SOUTH Africa has defended weeklong naval drills with Russia, Iran, China and other countries as “essential”, describing the manoeuvres off its coast as a vital response to rising maritime tensions globally. The “Will for Peace 2026” exercises that began on Saturday off the coast of Cape Town come just days after the United States seized a Venezuela-linked Russian oil tanker in the North Atlantic, saying it had violated Western sanctions. The seizure, part of a continued US pressure campaign against Venezuela, followed US attacks on the South American country and the abduction of its president, Nicolas Maduro. The naval exercises…
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FOR Hani Naim, the wait is not for a cure, but for permission to save his own life. Living with cancer for six years, Naim had been approved for treatment abroad. But like thousands of others, he remains trapped in Gaza, barred from leaving by tightening Israeli restrictions. “I used to receive treatment in the West Bank and Jerusalem,” Naim told Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum. “Today, I cannot access any treatment at all. I need radiotherapy, and it no longer exists in Gaza.” Naim is one of 11,000 cancer patients currently stranded in the enclave, where the healthcare system…
UNITED States President Donald Trump has dismissed international law, saying only his “own morality” can curb the aggressive policies he is pursuing across the world after the abduction of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro. “I don’t need international law. I’m not looking to hurt people,” Trump told The New York Times on Thursday. Asked whether he needs to abide by international law, Trump said he does, but it “depends what your definition of international law is”. Trump has shown a willingness to use the brute force of the US military to achieve his foreign policy goals. On Saturday, the US launched an…
ONE month after an attempted coup shook Benin, the west African country will hold parliamentary and local elections Sunday, set to define the political landscape ahead of presidential polls in April. President Patrice Talon’s ruling coalition is expected to strengthen its already powerful hand in the ballots, with the main opposition Democrats party barred from the local polls — and from April’s presidential race — for failing to gather enough signatures to register. The Democrats will be running in parliamentary races Sunday, but risk ceding more ground to Talon’s three-party bloc, which currently holds 81 of the 109 seats in…
CHINESE, Russian and Iranian warships have arrived in South African waters for a week of naval drills as geopolitical tensions run high over the United States’s military intervention in Venezuela and its seizures of several oil tankers. China’s defence ministry said in a statement on Friday that the exercises, set to kick off with an opening ceremony on Saturday, are “joint operations to safeguard vital shipping lanes and economic activities”. Strikes on maritime targets and “counter-terrorism” rescues will be part of the drills, it said. Chinese, Russian and Iranian ships were seen moving into and out of the harbour that…
FEDERICO Valverde scored a stunning early free-kick as Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid to set up a Clasico meeting with Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final. Rodrygo doubled Real’s lead in the 55th minute before Alexander Sorloth pulled a goal back for Atletico, but it was the 13-time Super Cup winners who prevailed to reach Sunday’s final (19:00 GMT). Thursday’s semi-final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was only 77 seconds old when Los Blancos captain Valverde sent a 30-yard free-kick fizzing past Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak into the top corner. Rodrygo doubled Real’s lead 10 minutes into the second half…
AN Israeli attack on a tent in southern Gaza has killed at least three Palestinians and wounded three others, local rescuers say, as Israel continues to bomb the coastal enclave despite an October ceasefire. The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza said on Thursday that its teams recovered the bodies of three slain residents after the Israeli military bombed a family’s tent in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis. Three others were wounded, including one person who suffered critical injuries, the agency said in a post on Telegram. Separately, Israeli fire killed an 11-year-old Palestinian girl named Hamsa Housou in northern…
FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that the United States was “breaking free from international rules” and “gradually turning away” from some of its allies. Macron delivered his annual speech to French ambassadors at the Elysee Palace as European powers are scrambling to come up with a coordinated response to assertive US foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere following Washington’s capture of Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro and Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland. “The United States is an established power, but one that is gradually turning away from some of its allies and breaking free from international rules that it…
GHANA’s former finance minister, who is wanted at home on suspicion of corruption, has been detained by US immigration, his lawyers said. Ken Ofori-Atta, 66, has been in the United States since January last year to receive medical treatment including prostate cancer surgery. The former minister, who was declared a fugitive last February and was formally charged with corruption in November, has applied to extend his stay in the US, his lawyers said late Wednesday. They said the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took Ofori-Atta into custody on Tuesday over “the status of his current stay in the United…
THE US has suspended all assistance to the government of Somalia, alleging that officials destroyed a UN World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse and seized “donor-funded food aid”. “The Trump administration has a zero-tolerance policy for waste, theft, and diversion of life-saving assistance,” said a US state department statement on X. The message, posted on the account of the under secretary for foreign assistance, said reports had been received about officials illegally seizing 76 tonnes of food intended for “vulnerable Somalis”. Somali has denied the allegations, saying that the expansion work under way in the Mogadishu port, where the warehouse is…
THE quarter-final line-up for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 is now largely confirmed following Algeria’s extra-time victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday. News Point Nigeria Sports reports that Algeria edged DR Congo 1–0 in Rabat, with substitute Anis Boulbina scoring the decisive goal in the 119th minute to secure their place in the last eight. The win sets up a quarter-final clash against Nigeria, who had booked their spot a night earlier with a convincing 4–0 triumph over Mozambique. Victor Osimhen scored twice in that game to lead the Super Eagles through. Other teams…
AN INTERNATIONAL media association has denounced the Israeli government’s continued refusal to lift its ban on unrestricted media access to Gaza, despite the ceasefire in the embattled enclave. The Foreign Press Association (FPA) issued a statement on Tuesday expressing its “profound disappointment” with the government, which had told the Supreme Court two days earlier that the ban should be maintained due to “security reasons”. Israel, which has barred foreign journalists from independently entering Gaza since the war started in October 2023, was responding to an FPA petition seeking free and unfettered access for foreign journalists to the devastated territory. The…
UNITED States President Donald Trump has announced that he plans to withdraw the US from 66 United Nations and international organisations, including major forums for cooperation on climate change, peace and democracy. In a presidential memorandum shared by the White House on Wednesday evening, Trump said that the decision came after a review of which “organizations, conventions, and treaties are contrary to the interests of the United States”. The changes would see the US cease participation and also cut all funding to the affected entities, Trump added. The list shared by the White House included 35 non-UN organisations, including notably…
AT least 22 migrants have been killed and 65 others injured after a lorry they were travelling in overturned in Ethiopia’s north-eastern Afar region, authorities say. About 85 Ethiopian migrants were travelling along the eastern migration route when the lorry overturned in the town of Semera on Tuesday morning, a senior Afar official Mohammed Ali Biedo said in a statement. Their final destination was unclear but the route typically runs from Ethiopia through Djibouti, across the Red Sea to Yemen, and onward to Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries. Yemen is a major pathway for migrants from the Horn…
ISRAEL’s foreign minister has held talks with Somaliland’s president on his first visit to the breakaway region since Israel controversially recognised it as an independent country. Gideon Saar said Israel was determined to advance relations with Somaliland “with momentum”, while President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi hailed his visit as a “big day”. Last month Israel became the first country in the world to recognise Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia more than 30 years ago. Somalia sees Somaliland as being part of its territory, and condemned Saar’s visit as “unacceptable interference” in its affairs. Saar posted on X that his talks…
ALGERIA secured a dramatic 1-0 victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo in their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) last-16 tie on Tuesday, setting up a quarter-final showdown with Victor Osimhen’s Nigeria in Marrakesh on Saturday. A late strike by substitute Adil Boulbina in the 119th minute settled a tense encounter at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat. Released on the left, the 22-year-old forward, who plays for Al-Duhail in Qatar, advanced into the area and unleashed a powerful shot into the net, sparking wild celebrations among the 18,837 fans in attendance. Boulbina, making just his second appearance off…
IN a small tent overshadowed by the sound of nearby gunfire, seven-year-old Tulin prepares for her first day of school in two years. For most children, this would be a moment of excitement. For Tulin and her mother, it is a chapter of terror. The relentless Israeli war has destroyed the vast majority of Gaza’s educational infrastructure, forcing families to create makeshift “tent schools” in dangerous proximity to Israeli forces — an area demarcated by Israel as the “yellow zone” west of the separation line, often just a few metres away from danger. “Until my daughter gets to school, I…
UNITED States President Donald Trump has announced that Venezuela will turn over between 30 and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil. Trump said the oil, held in storage due to Washington’s embargo on Venezuela exports, would be sold at market prices and that he would control the resulting revenues to ensure the money is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the US. Trump added that he had directed his energy secretary, Chris Wright, to execute the plan “immediately”. “It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States,” Trump said on…
THE Central African Republic has re-elected President Faustin-Archange Touadera, according to provisional results released by the electoral authority on Tuesday. Touadera, 68, had been widely expected to win a third term and had touted his efforts to steady a nation long plagued by conflict. Part of the opposition had called for a boycott, condemning the election as a sham and lacking political dialogue. Touadera won more than 76 per cent of the vote, the National Authority of Elections said. His main opponent, Anicet-Georges Dologuele, came second with 15 per cent. Henri-Marie Dondra was third with three per cent. Turnout was…
AT least 13 people have been killed – eight of them children – after a drone strike on a house in the Sudanese city of el-Obeid, says the Sudan Doctors’ Network. Most of the dead were part of the same family, the medical group added. Although no group has claimed responsibility, the medics say the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out the attack in an area controlled by the army, and which it has been trying to penetrate for months. As the civil war between Sudan’s army and RSF rebels approaches its third year, the scale of suffering has…