A man armed with a knife attacked students at the entrance to a primary school in Shanghais central Xuhui district on Thursday, killing two of the children, police said.

The victims were rushed to hospital but two of the students died, it said, adding that the third student and the parent were not in a life-threatening condition.

The man, who was arrested at the scene, was unemployed and angry at society, the police said. A video circulated on Chinese social media platform Weibo showed people tying up the attacker with rope on a roadside pavement.

Violent crime is rare in China compared with many other countries, especially in major cities where security is tight, but there has been a series of knife and axe attacks in recent years, many targeting children.

Such attacks are often blamed on people with mental illness or who have personal grievances. Knives are most commonly used because gun controls are extremely strict in China. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN

Britains Queen Elizabeth, 92, is feeling unwell and will not attend a special service on Thursday at St Pauls Cathedral, Buckingham Palace said.

Her Majesty will be represented by The Duke of Kent as Grand Master of the Order, a palace statement said.

Elizabeth, the worlds oldest and longest-reigning living monarch, celebrated her 92nd birthday in April.

On Tuesday night, Queen Elizabeth presented three Nigerians, Hauwa Ojeifo, Isaac Ezirim and Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph from Nigeria with a Queens Young Leaders Award at a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London.

The awards were in honour of the work they are doing to transform lives in their communities.

The Queen was joined at the Award ceremony by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in recognising their success.

Source: NAN

Britains Prince William leaves Israel this hour after a four-day trip that was the first official visit by a senior British royal to the Jewish state.

Source: NAN

The summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be held in Helsinki, Fox News reported on Thursday.

Moscow and Washington will confirm the time and place of the summit on Thursday.

The two countries struck a deal on Wednesday to hold a summit soon.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, speaking after Putin met U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton in the Kremlin, said the summit would take place in a mutually convenient third country and that several more weeks were needed to prepare for it.

Source: NAN

Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo, has reacted to the alleged death threat issued to his family in Lagos on the social media due to his failure to score goals from clear-cut opportunities against Argentina, saying it was not deliberate.

Ighalo, who replaced Kelechi Ihanacho in the second half of the match between Nigeria and Argentina in the ongoing World Cup in Russia, failed to convert a through pass from Ahmed Musa had incurred the anger of fans.

Nigerian fans strongly believed that if Ighalo had scored the goal, it would have seen the Super Eagles through to the Round of 16 of the World Cup.

Speaking through his Social Media timeline, Ighalo, who was involved in Nigerias qualification for the World Cup, said that he regretted not scoring the crucial goal.

It is a great experience to play at the World Cup and I enjoyed every moment of it, but sometimes things dont work the way you want.

But life has to go on, I am grateful to God I did not sustain any injury, he said.

After the match which generated a lot of ill-comments from fans, the Changchun Yatai F.C. of Chinas striker, apologised to Nigerians and assumed personal responsibility for the blunder.

Source: NAN

Mr. Sunday Akinniyi, former Chief Whip of Ekiti State House of Assembly, has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the state governorship election on July 14

Akinniyi defected on Tuesday with the excuse that he joined APC due to high-handedness of Governor Ayodele Fayose.

He accused the outgoing governor of disrespect for top leaders of PDP.

He said that the alleged high-handedness was causing internal crisis and mass defection of influential members of PDP to the opposition.

The lawmaker representing Ikere Constituency II, said at the Kayode Fayemi Campaign secretariat in Ado Ekiti, said he got the blessing of critical stakeholders in my constituency before taking the step.

He explained that he decided to join the governorship campaign of Dr Fayemi because Fayose treated the Olukere of Ikere, Ganiyu Obasoyin, with disdain, and reneged on his promise to give him recognition and staff of office.

He alleged that Fayose neglected his constituents in major projects executed in Ikere Ekiti.

Governor Fayose said I should bring Olukere to him, which I did. He promised that he will ask the Council of Traditional Rulers to go to Olukeres palace and examine the place and make recommendations on how best they can recognise his stool, which they did.

The Obas turned in their report and Governor Fayose never acted on it. Rather than recognising Olukere, they set him up for murder and put him in detention and that was why I decided not to support the governorship candidate, Professor Kolapo Olusola.

All the projects he did in Ikere, including the dualisation, were concentrated in constituency I. I used to raise issues about this and that was why they removed me as the Chief Whip instead of the allegation of docility and sleeping at plenary they levelled against me.

Apart from all these, the PDP had been in constant crises and now irreversibly divided and polarised to the extent that more than half of its members have moved out of the party in recent times to join APC.

As a Democrat, I cannot continue to remain in a party that had been polarised by internal crises because my continued stay will not allow me to effectively represent my people.

He declared that after consultations with leaders and people of his constituency, he had resigned his membership of the PDP due to irreconcilable breaking into factions of the party in Ekiti following the rancorous governorship primary.

I view of this, I use this opportunity to announce my defection to APC from effect from today, June 26, 2018.

Last week, a former Deputy Majority Leader of the Assembly, Ebenezer Alagbada of Ise/Orun had also joined the Fayemi campaign.

A former PDP governorship aspirant and chieftain of PDP, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, also defected to APC.

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Source: NAN

The Women in Politics Forum (WIPF) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to overhaul the security structure in the country in view of the unending killings ongoing across Nigeria.

The President of the forum, Ms Ebere Ifendu made the call at a press conference following the killing of over 100 people in Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Jos South Local Government Areas of Plateau.

She said that the forum was saddened by the continued killings around the country saying that thousands of lives had been lost in Benue, Taraba, Kaduna and Zamfara.

Ifendu said that the killings were not only condemnable, they were also unacceptable as it was on record that women and children were the most victims.

We call on the Federal Government to overhaul the security structure of the country, we cannot continue to lose lives and property when is the responsibility of government to protect citizens.

We demand the immediate arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of this heinous crimes, she said.

Ifendu said that WIPF was also concerned over the indiscriminate arrest of innocent citizens by security agencies without proper investigations.

The president pointed out the recent arrest of Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe by the Department of State Security (DSS) for a matter in court

She called on President Mohammadu Buhari to direct security agencies in the country to observe the principle of the Rule of Law and respect for human right.

The forum demanded the immediate release of the senator and other detained citizens held without proper investigation.

On women representation in politics, Ifendu said though democracy was a game of numbers, it had not reflected the population of women in Nigeria.

At the federal level, she put women representation in government at five per cent and various degrees at state level with none hitting the 35 per cent affirmative policy.

Ifendu said that in the absence of any legal decument supporting women participation in politics, political parties could bridge the gap.

She said that political parties determines who become candidates, demanding that parties obey legal document setting them up and ensure internal democracy.

The forum commended the Governor and citizens of Rivers for electing 23 women as Vice Chairman and an unprecedented numbers as councilors in the just concluded Local Government elections in the state.

She said that Rivers is one of the six states that has a woman as Deputy Governor, commending Governor Nysom Wike for appointing women into versions top government offices.

The president called on other states to emulate Rivers, canvassing that the gesture be replicated at the federal level in 2019.

Source: NAN

Emmerson Mnangawa the president of Zimbabwe, has blamed an apparent assassination attempt at a political rally last weekend on a faction led by Grace Mugabe, the wife of the ousted president Robert Mugabe.

Mnangagwa told BBC in an interview that he believed the so-called G40 faction was responsible for the grenade thrown at the podium in the White City stadium in Bulawayo on Saturday afternoon.

The 75-year-old leader,that led to the resignation of Mugabe after a rule of 37 years, stopped short of blaming the former first lady directly.

killed two people and injured 49. Both vice-presidents were slightly injured in the blast, as were several other top officials in the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Manangagwa earlier said the attack had been calculated to achieve a bloodbath and destabilise the ongoing electoral programme.

The upcoming parliamentary and presidential election is the latest turning point in the most tumultuous few months in almost four decades of Zimbabwes political history.

Though the poll on 30 July is realistically a two-horse contest between Zanu-PF against the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the longstanding opposition, more than 20 candidates are contesting the presidency.

My hunch without evidence is that the people who aggrieved by the new dispensation are the G40 so that is the logical conclusion, Mnangagwa told the BBC.

I think this is a political action by some aggrieved persons by the current democratic dispensation in the country. he added.

There is much bitter history between the current president,and a close aide to Mugabe for decades, and the G40 faction.

The November takeover came after Mnangagwa was sacked as vice-president by the ailing 94-year-old autocrat, a move that he and Zimbabwes powerful military saw as clearing the way to power for the 54-year-old first lady and her supporters.

A number of previous alleged assassination attempts have been blamed on the G40 by Mnangagwa and his supporters, including an apparent poisoning last year. No evidence has emerged to implicate any individual or group.

Mnangagwa told the BBC thatwas politically immature and was easily used by a tool who wanted to get at me.

Many of those who were close to the former first lady have fled.

Opposition leaders infear the bombing may serve as a pretext for aby the government or the military in the southern African state.

Manangwa said such concern was unfounded.

There is no need for a security crackdown this is a criminal activity but of course we must make sure the population is protected and only when we have got them are we going to be able to assess the extent to which the network is spread.

Source:

Source: NAN

The President of the Senate Dr. Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara are currently meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari over the recent massacre in Plateau state.

The meeting which was at the instance of the President of the Senate is currently holding at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The news of the ongoing meeting was disclosed on the twitter handle of the President of the Senate @SPNigeria.

The tweet reads: The President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara are now meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari over the #PlateauKillings. The meeting was requested by the presiding officers of @NASSNigeria.

UPDATE: The President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara are now meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari over the . The meeting was requested by the presiding officers of .

The Senate President (@SPNigeria)

Details of the meeting will be made available shortly.

Recall that following the killings, Saraki had called for a quick response to the security crisis in Nigeria.

I am very sad to hear the news of the incident in Plateau State. This is very depressing and giving the impression that the country is not safe.

The problem of Boko Haram in the North-east is well known to everybody but this killing by unknown band of assailants in Benue, Taraba, Plateau and Kaduna States is now giving another dimension to the crisis. Coming at the time we are getting ready for elections, we need to respond fast.

If the plan is to develop some long term measures, we also request that the President should mandate the security chiefs to put forward an immediate short term and quick response measure which will restore confidence in the system and demonstrate to the criminals behind this killings the capacity of government to tackle the issue.

We have to immediately device a plan through which the criminals behind the killings and their sponsors can be nabbed and made to face the wrath of the law.

We have to also develop plans to mop up illegal fire arms in the hands of dangerous elements while also stopping the influx of these arms into the country, he stated.

Source: NAN

Three suspects in the connection with the weekends killings in 11 villages in Plateau have been arrested and paraded by the military alongside with their weapons.

Two of the suspects are herdsmen and one Berom one of the minority ethnic groups in Plateau currently at odds with Fulani herdsmen over grazing rights.

They were arrested by the Special Military Task Force, Operation Save Haven which paraded them on Wednesday in Jos alongside 14 others, who were arrested over the killings.

The three men were said to have been captured at Gashish District in the Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 11 villages in the Barkin Ladi Local Government Area and its environs were affected in the onslaught in which property worth billions of naira were also destroyed.

Parading the suspects, the spokesman of the STF, Maj. Umar Adams, told reporters that the suspects were arrested, clutching sophisticated riffles.

The deadly activities of the herdsmen have raised concerns over the future of agriculture in North Central Nigeria because of the penchant of the marauders to kill farmers.

Analysts describe Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa States, the hotbeds of the killings as the food basket of Nigeria.

Adams said the suspects were arrested in the course of the attacks.

We all know that some days back, some villages in Barkin Ladi were attacked and these three suspects were arrested in connection with that.

As our men were repelling the attacks in those areas we arrested these suspects with four riffles, three locally made guns and one AK47.

The other 14 people were arrested in connection with civil unrest recently experienced in the state.

Adams said that the suspects were still being investigated and that more arrests would be made in the course of time.

Meanwhile, the United Global Resolve for Peace (UGRFP), an NGO, says something urgent must be done to stop the spate of killings across the country.

Mr Pelumi Olajengbesi, the Groups Executive Secretary, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, prayed God to grant each affected home the fortitude to deal with such severe losses.

He said that the recent incident in Plateau State in which many lives were lost had similar tales in Zamfara, Yobe and Borno.

The nation wept as it does now, swore itself sore to the promise that never again would live be wasted so cheaply without justice only for us to go round full circle in a matter of days to this.

Something urgent must be done to address the continuous killing of innocent men and women nationwide.

There is yet a nation to save and it is a collective duty of all to seek new ways to address the fatal challenge before us.

While the nation continues to weep, and rightly so, for the many lives lost senselessly in the alleged herdsmen attack, may I extend my deep condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, he said.

He called on the Federal Government to more responsive to its duty of protecting lives and property.

The Police Command in Plateau had on Sunday confirmed the killing of 86 people in attacks on Razat, Ruku, Nyarr, Kura and Gana-Ropp villages of Gashish District in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state.

President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attacks, describing the incident as very painful and regrettable, and warned that the government would not rest until the assailants were brought to justice.

Source: NAN