US President Donald Trump showed a screenshot of a Reuters video taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of what he falsely presented on Wednesday as evidence of mass killings of white South Africans. “These are all white farmers that are being buried,” said Trump, holding up a print-out of an article accompanied by the picture during a contentious Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. In fact, the video, published by Reuters on February 3 and subsequently verified by the news agency’s fact-check team, showed humanitarian workers lifting body bags in the Congolese city of…
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MANCHESTER United winger Alejandro Garnacho has put his future at the club in doubt by questioning Ruben Amorim’s decision to play him for “20 minutes” in the Europa League final defeat by Tottenham. Brennan Johnson’s first-half goal ended Spurs’ 17-year trophy drought and with it ensured United would be without European football next season. Garnacho, 20, was benched in favour of Mason Mount in Bilbao and only replaced the England midfielder with 19 minutes remaining of normal time. The Argentina winger, who was linked with Chelsea and Napoli in January, was critical of Amorim’s decision to hand him a limited…
TWO Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead late Wednesday outside a Jewish museum in Washington by a gunman who shouted “free Palestine,” authorities said, with US, Israeli and other world leaders expressing outrage over the killings. President Donald Trump condemned the attack in the heart of the US capital, saying: “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” “Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA,” he said on social media. Shots rang out on the sidewalk outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington as the venue held a social event for young professionals and diplomatic…
UKRAINIAN border guards have prevented tens of thousands of military service-age men from illegally leaving the country since the start of Russia’s invasion, a spokesman for the border guard told AFP Wednesday. Under martial law, most Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 have been barred from leaving the country, unless they receive an official permission or qualify for an exemption. But thousands have still attempted to flee to avoid being drafted in the Ukrainian army, which is struggling to recruit. The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said it detained “around 45,000 Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 since February…
THE Democratic Republic of Congo’s Senate will on Thursday debate lifting the immunity of ex-president Joseph Kabila, who the government accuses of supporting a Rwanda-backed militia in the mineral-rich east. A vote in favour could expose the 53-year-old to prosecution on charges of supporting the M23 armed group, which has seized swathes of the eastern DRC with Rwandan support. His successor, President Felix Tshisekedi, accuses Kabila of conspiring with the M23, whose recent lightning offensive has intensified the more than three-decade-long eastern conflict. Kabila has been outside the country since 2023, according to his entourage, without revealing his whereabouts. Justice…
AN activist detained in Tanzania for three days has been released shortly after Kenya’s foreign ministry demanded his release. A top official in the ministry, Korir Sing’oei, said on X that Boniface Mwangi was “now back in the country”. Lawyer and fellow activist, Khalid Hussein, told the BBC they were together in Kenya’s coast region. The Kenyan activist was arrested in Dar es Salaam on Monday alongside Ugandan Agather Atuhaire by suspected military officers and their whereabouts remained unknown. They had been in the country to attend the court case of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who is accused of treason.…
BRENNAN Johnson’s scrambled goal ended a 17-year Tottenham trophy drought with a battling 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Europa League final on Wednesday. Spurs, who had not won European silverware since 1984, will play in next season’s Champions League, while failing to qualify for it is a severe financial set-back for Manchester United. Despite their triumph in Bilbao, manager Ange Postecoglou’s future is still on the line following a shambolic domestic campaign, with Spurs sitting a place below United in the lower reaches of the Premier League table. The Australian furiously insisted he was “not a clown” on…
THE entire Gaza Strip will be under the Israeli military’s control at the end of its latest offensive, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in his first news conference since December, setting out maximalist conditions for ending the devastating war on the besieged Palestinian enclave. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in relentless Israeli bombardments across Gaza in recent days, at least 82 since dawn Wednesday, as starvation takes hold and only a small amount of aid trucks is allowed in with the blockade in effect in place. Netanyahu also said on Wednesday that if “there is an opportunity for…
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted the Boeing 747 that the Gulf emirate of Qatar offered to President Donald Trump for use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Qatar’s offer of the jet — which is valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars — has raised huge constitutional and ethical questions, as well as security concerns about using an aircraft donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive presidential plane. “The Secretary of Defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said…
ACCESS to the social media platform X has been restricted in Tanzania after some official accounts of government and private institutions were targeted by super hackers. On Tuesday, the official police account was compromised, with sexually explicit material and false information that the president had died being posted. The police dissociated itself from the information and said an investigation was under way to identify those responsible. Hours later data from the internet monitoring organisation Netblocks showed that X was “unreachable on major internet providers” across the country. Users in Dar es Salaam, the country’s biggest city, could still not access…
A BRITISH national has been arrested in Namibia for allegedly sexually molesting minors and taking nude photographs of them. Douglas Robert Brook is also accused of touching the children inappropriately while on a holiday in central Namibia. Police said the suspect targeted young boys and girls from the indigenous San community in the central Otjozondjupa region. The 65-year old Briton faces 38 charges, including rape, indecent assault and child exploitation, Namibia local media reported. The British national, who arrived in Namibia last week for a holiday, is yet to respond to the charges. He was arrested on Sunday after he…
IT was Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes who stepped in to tell Ruben Amorim he was under pressure heading into the Europa League final. The reality is different – even if Amorim can’t explain why. But he does feel his team may be looked at “in a different way” if they can beat Tottenham in Bilbao on Wednesday. While many believe it is likely counterpart Ange Postecoglou will lose his job even if Spurs end their 17-year wait for a trophy and claim a place in next season’s Champions League by winning the Europa League title, at Old Trafford faith…
ISRAELI forces continue bombarding Gaza, killing at least 24 people in overnight attacks, dismissing criticism from the UK and the EU over the “monstrous” war in the enclave. Authorities in Gaza say Israel’s “starvation policy” has killed at least 326 Palestinians since March 2, as the UN warns that 14,000 babies are at risk of dying within 48 hours. The UN also says no aid has been distributed in Gaza because of Israeli restrictions despite a handful of aid trucks entering the territory. Meanwhile, The leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada have “strongly opposed” the expansion of Israel’s…
DONALD Trump said Russia and Ukraine would “immediately” start peace talks after he spoke with Vladimir Putin on Monday, despite the Russian leader rebuffing the US president’s call for an unconditional truce. Trump framed the two-hour conversation as a breakthrough as the Republican seeks an elusive deal to end the conflict that he promised on the campaign trail to solve within 24 hours. But Putin struck a more reserved tone, saying he was ready to work with Kyiv on a memorandum towards ending the war Moscow launched in February 2022 but insisting on compromises on both sides. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky,…
A FORMER prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been sentenced to a decade’s forced labour for corruption. Augustin Matata Ponyo was found guilty of embezzling about $245m (£182m) of public funds by the Congolese Constitutional Court on Tuesday, alongside Deogratias Mutombo, the former governor of the DR Congo’s central bank. Matata’s lawyer told Reuters news agency that the ruling was unfair and politically motivated. Part of the funds were taken from a major agricultural development intended to tackle the country’s chronic food shortages. Matata served as prime minister of the DRC from 2012 to 2016 and now…
THE paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group, which has been engaged in a two-year war with Sudan’s army, has been entirely pushed out of Khartoum state, says the military. “Khartoum State is completely free of rebels”, the army said in a statement published by Sudan’s News Agency. The announcement comes nearly two months after the military recaptured Khartoum city – including the presidential palace – from its rivals in a major victory. Earlier on Tuesday, fighting had broken out between the warring groups in the city of Omdurman – which is also in Khartoum state and part of the capital…
THAT is the verdict of former Manchester United first-team coach Rene Meulensteen on the club’s Europa League final against Tottenham on Wednesday. Like all United fans, the Dutchman is coming to terms with a bitterly disappointing domestic campaign, and dreading the consequences of failure in Bilbao. “It would be a silver lining. A win in the Europa League isn’t going to make up for the most disastrous season,” Meulensteen told BBC Sport, with United languishing 16th in the Premier League, and now condemned to their lowest top-flight finish for more than half a century. “But if they don’t win it,…
ISRAELI forces bombard Gaza, killing 50 people since midnight, after the military orders Palestinians in the southern city of Khan Younis to flee ahead of an “unprecedented attack”. The leaders of Canada, France and the UK threaten to take “concrete action” against Israel if it does not end its renewed offensive in Gaza, while 22 countries urge Israel to let aid into the besieged enclave. Meanwhile, Israel’s military and the United Nations say a few UN trucks carrying humanitarian aid have been allowed into besieged Gaza, the first such delivery in nearly three months. The UN on Monday called it…
US President Donald Trump said Monday he would launch a “major investigation” into his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris over celebrities who backed her failed run for the White House. “Candidates aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment,” he posted on his Truth Social platform. “I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter.” Harris sought to harness star power from celebrities such as Beyonce and Oprah Winfrey in the election race. Winfrey defended a $1 million payment to her production company from the Harris campaign…
TANZANIA’s main opposition leader Tundu Lissu has appeared in court for the first time since his arrest on treason charges last month, telling his supporters not to fear. He raised his fist in a gesture of defiance and told his supporters: “You will be fine. You should not fear.” Tension was high in the country’s biggest city, Dar es Salaam, in the morning, with security officers heavily deployed at the trial magistrate’s court and elsewhere. But that did not deter his supporters, hundreds of whom gathered outside the court. The court had previously attempted to conduct hearings virtually, but he…