Author: Editor

THE Israeli military has killed dozens of people in Gaza as the starvation crisis in the territory deepens amid an international outcry, with more Palestinians dying of malnutrition. Medical sources told Al Jazeera that Israeli attacks killed at least 71 people across Gaza on Saturday, including 42 desperately seeking aid. The Ministry of Health in Gaza also said that hospitals have recorded five more deaths due to hunger caused by the Israeli blockade of the enclave, bringing the total death toll from malnutrition to 127 since the war began. The victims include 85 children. With anger across the world mounting…

GREEK emergency services were battling many wildfires on Saturday afternoon as a week-long heatwave peaked with temperatures surpassing 45C degrees. According to firefighters, one of the most difficult fronts was around Drosopigi in northern Attica, just 30 kilometres north of Athens. Authorities called for an evacuation of the village, while according to state-run Ertnews tv, a house was already under fire in Drosopigi, as winds of 5 to 6 Beaufort raged. Authorities had warned of an extreme risk of wildfires on Saturday, placing several regions under a red Category 5 alert, the highest on the national scale, due to hot…

TWO days after he was kidnapped in July 2007, the bloodied and battered corpse of Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi was dumped outside a university campus in the city of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The newly graduated 26-year-old and devout Catholic was just three months into a job as a customs official – which he had taken on with his usual zeal, by refusing to be bribed. He had stood up to people wanting to smuggle in rice from neighbouring Rwanda that had spoiled and could have proven poisonous if eaten. No-one has ever…

KENYA’s police watchdog has accused officers of using “disproportionate force” to quell a recent series of protests during which 65 people died. In a report released on Thursday, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) linked most of the deaths to actions by the police. It also highlighted the role of opportunists who infiltrated the protests – described as “goons” – who “undermined the principles of peaceful assembly”. Over the past six weeks, there have been four separate days of demonstrations which were called over police brutality and anger at government policies. The first in the capital, Nairobi – on 12…

RUBEN Amorim says rival clubs might be in for a “shock” if they think they can sign Manchester United’s unwanted players on the cheap this summer. Amorim exiled his so-called ‘bomb squad’ – Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Tyrrell Malacia – at the start of pre-season. While Rashford has now sealed a “dream” move to Barcelona, the other four remain at the club and have been told to train back at Carrington, having been left out of United’s squad for the three-game Premier League Summer Series in the United States. Real Betis remain keen to bring Antony…

PALESTINIANS in the Gaza Strip are pleading for help as more people have starved to death under Israel’s unrelenting blockade of the coastal enclave. The Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on Friday that local hospitals recorded nine new malnutrition deaths in the previous 24 hours. That brings the total number of such deaths to 122 since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, including at least 83 children. “We urgently demand an immediate end to the famine, the opening of all crossings, and the entry of infant formula now, along with 500 aid trucks and 50 fuel…

FRANCE’s highest court Friday annulled a French arrest warrant against Syria’s ex-president Bashar al-Assad—issued before his ouster over the 2013 deadly chemical attacks. The Court of Cassation ruled there were no exceptions to presidential immunity, even for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. But its presiding judge, Christophe Soulard, added that, as Assad was no longer president after an Islamist-led group toppled him in December, “new arrest warrants can have been, or can be, issued against him” and as such the investigation into the case could continue. Human rights advocates had hoped the court would rule that immunity did…

THE treason trial of the former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, has begun in a military court in the capital, Kinshasa. He also faces other charges, including murder and rape, linked to his alleged support for M23 rebels – who control a large part of the mineral-rich east of the country. He denies the charges, did not appear at the hearing and has asked to be tried in absentia. Kabila’s successor, President Félix Tshisekedi, has accused him of being the brains behind the rebels. The ex-president has rejected the case as “arbitrary” and said the courts…

MORE than 1.3 million people who fled the fighting in Sudan have headed home, the United Nations said Friday, pleading for greater international aid to help returnees rebuild shattered lives. Over a million internally displaced people (IDPs) have returned to their homes in recent months, UN agencies said. A further 320,000 refugees have crossed back into Sudan this year, mainly from neighbouring Egypt and South Sudan. While fighting has subsided in the “pockets of relative safety” that people are beginning to return to, the situation remains highly precarious, the UN said. Since April 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by…

ARSENAL midfielder Declan Rice says he “didn’t like” the reaction online from some fans about the signing of Noni Madueke from Chelsea, but backed the winger to “shock” with his talent. Madueke, 23, joined for an initial £48.5m last week as Arsenal look to increase their attacking options. However, the signing caused a backlash, with the hashtag #NoToMadueke posted across social media, and a petition started which had more than 5,000 signatures. “I know how driven he is,” Rice said after Arsenal’s 1-0 pre-season win over AC Milan in Singapore. “I’ve spoken to him and you’re going to see what…

HOSPITALS in the besieged Gaza Strip have recorded two more deaths “due to famine and malnutrition” in the past 24 hours, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, bringing the total to at least 115. US envoy Witkoff blames Hamas for failure to reach ceasefire, says US considering “alternative options” to free Israeli captives, after Hamas submitted response to ceasefire proposal earlier. The response reportedly includes amendments to conditions around the entry of aid, areas from which the Israeli army should withdraw, and guarantees on securing a permanent end to the war. Meanwhile, United States special envoy Steve Witkoff has said…

SAUDI Arabia on Thursday signed major investment and partnership deals with Syria, valued at $6.4 billion, to help rebuild the war-ravaged country’s infrastructure, telecommunications, and other major sectors. Saudi Arabia has been a major backer of the new Syrian government, which seized power after an Islamist-led offensive toppled longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad last December. Speaking at the Syrian-Saudi Investment Forum in the Damascus presidential palace, Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih announced “the signing of 47 agreements and memoranda of understanding… with a total value of nearly 24 billion Saudi riyals (around $6.4 billion)”. With interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and…

THE International Criminal Court Thursday convicted a former top Central African Republic football official and a militiaman nicknamed Rambo for war crimes committed during the country’s civil war in 2013 and 2014. Ex-sports minister Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona was a senior leader of mainly Christian militias as the country slid into civil war, while Alfred Yekatom, a former MP, commanded them on the ground. The ICC sentenced Yekatom to 15 years behind bars for 20 war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder and torture. Ngaissona received 12 years for 28 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Their militia, known…

A NEW constitution that has allowed Togo’s long-time head of state Faure Gnassingbé to shift to a new role as all-powerful prime minister – and escape the constraint of presidential term limits – has triggered anger on the streets of the capital, Lomé. Protests are set to continue this Friday. At least five demonstrators have died while confronting official security forces in recent weeks. But it is not the orthodox political opposition predictably crushed in local elections last week – that has mobilised frustrated young Togolese people. Instead it is musicians, bloggers and activists who have tapped into popular anger…

MARCUS Rashford says he feels like he is “at home” at Barcelona after completing a season-long loan move to the La Liga club. The 27-year-old has joined on an initial 12-month loan from Manchester United, with the Catalan giants having the option of signing the England international on a permanent basis for £30.3m (35m euros) in 2026. He is the first English player to sign for Barcelona, who won the league and cup double last season, since Gary Lineker in 1986. Rashford hasn’t played for Manchester United, his boyhood club, since last December after being dropped by manager Ruben Amorin,…

BRAZIL has said that it will move to intervene in a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza, as non-Western countries step up calls for greater pressure. The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday that it was in the “final stages” of submitting a formal intervention to the ICJ regarding the case, originally brought by South Africa. “The international community cannot remain inactive in the face of ongoing atrocities,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Brazil believes there is no longer room for moral ambiguity or political omission.…

SEVERAL thousand people rallied in central Kyiv on Wednesday in an unprecedented protest against a law signed off by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that removes the independence of two key anti-corruption bodies. The mostly young marchers urged Zelensky to veto the legislation in the biggest protest in Kyiv since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The bill passed on Tuesday is the latest in a series of moves criticised by Ukrainian anti-corruption activists. They warn that growing government pressure threatens Ukraine’s reforms and ambition to join the European Union. Zelensky has rejected the criticism, saying the law…

AN Ethiopian official has denied Donald Trump’s claim that the United States helped fund Ethiopia’s new megadam on the River Nile, saying it is false and “destructive”. Last week, President Trump said the controversial dam was built “with United States money, largely”. Officially known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd), the project is Africa’s biggest hydro-electric plant and a major source of pride for Ethiopians. Over the 14 years it has taken to complete Gerd, the Ethiopian authorities have repeatedly said that the dam was funded by the government, along with contributions from the Ethiopian people. The dam has,…

THE government has revealed details of its plans to cut foreign aid, with support for children’s education and women’s health in Africa facing the biggest reductions. The government said in February it would slash foreign aid spending by 40% – from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% – to increase defence spending to 2.5% after pressure from the US. A Foreign Office report and impact assessment show the biggest cuts this year will come in Africa, with less spent on women’s health and water sanitation with increased risks, it says, of disease and death. Aid charities have criticised the…

AT least 15 Palestinians, including four children, have starved to death in a single day in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to health officials, bringing the total number of deaths from malnutrition since Israel’s war began to 101. The announcement on Tuesday came as Israeli forces continued to pound Gaza, killing at least 81 people, and the United Nations described the situation in the enclave as a “horror show with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times”. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that the 15 starvation-related deaths over the past 24 hours included four children…