Author: Editor

THE Ugandan government has instructed all civil servants to spend two hours a week doing physical exercise to keep them fit and healthy. The directive was shared in a letter to government agencies from the head of public service, Lucy Nakyobe, who said the sessions would “help save the lives of staff and reduce the disease burden”. The Government of Uganda also tweeted that the initiative will “tame the rising burden of lifestyle disease” in the country. It comes two years after a national health survey showed obesity rates in the country had risen from 17% to 26% in the…

ONE of Africa’s largest airlines, Kenya Airways, made an operating profit in 2023 – the first time since 2017. Chairman Michael Joseph called the $80m (£63m) excess a “significant milestone”, the AFP news agency quotes him as saying. Part of the reason for the success was a more than 50% jump in revenue thanks to an increase in passenger numbers. Kenya Airways, which is partly owned by the government, has had troubled recent past with huge debts and it was hit hard by the fallout from the Covid pandemic. “These figures highlight the airline’s remarkable performance over the year and…

STRONG reactions have trailed bandits seen in viral videos displaying cash supposedly collected from victims. Videos of the ransoms were uploaded on Tik-Tok. The monies were seen in a series of post on X by a counter-insurgency expert and security analyst, Zagazola Makama Makama said the user of the social network account has over 3000 followers. He noted that some of them are bandits who openly show off their rifles and are dressed in military or police uniforms. “Audacity: Bandit on Tik-Tok flaunting and showing off ransom money he collected from his victims.” “The user of the account has 3000…

Q: Salaamu Alaikum Sheikh, what are virtues of Umrah performed in Ramadan? Abu Qunaisa Saleh, Minna A: Ibn ‘Abbaas  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him narrated, “When the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allah exalt his mention )returned after performing Hajj (major pilgrimage), he asked Umm Sinaan Al-Ansaariyyah,‘Why did you not perform Hajj?’ She replied, ‘The father of so-and-so [i.e., her husband] had two camels and he went on pilgrimage on one of them, and the second is used for the irrigation of our land.’ The Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allah exalt his mention )said…

BRAZIL winger Vinicius Junior said his desire to play football was reducing as incidents of racial abuse aimed at him piled up in Spain, during a tearful media appearance Monday. The Real Madrid forward has suffered abuse from opposition fans on many occasions in recent years, with one incident in Valencia in May provoking worldwide outrage. Spain will face Vinicius’ Brazil at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday under the slogan “One Skin” to help combat racism. “I’ve been seeing this (racism) for a long time, and every time I feel sadder, and every time I have less desire to play,”…

AFTER more than five months of war, the UN Security Council for the first time Monday demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after the United States, Israel’s ally which vetoed previous drafts, abstained. Drawing unusual applause in the normally staid Security Council, all 14 other members voted in favor of the resolution which “demands an immediate ceasefire” for the ongoing Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The resolution calls for the truce to lead to a “lasting, sustainable ceasefire” and demands that Hamas and other militants free hostages seized in their October 7 attack that triggered the massive Israeli military campaign.…

PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday the UK would do what was necessary to protect itself from a cyberattack by China, as Beijing-linked hackers were expected to be accused of recent security breaches. Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden is due to make a statement about the hackings of the Electoral Commission and parliament at 1530 GMT, with sanctions imposed on those allegedly behind them. Sunak talked tough on China as he bid to become leader of the ruling Conservative party in 2022 but has since moderated his stance while in office. He said Monday that the government had “invested…

THE delegations from the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) have entered a closed door meeting with the outgoing President of Senegal, Macky Sall. The meeting which has in attendance former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, is coming after Mr Amadou Ba, widely regarded as Macky Sall’s successor has called to congratulate the main opposition candidate, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, on his projected victory in the presidential elections even though the country’s constitutional Committee is yet to give an official announcement on the winner of the elections. 19 candidates are vying for the top…

TROOPS from southern Africa’s regional bloc who were deployed to tackle an Islamist insurgency in Mozambique are to leave the country due to financial contraints. The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has been considering its budget limitations, Mozambique’s foreign minister said. Verónica Macamo added that the bloc believes the Mozambique is relatively stable compared to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been wracked by armed groups for decades. Sadc’s military forces have been attempting to quell violence in DR Congo since December last year. Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi said Sadc plans to withdraw its forces “by July”. However, Mr…

Q – My parents want me to get married to someone of their choice and I’m not interested in her at all. My father is very educated and my mother isn’t and so they fight all the time, but my father compromises and always made my mother smile in the end. However, I don’t want to live like them. I have met a girl on Facebook. She is residing in UK and is a striving Muslimah. She regularly posted Islamic articles which impressed me a lot since I also do Dawah work. I want to marry her because she is…

ANDRES Iniesta said he has paid additional tax owed in Japan over his failure to declare part of his income, but claimed that he had also declared the earnings in Spain. Spanish World Cup winner Iniesta, who spent five years with Japan’s Vissel Kobe until 2023, was found to have failed to declare approximately 860 million yen ($5.7 million) in income for 2018, according to public broadcaster NHK and other media. If a foreign player’s contract is for less than one year and they are not accompanied by family members, Japanese authorities classify them as non-residents and they pay less…

ISRAELI forces have surrounded al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in southern Gaza, while in the north, soldiers are continuing a deadly, week-long raid on al-Shifa medical complex. A large force of troops and vehicles suddenly besieged the hospitals on Sunday. “Dozens of Israeli armored vehicles are currently surrounding Al-Amal Hospital, engaging in extensive excavation work in its vicinity,” the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Sunday. PRCS added that its teams were in extreme danger and were unable to move. They also said they were unable to bury the body of one of their workers, Amir Abu Eisha, who was…

TURKS will vote next Sunday in local polls as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, buoyed by a strong showing in last year’s general elections, sets his sights on winning back Istanbul. The secular opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) seized back control of the city — Turkey’s economic powerhouse — in 2019 for the first time since before Erdogan ruled it as mayor in the 1990s. Those watershed 2019 elections also saw the opposition win back the capital Ankara and keep power in the crucial Aegean port city of Izmir, shattering Erdogan’s image of political invincibility. Erdogan has entrusted his former environment…

OPPOSITION leader Bassirou Diomaye Faye has emerged as favourite to win Senegal’s presidential election, after several rivals conceded. Millions took part in a peaceful vote on Sunday, following three years of turbulence and opposition protests against the incumbent, Macky Sall. Voters had a choice of 19 candidates. However, the ruling coalition’s choice, Amadou Ba, rejected reports of defeat and said he expected to contest a run-off vote to decide a winner. Mr Faye, 44, a member of the Pastef party led by Ousmane Sonko, had been in jail only days before the vote. Mr Sonko was disqualified from the race…

KENYAN authorities ignored “credible reports” about a doomsday cult in which more than 400 members were found buried in shallow graves, a state-funded human rights watchdog has said. The bodies of 429 people, including children, were discovered in Shakahola, a forest near the town of Malindi, last year. Survivors and victims’ families said that cult leader Paul Mackenzie had urged his followers to fast in order to “go see Jesus”. In its report, The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) criticised security officers in Malindi for “gross abdication of duty and negligence” prior to the deaths. “They not only…

Q – What is the food that is permissible to give for Zakatul-Fitr? Nura Jamilu, Hadejia A – It is reported in the hadith that it is to be given from five things. They are wheat, barley, dried dates , raisins and cottage cheese. However, some of the research scholars have mentioned that specifying these five things was done because they were used at that time. Therefore, they permit giving it from whatever is the common food of the land like rice for example, and corn in the land where it is used as food and so forth. = Q…

BRAZIL’s new boss Dorival Junior started his bid to revive the five-time world champions with a 1-0 win against England as teenage sensation Endrick bagged his first international goal in Saturday’s friendly at Wembley. Coming off their worst period for over 60 years, Brazil hope Dorival Junior can trigger a revival in time to challenge for the 2026 World Cup. This was a first significant step in the right direction for the Selecao, who marked their manager’s debut with victory against an England side expected to make a strong challenge to win Euro 2024. On a cathartic evening for Brazil…

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has made a renewed call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. “It is time to silence the guns,” he said, speaking from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with the enclave. He also called on Israel to give “total, unfettered” access to humanitarian goods throughout Gaza. A UN-backed food security assessment this week said 1.1 million people in Gaza were struggling with catastrophic hunger and starvation. It added that a man-made famine in the north was imminent between now and May. Mr Guterres, who said he had come to Rafah “to spotlight the pain…

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin says all four gunmen who carried out a deadly attack at a packed concert venue in Moscow have been arrested. At least 133 people were killed and more than 140 injured when the attackers stormed the building, firing indiscriminately and setting it alight. Authorities said 11 people were detained in total, and the four gunmen were caught while heading to Ukraine. The Islamic State (IS) group says it was behind the attack. On Saturday Amaq, the IS channel on Telegram, posted an image of the four masked men they claimed were involved in the assault. Russia…

AFTER weeks of political unrest, people in Senegal are voting for a new president. Seventeen candidates are on the ballot, each hoping to replace President Macky Sall who is barred from running again after reaching the two-term limit. The election had been due to take place last month but Mr Sall postponed it, triggering deadly opposition protests and a democratic crisis. Senegal had until then been praised as a bastion of democracy in West Africa. Seven million people are eligible to vote in Sunday’s election. Among those in the running for Senegal’s top job is the governing BBY coalition’s candidate,…