Author: starconnect
By SCM Staff Writer SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean court on Friday sentenced the country’s former first lady, Kim Keon Hee, to seven years in prison, ruling that she routinely accepted luxury goods and cash in exchange for peddling political influence and securing government appointments. The decision by the Seoul Central District Court marks a stunning downfall for Ms. Kim, the wife of the ousted and currently imprisoned former President Yoon Suk Yeol. It cements a tumultuous chapter in South Korean politics that has seen both the former head of state and his spouse behind bars. According to…
By SCM Reporter I June 18, 2026 NEW YORK — In a rare, unvarnished look behind the scenes of one of the most fractious periods in modern American-Israeli diplomacy, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was relentlessly “obsessed” with launching a military strike against Iran during her tenure, frequently playing geopolitical games with Washington to force its hand. Speaking at a live event in New York City with The New Yorker’s editor, David Remnick, Mrs. Clinton described a high-stakes, pressure-cooker environment between 2009 and 2012. During this period, the Obama administration found itself in…
By SCM Correspondent WASHINGTON — In a fiery, behind-the-scenes telephone conversation that highlights the severe undercurrent of friction defining modern U.S.-Israel relations, President Donald J. Trump delivered a blistering personal rebuke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, declaring that Jewish people globally had grown tired of his leadership. The details of the explosive call, which took place in September 2025 during the United Nations General Assembly, were revealed in the newly published book, Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, authored by journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. The disclosure provides a raw, unfiltered look at how…
By SCM Reporter OSOGBO — Ahead of the forthcoming governorship election in Osun State, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Tunji Disu, has ordered an immediate end to the rising spate of political violence and killings in the state, dispatching a high-powered team to restore order. The Deputy Inspector-General of Police (South-West), DIG Adegoke Fayoade, made this disclosure during a high-stakes courtesy and working visit to the Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, at the Government House in Osogbo. DIG Fayoade, who led a team including the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Zone 11 and the state Commissioner of…
Titus Eleweke, South East Editor AWKA, Anambra – The Class of 1981 of the Igwebuike Grammar School Old Boys Association (IGSOBA), Awka, Anambra State, has built and donated an ultra-modern toilet facility to their alma mater, 45 years after graduating from the school. Speaking during the handover ceremony, Barr. Alfred Obuka, on behalf of the IGSOBA Class of 1981, expressed gratitude to members of the set for remembering their alma mater and giving back to the institution that helped shape their lives. He urged other graduating sets to emulate the gesture by contributing towards the completion of the school’s…
By SCM Reporter LOKOJA — A Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State, has dealt a severe blow to the legal status of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), setting aside its earlier judgment that directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the association as a political party. The presiding judge, Justice Isah Dashen, ruled on Friday that the previous judgment was constitutionally defective because it was delivered without hearing from all interested and necessary parties whose rights were directly affected by the case. The development followed a dramatic intervention by the Peace Movement Party (PMP), which approached…
By Our News Desk LONDON – A RESPECTABLE London magistrate who lived a secret double life helping a ruthless gangster flood the capital’s streets with Class A drugs has been jailed. Purshotam Dhillon, 59, abused his position of ultimate trust to give a multi-thousand-pound heroin and crack cocaine empire an “air of respectability.” But yesterday, the scales of justice tipped heavily against him as he and three other members of a sophisticated West London organised crime network were locked up for a total of 25 years. Croydon Crown Court heard how Dhillon—a self-confessed drug addict—turned his suburban Hounslow home…
PAdmin I Friday, June 26, 2026 LAGOS — A Lagos Magistrate’s Court has confirmed that a previously unidentified body deposited at an Ikorodu mortuary belongs to Pelumi Onifade, a young journalist who vanished in October 2020 during the nationwide #EndSARS protests. The breakthrough follows a definitive DNA test, bringing a tragic, heartbreaking conclusion to a grueling six-year search by his family for answers, while simultaneously igniting fresh demands for criminal accountability. The revelation was made public after the presiding magistrate disclosed that a DNA profile extracted from the long-held body matched genetic samples provided by the deceased’s grieving mother. The…
By SCM staff, June 25, 2026 LAGOS, Nigeria – FirstBank, West Africa’s premier financial institution and the leading financial inclusion service provider, has announced its support for the Imo State Government on the One Kindred One Business Initiative (ÓKÓBÌ), a group-based entrepreneurship model that promotes collective ownership and management of businesses by members. ÓKÓBÌ, a brainchild of the Imo State Governor, His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodimma, is rooted in traditional African values of communalism, kinship, cooperation, and collective responsibility. ÓKÓBÌ formalizes groups of like-minded people into registered businesses, creating resilient enterprises that are easier to finance and better…
Admin I Friday, June 26, 2026 OSOGBO — Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has launched a scathing attack on the leadership of the State Police Command, accusing some operatives of forming an “unholy partnership” with political thugs to unleash violence on innocent citizens. Receiving a high-powered police delegation led by a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in Osogbo, a visibly displeased Adeleke declared that the current security architecture in the state had failed, demanding the immediate redeployment of the State Commissioner of Police. The Governor’s outbursts followed weeks of escalating tension, marked by targeted assassinations, sporadic shootings,…