World

Violence at Capitol Hill: Twitter, Facebook Suspends Trump’s Account As Obama Condemns President Amid Curfew

Published

5 years ago

January 7, 2021

Eric

Former U.S. President Barack Obama has said history will not be kind to incumbent President Donald Trump over the violence that erupted at the Capitol, Washington D.C, on Wednesday.

The Capitol Building is the seat of the American Congress, equivalent to Nigeria’s national assembly.

This newspaper had earlier reported how pro-Trump protesters had besieged the Capitol in a move to prevent the Congress from certifying the electoral college votes that gave Joe Biden, candidate of the Democratic Party in the November 2020 election, victory.

In the chaos that ensued, a woman, identified as a 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt, former Air Force veteran from San Diego, was shot. She died in the process. Three more persons also reportedly died in ”medical emergencies.”

Several police personnel and protesters were said to have been injured in the ensuing violence leading to a declaration of curfew by the local police chief.

After the Capitol had been secured and some sort of normalcy restored, the Congress and the Senate later reconvened to continue with the congressional certification of Mr Biden’s electoral college victory.

However, condemning the violence mostly perpetrated by Mr Trump’s supporters, Mr Obama said “history will rightly remember today’s violence at the Capitol, incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about the outcome of a lawful election, as a moment of great dishonor and shame for our nation.”

Mr Obama, a strong Biden backer, said Americans would be kidding themselves if they treated the chaos as a total surprise.

He blamed the Republican Party and the conservative media for egging on their followers to go violent should Mr Biden’s victory be upheld.

“For two months now, a political party and its accompanying media ecosystem has too often been unwilling to tell their followers the truth — that this was not a particularly close election and that President-Elect Biden will be inaugurated on January 20. Their fantasy narrative has spiraled further and further from reality, and it builds upon years of sown resentments. Now we’re seeing the consequences, whipped up into a violent crescendo.

He advised the Republican leaders to accept the reality of an impending Biden presidency in order to save America or they can choose to continue stoking the raging fire.

“I’ve been heartened to see many members of the President’s party speak up forcefully today. Their voices add to the examples of Republican state and local election officials in states like Georgia who’ve refused to be intimidated and have discharged their duties honorably. We need more leaders like these — right now and in the days, weeks, and months ahead as President-Elect Biden works to restore a common purpose to our politics. It’s up to all of us as Americans, regardless of party, to support him in that goal,” Mr Obama said.

Mr Biden, 78, who defeated Mr Trump in both the popular votes and at the Electoral College, will be sworn in, alongside his vice president-elect, Kamala Harris, on January 20.

Mr Biden polled 306 votes against Mr Trump’s 232 in the electoral college votes.

Mr Trump has, however, continued to vow that he will not concede power to Mr Biden.

For posting unverifiable claims of fraud in the November election and for tweeting in support of the chaos at the Capitol before telling his supporters to be ”peaceful”, Twitter has blocked Mr Trump’s account.

Facebook has also suspended his account for 24 hours.

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Middle East

Israel Declares Hezbollah Leader Marked Target

Published

2 days ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, has declared the leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement a “marked target” following overnight rocket fire from Lebanon.

Katz said on X that Hezbollah chief, Naim Qassem, had acted on orders from Iran in launching attacks on Israel and warned that the group would “pay a heavy price.”

Qassem succeeded Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon in September 2024.

The Israeli military said several rockets were fired from Lebanon overnight, with one intercepted and others landing in open areas.

Hezbollah said the attack was in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran on Saturday.

In response, Israel said it carried out fresh strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including weapons depots and other infrastructure.

The military reported bombardments in Beirut and elsewhere, saying senior militia members were among those hit.

Meanwhile, residents near the office of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, reported no signs of a missile strike on Monday, after Iran claimed it had targeted the building.

The residents said that prime minister’s fate was unknown.

Air raid sirens sounded around noon in the Jerusalem area, as well as in several regions across central and southern Israel.

In spite of the alerts, local police and rescue services said there were no reported hits, injuries, damage or interceptions over Jerusalem.

Residents living close to the prime minister’s office said they had not witnessed any missile impact in the vicinity.

Reporters at the scene observed no visible presence of military personnel, police forces or emergency responders outside the compound.

Traffic in surrounding streets continued as normal, with no smoke seen rising from the area.

The building appeared intact and undamaged.

The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Iranian statement.

Israeli media commentators dismissed the claim.

Amit Segal, chief political analyst for Channel 12 News, described it as “fake news” in a post on Telegram.

Suleiman Maswadeh, chief diplomatic correspondent for the State-owned Kan, also said on Telegram that the claimed lacked corroboration.

Middle East

Saudi Arabia Shuts Down One of World’s Largest Oil Refinery after Iran’s Drone Strike

Published

2 days ago

March 2, 2026

Eric

Saudi Aramco has halted operations at its Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia after a reported drone strike in the area, according to Reuters.

Ras Tanura, one of the largest oil refining and export facilities in the world, has a refining capacity of roughly 550,000 barrels per day and serves as the kingdom’s largest oil export terminal.

The facility handles approximately 6.5 million barrels of crude daily nearly 7% of global oil supply flows through this single site.

Reports indicate the attack was carried out by Iran amid rising regional tensions, affecting critical Aramco infrastructure.

Following the strike, a fire reportedly broke out in the refinery’s processing complex.

Authorities say the blaze has been contained, and no casualties were recorded.

A series of strikes by the US and Israel against Iran began last Saturday.

World

Trump Claims 48 Iran Leaders Killed in US-Israeli Operations

Published

3 days ago

March 2, 2026

Eric

The United States President, Donald Trump, has claimed that over 48 Iranian leaders have been killed in ongoing U.S.-Israeli bombardments, describing the offensive as a major success.

“Nobody can believe the success we’re having, 48 leaders are gone in one shot. And it’s moving along rapidly,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News.

The military strike, launched Saturday, aims to dismantle the Islamic Republic’s leadership and degrade its military capabilities.

Iran has confirmed the death of its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

In a separate interview with CNBC, Trump reiterated his confidence in the operation’s progress.

“We’re doing our job not just for us but for the world. And everything is ahead of schedule,” he said. “Things are evolving in a very positive way right now, a very positive way.”

The interviews were conducted before the U.S. military announced its first casualties in the conflict. United States Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that three service members were killed, five seriously wounded, and several others sustained lighter injuries.

CENTCOM also said U.S. forces had sunk an Iranian warship at a dock in the Gulf of Oman as part of ongoing operations.