Author: Editor

DOZENS of supporters of Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina queued to collect their party cards on Tuesday, believing it entitled them to cash days after a presidential election boycotted by most opposition candidates, AFP journalists saw. Rajoelina’s party has denied allegations it has promised money in exchange for votes ahead of last week’s disputed elections, where the President was seeking another term. But since the beginning of the week, many in what is one of the world’s poorest countries have lined up outside the President’s party offices in Antananarivo, seeking a pay-out. “If the President was in front of me, I…

THE National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on Tuesday said the demise of ace Kannywood Movie Director, Aminu Surajo Bono is a big blow to the entertainment industry. Dr Ganduje who expressed shock over the passage of the popular actor said it came at a time when the industry needed him most. A statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Edwin Olofu made available to newsmen on Tuesday stated that, “Bono stands tall ahead of others in the entertainment industry in terms of commitment to preserve, and promote the socio-cultural values of the…

SIX of the shirts worn by Lionel Messi during Argentina’s World Cup-winning campaign are to be sold at auction. Captain Messi, 36, lifted the trophy after his side beat France on penalties in last December’s final in Qatar. His shirt from the final is included in the set, which are expected to fetch more than £8m in the auction hosted by Sotheby’s in New York. The record for a game-worn football shirt is Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ jersey, which sold for £7.1m in 2022. Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, said the sale of Messi’s six shirts “stands…

TWENTY-NINE premature babies were evacuated from war-torn Gaza to Egypt on Monday as Israel launched a deadly strike on the territory’s Indonesian Hospital. The Gaza health ministry charged that Israel’s army killed at least 12 people in the strike on the Indonesian Hospital in the Palestinian territory’s north, a war zone where entire city blocks have been reduced to rubble. Those killed included patients, said Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman of the ministry which has reported a death toll of more than 13,000 as the Gaza war rages on into its seventh week. Dozens more were wounded and around 700 people…

IRAQI Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Monday refused to accept the resignation of three cabinet ministers who stepped down over the dismissal of the parliament speaker. The Supreme Court last week said it was dismissing speaker Mohamed al-Halbussi, an influential Sunni Muslim politician, after a lawmaker accused him of forging a document. Halbussi’s Taqadom party hit back by announcing that the government ministers of culture, industry and planning — all three members of the party — were stepping down in protest. But on Monday Sudani’s office released a statement saying the prime minister “has rejected the resignations of the…

POLITICAL veteran Joseph Boakai was on Monday declared winner of Liberia’s presidential election, beating incumbent George Weah, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) said after completing the ballot count. Boakai won with 50.64 percent of the vote, against 49.36 percent of the vote for former international football star Weah, Davidetta Browne Lansanah, president of the commission, told reporters. Boakai won with only a 20,567-vote margin. Weah had already conceded defeat on Friday evening, based on the results of more than 99.98 percent of the polling stations. The outgoing president and former football star won praise from abroad on Monday for conceding…

THE South African government has called on the International Crime Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by mid-December. Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said if the ICC did not do this, it would signal a “total failure” of global governance. “The world cannot simply stand by and watch,” she said. Israel says it is defending itself following the 7 October attack by Hamas which saw 1,200 people killed and more than 200 taken hostage. It says it is trying to minimise civilian casualties but Ms Ntshavheni said the Israeli government was trying to…

NOVAK Djokovic won a record-breaking seventh ATP Finals title on Sunday after beating local hero Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3 in Turin. World number one Djokovic moves clear of retired great Roger Federer in victories at the season-ending tournament after denying Italian Sinner a triumph on home soil. Djokovic came into the Finals at the end of a year which has brought three Grand Slams, taking his total to an all-time best of 24, and a 40th Masters 1000 title. And he has crowned an incredible season — in which he also reached the Wimbledon final — with yet another record,…

FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were “too many civilian losses” in Israel’s war in Gaza, as Paris readied more humanitarian aid for the besieged enclave. Israel has said it wants to destroy the Palestinian armed group after it killed about 1,200 people and took hundreds more captive in a surprise assault on October 7. More than 13,000 people in Gaza, some 70 percent of them women and children according to the United Nations, have been killed in the air and land offensive. Hospitals, schools and refugee settlements have also come under sustained attack.…

FORMER US first lady Rosalynn Carter, the wife of former president Jimmy Carter, died Sunday at age 96 at the couple’s home in the southern state of Georgia, their nonprofit organization announced. Carter was best known for her work post-White House, as she and her husband championed human rights, democracy and health issues around the world — all while maintaining a notably humble public image. She had joined her husband in at-home hospice care on Friday after being diagnosed with dementia in May. “Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, a passionate champion of mental health, caregiving and women’s rights, passed away…

THE Malian army said at the weekend it discovered a mass grave in Kidal, a northeastern town recently recaptured from Tuareg rebels. “This mass grave recalls the atrocities committed by these terrorists who have neither faith nor law,” the army said in a statement late Saturday. It said the discovery was made Thursday during “operations to secure Kidal”, without providing further details. The armed forces said it was carrying out investigations to “bring those responsible to justice.” On November 14, Mali’s army retook Kidal, a Tuareg separatist stronghold that had not been under central government control since 2014. The town…

AT least 80,000 households across Kenya have been affected by heavy rainfall, flooding and landslides over the last week, the deputy president has said. The emergency services are using helicopters to deliver aid and rescue marooned families, Rigathi Gachagua’s statement says. On Saturday, Kenya Railways said flooding and landslides along the train track between the capital, Nairobi, and the port of Mombasa had forced the operator to close its cargo services. East Africa has experienced intense rains linked to the El Niño weather phenomenon, which have killed dozens of people, including at least 46 in Kenya. Floods have also caused…

MINISTER of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said Emirates Airline will recommence flight operations in Nigeria very soon. Keyamo, disclosing this via his X account on Sunday, said he met some top officials of the United Arab Emirates flag carrier, adding that they will reveal the exact date to begin operations. The minister said the meeting he had with the representatives of Emirates Airline regarding their Dubai to Nigeria flights was on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow last week. He added that President Bola Tinubu administration was assiduously working on some details concerning the resumption. “On the…

FRANCE scored seven goals in each half as they recorded their biggest ever win by thrashing 10-man Gibraltar 14-0 in Euro 2024 qualifying. The hosts are already through to the Germany tournament but did not take things easy as Kylian Mbappe hit a hat-trick that included a 40-yard strike. Teenager Warren Zaire-Emery was one of seven different first-half scorers. At 17 years, eight months and 11 days, he became France’s youngest player since 1914. He marked his debut with a goal to make it 3-0 before going off injured. Ethan Santos turned Jonathan Clauss’ cross into his own net after…

SHAKIRA was presented with a Latin Grammy award by former Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos for a song mocking former Barcelona defender Gerard Pique. The song, Shakira: Bzrp Music Session, Vol 53, won Song of the Year and Best Pop Song at the awards. It ridicules Shakira’s former partner Pique and has become the most watched new Latin song in YouTube’s history. Sevilla defender Ramos, 37, was on stage to present Shakira with the award. Despite being successful team-mates internationally, Ramos and Pique held a long-term rivalry at the club level as Real Madrid and Barcelona battled it out for…

AN official of the health ministry in the Gaza Strip said more than 80 people were killed on Saturday in double Israeli strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp. “At least 50 people” were killed in an Israeli strike at dawn on the UN-run Al-Fakhura school in the camp, which had been converted into a shelter for displaced Palestinians, the official told AFP. Social media videos — which AFP was not able to verify — showed bodies covered in blood and dust on the floor of a building, where mattresses had been wedged under school tables. A separate strike on another…

EFFORTS to rescue 40 workers trapped inside a collapsed tunnel in northern India have been expanded to include drilling down from the mountain top. A platform is being prepared to place the drilling machine at the site in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Another bid to reach the workers will also be made from the mouth of the tunnel. Three attempts to drill through the debris there have failed so far. Part of the tunnel under construction caved in after a landslide last Sunday. Contact with the men has been established and they are being provided oxygen and food. Explaining…

ZIMBABWE has declared a state of emergency in the capital Harare over a cholera outbreak. The outbreak has so far killed dozens of people with more than 7,000 suspected cases. The city authorities say the outbreak, spreading throughout the city, has invoked memories of a deadly outbreak in 2008, in which thousands died. “We have declared a state of emergency because of cholera,” local media quoted Mayor Ian Makone as saying. The authorities are now asking for help to contain the spread and provide safe water, saying the aid being received is inadequate. Health authorities have been struggling to contain…

KENYA’s President William Ruto has been named by Time Magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential leaders shaping global climate action. The listing comes in the week he led a national holiday aimed at planting 100 million trees in a single day. Mr Ruto was named alongside the mayor of Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr. Burkinabé-German architect Francis Kéré and Ethiopian climate entrepreneur Kidus Asfaw also made the Time list. The ranking, known as “Time 100 Climate”, was released on Thursday, and is the magazine’s inaugural attempt to name those it sees as significant in highlighting and…

SUSPECTED Boko Haram fighters ambushed the security convoy of Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe state, on Saturday, killing one policeman and injuring six others. The attack occurred along Jakana-Mainok expressway in Borno State. The security team had reportedly escorted the governor to Maiduguri for the 24th Convocation ceremony of University of Maiduguri, where Vice-President Kashim Shettima was conferred with a honorary doctorate degree. While the team returned to Yobe, Buni was said to have stayed behind in Maiduguri ahead of a trip to Abuja for another official engagement. Confirming the attack, the spokesman of the governor, Mamman Mohammed, said…