International
Biden asks Netayahu to send team to Washington for talks on Rafah
Biden asks Netayahu to send team to Washington for talks on Rafah
U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Monday that President Joe Biden has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a telephone call to send a team of representatives from the military, intelligence services and humanitarian aid specialists to Washington in the coming days.
Biden wants to explain his government’s reservations about the planned offensive in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip and discuss possible alternatives.
Netanyahu agreed to send such a team.
“We have every expectation that they’re not going to proceed with a major military operation in Rafah until we have that conversation,” Sullivan said, referring to the Israelis.
A meeting is planned for the end of this week or the beginning of next week, but a specific date has not yet been set.
Sullivan said a major Israeli offensive in Rafah would be a mistake, but that Hamas should not use the city or anywhere else as a safe haven.
The national security adviser rejected reports that the tone between Biden and Netanyahu was tense and that the phone call ended abruptly. The conversation was “business-like,” he said.
Meanwhile, David Barnea, the head of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, met with mediators in Qatar, Israeli TV station N12 reported.
The Israeli security cabinet had authorized the departure of a delegation led by Barnea to the Gulf state late on Sunday evening.
Mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States are attempting to make progress in the recently stalled talks on a temporary ceasefire and an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas recently submitted a new proposal to the mediators.
In it, Hamas no longer demands that Israel end the war before the first hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
According to the proposal, Hamas would only make a non-temporary cessation of hostilities by Israel a prerequisite for a second phase of hostage releases.
This means that Hamas has come closer to the contents of a multi-stage plan that the mediators had presented several weeks ago and which Israel had accepted.
Now that Hamas has made some progress, Israel is prepared to take part in the indirect mediation talks in Qatar for the first time in a fortnight. Israeli television reported that the talks are expected to last at least two weeks.
On the ground in Gaza, Israel concentrated its military activities on Monday on al-Shifa Hospital, where it said it had killed a senior official of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which was behind the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.
The man was Faik al-Mabhouh, head of Hamas’ internal security department, which is also responsible for operational missions, according to a joint statement by the military and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service.
Al-Mabhouh was also “responsible for coordinating Hamas terror activities in the Gaza Strip,” the statement said.
Hamas initially gave no official confirmation of al-Mabhouh’s death.
Al-Mabhouh was killed after intelligence information was received about the presence of senior Hamas members in the al-Shifa hospital, the army said.
He had been hiding armed in a building of the hospital complex and was killed in a confrontation with the troops, the statement said.
Several weapons were found in the room next to his hiding place.
Eyewitnesses reported heavy gunfire inside the hospital. There were reports that a journalist from Arabic broadcaster Al-Jazeera was among dozens of people detained in the hospital.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a briefing on Monday evening that “we apprehended over two hundred terror suspects who are currently under investigation, eliminated more than twenty terrorists within the hospital area.”
Hagari added that IDF forces would “continue to operate in the hospital area tonight.”
According to reports from Gaza, the man killed was a brother of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was murdered in Dubai in 2010. At the time, Dubai police accused the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad of being behind the crime.
One accusation against Mahmud al-Mabhouh was that he had procured weapons for Hamas.
The case caused quite a stir internationally.
Prior to the operation, the IDF urged Palestinians sheltering in Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital to leave the conflict zone.
“You should leave the area to the west immediately to ensure your safety and then … to the humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi,” an IDF spokesman wrote in Arabic on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday morning.
He was referring to a town on the coast of the Gaza Strip in the far south. The IDF also dropped flyers.
Hagari in the morning had said that the operation followed “concrete intelligence that demanded immediate action.”
The military said it would “continue to act in accordance with international law and against the Hamas terrorist organisation – which operates from hospitals and civilian infrastructure in a systematic and cynical way.”
The U.S. government had also supported the Israeli claim that Hamas had used the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip as a command centre and weapons depot.
Biden asks Netayahu to send team to Washington for talks on Rafah
Nigeria Commiserates with Catholic Church Over Demise of Pope Francis
By: Michael Mike
The Federal Government has expressed profound sorrow at the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis, who died on Monday, 21 April 2025, at the age of 88 years.
The departed Holy Father, the political head of Vatican City and the head of the Catholic Church, was described in the statement as a global moral leader whose papacy was marked by humility, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to peace, social justice, and the dignity of all people.
The statement read: “Nigeria commiserates with the teaming population of the catholic church in the country and joins the international community, particularly the Catholic faithful worldwide, in mourning this immense loss. Pope Francis’ deep concern for the marginalized; including refugees, the poor, and victims of conflict, resonated strongly in Nigeria, where his calls for interreligious harmony and solidarity were a beacon of hope amid challenges.
“His historic 2022 apology for the Church’s role in colonial injustices, including the suffering of Indigenous peoples, indeed set a powerful example of reconciliation. Also worthy of commendation is his advocacy for peace in Africa, and other conflict areas in the world, reflecting his universal pastoral mission.”
The statement further read that: “In this moment of grief, therefore, Nigeria extends heartfelt condolences to the Vatican, the Catholic Church, and the Argentine people, who gifted the world this extraordinary pontiff.
“We pray for the repose of his soul and trust that his legacy of mercy, dialogue, and care for our common home will endure.”
Nigeria Commiserates with Catholic Church Over Demise of Pope Francis
Chinese National Abducted in Durumi Abuja, as Kidnappers demand N300million ransom
By: Zagazola Makama
A suspected abduction occurred on April 18, 2025, when Mr. Yangi Ming, a Chinese national working at Panda Supermarket in Jabi, was reportedly abducted by unknown individuals.
Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that Mr Yangi Ming left his residence at Stargate Apartment in Durumi around 1700hrs and was last seen wearing brown shorts and a black polo shirt.
His sister, Aisha Pan, residing in Sharanda, Kano State, later received a ransom demand of ₦300 million, made from Yangi Ming’s mobile phone number.
Chinese National Abducted in Durumi Abuja, as Kidnappers demand N300million ransom
India-bound Siblings Arrested with Cocaine at Lagos Airport
By: Michael Mike
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two siblings at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos during a planned travel to India with 5 kilogrammes of cocaine.
The spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi in a statement on Sunday said: “Operatives of a Special Operations Unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested two brothers: John Abugu, 43, and Kenneth Abugu, 31, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja, Lagos with 5 kilogrammes cocaine concealed in walls of their suitcases while attempting to board a flight to India.”
He said the two brothers were arrested at the Lagos airport last Thursday following proactive processing of credible intelligence. He said they claimed they were travelling to India for medical treatment but when their suitcases were thoroughly searched by NDLEA officers, whitish powdery substances later confirmed to be cocaine were discovered on the walls of their bags.
Babafemi said in a similar development, NDLEA officers of the MMIA Strategic Command same day, Thursday intercepted a 20-year-old Ghanaian – British man, Parker Osei with 36 parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 19.4 kilogrammes packed in a giant travelling bag. The suspect who claims he is a student of Computer Science at East London University, UK, was arrested during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Bangkok, Thailand, at the E-arrival hall of the Lagos airport.
In his statement, the techie claims he lives with his parents in the UK but left London about a week ago for Bangkok where he picked up the illicit drug consignment to deliver in Nigeria.
NDLEA operatives in Kogi state have arrested a 33-year-old woman, Ngozi Ogili while moving 3 kilogrammes of methamphetamine from Lagos to Abuja. She was nabbed in a commercial transport bus along Okene-Lokoja highway last Monday. Babafemi said a follow up operation at her point of delivery in Apo mechanic area of Abuja led to the seizure of quantities of Loud and Colorado, both synthetic strains of cannabis.
In Abia state, NDLEA officers on Saturday arrested a 75-year-old grandpa, Nnanna Felix with 1.6 kilogrammes skunk, a strain of cannabis during a raid at Umunteke Asa, Ukwa West local government area, while another suspect David Chinemerem, 21, was nabbed with 2,050 ampoules of pentazocine at 7 Nnajiego Lane, Umuode road, Aba last Tuesday.
No fewer than 381 bottles of codeine syrup and 108 tablets of tramadol were seized from a suspect, Abdullahi Adamu along Potiskum-Damaturu road, Yobe state by NDLEA operatives on Saturday, just as raid operations at Osogbo motor park, Onitsha and a house at Oba in Idemili Local Government Area of Anambra state led to the arrest of Obinna Sunday and the seizure of 195,000 pills of tramadol. Also arrested during the raid at the motor park was Ugochukwu Ojalanonye with 4.2 kilogrammes codeine syrup and 5.4kg pentazocine.
In the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, NDLEA operatives last Thursday arrested 51-year-old Sunday Ayogu with 25 kilogrammes skunk and 90.4 grammes of methamphetamine during a raid operation at Wuse market Abuja, while two women: Faith Etim, 64, and Victoria Etim, 40, were nabbed lasr Friday when NDLEA operatives supported by men of the Nigerian Army raided cannabis plantations in Esuk-Odot community, Odukpani local government area of Cross River State where 250,000 kilogrammes of the psychoactive plant were destroyed on over 100 hectares of farm land.
Babafemi said with the same vigour, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.
Meanwhile, while commending the officers and men of MMIA, SOU, Yobe, Abia, Kogi, Anambra, Cross River and FCT commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts are well appreciated.
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