WASHINGTON – Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed to investigate Donald Trump for his alleged effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, has left the US Department of Justice, prosecutors said on Saturday in a court filing. “The special counsel completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on 7 January 2025,...
N’DJAMENA – Gunmen launched an attack on the Chadian presidential complex in the country’s capital N’Djamena on Wednesday, sparking a battle that left 18 attackers and one security officer dead, and several others injured, the government said. AFP reporters heard gunfire near the complex in N’Djamena, with tanks seen on the street, while security sources...
ACCRA – Ghana on Tuesday swore in president-elect John Mahama in the capital Accra before some 20 regional leaders as he promises to lift the West African gold and cocoa producer out of the doldrums. Mahama won 56% of the vote in the nation’s presidential election on 9 December last year, defeating ruling party candidate...
ADDIS ABABA – Evacuations were underway in Ethiopia on Saturday after a series of earthquakes, the strongest of which a 5.8 magnitude jolt, rocked the remote north of the Horn of Africa nation. The quakes were centred on the largely rural Afar, Oromia and Amhara regions after months of intense seismic activity. No casualties have...
MAPUTO – The Mozambique opposition leader who has led more than two months of deadly protests against disputed election results from outside the country announced on Sunday that he would return ahead of the new president’s inauguration. Venancio Mondlane, who left Mozambique after his lawyer was gunned down on 19 October 2024, said in a...
PARIS – France yesterday warned Donald Trump against threatening the “sovereign borders” of the European Union after the US president-elect refused to rule out military action to take control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of EU member Denmark. “There is no question of the EU letting other nations in the world, whoever they may be…...
MOSCOW – Russia said yesterday it had expelled more than 80 000 migrants in 2024, nearly twice as many as in 2023, as the country toughens migration policies after last year’s Crocus City Hall terror attack. More than 140 people were killed in the attack on the conference centre in March, which was allegedly carried...
HELSINKI – Finland is consistently ranked as Europe’s most media-literate country. The skills needed to spot online hoaxes are on the school curriculum, amidst a boom of mis- and disinformation campaigns. “Who knew what a troll was before?” literature and Finnish language teacher Saara Varmola asked her 14- to 15-year-old students, who all promptly raised...
TOKYO – Japanese authorities began culling some 50 000 chickens Sunday after a bird flu outbreak at a farm in the northern Iwate region. It is the 19th bird flu outbreak of the season in Japan, the agriculture ministry said. The latest farm reported increasing deaths of fowl. Test results confirmed Sunday that bird flu...
GAZA – Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” in the Gaza Strip in a report documenting the 14-month conflict published yesterday. The report documents 41 attacks on MSF staff including air strikes on health facilities and direct fire on humanitarian convoys.The NGO said it was forced to evacuate hospitals and health...