number?” He asked.

“Sure,” I said then gave it to him.

I didn’t think that he would call me but later that night, he did and we talked for hours. That was the beginning of a relationship that led me to being sex trafficked.

All I wanted was to be loved and Greg knew how to make me feel loved. It didn’t take long for us to be intimate and I became pregnant shortly after. I was still under my mother’s care since I was 17 years old when I had my child. Greg insisted that I should move out of my mother’s house for us to make the relationship work.

“How am I going to do that?” I asked.

“I have a plan. You can move to a shelter where they’ll consider you emancipated from your parents, then you can get welfare checks and we can get an apartment and live happily ever after.” He explained.

At the time, it sounded like a fairytale and I was all in. I ran away from home and Greg dropped me and my daughter at a shelter. However, life at the shelter wasn’t as easy as Greg made it seem.

It took a while for me to get my first welfare check and I was running out of baby products. So, I called Greg to let him know that I needed money to take care of our child.

“Don’t worry, I have a job for us to do.” He said.

I assumed he meant cleaning people’s houses since that was what he told me he did for money. So, I picked up my daughter and went to meet him.

“What are we going to do?” I asked Greg.

“Well, you’re going to walk up this street, wait on that corner for a man to pick you up and you’ll have sex with that man in his car and he’ll pay you.” He explained without any emotion.

I was confused and hesitant but he kept bringing up my daughter and telling me that if I loved her, I would do it. I felt like I didn’t have a choice. My legs and hands were shaking as I walked to the spot he had told me to stand. As soon as I got there, a car stopped in front of me and the man asked me to get in. That is how I started being sex trafficked by my husband.

“I know a place we can go in the woods.” He said.

I didn’t say anything. When we got to the woods, we both got out and went to a secluded area where he started taking off his clothes. I took off mine and we had sex then he gave me the money and drove me back to where he had picked me.

When I got out, I went to Greg who was still standing on the same spot and handed him all the money.

“I love you. I knew I made the right choice in picking you as my wife.” He said.

We went to buy diapers and formula for the baby and even had a little leftover. However, a week later, we were out of diapers again. 

That time, he told me to do two or three clients since I could make more money to be able to come out of the shelter.

“Do you want your daughter to live in a shelter for the rest of her life?” He asked.

From that point, he began building one of the largest prostitution rings in the region. It consisted of 4 to 10 girls in different states. For 13 years and still married to him, he sex trafficked me. It went from once a week to every other day depending on how much money he was getting from the other girls. I worked as a street girl, escort and home calls. Not to mention, I had two more children with him.

People always asked me why I chose to stay with him for all those years but no matter what I said, they couldn’t understand what I went through. Greg got us addicted to drugs and would physically abuse us when we tried to leave. He would also make the other girls go find any girl who left and beat them until the girl came back. I felt connected with the other girls since we weren’t allowed to have outside connections. So, whenever I managed to escape, I would feel guilty and go back because I didn’t want them to get hurt.

After 13 years, I was finally free from Greg. I had just given birth and was in the kitchen preparing food for us when I saw police cars outside our house. The police stormed in, arrested Greg and took me in for questioning.

However, I refused to talk to them since I was scared that I would get a beating from Greg if he found out. Since I didn’t cooperate, they charged me with sex trafficking and I was sentenced to 23 months in prison. Greg was also charged with sex trafficking and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

My children were taken when I was in prison and since the judge in the custody case believed I was a sex trafficker, she vowed that I wouldn’t get custody of my children. When I got out, I went back to school and got an associate’s degree. I also went back to the same judge in my custody case to ask for my child’s custody. I went with my lawyers, counsellors and even the police officers who arrested me so we could explain my case to the judge. 

She gave me my child back and I moved back home to live with my mum who, unfortunately, passed away later. Today, I feel safe and content, which is an amazing place to be. I’ve realized that there are people who are willing to help people who have been through the challenges that I’ve been through and if you’re going through something similar, you don’t have to suffer alone or in silence.

This story is based on Unfiltered Stories YouTube video.

Trying to hold back the tears, Kelvin Kiptum’s widow, Asenath Rotich, led the mourners at the funeral for the young Kenyan marathon world record holder.

She broke down when revealing that the couple had been planning a big wedding celebration in April.

Kiptum was just 24 when he died in a car accident nearly a fortnight ago.

He had stunned the world in his short marathon career and figures from sport and politics came to pay tribute to a man whose life had promised so much.

Kenya’s President William Ruto was there as well as Sebastian Coe, who heads athletics’ world governing body.

The funeral ceremony was held at the showground in the village of Chepkorio, where Kiptum trained in western Kenya.

His widow said she and Kiptum, who had a traditional marriage in 2017, had planned to hold a “colourful wedding ceremony” in April.

Her presence reminded everyone that the modest, softly-spoken star had also left his wife, two children and parents bereft.

“I mourn my love,” she said, “I’ve cried until no more. I’ll miss you and you’re the love of my life forever. Until we meet again.”

Kenya is home to some of the world’s best runners and many came to pay their respects.

Amos Kipruto, the 2022 London Marathon champion, was a pallbearer at the service.

“The hands are not strong enough,” he told the BBC.

“My heart is heavy it is painful, and I still feel it’s a movie… We are all rivals in races but in friendship, we are together.”

Multiple world record holder Faith Kipyegon described Kiptum as “unique” and wondered what could have been, saying that this was the year that the young long-distance runner was going to break the two-hour barrier in the marathon.

“Since he arrived… he has re-written history,” veteran athlete Paul Tergat told the BBC. “He has a legacy that we’ve never seen in this world. We are here… to celebrate what he has achieved in a very short time.”

Kiptum only ran his first marathon in December 2022 recording the fastest debut time over the distance. He then broke the London course record last year and smashed the world record, held by Kenyan great Eliud Kipchoge, in October 2023.

Overall, he ran three of the fastest seven marathons of all time in less than a year.

Reflecting on this record Lord Coe said Kiptum had reached “the highest peaks of achievement”.

But he was also a local hero who was said to have done a lot for people in his home area.

“I feel pain and shock,” local resident Susan Jerotich said.

“He would have been a great support to the community and family. He was our light. He’s motivated many.

“We used to say to our children: ‘Be like Kiptum.'”

Celebrities including Piers Morgan, Nigella Lawson and Oprah Winfrey have criticised the use of AI deepfake online adverts that gave the false impression they had endorsed a US influencer’s controversial self-help course.

The adverts promoted the so-called “Genie Script”, the centrepiece of a “manifestation” course sold for $37 (£29) a time by Wesley “Billion Dollar” Virgin.

He describes himself as a motivational coach who has 1.1 million followers on Instagram and claims to be worth $40m.

The videos, used to lure buyers to purchase the product, claim the Genie Script is a “missing” Hebrew Bible scripture of just 20 words that could – supposedly – change your life.

Its promotion blends pseudo-science, conspiracy theories and the manipulation of celebrity likenesses – all to draw in customers desperate for the chance to take control of their fate.

One advert used footage of Nigella Lawson chatting about her recipes and work as a TV chef.

“I went on vacation and met this man at a very exclusive party. His name was Wesley and he handed me this hidden Bible page that was locked away in somebody’s room,” the voice said.

But it was not that of Lawson, it was the barely indistinguishable mimicry of an AI voice generator.

Real footage is overlaid with a deepfake impersonation of the food writer’s voice, making it sound like she was attributing her success directly to Wesley Virgin’s guidance.

The AI voice suggested that the script revealed by Virgin unlocked the secret to manifestation, a practice which involves thinking about or writing down your aspirations to turn them into reality.

“He said: ‘Repeat this mantra every single day of your life… Since that moment I’ve become a multimillionaire all on my own.”

A spokesperson for Lawson branded the advertisement “fraudulent” and “of great concern”.

Another advert showed what looked like an excerpt from the Piers Morgan Uncensored TV show and employed similar techniques.

The voice described “a lost old scripture that has been used by kings to attract vast riches, miraculous healing and unparalleled love”, and it looked like the mouth had been manipulated to fit the speech.

The real Piers Morgan told the BBC the advert was “another example of a very worrying trend of public figures being misused by deepfake AI manipulators for financial gain”.

“The real victims will be members of the public who unwittingly buy these products believing the celebrity endorsements are genuine,” he said.

“Reviews” of the script appear online, where users praise Virgin and say they hope the script will help them with escaping poverty or spending more time with their children or grandchildren.

Both adverts, which appeared on YouTube, have now been taken down.

A spokesperson for YouTube said it had “long prohibited the use of manipulated media, including deepfakes and other forms of doctored content to deceive or mislead users”.

Having reviewed these videos, Prof Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of Berkeley, said they were “clearly deepfakes”.

“Of course, as the technology to create these fake audio and video improves, it will become increasingly difficult to detect these fakes. And the technology is improving at a stunning rate,” he added.

Another advert, this time featuring Oprah Winfrey, was discovered in the Ad Library for the Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram. Genuine footage had been overlaid, again with AI providing fake dialogue sounding like the US chat show queen.

“I want to give you a 20-word script… think of it like installing a new operating system into your mind that’s programmed to make you rich,” the AI Oprah says.

A spokesperson for the real Oprah told the BBC she did not have anything to do with Virgin’s product.

“We seek to protect consumers from the false association of Ms Winfrey and the misuse of AI to create such false advertising,” they said.

Meta said it took action on the adverts it found to be in violation of its policies.

When the BBC contacted Wesley Virgin he said the adverts were “the work of affiliates”, people who can earn money by helping him make sales, and that he was “in the process of banning them all”.

But videos still prominent on the 44-year-old’s YouTube channel demonstrate the huge effort he has put into mentoring an online team of volunteers hoping to share in his fortunes, therefore boosting his own bank account.

With titles such as “Make $800+ A DAY Online For FREE Copy & Pasting Links!”, Virgin urges viewers to spread the word about his products, such as the Genie Script, across social media.

Promising rapid returns and a high commission rate, he encourages potential recruits to paste a web link to the sales platform Digistore24 into multiple meditation groups, along with messages promising a “free meditation” to those who click on it.

But the link would take users to an online check-out for Virgin’s manifestation courses – after they had watched a sales pitch video with outlandish claims and an inaccurate account of theological history.

The narrative of this video centred on a supposed “missing” page from the Bible that carries a powerful prayer script. The rich and famous knew the secret script, the narration claimed, and warned that “they’re willing to put a bullet into anyone’s head who exposes them”.

Alongside the assertions was the seemingly antisemitic claim that Jewish people were disproportionately wealthy because they “use manifestation secrets” taken from an ancient 1,100-year-old “uncensored” Hebrew Bible that included the page that was “missing” from regular Bibles.

Prof Nathan McDonald, a theology academic at the University of Cambridge, said the video referred to the Codex Sassoon, a very early Hebrew Bible which recently generated attention when it was sold at auction for $38m.

“It does not have an additional page with a ’20-word script’,” he said. “Instead, alas… it has been damaged and is lacking a few pages.”

He added that the Genie Script’s promotional videos seemed to draw on “New Thought” religious belief, which has its roots in late 19th Century America and has influenced some parts of Christianity through the so-called prosperity gospel. It suggests that healing and prosperity are available to Christian believers if they have enough faith.

YouTube users who clicked on the faked Piers Morgan and Nigella Lawson adverts were directed to a similar video but this version was embellished with what appeared to be more celebrity endorsements.

Another celebrity featured without permission was the Canadian TV star and businessman, Kevin O’Leary. His spokesman said the clip of the entrepreneur had been purchased via a website that sells personalised messages from celebrities, and misused.

“Kevin will be taking the appropriate action to have it removed immediately. Kevin does not know Wesley and has no affiliation with him or any of his businesses,” he said.

The Oprah advert directed to another similar video, and then a shop for the product.

The sales platform Digistore24 also distanced itself from Virgin. It said his use of affiliate web links had violated its terms and guidelines and it would end its business relationship with him.

Wesley Virgin has not responded to further requests from the BBC to explain his business practices.

Despite being criticised by celebrities, he is far from disheartened. Recent social media posts suggest he is still actively selling the “dream”, claiming he can teach people how to become millionaires.