DAKAR – Senegal will on Sunday commemorate the massacre of dozens of African soldiers who had fought for then colonial ruler France by French troops in a Dakar suburb on 1 December 1944. France has deliberately tried to erase from memory the mass killings of soldiers, known as “tirailleurs” (riflemen), from its various former African...
BAKU – The world approved a bitterly-negotiated climate deal yesterday, but poorer nations most at the mercy of worsening disasters dismissed a US$300 billion-a-year pledge from wealthy historic polluters as insultingly low. After two exhausting weeks of chaotic bargaining and sleepless nights, nearly 200 nations banged through the contentious finance pact in the early hours...
NAIROBI – Kenya deployed a heavy police presence Thursday ahead of president William Ruto’s state of the nation speech, which comes as he faces criticism over abductions, corruption and unpopular economic policies. There were some calls online to protest his speech to parliament. But the energy behind the mass demonstrations between June and August, sparked...
KINSHASA – The tooth of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s independence hero, Patrice Lumumba, said to be kept in a mausoleum which was vandalised earlier this week, is “secure”, the interior minister said yesterday. «The relic has been secured, and it is protected,» Jacquemain Shabani said in a recorded statement sent to AFP. The...
BAKU – A fresh draft of a climate pact unveiled yesterday at COP29 failed to break an impasse between nations, with negotiators racing against the clock to broker a trillion-dollar finance agreement. The UN climate summit is scheduled to conclude on Friday but the latest draft deal released by hosts Azerbaijan was spurned by rich...
GAZA CITY – A hospital director yesterday said dozens were dead or missing after an Israeli strike in northern Gaza, while rescuers said another strike in the Palestinian territory killed 22 people.One strike was reported in a residential area near the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, which according to hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya...
KYIV – Kyiv accused Russia of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile attack at Ukraine for the first time on Thursday but without a nuclear warhead in a new escalation of the conflict.Ukraine said the missile had targeted the central city of Dnipro, while the Kremlin said it was doing everything possible to avoid a nuclear...
HELSINKI – Up to 80 000 households in Finland lost power on Thursday and traffic was disrupted as the country’s first big snowstorm of the season brought strong winds, the Finnish Meteorological Institute told AFP.Storm Jari arrived in Finland on Wednesday, with winds on Thursday measuring up to 25 metres per second, as well as...
THE HAGUE – The International Criminal Court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif. “The Chamber issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes...
Botswana will diversify its diamond-dependent economy by launching into the medicinal cannabis market and exploiting its abundant sunshine, president Duma Boko said Tuesday, in his first state of the nation address. He swept to power in elections three weeks ago that ejected the party that had ruled for nearly six decades on concerns about a...