Author: Editor

IRAN’S Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on Muslims around the world to unite and “stand by the people of Lebanon and the proud Hezbollah”, following reports of the killing of the Lebanese group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli air strike on Friday. In a statement issued on Saturday following Israel’s claim of the killing of Nasrallah, Khamenei described Israel’s policy as “short-sighted” and called the deadly strikes on Lebanon “criminal”. “The Zionist criminals need to know that they are far too weak to be able to inflict any significant damage on the solid structure of Lebanon’s Hezbollah,”…

SAUDI Arabia has carried out its highest number of executions in more than three decades after three executions announced on Sept 28 took the figure in 2024 to 198, according to an AFP tally. The Gulf kingdom executed the third-highest number of prisoners in the world after China and Iran in 2023, according to Amnesty International. The latest tally surpassed its previous highs of 196 in 2022 and 192 in 1995, according to the London-based human rights group, which began recording the annual figures in 1990. The official Saudi Press Agency announced the latest three executions, citing a statement from…

SEVENTEEN people have been killed in a mass shooting in a remote South African town with a manhunt under way to find the perpetrators, police say. Two homesteads on the same street in the town of Lusikisiki, in the Eastern Cape, were targeted, police said, with 12 women and one man killed in one location, and three women and one man at a second location. An 18th victim is in a critical condition in hospital, the South Africa Police Service said. The police minister, Senzo Mchunu, is expected to visit the area where the attack occurred. Officials said the victims…

A ROW between a prominent journalist and a king has captivated many in Ghana. It began when Afia Pokua criticised the Ashanti king’s handling of tensions with other ethnic groups, the deference that politicians show him, and expressed her frustration about the apparent supremacy of the Asante community. “Even the president… bowed to show respect to the chief,” Ms Pokua said in an interview with Mona Gucci earlier this month on local channel Onua TV. “Asante is not the whole of Ghana. If you are only thinking about Asante, they can amend the laws so that you can separate yourself…

ORDINARILY, Tuesday, the 1st of October, 2024 will pass on as a day of merriment, in line with tradition, to celebrate Nigeria’s independence from colonial rule in 1960. But there are signs that aside the expected burst of conviviality, pomp and panoply, this year’s Independence Day, the 64th, may be different. As the government, on one hand, is trying to mark the day with the usual formalities, though on a low key, certain individuals and groups have slated it as a day to begin a sustained match in protest against the current hardship in the country owing to what they…

UNDOUBTEDLY, the northern region in Nigeria is blessed with abundant football talents. However, since the inception of the country’s senior national football team in 1963, the region which houses some of the most gifted players in the round leather game has struggled to feature prominently in the Super Eagles. It is on record that in 61 years, only 13 northerners have played for Nigeria in the AFCON. The 13 most successful Super Eagles players from the north with their appearances in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) are Annas Ahmed , Racca Rovers (1978), Shefiu Mohammed, Racca Rovers, Kano (1980),…

MANCHESTER City boss Pep Guardiola says he’s been provoked into a more intense rivalry with Arsenal as the fallout continues from their Premier League clash at Etihad Stadium last weekend. Sunday’s 2-2 draw between the title rivals saw several flashpoints, including City striker Erling Haaland throwing the ball at the head of Gunners defender Gabriel. Following the match City’s John Stones and Kyle Walker said the Gunners used the “dark arts” while trying to protect their 2-1 half-time lead. Substitute Stones scrambled a leveller in the eighth minute of added time. Speaking on Friday, Guardiola said: “You want a war?…

PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged Israel will fight until “total victory” in its continuing war on Gaza and promised to continue attacks on the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, as hopes faded for a ceasefire that could head off an all-out regional war. Several delegations walked out as Netanyahu approached the lectern to speak while supporters in the gallery cheered. “I didn’t intend to come here this year. My country is at war fighting for its life,” Netanyahu said on Friday. “But after I heard the lies and slanders levelled at my country by many of the speakers at this…

AROUND 60 women have now come forward to allege they were sexually abused by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, lawyers representing them said on Friday. A BBC documentary last week aired claims by women that Fayed, who died last year aged 94, raped and sexually abused them during his ownership of the luxury department store. The accusations make the Egyptian billionaire the latest high-profile figure to join a list of rich and powerful men, such as Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, disgraced by sexual abuse allegations. “The response has simply been enormous,” the lawyers said in a statement. “We can confirm…

A MINISTER in Senegal’s former government has been jailed on charges of extortion, embezzlement and money laundering during his previous role as head of the national lottery, his lawyer told AFP Friday. Lat Diop headed the national lottery from 2020 and then served as sports minister from 2023 to 2024 under ex-president Macky Sall. He is the first former government minister to be detained under the new authorities, who took office in April. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko have repeatedly said they will seek accountability from the previous administration. Diop was jailed late Thursday, the…

ZIMBABWE’s central bank has devalued its gold-backed currency by over 40% against the US dollar, indicating that the last ditch effort to stabilise the country’s volatile economy, is in trouble. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) made the decision to slash the local exchange rate to 24 Zig to $1 (£0.75) on Friday. This slump is due to an increase in demand for the US dollar, which is also legal tender. It comes after warnings from by large retailers of store closures if the rate remained fixed at the previous level. The Zig, which stands for Zimbabwe Gold, was launched…

MANCHESTER City will face Tottenham in the fourth round of the English League Cup final. The draw was made on Wednesday after the third-round games. Man City’s game will be a repeat of the 2020/21 League Cup final which Pep Guardiola’s side won 1-0 thanks to an Aymeric Laporte header. Elsewhere, Brighton will take on Liverpool while Manchester United host Leicester City. The games will be played in the week commencing October 28th, 2024. Full League Cup Fourth Round Fixtures: Below are the fourth-round League Cup fixtures for the 2024/2025 season: Brentford v Sheffield Wednesday Southampton v Stoke Tottenham v…

HUNDREDS of people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Lebanon, health authorities said, as Israeli air forces expanded their bombardment of the country for a fourth consecutive day despite growing international calls for a ceasefire. According to an Al Jazeera tally, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reported on Thursday that at least 29 people were killed in Israeli attacks – the majority of whom were Syrians in the town of Younine in the Bekaa valley, along the country’s eastern border with Syria. Other attacks hit villages and towns in the country’s south, including Tyre, and at least two people…

LAWMAKERS probing the Pennsylvania assassination attempt against Donald Trump blamed Secret Service failures during their first hearing Thursday for a series of security lapses that allowed a gunman to open fire on the Republican presidential nominee. The Secret Service initially blamed local law enforcement over the July 13 attack at Trump’s campaign event in Butler, which left one man dead and the ex-president nursing a bloodied ear where a bullet grazed him. But members of a cross-party House task force set up to investigate the incident heard that the agency, which protects US political leaders, communicated poorly over securing the…

SUDAN’s army has launched a major offensive against the powerful paramilitary group it is fighting in the country’s civil war, targeting areas in the capital it lost at the start of the conflict. In dawn strikes on Thursday, government forces shelled Rapid Support Forces (RSF) bases in the capital Khartoum, and Bahri to its north. Sudan has been embroiled in a war since the army and the RSF began a vicious struggle for power in April 2023, leading to what the UN has called one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Up to 150,000 people have been killed in the…

SENEGAL’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko on Thursday vowed investigations into what he termed “widespread corruption” under the previous administration, accusing it of having fiddled its financial figures. “The policy of unbridled indebtedness (under former president Macky Sall) has led to the use of resources that is not transparent and that is conducive to widespread corruption,” he told journalists, denouncing the “embezzlement of public funds en masse”. Sonko and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye swept to power in March on a pledge of radical change in the West African nation. The pair ran on a ticket of social justice, sovereignty and leftist…

MANCHESTER United stuttered to a 1-1 draw at home to FC Twente in their opening Europa League game on Wednesday as Christian Eriksen scored but then made an error that led to the equaliser. The Denmark international put United ahead with a powerful first-half strike on a soaking wet night at Old Trafford before Sam Lammers equalised for Twente on 68 minutes after Eriksen was caught in possession. United manager Erik ten Hag selected a strong side to take on Twente, a club where the Dutchman came through the youth ranks and had three spells as a player before moving…

LEBANESE Prime Minister Najib Mikati has implored members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to act as Israel’s bombardment of his country has now killed at least 620 people in the three days since Monday. An urgent meeting of the security council was called on Wednesday by France, with the French foreign minister taking the opportunity to unveil efforts with the United States to reach a temporary pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. “Israel is violating our sovereignty by sending their warplanes and drones to our skies,” Mikati told the emergency meeting at UN headquarters in New York. De-escalation…

DONALD Trump has hit out at Volodymyr Zelenskyy for not negotiating with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, claiming that even the “worst deal” would be better than the current level of death and destruction. Speaking at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump said that Ukraine would never be able to replace its “many dead people” and towns and cities destroyed in the war. “Those cities are gone. They’re gone, and we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelenskyy. There was no deal that he could have…

MORE than 430 people have died from cholera in the past month, Sudan’s health ministry says, as civil war continues to ravage the country. The number of infections has risen to about 14,000, it said in a statement. It said it was doing all it can to “combat cholera in the affected states, amid the rise in infections”. Getting treatment to those affected areas is hugely complicated by the conflict which has killed up to 150,000 people since it began last year, according to the US special envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello. Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that…