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Dick Cheney, one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in U.S. history, dies at 84

Dick Cheney, the hard-charging conservative who became one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in U.S. history and a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq, has died at 84.

Cheney died Monday due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his family said Tuesday.

The quietly forceful Cheney led the armed forces as defense secretary during the Persian Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush before returning to public life as vice president under Bush’s son George W Bush.

Cheney was, in effect, the chief operating officer of the younger Bush’s presidency. He often had a commanding hand in implementing decisions most important to the president and some of surpassing interest to himself — all while living with decades of heart disease and, post-administration, a heart transplant. Cheney consistently defended the extraordinary tools of surveillance, detention and inquisition employed in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“History will remember him as among the finest public servants of his generation — a patriot who brought integrity, high intelligence, and seriousness of purpose to every position he held,” Bush said.

Years after leaving office, Cheney became a target of President Donald Trump, especially after his daughter Liz Cheney became the leading Republican critic and examiner of Trump’s attempts to stay in power after his 2020 election defeat and his actions in the Jan 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Cheney said last year he was voting for Democrat Kamala Harris for president against Trump.

For all his conservatism, Cheney was privately and publicly supportive of his daughter Mary Cheney after she came out as gay, years before same-sex marriage was broadly supported. “Freedom means freedom for everyone,” he said.

In his time in office, no longer was the vice presidency merely a ceremonial afterthought. Instead, Cheney made it a network of back channels from which to influence policy on Iraq, terrorism, presidential powers and energy.

A hard-liner on Iraq, Cheney was proved wrong about the rationale for the Iraq War, a point he didn’t acknowledge.

He alleged links between the 9/11 attacks and prewar Iraq that didn’t exist. He said U.S. troops would be welcomed as liberators; they weren’t.

He declared the Iraqi insurgency in its last throes in May 2005, when 1,661 U.S. service members had been killed, not even half the toll by the war’s end.

Cheney and Bush struck an odd bargain, unspoken but well understood. Shelving ambitions he might have had to succeed Bush, Cheney was accorded extraordinary power.

His penchant for secrecy had a price. He came to be seen as a Machiavelli orchestrating a bungled response to criticism of the Iraq War. And when he shot a hunting companion with an errant shotgun blast in 2006, he and his coterie were slow to disclose that episode. The victim, his friend Harry Whittington, recovered and forgave him.

Bush asked Cheney to lead a search for his vice president, eventually deciding the job should go to Cheney himself. Their election in 2000 was ultimately sealed by the Supreme Court after a protracted legal fight.

On Capitol Hill, Cheney lobbied for the president’s programs where he had once served as a deeply conservative member of Congress and the No. 2 Republican House leader.

On Sept. 11, 2001, with Bush out of town, the president gave Cheney approval to authorize the military to shoot down hijacked planes. By then, two airliners had hit the World Trade Center and a third was bearing down on the capital. A Secret Service agent burst into the West Wing room, grabbed Cheney by the belt and shoulder and led him to a bunker underneath the White House.

Cheney’s career in Washington started with a congressional fellowship in 1968. He became a protégé of Rep. Donald Rumsfeld, R-Ill., serving under him in Gerald Ford’s White House before he was elevated to chief of staff, the youngest ever, at age 34.

He later returned to Casper, Wyoming, and won the state’s lone congressional seat, the first of six terms.

In 1989, Cheney became defense secretary and led the Pentagon during the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War. Between the two Bush administrations, Cheney led Dallas-based Halliburton Corp., an oil industry services company.

Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, son of a longtime Agriculture Department worker. Senior class president and football co-captain in Casper, he went to Yale on a full scholarship for a year but failed out.

He moved back to Wyoming and renewed a relationship with high school sweetheart Lynne Anne Vincent, marrying her in 1964. He is survived by his wife and daughters. (JapanToday)

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UK police say train stabbings carried out by lone attacker

A 32-year-old British man was the sole suspect accused of a mass stabbing on a train in England, after another man arrested in the case was released on Sunday with no charges.

British police said the knife attack that put 11 people in hospital was not a terrorist incident. A 35-year-old man who had been arrested earlier was released after officers concluded he was not involved in the attack.

By late on Sunday, five of the injured had been discharged from hospital. Among those still being treated was a member of the train crew who tried to stop the attacker and was in a life-threatening condition, police said.

“Detectives have reviewed the CCTV from the train and it is clear his actions were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved many people’s lives,” police said.

Counterterrorism police had helped with the initial investigation after the mass stabbing of passengers on a train in eastern England on Saturday, but police later said there was nothing to suggest that the incident was terrorism.

Work was now ongoing to establish the events leading up to the attack and the suspect’s background, police said. A knife had also been recovered from the scene.

“Our investigation is moving at pace and we are confident we are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident,” Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy said in a statement.

Police described the sole suspect as a Black British national from Peterborough, 160 km north of London, who had boarded the train there.

The suspect was arrested by armed police after the train made an emergency stop at Huntingdon around 80 miles north of London.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it an “appalling incident” which was “deeply concerning”, while King Charles said he was “truly appalled and shocked”.

Knife crime in England and Wales has risen 87% over the past decade, with 54,587 offences last year alone, a 2% rise from 2023 and among the highest rates in Europe, according to figures from Britain’s interior ministry.

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood said she was “deeply saddened”, while urging people to avoid speculation about the incident.

The government is keen to stop rumors spreading on social media following an incident in Southport in northwest England in 2024, when internet claims over the murder of three young girls sparked days of rioting across the country.

Witness Olly Foster told the BBC that he was on the train which was heading towards London on Saturday evening when someone ran past him saying a man was stabbing “everyone, everything”.

“I put my hand on this chair…and then I look at my hand, and it’s covered in blood. And then I look at the chair, and there’s blood all over the chair. And then I look ahead and there’s blood on all the chairs,” he said.

Another witness told Sky News that a suspect was seen waving a large knife before being tasered by police. (JapanToday)

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Tanzania president claims 98% victory amid protests, internet blackout

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan was to be inaugurated on Monday, with the internet still blocked after election protests in which the opposition says hundreds were killed by security forces.

The electoral commission says Hassan won 98 per cent of the vote.

But the main opposition party, Chadema, which was barred from competing, has rejected the results and called for fresh elections, calling last Wednesday’s vote a “sham”.

State television said the public would not attend the inauguration, which would be held in the State House in the capital, Dodoma, rather than at a stadium as usual.

A total internet blackout has been in place since protests broke out on election day, so only a trickle of verifiable information has been getting out of the East African country.

A diplomatic source said there were credible reports of hundreds — perhaps even thousands — of deaths registered at hospitals and health clinics around Tanzania.

Chadema told AFP it had recorded “no less than 800” deaths by Saturday, but none of the figures could be independently verified.

The government has not commented on any deaths, except to reject accusations that “excessive force” was used.

Schools and colleges remained closed on Monday, with public transport halted.

The diplomatic source said there were “concerning reports” that police were using the internet blackout to buy time as they “hunt down opposition members and protesters who might have videos” of atrocities committed last week.

Dar es Salaam and other cities were much calmer over the weekend as a near-total lockdown was in place.

An AFP reporter said police were stopping almost everyone who moved around the city, checking IDs and bags, and allowing shops to open only in the afternoon.

AFP journalists on the island of Zanzibar — which has greater political freedom and saw few protests — saw masked armed men patrolling without visible insignia or identification in the days after the election.

A rights group in neighbouring Kenya presented gruesome footage on Sunday that it said was gathered from inside Tanzania, including images of dead bodies piled up in the street.

The images could not be independently verified.

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for prayers for Tanzania, where he said post-election violence had erupted “with numerous victims”.

“I urge everyone to avoid all forms of violence and to pursue the path of dialogue,” the pope said.

Hassan was elevated from vice-president on the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, in 2021.

She wanted an emphatic election victory to cement her place and silence critics within the ruling party, analysts say.

Rights groups say she oversaw a “wave of terror” ahead of the vote, including a string of high-profile abductions that escalated in the final days.

Despite a heavy security presence, election day descended into chaos as crowds took to the streets across the country, tearing down her posters and attacking police and polling stations, leading to an internet shutdown and curfew.

Polling stations had been largely empty before the violence broke out, AFP journalists and observers saw, though the electoral commission later said turnout was 87 per cent.

UN chief Antonio Guterres was “deeply concerned” about the situation in Tanzania, “including reports of deaths and injuries during the demonstrations”, his spokesman said last week. (Punch)

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Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka says US revoked his visa

Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has said the US revoked his visa and banned him from the country.

The 91-year-old author, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986, said the US consulate asked him to bring in his passport so his visa could be cancelled in person as new unspecified information had come to light.

Soyinka called the invitation a “rather curious love letter from an embassy” in a news conference held on Tuesday and told organisations hoping to invite him to the US “not to waste their time”.

The US embassy in Nigeria has said it cannot comment on individual cases.

The Nobel laureate has previously held permanent residency in the US but renounced it in 2016, tearing up his green card in protest of President Donald Trump’s election.

The green card is a permanent residence permit for the US – prized by many African immigrants to the US.

Soyinka affirmed on Tuesday that he no longer had his green card – and jokingly added that it had “fallen between the fingers of a pair of scissors and it got cut into a couple of pieces”.

The famed author has had regular teaching engagements at US universities for the past 30 years.

“I have no visa. I am banned,” he said on Tuesday.

Soyinka has long been critical of the Trump administration’s radical stance on immigration and linked the visa revocation to his outspoken criticism.

He said his recent comparison of Trump to Uganda’s dictator – “Idi Amin in white face” – may have contributed to the current situation.

“When I called Donald Trump Idi Amin, I thought I was paying him a compliment,” Soyinka said, “he’s been behaving like a dictator.”

Idi Amin was a Ugandan military officer and dictator who ruled the country from 1971 to 1979, infamous for his brutal regime and widespread human rights abuses.

When asked if he would consider going back to the US, Soyinka said: “How old am I?”

In July, the US State Department announced sweeping changes to its non-immigrant visa policy for citizens of Nigeria and several other African countries.

According to the policy, nearly all non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to Nigerians and nationals of Cameroon, Ethiopia and Ghana would now be single-entry and valid for only three months, rolling back the up to five-year, multiple-entry visas they had enjoyed previously. (BBC)

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Trump tells military to prepare for ‘action’ against Islamist militants in Nigeria

US President Donald Trump has ordered the military to prepare for action in Nigeria to tackle Islamist militant groups, accusing the government of failing to protect Christians.

Trump did not say which killings he was referring to, but claims of a genocide against Nigeria’s Christians have been circulating in recent weeks and months in some right-wing US circles.

Groups monitoring violence say there is no evidence to suggest that Christians are being killed more than Muslims in Nigeria, which is roughly evenly divided between followers of the two religions.

An advisor to Nigeria’s president told the BBC that any military action against the jihadist groups should be carried out together.

Daniel Bwala said Nigeria would welcome US help in tackling the Islamist insurgents but noted that it was a “sovereign” country.

He also said the jihadists were not targeting members of a particular religion and that they had killed people from all faiths, or none.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has insisted there is religious tolerance in the country and said the security challenges were affecting people “across faiths and regions”.

Trump wrote in a social media post on Saturday that he had instructed the US Department of War to prepare for “possible action”.

He warned that he might send the military into Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” unless the Nigerian government intervened, and said that all aid to what he called “the now disgraced country” would be cut.

Trump added: “If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!”

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth replied to the post by writing: “Yes sir.

“The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”

Trump’s threat has triggered alarm across Nigeria. Many on social media are urging the government to step up its fight against Islamist groups to avert a situation where foreign troops are sent into the country.

But Mr Bwala, who said he was a Christian pastor, told the BBC’s Newshour programme that Trump had a “unique way of communicating” and that Nigeria was not taking his words literally.

“We know the heart and intent of Trump is to help us fight insecurity,” he said, adding that he hoped Trump would meet Tinubu in the coming days to discuss the issue.

Trump earlier announced that he had declared Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” because of the “existential threat” posed to its Christian population. He said “thousands” had been killed, without providing any evidence.

This is a designation used by the US State Department that provides for sanctions against countries “engaged in severe violations of religious freedom”.

Following this announcement, Tinubu said his government was committed to working with the US and the international community to protect communities of all faiths.

“The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality,” the Nigerian leader said in a statement.

Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have wrought havoc in north-eastern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands of people – however most of these have been Muslims, according to Acled, a group which analyses political violence around the world. (BBC)

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10 injured in stabbing attack on train near Cambridge in England, police say

Ten people were injured in a stabbing attack on a train that connects London to the north of England on Saturday night, authorities said.

Nine suffered life-threatening injuries while a 10th victim was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, the British Transport Police said in a statement early Sunday.

“There have been no fatalities,” the agency said.

The U.K.-wide Counter Terrorism Policing agency said it is assisting with the investigation being led by transport police.

The British Transport Police said they hope to discover the “full circumstances and motivation” for the attack, which was “declared a major incident.”

“At this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident,” British Transport Police Chief Superintendent Chris Casey said in the statement.

Police and medics rushed to a station in Huntingdon, northwest of Cambridge, where the train was stopped following a report of stabbings at 7:42 p.m. GMT (3:42 p.m. ET), according to transport police and social media video of the aftermath.

The Cambridgeshire Police, which patrols the area, arrested two people at the scene in connection with the incident, authorities said. The suspects were not immediately identified and any allegations against them were not given.

An East of England Ambulance Service spokesperson said it scrambled numerous ambulances, tactical commanders, a hazardous response team, and two helicopters to transport “multiple patients” to the hospital.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the violence “appalling” and “deeply concerning” and said, “My thoughts are with all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services for their response.”

The London North Eastern Railway (LNER) issued a “Do Not Travel” alert for the line on Saturday. The train operating company said some lines remained closed Sunday and some services could be canceled or delayed.

LNER Managing Director David Horne said in an update early Sunday that staff was “shocked and saddened” by the attack, and he thanked emergency services for their quick response.

“The safety and wellbeing of everyone affected will remain our priority,” Horne said. “We will continue to do everything we can to support our customers and colleagues during this difficult time.”

The British Transport Police said the train was the 6:25 p.m. GMT (2:25 p.m. ET) service from Doncaster in the north of England to London King’s Cross. Huntingdon is about 77 miles north of London. (NBC)

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U.S. to limit refugees to record low 7,500, mostly white South Africans

The Trump administration announced plans on Thursday to drastically cut back the number of refugees to be accepted annually by the United States to a record low and give priority to white South Africans.

Under the new policy, the United States would welcome 7,500 refugees in fiscal 2026, down from more than 100,000 a year under Democratic president Joe Biden.

The vast majority of those being accepted during the fiscal year which began on October 1 would be white South Africans and “other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands,” according to a White House memo.

“The admissions numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa,” it said.

Republican President Donald Trump essentially halted refugee arrivals after taking office in January, but has been making an exception for white South Africans despite Pretoria’s insistence that they do not face persecution in their homeland.

A first group of around 50 Afrikaners — descendants of the first European settlers of South Africa — arrived for resettlement in the United States in May.

Trump campaigned for the White House on a pledge to deport millions of undocumented migrants and signed an executive order in January suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said that since 1980 more than two million people fleeing persecution have been admitted into the United States under the program.

“Now it will be used as a pathway for white immigration,” Reichlin-Melnick said on X. “What a downfall for a crown jewel of America’s international humanitarian programs.”

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of another immigration-focused group, Global Refuge, also criticized the move by the Trump administration.

“For more than four decades, the U.S. refugee program has been a lifeline for families fleeing war, persecution, and repression,” Vignarajah said in a statement.

“At a time of crisis in countries ranging from Afghanistan to Venezuela to Sudan and beyond, concentrating the vast majority of admissions on one group undermines the program’s purpose as well as its credibility.”

In addition to slashing refugee numbers, the Trump administration has moved to strip Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghans, Haitians, Venezuelans and nationals of several other countries.

The United States grants TPS to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.

Trump has said the Afrikaners being taken in as refugees by the United States are fleeing a “terrible situation” back home and has even gone so far as to describe it as “genocide,” an allegation widely dismissed as absurd.

Whites, who make up 7.3 percent of South Africa’s population, generally enjoy a higher standard of living than the Black majority. They still own two-thirds of farmland and on average earn three times as much as Black South Africans.

Mainly Afrikaner-led governments imposed the race-based apartheid system that denied Black people political and economic rights until it was voted out in 1994. (JapanToday)

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Jamaica hurricane death toll hits 28 as Caribbean Island reels from colossal disaster

Storm-ravaged communities in western Jamaica were facing dire straits Sunday, days after record-setting Hurricane Melissa left towns demolished and at least 28 people dead across the island.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness confirmed the new death toll — nine higher than the previous tally of 19 — and posted on X late Saturday that “there are additional reports of possible fatalities that are still being verified”.

Melissa became the most intense storm to make landfall in 90 years when it barreled into Jamaica last Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane packing winds of 185 miles (300 kilometers) per hour.

It ripped a terrifying path through the Caribbean, leaving at least 31 dead in Haiti, Dominican Republicincluding 10 children who drowned in heavy flooding, and ravaged parts of Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

In Jamaica, devastation was rampant in western parishes including Westmoreland and Saint Elizabeth.

AFP reporters witnessed residents grappling with the enormity of the disaster.

Buildings in Whitehouse were destroyed or crumpled, with corrugated roofs strewn across the ground.

Power lines were down, and trees were shorn of all leaves.

Many communities have been cut off.

Countless homes, hospitals, businesses, and other buildings have been badly damaged or destroyed.

With large swathes of the country still without electricity or phone service, it was difficult to gain an accurate assessment of the death toll or the scope of the search and rescue operations needed.

The staggering economic losses will be a “burden” weighing on Jamaica and the rest of the region for years, a senior United Nations official said Sunday in Panama.

“It is estimated that Melissa could cause economic losses equivalent to Jamaica’s annual GDP,” said Nahuel Arenas, head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) for the Americas and the Caribbean.

According to the World Bank, the gross domestic product of Jamaica stood at nearly $20 billion in 2024.

“These are losses that will weigh heavily on the economy of all Jamaicans for years and years to come,” Arenas said.

The World Health Organisation and other groups have sent medical teams in the country, and the United States says its emergency response teams are on the ground.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres “emphasised that international support is crucial at this time,” and called for the “mobilisation of massive resources” to address the loss and damage, a spokesman for the secretary-general said Sunday in a statement.

The UN has allocated $4 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund to help scale up humanitarian operations in Jamaica. (Channels)

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Arsenal wins again to extend lead in Premier League; Man United salvages late draw

The wins just keep on coming for Arsenal.

The Premier League leader extended its advantage at the top of the standings to seven points on Saturday after a 2-0 victory against Burnley.

That’s 13 wins from 15 games in all competitions for Mikel Arteta’s team after a flying start to the season that has only strengthened belief it will end its long-running title drought.

Not since 2004 has Arsenal been crowned English champion – but it has quickly established itself as the team to beat this season.

First half goals from Viktor Gyokeres and Declan Rice at Turf Moor made it nine wins in a row and put further distance between Arsenal and the chasing pack.

“Every weekend I know how important it is to win football matches,” Rice said. “I realize the position we’re in and what we can achieve as a club.”

Manchester United missed the chance to provisionally move up to second, but maintained its recent unbeaten run by scoring late to salvage a 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest.

Chelsea beat Tottenham 1-0 and bottom of the table Wolverhampton remains winless after yet another defeat – losing 3-0 to Fulham.

Crystal Palace beat Brentford 2-0 and Brighton won 3-0 against Leeds.

Another win and another clean sheet for an Arsenal team that has by far the meanest defense in the league.

Victory at Burnley was the seventh straight shutout for the London club, which has only conceded three goals all term. This was also the third time in the league this season that Arsenal denied its opponent any shots on target.

Crucially, the goals are flowing at the other end and summer signing Viktor Gyokeres scored his sixth of the season to put Arsenal in front with a 14th minute header from close range. Rice doubled the lead in the 35th with another header low into the corner.

“We knew it was going to be a tough test, but we had to stick to our principles,” Rice said. “In the end our quality shone through.”

Amad Diallo scored a stunning left-footed volley from the edge of the area to salvage a point for United and ensure coach Ruben Amorim’s unbeaten run was extended to four games.

United had led Forest at halftime at the City Ground after Casemiro’s header in the 34th.

But the visitors were stunned after the break when Morgan Gibbs-White and Nicolo Savona struck within five minutes of the restart to put new Forest coach Sean Dyche in sight of a first league win since taking charge.

“We lost control of the game for five minutes and we paid the price,” Amorim said.

Bruno Fernandes hit the post with a long range effort as United went in search of a leveler and in the 81st Diallo lashed a volley beyond Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.

He might have scored a winner with another fierce strike that was cleared off the line.

“We managed to score, we had a big opportunity in the end. But we lost two points and that is the feeling, but we have the next week to work and to try and get these points in another stadium,” Amorim said.

Chelsea bounced back from last week’s defeat to Sunderland with victory against London rival Tottenham.

Joao Pedro’s finish in the 34th was enough to separate the teams at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Enzo Maresca’s team had numerous chances to extend its lead.

Spurs’ league record at home is looking increasingly concerning for coach Thomas Frank, with the last win coming against Burnley on the opening day of the season.

An eighth league defeat from 10 games this season leaves Wolves rock bottom and in danger of being cut adrift.

The signs were ominous from the ninth minute when Ryan Sessegnon opened the scoring for Fulham at Craven Cottage and it got worse from there.

The visitors were down to 10 men when Emmanuel Agbadou was sent off in the 36th and in the second half Harry Wilson extended Fulham’s lead before Yerson Mosquera’s own goal made it 3-0.

The latest defeat will only heighten speculation over the future of Wolves coach Vitor Pereira, who only signed a new three-year contract in September.

At the age of 34, Danny Welbeck is still delivering in England’s top flight.

The Brighton striker’s 11th-minute goal at the Amex Stadium was his sixth in as many games and opened the scoring against Leeds.

At this rate, the former Man United and Arsenal player may be a contender for England’s World Cup squad.

“I just control what I can control – I am enjoying playing my football here at Brighton, my focus is always on Brighton and doing the best that I can,” Welbeck said.

Diego Gomez scored twice in the second half to complete the 3-0 win for Brighton.

Jean-Philippe Mateta was on target for Palace in its 2-0 win against Brentford. (JapanToday)

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Anambra: Soludo mocks APC, party vows to end reign

The All Progressives Congress has declared that it will put an end to the 19-year reign of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in Anambra State.

The National Chairman of the APC, Nentawe Yilwatda, said the party would defeat APGA in the November 8, 2025, governorship election.

Yilwatda stated this on Friday at the All Saints Anglican Church Cathedral, Onitsha, during the APC governorship campaign rally for its candidate, Nicholas Ukachukwu.

He described the APC as “a messenger of hope,” stating that he was in the state to deliver the message of hope.

“The APC will uproot APGA in the next remaining eight days and 196 hours to the November 8 governorship election. We in the APC cannot afford to allow APGA to continue governing an important state like Anambra as an adopted son when we have our own son in the person of Ukachukwu.”

Speaking at the rally, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said the APC couldn’t afford to lose Anambra, adding that he would like the state to become the 25th APC-controlled state.

Ukachukwu expressed optimism that the APC would soon replace APGA’s “deceitful nonperformance” in the state with a high level of development in the nearest future.

“We will soon replace insecurity, multiple taxation, corruption, and nonperformance with adequate security, steady power supply, industrial development, and an agricultural chain,” Ukachukwu stated.

Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State and Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum assured the electorate in the state that their votes would count in the coming election.

The State Chairman of the APC, Chief Basil Ejidike, and the National Coordinator of Ikemba Front, Arinze Awogu, in their separate speeches, expressed optimism that the APC would take over the Anambra Government House at Agu-Awka this time around.

Meanwhile, the state governor and APGA candidate, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, mocked the APC and its candidate for flagging off their campaign seven days before the election.

Soludo, while speaking at the APGA campaign rally held at Abagana, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state, said the APC campaign was proof that the party was not serious about the contest.

He urged the people to come out en masse on November 8 and vote out the APC and other opposition parties contesting the race.

Soludo said, “This is shocking and a mockery for a political party like the APC to flag off its campaign seven days before the voting process. Though it’s not a surprise, because its candidate is in the race to gain cheap popularity.

“Please, on the day of the election, step out en masse, collect their money, eat it, and vote them out.

“What I can tell you here today is that I have no competitor in this governorship race. What you have seen in the last three years of my administration in terms of transformation is evidence that we will win the election — and we can only win when we all go out and vote.” (Punch)