Author: Editor

A PAL Airlines aircraft, operating as Air Canada flight AC2259, executed an emergency landing at Halifax Airport, Canada, following a landing gear malfunction. The incident, which occurred around 9:30 PM AT, was reported by CBC News Sunday. During the landing, the plane skidded along the pavement, triggering panic among passengers. Nikki Valentine, a passenger onboard, recounted the harrowing experience, describing how the aircraft tilted approximately 20 degrees to the left, accompanied by a loud crash-like noise. The plane started to sit at about a 20-degree angle to the left and, as that happened, we heard a pretty loud—what almost sounded…

A JEJU Air plane carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea crashed on arrival Sunday, smashing into a barrier and bursting into flames, leaving all but two feared dead. A bird strike and adverse weather conditions were cited by authorities as likely causes of the crash that flung passengers out of the plane and left it “almost completely destroyed”, according to fire officials. Video showed the Jeju Air plane from Bangkok landing on its belly at Muan International Airport, skidding off the runway as smoke streamed out from the engines, before crashing into a wall and exploding in flames.…

AMAD Diallo has vowed to “make history” with Manchester United despite his struggling club’s dismal slide down the Premier League. United have lost five of new manager Ruben Amorim’s 10 games in all competitions since he arrived from Sporting Lisbon to replace the sacked Erik ten Hag. Dismal defeats to Wolves, Bournemouth and Tottenham in their last three matches have increased the pressure on Amorim ahead of Newcastle’s visit to Old Trafford on Monday. United are languishing in 14th place in the Premier League, just eight points above the relegation zone. But Diallo has been one of United’s few bright…

THE head of the World Health Organization said Saturday he only narrowly escaped death in fatal Israeli strikes on the airport in Yemen’s Huthi rebel-held capital. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told BBC radio his ears were still ringing following Thursday’s attack as he prepared to board a flight in Sanaa, and stressed that the protection for civilian installations under international law must be respected. Israeli air strikes hit Sanaa’s international airport and other targets in Yemen on Thursday. The attacks against what Israel’s military called rebel “military targets” marked the second time since December 19 that Israel has hit…

VLADIMIR Putin admitted Saturday Russian air defence was working when an Azerbaijani Airlines plane tried to land in Grozny before crashing, breaking the Kremlin’s silence as speculation mounted Russia may have accidentally shot the plane. The Russian leader called his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, apologising the incident took place in Russian airspace, while stopping short of saying Russian air defence shot the plane. Baku, meanwhile, said Aliyev had “emphasised” to Putin that the plane was hit by outside interference over Russia, saying it wanted those responsible “held accountable.” The phone call between the allies came three days after the Embraer…

KENYAN President William Ruto has promised an end to abductions, following the latest spate of disappearances that have been condemned by rights groups, lawyers and politicians. Security forces in the East African nation have been accused of carrying out dozens of illegal detentions since youth-led anti-government demonstrations in June and July. The latest disappearances have primarily involved young men who have criticised Ruto online, with rights groups dismissing police denials of involvement and calling for action. Speaking to a crowd Friday in Homa Bay, a town in western Kenya, Ruto promised an end to the abductions but also told parents…

EXPERTS have faulted the controversial proposal of President Filipe Nyusi to declare a state of emergency across the nation to curb the escalating violence and widespread destruction following the nationwide election. Mozambique, a Portuguese-speaking country located in southeastern Africa, is currently grappling with a severe security crisis that has seen escalating violence and widespread destruction. In recent weeks, the country has witnessed a surge in armed attacks, property damage, and growing public unrest. In response to the alarming situation, President Filipe Nyusi has made a controversial proposal to declare a state of emergency across the nation. While this move aims…

IRANIAN football’s ethics body has summoned a player after he hugged a female fan prior to a match in the domestic league, local media reported. “The ethics committee of the Football Federation of Iran has summoned Star Ramin Rezaeian,” Tasnim local news agency reported on Friday. Rezaeian, who plays for the Tehran giants Esteghlal and Iran’s national team, embraced the fan before his team’s match against Chadormalu in central Yazd province on Thursday. The football federation has not yet commented on the matter. Rezaeian, 34, has been capped more than 60 times by Iran. The defender has also played club…

CORRESPONDENTS in Gaza said the “Israeli military burned the hospital and caused significant destruction to the vast majority” of Kamal Adwan’s wards after a raid described as “barbaric” by local authorities. Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that Israel’s military has taken dozens of Kamal Adwan Hospital staff, including director Hussam Abu Safia, for interrogation, while the fate of many patients is unknown after troops forcibly cleared the medical facility. The UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) said Israel’s “systematic dismantling” of Gaza’s health system is a “death sentence for tens of thousands of Palestinians”. Witnesses inside the Kamal Adwan Hospital reported this…

WHITE House spokesman John Kirby has said the US has seen “early indications” that Russia may have been responsible for the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed on 25 December, killing 38 people. Mr Kirby did not elaborate further, but told reporters the US had offered assistance to the investigation into the crash. The plane is thought to have come under fire from Russian air defence systems as it tried to land in Chechnya before being diverted across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan, where it crashed. The Kremlin has refused to comment, but the head of Russia’s civil…

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…