More than 40 people missing after boat capsizes in Nigeria’s Sokoto State
More than 40 people are missing after a boat capsized in northwest Nigeria’s Sokoto State on Sunday, with 10 survivors rescued so far, according to ...
Ukraine's top anti-corruption official says efforts to weaken his agency will continue, despite President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reversing a controversial law that sparked public outcry and EU concern.
Ukraine’s anti-corruption campaign remains under threat, according to Semen Kryvonos, head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), who said on Friday that “attempts to destroy” the independence of his agency are far from over.
His remarks followed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s unexpected reversal of legislation that would have curbed the autonomy of NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), prompting rare street protests during wartime. Thousands rallied in Kyiv and other cities after parliament fast-tracked the bill, which gave a Zelenskyy-appointed general prosecutor control over both bodies.
"This was a shock for me – how much demand had built up to destroy us," Kryvonos told Reuters in Kyiv, calling the move a coordinated attempt to “ruin our independence.” He did not name specific figures behind the push, only referring to “various representatives of the government, various financial groups.”
On Thursday, Zelenskyy submitted new legislation to restore NABU and SAPO’s independence, an effort widely seen as damage control to prevent further erosion of public trust and to preserve Kyiv’s alignment with European Union standards. The bill will be debated in a special parliamentary session next week.
But Kryvonos warned that opponents are likely to escalate efforts to discredit the agency, including what he called a “dirty information campaign” on anonymous Telegram channels that paint NABU as ineffective.
He added that a recent crackdown on his agency – including the arrest of two NABU officials for alleged ties to Russia and searches targeting nearly 20 employees – was triggered by the bureau’s high-profile investigations.
“These events were a result of systemic work by NABU and SAPO, especially over the past half-year,” Kryvonos said. He confirmed receiving “a huge amount” of threats.
NABU and SAPO were formed in the aftermath of Ukraine’s 2014 revolution, with backing from Western partners to tackle entrenched corruption. Their work is viewed as crucial to Ukraine’s EU accession efforts and its post-Soviet reform agenda.
The agencies have brought charges against sitting lawmakers and government officials. One of the latest cases involves a then deputy prime minister accused of accepting a $345,000 bribe, while another exposed a major real estate fraud scheme in Kyiv.
The legislation Zelenskyy was forced to retract had won support across much of the political spectrum – from members of his own Servant of the People party to opposition lawmakers and remnants of pro-Russian factions.
Kryvonos cautioned that political elites still see anti-corruption bodies as a threat. “They need to stop considering us as enemies,” he said, “and accept us as an important part of state institutions.”
A powerful eruption at Japan’s Shinmoedake volcano sent an ash plume more than 3,000 metres high on Sunday morning, prompting safety warnings from authorities.
According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the Oaxaca region of Mexico on Saturday.
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 56 kilometres east of Gorgan in northern Iran early Sunday morning, according to preliminary seismic data.
A deadly heatwave has claimed 1,180 lives in Spain since May, with elderly people most at risk, prompting calls for urgent social support.
Media accreditation is now open for COP30, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, set to take place in Belém, Brazil in 2025.
More than 40 people are missing after a boat capsized in northwest Nigeria’s Sokoto State on Sunday, with 10 survivors rescued so far, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The boat was en route to the popular Goronyo market when disaster struck.
A fire erupted at a fuel and energy facility in southern Ukraine's Odesa region following a Russian drone attack, with no casualties reported so far. Meanwhile, Russia's Ryazan region saw a deadly blaze that has claimed 20 lives and injured 134.
Qantas Airways has been fined A$90 million ($58.64 million) for illegally firing 1,800 ground staff during the COVID-19 pandemic and replacing them with contractors, the Federal Court of Australia said on Monday (August 18).
A moderately high earthquake at 5.8 magnitude has hit north-eastern Algeria on Sunday according to the Center for Research in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Geophysics (CRAAG).
A light plane was forced to make an emergency crash landing on a golf course in Sydney on Sunday (17 August) after the aircraft lost power.
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