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PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged Israel will fight until “total victory” in its continuing war on Gaza and promised to continue attacks on the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, as hopes faded for a ceasefire that could head off an all-out regional war. Several delegations walked out as Netanyahu approached the lectern to speak while supporters in the gallery cheered. “I didn’t intend to come here this year. My country is at war fighting for its life,” Netanyahu said on Friday. “But after I heard the lies and slanders levelled at my country by many of the speakers at this…

AROUND 60 women have now come forward to allege they were sexually abused by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, lawyers representing them said on Friday. A BBC documentary last week aired claims by women that Fayed, who died last year aged 94, raped and sexually abused them during his ownership of the luxury department store. The accusations make the Egyptian billionaire the latest high-profile figure to join a list of rich and powerful men, such as Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, disgraced by sexual abuse allegations. “The response has simply been enormous,” the lawyers said in a statement. “We can confirm…

A MINISTER in Senegal’s former government has been jailed on charges of extortion, embezzlement and money laundering during his previous role as head of the national lottery, his lawyer told AFP Friday. Lat Diop headed the national lottery from 2020 and then served as sports minister from 2023 to 2024 under ex-president Macky Sall. He is the first former government minister to be detained under the new authorities, who took office in April. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko have repeatedly said they will seek accountability from the previous administration. Diop was jailed late Thursday, the…

ZIMBABWE’s central bank has devalued its gold-backed currency by over 40% against the US dollar, indicating that the last ditch effort to stabilise the country’s volatile economy, is in trouble. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) made the decision to slash the local exchange rate to 24 Zig to $1 (£0.75) on Friday. This slump is due to an increase in demand for the US dollar, which is also legal tender. It comes after warnings from by large retailers of store closures if the rate remained fixed at the previous level. The Zig, which stands for Zimbabwe Gold, was launched…

MANCHESTER City will face Tottenham in the fourth round of the English League Cup final. The draw was made on Wednesday after the third-round games. Man City’s game will be a repeat of the 2020/21 League Cup final which Pep Guardiola’s side won 1-0 thanks to an Aymeric Laporte header. Elsewhere, Brighton will take on Liverpool while Manchester United host Leicester City. The games will be played in the week commencing October 28th, 2024. Full League Cup Fourth Round Fixtures: Below are the fourth-round League Cup fixtures for the 2024/2025 season: Brentford v Sheffield Wednesday Southampton v Stoke Tottenham v…

HUNDREDS of people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Lebanon, health authorities said, as Israeli air forces expanded their bombardment of the country for a fourth consecutive day despite growing international calls for a ceasefire. According to an Al Jazeera tally, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reported on Thursday that at least 29 people were killed in Israeli attacks – the majority of whom were Syrians in the town of Younine in the Bekaa valley, along the country’s eastern border with Syria. Other attacks hit villages and towns in the country’s south, including Tyre, and at least two people…

LAWMAKERS probing the Pennsylvania assassination attempt against Donald Trump blamed Secret Service failures during their first hearing Thursday for a series of security lapses that allowed a gunman to open fire on the Republican presidential nominee. The Secret Service initially blamed local law enforcement over the July 13 attack at Trump’s campaign event in Butler, which left one man dead and the ex-president nursing a bloodied ear where a bullet grazed him. But members of a cross-party House task force set up to investigate the incident heard that the agency, which protects US political leaders, communicated poorly over securing the…

SUDAN’s army has launched a major offensive against the powerful paramilitary group it is fighting in the country’s civil war, targeting areas in the capital it lost at the start of the conflict. In dawn strikes on Thursday, government forces shelled Rapid Support Forces (RSF) bases in the capital Khartoum, and Bahri to its north. Sudan has been embroiled in a war since the army and the RSF began a vicious struggle for power in April 2023, leading to what the UN has called one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Up to 150,000 people have been killed in the…

SENEGAL’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko on Thursday vowed investigations into what he termed “widespread corruption” under the previous administration, accusing it of having fiddled its financial figures. “The policy of unbridled indebtedness (under former president Macky Sall) has led to the use of resources that is not transparent and that is conducive to widespread corruption,” he told journalists, denouncing the “embezzlement of public funds en masse”. Sonko and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye swept to power in March on a pledge of radical change in the West African nation. The pair ran on a ticket of social justice, sovereignty and leftist…

MANCHESTER United stuttered to a 1-1 draw at home to FC Twente in their opening Europa League game on Wednesday as Christian Eriksen scored but then made an error that led to the equaliser. The Denmark international put United ahead with a powerful first-half strike on a soaking wet night at Old Trafford before Sam Lammers equalised for Twente on 68 minutes after Eriksen was caught in possession. United manager Erik ten Hag selected a strong side to take on Twente, a club where the Dutchman came through the youth ranks and had three spells as a player before moving…

LEBANESE Prime Minister Najib Mikati has implored members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to act as Israel’s bombardment of his country has now killed at least 620 people in the three days since Monday. An urgent meeting of the security council was called on Wednesday by France, with the French foreign minister taking the opportunity to unveil efforts with the United States to reach a temporary pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. “Israel is violating our sovereignty by sending their warplanes and drones to our skies,” Mikati told the emergency meeting at UN headquarters in New York. De-escalation…

DONALD Trump has hit out at Volodymyr Zelenskyy for not negotiating with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, claiming that even the “worst deal” would be better than the current level of death and destruction. Speaking at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump said that Ukraine would never be able to replace its “many dead people” and towns and cities destroyed in the war. “Those cities are gone. They’re gone, and we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelenskyy. There was no deal that he could have…

MORE than 430 people have died from cholera in the past month, Sudan’s health ministry says, as civil war continues to ravage the country. The number of infections has risen to about 14,000, it said in a statement. It said it was doing all it can to “combat cholera in the affected states, amid the rise in infections”. Getting treatment to those affected areas is hugely complicated by the conflict which has killed up to 150,000 people since it began last year, according to the US special envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello. Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that…

ESWATINI main opposition leader has been poisoned as part of an assassination attempt and is being treated in hospital, his party says. Mlungisi Makhanya, 46, has been living in exile in neighbouring South Africa for the last two years, saying he fears for his life at home following a violent crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Africa’s last remaining absolute monarchy. “Our president has been stabilised but he is still in a critical condition,” the People’s United Democratic Movement (Pudemo) said. Eswatini spokesman Alpheous Nxumalo denied state involvement, saying the “government does not kill or poison suspects”. Pudemo says the attempt…

BENIN prosecutors said Wednesday that the Republican Guard commander, a former sports minister and a businessman had been arrested on suspicion of planning a “coup d’etat” in the small West African nation. Elonm Mario Metonou, the special prosecutor at Benin’s court for financial crimes and terrorism, said the alleged coup was planned to take place on Friday. “It appears the Republican Guard commander in charge of the president’s security was engaged by the minister Oswald Homeky and Olivier Boko in order to carry out a coup by force on September 27, 2024,” the prosecutor said. The court said Homeky was…

THE 2027 Champions League final will be moved away from the San Siro in Milan due to uncertainties over potential renovations, UEFA said on Tuesday. European football’s governing body said that the San Siro had lost the showpiece fixture as the city of Milan could not guarantee the ground and the surrounding area “would not be affected by refurbishment works”. “It was decided not to assign the final to Milan and to re-open the bidding process to appoint a suitable venue, with a decision expected in May/June 2025,” added UEFA. AC Milan and Inter Milan, who both play their home…

TENS of thousands of people flee southern Lebanon with little idea where to find safety as intense Israeli bombardment across Lebanon kills at least 569 people, including 50 children, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Hezbollah confirmed that senior leader Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi was killed on Tuesday, hours after Israel claimed it killed a top commander in a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which left six people dead. The Israeli military has said it has conducted a series of air strikes on Lebanon in four waves, one of the largest campaigns in its history, with 250 fighter jets dropping 2,000 munitions.…

THE United States said Tuesday it will waive visa requirements for citizens of Qatar, making the close Gulf partner the first Arab country to clear the hurdle. The energy-rich Gulf monarchy cleared the “stringent security requirements” to become the 42nd member of the visa waiver program, the Department of Homeland Security announced. The agreement “will deepen our strategic partnership and enhance the flow of people and commerce between our two countries,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. Qatar — where citizens make up a small minority of residents — has been jockeying with fellow wealthy Gulf Arab…

ZAMBIA’s President Hakainde Hichilema has suspended three top judges over alleged judicial misconduct, prompting accusations of political interference in the judiciary. In 2016, the three Constitutional Court judges dismissed President Hichilema’s petition, in which he challenged the election victory of former President Edgar Lungu. They also took part in a controversial ruling allowing Lungu to stand in the 2021 elections, despite having twice served as Zambia’s president. Political tensions are rising in Zambia ahead of elections in 2026, when Hichilema and Lungu are expected to face each other for a fourth time. The three were due to be part of…

A LONG-DISTANCE bus has come under attack by gunmen in South Sudan on a main road south of the capital, Juba, leaving at least one person dead and several others feared kidnapped, the army has said. The passenger vehicle, heading for the Ugandan capital, Kampala, was targeted on Tuesday morning. Images from the scene show flames engulfing the inside of the bus and black smoke rising up into the sky. Despite a peace deal being in place to end years of civil war in South Sudan, insecurity remains rife in many parts of the country. Army spokesperson Maj Gen Lul…