Author: Editor

COLOMBIAN biggest presidential candidate Miguel Uribe has died two months after being shot at a campaign rally, his family said Monday, as the attack rekindled fears of a return to the nation’s violent past. The 39-year-old conservative senator, a grandson of former president Julio Cesar Turbay (1978-1982), was shot in the head and leg on June 7 at a rally in the capital, Bogota, by a suspected 15-year-old hitman. Despite signs of progress in recent weeks, his doctors on Saturday announced he had suffered a new brain hemorrhage. “To break up a family is the most horrific act of violence…

SOUTH Africa will offer a “generous” new trade deal to the United States on Tuesday to avoid 30-percent tariffs, government ministers said. Washington on Friday slapped the huge tariff on some South African exports, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, despite efforts by Pretoria to negotiate a better arrangement to avoid massive job losses. The ministers did not release details of the new offer but said previously discussed measures to increase imports of US poultry, blueberries and pork had been finalised. “When the document is eventually made public, I think you would see it as a very broad, generous and ambitious…

NEARLY 50 prisoners broke out from a jail in the southwest Democratic Republic of Congo in the night from Monday to Tuesday, according to local sources. Prison breaks are a feature of life in the DRC, where the majority of jails were built by the country’s Belgian colonisers and are today overflowing with inmates. “Of the 104 prisoners being held in the central prison of Idiofa, 47 have escaped,” Arsene Kasiama, coordinator of a local civil society organisation, told AFP. Located some 600 kilometres (370 miles) east of the capital Kinshasa, the Idiofa prison was built in 1937 under Belgian…

MANCHESTER United have been handed encouragement in their pursuit of Carlos Baleba with Brighton. Having spent upwards of £200million bolstering the forward line, United have set their sights on strengthening the midfield and have Baleba top of their wishlist. Reports last week claimed that contact had been made between the two clubs regarding a deal, during which Brighton slapped an asking price of more than £100m on their player’s head. Tongues were sent wagging over the weekend when Baleba was absent from Brighton’s final pre-season friendly, a behind-closed-doors test against Wolfsburg. The 21-year-old has now missed his club’s last three…

HUNDREDS of Palestinians in Gaza City have attended the funeral of five Al Jazeera staff, including correspondent Anas al-Sharif, who were killed in an Israeli air strike outside al-Shifa Hospital. On Monday, large crowds joined the funeral procession, carrying the journalists’ bodies from al-Shifa Hospital to Sheikh Radwan Cemetery in central Gaza. Colleagues, friends, and relatives embraced in grief, while a man lifted a “press” flak jacket high above the crowd. The strike late on Sunday killed seven people, including correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, along with camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa, and Mohammed Noufal. Freelance reporter Mohammed al-Khaldi was also…

UNITED States President Donald Trump has said his administration is “looking at” reclassifying cannabis as a less dangerous drug. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump said he would make a determination on the legal classification of the drug over the next few weeks. “That determination hopefully will be the right one,” Trump said. “It’s a very complicated subject.” Trump said that while he had heard “great things” about medical-use cannabis, he had heard bad things about “just about everything else” to do with the drug. “Some people like it, some people hate it,” he said. “Some…

THE death of a one-month-old baby girl who was the victim of female genital mutilation (FGM) in The Gambia has sparked widespread outrage. The baby was rushed to a hospital in the capital, Banjul, after she developed severe bleeding, but was pronounced dead on arrival, police said. Although an autopsy is still being conducted to establish the cause of her death, many people have linked it to FGM, or female circumcision, a cultural practice outlawed in the West African state. “Culture is no excuse, tradition is no shield, this is violence, pure and simple,” a leading non-governmental organisation, Women In…

EasyJet has suspended one of its captains after he was reportedly seen roaming a luxury hotel drunk and naked. The unnamed pilot was witnessed walking through common areas of a five-star resort in Cape Verde without any clothes on in the early hours of the morning on 5 August, after an extended drinking session in a bar, according to the Sun. He was due to operate a return flight to Gatwick more than 36 hours later, but was grounded after the budget airline received complaints about the incident and a replacement pilot found. An EasyJet spokesman told the BBC the…

CRYSTAL Palace started the new season with a suddenly familiar feeling, basking in trophy glory as triumphant underdogs at Wembley. The FA Cup holders beat Premier League champions Liverpool 3-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw to win an enthralling Community Shield on Sunday. Goalkeeper Dean Henderson was the shootout hero for Palace as he saved from Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott, while Mohamed Salah sent his kick over the bar. It allowed 21-year-old midfielder Justin Devenny, sent on as a stoppage-time substitute, to smash the winning penalty past Alisson. Palace, who had not won a major trophy in…

A 15-YEAR-OLD Palestinian boy has been crushed to death by a falling pallet during an airdrop of humanitarian aid in Gaza, as global condemnation grows of Israel’s plan to take over the largest city in the war-torn enclave, where nearly a million people are sheltering. Footage from Gaza, verified by Al Jazeera, shows several people gathering around the body of Muhannad Zakaria Eid on Saturday, near the so-called Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, following the airdrop. Some people try to resuscitate the boy, whose face appears bloodied. Other footage shows the boy’s brother carrying him away from the site and…

MORE than 600 Shia pilgrims in Iraq have been briefly hospitalised with respiratory problems after inhaling chlorine as the result of a leak at a water treatment station, according to authorities. The incident took place overnight on the route between the two Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, in the centre and south of Iraq, respectively. This year, several million Shia Muslim pilgrims are expected to make their way to Karbala, which houses the shrines of the revered Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas. There, they will mark the Arbaeen, the 40-day period of mourning during which Shia commemorate…

MALI has arrested dozens of soldiers suspected of plotting to overthrow the junta, which itself took power in the west African country in a coup, sources told AFP on Sunday. Since seizing the reins in Mali through back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, the West African country’s junta has ramped up repression of its critics in the face of widespread jihadist unrest. “Since three days ago, there have been arrests linked to an attempt to destabilise the institutions. There have been at least around 20 arrests,” a Malian security source told AFP. A separate source within the army confirmed an…

THE president of Guinea-Bissau on Thursday sacked the West African country’s prime minister and appointed his successor, the latest move to position President Umaro Sissoco Embalo for a likely second term in elections due in November. According to a presidential decree, Rui Duarte de Barros, who served as prime minister since December 2023, was replaced by Braima Camara, a former coordinator of the Madem G15 opposition party. There has been much controversy over Embalo’s term ahead of the November general elections. The small West African nation has endured multiple coups since gaining independence from Portugal more than 50 years ago.…

MANCHESTER United have completed the signing of RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko in a move worth £73.7m. The deal for the Slovenia international, who has joined on a five-year contract, includes a guaranteed payment of £66.3m, with the remainder in add-ons. He is United’s third major signing in attack following the arrivals of Matheus Cunha for £62.5m and Bryan Mbeumo for £65m with £6m in add-ons, with the trio presented to the club’s fans prior to Saturday’s pre-season home game against Fiorentina. Sesko, 22, was also a target for Newcastle United but has chosen to join Ruben Amorim’s side. United…

ISRAELI attacks have killed at least 39 people, including 21 seeking humanitarian aid and 11 who starved to death, over 24 hours in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say. Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Saturday that the total number of malnutrition deaths has reached 212, including 98 children, since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023. Most of the deaths have occurred in recent weeks as Israel continues to impose severe restrictions on aid supplies entering Gaza after partially lifting a total blockade in late May. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, told…

NEW York is waging a war on multiple fronts to combat the near-ubiquitous rats that plague city streets and the subways, leaving some residents afraid to let their children walk on sidewalks. Faced with an overwhelming and ever-growing problem, officials have moved beyond gassing burrows to suffocate rodents and are now using high-tech mapping tools to try and sterilise the population. Alongside targeted interventions, officials are mounting an effort to educate the public about the need to avoid leaving behind food waste that feeds and sustains the rat population. Caroline Bragdon, director of neighbourhood interventions for Pest Control Services within…

A COURT in Chad jailed former prime minister and opposition leader Succes Masra for 20 years Saturday, convicting him of hate speech, xenophobia and having incited a massacre. The court in N’Djamena jailed Masra, one of President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno’s fiercest critics, for his role in inciting inter-communal violence in which 42 people were killed on May 14. Most of the massacre victims were women and children in Mandakao, southwestern Chad, according to the court. On Friday, the state prosecutor had called for a 25-year sentence. “Our client has just been the object of a humiliation,” lead defence lawyer…

A BUS carrying mourners from a funeral has crashed in western Kenya, killing 25 people, local authorities say. The driver lost control, veered off the road and overturned into a ditch along the Kisumu-Kakamega Highway on Friday afternoon, a police report seen by the BBC says. This area is notorious for many deadly accidents. Police said 10 women, 10 men and one girl died at the scene, with 20 passengers injured, five of them seriously. Four people later died in hospital, officials said. The passengers were returning from a burial ground and are all believed to be from one family.…

“ON the ground floor there were no windows. It felt like you were in a hospital in the basement. It was a slightly gloomy place, a gloomy rabbit warren.” Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s first impressions of Carrington gave him no illusions as to what one of his first tasks should be if he succeeded in buying into Manchester United. Two years on, Ratcliffe is describing those initial thoughts at the re-opening of the club’s revamped training ground. He has invested £50m in the upgrades. The work took 12 months and was “on time and within budget”. “Manchester United is one of…

GERMANY has suspended all military exports to Israel that could be used in Gaza after Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to take over Gaza City, an escalation in the 22-month war. Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced the decision on Friday, shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed the security cabinet voted in favour of a plan to seize the largest city in the besieged Palestinian territory. A day earlier, Netanyahu had declared that Israeli forces were aiming to take full military control of the entire Gaza Strip despite mounting international condemnation over Israel’s war, which has killed tens…