Foreign

US President Donald Trump said today that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed in its entirety. Trump, in a Truth Social post wrote: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.” Venezuela’s Communications Ministry, which handles all press inquiries for the government, did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Trump’s post. The US War Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to the Guardian UK. US strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean…

*Sack Electoral Process With President, Rival Claiming Victory In Poll *Give No Terminal Date For Military Interregnum Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau have announced they are taking “total control” of the West African country, three days after elections that both the two main presidential contenders claim to have won. Military officers said they were suspending Guinea-Bissau’s electoral process and closing its borders, in a statement read out at the army’s headquarters in the capital Bissau and broadcast on state TV. They said they had formed “the high military command for the restoration of order”, which would rule the country until further notice.…

*FG Denies Claims It appears the noose is being readied for persons involved in alleged killing of Christians in Nigeria as America's top diplomat in the United Nations (UN) has spoken of the West African country's religious situation, saying entire church congregations have been wiped out in what he alleged is a genocide. It was gathered that the statement,made at a public event, is part of US' moves to galvanize global opinion ahead of any intended practical action by President Donald Trump, if Nigeria's authorities fail to stamp out the alleged slaughters. Ambassador Mike Waltz described the recent killings of…

*'Red Zone' To Be Left In Ruins The US is planning for the long-term division of Gaza into a “green zone” under Israeli and international military control, where reconstruction would start, and a “red zone” to be left in ruins. Foreign forces will initially deploy alongside Israeli soldiers in the east of Gaza, leaving the devastated strip divided by the current Israeli-controlled “yellow line”, according to US military planning documents seen by the Guardian UK and sources briefed on American plans. “Ideally you would want to make it all whole, right? But that’s aspirational,” said a US official, speaking on…

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his time in prison was a nightmare, gruelling and really hard. Released from prison today by an Appeal Court to pursue his appeal, he said he wants to “prove his innocence” against his conviction for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain election campaign funds from late Muammar Gaddafi's Libya. After 20 days in jail that he had earlier described as “gruelling” and a “nightmare”, the former French President was driven away from La Santé prison in Paris today accompanied by his wife, the celebrity singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Sarkozy, who served as France’s rightwing…

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, a politician and daughter of the former South African president Jacob Zuma, has pleaded not guilty to incitement to commit terrorism and public violence over deadly riots in 2021. The trial, which began today in the coastal city of Durban, is the first prosecution in South Africa in which terrorism‑related charges are being brought based on social media posts. In July 2021, Zuma handed himself in to police to serve a 15-month sentence for contempt of court over his refusal to appear before a commission investigating widespread corruption – often referred to as “state capture”. He served only…

Tanzania is seeking the arrest of 10 people, including senior opposition figures, it has blamed for the deadly protests during elections last week. More than 1,000 people were killed by security forces during the demonstrations, according to the main opposition party, Chadema, and human rights bodies. The Tanzanian government has said these figures were exaggerated but did not give its own figures. The incumbent President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, was deemed the winner of the election with 98% of the vote, but the opposition – which was barred from participating – condemned the results as fraudulent. The government claimed the elections…

*Calls Nigeria 'Now Disgraced Country' *Claims FG Is Allowing Killing Of Christians *We Have Religious Tolerance, Tinubu Says Donald Trump on Saturday said he had ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria as he stepped up his criticism that the Federal Government (FG) was failing to rein in the persecution of Christians in the West African country. “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the…

About 800 people have been killed during three days of election protests in Tanzania, the main opposition party has said. Protests erupted on election day on Wednesday over what demonstrators said was the stifling of the opposition after the exclusion of key candidates from the presidential ballot. John Kitoka, a spokesperson for the Chadema opposition party, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that hundreds of people had been killed since then. “As we speak, the figure for deaths in Dar [es Salaam] is around 350 and for Mwanza it is 200-plus. Added to figures from other places around the country, the overall…

*No Nigerian Church On Global List, Only One African Church Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia basilica became the world’s tallest church today after a part of its central tower was lifted into place. The masterwork of the architect Antoni Gaudí now rises to 162.91 metres (534ft 8in) above the city, the church said in a statement. That beats the spire of Ulm Minster in Germany, which tops out at 161.53 metres. The world's tallest churches are the Ulm Minster (of the Lutheran church); the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, d'Ivoire (158.0 m), a Catholic church which holds the record…