Author: Editor

IRANIAN forces have said they struck down two fighter jets belonging to the United States military, one over the southwest part of the country and another around the Strait of Hormuz. A spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said on Friday that air defences completely destroyed one F-15 jet. Later in the day, the Iranian military said it targeted an A-10 US aircraft that crashed into the Gulf. The New York Times had cited unidentified officials as saying that the A10’s pilot was safe after the crash. But the fate of at least one pilot from the…

ISRAEL’s military has threatened to destroy more bridges in southern Lebanon in what observers say is an attempt to cut the area off from the rest of the country as Israeli forces press forward with a devastating ground invasion. In a social media post on Friday, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said the military planned to bomb the Sohmor and Mashghara bridges over the Litani River in the western Bekaa Valley, claiming they are being used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. “These are two main bridges – the main arteries for goods, for people, for movement – between the…

MEDICAL charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has denounced a drone attack on a Sudanese hospital that killed 10 people in the south-central part of the war-torn nation. The attack on Thursday involved two strikes on Al Jabalain Hospital in White Nile State, hitting an operating theatre and a maternity ward, MSF said in a statement on Friday, adding the assault was “reportedly” carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). “This unacceptable assault resulted in at least 10 fatalities, including seven medical staff, some of whom had previously worked with MSF,” Esperanza Santos, MSF…

DEMOCRACY “kills” and the people of Burkina Faso must “forget” it, the country’s military ruler has said in an interview aired on state television. Capt Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in a coup three years ago, suggested most Africans do not want the system of democracy and that Burkina Faso had its own, alternative approach, without giving details. Traoré initially pledged to restore democratic rule to the West African country by July 2024, but two months before this deadline, the junta announced it would extend its rule for another five years. In January, the authorities announced a ban on all…

THE head of Italy’s football federation (FIGC) resigned on Thursday, falling on his sword after the men’s national team failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time. Gabriele Gravina revealed he would step down as the country’s top football official following a meeting held at the FIGC’s headquarters in Rome on Thursday. His announcement came a day after Sport Minister Andrea Abodi called on him to resign. Four-time World Cup winners Italy fell at the play-offs again on Tuesday, this time after a penalty shoot-out against Bosnia and Hercegovina, and will miss this summer’s finals in…

THE United States has reiterated that Washington is open to diplomacy with Tehran as the US-Israel war on Iran drags on and as US President Donald Trump renews his threats to destroy the country’s civilian infrastructure. US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told Al Jazeera in a TV interview on Thursday that Trump pursued talks with Iran before the war, but accused Iran of continuing to pursue a nuclear weapon. “The president is always open to diplomacy, but he’s also been clear we will see his objectives be fulfilled here,” Pigott said. Trump addressed the nation about Iran late on…

RUSSIA plans to send a second ship carrying oil to Cuba, the Russian energy minister has said, as the Caribbean nation struggles under a crippling United States blockade. Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev said on Thursday that the cargo was being loaded and would be brought to Cuba. “Cuba is in a total blockade; it’s been cut off. Whose shipment of oil made it? A Russian vessel broke through the blockade,” Tsivilev said, referring to a first Russian tanker that reached the island earlier this week. “A second one is being loaded right now. We will not leave Cubans alone in…

A MAN has killed four children in a stabbing attack at a nursery school in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, police have said. “We confirm a tragic incident at the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school, in Makindye Division Kampala City where a male suspect brutally stabbed and killed four juveniles,” the Ugandan police said in a post on X on Thursday. Police Spokesperson Rachael Kawala told local media that one girl and three boys were killed by a 34-year-old attacker. The man had gained access to the school and attacked an “unspecified number of children with a sharp object”, according…

BURKINA Faso’s military is committing atrocities, including the ethnic cleansing of Fulani civilians, Human Rights Watch has found, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity in the West African country. In a report released on Thursday and titled None Can Run Away, the New York-based watchdog presented its findings after conducting in-person and phone interviews with more than 450 people in Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Mali about abuses between January 2023 and August 2025. Using extensive open-source analysis, including satellite imagery, audiovisual footage and official documents, its researchers verified 57 incidents involving Burkinabe military forces…

THE FIFA World Cup 2026 is set to be the biggest and most exciting tournament in football history. For the first time ever, 48 teams from around the globe will compete across an expanded format featuring 104 matches. Hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, the competition will span 16 vibrant host cities, bringing the game closer to fans than ever before. From thrilling group-stage clashes to the intensity of the knockout rounds, the full FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule showcases a month-long celebration of football, uniting nations, cultures, and supporters in a truly global spectacle. The 12…

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has said the United States could stop attacking Iran within two to three weeks and that a deal is not necessary to end a war that has disrupted energy supplies and shaken the global economy. His comments came as Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that no negotiations are going on with Washington despite direct and indirect exchanges of messages, nearly five weeks after the US and Israel began attacking Iran. Trump, who previously claimed that Iran was engaged in negotiations and “begging” for a deal, appeared to change his tune…

PALESTINIANS shops and public institutions, including universities, across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem were closed as people took to the streets to protest against a new Israeli law that imposes the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks. Hundreds of people gathered on Wednesday to march in Ramallah against the law backed by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, chanting slogans condemning the law and calling on the international community to reverse the law’s passage. At a protest in the city of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, demonstrators carried signs warning that time was running…

SOUTH African soldiers moved into gang-ridden Cape Town townships on Wednesday, as two people were killed in fresh violence, nearly 50 days after the president ordered the deployment. Troops in full combat gear and carrying assault rifles stepped from armoured vehicles that arrived with sirens blaring in Mitchells Plain, a neighbourhood in the Cape Flats. The low-lying area, nestled between tourist magnet Cape Town and the scenic winelands, is a hotspot for murder and plagued by gang turf wars and retaliatory attacks. Two men, aged 25 and 33, were shot and killed in a 5 am (0300 GMT) attack in…

AT least four people have been killed by a series of powerful explosions at an ammunitions depot in Burundi’s largest city, Bujumbura, local residents have told the BBC. The blasts erupted late on Tuesday at the facility, located in the suburb of Musaga, due to an electrical fault, an army spokesperson said. Shrapnel and debris were propelled more than 5km (three miles) and several houses in nearby districts were destroyed by the force of the explosions. The authorities have not yet provided any casualty figures but family members and eyewitnesses told the BBC of four separate deaths in the city.…

THE stunning elimination of Italy national football team from the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers has deepened what many are now calling a full-blown footballing crisis for one of the sport’s most decorated nations. In a dramatic playoff final decided by penalties, Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team triumphed to secure a historic place at the global tournament, while Italy’s absence from the World Cup will now extend to three consecutive editions, an unthinkable reality for a four-time champion. For Italy, this latest failure adds to a growing list of painful exits. After the shock defeat to North Macedonia in…

IRAN’s Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday that they would target leading US technology firms like Apple, Google and Meta if more Iranian leaders were killed in “targeted assassinations”. “These companies, starting from 8:00 pm (1630 GMT) Tehran time on Wednesday, April 1, should expect the destruction of their relevant units in exchange for every assassination in Iran,” the Guards said in a statement listing the names of 18 companies it alleged were complicit in the killing of officials. “We advise the employees of these institutions to immediately leave their workplaces to preserve their lives,” it added. The threat comes as…

THE White House has suggested that US President Donald Trump will ask Arab countries to cover the cost of the United States’ war against Iran, estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars. Trump’s spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, was asked on Monday whether Arab states should pay for the war, as when US allies helped fund Washington’s intervention during the Gulf War in 1990. “I think it’s something the president would be quite interested in calling them to do,” Leavitt told reporters. “I won’t get ahead of him on that, but certainly it’s an idea that I know that…

AT least 74 mine workers have been killed by gunmen in an area south-west of the capital, Juba, with government and opposition officials trading accusations over who was behind the deaths. The violence occurred over the weekend in mineral-rich Jebel Iraq, which is controlled by the army. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), the party of suspended First-Vice President Riek Machar, condemned the killings, accusing government forces of being responsible. Paulino Lukudu Obede, acting governor of Central Equatoria state, which includes Jebel Iraq, said the government was “shocked and outraged” by the “brutal and barbaric killing of innocent…

RAPE and sexual violence remain “part of everyday life” in areas of Sudan even when fighting in the country’s civil war has moved elsewhere, according to a new report by medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Calling rape a “defining feature” of the conflict, it says sexual assault is overwhelmingly carried out by armed men and is often accompanied by acts of brutality and humiliation. But MSF says rape persists as an “insidious” part of life for communities in the western region of Darfur that are no longer on the front line. The report is the most comprehensive account yet…

LIONEL Messi will start for Argentina in a friendly against Zambia on Tuesday in what is the reigning world champions’ final game on home soil before they defend their World Cup crown. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said Messi, who began on the bench for Friday’s lacklustre 2-1 win over Mauritania, will spearhead what is expected to be a full-strength side against Zambia. “Messi will be in the starting lineup tomorrow,” Scaloni said. Messi, 38, has not formally confirmed he plans to play in the World Cup, but played a full part in Argentina’s qualification campaign for the finals. Scaloni indicated…