Author: Editor

LAZZARINI, commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the main organisation delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza, said that there had been no pause in the fighting. “There has been information that such a decision has been taken, but the political level says none of this decision has been taken,” Lazzarini told a press conference on Monday. “So for the time being, I can tell you that hostilities continue in Rafah and in the south of Gaza. And that operationally, nothing has changed yet.” The Israeli military said on Monday that its forces were…

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea this week for the first time in 24 years, the two countries say, a rare trip that underscores Moscow’s burgeoning partnership with the nuclear-armed state. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un extended an invitation to Putin when Kim visited Russia’s Far East in September. “At the invitation of the Chairman of State Affairs of the DPRK, Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin will pay a friendly state visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on June 18-19,” the Kremlin said on Monday. North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA, also announced the visit…

MOHANAD el-Balal is one of many Sudanese civilians doing everything they can to ward off a devastating famine – and there is one man whose photograph he will never forget. Sadiq, a middle-aged father, grips the arms of his wheelchair tightly to keep himself upright, his painfully thin legs poking out in front of him. Sadig “is in a wheelchair, but he’s not disabled” Mr Balal says: “He’s just so malnourished that he has lost the ability to walk.” Mr Balal, based in the UK, is one of the co-founders of Khartoum Aid Kitchen, which provides food keeping tens of…

SOUTH Africa’s former President, Jacob Zuma, has said his political party – uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) – will join the opposition alliance in parliament. He said it would co-ordinate resistance to the governing coalition led by the African National Congress (ANC). Despite this, MK said it maintained that last month’s elections were rigged and wanted the results annulled. Mr Zuma’s speech on Sunday was read by MK spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela who said the ANC was no longer part of the solution. Mr Zuma said there was no government of national unity in South Africa and described the partnership as a “white-led…

THE Presidency has reacted to a report published in the New York Times criticising the Nigerian economy as facing the worst trajectory in a generation. Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, responded on Sunday to the report by Ruth Maclean and Ismail Auwal. According to the Presidency, the feature story, titled ‘Nigeria Confronts Its Worst Economic Crisis in a Generation’ and published on June 11, reflected the typical predetermined, reductionist, derogatory, and denigrating way foreign media establishments have reported on African countries for decades. Onanuga stated that due to the ‘misleading’ slant of the report,…

JUDE Bellingham got England’s Euro 2024 campaign off to a winning start but a 1-0 victory over Serbia in Gelsenkirchen failed to dispel doubts over the Three Lions’ quest to become European champions for the first time. Bellingham was in a class of his own in Gelsenkirchen as the Real Madrid midfielder’s header on 13 minutes capped a fine individual display. But collectively England failed to match the standards Germany and Spain showed in romping to victory in their opening matches. Expectations on England ahead of a major tournament have rarely ever been higher but they had won just one…

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is opposed to plans announced by the military to hold daily tactical pauses in fighting along one of the main roads into the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip to facilitate aid delivery into the Palestinian enclave. The military had announced the daily pauses from 05:00 GMT until 16:00 GMT in the area from the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards. “When the prime minister heard the reports of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the morning, he turned to his military secretary and made it clear that this…

RUSSIAN special forces have freed two prison guards and killed several men who had taken them hostage at a pre-trial detention centre in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. The two guards were taken hostage by six detainees earlier on Sunday, the prison service said, before an operation was launched to free them, Russian media reported. Initially, the prison service said it had entered into negotiations for the guards’ release. But a short time later it issued a statement saying the siege had ended. “The criminals were eliminated,” Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement, which added that a “special…

AN ARMED group linked to al-Qaeda, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), has claimed responsibility for what it said was an attack on June 11 that killed more than 100 Burkina Faso soldiers in the Mansila area near the border with Niger, the SITE Intelligence Group said. On Sunday, SITE quoted a JNIM statement as saying that five days ago “fighters stormed a military post in the town, where they killed 107 soldiers and took control of the site”. Several videos shared online by JNIM showed raging gunfire around the army base. Another video showed a display of ammunition and dozens…

TENS of thousands of Malawians have taken part in a funeral service at the national stadium to pay tribute to the vice-president who was killed in a plane crash last week. Saulos Chilima, 51, was considered a breath of fresh air in Malawian politics. He was an eloquent public speaker and energetic campaigner who held huge sway among the youth who account for more than half of Malawians. At the service, President Lazarus Chakwera promised a full investigation into the cause of the crash and said that he had asked foreign governments to help. “I also have the same questions…

PILGRIMS performed Sunday the last major ritual of the hajj, the “stoning of the devil”, in western Saudi Arabia, as Muslims the world over celebrated the Eid al-Adha holiday. Beginning at dawn, the 1.8 million Muslims undertaking the pilgrimage this year threw seven stones at each of three concrete walls symbolising the devil in the Mina valley, located outside Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. The ritual commemorates Abraham’s stoning of the devil at the three spots where it is said Satan tried to dissuade him from obeying God’s order to sacrifice his son. The stoning ritual has been witness…

TODAY, Muslim faithful in Nigeria will join two billion other Muslims throughout the world to celebrate the festival of Eid al-Adha, known as Eid-Al-Kabir. The festival is rooted in scriptural accounts of both the Islamic and Judeo-Christian theology as evinced in Al Qur’an Kareem and the Old Testament respectively. The scriptural accounts (Qur’an Chapter 37 – Suratul As-Saffaat) highlight how, in a singular act of obedience to divine command, Prophet Ibrahim AS took Prophet Ismail AS, his son who he begot in his old age, to a location and prepared him for ritual of immolation as piety to Allah. As…

SPAIN made a dream start to Euro 2024 as Alvaro Morata scored in a statement 3-0 victory over Croatia in Berlin on Saturday, with Lamine Yamal becoming the youngest player in the competition’s history. The three-time European champions have often been accused of being toothless in attack during recent major tournaments, but produced an eye-catching display at the Olympiastadion to cut apart a disappointing Croatia. Morata broke the deadlock in the 29th minute with his seventh Euros goal, moving joint-third on the all-time list alongside Alan Shearer and Antoine Griezmann. Fabian Ruiz added a second shortly afterwards with a wonderful…

HAMAS fighters killed eight Israeli soldiers traveling in military vehicles in Rafah after firing rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and then ambushing a support force deployed to the scene. The attacks on Saturday marked one of the deadliest days for Israeli soldiers in Gaza in months as its ground invasion of the southern region continues to ramp up. Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said in a statement its soldiers “carried out a complex ambush against enemy vehicles” in the Saudi neighbourhood of Tal as-Sultan district, western Rafah city. The armed group said it fired Yassin-105 RPGs at a D9 military bulldozer, killing…

THE leaders of Italy and Germany have strongly rejected ceasefire terms laid out by Vladimir Putin to stop the war in Ukraine, as dozens of countries gathered at a summit in Switzerland to discuss ending the conflict. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the Russian president’s plan “propaganda” which effectively suggested that Ukraine “must withdraw from Ukraine”. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed it as a “dictatorial peace”. On Friday, Mr Putin claimed he would agree to a ceasefire if Ukraine withdrew troops from four regions which Russia partially occupies and claims to have annexed. Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to…

SOUTH Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected for a second term on Friday after his humbled ANC cobbled together an unprecedented coalition government. Lawmakers in Cape Town voted overwhelmingly to put Ramaphosa, 71, back in office for another five years after the May 29 general election that produced no outright winner. “I accordingly declare honourable M.C. Ramaphosa duly elected President,” Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said after the votes were counted. Last month’s election marked a historic turning point for South Africa, ending three decades of dominance by the African National Congress of the late Nelson Mandela. The party that led…

A KENYAN magistrate who was shot by a senior police officer earlier this week has died, according to the country’s chief justice. Justice Martha K Koome wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Makadara Principal Magistrate Monica Kivuti had “lost the fight” against her “extensive injuries”. Ms Kivuti was shot by a policeman at a court in the capital, Nairobi, on Thursday after she cancelled his wife’s bail due to the woman’s absconding. The policeman, identified as Samson Kipchirchir Kipruto, was himself shot dead by other officers following the attack. Three of these officers were hurt in the attack but are…

GERMANY thrashed 10-man Scotland 5-1 as the Euro 2024 hosts kicked off the tournament in style in Munich on Friday, the start of a journey they hope culminates in a record fourth continental title. Florian Wirtz struck the opening goal 10 minutes in and Jamal Musiala soon doubled Germany’s lead with an emphatic finish. A greatly awaited night for Scotland went from bad to worse before half-time when Ryan Porteous was sent off for a two-footed challenge on Ilkay Gundogan, with Kai Havertz tucking away the resulting penalty. Niclas Fuellkrug powered in a fourth midway through the second half after…

THE United States has imposed sanctions on a “violent extremist” Israeli Military group for blocking and damaging humanitarian aid convoys to Gaza as the risk of famine increases in the besieged Palestinian territory. The administration of President Joe Biden on Friday targeted Tzav 9, a group whose stated aim is to prevent any assistance from entering Gaza. It accused the group of looting and setting fire to aid trucks. “The provision of humanitarian assistance is vital to preventing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from worsening and to mitigating the risk of famine,” the Department of State said in a statement.…

SAUDI Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and a French private equity group will acquire a 38-percent stake in Heathrow, the London airport’s biggest shareholder said Friday. Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest airports, is owned by the consortium FGP Topco Limited with Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial holding the lead role with a 25-percent stake. In November, Ferrovial said it was planning to offload its stake, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund taking 10 percent and the other 15 percent going to French private equity group Ardian. But the deal had been blocked by a group of small FGP Topco shareholders who…