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AT least 103 people were killed in Iran Wednesday as two bombs in quick succession struck a crowd commemorating slain general Qasem Soleimani on the anniversary of his killing, state media reported. The blasts, which state television called a “terrorist attack”, came with tensions running high in the Middle East a day after Hamas number two Saleh al-Aruri — an Iran ally — was killed in drone attack on a Beirut southern suburb which Lebanese officials blamed on Israel. The blasts stuck near the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in Kerman, Soleimani’s southern hometown where he is buried, as supporters gathered to…

AN influential Ugandan pastor and outspoken supporter of President Yoweri Museveni was hospitalised after a shooting attack which killed his bodyguard, police said Wednesday. Aloysius Bugingo was shot on Tuesday evening when “unidentified assailants opened fire on (his) vehicle… before swiftly escaping the scene on a motorcycle”, said Ugandan police. They said an investigation had been launched into “the attempted murder of Pastor Aloysius Bugingo… and the unfortunate killing of his bodyguard, Muhumuza Richard.” Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of Museveni who is seen as the president’s potential successor, said he had spoken with “our strong supporter” Bugingo, adding “and he…

KENYAN President William Ruto has come under a barrage of criticism following his threat to disobey court orders from “corrupt judges”. Mr Ruto on Tuesday said some unnamed judges had teamed up with opposition politicians and “cartels” to block his government’s projects. But in a swift response, Chief Justice Martha Koome said defying court orders was a breach of public trust placed in state and public officers. “When state or public officers threaten to defy court orders, the rule of law is imperilled, setting stage for anarchy to prevail in a nation,” Ms Koome said in a statement. She also…

MANCHESTER United outcast Jadon Sancho might return to Borussia Dortmund on loan this month. Sancho refused to apologise to Erik ten Hag for a social media post after the manager said his omission from September’s defeat at Arsenal was related to his performance in training. The England winger, 23, rejected this and said he was being made a scapegoat. Since then he has been training away from the first team, with no end in sight to his exile. United bought Sancho from Dortmund for £73m in July 2021. It is understood the Bundesliga club are willing to offer Sancho a…

LEBANON’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group warned that Israel’s killing Tuesday of the deputy Hamas leader in a Beirut suburb they control “will not go unanswered or unpunished”. Hezbollah called it “a serious assault on Lebanon”. “We, Hezbollah, affirm that this crime will not go unanswered or unpunished,” the movement said in a statement that called it “a serious assault on Lebanon… and a dangerous development in the course of the war,” the statement added. An Israeli strike killed Saleh al-Aruri, deputy head of the Hamas movement, in a southern Beirut stronghold of Hamas ally Hezbollah, two security officials told AFP. Hamas,…

TURKEY announced on Tuesday it had detained 33 people suspected of planning abductions and spying on behalf of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the suspects were rounded up in raids across Istanbul and seven other provinces. It was not immediately clear if they were Israeli nationals or locals allegedly working with Mossad. Yerlikaya’s office released video footage showing armed security service agents breaking down doors and handcuffing suspects in their homes. The Istanbul public prosecutor’s office said 13 additional suspects remained at large. The raids came weeks after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned of “serious consequences”…

SIERRA Leone on Tuesday charged 12 people with treason and other offences for their roles in what authorities have called an attempted coup on November 26, a press release said. One of those charged was Amadu Koita, who the government has said was one of the organisers of the coup attempt. A former soldier and bodyguard of former president Ernest Bai Koroma, Koita was widely followed on social networks where he criticised the government of current President Julius Maada Bio. He was arrested on December 4 and is one of 85 people arrested in connection with the events of November…

POLICE in Morocco have seized 1.488 tonnes (3,280lb) of cocaine in a joint operation with Spanish security forces. The cocaine was found concealed in banana boxes inside a shipping container that was aboard a vessel originating from South America and headed to Turkey. The seizure was made on Tuesday at the Tanger Med port in northern Morocco. Moroccan authorities say they suspect the cocaine was being smuggled as part of an international drug smuggling operation but are still conducting investigations. The bust comes just a day after authorities seized nearly 363kg of cocaine from a truck attempting to enter Morocco…

MANCHESTER City striker Erling Haaland enjoyed a glitzy New Year’s eve party in Dubai as he partied with his girlfriend and heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua. Haaland – who is still recovering from a foot injury – was one of the leading Premier League stars enjoying parties on New Year’s Eve as he posed in a group photo during celebrations. He was seen smiling in the picture alongside his girlfriend Isabel Haugseng Johansen and a friend late into the night after the clock had struck midnight in the country. Later on he was seen standing alongside British fighter Joshua at the…

THOUSANDS of Israeli protesters have held protests, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign over his handling of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip and failure to secure the release of the remaining captives held in the Palestinian territory. The anti-regime demonstrations took place on Sunday night outside the Israeli military’s headquarters in Tel Aviv and Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea. The protesters demanded immediate elections and a deal with the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement to release all the Israeli captives. They carried banners reading, “Elections now,” “A diplomatic agreement,” “The cry of mothers: Get our soldiers out…

A STRONG earthquake hit central Japan on Monday resulting in the death of at least two people, the destruction of structures, loss of electricity to thousands of homes, and the evacuation of some coastal residents to higher ground. According to Daily Mail, the preliminary magnitude 7.6 quake caused waves of around 1 metre along Japan’s west coast and bordering South Korea. Following the quake, a bright yellow message reading “Tsunami! Evacuate!” flashed across television screens advising residents in specific areas of the coast to immediately evacuate. The Japan Meteorological Agency initially issued a significant tsunami warning. It’s first since the…

CHAD’s transitional leader General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno has appointed long-time opposition figure Succès Masra as the country’s new prime minister. Mr Masra, who was previously a critic of the military-led government, returned from exile in November last year and backed the recent constitutional referendum spearheaded by Gen Itno. Mr Masra will serve through the transition to civilian rule, Mahamat Ahmad Alhabo, Chad’s new secretary-general of the presidency, said on Monday. He had left the country along with other opposition leaders after demonstrations held last year to protest military rule were violently repressed. Mr Masra, the president of The Transformers…

ETHIOPIA has taken the first legal steps on a path that could one day enable the landlocked country to gain access to the sea, its government says. It has signed what is known as a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the self-declared republic of Somaliland to use one of its ports. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has previously described sea access as an existential issue for his country. His statement in October prompted tensions across the Horn of Africa. There were some fears, quickly dampened by the authorities, that this implied trying to take land from another of Ethiopia’s neighbours,…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Monday addressed the nation in a New Year broadcast, during which he defended his actions so far as President, explained steps taken to better the economy, outlined his ambition and plans for the country and called on Nigerians to play their part in the growth of the nation, among other things. Read the full text of his broadcast below: Dear Compatriots, It gives me immense joy to welcome each and every one of you – young and old- to this brand new year 2024. We must lift up our hands to Almighty God, in gratitude, for…

STAR Ugandan athlete Benjamin Kiplagat has been found dead in Kenya, police said Sunday, with local media reports saying he had been murdered. The Kenyan-born Kiplagat, 34, had represented Uganda internationally in the 3,000m steeplechase, including several Olympic Games and World Championships. His body was found in a car on Saturday night on the outskirts of the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, home to many athletes. “An investigation has been launched and officers are on the ground pursuing leads,” local police commander Stephen Okal told reporters in Eldoret. He said Kiplagat’s body had a deep knife wound to his neck,…

ISRAEL launched heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza overnight and into New Year Monday after broadening its offensive against Hamas to more areas where the military had told Palestinians to seek shelter earlier in the war. Residents reported heavy bombing in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, and in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, areas where tens of thousands have sought refuge as much of northern Gaza was pounded to rubble. “It was a night of hell. We haven’t seen such bombing since the start of the war,” said Rami Abu Mosab, speaking from…

DENMARK’s popular Queen Margrethe II, Europe’s longest-serving monarch, said Sunday that she would abdicate on January 14 and pass the baton to her son Crown Prince Frederik. Margrethe, 83, has reigned for 52 years and has been Europe’s only reigning queen after the death of Britain’s Elizabeth II. She has been hailed for subtly modernising Danish royalty in her half-century on the throne. She made the surprise announcement during her traditional New Year’s Eve speech broadcast on Danish television, citing her age and health issues. “In two weeks time I have been Queen of Denmark for 52 years,” she said.…

DR Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi has won a second term in office with a landslide victory, according to provisional results announced Sunday, in a vote opposition leaders have dismissed as a “sham”. Provisional results from the single-round presidential ballot, declared by the country’s electoral commission Ceni, showed that Tshisekedi had won 73 percent of the vote. Flanked by his wife Denise and his mother, the president appeared on a balcony at his campaign headquarters in the capital Kinshasa to address supporters after the release of the results. “I have been re-elected president of all Congolese,” Tshisekedi, who was dressed in…

THE recent lifting of Niger’s ban on people smuggling has been welcomed by many in Agadez, a city on the edge of the Sahara – a once busy transit point for migrants heading towards North Africa and on to Europe. “The law was repealed on a Friday, by Sunday, I saw 4×4 cars in Agadez getting ready to resume their trips,” Chehou Azizou told the BBC. He is the founder of Alarme Phone Sahara, an organisation that helps bring migrants stranded in the desert back to safety. The law was introduced in 2015 – with the backing of the European…

AS major countries of the world await with eagerness to celebrate 2024, a few nations have already begun their celebrations. China, New Zealand, Australia and Kiribati were one of the first nations to ring in 2024 as ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza cast a pall over celebrations and heightened tensions across parts of the world. Residents of Auckland welcomed in the new year with a fireworks display over Sky Tower, New Zealand’s tallest structure. Jubilant crowds began bidding farewell to the hottest year on record Sunday, closing a turbulent 12 months marked by clever chatbots, climate crises and wrenching…