THE first flight of Ghanaian nationals evacuated from South Africa over anti-immigrant tensions was en route to Accra on Wednesday, Ghana’s foreign ministry said. Some 800 Ghanaians in total are expected to leave South Africa after Accra organised repatriation flights in response to a wave of protests and violence targeting foreigners in the country. “The information I have indicates that the flight (was) delayed,” but is currently on its way, Fred Duhoe, an aide to Ghana’s foreign minister, told AFP. An AFP photographer saw hundreds of Ghanaian nationals queuing at the O.R. Tambo International Airport, outside Johannesburg, early on Wednesday.…
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SENEGAL’s former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, who was dramatically sacked on Friday by the president, has been elected Speaker of the national parliament setting up a possible source of conflict at the top of Senegalese politics. The West African nation’s current crisis follows months of tension between Sonko and his one-time ally President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Parliament’s previous Speaker stepped down on Sunday to make way for the former prime minister, who is a popular figure and whose Pastef party has a majority of the seats in the National Assembly. On Monday, Faye appointed economist Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo to…
THE Ghetto Kids, a Ugandan dance troupe made up of street children, spoke of their excitement at being invited by music superstar Shakira to perform at the World Cup. The Colombian star last week announced on Instagram that the Ugandan kids were her first selection to join her for the half-time show of the World Cup final in the United States this summer. Unsurprisingly, that has triggered massive excitement at Ghetto Kids — an NGO that started in the Ugandan capital Kampala, using dance and performing arts to help abandoned and orphaned children. “We can’t wait to show the world…
IRAN accused the United States of breaching their ceasefire Tuesday and warned it was ready to retaliate after overnight US strikes targeting Iranian missile sites and mine-laying boats threatened a deal to end the war. The Brent benchmark oil price jumped up by more than four percent after US Central Command announced the new wave of bombings, and China urged both sides to respect the truce and to resolve their dispute peacefully. According to the maritime safety monitor UKMTO, a blast damaged a tanker on the waterline off Oman — although the crew and vessel were reportedly safe after what…
AT least 31 people were killed and 40 others injured on Tuesday after Israeli forces intensified attacks across southern Lebanon, targeting towns and villages amid expanding ground operations near the border, the Al Jazeera reported. The fresh wave of strikes came alongside dozens of forced displacement orders issued by the Israeli military for areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, triggering panic and a mass civilian exodus from conflict-hit regions. Residents in southern Lebanon reported scenes of chaos as Israeli ground troops pushed deeper into Lebanese territory, with families fleeing bombardment and seeking shelter in safer areas. The escalation has heightened…
THE countries neighbouring the Democratic Republic of Congo are at high risk from Ebola and should act immediately to counter the virus, the World Health Organiation’s head said on Monday. “Countries bordering DRC are at especially high risk and should take immediate action,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, adding that he would travel on Tuesday to the DRC, the epicentre of the current outbreak of the deadly disease. “The outbreak is spreading rapidly,” Tedros told a virtual ministerial meeting on the viral haemorrhagic fever, which spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. It can cause severe bleeding and organ…
SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa has started a legal challenge against a report commissioned by parliament that has paved the way for MPs to once again consider impeachment proceedings against him. In 2022, an independent panel said Ramaphosa might have committed serious misconduct relating to the theft of large sums of cash hidden in a sofa at his private farm. The president denied any wrongdoing. Earlier this month a Constitutional Court ruling said parliament had acted unconstitutionally when four years ago it voted against establishing an impeachment inquiry following the report. At that time Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) party…
LAMINE Yamal is the star name in Spain’s squad for the 2026 World Cup named by coach Luis de la Fuente on Monday, which also included Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino after his recent return from injury. For the first time at a World Cup, the Spain squad will not feature a Real Madrid player with Dean Huijsen dropped and veteran Dani Carvajal also excluded after struggling through an injury-hit campaign. Merino, a favourite of coach De la Fuente, appeared as a substitute for the Gunners against Crystal Palace on Sunday in their final Premier League match, for his first appearance…
SEVEN months after a “ceasefire” was brokered to halt Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the agreement has morphed into a deadly cover for continued Israeli military operations in the enclave. Israeli forces have killed at least 880 Palestinians since then, increasing the total from the war to 72,797, according to Gaza’s health ministry. With Israel’s next national election expected in September, analysts and human rights officials have warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately stalling the peace process to appease his right-wing coalition allies and voters. Mai El-Sheikh, spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights Office in Palestine, told Al…
AN Iranian delegation has travelled to Qatar as Tehran and the United States strive to agree on a deal to end a war that threatens to rend the Middle East and is roiling the global economy. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati were reported on Monday evening to be in Doha to discuss sticking points related to the potential deal to end the nearly three-month US-Israel war on Iran. The talks in Qatar come after US President Donald Trump said earlier on Monday that an agreement with Iran must be…
THE director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) says there have been 220 suspected deaths in the current Ebola outbreak and that a delay in detecting cases meant responders are now “playing catch-up”. “We are urgently scaling up operations, but at the moment the epidemic is outpacing us,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday, adding that countries bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) should take immediate action. Earlier on Monday, Uganda reported two more Ebola cases, taking its total number of confirmed cases to seven. In a post on social media on Sunday, the WHO chief said that…
KENYA’s police chief has ordered a major shake-up of President William Ruto’s security team after a man evaded his protection service to reach the head of state as he was addressing supporters at a thanksgiving event in the east of the country on Sunday. In footage widely shared online, a man holding what appears to be a Bible mounts the stage and briefly puts his left arm around Ruto. A tussle quickly ensued with bodyguards pushing the man to the ground. No-one was hurt but police Insp Gen Douglas Kanja described any security breach involving the president as “unacceptable” calling…
IT was all excitement and joy as Arsenal were crowned as champions of the English Premier League at Selhurst Park on Sunday. Arsenal lifted the Premier League trophy after celebrating their first game as champions with a 2-1 win against Crystal Palace. Mikel Arteta’s side clinched their first English title for 22 years on Tuesday when second-placed Manchester City drew at Bournemouth. In action for the first time since the celebrations of their long-awaited triumph, the Gunners took the lead through Gabriel Jesus late in the first half at Selhurst Park. Noni Madueke scored Arsenal’s second goal after the interval…
A SUICIDE car bomb attack on a train carrying soldiers in Quetta, the capital of the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan, has killed at least 24 people and wounded more than 50 others. The Balochistan Liberation Army, a separatist group, has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack. Reporting from the scene, Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder said several houses and buildings adjacent to the railway line were severely damaged. The blast caused some train carriages to overturn and catch fire. According to local media reports, a state of emergency was declared at public hospitals in Quetta, with doctors and other medical staff…
RUSSIA pounded Kyiv with a massive bombardment that killed four people, authorities said Sunday, with Moscow unleashing its nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik missile in one of the largest barrages in the more than four-year-long war. Multiple rounds of loud explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital throughout the early hours of the morning, AFP journalists reported, as residents took shelter in underground stations. Daytime scenes across the capital showed rescue workers extinguishing fires and sifting through debris of heavily damaged buildings houses, shopping centres, museums, theatres, schools and universities. Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier threatened retaliation for Ukrainian strikes in Russian-occupied…
THE former finance minister of Benin, Romuald Wadagni, officially became the country’s president on Sunday, taking over from his predecessor — and ex-boss — Patrice Talon. Wadagni, an economist with a reputation as a technocrat who embodies continuity with Talon’s two mandates, was elected April 12 with 94 percent of the ballots. His sole token opponent, Paul Hounkpe, was easily beaten, and Hounkpe’s party quickly joined forces with Wadagni’s party in the parliament. The main opposition party, the Democrats, was not able to participate in the elections because insufficient endorsements and internal rifts. “I will serve Benin with integrity, courage…
THREE Red Cross volunteers died in the Democratic Republic of Congo from suspected Ebola likely caught while managing dead bodies, the organisation has said. They are believed to have contracted Ebola on 27 March while working in the eastern region of Ituri on a project unrelated to the virus, before the outbreak was identified. The volunteers are among the first known victims of DR Congo’s Ebola outbreak, which has resulted in more than 200 suspected deaths and more than 850 suspected cases. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said they had died after serving their…
MOROCCO’s King Mohammed VI has pardoned the Senegalese football supporters jailed after violence at the 2025 AFCON final in Rabat for “humanitarian reasons”, a royal court statement said on Saturday. It said that in view “of the age-old fraternal ties” between the two countries “and on the occasion of the advent of Eid al-Adha”, the king has “granted, on humanitarian grounds, his royal pardon to the Senegalese supporters”. The Muslim holiday will be celebrated on Wednesday in Morocco. Senegal won the chaotic January 18 AFCON final 1-0, but the match was later awarded on appeal to hosts Morocco. After a…
MANCHESTER United captain Bruno Fernandes has been named Premier League player of the season. The Portugal midfielder was also named Football Writers’ Association men’s Player of the Year this month. Fernandes equalled the record for assists in a Premier League season when setting up his 20th goal against Nottingham Forest last weekend. He has also scored eight goals in 37 games to help United secure third place and qualification for the Champions League. Fernandes has created more chances – 132 – than any other player in the Premier League this season. He has 43 more than the second best, Liverpool’s…
ISRAELI forces have launched a new wave of air attacks in Lebanon, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens of others, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state media. Israeli air raids on the Al-Baqbouq area, north of the city of Tyre, killed at least five people and wounded two others on Saturday, reported Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA). Rescue teams recovered four bodies but one woman’s body remained trapped under the rubble, as ongoing Israeli strikes hampered the work of emergency crews. At least nine people were killed and six others injured in a separate Israeli air strike…