Connect with us

News

Blinken Meets Palestine President Abbas In Surprise West Bank Visit

Published

on

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a high-security surprise visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank Sunday, meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, according to photographs released by the Palestinian Authority.

The top US diplomat met with Abbas in Ramallah as global concern grows over rising violence in the occupied territory in tandem with the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza since October 7.

The war erupted after Hamas militants launched an attack on southern Israel that killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

Since the outbreak of the war, which has seen nearly 9,500 killed in Israel’s retaliatory land, air and sea assault on Gaza according to the Hamas-run health ministry, Blinken has made three trips to Israel and also visited numerous other Arab nations.

But this was his first trip to the West Bank since October 7.

The trip was not announced in advance for security reasons and came after Blinken visited Jordan and neighbouring Israel on Friday.

Following a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Blinken “expressed concern regarding the increasing violence in the West Bank and emphasised the US commitment to working with partners towards a durable and sustainable peace in the region,” according to a statement.

More than 150 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers and attacks by Israeli settlers since the start of the war, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.

Blinken’s meeting with Abbas, whose secularist Fatah party is Hamas’s rival, came at a time when Washington has heaped political and military support behind Israel.

The United States has advocated that a two-state solution is the only path out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Blinken recently said the Palestinian Authority should take control of the Gaza Strip which is currently governed by Hamas.

The United States and a number of European and Arab countries, as well as the United Nations, have stated alarm at flaring tensions in the West Bank.

The Israeli army said Friday its forces were “operating against Hamas” notably in Jenin and Nablus, in the north of the territory it has occupied since 1967.

Blinken has advocated for “humanitarian pauses” in his tour of the Middle East, to protect civilians and ease aid deliveries in the densely populated Gaza Strip under bombardment.

He is due to travel to Ankara in Turkey on Sunday evening.

Loading

Continue Reading

News

‘Tinubu Won’t Tolerate Killer Herders’ – Sunday Igboho Replies Miyetti Allah

Published

on

Igboho

Yoruba nation activist Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, said on Sunday that President Bola Tinubu will not allow lawlessness that led to herders killing farmers under the immediate past administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Igboho cautioned herders against the thought of further attacks on farmers in the Southwest.

He remarked in reaction to a comment by the national president of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Abdullahi Bello Bodejo, who dismissed his recent quit notice to Fulani herders to vacate the Southwest.

In October, Igboho had given Fulani herders seven days to vacate the Southwest.

by TaboolaSponsored LinksYou May Like

Want to know more? click here
bet9ja.com
However, Bodejo had condemned the ultimatum issued by Igboho in a recent interview.

Igboho, in his reaction, described Bodejo as a “mere attention seeker.” He insisted that Nigeria’s Constitution does not support mindless killings of farmers, rape of their wives, and destruction of farmlands.

In a statement he signed, Igboho said: “Some alleged killer Fulani herders must be stopped from re-igniting tension and an atmosphere of insecurity in any part of Nigeria, most especially in the agrarian communities and settlements in Yorubaland, by the security agencies.

“It is imperative for the Miyetti Allah group to be conscious of the fact that the acts of lawlessness permeated under former President Muhammadu Buhari will not hold sway under the immediate incumbent President Bola Tinubu.

“It is glaring that Bodejo is merely seeking undue recognition through his unjustifiable position on the carnage by his fellow Fulani herders, which had caused untold hardship for small and large-scale farmers, even in the North and more prominently in the South, where they often move their cattle to graze farms and destroy cash crops.

“It will do them a lot of good to perish the thought of unprovoked attacks on farmers, particularly in the South West, where we have lost many innocent farmers. Relevant security agencies and the people will not allow them to further compound the woes of the common man.”

Loading

Continue Reading

News

Julius Berger Hands Over Second Niger Bridge To FG

Published

on

Construction giant and contractor of the Second Niger Bridge, Julius Berger, has formally handed over the multi-billion naira project to the Federal Government.

In a brief ceremony at toll area of the bridge, the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, expressed satisfaction with the project, confirming that the contractor had carried out repairs on the vandalized portions

He also noted that the bridge is open to concession to any private company who would be ready to complete all the ancillary roads, collect tolls and recoup investments.

Umahi hinted that modalities to ease traffic at the old and new bridges during the festive period are being worked out.

The 1.6 kilometers long bridge links Anambra and Delta states.

The Second Niger Bridge was first proposed during the 1978/79 political campaign by then-candidate Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN)

Loading

Continue Reading

Headline

‘Waste Of Resources Amid Hardship’, Peter Obi Faults Number Of Nigerian Delegates At COP28

Published

on

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, on Sunday, faulted the number of Nigeria’s delegation at the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

President Bola Tinubu had on November 29, 2023 departed Abuja for Dubai for the summit expected to end December 12, 2023.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the ex-governor of Anambra State, described sending over 1,000 persons to the summit as a waste of scarce resources by the Tinubu administration.

Obi lamented the “huge contingent” in Dubai at public expense at a time when most Nigerians can hardly afford food and basic needs.

“Nigeria’s contingent to COP28 totaled 1411, the same number as the Chinese contingents. While China’s budget for 2024 is about $4 trillion, about $2,860 per head; Nigeria’s budget is about $33 billion, about $165 per head,” Obi said.

“Nigeria has more people living in ‘Multi-Dimensional’ poverty than China, despite China having seven times our population.”

Obi said majority of those in the Nigerian delegation to COP28 are either non-relevant civil servants or relations of high government officials.

“This huge contingent is out at public expense at a time when most Nigerians can hardly afford food and basic needs as a result of economic hardship.

“As we have kept emphasizing, we must stop waste as a a tradition of our government and nation. We urgently need to cut the cost of governance and invest in production.

“We need to de-emphasize unnecessary ceremony and showmanship as a mode of government behaviour. We need to tie spending to necessity and national Priority. A New Nigeria is possible. We only need to do the reasonable and the necessary.”

Meanwhile, a presidential aide, Temitope Ajayi, in a comment on Sunday, defended the delegation of the President to the summit, saying that “President Tinubu and other officials on the Federal government delegation are in Dubai for serious business not jamboree”.

Loading

Continue Reading

Recent Posts




JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

Trending