FORMER Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who was serving a 25-year prison term for human rights abuses during his decade-long rule in the 1990s, has been freed after the country’s highest court restored a contentious 2017 pardon. Fujimori, 85, was released from Lima’s Barbadillo prison on Wednesday, a day after the court ruled to restore the pardon on humanitarian grounds, despite criticisms from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court) and victims’ families. Fujimori had been in prison for 16 years after being extradited from Chile in 2007. Crowds of supporters gathered outside the jail, as Fujimori was greeted by…
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ARGENTINA and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has been named Time magazine’s Athlete of the Year. Messi joined Miami in July and scored 11 goals in 14 games in all competitions to help them lift the Leagues Cup, their first ever trophy. The 36-year-old also won the Ballon d’Or for the eighth time in October. “Lionel Messi this year managed to do what once seemed impossible, when he signed with Inter Miami: turning the US into a soccer country,” read Time. The magazine said Messi’s arrival had driven a surge in attendances, ticket prices, merchandise sales and viewership of MLS…
ISRAELI forces have killed at least 16,248 people, including 7,112 children and 4,885 women, in Gaza since 7 October, a statement from the Hamas media office has said. The figure includes 7,112 children and 4,885 women. This does not take into account about 7,600 people buried under collapsed buildings. At least 43,616 people have been injured and at least 7,600 people are missing, according to the statement. It added, “During the aggression on Gaza, Israeli forces dropped more than 50,000 tonnes of explosives on civilian homes, hospitals, schools and other institutions, destroying 52,000 housing units, 69 schools, 121 government buildings…
LAWYERS for Prince Harry on Tuesday began a legal challenge over his security arrangements in the UK, after he quit frontline royal duties and moved to North America. The case about his loss of UK taxpayer-funded protection is the latest in a string of court proceedings initiated by Harry, whose father is King Charles III. Harry is taking legal action against the UK interior ministry over a February 2020 decision by a committee that deals with the security of members of the royal family. The Duke of Sussex, as he is formally known, had been told he would no longer…
SOME Namibians have been outraged after learning that President Hage Geingob’s four children joined the government’s delegation to the COP28 climate summit. They were among six of the president’s family members listed as part of Namibia’s delegation in Dubai. President Geingob’s office on Monday confirmed his children travelled to the city, but denied claims that their trip was state-funded. The office did not say how other family members were paid for. “President Geingob and Madame Geingos (first lady) paid for the flights and accommodation expenses of their children,” the Namibian Presidency posted on X on Monday. “The Namibian public and…
WITH murals of his smiling face still covering many buildings, South Africans on Tuesday marked 10 years since the death of Nelson Mandela with a mixture of longing for his integrity and disappointment over what has happened since. While no official ceremonies were planned to recall South Africa’s first black president, many spared a thought for the leader who emerged from prison in 1991 to end apartheid. Fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai was to give a lecture late Tuesday for the Mandela Foundation. Mandela, who died aged 95 after a long illness, brought pride and hope to a…
THE English Premier League announced on Monday it had agreed a record £6.7 billion ($8.45 billion) domestic television rights deal for a four-year period starting from the 2025/26 season. The current deal is reported to be worth around £5 billion over a three-year cycle and covers 200 matches per season. The English top flight hailed the agreements shared between different broadcasters as the “largest sports media rights deals ever concluded in the UK”. Sky Sports and TNT Sports have retained their rights to show live matches, with Amazon, currently showing 20 matches per season, not part of the next cycle.…
ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial resumed on Monday, despite the country’s continuing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The trial was suspended two months ago due to the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s bloody October 7 attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 240 more kidnapped, according to Israeli officials. Netanyahu, leader of Israel’s right-wing Likud party, is accused of fraud and breach of trust over his relationship with Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and other wealthy personalities. According to prosecutors, between 2007 and 2016 Netanyahu allegedly received gifts valued at 700,000 shekels ($195,000), including…
A RUSSIAN general has died while deployed in Ukraine, the governor of Russia’s Voronezh region said on Monday, the latest high-ranking Russian military figure to die during the 21-month offensive. Russian Telegram channels with sources in the army said he was killed at the end of November after he stepped on a mine away from the front line, implying it could have been a device laid previously by Russian forces. Moscow rarely speaks of their losses in Ukraine but they have acknowledged the death of several high-ranking officers. “A piercing pain. Major General Vladimir Zavadsky, deputy commander of the 14th…
NIGER Republic’s military leaders said Monday that they were ending two European Union security and defence missions in the country, after earlier in the day agreeing to strengthen military cooperation with Russia. The Nigerien foreign ministry said that it was ending the agreement between Niger and the EU regarding the Niamey-based civilian capacity-building mission called EUCAP Sahel Niger. The mission, launched in 2012, supports Niger’s internal security forces, authorities and non-governmental actors. Niger’s foreign ministry also announced in a press statement the “withdrawal by the State of Niger of consent for the deployment of an EU military partnership mission” in…
THE president of Guinea-Bissau on Monday dissolved parliament ahead of fresh elections saying an “attempted coup” had plunged the West African nation into a new crisis. President Umaro Sissoco Embalo issued a decree closing down the opposition-dominated parliament and announced that legislative elections would be “set at the opportune moment, in line with the constitution”. Violence had erupted between members of the National Guard and special forces of the presidential guard on Thursday night in the capital Bissau, leaving two people dead. Embalo, who was in Dubai attending the COP28 climate conference, arrived back in Bissau on Saturday and announced…
MANCHESTER City striker Erling Haaland has criticised referee Simon Hooper on social media over a controversial decision late in Sunday’s dramatic 3-3 draw with Tottenham. The Norway forward was incensed with Hooper after being denied the opportunity to play an advantage in the closing moments of a thrilling Premier League match at Etihad Stadium. Haaland was one of several City players to remonstrate with the official and he continued his protests after the game by reposting a clip of the incident on X, formerly Twitter, with the comment “Wtf”, which is offensive slang. The incident that angered City happened when…
HUNDREDS of Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza at the weekend as the Israeli army ordered more areas in and around the enclave’s second-largest city of Khan Younis to evacuate, reports indicate. Qatar, with the help of Egypt, had facilitated a four-day ceasefire deal which took effect on November 24 but was extended twice. The ceasefire, which was followed by an exchange of hostages, was sequel to weeks of war in the Gaza Strip after Hamas fighters broke through the militarised Gaza border with Israel on October 7 in an attack. Before the ceasefire began, Israeli airstrikes and…
FOUR people, including two children, have been killed and three others injured following a stabbing in Queens, New York. Police called to the Far Rockaway neighbourhood in the early hours of Sunday found the victims in a home that had been set on fire. The male suspect stabbed two police officers before being shot by one of the injured officers. The suspect was taken to hospital but was declared dead on arrival. In a press briefing at Jamaica Hospital, police confirmed that they received a 911 call at 05:10 local time (10:10 GMT), when a “young female caller stated that…
SEVERE flooding and landslides have killed at least 47 people and wounded 80 others in northern Tanzania, local officials say. It happened near the slopes of Mount Hanang, where President Samia Hassan has now deployed national security forces to help rescue efforts. Homes and infrastructure were also damaged by the adverse weather. Flooding is said to be the greatest natural hazard in Tanzania, affecting tens of thousands of people each year. East Africa has been badly hit by floods and landslides in 2023, partly caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon. Last month in Tanzania, higher than usual rainfall resulted…
SIERRA Leonean President Julius Maada Bio said on Saturday that his government’s response to an attempted coup last week would be dictated by “respect for the law”. “The attempted coup will be treated by my government as a simple matter of public order and not as a political, tribal or religious issue,” Bio said in a speech to the nation. “Our response to the events of 26 November will be measured and determined by a single parameter: respect for the law, no more, no less.” Armed attackers had stormed a military armoury, two barracks, two prisons and two police stations,…
THE Presidency on Sunday said only a handful of the 1,411 Nigerian delegates who registered to attend the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, are sponsored by the Federal Government. This was, as it said, a bulk of the contingents comprised private sector players such as businesspeople, Civil Society Organisations and delegates from Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta region. It also argued that the delegates are at the Summit to promote their respective causes and not for a jamboree. “It is important to state here that delegates from all countries, whether from government, private sector, media and civil…
TEN-MAN Germany beat France on penalties to win the Under-17 World Cup football final in Indonesia on Saturday, becoming the first team to win the world and European age titles in the same year. The match went to extra time when the teams were unable to break a 2-2 deadlock in humid conditions in Surakarta on Java island. The young Germans then held their nerve in the penalty shootout to beat the Blues and win their first Under-17 world title in a rematch of this year’s European Championship final, which they also won on penalties. Goalkeeper Konstantin Heide was the…
NEWCASTLE shrugged off an injury crisis to beat Manchester United 1-0 on Saturday thanks to Anthony Gordon’s second-half winner. Victory takes Eddie Howe’s men above United into fifth in the Premier League table and was the very least the home side deserved for a dominant display that should have been rewarded with more goals. Gordon’s solitary strike proved enough as he slotted in Kieran Trippier’s cross on 55 minutes. But the three points came at a cost for Newcastle as goalkeeper Nick Pope hobbled off late on to add to their injury woes. The Magpies were without 11 first-team players…
ISRAEL has carried out intense air strikes on Khan Younis in southern Gaza, with residents describing it as the heaviest bombing of the war. People in eastern areas of the city have been told by the Israeli military to evacuate further to the south. Israel believes some Hamas leaders are in the city, where many civilians are sheltering after fleeing the north. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says at least 240 people have been killed in the latest wave of Israeli attacks. On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) resumed its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, launched in response to the…