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Russia-Ukraine War: 15 Latest Developments As Nigeria, Ghana Evacuate Citizens

Published

3 years ago

March 2, 2022

More than 660,000 people have fled Ukraine while around one million people are internally displaced, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Of the 660,000, at least 2, 090 are Nigerians, according to Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Wednesday.

Nigeria also announced that some of its stranded citizens following the Russian invasion would arrive in the country on Thursday via Max Air.

Seventeen of the 500 Ghanaian students expected to be evacuated from Ukraine arrived home on Tuesday.

Nigeria’s minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said about 5,600 Nigerian students are in Ukraine and maybe a total of 8,000 Nigerian citizens in the country.

Here are the latest developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine:

– Kharkiv fighting –
Russian paratroopers land in Ukraine’s second city amid heavy fighting. Ukrainian officials say a hospital has been attacked and the barracks of a flight school is on fire after an air strike.

“There are practically no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit,” says Interior Minister official Anton Gerashchenko.

– Biden brands Putin ‘dictator’ –

US President Joe Biden brands Vladimir Putin a “dictator” in his annual State of the Union address as he bans Russian aircraft from US airspace with Moscow facing economic and diplomatic isolation.

– Cities pummelled –
Russia steps up its bombing campaign and missile strikes, hitting Kyiv’s main television tower, two residential buildings in a town west of the city and the city of Bila Tserkva to the south of the capital.

– Kherson: Russia inside city –
Russian forces push into the besieged Black Sea city of Kherson in the south. Its port and railway station are now in Russian hands, its mayor says.

– Mariupol without power –
Russian attacks leave Mariupol, another Black Sea port further to the west without electricity.

– Civilians flee –
More than 677,000 people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, the UN’s refugee agency says, with the number rising rapidly.

– UN court to hold war hearings –
The UN’s International Court of Justice says it will hold public hearings on March 7 and 8 over Ukraine’s allegations of “genocide” by Russia as the General Assembly votes on whether to order Russia to withdraw its troops.

– Independent media blocked –
Russia blocks an independent television channel and a liberal radio station, tightening a virtual media blackout on news of the war.

– Companies exit Russia –
A string of Western companies announce they are freezing or scaling back business with Russia, including Apple, three of the world’s largest shipping companies and energy firms Eni, ExxonMobil and Boeing.

– Race for cash –
Russians race to withdraw cash after the introduction of capital controls and as the ruble hovers around record lows against the dollar.

-Nord Stream 2 goes under –
Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 goes insolvent after Germany halts the gas pipeline following Moscow’s invasion. The European subsidiary of Russia’s Sberbank also prepares to enter insolvency.

– Oil price soars –Oil prices soar past $110 a barrel, despite the International Energy Agency members agreeing to release 60 million barrels from stockpiles.

– World Bank aid –
The World Bank prepares a $3-billion aid package for Ukraine, including at least $350 million in immediate funds.

PUNCH.

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We’ll Deny You Visa If You’re Traveling To Give Birth, US Tells Nigerians

Published

3 days ago

July 28, 2025

Editor

The United States Mission in Nigeria has warned Nigerians planning to travel to the US primarily to give birth to secure American citizenship for their children.

In a post on X, the US Mission stated that using a visa for the main purpose of childbirth is prohibited under US immigration policy.

“Using your visa to travel for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States so that your child will have U.S. citizenship is not permitted. Consular officers will deny your visa application if they have reason to believe this is your intent,” the US Mission said.

This warning is coming following the rising scrutiny of visa applications and growing enforcement around what is informally referred to as “birth tourism”, the practice of traveling to the US to give birth so the child obtains automatic citizenship.

Recall that the United States Department of State had also revised its visa reciprocity policy, announcing that most non-immigrant, non-diplomatic visas issued to Nigerian citizens will now be single-entry visas with a three-month validity period.

The US maintained that its visa policies are based on global technical and security benchmarks aimed at protecting the integrity of its immigration systems.

Headline

Three Dead, Several Injured As Train Derails In Germany

Published

4 days ago

July 28, 2025

Editor

Rescue forces work at the site of a derailed train near Riedlingen on July 27, 2025. (Photo by Thomas Warnack / dpa / AFP) / Germany OUT / GERMANY OUT

Three people were killed and several others injured when a regional passenger train derailed in a wooded area in southwestern Germany on Sunday, police said.

About 100 passengers were aboard the train, when the accident occurred at around 6:10 pm (1610 GMT) near the town of Riedlingen in Baden-Wuerttemberg state.

Contacted by AFP, police initially said four people had been killed before correcting their statement to three victims.

Authorities declined to elaborate on the number of injured or how seriously hurt they were, though tabloid Bild cited emergency workers saying there were 50 injured.

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn confirmed several deaths and numerous injured. Two train carriages had derailed “for reasons yet unknown”, it added.

Authorities were currently investigating the circumstances of the accident, the operator said, and traffic had been suspended over a 40-kilometre (25-mile) stretch of the route.

German media reported that a landslide might have caused the accident as severe storms swept through the region, according to weather services.

The passenger train was travelling from the German town of Sigmaringen to the city of Ulm when it derailed in a forested area.

– Outdated train infrastructure –

In a post on social media, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his condolences to the families of those killed.

He added that he was in close contact with both the interior and transport ministers, and had asked them to “provide the emergency services with all the support they need”.

Footage from the scene of the accident showed yellow-and-grey-coloured train carriages lying on their sides, as firefighters and emergency services tried to get to the passengers.

According to local TV station SWR, helicopters arrived shortly after the accident to transport the injured to hospitals in the area, and emergency doctors from nearby hospitals were alerted.

German transport is regularly criticised by passengers for its outdated infrastructure, with travellers facing frequent train delays, and various technical problems.

The government has pledged to invest several hundred billion euros over the next few years, in particular to modernise infrastructure.

In June 2022, a train derailed near a Bavarian Alpine resort in southern Germany, killing four people and injuring dozens.

Germany’s deadliest rail accident happened in 1998 when a high-speed train operated by state-owned Deutsche Bahn derailed in Eschede in Lower Saxony, killing 101 people.

AFP

Headline

Man Stabs 11 People At Walmart Store In US

Published

4 days ago

July 28, 2025

Editor

At least 11 people were injured in a stabbing at a Walmart store in the Midwestern state of Michigan on Saturday, with police saying it appeared to be a random attack.

A 42-year-old male suspect was in custody, Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea told a press conference.

“Based on the information that we have at this time, it appears they were random acts,” Shea said of the attack in Traverse City, Michigan.

“The victims were not predetermined,” Shea said, adding that the suspect, a Michigan resident, apparently acted alone and used a “folding knife.”

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Six victims were in critical condition late Saturday, and five were in serious condition, Munson Healthcare said in a statement.

At least three of the victims were undergoing surgery, according to Shea. The victims included six men and five women.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said she was in touch with law enforcement regarding the “horrible news.”

“Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence,” Whitmer said in an X post.

Eyewitness Julia Martell told The New York Times she heard screaming and saw a man with a knife running through the store’s pharmacy section.

Martell said she saw the man shoving and stabbing people as he moved through the store.

The 30-year-old witness described seeing three people with stab wounds and “blood everywhere.”

Shea said the stabbing spree initially started near the checkout area of the store.

“It is very uncommon for our area,” he said of the violence, adding that citizens in the Walmart “assisted” in apprehending the suspect.

Traverse City is a popular tourist destination located on the shore of Lake Michigan.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said agents were providing “any necessary support to the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office in their investigation of the attacks at the Walmart.”

AFP