Headline
Israel’s Netanyahu Says Iran Will ‘Pay Heavy Price’ After Hospital Hit
Published
2 months agoon
By
Editor
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran would “pay a heavy price” after a hospital in southern Israel was hit during an Iranian missile attack on Thursday, while his defence minister said Iran’s supreme leader would be “held accountable”.
“This morning, Iran’s terrorist dictators fired missiles at Soroka Hospital… and at civilians in the centre of the country. We will make the tyrants in Tehran pay a heavy price,” Netanyahu said in a post on X.
The Soroka Hospital in the southern town of Beersheba was left in flames following an early morning barrage of “dozens” of Iranian ballistic missiles, with impacts also reported in two Israeli towns close to coastal hub Tel Aviv.
Speaking at the scene of the hospital, director Shlomi Kodesh said that a surgical building which had been evacuated in the past few days was hit, adding that 40 people had sustained injuries.
“Several wards were completely demolished and there is extensive damage across the entire hospital with damage to buildings, structures, windows, ceilings across the medical centre,” he told journalists.
Iran said it was targeting an Israeli military and intelligence base, not the health facility.
READ ALSO:Police Recover 17 Rifles From Gun-running Syndicate
The latest escalation came on the seventh day of deadly exchanges between the two countries, with US President Donald Trump maintaining suspense about whether Washington will enter the war alongside Israel.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected Trump’s demand for an “unconditional surrender”, despite claims from the US leader that “Iran’s got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate”.
– ‘Never surrender’ –
Trump has left his intentions on joining the conflict deliberately ambiguous, saying Wednesday: “I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
“The next week is going to be very big,” he added, without further details.
Any US involvement would be expected to involve the bombing of a crucial underground Iranian nuclear facility in Fordow, for which special bunker-busting bombs have been developed.
The White House said Trump would receive an intelligence briefing on Thursday, a US holiday. Top US diplomat Marco Rubio is set meet his British counterpart for talks expected to focus on the conflict.
READ ALSO:Netanyahu Says Israel’s Strikes On Iran Have ‘Clear Support’ Of Trump
“I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven’t made a final (decision),” Trump said. “I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due, because things change. Especially with war.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had told aides on Tuesday he had approved attack plans but was holding off to see if Iran would give up its nuclear programme.
Trump told reporters that Iranian officials “want to come to the White House”, a claim denied by Tehran.
The US president had favoured a diplomatic route to end Iran’s nuclear programme, seeking a deal to replace the 2015 agreement he tore up in his first term.
But since Israel unleashed the campaign against Iran last week, Trump has stood behind the key US ally.
– Nuclear sites –
On Thursday morning, Israel said it had carried out dozens of fresh raids on Iranian targets overnight, including the partially built Arak nuclear reactor and a nuclear facility in Natanz that has been struck previously.
READ ALSO:Netanyahu Announces Readiness For Gaza ‘Temporary Ceasefire’
The Israeli military said the Arak site on the outskirts of the village of Khondab in central Iran had been hit “to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development”.
There was also a “near-total national internet blackout” in Iran on Wednesday, a London-based watchdog said, with Iran’s Fars news agency confirming heavier internet restrictions after initial curbs imposed last week.
The military campaign has sparked calls for a return to diplomacy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that a deal to guarantee both Israel’s security and Iran’s desire for a civilian nuclear programme was possible.
“I believe it would be good for all of us together to look for ways to stop the fighting and seek ways for the participants in the conflict to find an agreement,” he told foreign journalists at a televised event.
He said Iran had not asked Russia for military help.
– Daily barrages –
An Israeli military official, who asked not to be named, said Wednesday that Iran had fired around 400 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones since the conflict began on Friday.
READ ALSO:Netanyahu To Meet Trump As Israel, Hamas Eye Gaza Truce Talks
About 20 missiles had struck civilian areas in Israel, the official added.
Iranian strikes have killed at least 24 people and injured hundreds since they began, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Monday.
Iran said Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.
Both countries have not issued an updated official toll since then.
Israel says its surprise air campaign is aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent — far above the 3.67-percent limit set by the 2015 nuclear death but still short of the 90-percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.
Israel has maintained ambiguity on its own atomic activities, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says it has 90 nuclear warheads.
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Headline
Leader Of UK Christian Group Convicted Of Sexually Abusing Women
Published
3 hours agoon
August 23, 2025By
Editor
Chris Brain, 68, the leader of a UK Christian group once backed by the Church of England, has been convicted of sexually abusing nine women in his congregation.
A jury delivered the final verdicts on Thursday.
Brain led the Nine O’Clock Service, an evangelical movement in Sheffield during the 1980s and 1990s. The group was known for its nightclub-style worship, held at 9 p.m. on Sundays, which included live music and drew large crowds of young people.
Prosecutors said Brain used his authority to control members of the congregation, isolating them from family and friends, and used his position to commit sexual assaults. He also maintained a group of young women known as the “lycra nuns” who assisted him, his wife, and his daughter at home, prosecutor Tim Clark told the court.
READ ALSO:UK Bans Sanex Advert For Calling Black Skin ‘Problematic’, White Skin ‘Superior’
The leader of the UK Christian group was charged with 36 counts of indecent assault and one count of rape involving 13 women between 1981 and 1995. He denied the charges, claiming any sexual contact was consensual.
Following a trial at Inner London Crown Court, he was convicted of 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women. He was acquitted of 15 other charges, while the jury could not reach a verdict on four additional indecent assault charges and the rape allegation. The Crown Prosecution Service said it would “carefully consider” whether to seek a retrial.
The Nine O’Clock Service had received approval from the Church of England. In 1990, the Archbishop of Canterbury-elect George Carey met with Brain to discuss his methods, and his ordination was expedited. Prosecutors said the group even spent heavily to purchase the costume worn by Robert De Niro in the 1986 film The Mission for his ceremony.
READ ALSO:Russia Returns Bodies Of 1,000 Ukrainian Soldiers
Brain resigned shortly before a BBC documentary aired in 1995, accusing him of inappropriate sexual behaviour. Carey later said he was “crushed and let down” when the allegations became public.
In court, Brain admitted to receiving massages from congregation members that sometimes became sexual but denied manipulating or controlling them.
Bishop of Sheffield Pete Wilcox said in a statement: “What happened was an appalling abuse of power and leadership that should never have occurred. Where concerns were raised in the past and were not acted upon properly, that was a failing of the Church. For those institutional failures, I offer an unreserved apology.”
Headline
Russia Claims More Ukraine Land As Hopes For Summit Fade
Published
3 hours agoon
August 23, 2025By
Editor
Russia on Saturday said its forces had taken two villages in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, increasing the military pressure as world leaders struggle to broker an end to the conflict.
South Africa added its voice to those calling for a summit between Ukraine and Russia.
Russian forces are slowly advancing in the embattled eastern region of Donetsk, grinding closer to Kyiv’s key defensive line in costly metre-for-metre battles.
Moscow’s defence ministry said on Telegram that its forces had captured the villages of Sredneye and Kleban-Byk.
The taking of Kleban-Byk would mark a further advance towards Kostiantynivka — a key fortified town on the road to Kramatorsk, where a major Ukrainian logistics base is located.
READ ALSO:Top Russian General Seriously Wounded In Ukraine – Officials
On Friday, Russia said its troops had captured three villages in the Donetsk region it claimed to have annexed in September 2022.
On Saturday, Ukrainian military officials said its forces had stopped a Russian advance and recaptured the village of Zeleny Gai in the Donetsk region in a post to Telegram.
In July, Russia claimed the capture of the village, on the border with Dnipropetrovsk, adding that it was an important stronghold used by Ukraine to protect the area.
– Ramaphosa backs summit –
The latest Russian advances come as hopes dim for a summit between Russian and Ukrainian presidents — a solution championed by US President Donald Trump as part of his efforts to end the conflict.
READ ALSO:Russian Politicians Mock European Leaders After White House, Ukraine Talks
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday added his voice to calls for a Russia-Ukraine summit during a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“President Ramaphosa stressed the urgency of holding bilateral and trilateral meetings between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine and the United States as key to signal a firm commitment to ending the war,” said a statement from his office.
Ramaphosa, who currently chairs the G20, also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, the statement added. He will speak with other European leaders in the coming weeks.
Ramaphosa spoke on Monday with Vladimir Putin, whom he described in October at the BRICS summit as a “dear ally” and a “valued friend”.
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However, for the first time since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, South Africa earlier this year backed a UN resolution declaring that Russia had launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky said he had told Ramaphosa he was ready for any kind of meeting with Putin.
“However, we see that Moscow is once again trying to drag everything out even further,” he said on X.
He called on the Global South to send “relevant signals and (push) Russia toward peace”.
On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “no meeting” was planned as Trump’s mediation efforts appeared to stall, while Zelensky accused Russia of trying to prolong the offensive.
AFP
Headline
US Suspends Work Visas For Nigerian, Foreign Truck Drivers
Published
16 hours agoon
August 23, 2025By
Editor
The United States government has suspended the issuance of work visas for Nigerian and other foreign truck drivers, citing job security concerns and safety risks for American citizens.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the decision on Thursday, saying it takes immediate effect.
According to him, the rising number of foreign truck drivers on U.S. highways is both threatening lives and reducing opportunities for American truckers.
READ ALSO:JUST IN: US Visa Restrictions On ECOWAS Countries Threaten Regional Prosperity — FG
“Effective immediately, we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers.
“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” Rubio said.
The move comes under President Donald Trump’s renewed clampdown on immigration since returning to office in January 2025.
READ ALSO:US Visa Adjudication Sparks Concerns Over Diplomatic Relations
As part of new measures, travellers from countries with high visa overstay rates or weak travel databases will be required to pay a bond of $5,000 to $15,000 before obtaining certain categories of visas.
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria also directed all visa applicants to disclose their social media handles from the past five years, warning that failure to comply could result in denial of applications and possible ineligibility for future visas.
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