Author: Editor

THE death of a one-month-old baby girl who was the victim of female genital mutilation (FGM) in The Gambia has sparked widespread outrage. The baby was rushed to a hospital in the capital, Banjul, after she developed severe bleeding, but was pronounced dead on arrival, police said. Although an autopsy is still being conducted to establish the cause of her death, many people have linked it to FGM, or female circumcision, a cultural practice outlawed in the West African state. “Culture is no excuse, tradition is no shield, this is violence, pure and simple,” a leading non-governmental organisation, Women In…

EasyJet has suspended one of its captains after he was reportedly seen roaming a luxury hotel drunk and naked. The unnamed pilot was witnessed walking through common areas of a five-star resort in Cape Verde without any clothes on in the early hours of the morning on 5 August, after an extended drinking session in a bar, according to the Sun. He was due to operate a return flight to Gatwick more than 36 hours later, but was grounded after the budget airline received complaints about the incident and a replacement pilot found. An EasyJet spokesman told the BBC the…

CRYSTAL Palace started the new season with a suddenly familiar feeling, basking in trophy glory as triumphant underdogs at Wembley. The FA Cup holders beat Premier League champions Liverpool 3-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw to win an enthralling Community Shield on Sunday. Goalkeeper Dean Henderson was the shootout hero for Palace as he saved from Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott, while Mohamed Salah sent his kick over the bar. It allowed 21-year-old midfielder Justin Devenny, sent on as a stoppage-time substitute, to smash the winning penalty past Alisson. Palace, who had not won a major trophy in…

A 15-YEAR-OLD Palestinian boy has been crushed to death by a falling pallet during an airdrop of humanitarian aid in Gaza, as global condemnation grows of Israel’s plan to take over the largest city in the war-torn enclave, where nearly a million people are sheltering. Footage from Gaza, verified by Al Jazeera, shows several people gathering around the body of Muhannad Zakaria Eid on Saturday, near the so-called Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, following the airdrop. Some people try to resuscitate the boy, whose face appears bloodied. Other footage shows the boy’s brother carrying him away from the site and…

MORE than 600 Shia pilgrims in Iraq have been briefly hospitalised with respiratory problems after inhaling chlorine as the result of a leak at a water treatment station, according to authorities. The incident took place overnight on the route between the two Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, in the centre and south of Iraq, respectively. This year, several million Shia Muslim pilgrims are expected to make their way to Karbala, which houses the shrines of the revered Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas. There, they will mark the Arbaeen, the 40-day period of mourning during which Shia commemorate…

MALI has arrested dozens of soldiers suspected of plotting to overthrow the junta, which itself took power in the west African country in a coup, sources told AFP on Sunday. Since seizing the reins in Mali through back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, the West African country’s junta has ramped up repression of its critics in the face of widespread jihadist unrest. “Since three days ago, there have been arrests linked to an attempt to destabilise the institutions. There have been at least around 20 arrests,” a Malian security source told AFP. A separate source within the army confirmed an…

THE president of Guinea-Bissau on Thursday sacked the West African country’s prime minister and appointed his successor, the latest move to position President Umaro Sissoco Embalo for a likely second term in elections due in November. According to a presidential decree, Rui Duarte de Barros, who served as prime minister since December 2023, was replaced by Braima Camara, a former coordinator of the Madem G15 opposition party. There has been much controversy over Embalo’s term ahead of the November general elections. The small West African nation has endured multiple coups since gaining independence from Portugal more than 50 years ago.…

MANCHESTER United have completed the signing of RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko in a move worth £73.7m. The deal for the Slovenia international, who has joined on a five-year contract, includes a guaranteed payment of £66.3m, with the remainder in add-ons. He is United’s third major signing in attack following the arrivals of Matheus Cunha for £62.5m and Bryan Mbeumo for £65m with £6m in add-ons, with the trio presented to the club’s fans prior to Saturday’s pre-season home game against Fiorentina. Sesko, 22, was also a target for Newcastle United but has chosen to join Ruben Amorim’s side. United…

ISRAELI attacks have killed at least 39 people, including 21 seeking humanitarian aid and 11 who starved to death, over 24 hours in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say. Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Saturday that the total number of malnutrition deaths has reached 212, including 98 children, since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023. Most of the deaths have occurred in recent weeks as Israel continues to impose severe restrictions on aid supplies entering Gaza after partially lifting a total blockade in late May. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, told…

NEW York is waging a war on multiple fronts to combat the near-ubiquitous rats that plague city streets and the subways, leaving some residents afraid to let their children walk on sidewalks. Faced with an overwhelming and ever-growing problem, officials have moved beyond gassing burrows to suffocate rodents and are now using high-tech mapping tools to try and sterilise the population. Alongside targeted interventions, officials are mounting an effort to educate the public about the need to avoid leaving behind food waste that feeds and sustains the rat population. Caroline Bragdon, director of neighbourhood interventions for Pest Control Services within…

A COURT in Chad jailed former prime minister and opposition leader Succes Masra for 20 years Saturday, convicting him of hate speech, xenophobia and having incited a massacre. The court in N’Djamena jailed Masra, one of President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno’s fiercest critics, for his role in inciting inter-communal violence in which 42 people were killed on May 14. Most of the massacre victims were women and children in Mandakao, southwestern Chad, according to the court. On Friday, the state prosecutor had called for a 25-year sentence. “Our client has just been the object of a humiliation,” lead defence lawyer…

A BUS carrying mourners from a funeral has crashed in western Kenya, killing 25 people, local authorities say. The driver lost control, veered off the road and overturned into a ditch along the Kisumu-Kakamega Highway on Friday afternoon, a police report seen by the BBC says. This area is notorious for many deadly accidents. Police said 10 women, 10 men and one girl died at the scene, with 20 passengers injured, five of them seriously. Four people later died in hospital, officials said. The passengers were returning from a burial ground and are all believed to be from one family.…

“ON the ground floor there were no windows. It felt like you were in a hospital in the basement. It was a slightly gloomy place, a gloomy rabbit warren.” Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s first impressions of Carrington gave him no illusions as to what one of his first tasks should be if he succeeded in buying into Manchester United. Two years on, Ratcliffe is describing those initial thoughts at the re-opening of the club’s revamped training ground. He has invested £50m in the upgrades. The work took 12 months and was “on time and within budget”. “Manchester United is one of…

GERMANY has suspended all military exports to Israel that could be used in Gaza after Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to take over Gaza City, an escalation in the 22-month war. Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced the decision on Friday, shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed the security cabinet voted in favour of a plan to seize the largest city in the besieged Palestinian territory. A day earlier, Netanyahu had declared that Israeli forces were aiming to take full military control of the entire Gaza Strip despite mounting international condemnation over Israel’s war, which has killed tens…

FAMILIES of the victims of June’s deadly Air India crash demanded on Friday the immediate release of the aircraft’s two flight recorders, saying delays were eroding their trust in the investigation. A total of 241 people on board the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner were killed when the plane crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad in western India on June 12. Another 19 people were killed on the ground. A preliminary investigation report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said fuel to the jet’s engines was cut off moments before impact. The report did not offer any conclusions or apportion blame…

GHANA’s President John Mahama has promised a full investigation into Wednesday’s helicopter crash that killed two government ministers and six other people. Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment, Science and Technology Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, both 50, were among those killed when a military aircraft crashed in the central Ashanti region. In a televised address to the nation, Mahama said the crash represented “a personal loss” for him. The president confirmed that the flight data and cockpit voice recorders – often referred to as the “black boxes” – had been retrieved and that the armed forces had “initiated a…

A SOUTH African court has ruled that Zambia’s former president, Edgar Lungu, who died in South Africa, should be buried in Zambia against his family’s wishes. Lungu’s burial has been the subject of a two-month dispute between Zambia’s government, which had planned a state funeral for him in Lusaka, and his family, who wanted him buried in South Africa. Lungu, Zambia’s head of state from 2015 to 2021, died in South Africa on June 5 while receiving medical treatment. South Africa’s high court halted plans for Lungu to be buried in Johannesburg on June 25, hours before a private ceremony…

MANCHESTER United have agreed a deal worth £73.7m with RB Leipzig to sign Slovenia striker Benjamin Sesko. The agreement includes a guaranteed payment of £66.3m with the remainder in add-ons. Sesko will now complete the formalities, including a medical on Friday, before finalising his move to Old Trafford. The 22-year-old, who was also wanted by Newcastle, has scored 39 goals in 87 appearances for the German side. United have already signed forwards Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo this summer for a combined fee of about £130m. Those payments have been arranged in a favourable way to allow United to keep…

GAZA health authorities say nearly 200 people, including 96 children, have died of hunger in Gaza, as the starving population battles against the odds to get food from dangerous airdrops and deadly aid hubs run by the GHF. As Israel’s man-made famine under the ongoing blockade tightened its grip on the enclave, hospitals recorded four more deaths from “famine and malnutrition” on Thursday – two of them children – bringing the total to 197. Amid the mounting death toll, World Health Organization (WHO) director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that about 12,000 children younger than five were suffering from acute malnutrition…

THE family of a missing man whose body was discovered on a melting glacier in Pakistan after 28 years said Thursday its recovery had brought them some relief. The body of 31-year-old Nasiruddin was spotted by locals near the edge of the shrinking Lady Meadows glacier in the Kohistan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. His family said he and his brother had fled to the mountains after a dispute in their village in 1997 when he fell into a crevasse. “Our family left no stone unturned to trace him over the years. Our uncles and cousins visited the glacier several…