Author: Editor

MOSES Lugalia has joined Kenya’s budding electric vehicle revolution – by exchanging the noisy roar of his petrol motorbike for the gentle hum of an electric one. The biggest incentive to go electric for the 27-year-old rider of a motorbike taxi – known locally as a “boda-boda” – was the promise of saving money at a time when fuel prices keep rising. Motorbike taxis are everywhere in Kenya, as in many African countries, because they are cheaper than cars, and can be better for navigating the notorious traffic jams in the capital, Nairobi. Mr Lugalia has been in the motorbike…

BRAZILIAN football legend Mario Zagallo, who won four World Cups as a player and coach, has died aged 92. Zagallo was a winger in the Brazil team who won back-to-back World Cups in 1958 and 1962, starting in both finals. He managed the side widely regarded as the greatest international team of all time, including Pele, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto, to glory in 1970. Zagallo’s final World Cup triumph came as Carlos Alberto Parreira’s assistant coach in 1994. He returned as Brazil manager after that tournament and led them to the final in 1998, where they were beaten by hosts…

THE head of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group warned Israel Friday that it will respond swiftly “on the battlefield” to the killing of Hamas’s deputy leader in its southern Beirut stronghold. “The response is inevitably coming. We cannot remain silent on a violation of this magnitude because it means the whole of Lebanon would be exposed,” Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech. “The decision is now in the hands of the battlefield,” he said in his second speech since the killing of Saleh al-Aruri. “Fighters from all areas of the border… will be the ones responding to the dangerous violation…

THE US Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear Donald Trump’s appeal of a ruling by Colorado’s highest court that would keep him off the presidential primary ballot in the western state. The conservative-majority Supreme Court, which includes three justices appointed by the former president, said it would hear oral arguments in the high-stakes election case on February 8. The Colorado Supreme Court barred Trump last month from appearing on the Republican presidential primary ballot in the state because of his role in the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by his supporters. Lawyers for Trump, the frontrunner…

THREE ministers and four governors have been disqualified from last month’s election in the Democratic Republic of Congo, because of fraud and violence. They are among 82 candidates excluded from the legislative, provincial and local elections by the electoral body. But its announcement did not address the presidential election that saw President Félix Tshisekedi re-elected by a landslide. The opposition has called the entire election a “sham” and demanded a rerun. However, only one of the 19 opposition candidates has gone to court. The main ones say they have no faith in the courts and have instead called for protests…

SENEGAL’s Supreme Court has dismissed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko’s appeal against a libel conviction, potentially ruling him out of next month’s presidential election. He has been seen as a strong possible challenger in the race to succeed President Macky Sall, who is stepping down after two terms. But another court has rejected his application to stand, his lawyer said. Sonko has faced several court cases since 2021, all of which he denies. On Friday, Sonko’s lawyer, Cire Cledor Ly, said he had been told by the Constitutional Council that his client’s application to run for president was “incomplete” without it…

THE Confederation of African Football (CAF), has increased prize money for the winner of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire by 40 per cent. On its official website on Thursday, CAF said the winner of the TotalEnergies AFCON will receive $7 million. This newspaper reports that the 2023 AFCON will run from January 13 to February 11, 2024, with 24 countries participating. According to the organization, the runner-up will get $4 million while each of the two semi-finalists will receive $2.5 million and each of the four quarter-finalists will get $1.3 million. Patrice Motsepe, CAF President,…

HEZBOLLAH in Lebanon and the Israeli army have made statements suggesting the two avowed enemies wanted to avoid risking the further spread of war beyond the Gaza Strip after a drone strike killed a Palestinian Hamas deputy leader in Beirut. In a speech in Beirut on Wednesday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed his powerful Iran-backed group “cannot be silent” following the killing of Hamas deputy Saleh al-Arouri on Tuesday. Nasrallah said his heavily armed forces would fight to the finish if Israel chose to extend the war to Lebanon, but he made no concrete threats to act against Israel in…

ITALIAN Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced Thursday the suspension of an MP who took a gun to a New Year’s Eve party where someone was shot with it. Emanuele Pozzolo, a lawmaker for Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party, has admitted owning the mini revolver but says he did not fire it. A guest was shot in the thigh, although not seriously injured, in an incident that prompted criticism from opposition politicians and made news across the world. At her traditional end-of-year press conference, postponed in December after she fell ill, Meloni failed to hide her frustration at the incident.…

CHILDREN across Zambia will return to school three weeks late from their festive holidays due to a cholera outbreak. Both primary and secondary students were meant to return next Monday but will now resume on 29 January, the Education Ministry said on Thursday. On Sunday, Zambia’s Ministry of Health said 3,015 cholera cases and 98 deaths had been recorded since October 2023. It had previously warned that the outbreak was threatening the country’s “health security”. Zambia’s education minister has “directed that during the prolonged closure, all learning institutions should be thoroughly cleaned up, have clean water and sanitation facilities, adequate…

THE former Miss Namibia has doubled down on her pledge to run to be president of the southern African country, despite seemingly being too young. Cassia Sharpley, who won the beauty pageant in 2022, had told her 23,000 Instagram followers she would soon share her “journey towards becoming President of the Republic of Namibia”. Although several followers pointed out that presidential candidates must be over 35, as per the Namibian constitution, 23-year-old Ms Sharpley repeated her statement on Thursday. She told her followers she would offer more information in forthcoming YouTube videos. “Let’s talk about me, that’s running for presidency,”…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said that former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, did not disregard its invitation, contrary to reports in some media outlets. In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja, the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said that the former minister had sent a letter explaining her inability to attend due to health challenges. “It is true that she did not appear, but she sent a letter requesting additional time, citing health issues. “She did not decline the EFCC’s invitation; she provided reasons…

ALGERIA defender Youcef Atal has been handed an eight-month suspended sentence by a French court for inciting religious hatred in a social media post about the conflict in Israel and Gaza. The Nice criminal court ruled that Atal must also pay a €45,000 (£38,886) fine for posting an antisemitic video on his Instagram account. The 27-year-old is suspended “until further notice” by his club side Nice. He has been selected in the Algeria squad for the Africa Cup of Nations. Atal will also pay for details of his conviction to be published in regional daily Nice-Matin and national newspaper Le…

PALESTINIAN mourners broke into sobs as they huddled around defiant family members of slain Hamas deputy Saleh al-Aruri in his village in the occupied West Bank Wednesday, a day after his death in Lebanon. Aruri, exiled from his village Arura since he was released from an Israeli jail in 2010, was killed in a drone strike on a southern Beirut suburb that Lebanese officials said was carried out by Israel. Holding a photograph of her son framed in gold, Aisha al-Aruri, 81, said she struck a note of defiance when weeping village women informed her of the 57-year-old’s death. “I…

AT least 103 people were killed in Iran Wednesday as two bombs in quick succession struck a crowd commemorating slain general Qasem Soleimani on the anniversary of his killing, state media reported. The blasts, which state television called a “terrorist attack”, came with tensions running high in the Middle East a day after Hamas number two Saleh al-Aruri — an Iran ally — was killed in drone attack on a Beirut southern suburb which Lebanese officials blamed on Israel. The blasts stuck near the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in Kerman, Soleimani’s southern hometown where he is buried, as supporters gathered to…

AN influential Ugandan pastor and outspoken supporter of President Yoweri Museveni was hospitalised after a shooting attack which killed his bodyguard, police said Wednesday. Aloysius Bugingo was shot on Tuesday evening when “unidentified assailants opened fire on (his) vehicle… before swiftly escaping the scene on a motorcycle”, said Ugandan police. They said an investigation had been launched into “the attempted murder of Pastor Aloysius Bugingo… and the unfortunate killing of his bodyguard, Muhumuza Richard.” Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of Museveni who is seen as the president’s potential successor, said he had spoken with “our strong supporter” Bugingo, adding “and he…

KENYAN President William Ruto has come under a barrage of criticism following his threat to disobey court orders from “corrupt judges”. Mr Ruto on Tuesday said some unnamed judges had teamed up with opposition politicians and “cartels” to block his government’s projects. But in a swift response, Chief Justice Martha Koome said defying court orders was a breach of public trust placed in state and public officers. “When state or public officers threaten to defy court orders, the rule of law is imperilled, setting stage for anarchy to prevail in a nation,” Ms Koome said in a statement. She also…

MANCHESTER United outcast Jadon Sancho might return to Borussia Dortmund on loan this month. Sancho refused to apologise to Erik ten Hag for a social media post after the manager said his omission from September’s defeat at Arsenal was related to his performance in training. The England winger, 23, rejected this and said he was being made a scapegoat. Since then he has been training away from the first team, with no end in sight to his exile. United bought Sancho from Dortmund for £73m in July 2021. It is understood the Bundesliga club are willing to offer Sancho a…

LEBANON’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group warned that Israel’s killing Tuesday of the deputy Hamas leader in a Beirut suburb they control “will not go unanswered or unpunished”. Hezbollah called it “a serious assault on Lebanon”. “We, Hezbollah, affirm that this crime will not go unanswered or unpunished,” the movement said in a statement that called it “a serious assault on Lebanon… and a dangerous development in the course of the war,” the statement added. An Israeli strike killed Saleh al-Aruri, deputy head of the Hamas movement, in a southern Beirut stronghold of Hamas ally Hezbollah, two security officials told AFP. Hamas,…

TURKEY announced on Tuesday it had detained 33 people suspected of planning abductions and spying on behalf of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the suspects were rounded up in raids across Istanbul and seven other provinces. It was not immediately clear if they were Israeli nationals or locals allegedly working with Mossad. Yerlikaya’s office released video footage showing armed security service agents breaking down doors and handcuffing suspects in their homes. The Istanbul public prosecutor’s office said 13 additional suspects remained at large. The raids came weeks after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned of “serious consequences”…