Headline
Qatar Makes U-turn, Says Investment Forum ‘ll Hold During Tinubu’s Visit

Qatar has made a U-turn on its decision not to host the business and investment forum proposed by President Bola Tinubu during his visit slated for March 2, 2024, to the Arab country.
This followed a leaked memo on Saturday which showed that Qatar declined the proposed investment forum, citing the unavailability of the country’s minister of commerce and industry, Mohammed Bin Hamad Al-Thani.
Also, the embassy of Qatar in Abuja had said there is no agreement between the Arabian country and Nigeria regarding the investment forum.
Recall that the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Abuja stated this in a letter dated February 22 2024 addressed to the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria.
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But in the letter, which was received by the ministry on February 23 2024 and sighted by our correspondent on Saturday, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Qatar apologised for the rejection of the proposed business visit.
Reacting to the alleged rejection, the Presidency said the Qatari government did not snub Tinubu.
It explained that the botched investment forum between the Nigerian and Qatari business communities was only one of several events lined up ahead of the President’s state visit to the Gulf country.
“It is not correct for anyone to insinuate that the Qatari authorities have snubbed the Nigerian leader over a business and investment forum which is tangential to the all-important state visit and which President Tinubu is slated to attend as a guest,” a statement signed by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Saturday read.
READ ALSO: Presidency Reacts As Qatar Allegedly Rejects Tinubu’s Visit, Business Talk
Onanuga, in a statement titled, ‘President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to Qatar,’ in response to a leaked note between the foreign ministries of both countries explained that Tinubu was expected to proceed to Qatar on the state visit as scheduled and during the visit, the Nigerian leader would engage in high-level bilateral discussions with Qatari leader on many important matters, covering the full range of diplomatic and economic issues.
However, in a twist of event, the Qatari has confirmed that the business parley will be held during Tinubu’s visit to the country in a memo dated Sunday, February 25, 2024, addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Qatar embassy said, “Regarding the upcoming State visit of H.E. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Qatar from 2nd-3rd March 2024 and with reference to our Note: Ref: QEA/FA/057/24 dated 22/02/2024 regarding holding of a Business and Investment Forum (BIF) on the margins of Mr. President’s visit to Qatar on 2nd March 2024.”
“The Embassy has the honour to convey that the Qatar Chamber of Commerce will host the above-mentioned event on March 3, 2024, as proposed by the Nigerian side.”
Headline
Welcome Home, Israel Confirms Return Of 20 Hostages From Gaza

Israel said that the last 20 living hostages released by Hamas on Monday had arrived in the country.
“Welcome home,” the foreign ministry wrote in a series of posts on X, hailing the return of Matan Angrest, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, David Cunio, Ariel Cunio, Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa Dalal, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kuperstein, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor, Yosef Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or and Matan Zangauker.
READ ALSO:Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal
AFP
Headline
20 Members Of Gang Blacklisted By US Escape Guatemala Prison

Twenty members of a gang designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States have escaped from detention in Guatemala, a prison chief said Sunday.
The members of the Barrio 18 gang “evaded security controls” at the Fraijanes II facility, prison director Ludin Godinez said at a news conference.
He received “an intelligence report” on Friday warning about the “possible escape” from the prison, which is southeast of the capital, Guatemala City.
Godinez said they were investigating possible acts of corruption.
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Washington last month blacklisted Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang which has a reputation for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.
The US embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison escape as “utterly unacceptable.”
“The United States designated members of this heinous group as the terrorists they are and will hold accountable anyone who has provided, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members,” the embassy said on X.
It called on the Guatemalan government to “act immediately and vigorously to recapture these terrorists.”
READ ALSO:US Threatens To Sanction Countries That Vote For Shipping Carbon Tax
According to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are in prison.
The country’s homicide rate has increased from 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the world average, according to the Centre for National Economic Research.
According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.
The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of El Salvador, which had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.
Headline
South Africa Bus Crash Kills 40 Including Malawi, Zimbabwe Nationals

At least 40 people, including nationals of Malawi and Zimbabwe, were killed when a passenger bus rolled down an embankment in South Africa, a provincial transport minister said Monday.
The bus travelling to Zimbabwe crashed around 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border on Sunday after the driver apparently lost control, Limpopo province transport minister Violet Mathye said.
“They are still working on the scene, but 40 bodies have already been confirmed to date,” Mathye told the Newzroom Afrika channel. The dead included a 10-month-old girl, she said.
READ ALSO:South African Court Finds Radical Politician Malema Guilty On Gun Charges
Thirty-eight people were in hospital and rescuers were searching for other victims, she told eNCA media.
The bus was travelling from the southern city of Gqeberha, around 1,500 kilometres away, and its passengers included Malawians and Zimbabweans who were working in South Africa. The crash may have been caused by driver fatigue or a mechanical fault, the minister said.
South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network with a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.
AFP
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