FORMER Kenyan prime minister and revered long-time opposition leader Raila Odinga was buried in the west of the country after a service attended by thousands on Sunday. “Now finally Baba is home,” his son, Raila Odinga junior, said beside his father’s casket, draped in the Kenyan flag. The burial concluded days of memorials that at times led to chaos, with at least five mourners dying at other events and dozens injured at a public viewing on Saturday. Odinga died on Wednesday aged 80 in an Indian hospital. He became prime minister after the bloody and disputed 2007 election, and was…
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A FRENCH uranium mining company accused of partial responsibility for jihadists abducting some of its employees in the Niger Republic in 2010 is to be tried, sources following the case told AFP. Nuclear energy giant Areva, whose activities have since been taken over by Orano, has been accused of underestimating the threat of the Al-Qaeda jihadist group in the northern area of Niger, where it was mining. In 2010, armed men abducted seven Areva employees, five French nationals, a Togolese, and a Madagascan — in Arlit in northern Niger. One of the French captives, Francoise Larribe, was released five months…
LEANDRO Trossard’s second-half goal was enough for Arsenal to overcome a stubborn Fulham and move three points clear at the top of the Premier League. Mikel Arteta came into the match without captain Martin Odegaard and named Eberechi Eze in his place as the manager looked to make the most of the attacking talent at his disposal. However, it was the home side who started brightest and Fulham went close through Harry Wilson and Josh King, who had an effort tipped over the bar by David Raya. Arsenal grew into the game and Riccardo Calafiori had an excellently worked goal…
ISRAELI forces have killed 11 members of a Palestinian family in Gaza, the deadliest single violation of the fragile ceasefire since it took effect eight days ago. The attack happened on Friday evening when a tank shell was fired by Israeli forces at a civilian vehicle carrying the Abu Shaaban family in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to Gaza’s civil defence. Seven children and three women were among those killed when the Israeli military fired on the vehicle as the family attempted to reach their home to inspect it, civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said in a statement.…
HUGE crowds are expected to hit the streets Saturday from New York to San Francisco to vent their anger over President Donald Trump’s hardline policies at nationwide “No Kings” protests slammed by Republicans as “Hate America” rallies. More than 2,700 demonstrations are planned coast to coast, from big cities to small towns, and even near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, where he is spending the weekend. Organisers say they are expecting millions to attend. Those numbers would match the massive turnout at similar events on June 14, Trump’s birthday and the day of a giant military parade in the US…
ZIMBABWE’s governing ZANU-PF has said it will begin a process to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term by two years, potentially keeping him in power until 2030. The plan was endorsed on Saturday at the movement’s annual conference in the eastern city of Mutare, where delegates instructed the government to begin drafting legislation to amend the Constitution, Justice Minister and ZANU-PF legal secretary Ziyambi Ziyambi said. Mnangagwa, 83, is constitutionally required to leave office in 2028 after serving two elected terms. Any change would require a constitutional amendment – and potentially referendums – legal experts say. Delegates erupted in applause after…
LIBERIA’s Education Ministry has blocked controversial plans to introduce mandatory drug testing in all of the country’s schools. Speaking to local media, the interim head of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA), Fitzgerald Biago, said school testing would help address the growing problem of drug abuse. The announcement sparked a mixed response. Some thought it would help tackle the scourge of drugs, while others saw it as an invasion of privacy, or feared it would cost too much. Last year, President Joseph Boakai declared drug and substance abuse a national emergency and a recent EU-backed report estimated that one in…
A WEEK into the ceasefire, Israel has continued to seal Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt despite repeated international calls to allow in large-scale aid deliveries. Meanwhile, Israeli attacks killed and wounded several Palestinians in northern Gaza. For several days, the United Nations has warned that there has been little progress in aid deliveries into Gaza and that assistance must enter at scale through all border crossings to meet urgent humanitarian needs. Under the deal to end Israel’s genocide, which has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in two years, Israel was to allow for a surge in aid deliveries. The UN…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump has confirmed that the United States carried out another strike on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea this week, further escalating tensions with nearby Venezuela. In an Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, Trump made his first statements about the attack, when confronted with media reports about survivors. “We attacked a submarine, and that was a drug-carrying submarine built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs,” Trump said, without offering evidence about what kind of vessel it was or what it was transporting. “This was not an innocent group of people.…
A JUDGE on Friday ordered the release on bail of Hannibal Kadhafi, son of deposed Libyan ruler Moamer Kadhafi, after nearly a decade of pre-trial detention in Lebanon, a judicial official said. Lebanese authorities arrested Kadhafi in 2015 and accused him of withholding information about the disappearance of Lebanese Shiite cleric Mussa Sadr in Libya in 1978. Kadhafi, now 49 according to his lawyer, was around two years old at the time of Sadr’s disappearance. After questioning Kadhafi on Friday, the judge ordered his release “on $11 million bail and banned him from travel,” the judicial official told AFP, requesting…
COLONEL Michael Randrianirina has been sworn in as the new president of Madagascar days after a military takeover on the Indian Ocean nation. He swapped his fatigues for a suit and thanked the young people who took to the streets for weeks of protests that prompted President Andry Rajoelina to flee the country and led to his impeachment. The ceremony took place at the Constitutional Court in the capital, Antananarivo, where a large crowd gathered to watch – including those who spearheaded the demonstrations. “Today marks a historic turning-point for our country. With a people in full fervour, driven by…
RUBEN Amorim should be looking ahead to Manchester United’s return to Premier League action this weekend with a renewed sense of optimism. Yet four huge games now await United, starting at Liverpool. They could shape how this season turns out for the team, for better or worse. Amorim’s side produced one of the most solid performances of his time in charge by beating Sunderland 2-0 immediately before the international break. The result eased pressure that had been mounting on the Portuguese head coach in the aftermath of a woeful defeat at Brentford the week before. Since then, minority owner Sir…
US President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to “go in and kill” Hamas if it keeps killing people in Gaza, in an apparent reference to recent shootings of Palestinian civilians following a ceasefire deal with Israel. Trump’s comments come just days after he said that the Hamas shootings — which include public executions — “didn’t bother me much” and described them as killings of gang members. “If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network.…
RUSSIAN forces struck gas facilities in eastern Ukraine early Thursday, sparking major disruption to the network in another large-scale bombardment piling pressure on the energy infrastructure. Moscow has attacked Ukrainian power infrastructure each winter since invading in 2022, forcing Kyiv to impose emergency blackouts and import energy from abroad. “There are hits and destruction in several regions at once. The operation of a number of critically important facilities has been halted,” the CEO of gas company Naftogaz, Sergii Koretskyi, said in a statement. The Ukrainian energy grid operator announced emergency power cuts in eight regions, and restrictions for all industrial…
AT least two people have been killed after police in Kenya fired shots to disperse crowds of mourners gathered to view the body of opposition leader Raila Odinga, who died earlier this week in India. The country’s head of police operations, Adamson Bungei, confirmed the shooting at the 60,000-capacity football stadium in the capital, Nairobi, where the viewing was to take place on Thursday ahead of the funeral over the weekend. “We have at least two deaths,” Bungei told The Associated Press news agency, describing the incident as a “confrontation.” Local media outlets KTN News and Citizen TV later said…
FORMER Congolese President Joseph Kabila has announced a movement to “save” his country, after a meeting with other opposition leaders in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. The meeting, held on Tuesday and Wednesday, resolved to rally Congolese to oppose the “dictatorship” of President Félix Tshisekedi, according to a document seen by the BBC. Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya dismissed it as a “non-event”, and a meeting of “fugitives and convicts”. Kenya’s foreign ministry has not responded to the BBC’s request for comment. Kabila was recently sentenced to death back home for war crimes and treason. He rejected the charges as “arbitrary” but…
CRISTIANO Ronaldo scored twice and set a new goalscoring record but his Portugal side could only draw with Hungary to miss a chance to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Ronaldo, 40, has now scored 41 goals in World Cup qualifying to move clear of the previous record holder, former Guatemala striker Carlos Ruiz who got 39 qualifying goals in his career. With England beating Latvia 5-0 to qualify from Group K, Portugal were minutes away from also securing their spot in next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States. However, in the 91st minute Liverpool midfielder Dominik…
GAZA’s Ministry of Health says it has received the remains of 45 Palestinians who were held in Israeli custody via the International Committee of the Red Cross, bringing the total number of bodies returned to 90 as part of a United States-brokered ceasefire deal. Medical teams are continuing to examine, document and prepare the bodies for delivery to families “in line with approved medical procedures and protocols”, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. Under a ceasefire deal backed by US President Donald Trump and aimed at ending the two-year Gaza war, Israel was to turn over the…
A UNITED States federal judge in California has ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to halt mass layoffs during a partial government shutdown while she considers claims by unions that the job cuts are illegal. During a hearing in San Francisco on Wednesday, US District Judge Susan Illston granted a request by two unions to block layoffs at more than 30 agencies pending further litigation. Her ruling came shortly after White House Budget Director Russell Vought said on “The Charlie Kirk Show” that more than 10,000 federal workers could lose their jobs because of the shutdown, which entered its 15th day…
THE African Union told AFP Wednesday it was suspending Madagascar “with immediate effect” after a coup saw an elite army unit seize power following President Andry Rajoelina’s impeachment. “The country is suspended with immediate effect,” AU Commission chair Mahamoud Ali Youssouf told AFP after Madagascar’s top court confirmed Colonel Michael Randrianirina as president to plunge the poor Indian Ocean nation into crisis. The military leadership under Colonel Michael Randrianirina has promised elections within two years after President Andry Rajoelina was impeached following weeks of popular demonstrations. The international community voiced alarm, with the United Nations censuring what it called an…