Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Abidjan, Ivory Coast — Burkina Faso's military regime wants to reinstate the death penalty after the West African country abolished it in 2018, a government source told AFP on Saturday.  The latest execution in Burkina Faso was in 1988, according to Amnesty International.  Reintroducing capital punishment to the penal code "is being considered. It's up to the government to discuss it, then make the proposal to the Transitional Legislative Assembly (ALT) for adoption," the source said, adding that the date had not been chosen.  Justice Minister Rodrigue Bayala said Friday — after parliament passed a bill introducing community service — that "the issue of death penalty, which is being discussed, will be implemented in the draft criminal code."  Bayala also said there could be further amendments to the criminal code, "to follow the vision and the guidelines given by the head of state, Captain Ibrahim Traore," who seized power in a September 2022 coup.  The Burkinabe government in July passed a bill that included plans to ban homosexuality.  Amnesty International has reported a surge in the use of the death penalty on the African continent, saying in a statement in October that "recorded executions more than tripled and recorded death sentences increased significantly by 66%."  On the other hand, the rights group noted that "24 countries across sub-Saharan Africa have abolished the death penalty for all crimes while two additional countries have abolished it for ordinary crimes only."   "Kenya and Zimbabwe currently have bills tabled to abolish the death penalty for all crimes, while Gambia ... has commenced a constitutional amendment process that will ... effectively abolish the death penalty," it said. 

N'DJAMENA — Boko Haram insurgents killed 17 Chadian soldiers in a weekend attack on a military post that also left 96 of the assailants dead in the country's west, Chad's army said. The attack in the Lake Chad region happened on Saturday, army spokesperson Gen. Issakh Acheikh said on national television Sunday night. He did not provide details. The Lake Chad region has been plagued this year by frequent attacks from insurgents, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa. It has revived fears of violence after a period of peace following a successful operation launched in 2020 by the Chadian army to destroy the extremist groups' bases. Last month, 40 soldiers were killed during an attack on a military base, prompting President Mahamat Deby Itno to launch an operation to dislodge Boko Haram militants from Lake Chad. In March, an attack the government blamed on Boko Haram killed seven soldiers. Boko Haram, which launched an insurgency more than a decade ago against Western education, seeks to establish Islamic law in Nigeria’s northeast. The insurgency has spread to West African neighbors including Cameroon, Niger and Chad. Chad, a country of nearly 18 million people, has been reeling from political turmoil before and after a controversial presidential election that resulted in Deby Itno’s victory. He had led the country as interim president during the period of military rule that followed the death of his father in 2021.

PORT LOUIS — Mauritius incumbent prime minister Pravind Jugnauth said on Monday that his political alliance was headed for a huge defeat following Sunday's parliamentary election. "L'Alliance Lepep is heading towards a huge defeat. I have tried to do what I can for the country and the population. The population has decided to choose another team. I wish good luck to the country," Jugnauth told reporters. Voters went to the polls to elect lawmakers for the 62 seats in parliament for the next five years, from a list of 68 parties and five political alliances. Whichever party or coalition gets more than half the seats in parliament also wins the prime minister's post.

Yaoundé, Cameroon — The government of Chad said Tuesday that hundreds of Boko Haram fighters are fleeing the central African state’s territory and crossing over into Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria. State TV reports the fighters fled after clashes with Chadian forces over the weekend that killed more than 100 Boko Haram fighters as well as close to 20 Chadian soldiers. Chad state TV reports that assaults have continued against Boko Haram strongholds after the central African state’s military saw almost 20 soldiers killed and 32 others injured in a Saturday battle with Boko Haram terrorists in the Lake Chad basin. A government statement said about 100 Boko Haram fighters were killed and a dozen others injured during the clashes, and that Boko Haram fighters are now fleeing to Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger. Earlier this month, Chad's military launched an operation aimed at dislodging Boko Haram terrorists from areas around Lake Chad, according to the central African state’s president, General Mahamat Idriss Deby. Deby said the operation – named Haskanite -- is to avenge the killing of 40 government troops in October and to improve security for civilians in the area. The offensive hit a complication last week, when Deby said the fighting forces of Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger, who all contribute troops to a regional anti-terrorism joint task force, had decided to not collaborate with the Chadian offensive. Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger have made no public statements confirming or denying Deby’s claim, and VOA could not independently verify if the three countries have chosen not to participate in the Chadian operation. Cameroon’s military said it is securing the country’s borders and protecting its civilians. Deby has said he planned to withdraw his troops from the multi-national force, which has about 11,000 troops, because of the absence of what he calls coordinated efforts among member states to fight Boko Haram terrorism. Remadji Hoinathy is a lecturer at the University of N'Djamena in Chad and a researcher on strategic development in central Africa and the Lake Chad Basin Commission. He said it is imperative for neighboring states to strategize and join Chad in fighting Boko Haram because the terrorist group has a high capacity to infiltrate communities in Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger when attacked by forces from Chad. Remadji says fighters that survive onslaughts from Chad government forces will escape to safety areas in Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria and return to Chad to commit more atrocities when Operation Haskanite ends. Chad has not said when it might withdraw its troops from the U.N.-assisted joint fighting force. Chad civil society groups and political parties say they are surprised that officials of the joint task force have neither reacted to Chad's threat to withdraw nor announced plans to cooperate with the offensive against Boko Haram. Hisseine Abdoulaye is spokesperson of The Patriots, one of Chad’s political parties. He spoke to VOA via a messaging app from Chad's capital N'djamena. Abdoulaye said although it is the right of any state or party to pull out of an organization if its interests are not protected and respected, he disagrees with Chad's announced plan to withdraw its troops from the Multinational Joint Task Force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. He saif Chad's military alone cannot stop militants from attacking government troops and communities. Boko Haram launched an armed rebellion against the Nigerian government in 2009 to establish an Islamic state. Fighting has since spread to neighboring countries and has killed more than 40,000 people, displacing over 3 million according to the United Nations.

Washington — The United States sanctioned a senior Sudanese paramilitary official on Tuesday, accusing him of overseeing human rights abuses in his country's West Darfur region.  The Treasury Department announced the sanctions on Abdel Rahman Joma'a Barakallah, a commander with Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which it accused of being "a primary party responsible for the ongoing violence against civilians in Sudan." Sudan has been gripped by a deadly conflict since April 2023 between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, led by his former deputy, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is also known as Hemedti.   In a statement, the Treasury said the RSF's campaign in West Darfur "was marked by credible claims of serious human rights abuses, including targeting of civilians, conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), and ethnically motivated violence."  U.N. experts have estimated that the RSF, with the support of Arab militias, have killed between 10,000 and 15,000 people in the West Darfur town of El-Geneina alone. "Today's action underscores our commitment to hold accountable those who seek to facilitate these horrific acts of violence against vulnerable civilian populations in Sudan," Treasury acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Bradley Smith said in a statement.  "The United States remains focused on supporting an end to this conflict and calls on both sides to participate in peace talks and ensure the basic human rights of all Sudanese civilians," he added.

Pakistani and Indian Journalists at Media Conference: Why Fight Each Other, When We’re All Fighting the Same Issues? Pakistani and Indian Journalists at Media Conference: Why Fight Each Other, When We’re All Fighting the Same Issues?

Edo Queens head coach Moses Aduku is exuding confidence and expects his charges to go all out against FC Masar in the CAF Women’s Champions League Group B clash starting at 18:00 at Larbi Zaouli Stadium, Casablanca on Wednesday (today), PUNCH Sports Extra reports. The Nigerian and West African champions made a flying start to

Nigeria has recorded 1,035 confirmed cases of Lassa fever out of 8,569 suspected cases, and 174 deaths in 28 states across 129 local government areas as of October 13, 2024. The country also recorded 380 confirmed cases of Cerebrospinal Meningitis out of 4,915 suspected cases and 361 deaths in 24 states across 174 LGAs in

The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, has formalised the activities of 250 small and artisanal miners into cooperatives as part of efforts to help artisanal miners transition away from illegal mining. The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, disclosed this on Tuesday at a briefing to announce the 9th edition

Hundreds of disgruntled women and youths from Zamfara State, on Tuesday, took their protest to the headquarters of the Department of Security Services in Abuja, over heightened insecurity in the state. The aggrieved persons blamed the immediate-past governor of the state and now Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, for the heightened activities of

The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Tuesday raised an alarm over a plot to sabotage the interest of public universities in the country. ASUU’s National President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, at an event marking the 2024 ASUU’s Heroes Day in Abuja, also accused the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund of working relentlessly to

The Federal Government is hereby notified of the deplorable state of roads in Esanland, Edo State,. The most affected is the Agbor- Ewohimi- Igueben road; the Federal road linking Delta and Edo State The people of this area has lamented the deplorable state of the road from Agbor, Delta State to various Esan communites such as, Igbanke, Itah, Ekpon, Ebele, Ewohimi, Ebele, Ewato, Igueben, and many other towns and villages of Esanland has become death traps. Many road crashes have taken place on a regular basis, leading to deaths and injury of many travelers, who ply the roads. The Federal […]