Author: Editor

ISRAEL has released five Palestinian prisoners as part of a fragile ceasefire deal with Hamas, offering a rare moment of relief for the families in Gaza. The five men, freed on Monday evening, were taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah for medical examinations, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary reported from outside the facility. Relatives gathered at the hospital, some embracing the freed prisoners, while others anxiously sought information about missing family members. “This is the first time since the ceasefire that Israeli forces have released unknown Palestinian prisoners,” said Khoudary. Thousands of Palestinians remain imprisoned in Israel, many held without…

THE White House will send only partial food aid payments to 42 million low-income Americans, as the government shutdown crippling public services nears record length, officials told a judge Monday. Two federal courts ruled last week that President Donald Trump’s administration must use a $4.65 billion emergency fund toward the estimated $9 billion cost for November’s payments before cutting off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Officials for the Agriculture Department, which oversees the program, said in a filing to a federal court in Rhode Island they would not make up the shortfall with other funding sources, meaning “50 percent…

JUNTA leader Mamady Doumbouya officially entered Guinea’s presidential race Monday, submitting his candidacy for the December 28 elections that are meant to restore constitutional order following the general’s 2021 coup. Doumbouya has ruled the West African nation with an iron fist since first coming to power. Despite his initial promise to hand power back to civilians, he was largely expected to run for president. Arriving at the Supreme Court via armoured vehicle to formally hand in his candidacy, surrounded by special forces, the general then left without giving a statement. Thousands of supporters from across the country, who had travelled…

THE Netherlands has said it will return a stolen 3,500-year-old sculpture to Egypt. It is “highly likely” the stone head, dating from the time of the pharaohs, was plundered during the Arab Spring in either 2011 or 2012, according to the Dutch Information & Heritage Inspectorate. A decade later, it turned up at an arts and antiques fair in Maastricht and, following an anonymous tip-off, Dutch authorities determined it had been stolen and exported illegally. Dutch outgoing prime minister Dick Schoof made the pledge to hand it back as he attended the opening of the archaeological Grand Egyptian Museum in…

ERLING Haaland was back on the scoresheet with two goals to help Manchester City return to winning ways in the Premier League and leapfrog Bournemouth into second place. Pep Guardiola’s side had suffered their first defeat in 10 games at Aston Villa last Sunday, with Haaland not finding the net for only the second time this season. But the Norwegian’s double proved crucial against the in-form Cherries as City moved six points behind leaders Arsenal. Bournemouth almost made the dream start when they had the ball in the net after 46 seconds through Eli Junior Kroupi, but the goal was…

THE Israeli army is preparing to receive more bodies of captives killed during the war on Gaza after Hamas said it would hand over the bodies of three found today in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip. Israel has killed a Palestinian man in northern Gaza’s Shujayea, claiming that he approached the so-called “yellow line” behind which Israeli troops remain. Israel has only allowed a fraction of the aid deliveries agreed on as part of the US-brokered ceasefire – an average of 145 trucks per day instead of the 600 it pledged to allow into the besieged Gaza Strip.…

UK police have said one person remains in life-threatening condition after the stabbing of 10 passengers on a London-bound train in eastern England, with “terrorism” ruled out, in what officials described as “an isolated incident”. Police initially said nine of the 10 people wounded on Saturday were in a life-threatening condition. On Sunday, British Transport Police said five of those had since been discharged. Two people were initially arrested over the attack, with one released without charge later Sunday, police said. Another suspect remains in custody. The Cambridgeshire police said they were called at 19:39 GMT on Saturday after reports…

THE Kenyan government has confirmed that 21 people have died following a landslide in the western part of the country after heavy rainfall. Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said the bodies had been transferred to a nearby airstrip after the landslide in Marakwet East late on Friday night. He said on X that more than 30 people were still unaccounted for after being reported missing by their families while 25 people with serious injuries had been airlifted to receive further medical attention. The Kenyan Red Cross, which is helping to coordinate rescue efforts, said that the most affected areas are still…

SOUTH African court has ruled that Nobel laureate Albert Luthuli’s 1967 death was the result of an “assault” by apartheid police, overturning decades of claims that it was an accident. An inquest held under the apartheid government concluded that Luthuli, the first African to win the Nobel Peace Prize, died after being struck by a freight train while walking along a railway line. But activists and his family had long cast doubt on the findings, and South Africa’s government reopened the case this year. A judge on Thursday ruled that the anti-apartheid hero died as a result of a fractured…

AMAD Diallo lashed home a thunderous 81st-minute volley to earn Manchester United a point in a thrilling Premier League encounter with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. The visitors thought they were heading for a fourth straight win and second spot in the table after Casemiro headed them into a half-time lead from a corner Forest were convinced should not have been awarded. But the game turned on its head in the space of two second-half minutes as Forest skipper Morgan Gibbs-White outmuscled Amad to reach Ryan Yates’ deep cross from the right. From their next attack, Forest scored again.…

AUTHORITIES in Gaza say that Israel has only allowed a fraction of the humanitarian aid deliveries agreed on as part of the United States-brokered ceasefire into the enclave since the agreement came into effect last month. In a statement on Saturday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said that 3,203 commercial and aid trucks brought supplies into Gaza between October 10 and 31. This is an average of 145 aid trucks per day, or just 24 percent of the 600 trucks that are meant to be entering Gaza daily as part of the deal, it added. “We strongly condemn the Israeli occupation’s…

UKRAINE has deployed special forces to the embattled eastern city of Pokrovsk, the country’s top military commander said, as Kyiv seeks to maintain control of the area amid an intense Russian offensive. Russia has been trying to capture Pokrovsk, dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk”, since mid-2024 in its campaign to control the entirety of the eastern Donetsk region. “We are holding Pokrovsk,” Ukraine’s army chief Oleksandr Syrskii said on Facebook on Saturday. “A comprehensive operation to destroy and dislodge enemy forces from Pokrovsk is ongoing.” Home to more than 60,000 people before the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022, Pokrovsk…

PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has been declared the winner of Tanzania’s presidential election, securing another term amid days of unrest across the country. Samia won 98% of the votes in Wednesday’s poll, the electoral commission said. In her Saturday victory speech she said the election was “free and democratic”, accusing protesters of being “unpatriotic”. Opposition parties rejected the results, calling the vote a mockery of the democratic process as Samia’s main challengers had been either imprisoned or barred from running. International observers have expressed concern over the lack of transparency and widespread turmoil that has reportedly left hundreds of people…

CAIRO is set to open the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum that Egypt hopes will celebrate the nation’s heritage and also revitalise its struggling economy and tourism sector. According to a statement from the Egyptian presidency, world leaders – including monarchs, and heads of state and government were expected to attend the grand opening ceremony in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Saturday. It described the museum opening as “an exceptional event in the history of human culture and civilisation”. Massive statues and historical artefacts from the country’s ancient civilisation will be on display across the 24,000 square metres (258,000 square feet)…

THREE of Nigeria’s leading attacking talents in Europe; Victor Boniface, Umar Sadiq and Taiwo Awoniyi will be stepping onto the pitch today under increasing scrutiny, as all three battle worrying goal droughts that stretch back several months. Victor Boniface, who took Europe by storm at Bayer Leverkusen in the 2023/24 season with 14 goals and nine assists, has seen his form dip dramatically. Last goal: March 2025 vs Bochum Drought: 12 matches / 8 months Now on loan at Werder Bremen, the striker has played six games this season, registering just one assist. Even in his first start for Bremen,…

THIRTY more bodies of Palestinians who were detained by Israel have been returned to the besieged Gaza Strip, some showing signs of torture. The return of the Palestinian remains, via the International Committee of the Red Cross, came as Israeli forces continued air strikes across the Strip despite a shaky ceasefire, killing at least three people on Friday. One Palestinian was killed and his brother wounded by Israeli gunfire in the Shujayea neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City, while another was killed by Israeli shelling in the Jabalia refugee camp, Wafa news agency reported. A third Palestinian died of wounds sustained…

UNITED States President Donald Trump has said he is not considering strikes within Venezuela, appearing to contradict his own comments earlier this month, amid a major US military build-up in the region. The US has now deployed fighter jets, warships and thousands of troops to the Caribbean, with the world’s largest warship, aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, on its way towards the Venezuelan coast. When asked by reporters on board Air Force One on Friday if media reports that he was considering strikes within Venezuela were true, Trump answered: “No.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered the same…

HUNDREDS of people have been killed in Tanzania during three days of protests following Wednesday’s general election, the country’s main opposition party has said. The death toll varies, and a nationwide internet shutdown is making it difficult to verify the numbers. While a spokesperson from the opposition Chadema party told AFP news agency that “around 700” people had been killed in clashes with security forces, a diplomatic source in Tanzania told the BBC there was credible evidence that at least 500 people had died. The government has sought to play down the scale of the violence – and authorities have…

MORE than 60,000 people have fled the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over the weekend, according the UN refugee agency. There have been reports of mass executions and crimes against humanity as the RSF fighters stormed the city after an 18-month siege marked by starvation and heavy bombardment. The flow of those fleeing the violence towards the town of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had increased in the past few days, the UNHCR’s Eujin Byun told the BBC. They were narrating horrendous stories of atrocities, including rape, and…

SAUDI Arabia has revealed it rejected an offer to bring global football icon Lionel Messi to the Saudi Pro League on a short-term deal ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Abdullah Hammad, CEO of the Mahd Sports Academy, disclosed that Messi’s representatives approached him during the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup, seeking a temporary move while the Major League Soccer (MLS) season goes on its extended break. “During the last Club World Cup, Messi’s team contacted me and offered for him to play in Saudi Arabia because the MLS will stop for nearly four months,” Hammad said on the…