25 casualties as strange fire guts police facility in Egypt’s Ismailia
A strange fire that engulfed a police facility in Egypt’s Suez Canal city of Ismailia has left at least 25 people injured.
The inferno is said to have erupted on Monday morning and blazed high before firefighters contained it after several hours.
Videos posted on social media showed the city’s security directorate engulfed in flames. The cause of the fire was not immediately known at the time of filing this report.
Two witnesses told Reuters that firefighters initially appeared to struggle to tackle the fire. More than three hours later, state television said it had been contained.
At least 25 people were injured in a preliminary count of casualties, the Egyptian Ambulance Authority said.
Ghana’s former First Lady Theresa Kufuor dies at 87
Former First Lady of Ghana, Theresa Kufuor, is reported dead at the age of 87.
She served as First Lady from January 2001 to January 2009 and is remembered for her zeal and dedicated work in advancing maternal and child healthcare in Ghana.
Her advocacy efforts were pivotal in the introduction of a policy providing free childbirth care, which significantly reduced maternal and child mortality rates in the country.
In 2007, she championed policy reform for the implementation of UNESCO into the family Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education or FCUBE program for nursery-age children.
Born into the family of Theresa Mensah on 25 October 1935 in Kumasi, Ghana, she went on to have a fulfilling career as a midwife and earned the admiration of Ghanaians for maintaining a modest profile throughout her eight years in public life as first lady.
According to the BBC, she was married to former President John Agyekum Kufuor in 1962 after they met at a Republic Day anniversary dance in London the year before.
Theresa Kufuor is survived by her husband and their five children.
Former Nigerian oil minister arraigned in London court
Embattled Nigerian former Minister of Petroleum Resource, Diezani Alison-Madueke has appeared in London court on Monday charged with receiving bribes in the form of cash, luxury goods, flights on private jets and the use of high-end properties in Britain in return for awarding oil contracts.
The suspect was Nigeria’s minister for petroleum resources between 2010 and 2015, during the administration of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, Diezani spoke only to give her name, date of birth and address. She was not asked to formally enter a plea, although her lawyer, Mark Bowen, told the court she would be pleading not guilty.
She is the second high-profile Nigerian politician to face prosecution in Britain in recent years, following James Ibori, former Delta State Governor, who was convicted of fraud and money laundering in 2012 and received a 13-year jail sentence.
The charges against her, read out in court, all related to events alleged to have taken place in London, says Reuters.
Security fires tear gas at protesting politicians in Madagascar
Security forces in Madagascar have allegedly fired tear gas at opposition candidates who were leading a protest in the capital of Antananarivo.
This is coming as continuous tension continues to rise ahead of the presidential elections next month.
Eleven of the 13 presidential candidates had urged their supporters to march towards the city’s central square to protest against what they described as an institutional coup in favour of the incumbent Andry Rajoelina.
But reporters from the AFP news agency said the security forces dispersed the crowd before it reached its destination.
Ugandan court moves toward hearing challenge to anti-gay law
Following the petitions filed by activists against the Ugandan government of signing the anti-gay law with hash punishment, a constitutional court on Monday, October 2, 2023, took a first step toward hearing a challenge to the anti-gay law that rights activists and Western governments have termed as draconian.
In May 29th, 2023, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni signed one of the world’s toughest anti-LGBTQ laws, including the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”, drawing Western condemnation and risking sanctions from aid donors.
Lawyers in the case met before the court registrar and agreed to reconvene on October 12, when the matter will be forwarded to the court’s judges to set a hearing date, Nicholas Opiyo, an attorney for the organisations contesting the law, told Reuters on Monday.
“Our prayer is that this petition is heard and disposed of as quickly as possible because there are people whose lives are in danger. There are people whose very life depends on the outcome of this petition,” Opiyo said.
