Author: Editor

AT the ongoing TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, two women from Rwanda have not just stuck as a pair, they’ve added layers of allure and feel that is striking. Twins Aline Umutoni and Alice Umutesi are living the dream and mirror intentional synergy, strength and sisterhood. Former footballers now commanding the games as referees, are both flying high at WAFCON 2024. “I remember when we were just in Germany with the national team. Because we are real twins, if she likes something, I have to like it too. It’s mandatory,” Aline told CAFOnline. Both sisters officiated…

AT least 84 people, including 73 aid seekers, killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza. More than 200 people wounded. Two more Palestinians, including a 35-day-old infant, have died of malnutrition at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital. Meanwhile, The Israeli military has issued a new forced evacuation warning for the Palestinians in central Gaza, ordering them to move south to al-Mawasi, an area Israel has regularly attacked despite declaring it a “safe zone”. Thousands of leaflets were dropped over Deir el-Balah on Sunday, telling displaced families living in tents in several densely populated parts of the city to leave immediately. The Israeli…

PRINCE Al-Waleed bin Khalid Al-Saud, popularly known as Saudi Arabia’s “Sleeping Prince,” has died at the age of 36. His death comes about two decades after a devastating car crash in London left him in a coma. The prince, who was just 15 years old at the time of the accident in 2005, suffered a brain haemorrhage and internal bleeding. He never regained full consciousness and had been on a ventilator ever since. His father, Prince Khaled bin Talal Al Saud, confirmed the passing in a post on X on Saturday. “With hearts believing in Allah’s will and decree, and…

EVEN before the world’s oldest president confirmed that he would run for an eighth term in power, his social media accounts left experts in no doubt. By the time 92-year-old Paul Biya officially confirmed he would seek re-election as Cameroon’s president last week, he had already been ramping up his online presence for several months. Daily posts on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) mark a striking departure from his previous, occasional presence. But Biya’s attempts to win over young people ahead of October’s election may be falling flat, analysts tell the BBC. “Cameroon has over 5.4 million social media users,…

A BUILDING collapse that killed 34 construction workers and injured dozens in Western Cape province last year was “entirely preventable”, South Africa’s government says. A new report into the tragedy reveals that serious safety concerns had been raised well before the partially built five-storey apartment block collapsed in the town of George in May 2024. Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson said the collapse was the result of multiple failures including the use of substandard materials, structural cracks, and visible gaps. “There were a number of red flags that were continually raised about this project,” said a visibly angry Macpherson. Some…

BARCELONA have reportedly reached an agreement in principle with Manchester United over the signing of forward Marcus Rashford, with talks now progressing toward a loan move that includes an option to buy. According to Sky Sports News, ongoing discussions are focused on the division of Rashford’s wages and potential compensation if Barcelona choose not to activate the buy option at the end of the loan. Rashford has reportedly identified Barcelona as his preferred destination since he hinted at seeking a new challenge back in December, following his exclusion from the first-team plans by United manager Ruben Amorim. BBC Sport also…

TWO more Palestinians, including a weeks-old baby, have succumbed to starvation, director of al-Shifa Hospital tells Al Jazeera, as UN says thousands in Gaza on the “verge of catastrophic hunger”. At least 116 Palestinians, including 38 people near food aid sites in Rafah, killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza today. Meanwhile, Hundreds of Palestinian students in Gaza are taking a crucial end-of-secondary-school exam organised by the besieged enclave’s Ministry of Education in the hope of entering university studies. Earlier this month, the ministry announced Saturday’s exam, which will be the first since Israel began its genocidal war on Gaza after…

PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s administration said Friday the United States was rejecting changes agreed last year for the World Health Organization on its pandemic response, saying they violated the country’s sovereignty. Trump on returning to office on January 20 immediately began his nation’s withdrawal from the UN body, but the State Department said the language from last year would still have been binding on the United States. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who is a longtime critic of vaccines, said the changes “risk unwarranted interference with our national sovereign right to…

THE Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed armed group M23 signed a ceasefire deal on Saturday to end fighting that has devastated the country’s mineral-rich but conflict-torn east. The truce was agreed in a Declaration of Principles signed by the two sides after three months of talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, which follows a separate Congolese-Rwandan peace deal signed in Washington last month. “The Parties commit to uphold their commitment to a permanent ceasefire,” including refraining from “hate propaganda” and “any attempt to seize by force new positions”, said the agreement. The M23, which seized vast swathes of territory…

A HIGHLY respected police officer has shaken South Africa’s government – and won the admiration of many ordinary people – with his explosive allegations that organised crime groups have penetrated the upper echelons of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration. Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi did it in dramatic style – dressed in military-like uniform and surrounded by masked police officers with automatic weapons, he called a press conference to accuse Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of having ties to criminal gangs. He also said his boss had closed down an elite unit investigating political murders after it uncovered a drug cartel with tentacles in…

MANCHESTER United have had a £65m bid for Bryan Mbeumo accepted by Brentford. The Cameroon international could undergo a medical with the club before Ruben Amorim’s squad fly to the United States on Tuesday for their pre-season tour. The 25-year-old winger is set to become United’s third signing of the summer after the arrivals of forward Matheus Cunha and left-back Diego Leon. United submitted their first bid – worth an overall £55m – at the start of June. They failed with a second bid of £62.5m at the end of that month. But the Bees are satisfied with United’s latest…

ISRAELI forces have shot and killed a Palestinian child in the occupied West Bank amid more violent raids by soldiers and settlers, and as Israeli authorities position to confiscate more land. Local Palestinian sources reported on Friday that 13-year-old Amr Ali Qabha was hit with live ammunition in a street in Yabad, located south of Jenin, and was denied medical treatment as soldiers prevented ambulances from reaching him. Qabha’s father also tried to reach him, but was severely beaten and detained by Israeli soldiers, according to the Wafa news agency, which said the child was pronounced dead at the hospital…

BRAZIL’s former president Jair Bolsonaro must wear an electronic monitoring device as he awaits a verdict in his trial on charges of plotting a coup, a Supreme Court judge ruled on Friday. Judge Alexandre de Moraes, a Bolsonaro adversary who is overseeing the trial now in its final stages, said the far-right leader and his son Eduardo had incited “hostile acts” against Brazil. Bolsonaro is accused of seeking to stay in power by overturning the 2022 election won by his left-wing opponent, current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He lashed out at the monitoring device order, calling it a…

A LIBYAN man suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity has been arrested in Germany on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, commonly known as “Al-Buti”, is alleged to have been one of the most senior officials at the Mitiga Prison complex in the capital, Tripoli, where thousands of people were detained. He is suspected of having committed, ordered or overseen crimes including murder, torture and rape. The atrocities were allegedly committed in the detention unit near Tripoli in the five years from 2015. There is no record of him…

BURKINA Faso’s military rulers have disbanded the country’s electoral commission calling it a waste of money. The interior ministry will handle elections in the future, state-run RTB TV reported. Since seizing power in September 2022, the coup leaders have initiated sweeping reforms, including the postponement of elections which would lead to a return to civilian rule. A nationwide vote was due last year, but the junta extended the period of transition to democracy until July 2029, allowing leader Capt Ibrahim Traoré to remain in power and free to contest the next presidential election. The AFP news agency quotes Territorial Administration…

LIVERPOOL are in advanced talks to sign Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike in a deal worth more than £70m. Multiple sources have indicated that Liverpool aim to have the transfer wrapped up by this weekend. Newcastle have had a £70m offer for Ekitike rejected by Frankfurt, with Liverpool’s offer expected to surpass it. Ekitike is open to joining the Premier League champions, who want to sign a central striker. The 23-year-old scored 15 goals in 31 starts as Frankfurt finished third in the Bundesliga last term. However, Ekitike is a provider as well as a scorer, with his eight assists…

ISRAELI forces have bombed Gaza’s only Catholic church, killing three people and wounding at least 10 others, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, as the military continues its assault across the besieged enclave. At least one person is in critical condition as a result of Thursday’s strike on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, the Patriarchate said in a statement. The church’s priest was also lightly wounded, it added. Among those killed were the parish’s 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old woman who was receiving psychosocial support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound, according to the Catholic charity…

A FIRE tore through a newly opened shopping mall in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut overnight, killing at least 61 people mostly women and children, authorities said Thursday as grief-stricken families searched for missing relatives. Officials said many people suffocated in bathrooms, while one person told AFP his five relatives died in an elevator. The blaze, the latest in a country where safety regulations are frequently neglected, broke out late Wednesday, reportedly starting on the first floor before rapidly engulfing the five-storey Corniche Hypermarket Mall. The cause was not immediately known, but one survivor told AFP an air conditioner…

IF you believe the viral videos online, R. Kelly and Pope Leo XIV agree on one thing — that Burkina Faso’s junta chief, Captain Ibrahim Traore, is a fantastic leader. The images are AI-generated propaganda, part of what experts have called a vast disinformation campaign spreading the “personality cult” of the West African country’s strongman. Beyoncé and Justin Bieber are among the other celebrities whose faces and voices have been altered through artificial intelligence to shower praise on Traoré. In one video, attributed to R&B star R. Kelly, the lyrics praise Traore, who seized power in a 2022 coup: “for…

THE Trump administration is treating South Africa almost like a pariah, blacklisting its envoys, refusing to send top-level officials to meetings it hosts, and threatening to hit the nation with such high tariffs that its economic crisis is likely to deepen. The latest sign of this came with the revelation by the second-biggest party in South Africa’s coalition government, the Democratic Alliance (DA), that the US government had rejected President Cyril Ramaphosa’s special envoy, denying him a diplomatic visa in May and refusing to recognise him as an “official interlocutor”. Ramaphosa had created the post for Mcebisi Jonas, the non-executive…