Author: Editor

COMMUNAL clashes in northern Ghana that started late last month have killed at least 31 people and displaced nearly 50,000, officials said Thursday, with more than 13,000 fleeing across the border into the Ivory Coast. The violence in Ghana’s Savannah Region broke out on August 24 in the village of Gbiniyiri, near the Ivorian border, the result of an escalating land dispute that has engulfed a dozen communities. The conflict began when the local chief sold a parcel of land to a private developer, without broader community consent. When the developer attempted to access the land to begin work, residents…

AT least 15 people have died in a new outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country’s health ministry has said. The presence of the virus had been confirmed in a 34-year-old pregnant woman who was admitted to hospital last month after showing symptoms that included a high fever and repeated vomiting, the ministry added. She died a few hours later from multiple organ failure. This will be the 16th outbreak of the deadly virus in the vast central African state that has poor health services, and is hit by conflict in the east The…

LIVERPOOL forward Mohamed Salah has publicly criticised a popular fan page for what he described as a “disrespectful” post targeting two of his former teammates, Darwin Núñez and Luis Díaz, who both left Anfield this summer. The Egyptian winger, who is regarded as one of the club’s greatest ever players, took to X (formerly Twitter) to slam the independent account @AnfieldEdition after it shared a side-by-side collage comparing the Reds’ record-breaking new signings to the outgoing forwards. The post, which depicted black-and-white photos of Núñez and Díaz alongside coloured images of Liverpool’s high-profile additions Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, appeared…

IN the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, Fouad Abu Youssef, 34, wears a tattered, worn-out shirt as he sifts through a heap of salvaged clothes, remnants of what had been his home, hoping to find a change of clothes for his five-year-old daughter, Layla. In the past two years of Israel’s war on Gaza, Fouad, a member of Gaza’s small Christian minority, has buried his sister after an air strike and seen his own home and his family’s house in Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood collapse. Conditions grew so dire that Fouad, his elderly parents and five siblings with…

AT least 18 people have been killed and dozens injured when Lisbon’s Elevador da Gloria funicular derailed and crashed, emergency services in Portugal say. Officials have not released the victims’ identities or nationalities but said some of those killed were foreign nationals. “It’s a tragic day for our city. … Lisbon is in mourning. It is a tragic, tragic incident,” Mayor Carlos Moedas told reporters at the scene on Wednesday evening. Footage from the crash site showed the yellow tram-like carriage lying mangled against a building as firefighters pulled passengers from the wreckage. Emergency crews worked into the night to…

BURKINA Faso’s transitional parliament has unanimously passed a bill criminalising homosexual acts, reversing more than six decades of legal tolerance and placing the West African nation among dozens of African states that outlaw same-sex relations. The measure, which was approved on Monday, imposes prison sentences of between two and five years, as well as financial penalties for those convicted. Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala confirmed the move on state-run television, noting that the law also provides for deportation of foreign nationals found guilty of violating the ban. “The law provides for a prison sentence of between two and five years…

SOUTH African authorities say “extreme poverty and a severe lack of affordable housing” were major factors in a deadly Johannesburg building fire two years ago. In August 2023, 77 people died and many more were injured after a fire gutted the Usindiso building in Marshalltown, where many poor people were living. The tragedy shocked the nation and highlighted the deep housing inequalities in Africa’s wealthiest city – inequalities the authorities promised to address. The report, the final one to be released, has not been made public but the Gauteng provincial government, which commissioned it, shared some key findings. One person…

Super Falcons forward, Asisat Oshoala, has completed a move from National Women’s Soccer League side, Bay FC, to Saudi Women’s League side, Al Hilal, on a two-year deal. The 30-year-old, who had joined the NWSL outfit in February 2024 after a trophy-laden spell at Spanish giants FC Barcelona Femeni, underwent her medicals on Monday night and has now joined her new team, in what is a new chapter in her Illustrious career. The striker missed Bay FC’s 2-1 defeat to Angel City on Monday night, with a report from The Athletic revealing that, “Bay FC and Al Hilal have reached…

THE Israeli military onslaught on Gaza City continues nonstop, resulting in the killing of more than 50 Palestinians, including aid seekers, as it seeks to seize control of the enclave’s biggest urban centre, home to some 1 million people. At least 105 Palestinians were killed across Gaza on Tuesday as Israeli strikes levelled densely populated areas, particularly al-Sabra neighbourhood, which has been under attack for days. At least 32 of those were killed while seeking aid. The attacks are intensified as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is facing a “decisive stage” of the war as it prepares to seize…

Rescuers are trying to reach remote areas in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar region after a devastating earthquake killed at least 1,411 people and wounded 3,124 others, according to Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. On Tuesday, Mujahid wrote in a post on X that 5,412 houses were destroyed due to the earthquake’s intensity. Kunar’s head of disaster management, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said earlier on Tuesday that efforts would be extended to more of the region’s mountainous areas. “We cannot accurately predict how many bodies might still be trapped under the rubble,” Ehsan said. “Our effort is to complete these operations as soon as…

A MASSIVE landslide in Sudan’s western Darfur region has killed more than 1,000 people, a UN official has told the BBC. Antoine Gérard, the UN’s deputy humanitarian co-ordinator for Sudan, said that it was hard to assess the scale of the incident or the exact death toll as the area was very hard to reach. Days of heavy rain triggered the landslide on Sunday, which left just one survivor and “levelled” much of the village of Tarseen, the group said in a statement. Getting aid quickly to the area would be difficult, Mr Gérard said. “We do not have helicopters,…

GHANA’s President John Mahama has fired the country’s Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo following a recommendation by an inquiry. She had been on suspension since April after complaints were lodged against her in petitions by three individuals. A president-appointed commission then found that “grounds of stated misbehaviour… had been established and recommended her removal from office”, Mahama’s office said on Monday. Ms Torkornoo has dismissed the allegations as unfounded and politically motivated. The presidency said Mahama was required to act in accordance with the committee’s recommendations. But critics fear it sets a worrying precedent and undermines judicial independence. In its investigation,…

LIVERPOOL have signed striker Alexander Isak from Newcastle United for a British transfer record fee of £125m. Newcastle sources claim the deal could be worth as much as £130m with add-ons. Isak is undergone medical on Monday before signing a six-year contract. They had an original £110m offer for Isak rejected in August but are now set to land their first-choice target of the summer. The protracted saga involving the 25-year-old appears set to come to an end on the final day of the transfer window, and it follows Newcastle having signed striker Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart last week. However,…

ISRAEL has stepped up its destruction of Gaza City as it plans to seize Gaza’s largest urban centre and forcibly displace around one million Palestinians to concentration zones in the south, as it killed at least 78 people across the besieged enclave since dawn, including 32 desperately seeking food. On Sunday, in Gaza City, the Palestinian Civil Defence reported a fire in tents near al-Quds Hospital after Israeli shelling. At least five people were killed and three wounded when a residential apartment was hit near the Remal neighbourhood. Ismail al-Thawabta, director of Gaza’s Government Media Office, said the Israeli army…

ONE of Afghanistan’s worst earthquakes has killed more than 800 people and injured at least 2,800, authorities say as they warn that the death toll could rise. Helicopters ferried the wounded to hospital on Monday in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar as officials combed the rubble for survivors after a magnitude 6 tremor hit just before midnight on Sunday. At least 812 people have died, government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at a news conference on Monday, as the disaster further stretches the resources of the war-torn nation already grappling with poverty, drops in humanitarian aid, and the pushback…

THIS weekend marks the start of the campaign for the constitutional referendum in Guinea. The High Authority of Communication (HAC), which oversees media regulations, has unveiled new guidelines for coverage. They require that audiovisual media provide equal airtime for both supporters and opponents of the referendum. However, the HAC has drawn criticism for its stipulation that only recognized entities, those without conflicts with the state, can have a voice in the media. This decision has faced backlash from the Guinean Professional Press Union, with President Boubacar Yacine Diallo stating that while no one is banned from media access, journalists must…

IN the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it’s back-to-school season. But in Goma, a city of over two million people, war is looming. Under the control of the M23 rebels, the city is suffocating, putting children’s education at risk. In Goma’s central market, the atmosphere is far from festive. For months, the AFC/M23 rebels have controlled the city and its surroundings, strangling the local economy. Goods pile up, but buyers are scarce. This situation is affecting preparations for the new school year. “The situation is not good,” says shopkeeper Victoria Semego. “Since the war began, there is no work, and…

DOMINIK Szoboszlai’s brilliant late free-kick gave Liverpool victory against Arsenal after a hard-fought meeting of the Premier League superpowers at Anfield. A dour encounter looked to be heading for a draw until the Hungarian curved a magnificent strike past Arsenal keeper from 30 years in front of an exultant Kop after 83 minutes. The Gunners, who kept new £60m signing Eberechi Eze on the bench until the second half, suffered an early setback when key defender William Saliba went off injured after five minutes, to be replaced by summer signing Cristhian Mosquera. Chances were at a premium as both sides…

IN an overcrowded clinic in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, Samar Abu Ajwah clutched her frail newborn as he burst into weak sobs. Eyad has been diagnosed as malnourished, weighing only 1.9kg (4.2lb). “He needs milk, and we are appealing for help from people who can afford it because we cannot,” Abu Ajwah, who also suffers from malnutrition caused by Israel’s punishing blockade of humanitarian aid, told Al Jazeera. Ameera Tafesh brought Ru’a, her emaciated six-month-old, to the clinic hoping to find nourishment. “I breastfed her when she was born, but it lasted only a week because I couldn’t produce…

PAKISTAN’s eastern Punjab province is dealing with the biggest flood in its history, a senior official has said, as water levels of rivers rise to all-time highs. Global warming has worsened monsoon rains this year in Pakistan, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to a new study. Downpours and cloudbursts have triggered flash floods and landslides across the mountainous north and northwest in recent months. Residents in eastern Punjab have also experienced abnormal amounts of rain, as well as cross-border flooding after India released water from swollen rivers and its overflowing dams into Pakistan’s low-lying regions.…