News

Israel Launches Airstrikes On Lebanon In Response To Rockets

Published

4 years ago

August 6, 2021

Israel on Thursday escalated its response to rocket attacks the previous day from Lebanon by launching rare airstrikes on its northern neighbor, the army and Lebanese officials said.

A statement from the Israeli military said jets struck the launch sites from which the rockets were fired, as well as an additional target used to attack Israel in the past.

The military blamed the state of Lebanon for the shelling and warned “against further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israel’s sovereignty.”

The overnight airstrikes in southern Lebanon were a marked escalation at a politically sensitive time.

Israel’s new eight-party governing coalition is trying to keep peace under a fragile cease-fire that ended an 11-day war with Hamas’ militant rulers in Gaza in May.

Several incidents leading up to this week’s rocket fire from Lebanon have focused attention on Israel’s northern border. The United States swiftly condemned the attacks on Israel.

Lebanon is mired in multiple crises, including a devastating economic and financial meltdown and a political deadlock that has left the country without a functional government for a full year.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Israel’s use of its air force to target Lebanese villages “is the first of its kind since 2006 and indicated the presence of aggressive, escalatory intentions” against Lebanon.

In a statement, he said Lebanon would submit a complaint to the United Nations.

The commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, Stefano Del Col, called on the parties “to act with urgency” to de-escalate tensions and prevent violations of the cessation of hostilities that has been in effect since 2006.

Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fought a devastating, monthlong war in 2006 which killed some 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and around 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

The war failed to neutralize the group’s rocket threat, and Israeli officials say the Iran-backed Hezbollah’s improved missile arsenal is now capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel.

No one has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire from Lebanon, and Hezbollah has not commented.

The Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV reported the Israeli strikes at around 2 a.m. Thursday, saying they hit an empty area in the village of Mahmoudiya in Marjayoun district.

Avichai Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman, said the Lebanese government is responsible for what happens on its territory and warned against more attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon.

On Wednesday, three rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory and Israel responded with sustained artillery fire. Sirens sounded in northern Israel, warning of a possible rocket attack. Two rockets landed inside Israeli territory, the army said.

Channel 12 said one rocket exploded in an open area and another was intercepted by Israel’s defense system, known as the Iron Dome.

Israeli media reported that the incoming rockets set off fires near Kiryat Shmona, a community of about 20,000 people near the Lebanese border.

The Lebanese military said 92 artillery shells were fired by Israel on Lebanese villages as a result of Wednesday’s rocket fire from Lebanon.

It said the Israeli artillery shelling resulted in a fire in the village of Rashaya al-Fukhar. The Lebanese army also said it was conducting patrols in the border region and had set up a number of checkpoints and opened an investigation to determine the source of the rocket fire.

There have been several similar incidents in recent months.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price condemned the rocket fire from Lebanon.

“Israel has the right to defend itself against such attacks,” he told reporters on Wednesday in Washington, adding that the U.S. would remain engaged with partners “in the region in an effort to de-escalate the situation.”

News

PAP Sends Additional 34 Foreign Post-graduate Scholarship Beneficiaries To UK Varsities

Published

6 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has deployed an additional 34 foreign post-graduate scholarship beneficiaries to various universities in the United Kingdom for the 2025-2026 academic year.

This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen in Warri by Mr Igoniko Oduma, Special Assistant on Media to Dr. Dennis Otuaro, the Administrator, PAP.

According to the statement, the scholars’ programmes include data science, fintech analytics, cyber security, international energy law and policy, construction project management, public health, agri-food technology, electrical and petroleum engineering, among others.

The statement added that more foreign post-graduate scholars will be sent to UK universities in the current academic session.

“In December 2025, nine students, who were the first set of offshore post-graduate scholarship developments by the PAP Administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro, for the 2024-2025 academic year, graduated from their various programmes in UK universities.

“Otuaro has deployed over 9000 students to universities within and outside Nigeria for different industry-relevant programmes since he assumed office in March 2024,” the statement partly reads.

Speaking at the pre-departure orientation programme for the scholars at the PAP headquarters in Abuja, on Thursday, Otuaro said that the large-scale deployment was aimed at making the Niger Delta a knowledge-driven region.

He said that his leadership reinvigorated the programme to give it a new momentum in service delivery to the people of the region based on the mandate of President Bola Tinubu.

Otuaro said, “We are sending all of you for post-graduate studies in various universities in the United Kingdom.

“The PAP now has a new momentum and direction because of the repositioning and broad reforms that we carried out in line with the mandate of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.

“The objective behind the huge scholarships deployment is to ensure that we develop the needed human capital to transform the Niger Delta and generate knowledge-wealth.

“We want to develop relevant manpower in critical disciplines for our region and by extension, the country, because you are expected to contribute your quota to national development after successful graduation.”

The PAP boss, who was represented at the event by his Technical Assistant, Mr Edgar Biu, advised the scholars to study hard to achieve academic excellence in their various fields of research.

According to him, the scholars have an obligation to justify the Federal Government’s investment in their education and future.

He reiterated his warning that beneficiaries should not take for granted the opportunity to further their academic pursuits in the interest of the Niger Delta and indeed the country.

Otuaro expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for his “enormous interest and support for the Programme”, particularly the approval of an upward review of the programme’s budget from N65billion to N150billion.

He also expressed gratitude to the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, for his impeccable guidance and supervision of the programme’s initiatives.

Otuaro, therefore, cautioned the scholars to obey their host country’s laws and the rules and regulations of their various institutions, stressing that they are ambassadors of Nigeria, the Niger Delta and their communities and families.

Highpoint of the orientation programme was the presentation of laptops to the scholars to help them in their studies.

News

Industrial Court Bars Resident Doctors From Strike

Published

7 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

The National Industrial Court in Abuja has issued an interim injunction restraining the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and its agents from embarking on any form of industrial action, including strikes, go-slows, picketing, or preparatory steps for protest, from Monday, January 12, 2026.

Justice E.D. Subilim ordered that the injunction remain in force pending the hearing of the motion on January 21. The suit was filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Federal Government against NARD, its president, Dr Mohammad Suleiman, and Dr Shuaibu Ibrahim.

The court order comes days after resident doctors at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, declared their full support for the nationwide strike announced by NARD over the government’s alleged failure to honour critical welfare and training agreements.

UDUTH doctors cited the non-reinstatement of five disengaged resident doctors at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, unpaid promotion and salary arrears, and incomplete implementation of the Professional Allowance Table as key grievances. Other unresolved issues include withheld specialist allowances, delayed house officers’ salaries, postgraduate training certification delays, and deteriorating hospital infrastructure.

However, NARD had on Tuesday noted that there was no going back on the industrial action, insisting that the strike is necessary and not politically motivated. Speaking in Abuja, Dr Suleiman said the withdrawal of services from midnight on Monday is a response to “unmet commitments, shifting government positions and worsening working conditions for resident doctors, not partisan considerations.”

He argued that none of the demands outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Federal Government on November 27, 2025, have been implemented.

“Every issue is either at the same point where it was when we signed the MoU or we have even gone backwards,” Dr Suleiman said, adding that claims by the Ministry of Health that some issues had been resolved were misleading.
He further challenged the government to show where N90 billion, allegedly allocated in the 2026 budget for health workers’ professional allowances, has been provided.

The association also demanded the immediate reinstatement of the five disengaged resident doctors at FTH Lokoja with full back pay and rejected plans to redeploy them elsewhere.

Other grievances include delayed promotion arrears across 62 tertiary institutions, non-recognition of specialist certificates, and outstanding salary and allowance payments affecting nearly 40 percent of resident doctors.

While NARD remains open to dialogue and has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for decisive intervention, it warned that unless concrete action is taken, the planned industrial action will go ahead, potentially disrupting healthcare services nationwide. Dr Mujitaba Umar, President of the UDUTH chapter, described the situation as “difficult but unavoidable,” while the chapter’s General Secretary, Dr Muhammad Abdulrahman Hassan, urged the Federal Government to act swiftly “in the interest of the Nigerian populace and the healthcare system.”

News

Nigeria To Get Fresh $9.5m Abacha Loot From UK’s Jersey

Published

8 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

Nigeria to receive fresh $9.5 million (£7 million), believed to be stolen funds linked to former military Head of State, Sani Abacha, from the United Kingdom’s Jersey.

According to the BBC, Jersey has agreed to repatriate the fund to the Nigerian government.

The money, described as proceeds of “tainted property,” is said to be part of the vast fortune stolen by Abacha, who ruled Nigeria between 1993 and 1998.

The funds were kept in a bank account in Jersey and had been tied up in legal proceedings for several years.

Although the assets were first recovered during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, court challenges stalled their return to Nigeria. Progress was made in December 2025 when Jersey’s Attorney-General, Mark Temple, signed a memorandum of understanding, MoU, with Nigerian authorities to enable the repatriation.

The latest agreement builds on two earlier arrangements between Jersey and Nigeria that led to the return of more than $300 million (£230m) in recovered assets.