PRESIDENT Donald Trump has said he ordered the United States Navy to “shoot and kill” any Iranian boat laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a move that could jeopardise the fragile ceasefire between the two countries. The US president also said on Thursday that the military will heighten its efforts to remove explosives from the strategic waterway. “I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the…
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AT a store in Beirut, a shopowner breaks into laughter. “No, I don’t want to comment on the negotiations,” he told Al Jazeera, referring to Thursday evening’s direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington, DC. “If I say the wrong thing, someone might come hit me.” His response represents the polarisation and controversy surrounding the negotiations inside a country deeply divided over the best way to end Israel’s war on it. For some, the negotiations are the Lebanese state’s only choice. Others, however, reject the talks outright and believe only Hezbollah’s path of armed resistance will lead to a…
A TOTAL of 518 people died in Tanzania from “unnatural causes”, including 197 who were shot dead, in the widespread protests that followed last year’s general election, the commission of inquiry set up to investigate the violence has announced. However, commission chairman Mohamed Chande Othman did not say who was responsible for the deaths, recommending further investigations. This is the first time the authorities have said how many people died. Opposition parties and human rights groups had previously accused the security forces of unleashing a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, killing thousands. President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the winner…
SOUTH Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed the country’s top policeman on “precautionary suspension” after he was charged in court on Tuesday. Gen Fannie Masemola, 62, is alleged to have failed in his oversight duties in connection with the awarding of a controversial $21m (£15.5m) health contract, which has become the subject of a criminal investigation and has since been cancelled. He has been charged with violating part of South Africa’s Public Finance Management Act, which governs how taxpayers’ money is spent. Masemola told journalists after Tuesday’s hearing that he denied the charges. “I know that I’m not guilty, I’m…
MANCHESTER City continued their charge towards the Premier League title with victory at Turf Moor to move Pep Guardiola’s side top of the table and relegate Burnley back to the Championship. City have hit form at the right time and are looking in ominous mood, clawing back nine points on Arsenal in less than two weeks to narrowly climb to the summit on goals scored. Guardiola’s men had not been in the number one spot since the opening week of the campaign, but an 11-game unbeaten streak has led to them overtaking the Gunners with five games left. Top scorer…
ISRAELI attacks have killed five people in southern Lebanon, including a journalist, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported, further straining a fragile ceasefire. An initial Israeli strike hit a car in at-Tiri, a village in south Lebanon, killing two people inside, NNA said on Wednesday. Israel’s military said it struck two vehicles in southern Lebanon that departed from a military structure used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. The NNA reported that a later air strike on a building in the same village wounded a journalist, who was trapped under rubble. Amal Khalil, who worked for the local media outlet…
IRAN’s Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday their naval forces had seized two container ships trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz, despite US President Donald Trump announcing he was extending a ceasefire to allow more time for talks. Despite the latest series of attacks on maritime traffic in the Gulf, a second round of US-Iran talks could take place within the next three days, the New York Post reported, citing Trump and unnamed Pakistani sources. “It’s possible!” Trump reportedly wrote to the Post in a text message when asked about the sources in Pakistan, who had told the newspaper that a…
A NETWORK of Colombian mercenaries backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) provided critical support to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) enabling it to capture the western city of el-Fasher last year, a new report says. The investigation, by security analysis organisation the Conflict Insights Group (CIG), used data obtained from tracking the mobile phones of the Colombian fighters. The UAE has long denied supporting the RSF, which has been fighting Sudan’s regular army for three years. El-Fasher’s fall was one of the most brutal chapters of the conflict, which has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with…
POPE Leo XIV on Wednesday called for “greater room for freedom” in Equatorial Guinea and delivered a rare criticism of living conditions for prisoners before visiting inmates in a jail known for its squalor and ill-treatment of detainees. The leader of the world’s Catholics was on the second day of his visit to the oil-rich African nation, visiting President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo’s stronghold of Mongomo, near the border with Gabon. At a mass in Mongomo attended by some 100,000 followers, the US-born pontiff, 70, urged the country, where the majority of people live in poverty, to close the gap…
CHELSEA have sacked head coach Liam Rosenior after less than four months in charge of the club. Rosenior signed a five-and-a-half year deal at arriving from French club Strasbourg, also owned by Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. But he managed just 11 wins in 23 matches across all competitions and Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton was Chelsea’s fifth consecutive league defeat without scoring, the club’s worst scoreless run since 1912. Rosenior described the performance as “indefensible” and “unacceptable” after facing angry chants from Chelsea’s travelling supporters on the south coast. The defeat led to the Blues slipping to…
BRIGHTON produced a dominant 3-0 win to leapfrog Chelsea in the Premier League, boosting their European hopes while piling further misery on struggling visiting head coach Liam Rosenior. Goals from Ferdi Kadioglu, Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck lifted Brighton into sixth place, while Chelsea have now lost five consecutive league matches without scoring for the first time since 1912. Brighton overwhelmed Chelsea in the opening stages of the match. Kaoru Mitoma almost replicated his goal at Tottenham last weekend, volleying Pascal Gross’ shot first time, only for Robert Sanchez to make the save inside the opening two minutes. Brighton then…
UNITED States President Donald Trump has announced an extension to the ceasefire with Iran, saying that the US military will hold off its planned attack to allow more time for Tehran to put forward a proposal to end the war. Trump said the move on Tuesday comes at the request of Pakistani mediators. The truce was set to expire on Wednesday. “I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way…
EARLY 8,000 people died or disappeared on migration routes last year, with sea routes to Europe the most deadly, according to the United Nations. The UN’s International Organization for Migration said that many of the victims were lost in “invisible shipwrecks,” as it released new figures in a report on Tuesday. “These figures bear witness to our collective failure to prevent these tragedies,” Maria Moita, who directs the UN agency’s humanitarian and response department, told a news conference. The figure of 7,904 people that the UN counted as died or missing in 2025 constituted a fall from the all-time high…
NEARLY 4 million people have voluntarily returned to their places of origin in Sudan in the hope of rebuilding their lives, according to the United Nations, but still face a new “struggle for survival”. Although the war in Sudan grinds on, 3.99 million returnees have been counted, mainly concentrated in Khartoum and the agricultural state of Al-Jazirah, southeast of the capital, the UN’s International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday. However, the agency warned that these people are returning to find destroyed communities and an urgent need for investment to rebuild basic infrastructure. “Many are returning because they believe security…
SOUTH Africa’s police chief has been formally charged with failing in his duties to provide proper oversight in his role following a health contract that has become the subject of a criminal investigation. General Fannie Masemola, 62, was summoned to court over his alleged part in the awarding of a controversial $21m (£15.5m) tender, which has since been cancelled. He has been charged with violating part of South Africa’s Public Finance Management Act, which governs how public finances are managed. The case comes amidst a national inquiry examining allegedly widespread corruption involving police officers and politicians. Masemola told journalists after…
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has removed Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, in a major cabinet reshuffle that also affected the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. News Point Nigeria reports that also affected in the reshuffle is Umar Dangiwa, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development. The changes were announced in a memo issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, who confirmed sweeping adjustments to key economic ministries. According to the memo, Edun has been directed to hand over to Mr Taiwo Oyedele, who is now to assume…
CELTIC manager Martin O’Neill has praised Kelechi Iheanacho following the striker’s decisive performance in the club’s Scottish Cup semi-final victory over St Mirren on Sunday. Coming off the bench, Iheanacho made a telling impact by scoring twice in extra time to power Celtic F.C. to a resounding 6-2 win over the Buddies. His first goal came via a near-post header from a cross delivered by James Forrest, before he followed it up with a superb left-footed strike from inside the box. Reacting after the match, O’Neill acknowledged the Nigeria international’s influence on the game and his overall contribution to the…
IRAN has signalled that it has no plans to send negotiators to Islamabad for a new round of talks with the United States, threatening Pakistan’s plans for multiday negotiations between the warring nations less than 48 hours before a fragile ceasefire is set to expire. Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday Washington had “violated the ceasefire from the beginning of its implementation”, citing the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz since April 13, and the overnight capture of an Iranian container ship by the US military as breaches of the truce as well…
MORE than $71bn will be needed over the next 10 years for recovery and reconstruction in Gaza after Israel’s genocidal war on the territory, a new report says. In their final Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA), released on Monday, the European Union and United Nations asserted that the conflict has had a “catastrophic impact on human development” and left the enclave desperately in need of huge sums of money in the immediate future. The report found that $26.3bn will be required in the first 18 months of Gaza’s reconstruction to restore essential services, rebuild critical infrastructure and support…
MORE than 200 civilians held captive in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo by an armed group linked to the Islamic State have been rescued in an army operation, the military in neighbouring Uganda has said. Ugandan soldiers, working with their Congolese counterparts, targeted a camp controlled by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militant group that has its origins in Uganda. Children were among those freed, the youngest being a 14-year-old girl, according to a Ugandan statement. The ADF was originally formed in Uganda in the 1990s by people disgruntled with the government’s treatment of Muslims. But…