Author: Editor

Mozambique’s new President Daniel Chapo has been sworn in at a low-key ceremony in the capital, Maputo, that was marred by an opposition boycott following heavily disputed elections. In his first presidential address, Chapo, 48, pledged to “devote all my energies” to promoting unity and human rights in a nation scarred by post-election violence. A local civil society group says that more than 300 people have been killed in clashes with security forces since elections in October. Eight people were killed by police on Wednesday as they protested against the inauguration, Dr Wilker Dias, head of election observer group Plataforma…

REPLACING Old Trafford with a new 100,000-seater Manchester United stadium and regenerating the surrounding area could bring £7bn to the UK economy, it has been claimed. A task force chaired by Lord Sebastian Coe looking into options for either a new or redeveloped stadium has released the figures as part of a feasibility study. It found the option to renovate Old Trafford could see its capacity increase to 87,000, with the club set to decide on its preferred approach by the summer. Lord Coe said the plans would act as a catalyst for “one of the biggest regeneration projects ever…

ISRAEL’s devastating offensive in Gaza — and the United States’ support for it — will “haunt” outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the rest of his life, says a former diplomat, who quit in protest over the war last year. Hala Rharrit told Al Jazeera in a phone interview that the administration of President Joe Biden is skirting the US’s own regulations by continuing to arm Israel despite well-documented abuses in Gaza. “They are willfully — and I don’t say that word lightly, willfully — violating and evading US law,” said Rharrit, who resigned from the US State Department…

IRANIAN President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin have signed a cooperation pact, deepening the partnership between two of the world’s most heavily sanctioned nations. Iranian and Russian officials said the “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty” covers areas from trade and military cooperation to science, culture and education. At a joint news conference with Pezeshkian in Moscow on Friday, Putin praised the deal as a “real breakthrough creating conditions for the stable and sustainable development of Russia, Iran and the entire region.” The Kremlin earlier said that the treaty will enhance the “military-political and trade-economic” relations between Tehran and Moscow,…

SIERRA Leone has recalled its ambassador from neighbouring Guinea after seven suitcases containing suspected cocaine were found in an embassy vehicle. On Monday, Guinean authorities impounded a vehicle belonging to Sierra Leone’s embassy and detained its occupants on suspicion of possessing “substances suspected to be cocaine”, Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister Alhaji Musa Timothy Kabba said. “In light of this serious development, the government has urgently recalled Sierra Leone’s ambassador to Guinea, Ambassador Mr Alimamy Bangura, to Freetown to provide a full account of the incident,” he added. The recalled envoy was not in the car and is not under arrest,…

SOUTH Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has called for calm and urged citizens not to take the law into their own hands, following a spate of attacks on businesses and homes owned by people from neighbouring Sudan. Three people have been killed and seven were wounded in violent confrontations with security officers in the capital, Juba, and the north-western town of Aweil, say police. Their nationalities have not been disclosed. Three houses belonging to Sudanese nationals were set on fire in Aweil, according to officers. On Friday, a dusk-to-dawn curfew was announced to try to bring tensions under control. Nobody will…

AMAD Diallo scored a stunning late hat-trick as Manchester United turned what seemed certain to be a humiliating defeat into a thrilling victory over Southampton at Old Trafford. United appeared to be heading for a fourth consecutive top-flight home defeat for the first time since 1930 as they laboured badly trying to overcome a Southampton side who had won just once all season and suffered a 5-0 home loss to Brentford on their last league outing. But Diallo, a week after signing a new five-and-a-half-year contract, had other ideas. The Ivorian, moved into an attacking role from the wing-back position…

WHEN Samraa Luqman voted for Donald Trump in November, she believed that, even if there were a one-percent chance that the former president would push for a ceasefire in Gaza, he would be a better option than the Democrats who had failed to stop the war. Trump ultimately won that race and is slated to re-enter the White House on Monday. And in the lead-up to his inauguration, Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas have agreed to pause hostilities in Gaza, where more than 46,700 Palestinians have been killed in the last 15 months. But Luqman says she doesn’t feel…

CHINA’s population fell for the third consecutive year in 2024, as a demographic crisis continues to loom over the East Asian superpower. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on Friday that the Chinese population fell by 1.39 million over the past 12 months to 1.408 billion as deaths continue to outpace births. China’s population has been steadily declining since the 1980s, but the year 2022 marked the first time deaths outpaced births since 1961 when China was in the midst of the disastrous Great Leap Forward plan, which led to a famine in which an estimated 20 million people…

TANZANIA has dismissed a World Health Organisation (WHO) report of a suspected new outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg virus in the north-west of the country. On Tuesday, the global health agency said a total of nine suspected cases were reported over the last five days in the Kagera region, including eight deaths. But in a statement, Tanzania’s Health Minister Jenista Mhagama said after samples were analysed, all suspected cases were found negative for Marburg virus. She said that the country had strengthened its surveillance systems and disease monitoring. We “would like to assure the international organisations, including WHO that we…

THE US government has imposed sanctions on the head of Sudan’s army and de facto president, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the treasury department said. He has been leading one of the two sides in the 21-month civil war that has killed tens of thousands, uprooted over 12 million and pushed the country to the brink of famine. In a brief statement, the US accused Gen Burhan of “destabilizing Sudan and undermining the goal of a democratic transition”. The announcement follows reports of the killing of civilians in the central city of Wad Madani in recent days, however this was not…

ARSENAL moved to within four points of Premier League leaders Liverpool with victory over Tottenham in the north London derby at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners, who have played a game more than Liverpool, were desperate to return to winning ways after losing at home to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg and then going out to Manchester United on penalties in the FA Cup third round. Arsenal suffered another setback when, totally against the run of play, Son Heung-min’s shot was deflected off William Saliba past keeper David Raya after 25 minutes. The response came from a…

PALESTINIANS in Gaza are celebrating after mediators confirmed a ceasefire deal has been reached between Hamas and Israel after 15 months of war. The truce is set to take effect on Sunday, January 19. Israeli forces, however, are continuing with their attacks across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 40 Palestinians in the enclave since the agreement was announced, according to media reports. Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq says the deal reached in the Qatari capital, Doha, meets all of the Palestinian group’s conditions, including the full withdrawal of Israeli forces, the return of displaced people to their homes and a…

UK treasury and anticorruption minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned over a flurry of media reporting about her links to corruption charges being faced by her aunt, the deposed Bangladeshi former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, as well as how properties Siddiq’s family owns in the UK were paid for. Following the general election in July, Prime Minister Keir Starmer awarded Siddiq, 42, the portfolio for financial services policy. Her responsibilities included implementing measures to combat money laundering. However, in a letter to Starmer on Tuesday, Siddiq said she was resigning from her position because the furore over her links to her…

THE World Health Organization (WHO) has raised concerns over a suspected outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) in Tanzania, particularly in the Kagera region. The outbreak, which has claimed eight lives out of nine suspected cases, is causing significant worry due to its high fatality rate and the region’s strategic location as a transit hub. On 10 January 2025, WHO received credible reports of suspected MVD cases in Kagera. Initial reports revealed that six people were affected, and five had already died. The patients exhibited symptoms such as severe headaches, high fever, back pain, diarrhoea, vomiting blood, extreme weakness, and,…

A KENYAN government minister has alleged that the country’s national intelligence agency was behind the abduction of his son last year, as criticism against the rising cases of abductions continues. Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi said that it took a call by President William Ruto to have his son released by the National Intelligence Service (NIS). Muturi is the first member of the cabinet to publicly criticise the government’s handling of the spate of abductions in Kenya. In a statement to the police crime investigations unit on Tuesday, Muturi gave a detailed account of how his son, Leslie, was…

MANCHESTER City’s hopes of winning a fifth successive Premier League title suffered another blow as they threw away a 2-0 lead to draw at Brentford. The Bees trailed by two goals after 78 minutes, only for Yoane Wissa to pull one back before captain Christian Norgaard’s 92nd-minute headed equaliser saw them rescue a point in a thrilling finish. Brentford almost stole the victory in the 95th minute, only for Nathan Ake to head Bryan Mbeumo’s curled effort off the goalline. Pep Guardiola’s side went ahead in the 66th minute when Phil Foden leapt to cushion a side-footed volley from Kevin…

A PALESTINIAN teenager and three brothers were among at least six people killed in an Israeli air attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, according to reports. The Palestinian news agency Wafa said that an Israeli drone fired three missiles at a group of people near a traffic roundabout in the camp on Tuesday evening, killing six people, including a 15-year-old boy, and injuring several others. Five other victims of the attack were aged between 23 and 34, and included three brothers, Wafa reports. Earlier this month, an Israeli drone strike on the occupied West Bank’s…

AS a TikTok ban looms in the United States, young Americans are flocking to the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu as “TikTok refugees” in search of a similar experience. The app has risen to the top spot on the iOS and Google Play stores in the US in recent days as users prepare for TikTok to be banned on national security grounds from Sunday unless Chinese parent company ByteDance divests its ownership. Chinese lifestyle app Lemon8, which is also owned by ByteDance, has ranked as the second most downloaded app. Xiaohongshu, which has been described as China’s answer to Instagram,…

AT least 120 people are reported to have been killed in random shelling on Monday in the Dar-Salam area of the Sudanese city of Omdurman, across the Nile from the capital, Khartoum, according to a local volunteer network. The Ombada Emergency Response Room said the death toll was provisional, suggesting that the number of victims could rise. Rescuers say medical supplies are running low as health workers struggle to treat large numbers of people with injuries from bombardments. Sudan’s civil war, now 21 months old, has killed tens of thousands, uprooted over 12 million and pushed the country to the…