Oba Ewuare II, the monarchy of Benin, revealed that a global cartel made a desperate attempt to re-loot the priceless items from the country as the kingdom applauded the return of 119 bronzes from the Netherlands.
The monarch described the incident as a historic cultural and diplomatic victory, which was made possible by the Benin Royal Court’s constant advocacy and the Nigerian Government’s formal engagement, during a ceremony held at the Royal Palace in Benin City, Edo State.
“We had international cartel-backed organizations in this country who conspired to re-loot our artifacts.” They attempted to retake these treasures, but they were unsuccessful. Our ancestors kept them safe, Oba Ewuare said.
Key figures at the event, which took place on Wednesday, 18 June 2025, included Marieke van Bommel, the director-general of the Netherlands’ Wereld Museum, and the director-general of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Olugbile Holloway.
The returned bronzes, which were originally looted in 1897 as a result of the British invasion of Benin, have been housed in Dutch collections for more than a century.
Their return was a result of a transfer agreement between the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science, which was led by Minister Eppo Bruins.
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Oba Ewuare commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Edo State and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for making sure the artifacts were returned via fair and transparent means.
Additionally, he vehemently warned against political ambitions that threaten the kingdom’s cultural merit.
“We must not allow partisan politics to undermine our heritage.” Governor Monday Okpebholo, who is well-represented by Musa Ikhilor, the state government’s secretary, and for joining us for this historic celebration, he said.
The monarch praised Holloway for his moral character throughout the repatriation process, striking a direct contrast to his predecessor, who he claimed attempted to facilite the unsuccessful re-looting.
We engaged in a fierce combat to stop those who wanted to re-loot. He said to my Chiefs right here that he prefers the artefacts to be kept abroad rather than being re-looted while I ascend the throne.
Our ancestors rose and protected the Benin Kingdom, he continued, adding that there was once a government that sought to destabilize it.
Ikhilor, who spoke on behalf of the state government, described the return as “a historic triumph, 128 years in the making,” and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to preserving the artefacts and providing the palace with the necessary infrastructure.
“The state feels pride in this,” the governor said. We are dedicated to constructing a dignified museum that not only preserves these treasures but also draws visitors to Benin, the birthplace of the African Bronze Age, “,” he said.
Van Bommel reiterated the Netherlands’ commitment to cultural restitution, saying that “we have returned these items in accordance with our cultural restitution policy. They should return to Benin City, where they were born.
The Dutch museum was responsible for the full cost of the artefacts’ return, according to NCMM Director-General Holloway in his remarks, calling the occasion “symbolic and historic.”
Lionel Messi will face Porto at the Club World Cup on Thursday, according to Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano, despite showing signs of discomfort during training.
Messi touched his left leg during a video during the Wednesday training session, but Mascherano confirmed the veteran forward was prepared for Miami’s second Group A game in Atlanta.
Leo trained, finished the entire session, according to Mascherano, who traveled from Miami to Atlanta after I noticed some things that came out.
He touched his leg, and there are some who touch themselves, but he is healthy and will probably play tomorrow. ”
After missing the opener 0-0 draw against Al Ahly due to injury, the coach claimed Messi’s former Barcelona team-mate Jordi Alba was available.
If he starts, we will decide whether or not to do so, the coach said. I already know, but I won’t tell you, in fact. ”
INCLUDE Fluminense Held a Rottmund at the World Cup of Clubs.
Meanwhile, Masscherano asserted that the key to keeping possession would be Porto, a regular Champions League team that will likely put the MLS team in a harsh test against Portugal.
The Argentine said, “We have players who feel much more at ease when they are in possession, dominating, and having control of the game through the ball.”
We are, of course, facing a team with experience doing that, who are on a high level side.
But since we are 11 against 11, we will try to exploit their strengths, highlight their weaknesses, and play a great game to get a positive outcome. ”
Sergio Busquets, a member of Spain’s 2010 World Cup winning side and a former Barcelona team-mate, said his team would face off at the Mercedes-Benz stadium.
According to Busquets, “They have very good players, they have reinforced, and we know that it will be very challenging.”
They host other excellent teams like Sporting and Benfica every year in a league match.
We will work together as a team to be as strong as possible, maintain a close relationship, and do our best.
We have the people (who can finish them), but we must also be strong and keep a clean sheet, according to the statement. ”
The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement to implement the Startup Hub Project with the Chief Consultant, Consortium of Oriental Consultants Global Co., Ltd., Intem Consulting Inc., and Yachiyo Engineering Co. Ltd., which the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has contracted to do so.
As noted above, Senator Atiku Bagudu, the minister of budget and economic planning, signed the MoU on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria on April 10th, 2025, while Yuzurio Susumu, the head of the JICA Nigeria Office, signed on behalf of the Japanese government to promote innovation, support emerging businesses, and provide a world-class facility with modern digital technologies and collaborative workspaces.
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Two crucial elements make up the project. The first phase, which will cost $ 40 million, will be led by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), while the second is the creation of a cutting-edge Start-Up Hub, which will cost $ 1.2 million.
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, NITDA’s director general, praised the Agency’s ongoing partnership with JICA, particularly through its iHatch initiative, which has already created over 117 direct and indirect jobs.
After suffering a stomach bug, Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe, according to the Spanish giants, is receiving treatment in a hospital in the United States.
Our player, Kylian Mbappe, has been taken into care because he has an acute case of gastroenteritis, according to Los Blancos in a statement.
In Xabi Alonso’s first game as manager, Real Madrid’s Club World Cup opener against Al-Hilal on Wednesday was 1-1 draw.
Alonso claimed on Tuesday that the 26-year-old forward had been “feeling a little better” as a result of illness leading up to the game in Miami.
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Gonzalo Garcia, a 21-year-old member of the Madrid B team, started for Mbappe and gave Real Madrid the lead in the Saudi Arabian match.
On Sunday, June 22, Madrid will play Charlotte’s Pachuca, a team from Mexico, in their second Group H game.
Los Blancos finished the season without a significant trophy, but Mbappe won the European Golden Shoe with 31 goals in his first season at Real Madrid.
Britain’s Jacob Fearnley produces an impressive display to see off French qualifier Corentin Moutet at Queen’s and reach a first ATP Tour quarter-final.
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President Donald Trump made fun of Israel’s nuclear war when he asked if he would join the country in the White House’s lawn for a press conference.
“I may do it. He said on Wednesday, “I may not.”
Trump is responsible for making the decision to engage in the war, according to US officials and the president’s allies, who have also stressed that they can trust his instincts.
“He is the singular guiding hand about what will be occurring from this point forward”, Department of State spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on Tuesday.
However, antiwar advocates have been making the case that Congress must decide whether or not war or peace is best for Trump over all other options.
Some lawmakers are reaffirming their congressional authority under the War Powers Act as Trump more and more publicly makes hints about the possibility of US involvement in the conflict.
But what are the laws guiding a declaration of war, and could Trump get the US involved in the war without the consent of Congress?
What information is necessary about US law that governs war decisions.
What is stated in the US Constitution?
Section 1 of the US Constitution, which established the legislative branch of the government and outlines its duties, says Congress has the power to “declare war”.
Some opponents claim that the president has the authority to appoint lawmakers over US military actions.
When did the US last declare war in writing?
In 1942, during World War II. Since then, the US has launched strikes and interventions in numerous nations, including Serbia, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen, while also going to war in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
What authority does the president have in a war?
According to Article II of the constitution, the president is designated “commander in chief” of the armed forces.
Presidents are able to direct the military to react to threats and attacks. Beyond that, Congress restates some of their authority to declare war. Article II empowers them to direct military operations once Congress has authorised a war. Under the direction of lawmakers, they are in charge of mobilizing the military.
Despite this, previous presidents have used their military’s ability to launch attacks on an emergency basis to defend themselves or repel threats.
How has the US sent soldiers into Iraq and other places without formal declarations of war?
Through legislation known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), Congress may grant the president the authority to use the military for specific purposes without declaring war.
For instance, Congress passed an AUMF that gave then-President George W. Bush broad authority to start what would become the “war on terror” at the world level in 2001 in response to the attacks on September 11, 2001.
And one year later, it passed another AUMF allowing the use of the military against the government of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, which became the basis of the 2003 invasion.
Presidents can still rely on the two authorizations to carry out strikes without first obtaining congressional approval. For instance, Trump authorized the murder of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020 under the 2003 AUMF.
During Trump’s first term, there were concerns that he could use the 2001 AUMF to strike Iran under the unfounded claim that Tehran supports al-Qaeda.
The War Powers Act was passed when?
Presidents have discovered ways to avoid Congress in war issues despite the articles in the constitution. So in 1973, after decades of US intervention in Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia, lawmakers passed the War Powers Resolution to reassert their authority over military action.
The president’s war-making authority is limited by the law, at least in its intended form.
Following President Richard Nixon’s covert bombing of Cambodia, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians and sparked widespread protests in the US, it was passed.
A jogger passes US flags on the National Mall in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC]Will Oliver/EPA-EFE]
What are the Act’s key tenets?
The US president’s authority to start an armed conflict was imposed by the federal law.
Enacted over Nixon’s veto, the resolution requires “in the absence of a declaration of war” that the president notify Congress within 48 hours of military action and limits deployments to 60 or 90 days unless authorisations to extend them are passed.
Congress must be consulted “in every way possible” before US troops are sent abroad, it says.
The War Powers Act: Why Does It Matter Right Now?   ,
Legislators have been considering the five-decade law and pushing for their own version as the possibility of US intervention in Iran grows.
Republican Senator Tim Kaine introduced a bill on Monday that would require that Trump, a Republican, obtain authorization before launching military operations against Iran. That was followed by a similar bill put forward in the House of Representatives on Tuesday by US Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Republican, and Democrat Ro Khanna of California.
The Vermont senator’s No War Against Iran Act seeks to “prohibit the use of funds for military force against Iran, and for other purposes.”
However, it’s still unlikely that such legislation will pass in the Republican-controlled legislature despite the fact that some polls indicate Trump supporters are opposed to a war with Iran.
Why is new legislation needed if it’s in the constitution?   ,
The executive and legislative branches have fought over those positions throughout US history despite the separation of the executive and legislative branches’ constitutional separation of war powers.
The most prominent of these incidents – and the last time such a case made it to the Supreme Court in fact – took place in 1861 at the start of the US Civil War when President Abraham Lincoln blockaded southern ports months before Congress legally declared war on the Confederacy. The executive “may repel sudden attacks,” the court eventually decided that the president’s actions were constitutional.
Official congressional declarations of war have been a rarity throughout history. There have been just 11.
Instead, Congress has typically authorized a wide range of military resolutions.
Does the War Powers Act have any substance?
Almost since its passage, the 1973 law has been viewed by some critics as deeply ineffective – more of a political tool for lawmakers to voice dissent than as a real check on power. (A subcommittee led by then-Senator Joe Biden in the 1980s determined that the law had failed to fulfill its purpose.)
A presidential veto of a congressional resolution that calls for the end of military activities that are not authorized by Congress can only be overturned by a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate.
Others have argued the law served an important role in asserting Congress’s rights and creating a framework for speedy, presidential reporting to Congress. A semblance of transparency can be found in the more than 100 reports that have been sent to Congress since 1973.
What are presidents’ opinions of the act?
While Nixon was the most vociferous in his opposition to the War Powers Act, he’s hardly the only president to appear critical. Contemporary presidents frequently veer away from the law and make up their own legal arguments.
Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the executive branch has steadily expanded its role in waging war.
The 2001 AUMF and the 2002 Iraq AUMF have been used to justify attacks on “terrorist groups” in at least 19 countries, according to the Friends Committee on National Legislation.
In a briefing, Heather Brandon-Smith, the nonprofit’s legislative director of foreign policy, wrote that the executive branch has expanded this authorization to include organizations that were unrelated to the attacks, including those like ISIS [ISIL], which were unexistent at the time.
And while successive administrations have shown little interest in doing so, despite organizations like the International Crisis Group’s demand for a rehaul or repeal of the AUMF. In recent years, congressional efforts to repeal the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs have only begun chipping away at the acts.
Although the Senate voted in 2023 to end the AUMF of 2001, the decision was largely seen as symbolic. In 2021, the House voted similarly to revoke the AUMF from 2002. But both laws still remain in effect.
Can Trump’s war with Iran be prevented by the War Powers Act?
That is still to be seen, but it doesn’t seem likely.
During Trump’s first term in office, Congress sought to limit presidential war authority for the first time since the Vietnam War.
Trump quickly vetoed a bill that would end US support for the Saudi-United Arab Emirates war in Yemen in 2019.
After Trump’s drone strike that killed Soleimani, a similar situation emerged a year later.
In response, both houses of Congress passed legislation seeking to limit a president’s ability to wage war against Iran.
Trump overrode that bill, and once more, the two-thirds majority needed to override it was lost to Republicans.
