GUINEA’s main opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo has said that “direct resistance” to the country’s coup leader–turned–president is now the only remaining path to change, after the authorities dissolved 40 political parties. The authorities accused the parties of not complying with the law – a charge they have rejected. The move comes two months after former junta head Mamady Doumbouya was sworn-in as president, following an election that saw some key challengers barred from running. Doumbouya, who came to power in 2021 after overthrowing Condé, has been accused of cracking down on democratic freedoms. Among the parties dissolved were the…
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Multiple Questions From Our Social Media Pages: QUESTION: Who Must Fast? ANSWER: Fasting is compulsory for those who are mentally and physically fit, past the age of puberty, in a settled situation (not travelling), and are sure fasting is unlikely to cause real physical or mental injury. QUESTION: Why do Muslims fast? ANSWER: Fasting is common in many religions. The Quran, the reveled text in Islam, says in chapter 2 verse 183, “O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those who were before you, in order that you may learn piety and God…
SPANISH football powerhouse FC Barcelona is reportedly preparing a move for Nigerian international striker Victor Osimhen as the Catalan club begins plans to strengthen its attacking line ahead of the next transfer window. The development comes amid growing speculation that the reigning La Liga champions are considering Osimhen as a potential replacement for veteran striker Robert Lewandowski, whose contract with the Spanish giants is expected to expire at the end of the current season. According to reports by The Athletic, Barcelona’s sporting director, Deco, is keen on bringing the prolific Nigerian forward to Camp Nou during the summer transfer window…
AT least two people have been killed after a projectile fell on a residential location in Saudi Arabia‘s Al-Kharj city, Saudi authorities reported, as Iranian counterattacks on Gulf nations hosting US military assets entered a second week. The Saudi civil defence said in a post on X on Sunday, without mentioning Iran, that an unspecified “military projectile” had hit a residential area in Al-Kharj, killing two foreign nationals – one Indian and one Bangladeshi – and injuring 12 people. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had said earlier that it had targeted radar systems in locations including Al-Kharj governorate, which…
UNITED States President Donald Trump has again promised to exert influence over who is selected as Iran’s next Supreme Leader, saying that, without Washington’s approval, whoever is picked for the role is “not going to last long”. The statement on Sunday came hours before Iranian state media reported the Assembly of Experts had selected a new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the hours after the US and Israel launched the war with Iran on February 28. Trump did not immediately responded to the younger Khamenei’s selection, but broadly said earlier that…
SENEGAL’s former president Macky Sall is seeking one of the most coveted positions on the international scene: Secretary-General of the United Nations. But his opponents at home have started speaking out against his candidacy, accusing his government of repression. Opponents of former Senegalese president Macky Sall, including those who say they are victims of repression by his administration, opposed his UN secretary-general candidacy Friday, accusing him of violence and economic crimes. Sall, who served as president from 2012 to 2024, is accused of having repressed violent political demonstrations that resulted in dozens of deaths during his last years in office.…
SOUTH Africa embarked on a mass vaccination of cattle on Friday to stem an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that threatens meat, dairy and livestock supplies and exports. The outbreak, which started intensifying late last year and has rapidly spread across the country’s livestock industry, has already affected more than 297,000 cattle and resulted in over 120,000 animals being culled as farmers try to contain the spread. The outbreak threatens mass shortages of meat, job losses and millions of dollars in lost revenue as countries including China and Zambia ban South African meat exports. Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen on Friday launched…
QUESTION: Salamu Alaikum Ya Sheikh. There are clothes which are of a design called “cloche”. Some of them are for women and are very loose, and their sleeves are also long and wide, as in the case of dira‘s and jilbaabs. Is it permissible for women to wear them? Also, is it permissible to wear tight sleeves among other women and mahrams? Suwaiba Nasir, Kaduna – ANSWER: Amin Alaikum Salaam Wa Rahamatullah. It is permissible for a woman to wear whatever clothes she wants so long as that is not imitating men or kaafir women, or uncovering the ‘awrah in…
EBERECHI Eze scored the winning goal as Arsenal were tested but overcame a spirited Mansfield Town to move into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. The hosts, who are just five points clear above the relegation zone in League One, heaped pressure on the Premier League leaders before Noni Madueke gave Arsenal the lead just before half-time. Madueke had earlier forced Mansfield goalkeeper Liam Roberts into a save before the England winger curled the ball into the top corner after Gabriel Martinelli teed him up at the edge of the box. But this was not the routine win many expected…
A FATHER and his daughter have been killed in an Israeli drone attack in central Khan Younis, southern Gaza, as Palestinians continue to suffer amid worldwide attention on the United States-Israeli war on Iran. The two were killed early on Saturday. In a separate attack later in the day in Khan Younis, another person was killed and a young girl wounded, according to Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground. Israeli forces continue carrying out air strikes, artillery shelling, and naval bombardment on Gaza on a daily basis, despite an October 11 “ceasefire” as Israel continues its ongoing genocide. Suffering in…
A MEMBER of Iran’s Assembly of Experts said on Saturday that the body would meet within a day to choose the country’s next supreme leader, Iranian media reported. “With divine assistance, this session will occur within the next twenty-four hours,” said Hossein Mozafari, one of the assembly’s 88 members, cited by the Fars news agency. The statement came a week after the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli attack. Mozafari also urged Iranians to “refrain from any speculation and the spreading of rumours regarding this matter” as the assembly hasdnot yet convened for a session. Meanwhile,…
AT least 23 people have been killed in flash flooding in Nairobi, police said Saturday, as search and rescue operations continued amid widespread devastation. Torrential rains lashed the Kenyan capital late Friday, turning major streets into rivers and flooding thousands of homes and businesses. Rescue teams were still pulling out bodies and rescuing trapped residents on Saturday, while AFP reporters saw heavily damaged roads and infrastructure from the city’s vast slums to upmarket areas like Parklands. “The river banks broke as the rains continued and cars were swept off and water flowed into our shops destroying property for many people,”…
GUINEA dissolved 40 political parties, including its three main opposition groups, via a late-night decree, fewer than two months after former junta leader Mamady Doumbouya was sworn in as president. Doumbouya, who has ruled Guinea with an iron fist, was elected in late December in a vote in which all major opposition leaders were barred. Guinea’s minister of territorial administration and decentralisation ordered the dissolution of the parties late on Friday for “failure to fulfil their obligations”. The decree also stripped them of control of their assets. Included are Guinea’s three main political parties — the Union of Democratic Forces…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump threatened to escalate the bombing of Iran on Saturday as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed that he would never surrender, despite a fresh blitz of US and Israeli air strikes that set a Tehran airport ablaze. Israel confirmed some of the biggest raids since the aerial bombardment of Iran began last Saturday, with a military academy, an underground command centre and a missile storage facility named as targets. Pre-dawn AFP photos showed fire and smoke billowing from Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, one of two that serve the capital. “Today Iran will be hit very hard!” Trump posted…
QUESTION: Salamu Alaikum Ya Sheikh. As Fasting draws to an end, what is your message for us all? Mustapha Noor, Abuja – ANSWER: Amin Alaikum Salaam Wa Rahamatullah. Many people misunderstand the true nature of fasting, and they make it an occasion for eating and drinking, making special sweets and staying up late at night and watching shows on satellite TV. They make such preparations long before Ramadan, lest they miss out on some food bargains before food prices go up. They prepare by buying food, preparing drinks and looking at the satellite TV guide so they can choose which…
LIONEL Messi has been criticised for meeting United States President Donald Trump and applauding his latest brief on the Iran war at an White House event honouring the Argentinian superstar and his Inter Miami team. Messi drew high praise from Trump in Washington, DC on Thursday, but the Miami captain received backlash on social media for meeting and applauding the US president. Miami beat the Vancouver Whitecaps in December for the Major League Soccer (MLS) title, and Messi was named the league’s MVP for the second consecutive season. “It’s my distinct privilege to say what no American president has ever…
INTENSE air attacks have pounded Tehran and other Iranian cities on the seventh day of the US-Israeli war on the country, amid warnings from United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the bombardment was “about to surge dramatically”. Israel’s military said on Friday morning it had begun a new wave of strikes on Tehran, targeting “regime infrastructure” in a “new phase” of the war, while the US said its B-2 bombers had dropped dozens of “penetrator” bombs on deeply buried ballistic missile launchers inside the country. Huge explosions pounded locations in the Iranian capital, including targets linked to the country’s…
QATAR has partially reopened its airspace days after Iranian missile and drone strikes forced the country to ground all flights as a United States-Israeli military campaign against Iran continues into its seventh day. The Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announced the limited opening on Friday evening, saying flights would operate through “designated navigational contingency routes with limited operational capacity” in coordination with the Qatari armed forces. The move marks a cautious first step towards restoring air links to one of the Gulf’s most important aviation hubs but falls well short of a return to normality, with scheduled commercial flights to and…
SOME of the 43 Ugandan students evacuated from Iran have described their ordeal after being evacuated from the country. “We could hear the ground trembling, we could hear the ground shake,” Oscar Nyegyema told AFP after arriving at Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport. “We really did not know whether we could make it out.” Masters student Aloysious Ssegawa told BBC Focus on Africa that the bombings felt like an ”earthquake” and all he could think about doing was ”running for his life”. After the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on Saturday, Iran retaliated with strikes on Israel and US allies…
ON a drizzly Sunday evening in the Zimbabwean capital, three boys aged between six and nine scout for scrap metal just as the informal welders in Siyaso Market are about to close for the day. Early the next day, the boys return to the informal steel fabrication market, which is now partly turned into collection points for discarded metal components, to pick up the scrap for reselling. “We are only afraid of the dogs that can chase you, but usually we are safe, and no one suspects us [of stealing],” says eight-year-old Takudzwa Rapi. “Sometimes they allow us to pick…