OVERNIGHT strikes on Gaza killed dozens, the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry said Saturday, as Israel’s spy chief joined talks in Paris seeking to unblock negotiations on a truce. The negotiations come after a plan for a post-war Gaza unveiled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew criticism from key ally the United States, and was rejected by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank. They also come alongside deepening fears for Gaza’s civilians. The United Nations’ main aid body for Palestinians, UNWRA, said Gazans were “in extreme peril while the world watches”. Hamas said on Saturday morning…
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THE sea of chanting, nearly-naked men tussle, push and shove towards the shrine. “Washoi! Washoi!” they yell – let’s go, let’s go. It is scene that has barely changed in the 1,250 years the Hadaka Matsuri, or the Naked Festival, has been taking place at the Konomiya Shrine, in central Japan. But this year there is a change – a big one. Away from the men’s huddle, a group are about to become the first women to ever take part. The women gathered here know they are making history. Finding room in traditionally male-dominated spaces is difficult anywhere, but in…
A COURT in Uganda has sentenced more than 100 women to one month of community service each after they confessed to sending their children to beg in the capital, Kampala. The court has also banned the women from returning to the city and ordered that they be sent back to their home district of Napak in northern Uganda, privately owned Daily Monitor newspaper reported. The women pleaded for leniency, with some saying they were widows and others single mothers, state-owned New Vision newspaper reported. “I have listened to their cries and a [jail] sentence would be inappropriate. I have to…
GUINEA’s military junta has protested to Russia’s ambassador after his embassy reportedly warned of possible unrest in the capital, Conakry. The warning was issued after junta leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya dissolved the government on Monday, and ordered the closure of all borders. Ambassador Alexey Popov apologised to the junta for what he called a misunderstanding, Guinean media reported. Col Doumbouya took power in a 2021 coup. He dissolved his government on Monday without offering any explanation. He also ordered the seizure of the passports of sacked ministers, and the freezing of their bank accounts. Guinean media reported that Col Doumbouya’s…
A LONG-RANGE shot from Robert Andrich took Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen to a 2-1 home win against Mainz on Friday, setting a new German record of 33 games unbeaten. Andrich’s goal was helped by a goalkeeping mistake from Mainz’s Robin Zentner, who allowed the ball to slip through his hands and into the net. Leverkusen were nervy and made a number of uncharacteristic errors, but the victory takes them 11 points clear of Bayern Munich in their bid for a first-ever Bundesliga title. “We have to be honest and say we didn’t play a great game and were a bit…
THE Super Falcons were on Friday held to a goalless draw by Cameroon in the first leg of the final round of qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Nigeria could have returned home with a win but had two goals disallowed during the game in Doula in Cameroon. The return leg of the clash will be on Monday in Abuja with the winner picking one of Africa’s tickets for the Olympics later in the year.
DOCTORS Without Borders on Wednesday condemned in “strongest possible terms” the killing of two family members of its staff in an Israeli strike on Gaza. The incident occurred late Tuesday when an Israeli tank fired on a house sheltering the employees and their families in Al-Mawasi area on Gaza’s coast, said the charity known by its French acronym MSF. “The attack killed the daughter-in-law and wife of one of our colleagues, and wounded six people, including five women and children,” MSF said in a statement. Gunshots were fired at the building, which was clearly marked with the MSF logo and…
A SPANISH priest has been temporarily suspended by the Roman Catholic Church after he was accused of selling drugs including the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra. The clergyman from Don Benito, a town of around 35,000 residents in the western Extremadura region, was detained Monday on suspicion of “trafficking narcotic substances”, the diocese of Plasencia, which is responsible for his parish, said in a statement Thursday. After his arrest, the priest, whose identity has been withheld, was provisionally released by the investigating judge, the diocese said, expressing its “pain and dismay at the suffering and scandal” caused by the events. While…
THE death toll from Zambia’s cholera outbreak has risen to almost 700, says the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). It is the largest ever recorded in the country. It began in the capital, Lusaka, in October and has since spread to all of Zambia’s provinces infecting more 19,000 people. MSF says cholera is easily treated – with rehydration – but without the proper care a person can die in a few hours. The disease is caused by contaminated water, so access to clean drinking water is vital to stopping it spreading further.
SENEGAL’s President Macky Sall has said he will leave office when his term comes to an end on 2 April, but tensions remain over an election date. His recent decision to delay the vote, originally scheduled for Sunday, to mid-December sparked deadly protests. In a televised interview, Mr Sall said an election date would now be decided in political talks to start on Monday. But the opposition has refused to take part in the proposed dialogue dashing hopes of resolving the turmoil. Sixteen of the 19 presidential hopefuls have said they will not be turning up for what the president…
AC MILAN overcame a spirited Rennes 5-3 on aggregate despite a 3-2 loss in Thursday’s second leg to reach the Europa League last 16, where they will be joined by fellow former European champions Benfica. Benjamin Bourigeaud scored a hat-trick for Rennes, including a pair of penalties, but goals from Luka Jovic and Rafael Leao ensured Milan were never really in danger of blowing a 3-0 lead from the first leg. Benfica also saw off French opposition as a 0-0 draw away to Toulouse was enough to send the Portuguese side through following their 2-1 victory in last week’s first…
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…