Author: Editor

SOUTH Korea said Thursday a fuel price cap would take effect from midnight to mitigate pressure on the country’s energy supply during the Iran war. The country is heavily reliant on energy imports, including shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, and has said it will try to find alternatives to secure supplies. It marks the first such measure introduced in Asia’s fourth-largest economy since 1997. “The government has decided to introduce institutional measures aimed at curbing the recent surge in domestic oil prices triggered by the situation in the Middle East,” the energy ministry said in a statement. The price…

A WELL-KNOWN Eritrean satirical cartoonist has been freed from prison after spending 15 years in detention without charge, his family and friends have told the BBC. Biniam Solomon, now in his early 60s, was arrested in the capital, Asmara, in 2011 but was never tried. The reasons for his continued imprisonment were not made clear. Known by his pen name Cobra, Biniam gained fame for his critical and witty cartoons tackling political and social issues. The authorities have not said why he was set free but it is the latest in a string of similar releases. Nevertheless thousands remain in…

AT least 102 people have been killed in floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains in the Gamo Zone of southern Ethiopia, the local authority has said. The official death toll, initially put at just over 30, has steadily risen over the past 24 hours. Earlier on Thursday, a senior policeman said 64 had died. Dozens are still missing. Most of the casualties were in highland areas, where saturated slopes gave way after days of intense rain, officials have reported. Torrential rains have unleashed widespread flooding across East Africa in recent days. Dozens have also died in neighbouring Kenya. Forecasters…

QUESTION: Salamu Alaikum Ya Sheikh. How can a menstruating woman observe Laylat al-Qadr? Hassana Abubakar Sufi, Kaduna – ANSWER: Amin Alaikum Salaam Wa Rahamatullah. During their menses, women can read the Quran and make dhikr (remembrance of Allah) and duaa (supplication), though they are forbidden from fasting, performing prayer and touching the mushaf (copy of the Quran). In this way, they still have the opportunity to observe Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of Power) by reciting the Quran and making dhikr. A menstruating woman should not perform prayer nor touch the Quran, but she can make duaa (supplication) and share with…

MANCHESTER City face a mammoth task to keep their Champions League ambitions alive after Federico Valverde’s brilliant first-half hat-trick put Real Madrid in control of this last-16 meeting. Valverde tormented City with a display of the highest class, Pep Guardiola’s side offering threat up front but too often vulnerable at the back. Real were without injured pair Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, as well as long-term absentee Rodrygo, but still had enough firepower to punish City’s defensive frailties. The English side actually started brightly, giving Real some anxious moments, before it all started to unravel in dramatic fashion on 20…

IRAN’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not spoken or been seen in public since his appointment at the weekend, is injured but “safe”, officials said Wednesday. “I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections,” the Iranian president’s son, Yousef Pezeshkian, wrote in a post on his Telegram channel. “They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound,” added Pezeshkian, who is a government advisor. Khamenei was named Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday to replace his father Ali who was assassinated in an air strike at the…

LEBANON faces “a moment of grave peril” as Israel continues to launch deadly attacks across the country, forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands of people, the United Nations humanitarian chief has warned. Speaking to the UN Security Council in New York on Wednesday, Tom Fletcher said “mass displacement is accelerating” across Lebanon as a result of the Israeli attacks. “We’re seeing large-scale movements into densely populated urban areas where shelter capacity is already overstretched,” Fletcher said. Hundreds of shelters “are overcrowded, with inadequate sanitation [and] insufficient essential supplies”, he told the council. “These conditions heighten risk of harassment, sexual violence, exploitation,…

DOZENS of civilians have been killed in drone strikes across southern Sudan over the past two days, medical sources told AFP, as some of the heaviest fighting of the nearly three-year war grips the region. Sudan has been riven by conflict since April 2023, when a power struggle between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) plunged the country into a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. In the White Nile state, which lies just east of the Southern Kordofan region, an area now hit almost daily by drone attacks, a strike on…

FLOODING caused by heavy rains in the Gamo area of southern Ethiopia has left at least 48 people dead, police said on Wednesday. “The number of bodies recovered from the natural disaster that struck three districts of Gamo Zone has reached 48,” the South Ethiopia Regional State Police Commission said in a statement on X. There were reports of 95 missing persons, and rescue operations were ongoing, it said. It was unclear whether this figure included the bodies already found. There has been heavy flooding across east Africa in recent days. Dozens were killed in neighbouring Kenya after torrential rain…

QUESTION: Salamu Alaikum Ya Sheikh. When is Laylat al-Qadr and how should we observe it? Is it by praying, or by reading Quran and the Prophet’s (SAW) Sirah, listening to lectures and lessons and by celebrating it in the mosque? Fatima Abubakar, Asaba – ANSWER: Amin Alaikum Salaam Wa Rahamatullah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to strive hard in worship during the last ten days of Ramadan as he never did at any other time, praying, reading Quran and making du’a. Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated from ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with…

THE head of the Iranian Football Federation on Tuesday cast further doubt on his country’s participation in this summer’s World Cup, saying women playing in the Asian Cup in Australia had been coerced into defecting. “If the World Cup is like this, who in their right mind would send their national team to a place like this?” Mehdi Taj asked on Iranian state television. The men’s World Cup will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, but Iran is scheduled to play all three group games in the United States, two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.…

IRAN remained defiant as fresh explosions thundered out in Tehran on Tuesday, insisting it was not seeking a ceasefire even as US President Donald Trump upped his threats surrounding the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The conflict has engulfed the Middle East and roiled energy markets since the February 28 US-Israeli strikes that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggered the war, with Tehran on Tuesday vowing no crude exports would leave the Gulf if the bombardment continued. The Pentagon had earlier announced its most intense strikes to date, but Iran has so far refused to bow to the pressure.…

ELON Musk is the wealthiest individual ever recorded, worth an estimated $839 billion, Forbes said Tuesday, as a record 3,428 billionaires worldwide saw their combined fortunes surge to an all-time high of $20.1 trillion. Musk topped the Forbes World’s Billionaires list for the second consecutive year after his fortune swelled by roughly $500 billion over the past twelve months, driven by rising valuations at Tesla and SpaceX, which is targeting a public offering in 2026.He is the first person ever to surpass the $800 billion mark and is on course to become the world’s first trillionaire. Forbes releases its 40th-annual…

THIS engagement underscores Mali’s determination to make digital transformation a core pillar of administrative modernization, economic growth, and continental cooperation. On the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026 in Barcelona, the Minister of Communication, Digital Economy, and Administration Modernization of Mali, Mr. Alhamdou AG ILYENE, met with Mr. Lacina Koné, Director General of the Smart Africa Alliance, on March 3, 2026. During the meeting, Minister ILYENE reaffirmed Mali’s commitment to accelerating its digital transformation through a strengthened partnership with Smart Africa. Discussions focused on human capital development, emphasizing youth education and the enhancement of national skills in digital…

MADAGASCAR’s military ruler Col Michael Randrianirina has dissolved the government unexpectedly, dismissing the prime minister and the entire cabinet, according to a statement from his spokesperson. “The government has ceased its functions” it said, adding that Randrianirina will appoint a new prime minister “in line with the provisions stipulated by the constitution”. No reason was given for the move. Randrianirina seized power last October from Andry Rajoelina, following weeks of youth-led protests on the Indian Ocean island. Rajoelina had been elected president for a third term in a disputed poll in 2023. The demonstrations were over persistent power and water…

QUESTION: Salaamu Alaikum Ya Sheikh, is there a specific prayer recited for Ramadan or the last ten days? Aminu Kabiru, Abuja – ANSWER: Amin Alaikum Salaam. Tirmidhee and others report: `A’ishah asked: “O Messenger of Allaah! If I was to know which night is the night of qadr, what should I say therein?” He answered: “Say: ‘O Allaah! Verily, You are One who Pardons (`Afuww) and You love pardoning (`afw), so pardon (`afw) me!’” Al-`Afuww is a Name of Allaah. It is often translated to mean the One who pardons or forgives. `Afuww comes from `afw. `Afw linguistically means to…

MANCHESTER City will face Liverpool in a blockbuster FA Cup quarter-final, while quadruple-chasing Arsenal travel to Southampton. Monday’s draw for the last eight also handed Chelsea a home tie against League One giant-killers Port Vale, who stunned Sunderland with a 1-0 win in the fifth round on Sunday. West Ham or Brentford, who meet on Monday, will host Leeds in the other quarter-final. But it is City’s latest showdown with rivals Liverpool that is the stand-out tie of the round. Pep Guardiola’s side have already beaten Liverpool twice this season, winning 3-0 in Manchester in November and earning a 2-1…

UNITED States President Donald Trump has said that he expects the war on Iran to be over “very soon” after dubbing the past 10 days of war, which have wrought devastation on Iran, a “short-term excursion”. Addressing the media in Doral, Florida, Trump claimed that the US and Israel had struck 5,000 targets since the war began on February 28, when Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed. Trump spoke as Iran’s hardliners staged a show of loyalty to new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei – the former supreme leader’s son – whose appointment was confirmed on Sunday amid US-Israeli…

WASHINGTON has advised non-essential staff to leave its consulate near the southern Turkish city of Adana near a key NATO base and ordered US citizens to leave “southeast Turkey”, the US embassy to Ankara said Monday. Since the US-Israeli attacks began on February 28, Iran has retaliated with missile and drone strikes across the Middle East in a bid to hit US assets. So far, Turkey appears to have been spared, despite the fact that US troops are stationed at several of its bases. One is Incirlik air base, an important NATO facility that has been used by US troops…

GHANA has called on the Commonwealth to condemn Friday’s missile attack on its United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon which injured four of its soldiers. Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa did not say who was responsible when speaking at a Commonwealth meeting on Sunday but said the bombing was “an attack on every principle that the UN Charter exists to defend”. Israel has been striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, after the Iranian-backed Shia group said it launched rockets and drones at the Israeli city of Haifa last week to avenge the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. All…