Author: Editor

THE United States Senate has rejected a bill that aimed to block a US weapons sale to Israel amid the country’s war on Gaza, an outcome that rights advocates say does not take away from a growing push to condition aid to Washington’s top ally. A resolution to halt the sale of tank rounds failed to advance in a 79 to 18 vote on Wednesday, with prominent progressives and mainstream Democratic senators backing the effort. Two more resolutions to halt the sale of other weapons also failed after winning fewer than 20 votes. Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the so-called Joint…

THE eldest son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit is suspected of a second rape, police said on Wednesday, two days after his arrest over another allegation of sexual assault. Born of a relationship prior to Mette-Marit’s marriage to heir Prince Haakon, Marius Borg Hoiby was arrested on Monday evening on suspicion of one case of rape. Since the investigation unearthed a second allegation, a lawyer for the force said, police were requesting the 27-year-old be remanded in custody. “It involves sexual intercourse without consent with a woman incapable of resisting the act,” police lawyer Andreas Kruszewski said on the sidelines…

VETERAN Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye appeared in a military court in Kampala on Wednesday accused of seeking to compromise national security, after his reported abduction in neighbouring Kenya at the weekend. The manner of Besigye’s detention has caused an uproar, with concerns over Kenya’s role and the heightened government crackdown on Uganda’s opposition. Besigye, 68, a medical doctor and longtime critic of President Yoweri Museveni, was brought to the General Court Martial in the Ugandan capital under a heavily armed military escort. He appeared in the dock with another opposition figure, Hajji Lutale Kamulegeya, who was also snatched in…

MALI’s junta chief on Wednesday sacked civilian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga and the government, days after Maiga issued a rare criticism of the military rulers. “The duties of the prime minister and the members of the government are terminated,” said a decree issued by Colonel Assimi Goita and read out by the secretary general of the presidency on state television station ORTM. The West African country, plagued by jihadist and separatist violence, has been led by the military since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021. In June 2022, the junta promised to organise elections and hand over power to…

RETIRING tennis superstar Rafael Nadal lost 6-4, 6-4 to Botic van de Zandschulp in a Davis Cup quarter-final singles rubber on Tuesday as the Netherlands took a 1-0 lead against Spain. The 22-time Grand Slam winner will call time on his career in professional tennis at the end of Spain’s participation in the tournament in Malaga, after two injury-ravaged years. Doubts hung over Nadal’s involvement until the official announcement from team captain David Ferrer confirmed he would play in the first singles rubber of the opening finals clash. The 38-year-old appeared emotional during the Spanish national anthem, and fans filled…

MORE than 200 children have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched a military campaign focused on its northern neighbour two months ago, the United Nations agency for children (UNICEF) has said. An average of three children have been killed every day in Lebanon, UNICEF told reporters on Tuesday, as Israel has intensified its bombing campaign across the country. It warned that as in Gaza, despite the horrific toll on Lebanon’s children “those with influence” were failing to mount a meaningful response. “Despite more than 200 children killed in Lebanon in less than two months, a disconcerting pattern has emerged:…

BRAZILIAN police on Tuesday arrested four soldiers guarding the G20 summit over an alleged plot to assassinate then President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a 2022 “coup,” a federal police source told AFP. The four “were arrested in Rio, where they were participating in the security operation for the G20 leaders’ meeting,” said the source, who added that a police officer was also taken into custody. A statement by Brazil’s federal police said the suspects were “mostly soldiers with special forces training,” but made no mention of them being part of the G20 summit security deployment. They were arrested…

THE opposition leader of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, has won the territory’s presidential election. More popularly known as Irro, he won with 64% of the vote to become Somaliland’s sixth president since it broke away from Somalia in 1991. The 69-year-old, a former speaker of Somaliland’s parliament, beat incumbent Musa Abdi Bihi, who took 35% of the vote. During campaigning, Irro said his party would review a controversial deal to lease landlocked Ethiopia a 20km (12-mile) section of its coastline for 50 years to set up a naval base – an agreement that has caused a…

KENYA’s Catholic Church has rejected a donation of about $40,000 (£32,000) made by President William Ruto. He offered the money towards the building of a priest’s house and as a gift to the choir during Mass on Sunday at the Soweto Catholic Church in the capital, Nairobi. The donation followed a recent statement by Catholic bishops, who had hit out at the government for failing to fulfil their electoral promises. Churches have been under pressure this year from young anti-tax protesters who have accused them of being too close to politicians. Following Ruto’s much-publicised donation on Sunday, many Kenyans urged…

RODRIGO Bentancur has been handed a seven-game ban and a £100,000 fine by an independent regulatory commission following his racist comments about Son Heung-min during pre-season. The FA statement on Monday said: “An independent regulatory commission has imposed a seven-match suspension and £100,000 fine on Rodrigo Bentancur for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a media interview. “It was alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder breached FA Rule E3.1 as he acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute. “It was further alleged that this constitutes an “aggravated…

ISRAEL’s devastating bombing of Lebanon has reverberated around the world, reaching as far as the suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne. In Sydney’s Bankstown neighbourhood and Coburg in Melbourne, where Australia’s vibrant Lebanese community is visible in the local shops, restaurants and places of worship, Israel’s latest war on Lebanon has ignited a new wave of trauma. “I think 99 percent of the Lebanese in Australia still have family in Lebanon,” Michael Kheirallah, founder and chairman of the Victorian Lebanese Community Council, told Al Jazeera. “That’s why the community are watching the news almost 24 hours,” he said. “Some of them…

THE European Union Monday widened sanctions against Iran over its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine, including targeting vessels and ports used to transfer drones and missiles, as Britain also expanded its measures. In a move decried by Tehran, the 27-nation bloc said it prohibited the export, transfer, supply or sale from the EU to Iran of components used to make missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It also banned any transaction with ports “owned, operated or controlled” by sanctioned individuals and entities — or otherwise used to supply Russia with drones, missiles, related technology and components. “This measure includes…

AN overwhelming majority of Gabonese people have voted for a new constitution, military authorities say, in a move that marks a new phase for the country following last year’s coup. Provisional results showed 92% of voters backed the new constitution, according to the country’s electoral body. The outcome sets the stage for a transition to civilian rule, although critics say it is designed to allow coup leader Brice Oligui Nguema to remain in power. Nguema is yet to openly say whether he will run in the election. Voter turnout was estimated at 54%, according to the Committee for the Transition…

A 21-YEAR-OLD has become the latest Ugandan TikToker to be sent to prison after creating a video that was said to insult President Yoweri Museveni. Emmanuel Nabugodi appeared for the sentencing on Monday after pleading guilty last week to four charges, including hate speech and spreading malicious information about the president. He was sentenced to 32 months in jail. Nabugodi, known for sharing comedy content to his 20,000 followers, made a film of a mock trial of the head of state. In it he called for Museveni’s public flogging. Rights groups have frequently complained about restrictions on the freedom of…

ENGLAND blew away 10-man Republic of Ireland 5-0 to wrap up promotion to the Nations League top flight as four players netted their first international goals on Sunday, while Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick to help Norway also top their group. Euro 2024 runners-up England secured top spot in Group B2 in Lee Carsley’s final game in interim charge before the arrival of Thomas Tuchel as manager. Greece finished second despite a 2-0 win over Finland in the other game in the group and will head into the playoffs in March. England struggled to break down a resolute Ireland in…

AN Israeli strike targeting a building in central Beirut has killed Hezbollah’s spokesman Mohammad Afif, according to officials from the Lebanese armed group. Three other people were injured in the strike in the densely populated Ras al-Nabaa district in the Lebanese capital, officials said on Sunday, adding that the building was targeted without warning. Many Lebanese displaced by Israel’s ongoing strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs had taken refuge in the neighbourhood. The Israeli military had not officially ordered the area to be evacuated ahead of the deadly strike on its handle on X. “Clearly, this is a continuation of the…

RUSSIA on Sunday pummelled Ukraine with a “massive” aerial barrage, Ukrainian officials said, killing at least eight people and forcing power cuts with fears of a precarious winter to come. Hundreds of missiles and drones streaked across Kyiv’s skies as Russia’s invasion dragged past its one thousandth day, leaving more than 20 people wounded as well as the dead and damaging the country’s already beleaguered energy grid. The strikes came with Ukraine on the retreat against Russia’s soldiers and the support of its main backer the United States thrown into question by the reelection of Donald Trump to the presidency.…

SOUTH African police say they will continue to arrest any illegal miners who emerge from a disused gold mine where hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are in hiding. This follows a court order which said the mine-shaft in Stilfontein, around 90 miles (145km) south-west of Johannesburg, should not be blocked. Emergency services have been at the site, for several days. Police have been preventing food and water entering the mine to, as one government minister put it, “smoke them out”. The miners – who have been underground for a month – have so far refused to exit the mine over…

POLLS have opened in Senegal’s parliamentary elections as President Bassirou Diomaye Faye aims for a resounding majority to see through the promises of ambitious reforms that swept him to power eight months ago. More than seven million of the country’s 17 million people are eligible to vote on Sunday to pick members of the 165-seat National Assembly for a five-year term. Polls opened at 8am (08:00 GMT) and will close at 6pm (18:00 GMT). Faye secured victory in March pledging economic transformation, social justice and a fight against corruption – raising hopes among a largely youthful population facing high inflation…

AN Israeli strike on a school where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp has killed 10 people and wounded at least 20 others, Palestinian medics said. Rescue operations were under way at the UN-run Abu Assi school in northern Gaza on Saturday, health officials said. Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said that according to locals and witnesses, most of the people sheltering in the school were displaced from other parts of Gaza. “Let me remind you there is only one hospital functioning in the city … and we know the health situation in…