Author: Editor

FORMER football star George Weah is running for a second six-year term as Liberia’s president, but he appears to have scored an own goal by failing to engage with the topic that is dominating the air waves and mood on the streets – demands to set up an economic and war crimes court. The 57-year-old came into power promising to create jobs, transform lives and set up the court. But after taking office in 2018 he argued that looking backwards at old crimes would not be the best way to achieve development – something 24-year-old Frederick Tulay feels is a…

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it has reached a preliminary agreement with the Ghanaian authorities on the economic policies and reforms to conclude the first review of the $3bn (£2.45bn)-bailout fund the country is currently receiving. In a statement, it said it was satisfied with Ghana’s performance with respect to the programme’s targets and reform objectives. The agreement will now need to be approved by the IMF executive board. “The authorities have adjusted macroeconomic policies, successfully completed their domestic debt restructuring operation and launched wide-ranging reforms. These actions are already generating positive results,” said Stéphane Roudet, IMF mission chief…

JUVENTUS and France midfielder Paul Pogba’s ‘B’ sample has confirmed the presence of testosterone, a source close to the case told AFP on Friday. The 30-year-old former Manchester United player, a World Cup winner in 2018, faces a ban of up to four years. The original test by the Italian anti-doping agency (Nado) showed the presence of testosterone metabolites. On Friday, Pogba learned that the analysis of his B sample, carried out on the previous day, had produced the same result. The player’s entourage declined to comment. Under the World Anti-Doping Code, Pogba is liable to a four-year suspension, which…

LADY Cathy Ferguson, the wife of former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has died aged 84. The couple married in 1966, spending 57 years as husband and wife, and had three sons, including Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson. “We are deeply saddened to confirm the passing yesterday of Lady Cathy Ferguson,” a statement from the Ferguson family said. “The family asks for privacy at this time.” Manchester United said in a statement: “Everyone at Manchester United sends our heartfelt condolences to Sir Alex Ferguson and his family on the passing of Lady Cathy, a beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother and…

BRIGHTON fought back to secure their first Europa League point in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Marseille on Thursday as West Ham won 2-1 at Freiburg to set a new record unbeaten streak in Europe for an English team. Managerless Rangers slumped to an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Aris Limassol, while the gloom around Dutch giants Ajax was not lifted by a 1-1 draw at AEK Athens. Brighton’s 3-2 home defeat to AEK in their first ever European encounter left Roberto De Zerbi’s men needing to get something from their trip to the Stade Velodrome. Marseille have struggled so far…

A MAN who admitted trying to kill the late Queen Elizabeth II after being found on the grounds of Windsor Castle with a loaded crossbow, was on Thursday handed a nine-year sentence. Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, will serve the first part of his term in the high-security Broadmoor psychiatric hospital, moving to prison when his mental health permits. The former supermarket worker had “lost touch with reality so that he had become psychotic”, said sentencing judge Nicholas Hilliard at London’s Old Bailey court. After breaking into the grounds of the queen’s residence on Christmas Day 2021, Chail admitted to an…

A RUSSIAN strike killed at least 51 people gathered for a wake in an eastern Ukrainian village Thursday, in what a UN official called a “horrifying” attack. AFP journalists on the scene in the aftermath saw rescuers carrying a corpse from the rubble and several charred bodies in civilian clothes lying side by side, and others in white body bags. The mourners were in a cafe and there were also victims in a shop in the same building in the village, which has a population of 330 people, in the northeastern region of Kharkiv. Volodymyr Mukhovaty, 70, said he had…

FRANCE said Thursday that it would start withdrawing its troops from Niger this week after a falling-out with the post-coup regime, which insists the exit be carried out in accordance with its “conditions”. The announcement by the French army follows weeks of tensions between Paris and Niger’s new military rulers, who seized power on July 26. President Emmanuel Macron, who had sought to make a special ally of Niger, announced on September 24 the withdrawal of 1,400 French troops from the country “by the end of the year”, complying with a demand by the new regime in Niamey. Macron said…

GHANA – once touted as a trailblazing African economic success story – is facing an unprecedented financial crisis. This week, hundreds of protestors took to the streets in the capital Accra, calling on the governor of the Bank of Ghana and his two deputies to resign over the loss of about 60bn Ghanaian cedis ($5.2bn; £4.3bn) in the 2022 financial year. The demonstration, dubbed #OccupyBoG, was led by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party. The protestors, dressed in red shirts, scarfs and berets, chanted songs and held banners – some reading “stop the looting, we are suffering”. The opposition…

THE 2030 World Cup will be held across six countries in three continents, Fifa has confirmed. Spain, Portugal and Morocco have been named as the co-hosts, with the opening three matches taking place in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. The opening matches in South America are to mark the World Cup’s centenary as it will be 100 years since the inaugural tournament in Montevideo. The decision is set to be ratified at a Fifa congress next year. Fifa also confirmed only bids from countries from the Asian Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation will be considered for the 2034 finals.…

THE US has sent roughly 1.1 million bullets seized from Iran last year to Ukraine, its military has said. The US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees operations in the Middle East, says the rounds were confiscated from a ship bound for Yemen in December. Ukraine’s Western allies recently warned that their production lines were struggling to keep up with the rate at which Ukraine was using ammunition. Centcom says the Iranian rounds were transferred to Ukraine on Monday. The munitions were originally seized by US naval forces from a stateless ship named MARWAN 1 on 9 December, it said. The…

AN elderly woman in Russia’s Far East was revealed on Wednesday to have lived for 80 years with an inch-long needle in her brain, after doctors made the unexpected discovery during a CT scan. Doctors believe the woman was the victim of a failed infanticide carried out by her parents, and said they would not attempt to remove the needle for fear of worsening her condition. “Such cases during years of famine were not uncommon,” the local health department in the remote Russian region of Sakhalin said. It said her parents likely decided to put their child to death during…

AROUND 400 people in Egypt have been arrested over “riot incidents” after President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi announced that he would run for a third term, according to local media. President Sisi’s remarks on Tuesday sparked a rare display of public anger – viral social media videos captured protests in the north-western city of Marsa Matrouh. In the footage, people can be heard chanting “Sisi out” and calling for his decade-long regime to fall. Other videos showed clashes between demonstrators and the police. The privately owned Al-Manassa news website quoted Saleh Abou-Attiya, the secretary-general of the Marsa Matrouh Bar Association, as…

A KENYAN hospital worker caught by the BBC trying to sell a baby has been sentenced to 25 years in jail. Fred Leparan, who worked at Nairobi’s Mama Lucy Kibaki hospital, was filmed accepting $2,500 (£2,000) to sell a baby boy under the hospital’s care. He was arrested in 2020 and found guilty of child trafficking, child neglect and conspiracy to commit crime. His co-accused Selina Adundo was sentenced to six years in jail or a $2,000 fine. An Africa Eye reporter had initially approached Leparan posing as a potential buyer, after hearing from a source that the senior clinical…

MANCHESTER United crashed to a 3-2 defeat at home to Galatasaray on Tuesday to leave the Red Devils in danger of an early exit from the Champions League. United have lost their opening two games of a Champions League group for the first time. New goalkeeper Andre Onana had another night to forget in Europe. Rasmus Hojlund twice gave United the lead, but Galatasaray fought back to win away from home in the Champions League for the first time in 10 years thanks to goals from Wilfried Zaha, Kerem Akturkoglu and Mauro Icardi. Onana accepted responsibility after his error allowed…

AT least 21 people including two children have died after a bus crashed off a flyover near the Italian city of Venice and caught fire, officials say. The bus broke through a barrier and plunged near railway tracks in the district of Mestre, which is connected to Venice by a bridge. Among the dead are five Ukrainians, one German and the Italian driver, city prefect Michele Di Bari said. Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said a “huge tragedy” had taken place. “An apocalyptic scene, there are no words,” he said on social media. The bus is thought to have been rented…

PAKISTAN’s government has ordered all unauthorised Afghan asylum seekers – an estimated 1.7 million people – to leave the country by November. A spike in militant attacks along the two countries’ border this year has escalated tensions. Pakistan has blamed border crossing attacks on Afghanistan-based operatives – charges denied by the Taliban regime. But it has fuelled resentment in Islamabad, which on Tuesday announced a crackdown on “illegal” migrants. Last week, a blast at a mosque in Mastung city, near the border with Afghanistan, killed at least 50 people during a religious celebration. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti did not…

KENYA’s communications regulator has said that the country experienced a record 860 million cyber-attacks in the last 12 months. The regulator said that “the frequency, sophistication and scale of cyber-threats” targeted at Kenya’s critical information infrastructure had increased dramatically. In 2017, Kenya experienced 7.7 million cyber attacks. In July, a high-profile cyber attack attributed to the pro-Russian hacking group Anonymous Sudan cut off access to more than 5,000 online government services in the country, including visa, passport and driving licence applications and renewals. The attack also disabled online train booking systems and mobile money transactions. The Communications Authority of Kenya…

ETHIOPIA’s embassy in the Sudanese capital Khartoum came under attack with heavy weapons on Tuesday morning, the Ethiopian ambassador there has confirmed. No casualties were reported in the attack but the embassy’s building was partially damaged, Yibeltal Ayimiro Alemu, the Ethiopian ambassador to Sudan, told the BBC. The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been fighting with army since 15 April, has blamed the army for the attack. The Sudanese army has not commented on the attack. It is not the first time the Ethiopian embassy in Khartoum has been attacked. An employee of the Ethiopian embassy in…

THE US House of Representatives voted Tuesday to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker – a historic moment that threatens to plunge House Republicans even further into chaos and turmoil. The House will now need to elect a new speaker, but there is no clear alternative who would have the support needed to win the gavel. In the meantime, Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is the interim speaker. No House speaker has ever before been ousted through the passage of a resolution to remove them. The fight over the speakership marks a major escalation in tensions for a House GOP…