Author: Editor

CANADA has announced it will ban WeChat on government devices. The Chinese-owned app is sometimes referred to as the “everything app” – like WhatsApp, Facebook, Amazon and Tinder all in one. However Western governments have security concerns about it, mainly that the app could be used to spy on users. The BBC has reached out to Tencent, the company that owns WeChat, for comment but has not yet received a response. WeChat is one of the most used apps in the world. It is ubiquitous in China and also popular in Southeast Asia and within Chinese diaspora communities. Canada’s ban…

A TIKTOK star accused of falsely claiming to be a doctor has been arrested after trying to enter a hospital in South Africa. Matthew Lani garnered thousands of followers by sharing medical advice and selling medication online. On Sunday night, Mr Lani tried to bypass security by disguising himself with a surgical mask and stethoscope. He tried to escape police custody by jumping out of a bathroom window, before being caught. The Gauteng province Department of Health released a statement saying Mr Lani frequently used the Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg where he was caught to “curate misleading content under…

A NOW-SACKED Ghanaian government minister has admitted that he accepted a cash gift of $40,000 (£33,000) “in order not to offend the sensibility of a potential wealthy investor”, according to an official report into the incident. Charles Adu Boahen was dismissed as a minister last November after an investigative journalist caught him on camera appearing to accept the money from someone pretending to be a wealthy sheikh who had expressed an interest in investing $500m in the continent including setting up an Islamic Bank in Ghana. Ghana’s Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), which looks into alleged corruption and corruption-related…

OLIVIER Giroud scored twice for AC Milan before hosts Napoli hit back to draw a thrilling game in Serie A. Giroud put the visitors ahead, scoring with two headers from crosses by Christian Pulisic and Davide Calabria. Matteo Politano’s superb strike into the roof of the net halved the deficit five minutes after the break at Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. Giacomo Raspadori curled in a superb free-kick to level the match, before Natan was dismissed late on for Napoli. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia fired a shot towards goal in the dying seconds but Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan saved with his legs to…

IRANIAN President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday said Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza “may force everyone” to act in the latest warning issued by the Islamic republic since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Israel has been pounding the tiny Palestinian territory since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7 and, according to Israeli officials, killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. Since then, more than 8,000 people have been killed, half of them children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, an impoverished strip of land which is home to 2.4 million people. “The crimes…

KAZAKHSTAN said Sunday that 42 bodies of miners were found at an ArcelorMittal facility, with four still missing, making it the deadliest such accident in the Central Asian country’s post-Soviet history. The blaze ignited on Saturday and 32 people were initially reported dead at the Kostenko mine, which is owned by steel giant ArcelorMittal. The new figure was confirmed by the ministry for emergency situations as rescuers pulled bodies from the rubble. The search for four missing miners is ongoing at the partially destroyed mine. Emergency services are searching for the miners in two main areas of the wreckage, spaced…

KENYA is to end visa requirements to all African visitors by the end of the year, President William Ruto has said. “It is time we… realise that having visa restrictions amongst ourselves is working against us,” he told an international conference. Visa-free travel within the continent has been a goal of the African Union (AU) for the past decade. While there are regional deals and bilateral arrangements, progress towards no restrictions has been slow. Only Seychelles, The Gambia and Benin offer entry to all African citizens without a visa, according to a 2022 AU-backed report. But according to Africa’s Visa…

TO THE full-throated cheers of his supporters, Zambia’s former President Edgar Lungu has announced that he is making a political comeback. He retired from politics in 2021 after suffering a crushing defeat in a presidential election. After six years in office he left the country heavily in debt and with a precarious economy. But Mr Lungu is now aiming to capitalise on growing dissatisfaction with his successor, Hakainde Hichilema. His return had long been anticipated but this was the first formal announcement. “I am ready to fight from the front, not from the rear, in defence of democracy. Those who…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu, on Sunday afternoon, received the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja. Scholz, who arrived at the Villa’s forecourt at 03:40 pm (local time), is visiting Nigeria for the first time since assuming office in December 2021. It also begins his two-day working visit where he is scheduled to meet business leaders in Lagos on Monday, October 30. Both leaders met at the 18th G20 Summit in India where the German helmsman told Tinubu, “We acknowledge the business-friendly reforms you have put in place. I am happy to inform you of my desire…

THE mother of Liverpool’s Colombian winger Luis Diaz was rescued from kidnappers on Saturday but a search remains on for his father, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Saturday. Petro posted on X, formerly known as twitter, that Diaz’s mother was rescued in Barrancas in the northern part of the country. “We continue in the search for the father,” added Petro. Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office said they had been working intensely on the case. “From the moment the Attorney General’s Office learned of the kidnapping of the parents of the Colombian player Luis Díaz, in the Barrancas sector of La…

FORMER Vice President Mike Pence announced Saturday that he is withdrawing from the US presidential race, saying, “this is not my time.” Speaking at the annual meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, Pence — the first major 2024 candidate to suspend his campaign, said: “It’s become clear to me: this is not my time.” “After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president.” Pence, along with most of his rivals seeking to be the Republican Party’s nominee for next year’s White House race, never gained momentum in a contest overwhelmingly dominated by…

BATTLES raged in Gaza on Saturday as Israel’s army said it expanded ground operations after intensifying its bombardment of the Palestinian territory three weeks after the deadliest attack in the country’s history. The United Nations warned of a looming “unprecedented avalanche of human suffering” inside the Gaza Strip, after weeks of relentless Israeli bombing, while the General Assembly called for an “immediate humanitarian truce”. “We are confronting an Israeli ground incursion in Beit Hanoun (in the northern Gaza Strip) and east Bureij (in the centre) and violent engagements are taking place on the ground,” Hamas’s armed wing the Ezzedine al-Qassam…

THE editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Edward Enninful OBE, has been named the UK’s most influential black person by the Powerlist 2024. Powerful Media’s annual list celebrates people of African, African Caribbean and African American heritage. Now in its 18th year, it highlights black role models to young people. Other names to make the list for 2024 include Afua Kyei, Bank of England chief financial officer, and Dragon’s Den star and podcaster Steven Bartlett. Enninful is the first black man to hold the top job at the British fashion magazine but earlier this year he announced he would be stepping down…

AT least 32 people have been killed and dozens more injured in a crash involving multiple vehicles in Egypt, the health ministry has said. The collision occurred on Saturday morning in Egypt’s Beheira governorate on the Cairo-Alexandria road, 131km (82 miles) north of the capital Cairo. At least 63 people have been injured, the health ministry said. State newspaper Al-Ahram said the crash involved a passenger bus and several cars, some of which caught fire. It said many of those killed were burnt to death. At least 20 ambulances were sent to the crash site, the health ministry said in…

TOTTENHAM Hotspur moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League table and continued their superb start to the season with a win at Crystal Palace. The visitors took control after the break and benefitted from a huge slice of fortune with the opener when Palace defender Joel Ward turned James Maddison’s cross into his own net. Maddison was key to the second too as his interplay with Brennan Johnson ended with Son Heung-min firing home his eighth goal of the season. Jordan Ayew thumped in a stunning strike after taking the ball down on his chest in…

HAMAS is “ready” for an Israeli invasion of Gaza over the October 7 attacks, a top official of the Palestinian Islamist group said late Friday after Israel announced it would extend its ground operation. “Following the series of strikes of the last days, the ground forces are extending the ground operation tonight,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters after two straight nights of tank incursions into the Gaza Strip. A top Hamas official said it was “ready” for an Israeli ground invasion. “If (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu decides to enter Gaza tonight, the resistance is ready,” said Ezzat al-Rishaq, a…

DONALD Trump and three of his children will soon take the stand in a New York business fraud case. A judge ruled on Friday that Mr Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, must testify in the case against her brothers and father. She was dismissed as a defendant in the case earlier this year – but her brothers Eric and Donald Jr were not. The New York Attorney General’s Office said the former president will testify on 6 November and his three children will take the stand before him. Their testimony is expected over three days from Wednesday next week, starting with Donald…

KING Charles III embarks Tuesday on a four-day trip to Kenya, his first visit as monarch to a Commonwealth nation, where any comments he makes on Britain’s colonial past will be closely scrutinised. Charles is expected to tackle “the more painful aspects” of the UK’s historic relationship with Kenya — namely the period of British rule, which ended in 1963, Buckingham Palace has said. This will include the “Emergency” of 1952-1960, when colonial authorities imposed a state of emergency in response to the Mau Mau guerrilla campaign against European settlers. “His Majesty will take time during the visit to deepen…

MANY parts of Ghana were plunged into darkness due to a lack of gas to power machinery used to generate electricity in the country. Power distribution firm Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) says the situation has caused “a supply gap of 550MW at peak time” at Tema power plant, near the capital, Accra. This is about 10% of the country’s total capacity. The massive outage started on Thursday evening. Power has now been restored in some areas but GRIDCo spokesperson Dzifa Bampoh told the BBC there would be more outages on Friday evening, during peak hours. Ghana is currently going…

SWISS prosecutors announced Thursday they have dropped their three-year criminal proceedings against FIFA president Gianni Infantino over suspected collusion with officials concerning the corruption scandal that engulfed world football’s governing body. Infantino declared a “full and clear victory” in the case and demanded an apology from what he called the “envious and corrupt” people out to tarnish his reputation. A probe was opened in July 2020 to investigate suspicions of collusion between Infantino and Switzerland’s then-attorney general Michael Lauber, the country’s top prosecutor. Lauber was in charge of Switzerland’s probe into the towering corruption scandal that exploded at the heart…