THE HAGUE – A top Palestinian official told the International Court of Justice yesterday that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza as a “weapon of war”, at the start of a week of hearings at the UN’s top court. Israel is not participating at the ICJ, but hit back immediately, dismissing the...
SANAA – Huthi rebel-controlled media in Yemen said yesterday that US strikes hit a migrant detention centre in the movement’s stronghold of Saada, killing at least 68 people. The US military has hammered the Iran-backed Huthis with near-daily strikes since 15 March in an operation dubbed “Rough Rider”, seeking to end the threat they pose...
TEHRAN – Iran accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday of trying to dictate US policy in negotiations, after he called for the complete dismantling of Tehran’s nuclear programme, and for the inclusion of its ballistic missile capabilities in any deal. “What is striking… is how brazenly Netanyahu is now dictating what president Trump can...
VATICAN CITY – With Pope Francis laid to rest, all eyes turn now to the conclave, the secretive meeting of cardinals set to convene within days to elect a new head of the Catholic Church.Mourners were permitted to visit his tomb for the first time yesterday, a day after an estimated 400 000 people including...
MADRID – Spain has unilaterally cancelled a multi-million-dollar contract to buy bullets from an Israeli company that infuriated the minority Socialist-led administration’s far-left coalition partner, government sources said yesterday. Spain halted weapons transactions with Israel after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which followed by Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October, 2023, and...
KYIV – Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky cancelled part of his trip to South Africa yesterday after Russia fired a barrage of missiles and drones at Kyiv, killing at least eight people in the deadliest attack on the capital in months. Ukraine has been battered with aerial attacks throughout Russia’s three-year invasion but deadly strikes on...
ABIDJAN – Supporters of Ivory Coast’s main opposition party were called to protest outside courts yesterday after their candidate was barred from running in the presidential election. The government warned it would not permit any unrest and police blocked access to the courts in Abidjan, the economic capital, and Bouake, the second largest city. On...
DAR ES SALAAM – Tanzania’s main opposition party yesterday said at least two of its officials had been arrested on their way to a rally to support leading government opponent Tundu Lissu, who refused to appear at a virtual court hearing to face a charge of treason. Authorities in the east African country have increasingly...
No access to land, continued agricultural sector underfunding, lack of financing for businesses and the conclusion of the protracted genocide talks were some of the key issues raised by opposition parties yesterday. While collectively congratulating and extending their support, they vowed to hold the nation’s leader accountable for the next five years, for if her...
Tilahun Wale not only lost his right foot to leprosy — a disease that still affects thousands in Ethiopia — he also lost his family. “My family abandoned me. They blocked my number and refused to speak to me,” said Tilahun (46) a farmer in Ethiopia’s populous Oromia region, who contracted leprosy around 10 years...