Foreign News
UN Peacekeepers Oust Militants from Central African Republic Town, Boyo
UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR) have ousted scores of militants from the embattled town of Boyo, in the south of the country.
The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the CAR, known by its French acronym MINUSCA launched an operation on Saturday to expel around 200 members of the armed group Unity for Peace in Central Africa (UPC) from Boyo, in Ouaka prefecture.
“Our reinforcements are already in place and we are warning the elements of the UPC against any return to the city,” Mankeur Ndiaye, UN Special Representative in CAR and Head of MINUSCA tweeted.
According to MINUSCA, Nepalese and Mauritanian battalions arrived to support ground efforts, forcing the UPC combatants to vacate the town.
They had taken over numerous homes, including the mayor’s residence.
The Mission drew attention to more than a dozen civilian fatalities on Dec. 6 and 7 in Boyo, which also prompted the displacement of nearly 1,500 people.
The UN peacekeepers were able to intervene to protect civilians and continue their operations throughout the city with robust patrols.
MINUSCA sent out a warning to the UPC against any attempt to re-occupy Boyo and reaffirmed its determination to ensure the protection of communities in accordance with its mandate.
One of the poorest countries in the world, the CAR descended into conflict in 2013 when then-President Francois Bozize was ousted by a rebel coalition called the Seleka, drawn largely from the Muslim minority.
The coup triggered a sectarian bloodbath between the Seleka and anti-Balaka militias, comprising mainly Christian and animist elements.
In December 2019, on the eve of presidential elections, rebels launched a new offensive against President Faustin-Archange Touadera’s regime.
The president won re-election, and his army has now reconquered the lost territory. (NAN)
US President Donald Trump announced he will be seeking $1bn (£730m) in damages from Harvard University in his administration’s ongoing feud with the institution.
The news comes after the New York Times reported that the Trump administration had to backtrack from its demand for a $200m payment in negotiations with the university.
Trump cited the story in a Truth Social post late on Monday, blaming Harvard for “feeding a lot of nonsense” to the New York Times.
Trump officials have accused Harvard of not doing enough to tackle antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests. Harvard has rejected the accusation.
Harvard has been a central target in the White House’s campaign to stamp out what it calls “woke” and “radical left” ideologies on American campuses.
In April last year, Trump revoked around $2bn in research grants to Harvard and froze federal funding.
The university sued the Trump administration over the move, saying no government “should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue”.
A US federal court later overturned the billions in funding cuts, ruling the government had violated university’s free speech rights.
The White House vowed to immediately challenge the “egregious decision”, saying Harvard remains “ineligible for grants in the future”.
Before Monday’s announcement, the government had been in discussions with Harvard over a potential deal to unfreeze federal funding.
“We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages, and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University,” Trump wrote on Monday.
He accused Harvard of “serious and heinous illegalities”, but did not clarify how he believed it had broken the law.
Trump has previously threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status and take control of the university’s patents stemming from federally funded research.
Three other Ivy League universities, Columbia, Penn and Brown, struck deals with Trump to preserve funding that was at risk due to similar claims by the administration, rather than go to court.
Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s Prime Minister, said on Tuesday at the World Government Summit in Dubai that access to social media for minors under 16 would be banned.
Sanchez added that all platforms will be required to implement age verification systems.
“Our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone.
“We will no longer accept that.
We will protect them from the digital Wild West. ”He added that his government would also introduce a new bill next week to hold social media executives accountable for illegal and hateful content.
Australia in December became the first country to ban social media for children under 16.
It’s a move being closely watched by other countries considering similar age-based measures, such as Britain and France.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to sue Grammys host, Trevor Noah after a joke he made about disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein on stage.
Trump blasted the comedian as a “total loser,” adding: “It looks like I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.
C., and suing him for plenty of dollars. ”Trump criticised Noah’s joke, made after the song of the year gong was handed out at the ceremony on Sunday night.
Writing on Truth Social, in a post strewn with uppercase words, Trump said: “Noah said, INCORRECTLY about me, that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton spent time on Epstein Island. WRONG!!!
“I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory statement, have never been accused of being there, not even by the Fake News Media.
“Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get them straight fast.”
He added: “Get ready Noah, I’m going to have some fun with you!”
Trump also blasted the ceremony saying: “The Grammy Awards are the WORST, virtually unwatchable! CBS is lucky not to have this garbage litter their airwaves any longer.”
This was an apparent reference to Disney taking over the broadcast rights for the award ceremony starting in 2027.
He has also engaged in legal action with the New York Times, Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal.
Last July, U.S. media giant Paramount, which owns CBS, agreed to pay Trump 16 million dollars to settle a lawsuit over a 2024 CBS interview with Kamala Harris, the former vice-president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee.
Noah, 41, is a South African-born comedian and TV personality who hosted “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central in the U.S. for seven years.
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