Author: Editor

AT least 69 people have died and many more are missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Mauritania, coastguards in the north-west African country have said. Seventeen people have been rescued and a search is continuing for other passengers who were aboard the dugout canoe that was heading towards Spain’s Canary Islands. According to survivors, the boat left The Gambia six days before Tuesday’s accident, carrying around 160 people on board, mainly Gambian and Senegalese nationals. The perilous journey over the Atlantic Ocean has become an increasingly common route for African migrants trying to reach Europe. Nearly 47,000…

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported that cholera deaths are climbing worldwide even as the number of recorded cases falls, noting what it described as serious gaps in treatment and access to care. In a statement issued Friday, the agency said no fewer than 4,738 people died from cholera and Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) across 31 countries between January and mid-August 2025. The figure represents a 46 per cent increase in deaths compared to the same period in 2024, even though total case numbers dropped by 20 per cent. Africa has recorded the highest toll, with more than 3,700…

LIVERPOOL and Manchester City will both come up against Real Madrid in this season’s Champions League, while title-holders Paris Saint-Germain were handed a tough list of opponents in Thursday’s draw, including Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Xabi Alonso’s Real will play City at home and take on Premier League champions Liverpool at Anfield in what will be two of the standout fixtures of the league phase. Arne Slot’s Liverpool, who finished first in the league phase last season only to be eliminated by PSG in the last 16, will also play Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven, and Qarabag of Azerbaijan at home.…

UN chief Antonio Guterres said that famine in Gaza is “the result of deliberate decisions that defy basic humanity”. Also, there have been several more deadly Israeli military attacks in northern Gaza, according to the Wafa news agency. One of them struck an area near a school in Jabalia an-Nazla, killing at least five people, the agency reported. Another hit an apartment to the west of Gaza City, killing two more people and wounding others, the report said. Meanwhile, in videos posted by locals on Instagram and verified by Al Jazeera, Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip can be seen…

THE United States on Thursday announced the approval of an $825 million sale of 3,350 Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) air-launched missiles and related equipment to Ukraine. Kyiv will make the purchase with funding from Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway and a loan guarantee from the United States, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement. “This proposed sale will improve Ukraine’s capability to meet current and future threats by further equipping it to conduct self-defense and regional security missions,” DSCA said. And it “will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States…

RWANDA has announced it received seven people deported from the United States as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration. A Rwandan government spokesperson said on Thursday that the deportees arrived in mid-August, marking the first transfer in an agreement that might see as many as 250 people arrive in the central African country. “Three of the individuals have expressed a desire to return to their home countries, while four wish to stay and build lives in Rwanda,” spokesperson Yolande Makolo said in a statement. “Regardless of their specific needs, all of these individuals will receive appropriate support and…

SEVERAL investigations have been launched after a Spanish man in Kenya posted videos of himself pouring beer down an elephant’s trunk sparking anger on social media. He was filmed in a wildlife reservation drinking from a can of Tusker, a popular local beer, before giving the rest of it to the elephant. “Just a tusker with a tusked friend,” he captioned one clip posted on Instagram, which was later deleted from his account after a backlash from Kenyans in the comments. The BBC analysed the footage and was able to authenticate it as genuine. The landscape and a well-known bull…

MANCHESTER United suffered a humiliating Carabao Cup exit as they were beaten in a marathon penalty shootout by League Two Grimsby at Blundell Park. It had appeared United had rescued themselves in the nick of time after finding themselves two goals down following a truly awful first-half display, with returning goalkeeper Andre Onana at fault for Grimsby’s second. Charles Vernam and Tyrell Warren got the Mariners goals before substitute Bryan Mbeumo pulled one back and Harry Maguire equalised in the final minute. But Matheus Cunha failed to secure victory in United’s last spot-kick of the regulation five, and Mbeumo’s second…

UN officials and aid agencies have warned that famine in Gaza is now a reality, with children increasingly dying of hunger as Israel’s siege and bombardment continue to block essential, life-saving aid. In a stark address to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, officials said famine and widespread hunger in the besieged enclave are “engineered” and “man-made” catastrophes. Joyce Msuya, the UN’s deputy humanitarian chief, told the council that famine has been confirmed in the north-central Gaza governorate, where Gaza City is located, and is expected to spread to Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis to the south by the end…

A GUNMAN opened fire Wednesday on school children attending church in Minneapolis, killing two pupils and wounding 17 people, police said, in the country’s latest violent tragedy. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told a media briefing that the shooter, in his early twenties, sprayed bullets into the Annunciation Church as dozens of students were at Mass to celebrate their first week back to school. The church sits next to an affiliated school in the south of the city, the largest in the state of Minnesota. “Two young children, ages eight and 10, were killed where they sat in the pews,”…

RUSSIA has dangled the possibility of building a nuclear power plant in uranium-rich Niger – a vast, arid state on the edge of the Sahara desert that has to import most of its electricity. It may be deemed impractical and may never happen, but the concept is yet another move by Moscow to seek a geopolitical advantage over Western nations. Niger has historically exported the metal for further refining in France, but that is changing as the military-led country cuts off ties with the former colonial power. The uranium-mining operation operated by French nuclear group Orano was nationalised in June,…

SOUTH African opposition politician Julius Malema has been convicted of hate speech by the country’s equality court, following remarks he made at a rally in 2022. Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, often sparks controversy in a nation where, 31 years after apartheid ended, racial tensions still linger. After an incident where a white man allegedly assaulted an EFF member, Malema said: “No white man is going to beat me up… you must never be scared to kill. A revolution demands that at some point there must be killing.” The equality court ruled that these remarks “demonstrated…

NIGERIAN star, Rasheedat Ajibade, has signed for Première Ligue giants Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) Féminines in a move that will see her team up with compatriot, Jennifer Echegini. “Paris Saint-Germain is delighted to announce the arrival of Nigerian striker Rasheedat Busayo Ajibade, who has joined the club on a deal that runs until 30th June 2027,” PSG wrote in a statement on Tuesday announcing the arrival of the Super Falcon. Following her unveiling, an excited Ajibade, who is fondly known as “Mummy G.O.,” described her move to France as a “major step” in her career. “I’m deeply honoured to be joining…

BORUSSIA Dortmund’s summer Premier League recruitment drive continued on Tuesday with the signing of midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka from Chelsea until 2030. England under-21 representative Chukwuemeka, 21, joins for a reported fee of 25 million euros ($29 million). He spent the second half of last season at Dortmund on loan, staying on as the club made the quarter-finals at the Club World Cup. Chukwuemeka played 17 times for Dortmund in all competitions, scoring once and impressed despite struggling with injury. In a statement, Chukwuemeka said he was “happy Borussia Dortmund is now my footballing home. I will give everything to make…

THE Israeli military is pushing deeper into Gaza City, destroying entire neighbourhoods and leaving Palestinian families with nowhere safe to go, as it seeks to seize the Strip’s largest urban centre, while an Israeli-induced famine grips the besieged enclave. An attack on a popular market east of Gaza City on Tuesday killed at least five Palestinians and injured many others. Sources at al-Ahli Arab Hospital told Al Jazeera that two women were among those killed. Videos verified by Al Jazeera showed Palestinians fleeing the as-Saftawi area, north of Gaza City, as Israel attempts to force close to 1 million residents…

BRAZIL said on Tuesday that the United States had revoked the US visa of the country’s justice minister, the latest official to be punished by Washington over the coup trial of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. The US State Department has yet to confirm the measure, which was announced by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at a cabinet meeting. “I wanted to express my solidarity and the government’s solidarity with my colleague (Ricardo) Lewandowski faced with the irresponsible gesture of the United States in revoking his visa,” Lula said. President Donald Trump has also imposed crippling 50-percent tariffs on…

A CHOLERA epidemic at a camp for Sudanese refugees in neighbouring Chad has killed 68 people since it broke out in late July, the Chadian health ministry told AFP on Tuesday. Chad is home to more than 850,000 Sudanese refugees fleeing the deadly civil war between Sudan’s army and the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which erupted in April 2023, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of those refugees are crammed into camps with little access to safe drinking water and healthcare, deficiencies the United Nations blamed on Monday for the waterborne disease’s rapid spread. “Since the first cholera…

BOTSWANA has declared a public health emergency as it faces a shortage of essential medicines and medical equipment. President Duma Boko made the announcement in a televised address on Monday, setting out a multimillion-dollar plan to rectify the supply chain involving military oversight. Managing the shortages would be “highly price sensitive due to our limited coffers”, he told the nation. The economy of Botswana, which has a population of 2.5 million, has been hit by a downturn in the international diamond market, as it is one of the world’s leading diamond producers. This strain, further fuelled by US aid cuts,…

NIGERIA and Liverpool’s 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha made history as the youngest scorer in the club’s history when he struck with virtually the last kick of a breathless encounter to snatch victory against Newcastle United at a stunned St James’ Park. The atmosphere was red hot, feelings running high after the Reds’ lengthy pursuit of the home side’s rebel striker Alexander Isak. And it got the drama it deserved as Newcastle rose off the canvas to rattle the Premier League champions, pulling back to 2-2 after being 2-0 down and despite having Anthony Gordon sent off in first-half stoppage time. Eddie…

ISRAEL has struck Nasser Hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 21 people, including five journalists, as well as medics and rescue workers, in the latest deliberate attack on civilians and the besieged enclave’s decimated health system. Monday’s attack, which killed journalists who worked for Al Jazeera, the Reuters and Associated Press (AP) news agencies, and others, was among the deadliest of a multitude of Israeli strikes that have targeted both hospitals and media workers over the course of the nearly two-year genocidal assault. It comes as Israel widens its offensive to heavily populated areas and…