Headlines
How Notorious Terrorist, Three Children Were Killed – Trump
President Trump on Sunday confirmed that the leader of Islamic State has been killed.
A United States special forces-led operation targeted and killed Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in northern Syria overnight, Mr Trump announced in a televised address from the White House. The news comes as Mr Trump was ordering a withdrawal of American troops from the region.
“Last night, the United States brought the world’s number one terrorist leader to justice,” Mr Trump said. “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead.”
The American leader said Mr Al-Baghdadi was pursued into the tunnel by American military dogs, “whimpering and crying and screaming all the way.”
The president confirmed that three children of Mr Al-Baghdadi were also killed when the Islamic State leader detonated a suicide vest.
The announcement comes hours after reports spread of Mr Al-Baghdadi’s killing by U.S. forces. Other countries were reported to have provided additional intelligence leading to the raid.
For years, Mr Al-Baghdadi, 48, had terrorised countries with his jihadist campaign, leading different cells of insurgents. Previous reports once said he was killed in American drone strikes, even though he was not as famous as Osama Bin Laden.
He has led Islamic State since 2010, and once boasted from the pulpit of the great medieval mosque in Mosul in 2014, declaring himself the leader of a new caliphate in the Middle-East.
After being away from public glare for a long time, Islamic State released an 18-minute video which included Mr Al-Baghdadi look-alike sitting cross-legged on the ground with an assault weapon.
Mr Trump repeatedly humiliated Mr Al-Baghdad in death, describing him as “sick and depraved.”
He lampooned the terrorist leader and his followers as “losers” and “frightened puppies.”
He advised that the footage of the operation should be released in order to discourage teenagers and would-be members of Islamic State from becoming terrorists.
“He died like a dog,” Mr Trump said. “He died like a coward.”
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
