Author: Editor

MALI’s military leader Gen Assimi Goïta has been granted a five-year presidential term by the transitional parliament, which is renewable without elections. The junta leader, who has seized power twice, had promised the return of democracy last year, but it never materialised. The bill granting his new mandate said it could be renewed “as many times as necessary” and until Mali was “pacified”. It clears Gen Goïta to lead the West African country until at least 2030, with many fearing the move could lead to the repression of the opposition or dissenting opinions. The 41-year-old military leader was named transitional…

PLANS for a futuristic city in Senegal dreamt up by the singer Akon have been scrapped and instead he will work on something more realistic, officials say. “The Akon City project no longer exists,” Serigne Mamadou Mboup, the head of Senegal’s tourism development body, Sapco, told the BBC. “Fortunately, an agreement has been reached between Sapco and the entrepreneur Alioune Badara Thiam [aka Akon]. What he’s preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support.” Known for his string of noughties chart hits, Akon – who was born in the US but partly raised in Senegal -…

LIVERPOOL and Portugal forward Diogo Jota has died in a car crash, aged 28. The Portugal forward’s brother Andre Silva also died in the accident, which took place in the Spanish province of Zamora. The 26-year-old was also a professional footballer, with Portuguese second-tier club Penafiel. The Guardia Civil has told BBC Sport that Jota and his brother died at about 00:30 local time on Thursday. They said that their car, a Lamborghini, left the road due to a tyre blow-out while overtaking another vehicle and then caught fire. Jota married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso, with whom he has…

DORTMUND and Real Madrid were the last set of teams to reach the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup after victories against Juventus and Monterrey, respectively. Youngster Gonzalo Garcia headed home his third goal of the tournament to help Madrid edge the Italian side Juventus at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Serhou Guirassy struck twice for the German outfit as they scraped past Sergio Ramos’s side 2-1 in a tight last-16 clash in Atlanta and denied the former Real Madrid skipper a match-up against his former team. The quarter-finals will begin on Friday and end on Saturday. FULL FIXTURES…

AT the sight of her son Ahmed’s bullet-riddled body laid out in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, Asmahan Shaat collapsed on the ground, overcome by grief. Her screams echoed through the air, her voice choked by shock and sorrow. She kissed the 23-year-old’s face, hands and feet as she cried. Her six other children and relatives tried to hold her back, but she pushed them away. “Leave me with him. Leave me with him,” she cried. “Ahmed will speak again. He told me, ‘Mom, I am not going to die. I’ll bring you something from the aid…

IRAN’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has signed a law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), amid growing tensions between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog following Israeli and US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities last month. “Masoud Pezeshkian promulgated the law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Iranian state TV reported on Wednesday. The announcement comes a week after Iran’s parliament passed legislation to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, citing Israel’s June 13 surprise attack on Iran and later strikes by the US on Iranian nuclear facilities. According to the parliament resolution, IAEA inspectors will not…

GUINEA’s ruling junta wants to extend presidential terms from five to seven years, with a two-term limit, according to a draft constitution due to be put to a referendum in September. The draft was presented last Thursday to General Mamadi Doumbouya, head of the junta that ousted President Alpha Conde in 2021 — one in a series of military coups in west Africa. It did not specify whether Doumbouya would be able to run for president when the country returns to democratic elections. The upcoming referendum is meant to pave the way for a return to constitutional rule in the…

THOUSANDS of Sudanese teenagers finally sat for their high school exams this week after multiple delays during more than two years of conflict but many more remain out of school. Some 210,000 pupils registered to sit the exams in nearly 2,000 centres, 50 of them in neighbouring countries like Chad and Egypt, which have taken in many of Sudan’s four million refugees, the education ministry of the army-backed government said. Outside a school in the Egyptian capital Cairo, dozens of Sudanese students pored over revision notes under the blazing sun as their parents looked on anxiously. “God help them, the…

TRENT Alexander-Arnold registered his first assist as a Real Madrid player as Xabi Alonso’s side beat Juventus to reach the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup. Alexander-Arnold, making his fourth successive start at the tournament, endured a quiet first half at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami but delivered a delicious cross from which Gonzalo Garcia nodded Madrid ahead nine minutes into the second half. Alonso once again deployed a 5-3-2 system against the record Serie A champions, but his side looked vulnerable defensively in the first half and were fortunate not to fall behind in the early stages. Randal…

ISRAELI forces have killed at least 109 Palestinians in attacks across the Gaza Strip, medical sources told Al Jazeera, even as United States President Donald Trump claimed that he would be “very firm” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on ending Israel’s war on the Palestinian enclave. Israeli attacks on Tuesday destroyed clusters of homes in the north and south of Gaza, amid fears of yet another looming ground invasion. The attacks come ahead of a planned visit next week by Netanyahu to Washington, DC. Trump said on Tuesday that the Israeli prime minister wanted to end the war on…

THAILAND’s Prime Minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended by the country’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday over a leaked diplomatic phone call that triggered an ethics probe, while her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, appeared in court for a royal defamation trial. Paetongtarn took power less than a year ago and will be suspended while the Constitutional Court investigates whether she breached ministerial ethics during a diplomatic spat with Cambodia. She told reporters at Bangkok’s Government House that she accepted the ruling. “It’s always been my intention to do the best thing for my country,” she said. “I’d like to apologise…

LIBERIA’s former President William Tolbert has had a symbolic reburial, 45 years after he was murdered during a coup and his body was believed to have been dumped in a mass grave. Ten days after the president’s killing, following trials by a kangaroo court, 13 of his cabinet were stripped, tied to stakes and then executed by a firing squad on a beach next to an army barracks in the capital, Monrovia. None of the 14 corpses has been found but each man got a state funeral at a ceremony attended by President Joseph Boakai and other dignitaries. The event…

THE Congolese government says it targeted an aircraft which rebels claim was delivering food aid before it was blown up in the district of Minembwe, close to the country’s borders with Rwanda and Burundi. It is the latest violent incident in the region since a ceasefire deal was signed in Washington last Friday. The army claims it tracked the plane using radar, found it had entered Congolese airspace without legal permission and bore no identification number – giving the force no choice but to take “appropriate measures”. But rebels allied to the M23 group, which has seized large parts of…

BRAZILIAN club Fluminense shocked Inter Milan with a 2-0 win to reach the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup, where they could face Manchester City. Striker German Cano’s stooping header in the third minute put the Brazilian giants ahead early and substitute Hercules scored a curling edge-of-the-box shot against the run of play in a difficult last 25 minutes. Inter’s star forward Lautaro Martinez had a series of chances to equalise before the second goal, including one against the post late on, while Federico Dimarco also came close to scoring from two free-kicks and had a close-range shot from a…

ISRAELI forces have bombarded multiple areas across the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 95 Palestinians, including aid seekers and families sheltering in schools, and wounding many more in attacks that have also targeted a crowded hospital. In the relentless attacks on Monday, 62 of the victims were in Gaza City and the north of the territory. The Israeli navy struck a seaside cafe in Gaza City, where the military has stepped up its heavy strikes, killing more than 30 people and wounding dozens more. Among the dead are women, children, and journalists who had gathered at the cafe, a…

DIPLOMATIC talks between Washington and Tehran cannot resume unless the US rules out further strikes on Iran, its deputy foreign minister told the BBC late Sunday. Majid Takht-Ravanchi told the British broadcaster that the US had signalled it wants to return to the negotiating table, a week after it struck three Iranian nuclear facilities. “We have not agreed to any date, we have not agreed to the modality,” said Takht-Ravanchi. “Right now we are seeking an answer to this question. Are we going to see a repetition of an act of aggression while we are engaging in dialogue?” The US…

A TUNISIAN court has sentenced Sonia Dhamani, a prominent lawyer and renowned critic of President Kais Saied, to two years in jail, lawyers have said, in a case that rights groups say marks a deepening crackdown on dissent in the North African country. Dhamani’s lawyers withdrew from the trial after the judge refused to adjourn the session on Monday, claiming Dhamani was being tried twice for the same act. The court sentenced Dhamani for statements criticising practices against refugees and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. Lawyer Bassem Trifi said the verdict was “a grave injustice”. “What’s happening is a farce. Sonia…

A STREET vendor shot in the head by police during protests two weeks ago has died a day after being declared brain-dead in hospital, his family says. “Boniface is no more. We have just viewed his body,” family spokeswoman Emily Wanjira told the BBC. Boniface Kariuki was shot as police cracked down on a protest in the capital Nairobi against the death in detention of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang, 31. Kariuki, a mask vendor, was shot at close range on 17 June, and later admitted to the main public referral hospital in Nairobi for treatment. He spent nearly two…

JOAO Neves scored twice as Paris St-Germain demolished Inter Miami to reach the quarter-finals of the Fifa Club World Cup. The European champions were always expected to brush off the team who sit sixth in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference – and so it proved. Neves stooped down to head Vitinha’s free-kick in from close range for their sixth-minute opener in Atlanta. The Portugal midfielder got the second goal too in the 39th minute when he slotted in to cap off a fine passing move involving Bradley Barcola and Fabian Ruiz, who also had a goal disallowed himself for offside.…

ISRAELI attacks across the Gaza Strip have killed dozens of Palestinians, including people seeking food at aid distribution hubs, as the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave deteriorates by the day. Medical sources told Al Jazeera on Sunday that at least 68 people were killed since dawn in Israeli strikes targeting multiple locations across Gaza, including 47 in Gaza City and the north of the territory. Among them were at least five Palestinian aid seekers killed near food distribution centres run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) north of Rafah, according to local emergency workers quoted by…