Author: Editor

ISRAEL’s military has killed seven Palestinians, including two children, in Gaza and announced that it will allow the Rafah crossing to open exclusively for the exit of people from the war-torn territory. The killings on Wednesday mark the latest Israeli violations of a United States-brokered ceasefire in Gaza and came after the military accused Hamas fighters of attacking and wounding four of its soldiers in southern Rafah, near the enclave’s border with Egypt. The victims of Israel’s attacks included two Palestinians who were killed by Israeli gunfire in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of northern Gaza City and five who were killed…

AT least 23 people have been killed in the Indian state of Goa following a fire at a popular nightclub in the village of Arpora, according to officials and media reports. The blaze broke out at about midnight on Sunday when a gas cylinder exploded at the nightclub, the Press Trust of India reported, citing local police. Several tourists and kitchen workers were killed in the fire, according to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. “Today is a very painful day for all of us in Goa. A major fire incident at Arpora has taken the lives of 23 people,” Sawant wrote…

THE death toll from an attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a kindergarten and other sites in the Sudanese state of South Kordofan has risen to at least 114 people, including 46 children, according to a local official. The executive director of Kalogi locality in told Al Jazeera on Saturday that at least 71 people were killed in an initial attack on Thursday. Sudan Doctors’ Network said in a statement late on Friday that paramedics reporting to the scene were targeted in “a second unexpected attack”. Two military sources in the government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) also told…

AT least 11 people including a three-year-old child have been killed in a mass shooting at a hostel in South Africa. Fourteen others were wounded when gunmen stormed the venue in Saulsville township, west of the capital Pretoria, early on Saturday. At least three unknown gunmen began firing “randomly” at a group of people who were drinking, police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said. The motive of the shooting is unknown and no arrests have been made. It is the latest in a string of mass shootings that have rocked the crime-ridden country in recent years. The gunmen reportedly entered the…

HOLDERS Argentina and leading contenders Spain were handed kind draws for the 2026 World Cup in a star-studded ceremony on Friday, which saw US President Donald Trump receive FIFA’s new peace prize. The event in Washington started the final countdown to the tournament, six months out from the first-ever 48-team World Cup, with much-fancied France among those receiving a harder task. Lionel Messi’s Argentina will begin their defense of the trophy they won in Qatar in 2022 against Algeria, and will also face Austria and debutants Jordan in Group J. Heavily-fancied Spain, the European champions, will kick off their campaign…

ISRAEL has violated the United States-brokered Gaza ceasefire at least 497 times in 44 days, killing hundreds of Palestinians since the ceasefire came into effect on 10 October, according to the Gaza Government Media Office. Some 342 civilians have been killed in the attacks, with children, women and the elderly accounting for the majority of the victims. “We condemn in the strongest terms the continued serious and systematic violations of the ceasefire agreement by the Israeli occupation authorities,” the office said in a statement on Saturday. “These violations constitute a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law and the humanitarian protocol…

THE United States Supreme Court has agreed to decide the legality of President Donald Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship, as the Republican administration continues its broad immigration crackdown. Following its announcement on Friday, the conservative-dominated court did not set a date for oral arguments in the blockbuster case, but it is likely to be early next year, with a ruling in June. Several lower courts have blocked as unconstitutional Trump’s attempt to put restrictions on the law that states that anyone born on US soil is automatically an American citizen. Trump signed an executive order on January 20, his…

FIGHTING has flared up again in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between the M23 rebel group and government forces, a day after United States President Donald Trump hosted DRC and Rwanda leaders in Washington as they signed a peace deal aimed at ending decades-long conflict in the country. The warring sides blamed each other for Friday’s renewed fighting, with the M23 group saying in a statement that 23 people were killed and several others wounded in bombardments by the DRC’s army. M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said in a post on X that Congolese forces and allies…

NAMIBIA’s proposals to lift the ban on the international trade in black and white rhino horns have been rejected at a key conservation meeting. The result of the voting at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) earlier this week was adopted by the conference on Thursday in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Namibia had also proposed overturning the ban on African savanna elephant ivory – this too was defeated. Eyebrows were raised about the rhino horn trade proposals mainly because Namibia pioneered the practice of cutting the horns off rhinos in 1989 so they no…

WEST Ham turned the set-piece tables on Manchester United to snatch a draw at Old Trafford thanks to Soungoutou Magassa’s 83rd-minute equaliser. The build-up to the Premier League match had centered around head coach Ruben Amorim’s admission he had “stolen” rival managers’ ideas of how to score from set-pieces. It had allowed Manchester United to move alongside Arsenal for the most goals scored via set-pieces this season, while no-one had conceded more than West Ham. There was an element of irony therefore that the visitors should profit from one as Noussair Mazraoui’s goalline clearance from Jarrod Bowen’s flicked header from…

IRELAND, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain have said they will boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, following the decision to allow Israel to compete. The response on Thursday came immediately after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs the competition, said there would not be a vote on whether to exclude Israel, despite calls from some countries to do so. Opponents of Israel’s participation criticise it over its genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza – which has so far killed at least 70,125 people  and over allegations that it unfairly intervened in the most recent competition to the benefit of…

AUTHORITIES in the United States have arrested a suspect believed to be involved in leaving pipe bombs near two major political headquarters in Washington, DC, during the night before the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. On Thursday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice identified the suspect as Brian Cole Jr in a joint news conference. “ I know some people have given up on finding the perpetrator. But not the FBI and not our partners,” said Darren Cox, a deputy assistant director in the FBI. He explained that the investigation involved sorting through “3 million…

PROMINENT Tanzanian activist Mange Kimambi has accused the government of instigating the removal of her social media accounts that she has been using to mobilise Tanzanians against the government. The former fashion model-turned-activist, who is based in the US, is an outspoken critic of President Samia Suluhu Hassan and had nearly three million followers on Instagram. She has been accused of inciting the recent deadly election protests, sparking calls for her arrest. A Meta spokesperson told the BBC that her Instagram accounts had been “removed for violating our recidivism policy”. Tanzania government spokesman Gerson Msigwa told the BBC that she…

THE leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have signed a peace deal aimed at ending the long-running conflict in the region at a summit hosted by US President Donald Trump in Washington. Ahead of the summit, there was an escalation in fighting in resource-rich eastern DR Congo between government forces and rebels believed to be backed by Rwanda. DR Congo’s army accused its rivals of attempting to “sabotage” the peace process, but the M23 rebels said the army had launched an offensive in breach of a ceasefire. At the start of the year, the M23 seized large…

STRUGGLING Leeds ended a four-game losing run to dent Chelsea’s Premier League title charge. The Blues dropped to fourth place – nine points behind leaders Arsenal – after a disappointing display at Elland Road. With boss Daniel Farke under pressure, the hosts dominated the first half and struck twice through first Premier League goals for both Jaka Bijol and Ao Tanaka. Chelsea rallied at the start of the second period and half-time substitute Pedro Neto pulled one back in the 50th minute, but Enzo Maresca’s men suffered a massive blow when they conceded a third in the 72nd minute after…

FIVE Palestinians, including two children, were killed in Israeli army strikes in al-Mawasi, near Khan Younis. This came after the Israeli army said that four of its soldiers were wounded in clashes in Rafah. Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, says that dozens of people were wounded in the strikes, in addition to those killed. The attacks caused the burning of several tents housing displaced Palestinians, and medical sources at the Kuwaiti Hospital, which initially reported the casualties to our team on the ground, told Wafa that the bodies of those killed arrived badly charred. Under the terms of the ceasefire,…

A ROADSIDE bomb has killed three Pakistani police officers near the Afghan border, officials say. The blast on Wednesday, in which two other officers were wounded, occurred in the country’s restive northwest region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The continuing cycle of violence in the area has recently sent tension spiralling between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Initial reports suggested the cause was an “improvised explosive device,” Ali Hamza, a police official in the nearby city of Dera Ismail Khan, told the AFP news agency. No group has claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack, but Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has been quick to blame the…

KENYA’s parliament has accused British soldiers of decades of sexual abuse, killings, human rights violations and environmental destruction while training in the country. The report detailed harrowing testimony from communities in Laikipia and Samburu counties, near the military training bases. The British soldiers are accused of evading accountability by refusing to cooperate with the parliamentary investigation. The UK High Commission in Kenya said it regretted that its submission was not reflected in the report’s conclusions and affirmed its readiness to investigate the allegations “under our jurisdiction fully, once evidence is provided”. For decades, troops from the British Army Training Unit…

WRAPPING up his first international trip as pontiff, Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday he would like to visit Algeria in 2026 as part of a voyage to Africa, which could be his next overseas destination. “I hope to make a trip to Africa, which could be my next trip,” the US pope said during a press conference aboard the papal plane during his return from a six-day visit to Turkey and Lebanon. “Personally, I hope to go to Algeria to visit the places from the life of Saint Augustine,” he said, in reference to the fifth-century saint from the North…

ERLING Haaland became the quickest player to reach 100 goals in Premier League history on a night when Manchester City ramped up pressure on leaders Arsenal by fending off Fulham’s impressive fightback. Norway international Haaland got his landmark goal in the 17th minute of Tuesday’s game at Craven Cottage, firing in first time from Jeremy Doku’s cross. It meant he reached the century in 111 league games, 13 fewer than it took previous record holder Alan Shearer. The goal also ended a mini drought for Haaland, having gone three consecutive games without scoring. It was his 15th goal in 14…