Tag Archives: Massacre

Entertainment

‘NCIS: Sydney’ Season 3 Fall Finale Pulled by CBS Hours Before Airing

Maravi Post Reporter

Sorry, NCIS: Sydney fans, but tonight’s fall finale will no longer be airing as planned.

TVLine confirmed on Tuesday, December 16, that the Australia-based procedural won’t air season 3, episode 9, this evening. CBS pulled the fall finale hours before it was set to premiere at 9 p.m. ET.

The episode titled “South of Nowhere” was set to follow NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey (Olivia Swann) and her team as they race to “an Antarctica research base to investigate why a climate scientist killed a colleague on Polar Night Eve — and make it out before their plane engine freezes and they’re trapped in darkness for six months,” according to the logline.

Instead of the planned lineup, flagship series NCIS’ fall finale will air as scheduled at 8 p.m. ET and be followed by a rerun of its season 22 episode “Baker’s Man,” per the outlet. (NCIS: Origins’ season 2 fall finale aired earlier this month.)

NCIS: Sydney’s Olivia Swann Teases Season 3 Treasure Hunt, Alien Abduction

CBS has not shared a reason for pulling NCIS: Sydney’s fall finale so suddenly, but TVLine reported on Tuesday that the episode will “air at a later date.”

It is also unknown whether “South of Nowhere” will now serve as NCIS: Sydney’s midseason premiere, which was previously slated for Tuesday, February 24, or if the network will release it sooner to keep up with the schedule.

Us Weekly has reached out to CBS for comment.

NCIS Sydney Season 3 Fall Finale Pulled by CBS Hours Before Airing Inline
Daniel Asher Smith/Paramount+

NCIS: Sydney, which is the first international spinoff in the NCIS universe, premiered in 2023, with season 3 beginning in October.

The show’s fall finale shakeup comes after tragedy struck Australia on Sunday, December 14, when two gunmen opened fire on Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration, killing 16 people and injuring at least 40.

While CBS has not commented on whether the shooting affected NCIS: Sydney’s episode airing in America, it wouldn’t be the first entertainment venture that has been shifted due to the tragedy.

How Many ‘NCIS’ Shows Are There? It’s a Long List

The Australian premiere for Avatar: Fire and Ash was canceled on Monday, December 15, to show respect for the lives lost.

“Out of deep respect for the victims of the Bondi shooting, the planned Avatar: Fire and Ash premiere event today in Sydney has been cancelled,” event organizers told multiple outlets in a statement at the time. “Our hearts are with the community, the victims, their families and loved ones.”

Australia is currently mourning the losses of those killed and harmed when a father and son armed with bolt action rifles opened fire on Sunday during a midday religious celebration to kick off Hanukkah.

Olivia Swann Teases NCIS: Sydney’s Season 2 ‘Mystery’ and Mackey’s Secret

The father was killed on site after being shot by police responding to the shooting. The son, meanwhile, was hospitalized for critical injuries and remains under police guard.

The shooting is now the deadliest terrorist attack that’s ever been carried out on Australian soil and the deadliest mass shooting in the country since the Port Arthur massacre of 1996. (The Port Arthur attack resulted in gun reforms, restricting the use of firearms nationwide.)

Stars included Sydney-born Rebel Wilson have publicly condemned the hateful act.

“Just waking up to the news about what’s happened on Bondi Beach. An absolute tragedy that is the most un-Australian thing to have happen,” Wilson, 45, wrote via social media on Monday. “We shouldn’t have gun violence in Australia, we shouldn’t have antisemitism — it’s not us! Thinking of everyone affected by this devastating violence.”

Entertainment

‘NCIS: Sydney’ Season 3 Fall Finale Pulled by CBS Hours Before Airing

Maravi Post Reporter

Sorry, NCIS: Sydney fans, but tonight’s fall finale will no longer be airing as planned.

TVLine confirmed on Tuesday, December 16, that the Australia-based procedural won’t air season 3, episode 9, this evening. CBS pulled the fall finale hours before it was set to premiere at 9 p.m. ET.

The episode titled “South of Nowhere” was set to follow NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey (Olivia Swann) and her team as they race to “an Antarctica research base to investigate why a climate scientist killed a colleague on Polar Night Eve — and make it out before their plane engine freezes and they’re trapped in darkness for six months,” according to the logline.

Instead of the planned lineup, flagship series NCIS’ fall finale will air as scheduled at 8 p.m. ET and be followed by a rerun of its season 22 episode “Baker’s Man,” per the outlet. (NCIS: Origins’ season 2 fall finale aired earlier this month.)

NCIS: Sydney’s Olivia Swann Teases Season 3 Treasure Hunt, Alien Abduction

CBS has not shared a reason for pulling NCIS: Sydney’s fall finale so suddenly, but TVLine reported on Tuesday that the episode will “air at a later date.”

It is also unknown whether “South of Nowhere” will now serve as NCIS: Sydney’s midseason premiere, which was previously slated for Tuesday, February 24, or if the network will release it sooner to keep up with the schedule.

Us Weekly has reached out to CBS for comment.

NCIS Sydney Season 3 Fall Finale Pulled by CBS Hours Before Airing Inline
Daniel Asher Smith/Paramount+

NCIS: Sydney, which is the first international spinoff in the NCIS universe, premiered in 2023, with season 3 beginning in October.

The show’s fall finale shakeup comes after tragedy struck Australia on Sunday, December 14, when two gunmen opened fire on Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration, killing 16 people and injuring at least 40.

While CBS has not commented on whether the shooting affected NCIS: Sydney’s episode airing in America, it wouldn’t be the first entertainment venture that has been shifted due to the tragedy.

How Many ‘NCIS’ Shows Are There? It’s a Long List

The Australian premiere for Avatar: Fire and Ash was canceled on Monday, December 15, to show respect for the lives lost.

“Out of deep respect for the victims of the Bondi shooting, the planned Avatar: Fire and Ash premiere event today in Sydney has been cancelled,” event organizers told multiple outlets in a statement at the time. “Our hearts are with the community, the victims, their families and loved ones.”

Australia is currently mourning the losses of those killed and harmed when a father and son armed with bolt action rifles opened fire on Sunday during a midday religious celebration to kick off Hanukkah.

Olivia Swann Teases NCIS: Sydney’s Season 2 ‘Mystery’ and Mackey’s Secret

The father was killed on site after being shot by police responding to the shooting. The son, meanwhile, was hospitalized for critical injuries and remains under police guard.

The shooting is now the deadliest terrorist attack that’s ever been carried out on Australian soil and the deadliest mass shooting in the country since the Port Arthur massacre of 1996. (The Port Arthur attack resulted in gun reforms, restricting the use of firearms nationwide.)

Stars included Sydney-born Rebel Wilson have publicly condemned the hateful act.

“Just waking up to the news about what’s happened on Bondi Beach. An absolute tragedy that is the most un-Australian thing to have happen,” Wilson, 45, wrote via social media on Monday. “We shouldn’t have gun violence in Australia, we shouldn’t have antisemitism — it’s not us! Thinking of everyone affected by this devastating violence.”

Entertainment

Taylor Swift Cries in Doc Over ‘Horrible’ Terror Plot, Kids’ Dance Attack

Maravi Post Reporter

Taylor Swift broke down in her Eras Tour docuseries while reflecting on a foiled terror attack at her concert and the “horrible” fatal stabbings of three of her young fans.

The pop star, 35, opened up about the devastating events during the first episode of The End of an Era, which premiered on Disney+ on Friday, December 12.

“It’s just kind of a weird feeling going into these last five shows in Europe,” she told the camera from her London hotel room. “We’ve done, like, 128 shows so far, but this is the first one where I feel like I’m skating on thin ice or something. We’ve had a series of very violent, scary things happen to the tour — like, we dodged a massacre situation, so I’ve just been kind of all over the place.”

Swift brought her record-breaking Eras Tour to venues around the world from March 2023 to December 2024. While performing throughout Europe in the summer of 2024, Swift endured back-to-back tragedies.

Taylor Swift’s ‘The End of an Era’: Date, Episodes, Songs, Trailer and More

First, a group of young fans attending a Swift-themed dance class in Southport, England, in July 2024 were attacked by 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, who fatally stabbed three girls: Alice Da Silva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6. Rudakubana also injured eight other girls ranging in age from 7 to 13, as well as the teacher of the class and a local businessman who intervened. In January, Rudakubana was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years in prison.

“It was little kids,” Swift noted in the docuseries before choking up. “I’m gonna, like, meet some of these families tonight and put on a pop concert, you know? It’s gonna be fine because I’m not gonna do this [cry]. I swear to God, I’m not gonna do this. I’m gonna be smiley. So any of this gets out of the way before you ever go on stage. You lock it off. [For] three and a half hours, they don’t have to worry about you.”

She continued, “You’re like a pilot flying the plane, and if you were like, ‘Oh, there’s turbulence up ahead. I don’t know if we’re actually gonna land in Dallas. I’m gonna try hard, but I don’t know if I can actually figure out how to land through this turbulence.’ Everyone on the plane is going to freak out. You just have to have a calm, cool, collected tone of like, ‘We will be landing in Dallas at 6:05 p.m. Got a little turbulence up ahead, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Just keep your seatbelts fastened, and welcome to The Eras Tour!’”

After the attack, Swift shared her condolences in an emotional statement via her Instagram Story.

“The horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I’m just completely in shock … The loss of life and innocence and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and first responders,” she wrote at the time. “These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”

The following month, Swift was forced to cancel her three scheduled concerts in Vienna due to a terrorist threat. Two individuals were arrested at the time on suspicion of planning attacks inspired by the Islamic State group.

What to Know About the Planned Attack at Taylor Swift’s Vienna Concert

The End of an Era shows the Grammy winner talking to her longtime friend and collaborator Ed Sheeran backstage at Wembley Stadium in London in August 2024 after the plot.

“I was on the plane headed [to Vienna when we found out],” she told Sheeran. “I just need to do this show, remember the joy of it. … I get two months off after this, which I need. I need more than anything.”

Cameras later captured Swift bursting into tears again just before she returned to the stage in London.

“From a mental standpoint, I just do live in a reality that is very unreal a lot of the time, but it’s my job to kind of be able to handle all of these feelings and then perk up immediately to perform. That’s just the way it’s got to be,” she explained.

Later that month, after wrapping the European leg of her tour, Swift addressed the cancellation of the Austrian concerts in a social media post.

“Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” she wrote via Instagram. “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows. But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives. I was heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together.”

Swift then explained how she had moved forward with the tour after the foiled terror plot.

“I decided that all of my energy had to go toward helping to protect the nearly half a million people I had coming to see the shows in London,” she noted. “My team and I worked hand in hand with stadium staff and British authorities every day in pursuit of that goal, and I want to thank them for everything they did for us.”

All of the Biggest Moments From Taylor Swift’s Final ‘Eras Tour’ Shows

As for why she did not immediately make a public statement about the Vienna situation, Swift emphasized her focus on safety.

“Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows,” she added. “In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint and waiting to express yourself at a time when it’s right to. My priority was finishing our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that I can say we did that.”

The first two episodes of The End of an Era are now streaming on Disney+.

Entertainment

‘Stranger Things’ EPs Address Concerns Show Will End With Multiple Deaths

Maravi Post Reporter

Stranger Things fans are worried their favorite characters will be killed off in a season 5 bloodbath — and now creators Matt and Ross Duffer are weighing in.

“I’ve said this before: The show is not Game of Thrones,” Matt, 41, told Variety after part 1 of the final season was released on Wednesday, November 26. “I’m hoping [the finale] surprises people.”

Matt specifically addressed the chances of an onscreen massacre. “There’s no Red Wedding, if that’s what you’re asking,” he said in reference to an iconic episode of Game of Thrones that resulted in a multitude of character deaths. “That would be depressing.”

The hit Netflix series, which debuted in 2016, focuses on a fictional town where a series of supernatural events take place and cause mystery and mayhem. Over the course of five seasons, Stranger Things has catapulted its cast members — Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton and Joe Keery — to stardom. The show also features Winona Ryder and David Harbour.

See the ‘Stranger Things’ Cast From Season 1 to Now

Ahead of the show’s season 4 premiere in 2022, Matt and Ross, 41, announced that they were going to end the series after one more chapter in Hawkins, Indiana.

“Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things,” they detailed in an open letter in February 2022. “At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four but — as you’ll see for yourselves — we are now hurtling toward our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; season 5 will be the last.”

STRANGER THINGS
Netflix

Later that year, the Duffer Brothers opened up about their vision for the final episodes and why the episodes were now released in multiple parts.

“The original plan was to release it all at once again. But as we began turning over episodes, everyone began to feel the season was too big to be released in one batch — at nearly 13 hours, it is really more two seasons than one,” they told Variety in May 2022 after Volume 1 dropped the first seven episodes. “Episode 7 is as big as any season finale we’ve ever had, so it made sense to everyone involved to split the season there. Episode 7 really serves as the end of the second act — and we feel that our final act had enough meat on the bone to make up Volume 2.”

What the Cast of ‘Stranger Things’ Looks Like in Real Life

The first part ended on a shocking note when Will (Schnapp) channeled surprise powers that allowed him to fight against Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) reign of power.

“Once we decided we knew we wanted to do the Will power stuff this season, we knew that that’s how we had to end Volume 1,” Ross told Variety. “So there’s the low point of all the kids being taken, but the high point of Will has these powers. That was always the discussion.”

He added: “Vecna taking these children was the low point we needed for the end of Volume 1.”

Stranger Things returns with Volume 2 on December 25 and the finale drops December 31 on Netflix.

Entertainment

New on Tubi in November 2025 — The Full List of All the Free Movies and Shows

Maravi Post Reporter

One of the best deals in all of streaming is Tubi. At no cost at all, you get access to some of Hollywood’s best movies and TV shows.

This November is no exception, when blockbusters like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett and indie hits like Aftersun with Paul Mescal are added to Tubi’s impressive library.

Tubi also makes original movies you can’t watch anywhere else, and this month’s big debut is Sidelined 2, the sequel to the hit 2024 rom-com starring social media influencer and TikTok star Noah Beck.

November 1

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
20th Century Women
2012
The 4400
61st Street
Above Suspicion
After Yang
Aftersun
All About the Benjamins
American Honey
American Made
Are We Done Yet?
Are We There Yet?
Barely Lethal
Belly
Belly 2: Millionaire Boyz Club
Bike Heist
Black Christmas
Black Hawk Down
Black Nativity
Blockers
Body Cam
Borderline
Brightburn
Broken City
Carrie (1976)
Carrie (2013)
Casino
Children’s Hospital
Child’s Play (1988)
Cleaner
Coach Carter
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Daddy’s Home
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Dead & Buried
Dead Like Me
Death Wish (2018)
Deep Blue Sea
Dennis the Menace
Dinner for Schmucks
Dream Scenario
Dreamgirls
The Edge
Equals
Exposure
Face/Off
Fallen
Fat Albert
First Cow
First Reformed
Free Fire
Friday
Friday After Next
G-Force
The Gentlemen
Ghost Ship
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Gladiator
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
A Good Person
The Hateful Eight
Heartbreak Ridge
Heist
Hellboy (2019)
High Life
The Honeymooners
Hot Summer Nights
Hot Tub Time Machine
Hot Tub Time Machine 2
Hotel for Dogs
House of Wax (2005)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
How to Talk to Girls at Parties
The Hughleys
Hustle & Flow
In Fabric
In Too Deep
Jack the Giant Slayer
Jason X
Jingle All the Way
Landscape With Invisible Hand
Legion
Like a Boss
Locke
The Long Kiss Goodnight
The Lost Boys
Lost Boys: The Tribe
Maid in Manhattan
Mid90s
Minari
Misery
Money Talks (1997)
Money Talks (2010)
Morris From America
A Most Violent Year
Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee Returns
Never Goin’ Back
New Jack City
Next Friday
Night School
No Country for Old Men
Norbit
Obvious Child
On a Wing and a Prayer
One Night in Miami
Pale Rider
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
The Perfect Holiday
The Price We Pay
Pride & Glory
Priscilla
The Protege
The Punisher (2004)
The Punisher: War Zone
Rango
Red Rocket
Riddick
Robin Hood (1991)
Roll Bounce
Roots (1977)
Roots (2016)
The Rover
A Royal Affair
RV (2006)
Samaraitan
Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
The Sea of Trees
Seraphim Falls
Shazam! (2019)
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
The Shining (1996)
Shooter
Showing Up
Shrek Forever After
Silverado
Sisu
Skit
The Smurfs (2011)
The Smurfs 2
The Smurfs: The Lost Village
Snitch
Snow Dogs
The Souvenir: Part II
Space Jam
The Spectacular Now
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Stars at Noon
Stealth
Stomp the Yard
Sugar
Super 8
Swiss Army Man
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
Terrifier 3
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
The Thing (2011)
Think Like a Man
Thirteen Ghosts
This Christmas
Titanic
Trap (2024)
Trapped (2002)
Trick ‘R Treat
True Grit (2010)
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas
Under the Silver Lake
Varsity Blues
The Walk
The Water Horse
Waves
Whatever Works
When You Finish Saving the World
While We’re Young
White Boy Rick
Wolf
Wyatt Earp
xXx
xXx: State of the Union
You Got Served
Zola

HBO Max’s New Movies and TV Shows in November 2025: ‘Materialists’ and More

November 3

Growing Pains
The Loft
Shadow in the Cloud
The Skulls
V (2009)

November 5

Marrowbone

November 6

Bad Boys
Bad Boys II

November 7

Fan of Mine – Tubi Original
An unexpected connection between a famous singer and her fan becomes life-threatening when hidden motives emerge.

November 10

Sullivan & Son

November 17

Maggie Moore(s)
The Repair Shop (Seasons 1-8)

November 21

Married to a Balla 2
A survivor’s fresh start with her sons, a mounting career, and new love unravels when her abusive ex awakens from a coma, bent on vengeance.

6 Must-Watch Sci-Fi Movies on Tubi Right Now (July 2025)

November 23

The Mist

November 24

10 Cloverfield Lane
Beachfront Bargain Hunt (Seasons 1-13, 15-16, 18)

November 27

Sidelined 2: Intercepted – Tubi Original

Based on the Wattpad sensation The QB Bad Boy and Me by Tay Marley, Sidelined 2 focuses on freshman star quarterback Drayton (Noah Beck) as he struggles with the weight of expectations after a devastating setback, while dancer Dallas (Siena Agudong) begins to question the future she thought she wanted. As their high school relationship begins to unravel under the pressures of distance and self-discovery, they’ll learn that the bravest versions of themselves emerge when they let life redirect them.

Lifestyle

Iran says it will continue nuclear talks with the US, shrugging off threats

Maravi Post Reporter

Iran’s president said his country will continue talks with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear program but will not withdraw from its rights because of U.S. threats.

“We are negotiating, and we will negotiate. We are not after war but we do not fear any threat,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said during a speech to navy officials broadcast by state television Saturday.

“It is not like if they threaten us we will give up our human right and definite rights,” Pezeshkian said. “We will not withdraw, we will not easily lose honorable achievements in military, scientific and nuclear” fields and other areas.

The negotiations have reached the “expert” level, meaning the sides are trying to reach agreement on the details of a possible deal. But a major sticking point remains Iran’s enrichment of uranium, which Tehran insists it must be allowed to do and the Trump administration increasingly insists the Islamic Republic must give up.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

Earlier on Friday, Trump said Iran received a proposal during the talks, though he did not elaborate.

During his trip to region this week, Trump at nearly every event insisted Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear bomb, something U.S. intelligence agencies assess Tehran is not actively pursuing, though its program is on the cusp of being able to weaponize nuclear material.

Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran’s atomic organization, stressed the peaceful nature of the program, saying it is under “continuous” monitoring by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, state TV reported Saturday.

“No country is monitored by the agency like us,” Eslami said, adding that the agency inspected the country’s nuclear facilities more than 450 time in 2024. “Something about 25% of all the agency inspections” in the year.

Meanwhile, Israel routinely has threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities if it feels threatened, further complicating tensions in the Mideast already spiked by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

In his first reaction to Trump’s regional visit, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Trump wasn’t truthful when he made claims about creating peace through power.

“Trump said that he wanted to use power for peace, he lied. He and the U.S. administration used power for massacre in Gaza, for waging wars in any place they could,” Khamenei said Saturday during a meeting with teachers broadcast on state television.

The U.S. has provided Israel with 10-ton bombs to “drop on Gaza children, hospitals, houses of people in Lebanon and anywhere else when they can,” Khamenei said.

Khamenei, who has the final say on all Iranian state matters, reiterated his traditional stance against Israel.

“Definitely, the Zionist regime is the spot of corruption, war, rifts. The Zionist regime that is lethal, dangerous, cancerous tumor should be certainly eradicated, and it will be,” he said, adding that the U.S. has imposed a pattern on Arab nations under which they cannot endeavor without U.S. support.

“Surely this model has failed. With efforts of the regional nations, the U.S. should leave the region, and it will leave,” Khamenei said.

Iran has long considered the U.S. military presence in the region as a threat on its doorstep, especially after Trump pulled the U.S. out of a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/15/20/48/06/ED_PYR_1520486_20250518114805.mp4
Lifestyle

Tensions flare between India and Pakistan amid missile strikes and escalating rhetoric

Maravi Post Reporter

Tensions between India and Pakistan have reached their most dangerous levels since 2019, following a series of missile strikes, retaliatory threats, and mounting civilian casualties on both sides of the border.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Indian missiles struck several locations across Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. One of the most significant attacks hit the town of Muridke in Punjab province — long associated with militant networks. These strikes, targeting at least 24 sites, were launched in response to what New Delhi claims was a deadly attack on Indian tourists in Kashmir last month, allegedly carried out by Pakistan-based militants.

Indian officials say the targets were linked to internationally proscribed groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed — organisations long accused of orchestrating attacks against Indian civilians and security forces.

“The Indian government says [the strikes] are affiliated with a series of what it considers terrorist groups…responsible for a number of very high-profile attacks — most notably the 2008 attacks in Mumbai,” said Dr. Walter Ladwig, Associate Fellow at King’s College London.

In Pakistan, the response was swift. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the strikes and praised his country’s military response. Speaking before a cheering parliament, he declared: “With the grace of God…our brave forces have given a resounding response to your dirty attack and turned the darkest night into the brightest night.”

Pakistan’s military reported that at least 26 civilians — including women and children — were killed in the Indian airstrikes. Among the dead were students at a seminary in Bahawalpur and worshippers at a mosque near a former Lashkar-e-Taiba complex in Muridke.

Dr. Ladwig warned that Pakistan’s response would likely follow its long-standing strategic doctrine. “The Pakistani military has a proclaimed policy of what they call quid pro quo plus,” he explained. “Whatever India does, we will do at least that in return, but also possibly a little bit more.”

This doctrine played out visibly in 2019, when India conducted airstrikes following a suicide bombing that killed Indian paramilitary forces. Pakistan swiftly retaliated with its own airstrikes. The hope among analysts is that, as with that crisis, both sides will seek to demonstrate resolve without crossing into full-scale war.

“That would be the optimistic case here,” said Ladwig. “That the Pakistani military will respond in some way that allows them to defend or restore their honour, but that it goes no further… If not, we could quickly escalate beyond control.”

Adding to the gravity is the evolving military landscape in South Asia. While India maintains a significantly larger defence budget, Pakistan’s military modernisation has been advancing rapidly — thanks in large part to Chinese support.

“Pakistan is reported to have gained access to Chinese variants of Russian air defence systems,” said Ladwig, pointing to jointly developed fighter jets and more robust air defences. “Although Pakistan has a significantly smaller defence budget, one of its huge assets is the fact that its main weapon supplier is China — and China delivers.”

India, for its part, continues to face challenges in modernising its armed forces. Despite multiple attempts, it has struggled to finalise large-scale arms procurements, relying heavily on legacy Russian tanks and a limited fleet of French Rafale jets.

In cities across India, civil defence drills have intensified, with air raid sirens echoing through urban centres. Schools are participating in emergency simulations, and citizens are bracing for further escalation. New Delhi has named its military operation “Sindoor,” after the red powder worn by married Hindu women — a symbolic nod to those widowed in last month’s Kashmir massacre.

Meanwhile, anti-India protests have erupted across Pakistan, with chants of defiance and vows of vengeance. Pakistan’s National Security Committee has warned that it “reserves the right to respond at a time, place, and manner of its choosing.”

Diplomatic ties have fractured further. Islamabad has closed border crossings, expelled Indian diplomats, and accused New Delhi of using terrorism allegations to justify attacks on civilians.

As the region sits on edge, the spectre of nuclear conflict looms in the background. Both countries possess nuclear weapons and a history of conflict stretching back to their partition in 1947. What happens next depends heavily on Pakistan’s next move — and whether the cycle of violence can be contained before it spirals out of control.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/29/60/08/ED_PYR_1429608_20250508083933.mp4
Regional

Ghana’s President was misled over migrant massacre in Gambia

Maravi Post Reporter

– –

In 2005, some 59 West African migrants were murdered in the Gambia. The migrants were hoping to reach Senegal enroute to Europe through the Mediterranean.

The truth of what actually happened only emerged after ex-leader Yahya Jammeh left office.

Since his exit from power in 2017, he has been implicated by some of his former soldiers, who said he ordered the killings.

Two Gambian soldiers who worked for Jammeh’s hit squad in 2019 admitted to participating on Jammeh’s orders in the 2005 execution of the 59 West African migrants, including 44 Ghanaians.

Lieutenant Malick Jatta and Corporal Omar A. Jallow revealed to Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) that the migrants were executed by the “Junglers” squad across the Gambian border in Senegalese territory.

– –

“We were told they were mercenaries,” Jatta said.

He confessed to have shot and killed one of the migrants.

“I heard people shouting in the forest saying ‘save us Jesus,’” Jatta said.

Jallow also told the TRRC that Lt Col Solo Bojang, the leader of the operation, told the men that “the order from Yahya Jammeh is that they are all to be executed.”

– –

The confessions by Jatta and Jallow corroborated findings in a May 2018 report by Human Rights Watch and TRIAL that the migrants were murdered by the “Junglers.”

Yahya Jammeh has always denied involvement in the killings.

Families of migrants killed under Jammeh sue Gambia, Ghana

How Ghana was misled

In 2005, Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo who was then foreign affairs minister was team leader of his country trying to find out what happened to the Ghanaians who were murdered.

It has now emerged that Gambia covered up the incident and deceived him in his attempt to uncover the truth.

Testimony at the TRRC this month described Jammeh government’s persistent efforts to cover up the crime, first to prevent Ghana’s attempt to learn the truth.

The former foreign minister Lamin Kaba Bajo also agreed that a letter he sent to his Ghanaian counterpart Nana Akufo-Addo in December 2005, calling the story of the sole massacre survivor Martin Kyere was a “fabrication” and saying that the migrants had probably “escaped to Senegal” was a “cock and bull story.”

Bajo said that at the time he had no knowledge of the truth of the letter’s contents which had been taken from a ministry of interior report.

He said that it was “impossible” that such a fabrication could have happened without Jammeh’s knowledge.

110 people killed in rice farm massacre in Nigeria

The cover up

The cover-up started even before a 2008 investigative mission by the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) when the government appointed a “task force” that included several cabinet ministers to deal with the investigators.

Former Chief of Defense Staff Assan Sarr, who had also been at naval headquarters, said that when a UN/ECOWAS investigation team came in 2008, he was told by then-police chief Ensa Bajie in the presence of the then-crime management coordinator, Yankuba Sonko, Gambia’s current interior minister, not to “jeopardize or tarnish the image of this country … and in the event they call us, we should be mindful of what we say or do.”

A police officer from Barra, Babucarr Bah, said that Yankuba Sonko told him, “make sure you don’t say anything” to the investigators and that on Sonko’s instructions, “we took them to bars, gave them alcohol, and women.” Sonko denied this allegation in his own testimony.

Bah also said that around December 2005, Ousman Sonko, the former police chief, told him to falsify the July 22, 2005 diary entry from the Barra police station where the migrants were initially arrested and that the diary entries were then completely rewritten. Copies of the diary with the entry for July 22 removed were presented to the truth commission.

The TRRC testimony corroborates the findings of a 2018 report by Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International, who interviewed 30 former Gambian officials, including many of the commission’s witnesses.

Former Interior Minister Baboucarr Jatta has also accepted the assertion by the TRRC lead counsel, Essa Faal, that the killings were a “state-ordered execution by soldiers from the State House [Jammeh’s residence]” and said that he believed the soldiers were acting under Jammeh’s orders.

Details of those killed

The exact number of migrants killed is still unclear. Gibril Ngorr Secka, director of operations at the NIA, presented the commission with a list of 51 migrants the police counted at one station, including nationals of Ghana (39), Sierra Leone (3), Côte d’Ivoire (2), Senegal (2), Togo (2), Liberia (1), Nigeria (1), and Congo (1).

While that number omits some migrants who have previously been identified, as well as about eight other Nigerians believed to have been arrested and killed, it is the first official list of the migrants to be seen.

Families of the Ghanaian victims in 2018 launched a campaign with the support of human rights groups to seek justice and bring Jammeh to book.

For more than 13 years all efforts to seek justice became difficult because Mr. Jammeh remained in power, but families of victims are hoping latest revelations would bring him to justice.

REVEALED: Yahya Jammeh ordered 2005 murder of 44 Ghanaians

Source: Africafeeds.com

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Regional

Nigeria: Lawmakers summon Buhari over rice farm massacre

Maravi Post Reporter
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Nigerian lawmakers have summoned the country’s President Muhammadu Buhari over the recent killing of some farmers in north-east Borno State.

At least 43 people were believed to have been killed with their bodies recovered on a rice farm, an attack reportedly carried out by Boko Haram.

Lawmakers have been debating the issue and described is as urgent national importance.

Local media reports of many more farmers still missing with the army faulted for not stopping such killings.

President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack, saying that “the entire country has been wounded by these senseless killings.”

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But the MPs want him to appear before them to brief them and assure the country of ending the crisis.

On Tuesday the lawmakers asked that the president sacks the service chiefs over their failure to secure Nigerians.

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, who presided over the session said “It is now important that the executive should implement the latest resolutions because they are not frivolous.

“Enough of excuses. Those who have nothing to offer in terms of securing the country, should be shown the way out.  The security of Nigerians should take the centre stage. Time has come to find a  solution.”

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In September, Boko Haram militants slaughtered 22 farmers working on their irrigation fields near Maiduguri in two separate incidents.

Angry Malawian lawmakers reject condom donation

Source: Africafeeds.com

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