TORRENTIAL flooding has continued to sweep parts of central and southeastern Mexico, raising the death toll to at least 44 people in less than a week. Heavy downpours caused by two tropical storms have triggered landslides and flooding across five states, including Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, Queretaro and San Luis Potosi, the government said in a statement on Sunday. Floods have killed 18 people in Veracruz state, 16 in Hidalgo, nine in Puebla and one in Queretaro, the statement said. Mexico’s El Universal newspaper put the death toll even higher — at 48 — and reported that dozens remain missing. Around…
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A RENEGADE army unit siding with anti-government protesters in Madagascar has installed a new military chief as President Andry Rajoelina denounced an “attempt to seize power illegally”. General Demosthene Pikulas was installed on Sunday by the Army Personnel Administration Centre (CAPSAT) during a ceremony at the military headquarters attended by Armed Forces Minister Manantsoa Deramasinjaka Rakotoarivelo. “I give him my blessing,” the minister said of Pikulas at the ceremony in Antananarivo. The elite CAPSAT army unit, which played a major role in a 2009 coup that first brought Rajoelina to power, joined forces with the youth-led demonstrators on Saturday. Early…
MALI has announced that US nationals visiting the West African country will be required to post a bond of up to $10,000 (£7,500) for business and tourist visas, in response to a similar requirement the Trump administration has imposed on its citizens. The US embassy in Mali said on Friday the fee had been introduced to reinforce Washington’s “commitment to protecting America’s borders and safeguarding US national security”. Mali’s foreign ministry said on Sunday the bond had been imposed unilaterally, and it had decided to “establish an identical visa programme” for US citizens. The visa policy shift comes despite moves…
DONALD Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will chair an international summit to discuss the US president’s proposal to end Israel’s war on Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday. The meeting will involve leaders from more than 20 countries, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement on Saturday. It will aim “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”, the statement said. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer said they would…
TALIBAN and Pakistani forces have exchanged fire across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, prompting calls for restraint from Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as tensions escalate following an air strike on the Afghan capital, Kabul, earlier this week. Enayatullah Khwarizmi, the spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Defence, said late on Saturday that Taliban forces had carried out “successful retaliatory” attacks against Pakistani soldiers in response to the neighbouring country’s “repeated violations” of, and air strikes on, Afghan territory. He said on X that the operation had ended at midnight. Pakistani Minister of Interior Mohsin Naqvi called the Afghan attacks “unprovoked” and…
SOME groups of Madagascan soldiers have defied orders and joined thousands of antigovernment protesters assembled in the capital, Antananarivo, as demonstrations against President Andry Rajoelina’s rule gain momentum. The youth-led protesters entered the capital’s May 13 Square on Saturday for the first time in one of the biggest gatherings since a protest movement inspired by what has become known as the Gen Z protests in Kenya and Nepal erupted on the Indian Ocean island on September 25. After police used stun grenades and tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators, soldiers arrived at the scene, where they were welcomed…
DOZENS of people have been killed in a drone strike at a displacement shelter in el-Fasher, a besieged Sudanese city on the brink of collapse, activists said. The resistance committee for el-Fasher, made up of local citizens and activists, said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) hit Dar al-Arqam camp, located within a university, with two drone strikes and eight artillery shells. The RSF has denied it carried out the strike. “Children, women and the elderly were killed in cold blood, and many were completely burned,” a statement from the group said. Eyewitnesses described scenes of panic as rescuers pulled…
PIERRE-EMERICK Aubameyang scored all four goals in Gabon’s 4-3 away win over The Gambia to extend his nation’s hopes of reaching the World Cup for the first time but was then sent off late on. The Panthers remain a point behind Group F leaders Ivory Coast, who thrashed Seychelles 7-0. Only the group winners are assured of a spot at the 2026 finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada, but the second-placed side could still have a chance to reach the tournament via African and intercontinental play-offs. With the Ivorians expected to cruise past winless Seychelles, Gabon knew they…
MARIA Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition politician who was barred from standing in last year’s presidential election, has been awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. In a post on the social media platform X on Friday, the Nobel Committee said it had decided to award the prize to Machado “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”. Announcing Machado’s win in Oslo, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Nobel Committee, said the award had gone “to a brave and committed…
HAMAS and allied Palestinian factions have reiterated that any decision on the future governance of Gaza is “an internal Palestinian matter” as the ceasefire in the territory takes effect. In a joint statement on Friday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) joined Hamas in lauding the steadfastness of Palestinians, which they said foiled Israel’s plans for mass forced displacement in Gaza. “We renew our rejection to any foreign guardianship, and we stress that the nature of the administration of the Gaza Strip and its institutions are an internal Palestinian matter to be…
BURKINA Faso’s military government has refused to take in deportees from the US, as Washington suspended issuing visas in the West African nation. Foreign affairs minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré questioned if the embassy’s decision was “blackmail” after he said he had rejected a US proposal to take in migrants from third countries. Donald Trump’s administration has turned to African countries as a destination to deport migrants to as part of his crackdown on immigration. The US State Department said it was committed to ending illegal and mass migration and bolstering US border security. The Department of Homeland Security have been…
RAZANOSAA Edmondine still looks shell-shocked as she recalls the death of her one-month-old grandson, killed by police tear gas in protests that have rocked Madagascar over the last two weeks. “It was just a normal Friday. My daughter-in-law was going to the market with the baby when they encountered demonstrators on the road,” she tells the BBC at the family’s home on the northern outskirts of the capital, Antananarivo. “Not long after, police showed up and started dispersing the protest with tear gas.” It was the second day of youth-led protests, triggered by anger over persistent power and water shortages,…
ISRAEL’s government has approved “phase one” of a ceasefire agreement, which will see captives exchanged and Israel withdraw from parts of Gaza, but details of how it fits into a wider plan to bring lasting peace remain unclear. Khalil al-Hayya, the head of Hamas’s negotiating team, said the group has received guarantees from the US and mediators that an agreement on a first phase of the ceasefire agreement means the war in Gaza “has ended completely”. The vote early on Friday paves the way for a suspension of hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours, and the release of 48 Israeli…
NEW York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted President Donald Trump, was indicted on Thursday. The indictment was handed down by a federal grand jury in Virginia, where charges were also recently brought against another Trump foe, former FBI director James Comey. According to CNN and other US media outlets, the indictment of the 66-year-old James, a Democrat, is for mortgage fraud and concerns a property she helped her niece buy in Virginia in 2023. The cases against James and Comey were filed by the Republican president’s handpicked US attorney, Lindsey Halligan, after the previous prosecutor resigned, saying there…
A SOUTH African farm worker has described to a court how he was forced by his boss to feed the bodies of two black women to pigs in an attempt to hide evidence after they were shot. Adrian De Wet, 21, said he was told to throw the bodies inside a pig enclosure, explaining that “when pigs are hungry enough, they’ll eat anything”. He admitted opening fire on the two women with his boss, farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier – before he ordered him to help dispose of their bodies. Mr Olivier and another man, William Musora, are accused of…
SECURITY forces in Madagascar have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the latest youth-led protest following two weeks of anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the Indian Ocean island. At least 1,000 protesters marched through Madagascar’s capital on Thursday, some hurling objects at security personnel. The movement behind the protest, known as Gen Z Mada, rejected President Andry Rajoelina’s offer to attend talks on Wednesday, demanding once again that he resign. The group argued they could not engage with a government that has been repressing them as they demand basic human rights. Security forces “charged at protesters with armoured…
AL-NASSR’s Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, whose name has become synonymous with football greatness, has reached a milestone no player in history has achieved: billionaire status. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ronaldo’s net worth now stands at $1.4 billion, a testament not only to his unrivaled exploits on the pitch but also to his business acumen and global brand power. Ronaldo’s record-breaking wealth was propelled by a lucrative June 2025 contract extension with Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr, keeping him in Riyadh until at least 2027. The deal, reportedly exceeding $400 million, includes a staggering annual salary of around $200…
A WORLD Health Organization (WHO) representative in Gaza has described harrowing scenes amid efforts to supply hospitals, many decimated or fully destroyed by Israel’s genocidal war, with essential medical and humanitarian supplies. “When we were in Gaza City two days back to al-Ahli Hospital bringing in the most needed trauma supplies – IV fluids, saline, IV antibiotics, also some lab equipment and food for patients and staff etc – bombardments were all over the place where we were,” Rik Peeperkorn, WHO’s representative for the occupied Palestinian territory, told a media briefing on Wednesday. “We saw a constant stream of trauma…
FORMER FBI director James Comey arrived at a federal courthouse on Wednesday to face felony charges in a case widely seen as an escalation of President Donald Trump’s campaign of legal retribution against political opponents. Comey, 64, a prominent critic of the president, was indicted by a grand jury in Virginia last month on charges of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. His arraignment, during which he is expected to plead not guilty, is being held at a federal courthouse in Alexandria before District Judge Michael Nachmanoff. A few protestors gathered outside the court ahead of…
ETHIOPIA has accused Eritrea of preparing to wage war against it in collusion with an opposition grouping, in the latest sign of escalating tensions between the two neighbours over control of the Red Sea. Ethiopia’s accusation is contained in a letter sent by its Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos to UN chief Antonio Guterres, warning that the collusion had become “more evident over the past few months”. Eritrea has not yet commented on the letter, but its relationship with Ethiopia has become increasingly strained in recent months. Ethiopia has been rallying support to regain access to the Red Sea, causing alarm…