UNITED NATIONS – United Nations chief Antonio Guterres voiced concern on Wednesday over “escalation” in Sudan’s conflict to the country’s army chief when they met on the sidelines of a diplomatic gathering in New York. Sudan has been high on the agenda at the UN’s centrepiece meeting this week, with the dire humanitarian situation and...
SEOUL – A South Korean man has been arrested after confessing to murdering his girlfriend 16 years ago and, entombing her body on his balcony under a layer of cement, police told AFP yesterday. The man, who is now in his 50s, was charged with murdering the woman in October 2008 during an argument, according...
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM – The relentless exchanges of fire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah of recent days have stoked fears the longtime foes are moving inexorably towards all-out war, despite international appeals for restraint. AFP correspondents in Jerusalem and Beirut talked to officials and analysts who told them what the opposing sides hope to achieve by ramping...
ACCRA – After nearly three decades of dithering, Ghana has passed a law pledging to give women equal representation in Parliament, public life and business, but activists say parity is a long way off. The Ghanaian parliament unanimously passed the Affirmative Action Gender Bill 2024 last week, ending a process launched in 1998 to create...
NAIROBI – Somalia has accused Ethiopia of supplying weapons to its northeastern Puntland region, amid growing tensions between the Horn of Africa neighbours. There is a history of stormy relations between Ethiopia and Somalia – a fragile jigsaw of federal states, whose instability weakens the central government’s ability to counter a long-running insurgency by Islamist...
BEIRUT – Israel’s military pounded targets in south and east Lebanon yesterday, and said more strikes were coming, warning Lebanese to stay out of harm’s way, despite international calls for restraint. Hezbollah has said it is ready for “all military possibilities”. Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari made a first-of-its-kind appeal to people in...
SEOUL – South Korea yesterday said it would take “decisive military action” if anyone is killed by the wave of trash-carrying balloons being launched across the border by North Korea. Pyongyang has sent more than 5 500 balloons carrying payloads of garbage since May, disrupting flights, causing fires and even hitting government buildings in the...
DAR ES SALAAM – Police arrested Tanzania’s top opposition figures yesterday, their party said, as the authorities moved to block a mass protest in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam. Despite an official ban, the opposition Chadema party had vowed to go ahead with the rally over the alleged kidnapping and killing of its members...
WAJIMA – Floods and landslides killed one person, and left at least 11 missing in central Japan, with recovery teams at work yesterday in a remote peninsula already devastated by a major earthquake this year. “Unprecedented” heavy rains that lashed the area from Saturday began to subside, leaving muddy scenes of destruction as the national...
RAMALLAH – Global news channel Al Jazeera said armed and masked Israeli forces raided its office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank yesterday, and issued a 45-day closure order. It was the latest salvo in a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has worsened during the war in...