Author: Editor

FAMILIES of the victims of June’s deadly Air India crash demanded on Friday the immediate release of the aircraft’s two flight recorders, saying delays were eroding their trust in the investigation. A total of 241 people on board the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner were killed when the plane crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad in western India on June 12. Another 19 people were killed on the ground. A preliminary investigation report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said fuel to the jet’s engines was cut off moments before impact. The report did not offer any conclusions or apportion blame…

GHANA’s President John Mahama has promised a full investigation into Wednesday’s helicopter crash that killed two government ministers and six other people. Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment, Science and Technology Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, both 50, were among those killed when a military aircraft crashed in the central Ashanti region. In a televised address to the nation, Mahama said the crash represented “a personal loss” for him. The president confirmed that the flight data and cockpit voice recorders – often referred to as the “black boxes” – had been retrieved and that the armed forces had “initiated a…

A SOUTH African court has ruled that Zambia’s former president, Edgar Lungu, who died in South Africa, should be buried in Zambia against his family’s wishes. Lungu’s burial has been the subject of a two-month dispute between Zambia’s government, which had planned a state funeral for him in Lusaka, and his family, who wanted him buried in South Africa. Lungu, Zambia’s head of state from 2015 to 2021, died in South Africa on June 5 while receiving medical treatment. South Africa’s high court halted plans for Lungu to be buried in Johannesburg on June 25, hours before a private ceremony…

MANCHESTER United have agreed a deal worth £73.7m with RB Leipzig to sign Slovenia striker Benjamin Sesko. The agreement includes a guaranteed payment of £66.3m with the remainder in add-ons. Sesko will now complete the formalities, including a medical on Friday, before finalising his move to Old Trafford. The 22-year-old, who was also wanted by Newcastle, has scored 39 goals in 87 appearances for the German side. United have already signed forwards Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo this summer for a combined fee of about £130m. Those payments have been arranged in a favourable way to allow United to keep…

GAZA health authorities say nearly 200 people, including 96 children, have died of hunger in Gaza, as the starving population battles against the odds to get food from dangerous airdrops and deadly aid hubs run by the GHF. As Israel’s man-made famine under the ongoing blockade tightened its grip on the enclave, hospitals recorded four more deaths from “famine and malnutrition” on Thursday – two of them children – bringing the total to 197. Amid the mounting death toll, World Health Organization (WHO) director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that about 12,000 children younger than five were suffering from acute malnutrition…

THE family of a missing man whose body was discovered on a melting glacier in Pakistan after 28 years said Thursday its recovery had brought them some relief. The body of 31-year-old Nasiruddin was spotted by locals near the edge of the shrinking Lady Meadows glacier in the Kohistan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. His family said he and his brother had fled to the mountains after a dispute in their village in 1997 when he fell into a crevasse. “Our family left no stone unturned to trace him over the years. Our uncles and cousins visited the glacier several…

SIX people have been killed after a light aircraft belonging to a medical charity crashed in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, according to a local officials. Charity Amref Flying Doctors said the Cessna plane took off from Wilson airport on Thursday afternoon and was en route to Hargeisa in Somalia when it crashed and burst into flames at a residential building in Nairobi’s Githurai area. Kiambu County Commissioner Henry Wafula said four people on the plane were killed, including doctors, nurses and the pilot – as well as another two people on the ground, while two others were seriously injured. Investigators have…

THE Zambian government has dismissed claims of dangerous pollution in the Copperbelt mining region, following safety concerns raised by the US embassy. On Wednesday, the US embassy issued a health alert, ordering the immediate withdrawal of its personnel in Kitwe town and nearby areas due to concerns of “widespread contamination of water and soil” linked to a February spill at the Sino-Metals mine. The spill happened when a tailings dam, used to store toxic waste and heavy metals, collapsed into the Kafue River, a key drinking water source, following heavy rain. The US embassy said there was new information that…

MANCHESTER United have made contact with Brighton to explore the conditions of a deal for midfielder Carlos Baleba, according to reports. The 21-year-old enjoyed an impressive campaign for the Seagulls, featuring 34 times in the Premier League and scoring three goals for Fabian Hurzeler’s side. United, who are closing in on their third major addition of the summer in RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, are among the many suitors of the Cameroon international and have made contact with Brighton through intermediaries, a report has claimed. According to The Athletic, the Red Devils have relayed their interest in the midfielder, who…

GAZA’s already battered healthcare system is in a state of collapse as blood banks run dry and Israeli forces continue targeting clinics and facilities housing patients and displaced families while maintaining an aid blockade. Healthcare officials in the besieged enclave reported on Wednesday that there is a severe shortage of blood as many would-be donors are too malnourished due to a severe Israeli-induced hunger crisis that has so far claimed the lives of 193 Palestinians, including five in the past 24 hours. Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said blood donations are desperately needed across the remaining operational…

UNITED States President Donald Trump has issued an executive order imposing an additional 25 percent tariff on goods from India, as penalty for importing Russian oil. Wednesday’s hike comes in addition to the 25 percent tariff India already faces, making it subject to one of the US’s highest import tax brackets under Trump, at a total of 50 percent. In his executive order, Trump explained that Russia’s continued military actions in Ukraine constituted a “national emergency” and it was therefore “necessary and appropriate” to place heightened tariffs on India, a major consumer of its petroleum products. “I find that the…

A UGANDAN university student who mysteriously went missing two months ago after posting a TikTok video that harshly criticised President Yoweri Museveni’s leadership has been jailed. Elson Tumwine disappeared on 8 June – sparking accusations from opposition figures and activists that he had been abducted and illegally detained by military agents. Following an outcry over his disappearance, he was then reportedly left at a police station in Entebbe in mid-July and was subsequently charged with offensive communication and computer misuse. He pleaded guilty and asked for forgiveness. The magistrates’ court in Entebbe sentenced him to two months in jail on…

THE US will require citizens from Malawi and Zambia to pay a $15,000 (£11,300) deposit for a tourist or business visa, according to the US state department. The 12-month pilot programme aims to curb visa overstays “or where screening and vetting information is considered deficient”, according to a notice published by the state department. Officials say that citizens of countries other than Malawi and Zambia may soon also need to pay a similar deposit, which will be returned at the end of their visit to the US. The US administration has taken several steps to further President Donald Trump’s agenda…

GHANA is in mourning following the tragic loss of two high-ranking government officials, Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment, Science and Technology Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, who were among eight people killed in a military helicopter crash on Wednesday. According to an official statement from the Ghanaian Presidency, the aircraft, a Ghana Air Force helicopter took off from the capital city, Accra, shortly after 9:00am, en route to Obuasi in the Ashanti Region. The chopper, carrying three crew members and five passengers, went off radar during its journey and was later confirmed to have crashed. All eight occupants perished…

FORMER Arsenal footballer Thomas Partey was granted conditional bail on Tuesday after appearing in a London court on rape and sexual assault charges. The 32-year-old Ghana international has been charged with five counts of rape against two women and one count of sexual assault against a third woman. The alleged offences took place between 2021 and 2022, when he was an Arsenal player. Partey was charged on July 4, four days after leaving the Gunners when his contract expired at the end of June. The midfielder stood with his arms behind his back in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court…

ISRAELI attacks have killed at least 83 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip amid a deepening Israel-induced hunger crisis, medical sources have told Al Jazeera, as hospitals in the besieged territory have recorded eight more deaths from starvation and malnutrition. Among those killed on Tuesday were 58 aid seekers, who were shot by Israeli forces as they approached aid distribution sites operated by the United States- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said the “same exact scenario plays out in Gaza every single day” since GHF distribution sites began operating…

META on Tuesday said it shut nearly seven million WhatsApp accounts linked to scammers in the first half of this year and is ramping up safeguards against such schemes. “Our team identified the accounts and disabled them before the criminal organizations that created them could use them,” WhatsApp external affairs director Clair Deevy said. Often run by organized gangs, the scams range from bogus cryptocurrency investments to get-rich-quick pyramid schemes, WhatsApp executives said in a briefing. “There is always a catch and it should be a red flag for everyone: you have to pay upfront to get promised returns or…

RWANDA has said it will accept up to 250 migrants from the US in a deal agreed with President Donald Trump’s administration. Under the scheme the deportees would be given “workforce training, health care, and accommodation to jump start their lives in Rwanda”, government spokesperson Yolande Makole confirmed to the BBC. A condition of the agreement was that Rwanda would have “the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement”, she added. The White House has not commented on the deal directly but told the BBC it was constantly talking to countries “willing to assist us in removing the illegal…

GHANA’s government has issued an ultimatum to satellite broadcaster DStv to reduce subscription prices by Thursday, or face a suspension of its broadcasting licence. Minister for Communications, Samuel George, said he had directed the National Communications Authority to initiate suspension proceedings against MultiChoice Ghana, the local operator of DStv, if the company fails to comply with regulatory expectations for a price cut. “I have directed the NCA to act swiftly. “If by the 7th of August DStv has not complied, their broadcasting licence will be suspended,” George said. He accused the company of overpricing its services despite favourable exchange rate…

THE Kano State Government has marked its first-ever International Cultural Day, a colorful celebration aimed at showcasing the state’s rich cultural heritage and reaffirming its role as a historic center for commerce, Islamic scholarship, traditional arts, and craftsmanship. ‎ ‎Declaring the event open at the Coronation Hall, Government House, Kano, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf said the occasion was not only a celebration of the state’s glorious past, but also a strategic step toward positioning culture and tourism as key drivers of economic prosperity and collective pride. ‎ ‎This was contained in a statement issued by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary,…