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PRESIDENT Andry Rajoelina has fled Madagascar to protect his life amid nationwide protests, which began late last month. Rajoelina confirmed in a live Facebook address on Monday that he had travelled to a safe location following reports and rumours that he had been flown out of the country on Sunday. The 51-year-old did not disclose his whereabouts. Rajoelina had been due to give a television address on Monday afternoon, but the speech was delayed after “a group of armed forces threatened to take control of the state-owned media”, Rajoelina’s office said on Facebook. On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed…

FORTY-TWO Zimbabwean and Malawian nationals have died after a bus taking them home overturned on a South African road, authorities have said. The crash happened on Sunday night as the bus was moving through “a mountainous section” of the N1 highway in South Africa’s Limpopo province, local transport officials said. “It [then] veered off the road along a steep mountain pass and plunged down an embankment,” they added. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa mourned the high death toll, which includes seven children, and said this was not only a tragedy for the country but for “our sister states of Zimbabwe…

GHANA became the fifth African nation to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup when Mohammed Kudus’ second-half goal was enough to see off recent nemesis Comoros in their final qualifier. Victory in Accra took the home side to 25 points from their 10 Group I games, six clear of a Madagascar side who needed to win in Mali to have any chance of finishing top only to lose 4-1 in Bamako. Tottenham forward Kudus grabbed the glory as the Black Stars became the first nation on the continent outside of North Africa to qualify for next year’s finals -…

PALESTINIAN journalist famous Saleh Aljafarawi has been killed during clashes in Gaza City, just days after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources told Al Jazeera Arabic that the 28-year-old, who had gained prominence for his videos covering the war, was shot and killed by members of an “armed militia” while covering clashes in the city’s Sabra neighbourhood. Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency verified footage published by reporters and activists showing his body – in a “press” flak jacket – on what appeared to be the back of a truck. He had been missing since…

TORRENTIAL flooding has continued to sweep parts of central and southeastern Mexico, raising the death toll to at least 44 people in less than a week. Heavy downpours caused by two tropical storms have triggered landslides and flooding across five states, including Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, Queretaro and San Luis Potosi, the government said in a statement on Sunday. Floods have killed 18 people in Veracruz state, 16 in Hidalgo, nine in Puebla and one in Queretaro, the statement said. Mexico’s El Universal newspaper put the death toll even higher — at 48 — and reported that dozens remain missing. Around…

A RENEGADE army unit siding with anti-government protesters in Madagascar has installed a new military chief as President Andry Rajoelina denounced an “attempt to seize power illegally”. General Demosthene Pikulas was installed on Sunday by the Army Personnel Administration Centre (CAPSAT) during a ceremony at the military headquarters attended by Armed Forces Minister Manantsoa Deramasinjaka Rakotoarivelo. “I give him my blessing,” the minister said of Pikulas at the ceremony in Antananarivo. The elite CAPSAT army unit, which played a major role in a 2009 coup that first brought Rajoelina to power, joined forces with the youth-led demonstrators on Saturday. Early…

MALI has announced that US nationals visiting the West African country will be required to post a bond of up to $10,000 (£7,500) for business and tourist visas, in response to a similar requirement the Trump administration has imposed on its citizens. The US embassy in Mali said on Friday the fee had been introduced to reinforce Washington’s “commitment to protecting America’s borders and safeguarding US national security”. Mali’s foreign ministry said on Sunday the bond had been imposed unilaterally, and it had decided to “establish an identical visa programme” for US citizens. The visa policy shift comes despite moves…

DONALD Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will chair an international summit to discuss the US president’s proposal to end Israel’s war on Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday. The meeting will involve leaders from more than 20 countries, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement on Saturday. It will aim “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”, the statement said. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer said they would…

TALIBAN and Pakistani forces have exchanged fire across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, prompting calls for restraint from Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as tensions escalate following an air strike on the Afghan capital, Kabul, earlier this week. Enayatullah Khwarizmi, the spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Defence, said late on Saturday that Taliban forces had carried out “successful retaliatory” attacks against Pakistani soldiers in response to the neighbouring country’s “repeated violations” of, and air strikes on, Afghan territory. He said on X that the operation had ended at midnight. Pakistani Minister of Interior Mohsin Naqvi called the Afghan attacks “unprovoked” and…

SOME groups of Madagascan soldiers have defied orders and joined thousands of antigovernment protesters assembled in the capital, Antananarivo, as demonstrations against President Andry Rajoelina’s rule gain momentum. The youth-led protesters entered the capital’s May 13 Square on Saturday for the first time in one of the biggest gatherings since a protest movement inspired by what has become known as the Gen Z protests in Kenya and Nepal erupted on the Indian Ocean island on September 25. After police used stun grenades and tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators, soldiers arrived at the scene, where they were welcomed…

DOZENS of people have been killed in a drone strike at a displacement shelter in el-Fasher, a besieged Sudanese city on the brink of collapse, activists said. The resistance committee for el-Fasher, made up of local citizens and activists, said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) hit Dar al-Arqam camp, located within a university, with two drone strikes and eight artillery shells. The RSF has denied it carried out the strike. “Children, women and the elderly were killed in cold blood, and many were completely burned,” a statement from the group said. Eyewitnesses described scenes of panic as rescuers pulled…

PIERRE-EMERICK Aubameyang scored all four goals in Gabon’s 4-3 away win over The Gambia to extend his nation’s hopes of reaching the World Cup for the first time but was then sent off late on. The Panthers remain a point behind Group F leaders Ivory Coast, who thrashed Seychelles 7-0. Only the group winners are assured of a spot at the 2026 finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada, but the second-placed side could still have a chance to reach the tournament via African and intercontinental play-offs. With the Ivorians expected to cruise past winless Seychelles, Gabon knew they…

MARIA Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition politician who was barred from standing in last year’s presidential election, has been awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. In a post on the social media platform X on Friday, the Nobel Committee said it had decided to award the prize to Machado “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”. Announcing Machado’s win in Oslo, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Nobel Committee, said the award had gone “to a brave and committed…

HAMAS and allied Palestinian factions have reiterated that any decision on the future governance of Gaza is “an internal Palestinian matter” as the ceasefire in the territory takes effect. In a joint statement on Friday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) joined Hamas in lauding the steadfastness of Palestinians, which they said foiled Israel’s plans for mass forced displacement in Gaza. “We renew our rejection to any foreign guardianship, and we stress that the nature of the administration of the Gaza Strip and its institutions are an internal Palestinian matter to be…

BURKINA Faso’s military government has refused to take in deportees from the US, as Washington suspended issuing visas in the West African nation. Foreign affairs minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré questioned if the embassy’s decision was “blackmail” after he said he had rejected a US proposal to take in migrants from third countries. Donald Trump’s administration has turned to African countries as a destination to deport migrants to as part of his crackdown on immigration. The US State Department said it was committed to ending illegal and mass migration and bolstering US border security. The Department of Homeland Security have been…

RAZANOSAA Edmondine still looks shell-shocked as she recalls the death of her one-month-old grandson, killed by police tear gas in protests that have rocked Madagascar over the last two weeks. “It was just a normal Friday. My daughter-in-law was going to the market with the baby when they encountered demonstrators on the road,” she tells the BBC at the family’s home on the northern outskirts of the capital, Antananarivo. “Not long after, police showed up and started dispersing the protest with tear gas.” It was the second day of youth-led protests, triggered by anger over persistent power and water shortages,…

ISRAEL’s government has approved “phase one” of a ceasefire agreement, which will see captives exchanged and Israel withdraw from parts of Gaza, but details of how it fits into a wider plan to bring lasting peace remain unclear. Khalil al-Hayya, the head of Hamas’s negotiating team, said the group has received guarantees from the US and mediators that an agreement on a first phase of the ceasefire agreement means the war in Gaza “has ended completely”. The vote early on Friday paves the way for a suspension of hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours, and the release of 48 Israeli…

NEW York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted President Donald Trump, was indicted on Thursday. The indictment was handed down by a federal grand jury in Virginia, where charges were also recently brought against another Trump foe, former FBI director James Comey. According to CNN and other US media outlets, the indictment of the 66-year-old James, a Democrat, is for mortgage fraud and concerns a property she helped her niece buy in Virginia in 2023. The cases against James and Comey were filed by the Republican president’s handpicked US attorney, Lindsey Halligan, after the previous prosecutor resigned, saying there…

A SOUTH African farm worker has described to a court how he was forced by his boss to feed the bodies of two black women to pigs in an attempt to hide evidence after they were shot. Adrian De Wet, 21, said he was told to throw the bodies inside a pig enclosure, explaining that “when pigs are hungry enough, they’ll eat anything”. He admitted opening fire on the two women with his boss, farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier – before he ordered him to help dispose of their bodies. Mr Olivier and another man, William Musora, are accused of…

SECURITY forces in Madagascar have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the latest youth-led protest following two weeks of anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the Indian Ocean island. At least 1,000 protesters marched through Madagascar’s capital on Thursday, some hurling objects at security personnel. The movement behind the protest, known as Gen Z Mada, rejected President Andry Rajoelina’s offer to attend talks on Wednesday, demanding once again that he resign. The group argued they could not engage with a government that has been repressing them as they demand basic human rights. Security forces “charged at protesters with armoured…