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  Russian officials struck a defiant note Monday after Western leaders threatened to further punish Moscow for escalated fighting in eastern Ukraine over the weekend.

(Nigeria) An 87-year-old woman, Mrs Olapeju Fasonu, was on Sunday night abducted by gunmen in her residence at Araromi-Obu in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The first United States drone strike in Yemen since the start of the year killed three suspected al-Qaida fighters on Monday, signaling Washington's determination to keep striking the global network's most lethal branch despite the Yemeni president's resignation in the face of a Shiite rebel power grab.

An Egyptian appeals court on Monday convicted a doctor of manslaughter and performing female genital mutilation that led to the death of a 13-year-old girl, sentencing him to two years and three months in prison in the country's first case that came to trial over the widespread practice, defense lawyers said.

The two sons of former Egyptian president Hosny Mubarak were released from prison Monday, one day after at least 15 people were killed in protests marking the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that ended his rule.

The United Nations Security Council will have an extraordinary meeting on Monday in connection with the deterioration of the crisis in Ukraine.

As many as 184 Ukrainian servicemen are being kept in captivity by militia in the war-torn Ukrainian industrial area of Donbas, the country’s General Staff said on Monday.

(Nigeria) The All Progressives Congress, APC, has urged the Inspector-General of Police to urgently institute a probe into the stoning of President Goodluck Jonathan's campaign convoy in Bauchi State last week, following the revelation by a top Peoples Democratic Party, PDP member that the attack was indeed stage managed by unnamed PDP stalwarts.

  (Nigeria) President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday in Lagos said Nigeria was pleased with the international community’s agreement with it on the multinational task force initiative in fighting the Boko Haram insurgency.

Anti-government protesters fought street battles with police in Cairo, Egypt  and other cities on Sunday, the fourth anniversary of the country's 2011 uprising, as clashes left at least 15 people dead and dozens injured.

(Nigeria) The United States government has advised Nigerian politicians to work towards ensuring a peaceful and violence-free February general elections.

From the prime minister to ordinary people, Japanese were shocked Sunday at a video purportedly showing one of two Japanese hostages of the extremist Islamic State group had been killed.

The Islamic State group confirmed Sunday its militants have executed Haruna Yukawa, one of two Japanese it has been holding hostage, following the release of a video announcing his death.

Ukraine's president, Petro Poroshenko said on Sunday that intercepted radio and telephone conversations prove that Russia-backed separatists were responsible for firing the rockets that pounded the southeastern city of Mariupol and killed no fewer than 30 people.

(Nigeria) The camp of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, candidate for Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has cried out that his supporters were being subjected to intimidation, while its campaign materials were being destroyed by loyalists of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

(Nigeria) The All Progressives Congress Campaign Organisation, APCPCO, has urged President Goodlucj Jonathan and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to call to order Niger Delta ex-militants, who have threatened to wage war against the country in the event that their "son" loses the February 14 presidential election.

(Nigeria) Boko Haram Islamists on Sunday captured the northeastern town of Monguno in Borno State, including a military base, after a fierce battle with Nigerian troops.

Russia is ready to do everything it could to persuade all Ukrainian parties to settle the crisis in a peaceful way, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday.

(Nigeria) The Katsina State Police Command on Sunday dispelled rumour over the alleged murder of Malam Ballo Isyaku, Principal of Government College, Katsina, who released Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s certificate.

(Nigeria) Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, has said that his grouse with President Goodluck Jonathan was that the President abandoned Edo State and did nothing for the state despite securing 95 percent votes of Edo people for his re-election in 2011.

At least 30 police officers were dead Sunday after a clash with Muslim rebels as they were on an operation to arrest suspected terrorists in the southern Philippines, officials said.

(Nigeria) The United States Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry, on Sunday arrived in Lagos for an official engagement.

Three suspected Islamists were killed outside Cairo Sunday, Egyptian authorities said amid worries about protests - despite a ban - marking the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime president Hosny Mubarak.

Ukraine's government declared Sunday a national day of mourning after the deaths of at least 30 civilians in a missile attack on the eastern port city of Mariupol.

‎(Nigeria) Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, has said  the subterranean plot by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, led Federal Government to postpone the February general elections was a futile attempt to postpone the evil day.

The Islamist group Boko Haram has attacked Maiduguri, a north-eastern state capital of 1.2 million people, Nigeria's Defence Ministry said Sunday.

(Nigeria) The 7th Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri on Sunday announced a 24-hour curfew on Maiduguri, following suspected insurgents’ attacks near the city.

(Nigeria) Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has dropped two of his Commissioners. Those dropped are Orobosa Omo-Ojo, former Commissioner for Transport and Donald Osikhena-Boih, former Commissioner for Lands and Survey.

(Nigeria) The Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Part, (PDP, has absolved members of the party from the alleged attack on a supposedly venue of a rally of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Okrika, Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State in the wee hours of Saturday.

(Nigeria) The All Progressives Congress, APC, has challenged the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to tell Nigerians how it plans to move from the near zero governance of the past six years of the Jonathan Administration to good and purposeful governance, instead of engaging in perpetual and tiring mudslinging.

Separatists in eastern Ukraine, have said that they will on Sunday begin a large-scale attack of the eastern port city of Mariupol. Meanwhile, death toll in Saturday shelling of  Mariupol has reached 27 and about 100 injured. Indeed, the rebels traded blame for most of the day with Ukrainian forces about which side was responsible for the civilian deaths, reports dpa. Ukrainian media showed images of burning cars with a plume of black smoke rising over the city. The deaths came a day after the separatists announced they were planning a major attack. Rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko told the Interfax news agency from his stronghold in the city of Donetsk that the group's promised attack had begun. However, he did not comment on whether his forces were responsible for the fatal shelling. Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said the army would repel the insurgent attack. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for the violence to stop and

A video released late Saturday suggested that a Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa held by the Islamic State (IS) militants, was killed, according to local report. In the video, another Japanese captive Kenji Goto's photo was posted and an audio message was attached saying that Yukawa was killed, reports Xinhua. Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said that the government here will have a ministerial meeting on the hostage crisis, according to Japan's Kyodo News. The new video came after a clip showed Tuesday by IS militants that demanded 200 million U.S. Dollars for ransom of the two Japanese hostages within 72 hours. Kyodo said that Japan denounced hostage-takers for posting image online and demanded safe release of Goto. The new video was reportedly has been deleted and local reports said the authenticity of the new video is questionable. Meanwhile, in the video, the IS militants said they demand the release of its member prisoned in Jordan, according to reports.

(Nigeria) Alhaji Kabiru Turaki, the Minister for Special Duties, has said that it was illogical to link the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents to the Federal Government. Speaking at the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Presidential Rally held in Maiduguri, he described individuals peddling such romour as ``most unpatriotic." "It is an open secret that government does not have a hand in the current insecurity facing us. Although, some people have been spreading falsehood linking government with the problem,'' Turaki said. The people of Borno are well known for their intelligence. I am sure that they know very well that government cannot have a hand in this mess,'' he said. Turaki recalled that the regime of Alhaji Shehu Shagari faced a similar problem. ``We have the Maitastine upraising during the Shagari regime; nobody then blamed the president for the crisis. We also had a similar crisis during the Military Regime of Gen. Mohammed Buhari, nobody bla

(Nigeria) The All Progressives Congress, APC governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, on Saturday promised residents of Badagry that the ancient city would witness massive development if he was elected. Ambode made the pledge at a rally the party organised at the Badagry Grammar School in Badagry, near Lagos. He noted that he would not abandon various projects embarked upon by the current administration in the state. "If you go to the marina side of this great city, you would see that the present government wants to build a hotel which would help boost tourism. "The Vkelete Slave Market is under renovation and by the time it is completed, it would be given a major facelift and this would attract more tourists to this great city. Continuity is very important and the only way that this can happen is if I'm elected so I can continue what the present government is doing in developing this place. "We know that Badagry is the cradle of tourism

(Nigeria) The Police in Rivers State on Saturday confirmed an attack on the National School Field, Okrika, venue of the All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship rally in Okrika Local Government Area of the state. The Police Commissioner, Mr Dan Bature, told newsmen in Port Harcourt that unidentified assailants on Saturday at 4.30 a.m., attacked the venue with an explosive device suspected to be a dynamite. "Podium and public address system were damaged. No life was lost. The area is now under police control while the bomb disposal unit has commenced investigation,’’ he said. Bature said the police had advised APC to reschedule its rally billed for Okrika on Saturday, to another date. He warned political parties to adhere strictly to the Code of Conduct guiding political activities in the state, respect for law and order and eschew violence in all its ramifications. "The Command is determined to enforce law and order, provide adequate security for all political p

(Nigeria) The United Natios on Saturday pledged its support for Nigeria to defeat Boko Haram as well as conduct free, fair and transparent elections in February. The Representative of the UN Secretary-General in West Africa and the UN High Representative in Nigeria, Mr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, made the pledge in Sokoto State, during a visit to Governor Aliyu Wamakko. ''The UN, just like the international community, was appalled with the recent raid on Baga town in Borno. This is a crime against humanity and the Boko Haram insurgents are `unAfrican and unNigerian’ and they must be stamped out,'' he said. On the polls, Chambas urged Nigerians not to see the election days and the intervals therein to signal doomsdays. ''The UN and the international community are solidly behind Nigeria in ensuring this. Many prominent and high profile figures from the UN and other parts of the world will continue to besiege Nigeria in solidarity. ''Nigeria has strateg

(Nigeria)The Archbishop of the Resurrection Praise Ministry, Lagos, Sampson Benjamin, on Saturday said that Jimi Agbaje , governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP , had unique virtues that could make him the best man for the governorship of Lagos State. Benjamin described Agbaje as ``a de-tribalised Nigerian who has what it takes to be the governor of Lagos State’’. The cleric was speaking at a rally organised by a coalition of civil society groups, trade unions and socio-cultural organisations in Lagos. The rally, which had a huge turnout of Agbaje’s enthusiasts, was held at the International Trade Fair Complex along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. Benjamin said that Lagos was a state that accommodated all ethnic groups in Nigeria and therefore, was fragile to handle. "Agbaje is a man who identifies with all tribes, the poor and less-privileged. Agbaje is a man who does not discriminate against non-indigenes. My dealings with him revealed his openness

Gunmen Saturday overran security checkpoints in southern Yemen, media reported, adding to the signs of chaos in a country gripped by political uncertainty ever since President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi and his government quit two days ago. The gunmen, from the separatist Harak movement, seized all checkpoints in Atq, the key city of Shabwa province, without resistance from government forces, independent Yemeni news site Barakish.Net reported, citing a local source, reports dpa. "The soldiers left the sites and returned to their camps," the unnamed source said.  The Harak scessionists seek to re-establish the former independent state of South Yemen. The reported takeover comes after local authorities in Shabwa said they would not longer take orders from the capital, Sana'a, which is now controlled by the powerful Houthi rebel movement.  On Thursday, Hadi and his government resigned, saying they could not stay in office after the Houthis failed to abide by a deal t

A crowded open-air market and nearby homes in Ukraine's strategically important coastal city of Mariupol came under rocket fire Saturday morning, killing at least 16 people, city authorities said. Mariupol lies on the Azov Sea and is the major city between mainland Russia and the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula. Heavy fighting in the region in the autumn raised fears that Russian-backed separatist forces would try to establish a land link between Russia and Crimea, reports AP. Rebel forces have positions within 10 kilometers (six miles) from Mariupol's eastern outskirts. The Interior Ministry said rockets struck homes, setting them alight, as well as the market and shops. A Ukrainian military checkpoint on a road leading out of the city toward rebel-held areas was also hit, police said. Mariupol city council said that 74 have been hospitalized for their injuries. Rocket strikes on Mariupol come as separatists have declared their intention to mount a multi-pronged offensiv

(Nigeria) Six persons, including a patient, died in an auto crash involving a Volkswagen car with Reg. No. RY 989 AA on Dutse International Airport road, Dutse, Jigawa State on Friday. The state Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Mr Muhammad Gidado, said in Dutse that the accident occurred at 1 p.m. Gidado said the accident occurred when the driver of the car lost control while speeding to take a patient to the Dutse General Hospital. He said that two of the occupants of the car died on the spot. He said four other occupants who sustained various degrees of injury were rushed to the same Dutse General Hospital for medical attention by the NSCDC officers who were on patrol on the airport road. According to him, the four injured occupants, including the patient, later died at the hospital. Gidado said that the corpses were deposited at the hospital’s mortuary. He advised motorists to desist from speeding under whatever circumstances.

Ukraine’s Security Service has expelled from the country 88 Russian journalists, Markiyan Lubkovsky, an adviser to the Ukrainian Security Council’s chief, said on Friday. “Eighty-eight such (propagandists) have been expelled from Ukraine as of today,” he told the Ukrainian television Channel 5, reports Tass .

Twenty miners have been trapped inside a mine in the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, DPR, after the shelling by Ukraine’s army, the Donetsk News Agency said on Friday, quoting the DPR defence ministry. Ukraine’s army on Friday delivered 10 artillery strikes on the DPR territory, a spokesman for the DPR defence ministry, Eduard Basurin told a briefing, reports Tass.

Separatists  in eastern Ukraine on Friday rejected a previously signed peace deal and announced a new multi-pronged offensive against Ukrainian government troops, defying diplomatic efforts to end the spiraling crisis. The main separatist leader in the Donetsk region said the insurgents won't engage in further cease-fire talks, and another rebel went even further saying they will not abide by a peace deal signed in September, reports AP. Separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko said rebel fighters launched the new offensive to gain more territory and forestall a Ukrainian attack. He declared they will push the government troops to the border of the Donetsk region and possibly even further. "Attempts to talk about a cease-fire will no longer be undertaken by our side," Zakharchenko said. The peace deal signed in September in the Belarusian capital of Minsk envisaged a cease-fire and a pullout of heavy weapons from a division line in eastern Ukraine. It has been repeat

(Nigeria) Authorities of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, on Friday said they had lifted the ban on students’ unionism. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rahamon Bello, made the announcement at the institution’s 2014/2015 matriculation in Lagos. The students union was proscribed in 2005 under the former Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe, sequel to a violent students’ unrest, during which the vice-chancellor’s lodge was attacked. According to Bello, university education should offer opportunity for well-rounded development. ``You are leaders of tomorrow and as such, opportunity for leadership development should be unrestricted. With the recent endorsement of the University of Lagos Students’ Union Constitution, the authorities of the institution has approved the unbanning of full students’ union activities at the university.” Bello directed the Dean, Students’ Affairs, to immediately commence arrangements for the election of the Students’ Union executives, in line with the new c

(Nigeria) Mr Joseph Mbu, outgoing Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, Zone 7, has promised to respond to allegations by the All Progressives Congress, APC that he was deployed to Zone 2 for a political hatchet job at the appropriate time. Mbu made the remark in Abuja on Friday while reacting to question during an interacting with newsmen. Zone 2 comprises Lagos and Ogun states. It will be recalled that Mr Joe Igbokwe, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Lagos state, made the allegation on Janusry 20 after Mbu was deployed to the zone. Twenty-seven AIGs were redeployed to other zones, departments and formations across the country. ``I reserve my comment on the spurious allegation by the APC in Lagos state; I will not say APC in general. At the appropriate time, I will respond to this allegation. I am not going to Lagos to fight but I will not tolerate lawlessness,’’ he said. Mbu also dismissed insinuation that he was controversial officer, saying I am not controver

(Nigeria) President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday advised Nigerians to resist attempts by some people to frustrate the progress being recorded across the country.

(Nigeria) The Presidential flag-bearer of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has promised to restructure the Nigeria Army and Police, if elected.

Nigeria's national security adviser said on Thursday that next month's presidential and parliamentary elections should be postponed because not all voter cards had been distributed.

Donetsk separatists vowed to follow up a devastating victory over Ukrainian forces at Donetsk airport with a further advances, defying an agreement between Moscow and Kiev to return to a previous ceasefire line and raising fears of an all out offensive.

Anti-government protests in Congo have left at least a dozen people dead, officials said Thursday, as the Senate postponed a vote on a proposed law that the opposition fears will prolong the president's time in power.