The Bola Tinubu administration has confirmed that Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) and the military made direct contact with the armed bandits responsible for abducting 38 worshippers from a church in Eruku, Kwara State, leading to the victims’ safe release. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, shared details of the operation during an interview on Arise Television. He explained that security agencies reached out to the kidnappers with a firm demand for the immediate and unconditional release of the captives. “After the incident happened, the DSS and the military were involved in the rescue efforts. They got in contact with the bandits to release those people unharmed, and finally, on Sunday, they were able to get them out,” Onanuga stated. According to Onanuga, the bandits complied due to their awareness of the grave consequences of defying government orders. He further noted that while security forces have advanced methods to track armed groups, operational caution is often exercised to prevent endangering hostages, who are frequently used as human shields. Pressed on the absence of a direct military confrontation, Onanuga emphasized that the government’s overriding priority was the safe return of the abducted worshippers. “The first thing the government must do is get those people freed. That objective has been achieved. The next level of action is for the security agencies, and I don’t want to pre-empt them,” he said. All 38 abducted individuals were reportedly rescued alive, though officials have withheld further details about the operation or subsequent steps against the perpetrators. The high-profile Eruku abduction has heightened public anxiety over insecurity in Kwara South and nearby regions, fueling calls for enhanced intelligence and improved community protection. Source: Apexnewsgh.com

At least 53 people, including 14 children and 15 women, have been killed in an attack on a displacement shelter in a besieged city in North Darfur. The Sudan Doctors’ Network said Sudanese paramilitaries were behind the shelling attack, which also wounded another 21 people, including five more children. The strike by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) hit the al Arqam Home, which shelters displaced families in Al Fashir, the capital of North Darfur province, the group said. The attack, late on Friday, was the latest deadly onslaught on Al Fashir, which has been for months the epicentre of the war between the Sudanese military and the paramilitaries. A spokesperson for the doctors’ network – a group of medical professionals tracking the Sudanese civil war – described the attack as a “massacre”. A statement said: “This massacre represents a continuation of the scorched-earth policy practised by the Rapid Support Forces against civilians, in flagrant violation of all international norms and laws.” Al Fashir is being targeted by the RSF as it pushes to claim full control of the Darfur region as a base for its parallel government, after the military recaptured the capital Khartoum and other key sites in central Sudan. Close to a million people are facing famine in Al Fashir and surrounding camps, as the RSF enforces a full blockade, launching armed attacks on volunteers and aid workers risking their lives to bring in food. Inside the city, thousands are bombarded by almost daily shelling from surrounding RSF troops. | Reuters (Pic): Families displaced by RSF attacks have been forced into shelters across North Darfur, such as this one in the town of Tawila The RSF has physically reinforced its siege with a berm – a raised earth mound. First spotted by Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, the berm is visible from space. The city, the Sudanese military’s last stronghold in Darfur, has been under siege for more than a year. The UN and other aid groups warn that 260,000 civilians remain trapped in Al Fashir, even after most of its population fled RSF attacks on it and its surroundings. Sudan plunged into chaos when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in April 2023 in Khartoum and elsewhere. The fighting has turned into a full-fledged civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 14 million people from their homes and pushed parts of the country into famine. The devastating conflict has been marked by atrocities, including mass killings and rape, which the International Criminal Court is investigating as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Source: news.sky.com

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a stark warning to Western nations, accusing them of dismantling decades-old frameworks for international security and cautioning of the risk of a new arms race if meaningful dialogue is not restored. Speaking on the future of nuclear stability, Putin lamented the near collapse of the system of U.S.-Soviet and U.S.-Russian arms control agreements, blaming their demise on “destabilising doctrines and military-technical programs” pursued by the West. He emphasized that these agreements had long served as the bedrock of global security, but that their gradual erosion has left the world in a precarious position. Putin stressed that Russia remains fully capable of responding to any security threat, citing as an example Moscow’s decision to end its unilateral moratorium on deploying ground-based short- and intermediate-range missiles. This move, he explained, was a direct reaction to the deployment of similar U.S. and allied weapons in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Despite his criticism of Washington, Putin indicated that Russia would continue to observe the central limits of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) for one year beyond its scheduled February 5, 2026, expiry, provided that the United States refrains from actions that would undermine strategic stability. “Renouncing the legacy of this treaty would be a grave and short-sighted mistake,” Putin warned, underlining that abandoning New START would undermine global non-proliferation efforts. He also expressed concern about U.S. plans to expand missile defence, including the potential deployment of interceptors in space, calling such actions destabilising. Putin argued that Russia’s proposal to maintain the New START limits could help preserve stability and lay the groundwork for renewed dialogue, but only if Washington reciprocates with a similar spirit and works to ease broader tensions. He concluded by insisting that Moscow’s stance is not aimed at escalation, but at ensuring predictability, restraint, and the preservation of global strategic balance. Source: Apexnewsgh.com

The Nigeria Police Force has reported the theft of one of its official vehicles, a Toyota Buffalo Land Cruiser, from the premises of Force Headquarters in Abuja. According to an internal wireless message circulated by the Commissioner of Police (DFA, Katsina Command), the vehicle, with chassis number JTELU71JX0B027126 and registration number NPF 5594 D, went missing on July 28, 2025. The stolen vehicle was assigned to the Department of Operations at the Force Headquarters, located at Louis Edet House, and was declared missing after it was removed from the official parking lot. The announcement relayed information from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) and instructed all area commands, divisional police officers, and formations across Nigeria to be on high alert for the missing Land Cruiser. Police authorities have confirmed that the case is under active investigation. Security operatives nationwide have been urged to treat the matter as “very important” and to report any information that could assist in recovering the vehicle. The internal message emphasized the urgency of the matter and called for immediate dissemination of details to all relevant police units for a coordinated response. Source: Apexnewsgh.com

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the United Nations General Assembly drew global attention, not for his words, but for the conspicuous absence of listeners. According to figures released by Israel on Saturday and reported by YNET, 77 national delegations either skipped the session entirely or staged a coordinated walkout as Netanyahu began to speak. The 41-minute speech was delivered to a visibly sparse audience. All of Israel’s immediate neighbours, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, were among those who stayed away, joined by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, and dozens of other countries spanning Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific. The mass protest underscored the growing diplomatic rift over Israel’s actions in Gaza, where over 65,000 Palestinians have been killed in more than two years of conflict, and the entire enclave of over two million people faces a dire humanitarian crisis. Officials clarified that not every absence was a boycott; some delegates missed the morning session, while others, like Jordan and Egypt, chose not to take their seats without participating in the walkout. Pakistan’s delegation left the hall in protest but remained on the sidelines to listen. In contrast, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, signatories to the Abraham Accords, remained seated despite tensions over the Gaza war. International and Arab media zeroed in on the dramatic walkout, highlighting the empty chamber rather than Netanyahu’s pledge to “finish the job” against Hamas. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, amplified the protest on social media, calling Israel “the most despised and isolated regime.” Israel’s own assessment acknowledged that the boycott demonstrated its deepening diplomatic isolation, as frustration with the Gaza conflict continues to mount worldwide. The list of absent or protesting countries included Spain, Brazil, South Africa, Ireland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and many others from across the globe. Source: Apexnewsgh.com

Errol Musk, the 79-year-old father of tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been accused of sexually abusing five of his children and stepchildren since 1993, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. The outlet said those allegations could be why the entrepreneur, who temporarily served as an adviser to the second Trump administration, rarely mentions his father – and that family members of Elon Musk have reached out for help, prompting him to sometimes take action to intercede. Errol Musk dismissed the allegations reported by the Times out of hand, telling the publication they were “nonsense” and “false”. He did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Guardian. Citing personal letters, emails, and interviews with family members, the Times said that Errol Musk, who has at least nine children and stepchildren and has been married to three women, “maintains a powerful grip over much of the family”. The Times said Elon Musk did not respond to the publication’s requests for comment. Judging from court records, personal correspondence, social workers and interviews with family members, the Times said the earliest accusation against Errol Musk was in 1993, when his four-year-old stepdaughter told relatives he had touched her at the family house. A decade later, the stepdaughter said she caught him sniffing her dirty underwear, the Times reported, adding that some family members have also accused him of abusing two of his daughters and a stepson. Composite of pictures of Elon Musk as a child and adult. Three separate law enforcement investigations were opened, the outlet said, citing police and court records, as well as family members’ accounts. Two of the inquiries ended without action, while it is unclear what happened in the third investigation. “There was no evidence because this is nonsense,” Errol Musk said in a statement to the Times, saying “the reports are false”. He accused family members who were “putting the children up to say false things” and that they were trying to extort Elon, his eldest son. Elon Musk has described a difficult relationship with Errol on the rare occasion when he has commented on his father. He told Rolling Stone in 2017 that his father had done “almost every evil thing you could possibly think of”. In the profile, Musk said he had gone to live with his father at age 10 while his younger siblings, Kimbal and Tosca, stayed with their mother. “I felt sorry for my father, because my mother had all three kids. He seemed very sad and lonely by himself. So I thought, ‘I can be company,’” he said. He continued: “I didn’t really understand at the time what kind of person he was … It was not a good idea.” Without going into specifics, he told the publication, “My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. He will plan evil.” Source: The Guardian