₦airaland Forum

In the past week, North Korea floated hundreds of huge balloons to dump "mounds of wastepaper and filth" on South Korea

South Korea vowed to take “unbearable” retaliatory steps against North Korea after it launched a second wave of balloons filled with rubbish across the border.

In the past week, North Korea floated hundreds of huge balloons to dump "mounds of wastepaper and filth" on South Korea, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said.

It also simulated nuclear strikes against its neighbour and allegedly jammed GPS navigation signals in the South in an escalation of animosities between the rivals.

South Korea’s national security director Chang Ho-jin said top officials decided in an emergency meeting on Sunday to take “unbearable” measures against North Korea in response.

Chang called the North’s balloon campaign and its alleged GPS signal jamming “absurd, irrational acts of provocation that a normal country can’t imagine.” He accused North Korea of aiming to cause “public anxieties and chaos” in South Korea.
South Korean officials didn’t say what retaliatory steps they would take.

Earlier on Sunday, South Korea’s military said that more than 700 balloons flown from North Korea were additionally discovered in various parts of South Korea.


Tied to the balloons were cigarette butts, scraps of cloth, waste paper and vinyl, but no dangerous substances, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

It was North Korea’s second balloon activity in less than a week. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, South Korean officials said they had found about 260 North Korean balloons carrying rubbish and manure.
There have been no reports of major damage in South Korea.

North Korea said its balloon floating was in reaction to South Korean activists flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets via their own balloons across the border.

okoroemeka:
this is a classic example why it is very important to marry close to your tribe or community, if possible were the customs and traditions will be similar,what this woman is saying or doing will not be a taboo in her area,infact it may even be a tribal pastime to be commiting adultery,so if you marry someone with such indoctrination will you expect her to change?in my community in imo state whatever affair a married must have will be conducted with the highest secrecy and confidentiality because any leakage or exposure can result in a traditional cleanse before she can cook for her husband again,even the stigma by other married women alone is something else,what that woman is saying is an abomination and a taboo in my place

tctrills:
First, Mr Netanyahu can't hear you and even if he can, he doesn't care.
Secondly, we all wish the Palestinians to live long but it begins with them shunning terrorism

blueghost:
If You could remembered vividly I addressed you in one of your post of you supporting women in Sudan who carry arms and you calling them brave. You are not about conviction but convenience. You are a lopsided individual and each day your hypocrisy fruits keeps getting mature.
You don't lend your voice to the killings happening in Nigeria but you are always the first to bring up Israel Hamas. You are just a warmonger. Change your ways!!!!

Saintganduje:
Are you from Palestine? Hurry up ok.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted there will be no permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are destroyed and all hostages are released.

His statement comes after US President Joe Biden announced Israel had proposed a three-stage plan to Hamas aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire.

A senior Hamas politician has told the BBC it "will go for this deal" if Israel does.
The negotiations come as fighting continues in Rafah, with reports of Israeli air strikes on Saturday in the city on Egypt's border with Gaza.

There is no guarantee that the public pressure by Mr Biden on both Israel and Hamas to accept the plan will result in a deal.
In statement on Saturday, Mr Netanyahu's office said Israel's "conditions for ending the war have not changed.

It listed these as "the destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel".

The statement added Israel would "continue to insist these conditions are met" before agreeing to a permanent ceasefire, emphasising that no deal could be signed before meeting them.

On Friday, Mr Biden described the plan as a comprehensive Israeli proposal that paved the way for a permanent ceasefire.

The first phase would include a full and complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas and the exchange of some hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
This would then be followed by the return of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers.

The final phase would see the remains of any deceased Israeli hostages returned, as well as a "major reconstruction plan" with US and international assistance to rebuild homes, schools and hospitals, Mr Biden said.
A total end to the conflict has been a key Hamas demand to engage in talks.

Following Mr Netanyahu's restating of his aims for the war, a spokesman for Hamas said it would back the plan if Israel did.
Basem Naim, a member of Hamas's political bureau based in Qatar, told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme that the organisation welcomed the plan, but the next step relied on Israel.

In response to Mr Netanyahu's statement, he noted Israel's aims might not have changed, but it also had not achieved them.
"If he tries to continue, he will not find anything except the readiness of the Palestinians - all Palestinians - to resist the occupation," Mr Naim said.

The proposal laid out by Mr Biden seems to give the opportunity for both Israel and Hamas to say that their demands had been met.

For Hamas, it explicitly paves the way for a permanent ceasefire, which has been a key demand of the group for any deal. It wants a guarantee that the Israeli military will not return to Gaza after the hostages are released, and the offer does just that.
This will, without a doubt, face opposition in Israel.

Mr Biden tried to address those concerns by saying that Hamas had been so degraded that it did not have the ability to carry out another major attack on Israel.

He acknowledged, however, that not everyone in Israel would accept the deal, but urged the government to resist pressure.

Those who are likely to be against the plan include far-right members of Mr Netanyahu’s coalition, who have previously threatened to quit in case of any deal that would see the end of the war before the destruction of Hamas. This could lead to the end of the Netanyahu government.

But one of Israel's most influential opposition politicians, Yair Lapid, has promised to back Mr Netanyahu if he supports the ceasefire deal.

In a post on social media, Mr Lapid told the Israeli PM that he "has our safety net for a hostage deal" if far-right allies like national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich leave the government.

The statement from Mr Netanyahu's office seemed to be vague enough for him to be able to claim that his objectives had been achieved.
Interestingly, it did not talk about “total victory” - which he has repeatedly said was the aim of the Israeli military in Gaza.

This omission may allow Mr Netanyahu to reject criticism that the deal offers major concessions to Hamas.

Israel has ramped up attacks in the key city of Rafah in recent weeks, claiming operational control over the entire border with Egypt.
US, Israeli and Egyptian officials are due to meet in Cairo on Sunday to discuss reopening the Rafah crossing, according to Egyptian media reports.

Aid flows into Gaza have been restricted since the border was shut in early May, after Israeli forces seized control of it as part of their offensive to take control of Gaza's southern border.

More than 36,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The war began in October when Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 252 back to Gaza as hostages.

As a married woman, I'm tired of sleeping with different men so I want to ask my husband to have an open marriage because I love him Lady shares her dilemma.

richie240:
Please, I nor want talk d tin wey dey mind to u o!
Where were you when a specific part of nigerians were celebrating the unprovoked killing of 5 soldiers and 6 civilians because of a fuulish stay at home??
How many ppl from that region condemned d sad action of the terrorists compared to those who supported/made excuses for them?

If u can't respect the lives of your law-abiding brethren here in nigeria, why should we respect the lives of criminals outside nigeria for commiting crime??

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 1 — South Africa’s ruling ANC awaited the imminent confirmation today that it had lost its three-decade-old absolute majority and would have to find allies if it is to remain in power.

With more than 98 percent of the votes from Wednesday’s election counted, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress had only 40.15 per cent support, a catastrophic slump from the 57.5 it won in 2019.

This marks an historic turning point for South Africa as the party has enjoyed an absolute majority since 1994, when liberation leader Nelson Mandela led the nation out of white-minority rule and into democracy.

“We have been talking with everybody even before the election,” ANC’s deputy secretary general Nomvula Mokonyane told AFP yesterday, saying the party’s decision-making body would set the course to follow after final results are announced.

Anything must be based on principles and not an act of desperation.”

As votes continued to be validated, data from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) showed the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) held second place with 21.71 per cent, slightly up on its 20.77 showing in 2019.

But it was not a surge by the DA that cut into the ANC’s vote share.

In third place was former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) on 12.6 per cent, a surprise score for a party founded just months ago as a vehicle for the former ANC chief.

The radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) was in fourth with 9.4 per cent.

The final results were to be formally announced tomorrow, but the IEC results website was being updated through the day and with the result no longer in doubt, politicians were turning their attent

No pardon, no party

The ANC has dominated South Africa’s democracy with an unbroken run of five presidents from the party, but if President Cyril Ramaphosa is to remain at the helm he will have to decide whether to seek allies on his right or left.

There will be resistance within his movement to a tie-up with the second-placed DA, under white politician John Steenhuisen, whose free market programme of privatisations and an end to black economic empowerment programmes sits at odds with the ruling party’s traditions.

Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, an outgoing ANC lawmaker, told AFP the DA held “different ideals” making it too difficult to partner with.

The radical left groups led by former ANC figures: firebrand Julius Malema’s EFF or Zuma’s MK, were more likely bedfellows, he said.

But these options might also meet resistance within the more moderate sections of the ANC.

Analyst and author Susan Booysen, said the EFF was perceived as “too erratic” and “unpredictable” in its demands.

And the rift between Ramaphosa and Zuma — who has long been bitter about the way he was forced out of office in 2018 — was “too far reaching” to mend, she said.

MK spokesman Nhlamulo Ndhlela seemed to agree. ”We will engage with the ANC but not the ANC of Cyril Ramaphosa,” he said.

Any coalition partner should be willing to amend the constitution to enact radical reforms and grant Zuma, who has been declared ineligible over a contempt of court conviction, a pardon, he said.

But Mokonyane dismissed the notion that Ramaphosa’s leadership was at risk, saying: “In the ANC we don’t work that way. It’s not a presidential election. It was an election that the ANC went in as a party and we are happy with it.”

The ANC retains the loyalty of many voters for its leading role in overthrowing white minority rule.

Its progressive social welfare and black economic empowerment policies are credited by supporters with helping millions of black families out of poverty.

But over three decades of almost unchallenged rule, its leadership has been implicated in a series of large-scale corruption scandals, while the continent’s most industrialised economy has languished and crime and unemployment figures have hit record highs. — AFP

Beverlyjean:
Why are stupid Nigerian complaining about the killing of soldiers...but when these same soldiers kill innocent citizens , no one cares .... soldiers are signed to receive death protecting the country... why do Nigerians think opposite of what any other normal humans think... if a soldier murders a single citizen in cold blood , that soldiers life is finished in foreign countries .... have u ever heard of soldier brutality?? Its always police brutality... only in Nigeria will u see soldier brutality and nothing happens.....infact they glorify it...look at the nonsense that happened in Banex recently...where in this world will army be locking up a business plaza cos they assaulted 2 of their men that were off duty...that's the 4kin work of the police

Where in this world will u hear that soldiers arrested a civilian for truvan issues ...beat up civilians, tell them to be doing frog jump , forcing civilians to swim in gutter water... shoot and kill innocent citizens .... na northerners fit them ... they kill them like fowls and they don't retaliate or do anything about it

Marian Robinson, the mother of former US First Lady Michelle Obama, has died at 86.
In a statement, her family said that Robinson had died "peacefully" on Friday morning.

Robinson was a well-known fixture at the White House during the eight years of Barack Obama's administration between 2009-17.
She spent much of that time taking care of her two granddaughters, Malia and Sasha, daughters to Michelle and Barack Obama.

In a statement posted on social media, Mrs Obama called her mother her "rock, always there for whatever I needed".
"She was the same steady backstop for our entire family, and we are heartbroken to share she passed away today," she wrote

In a separate post, Mr Obama said that “there was and will be only one Marian Robinson.

“In our sadness, we are lifted up by the extraordinary gift of her life,” he added. “And we will spend the rest of ours trying to live up to her example.

No further details were given about the cause of death.

Born in 1937, Robinson grew up one of seven children in Chicago, the city where she spent much of her life before agreeing to come to Washington DC after Mr Obama’s electoral victory.

Early in her life, she studied to become a teacher before working as a secretary. She raised Michelle and her other child, Craig, together with her husband Frasier Robinson on Chicago's South Side.

At every step, as our families went down paths none of us could have predicted, she remained our refuge from the storm," the Obama statement said.

"On Election Night in 2008, when the news broke that Barack would soon shoulder the weight of the world, she was there, holding his hand.

An image taken on the night in 2008 when her son-in-law made history as the nation's first African-American president showed Robinson sitting on a sofa with him, watching the results come in.

The statement added that Robinson had agreed to move to the White House after a “healthy nudge” from Barack and Michelle Obama, who, along with their daughters, “needed her.

She later spoke of how she insisted on doing her own laundry there.
In an interview with CBS, the BBC’s US partner, Robinson said she had felt compelled to move to Washington because she felt “like this was going to be a very hard life” for her daughter and son-in-law.

And I was worried about their safety,” she added. “I was worried about my grandkids. That’s what got me to move to DC.”
The lifelong Chicago resident had never boarded a flight out of the US until she flew aboard Air Force One with the Obamas to France in 2009.

Robinson - whom Mr Obama once called “the least pretentious person” he knew - said that it was a “huge adjustment” to have her needs met by White House staff.

Rather than hobnobbing with Oscar winners or Nobel laureates, she preferred spending her time upstairs with a TV tray, in the room outside her bedroom with big windows that looked out at the Washington Monument," the family statement said.

"The only guest she made a point of asking to meet was the Pope," it added.

Her privacy afforded her a freedom envied by the rest of her family. David Axelrod, a senior Obama advisor, told CNN on Friday “she would often slip out of the White House on her own and visit with friends".

"She really wasn’t looking for attention,” he added.

On Mother's Day - just weeks before Robinson's death - Mrs Obama announced that an exhibit at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago would be named in her honour.

In so many ways, she fostered in me a deep sense of confidence in who I was and who I could be, by teaching me to think for myself," Mrs Obama said in a video announcement.
"I simply wouldn't be who I am today without my mom.

Dohn:
Anoda one with a parasitic mindset spotted,,,,, nogo find work do.... Ur own is to b having needs dat u cant meet on ur own

FreeStuffsNG:
That's a splinter group of ANC

The German government has given Ukraine permission to strike Russian territory with weapons provided by Berlin, a government spokesperson said Friday.

The announcement follows a similar move by the Biden administration, as reported by POLITICO, to allow Ukrainian forces to use U.S.-provided weapons to strike targets inside Russia near the city of Kharkiv in Ukraine's east, which has been under sustained attack by Russian forces. That decision marked a reversal of U.S. policy, and it appears the German government has now followed suit.

“In recent weeks, Russia has prepared, coordinated and carried out attacks from positions in the Kharkiv area, in particular from the directly adjacent Russian border region,” German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said Friday.

Ukraine “has the right, guaranteed under international law, to defend itself against these attacks,” he added. "To do so, it can use the weapons supplied for this purpose in accordance with its international legal obligations, including those supplied by us."

In recent days Chancellor Olaf Scholz had underscored Ukraine’s right to defend itself by striking targets inside Russia in accordance with international law, but had remained vague on whether Berlin had given Ukraine permission to use German-provided weapons to do so.

Scholz has so far refused to send Ukraine its long-range Taurus cruise missiles, which could be used to strike deep into Russian territory, arguing it could bring Germany into direct confrontation with Russia. But Germany has provided other weapons systems that could potentially be used to strike targets inside Russia near the city of Kharkiv, including self-propelled howitzers and Mars II rocket launchers.

In recent weeks, leaders of NATO countries have debated whether to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike military targets inside Russia. Ukrainian leaders have argued that restrictions on how they can use such arms have allowed the Russians to attack Ukraine from Russian territory with little threat of retaliation.

While the recent decision from Washington marks a reversal of policy, the Biden administration still refuses to allow Ukraine to use U.S. cruise missiles to strike deep into Russian territory, fearing such attacks could escalate the war.

Today's German announcement follows a familiar pattern, in which Berlin waits for Washington to move first on military aid to Ukraine before following in lockstep. Last year's decision to provide battle tanks to Kyiv followed the same dynamic.

German politicians across the political spectrum praised today’s announcement. The previous restrictions on using German weapons to hit targets inside Russia had “served Putin in his warfare,” Robin Wagener, a Greens member of the Bundestag, told POLITICO newsletter Brussels Decoded.

LadyExcellency:
Do you know the distance between the scene of what happened yesterday and the place in the picture? Something like four kilometers. It is not even in the same LGA.

The people at Obikabia are going about their normal businesses.

Righteousness2:
Political earthquake in South Africa:

For the first time since the fall of the apartheid regime in 1994, Nelson Mandela's ruling party (ANC) has lost its absolute majority in parliament, and will be forced to form a coalition with partners.

Just after Ramophosa and his ANC decided to carry Hatred for the Apple of GOD'S eye to next level



SIN AND PUNISHMENT!

The IEC is continuing with vote counting. Here's the latest election results update. #AllAngles #DStv403 #ElectionResults #Elections2024 Source: IEC