The man convicted of fatally shooting rapper Nipsey Hussle was sentenced to 60 years to life in prison in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Eric Holder was convicted of first-degree murder in July for the March 31, 2019, killing of Hussle in a parking lot outside the rapper’s South Los Angeles apparel shop. 

He was 33. Superior Court Judge H. Clay Jacke handed down the sentence Wednesday after hearing from one of Hussle’s friends and listening to a letter from Holder’s father.

Holder’s sentencing hearing had been postponed several times, including most recently Nov. 3.

The sentencing has been delayed in part so defense attorney Aaron Jansen could argue to reduce Holder’s conviction to manslaughter or second-degree murder, which the judge rejected in December.

Holder was also found guilty of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter after two other people were injured in the shooting.

Hussle, who was born Ermias Asghedom, had grown up with Holder, and both were members of the same gang, the Rollin’ 60s.

Prosecutors argued that Holder was upset over accusations that he was a snitch and that it was premeditated when he approached Hussle outside his shop, The Marathon, and opened fire.

Hussle was struck at least 10 times. Afterward, Holder kicked him in the head and fled, Deputy District Attorney John McKinney told jurors.

Hussle was a father-of-two.

Dozens of enraged customers in Lebanon have taken matters into their own hands and attacked several banks in the country’s capital city of Beirut on Thursday, burning and protesting over the government-sanctioned withdrawal limit on citizens’ accounts since three years ago.

Since 2019, banks in Lebanon have imposed a restriction on the withdrawals of U.S. dollars, and Lebanese pounds after the country’s economy collapsed, and the country’s currency has lost 97 per cent of its value thus far.

To save the country’s total ruin, banks brought the withdrawal limit into effect in a move that was not backed by the law, leaving depositors to seek access to their funds through lawsuits, and some have taken the situation to the extent of robbing banks with guns to withdraw from their accounts.

According to VOA, nothing less than six banks were attacked on Thursday after the Lebanese pound recorded its lowest value, a spokesperson for Depositors Outcry, a lobby group representing depositors with money stuck in the country’s banking sector, said.

In the Badaro neighbourhood, a bank was set on fire before firefighters swooped in to quench it as riot police took positions around the area, holding their shields.

The presidency said they are in the process of working on a financial remedy for the crisis while the country has thus failed to put together a reform needed to secure International Monetary Fund bailout funds for close to a year now.

Following the death of al-Qaida leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, his heir apparent Saif al-Adel is now commanding the group out of Iran, a new report from the United Nations says.

Based on intelligence from member states, the report said al-Qaida’s new de facto leader could not be announced for two reasons.

Mr Al-Adel’s leadership “cannot be declared because of al-Qaida’s sensitivity to Afghan Taliban concerns not to acknowledge the death of al-Zawahiri in Kabul and [Al-Adel’s] presence in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the report stated.

“His location raises questions that have a bearing on al-Qaida’s ambitions to assert leadership of a global movement in the face of challenges,” including from its rival, the Islamic State (IS) terror group,” added the report.

Mr Al-Adel was part of a team that provided military and intelligence training to fighters in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Sudan beginning in the early 1990s.

He also assisted in training members of al-Egyptian Qaida’s affiliate, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and Somalis who fought U.S. forces in Mogadishu from 1992 to 1994.

In 1998, the United States indicted Mr al-Adel for his role in planning the deadly bombings of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, which killed 224 people and injured thousands more.

He is also a long-serving member of al-senior Qaida’s leadership council, the Majlis al-Shura, and a senior member of the group’s Hittin Committee, which oversees al-Qaida’s operations.

At the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport on Monday, officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) attacked a female traveller and pummelled her until she passed out because she was attempting to document yet another case of harassment, according to information obtained by Peoples Gazette.

Christiana Ebun, with Ibom Air ticket QI0313 and seat number 17A, was scheduled to depart Abuja to Lagos on a 7:00 a.m. flight and was waiting to board when she sighted some rogue FAAN officials assaulting a lady.

Ms Ebun pulled out her phone to record the assault, drawing the attention of the FAAN officials, who then pounced on her and beat her to a bloody pulp, according to persons acquainted with the incident.

The beatings did not stop until Ms Ebun eventually lost consciousness, and her body was dragged out of public view.

An official identified as I.E. Odoh was among the officers who hauled her out.

Although she regained consciousness, her body was covered with bruises from the assault.When contacted, FAAN spokesperson Hope-Ivbaise Faithful said the matter would be investigated and promised to furnish The Gazette with her findings.

Ibom Air did not immediately return requests seeking comments on the matter.

The United Nations and other members of the diplomatic community have restated their commitment to supporting Nigeria in ensuring peace, credibility and inclusion in the upcoming general elections.

This was disclosed in a statement by Oluseyi Soremekun, spokesman for the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Nigeria, on Thursday.

UNIC noted that the commitment was given at the first quarterly briefing of the diplomatic community convened by UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Matthias Schmale at the UN House in Abuja.

Mr Schmale highlighted the importance of peaceful and credible elections to consolidate Nigeria’s democracy and that of the African region.

He also expressed concern about fuel, naira scarcity, and violence’s possible adverse effects on the forthcoming elections.

Mr Schmale said INEC had made significant progress in preparing and administering elections, adding that its significance needed to be acknowledged.

“At the same time, INEC is facing some challenges, for instance, around logistics, power supply, employing and deploying the right personnel at the right time,” he stated.

The UN official further expressed concern about some strong statements of intolerance and hate speech across party lines in public space, urging political parties and their candidates to exercise caution and adhere to the terms of the peace accord they had signed.

Speaking on the UN Strategic Development Cooperation Framework signed with the Nigerian government, Mr Schmale said the UN needed to support the government in accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Amongst other transformative initiatives, the importance of domestic resource mobilisation, private sector investment and conducive business environment are critical success factors in moving the needle in achieving greater prosperity for all in Nigeria,” the UN representative noted.

The resident coordinator also reaffirmed the reality of climate change and its impact in Nigeria and called on the international community to support accelerated climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.

“Last year’s devastating flood episodes and cholera outbreak have shown that humanitarian crises are not limited to the North-East alone.

Therefore, we need to support the government in addressing humanitarian challenges outside the North-East,” he said.

Authorities in Cameroon have detained popular media mogul Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, a senior police officer and dozens of other people in connection to the murder of Radio host and journalist Martinez Zogo.

Mr Zogo, 50, was a popular voice in the West Africa nation, regularly speaking against cronyism.

He was abducted in front of a police station in the capital city of Yaounde on January 17. Five days later, his corpse was found mutilated.

The murder attracted condemnation from notable people and groups around the globe, and calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

In an update on the matter, the president’s office said an additional seven people were detained yesterday including Mr Belinga, who was picked up at his Yaounde home.

The seven joined the other 20 people who were detained on Friday.

According to VOA, a former presidential guard commander, who is Mr Belinga’s chief of security, and the head of his Vision 4 TV channel were also detained.

However, It’s not clear if anyone has been officially arrested or charged.

VOA also reported that Mr Zogo had said during one of his radio programmes before his death that Mr Belinga was planning to kill him for reporting on his alleged corrupt dealings with some officials in the country.

Two days before Mr Zogo was killed, a Catholic priest and radio host Jean Jacques Ola Bebe was also found dead in Yaounde after receiving several death threats believed to be from people in government.

Until now, the authorities in Cameroon are yet to issue any statement about Mr Bebe’s death, for whom the now late Zogo had called for justice for his murder.

UN agencies on Monday launched emergency response to help many thousands of reported victims, including those still believed to be buried under the rubble in a massive earthquake in southern Türkiye and northern Syria.

The initial 7.8 magnitude quake struck close to Gaziantep, followed by another 7.5 magnitude earthquake several hours later in early hours of Monday

“My heart goes out to the people of Türkiye and Syria in this hour of tragedy. The United Nations is fully committed to supporting the response,” UN secretary general António Guterres said in a statement.

“Our teams are on the ground assessing the needs and providing assistance.”In a situation overview published shortly after 4:00 p.m. GMT, UN aid coordination office OHCHA said there had been “close to 2,000 death reported” in the two countries impacted, with at least 78 aftershocks reported, ahead of the second earthquake.

The Turkish government has issued a Level 4 alarm, calling for international assistance.Northwest Syria is home to around 4.1 million people who rely on humanitarian assistance, the majority, women and children.

Syrian communities have been hit by an on-going cholera outbreak together with harsh winter weather.

So far there is a 48 per cent funding gap for the last quarter of 2022, with 371 million dollars pledged, out of a required total of just over 800 million dollars.

Mr Guterres said the UN was counting on the international community to help the many thousands caught up in the disaster, “many of whom were already in dire need of humanitarian aid in areas where access is a challenge.”

Emergency medical teams from the World Health Organisation (WHO) had been given the green light to provide essential care for the injured and most vulnerable, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.

Specialist UN surge teams from the Office of UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) also tweeted that they were “ready to deploy,” amid multiple horrifying social media posts showing huge buildings collapsing in heavily built-up areas.

In a statement issued via Twitter, the UN in Türkiye expressed deep sadness over the loss of lives and the destruction of property. The team expressed its condolences to the families of victims “as well as to the people and government,” wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

“United Nations Türkiye expresses its solidarity with Türkiye and is ready to assist,” said the statement.

UN humanitarian coordinating office, OCHA, underscored that the initial 7.8 magnitude quake hit at the height of winter.The epicentre was in southern Türkiye, where nearby Gaziantep – an important UN aid hub for northern Syria – was among the cities affected.

“Deeply saddened by the loss of life caused by this morning’s earthquake,” the UN refugee agency in Syria (UNHCR) tweeted.

It added that it was “actively coordinating a response with UN Agencies and other humanitarian actors to deliver assistance and support to those in need in Syria.”

The UN along with humanitarian partners, assists some 2.7 million people every month in northwest Syria, via cross-border air deliveries.

The UN reported that 224 buildings were completely destroyed and at least 325 partially destroyed by the quakes, in 17 different subdistricts there, according to initial information from local authorities.

Although the earthquake was felt as far away as Lebanon, closer to home, northern Syria’s Aleppo and Idlib also reportedly saw thousands of building collapse, including two hospitals.

Humanitarian needs in northern Syria are already huge, as the region is home to millions of people displaced by the country’s long-running war.

Snow and rain have hampered the work of rescue teams, whose families are also among those believed to be buried under collapsed buildings.

Buildings in Idlib, Syria, have been damaged by the earthquake which struck the region.

After an official request for international assistance from Ankara, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), confirmed that it was ready to support the emergency response.

“Our hearts and thoughts are with the children and families in Türkiye and Syria affected by the devastating earthquakes.

Our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones,” UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, said.

Echoing that message of support, UN Migration Agency (IOM), said a warehouse in Gaziantep had prepared non-food items and essential relief ready to be deployed.

“IOM teams are also doing on-the-ground assessments to inform the response,” spokesperson Safa Msehli, said.

Director-General of IOM, Antonio Vitorino, tweeted his solidarity “with people in Türkiye, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and all those affected following the deadly earthquake.

“We will be working closely with governments in the region to support those affected and help alleviate their suffering.”