Benue State will use the opportunity of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the state tomorrow to request that the Federal Government redoubles effort to end killings in parts of the community, paramount ruler of Tiv people, Tor Tiv, Mr James Ayatse, and Benue elders said yesterday. Mr Buhari is billed to visit Benue state on Monday in continuation of his tour of states ravaged by insecurity. Elders, opinion leaders and royal fathers from across the three senatorial districts of the state who spoke to our correspondent in Makurdi yesterday were unanimous in their expectation that the president’s visit would mark…

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson canceled his scheduled events Saturday in Kenya because he was sick. "The secretary is not feeling well after a long couple days working on major issues back home such as North Korea," U.S. Undersecretary of State Steve Goldstein said. By the afternoon, Tillerson had improved and was expected to resume his schedule Sunday.Goldstein said some events may be rescheduled, including a planned stop at the site of the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. An event Saturday for PEPFAR, the U.S. program to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, went ahead without Tillerson. His…

After a year of threats and diatribes, U.S. President Donald Trump and third-generation North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un have agreed to meet face-to-face for talks about the North's nuclear program. It remains to be seen whether a summit, if it takes place, could lead to any meaningful breakthrough after an unusually provocative year. North Korea tested its most powerful nuclear weapon to date and test-launched three intercontinental ballistic missiles theoretically capable of striking the U.S. mainland. Will there be a breakthrough? Failure? Or merely the start of another long and difficult process meant to remove the North's nuclear capabilities?Here's…

Mauritian President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Africa's only female head of state, is to quit over a financial row. She has been accused of using a bank card provided by a charity to make personal purchases worth tens of thousands of dollars. She is to step down after ceremonies to mark the 50th anniversary of the island's independence next week. Denying wrongdoing, she said she had refunded all the money, Reuters news agency reports. Ms Gurib-Fakim is a renowned scientist and in 2015 became the first woman to be appointed to the ceremonial position of president of Mauritius. "The president of the…