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AN attack blamed on Insurgents in central Mali killed more than 20 civilians on Monday, two local officials said, in the latest killings in the troubled Sahel region. Mali has for over a decade been ravaged by Insurgents and other armed groups, with the centre of the West African country becoming a hotbed of violence since 2015. “At least 21 civilians have been killed” in the village of Djiguibombo, several dozen kilometres (miles) from the town of Bandiagara, an official from the provincial authority said on Wednesday. He attributed the attack to Insurgents. Another provincial authority official and a local…

PROPOSED pay rises for members of Kenya’s cabinet and parliament will not happen after President William Ruto ordered a review of the plans following public outcry. It comes a week after mass protests forced Mr Ruto to drop a controversial finance bill that had included tax hikes. Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) Chairperson Lyn Mengich said on Wednesday the commission would “freeze” the salary increases for state officers due to “the current realities of the economy”. Initially the SRC had recommended a pay increase of 2% and 5% for all state officials, including judges. People began questioning how the the…

BRAZIL football legend Pele will be honoured in his home country with a commemorative day baptised “King Pele Day”, reported Tuesday’s edition of the government gazette. Considered by many the greatest footballer of all time, Edson Arantes do Nascimento — better known as Pele — won three World Cups with Brazil and scored more than 1,000 goals over his storied career. “King Pele Day” will be held on November 19 — the date on which the striker scored his 1,000th goal in a match for boyhood club Santos at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Maracana Stadium in 1969. Pele’s goal came…

ISRAEL carried out fresh strikes in southern Gaza on Tuesday, forcing hundreds of Palestinians to flee after the army once again ordered the evacuation of certain densely populated areas. Witnesses reported multiple strikes in and around the city of Khan Yunis, where eight people were killed and more than 30 were wounded, according to a medical source and the Palestinian Red Crescent. The bombardment came after a rare rocket barrage claimed by the militant group Islamic Jihad, which has fought alongside Hamas. The rockets were aimed at Israeli communities near the Gaza border and were fired in retaliation for Israeli…

MORE than 100 people have been killed and more than a dozen injured in a stampede at a Hindu religious gathering in northern India, authorities say. A large crowd gathered on Tuesday in a village in Uttar Pradesh state’s Hathras district, about 200km (125 miles) southeast of the national capital, New Delhi, for a sermon by a preacher, and a fierce dust storm sparked panic as people were leaving. Many were crushed or trampled and fell on top of each other. Some collapsed into a roadside drain in the chaos. At least 116 people died, most of them women and…

MOBILE internet has been cut since Tuesday night in Mauritania’s capital, AFP journalists saw, after scuffles broke out following the announcement that incumbent Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani had won the presidential election. Witnesses reported disturbances in working-class districts of Nouakchott on Monday evening, hours after final provisional results showed that Ghazouani had comfortably won re-election in Saturday’s presidential poll. The witnesses did not specify the extent of the disorder to AFP. Nouakchott appeared calm on Tuesday, with businesses open as usual. The authorities have not commented on the mobile internet cuts. Internet restrictions have become a common tactic by…

A FORMER gangster and bank robber who turned into a nightclub owner and opposition politician, Gayton McKenzie has now risen to become South Africa’s minister of sports, arts and culture. President Cyril Rampahosa appointed Mr McKenzie – the leader of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) – to the portfolio in the multi-party government that he announced on Sunday after his African National Congress (ANC) lost its parliamentary majority in the 29 May election. A prolific tweeter, the 50-year-od relished his appointment, posting a photo of himself putting on football boots and, with a touch of humour, typed: “Thank you for all…

DIOGO Costa’s penalty heroics helped Portugal reach the quarter-finals of the Euro 2024 against Slovenia after a tough encounter on Monday night. Portugal forward Ronaldo broke down in tears after missing a penalty in the first period of extra-time in the goalless tie in Frankfurt. But he recovered to convert in the shoot-out as Portugal scraped through to set up a blockbuster clash with France in the quarter-finals. Slovenia battled valiantly to keep Portugal at bay, with Jan Oblak making a stunning save to keep out Ronaldo’s penalty after Diogo Jota was fouled. However, Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva…

MANY Palestinians have been reported dead as heavy battles and bombardment hit Gaza City’s Shujaiya district for a fourth day on Sunday, months after the Israeli army declared Hamas’s command structure dismantled in the northern area. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the devastated neighbourhood, where the army said it has fought Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants both “above and below ground” in tunnels. The military said troops had “eliminated several terrorists, located weapons and conducted targeted raids on booby-trapped combat compounds” over the past 24 hours while the air force had “struck dozens” of the militants’ infrastructure sites.…

STEVE Bannon, a prominent right-wing figure in American politics and former senior advisor to Donald Trump, reported to prison Monday to begin a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress. He was convicted of defying a subpoena to testify before the congressional panel that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters. Bannon, 70, spoke defiantly as he showed up at a federal prison in Connecticut. “I’m proud of going to prison today,” Bannon said, “if it’s what it takes to stand up to Joe Biden.” Bannon and others argue that legal proceedings stemming from the…

MAURITANIA’s incumbent President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani has comfortably won re-election with 56.12 per cent of the vote, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) said Monday. The victory gives the former army chief a second term as head of the vast desert country, seen as a rock of relative stability in Africa’s volatile Sahel region and set to become a gas producer. Ghazouani would have faced a second round had he not won more than half the votes in Saturday’s election. As it was, he placed well ahead of his main rival, anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid, who won…

KENYA’s President William Ruto says the country will have to borrow more to keep the government running following the rejection of a hugely unpopular finance bill that was going to raise more money in taxes. The president said he would withdraw the bill containing controversial tax hikes last Wednesday after deadly protests which saw parliament set on fire. But on Sunday he said dropping the bill had set the country back two years, as he explained the difficulty of being unable to raise extra taxes while facing a huge debt burden. He said this meant Kenya would have to borrow…

HARRY Kane and Jude Bellingham saved England from defeat against Slovakia in a 2-1 victory after extra time on Sunday. The Three Lions have been hyped as one of the favourites to end a 58-year wait for major tournament glory but looked set to go out with a whimper to Ivan Schranz’s 25th minute goal. However, Bellingham’s moment of inspiration five minutes into six added on in stoppage time breathed new life into Gareth Southgate’s reign as England boss. Kane then headed in just a minute into extra-time to set up a quarter-final meeting with Switzerland on Saturday. Southgate looked…

AT least six Palestinians have been killed in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), and several homes have been destroyed as Israeli forces pushed deeper into the city and pressed further into Shujayea in northern Gaza. Israeli tanks, which re-entered Shujayea four days ago, fired shells towards several houses, leaving families trapped inside and unable to leave, residents said. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that “60,000 to 80,000 people were displaced” from Shujayea in recent days. For those who remain, “our lives have become hell”, said…

NORTH Korea denounced on Sunday joint military drills by South Korea, Japan and the United States, calling them an “Asian version of NATO” and warning of “fatal consequences”. It comes a day after the allies wrapped up three-day exercises, dubbed “Freedom Edge”, in ballistic missile and air defences, anti-submarine warfare and defensive cyber training. US, South Korean and Japanese leaders agreed at a trilateral summit last year to conduct annual drills as a sign of unity in the face of North Korea’s nuclear threats and China’s rising regional influence. “We strongly denounce… provocative military muscle-flexing against the DPRK,” Pyongyang’s foreign…

PARAMILITARY forces battling Sudan’s army for more than a year say they have captured a key state capital in the war-torn country’s southeast. “We have liberated the 17th Infantry Division from Singa [the capital of Sennar state],” the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on X on Saturday. Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from the capital Khartoum, said the RSF is gaining control of an increasing number of territories across Sudan, especially in eastern and western parts of the country’s south. “They already control a large portion of the Darfur region, with the exception of el-Fasher, which is the only remaining…

HUNDREDS of people marched in the Kenyan capital Nairobi Sunday, to honour those who died in anti-government demonstrations this week, as President William Ruto insisted that “I have no blood on my hands.” Rights groups say at least 30 people died in protests driven by a government drive to substantially raise taxes in the East African country. Following the violence, Ruto announced an about-turn earlier this week, saying he would “listen to the people” and would not sign the finance bill into law. Ruto, in a television interview, put the toll at 19 — the first figures issued by the…

A KAI Havertz penalty and a Jamal Musiala strike gave Germany a 2-0 win over Denmark as the host nation reached the Euro 2024 quarter-finals after a dramatic game that was delayed by almost half an hour in the first half due to a violent storm. Havertz stroked home from the spot early in the second half in Dortmund following a handball by Joachim Andersen, the unlucky Danish defender who had a goal disallowed at the other end only moments earlier. Musiala, of Bayern Munich, then ran away to stroke in the second goal midway through the second half as…

HAMAS says there’s been no progress in ceasefire talks with Israel over the war on Gaza as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv demanding the government save the captives and get a deal done. Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon, said on Saturday the Palestinian group is still ready to discuss any truce proposal that ends the nearly nine-month conflict. “Once again, Hamas is ready to deal positively with any proposal that secures a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and a serious swap deal,” Hamdan told a…

TEN women have come forward with sexual assault accusations against Canadian auto parts magnate Frank Stronach, according to court documents released Friday. The 91-year-old was arrested twice in recent weeks and charged with 13 criminal counts including attempted rape, sexual assault, indecent assault and forcible confinement. Both times — including on Wednesday — he was released the same day with conditions ahead of a first court appearance scheduled for July 8. The court documents describe allegations of attempted rape and assault as far back as June 1977 in Toronto. Other victims accused him of rape or sexual assaults in 1980,…