Author: Editor

ISRAELI air raids have killed dozens of people in the Baalbek region in eastern Lebanon, a local official said, as a United States mediator sought to advance ceasefire talks in Israel. At least 47 people were killed and 22 others wounded in the attacks, Bachir Khodr, governor of Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel province, said in a post on X on Thursday. Rescue operations were under way, he added. Elsewhere in Lebanon, Beirut shook as Israeli air strikes hit the southern suburbs about a dozen times, sending up clouds of debris in some of the most intense air strikes yet. The Israeli army…

MOSCOW on Thursday launched an intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine for the first time, Kyiv said, marking the latest escalation of the conflict since Ukraine fired Western-supplied long-range missiles on Russia. The Ukrainian air force said in a statement that Russian forces in the morning had launched several types of missiles at the central city of Dnipro, targeting critical infrastructure. “In particular, an intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation,” the statement said. A source in the Ukrainian air force confirmed to AFP that it was the first time since the Kremlin launched its…

THIS year’s winner of France’s biggest book prize is being sued in Algeria over claims he stole the story from a patient of his psychiatrist wife. Kamel Daoud was awarded the Goncourt prize earlier this month for his novel Houris, a searing account of Algeria’s 1990s civil war in which up to 200,000 people were killed. But a woman who survived one of the massacres has appeared on Algerian television, alleging that the book’s heroine – named Fajr – is based on her own personal story. As a girl, Saada Arbane had her throat cut in an Islamist militant attack…

SOUTH Africa’s central bank on Thursday cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 7.75 percent, adopting caution amid mixed data and global uncertainty. It follows a fall in inflation in October to 2.8 percent, its lowest level since June 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Inflation appears well contained in the near term, South Africa’s Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago told reporters. However it was “highly uncertain” in the medium term given the possibility of higher costs of food, electricity and water, as well as insurance premiums and wage settlements. While recent manufacturing data was subdued, mining was…

FOOTBALL fans in Sudan, a country torn apart by war, are savouring a rare moment of pride after the national team qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations finals. The feat, achieved at the expense of Ghana, one of the continent’s traditional powerhouses, comes despite the team having to play all their matches abroad and the domestic league being suspended. Streets of Port Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of displaced endure agonising waits for water and healthcare, came alive after the match, with car horns blaring and ecstatic fans waving Sudanese flags from the windows. The match marked Sudan’s 10th…

THE United States Senate has rejected a bill that aimed to block a US weapons sale to Israel amid the country’s war on Gaza, an outcome that rights advocates say does not take away from a growing push to condition aid to Washington’s top ally. A resolution to halt the sale of tank rounds failed to advance in a 79 to 18 vote on Wednesday, with prominent progressives and mainstream Democratic senators backing the effort. Two more resolutions to halt the sale of other weapons also failed after winning fewer than 20 votes. Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the so-called Joint…

THE eldest son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit is suspected of a second rape, police said on Wednesday, two days after his arrest over another allegation of sexual assault. Born of a relationship prior to Mette-Marit’s marriage to heir Prince Haakon, Marius Borg Hoiby was arrested on Monday evening on suspicion of one case of rape. Since the investigation unearthed a second allegation, a lawyer for the force said, police were requesting the 27-year-old be remanded in custody. “It involves sexual intercourse without consent with a woman incapable of resisting the act,” police lawyer Andreas Kruszewski said on the sidelines…

VETERAN Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye appeared in a military court in Kampala on Wednesday accused of seeking to compromise national security, after his reported abduction in neighbouring Kenya at the weekend. The manner of Besigye’s detention has caused an uproar, with concerns over Kenya’s role and the heightened government crackdown on Uganda’s opposition. Besigye, 68, a medical doctor and longtime critic of President Yoweri Museveni, was brought to the General Court Martial in the Ugandan capital under a heavily armed military escort. He appeared in the dock with another opposition figure, Hajji Lutale Kamulegeya, who was also snatched in…

MALI’s junta chief on Wednesday sacked civilian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga and the government, days after Maiga issued a rare criticism of the military rulers. “The duties of the prime minister and the members of the government are terminated,” said a decree issued by Colonel Assimi Goita and read out by the secretary general of the presidency on state television station ORTM. The West African country, plagued by jihadist and separatist violence, has been led by the military since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021. In June 2022, the junta promised to organise elections and hand over power to…

RETIRING tennis superstar Rafael Nadal lost 6-4, 6-4 to Botic van de Zandschulp in a Davis Cup quarter-final singles rubber on Tuesday as the Netherlands took a 1-0 lead against Spain. The 22-time Grand Slam winner will call time on his career in professional tennis at the end of Spain’s participation in the tournament in Malaga, after two injury-ravaged years. Doubts hung over Nadal’s involvement until the official announcement from team captain David Ferrer confirmed he would play in the first singles rubber of the opening finals clash. The 38-year-old appeared emotional during the Spanish national anthem, and fans filled…

MORE than 200 children have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched a military campaign focused on its northern neighbour two months ago, the United Nations agency for children (UNICEF) has said. An average of three children have been killed every day in Lebanon, UNICEF told reporters on Tuesday, as Israel has intensified its bombing campaign across the country. It warned that as in Gaza, despite the horrific toll on Lebanon’s children “those with influence” were failing to mount a meaningful response. “Despite more than 200 children killed in Lebanon in less than two months, a disconcerting pattern has emerged:…

BRAZILIAN police on Tuesday arrested four soldiers guarding the G20 summit over an alleged plot to assassinate then President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a 2022 “coup,” a federal police source told AFP. The four “were arrested in Rio, where they were participating in the security operation for the G20 leaders’ meeting,” said the source, who added that a police officer was also taken into custody. A statement by Brazil’s federal police said the suspects were “mostly soldiers with special forces training,” but made no mention of them being part of the G20 summit security deployment. They were arrested…

THE opposition leader of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, has won the territory’s presidential election. More popularly known as Irro, he won with 64% of the vote to become Somaliland’s sixth president since it broke away from Somalia in 1991. The 69-year-old, a former speaker of Somaliland’s parliament, beat incumbent Musa Abdi Bihi, who took 35% of the vote. During campaigning, Irro said his party would review a controversial deal to lease landlocked Ethiopia a 20km (12-mile) section of its coastline for 50 years to set up a naval base – an agreement that has caused a…

KENYA’s Catholic Church has rejected a donation of about $40,000 (£32,000) made by President William Ruto. He offered the money towards the building of a priest’s house and as a gift to the choir during Mass on Sunday at the Soweto Catholic Church in the capital, Nairobi. The donation followed a recent statement by Catholic bishops, who had hit out at the government for failing to fulfil their electoral promises. Churches have been under pressure this year from young anti-tax protesters who have accused them of being too close to politicians. Following Ruto’s much-publicised donation on Sunday, many Kenyans urged…

RODRIGO Bentancur has been handed a seven-game ban and a £100,000 fine by an independent regulatory commission following his racist comments about Son Heung-min during pre-season. The FA statement on Monday said: “An independent regulatory commission has imposed a seven-match suspension and £100,000 fine on Rodrigo Bentancur for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a media interview. “It was alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder breached FA Rule E3.1 as he acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute. “It was further alleged that this constitutes an “aggravated…

ISRAEL’s devastating bombing of Lebanon has reverberated around the world, reaching as far as the suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne. In Sydney’s Bankstown neighbourhood and Coburg in Melbourne, where Australia’s vibrant Lebanese community is visible in the local shops, restaurants and places of worship, Israel’s latest war on Lebanon has ignited a new wave of trauma. “I think 99 percent of the Lebanese in Australia still have family in Lebanon,” Michael Kheirallah, founder and chairman of the Victorian Lebanese Community Council, told Al Jazeera. “That’s why the community are watching the news almost 24 hours,” he said. “Some of them…

THE European Union Monday widened sanctions against Iran over its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine, including targeting vessels and ports used to transfer drones and missiles, as Britain also expanded its measures. In a move decried by Tehran, the 27-nation bloc said it prohibited the export, transfer, supply or sale from the EU to Iran of components used to make missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It also banned any transaction with ports “owned, operated or controlled” by sanctioned individuals and entities — or otherwise used to supply Russia with drones, missiles, related technology and components. “This measure includes…

AN overwhelming majority of Gabonese people have voted for a new constitution, military authorities say, in a move that marks a new phase for the country following last year’s coup. Provisional results showed 92% of voters backed the new constitution, according to the country’s electoral body. The outcome sets the stage for a transition to civilian rule, although critics say it is designed to allow coup leader Brice Oligui Nguema to remain in power. Nguema is yet to openly say whether he will run in the election. Voter turnout was estimated at 54%, according to the Committee for the Transition…

A 21-YEAR-OLD has become the latest Ugandan TikToker to be sent to prison after creating a video that was said to insult President Yoweri Museveni. Emmanuel Nabugodi appeared for the sentencing on Monday after pleading guilty last week to four charges, including hate speech and spreading malicious information about the president. He was sentenced to 32 months in jail. Nabugodi, known for sharing comedy content to his 20,000 followers, made a film of a mock trial of the head of state. In it he called for Museveni’s public flogging. Rights groups have frequently complained about restrictions on the freedom of…

ENGLAND blew away 10-man Republic of Ireland 5-0 to wrap up promotion to the Nations League top flight as four players netted their first international goals on Sunday, while Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick to help Norway also top their group. Euro 2024 runners-up England secured top spot in Group B2 in Lee Carsley’s final game in interim charge before the arrival of Thomas Tuchel as manager. Greece finished second despite a 2-0 win over Finland in the other game in the group and will head into the playoffs in March. England struggled to break down a resolute Ireland in…