240 inmates escape
Abuja, Sep 14: At least 240 inmates escaped after unidentified gunmen attacked a jail in Nigeria’s Kogi state, the government said, adding that a manhunt is underway to nab the escaped inmates. Francis Enobore, spokesperson for the Nigeria Correction Service (NCoS), said in a statement on Monday the attackers broke into the jail in Kabba town of Kogi state on Sunday night after a fierce gun battle with the guards, and forcefully released about 240 inmates. As of the time of the attack, 294 inmates were in custody out of which 224 were pre-trial detainees and 70 convicted inmates, he said. (IANS)
Student defaces slave statue
Paris, Sep 14: Bordeaux, the French city that was a transit station in the slave trade, feared that racism was behind the disfiguring of an African slave statue that was covered in what looked like white paint. Instead, the statue was disfigured with plaster by an art student, the city said Tuesday. A legal complaint was filed and the statue of Modeste Testas, whose original name was Al Pouessi, was immediately cleaned after the discovery Monday of the vandalism. On Tuesday, the city of Bordeaux announced that an art student with no racist motive was behind the whiting of the statue, whose head, arms and shawl were covered in plaster. The complaint was withdrawn, but the city denounced the unauthorised act. (AP)
43 Houthis killed
Sanaa, Sep 14 : At least 43 Houthi rebels were killed in Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen’s Marib province in the past 24 hours, a military source said on Tuesday. “The airstrikes targeted the rebel positions, gatherings and reinforcements on the frontlines in Sirwah district, killing 43 and destroying nine weapons-mounted vehicles,” the source at the Media Center of the Armed Forces in Marib told Xinhua news agency. “The airstrikes were a response to the ground attacks launched by the rebels on the (Yemeni) army positions on the frontlines,” he said, claiming that there were no casualties among the pro-government armed forces. The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported 19 Saudi-led airstrikes in the Sirwah district without providing more details. Last week, the Houthis seized control of Rahabah distric. (IANS)
Suga to attend Quad summit
Tokyo, Sep 14: Outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is expected to travel to Washington next week to join three other leaders from the so-called Quad nations at an in-person summit of the grouping. The four nations — the United States, Japan, Australia and India — are promoting their “free and open Indo-Pacific” vision to form a security and economic framework based on democratic values as a counter to China’s authoritarian approach. Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters that Suga was invited by President Joe Biden to attend the summit scheduled for September 24. The trip days before his term ends will be Suga’s second to Washington as prime minister following a meeting of the two leaders in April. An earlier Quad summit in March was held online. The rare foreign trip by an outgoing Japanese leader comes as senior lawmakers in Suga’s governing party are busy ahead of a leadership election. (IANS)