Headlines
Trump Criticised for Leaving Hospital to Greet Supporters
US President Donald Trump sparked an angry backlash from the medical community Sunday with a protocol-breaking visit to his supporters outside the hospital where he is being treated for the highly-infectious, potentially deadly new coronavirus.
He was masked as he waved from inside his bulletproof vehicle during the short trip outside Walter Reed military medical center near Washington, which appeared designed to take back the narrative on his improving health after a weekend of muddled messaging from his doctors.
The last-minute limousine outing came with Trump’s doctors satisfied enough about his progress to suggest the possibility of his being discharged on Monday.
But experts complained that the outing broke his own government’s public health guidelines requiring patients to isolate while they are in treatment and still shedding virus — and endangered his Secret Service protection.
Trump, who has been repeatedly rebuked for flouting public health guidelines and spreading misinformation on the pandemic, said in a video that dropped on Twitter just before the appearance that he had “learned a lot about Covid” by “really going to school” as he has battled the virus.
But health experts took to the airwaves and social media to criticize the “stunt,” which they said demonstrated that he had learned nothing at all.
“Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days,” said James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University.
“They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.”
White House spokesman Judd Deere said “appropriate” precautions had been taken to protect Trump and his support staff, including protective gear.
“The movement was cleared by the medical team as safe to do,” he added.
But Zeke Emanuel, chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania and regular TV pundit, described the appearance as “shameful.”
“Making his Secret Service agents drive with a COVID-19 patient, with windows up no less, put them needlessly at risk for infection. And for what? A PR stunt,” he tweeted.
Confused messaging
The episode came hours after a briefing by Trump’s medical team, who said he had “continued to improve” and could be returned to the White House, which has the facilities to treat and isolate the president, as early as Monday.
The president was flown to Walter Reed with a high fever on Friday after a “rapid progression” of his illness, with his oxygen levels dropping worryingly low, Trump’s physician Sean Conley said in a Sunday briefing.
Health experts have complained that the messaging from the administration — and particularly Trump’s medical team — has caused widespread confusion.
Conley admitted Sunday that he had kept from the public the fact that the president had been given extra oxygen, in a bid to reflect an “upbeat attitude.”
And he gave a rosy account of Trump’s progress Saturday, only for White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to tell reporters immediately after that Trump’s condition had been “very concerning” and that he was “still not on a clear path to a full recovery.”
‘White House Cluster’
With his tough reelection campaign in its final month against Democratic rival Joe Biden, Trump’s diagnosis and hospitalization have left him sidelined from what he does best — campaigning.
Meanwhile, Biden — who announced Sunday his latest negative test for the virus — will start the week with a trip Monday to key swing state Florida.
But Trump and his advisors have done their best to project a sense of continuity.
His deputy campaign manager Jason Miller told ABC Sunday he had spoken to Trump for a half-hour Saturday and that the president was “cracking jokes.”
But controversy has been mounting over the possibility that Trump might have exposed numerous others to Covid-19 even after a close aide tested positive.
A timeline provided by his advisors and doctors suggested he met more than 30 donors on Thursday in Bedminster, New Jersey, even after learning that Hope Hicks had the virus — and just hours before he announced his own positive test.
There were more than 200 people at the fundraiser, and a contact-tracing operation underway in New Jersey was looking at potentially thousands of people who may have been exposed.
All this came in a week when a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll — taken in the two days after a bruising presidential debate with Biden but before news emerged of Trump’s illness — gave Biden a significant 53-39 percent lead among registered voters.
As well as Trump and Hicks, numerous White House insiders and at least three Republican senators have contracted Covid-19, along with First Lady Melania Trump, who has not experienced severe symptoms.
Public health experts have expressed alarm at the “White House cluster” that has been linked to the September 26 Rose Garden celebration of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
Headlines
Phone Hacking Charge: El-Rufai to Remain in Custody as Court Turns Down Bail Variation Request
The embattled former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has lost his battle to get the bail conditions imposed on him by the Federal High Court in Abuja varied.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, on Tuesday, refused to relax the bail conditions for the former governor while delivering a ruling in an application by El-Rufai.
El-Rufai, through his lawyer Paul Erokoro (SAN), had applied for a variation of some of the bail conditions earlier granted him, describing them as harsh, stringent, outlandish and difficult to meet.
The senior lawyer argued that the bail terms are too stringent, particularly the requirements for level 17 civil servants with properties in Maitama or Asokoro, as well as verification and attestation letters from the Kaduna State Traditional Council.
However, the prosecution, Oluwole Aladedoye (SAN), opposed the request, insisting that qualified public officers who meet the conditions exist, urging the court to refuse the application.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik declined the request to vary the bail conditions, holding that there are civil servants who own properties at the said location.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, the Department of State Services (DSS) closed its case against the former governor in the ongoing alleged wiretapping trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
At the resumed hearing, prosecuting counsel, Oluwole Aladedoye, informed the court that the prosecution would not be calling further witnesses in the matter, prompting the formal closure of the DSS case.
Following the development, defence counsel, Paul Erokoro told the court that the defence intends to file a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution has failed to establish sufficient evidence against the former governor.
The defence subsequently sought two weeks to file the application, while the prosecution requested two weeks to respond and do the necessary filing.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik then fixed September 22 for hearing of the no case submission and the continuation of proceedings.
British Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on Monday announced his resignation, bringing an abrupt end to a premiership that began with Labour’s landslide general election victory in July 2024.
Starmer made the announcement in a statement outside 10 Downing Street, where he reflected on his time in office and defended his record in government.
“Every decision I have made has been about putting the country I love first,” Starmer said as he confirmed he would step down as both prime minister and leader of the governing Labour Party.
The resignation marks a dramatic political development in the United Kingdom, coming barely two years after Starmer led Labour back to power following more than a decade in opposition.
His departure is expected to trigger a swift leadership transition within the party at a time of heightened political uncertainty.
Addressing supporters gathered outside Downing Street, Starmer described entering No. 10 in 2024 as “the proudest moment” of his life, saying he entered politics with the goal of improving the lives of millions of people.
The outgoing prime minister also highlighted what he considered some of his key achievements, including rebuilding the Labour Party after years of internal divisions and restoring public confidence in the party’s economic and national security credentials.
Starmer said he inherited a Labour Party that was “politically, financially and morally bankrupt” and faced repeated predictions that it was finished as a political force.
He argued that his leadership helped transform the party, including efforts to tackle anti-Semitism and reposition Labour as a credible alternative government.
His resignation has immediately intensified speculation over his successor. Attention has turned to Andy Burnham, who recently won the Makerfield by-election and is due to be sworn in as a Member of Parliament.
Political observers and Labour insiders believe Burnham could emerge as the overwhelming favourite to take over the party leadership. Some party members are already discussing the possibility of a “coronation” process in which Burnham becomes the sole candidate, avoiding a prolonged leadership contest.
If that scenario unfolds, Labour could have a new leader and prime minister in place by September, around the time of the party’s annual conference.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, winner of the 2026 Ekiti State governorship election.
Oyebanji secured a landslide victory, polling 319,224 votes to defeat his closest challenger, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dr. Wole Oluyede, who garnered 40,543 votes. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Dare Bejide, came a distant third with 12,872 votes.
The election, held across all 16 local government areas of the state, was overshadowed by reports of irregularities and widespread allegations of vote buying, drawing strong condemnation from observers.
The official results were announced on Sunday morning by the Chief Returning Officer, Professor Adenike Oladiji, who declared Oyebanji duly elected after meeting the constitutional requirements.
In her declaration, Professor Oladiji stated: “I, Professor Adenike Oladiji, hereby certify that I am the Returning Officer for the Ekiti State Governorship Election held on June 20, 2026, and that the election was conducted in compliance with the provisions of the law. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress, having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of valid votes cast, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected.”
