SPAIN is enduring its worst flooding disaster in decades, with at least 95 people dead and dozens more missing, after huge rains swept the eastern province of Valencia and beyond. Torrential rain on Tuesday triggered flash floods which swept away bridges and buildings and forced people to climb on to roofs or cling to trees to survive. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has declared three days of national mourning as the extreme conditions continue, restricting some rescue efforts. The death toll is feared to climb as “there are many missing people”, the government says. At least 92 deaths were recorded in…
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SEVERAL women have taken their lives in Sudan’s central Gezira state after being raped by paramilitary fighters in the brutal civil war raging in the country, rights groups and activists have said. The reports come after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was accused by the UN of “atrocious crimes”, including mass killings, in the state last week. With RSF fighters continuing to advance, one rights group has told the BBC it is in contact with six women who are contemplating taking their own lives as they fear being sexually assaulted. But the RSF has dismissed a recent UN report…
NIGER Republic’s ruling military junta has struck a deal with US billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink to expand coverage in the poorly connected country, state media said on Wednesday. The vast desert nation’s internet penetration rate currently stands at 32 percent, according to the Electronic Communications Regulation and Mail Authority (ARCEP). Starlink will bring broadband coverage to 80 to 100 percent of the territory, Nigerien communication and digital economy minister Sidi Mohamed Raliou said on state television. Starlink’s network of low-Earth orbit satellites can provide internet access to remote locations or areas that normal communications infrastructure do not…
SPORTING boss Ruben Amorim says he has not yet made a decision about his future after Manchester United expressed an interest in appointing him manager. Sporting confirmed earlier on Tuesday that United had made an approach and are willing to pay Amorim’s 10m euros (£8.3m) release clause. Speaking after his side’s 3-1 Portuguese League Cup quarter-final win against Nacional on Tuesday evening, Amorim told Sport TV:, external “Nothing is decided yet. I don’t know if it’s the farewell game or not.” Then in a news conference he added: “There is interest from Manchester United, there is the payment of a…
ISRAEL’s military has again bombed residential buildings in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, killing at least 19 Palestinians, as civilians in the besieged northern town searched for survivors in the aftermath of an earlier Israeli raid that killed nearly 100 people. The latest Israeli bombing, late on Tuesday night, hit several homes belonging to the Al Louh family, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza. The attack came less than a day after Israel’s military bombed a five-storey building belonging to the Abu Nasr family in Beit Lahiya, killing at least 93 people and wounding dozens more. The Ministry of Health…
BARBARA Bush, one of Republican former US president George W. Bush’s daughters, has endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris in the razor-thin White House race and campaigned for her over the weekend, she told People magazine. Bush, 42, spent part of the weekend knocking on doors for the vice president’s campaign in Pennsylvania, considered one of the most crucial swing states that will decide the November election between Harris and Republican Donald Trump. “It was inspiring to join friends and meet voters with the Harris-Walz campaign in Pennsylvania this weekend,” she told People. “I’m hopeful they’ll move our country forward and protect…
CHAD on Tuesday urged the international community to step up support for counter-terrorism efforts in the Sahel, after Boko Haram jihadists killed around 40 Chadian troops in a surprise attack. The jihadist group late on Sunday targeted a military garrison in the Lake Chad region, an area plagued by various armed groups, in an offensive that killed some 40 “brave Chadian soldiers”, the government said in a statement published by spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah on Tuesday. Around 20 people were also wounded, military sources said. “The government is calling on the international community to intensify its support and to reinforce assistance…
FRANCE’s President Emmanuel Macron has told Morocco’s parliament that he believes Western Sahara should be under Moroccan sovereignty, and has pledged to invest French money there. Western Sahara is a territory on the north-western coast of Africa that has been the subject of a decades-long dispute. It was once a Spanish colony, and is now mostly controlled by Morocco and partly by the Algerian-backed Polisario Front – which says it represents the indigenous Sahrawi people and wants an independent state. France was the former colonial power in both Morocco and Algeria. It joins other nations including Spain, the US and…
THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has warned landowners within the territory to pay all outstanding ground rent or risk losing their properties. Wike made the remark during the inauguration of the upgrading of War College/Army Checkpoint Road and other ancillary roads in Ushafa, Bwari Area Council, Abuja, on Monday. Describing ground rent as the “FCT’s oil,” the minister stressed the importance of these payments in enabling the FCT Administration to provide infrastructure. He said: “I have published the names of debtors in today’s newspapers. “Some of you seated here are debtors; pay your ground rent.…
MANCHESTER United are in talks about appointing Sporting manager Ruben Amorim as Erik ten Hag’s replacement. Dutchman Ten Hag was sacked on Monday following the side’s poor start to the season. Amorim, 39, is a highly regarded coach who has won two Portuguese league titles with Sporting – including their first in 19 years – since joining in 2020. The extent of the talks over Amorim are not known. It is also not clear whether other alternatives remain in the frame to take the Old Trafford job. However, Amorim is now becoming the leading candidate. Speaking at a news conference…
ISRAEL’s Mossad spy chief and the CIA director have attended talks in the Qatari capital, Doha – the first high-level talks since ceasefire efforts aimed at ending the war in Gaza broke down in August. David Barnea and William Burns were joined by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani in efforts to revive talks after the killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar on October 16. Families of Israeli captives have also built pressure on the Israeli government to sign a deal to secure the release of their relatives. Nearly 100 captives still remain in Gaza…
HIS Majesty King Mohammed VI, accompanied by HRH Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan and HRH Prince Moulay Rachid, and His Excellency Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, signed, Monday at the Royal Office in Rabat, the Declaration on “the reinforced exceptional partnership” between the Kingdom of Morocco and the French Republic, aimed at enabling the two countries to better address shared challenges by mobilizing all relevant sectors of bilateral, regional and international cooperation. See below the full text of this Declaration: “1. His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, and Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic,…
A LEADING member of Malawi’s opposition has been charged with plotting to kill the country’s President, Lazarus Chakwera. Patricia Kaliati, Secretary-General of the UTM party, was arrested last week on suspicion of “conspiring with others to commit a serious offence”. Appearing on Monday at a court in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, the 57-year-old did not speak. But her lawyer argued that the politician maintained her innocence, local media reports. Few details of the alleged plot have been shared and various opposition figures claim the charges against Kaliati are politically motivated. UTM supporters gathered outside the court and sang anti-government songs ahead…
AN attack by the jihadist group Boko Haram killed around 40 Chadian troops overnight near the Nigerian border, prompting an army operation to hunt down the militants, the government and local sources said on Monday. Members of Boko Haram targeted a garrison housing more than 200 Chadian soldiers late Sunday in the Lake Chad region, an area plagued by various armed groups, local sources told AFP. The presidency said in a statement that the attack struck near Ngouboua in the west of the country, “tragically leaving about 40 people dead”.Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno visited the scene early on…
FINALLY, Manchester United have sacked manager Erik ten Hag following the club’s poor start to the season. Ten Hag’s final game was Sunday’s 2-1 defeat by West Ham that left the club 14th in the Premier League with just three wins from their opening nine matches. United are also 21st of 36 teams in the Europa League table, having drawn their three opening fixtures. Ruud van Nistelrooy, who joined the club as Ten Hag’s assistant last summer, has been named as interim manager. The club said Van Nistelrooy would be in charge “while a permanent head coach is recruited”. Ten…
MOHAMED Salah struck nine minutes from time as Liverpool twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Premier League title rivals Arsenal on Sunday. A point leaves Arsenal five points adrift of leaders Manchester City and four behind second-placed Liverpool. Liverpool began the weekend on top after winning 11 of their opening 12 games in all competitions under Arne Slot. But a draw sees the Reds fall one point behind Manchester City at the top of the table, with Arsenal now five points adrift of the leaders in third. Bukayo Saka recovered from a hamstring injury to start for Arsenal…
ISRAELI protesters have interrupted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech during a memorial to remember the victims of the October 7 attack as the Gaza ceasefire talks restarted in Doha, Qatar. Netanyahu stood motionless at a podium during the ceremony on Sunday as audience members in the crowd shouted, interrupting him for more than a minute, according to a live broadcast of the speech. Some people shouted “Shame on you” and made a commotion, forcing Netanyahu to stop his speech shortly after it began. One of the protesters repeatedly shouted, “My father was killed”. According to a Times of Israel…
CHINA has slammed the latest round of United States arms sales to Taiwan, vowing to take “all necessary measures” to assert its sovereignty over the self-ruled island it claims as its own. The US State Department on Friday approved a $2bn arms sale package for Taiwan, including advanced surface-to-air missile systems and radar as part of its efforts to counter China’s growing military power in the Asia Pacific. The administration of US President Joe Biden has made countering China’s increasing military and economic “assertiveness” in the region a key pillar of its foreign policy. It has also sought to shore…
A SENIOR UN official in Sudan says she is deeply troubled by reports of “atrocious crimes” in the central Gezira state, including the mass killing of civilians by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Clementine Nkweta-Salami’s comments came after an activist group said that at least 124 people were killed by the RSF in attacks on villages over the past week. The RSF has denied targeting civilians, saying its fighters are clashing with militias armed by the military. The 18-month conflict in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million. Gezira state turned into…
PROMINENT Kenyan human rights activist Boniface Mwangi has been detained by police on charges of inciting violence after six masked individuals forcibly took him from his home, his wife has told the BBC. His detention comes after he called for an anti-government protest at a marathon in the capital, Nairobi, on Sunday. Police spokesperson Resila Onyango confirmed to local media that Mr Mwangi was in custody, but did not provide further details. Mr Mwangi’s detention has caused outrage among his supporters, who are demanding his release. Mr Mwangi had been rallying people on X (formerly Twitter) to demand the resignation…