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  The US has warned against Russia’s Wagner mercenaries taking advantage of instability in coup-hit Niger, whose neighbor Mali has become a partner of Moscow. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in an interview published Tuesday, August 8 doubted that Wagner — which in June staged a shadowy rebellion against President Vladimir Putin — plotted the Nigerien military’s July 26 ouster of the elected president, Western ally Mohamed Bazoum. “I think what happened and what continues to happen in Niger was not instigated by Russia or by Wagner,” Blinken said in the interview with BB , according to a transcript released by the State Department.   “But to the extent that they try to take advantage of it — and we see a repeat of what’s happened in other countries, where they’ve brought nothing but bad things in their wake — that wouldn’t be good.   “Every single place that this group, Wagner Group, has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed.” he ad...

  Former United States President Donald Trump has announced that he will carry out the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” if he wins the 2024 presidential polls. Trump who drew a parallel to the Eisenhower-Howard model while speaking at his campaign event in New Hampshire on Tuesday, August 8, expressed his intent to deploy state, local, federal, and military resources to address immigration concerns.   He said;   “I will immediately terminate all the open border policy of the Biden administration. Our country is being invaded. Following the Eisenhower model, we will use 'all necessary state, local, federal, and military resources to carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”   In 2019, when he was the US president, Trump threatened to deport millions of people living in the US illegally. In June 2019, he promised that his administration “will begin the process of removing the millions of illega...

  Nigerian actor, Joseph Benjamin, has revealed that he dived into the taxi business to survive, after he became stranded in the United States of America.   While appearing on the latest episode of a podcast hosted by comedian Teju Babyface, the 46-year-old Nollywood star said he relocated from Nigeria to the U.S. after someone promised him movie gigs in America, but the person later disappointed him.   “I got to America on a promise that I had some gigs waiting for me. So I thought I was going to have a soft landing there. I packed up everything from Nigeria, bought a one-way ticket, and came to America. I was put in a well-furnished house and all of that. Then two days later, the person who I was supposed to book a deal with said to me, ‘Those our financiers have pulled out. They have an issue.’ So, I said, what do I do? He was like, ‘From next month on, you will have to start paying rent in this house.’ The amount of the one-month rent was equivalent to a ...

  The World Bank has said that it would no longer be giving out loans to Uganda in response to the LGBT+ crackdown in the East African country that has introduced some of the most punitive anti-gay bills in the world. Homosexual acts were already illegal in Uganda, but anyone now convicted faces life imprisonment under the new law which was enacted in May.   The World Bank said in a statement that the East African country's anti-LGBTQ law, which makes " aggravated homosexuality " a capital offense and imposes penalties of up to life in prison for consensual same-sex relations, contradicts its values.   It read;    “Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act fundamentally contradicts the World Bank Group’s values. We believe our vision to eradicate poverty on a livable planet can only succeed if it includes everyone irrespective of race, gender, or sexuality. “This law undermines those efforts. Inclusion and non-discrimination sit at the heart of our work around the ...

  World women’s 100m hurdles champion and record holder, Tobi Amusan was missing from Team Nigeria’s list of 26 athletes for the World Athletics Championships, which was released by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria on Tuesday, August 8.   The list has 11 male and 15 female athletes for the championships, which holds from August 19 to 27 in Budapest, Hungary. Silver medallist at last year’s championships, Ese Brume made the list. She will be aiming to claim gold in Budapest.   Ese will be joined in the long jump event by Ruth Usoro. Sade Olatoye (Hammer) and Chioma Onyekwere (Discuss) are also among the prominent females on the AFN list. National champion Usheoritshe Itshekiri, Favour Ashe, Seye Ogunlewe, Alaba Akintola, Fakorede Adekalu, and Anunagba Karlington will be spread across the men’s 100m and 4x100m relay races. While Rosemary Chukwuma, Favour Ofili, Faith Okwose, Justina Eyakpobeyan, and Success Umukoro will compete in the women’s 100m and 4x100m ev...

  The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, on Tuesday, August 8, suspended its planned nationwide daily protest after a closed-door meeting with principal officers of the senate.   Disclosing the development to newsmen, the President of NARD, Emeka Orji, said there will be a review in the next 72 hours. “We met with the Senate president, majority and minority leaders and Whip. So, the planned protest slated for Wednesday has been suspended and we will review it again in 72 hours.” The striking doctors had earlier planned to commence a daily peaceful protest, starting from Wednesday, if the government fails to meet its demands. The decision followed the directive by the Federal Government to the Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of federal tertiary hospitals to commence the enforcement of the “no work, no pay” policy against the striking doctors.   The doctors embarked on an indefinite industrial action on July 26, following the failure of the ...

  Hollywood legend Robert De Niro 's grandson died from a lethal combination of illicit drugs including fentanyl as confirmed by New York City's chief medical examiner.    Recall that Robert's 19-year-old grandson was found dead of a suspected overdose last month ... with cops saying investigators found one bag of cocaine, one straw with residue, two blue pills and seven rectangular tablets believed to be Xanax. Police said Leandro bought counterfeit oxycodone and Xanax days before his death and the fake oxycodone pills were laced with fentanyl.   It has now been confirmed that Leandro De Niro Rodriguez reportedly died from the toxic effects of fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine, and cocaine.   TMZ reported that the Medical Examiner is ruling Leandro's death as an accidental overdose.  

Canadian rapper, Tory Lanez has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting and wounding his ex-lover, hip hop star Megan Thee Stallion.    The 31-year-old begged the judge to not send him to jail in an LA courtroom on Tuesday. He shot Megan in the feet during a drunken argument after a pool party at Kylie Jenner's house in 2020 - that also involved Megan's assistant Kelsey Harris.   At his sentencing on Tuesday, convicted Canadian musician Lanez said that victim Megan is 'someone I still care for dearly to this day' despite the outcome.    Lanez, real name Daystar Peterson, said about the shooting that put him behind bars for a decade: 'I said some very immature things that I shouldn't have said.  'I revealed some secrets I shouldn't have revealed.'  The sentence brings an end to a dramatic trial that created a cultural firestorm in the hip-hop community.   The rapper, wearing a black skull cap, was handcuffed in his orange pri...

  Rapper Offset has dropped his lawsuit against Quality Control Music, after reaching a settlement with the label behind his career as a member of Migos.   Insiders told TMZ that Offset filed to dismiss the suit against QC with prejudice on Tuesday, August 8, ending a lengthy legal battle in which Offset claimed the label was trying to control the rights to his solo music and not honoring a deal they struck.   T he superstar rapper won't be re-joining QC as a solo artist, but all disputes and differences have been settled.    Offset is currently releasing music on Motown and his most recent single features wife Cardi B and he's got plenty of other songs in the works.