Author: Editor

THE entire Gaza Strip will be under the Israeli military’s control at the end of its latest offensive, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in his first news conference since December, setting out maximalist conditions for ending the devastating war on the besieged Palestinian enclave. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in relentless Israeli bombardments across Gaza in recent days, at least 82 since dawn Wednesday, as starvation takes hold and only a small amount of aid trucks is allowed in with the blockade in effect in place. Netanyahu also said on Wednesday that if “there is an opportunity for…

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted the Boeing 747 that the Gulf emirate of Qatar offered to President Donald Trump for use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Qatar’s offer of the jet — which is valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars — has raised huge constitutional and ethical questions, as well as security concerns about using an aircraft donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive presidential plane. “The Secretary of Defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said…

ACCESS to the social media platform X has been restricted in Tanzania after some official accounts of government and private institutions were targeted by super hackers. On Tuesday, the official police account was compromised, with sexually explicit material and false information that the president had died being posted. The police dissociated itself from the information and said an investigation was under way to identify those responsible. Hours later data from the internet monitoring organisation Netblocks showed that X was “unreachable on major internet providers” across the country. Users in Dar es Salaam, the country’s biggest city, could still not access…

A BRITISH national has been arrested in Namibia for allegedly sexually molesting minors and taking nude photographs of them. Douglas Robert Brook is also accused of touching the children inappropriately while on a holiday in central Namibia. Police said the suspect targeted young boys and girls from the indigenous San community in the central Otjozondjupa region. The 65-year old Briton faces 38 charges, including rape, indecent assault and child exploitation, Namibia local media reported. The British national, who arrived in Namibia last week for a holiday, is yet to respond to the charges. He was arrested on Sunday after he…

IT was Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes who stepped in to tell Ruben Amorim he was under pressure heading into the Europa League final. The reality is different – even if Amorim can’t explain why. But he does feel his team may be looked at “in a different way” if they can beat Tottenham in Bilbao on Wednesday. While many believe it is likely counterpart Ange Postecoglou will lose his job even if Spurs end their 17-year wait for a trophy and claim a place in next season’s Champions League by winning the Europa League title, at Old Trafford faith…

ISRAELI forces continue bombarding Gaza, killing at least 24 people in overnight attacks, dismissing criticism from the UK and the EU over the “monstrous” war in the enclave. Authorities in Gaza say Israel’s “starvation policy” has killed at least 326 Palestinians since March 2, as the UN warns that 14,000 babies are at risk of dying within 48 hours. The UN also says no aid has been distributed in Gaza because of Israeli restrictions despite a handful of aid trucks entering the territory. Meanwhile, The leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada have “strongly opposed” the expansion of Israel’s…

DONALD Trump said Russia and Ukraine would “immediately” start peace talks after he spoke with Vladimir Putin on Monday, despite the Russian leader rebuffing the US president’s call for an unconditional truce. Trump framed the two-hour conversation as a breakthrough as the Republican seeks an elusive deal to end the conflict that he promised on the campaign trail to solve within 24 hours. But Putin struck a more reserved tone, saying he was ready to work with Kyiv on a memorandum towards ending the war Moscow launched in February 2022 but insisting on compromises on both sides. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky,…

A FORMER prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been sentenced to a decade’s forced labour for corruption. Augustin Matata Ponyo was found guilty of embezzling about $245m (£182m) of public funds by the Congolese Constitutional Court on Tuesday, alongside Deogratias Mutombo, the former governor of the DR Congo’s central bank. Matata’s lawyer told Reuters news agency that the ruling was unfair and politically motivated. Part of the funds were taken from a major agricultural development intended to tackle the country’s chronic food shortages. Matata served as prime minister of the DRC from 2012 to 2016 and now…

THE paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group, which has been engaged in a two-year war with Sudan’s army, has been entirely pushed out of Khartoum state, says the military. “Khartoum State is completely free of rebels”, the army said in a statement published by Sudan’s News Agency. The announcement comes nearly two months after the military recaptured Khartoum city – including the presidential palace – from its rivals in a major victory. Earlier on Tuesday, fighting had broken out between the warring groups in the city of Omdurman – which is also in Khartoum state and part of the capital…

THAT is the verdict of former Manchester United first-team coach Rene Meulensteen on the club’s Europa League final against Tottenham on Wednesday. Like all United fans, the Dutchman is coming to terms with a bitterly disappointing domestic campaign, and dreading the consequences of failure in Bilbao. “It would be a silver lining. A win in the Europa League isn’t going to make up for the most disastrous season,” Meulensteen told BBC Sport, with United languishing 16th in the Premier League, and now condemned to their lowest top-flight finish for more than half a century. “But if they don’t win it,…

ISRAELI forces bombard Gaza, killing 50 people since midnight, after the military orders Palestinians in the southern city of Khan Younis to flee ahead of an “unprecedented attack”. The leaders of Canada, France and the UK threaten to take “concrete action” against Israel if it does not end its renewed offensive in Gaza, while 22 countries urge Israel to let aid into the besieged enclave. Meanwhile, Israel’s military and the United Nations say a few UN trucks carrying humanitarian aid have been allowed into besieged Gaza, the first such delivery in nearly three months. The UN on Monday called it…

US President Donald Trump said Monday he would launch a “major investigation” into his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris over celebrities who backed her failed run for the White House. “Candidates aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment,” he posted on his Truth Social platform. “I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter.” Harris sought to harness star power from celebrities such as Beyonce and Oprah Winfrey in the election race. Winfrey defended a $1 million payment to her production company from the Harris campaign…

TANZANIA’s main opposition leader Tundu Lissu has appeared in court for the first time since his arrest on treason charges last month, telling his supporters not to fear. He raised his fist in a gesture of defiance and told his supporters: “You will be fine. You should not fear.” Tension was high in the country’s biggest city, Dar es Salaam, in the morning, with security officers heavily deployed at the trial magistrate’s court and elsewhere. But that did not deter his supporters, hundreds of whom gathered outside the court. The court had previously attempted to conduct hearings virtually, but he…

THE United Nation’s top court has sided with Equatorial Guinea in a row with Gabon over three islands in potentially oil-rich waters. The two Central African countries have been arguing over the isles – Conga, Mbanié and Cocoteros – since the early 1970s. The islands are virtually uninhabited but are in a maritime zone thought to contain significant oil deposits. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Equatorial Guinea’s claim – based on a 1900 treaty dividing up French and Spanish colonial assets – should be honoured. The court dismissed Gabon’s central argument – that a more recent treaty,…

SUPER Eagles’ striker Victor Osimhen was again on target as Galatasaray defeated Kayserispor 3-0 on Sunday to win the Turkish Super Lig, five days after the Lions were crowned winners of the Turkish Cup. Osimhen, 24, netted in the 26th minute of the encounter, rising highest to meet Gabriel Sara’s cross to put his club ahead. That goal was all special as Hailey, the Nigerian striker’s daughter, announced his father as the scorer. Three minutes later, Baris Alper Yilmaz scored the second for the night. While Osimhen is the Turkish side’s designated penalty taker, he allowed goalkeeper Fernando Muslera to…

IN its latest assault on Gaza’s decimated healthcare system, Israel has once again targeted the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, this time with drones, as its forces are also carrying out a ground offensive in the north and south of the bombarded territory. Health officials said late on Sunday that fighting around the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza and an Israeli military “siege” forced it to shut down. It was the main medical facility in the north after Israeli air strikes last year also forced the Kamal Adwan and Beit Hanoon hospitals to stop providing health services. “There is direct targeting…

FORMER United States President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with “aggressive” prostate cancer, his office has said in a statement. Biden was seen last week by doctors after urinary symptoms developed and a prostate nodule was found. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone, the statement released on Sunday said. “While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management,” his office said. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians”, it added. The health…

SEVERAL people have been reported killed in a suicide bombing at an army recruitment centre in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. The attacker on Sunday targeted a queue of young recruits lining up outside the Damanyo base, killing at least 13 people, the Associated Press news agency quoted witnesses as saying. “There was a loud explosion, and immediately people began running in all directions. Bodies were everywhere,” said Abdulkadir Hassan Mohamed, a tuk-tuk driver who witnessed the blast told AP. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Teenagers were lining up at the base’s gate when the suicide bomber detonated the explosives,…

LEADING Kenyan lawyer and the country’s former Justice Minister Martha Karua says she has been deported from Tanzania to prevent her from attending the court case of opposition leader Tundu Lissu. Two colleagues accompanying her were also reportedly detained and deported after flying in from neighbouring Kenya. Tanzanian authorities have not yet commented. Lissu, who is the leader of Tanzania’s main opposition Chadema party, is due to appear in court on Monday after being charged with treason last month. Karua is a respected human rights advocate, and a vocal critic of what she calls “democratic backsliding” in East Africa. She…

CRYSTAL Palace won the first major trophy in the club’s history with victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley. Eberechi Eze was Palace’s hero when he crowned a superb counter-attack by sweeping home Daniel Munoz’s cross after 16 minutes. It’s the first trophy thr club has won in its 164-year history. City, meanwhile, endured a day of total frustration as they failed to win a trophy in a season for the first time since manager Pep Guardiola’s first campaign in charge in 2016-17. They were furious when Palace keeper Dean Henderson was not shown a red…