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President Donald Trump on Tuesday was set to deliver a State of the Union speech challenging Democrats to approve funding for his long-sought border wall, but stopping short of declaring a national emergency over it, at least for now. At 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday) before a joint session of Congress, Trump will likely stir contention with remarks on immigration policy, after his demand for $5.7 billion in wall funds triggered a historic 35-day partial…

 Former Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has accepted a one-year prison sentence for defrauding the Spanish state of 3.3 million euros ($3.77 million), a Spanish court filing showed on Tuesday, although the Portuguese will not serve any jail time. The filing said the tax ministry and Mourinho’s defense team had agreed to exchange the 12-month prison sentence with a daily fine of 250 euros for 24 months, equivalent to 182,500 euros, as under Spanish law…

Maize farming has been thrown into more confusion after the government indefinitely suspended importation of fertilisers to give itself more time to dismantle a cartel benefiting from the subsidy. The government’s decision caught many farmers off guard, as most were already tilling their land in anticipation of the fertilisers. This year’s planting season is set for March and April during the heavy rains season, especially in the North Rift region. Suspension of the subsidised fertiliser…

ABUJA (Reuters) – The Islamist militant group Boko Haram killed at least 60 people in the northeast Nigerian town of Rann on Monday, a day after it was abandoned by the military, Amnesty International and security sources said on Friday. The attack on Rann, home to a camp housing tens of thousands of people displaced by the Islamist insurgency, was one of the group’s bloodiest. It came two weeks after Boko Haram had overrun the…

A car bomb exploded at a shopping mall in Somalia’s capital on Monday, killing 11 people and wounding 10 in an attack that police said was probably carried out by Islamist group al Shabaab. The blast occurred in Mogadishu’s Hamarweyne district, a busy area with shops and restaurants. “Several dead people were removed from a wrecked building at the blast scene. So far death toll is 11 civilians and 10 others injured,” police officer Mohamed…

Celebrated Ghanaian actress, Juliet Ibrahim, has recently revealed when the doors of success opened up to her. The screen diva who was recently in an interview with Okay FM, a radio station in Ghana, talked about the particular event that opened doors for her into a successful career. She disclosed that after being called upon to host the highly coveted Glo CAF awards, the show had opened her up to many opportunities. Ibrahim said: “I…

A video clip of West Pokot youths on a roadshow drumming up support for Deputy President William Ruto’s election as president in 2022 is doing the rounds on social media. The caravan is bedecked with a banner boldly proclaiming, “Vijana West Pokot for Ruto 2022-2032 Tumeamua”. Despite supporters of Dr Ruto insisting that they had not defied President Uhuru Kenyatta’s call to stop premature campaigns for 2022, the clip appears to be just what the…

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced Tuesday that he sought peace with Russia, despite accusing his rivals in Moscow of sponsoring an eastern insurgency and interfering in Kiev’s internal affairs. Poroshenko made the remarks as he officially announced his bid for re-election during a forum entitled “From Kruty to Brussels. We are going our way” at Kiev’s International Exhibition Center. The Ukrainian leader came to power after a 2014 revolution that expelled a pro-Moscow president and saw Russian…

A new UN report on Tuesday says more than 30,000 people have fled the northeast Nigerian town of Rann and across the border to Cameroon in recent days because of fears of renewed Boko Haram attack. The latest mass movement comes as the world body voiced renewed concern about the effect of the bloody conflict on civilians and launched a longer-term plan to help those made homeless by the fighting. Rann, in northern Borno state,…

 Hundreds of Zimbabwean lawyers marched on Tuesday to demand justice for people detained in jail and others facing fast-track trials after violent protests this month led to mass arrests and a brutal security crackdown. Police say more than 1,000 people have been arrested since Jan. 14, when a three-day stay-at-home strike called after President Emmerson Mnangagwa raised fuel prices led to street violence and looting. Those charged have been denied bail in a pattern lawyers…