ADDIS ABABA – The World Food Programme said yesterday it was suspending aid for 650 000 malnourished women and children in Ethiopia because of a lack of funding. The UN agency warned they were among 3.6 million people in Ethiopia who would no longer get food aid in the coming weeks without urgent new funding.“WFP...
BANGKOK – Asian crime networks running multi-billion-dollar cyber scam centres are expanding their operations across the world as they seek new victims and new ways to launder money, the UN said yesterday. Chinese and Southeast Asian gangs are raking in tens of billions of dollars a year targeting victims through investment , cryptocurrency, romance and...
NAIROBI – African leaders praised the “legacy of compassion” and “commitment to inclusivity” of Pope Francis as they joined global mourning over his death on Monday. Pope Francis, an energetic reformer who inspired widespread devotion from Catholics but riled traditionalists, died aged 88. The chairman of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, praised “the...
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has heeded to the sounds of the St. Peter’s Basilica’s bells that tolled through the silent Vatican City as the world awoke to the sombre news of the passing of Pope Francis. Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, passed away today in the morning hours. Nandi-Ndaitwah...
The Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development of Tsinghua University (Tsinghua ICCSD) and Global Times Online (Huanqiu.com) jointly released a research report titled “China’s Green and Low-Carbon Development: Vision and Action” on the afternoon of March 26, 2025. This bilingual thematic report is the first of its kind jointly developed by an academic...
On 13 April, Russia launched an attack on a target in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy. All reports – Western, Ukrainian and Russian – agree on some basic facts: The attack consisted of two ballistic missiles; substantial numbers of people were killed (over 60, the Russian defence ministry revealed; over 20 in Western and...
JERUSALEM – Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said the country would keep blocking humanitarian aid from entering the war-battered Gaza Strip, where intense aerial and ground assaults have resumed. “Israel’s policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it...
PORT LOUIS – Mauritius’s former finance minister was arrested yesterday over a second fraud case, two days after having been released on bail over another affair, police said. The latest arrest of Renganaden Padayachy concerns alleged fraud against the Mauritius Investment Corporation (MIC), created in 2020 by the Bank of Mauritius to support businesses during...
GENEVA – Israeli forces have killed dozens of civilians in Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect late last year, including a number of women and children, the United Nations said yesterday. The UN rights office reported that Israeli military operations had killed and injured civilians in Lebanon in the four months since the fragile truce...
MALÉ – The Maldives announced yesterday it was banning the entry of Israelis from the luxury tourist archipelago in “resolute solidarity” with the Palestinian people. President Mohamed Muizzu ratified the legislation shortly after it was approved by parliament yesterday. “The ratification reflects the government’s firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts...