Author: starconnect
Admin I Tuesday, June 16. 2026 KATSINA, NIGERIA — A Federal High Court sitting in Katsina State has sentenced a female arms courier, Hauwa’u Mukhtar, to death by hanging following her conviction on terrorism-related charges. The ruling marks another significant conviction in the federal government’s ongoing legal crackdown on logistics networks fueling banditry across northwest Nigeria. Mukhtar was successfully prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy to commit terrorism and aiding and abetting acts of terrorism. Delivering the judgment, the presiding judge ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond…
Admin I Tuesday, June 16. 2026 PORT HARCOURT – The Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC has intensified its campaign against drug abuse and cultism, warning students of the destructive consequences these vices pose to individuals and society. Speaking during a sensitisation programme at Community Secondary School, Oruma, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, the NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, urged students to resist peer pressure and avoid involvement in drugs or secret cult groups. He emphasised that such practices cut short dreams, endanger lives, and hold no progressive future for anyone who indulges in them. Ogbuku, who…
By Emmanuel Thomas I Tuesday, June 16.2026 ABUJA — Veteran Nollywood actor, Emeka Ike, has dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and a prominent media personality, Mr. Lere Olayinka, before a Federal High Court, demanding N10 billion in general and aggravated damages over an alleged gross violation of his fundamental human rights and privacy. The legal action, initiated yesterday, followed the expiration of a two-week window during which the actor had expected security agencies and the electoral umpire to take decisive administrative and punitive actions against Olayinka for allegedly leaking his confidential personal data. In the writ of…
By SCM Foreign Desk I June 16, 2026 TEHRAN — Iran’s Foreign Ministry declared on Tuesday that a newly minted, tentative diplomatic agreement with the United States to end months of devastating warfare explicitly requires the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon. The announcement injects a volatile new dispute into a fragile peace process just days before a formal signing ceremony is scheduled to take place in Switzerland. Speaking to foreign diplomats in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi laid out an expansive interpretation of the newly struck memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Washington and Tehran. He asserted that…
By SCM Correspondent I June 16, 2026 BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a striking display of the deepening coordination between Tehran and its most powerful proxy, Hezbollah’s newly minted Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, issued a highly detailed public letter to the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Dr. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. The correspondence explicitly links any potential cease-fire along the battered Lebanese border to broader diplomatic concessions between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The letter, which surfaced on Tuesday, offers a rare, unvarnished look at how Hezbollah views its current battlefield survival as entirely intertwined…
By Emmanuel Thomas I June 16, 2026 JERUSALEM — The overall Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has surpassed 73,000, local health officials announced on Tuesday, a sobering milestone that highlights the deadly fragility of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that diplomats have increasingly described as moribund. In its daily statistical ledger, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported that five new fatalities and eight injuries had arrived at the enclave’s remaining partially functional hospitals over the previous 24 hours. While the single-day figures represent a lower intensity of violence than the height of the full-scale ground invasions, the steady accumulation of…
Admin I Tuesday, June 16. 2026 LAGOS, Nigeria – Are you a young graduate ready to make your mark in the world of banking and finance? FirstBank has opened applications to ambitious minds across Africa with the 2026 Pan-African Graduate Trainee Programme, a strategic initiative designed to nurture the next generation of leaders. What the Programme is About The Pan-African Graduate Trainee Programme is FirstBank’s graduate talent development initiative aimed at attracting, developing and retaining exceptional graduates who will drive the bank’s long-term growth and transformation agenda. At its core, the programme focuses on training young graduates and giving…
By SCM Foreign Correspondent WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is doubling down on a landmark $300 billion reconstruction and investment package for Iran, as Vice President JD Vance and President Trump move to frame the massive financial incentive as a “tough-minded” business tool rather than a diplomatic handout. The disclosure, which has set Washington political circles ablaze, comes just days before the formal signing of a peace agreement in Geneva, Switzerland, intended to permanently end months of devastating conflict. The war, which saw U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure and a total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz,…
By Our Online Reporter ÉVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — In a striking escalation of public diplomatic pressure, President Donald Trump used the backdrop of the G7 summit in France to issue a blunt ultimatum to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding a complete physical withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon by this coming Friday. The directive, first reported by Shirit Avitan Cohen of Israel Hayom, marks one of the most severe rifts between Washington and Jerusalem in recent history. It highlights Mr. Trump’s growing impatience with the protracted conflict and his determination to protect a sensitive, emerging diplomatic accord with…
Admin I Tuesday, June 16, 2026 LAGOS, Nigeria – Stanbic IBTC Bank, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, has reinforced its position as a leader in trade by becoming the first bank in Nigeria to partner with CycleFlow, a supply chain finance platform powered by C2FO and backed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The platform will connect the Bank with participating corporate buyers and their MSME suppliers, enabling the Bank to offer affordable short-term financing to suppliers by purchasing and discounting invoices accepted for payment by the corporate buyers. These transactions will allow MSMEs to improve working…