THE United Nation’s top court has sided with Equatorial Guinea in a row with Gabon over three islands in potentially oil-rich waters. The two Central African countries have been arguing over the isles – Conga, Mbanié and Cocoteros – since the early 1970s. The islands are virtually uninhabited but are in a maritime zone thought to contain significant oil deposits. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Equatorial Guinea’s claim – based on a 1900 treaty dividing up French and Spanish colonial assets – should be honoured. The court dismissed Gabon’s central argument – that a more recent treaty,…
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SUPER Eagles’ striker Victor Osimhen was again on target as Galatasaray defeated Kayserispor 3-0 on Sunday to win the Turkish Super Lig, five days after the Lions were crowned winners of the Turkish Cup. Osimhen, 24, netted in the 26th minute of the encounter, rising highest to meet Gabriel Sara’s cross to put his club ahead. That goal was all special as Hailey, the Nigerian striker’s daughter, announced his father as the scorer. Three minutes later, Baris Alper Yilmaz scored the second for the night. While Osimhen is the Turkish side’s designated penalty taker, he allowed goalkeeper Fernando Muslera to…
IN its latest assault on Gaza’s decimated healthcare system, Israel has once again targeted the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, this time with drones, as its forces are also carrying out a ground offensive in the north and south of the bombarded territory. Health officials said late on Sunday that fighting around the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza and an Israeli military “siege” forced it to shut down. It was the main medical facility in the north after Israeli air strikes last year also forced the Kamal Adwan and Beit Hanoon hospitals to stop providing health services. “There is direct targeting…
FORMER United States President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with “aggressive” prostate cancer, his office has said in a statement. Biden was seen last week by doctors after urinary symptoms developed and a prostate nodule was found. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone, the statement released on Sunday said. “While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management,” his office said. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians”, it added. The health…
SEVERAL people have been reported killed in a suicide bombing at an army recruitment centre in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. The attacker on Sunday targeted a queue of young recruits lining up outside the Damanyo base, killing at least 13 people, the Associated Press news agency quoted witnesses as saying. “There was a loud explosion, and immediately people began running in all directions. Bodies were everywhere,” said Abdulkadir Hassan Mohamed, a tuk-tuk driver who witnessed the blast told AP. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Teenagers were lining up at the base’s gate when the suicide bomber detonated the explosives,…
LEADING Kenyan lawyer and the country’s former Justice Minister Martha Karua says she has been deported from Tanzania to prevent her from attending the court case of opposition leader Tundu Lissu. Two colleagues accompanying her were also reportedly detained and deported after flying in from neighbouring Kenya. Tanzanian authorities have not yet commented. Lissu, who is the leader of Tanzania’s main opposition Chadema party, is due to appear in court on Monday after being charged with treason last month. Karua is a respected human rights advocate, and a vocal critic of what she calls “democratic backsliding” in East Africa. She…
CRYSTAL Palace won the first major trophy in the club’s history with victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley. Eberechi Eze was Palace’s hero when he crowned a superb counter-attack by sweeping home Daniel Munoz’s cross after 16 minutes. It’s the first trophy thr club has won in its 164-year history. City, meanwhile, endured a day of total frustration as they failed to win a trophy in a season for the first time since manager Pep Guardiola’s first campaign in charge in 2016-17. They were furious when Palace keeper Dean Henderson was not shown a red…
ARAB leaders have urged the international community to fund their plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip after United States President Donald Trump reiterated a proposal to take over the Palestinian territory. An Arab League summit held on Saturday in Baghdad said in its final statement that it urged “countries and international and regional financial institutions to provide prompt financial support” to back its Gaza reconstruction plan. “This genocide [in Gaza] has reached a level of ugliness unparalleled in all conflicts in history,” Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in his opening speech at the 34th Arab Summit, which was…
BRITISH Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Russian President Vladimir Putin “must pay the price for avoiding peace” ahead of a European Political Community meeting in Albania on Friday. “Putin’s tactics to dither and delay, while continuing to kill and cause bloodshed across Ukraine, (are) intolerable,” Starmer said in a statement ahead of the summit, taking place the same day talks are expected between Ukraine and Russia in Turkey. The European Political Community (EPC), which brings together the members of the European Union and 20 other countries, is meeting in the Albanian capital Tirana on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin and…
TURKEY evacuated 82 of its nationals from the Libyan capital Tripoli after several days of fatal clashes between armed groups, foreign ministry sources said late Friday. “Eighty-two citizens who wanted to return to Turkey were assisted in their departure from Libya and allowed to return home,” the source said, referring to “the conflict and insecurity” that has gripped the North African nation in recent days. The move came a day after the Turkish embassy said in a post on Facebook that it was preparing to evacuate its nationals via a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul from the Libyan port city…
THE Gambian government has announced an investigation into the sale of assets seized from former President Yahya Jammeh, following widespread public concern. Some of the assets, including livestock and luxury vehicles, were sold off while a panel was still investigating the wealth Jammeh amassed during his 22-year rule. A newspaper investigation exposed alleged irregularities and an apparent lack of transparency in the sale of the assets, sparking protests organised by young people. In a televised address on Wednesday night, President Adama Barrow pledged “full transparency” in the probe, saying assets recovered “belong to the people”. Jammeh, who seized power in…
CHELSEA ensured that qualification for the Champions League remains in their own hands as Marc Cucurella’s winner beat Manchester United 1-0 to climb to fourth in the Premier League. United are gearing up for next week’s Europa League final against Tottenham but ran the Blues close as Ruben Amorim named a stronger line-up than expected. However, the Red Devils ultimately slipped to an 18th league defeat of the season and remain 16th in the table. Chelsea and Aston Villa, who beat Spurs 2-0 in Friday’s other Premier League match, both leapfrog Manchester City into the top five. City have a…
THE Israeli military says extensive attacks have been launched over the past 24 hours in the “opening moves” of operation “Gideon’s Chariots”, which will see troops “seize controlled areas in the Gaza Strip”. Thousands of Palestinians have been ordered by Israeli forces to flee parts of northern Gaza as indiscriminate air strikes killed at least 115 people in the territory since dawn on Friday. Meanwhile, Israel says it has launched strikes on the Yemeni ports of Hodeidah and as-Salif in response to the Houthi rebels firing missiles towards Israel, days after the Yemeni group agreed a truce with the United…
THE first direct talks between Ukraine and Russia on ending their war in more than three years started on Friday in Istanbul, with expectations low that the two sides would agree to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. Kyiv is seeking an “unconditional ceasefire” to the fighting, which has killed tens of thousands, destroyed large swathes of Ukraine and displaced millions of people. Moscow says it wants to address the “root causes” of the conflict and revive failed 2022 negotiations in which it made sweeping territorial and political demands of Ukraine. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan opened the…
GABON’s former leader Ali Bongo Ondimba, who was detained after being ousted in a 2023 coup, has been released and has arrived in Luanda with his family, Angola’s presidency said Friday. Bongo, whose family ruled Gabon for 55 years, had been under house arrest in the capital Libreville since being overthrown in August 2023. His wife and son had also been in detention, accused of embezzling public funds. A statement on the Angolan presidency’s Facebook page announcing the arrival of the Bongo family in Luanda was accompanied by photographs showing the former leader being welcomed at an airport. The “Bongo…
CHAD’s former prime minister and opposition leader, Succès Masra, has been arrested over alleged links to a clash which took place on Wednesday in the south west of the country, a public prosecutor has said. He is suspected of spreading hateful messages on social media linked to the violence in which at least 42 people died, Oumar Mahamat Kedelaye said. Masra’s Transformers party said he had been “kidnapped” by military officers in the early hours of the morning” and denounced his detention, which it says was “carried out outside of any known judicial procedure”. Masra is a fierce critic of…
BARCELONA clinched the La Liga title as wonderkid Lamine Yamal scored another stunning goal in their derby win at Espanyol. The 17-year-old curled a fantastic shot into the top corner from the edge of the box to confirm his side as champions with two games to go and a seven-point advantage over Real Madrid. Fermin Lopez added a second goal deep into injury time from Yamal’s pass. The game, though, was paused for a short time in the first half as news broke of an incident outside. A car drove into fans, with 13 people injured and four taken to…
AT least 115 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in a wave of Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, as indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas continue. At least 61 people were killed overnight and early on Thursday in a barrage of attacks on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, according to local health officials. In Jabalia in northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on al-Tawbah medical clinic killed at least 15 people and wounded several others, the health ministry said. Israel’s army also attacked three hospitals in north and south Gaza: al-Awda hospital in Jabalia, the…
RUSSIA and Ukraine traded insults on Thursday as negotiators were due to meet in Turkey for the first direct peace talks in more than three years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed Russia for sending a “dummy” delegation, as he touched down in Ankara for a meeting with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Russian officials, for their part, called Zelensky “pathetic” and a “clown”. The exchange of personal barbs undermines the chances of any breakthrough at the talks. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending, despite days of international pressure. Instead Russia’s negotiating team, which touched down in Istanbul on…
SOUTH Sudan’s government on Thursday denied that President Salva Kiir had died, following online speculation. The long-serving 73-year-old leader has long been dogged by rumours of ill-health. But he has been pictured in recent months meeting visiting dignitaries and ordering a series of dramatic government reshuffles. He has also moved decisively against his long-time rival, and the current first vice-president, Riek Machar, placing him under house arrest and detaining several of his allies. Late Wednesday, reports began emerging on social media claiming that Kiir had, in the words of one Kenyan personality, “kicked the bucket”. South Sudan’s foreign ministry issued…