ISRAEL’s war on Gaza has not only razed entire neighbourhoods to the ground, displaced families multiple times and decimated medical facilities, but also poisoned the very ground and water on which Palestinians depend. Four weeks into a fragile ceasefire, which Israel has violated daily, the scale of the environmental devastation is becoming painfully clear. In Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, what was once a lively community has become a wasteland. Homes lie in ruins, and an essential water source, once a rainwater pond, now festers with sewage and debris. For many displaced families, it is both home and hazard. Umm…
Author: Editor
Read More
PRESIDENT Donald Trump said no US officials would attend the G20 summit in South Africa, reviving debunked claims of white Afrikaners being systematically “killed and slaughtered” in the country. Trump had announced in September that Vice President JD Vance would travel to the meeting later this month instead of him, but has now said that US representatives will skip it entirely. “It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” Trump said on his Truth Social network. “No U.S. Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue.” Trump said that Afrikaners…
DJIBOUTI’s president Ismail Omar Guelleh, in power since 1999, will run for a sixth term in next year’s election, political sources told AFP, after parliament removed a constitutional barrier that had prevented him from running again. The tiny Horn of Africa nation is a stable state in an often troubled region, operating a major port that hosts military bases for the United States, France, China, Japan and Italy. “He has agreed to be a candidate in next year’s presidential election, everything went smoothly,” President of the National Assembly Dileita Mohamed Dileita told AFP, after a congress of the ruling People’s…
PROMINENT members of Tunisia’s political opposition have announced they will be joining a collective hunger strike in solidarity with jailed politician Jawhar Ben Mbarek, whose health they say has severely deteriorated after nine days without food. Ben Mbarek, the cofounder of Tunisia’s main opposition alliance, the National Salvation Front, launched a hunger strike last week to protest his detention since February 2023. Ben Mbarek’s father, veteran activist Ezzeddine Hazgui, said during a news conference in the capital Tunis on Friday that his son is in a “worrisome condition, and his health is deteriorating”. Hazgui said his family would launch a…
RUBEN Amorim has told Manchester United to “focus on the future” following former Old Trafford star Cristiano Ronaldo’s withering assessment of his old club. United are looking to rebuild following a woeful 2024/25 season, which saw them finish a lowly 15th in the Premier League and lose in the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur. Ronaldo insisted this week United manager Amorim cannot do “miracles” at a club that is “not on a good path”, saying “they need to change and it’s not only about the coach and players”. But when Ronaldo’s comments were put to his former Portugal team-mate…
TURKIYE says it has issued arrest warrants for genocide against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials. Among 37 suspects listed are Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, according to a Friday statement from the Istanbul prosecutor’s office, which did not publish the complete list. Turkiye has accused the officials of “genocide and crimes against humanity” that Israel has “perpetrated systematically” in its war on Gaza since October 2023. “The October 17, 2023, attack on the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital claimed 500 lives; on February 29, 2024,…
THE United States on Friday accused Iran of plotting to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Mexico, in what would be the latest attempt to take the two countries’ conflict to another region. A US official said that the Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force initiated the plot in late 2024 and that it was disrupted this year. “The plot was contained and does not pose a current threat,” the US official said on condition of anonymity. “This is just the latest in a long history of Iran’s global lethal targeting of diplomats, journalists, dissidents and anyone who disagrees with them, something that…
A TANZANIAN court has charged at least 240 people with treason following last week’s deadly election protests. President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the winner of the election with 98% of the vote, but the opposition – which was barred from contesting – denounced the poll as a sham. Security forces clashed with those protesting against the vote and, according to various sources, hundreds were killed. The authorities have downplayed the scale of the violence and maintained the election was free and fair. Many people were arrested and have now been charged with treason at a court in the economic…
EXPLOSION have been heard near the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, a day after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said it would agree to a humanitarian ceasefire. Residents in Khartoum, which is controlled by the army, told the AFP news agency that they were woken overnight by the sound of drones and explosions. The blasts appeared to take place near a military base and a power station in the early hours of Friday morning, the residents said. The RSF has not addressed these accounts, but Sudan’s military-led government said it would be wary of agreeing to a truce as the…
SUPER Falcons’ Chiamaka Nnadozie, has been nominated in FIFA’s “The Best” women’s goalkeeper of the year category, a testament to her impressive form for both club and country in 2025. The world football governing body said the Nigerian was shortlisted for her performances from 11 August 2024 to 2 August 2025. “The Nigerian was magnificent as Paris FC stunned Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de France final, keeping a clean sheet and then denying two penalties in the shootout,” FIFA wrote about the Brighton shot stopper. “Nnadozie also kept four shutouts in six games as the Super Falcons sunk Morocco…
SURROUNDED by three walls on a land of ruins, as Israeli bombs continue to rain down from the skies, for many in Gaza, the sea remains the only open horizon, a shimmering promise of elusive freedom. Its waters, and the fish within them, have long nourished Palestinians cut off from the world, partially easing the pain of Israel’s bombardment, punishing siege and starvation policies. Targeting a meal for his family, Salem Abu Amira – known to locals as “The Beast” – dives deep beneath the waves. Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim Alkhalili reports from Gaza City. “People here call me ‘The Beast’…
A WHITE House event led by U.S. President Donald Trump was briefly interrupted on Thursday after a guest fainted in the Oval Office. The guest fainted during an announcement on efforts to reduce the cost of obesity drugs. The individual, identified by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt as a representative of one of the participating health care companies, suddenly collapsed while Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks was speaking. Witnesses said the guest, who was standing alongside administration officials and pharmaceutical executives behind the President’s desk, appeared to lose consciousness and was helped to the ground by those nearby. “You…
THE Rapid Support Forces (RSF) says it has agreed to a proposal by the United States for a ceasefire in Sudan after more than two years of fighting with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The paramilitary group said in a statement on Thursday that it would accept a “humanitarian ceasefire” proposed by the US-led “quad” mediator group, which includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, “to address the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the war and to enhance the protection of civilians”. There was no immediate comment from Sudan’s military. Earlier this week, the US senior adviser for Arab…
THE deputy leader of Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema, is facing terrorism charges, two weeks after his arrest in the capital Dodoma, his lawyer has said. John Heche is now being held in the main city Dar es Salaam, where he was informed of the charges, his lawyer Hekima Mwasipu told BBC Swahili. It is unclear when he will appear in court. The government did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment. He was arrested ahead of last week’s elections, denounced by the opposition as a “sham”. President Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in on Monday after being declared…
SUPER Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen scored his first hat-trick as Galatasaray handed Ajax their fourth straight defeat in the Champions League this season. The Nigeria striker took his European tally to six goals this term as he opened the scoring in the 59th minute before firing home two from the penalty spot. With his hat-trick, Osimhen reached 25 goals in European competition and overtook former Inter Milan and Newcastle forward Obafemi Martins to become Nigeria’s all-time top scorer in Europe. Ajax had entered half-time on level terms thanks to goalkeeper Remko Pasveer, who made two brilliant saves to stop Osimhen.…
ISRAEL’s army has killed two Palestinians in separate incidents in central Gaza, claiming that the men crossed the ceasefire’s yellow line near Israeli positions. Hamas has recovered and handed over the body of an Israeli captive on Wednesday evening. Israel confirmed the delivery, but has not yet verified the identity. This is as revelation by Israel’s top military lawyer, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, that she leaked the footage of a gang rape of a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman military detention centre in 2024 has shaken the country’s political and media establishment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – whose…
ZOHRAN Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose focus on working-class issues and personal magnetism attracted a diverse coalition of supporters to propel a once-underdog campaign, has won New York City’s general election race for mayor. Mamdani beat former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for a second time, shattering the political scion’s hopes of a comeback after his loss to Mamdani in the June Democratic primary. Also running in the general election was Republican Curtis Sliwa, who refused to end his campaign despite pressure from Cuomo and his supporters. Coming out to cheers at his election night event in Brooklyn, Mamdani told his supporters they have ushered in a “new…
WHEN Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stormed the besieged city of el-Fasher on October 26, Mabrooka’s husband and brother ran for their lives. The plan was for them to head to Tawila about 60 kilometres (37 miles) away – where Mabrooka would be waiting for them with her three small children. By sundown, they had still not arrived. News spread that the RSF, which has been fighting a bitter war against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023, was carrying out summary executions against the population of el-Fasher, which it accused of siding with its enemy. Mabrooka began…
LAST week’s Tanzania elections failed to comply with democratic standards, says the African Union (AU), adding to mounting international pressure on President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration over the deadly vote. The AU’s election monitoring arm, which sent a team of 72 observers to Tanzania and Zanzibar for the October 29 election – on Wednesday pointed to ballot stuffing, the government-imposed internet blackout, allegations of excessive military force, and politically-motivated abductions as “compromising election integrity”. The election “did not comply with AU principles, normative frameworks, and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections”, the mission’s report concluded, adding that the…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has expressed a sense of loss at the passing of Major General Abdullahi Mohammed Adangba (rtd.), a former Chief of Staff to Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Umaru Yar’Adua. President Tinubu’s condolence message was contained in a statement sent to News Point Nigeria by his media aide, Bayo Onanuga, on Wednesday. According to Tinubu, General Mohammed, who died at the age of 86, left indelible marks on the nation’s security architecture, particularly in the establishment of the National Security Organisation, the precursor to the State Security Services, the National Intelligence Agency, and the Defence Intelligence Agency. He was…