Headline

UPDATED: Russia’s Putin Announces ‘Military Operation’ In Ukraine

Published

4 years ago

February 24, 2022

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, announced a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday with explosions heard soon after in the capital and other parts of the country, prompting outrage from Joe Biden who warned of a “catastrophic loss of life”.

Weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.

“I have made the decision of a military operation,” Putin said in a surprise television announcement shortly before 6:00am (0300 GMT) in Moscow.

He also called on Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms, claiming he wanted a “demilitarisation” of the former Soviet state but not its occupation.

An AFP reporter in Kyiv heard explosions within about 30 minutes of Putin’s announcement. Explosions were also heard in the eastern city of Mariupol, according to AFP.

US President Biden announced he would address the nation Thursday on “consequences” for Russia and said the world would “hold Russia accountable” for its actions.

He said a Russian attack would cause “catastrophic loss of life and human suffering”.

Putin’s announcement statement came after the Kremlin said rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine had asked Moscow for military help against Kyiv.

In response, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky made an emotional late-night appeal to Russians not to support a “major war in Europe”.

Speaking Russian, Zelensky said that the people of Russia are being lied to about Ukraine and that the possibility of war also “depends on you”.

“Who can stop (the war)? People. These people are among you, I am sure,” he said.

Zelensky said he had tried to call Putin but there was “no answer, only silence”, adding that Moscow now had around 200,000 soldiers near Ukraine’s borders.

Earlier on Wednesday the separatist leaders of Donetsk and Lugansk sent separate letters to Putin, asking him to “help them repel Ukraine’s aggression”, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The two letters were published by Russian state media and were both dated February 22.

Their appeals came after Putin recognised their independence and signed friendship treaties with them that include defence deals.

– ‘Moment of peril’ –

Putin has defied a barrage of international criticism over the crisis, with some Western leaders saying he was no longer rational.

His announcement of the military operation came ahead of a last-ditch summit involving European Union leaders in Brussels planned for Thursday.

The 27-nation bloc had also imposed sanctions on Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu and high-ranking figures including the commanders of Russia’s army, navy and air force, another part of the wave of Western punishment after Putin sought to rewrite Ukraine’s borders.

The United Nations Security Council met late Wednesday for its second emergency session in three days over the crisis, with a personal plea there by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Putin going unheeded.

“President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine, give peace a chance, too many people have already died,” Guterres said.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, warned that an all-out Russian invasion could displace five million people, triggering a new European refugee crisis.

Before Putin’s announcement, Ukraine had urged its approximately three million citizens living in Russia to leave.

“We are united in believing that the future of European security is being decided right now, here in our home, in Ukraine,” President Zelensky said during a joint media appearance with the visiting leaders of Poland and Lithuania.

Western capitals said Russia had amassed 150,000 troops in combat formations on Ukraine’s borders with Russia, Belarus and Russian-occupied Crimea and on warships in the Black Sea.

Ukraine has around 200,000 military personnel and Wednesday’s call up could see up to 250,000 reservists aged between 18 and 60 receive their mobilisation papers.

Moscow’s total forces are much larger — around a million active-duty personnel — and have been modernised and re-armed in recent years.

– High cost of war –

But Ukraine has received advanced anti-tank weapons and some drones from NATO members. More have been promised as the allies try to deter a Russian attack or at least make it costly.

Shelling had intensified in recent days between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists — a Ukrainian soldier was killed on Wednesday, the sixth in four days — and civilians living near the front were fearful.

Dmitry Maksimenko, a 27-year-old coal miner from government-held Krasnogorivka, told AFP that he was shocked when his wife came to tell him that Putin had recognised the two Russian-backed separatist enclaves.

“She said: ‘Have you heard the news?’. How could I have known? There’s no electricity, never mind internet. I don’t know what is going to happen next, but to be honest, I’m afraid,” he said.

In a Russian village around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border, AFP reporters saw military equipment including rocket launchers, howitzers and fuel tanks mounted on trains stretching for hundreds of metres.

Russia has long demanded that Ukraine be forbidden from ever joining the NATO alliance and that US troops pull out from Eastern Europe.

Speaking to journalists, Putin on Tuesday set out a number of stringent conditions if the West wanted to de-escalate the crisis, saying Ukraine should drop its NATO ambition and become neutral.

Washington Wednesday announced sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which Germany had earlier effectively suspended by halting certification.

Australia, Britain, Japan and the European Union have all also announced sanctions.

AFP/PUNCH

Headline

Trump Orders Tougher Visa Screening Regime

Published

2 days ago

November 10, 2025

Editor

The Donald Trump administration has reinstated a sweeping global visa policy that can make it harder for many foreign nationals—including Nigerians—to obtain U.S. visas, as Washington revives its controversial “public charge” rule targeting those deemed likely to depend on public benefits.

A newly issued State Department cable, obtained by Fox News Digital, directed American embassies and consulates worldwide to enforce the policy immediately. The directive, which officials say restores a Trump-era standard relaxed under President Joe Biden, instructs U.S. consular officers to deny visas to anyone considered likely to rely on government assistance in the United States of America.

Under the rule, visa applicants will be assessed on a wide range of personal factors—including their health, age, English proficiency, financial stability, and potential need for long-term medical care.

Consular officers are urged to take a holistic approach, considering everything from the applicant’s visa petition and financial affidavit to their medical report and any other information uncovered during background checks.

“You must examine all aspects of the case,” the guidance reads, “including the petition, visa application, medical report, affidavit of support, and any information uncovered in the course of screening and vetting.”

Older applicants, particularly those nearing retirement age, are expected to face extra scrutiny. The cable notes that “long-term institutionalisation (e.g., at a nursing facility) can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per year and should be considered,” suggesting that age and health will play major roles in visa decisions.

The revived rule follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidisation of Open Borders”. The order, according to the State Department memo, aims to ensure “that no taxpayer-funded benefits go to unqualified aliens.”

The cable further stresses that the public charge determination rests solely on the judgment of each consular officer, who must conduct a “comprehensive and thorough vetting” before issuing any visa. “There is no ‘bright line’ test,” the cable adds. “You must consider all aspects of the case and determine whether the applicant’s circumstances… suggest that he is more likely than not to become a public charge at any time.”

A State Department official told Fox News Digital, “For years, the American taxpayer was held hostage by the Biden administration’s disastrous open borders agenda… The Trump administration has brought an end to the era of mass immigration.”

The U.S. State Department controls visa issuance at embassies abroad, while the Department of Homeland Security manages who is ultimately admitted into the country or allowed to adjust status once inside the U.S. Though both agencies operate under the same immigration laws, the new guidance grants wide latitude to consular officers overseas to reject applicants on “public charge” grounds.

Before now, the Biden administration’s 2022 version of the rule had limited the benefits considered under the policy — counting only direct cash assistance and long-term institutional care, while excluding popular social support programmes such as food stamps (SNAP), Medicaid, housing vouchers, and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) programme.

The Trump administration had expanded that definition in 2019 to include a broader range of public benefits, though several U.S. courts later blocked parts of the policy before it was scrapped by President Biden in 2021.

This week’s cable now marks a full return to that broader interpretation, instructing American consular officials to “conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting” and to verify all supporting financial documents presented by applicants.

For many Nigerians seeking U.S. visas — from students and workers to elderly immigrants joining family abroad — the revived rule could mean more rejections and lengthier processing times.

Headline

Mexican President Pledges Tougher Sexual‑harassment Laws After Being Groped

Published

5 days ago

November 6, 2025

Editor

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday unveiled proposals to boost reporting and prosecution of sexual abuse after she herself was groped in the street in an attack that caused outrage.

Mexico’s first woman president, 63, was assaulted on Tuesday by a drunken man while walking through the streets of the capital.

The assault made global headlines and focused attention on the dangers and harassment suffered by many women in the Latin American country.

Sheinbaum has pressed charges against her attacker for sexual harassment, a charge that in Mexico City covers lewd behaviour and groping.

She has also ordered a review of the widely diverging laws on sexual harassment and abuse across Mexico’s 32 states.

Sexual harassment in public spaces is so prevalent in Mexico that in the last decade, the authorities have created women-only spaces on the metro.

Other cities with similar arrangements include Mumbai and Rio.

“May what happened serve so that women do not feel alone in situations of harassment or abuse… and for this to happen, there must be institutions and a government that supports them,” Sheinbaum told her regular morning press conference.

The UN says around 70 per cent of Mexican girls and women aged 15 and over will experience at least one incident of sexual harassment in their lives.

Sheinbaum said that 45 per cent had experienced sexual “abuse.”

The man who assaulted her put one arm around her shoulder while she was greeting supporters, and with his other hand touched her hip and chest while attempting to kiss her neck.

A member of Sheinbaum’s security detail pulled him away.

Citlalli Hernandez, Secretary for Women, said more than 25,000 complaints of sexual harassment have been filed so far this year.

Headline

US Lawmakers Urge Sanctions On Miyetti Allah, Others Over Alleged Religious Violations

Published

5 days ago

November 6, 2025

Editor

The United States House of Representatives has urged the Departments of State and Treasury to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and organisations, including Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, over alleged violations of religious freedom in Nigeria.

This was contained in a resolution introduced before the House on Tuesday and cited by The PUNCH from the US Congress website on Wednesday.

Recall that Trump, in a post on Truth over the weekend, declared Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” and threatened to take military action if the country did not stem the alleged killings of Christians.

Filed as H. Res. 860 in the 119th Congress, the resolution, submitted by Rep. Christopher Smith with Rep. Paul Huizenga as a co-sponsor, commends President Donald Trump for redesignating Nigeria as a CPC.

The sponsors decried the alleged worsening persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.

They cited a catalogue of findings and reports that informed the measure, including media accounts and NGO data alleging large-scale attacks on civilians, destruction of places of worship, and a pattern of impunity.

The resolution reads in parts, “For over a decade, Islamic terror organisations have carried out mass murder, rape, kidnappings, and other atrocities targeting mostly Nigerian Christians and non-Fulani moderate Muslim populations, resulting in mass displacement and destruction of places of worship

“Prominent Christian and Muslim leaders have been kidnapped or assassinated, including priests, pastors, and imams who advocate for religious tolerance;

“Religious leaders, such as Father Remigius Iyhula and Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, who testified on March 12, 2025, at a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the persecution and targeted killings of Christians in the Diocese of Makurdi, have faced intimidation, threats, and harassment from both extremist groups and government authorities.”

Supporters of the measure argued that the CPC redesignation would strengthen diplomatic leverage to press Nigeria for accountability and protection of religious minorities.

“The designation of Nigeria as a CPC will enhance diplomatic efforts to encourage the Nigerian government to take necessary actions to protect religious minorities and uphold fundamental human rights,” they said.

They therefore moved that “President Donald Trump acted appropriately and decisively to redesignate Nigeria as a CPC and hold the Nigerian government accountable for its complicity in religious persecution by radical Islamists, such as Boko Haram and Fulani terrorists.”

They further recommended conditioning US foreign assistance on demonstrable steps by Nigeria to prevent persecution, prosecute alleged perpetrators, and care for displaced populations.

“The State Department should provide immediate humanitarian assistance directly to faith-based groups to support internally displaced people in Nigeria’s middle belt states.

“The United States, through the Department of State and Department of Treasury, should impose targeted sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes under the Global Magnitsky framework and other restrictive measures, on individuals and entities responsible for severe violations of religious freedom in Nigeria, including sanctions against Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, and should place Fulani-Ethnic Militias operating in Benue and Plateau States on the Entities of Particular Concern List under the International Religious Freedom Act,” the resolution read.

The resolution also asked the US to justify the purposes and amounts of recent security and development assistance to Nigeria and to tie future support to improved human-rights outcomes.

The resolution was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Judiciary Committee for further consideration.

If it advances out of committee, the resolution would mark a clear congressional signal backing Trump’s CPC decision and could open the door to further legislative or executive actions.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government had said the United States’ designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” over alleged violations of religious freedom is based on a wrong perception of the country’s security challenges.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja while addressing journalists.

Idris said the US position stemmed from “misrepresentation and misinformation” about Nigeria’s internal security situation.

According to him, terrorism and violent crimes in Nigeria do not target any particular religious group.

“Nigeria faces long-standing security challenges that have impacted Christians and Muslims alike.

“Any narrative suggesting that the Nigerian state is failing to take action against religious attacks is based on misinformation or faulty data,” Idris said.