Author: The Whistler Newspaper

Injured forward Lamine Yamal has been named in Spain’s World Cup squad, which does not feature any Real Madrid players for the first time.

The 18-year-old missed the final month of the season after tearing his left hamstring while playing for Barcelona on 22 April.

Real defenders Dean Huijsen and Dani Carvajal were left out.

“I don’t look at one club or another. I don’t have that local bias a fan might have. For me, it’s more global,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente.

“The only thing I want is for these footballers to feel proud of representing the national team.”

Real did not win a trophy this season and finished eight points behind La Liga champions Barcelona.

Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams, who has been struggling with a hamstring problem, also features in the 26-man squad.

“We’re very relaxed. Barring any setbacks, we’ll have everyone available from the very first match,” said De la Fuente.

The World Cup runs from 11 June to 19 July.

Spain play debutants Cape Verde on 15 June, Saudi Arabia on 21 June and Uruguay on 26 June in Group H.

Midfielder Mikel Merino, who returned in Arsenal’s last Premier League game of the season on Sunday after four months out with a stress fracture in the foot, has been included in the squad.

He is one of seven Premier League players along with clubmates David Raya and Martin Zubimendi, Tottenham’s Pedro Porro, Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella, Manchester City’s Rodri and Crystal Palace’s Yeremy Pino.

Uncapped defenders Eric Garcia and Marc Pubill have been called up after impressing for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid respectively.

“Excitement is the key word. Passion,” said De la Fuente.

“The reaction of people all over Spain – adults and children alike – is that they are fully behind the national team.”

Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez was last week ruled out of the tournament with a broken foot.

Spain World Cup squad
Goalkeepers: Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao), David Raya (Arsenal), Joan Garcia (Barcelona).

Defenders: Marcos Llorente (Atletico Madrid), Marc Pubill (Atletico Madrid), Pedro Porro (Tottenham), Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Bilbao), Eric Garcia (Barcelona), Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea), Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen).

Midfielders: Rodri (Manchester City), Martin Zubimendi (Arsenal), Mikel Merino (Arsenal), Pedri (Barcelona), Gavi (Barcelona), Fabian Ruiz (Paris St-Germain), Alex Baena (Atletico Madrid).

Forwards: Yeremy Pino (Crystal Palace), Victor Munoz (Osasuna), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), Dani Olmo (Barcelona), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Borja Iglesias (Celta Vigo).

Spain Include Yamal In World Cup Squad, No Madrid Player is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

… says Tinubu’s over 10 million votes not a threat Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that the crisis in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) will not stop the party from winning the forthcoming general elections. He stated that internal crisis is typical of political parties during elections, describing it as the beauty of […]

The post ADC presidential primaries: Atiku casts vote in Adamawa appeared first on Tribune Online.

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has sealed all branches of Inner Galaxy Steel Company and Jiuxing Integrity Industrial Ltd over terrorism financing in Nigeria.

This was announced in a statement on Monday.

The security agency said the corps secured a court order to seal the companies for allegations ranging from conspiracy to commit a felony, to damage and theft of railway infrastructure, and to concealment of stolen property.

It disclosed that during a raid by the commandant general’s special intelligence squad on one of the factories, several illegally obtained and vandalised government assets and infrastructure were recovered.

“Armed with valid search warrants and court orders, the operatives stormed the Birnin Yero facility in Igabi LGA, Kaduna state. Confession from arrested staff revealed a coordinated logistics network where vandalised national infrastructure was routinely moved to the company’s headquarters in Aba and other branches for melting.

“The stolen steel was subsequently recycled into commercial products such as nails and roofing sheets,” the NSCDC statement said.

The agency also mentioned that the management of the companies owned by Chinese nationals had been formally summoned by the NSCDC but had yet to comply.

NSCDC further said that its commandant general, Ahmed Audi, directed that every suspect found culpable or an accomplice to the allegations must face the full wrath of the law.

NSCDC Shut Down Chinese Company For Alleged Terrorism Financing is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Owo/Ose Federal Constituency, Kayode Ijalana, has described President Bola Tinubu’s emergence as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general election as a clear affirmation of the trust reposed in his leadership, experience and vision for Nigeria.

Recall that Tinubu emerged as the APC presidential candidate for the 2027 general election after securing nearly 11 million votes in the party’s nationwide primary election, defeating fellow aspirant Stanley Osifo.

In Ondo State, the president scored 181,966 votes, while Osifo scored zero.

In a statement made available on Monday, Ijalana congratulated the president, noting that the outcome of the primary reflected the overwhelming confidence of party delegates in his capacity to consolidate ongoing reforms and steer the country towards greater prosperity.

“This victory is not just for Mr. President, but for all progressives who believe in continuity, stability, and national development. It validates his decades of investment in democracy, bridge-building, and transformative governance,” he said.

Ijalana also commended the APC National Working Committee and delegates for conducting a transparent, peaceful, and credible primary election, adding that the exercise further deepened internal democracy within the party.

“We are fully mobilised in Owo and Ose to deliver massive support for Mr. President. His Renewed Hope Agenda resonates with our people, and we are confident that under his leadership, Nigeria will achieve new milestones in security, infrastructure, and economic growth.

“On behalf of the good people of Owo/Ose Federal Constituency and the entire APC family in our constituency, I heartily congratulate our leader and President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on his well-deserved emergence as the presidential candidate of our great party, the APC,” Ijalana said.

Tinubu’s Victory Signals Continuity, Trust In His Leadership – APC Chieftain is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a humanitarian medical organisation, has raised concern over worsening health and humanitarian conditions in northwestern Nigeria.

MSF warned that the rainy season is driving deadly outbreaks of diseases such as malaria, cholera, typhoid, and acute malnutrition across vulnerable communities in Zamfara State.

The organization, in a statement on Monday by Sani Adamu, Nursing Activity Manager at MSF hospital in Zamfara, said the annual rains, which usually begin between May and September, have become a “season of death” for many families already displaced and impoverished by years of armed violence and insecurity.

It further highlighted flooding, stagnant water, poor sanitation and overcrowded living conditions as the major factors spreading infectious diseases, while worsening food shortages and limited access to healthcare continue to expose thousands of residents to preventable deaths.

“The rainy season affects the way we see patients. It increases the risks and transmission of many diseases, like malaria, cholera, and other acute watery diarrheal diseases,” said Adamu.

Adamu further explained that stagnant floodwater creates breeding grounds for mosquitoes, causing malaria cases to surge, while contaminated water sources contribute to outbreaks of cholera, typhoid fever, and other waterborne illnesses.

“In places where sanitation is poor and water sources are unsafe, any contamination can spread quickly. Flooding washes waste, garbage, and faecal matter into water sources, spreading water-borne diseases. Children play in this water, households use it, and people fall sick,” he said.

According to MSF, in 2025 alone, the organization treated 136,778 malaria patients and 13,877 cholera cases in Zamfara State.

It also highlighted the growing burden of typhoid-related complications, especially among children, citing the case of Auwalu Biliya from Shinkafi Local Government Area, who developed severe typhoid complications after consuming contaminated food and water.

“We took him to the hospital in Shinkafi. We were told his intestines had been affected,” his grandmother, Rakiya Usman, told MSF.

According to MSF, Auwalu was later referred to an MSF-supported General Hospital in Zurmi for emergency surgery after suffering intestinal perforation, a severe complication linked to untreated typhoid fever.

“Early treatment is crucial. When treatment is delayed, the intestine can perforate, a severe condition where the intestine ruptures. At that stage, complications can be fatal, and surgery is the only option,” Adamu further explained.

The organisation also warned that the rainy season coincides with the annual lean season, when food supplies are reduced, and malnutrition rates rise sharply.

MSF further disclosed it treated 60,566 malnourished children in Zamfara in 2025, stressing that children under 15 and pregnant women remain the most vulnerable.

It also expressed concern over worsening access to healthcare in conflict-affected communities, highlighting insecurity, flooded roads, damaged bridges and the high cost of transportation as major barriers preventing residents from accessing timely treatment.

The organization said it currently operates or supports four healthcare facilities across northern Nigeria to manage seasonal disease outbreaks and malnutrition cases.

It called for urgent preventive measures, including improved access to clean water and sanitation, stronger vaccination campaigns, and better-equipped healthcare facilities to reduce illness and mortality during the rainy season.

MSF further reiterated the need to adhere to preventive action before and during rainy season, stressing that most of the illnesses and deaths during the rainy season are preventable.

Rainy Season Deepening Disease, Hunger Crisis In Zamfara – MSF is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

Pope Leo XIV on Monday issued a historic apology for the Catholic Church’s centuries-long delay in condemning slavery.

The Pope acknowledged that the Holy See itself gave European rulers explicit authority to subjugate and enslave people, calling the Vatican’s record a wound in Christian memory.

The apology was contained in the Pope’s first encyclical, titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), released on Monday.

It also addresses the protection of human dignity in an age of increasing reliance on artificial intelligence.

“Already in the early modern period, the Apostolic See of Rome, responding to the requests of sovereigns, intervened several times in order to regulate and legitimize forms of subjugation, and, in certain cases, including the enslavement of ‘infidels,’” the Pope wrote, while acknowledging that past decisions could not be judged purely by modern standards but insisting the Church’s record could not be minimised either.

“Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the church came to denounce the scourge of slavery,” he said, adding that the Church had long affirmed the dignity of every human being as the basis of its doctrine, “even if it took eighteen centuries for its full incompatibility with slavery to be explicitly recognised.”

Previous popes had apologised for Christians’ involvement in the transatlantic slave trade but no pope had ever publicly acknowledged the role that past popes themselves played in giving European sovereigns authority to enslave people.

Leo recalled in the encyclical that his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was the first pope to explicitly condemn slavery in 1888, long after many countries had already abolished it, and that before that, even Church institutions had held slaves.

Pope Leo Apologises For Catholic Church’s Role In Slavery is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

Uganda’s health ministry announced on Monday that two more people have tested positive for Ebola, pushing the country’s confirmed case count to seven since the current outbreak began.

The ministry said the two newly confirmed Ebola cases involve health workers at a private clinic in Kampala, who have since been moved to a designated treatment facility for treatment.

“Both patients have been admitted to the designated treatment unit and are now receiving care,” the ministry said, adding that response teams were tracing everyone who had been in contact with the two individuals.

Three cases were confirmed on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases at the time to five. The latest infections have raised fresh concerns about possible transmission within health facilities.

The outbreak is centred in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Ituri Province, which borders Uganda, where the virus first spread into the country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the Bundibugyo strain driving the epidemic as a public health emergency of international concern. It has also raised its risk assessment to “very high” and warned that 10 neighbouring countries now face increased exposure as the outbreak continues to spread.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that suspected cases linked to the outbreak had surpassed 900, with 101 laboratory-confirmed cases.

Uganda Confirms Two More Ebola Cases is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has confirmed that Blessing Moshood, a 29-year-old Sociology graduate of the Kogi State University was allegedly murdered last Thursday night and her body dumped in a canal in Jikwoyi part of Abuja.

The Command spokesperson, SP Josephine, confirmed the incident to newsmen following a detailed account of the deceased movement prior to the incident by her sister, Abigail Moshood.

Moshood told newsmen on Sunday that Blessing left their home around 8pm that day after speaking with someone on the phone.

According to her, the deceased later called about an hour afterwards, saying she would return home briefly to pick up her phone charger, which she had forgotten.

She added that the family became worried when they did not hear from Blessing and she failed to return home the following day.

Abigail said the scenario changed when stories of a woman discovered inside a canal came up, of which the description of the person’s hair style by some people matched that of their sister, Blessing.

“We later heard people talking about the body of a woman discovered inside a canal, and someone described the type of hairstyle the deceased had on, which matched my sister’s,” she said.

“My mother started crying, and we also learnt that policemen from the Jikwoyi Police Station had evacuated the corpse, which was found half-naked with only a top on, to a mortuary in Mararaba, Nasarawa State.”

The sister said she later visited the Jikwoyi Police Station to inquire about the incident and was shown photographs of the deceased, which confirmed it was her sister.

According to her, while at the Jikwoyi Police Station, a police officer who pleaded anonymity said the case was under investigation.

Josephine further stated that investigation into the case is ongoing.

Police Confirm 29-Year-Old Woman Murdered, Dumped In Abuja Canal is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

Media aide to former governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Tever Akase, on Monday accused Governor Hyacinth Alia of lying against his principal.

Akase disclosed that out of 96 months in eight years, Ortom was able to pay 91 months’ salaries to state civil servants.

Featuring on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Akase wondered how the five months he left “metamorphosed into four years.”

Akase challenged the governor to be accountable for how much he has been receiving.

He said: “Governor Alia is not telling Benue people how much he is receiving. Since he came in, there has not been any accountability briefing. As we speak, local government workers are on strike because Alia has not paid them the salaries for March and April.

“I have just told you that out of 96 months in eight years, Ortom was able to pay 91 months, so if he paid 91 months, how is that four years? How has five months metamorphosed into four years?

“This is the question, Governance must come with honour. When you are the governor of a state, be truthful to the people because you are representing the people, so speak with honour and integrity.

“Now, Alia said he is constructing one kilometre of road at N5.2 billion. For example, the road from Wurukum to Air Force Base is 13 kilometres, but Alia has approved N68 billion, and when you calculate by 13 kilometres, you will have 5.2 billion per kilometre, so how is this sincere to the people?

“A governor of the state comes to television, instead of telling the people the truth, he is telling lies; you have to be truthful, there should be integrity in governance.”

Benue: Gov Alia lying, Ortom paid 91 out of 96 months’ salaries – Tever Akase

Former media aide to ex-Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Tever Akase, on Monday accused Governor Hyacinth Alia of contradicting President Bola Tinubu with his remark on inheriting debts of unpaid salaries.

Alia had accused Ortom of failing to pay salaries and pensions, a debt he inherited upon resumption of office as governor in 2023.

However, Akase dismissed the governor’s claim, stressing that Ortom only left five months of salaries unpaid.

Featuring on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Akase insisted that Ortom is not a failure.

He said, “When I listened to Governor Hyacinth Alia make such a statement, my mind was like he was contradicting the president, who is the leader of his party.

“Recall that just last week, Tinubu was in Kigali, where he said that during the previous administration, before he removed fuel subsidy, 27 states could not pay salaries, and he described that economy as a fake economy.

“In June last year, Tinubu u was in Benue State after the Yelewata attack, where over 200 people were killed. That reminds me that Alia was on record to have denied that 200 people were killed, even the Pope in a faraway land confirmed that 200 people were killed, but Alia here was saying that only 59 people were killed.

“During a town hall meeting, Tinubu called on governors, including his host, Alia, and he asked them, ‘Are you borrowing to pay salaries now?’ and they chorused no. And the reason is that he removed the fuel subsidy, and the money that is accrued for the state is much higher.

“Take, for instance, the case of Benue State, under Ortom, Venue was receiving an average of N3 billion in a good month, now Alia is receiving close to N20 billion, that is more than 700 per cent.

“Despite Nigeria going into recession two times, Ortom was able to pay out of 96 months in eight years; he paid 91 of those months, and he inherited about N160 billion in debt, including N72 billion of salaries and pension backlogs and about over N100 billion in contract obligations.

“By the time he was leaving office, Ortom was able to pay N42 billion of pensions. Remember that Ortom inherited these pensions, it was accumulations of previous administrations.

“So if out of 96 months, Ortom was able to pay 91 months and he inherited seven months of unpaid salaries from his predecessor while leaving five minutes months, I don’t think Ortom failed.”

Benue: Gov Alia contradicting Tinubu over unpaid salaries, Ortom didnt fail – Tever Akase