Author: Editor

PRESIDENT Donald Trump ramped up pressure on the US central bank on Wednesday, calling for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to step down after his recent criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates sooner. “Cook must resign, now!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, while sharing a Bloomberg news report on how the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s director has called for greater scrutiny of Cook over a pair of mortgages. FHFA director Bill Pulte, a staunch ally of Trump  had reportedly written a letter to the US attorney general calling for an investigation of Cook…

M23 REBELS killed at least 140 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last month in one of the worst atrocities by the armed group since its resurgence in late 2021, Human Rights Watch has said in a report. This is despite a peace process, brokered by the US and Qatar, to end the conflict in the region. Witnesses told the advocacy group that the Rwanda-backed rebels “summarily executed” local residents, including women and children, largely from the Hutu ethnic group in the Rutshuru area, near the Virunga National Park. The rebels have previously strongly denied any role in these…

RESCUERS have recovered 10 more bodies from a Beninese river which a bus plunged into at the weekend, bringing the accident’s total death toll to 37, authorities told AFP on Wednesday. Six more people are still missing after the bus fell off a bridge into the Oueme River in the night from Saturday to Sunday, said the civil protection authority’s director, Abdel Aziz Bio Djibril. He added that searches were ongoing for any potential survivors. “On the first day, 27 bodies were fished out, and on the second day, 10 bodies, which makes a total of 37 bodies fished out,”…

ANGOLAN civil society groups have called on the Argentine Football Association and star player Lionel Messi to cancel a proposed friendly match in Luanda later this year, citing human rights abuses and the recent killing of at least 30 people during anti-government protests. Talks have been underway between the football associations of both countries to stage the game in November as part of events marking Angola’s 50th independence anniversary. However, in an open letter released Tuesday, four civic organisations – including Catholic, legal and pro-democracy groups, appealed to Argentina’s football federation, the Albiceleste squad, and the Lionel Messi Foundation to…

AT least 18,885 children are among the more than 62,000 Palestinians killed by Israel since the start of its genocidal war in Gaza nearly two years ago, Gaza’s Government Media Office has said. The staggering, grim toll comes as the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on Tuesday that no place is safe for children in the enclave, where Israeli-induced starvation is rife due to Israel’s blockading of desperately-needed aid and medical supplies. UN-run schools have become shelters for “hundreds of thousands of people” in Gaza amid constant Israeli bombardments that have levelled homes, UNRWA said. Palestinians have…

THE administration of United States President Donald Trump has revoked the security clearances of 37 people it accused of politicising or weaponising intelligence for partisan aims. In a statement posted to X on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the group had “abused the public trust”, accusing them of “politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards”. The statement did not explain in what ways the 37 had violated the terms of the national security clearance or provide evidence of them having done so. Security clearances are rarely revoked,…

MALI’s civilian ex-prime minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga, dismissed in November after he criticised the junta, was charged Tuesday with embezzlement of public funds and remanded in custody following a hearing before the country’s Supreme Court. Plagued by insurgents and separatist violence, Mali has been led by the military since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021. Maiga is accused of “embezzlement of public funds” his lawyer Cheick Oumar Konare told AFP, adding that no date has yet been set for his trial. “We believe in justice, we are calm while awaiting the trial,” Konare said, explaining that Maiga would remain in…

ACCORDING to Check Point Research’s July 2025 Global Threat Report, South Africa has entered the top four most frequently targeted African countries. Among African nations, Nigeria suffers the most from cyberattacks. Companies there experienced 6,101 cyberattacks in just one week in July, a 67% increase from the previous year. Kenyan organizations rank second with 3,468 weekly attacks per organization, followed by Angola with 3,731 attacks per week. However, the number of attacks in Kenya and Angola has decreased year-on-year by 25% and 34% respectively. According to Check Point Research, organizations in South Africa face 2,113 weekly attacks, which is 14%…

RUBEN Amorim was 55 seconds into a post-match news conference that lasted less than three and a half minutes at Old Trafford on Sunday when he was asked a question that made him flinch back and raise his eyebrows in disbelief. It concerned his goalkeeper and whether he had given any consideration to picking veteran former England man Tom Heaton ahead of Altay Bayindir for the Premier League defeat by Arsenal. “Why?” came the response, the stare accompanying it unwavering. What followed was the kind of exchange that used to be commonplace at Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson was…

MORE than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in its nearly two-year genocidal war on Gaza, with the population suffering relentless bombardment with nowhere safe in the besieged enclave, Israeli-induced starvation and the daily killing of people desperately seeking food for their families. Israel is intensifying strikes on Gaza City, the territory’s largest and now destroyed urban centre, as it plans to seize it and forcibly displace tens of thousands of people to concentration zones in the south. At least 30 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip since dawn on Monday, including 14 seeking…

RUSSIAN attacks on major Ukrainian cities have killed at least 12 people as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits Washington, DC, supported by European leaders, for high-stakes peace talks with United States President Donald Trump that could determine Ukraine’s future and its fate in the war, now in its fourth year. An entire family, including a toddler and a 16-year-old, were among seven people killed in an overnight drone strike on a residential neighbourhood in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, authorities said on Monday. The attack also injured 20 people, including six children. Russian forces killed five people and injured four in…

THE main rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the M23, has walked away from peace talks with the government, saying it will not return unless the authorities adhere to a previous ceasefire deal. Fighting between the two sides escalated in January, when the M23 captured large parts of the mineral-rich east, including the regional capital Goma. In Qatar last month, the rebels and the government signed a ceasefire agreement, intended as a step towards a permanent peace deal. But on Monday, as negotiations were set to resume, the M23 said its representatives were not present in Qatar. M23…

BURKINA Faso’s junta on Monday declared the top resident UN official “persona non grata” for a United Nations report which found that armed groups were recruiting children to fight in the country’s insurgents conflict. Since seizing power in a coup, the Burkinabe junta has placed international organisations and humanitarian bodies under increasing pressure, as the Sahel nation faces a widespread insurgency. The military government said in a statement that UN resident humanitarian coordinator Carol Flore-Smereczniak must leave because of her “responsibility” in drafting the March report, which it said contained “baseless” allegations that Burkina Faso’s army and defence forces were…

RUBEN Amorim made a goalkeeping gamble on Sunday and in the eyes of most, it backfired spectacularly. The Manchester United boss selected Altay Bayindir instead of the fit-again Andre Onana and it was the Turkey keeper’s early ‘controversial’ error that proved the difference in Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford. Onana’s future at the club has been the subject of much debate this summer and, despite Amorim’s fierce defence of his keepers, the number-one position at United is again the talking point. A United official privately offered a basic truth about the club’s rebuild much earlier in the summer though.…

ISRAEL’s military has stepped up attacks on Gaza City as part of its expanded operations aimed at seizing the last major population centre in the enclave, forcing tens of thousands of starving Palestinians to flee again. The Gaza City neighbourhoods of Zeitoun, Sabra, Remal and Tuffah have particularly borne the brunt of the Israeli bombardments in recent days as a spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Israel’s plans to forcibly displace Palestinians to southern Gaza would increase their suffering. Thousands of families have fled Zeitoun, where days of continuous strikes have left the…

CLIMATE change-induced flash floods have killed at least 337 people in northwestern Pakistan, according to the National Disaster Management Authority, while dozens remain missing after the area was hit by flash floods in recent days. In Kishtwar district, emergency teams continued rescue efforts on Sunday in the remote village of Chositi. At least 60 were killed and some 150 injured, about 50 of them critically. Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency service, said 54 bodies were found after hours-long efforts in Buner, a mountainous district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains and cloudbursts triggered massive flooding on Friday.…

A PROMINENT Sudanese human rights group has accused the country’s army and security forces of torturing people to death and operating “execution chambers”. The Emergency Lawyers group said it had documented hundreds of arrests in the capital Khartoum. It said that in the “worst cases”, some captives had later been found dead with evidence of torture. The Sudanese army recaptured the city from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in March, against which it is fighting a bitter civil war that has killed tens of thousands in two years. The army did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment…

NIGERIA has joined seven other African nations in achieving a medical breakthrough with the approval of the first-ever malaria treatment for newborns and infants weighing less than five kilograms. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in a statement on Sunday, hailed Nigeria’s contribution to the clinical trial that made the new therapy possible, describing it as “a turning point in the global fight against malaria.” Until now, babies in this weight category had no approved treatment option. Health workers often resorted to splitting or diluting doses meant for older children, a risky improvisation that could easily…

MARCUS Rashford made his competitive debut as Barcelona started their La Liga title defence with a controversial victory at nine-man Mallorca. Raphinha nodded in the opener following a fine right-wing cross from Lamine Yamal. Ferran Torres smashed in their second goal, while Mallorca captain Antonio Raillo was lying on the ground in the box with a head injury after blocking a Yamal shot. Manu Morlanes, who was booked for dissent in the aftermath of that incident, was shown a second yellow card soon after for a foul on Yamal. And Vedat Muriqi was sent off for a high boot on…

AN Israeli air attack on the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza has killed a baby girl and her parents, Nasser Hospital officials have said, as Israel pushes its plan to escalate its offensive in Gaza. Motasem al-Batta, his wife and their baby daughter were killed on Saturday in the tented encampment in southern Gaza. Israel designated al-Mawasi a so-called “humanitarian”, or “safe”, zone early in the war, but it has nonetheless repeatedly come under attack. The attack comes days after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said the military had been given the green light to “dismantle” what he described as two…