Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the terrorist group ISIS, is believed to be dead after U.S. forces carried out an operation in Syria, NBC News reported, citing two American officials. The operation was carried out around midnight in Syria.

The U.S. was conducting forensic tests to confirm that Baghdadi was among the dead, according to NBC News, but officials believe he was killed.

The mission came after the U.S. received actionable intelligence regarding Baghdadi in recent days. Various media outlets had previously reported that officials believe Baghdadi was killed.

The news came hours after the White House said late Saturday night that President Donald Trump would be making a “major statement” at 9 a.m. ET Sunday. It wasn’t immediately clear what the president would discuss.

The White House statement came more than an hour after Trump tweeted that “Something very big has just happened!” without disclosing further details.

The apparent attack on Baghdadi came days after Trump announced that Turkey agreed to a cease-fire against Kurdish forces in northern Syria. Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from the area had triggered concerns that the U.S. was not only abandoning a key ally in its fight against ISIS, but also potentially creating room for an ISIS revival.

Baghdadi, who was born in Iraq, became a key figure in the al Qaida in Iraq terror group in the years following the U.S. invasion of the country. Eventually, that group gave way to Islamic State in Iraq, and Baghdadi rose through its ranks. He would form his own group, the brutal Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which took over prominent parts of Iraq, including the city Mosul.

U.S.-led forces in turn routed ISIS, forcing it to give up much of the territory it had seized. Baghdadi has been on the run, and has often been rumored to have been killed or gravely hurt.

President Muhammadu Buhari has re-nominated Dr Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), for a second four-year term as head of the African regional financial institution.

Adesina became president of the Bank on May 28, 2015, twenty four hours after his tenure as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the President Goodluck Jonathan administration ended.

Adesina disclosed his renomination for the Bank’s top position Sunday when he received a lifetime achievement award as Nigeria’s international icon at the 23rd Hallmarks of Labour awards held in Lagos.

He said, “President Bihari has nominated me again to be re-elected for a second term as President of the AfDB. I thank him for that support and I am extremely grateful to him. By the God’s grace, and with your support, I was elected president of the AfDB on May 28, 2015, exactly 24 hours after my term of office as minister of our dear nation, the nation jubilated as I became the first ever Nigerian to be elected president of the AfDB.
“We have been able to do much and God has helped us tremendously. The Bank was voted fourth most transparent institution globally last year. The Bank continues to maintain its goal through the race, we connected 16 million people to electricity within the last three years. We connected 17 million people with agricultural technology to get food security, we got nine billion people connected to finance, 55 million people with access to improved transport, and 31million people with access to improved water sanitation. Nigeria is the largest shareholder of AfDB. There is still much to do, there are still lots of challenges as we all know. I know I cannot do much unless I get a second term as President of the AfDB. I want to say that once again Nigeria has given me air in my lungs. President Buhari has nominated me again to be re-elected for a second term as president of the AfDB.”

Adesina said his election as the first ever Nigerian to head the Bank was a collective effort of Nigerians, mentioning Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Prof. Sule Gambari, Nigeria’s former permanent representative at the United Nations and Dr Ngozi Okinjo-Iweala, former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy in the Jonathan government, whom he said represented the country well and made Nigeria stand tall in the international community and made it possible for him to follow their examples.

“Some of these people may be dead but they are alive. Their achievements have become paths for us today just like the paths of the forest that leads one to the beach. I want to say that all of us must begin to take responsibility and that there is need for all of us at all times to be the best ambassadors of Nigeria and to make it the nation we want it to be,” Adesina added.

He charged Nigerians to emulate the examples set by notable Nigerians, saying that his position at the head of the AfDB was a collective effort of all Nigerians.

Oil slipped on Monday as China’s economic outlook remained weak even as manufacturing data improved, with an ongoing trade war with the United States weighing on demand growth for the world’s largest crude importer.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures were down 52 cents or 0.84 percent at $61.39 a barrel by 0846 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures were 35 cents or 0.63 percent lower at $55.56 a barrel.

China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 49.8 in September, slightly better than expected and advancing from 49.5 in August.
However, it remained below the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

The PMI data “remained in contractionary territory for the fifth month in a row, indicating that economic fundamentals were still weak,” Citi analysts said in a note.

“The (Chinese) government will certainly step up fiscal and monetary efforts to boost domestic demand, which we believe can help stabilize, probably not accelerate, economic growth.”

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has restored capacity to 11.3 million barrels per day after an attack on its processing facilities this month, sources told Reuters last week, although Saudi Aramco has yet to confirm it is fully back online.

While Saudi Arabia is maintaining exports by using crude from in

Nigerian Citizens Association in South Africa (NICASA), is optimistic that the meeting between Nigerian and South African Presidents in October, will bring lasting solutions to the recurrent xenophobia.

The President of NICASA, Mr Ben Okoli, made this known in a telephone conversation with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Okoli said President Muhammadu Buhari and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, were expected to meet in October to discuss modalities to address attacks on Nigerians living in that country.

“We are looking forward to the state visit by President Buhari and we believe his coming will help reduce the suffering Nigerians go through in South Africa.

“We will use the opportunity to lay our complaints to the president and highlight security of lives and properties of our members, as the area of concern that we want addressed.

“We will also be able to get assurance from our host country’s president towards securing lives and properties of Nigerians here.

“We hope the visit will comfort Nigerians here, because we expect our plight to be tabled before the host government, so they can provide adequate protection to ensure Nigerians feel safe,” he said.

He lamented the high handedness of police operatives in South Africa on matters that concerned Nigerians, saying issues like brutality and killings should be brought to the fore at the meeting.

“We will list all potentials that could bring about economic benefits and growth to Nigerians through the anticipated state visit,” he said.

He said that Nigerians ha, without any fear of contradiction, contributed immensely to the growth of the South African economy.

“We urge the South African Government to ensure that the attacks do not reoccur. We appeal to them to device alternative strategies since previous efforts to stop xenophobia have not worked.

“We believe xenophobia can be stopped and therefore appeal to the South African government to provide succour to foreigners who have lost their source of livelihood, especially Nigerians.

He commended the Nigerian Consulate General to South Africa, Godwin Adama, for the pro-active steps he had so far taken to douse tension via the media in that country.

“The mission’s gate has never been shut against Nigerians; it has always kept its door open.

“What happened is that after the crisis in Pretoria where South African’s destroyed Nigerian businesses and property, those whose property were destroyed went to the mission out of frustration and anger.

“I understand the situation; it is not easy for somebody to lose his property and just be watching; but the mission gate was not shut against them,” he said.

He said they were invite in and received by an official of the consulate who went as far as organising food and drinks for them to make sure that they are comfortable.

“So they were attended to and nobody would say that the gate was shut against them.

“The mission allowed them in even though they came in by force and destroyed part of the entrance.

“They were encouraged to go and calculate their losses and bring back the report through the organisation. So, we are actually collaborating with people who have lost their property.

“We are taking inventory of what our people lost, which I will make available to the high commissioner in due time,” Okoli said.