Connect with us

Headline

Five Countries Seek ICC Investigation Into Gaza War

Published

on

Five countries, including South Africa and Bangladesh, on Friday called for an International Criminal Court investigation into the Israel-Hamas war that has left thousands of people dead, its chief prosecutor said.

Amid international concern over the growing toll, the demand was made as families of some of the Israelis taken hostage by Hamas in their October 7 attacks that unleashed the war also sought ICC action.

ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti — all ICC members — had sought an investigation of “the situation in the state of Palestine”.

Advertisement

Khan said in a statement that an investigation into events in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank started in March 2021 now “extends to the escalation of hostilities and violence since the attacks that took place on October, 2023”.

READ ALSO: Gaza Hospital Director Says 179 Buried In ‘Mass Grave’ In Compound

Khan, who went to the main crossing point between Gaza and Egypt, said his team had collected a “significant volume” of evidence on “relevant incidents” in the war.

He appealed for more evidence to be submitted and added: “I will also continue my efforts to visit the state of Palestine and Israel in order to meet with survivors, hear from civil society organisations and engage with relevant national counterparts.”

Advertisement

“I call upon all relevant actors to provide full cooperation with my office,” Khan added — though Israel is not an ICC member.

South Africa’s foreign ministry said it was urging fellow ICC members to join the referral seeking an investigation.

South Africa remains committed to ending impunity for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and it is hoped that the situation in Palestine will be prioritised by the ICC in order to deliver justice to the victims of these grave crimes,” it said.

READ ALSO: Israel Kills Top Hamas Rocket Developer During Gaza Airstrike

Advertisement

Israel says that 239 people from several countries were seized by the Palestinian militant group when its fighters staged the October 7 attacks in which some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, died.

The hostage plight has become a major issue in Israel as it has pursued an air and ground campaign which the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says has left 12,000 dead.

Just as lawyers for the families of some of the Gaza Palestinian dead have sought ICC action, families for the hostages demanded that Khan issue warrants for Hamas leaders.

“The inquiry is advancing,” Francois Zimeray, a lawyer for nine of the families, told AFP after the meeting.

Advertisement

He said he submitted a dossier on behalf of some of the families who want warrants issued for war crimes and genocide.

READ ALSO: Internet, Phones ‘Completely’ Shut Off In Gaza

Any person or group can make a request to the ICC but it is not obliged to take up a case.

Legal experts have told AFP that Hamas and Israel could face war crimes charges over the conflict.

Advertisement

The ICC inquiry started in 2021 was into alleged war crimes by Israeli forces, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.

Even though Israel is not an ICC state party, Zimeray said: “We have Israelis who trust the court, the sincerity of the prosecutor and the professionalism of his team.

“That contributes to showing them that the court is capable of bringing justice for the crimes they have suffered, that their family has suffered,” he said.

Advertisement

Headline

Porn Star Testifies Against Trump At Hush Money Trial

Published

on

The porn star at the heart of Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial, Stormy Daniels, testified on Tuesday about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with the former president in a hotel penthouse suite.

Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels on the eve of his 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, when the lurid story of marital infidelity could have sunk his campaign.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger announced “The people call Stormy Daniels,” as Trump, who is seeking to recapture the White House in November, sat at the defense table in the Manhattan courtroom flanked by his lawyers, AFP reports.

Advertisement

What followed was detailed testimony about the sexual encounter Daniels said she had with Trump – his pajamas, his boxer shorts, the sexual position, that he did not wear a condom – all while the former president, sitting just feet away, stared on in silence, stony-faced.

Trump has denied having sex with Daniels, and his defense team sought, unsuccessfully, to have a mistrial declared.

READ ALSO: Biden Calls Trump Main Threat To US Democracy

The extraordinary courtroom face-off comes six months before election day when Trump will try to defeat Democratic President Joe Biden.

Advertisement

Daniels walked prosecutors through her difficult childhood in Louisiana, a stint as a stripper and her eventually joining the adult film industry.

The 45-year-old, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe where she was employed as a greeter by X-rated movie company Wicked Entertainment.

Daniels said she was 27 at the time and Trump was “probably older than my father.”

She said a member of Trump’s security detail told her the real estate tycoon wanted to have dinner with her. She was reluctant but agreed after discussing it with her publicist.

Advertisement

When she arrived at the penthouse where Trump was staying he emerged wearing “silk or satin pajamas which I immediately made fun of,” Daniels told the jury.

READ ALSO: Trump Urges Republicans To Kill Ukraine Aid Bill

“I said ‘Does Mr Hefner know you stole his pajamas?’” she said in a reference to the outfit favored by the late Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner.

Trump changed clothes and they began talking about adult movies.

Advertisement

“He was very interested in a lot of the business stuff,” Daniels said.

Trump, who was married at the time to his current wife, Melania, suggested Daniels be on his hit reality television show, “The Apprentice,” she said.

Daniels said she went to the bathroom at one point and when she emerged Trump was on the bed in boxer shorts and a T-shirt.

“It startled me,” she said. “The intention was pretty clear.”

Advertisement

“I was not threatened verbally or physically,” Daniels said, although there was an “imbalance of power.”

She said they had brief sex on the bed “in missionary position” and Trump did not wear a condom.

I felt ashamed I didn’t stop it, didn’t say no,” Daniels said.

READ ALSO: Trump Indicted For Attempts To Overturn US 2020 Elections

Advertisement

Daniels said she met with Trump again on several occasions but cut off contact when it became clear she would not appear on “The Apprentice.”

After Trump announced his candidacy for president, Daniels said her publicist suggested she could sell her story and put her in touch with Keith Davidson, a Hollywood lawyer who testified previously at the trial.

My motivation wasn’t money, it was to get the story out,” Daniels said.

She said she entered into a non-disclosure agreement in October 2016 on the eve of the presidential election negotiated by Davidson and Cohen for which she was paid $130,000.

Advertisement

“I couldn’t tell my story, he couldn’t tell the story,” she said.

After a lunch break, Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche asked Judge Juan Merchan to declare a mistrial, objecting to some of Daniels’ testimony, particularly her claim that she was threatened in 2011 by a man in a Las Vegas parking garage who allegedly warned her not to talk about Trump.

“It’s extremely prejudicial to insert safety concerns into a trial about business records,” Blanche said.

Merchan denied the motion, saying “I don’t think we have reached a point where a mistrial is in order.”

Advertisement

Trump is under a partial gag order prohibiting him from publicly attacking witnesses, the jury or court staff.

Merchan has already fined him $10,000 for breaching the gag order and warned Trump he may face jail time for future violations.

 

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Headline

Naira Abuse: Trouble Looms As Group Petitions EFCC, Wants Edo APC Candidate Prosecuted

Published

on

The All Progressives Congress candidate in the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, is at risk of being sentenced to six- months imprisonment in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria Act of 2007 as a coalition of civil society organisations under the aegis of the Network of Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria accused him of abusing the Nigerian currency, the naira.

The group lodged the complaint with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against Okpebholo in a petition dated May 2, 2024, and addressed to the chairman of the EFCC.

The petition was signed by the group’s National Coordinator, Victor Kalu, and National Secretary, Ali Abacha.

Advertisement

The coalition claimed the senator is guilty of the offence of naira abuse and mutilation, citing the CBN Act of 2007, which declares such actions as punishable offences.

READ ALSO: Suspended Edo Lawmaker, Iyamu Breaks Silence, Says All Issues Will Be Resolved

The coalition said it is “disappointment that prominent individuals, including lawmakers, have violated this provision of the CBN Act.”

Meanwhile, they commended the EFCC for its “swift response in arresting and charging individuals who have been caught on viral videos abusing and defacing the Naira at social events such as the cases of Mr Okuneye Idris Olarewaju, popularly known as Bobrisky, and Mr Pascal Okechukwu, also known as Cubana Chief Priest, who have faced legal consequences for their actions.”

Advertisement

While praising the EFCC for its actions, the coalition demanded that all individuals captured in viral videos abusing the Naira should be promptly arrested and brought to justice, as no one is above the law.

They called on the EFCC and other law enforcement agencies to investigate the “viral video involving Senator Monday Okpebholo, who is seen engaging in Naira abuse and mutilation.”

They added that Okpebholo should be held accountable for his actions as a representative of the people.

READ ALSO: [ICYMI]Rivers: Siblings Flog Teacher, Lock Up Admin Officer For Flogging Brother

Advertisement

They, however, warned that failure to address the viral video involving Okpebholo would result in the coalition taking further actions.

They threatened to mobilise their members, supporters, and democracy advocates for a peaceful protest against the EFCC, citing selective action and bias if the EFCC failed to address the viral video involving Okpebholo.

In his response, the senator refuted the allegation, saying it was false.

Okpebholo, in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, described the allegation as a hatchet job targeted at smearing his image ahead of the September governorship election.

Advertisement

He blamed his detractors and the opposition camp as being the brain behind the campaign of calumny.

READ ALSO: Naira Abuse: EFCC, Cubana Chief Priest To Settle Out Of Court

While stressing that he has never been arrested by the police for any civil or criminal offence, the lawmaker insisted the man in the video circulating on social media was not him.

He said, “As a private and public person, I have never sprayed or mutilated the naira in my over 50 years on earth. It baffles me why these agents will fabricate fake news to tarnish my image ahead of the election. I therefore called on the IGP to investigate the faces behind the petition and prosecute them accordingly.

Advertisement

“They are scouting for fake news and non-existent things to blackmail me and lie to Edo people. Unfortunately, we know what they are up to. They are smelling the defeat already. Edo people have already decided, and no amount of State-sponsored intimidation will work.

“In Edo State, President Bola Tinubu-led APC administration is working. The federal government is reconstructing federal roads in Edo Central, Edo North, and Edo South. That is why Edo people must take sides with the APC and vote for me as the next governor of Edo State.

“We will bring the Federal Government closer to the Edo people. We have been isolated for too long, and it is time to end that alienation.”
PUNCH

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Headline

Mother Throws Disabled 6-year-old Son Into Crocodile Infested River [PHOTOS]

Published

on

A mother has thrown her disabled six-year-old son into a crocodile-infested river where he has reportedly been mauled to death by reptiles.

Savitri Kumar, 26, from Uttara Kannada, a district in Karnataka, India, had a heated argument with the boy’s father, Ravi Kumar, 27, who repeatedly ordered her to “throw the child away,” the Times of India reports.

Police say her husband allegedly questioned her decision to give birth to a child with a disability.

Advertisement

When the parents fought about their son again on Saturday evening, May 4, Savitri was “distressed” and reportedly threw her son into a waste canal that flows into the Kali river, which is infested with crocodiles.

Father of the son

READ ALSO: Benue To Build Brewery As Residents Spend N850m On Beer Monthly

Neighbours who witnessed this called the police, who deployed divers to search for the boy in the water, but to no avail, as it was dark.

They returned on Sunday morning, May 5, and found the child’s body, which showed bite marks all over.

The boy suffered severe injuries and was missing a hand, which a police officer suggested indicated that the boy was mauled to death by one or more crocodiles.

Advertisement

A post mortem has been ordered to determine the six-year-old’s cause of death.

READ ALSO: JUST-IN: Terrorists Kill Two, Abduct 18 In Fresh Kaduna Attack

The couple also has another son aged two and is said to frequently fight about their older son’s speech impediment.

Officers have launched an investigation into the incident.

Advertisement

A police officer told local media that it was a “murder” case and that both the husband and wife have been arrested.

Continue Reading

Trending