Headline

Nigerian Asylum Seeker Stabbed To Death In Dublin

Published

7 months ago

February 22, 2025

A Nigerian asylum seeker, Quham Babatunde, 34, was tragically killed in a brutal stabbing near Dublin’s main shopping district, raising growing concerns over knife-related violence in the Irish capital.

Mr. Babatunde reportedly attended an Afroswing event at a nightclub before the attack took place in the early hours of February 15 on South Anne Street. Emergency responders treated him at the scene for multiple stab wounds, including one to the heart, according to The Irish Independent.

He was rushed to St James’s Hospital, where medical staff fought to save his life, but he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

A second man sustained non-life-threatening injuries, including a suspected fractured cheekbone, and was also treated at St James’s Hospital.

Authorities have launched a murder investigation and arrested two men who are currently being questioned in connection with the incident.

Babatunde had been living at the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centre in Ballyogan, south Dublin, according to reports from RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster.

Disturbing footage circulating on social media shows a masked individual wielding a large knife amid a chaotic altercation on South Anne Street, near Grafton Street—one of Europe’s busiest shopping areas. The video appears to capture the moment Babatunde was attacked, followed by scenes of paramedics attending to him on the ground.

The suspects fled the scene before emergency services arrived.

The area, known for its bars and restaurants, remained busy with pedestrians at the time of the attack. Gardaí believe both the victim and suspects had attended the same Afroswing event at a nearby club before the violent incident occurred. Investigators are examining whether the stabbing followed a clash between two groups after the event at Twenty Two Dublin nightclub.

Following the tragedy, management at the Ballyogan IPAS centre issued a message of condolence, highlighting that Babatunde head one of the centre’s earliest residents.

“In light of this sad event, anyone who has been affected, IPAS has put in place support for both residents and staff to be able to get through this difficult time.

“Our sincere condolences go out to his friends and family and anyone who knew him in Ballyogan,” the statement read.

Former asylum seeker and activist Lucky Khambule told The Irish Mirror that residents at the Ballyogan centre were devastated by the loss. Friends described Babatunde as a cheerful person, known for his ever-present smile.

Headline

Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy

Published

10 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.

The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.

“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.

Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.

The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.

The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.

The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.

That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.

In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.

AFP

Headline

Kazakhstan Bans Forced Marriage, Bride Kidnapping

Published

10 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Kazakhstan has banned forced marriages and bride kidnappings through a law that came into effect Tuesday in the Central Asian country, where the practice persists despite new attention being paid to women’s rights.

Forcing someone to marry is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Kazakh police said in a statement.

“These changes are aimed at preventing forced marriages and protecting vulnerable categories of citizens, especially women and adolescents,” it added.

Bride kidnappings have also been outlawed.

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“Previously, a person who voluntarily released a kidnapped person could expect to be released from criminal liability. Now this possibility has been eliminated,” the police said.

There are no reliable statistics of forced marriage cases across the country, with no separate article in the criminal code prohibiting it until now.

A Kazakh lawmaker said earlier this year that the police had received 214 such complaints over the past three years.

The custom is also present in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, where it mostly goes unpunished due to indifferent law enforcement and stigma surrounding whistleblowers.

The issue of women’s rights in Kazakhstan gained media attention in 2023 following the murder of a woman by her husband, a former minister, a case that shocked Kazakh society and prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to react.

“Some people hide behind so-called traditions and try to impose the practice of wife stealing. This blatant obscurantism cannot be justified,” Tokayev said last year.

AFP

Headline

Russia Arrests Woman For Detonating Bomb On Railway

Published

10 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Russia’s FSB security service said on Tuesday it had arrested a woman in her fifties accused of detonating explosives in a bid to sabotage the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The suspect was allegedly working on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence, the FSB said, in the latest incident of alleged covert activity during the countries’ conflict.

“In August 2025, following the instructions provided by the adversary, the suspect manufactured a homemade explosive device from publicly available components, placed it on the railway tracks and triggered it,” the Russian agency said.

“She recorded the moment of the explosion on her mobile phone camera and sent the footage as a report to the handler to receive a reward.”

The statement did not name the suspect but said she was born in 1974 and carried out the alleged attack in eastern Siberia’s Zabaikalsky region.

The FSB warned Russians that it was monitoring social networks and online messenger services such as Telegram and WhatsApp for evidence of Ukrainian services recruiting Russians to carry out sabotage.

Separately, the agency told state news agency TASS that a man had been sentenced to 18 years and six months for transporting explosives on behalf of a “pro-Ukrainian” group.

A resident of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, had, the FSB said, established contact through the Telegram app with a banned “terrorist organisation”.

He allegedly retrieved explosives from a cache on the orders of this group before waiting for “further instructions”, according to the same source cited by TASS.

He was jailed by a military tribunal.

AFP