THIRTY-FIVE people have been killed after gunmen struck Niger’s largest airport on Thursday, officials say – the second attack in less than five months. Residents in the predominately Muslim country told the BBC they had just finished their morning prayers when explosions and gunshot sounds rang out from Diori Hamani international airport, located in the capital, Niamey. Niger’s defence ministry said the fatalities comprised 22 assailants, 11 soldiers, and two civilians. On Thursday evening, Al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack. Niger has been fighting an Islamist insurgency for a decade and in January, an…
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ZIMBABWEAN lawmakers have approved a bill that would replace direct presidential elections with a vote by parliament, a proposal that supporters say would promote policy continuity but that opponents fear could weaken democratic accountability and further entrench the ruling party’s grip on power. “I just cannot believe that these are the people who want to elect a president on behalf of everyone,” Barnabas Gura, a 38-year-old from Harare’s Glen View suburb, told Al Jazeera. “Only 210 members of parliament vote on behalf of a population of 15 million. It is preposterous.” On Thursday, Constitutional Amendment Bill No 3 passed the…
US President Donald Trump’s interim deal with Iran has drawn a backlash from fellow Republicans, who argue the agreement wastes billions of dollars of taxpayer money and does little to restrict Tehran’s nuclear programme. Under a 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Wednesday, the US and Iran committed to an “immediate and permanent end to military operations on all fronts,” including in Lebanon. Tehran agreed to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed since late February, while Washington pledged to “develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan” to provide $300bn in funds for the reconstruction and…
ISRAELI air strikes have continued to target towns in southern Lebanon despite an agreement between the United States and Iran set to be formally signed on Friday to end the war on all fronts. Israeli drones carried out three attacks in Tyre that resulted in injuries while a drone also targeted the Bint Jbeil district in Nabatieh, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said on Wednesday. The fighting in Lebanon is considered one of the biggest threats to the framework agreement in the US-Israel war on Iran with Tehran warning that new Israeli strikes on Lebanon and continued occupation of its…
AUTHORITIES in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are searching for a six-year-old Ebola patient and her mother after armed men stormed the hospital where they were being treated. The child was taken from Wanamahika Hospital, in the city of Butembo, by “very angry” men with knives, local health official Dr Lubambo Maboko Gaston said in a statement. It is unclear whether the men were known to the child, but suspicion and fear surrounding Ebola treatment centres have been rife during the current outbreak. In an interview with the Reuters news agency, Gaston urged the child and her mother to go…
SOUTH Africa has become a hostile place for undocumented migrants, as a deadline set by protesters for them to leave the country approaches. “I am very scared and traumatised,” Esnat Joseph, a 36-year-old Malawian woman, told the BBC as she tried to comfort her crying one-year-old triplets. She fled her home in an informal settlement in the port city of Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal province, seeking refuge in an open field where up to 7,000 foreigners – mainly Malawians – began gathering with their belongings two weeks ago. “The people came to my house and told me: ‘You must leave. We…
LIONEL Messi became the World Cup’s joint-top all-time scorer with a hat-trick as reigning champions Argentina began their defence with a statement victory over Algeria. Making his 200th appearance for his country, Messi scored his first treble at a World Cup. And it created a piece of history, as the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner took his World Cup finals goal tally to 16 moving him level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading scorer in the competition’s history. The three-time world champions were made to work for victory at the Kansas City Stadium as they aim to become only…
MULTIPLE Israeli strikes have killed at least four people in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh governorate, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA), despite a ceasefire and a recent understanding between the United States and Iran to end the war on all fronts. Tuesday’s killing took place as separate drone attacks targeted two vehicles in Mayfadoun. A third vehicle was also targeted in the village of Shoukin, the agency said. Throughout the often fragile negotiations between Iran and the US, Iranian officials repeatedly said that any ceasefire arrangement would need to include an end to Israeli attacks on Lebanon. While the final…
US President Donald Trump has said Russia should make a peace deal with Ukraine and he will do what he can to end the war, following a “very good” meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and G7 leaders at a summit in France. “I’m gonna do whatever I can,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday at the summit in Evian-les-Bains near the Swiss border, adding that too many young men were dying on the battlefield on both sides. “Look, Russia should make a deal,” he said. “I settled eight wars. This was the one I thought was going to be the easiest…
THE current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could become deadlier than the worst outbreak on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, says the head of Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). The number of confirmed cases in the country has increased to 837, including 196 deaths, government data showed on Tuesday. “If we don’t stop the outbreak very soon, it will be worse than what we had in West Africa and eastern DRC,” Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said during a virtual meeting of African leaders and international donors in Burundi on…
THE breakaway state of Somaliland has opened an embassy in Jerusalem, six months after Israel became the first country to recognise it as an independent nation. The opening of the diplomatic mission at a technology park in West Jerusalem came while Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi was on an official visit to Israel. During a meeting with the president, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of “a deep spiritual bond between our peoples”. But Somalia, which considers Somaliland to be part of its territory, described any engagement with “the secessionist administration of the northern region of Somalia… [as] a violation of…
PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue Israel’s occupations of Lebanese and Syrian territory, despite the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran that links to those hostilities. Netanyahu told a press conference on Monday that Israel’s forces will remain in Lebanon, where it occupies around 570sq km (220sq miles) of territory. Israel’s conflict with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has killed more than 3,000 people. “We will stay in the Lebanon security buffer zone for as long as necessary,” Netanyahu told reporters. According to unconfirmed details, Lebanon will be…
A UNITED States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress has crashed in the California desert, killing all eight people on board, according to military officials. The long-range bomber was on a routine test mission on Monday when it crashed shortly after takeoff from Edwards Air Force Base, about 95km (60 miles) north of Los Angeles. Aerial footage of the crash site showed a huge plume of black smoke rising into the air from a large area of blackened ground. Colonel James Hayes told a news conference that investigators had determined that no one could have survived the crash. “Today, Edwards Air Force…
MORE than 1,000 civilians in Sudan have been killed in drone strikes in the first five months of 2026, according to the United Nations. The death toll is due to a “sharp” increase in the use of drone warfare in the country’s vicious civil war, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Volker Turk said in a speech on Monday. “In Sudan, the horrific conflict has expanded and escalated, marked by a sharp increase in the use of drone warfare,” he told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. On top of documenting more than 1,000 civilians being killed in…
SOUTH African TV presenter and rapper Molemo Maarohanye, also known as Jub Jub, has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a taxi driver and shooting a gun in his direction. Maarohanye is said to have confronted the driver in Edenvale, a town roughly 25 km (16m) from Johannesburg, accusing him of forming a relationship with his girlfriend. According to the police, Maarohanye allegedly forced the unnamed man into his vehicle on Sunday and fired his gun towards him. The man escaped unharmed and immediately drove to a nearby police station, the police statement says. Maarohanye has not yet commented. The alleged…
FORMER Super Eagles coach and captain, Sunday Oliseh, has said Morocco could have defeated Brazil by a 3-1 scoreline if the Atlas Lions had attackers of the quality of Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen or Ademola Lookman in their squad. News Point Nigeria Sport reports that Oliseh made the assertion on Sunday while reacting to Morocco’s impressive 1-1 draw against Brazil in their 2026 FIFA World Cup group-stage clash. The former Super Eagles skipper shared his thoughts in a post on his X handle shortly after the closely fought encounter. Despite facing the five-time world champions, Morocco matched Brazil for long spells…
STOCK markets across the Asia Pacific have surged following the announcement of a deal between Washington and Tehran to end the US-Israel war on Iran. Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark index soared 5.5 percent in morning trading on Monday, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped as much as 5.7 percent. Taiwan’s Taiex climbed as much as 2.7 percent, while the ASX200 in Australia rose about 1.5 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose about 1 percent, before giving up most of its gains later in the morning. Futures for US stocks, which are traded outside of regular market hours, also…
ISRAELI military maps have failed to reflect the true extent of the country’s territorial control since the war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023. A new probe by Al Jazeera’s open-source investigation unit reveals that Israeli forces have established a de facto military footprint across the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon, and southern Syria covering approximately 1,000sq km (386 sq miles), a size larger than the whole of New York City. This newly controlled territory amounts to roughly five percent of Israel’s total landmass prior to October 2023, which includes the occupied Palestinian territories and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.…
SOUTH Africa has repatriated 2,745 foreigners in the week after President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed tougher action against illegal immigration, the country’s home affairs minister said on Sunday. One of Africa’s largest economies, South Africa has long attracted migrant workers from across the continent, both legally and illegally. But saddled with an unemployment rate above 30 percent, it has experienced recurring spurts of anti-immigrant unrest, including fresh violence in recent weeks. Mobs of South Africans carrying sticks, whips and shields have marched through parts of the country ordering foreigners with no residency papers to leave by June 30. Growing security fears…
THE Ebola outbreak is spreading into new areas of the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and is bigger in scale than hitherto detected, the World Health Organization warned Friday. Much more needs to be done to contain the virus, the WHO said, with isolation bed capacity far below the anticipated need, based on how it is spreading. Since the outbreak was declared on May 15, there have been 676 confirmed Ebola cases, including 136 deaths in the DRC, according to the latest figures from the WHO. There are a further 119 suspected cases, while 32 patients have recovered. No approved…