Author: Editor

MALARIA and common respiratory infections, compounded by malnutrition, caused an hitherto unexplained spate of deaths in the southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization said Friday. The DR Congo said earlier this month it was on “maximum alert” over an “unknown public health event” that claimed dozens of lives in the Panzi region, around 700 kilometres (435 miles) southeast of the capital Kinshasa. Children under five accounted for around half the cases and deaths from what was being described as an undiagnosed disease. The situation first appeared on the radar in late October, with Panzi health authorities raising…

AT least 69 people, including 25 Malians, have died after a boat bound for Spain from West Africa capsized off Morocco, Mali’s authorities have confirmed. The “makeshift boat” was carrying about 80 people, but only 11 people survived, said a statement from the Ministry of Malians Abroad. At least nine of the survivors are from Mali. The boat capsized last week, but the ministry confirmed the incident on Thursday. A crisis unit has been dispatched to monitor the situation, it said. Mali has suffered years of jihadist and separatist violence – resulting in military coups in 2020 and 2021. The…

MANCHESTER United will have the chance to sign Victor Osimhen in January in a deal with Napoli that would see one of Joshua Zirkzee or Marcus Rashford head in the opposite direction. Ruben Amorim has endured a mixed spell so far at Old Trafford, overseeing four wins, one draw and four losses during his tenure in England, but he will hope that his side can beat Wolverhampton Wanderers on Boxing Day. The Portuguese boss has inherited several issues from previous boss Erik ten Hag, who struggled to get his squad to find the back of the net consistently. To add…

ISRAEL’s genocide has killed five staff members at one of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals, the facility’s director says, as yet another baby freezes to death in the besieged and bombed Palestinian enclave. Hussam Abu Safia, head of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, on Thursday said the “martyrs included a doctor.” Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from central Gaza, said a laboratory technician and two maintenance workers were among those killed in the attack. “We know that the hospital is one of the only medical facilities still operating, and it is working with the bare minimum human resources and…

AZERBAIJAN’s preliminary investigation into a deadly air crash in Kazakhstan has concluded that the airliner was downed by Russia’s air defence systems, multiple media outlets have reported. Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 crashed near the city of Aktau on Wednesday while en route to Grozny, the capital of the Chechnya region in southern Russia, killing 38 people and injuring 29 others. While Azerbaijan has yet to publicly announce the findings of its probe into the disaster, officials have concluded that a Russian anti-aircraft missile was to blame, Euronews, The Wall Street Journal, Anadolu Agency and the Reuters news agency reported on…

ANGOLAN President Joao Lourenco has pardoned some 50 prisoners, including the son of his predecessor Jose Eduardo dos Santos who was serving a five-year jail term for embezzlement. A presidential decree posted on Facebook on Wednesday cited “good behaviour” and the “absence of social danger” in granting freedom to the convicts. Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who died in 2022, ruled energy-rich Angola for 38 years until 2017. His son Jose Filomeno dos Santos, 46, had been convicted for crimes including embezzlement and influence trafficking. He was jailed for fraud in 2020 after $500 million was transferred from the national bank…

KENYA’s police on Thursday denied involvement in the latest spate of abductions targeting government critics. Kenyan security forces have been accused by multiple human rights groups of carrying out dozens of illegal detentions since massive anti-government protests in June and July. Human Rights Watch said recently its research points to a shadowy unit of officers drawn from multiple security agencies, including military intelligence and an anti-terrorism unit. The police have distanced themselves from the disappearances. “The National Police Service is deeply concerned with the ongoing allegations that Police Officers are involved in abductions of persons in Kenya,” the office of…

CHRISTMAS Premier League chart-toppers Liverpool are overwhelming favourites to see off struggling Leicester on Boxing Day (Thursday). Meanwhile both crisis-hit Manchester clubs will seek a festive fillip, with faltering champions City at home to Everton and United away to Wolves. Second-placed Chelsea host Fulham while in-form Arsenal will fancy their chances against relegation-threatened Ipswich on Friday, even without the injured Bukayo Saka. Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham, licking their wounds after a brutal 6-3 hammering by Liverpool, face a tough assignment at high-flying Nottingham Forest. AFP Sport picks out some of the major talking points in the run-up to one of the…

FIVE journalists have been killed in an Israeli strike in the vicinity of a hospital in central Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities and media reports. The journalists from the Al-Quds Today channel were covering events near al-Awda Hospital, located in the Nuseirat refugee camp, when their broadcasting van was hit by an Israeli air strike, Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif reported early on Thursday morning. Footage from the scene circulating on social media shows a vehicle engulfed in flames. A screenshot taken from a video of the white-coloured van shows the word “press” in large red lettering across the back of…

JAPAN Airlines (JAL) has reported being hit with a cyber attack, causing delays to some flights. The airline has been experiencing “malfunctions in systems communicating with external systems” since shortly before 7:30am local time (23:30 GMT, Wednesday), JAL said on Thursday. JAL temporarily isolated a router that was causing the disruption shortly before 9am and is currently “checking the status of the system recovery”, the Tokyo-based airline said. “We have identified the scope of the impact and are currently checking the status of the system recovery,” JAL said. The airline added that there were delays to both domestic and international…

MORE than 1,500 prisoners have escaped from a prison in Mozambique, taking advantage of ongoing political unrest triggered by disputed election results, police say. Thirty-three people were killed and 15 injured in clashes with guards, police chief Bernardino Rafael told a press conference. About 150 more fugitives have since been recaptured, he added. Protests erupted on Monday in response to Mozambique’s highest court confirming that the ruling Frelimo party, in power since 1975, had won October’s presidential elections. Mr Rafael said groups of anti-government protesters had approached the prison in the capital Maputo on Wednesday. Prisoners used the unrest to…

WAR-HIT Sudan is sliding into a “widening famine crisis” that has been marked by worsening starvation and a surge in acute malnutrition, an independent group of food security experts says. Famine has spread to five areas, with 24.6 million people – about half the population – in urgent need of food aid, the experts said. The hunger crisis has been caused by the 20-month civil war that has devastated Sudan. Various mediation efforts aimed at ending the conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have so far failed. The army and RSF had jointly staged a…

DOZENS of people have died after a passenger plane crashed with 67 people on board in Kazakhstan, local officials say. Authorities in Azerbaijan, where the flight originated, say there were at least over 37 passengers dead and 30 survivors seriously injured. Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 caught fire as it attempted to make an emergency landing near the Kazakh city of Aktau. The plane was en route to Grozny in Russia but it was diverted due to fog, the airline told the BBC. Video verified by Reuters news agency shows the plane heading towards the ground at high speed, with its…

Another week, another Mohamed Salah show. THE Liverpool forward scored another two goals in Sunday’s 6-3 demolition of Tottenham in the Premier League to overtake Manchester City’s Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot. On top of his 15 goals this campaign, Salah also tops the charts for assists, with two on Sunday for the league leaders taking him to 11. The Egypt star is now on course to repeat his 2022 feat of winning both the Golden Boot and Playmaker awards. While Salah’s Anfield future remains a big subject for debate – his contract expires this summer…

ISRAELI troops and military aircraft have killed at least eight Palestinians, including two women and a teenager, in attacks on the Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Seven people were killed in an Israeli drone attack and shooting by troops in the Tulkarem refugee camp, and one person was killed in the nearby Nur Shams camp, the Health Ministry said, following a bloody day of Israeli military raids that began at dawn on Tuesday. The ministry said that two Palestinian women – identified as Khawla Ali Abdullah Abdo, 53, and…

FORMER US president Bill Clinton left the hospital Tuesday, his office said, a day after he was admitted with a fever in the latest in a series of health scares for the veteran Democrat. “President Clinton was discharged earlier today after being treated for the flu,” the 78-year-old’s deputy chief of staff Angel Urena said on social media platform X. “He and his family are deeply grateful for the exceptional care provided by the team at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and are touched by the kind messages and well wishes he received.” Clinton was previously hospitalized for five nights in…

MOROCCO proposed on Tuesday reforms to its family law, addressing issues such as limits on underage marriage and women’s inheritance rights, which activists have said were not guaranteed under the current code. Based on landmark 2004 legislation that was hailed as a breakthrough at the time, the proposals include raising the legal marriage age and expanding women’s custody rights, said Justice Minister Abdelatif Ouahbi. The new legislation, which still require parliamentary and royal approval, come after two years of consultations with civil society as well as judicial and religious parties. Women’s rights advocates in the North African country had demanded…

MOZAMBIQUE’s main opposition leader, Venâncio Mondlane, has declared that he will install himself as president on 15 January after rejecting his defeat in presidential elections. His announcement came as his supporters staged violent protests across the country to demand an end to the 49-year-rule of the Frelimo party. The capital Maputo was like a ghost town on Christmas Eve, with almost all businesses shut and people staying at home to avoid being caught up in the worst unrest in the city since Frelimo rose to power at independence in 1975. Frelimo’s offices, police stations, banks and factories have been looted,…

ARSENAL manager Mikel Arteta says winger Bukayo Saka will miss “many weeks” with a hamstring injury. The England attacker was forced off during Saturday’s 5-1 win against Crystal Palace and left Selhurst Park on crutches. Saka, 23, has scored nine goals and provided 13 assists across 24 games in all competitions this season. “It’s not looking good,” said Arteta. “He’s going to be out for many weeks. “It is what it is. He’s injured, we cannot change it. We’re going to use this time now to help him.” Arteta said he was “putting some ideas together” to deal with Saka’s…

ISRAEL’s Minister of Defence Israel Katz has for the first time publicly acknowledged that his country assassinated Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, warning that the Yemen-based Houthis will also be struck a “severe blow”. Speaking on Monday evening at an event honouring Defence Ministry personnel, Katz said Israel had “dealt a severe blow to the axis of evil, and we will also deal a severe blow to the Houthi terrorist organisation in Yemen, which remains the last to stand”. “When the Houthi terrorist organisation is firing missiles at Israel, I want to convey a clear message to them at the…