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AT least 72 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire across Gaza since dawn, including 29 people who were waiting for aid trucks, Palestinian health officials say, the latest carnage hitting people desperate to secure food for their hungry families. The latest incidence of the daily killing of Palestinian aid seekers in recent weeks took place early on Wednesday on Salah al-Din Street near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera. More than 100 others were injured in the attack, they said. In other deadly Israeli strikes across Gaza, eight people were killed, and others injured,…

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has continued to offer mixed signals about whether the United States would directly intervene in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, which has seen six days of intense bombing. The Republican leader began his Wednesday on the White House lawn, where he installed two giant flagpoles, each 88 feet — or 27 metres — high. During that appearance, however, he was confronted with the question looming over the Middle East conflict: Would the US join Israel in striking Iran’s nuclear facilities? “You don’t know that I’m going to even do it,” Trump told one reporter. “I…

THE family of Zambia’s former President Edgar Lungu has halted the return of his body from South Africa, accusing the government of breaching key agreements over his funeral. The arrangements had been finalised and his remains were due to be flown back home on Wednesday on a private charter plane after days of uncertainty and negotiations between the family and the government. But the family has now stopped that plan, saying it “finds it very difficult to believe that the government will stick to their end of the agreement”. “Sadly so, that the mortal remains of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu…

CONTROVERSIAL Kenyan televangelist Gilbert Deya, who claimed he created miraculous pregnancies, has died in a road crash. Police told local media that Deya died on the spot on Tuesday evening after his vehicle was involved in an accident with a university bus and another vehicle near the town of Kisumu in western Kenya. At least 30 other people were reportedly injured, including a person identified as his wife and a passenger in his vehicle, and 15 students in the bus. Deya, who ran a church in London, rose to infamy in the early 2000s, following his claim that he could…

CHAIRMAN of the Nigeria Premier Football League, Gbenga Elegbeleye, has revealed that the league body is in search of sponsors for the procurement of Video Assistant Referee machines for the Nigerian topflight. Elegbeleye made this known while addressing the media during an end-of-season parley in Abuja. The introduction of VAR has usually come to the fore in the NPFL, no thanks to some questionable officiating which has marred the image of the league. The NPFL boss however defended the referees, noting that the Nigerian officials are among the best in the world. To aid their delivery, Elegbeleye admits that the…

CAMPAIGNERS have criticised Fifa after it appeared to drop anti-racism messaging at the Club World Cup, with some suggesting it may be connected to the policies of US President Donald Trump. Fifa backed ‘no discrimination’ armbands at the Qatar 2022 World Cup and last month hailed a new disciplinary code “to fight racism more efficiently and decisively”. So far however, such sentiments seem to have been absent during matches at the revamped competition in the US, with the governing body instead promoting a ‘Football Unites the World’ campaign. Fifa has not commented on a report in The Athletic, external that…

ISRAELI troops have killed at least 70 Palestinians and wounded hundreds as they sought aid in Gaza on Tuesday, firing at them with tank shells, machine guns and drones. Those casualties are among the 89 Palestinians killed in attacks across the besieged enclave since dawn. Israeli soldiers fired at the desperate crowds of aid seekers on Tuesday morning as they gathered along the main eastern road in the southern city of Khan Younis. It was the latest in a sustained wave of carnage since the Israel- and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) launched operations to distribute food in the…

PRESIDENT Donald Trump dramatically stepped up his rhetoric against Iran’s supreme leader Tuesday, saying on social media that the United States knows where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is located but will not kill him “for now.” In another post, Trump also appeared to demand Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” as he fueled questions about whether the United States would join Israel’s attacks on Tehran’s leadership and nuclear facilities. “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” Trump…

SUDAN’s war is in strategic stalemate. Each side stakes its hopes on a new offensive, a new delivery of weapons, a new political alliance, but neither can gain a decisive advantage. The losers are the Sudanese people. Every month there are more who are hungry, displaced, despairing. The Sudan armed forces triumphantly announced the recapture of central Khartoum in March. It broadcast pictures of its leader, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, walking through the ruins of the capital’s Republican Palace, which had been controlled by the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), since the earliest days of the war in…

MALI’s military junta has started building a gold refinery in partnership with a Russian conglomerate, the Yadran Group. The project would embody the West African nation’s assertion of its “economic sovereignty”, and ensure the nation benefited from its mineral wealth, military leader Gen Assimi Goïta said. He has strengthened military and economic ties with Russia since seizing power in a coup in 2021, while reducing relations with former colonial power France and other Western nations. This reflects a broader trend in the region, with neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger also pivoting towards Russia after the overthrow of civilian leaders. Western…

FOUR Spanish fans have received suspended jail sentences after being found guilty of committing hate crimes against Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr. The group were convicted for hanging an inflatable effigy of the Brazilian forward off a bridge near Real Madrid’s training ground in January 2023, just hours before a Copa del Rey clash against Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. A banner placed above the effigy read, “Madrid hates Real.” Three of the perpetrators were sentenced to 14 months in prison, while the fourth received a 22-month term for distributing images of the act online. All sentences were suspended…

ISRAEL has attacked the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB and interrupted a live broadcast with an explosion, marking another escalation in the conflict with Tehran and replicating its previous attacks on news media targets in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon. TV anchor Sahar Emami denounced Monday’s “aggression against the homeland” and the “truth” as a blast went off and smoke and debris filled the screen. The footage then showed her fleeing the studio as a voice is heard calling, “God is greatest.” The attack came shortly after the Israeli military issued a threat for Tehran’s District Three, where IRIB’s…

THE suspected killer of a Democratic lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota is due to appear in court Monday on felony charges, after a two-day manhunt. The suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boelter, allegedly disguised himself as a police officer, then shot and killed Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark at their home early Saturday. Boelter was captured in Sibley County, a rural area about an hour southwest of the Minneapolis suburbs where the killings occurred, police and state officials said. “After (a) two-day manhunt, two sleepless nights, law enforcement have apprehended Vance Boelter,” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told…

UGANDAN President, Yoweri Museveni, on Monday, signed a new law allowing civilians to be tried in military courts that critics said could be used against opposition leaders ahead of next year’s election. The new law comes despite a ruling by the Supreme Court in late January that it was unconstitutional for civilians to be tried in military courts as was the case for opposition leader, Kizza Besigye. Besigye, 69, was abducted by armed men in Nairobi in November and re-emerged a few days later at a military court in Uganda, where he was charged with treason, which carries a potential…

KENYA’s deputy police chief Eliud Lagat has stepped aside pending the outcome of investigations into the death in detention of blogger Albert Ojwang. Mr Lagat had been under pressure to resign from the opposition and human rights activists as Mr Ojwang was arrested after he filed a complaint, accusing the blogger of defaming him on social media. Police initially said that Mr Ojwang died of self-inflicted wounds, but were forced to retract the statement after an autopsy found that he was likely to have died from assault wounds. Mr Lagat denied any wrongdoing, but said in a statement that he…

BUNDESLIGA champions Bayern Munich hit double figures against Auckland City in Cincinnati to record the biggest win in the history of the Club World Cup. Vincent Kompany’s side outclassed the New Zealand part-timers, with Jamal Musiala scoring a hat-trick and Thomas Muller grabbing two goals as his long farewell to the club continued. Bayern took the lead through Kingsley Coman’s sixth-minute header as the floodgates opened early. Sacha Boey lashed home Coman’s knockdown on the half-volley to double Bayern’s advantage 12 minutes later, and former Crystal Palace man Michael Olise turned in Muller’s cross at the far post to make…

IRGC’s intelligence chief, two other generals were killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday. Renewed Israeli attacks hit Tehran and other Iranian cities for a third straight day, as Iran launches retaliatory strikes on Israel. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the Iranian response will stop when Israel halts its attacks on Iran. Iran says at least 224 people killed since Israel launched attacks. In Israel, at least 13 people have been killed. Meanwhile, Israeli officials have argued that the ongoing military operation against Iran was necessary as the country was months away from producing a nuclear weapon. Al Jazeera’s senior political…

RUSSIA has returned the bodies of 1,200 more Ukrainians killed in the war, according to Ukrainian authorities, bringing the total number of bodies repatriated to over 4,800, while the push for a ceasefire and an end to the conflict now in its fourth year remain elusive. Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners, the Ukrainian government body that oversees affairs regarding prisoners of war (POW), announced the news on Telegram, saying the handover was part of an agreement struck in talks in Istanbul earlier this month. “I am grateful to everyone involved in this humanitarian mission,” said Ukrainian Defence…

THOUSANDS of protesters gathered in Ivory Coast ‘s capital Abidjan on Saturday to demand the reinstatement on the electoral list of main opposition leader Tidjane Thiam, a former CEO of Credit Suisse, who was barred from running in the presidential election set for October. Despite heavy rain, protesters peacefully gathered near the independent electoral commission, the body responsible for organizing the vote, in Abidjan. On June 4, the electoral commission had excluded Thiam from the final list of presidential candidates along with three other prominent opposition candidates. Earlier this year, a court ruled that Thiam was not eligible to run…

CONSTRUCTION is booming in Somalia’s capital city and as Mogadishu literally rises from the ashes of its violent past it is also giving unexpected opportunities to women like Fathi Mohamed Abdi and Saadia Ahmed Omar. The two young female engineers have been overseeing the construction of a 10-floor apartment complex in Taleh in the city’s Hodan District. Wearing hard hats they navigate their way through construction material, issuing instructions to a team of workers – all of whom are men. “When I started, people doubted me,” 24-year-old Ms Abdi, the chief operating officer of Arkan Engineering Services, a Somali-owned construction…