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ISRAEL launched deadly air strikes on Rafah on Thursday, after threatening to send troops in to hunt for Hamas militants in the southern Gaza city where around 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge. Major powers trying to find a way to end the destructive Israel-Hamas war have so far failed, but a US envoy was in Israel Thursday in the latest attempt to secure a truce deal. International concern has spiralled over Gaza’s escalating civilian death toll and the desperate humanitarian crisis sparked by the war that followed Hamas’s October 7 attack against Israel. The war has also triggered mounting…

PRESIDENT Joe Biden said Thursday he met privately in California with the widow and daughter of Kremlin opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last week in a Russian prison. After meeting with Yulia and Dasha Navalnaya in San Francisco, Biden told reporters that the late opponent to President Vladimir Putin was “a man of incredible courage.” He said that Yulia Navalnaya and her daughter, who studies at Stanford University in California, “are emulating that.” The widow is “going to continue the fight,” he said. “She’s not giving up.” Biden also reaffirmed a plan to unveil sanctions on Friday, saying they…

EIGHT women accused of witchcraft in the West African state of Guinea-Bissau have died of poisoning in the remote north, a senior official told AFP on Thursday. After a sudden illness took the lives of two youngsters at Culade, in the Cacheu region, women were blamed and an animist priest forced them to drink poison. The eight women, all aged over 50, died and 21 others were hospitalised at the local capital Sao Domingos, said Carlos Sanha, a senior administrative official in the town. “It keeps recurring in this area,” where traditional animist beliefs remain strong, Sanha said. “We intend…

SENEGAL’s outgoing President Macky Sall on Thursday said his mandate would end as planned on April 2, but left open the date of the presidential election which he postponed earlier this month. Sall had faced a growing clamour to set a date for the vote after his abrupt delay to the February 25 election triggered weeks of political crisis. “On 2 April 2024, my mission ends at the head of Senegal”, the president said. “As far as the date is concerned, we’ll see what the dialogue comes up with,” he said during a televised press interview, referring to the political…

VICTOR Osimhen salvaged a draw for Napoli in his first club appearance since December as they held Barcelona in their Champions League last-16 first leg. Robert Lewandowski handed Barca the lead in the 60th minute in Italy when he arrowed an effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the area. Barcelona were dominant against a Napoli side whose final-third efforts were often lacking in Francesco Calzona’s first game in charge. But the hosts eventually found a way back when Osimhen slipped past his marker in the box before rifling past Marc-Andre Ter Stegen to level. The second leg…

GAZA has become a death zone,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General told correspondents at a press briefing in Geneva. “Much of the territory has been destroyed. More than 29,000 people are dead; many more are missing, presumed dead; and many, many more are injured,” he added. Across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, severe malnutrition has shot up dramatically since the start of the war on 7 October, from under one per cent of the population, to over 15 per cent in some areas. “This figure will rise the longer the war goes on and supplies [are] interrupted,” Tedros said, expressing deep…

A JAPAN-BASED US Navy sailor has been charged with espionage for allegedly passing classified information to a foreign government. Bryce Pedicini is alleged to have given documents to foreign agents at least seven times in 2022 and 2023. The US Navy also accuses him of trying in May 2023 to hand over photographs showing the screen of a military computer. He faces a court martial while the investigation continues. The accused is a chief petty officer fire controlman assigned to a Japan-based guided missile destroyer, the USS Higgins. He has been in custody since May 2023, just days after the…

THE UN Security Council has sanctioned six senior members of armed groups operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where clashes with government forces have intensified in recent weeks. Among the six added to the sanctions list on Tuesday is Willy Ngoma, a spokesman for the M23 rebels who are known for videos in which he poses with Congolese or Burundian soldiers captured during the fighting. The sanctions consist of an asset freeze, including in the DRC, and a travel ban. Ngoma is the fifth senior M23 member to be placed under Security Council sanctions. The Tutsi-majority rebel group has…

FIFTEEN candidates in Senegal’s delayed presidential election have accused President Macky Sall of “ill will” and said they will take action to ensure a new poll date is swiftly established. The announcement came as the civil society collective Aar Sunu Election (Protect Our Election) said it had organised a new rally for Saturday. The collective is calling for an election to be held before April 2, when Sall’s term officially runs out. It says the vote — originally scheduled for February 25 — must be held by March 3 at the latest. “An inexplicable slowness has been noted. Nothing has…

ERLING Haaland took Manchester City to within one point of Premier League leaders Liverpool but the champions were made to sweat for a 1-0 win over Brentford on Tuesday. Just two points separate the top three in a fascinating title race with Arsenal one point adrift of City with 13 games to go. Haaland was keen to make amends for a frustrating night in front of goal as City were held 1-1 at home by Chelsea on Saturday. But the Norwegian was made to wait until 19 minutes from time to break the deadlock when he raced onto Julian Alvarez’s…

ISRAEL’s sudden threat to unleash its controversial ground operation in the southern Gazan town of Rafah unless all hostages are freed by 10 March has ratcheted up the pressure on the tortuous talks to secure an elusive agreement. Even before Benny Gantz, a leading member of Israel’s war cabinet, threw down the gauntlet, Arab leaders were already anxiously focused on this start of the Islamic holy month – a time of communal fasting and prayer which can intensify a prevailing mood. “Ramadan is ahead of us and if the situation in Rafah evolves, it will be a very, very dangerous…

THE Estonian Internal Security Service (ISS) said Tuesday that it had detained 10 people since December on suspicion of acting on behalf of a Russian special service. Evidence being gathered for a criminal case indicates that the Russian special service coordinated a “hybrid operation” against EU and NATO member Estonia, according to an ISS statement. Estonian investigators suspect that the detainees, whose identities have not been revealed, gathered information to prepare attacks. The aim of this activity may have been to “sow fear and create tension in Estonian society”, the statement said. The detainees were instructed to commit various criminal…

SOUTH Africa will go to the polls on May 29 to choose a parliament, which will in turn pick a president, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Tuesday. The vote may prove historic, with opinion polls showing Ramaphosa’s ANC party on less than 50 percent in nationwide elections for the first time in South Africa’s three decades of democracy. If the African National Congress (ANC), which has led South Africa since its first free elections in 1994 after the end of apartheid rule, does not win a majority it will need coalition allies to form a government. Complaints have been mounting about…

GUINEA’s military junta, which seized power in a coup in September 2021, has dissolved the government. The announcement was made through a presidential decree read on state TV on Monday by the presidency’s Secretary General, Brig Gen Amara Camara. Mr Camara did not disclose the reason for the dissolution or say when a new government will be put in place. Ministers in the dissolved government were ordered to surrender their passports and official vehicles. Their bank accounts have additionally been frozen. The junta also instructed security agencies to “seal” all the country’s borders until government ministries have been fully handed…

MANCHESTER City boss Pep Guardiola has apologised to Kalvin Phillips for saying the midfielder was “overweight” on his return from the Qatar World Cup. Guardiola made the comments in December 2022, explaining why Phillips had been left out of his squad for a Carabao Cup fourth-round tie against Liverpool. Phillips said the comments were “a big knock to my confidence” when asked about them earlier this month. “I’m sorry,” said Guardiola. “I do apologise to him. I’m so sorry.” Guardiola said he spoke to the 28-year-old, who joined West Ham on loan last month, about the issue when he returned…

ALL EU countries except Hungary joined a call Monday for an “immediate humanitarian pause” in the Gaza war, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said. The European Union has struggled for a united response to Israel’s military operation following the October 7 attack by Hamas. But Borrell said foreign ministers from 26 states had agreed a statement calling for “an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a sustainable ceasefire”. The EU countries also reiterated their calls for Israel not to launch an assault on the Gaza city of Rafah, which has become the main shelter zone in the stricken territory.…

ABRAHAM Lincoln pardoned Joe Biden’s great-great-grandfather after a late-night Civil War-era brawl, documents reportedly show, linking the two US presidents across the centuries. The court martial records in the US National Archives, reported on by the Washington Post Monday, detail the trial of Moses J. Robinette after a fight with fellow Union Army civilian employee John J. Alexander on March 21, 1864. Robinette was charged with attempted murder after the tussle in the Army of the Potomac’s winter camp in Virginia, when Alexander overheard him saying something about him to a cook, and rushed at him. The two men scuffled,…

THE jailed head of Tunisia’s Islamic opposition Ennahda party, Rached Ghannouchi, has joined a hunger strike by other political detainees to mark a year since their detention began. Mr Ghannouchi – who has accused Tunisia’s President Kaïs Saïed of mounting a coup – was given a three-year prison sentence earlier this month after being convicted for accepting external financing. President Saïed has closed the Ennahda party’s headquarters, jailed many leading political opponents and critical journalists and reduced the independence of the country’s courts. He claims the measures were necessary to prevent chaos and root out corruption.

SECURITY forces in Somalia’s north-eastern Puntland region on Sunday arrested Jamal Osman, a reporter for British broadcaster Channel 4, on charges of spreading al-Shabab propaganda, private news site Puntland Post reported. Mr Osman, who won a Rory Peck award in 2022 for a feature on al-Shabab, was detained shortly after he arrived in regional capital Garowe, the website said. “Security sources have confirmed that journalist Jamal was taken [from the airport] to Garowe town, where officials from the Puntland intelligence agency were questioning him,” it added. Channel 4 and Puntland authorities have not commented on the reports. Sources have indicated…

ENGLAND captain Harry Kane’s late goal at Bochum was not enough as Bayern Munich suffered their third defeat in nine days. Bayern took the lead through Jamal Musiala, before the first of two stoppages following fans’ protests. Bochum scored twice, with goals from Takuma Asano and Keven Schlotterbeck. Kevin Stoger’s penalty made it 3-1 after Dayot Upamecano had been sent off and, despite Kane’s 25th league goal of the season, it was not enough. Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern are now eight points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen. Tuchel said winning the Bundesliga title “does not look very realistic”, but added: “Last…