SUDAN army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has said “many countries remain silent and turn a blind eye” to crimes allegedly committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the country’s more-than-year-long civil war. Sudan has been gripped by war since April 2023, when fighting erupted between forces loyal to al-Burhan and the RSF led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Since the war broke out, tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions more have been displaced as a humanitarian crisis has deepened. Both sides have been accused of possibly committing war crimes by UN…
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A TANZANIAN portrait artist, who was accused of burning a photo of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, has been sentenced to two years in prison or a fine of $2,000 (£1,600) after being found guilty of cybercrimes. Shadrack Chaula was arrested for allegedly recording a viral video, showing him burning a picture of President Samia while verbally insulting her. The 24-year-old painter admitted committing the crime and failed to defend his action in court. His arrest sparked legal controversy, with some lawyers saying that no law was broken in burning the picture. Some social media users have started an online drive…
TURKISH President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be in Germany for his country’s Euro 2024 quarter-final on Saturday, the presidency told AFP, as Ankara and Berlin trade barbs over a Turkish footballer’s celebratory gesture. Germany summoned Turkey’s ambassador in Berlin on Thursday morning amid a spiralling diplomatic row which erupted after Turkish footballer Merih Demiral made an alleged ultra-nationalist hand sign during his team’s win over Austria. In a tweet announcing the move the German foreign ministry said that “as the host of Euro 2024 we want sport to bring people together”. A day earlier Turkey had summoned the German envoy…
THE head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency will travel to Doha at the head of a negotiating delegation amid a renewed push to end the bloodshed in Gaza as both Israel and Hamas speak to mediators about a long-stalled ceasefire plan. Sources told Al Jazeera that Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea will lead the delegation and will meet with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani before the start of a new round of negotiations. News of Israeli negotiators returning to talks in Qatar follow after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden in a…
KEIR Starmer and his renewed Labour Party won a landslide election in Britain on Thursday, according to the exit poll, ending 14 years of Conservative Party rule and moving toward a new government dominated by the center left. This was an election that was more about mood than policy, and voters conveyed their frustration with the incumbent Tories and a willingness to take a chance on a “changed Labour Party,” as Starmer calls it, purged of its hard-left elements and socialist rhetoric. The sophisticated exit poll, sponsored by Britain’s top broadcasters, found that Labour was on track to win 410…
PRESIDENT of the Economic Community of West African State, Omar Touray, has regretted that despite numerous deliberations, ECOWAS has been unable to persuade Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to reverse their decision to withdraw from the regional bloc. Touray said this during the opening ceremony of the 92nd Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers on Thursday in Abuja. He noted that despite the efforts of ECOWAS to engage these countries, their response has not been positive. After the military juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger announced their decision to withdraw from ECOWAS since January 2024, the regional bloc…
TWENTY-FIVE soldiers with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s army have been sentenced to death for fleeing battles against the notorious M23 rebels in the conflict-hit east of the country. The soldiers were also convicted of theft by a military tribunal as they stole goods from shops in a nearby village after abandoning their positions, an army spokesman said. Four of the soldiers’ wives were acquitted by the military court of receiving goods looted by their husbands. In March, the government lifted a moratorium, in place for more than 20 years, on the death penalty being carried out after the justice…
HEZBOLLAH says a top commander has been killed in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, at least the third high-ranking official in the group to be killed in almost nine months of cross-border fighting that has sparked fears of wider regional escalation. The Lebanese armed group on Wednesday said that Muhammad Nimah Nasser, also known as “Hajj Abu Naameh”, had been killed. The Iran-aligned group later said it had launched 100 katyusha rockets targeting Israeli military positions. The announcement of Nasser’s death on the group’s Telegram did not provide the location, but a source previously told Al Jazeera that a…
JOE Biden is “absolutely not” pulling out of the White House race, his spokeswoman said Wednesday, as pressure mounted on the president following his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump. Panic has gripped Democrats in the wake of last week’s TV debate, and internal rumblings about finding a replacement candidate before November’s election have been amplified by polls showing Trump extending his lead. The New York Times and CNN reported that Biden, 81, had acknowledged to a key ally that his reelection bid was on the line if he failed to quickly reassure the public that he was still up…
AN attack blamed on Insurgents in central Mali killed more than 20 civilians on Monday, two local officials said, in the latest killings in the troubled Sahel region. Mali has for over a decade been ravaged by Insurgents and other armed groups, with the centre of the West African country becoming a hotbed of violence since 2015. “At least 21 civilians have been killed” in the village of Djiguibombo, several dozen kilometres (miles) from the town of Bandiagara, an official from the provincial authority said on Wednesday. He attributed the attack to Insurgents. Another provincial authority official and a local…
PROPOSED pay rises for members of Kenya’s cabinet and parliament will not happen after President William Ruto ordered a review of the plans following public outcry. It comes a week after mass protests forced Mr Ruto to drop a controversial finance bill that had included tax hikes. Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) Chairperson Lyn Mengich said on Wednesday the commission would “freeze” the salary increases for state officers due to “the current realities of the economy”. Initially the SRC had recommended a pay increase of 2% and 5% for all state officials, including judges. People began questioning how the the…
BRAZIL football legend Pele will be honoured in his home country with a commemorative day baptised “King Pele Day”, reported Tuesday’s edition of the government gazette. Considered by many the greatest footballer of all time, Edson Arantes do Nascimento — better known as Pele — won three World Cups with Brazil and scored more than 1,000 goals over his storied career. “King Pele Day” will be held on November 19 — the date on which the striker scored his 1,000th goal in a match for boyhood club Santos at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Maracana Stadium in 1969. Pele’s goal came…
ISRAEL carried out fresh strikes in southern Gaza on Tuesday, forcing hundreds of Palestinians to flee after the army once again ordered the evacuation of certain densely populated areas. Witnesses reported multiple strikes in and around the city of Khan Yunis, where eight people were killed and more than 30 were wounded, according to a medical source and the Palestinian Red Crescent. The bombardment came after a rare rocket barrage claimed by the militant group Islamic Jihad, which has fought alongside Hamas. The rockets were aimed at Israeli communities near the Gaza border and were fired in retaliation for Israeli…
MORE than 100 people have been killed and more than a dozen injured in a stampede at a Hindu religious gathering in northern India, authorities say. A large crowd gathered on Tuesday in a village in Uttar Pradesh state’s Hathras district, about 200km (125 miles) southeast of the national capital, New Delhi, for a sermon by a preacher, and a fierce dust storm sparked panic as people were leaving. Many were crushed or trampled and fell on top of each other. Some collapsed into a roadside drain in the chaos. At least 116 people died, most of them women and…
MOBILE internet has been cut since Tuesday night in Mauritania’s capital, AFP journalists saw, after scuffles broke out following the announcement that incumbent Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani had won the presidential election. Witnesses reported disturbances in working-class districts of Nouakchott on Monday evening, hours after final provisional results showed that Ghazouani had comfortably won re-election in Saturday’s presidential poll. The witnesses did not specify the extent of the disorder to AFP. Nouakchott appeared calm on Tuesday, with businesses open as usual. The authorities have not commented on the mobile internet cuts. Internet restrictions have become a common tactic by…
A FORMER gangster and bank robber who turned into a nightclub owner and opposition politician, Gayton McKenzie has now risen to become South Africa’s minister of sports, arts and culture. President Cyril Rampahosa appointed Mr McKenzie – the leader of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) – to the portfolio in the multi-party government that he announced on Sunday after his African National Congress (ANC) lost its parliamentary majority in the 29 May election. A prolific tweeter, the 50-year-od relished his appointment, posting a photo of himself putting on football boots and, with a touch of humour, typed: “Thank you for all…
DIOGO Costa’s penalty heroics helped Portugal reach the quarter-finals of the Euro 2024 against Slovenia after a tough encounter on Monday night. Portugal forward Ronaldo broke down in tears after missing a penalty in the first period of extra-time in the goalless tie in Frankfurt. But he recovered to convert in the shoot-out as Portugal scraped through to set up a blockbuster clash with France in the quarter-finals. Slovenia battled valiantly to keep Portugal at bay, with Jan Oblak making a stunning save to keep out Ronaldo’s penalty after Diogo Jota was fouled. However, Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva…
MANY Palestinians have been reported dead as heavy battles and bombardment hit Gaza City’s Shujaiya district for a fourth day on Sunday, months after the Israeli army declared Hamas’s command structure dismantled in the northern area. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the devastated neighbourhood, where the army said it has fought Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants both “above and below ground” in tunnels. The military said troops had “eliminated several terrorists, located weapons and conducted targeted raids on booby-trapped combat compounds” over the past 24 hours while the air force had “struck dozens” of the militants’ infrastructure sites.…
STEVE Bannon, a prominent right-wing figure in American politics and former senior advisor to Donald Trump, reported to prison Monday to begin a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress. He was convicted of defying a subpoena to testify before the congressional panel that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters. Bannon, 70, spoke defiantly as he showed up at a federal prison in Connecticut. “I’m proud of going to prison today,” Bannon said, “if it’s what it takes to stand up to Joe Biden.” Bannon and others argue that legal proceedings stemming from the…
MAURITANIA’s incumbent President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani has comfortably won re-election with 56.12 per cent of the vote, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) said Monday. The victory gives the former army chief a second term as head of the vast desert country, seen as a rock of relative stability in Africa’s volatile Sahel region and set to become a gas producer. Ghazouani would have faced a second round had he not won more than half the votes in Saturday’s election. As it was, he placed well ahead of his main rival, anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid, who won…