Headline

Ukrainian Journalist Shot Dead In Suspected Russian Sniper Attack

Published

2 years ago

April 27, 2023

Editor

A Ukrainian journalist, Bogdan Bitik was killed on Wednesday as he travelled to the city of Kherson with his Italian colleague.

Bitik, who was interpreting for La Repubblica reporter Corrado Zunino, was shot “most likely by Russian snipers” according to the Italian newspaper report.

Al-Jazeera reported that Zunino was shot in the shoulder and is now receiving medical treatment.

He told La Repubblica from a hospital bed that they had passed three Ukrainian checkpoints when they were suddenly hit.

“I heard a hiss, and I saw Bogdan on the ground,” Zunino said.

“He wasn’t moving. I crawled out of the line of fire. I ran until I passed a civilian car. I was full of blood. I had to be taken to Kherson Hospital.”

He added that he had been trying to call Bitik, who he described as “a great friend”, but got no answer.

“It’s excruciating,” he said.

Both men were wearing press vests when they were attacked near the destroyed Antonivskyi Bridge, according to Zunino.

At least 15 media workers and journalists have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Sergiy Tomilenko, head of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, said the attack was a “new war crime of the Russians” as he called for Italian groups and newspapers such as La Repubblica to do more to protect Ukrainian reporters.

“I’m fine. But I’m sad to have lost a friend,” Zunino said in an interview on the Breakfast Club show at Radio Capital.

“I went on five missions with Bogdan. I’ve known him since I first arrived in Ukraine. He had returned to Ukraine from Indonesia, where he has a wife and a son. I have just spoken to his wife. They are all extraordinary, kind and generous people”.

It has not yet been possible to recover Bitik’s body, La Repubblica reported.

Ukrainian forces liberated Kherson in November 2022 after the city had been occupied in the early weeks of the war.

Since then, Russian forces, which had retreated across the Dnipro River, have bombarded the region with regular artillery strikes, missiles, drone attacks and snipers.

In December 2022, two Italian reporters, Claudio Locatelli and Niccolò Celesti, accompanied by their interpreter, came under attack in a Russian strike in the Kherson region; they all survived but Locatelli was injured.

Headline

NAFDAC Warns Against Use Of Excess Hydroquinone In Cosmetics

Published

15 hours ago

July 2, 2025

Editor

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned users of bleaching creams to refrain from using products containing excessive hydroquinone to safeguard their health.

NAFDAC Bauchi State Coordinator, Mr Hamis Yahaya, advised in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Tuesday.

Hydroquinone is a skin-lightening agent used to treat hyperpigmentation, such as melasma and age spots.

Yahaya said that the approved quantity of the chemical substance in cosmetics was only two per cent.

According to him, NAFDAC conducts checks on market products to ensure public health and safety.

“The black colour provides natural protection against harmful radiation due to melanin content.

“Applying creams with hydroquinone contents more than two per cent is harmful. Mixing creams by non-experts is wrong.

“Hydroquinone affects the health of the users gradually, including causing cancer,” he said.

Yahaya urged the media to raise awareness about the dangers of cosmetics that could endanger consumer lives.

Headline

AU Helicopter Crashes In Somali Capital – State Media

Published

20 hours ago

July 2, 2025

Editor

An African Union helicopter crashed Wednesday at the airport in the Somali capital Mogadishu with eight people onboard, state media said.

The aircraft was part of the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), tasked with fighting the Al-Shabaab militant group.

The state media agency Sonna said the AUSSOM helicopter, carrying eight people, “crashed during landing at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde Airport this morning after departing Balidoogle”.

“The fire has been contained, and authorities are assessing the situation,” it said in a post on X.

Sonna quoted the country’s civil aviation authorities as saying that “flight operations remain normal”.

There were no further details given, but unverified clips and images shared online showed a plume of black smoke over the city.

The AUSSOM mission faces funding difficulties, even as fears of an Al-Shabaab resurgence are stoked by attacks in the Horn of Africa nation.

Headline

Australia Cancels Kanye West Visa Over ‘Heil Hitler’ Song

Published

20 hours ago

July 2, 2025

Editor

Australia has cancelled US rapper Kanye West’s visa over his song glorifying Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, the government said Wednesday.

The 48-year-old musician, who has legally changed his name to Ye, released “Heil Hitler” on May 8, the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

West — whose wife Bianca Censori is Australian — has been coming to Australia for some time because he has family in the country, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said.

“He’s made a lot of offensive comments. But my officials looked at it again once he released the ‘Heil Hitler’ song and he no longer has a valid visa in Australia.”

Burke said the rapper’s cancelled visa was not intended for holding concerts.

“It was a lower level, and the officials still looked at the law and said: You’re going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism — we don’t need that in Australia,” he told public broadcaster ABC.

Asked if it was sustainable to bar such a popular figure, the minister said: “I think what’s not sustainable is to import hatred.”

But he said immigration officials reassess each visa application.

Australian citizens have freedom of speech, Burke added.

“But we have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry.”

AFP