UNITED Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon have said the Israeli army “deliberately” damaged one of their positions in southern Lebanon, in the latest incident reported by the force that remains deployed in all of its positions. An Israeli “army bulldozer deliberately demolished an observation tower and perimeter fence of a UN position” in southern Lebanon, the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement, adding that its forces remain in all positions “despite the pressure being exerted”. “We remind the [Israeli forces] and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property…
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BRAZILIAN President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday canceled a trip to Russia for a BRICS summit after injuring his head, his office announced. It did not say how the injury occurred but said he was taken to a hospital where doctors found he had suffered a cut to the back of his head and advised him against long-distance travel. Local media said Lula had fallen in his bathroom on Saturday night, causing a cut that required stitches. The 78-year-old Lula will, however, participate by videoconference in the BRICS meeting and will carry on his normal duties this week…
EGYPT has been certified as malaria free, with the World Health Organization (WHO) calling the achievement “truly historic” and the culmination of nearly a century of work to stamp out the disease. “Malaria is as old as Egyptian civilisation itself, but the disease that plagued pharaohs now belongs to its history and not its future,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on Sunday. “This certification of Egypt as malaria-free is truly historic, and a testament to the commitment of the people and government of Egypt to rid themselves of this ancient scourge.” Globally, 44 countries and one…
THE WHO chief on Sunday urged Rwanda to keep up its fightback against Marburg, as the country battles an outbreak of one of the world’s deadliest viruses. There have been 62 confirmed cases and 15 deaths in the outbreak, which was first announced in late September. No new cases have been detected in the last six days and 44 people have recovered from infection. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, visited Rwanda to see the outbreak response for himself and hailed the country’s handling of the situation. “We’re pleased to see that there have been no…
THE Department of State Service (DSS) has withdrawn Adegboyega Fasasi as Chief Security Officer (CSO) to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This newspaper gathered that Rasheed Atanda Lawal, a Deputy Director at the secret police, has been appointed as replacement for Fasasi. Sources at the Presidential Villa hinted our correspondent that Fasasi, who has served as CSO since Tinubu became President, was sent on a professional training. According to sources privy to the development, the Director-General of the DSS, Tosin Ajayi, had requested President Tinubu to approve the release of Fasasi to proceed on a strategic training course. Lawal is said…
MIKEL Arteta said it was “an accident waiting to happen” – but just how costly could Arsenal’s red card problem be to the Gunners’ title hopes? Just eight games into the new Premier League season and already Arsenal have had three players sent off. William Saliba was the latest to be shown red after he was dismissed for the first time in his career in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Bournemouth, which ended Arsenal’s unbeaten start to the campaign. It follows red cards for Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard earlier in the campaign and each time Arsenal have gone down to…
THREE partially functioning hospitals treating severely wounded patients and sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza are now out of service after coming under intense Israeli fire, a Gaza health official told Al Jazeera, as the siege on Jabalia enters its third week, with at least 33 more people killed in the northern area. Israeli forces bombed al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia early on Saturday, and have also shelled Kamal Adwan and the Indonesian hospitals in Beit Lahiya over the past few hours, Al Jazeera correspondents have reported. “We cannot count the number of those killed. The numbers are…
COLOMBIA, the world’s biggest cocaine exporter, set a new record last year for production of the drug and cultivation of the coca leaf it is made from, a United Nations report said Friday. Coca leaf cultivation was 10 percent higher last year than in 2022, while cocaine production rose 53 percent from 1,738 tonnes to 2,600, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). These were the highest numbers since the UN started monitoring in 2001. Most Colombian cocaine is destined for the United States and Europe. Coca leaf production now spreads over 253,000 hectares (625,100 acres) in…
A BRITISH national has told the BBC that he and several Turkish citizens were abducted in the Kenyan capital Nairobi by masked men on Friday, with four of the Turkish citizens still missing. Necdet Seyitoğlu, who lived in the UK for 18 years before moving to Kenya two years ago, said he was released after eight hours when he showed his alleged abductors a copy of his British passport. In a statement, the UK Foreign Office said they were “providing consular support to a British man and his family following an incident in Kenya”. Kenyan police told the BBC they…
THE lawyer for Mozambique’s leading opposition candidate Venancio Mondlane, who ran for president in October 9 elections, was gunned down in Maputo on Saturday. The lawyer, Elvino Dias, was killed with another candidate, Paulo Guambe, from the Podemos party backing Mondlane. Two gunmen shot up their car while it was immobile on a road in the centre of the capital, witnesses said. Podemos head Albino Forquilha confirmed the killings to AFP, while the national lawyers’ association expressed “deep shock” at Dias’s death. A civil society observer group, Mais Integridade, called the “repugnant” murders an “act of intimidation” undermining democracy. Police…
CRISTIANO Ronaldo leads the list of the world’s highest-paid footballers in 2024, with total earnings of $285 million, according to Forbes. In an article posted by Forbes on Thursday, the Al Nassr star, 39, earns $220 million on the field and $65 million from off-field activities, including brand partnerships and his own businesses. Ronaldo’s global appeal is evident, with a social media following exceeding 900 million across Instagram, Facebook, and X. His recent foray into YouTube has also been a success, quickly surpassing 1 million subscribers and accumulating over 544 million views. Lionel Messi ranks second with $135 million in…
THE one million children in Gaza are living a “hell on Earth”, the UN said Friday, with around 40 children having been killed there every day over the past year. More than a year into Israel’s war against Hamas in the besieged Palestinian territory “children continue to suffer unspeakable daily harm”, said James Elder, spokesman for the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF. “Gaza is the real-world embodiment of hell on Earth for its one million children,” he told reporters in Geneva. “And it’s getting worse, day by day.” Since Hamas’s deadly October 7 attack inside Israel, which sparked the war,…
NORTH Korea has decided to send a “large-scale” troop deployment to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, with 1,500 special forces already in Russia’s Far East and undergoing training, Seoul’s spy agency said Friday. The announcement sparked anger in Kyiv, which demanded a “strong reaction” from its European and US allies, and concern in Paris. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the move smacked of “desperation” from Moscow. Seoul’s National Intelligence Service released detailed satellite images it said showed the first deployment of elite North Korean soldiers being moved by Russian military vessels to Vladivostok. Seoul’s spy agency said that between…
SOME 1,100 people across Africa have died from mpox, the African Union’s health agency said Thursday, warning that the epidemic was “going out of control” without further action. In all, 42,000 cases have been recorded in Africa since January, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said, with cases reported for the first time in Zambia and Zimbabwe. This brings to 18 the number of African countries where mpox has been officially detected this year, it said. “Mpox is going out of control if we don’t act,” Africa CDC head Jean Kaseya told an online media briefing. “I’m…
KENYA’s parliament on Friday unanimously voted to back President William Ruto’s pick to replace his impeached deputy Rigathi Gachagua, even as a High Court injunction threw the historic political process into disarray. In a fast-moving political drama, Gachagua was sacked by the upper house on Thursday night on accusations of stirring ethnic hatred and undermining the judiciary, charges he denied and vowed to fight in court. Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki was swiftly nominated to replace Gachagua in a shake-up that analysts suggested could help Ruto consolidate his grip on power that has been shaken by recent anti-government demonstrations, the biggest…
REAL Madrid fans rallied around star striker Kylian Mbappe on Thursday as the France captain battles a media frenzy linking him to a rape investigation in Sweden. Swedish prosecutors on Tuesday confirmed an investigation had been launched — without naming Mbappe — following an alleged rape at a plush Stockholm hotel on October 10. Media in Sweden had reported the French superstar was the target of the probe following his two-day visit to the capital last week, which Mbappe and his lawyer have denied. For Juan Castro, a 72-year-old Real Madrid supporter, the press reports are merely “fake news” that…
ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that the war in Gaza is “not over” following the alleged killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, even as Western leaders expressed hope that his death would present an opportunity to end the yearlong conflict. “Today, evil has suffered a heavy blow, but the task before us is not yet complete,” Netanyahu said in a recorded address on Thursday. Netanyahu’s sentiments were echoed by other prominent Israeli politicians, including Benny Gantz, the leader of the centre-right National Unity party. Gantz, who resigned from Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet in June amid disagreements over the…
BILLIONAIRE Elon Musk has donated almost $75 million to the political action committee he created to support Donald Trump’s US presidential campaign, according to filings made late Tuesday, illustrating the Tesla founder’s growing commitment to the Republican’s cause. Musk, estimated to be the world’s richest man, has taken an increasingly visible role in Trump’s campaign, accompanying him on stage at a recent rally in Pennsylvania and frequently lambasting his opponent, Democrat Kamala Harris, on social media. Trump frequently name-checks Musk at rallies, and has promised to appoint him to a committee tasked with slashing government bureaucracy. Harris and Trump are…
NIGER’s military authorities have banned rice, cereal and other food exports to all countries except fellow junta-led Burkina Faso and Mali to protect local supply, the government has said. With the Sahel nation experiencing high inflation on certain foods, the products banned for export besides rice include legumes such as cowpea as well as cereals like millet, sorghum and corn. Junta chief Abdourahamane Tiani took the measure “to protect the supply of the internal market” and “make the goods of mass consumption accessible”, the government said in a statement late on Wednesday. “These prohibitions do not apply to exports” to…
THE Kenyan Senate voted on Thursday to oust Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in a historic impeachment vote. The upper house has so far voted to impeach the 59-year-old on five charges out of a total of 11 against him, after two days of hearings. The Senate only had to find him guilty of one charge to remove him from office. He is the first deputy president to be ousted in this manner since impeachment was introduced in Kenya’s revised 2010 constitution. A similar motion against President William Ruto’s number two was overwhelmingly approved by the lower house National Assembly last…