LIVERPOOL moved a step closer to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title as a 5-0 thrashing of West Ham opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League. Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota were on target for the rampant Reds in east London as they ended the year as huge favourites to deliver just a second league title in 35 years. Nottingham Forest are the surprise closest challengers in second, but Arsenal and Chelsea can close the gap when they are in action later in the week. Arne Slot has repeatedly…
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A 20-DAY-OLD baby in Gaza has died from severe cold, the fifth such fatality from hypothermia in six days in the Israeli-besieged Palestinian enclave. Jumaa al-Batran died on Sunday while his twin brother, Ali, remains in intensive care at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said in a statement. Jumaa’s father, Yahya al-Batran, said his son was found with his head as “cold as ice” when he woke up on Sunday. He said the twins were born one month prematurely and spent just a day in the nursery at the hospital in Deir el-Balah, which like other health centres…
AMONG the maize, yam and peanut farms of Savelugu-Nanton, a remote district of northern Ghana, the legacy of Jimmy Carter is less complicated than it is back in the former US president’s homeland. Thanks to the work of his charity, The Carter Center, locals are nowadays spared the misery of Guinea worm disease – a parasite that breeds in the human belly and emerges through the skin before laying larvae in stagnant pools to await the next victim. Carter’s work in fighting the bug and tracking votes in poor countries won him a Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002. It…
THE movement for visa-free travel in Africa is gaining traction, with Rwanda and Kenya recently opening their borders to all African citizens. This action aims to promote unity, economic prosperity, and cultural interchange in the continent. While visa-free travel is not yet universal in Africa, a few countries have fully embraced the concept. Here are five African countries that currently offer visa-free entry to travellers from across the continent. 1. Seychelles Seychelles has been a pioneer in promoting travel without a visa for a long time. By 2018, it was the only African nation that allowed international nationals, including those…
CHAD voted Sunday in a general election the government says is a key step towards ending military rule, with turnout expected to be low after the opposition called for a boycott. Midday figures suggested a turnout of just 38 percent to choose a new parliament, provincial assemblies and local councils, according to the elections management agency ANGE. Election officials in the upmarket district where the president’s family and ruling dignitaries live put voter apathy down to the “cold weather”. But opposition parties have urged Chad’s eight million voters to shun the election, the results of which they say had been…
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…