Author: Editor

SOUTH Africa’s highest court has unanimously ruled that all parents of new-borns are entitled to equal parental leave, a landmark judgment hailed as a major victory for gender equality and family rights. Under the current law, mothers are granted four months of leave, while fathers receive just 10 days. In its ruling, the Constitutional Court declared parts of the legislation unconstitutional, calling it discriminatory against fathers, and ruled that both parents may now share the granted leave however they choose. “This is a ground-breaking step for equality, family wellbeing, and the future of fatherhood in South Africa,” said Sthembiso Phakathi,…

LAMINE Yamal has been ruled out of Spain’s World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria this month after suffering a recurrence of his groin injury, Barcelona said on Friday. The 18-year-old winger is expected to be sidelined for up to three weeks after the problem resurfaced following Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. “The pain reappeared after the match with PSG,” Barcelona said on Friday. “The estimated recovery time is two-to-three weeks.” Barcelona made the statement after Yamal had been called up to the national squad, with Spain promptly confirming the news and removing him from…

PRESIDENT Trump has said Hamas is ready for a “lasting peace” after the Palestinian militants agreed to release all remaining hostages, as he called on Israel to stop bombing Gaza. The US leader was responding to a statement by Hamas earlier on Friday in which the group committed to returning all remaining hostages in Gaza, dead and alive. Hamas also said it wants to engage in negotiations to discuss further details of the president’s peace plan, including handing over “administration of the enclave to a Palestinian body of independent technocrats”. However, other aspects of the 20-point document, it warned, would…

MUSICIAN and producer Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to four years and two months in prison for transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters. His sentencing hearing on Friday capped a federal case that featured harrowing testimony and ended in a forceful reckoning for one of the most popular figures in hip-hop. Combs, 55, was also fined half a million dollars. Since Combs has served a year in jail already, he is expected to be released in about three years. His lawyers wanted him freed immediately and said the time behind bars has already forced him to embrace…

MADAGASCAN President Andry Rajoelina condemned on Friday what he said was an attempt to topple his government, as fresh protests flared against the political elite and years of misrule. The poverty-stricken Indian Ocean island has been rocked by near-daily demonstrations called on social media by a movement known as “Gen Z”, to which security forces have responded with arrests, tear gas and bullets. The protests forced Rajoelina to sack his government on Monday and invite dialogue to restore order. But that was not enough to placate the anger, and demonstrators have demanded the president’s resignation over his government’s failure to…

CHAD’s parliament on Friday overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment scrapping presidential term limits, in a move condemned by opponents of President Mahamat Deby. President Mahamat Deby was first made transitional president by army generals in 2021 after rebels killed his father, Idriss Deby Itno, in a gun battle, ending his 30 years in power in the impoverished central African nation. Deby was then elected head of state in May 2024 for five years, in a contested vote boycotted by a majority of opposition parties. Friday’s parliamentary vote for the constitutional reform, presented by Deby’s Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), saw 236…

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that football “cannot solve geopolitical problems”, as he comes under pressure to suspend Israel over the Palestinian conflict. The sport’s world governing body said in a statement that at a meeting of the FIFA Council, Infantino “stressed the importance of promoting peace and unity, particularly in the context of the ongoing situation in Gaza”. “At FIFA, we are committed to using the power of football to bring people together in a divided world,” Infantino said. “Our thoughts are with those who are suffering in the many conflicts that exist around the world today,…

AT least 53 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since dawn across Gaza as Israel threatened tens of thousands remaining in Gaza City with a forced order to leave, saying it was their “last opportunity” to flee or face the “full force” of Israel’s assault. Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Wednesday that anyone who stayed would be considered “terrorists and terror supporters”. The continuous bombardment of Gaza City has razed the territory’s largest urban centre, killing dozens of people daily, destroying numerous residential buildings and schools, and forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee to…

TWO planes operated by a Delta subsidiary collided Wednesday on the runway at New York’s LaGuardia airport, the local port authority and the airline said. The incident involving two Endeavor Air jets occurred at 9:58 pm (0158 GMT on Thursday) as one was landing and the other about to take off, according to a statement from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. One person was taken to hospital after suffering “non-life threatening injuries,” it added. Delta reported one minor injury to a flight attendant. Images shared by US media, which AFP was unable to immediately verify, showed…

CENTRAL African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera on Thursday officially submitted his candidacy for elections later this year that he is tipped to win. His file was handed over at the headquarters of the National Election Authority (ANE) in the capital, Bangui, by the secretary general of his ruling United Hearts Movement, an AFP reporter said. Speaking to reporters, Touadera said, “The people absolutely wanted reassurance that my candidacy file would be submitted today. “We have fulfilled a constitutional requirement within the framework of democracy in our country,” he added. Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera speaks during the General Debate…

TWO people were killed when officers opened fire on a group of people attempting to “storm” a police station in Morocco on Wednesday, state media said, as protests sometimes violent roil the North African nation. Demonstrations have convulsed Morocco for several days, urged on by the GenZ 212 group, a recently formed collective based on the Discord web platform whose organisers remain unknown. Morocco’s interior ministry said on Wednesday that more than 400 people had been arrested and nearly 300 injured during the rallies, which are demanding reforms to the public health and education sectors. A group of people tried…

CHAMPIONS League holders Paris Saint-Germain stunned Barcelona with a 90th-minute Goncalo Ramos winner to claim a 2-1 away victory in the league stage on Wednesday. Ferran Torres sent hosts Barcelona ahead with a cool finish but Senny Mayulu fired a depleted PSG level before half-time. It was an even and thoroughly entertaining bout between two of the competition’s favourites at the Olympic stadium which was eventually settled by Ramos’ late strike, as PSG exploited Barca’s high defensive line. Hansi Flick selected Torres over veteran striker Robert Lewandowski and also benched Ronald Araujo for Eric Garcia, after the Uruguayan’s red card…

ISRAEL’s relentless destruction of Gaza and targeting of the Palestinian civilian population show no sign of abating, with at least 65 people killed in attacks since dawn, as Hamas’s acceptance of a United States ceasefire plan to end the genocidal two-year war remains uncertain. Two missiles struck al-Falah School on Wednesday, which had been converted into a shelter for hundreds of displaced people in the Zeitoun neighbourhood east of Gaza City, where Israel has expanded its ground invasion alongside heavy aerial bombardment. As Palestinian Civil Defence crews rushed to the scene, another attack critically injured many of them, including Munther…

PRINCE Harry, the Duke of Sussex, made a surprise remote appearance on Wednesday at London’s High Court as part of his ongoing legal war with sections of the British media, accusing them of widespread privacy violations. The preliminary hearing, which was accessible through a remote link, revealed one user logged in under the name “Prince Harry.” While the prince did not appear in person, his presence underscored the seriousness of the case, which could proceed to a full trial lasting up to nine weeks next year. Harry is one of seven high-profile claimants taking legal action against Associated Newspapers, the…

SOUTH African opposition politician Julius Malema has been found guilty of illegal possession of a gun and firing it in public, offences which carry a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. In 2018, a video emerged showing the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader using a semi-automatic rifle to fire several shots in the air during his party’s fifth anniversary celebrations held in the country’s Eastern Cape province. He was charged alongside his former bodyguard Adriaan Snyman, who was acquitted. Malema was convicted of hate speech less than two months ago and often lashes out at the white minority in…

AT least 30 people have died and more than 200 others been injured after scaffolding collapsed at a church in Ethiopia. Thousands of worshippers were gathered at the Arerti Mariam church early in the morning when the structure fell, local police inspector Ahmed Gebeyehu told BBC Amharic. The crowd had visited the church, in the central Minjar Sheknora area about 70 km (45 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa, as part of the annual Orthodox Christian celebration of St Mary. Mr Ahmed said the death toll might increase, adding that those confirmed deceased were aged between 25 and 80. Local…

LIVERPOOL slumped to a shock 1-0 Champions League defeat to Galatasaray on Tuesday as Victor Osimhen’s 16th-minute penalty handed the Turkish giants victory. The English champions were punished for the latest in a series of poor performances in Istanbul as they suffered back-to-back defeats for only the second time under Arne Slot. Liverpool were beaten for the first time this season at Crystal Palace on Saturday, but a series of late winners have masked an unconvincing start since a summer transformation of the squad that strolled to the Premier League title last season. Slot responded by leaving Mohamed Salah and…

UNITED States President Donald Trump says Hamas has “three or four days” to respond to his Gaza ceasefire proposal, telling reporters that Israeli and Arab leaders had already accepted the plan. “Hamas is either going to be doing it or not, and if it’s not, it’s going to be a very sad end,” Trump said at the White House on Tuesday. Asked if there was room for negotiations on the proposal, he replied: “Not much.” The US president also thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with Trump on Monday in Washington, DC, “for agreeing to the plan”. Trump’s…

AT least 26 people have been killed and almost 150 injured in a powerful magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of the central Philippine island province of Cebu, collapsing buildings, sending people running onto the streets, and knocking power out in some areas. The United States Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 9:59pm local time on Tuesday (13:59 GMT) off Cebu Island’s northern tip near Bogo, a city of some 90,000 residents, and was followed by four earthquakes of magnitude 5 or higher in the area after the first tremor. The Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and…

SOUTH Africa’s ambassador to France, formerly a long-serving cabinet minister, was found dead on Tuesday outside a Paris hotel after the window of his room in the high-rise building was forced open, prosecutors said. Nkosinathi Emmanuel Nathi Mthethwa, 58, usually known as Nathi Mthethwa, had “reserved a room on the 22nd floor whose secured window had been forced open”, the office of the Paris prosecutor told AFP. The body of Mthethwa, a close associate of former South African president Jacob Zuma, was found “directly by the hotel”, it added. A source close to the case, who asked not to be…