The FBI has opened a criminal investigation into the Baltimore bridge collapse, sources familiar with the matter told the BBC’s US partner CBS.

The investigation will examine the circumstances leading up to the incident, in which six people were killed.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge fell on March 26 after it was struck by a large container ship called the Dali.

Federal agents have been present at the site since, the sources said.In a statement on Monday, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice (DoJ) said the “FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity”.

No further information will be shared publicly on the investigation at this time, the spokesperson said.

Erek Barron, the US Attorney in Maryland who is aiding in the FBI investigation, said his office would not comment on the existence of a probe.

But he said “the public should know, whether it’s gun violence, civil rights abuse, financial fraud, or any other threat to public safety or property, we will seek accountability for anyone who may be responsible”.

The FBI investigation is separate from an ongoing probe by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Also on Monday, Baltimore’s mayor Brandon Scott announced that his city is taking “legal steps” to address the collapse by partnering with two national law firms.

Mr Scott said the firms will take ”action to hold the wrongdoers responsible, and to mitigate the immediate and long-term harm caused to Baltimore City residents.

“He said the aim is to hold “all entities accountable”, including the owner, charterer, manager and operator of the Dali ship, as well as potentially liable third parties.

Most of the 47-year-old bridge collapsed when it was struck by Dali – a 948ft (289m) cargo ship – at around 01:28 local time, plunging eight men who were working on bridge maintenance at the time into the Patapsco River.

The bodies of three have since been recovered and three others are presumed to be dead by authorities. Two others were rescued shortly after the bridge fell.

A salvage mission that includes the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Navy, the Coast Guard and Maryland authorities is still ongoing to recover parts of the bridge, as well as to find the bodies of the remaining victims.

Investigators also have recovered the data recorder of the Dali ship, which they hope may explain the catastrophic power failure that caused it to go off course and hit the bridge.

Officials said the ship had been moving at eight knots, or roughly 9mp (15 km/h).

Jennifer Homandy, the head of the NTSB, has said one of the factors under investigation is whether contaminated fuel played a role in the ship losing power.

A mayday signal was sent when the ship was approaching the bridge, authorities had said, which gave authorities time to stop cars driving onto the bridge.

The collapse led to the closure of the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest in the US and a key hub for the transport of vehicles, though two alternative channels have since been opened as the salvage operation continues.

Police have recovered two dead bodies in rural Texas after two mothers went missing in the nearby state of Oklahoma.

The mothers, Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, from Hugoton, Kansas, vanished on March 30.

Police said their car was later found abandoned in rural Oklahoma, near the Kansas border.

Coroners have yet to identify the bodies, but officials said they believe the two women have been killed.

Four people have since been arrested in connection to their disappearances.

The recovery of the bodies was announced Sunday by police, who said they have since been transported to the Office of the Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner for identification and to determine the cause of death.

At a press conference on Monday, officials said they believe the mothers were murdered.

“You have two people who are dead and four people that committed an absolutely brutal crime,” said Hunter McKee, the public information manager with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI).

Oklahoma police announced the arrest of four people on Saturday. Each was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.

The names of those arrested are: Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Tifany Machel Adams, 54, Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44.

Authorities said they were arrested without incident in both Texas and Cimarron counties in Oklahoma.

Police did not say whether the suspects knew the two missing mothers, and did not share possible motivations or details of evidence that led to the arrests.

Evidence found in the women’s abandoned vehicle, plus information gathered from witnesses, as well as family and friends of the victims, pointed officials toward the suspects, Mr McKee said.

He added authorities received multiple tips and used them “throughout the 14-day process” since the mothers disappeared.

Authorities said they do not believe the public is in danger, or that more arrests will be made.

“This wasn’t random,” said Matt Boley, a sheriff with the Texas County Sheriff’s Office. “With some of the information coming, (it appeared to be) more targeted.

“Ms Butler and Ms Kelley were last seen in a vehicle before they disappeared, according to a missing persons alert issued by the Texas County Sheriff’s Department.

They had been driving through Oklahoma to pick up Ms Butler’s children, and authorities said that neither “made it to the pick up location”.

BBC’s US news partner CBS News reported that Ms Butler had been involved in a custody battle, but it is unclear if it was related to the case. Police on Monday declined to comment on the matter.

Nigeria has witnessed its sixth power grid collapse of 2024, as electricity generation on the system collapsed from 2,583.77MW at 2am on Monday to 64.7MW around 3 am.

Nigeria generates an average of 4,000MW of electricity for an estimated 200 million citizens across the country.

But this is hardly sustainable, as the grid continues to record incessant collapse due to gas supply constraints, transmission infrastructure vandalism, and liquidity crisis, among others.

Data from the Independent System Operator, an arm of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, showed that only one electricity generation company, Ibom Power, was active at the time of the grid collapse on Monday morning.

Power generation on the grid crashed further to 44.5MW around 4am, before rising to 132.29MW an hour later.

The grid collapse was confirmed by Jos Electricity Distribution Company.

The Head, Corporate Affairs, JEDC, Dr Friday Elijah, in a notice to customers, said, “The current outage being experienced within our franchise states is a result of loss of power supply from the national grid.

“The loss of power supply from the national grid occurred in the early hours at about 0242hours of today, Monday, April 15, 2024, hence the loss of power supply on all our feeders.”

Australian police on Monday, said they are investigating why a 40-year-old man with mental illness appeared to target women as he roamed a Sydney shopping mall with a large knife, killing six people and wounding a dozen more.

Videos shared on social media showed unshaven itinerant Joel Cauchi pursuing mostly female victims as he rampaged through the vast, crowded Westfield shopping complex in Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon.

Five of the six victims killed were women, as were most of those wounded.

“The videos speak for themselves don’t they, and that’s certainly a line of inquiry for us,” New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said.

“That’s obvious to me, it’s obvious to detectives, that that seems to be an area of interest — that the offender had focused on women and avoided men,” she told national broadcaster ABC.

Webb stressed that police could not know what was in the mind of the attacker, who was shot dead by a police officer.

“That’s why it’s important now that detectives spend so much time interviewing those who know him.”

Cauchi’s Facebook profile said he came from Toowoomba, near Brisbane, and had attended a local high school and university.

His parents say he had suffered from mental health issues since he was a teenager.

The Nigerian Police has apprehended the leader of a “one chance” robbery gang in Abuja who physically attacked a pregnant woman, causing her to lose her pregnancy.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, made this known on his X account on Sunday.

Adejobi wrote, “This is a ring leader of one chance robbery gang in Abuja. He used this wheel spanner to beat a pregnant woman (one chance victim) until she had a miscarriage. The woman had been waiting for a child for more than eight years.

“This is wickedness. Anyway, he’s having a trial in the court and has been arrested for the same offence again.”

Governor Caleb Mutfwang has rewarded winners and runners-up of the 2023 Plateau Football Association Governor’s Cup with fertilizer and cash gifts.

The governor’s cup final between Mangu and Jos North LGAs, was played on Sunday at the Mangu Mini Stadium in Mangu.

Mr Mutfwang said the decision to reward the winners with fertiliser was to encourage the players to invest in agriculture while they ply their trade.

The governor said each player of the winning team would get 10 bags of fertiliser, while those who came second would get five bags each.

He said players in the team that came third would get three bags of fertiliser each.

The governor said the heavy rain that soaked the pitch was a blessing rather than a misfortune.

According to him, the rain was God’s approval of his administration’s resolve to support the people’s return to their farms in spite of the security challenges.

Mr Mutfwang doubled the first prize from N1.5 million to N3 million, the second prize from N1 million to N2 million, and the third prize from N750,000 to N1.5 million.

The governor restated his administration’s determination to restore Plateau’s lost glory in sports, particularly football.

“By 2025, we will organise the competition in a bigger and better way. Before we leave, we will see how we will improve our sporting facilities across the state to encourage our athletes.

“Plateau has been a major contributor of players to the national team. In the last African Cup of Nations, we had about five players from the state,” he said.

Mangu LGA team defeated their Jos North counterparts 1-0 to emerge winners of the 2023 Governor’s Cup.

The goal that made the difference was scored in the second half of the pulsating encounter.

Shendam local government came third after defeating Wase Rock 5-3 on penalties after playing 1-1 in regulation time.

Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command have intercepted a Volkswagen bus containing stolen bags of flour and sugar.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this on his official X handle on Sunday.

According to Mr Hundeyin, the suspects abandoned the vehicle on sighting the police patrol team, adding that investigation revealed that the goods were stolen from a shop burgled in Iba area of the state.

He wrote, “Patrol officers from Elere Division stopped a Volkswagen bus containing bags of flour and sugar at about 3:40am. Upon sighting the police, the occupants abandoned the vehicle and fled. Investigation revealed that the goods were stolen from a burgled shop in Iba.’’

He stated that the stolen goods had been handed over to the owner and the vehicle in police custody.

He noted that the command was intensifying efforts to apprehend the thieves.

Two people have died while 13 others sustained various degrees of injuries in an accident at Ajede, after J4, on the Sagamu-Ijebu Ode expressway on Saturday.

The Spokesperson of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, in Ogun, Mrs Florence Okpe, confirmed the incident to newsmen in Abeokuta.

Okpe explained that the accident occurred at about 12:10 pm and it involved a Toyota Hiace bus marked GUE 59 ZY and a truck with registration number BGT 94 LG.

According to her, the accident was caused by excessive speeding which caused the bus driver to ram into a stationary truck parked by the roadside.

“Fifteen people were involved in the crash – 10 men and five women and a total of 13 people sustained injuries while two persons died,” she said.

Okpe further stated that the injured victims were taken to Hope Hospital at J4 while the deceased were deposited at the Ijebu-Ode General Hospital Morgue.

Meanwhile, the Sector Commander, Anthony Uga cautioned motorists against wrong parking of vehicles on the highway.

Uga further warned motorists against overspeeding and advised them to always drive carefully.

The Lagos State Police Command said a 25-year-old suspected cultist has died from cult clashes in the Ajegunle part of Lagos.

The command’s spokesman, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, revealed this to newsmen on Saturday, adding that police had arrested two suspects in connection with the clashes.

Hundeyin explained that police received a distress call on Friday that suspected cultists of Nasamu and Iyalode Streets at Ajegunle were engaging themselves in a free-for-all.

According to him, the suspected cultists damaged six commercial vehicles at Boundary Roundabout, Ajegunle during the clashes.

“Based on the report, teams of policemen mobilised to the scene and dislodged the suspects, many of whom fled the scene.

“Police operatives, however, combed the area and arrested two of the hoodlums in their hideouts.

“One other suspect, a 25-year-old, who was seriously injured during the clash, was rescued and rushed to the hospital where he later died,’’ Hundeyin said.

He assured that normalcy had been restored to the affected areas while foot and vehicular patrols had been deployed to forestall any further threat to law and order.

Hundeyin said investigation was ongoing while efforts were on to arrest the fleeing cultists.

US President, Joe Biden has announced that nearly all the Iranian drones and missiles fired towards Israel by Iran have been intercepted.

Biden added that he will convene a meeting of G7 leaders on Sunday over the attack launched against Israel by Iran.

Biden condemned the attack, saying in a statement from the White House that Iran was aided by its proxy forces in Yemen, Syria and Iraq.

“At my direction, to support the defence of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defence destroyers to the region over the course of the past week.“

Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our service members, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.

Biden says that he reaffirms America’s “ironclad” commitment to Israel in his call with Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks – sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel.”

Iran’s mission to the United Nations has said the country’s missiles and drones fired toward Israel were justified, warning the United States to “stay away.”

“It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the U.S. MUST STAY AWAY!,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in a statement, according to Fox News.

Iran’s warning came after U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News that the United States military is continuing to shoot down Iranian drones that are headed toward Israel.

“U.S. forces in the region continue to shoot down Iranian-launched drones targeting Israel. Our forces remain postured to provide additional defensive support and to protect U.S. forces operating in the region,” a U.S. military official said.

According to Iran’s mission to the United Nations, the attacks were justified by Article 51 of the UN Charter, which recognizes a member of the United Nations’ right to self-defence if attacked by another nation.

Iran said that the missiles and drones were launched in a retaliatory attack to an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria which killed several generals.

“Iran’s military action was in response to the Zionist regime’s aggression against our diplomatic premises in Damascus,” the statement said.

Israel has not taken responsibility for the attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus.

Iran said that the retaliatory attack could be deemed concluded. However, should the Israeli regime make another mistake, its response will be considerably more severe.

The Joint Task Force, Northwest Operation Haderin Daji, OPHD troops on April 12th, 2024, dominated Babban Doka, Gobirawar Challi, and Kabaro axis under Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, engaging the terrorists in a heavy gun duel.

This was disclosed by the Information officer of OPHD, Lieutenant Suleiman Omale in a statement issued to newsmen in Gusau, the State capital.

“During the operation, our brave troops from Dansadau Forward Operating Base exhibited exceptional courage, overpowering the criminal elements and neutralizing 12 terrorists, while others fled with gunshot wounds”

“In a subsequent mop-up patrol, the gallant troops recovered significant weapons and assets from the scene, including 1 AK-47 rifle, 1 magazine, 2 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 1 locally made gun, 1 Dane gun, and 18 cows. Additionally, 10 motorcycles belonging to the terrorists were recovered and destroyed on the spot”.

“Brigadier General Sani Ahmed, the Commander 1 Brigade and Sector 1 OPHD commended the resilience, doggedness, and gallantry displayed by our troops. He urged them to maintain the momentum and not relent until normalcy is fully restored in the region”

Furthermore, Brigadier General S Ahmed extended his appreciation to the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 8 Division, and Commander, Joint Task Force Northwest Operation Hadarin Daji (OPHD), Major General GM Mutkut, for his tactical leadership and unwavering support to the troops in achieving their mandate”

A court has sentenced a top Vietnamese property tycoon to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated $27 billion in damages.

Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade.

A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all the defendant’s arguments.

“The defendant’s actions… eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the (Communist) Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in southern business hub Ho Chi Minh City.

The trial which lasted for five weeks also has 85 others sentenced on charges ranging from bribery and abuse of power to appropriation and violations of banking law.

Four were given life imprisonment, while the others received jail terms ranging between 20 years and three years suspended.

Lan’s husband, Hong Kong billionaire Eric Chu Nap Kee, was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Lan embezzled $12.5 billion, but prosecutors said Thursday the total damages caused by the scam now amounted to $27 billion — a figure equivalent to six per cent of the country’s 2023 GDP.

The court ordered Lan, 67, to pay almost the entire damages sum in compensation.

The death sentence is an unusually severe punishment in such a case, although the country is a leading executioner globally, according to Amnesty International.

Lan and the others were arrested as part of a national corruption crackdown that has swept up numerous officials and members of Vietnam’s business elite in recent years.

She appeared to say in final remarks to the court last week that she had thoughts of suicide.

“In my desperation, I thought of death,” she said, according to state media.

“I am so angry that I was stupid enough to get involved in this very fierce business environment — the banking sector — which I have little knowledge of.”

President Vladimir Putin of Russia has said his country is open to negotiations with Ukraine but will never accept “any schemes that have nothing to do with reality”.

Putin made the remark while mocking the scheduled round of Ukraine peace talks in Switzerland, warning that Moscow will not accept any enforced plans that ignore its interests.

Switzerland’s government had announced plans to hold a high-level international conference in June to help chart a path toward peace in Ukraine.

But Putin said a peace process can’t happen without Russia.

Speaking with Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow, Putin said: “They aren’t inviting us there.

“Moreover, they think there is nothing for us to do there, but at the same time they say that’s it’s impossible to decide anything without us. It would have been funny if it weren’t so sad.”

German authorities say three teenagers aged 15 and 16 have been arrested over suspicion of plotting a deadly Islamist terrorist attack in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, prosecutors said on Friday.

The state’s Central Office for the Prosecution of Terrorism (ZenTer NRW) sought an arrest warrant for the teenagers over the Easter holiday.

They were suspected of plotting a terrorist attack with the aims and ideology of (extremist militia organisation) Islamic State.

The detained suspects are a 15-year-old girl from Dusseldorf, a 16-year-old girl from the Märkischer Kreis district and a 15-year-old boy from the Soest district, located about 100 kilometres east of Dusseldorf.

A fourth suspect has reportedly been identified in the south-western German state of Baden-Württemberg, and the local court there has issued an arrest warrant.

According to the investigators, the teenagers are accused of having agreed to commit murder and manslaughter.

This is in conjunction with the preparation of a severe act of violence endangering the state.

The presumption of innocence applied in all stages of the proceedings.

Security sources told reporters that the young people had formed a chat group but had yet to draw up a concrete attack plan for a particular time and place.

Following the blast at a hydroelectric plant in Italy, rescuers on Friday found the body of the last worker missing, bringing the final death toll to seven.

Fire spokesman Luca Cari confirmed that all the workers missing after Tuesday’s explosion had now been found.

The cause of the blast at Enel Green Power’s Bargi plant on Lake Suviana near Bologna remains unclear.

EGP’s chief executive, Salvatore Bernabei, said in an interview published Friday that any speculation was “premature”, saying it would take time to understand a “very complex” situation.

But he rejected any suggestion there had been safety issues at the plant.

The company said earlier this week that “efficiency works” had been entrusted to three primary companies, Siemens, ABB and Voith.

The firm on Wednesday announced a two-million-euro fund for the urgent needs of victims and their families.

The United States has restricted travel for its diplomats in Israel amid fears of an attack by Iran.

The US embassy said staff had been told not to travel outside the greater Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Beersheba areas “out of an abundance of caution”.

Iran has vowed to retaliate, blaming Israel for a strike on its consulate in Syria 11 days ago, killing 13 people.

UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has phoned his Iranian counterpart to urge against further escalation.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the consulate attack but is widely considered to have been behind it.

Iran backs Hamas, the armed Palestinian group fighting Israel in Gaza, as well as various proxy groups throughout the region, including some – such as Hezbollah in Lebanon – that frequently carry out strikes against the Israelis.

Those killed in the consulate attack included a senior commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, as well as other military figures.

The attack came at a time of continuing diplomatic efforts to prevent the war in Gaza spreading across the region.

Speaking on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden warned Iran was threatening to launch a “significant attack” and vowed to offer “ironclad” support to Israel.

The commander responsible for US operations in the Middle East, Erik Kurilla, has travelled to Israel for talks with officials on security threats.

The Pentagon said the visit had been scheduled previously but had been brought forward “due to recent developments.

“Following a call with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Lord Cameron said he had “made clear… that Iran must not draw the Middle East into a wider conflict”.

“I am deeply concerned about the potential for miscalculation leading to further violence,” he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken to the foreign ministers of China, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey to argue that further escalation is not in anyone’s interest.

It is not clear what form any reprisal attack would take nor whether it would come directly from Iran or via one of its proxies.

On Sunday an Iranian official warned Israel’s embassies were “no longer safe”, suggesting a consulate building could be a possible target.

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant has told his US counterpart that “any direct Iranian attack” on Israeli territory would “require an appropriate Israeli response against Iran”.

Asked about the travel restrictions on Thursday, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said he would not disclose the “specific assessments” behind them, but added: “Clearly we are monitoring the threat environment in the Middle East and specifically in Israel.

“The UK Foreign Office has also updated its travel advice for Israel to state that the country’s government has raised the “possibility of an attack on Israeli territory from Iran, and that such an attack could trigger wider escalation”.

Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October, the Foreign Office has warned against travel to large parts of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

German airline Lufthansa has extended a suspension of flights to the Iranian capital Tehran until Saturday.

The October attack saw gunmen kill 1,200 people and take more than 250 hostage after crossing into Israel from Gaza.

Israel says that of 130 hostages still in Gaza, at least 34 are dead.

More than 33,000 Gazans, the majority of them civilians, have been killed during Israel’s subsequent offensive in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

President Joe Biden has been urged to ban imports of Chinese-made electric cars to the US.

The chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Sherrod Brown, wrote “Chinese electric vehicles are an existential threat to the American auto industry”.

His comments are the strongest yet by any US lawmaker on the issue, while others have called for steep tariffs to keep Chinese electric vehicles (EV) out of the country.

In February, the White House said the US was opening an investigation into whether Chinese cars pose a national security risk.

“We cannot allow China to bring its government-backed cheating to the American auto industry”, Senator Brown said in a video on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Senator Brown, who is a Democrat from the the car-producing state of Ohio, is seeking to win a fourth term in office in November’s election.

In February, President Biden said that China’s policies “could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security” and that he would “not let that happen on my watch.

“Washington could impose restrictions over concerns that the technology in Chinese-made cars could “collect large amounts of sensitive data on their drivers and passengers”, the White House said.

It warned cars that are connected to the internet “regularly use their cameras and sensors to record detailed information on US infrastructure; interact directly with critical infrastructure; and can be piloted or disabled remotely”.

China is the world’s largest producer of cars and vying with Japan to be the biggest exporter of vehicles.

This week, while on a trip to China, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Beijing that Washington would not allow a repeat of the “China shock” of the early 2000s, when Chinese imports flooded into America.In response, China’s vice finance minister, Liao Min, expressed “grave concern” over restrictions the US has imposed on trade and investment.

Mr Liao said China’s competitive advantages are due to its “large-scale market, complete industrial system and abundant human resources”.

Also on Thursday, America’s biggest airlines asked the Biden administration to halt approvals of new flights between the US and China.

In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Department Secretary Pete Buttigieg they said China’s “damaging anti-competitive policies” put US carriers at a disadvantage.

“If the growth of the Chinese aviation market is allowed to continue unchecked and without concern for equality of access in the market, flights will continue to be relinquished to Chinese carriers at the expense of US workers and businesses.”

The world’s two biggest economies have been locked in a trade war since 2018 when the then-Trump administration imposed tariffs on more than $360bn (£287bn) of Chinese goods.

Beijing retaliated with tariffs on more than $110bn of US products.

President Joe Biden has largely kept those tariffs in place.

Last year the value of goods the US bought from China fell by just over 20% to $427bn. At the same time, US exports to China dipped by 4% to just under $148bn.

The President of the Republic of Liberia, His Excellency Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr., has by Proclamation declared Friday, April 12, 2024, as “National Fast and Prayer Day” and is to be observed throughout Liberia as a National Holiday.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, the Day is to be observed as a Day of supplication, prayer, fasting and meditation so that our efforts as people may be crowned with great achievements to the common cause of the Nation, the State, and its humanity.

The Proclamation further calls upon all Prelates, Priests, Elders, Deacons, Evangelists, Imams, and all residents, regardless of religious creed, to gather with one accord in their places of worship, in each city, town, village, hamlet and home within the territorial confines of the Republic of Liberia, in simple and non-costly apparel to fast, pray and meditate from 8 o’clock in the morning.

The release says all public offices and business houses as well as marketplaces are to remain closed during the observance, while all citizens and foreign residents will cease from their usual daily occupations and avocations in recognition of God’s love and guidance.

“Through the patience and unwavering commitment to democratic principles, Liberians turned up on Election Day in large numbers and exercised their right to vote peacefully that laid the groundwork for the country’s second democratic transfer of power in over 70 years; the resilience of Liberia’s democratic institutions was instrumental to achieving this milestone and serves as an example for the region and the world,” the Proclamation stresses.

The Proclamation further recalls there have been unusual and extraordinary outbreaks of natural phenomenon and man-provoked national crises that have caused much harm, devastation, and destruction in many parts of the world from which our Nation has been spared by the Grace of God.

The Proclamation recounts that there are large numbers of the nation’s kith and kin living in uncertain conditions in the Diaspora, and the need for remembrance in prayers of those who have made the supreme sacrifice remains unfulfilled.

The Presidential Proclamation stresses that the people of Liberia have always submitted themselves, in humble supplication to the Almighty God for guidance and protection as well as for peace in their national life and affairs.

The Proclamation is in consonance with the Patriotic and Cultural Observances Law of the Republic of Liberia, Chapter one, declaring the second Friday in April of each year as a “National Fast and Prayer Day”, as a day of fasting and prayer for the prosperity of the nation.

O.J. Simpson, the star NFL football player whose 1995 acquittal in the so-called “trial of the century” for the brutal murders of his wife and a male friend gripped the world, has died at the age of 76, his family announced.

“On April 10, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer,” a message signed by the family said on social media site X.