Headline

ASUU, Not Trouble Makers, Says Chairman

Published

1 year ago

June 25, 2024

Cross session of Education stakeholders

Dr Ibrahim Inuwa, the Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi state chapter, on Tuesday, said the union was not a trouble making one.

Inuwa, who stated this during a three-day Town Hall meeting for education stakeholders to sensitize them on the plights of its members, said sometimes, harsh decisions needed to be taken to enhance the education system of the country.

He explained that the meeting was to also call the attention of education stakeholders in Nigeria on what has been happening between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the government.

According to him, the meeting would also be used as an avenue to get feedback from the stakeholders as well as advice on how to go about the union’s struggle.

“The meeting is basically for us to rob minds with these stakeholders and to drive the misconception most stakeholders have about ASUU that we are trouble makers and that we don’t want peace.

“We had to call their attention that education is a business of everybody and that has been reflected in the spirit of our constitution.

“So, it’s an obligation of the government to provide education. It’s a right because the constitution of this country defines our sovereignty and that is where the politicians derive their power to rule us.

“What they are calling us to be troublemakers, we are not but if we have to get it right in this country, education must be given priority.

“We took them through our various troubles, the challenges we have been having, the nonchalant attitude of the government as well as other emerging issues that are coming up and this is where the trouble making issues came up.

“Most times we go for industrial action, people are quick to say that we should explore other avenues of negotiation and for more than one year, we have been trying to do that with this new regime.

“Before they came on board, they met with the union and they expressed concerns that they wanted to address this issue.

“Unfortunately, till now, there have been no meaningful commitments from the government to address this issue and it’s making the challenges in the Universities to be biting day by day,” he said.

The ASUU boss further said at the end of townhall meetings across the zones, ASUU National Executive Council would meet to harness all the views and opinions to enable it take a definite and lasting solution to the lingering crisis in the tertiary education sector.

Headline

42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

13 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

Headline

Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

Published

13 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

Headline

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

13 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP