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Lebanese and Israeli envoys held their first direct high-level talks in more than three decades on Tuesday, as Israeli forces continued strikes in southern Lebanon despite the diplomatic opening.

The meeting at the U.S. State Department brought together Lebanese Ambassador to Washington Nada Hamadeh Moawad, Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. Ambassador to Beirut Michel Issa.

U.S. officials described the talks as a “historic opportunity” to address security along Israel’s northern border and help Lebanon reassert sovereignty over its territory.

Rubio noted that the complexities involved particularly disarming the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group would not be resolved in a single session.

However, the two sides entered the meeting with sharply different expectations. Lebanese officials framed the discussions as a preparatory step focused primarily on securing an immediate ceasefire.

A Lebanese source said Ambassador Moawad was authorised only to discuss halting the violence.

Israeli officials, by contrast, insisted that a ceasefire was not on the agenda. They emphasised the need for Hezbollah’s disarmament in southern Lebanon as a core issue.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told reporters that the focus would be on ending Hezbollah’s military presence near the border.

A U.S. State Department official stressed that “Israel is at war with Hezbollah, not Lebanon,” adding that there was no reason the two neighbours should not engage in dialogue.

The talks come amid a fragile regional picture. The US, Israel, and Iran agreed to a 14-day ceasefire last week, but disagreements persist over whether it covers the fighting in Lebanon.

Iran and some allies argue that Lebanon should be included, while Washington and Jerusalem maintain it is a separate track.

On the ground, Israeli operations in southern Lebanon have not eased.

Lebanese authorities reported that strikes continued on Tuesday, contributing to a death toll that has surpassed 2,000 since the escalation began on March 2, according to the country’s health ministry. More than one million people have been displaced in the fragile nation.

Hezbollah, which is not participating in the talks, has strongly opposed them.

Acting leader Naim Qassem called the negotiations “futile” and urged the Lebanese government to cancel the meeting.

Anti-government protests broke out in Beirut over the weekend in response to the diplomatic move.

No major breakthrough is expected from Tuesday’s session. Both sides acknowledge deep mistrust and conflicting red lines.

Lebanese officials see the talks as a chance to stop Israel’s attack from escalating further, while Israel views them as a parallel track to its military pressure on Hezbollah.

The meeting marks the most senior face-to-face engagement between Israel and Lebanon since 1993.

The two countries have never had formal diplomatic relations, and Lebanon does not recognise Israel.

Developments from the State Department and reactions from Beirut and Jerusalem are expected in the coming hours as this fast-moving story unfolds.

U.S. Hosts Israel,Lebanon First Direct Talks In Decades is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba State has approved over N1 billion to cover registration fees for the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) for students across the state.

The initiative, announced on Tuesday in Jalingo, covers examinations conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO), according to government sources.

The intervention is aimed at removing financial barriers that have prevented many eligible students from sitting the crucial examinations.

Officials said the policy is designed to ease the burden on parents and guardians while expanding access to education for thousands of students across the state.

The state government noted that the move forms part of a broader strategy to strengthen the education sector and improve academic performance among young people.

Observers have described the development as a significant investment in human capital, with expectations that it will boost examination participation rates and support long-term educational advancement in the state.

Education stakeholders also said the initiative highlights the administration’s sustained commitment to making education a central pillar for development and youth empowerment in Taraba.

Taraba approves N1bn for WAEC, NECO registration

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has linked the rising insecurity in Nigeria to the build-up towards the next elections, insisting that the situation will change once the polls are concluded. He made the statement on Tuesday at the official launch of the Nigerian Revenue Service Corporate Headquarters in Abuja, where he also praised President Bola Tinubu […]

Abia State Government has urged the people of Amanato Eziama Nneato in Umunneochi LGA to maintain peace with their neighbors, Umuacha Umuobi autonomous community, following the alleged arrest of some of their kinsmen by security agents.

The Chief of Staff to Abia State Governor, Pastor Caleb Ajagba, made the appeal on Tuesday while addressing a group of women from Amanato Eziama Nneato who came to the Government House to protest the arrest of their people.

He promised that the land matter that caused the reported arrests would be investigated, adding that the state government would also listen to the Umuacha Umuobi people in order to arrive at an amicable resolution of the matter.

He thanked the women for not resorting to violence.

“We have listened to your complaints. We will take your messages to His Excellency and we promise that the matter would be looked into because this government believes in the welfare of the people,” Ajagba said.

Speaking during the protest, the women of Amanato Eziama Nneato said male members of the community have gone into hiding because of incessant arrests by security personnel.

The women who spoke through Mrs Janeth Nwankwo, traced the arrest to a four decade-old land dispute with their neighbors, stressing that the matter is presently before the Court of Appeal in Owerri.

She said that some indigenes including Christian Obidike, Chidiebube Alaebo, Oliver Maduwugwu and Chibuzor Nwafor, among others, were arrested and taken away by security personnel, adding that the President General of the community, Simon Ndubuisi, was recently released after spending two weeks in police custody.

“Because of this incessant arrests, our youths and husbands are now hiding inside the bush while others traveled out in fear.

“We plead with our governor to intervene in the matter as we will continue to support his administration,” Mrs Janeth Nwankwo said.

Women protest arrest of community leaders, youths in Abia community

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has warned that there will be no “coronation of a Kaabiyesi” in the presidential villa in 2027.

The ADC National Secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made the declaration on Tuesday in Abuja during the party’s national convention.

“There will be coronation in 2027. There will be no Kabiyesi in the Presidential Villa come 2027,” he declared.

Aregbesola’s statement was a direct reference to incumbent President Bola Tinubu, whom he accused of attempts to deny opposition parties participation in the 2027 general elections.

Describing the president’s approach to politics as autocratic, Aregbesola said under Tinubu, it has become a crime to belong in the opposition.

“Under this administration, it is a crime to be in the opposition. But what is happening today is that many people are moving into the ADC. Those who have not moved are preparing to move, even from the APC.”

The former Interior Minister noted that it’s unfortunate that Tinubu, who claims to be a protege of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is doing the exact opposite of what Awolowo stood for.

In contrast, Aregbesola described Awolowo as a principled opposition leader who played politics with a high sense of discipline, purpose and responsibility.

He decried what he described as the high-handedness of the Tinubu administration and its desperate agenda to stifle opposition parties by every foul means.

Ironically, Aregbesola had been one of Tinubu’s long-standing political associates for over 2027 years when Tinubu was first elected governor of Lagos State in 1999.

Tinubu appointed him as the Commissioner for Works in Lagos State for the eight years he served as Lagos governor.

The president also played a key role in Aregbesola’s emergence as governor of Osun State in 2010 and his re-election in 2014 for a second tenure that terminated in 2018.

The former Osun State governor also served as Interior Minister in the Muhammadu Buhari administration up till 2023 when Buhari’s tenure expired.

However, Tinubu and Aregbesola started having their differences during the second leg of the Buhari administration.

Their disagreements dragged up to January 2025 when Aregbesola was expelled from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The development led him to join forces with opposition politicians in the ADC.

No Coronation For You In 2027, Aregbesola Tells Tinubu is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

Singer Kingsley Okonkwo, known as Kcee, has opened up about how being ignored by award organisers……

The National Youth Service Corps and the Nigerian Police Force have renewed their commitment to strengthen the existing synergy between both agencies towards enhancing the security of Corps Members nationwide.

The Director General of NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, stated this when he paid a courtesy visit on the Inspector General of Police, Mr Olatunji Disu, at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

While congratulating Disu on his appointment, General Nafiu commended the IGP on the recent inauguration of his crack team.

The Director General added that the Police has been instrumental to the success of NYSC activities and programmes since its inception.

Nafiu appealed to the Police for maximum security of the Corps Members and NYSC officials within and outside the Orientation Camps.

He equally solicited for protection of the Corps Members and their properties, including the Corps Lodges as the nation approaches the 2027 general elections.

Speaking further, the Director General said the NYSC Act stipulates that Members of the Armed Forces and paramilitary agencies are exempted from National Service and so he would like to interface with the Management of the Police Academy to enable the NYSC issue certificates of exemption to graduates of the institution as is statutory.

In his response, the IGP said the Police would continue to secure the Scheme, adding that the addresses of all the Corps Lodges were available with the Police to take appropriate action as occasion demands.

He said the issue of exemption certificates for graduates of the Nigeria Police Academy, was a welcome development, while he assured the DG of more cooperation from the Police to the NYSC.

Trabzonspor are pushing for Paul Onuachu to be fit for Sunday’s Turkish Super Lig clash with Istanbul Başakşehir.

Onuachu missed Trabzonspor’s 1-1 draw with Alanyaspor last weekend due to a muscle injury.

The result put a dent on Fatih Tekke’s side title hopes.

Trabzonspor are now four points behind leaders Galatasaray.

Onuachu has been instrumental to the Black Sea Storm push for a domestic double.

The 31-year-old has registered 22 goals, and two assists in 25 league appearances this term.

Turkey: Trabzonspor pushing for Onuachu to be fit for Istanbul Başakşehir clash

Edo State’s immediate past Commissioner for Education and Oredo Federal Constituency House of Representatives hopeful, Dr. Paddy Iyamu, on Tuesday refuted the allegations linking him to the agitation for the creation of two new states, Toru-Ebe and Anime. The All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives aspirant for Oredo Federal Constituency described the allegations as […]

The United Niger Delta Congress has called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the ongoing pipeline surveillance contracts crisis in the Niger Delta and not allow the region return to the days of violence.

The association made the call in reaction to the recent vote of confidence passed on one of the major pipeline contractors in the region by the Senate and House of Reps Committees.

The association described the federal lawmakers’ action as not only misguided, but a grave overreach of legislative authority.

“The National Assembly does not possess the constitutional or statutory mandate to award, renew, or endorse such contracts,” it said IN a press statement read by Julius Malam-Obi, its President and Emaluji, Secretary General in Abuja on Tuesday.

“Even more troubling is the contradiction of the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, a landmark legislation enacted by the same National Assembly,” the added.

“The PIA, particularly Chapter 3, Section 257, explicitly recognizes Host Communities as central stakeholders in the protection and management of oil and gas assets within their domains.

“Any attempt to concentrate pipeline surveillance responsibilities in a monopolistic structure directly violates both the letter and spirit of this law.

“What is unfolding is not governance, it is economic capture. It is domination. It is the systematic exclusion of the very ethnic nations whose land sustains the nation’s wealth. The monopolization of N2.1 trillion pipeline surveillance contracts is not merely unfair; it is a dangerous provocation and a ticking time bomb in a region with a long history of struggle for justice and inclusion,” it said.

It added that it was against the law to award the protection of pipelines and oil assets located in one ethnic nationality to an entity from another, while the indigenes become mere spectators.

“This is a recipe for crisis of monumental proportions and a direct violation of the provisions of the PIA,” the group said.

It added, “The solution is clear: oil theft will be more effectively curtailed through the decentralization of pipeline surveillance contracts. When responsibilities are devolved to host communities and ethnic nationalities, accountability improves.

“Communities will generate intelligence within their own domains and peer-review themselves and expose offenders, because they have a direct stake in protecting their resources.

“You cannot preach peace while practicing oppression. You cannot demand stability while engineering inequality. And you certainly cannot expect silence while economically strangling and asphyxiating entire ethnic nationalities.

“The Niger Delta struggle was never fought to replace external marginalization with internal domination. It has always been about justice, dignity, and equitable participation. Any attempt, by any individual or entity, to corner opportunities that rightfully belong to the collective people of the region is a betrayal of that struggle.

“We must sound a clear note of warning: no single individual or group has the mandate to appropriate the economic rights of diverse ethnic nationalities within the Niger Delta.

“Every ethnic nation in the Niger Delta has competent and capable sons and daughters fully qualified to participate in pipeline surveillance and related engagements within their territories. Denying them this right is not only unjust, it is deeply provocative.”

“Let it be clearly understood: the path to peace in the Niger Delta is justice. The foundation of stability is inclusion. Any policy or action that ignores these truths is a deliberate invitation to unrest,” it said.

“If those in authority truly seek to avoid setting the Niger Delta on fire, the solution is simple and immediate: uphold the rule of law, respect the rights of Host Communities in their respective ethnic nations, dismantle monopolies, and embrace equity.

“Anything less will be seen for what it is, a conscious decision to deepen injustice and provoke avoidable tension.

“The Niger Delta must not be pushed to the brink. However, history has shown that when injustice becomes policy and exclusion becomes systemic, resistance inevitably follows.”

Pipeline Contract: Don’t allow violence return to Niger Delta – Group cautions Tinubu, NASS