THE death toll from a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in western Afghanistan on Saturday has risen to “about 120”, disaster relief authorities said, with more than 1,000 others being treated for injuries. The United States Geological Survey said the epicentre was 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the region’s largest city Herat, and was followed by eight aftershocks with magnitudes between 4.3 and 6.3. “So far, more than 1,000 injured women, children, and old citizens have been included in our records, and about 120 people have lost their lives,” Herat province disaster management head Mosa Ashari told AFP. Crowds of residents…
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NIGER’s military rulers have announced major budget cuts for this year, citing the international sanctions imposed since they seized power in a coup just over two months ago. The country, one of the poorest in the world, relies heavily on foreign aid to support the 25 million population, but that has dwindled since soldiers ousted president Mohamed Bazoum on July 26. “Niger is facing heavy sanctions imposed by international and regional organisations. They have resulted in significant revenue declines,” the military rulers said in a statement read on state television late Friday. The 2023 budget had been slashed by around…
THE family of legendary Congolese guitarist Lokassa ya Mbongo say they are going through “unbearable pain” and “humiliation” as they wait for government help to bury him almost seven months after his death. Lokassa’s body is lying in a morgue in Democratic Republic Congo’s capital Kinshasa after being flown back from the US in accordance with his wish to be buried in his home country. His son André Marie Lokassa told the BBC that the government had promised to help organise a funeral that would be “worthy” of the music star’s name, but it had so far failed to do…
ARSENAL boss Mikel Arteta says Bukayo Saka could be in contention to face Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday. The forward went off with a muscle injury in the first half of Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League defeat at Lens. Saka, 22, has played in each of Arsenal’s past 87 league games, a club-record streak in the Premier League. “He is in contention, we’ll see how he progresses from here to Sunday,” Arteta said. “Obviously he had to leave the pitch [against RC Lens], that’s never good news, but let’s see how he recovers.” Saka was also named in England’s…
DOZENS of rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. Air raid sirens rang out across the south of Israel and could be heard in the greater Tel Aviv area, tens of kilometres to the north, on Saturday morning. A 70-year-old woman was critically injured after a rocket hit a building in central Israel, Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue agency said. Elsewhere, a 20-year-old man was injured by rocket shrapnel, it addsed Footage from Reuters news agency shows Israeli firefighters fighting flames in the city of Ashkelon, as thick plumes of smoke rose from charred out vehicles. The…
THE Nobel Peace Prize was on Friday awarded to imprisoned rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi, honoured for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran. Mohammadi’s award comes after a wave of protests that swept Iran after the death in custody a year ago of a young Iranian Kurd, Mahsa Amini, arrested for violating Iran’s strict dress rules for women. Mohammadi, a 51-year-old journalist and activist, has spent much of the past two decades in and out of jail for her campaign against the mandatory hijab for women and the death penalty. She is the vice-president of the Defenders of…
FORMER football star George Weah is running for a second six-year term as Liberia’s president, but he appears to have scored an own goal by failing to engage with the topic that is dominating the air waves and mood on the streets – demands to set up an economic and war crimes court. The 57-year-old came into power promising to create jobs, transform lives and set up the court. But after taking office in 2018 he argued that looking backwards at old crimes would not be the best way to achieve development – something 24-year-old Frederick Tulay feels is a…
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it has reached a preliminary agreement with the Ghanaian authorities on the economic policies and reforms to conclude the first review of the $3bn (£2.45bn)-bailout fund the country is currently receiving. In a statement, it said it was satisfied with Ghana’s performance with respect to the programme’s targets and reform objectives. The agreement will now need to be approved by the IMF executive board. “The authorities have adjusted macroeconomic policies, successfully completed their domestic debt restructuring operation and launched wide-ranging reforms. These actions are already generating positive results,” said Stéphane Roudet, IMF mission chief…
JUVENTUS and France midfielder Paul Pogba’s ‘B’ sample has confirmed the presence of testosterone, a source close to the case told AFP on Friday. The 30-year-old former Manchester United player, a World Cup winner in 2018, faces a ban of up to four years. The original test by the Italian anti-doping agency (Nado) showed the presence of testosterone metabolites. On Friday, Pogba learned that the analysis of his B sample, carried out on the previous day, had produced the same result. The player’s entourage declined to comment. Under the World Anti-Doping Code, Pogba is liable to a four-year suspension, which…
LADY Cathy Ferguson, the wife of former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has died aged 84. The couple married in 1966, spending 57 years as husband and wife, and had three sons, including Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson. “We are deeply saddened to confirm the passing yesterday of Lady Cathy Ferguson,” a statement from the Ferguson family said. “The family asks for privacy at this time.” Manchester United said in a statement: “Everyone at Manchester United sends our heartfelt condolences to Sir Alex Ferguson and his family on the passing of Lady Cathy, a beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother and…
BRIGHTON fought back to secure their first Europa League point in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Marseille on Thursday as West Ham won 2-1 at Freiburg to set a new record unbeaten streak in Europe for an English team. Managerless Rangers slumped to an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Aris Limassol, while the gloom around Dutch giants Ajax was not lifted by a 1-1 draw at AEK Athens. Brighton’s 3-2 home defeat to AEK in their first ever European encounter left Roberto De Zerbi’s men needing to get something from their trip to the Stade Velodrome. Marseille have struggled so far…
A MAN who admitted trying to kill the late Queen Elizabeth II after being found on the grounds of Windsor Castle with a loaded crossbow, was on Thursday handed a nine-year sentence. Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, will serve the first part of his term in the high-security Broadmoor psychiatric hospital, moving to prison when his mental health permits. The former supermarket worker had “lost touch with reality so that he had become psychotic”, said sentencing judge Nicholas Hilliard at London’s Old Bailey court. After breaking into the grounds of the queen’s residence on Christmas Day 2021, Chail admitted to an…
A RUSSIAN strike killed at least 51 people gathered for a wake in an eastern Ukrainian village Thursday, in what a UN official called a “horrifying” attack. AFP journalists on the scene in the aftermath saw rescuers carrying a corpse from the rubble and several charred bodies in civilian clothes lying side by side, and others in white body bags. The mourners were in a cafe and there were also victims in a shop in the same building in the village, which has a population of 330 people, in the northeastern region of Kharkiv. Volodymyr Mukhovaty, 70, said he had…
FRANCE said Thursday that it would start withdrawing its troops from Niger this week after a falling-out with the post-coup regime, which insists the exit be carried out in accordance with its “conditions”. The announcement by the French army follows weeks of tensions between Paris and Niger’s new military rulers, who seized power on July 26. President Emmanuel Macron, who had sought to make a special ally of Niger, announced on September 24 the withdrawal of 1,400 French troops from the country “by the end of the year”, complying with a demand by the new regime in Niamey. Macron said…
GHANA – once touted as a trailblazing African economic success story – is facing an unprecedented financial crisis. This week, hundreds of protestors took to the streets in the capital Accra, calling on the governor of the Bank of Ghana and his two deputies to resign over the loss of about 60bn Ghanaian cedis ($5.2bn; £4.3bn) in the 2022 financial year. The demonstration, dubbed #OccupyBoG, was led by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party. The protestors, dressed in red shirts, scarfs and berets, chanted songs and held banners – some reading “stop the looting, we are suffering”. The opposition…
THE 2030 World Cup will be held across six countries in three continents, Fifa has confirmed. Spain, Portugal and Morocco have been named as the co-hosts, with the opening three matches taking place in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. The opening matches in South America are to mark the World Cup’s centenary as it will be 100 years since the inaugural tournament in Montevideo. The decision is set to be ratified at a Fifa congress next year. Fifa also confirmed only bids from countries from the Asian Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation will be considered for the 2034 finals.…
THE US has sent roughly 1.1 million bullets seized from Iran last year to Ukraine, its military has said. The US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees operations in the Middle East, says the rounds were confiscated from a ship bound for Yemen in December. Ukraine’s Western allies recently warned that their production lines were struggling to keep up with the rate at which Ukraine was using ammunition. Centcom says the Iranian rounds were transferred to Ukraine on Monday. The munitions were originally seized by US naval forces from a stateless ship named MARWAN 1 on 9 December, it said. The…
AN elderly woman in Russia’s Far East was revealed on Wednesday to have lived for 80 years with an inch-long needle in her brain, after doctors made the unexpected discovery during a CT scan. Doctors believe the woman was the victim of a failed infanticide carried out by her parents, and said they would not attempt to remove the needle for fear of worsening her condition. “Such cases during years of famine were not uncommon,” the local health department in the remote Russian region of Sakhalin said. It said her parents likely decided to put their child to death during…
AROUND 400 people in Egypt have been arrested over “riot incidents” after President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi announced that he would run for a third term, according to local media. President Sisi’s remarks on Tuesday sparked a rare display of public anger – viral social media videos captured protests in the north-western city of Marsa Matrouh. In the footage, people can be heard chanting “Sisi out” and calling for his decade-long regime to fall. Other videos showed clashes between demonstrators and the police. The privately owned Al-Manassa news website quoted Saleh Abou-Attiya, the secretary-general of the Marsa Matrouh Bar Association, as…
A KENYAN hospital worker caught by the BBC trying to sell a baby has been sentenced to 25 years in jail. Fred Leparan, who worked at Nairobi’s Mama Lucy Kibaki hospital, was filmed accepting $2,500 (£2,000) to sell a baby boy under the hospital’s care. He was arrested in 2020 and found guilty of child trafficking, child neglect and conspiracy to commit crime. His co-accused Selina Adundo was sentenced to six years in jail or a $2,000 fine. An Africa Eye reporter had initially approached Leparan posing as a potential buyer, after hearing from a source that the senior clinical…