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Foiled Coup: Tinubu’s Troop Deployment To Benin Was Clever Political Statement — Malik Ado-Ibrahim

The 2023 Young Progressives Party (YPP) presidential candidate, Malik Ado-Ibrahim, has praised President Bola Tinubu’s decision to deploy Nigerian troops to the Benin Republic during the recent coup attempt.

Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the security consultant described the move as “a very wise and clever, well-designed political statement.”

Ado-Ibrahim added on Tuesday that the deployment was aimed at protecting Nigeria’s economic interests and reinforcing regional stability.

“It was not only a message to other African countries that think we are weak in our national defence, but also a step to save our country and its economy.

“Lagos needed protection, and the rights given to him under ECOWAS allowed him to make that decision quickly,” he said.

He argued that Tinubu acted within regional protocols.

“I think the President did the right thing. One of the premium edicts from the civil war was the country-centric circle. The countries around us must remain protected because that reinforces our democracy.

“The President going into Benin created a parallel between seeking Senate permission and knowing that ECOWAS rules allow such action. Benin sits close to the centre of Nigeria’s economy, next to Lagos. We must ensure that area is protected, and many have forgotten how close we came to destroying Lagos’s economic lifeline,” he stated.

READ ALSO: [West African Coups] What Nigeria Must Do To Achieve Political Stability — Falana

Ado-Ibrahim also expressed concerns about Nigeria’s internal security structure.

He said the country’s biggest challenge remained weak intelligence capacity.

“Our problem is not troop motivation. We have very capable soldiers. We also have credible advantages with the air force and an air superiority the enemy does not possess.

“We are lacking simple things needed to defeat these issues on the ground. Most of it lies in intelligence gathering, and the lack of it limits our ability to act as swiftly as we did in Benin over the weekend,” he said.

The remarks follow the Sunday’s coup attempt in Benin, where soldiers led by Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri seized the state-run television station in Cotonou and declared the removal of President Patrice Talon.

Loyalist forces, backed by Nigerian troops and an ECOWAS standby unit, crushed the uprising within hours.

Several people were killed, and at least 14 suspects were arrested, while Tigri remains on the run.

The coup plotters cited worsening security, unfair promotions, and restrictions affecting the 2026 presidential election.

Lady Gaga halts gig amid chaos as fan who grabbed Ariana Grande is ‘kicked out’

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Lady Gaga’s Brisbane gig was delayed amid a series of hiccups, including technical difficulties that meant thousands of fans were stranded outside, and the singer suffering a bout of illness

Lady Gaga halts gig amid chaos as fan who grabbed Ariana Grande is ‘kicked out’(Image: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)

Lady Gaga was forced to delay her gig in Brisbane and halt the performance mid-song, amid a series of problems. The star was at the last stop of her Mayhem Ball tour on Tuesday (9 December).

The Poker Face singer was due to take the stage at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia, at 7:00pm but reportedly did not until 7:40pm, after a series of issues prevented her from starting on time. This was not an end to the problems, as thousands of fans were still stranded outside the stadium and Lady Gaga still had to halt one sing partway through.

READ MORE: How Nicole Kidman, Princess Diana and Lady Gaga got their own back after painful splitsREAD MORE: Man who grabbed Ariana Grande at Wicked premiere is jailed

Thousands of fans were stuck outside the venue
Thousands of fans were stuck outside the venue

To begin with, the gates of the venue reportedly opened late. They were supposed to open at 5pm and were said to instead open hour later. This caused bottlenecks and, according to The Courier Mail, some fans were still outside when the show began, despite the 40 minute delay, caused by technical issues.

As fans tried to enter the venue, one fan was being escorted out. Johnson Wen, who grabbed Ariana Grande at the Singapore stop of the Wicked: For Good press tour, took to his Instagram to share that he had been “kicked out” of the concert before it even began.

“Got kicked out of the lady Gaga concert!” he wrote over a selfie. The 26-year-old was also seen in footage from the show that was posted to TikTok, being escorted from the venue by security guards. He added to his post: “The early fans were booing me.”

Wen is known for rushing celebrities during public appearances, having done so with The Weeknd and Katy Perry, as well as Ariana Grande. After grabbing Grande, Wen was arrested and charged with being a “public nuisance” by a Singaporean court.

The fan who grabbed Ariana Grande was escorted out
The fan who grabbed Ariana Grande was escorted out
Lady Gaga also had to stop her concert mid-song
Lady Gaga also had to stop her concert mid-song

During the Brisbane show, Gaga also had to stop her performance of Die With A Smile as she suffered a sneezing fit whilst seated at the piano. She subsequently had to start the song again from the top.

Gaga’s Australian segment of the tour began on Friday (5 December), in Melbourne. It was the first time in more than 11 years that the singer has performed in the country.

Fans were upset with the small size of the stage Gaga used for her first performance. A few called is “embarrassing” and “a small a**” stage. “The stage size is so embarrassing even more so for someone who hasn’t been here for 10 years,” wrote one fan. Another added: “Really wondering, will she use this small a** stage in Accor Stadium (80k capacity Sydney)?”

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Some fans also weren’t happy with the items that were banned from the shows. As well as items usually banned from such events, banners, posters and signs requesting songs and shout outs were prohibited. Venues also told fans not to bring red canes, inspired by Gaga’s performances at Coachella, unless they were needed for medical reasons.

Australia’s social media ban for young people takes effect

Australia has banned children under 16 from social media in a world-first, as other countries consider similar age-based measures amid rising concerns over its effects on children’s health and safety.

Under the new law, which came into effect at midnight local time on Wednesday (13:00 GMT on Tuesday), 10 of the biggest platforms face $33m in fines if they fail to purge Australia-based users younger than 16.

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The law has been criticised by major technology companies and free speech campaigners, but praised by parents and child advocates.

The Australian government says unprecedented measures are needed to protect children from “predatory algorithms” filling phone screens with bullying, sex and violence.

“Too often, social media isn’t social at all,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in advance of the ban.

“Instead, it’s used as a weapon for bullies, a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators.”

The law states that Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat and Reddit are forbidden from creating or keeping accounts belonging to users in Australia under 16.

Streaming platforms Kick and Twitch are also on the government’s blacklist, as are message boards Threads and X. Popular apps and websites such as Roblox, Pinterest and WhatsApp are currently exempt – but the government has stressed that the list remains under review.

Meta, YouTube and other social media giants have already condemned the ban.

YouTube, in particular, has attacked the law, describing it as “rushed” and saying it would only push children into deeper, darker corners of the internet.

While most platforms have begrudgingly agreed to comply, for now, legal challenges are in the wind.

Online discussion site Reddit said Tuesday it could not confirm local media reports that said it would seek to overturn the ban in Australia’s High Court.

The Sydney-based internet rights group Digital Freedom Project has already launched its own bid to have teenagers reinstated to social media.

Some parents, tired of seeing children stuck to their phones, see the ban as a relief.

Father-of-five Dany Elachi said the restrictions were a long-overdue “line in the sand”.

“We need to err on the side of caution before putting anything addictive in the hands of children,” he told the AFP news agency.

The Australian government concedes the ban will be far from perfect at the outset, and canny teenagers will find ways to circumvent it.

Social media companies bear the sole responsibility for checking users are 16 or older.

Some platforms say they will use AI tools to estimate ages based on photos, while young users may also choose to prove their age by uploading a government ID.

There is keen interest in whether Australia’s sweeping restrictions can work as regulators around the globe wrestle with the potential dangers of social media.

Malaysia indicated it was planning to introduce a similar ban next year.

ACLU files lawsuit seeking legal basis for Trump’s Caribbean boat strikes

Rights watchdog groups in the United States have filed a lawsuit seeking greater clarification on the legal rationale being used to justify the Trump administration’s targeting of alleged drug trafficking vessels off Latin America.

The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the group’s New York state affiliate, and the Center for Constitutional Rights, seeks the release of an opinion from the internal Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), which advises the executive branch on legal matters.

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“The public deserves to know how our government is justifying the cold-blooded murder of civilians as lawful and why it believes it can hand out get-out-of-jail-free cards to people committing these crimes,” Jeffrey Stein, staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a press release. “The Trump administration must stop these illegal and immoral strikes, and officials who have carried them out must be held accountable.”

At least 86 people have been killed since the Trump administration announced the first strike in early September, in what the president has depicted as a counter-narcotics effort. A total of 22 declared strikes have been carried out in the Caribbean, even though they are widely considered illegal under both international and US law, since drug trafficking is a criminal activity.

The press statement by the groups says that they hope to force a disclosure from an OLC that “apparently blesses the ongoing strikes as lawful acts in an alleged ‘armed conflict’ with unspecified ‘drug cartels’”.

Legal experts roundly reject the administration’s claim that drug trafficking constitutes an attack on the US and that alleged traffickers are therefore unlawful combatants who can be killed with military force. But despite their likely illegality, the Trump administration has pressed forward with more strikes and has stated that they will continue, sharing videos of small boats exploding after being struck on social media.

“If the OLC opinion seeks to dress up legalese in order to provide cover for the obvious illegality of these serial homicides, the public needs to see this analysis and ultimately hold accountable all those who facilitate murder in the United States’ name,” said Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Some have also cast doubt on the administration’s stated aim of combating drug trafficking, noting that the strikes have a minuscule impact on drug flows.

The campaign also comes during a period of heightened US threats against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the Trump administration has accused of coordinating the activities of criminal groups despite internal US intelligence assessments that undercut that claim.

NHL players will skip Winter Olympics if ice unsafe

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NHL players will not take part in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy if the quality of the ice is not good enough, says deputy commissioner Bill Daly.

But he remains “cautiously optimistic” issues will be resolved in time.

Stars from North America’s National Hockey League, the biggest in the world, are set to compete at the Milan-Cortina Olympics next year – their first appearance at a Winter Games since 2014.

But there are doubts around the size and quality of the ice at the Santagiulia Arena in Milan, where construction is still not finished, despite the Games starting on 6 February. Matches will also be held at Milano Rho Arena.

“I don’t want to be flip about it. We probably will know that in advance of the official start of the Games. What you do at that point becomes a different issue.

“Obviously, if the players feel that the ice is unsafe, we’re not going to play.

“It’s as simple as that.”

The rink in Milan, approved by the International Ice Hockey Federation, is shorter than the minimum requirement in the NHL, leading to suggestions there could be an increase in high-speed collisions.

The NHL players’ association said on Saturday the concerns were more around the quality of the ice than the size.

Daly, though, said he did not think the issues were insurmountable.

“We have offered and they’re utilising our ice experts and technicians and outside providers,” he added.

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    • 19 November
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Trump slams Europe’s immigration policies, calls continent ‘weak’

United States President Donald Trump has doubled down on his attacks against Europe, arguing that the continent is now “weak” and “decaying” due to migration.

Trump told the publication Politico on Tuesday that European nations should deport people who “came into the country illegally”.

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“Europe, they want to be politically correct, and it makes them weak,” Trump said.

The US president has long opposed immigration to Western countries, often using harsh rhetoric to target immigrants, specifically from African and Muslim-majority countries.

“Europe is a different place. If that keeps going the way it’s going, in my opinion, many of those countries will not be viable countries any longer,” Trump said. “Their immigration policy is a disaster.”

Trump’s comments come less than a week after his administration released a National Security Strategy berating Europe and warning of “civilisational erasure” on the continent.

The document called for “cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations”.

Asked about the possibility of interfering in Europe’s internal affairs, Trump said he is focused on governing the US. However, he did not rule out endorsing candidates and parties in European elections, akin to his support for right-wing politicians in Latin America.

Trump also confirmed that his Hungarian ally, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is seeking a US bailout, similar to the $40bn aid package that Washington handed to the government of Argentinian President Javier Milei.

But the US president denied Orban’s claim that an assistance deal has been secured.

It may be difficult for the US to empower allies beyond Hungary. Many European far-right parties that echo Trump’s rhetoric have been shunned in their own countries.

In Germany, for example, groups across the political spectrum have vowed not to include the hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in any governing coalition.

In 2017, during his first term, Trump sparked a diplomatic crisis with the United Kingdom when he shared fake videos from a British far-right leader that purported to paint Muslim immigrants as violent.

Then-UK Prime Minister Theresa May called the posts “wrong”, and several politicians condemned the US president.

On Tuesday, Trump renewed his attacks on one of his most frequent political targets – London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan.

The US president questioned Khan’s ideology and suggested that the mayor, a Muslim, was elected by immigrants, echoing the “great replacement” conspiracy theory that alleges an unfounded plot to replace white voters with newcomers.

“If you take a look at London, you have a mayor named Khan. He’s a horrible mayor. He’s an incompetent mayor, but he’s a horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor,” Trump said.

Although the UK has been adopting restrictive immigration laws, Trump claimed that it is “allowing people just to come in, unchecked, unvetted”.

“Look at the mayor of London. He’s a disaster. He’s a disaster,” Trump said. “He’s got a totally different ideology of what he’s supposed to have. And he gets elected because so many people have come in, and they vote for him.”

Trump also attacked Khan during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September, suggesting that the London mayor adopted Islamic law in the city.

The US president’s rhetoric against Khan and Europe has been met with a muted response over the past weeks.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has only defended and voiced support for Khan – his Labour Party ally – without condemning or directly criticising Trump.

In his Politico interview, Trump also decried the state of Paris – a major destination for US tourists – as well as Sweden, saying that the Nordic country is now “very unsafe”.