Author: Editor

PRESIDENT Joe Biden has denied that the US is attempting to stem China’s international influence, after signing a new historic deal with Vietnam. More than 50 years since the last American soldier left Vietnam, Mr Biden travelled to Hanoi to sign the agreement that will bring the former foes closer than ever before. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam is a major relationship upgrade for the US. It is the culmination of a relentless push by Washington over the last two years to strengthen ties with Vietnam, which it sees as key to counter China’s influence in Asia. It is…

TWO foreign aid volunteers have been killed and two others injured in a Russian missile attack in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv has said. Emma Igual, the Spanish director of Road to Relief, and Anthony Ihnat, a Canadian colleague, died on Saturday as their vehicle drove towards Bakhmut. The NGO said that German volunteer Ruben Mawick and Johan Mathias Thyr, a Swede, were badly injured by shrapnel. The group said the vehicle suffered a “direct hit”, flipped and caught fire. The aid workers had left from Slovyansk and were headed to the Bakhmut area to assess the needs of civilians “caught in…

ANNUAL inflation in Egypt hit 39.7 percent in August, official figures showed Sunday, an all-time high as the Arab world’s most populous country grapples with a punishing economic crisis. It comes after a previous record of 38.2 percent in July and amid an unrelenting downturn that has seen the currency shed half its value against the US dollar since early last year. Food and drink prices alone rose 71.9 percent year-on-year, said the state statistics agency CAPMAS. The economic crisis in the import-dependent country was catalysed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, which destabilised crucial food supplies and unsettled…

USING heavy equipment and even their bare hands, rescuers in Morocco on Sunday stepped up efforts to find survivors of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,100 people and flattened villages. The first foreign rescuers flew in to help after the North African country’s strongest-ever quake killed at least 2,122 people and injured more than 2,400, many seriously, according to official figures updated late on Sunday. Friday’s 6.8-magnitude quake struck 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of the tourist hub of Marrakesh, wiping out entire villages in the hills of the Atlas mountains. On Sunday an aftershock of magnitude 4.5…

NIGER’s military has accused France of gathering forces and equipment in several West African countries with a view to launch a “military intervention” against Niamey. Colonel Amadou Abdramane, a spokesman for Niger’s coup leaders, made the claim on national television late on Saturday. He said France was continuing to deploy its forces in member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as “part of preparations for an aggression against Niger, which it is planning in collaboration with this community organisation”. French “military cargo aircraft have enabled large quantities of war material and equipment to be unloaded in…

SEAN Strickland defeated Isreal Adeanya to become the new UFC middleweight champion of the world with all judges scoring the fight in his favour at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. A first-round knock down by the American was the highlight of the fight that went the whole five rounds. All three judges scored the fight 49-46 for the American and new middleweight world champion, Strickland. He did it with nonstop pressure and steady, upright boxing never once attempting a grapple. It is back to the drawing board for the Nigerian-born fighter Adesanya as he was on the back…

JAPAN humiliated Euro 2024 hosts Germany 4-1 in a friendly international on Saturday, piling the pressure on struggling coach Hansi Flick. Japan, who also contributed to Germany’s group stage exit at the World Cup with a 2-1 win in Qatar last year, scored twice in each half. The defeat raises more questions over Flick’s future, nine months out from Germany hosting the European Championships. Junya Ito and Ayase Ueda scored either side of a Leroy Sane strike in the first half, Japan taking a 2-1 lead into halftime as the home fans jeered the home side. Germany continued their limp…

G20 leaders decried the use of force in Ukraine for territorial gain in a summit statement on Saturday, without naming Russia. Referencing the “war in Ukraine”, the document said that “all states” should “refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state”. There was no explicit reference to Russia, unlike in a G20 statement in Bali last year that cited a UN resolution condemning “in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine”. Nonetheless US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan welcomed the…

A GEORGIA special grand jury recommended charging one current and two former US senators and 18 other allies of ex-President Donald Trump, a newly released report says. But prosecutors decided not to indict them for alleged efforts to reverse the 2020 election results in the state. The jury had voted to recommend indictments against Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and former Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. The full report was released on Friday. The document, much of which was previously under seal, offers the clearest picture yet of the secret jury’s thinking as they investigated whether Mr Trump and his…

THE death toll from a powerful earthquake in Morocco has soared to more than 2,000, with a similar number of injured. The interior ministry says more than 1,400 have serious injuries, and the heaviest casualties are in provinces just south of Marrakesh. King Mohammed VI declared three days of national mourning and ordered shelter, food and other help for survivors. Many people are spending a second night out in the open. The magnitude 6.8 quake hit Marrakesh and many towns on Friday night. In remote mountain areas, entire villages are reported to have been flattened. The epicentre was in the…

MANGOSUTHU Buthelezi, a towering figure in South African politics and outspoken Zulu chief, has died at the age of 95. During the racist apartheid regime, he founded the Zulu Inkatha party after becoming disillusioned with the African National Congress (ANC). Thousands were killed in clashes between supporters of the two parties in the early 1990s. But he was later welcomed back into the fold, serving as President Nelson Mandela’s minister of home affairs. Chief Buthelezi was a shrewd but controversial politician, who disagreed with the ANC’s tactics of armed action against white-minority rule and trod a moderate path as leader…

THE huge earthquake which hit Morocco overnight killed more than 1,300 people and injured at least another 1,800, many of them critically, the interior ministry said on Saturday. A total of 1,305 people have now been confirmed dead, while 1,832 people were injured, of whom 1,220 are in critical condition, a ministry statement said. Three days of national mourning were declared in an announcement from the royal palace. “Three days of national mourning have been decided, with flags to fly at half-mast on all public buildings,” said a statement published by the official MAP news agency after King Mohammed VI…

IN a transfer window that saw all-time spending across the world, Saudi Pro League clubs came out of nowhere to spend £701.3m, ranking second in the world for national spending behind England’s Premier League. Helping to lead the Saudi Pro League project is former Chelsea chief Michael Emenalo, who spent six years at Stamford Bridge between 2011 and 2017 and helped bring in players such as Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante to the club. Now the former Chelsea sporting director is tasked with centralising the Saudi Pro League’s recruitment and continuing to bring the world’s…

A TURKISH crypto founder who fled to Albania and his two brothers have been sentenced to 11,196 years in jail each, the Anadolu state news agency reported Friday. Prosecutors had asked for Thodex boss Faruk Fatih Ozer, 29, to be sentenced to 40,562 years in prison for money laundering, fraud and establishing a criminal organisation. “If I were to establish a criminal organisation, I would not have acted so amateurishly,” Anadolu quoted Ozer as telling the court. His two brothers, Serap and Guven, received the same sentence, which was issued late Thursday after a brief trial, Turkish media reports said.…

AN Ecuadoran municipal councillor was kidnapped and killed in the latest political violence to rock the South American country just weeks before a presidential vote, officials said Friday. Bolivar Vera, from Duran in the drug violence-hobbled Guayas province in Ecuador’s west, was found dead Friday in a wooded area, bloodied and with his hands tied, the prosecutor’s office said on social media. He had been shot. Vera had been reported missing by his municipal colleagues on Thursday. According to police official Paul Villavicencio, Vera’s body had “several gunshots apparently in the head and… chest.” His killing comes after the assassination…

SENEGAL’s F24, a platform that unites various political groups and civil society organisations, has called on their supporters to bang pots in protest against President Macky Sall this Sunday. Speaking at a press conference, they say they are advocating for the release of individuals termed “political detainees” and the organisation of an inclusive presidential election. They had previously called for a peaceful demonstration this Friday in the centre of the Senegalese capital but the governor of Dakar banned the movement’s rally. Several of the F24 demonstrations have also recently been banned by the authorities for “risks of disturbance to public…

GABON’s new prime minister has told the BBC that the country should hold fresh elections within the next two years, following a military coup last week. The junta which overthrew President Ali Bongo has promised a free and fair election, but not set out a timetable. However, Raymond Ndong Sima told the BBC’s Newshour programme: “I have said in a document that I published that that should be done within two years.” He said a timetable would be decided in the coming days. Mr Sima was installed as interim prime minister on Thursday, after Gen Brice Oligui Nguema, who led…

OVER 296 people have been killed following a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Morocco, officials have said. Many of the fatalities are said to be in hard-to-reach areas south of Marrakech. The earthquake struck early Saturday – damaging buildings in major cities and sending panicked people pouring into the streets. At least 153 people were injured and are being treated in hospital. Witnesses in Marrakech told the Reuters news agency that some buildings have collapsed, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Big cracks were seen in a section of the medieval city’s walls. Local television stations broadcast pictures of a…

THE Saudi Pro League transfer deadline shut at 22:00 BST to end a record-breaking summer of spending – but Al-Ittihad were unable to prise Mohamed Salah away from Liverpool. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side had a £150m bid rejected by the Reds for the 31-year-old Egypt international and reports of a world-record £215m bid were never confirmed. Several Premier League managers have criticised the fact the Saudi deadline closed almost a week after Europe’s major leagues. It was an unprecedented summer of spending by a non-European league, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund ploughing huge resources into four of their clubs…

SHARES in Apple have fallen for a second day in a row after reports that Chinese government workers have been banned from using iPhones. The firm’s stock market valuation has fallen by more than 6%, or almost $200bn (£160bn), in the last two days. China is the technology giant’s third-largest market, accounting for 18% of its total revenue last year. It is also where most of Apple’s products are manufactured by its biggest supplier Foxconn. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Beijing had ordered central government agency officials to not bring iPhones into the office or use them…