UN head condemns attacks on civilians during Ukraine visit

The head of the United Nations said Ukraine has become “an epicenter of unbearable heartache and pain” — a description underscored a short time later by the first Russian strike on the capital since Moscow’s forces retreated weeks ago.

Russia pounded targets all over Ukraine on Thursday, including the attack on Kyiv that struck a residential high-rise and another building and wounded 10 people, including at least one who lost a leg, according to Ukraine’s emergency services.

The bombardment came barely an hour after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a news conference with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who toured some of the destruction in and around Kyiv and condemned the attacks on civilians.

Meanwhile, explosions were reported across the country, in Polonne in the west, Chernihiv near the border with Belarus, and Fastiv, a large railway hub southwest of the capital. The mayor of Odesa, in southern Ukraine, said rockets were intercepted by air defenses.

Ukrainian authorities also reported intense Russian fire in the Donbas — the eastern industrial heartland that the Kremlin says is its main objective — and near Kharkiv, a northeastern city outside the Donbas that is seen as key to the offensive.

In the ruined southern port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian fighters holed up in the steel plant that represents the last pocket of resistance said concentrated bombing killed and wounded more people. And authorities warned that a lack of safe drinking water inside the city could lead to outbreaks of deadly diseases such as cholera and dysentery.

In Zaporizhzhia, a crucial way station for tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing Mariupol, an 11-year-old boy was among at least three people wounded in a rocket attack that authorities said was the first to hit a residential area in the southern city since the war began. Shards of glass cut the boy’s leg to the bone.

Vadym Vodostoyev, the boy’s father, said: “It just takes one second and you’re left with nothing.”

In Lyman town near Slovyansk, where Russian forces are reportedly trying to advance as part of their Donbas push, another tragedy unfolded on Monday when shelling rained on Tatiana Maksagory’s home.

“There was such a blast and then smoke; you couldn’t hear anything,” she said, crying outside a hospital with a wound in her neck. “You couldn’t see anything in front of your eyes, and then I see that my grandson is lying on the ground.”

Maksagory’s 14-year-old grandson, Igor, was declared dead after emergency services drove him to the hospital. Her daughter was in serious condition and her son-in-law was also killed.

……………………………………………………………

Afghanistan: Former army general vows new war against Taliban

An ex-general in the Afghan army says he and many other former soldiers and politicians are preparing to launch a new war against the Taliban.

Lt Gen Sami Sadat said that eight months of Taliban rule has convinced many Afghans that military action is the only way forward.

He said operations could begin next month after the Islamic Eid festival, when he plans to return to Afghanistan.

The Taliban took control of the country in a rapid offensive last August.

The hard-line Islamists swept across the country in just 10 days, as the last US-led Nato forces left following a 20-year military campaign.

Speaking for the first time about the plans, Lt Gen Sadat told the BBC he and others would “do anything and everything in our powers to make sure Afghanistan is freed from the Taliban and a democratic system is re-established”. “Until we get our freedom, until we get our free will, we will continue to fight,” he said, while refusing to be drawn on a specific timeline.

The general underscored how the Taliban had been reintroducing increasingly harsh rule – including severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls – and it was time to stop their authoritarian order and start a new chapter.

“What we see in Afghanistan in eight months of Taliban rule has been nothing but more religious restrictions, misquotation, misinterpretation and misuse of the scripts from the Holy Koran for political purposes.”

He initially planned to give the Taliban 12 months to see if they would change, he said. “Unfortunately, every day you wake up the Taliban have had something new to do – torturing people, killing, disappearances, food shortages, child malnutrition.”

He said he received hundreds of messages daily from Afghans asking him what he was going to do about it.

But in a country shredded by more than forty years of conflict, many Afghans are weary of war, desperate to leave, or struggling to survive in the midst of a deepening economic crisis. The UN speaks of a country marked by “combat fatigue” with millions on the brink of starvation.

Many in rural areas which bore the brunt of Nato’s war against the Taliban have welcomed the relative calm now that US and Afghan warplanes have left the skies and Taliban attacks have ended.

Lt Gen Sadat, who commanded Afghan government forces in the southern province of Helmand in the last months of the Taliban offensive, is also accused of ordering attacks which killed civilians. When questioned about the charges he denied them.

In August last year he was appointed to head the Afghan special forces and arrived in Kabul the day the Taliban swept in and his commander-in-chief President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

Asked whether there was any alternative to another war, Lt Gen Sadat said he hoped that moderate Taliban, known to be uncomfortable with a growing raft of restrictions reminiscent of draconian Taliban rule in 1990’s, could be part of a new government.

“We are not against the Taliban,” he said, just against their current “textbook,” describing an Afghanistan where “everyone fits in, not a country only for Taliban.”

In recent weeks, an audio message in which the general speaks about an armed fight against the Taliban with the aim of “re-liberating” Afghanistan was leaked to the media.

In the past, armed groups including the Taliban won Afghan wars with the support of neighbouring countries, a foothold in the country, and foreign funding.

………………………………………………………

Meta Spreads Cheer On Wall Street As Facebook Adds More Users

Shares of Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O) rose 17% in a relief rally on Thursday after having lost nearly half their value this year, as the social media giant surprised Wall Street with a better-than-expected rise in users joining the platform.

The stock helped lift the tech-heavy Nasdaq in premarket trading, spreading cheer to several internet and technology names. Apple, Amazon and Alphabet were all up more than 2%.

“Investors seem to be clamoring for good news and Meta’s results coming within touching distance of expectations scratched that itch,” said Laura Hoy, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Analysts appeared mixed in their views on the results. At least five brokerages cut their price targets on the stock, while three raised their expectations.

Of the 63 analysts covering the stock, 46 have a “buy” or higher rating and only two analysts rate the stock “sell” or lower. The median price target on the stock is $300, well above its current trading price of $200.

Facebook’s daily active users (DAU), a key metric for advertisers, came in at 1.96 billion, slightly higher than the estimate of 1.95 billion.

While that was enough to send the shares soaring, Wall Street analysts took a more cautious tone, citing worries ranging from the war in Ukraine, Apple’s App Store policy changes to competition from ByteDance’s TikTok.

“We do not believe the overall FB business has changed much over the past 90 days, but headwinds related to iOS changes, TikTok competition & Reels monetization are better understood,” J.P Morgan’s lead analyst Doug Anmuth said in a note.

………………………………………………………………

João Lourenço talks to Vladimir Putin and Mario Draghi

Luanda – The Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, had this Thursday, a call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin and the President of the Italian Council of Ministers, Mario Draghi.

At different times, President João Lourenço discussed with the two entities the situation in Ukraine and its consequences.

In a note, by the way, the Secretariat for Institutional Communication and Press Affairs of the President of the Republic states that President João Lourenço's contacts with his interlocutors were made within the framework of the obligation that the member states of the United Nations have to contribute to the world peace and security.

The conversation took place in an atmosphere of "quite cordiality" and aimed to reach an immediate ceasefire and the return to the table of talks aiming to find peace, not only for Ukraine but also for Europe.

 

US Cases Trending up Again: Covid-19

The US is in a “transition phase” of the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN yesterday.

The nation’s leading infectious disease expert noted that, in fact, Covid-19 cases are trending up again, though it’s not anywhere near the rise we saw over the winter with the Omicron wave.

While new cases and hospitalizations are ticking back up in most states, fewer people are dying of Covid-19 now than during most of the pandemic.

Fauci said that although the coronavirus won’t be eradicated, the level of virus in society could be kept very low if people are intermittently vaccinated, possibly every year.

In Washington, DC, a White House official also confirmed yesterday that Vice President Kamala Harris does not have Covid-19 symptoms a day after testing positive.

Harris completed her two-dose regimen of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in January 2021 and has received two booster doses.

DNT News

……………………………………………………

Burkina Faso – 8 miners trapped in pit for 6 days

Eight miners – six Burkinabes, one Tanzanian, and one Zambian – have been trapped in a pit near the town of Reo for six days, authorities say.

The miners were last seen on Saturday at the Perkoa mines located in the center west part of the country, some 15 kilometers fro the nearest town of Reo.

some of the family members of the miners have made theor way to the site as rescuers work to extract them in what has thus far been a vain exercise.

The mine was evacuated, and rescue efforts are ongoing with support from the government, local communities and other mining companies in the area, the company told The Northern Miner by e-mail on Monday.

“We are deeply saddened by this unexpected event,” the company’s CEO Ricus Grimbeek said in a press release on April 18. “Our immediate focus is on search and rescue. We will provide further updates as the situation unfolds and we determine the cause of the flooding event. Our thoughts are with the family, friends, and colleagues that have been impacted.”

DNT News

………………………………………………………

‘May God Judge You Both’, Yul Edochie’s Wife Reacts As Husband Shares Photos Of New Wife & Son

The wife of Nollywood actor, producer and director, Yul Edochie has reacted to a post the husband made on his verified Instagram page on Wednesday announcing the birth of his son by Nollywood actress, Judy Austin, who he also confirmed as his second wife.

Vanguard reports that Yul Edochie who is married to May Edochie with 4 lovely kids welcomed a bouncing baby with his colleague turned baby mama, Judith Austin in 2021.

Announcing the birth of his son, Yul wrote: “It’s time for the world to meet my son.

“His name is STAR DIKE MUNACHIMSO YUL-EDOCHIE. Born by my second wife @JudyAustin and I love him so much, just as much as I love my other children.”

May Edochie who commented on the post minutes after wrote:

“May God judge you both.”

This has attracted comments from concerned followers who feel it could be a stunt of reality.

Meanwhile, going through May Edochie’s Instagram page, she had shared a cryptic post hours before Yul made public the birth of his son.

Source: vanguardngr

…………………………………………………………