UGANDA declared the end of an Ebola virus outbreak Saturday, which has killed at least two people in the East African nation since late January. The announcement came 42 days after the discharge of the last confirmed patient from hospital. The outbreak marked the sixth time Uganda was affected by the deadly virus that has six different strains, three of which have caused major epidemics. “During this outbreak, 14 cases, 12 confirmed and two not confirmed through laboratory tests (probable), were reported. Four deaths, two confirmed and two probable, occurred. Ten people recovered from the infection,” The World Health Organization…
Author: Editor
Read More
RWANDA and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed an agreement to respect each other’s sovereignty and come up with a draft peace deal by 2 May. The deal was signed by the two countries’ foreign ministers in Washington, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also present at Friday’s ceremony. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced in recent months as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have seized swathes of mineral-rich territory in eastern DR Congo. After losing territory, the government in Kinshasa turned to the US for help in exchange for access to the minerals.Rwanda and the Democratic Republic…
REAL Madrid have reacted angrily to a news conference where the referee for Saturday’s Copa del Rey final broke down in tears at the pressure the club’s TV channel has put officials under. However, they denied reports they were considering pulling out of Saturday’s Clasico encounter against Barcelona in Seville (21:00 BST kick-off). Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea, who will referee the game, become the latest official to be attacked on Real Madrid TV this season. A club video pointed out the win percentages of Barca and Real when the Spaniard has taken charge of their games, the fact he has…
THE UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) says its food stocks in Gaza are completely depleted, as Israel’s aid blockade continues for an eighth week. In a statement on Friday, the WFP confirmed it had “delivered its last remaining food stocks” in Gaza to local kitchens, which it anticipates will run out of food entirely “in the coming days”. More than 400,000 people in Gaza rely on WFP aid, leaving them with little recourse if this lifeline fails, the organisation’s Palestine representative Antoine Renard told Al Jazeera. “We [local NGOs] are all running short,” he said. “We are being depleted.” Since…
US President Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine “are very close to a deal”, hours after his envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Moscow. Trump said it had been a “good day” of negotiations, while the Kremlin described the talks – which Ukraine was not present at – as “constructive”. Earlier, Trump said on social media that “most of the major points are agreed to,” and urged Russia and Ukraine to meet “at very high levels” and “to finish it [the deal] off”. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his video address late…
SUDANESE people are eating leaves and charcoal to survive after fleeing an attack on a camp for displaced people near the city of el-Fasher, an aid agency has told the BBC. “The stories we’ve been hearing are truly horrific,” Noah Taylor, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s head of operations, told the BBC’s Newsday programme. People are fleeing el-Fasher for Tawila, but are dying “on arrival,” Mr Taylor added. He said that some were “dying of thirst”, whilst making the 40km (25 mile) journey from Zamzam camp in “blistering” temperatures. “We’ve heard stories there are still bodies on the road between el-Fasher…
A RWANDAN beekeeper living in the US has been arrested over his alleged involvement in the 1994 genocide in his country. Faustin Nsabumukunzi is accused of committing “heinous acts of violence abroad” when he served as a local leader at the start of genocide, the Justice Department said. The 65-year-old suspect was also charged with visa fraud and attempted naturalisation fraud when he moved to the US in 2003. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on bail. “Nsabumukunzi repeatedly lied to conceal his involvement in the horrific Rwandan genocide while seeking to become a lawful permanent…
JAMIE Vardy will leave former Premier League champions Leicester at the end of the season, the relegated club announced on Thursday, describing the lightning-quick forward as their “greatest-ever player”. The talismanic striker, a key member of the side that lifted the English league title against seemingly impossible odds in 2016, vowed to continue playing even at the age of 38. The former England international joined the Foxes in 2012 from non-league side Fleetwood for just £1 million ($1.3 million) and has scored 198 goals in nearly 500 appearances. The club captain is Leicester’s record Premier League goalscorer with 143 goals.…
AT least 59 people, including children, have been killed in a barrage of Israeli attacks across the besieged Gaza Strip, medical sources told Al Jazeera. Rescue teams and medics in the enclave said at least 12 people belonging to the same family were among those killed on Thursday when their home in northern Gaza’s Jabalia was targeted. Six members of another family – a couple and their four children – were killed when an air strike levelled their home in Gaza City, the civil defence said in a statement. Ahmed Arar, a first responder in Gaza City, said there were…
DONALD Trump called Thursday on Vladimir Putin to halt attacks on Ukraine, in a rare rebuke of the Russian leader after Moscow fired missiles and drones at Kyiv in the deadliest attack on the capital in months. The US president’s direct appeal to Putin came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his allies to put Russia under more pressure to halt its invasion. Zelensky cut short a trip to South Africa to deal with the aftermath of the strikes, the latest in a wave of Russian aerial attacks that have killed dozens of civilians. “I am not happy with the…
A NORMALLY bustling border crossing between Tanzania and Malawi was noticeably quieter than usual on Thursday as a result of an escalating regional trade row. From midnight, Tanzania banned the entry of all agricultural imports from Malawi and South Africa in response to what it sees as restrictions on some of its exports. South Africa has for years prohibited the entry of bananas from Tanzania. Malawi last month blocked imports of flour, rice, ginger, bananas and maize from its northern neighbour. “We are taking this step to protect our business interests… in business, we must all respect each other,” Tanzania’s…
THE Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have agreed to halt fighting in the east of the country until peace talks mediated by Qatar reach their “conclusion”. It is the latest truce since the rebels stepped up an offensive in eastern DR Congo where authorities say 7,000 people have been killed since January. Both sides on Wednesday jointly announced to work towards peace following more than a week of talks, which they described as “frank and constructive”. Last month, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame also reaffirmed their commitment to an “unconditional” ceasefire in…
ARDA Guler scored the only goal as Real Madrid defeated Getafe to cut Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga to four points. After suffering elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Arsenal last week, Carlo Ancelotti and his players were under growing pressure to make something of this season. A composed – if unspectacular – performance on a night when nothing but a win would do eased anxieties somewhat. Jude Bellingham started on the bench as Ancelotti made six changes to his team with an eye on Saturday’s Copa del Rey final against Barcelona, while Kylian…
FAR-RIGHT Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has claimed that top US Republican lawmakers support bombing “food and aid depots” in Gaza. The statement, made in a social media post on Wednesday, came after the Israeli national security minister said he had met with “senior Republican Party officials at [US President Donald] Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate” in Florida in the United States. “They expressed support for my very clear position on how to act in Gaza and that the food and aid depots should be bombed in order to create military and political pressure to bring our hostages home safely,” Ben-Gvir posted on…
LITHUANIA’s capital Vilnius presented Wednesday an evacuation plan in case of war, as the Baltic nation worries Russia could target the former Soviet republic next after its invasion of Ukraine. Lithuania, a NATO and EU member, has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since Moscow’s 2022 invasion, and has since ramped up defence spending and training. The three main evacuation routes run west, “as the enemy has historically come from the east”, Vilnius’s Mayor Valdas Benkunskas said at a press conference. “We do not want to cause panic,” he said. “Our goal is clear: to have a plan, to have…
OPPOSITION Lawmakers in Ghana have fiercely condemned the suspension of the country’s chief justice, accusing President John Mahama of trying to “pack the courts” with justices who are sympathetic to the governing party, the NDC. Gertrude Torkornoo was removed from her post on Wednesday – the first time a chief justice has been suspended in the country’s history. The action was taken after three petitions, which made allegations against Ms Torkornoo, were filed. The content of the petitions has not been made public and Ms Torkornoo is yet to comment openly on the matter. Mahama’s supporters have backed the move…
IVORY Coast’s main opposition leader has been removed from the electoral roll by the judiciary which says he is ineligible to run in October’s presidential election. Tidjane Thiam renounced his French citizenship in order to run for president, but a court argued on Thursday that the former Credit Suisse boss forfeited his Ivory Coast nationality when he acquired French citizenship in 1987. Thiam said the court’s decision was an “act of democratic vandalism, which will disenfranchise millions of voters”. His disqualification comes just a week after he was confirmed as the presidential candidate of the centre-right Democratic Party – the…
MANCHESTER United are interested in signing Wolves forward Matheus Cunha this summer. The Brazilian, who has a £62.5m release clause in his Wolves contract, is expected to leave Molineux at the end of the season. Multiple club sources have told BBC Sport the 25-year-old is one of a number of attacking options on United’s shortlist, with Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap, 22, also of interest. Improving United’s scoring record is a priority for head coach Ruben Amorim. Only Southampton, Leicester City, Ipswich, Everton and West Ham have scored fewer than the 38 goals United have managed in 33 Premier League…
ISRAELI forces have killed at least 32 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn, including 11 people who burned to death inside their home in Khan Younis, and carried out air strikes that destroyed equipment used to retrieve the dead from under rubble. Seven members of a family were also killed on Tuesday by an air raid on the home where they were sheltering in western Gaza City. Three civilians, including two girls, were killed when Israeli warplanes targeted a group of people in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, warned…
TURKEY’s opposition has called on supporters to rally outside the parliament in Ankara on Wednesday in defiance of an official ban on gatherings on a symbolic day for the republic. A month after the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest political rival — the president of Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) said he would speak outside parliament as the country marks National Sovereignty Day. Ozgur Ozel, who was recently named as leader of the CHP, which was established by the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Ozel reiterated a call to stage…