NewsReports

The Ukrainian military says it is battling rebel armoured vehicles that crossed from Russia and headed to the south-eastern city of Mariupol. It said the column was halted near the town of Novoazovsk. One military commander said pro-Russian rebels might be trying to open up a new southern front. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he not heard the reports …

ABUJA—The Defence Headquarters, yesterday, declared that military operations to secure Gwoza town seized by the insurgents earlier this month was ongoing even as Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau was defiant, proclaiming Islamic caliphate in the town which he said was now firmly in the grip of the sect. Responding to the claim by the sect leader that Gwoza town seized …

Benin, Edo, Nigeria  –  By Oladipo Airenakho. Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Kenneth Minimah has appealed to state governments in the country to support the Nigerian Armed Forces in its fight against terrorism. Lt-General Minimah made this appeal during a courtesy visit to Governor Adams Oshiomhole recently as part of his visit to Edo state to commission the newly …

An American journalist held captive for nearly two years by Al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria has been freed, according to a representative of the journalist’s family and a report on Sunday by the Al Jazeera network. The journalist, Peter Theo Curtis, was abducted near the Syria-Turkey border in October 2012. He was held by the Nusra Front, the Qaeda …

NAPA, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency on Sunday after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck this area in the early morning. Thousands remained without power here as emergency workers scrambled to put out fires and treat injured residents. Even as the shaking continued late Sunday morning — at least four smaller aftershocks were reported Sunday — emergency …

KANO ( AFP) – Boko Haram’s leader said he has created an Islamic caliphate in a northeast Nigeria town seized by the insurgents earlier this month, in a video obtained by AFP on Sunday. “Thanks be to Allah who gave victory to our brethren in (the town of) Gwoza and made it part of the Islamic caliphate,” Abubakar Shekau said …

Force Headquarters, yesterday, confirmed that following the deadly attack by suspected Boko Haram fighters  on the Mobile Police Training School, Gwoza, last week, 35 of its officers were still missing. The police, however, noted that search and rescue efforts had led to the recovery of scores of policemen, adding that the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, had ordered the …

The February 2015 general elections are just six months away. Expectedly, politicians are  already locked in a rat-race campaigning for various elective offices. Some serving senators are among those that have signified interest to contest 2015 governorship poll in their states. Today, Saturday Independent concludes its series on the chances of the senators. In Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, popularly known as …

A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into an intelligence headquarters in Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least eight people, police and medical sources said. The attack came a day after Shi’ite militiamen machinegunned 68 Sunni worshipers at a village mosque in Diyala Province, raising the prospect of revenge attacks as politicians try to form a government capable of countering Islamic …

WASHINGTON — Earlier this year, President Obama likened the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to a junior varsity basketball squad, a group that posed little of the threat once presented by Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. But on Thursday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called ISIS an “imminent threat to every interest we have,” adding, “This is beyond anything …