King Charles III has formally been crowned King in the historic first Coronation in 70 years today.

He was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

The king was crowned while seated in the Coronation Chair, holding the Sceptre with Cross in his right, gloved hand and the Sceptre with Dove in his left hand.

He was crowned with St. Edward’s Crown, which was created in 1661 and will only be worn during the ceremony.

After the crown was placed on his head, the bells at Westminster Abbey rang for two minutes.

King Charles was then escorted from the Coronation Chair to the throne.Before the crowning, King Charles was presented with the coronation regalia.

He was first presented with the spurs, which “symbolize knighthood,” followed by the Sword of Offering; two armills made of gold, known as “bracelets of sincerity and wisdom;” the Coronation Orb, “symbolising the Christian world” with three sides representing the three continents known during medieval times; and the Sovereign’s Ring, representing commitment and is not worn during the ceremony.

Charles then was presented with the coronation glove, the same one his mother wore during her coronation, representing him as advocate and challenger for the protection of the people.

He was then given the sovereign’s sceptre with cross which represents “the sovereign’s temporal power,” and the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Dove, which represents “the sovereign’s spiritual role.”

Some South Africans have called for the United Kingdom to return the “Star of Africa”, the world’s largest diamond, which is set in the royal sceptre that King Charles III will hold at his coronation on Saturday, May 6.

The 530-carat diamond, which was dubbed ‘Star of Africa’ was discovered in South Africa in the year 1905.

It was eventually presented to the British Monarchy by the colonial government in the country two years later, as the country was under British rule at that time.

Recently some European countries have been returning artefacts to African countries they colonized.

Germany recently returned artefacts to Edo state, Finland returned Namibia’s Power Stone, and this has prompted some South Africans to ask for the diamond to be brought back.

Mothusi Kamanga, a Johannesburg based lawyer who wrote an online petition that has amassed about 8,000 signatures, said to Reuters;

“The diamond needs to come to South Africa. It needs to be a sign of our pride, our heritage and our culture.

I think generally the African people are starting to realise that to decolonise is not just to let people have certain freedoms, but it’s also to take back what has been expropriated from us.”

Another South African, Mohamed Abdullahi, said to the publication, “I believe it should be brought back home because, at the end of the day, they took it from us while they were oppressing us.”

The diamond on the sceptre, officially known as Cullinan I, was cut from the 3,100-carat Cullinan diamond, which was mined close to Pretoria.

The Imperial State Crown that British monarchs don on ceremonial occasions is set with a smaller diamond cut from the same stone known as Cullinan II.

It is stored at the Tower of London with the other crown jewels and the sceptre.

The first set of Nigerian citizens who fled war-torn Sudan, arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at about 11.40pm on Wednesday, May 3, with an estimate of 376 evacuees.

The Air Peace flight carrying over 270 Nigerian students from the Aswan Airport in Egypt first landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja before the NAF C-130H jet also conveying about 80 persons landed some moments later.

Uganda’s Minister of State for Labour, Employment & Industrial Relations, Col. (Rtd) Charles Okello Engola, has been shot dead by his body guard in a Kampala suburb.

Retired Colonel Charles Okello Engola, who was the deputy minister for gender and labour, was shot at his home on Tuesday morning, May 2.

Police Spokesperson, Fred Enaga, said Engola was shot at close range at his residence in Kyanja while entering his vehicle to go to work.

Police have identified the bodyguard as Private Wilson Sabiti.

Enaga disclosed that after Sabiti fired several shots at close range, killing Engola instantly, he fled from the scene up to the trading center at Kyanja, Ring Road where he entered a salon and also shot himself dead.

The police is yet to establish the motive of the shooting.

Enaga said a team of detectives has been dispatched to the crime scene team for further investigations.

While in the military, Engola was the commander of the UPDF 501 Brigade, at Opit, in Gulu District.

He was then promoted to the rank of colonel and retired from the military in 2007.

During his political career, he served as Oyam District LCV Chairperson on the ruling NRM party ticket for two terms.

In 2016, he was elected Oyam North Member of Parliament and re-elected in 2021.

He also served as State Minister of Defence from 2016 until 2021.

Okey Wali, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association who was abducted by armed men dressed in military uniform at Obiri-Kwere area of the East-West Road in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State fortnight Monday, has been freed after spending two weeks in captivity.

NBA chairman, Port Harcourt Branch, Viktor Benibo, confirmed the release of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

Speaking to Punch, Benibo said;

“He is in his house. He was released in the early hours of today.”

The two-year-old daughter of NFL star Shaquil Barrett has tragically passed away after drowning in a swimming pool.

Arrayah, the youngest of Barrett’s four children died on Sunday, April, 30, following the accident in the pool at her father’s home in Tampa, Florida.

Officers arrived on the scene at 9:30am local time (2:30pm UK time) after receiving a call that a child had fallen into a pool.

The toddler was then transported to a local hospital and despite the best efforts from medical staff to save her life, was unfortunately pronounced dead shortly after.

The Tampa Police Department said an investigation is ongoing and according to a statement they released:

“It is not believed to be suspicious in nature at this time, but a purely accidental and tragic incident.”

Barrett plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who said in a statement: “Today’s tragic news is heartbreaking for all members of the Buccaneers family.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Shaq, Jordanna and the entire Barrett family during this unimaginably difficult time.

“While no words can provide true comfort at a time such as this, we offer our support and love as they begin to process this very profound loss of their beloved Arrayah.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed that the country’s intelligence forces have killed the leader of ISIS in Syria as he vowed to continue the country’s fight against terrorism.

In a broadcast on Sunday April 30, Erdogan said Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization had been tracking a man known as Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini Al-Qurshi “for a long time.”

“This person was neutralized in the operation carried out by MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Organization) yesterday in Syria,” he said.

“From now on, we will continue our fight without discrimination against terrorist organizations.”

He added that Turkey’s fight against terrorism contributes to Europe’s security, claiming that Europe “is not aware of this or does not want to be aware of it.”

Al-Qurshi was named ISIS leader after the death of his predecessor, Abu al-Hasan al-Hashmi al-Qurayshi, who was killed last October by the Free Syrian Army in Syria.

Little was known about Al-Qurshi, but at the time of his appointment, ISIS described him as an “old fighter.”

Erdogan’s announcement came after a recent absence from the public eye due to illness.

Media reports had speculated that his health was deteriorating just two weeks before a crucial election.

The speculation followed a televised interview on Tuesday, which was interrupted after Erdogan left his chair in the middle of a question, before returning to explain he had a “serious stomach flu.”

Following Tuesday’s incident, Erdogan was advised by his doctors to rest at home and canceled a number of public events.

On Thursday, the Turkish government rejected news reports about his health as “baseless claims.”

He appeared on video link the same day for the inauguration of the Akkuya nuclear power plant.

Erdogan made his return to public stage for the first time in three days on Saturday, at an aviation festival in Istanbul, where he rallied his supporters as he seeks to extend his 20-year stint in power.

BBC chairman Richard Sharp has resigned over his role involving a $1 million given to former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Investigation into the loan deal found Mr Sharp, a former Goldman Sachs banker and major donor to Mr Johnson’s Conservative Party, culpable of failing to disclose his involvement in arranging the money for the former British prime minister.

Mr Sharp, in a video statement just before the report was released, said his failure to inform the authorities about the loan was “inadvertent and not material” and that he chose to step down from the BBC board to “prioritize the interests of the BBC.”

According to The New York Times, Mr Sharp had promised the ex-prime minister to arrange a meeting between a wealthy Canadian businessman and Mr Johnson’s distant cousin, Sam Blyth, and a senior government official, who could help facilitate the loan.

Mr Blyth offered to serve as guarantor so that Mr Johnson, who was experiencing financial constraints following his recent divorce and a new family, could secure $996,000.

The controversy put the BBC in a bad spotlight over the ability of Mr Sharp to maintain impartial journalism, especially in the UK.Mr Sharp apologised for his “oversight” and the distraction the loan deal had caused the BBC.

The federal government says about 1,519 stranded Nigerians in Sudan are expected to leave Khartoum via hired buses to Port Sudan and other designated border points for their onward evacuation to Nigeria.

This development followed the extension of another 72-hour ceasefire agreement between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan.

Port Sudan is a port on the Red Sea in the eastern part of the country.

The permanent secretary of the federal ministry of humanitarian affairs, Sani Gwarzo, confirmed this while briefing journalists on the situation on Sunday in Abuja.

Mr Gwarzo, the chairman of the government’s evacuation situation room, explained that the stranded students are expected to leave on April 30.

He said the government had already secured 31 buses in addition to the reserve buses kept in case of unforeseen circumstances.

“We have given the bus company our word that under no circumstances shall they leave anybody on the ground, even if it is one more person that is remaining, let them activate our reserve list and bring out the new buses,” the government official explained.

He added;

“And I spoke to the student leader and the embassy in this regard, so we are expecting each bus will carry 49 persons, and if you calculate this number times 31 buses, it will give you the number of persons to be evacuated today.”

The government also clarified the controversy over the $1.2 million used for the hired evacuation buses from Khartoum to the designated border points.

“Do you know how much it takes to hire a bus from Khartoum to the border? It is $30,000 per bus, and you times it by 40 buses, that is where $1.2 million comes from. So, we transfer the first tranche of the money approved by the federal government, which is $400,000, to them as a deposit; if you take our $400,000, what does it come to you is 1/3 of the total sum,” explained Mr Gwarzo.

He further stated;

“So, they gave us 13 buses times $30,000 it will give us 390,000 dollars believing that will continue with the evacuation, but they stopped giving us buses that our money has expired.

But, they kept the remaining $10,000 and told us that our money had finished until we completed the remaining balance because we were meant to understand in Sudan, there is nothing like you deposit money until an assignment is done before you complete the remaining balance.”

The official revealed that the government “started transferring the remaining balance” in tranches.

“Believe me; you don’t transfer money to Sudan directly. You have to get somebody who knows the company who will transfer and give them cash, then go into an agreement,” added Mr Gwarzo.

“And the transport company threatened that they would not move on with the evacuation process, and whoever thinks that $1.2 million will be enough to move people from Khartoum to the border and airlift them to Nigeria is being economical with the truth.”

Mr Gwarzo further explained that the federal government had to agree with the transport company to ensure due process was followed to transfer the funds.

“We signed an MoU with them, and at every stage, we report this to DSS and NFIU so that they can monitor the movement of the money.

And the company, too, should know that in Nigeria, if you transfer money from a government account, it does not go direct because it has a dashboard that it can be seen,” stated the official.

He revealed that the ministry had to alert the SSS and NFIU before “we send this money, though in the process the money got delayed by the central bank system, and this is what they call swift electronic cash transfer system, it got delayed.”