LUANDA – Torrential rain in Angola over the weekend has killed a further six people, the interior ministry said yesterday, after more than 40 people died a week ago. For a second straight weekend, the central coastal city of Benguela was hardest hit, with the ministry giving a provisional death toll of five, with four...
ALGIERS – Pope Leo XIV began a landmark visit to Algeria yesterday in the first trip to the Muslim-majority country by a pontiff that risked being overshadowed by criticism from US President Donald Trump. Shortly before leaving Rome, the US-born pope became the target of public criticism from Trump, who railed against Leo’s comments calling...
TEHRAN – Iran and the United States failed to strike a deal Sunday to end the war in the Middle East, but there was no immediate return to hostilities and the region clung to hope that a fragile truce would hold. US Vice President JD Vance left Pakistan after the talks — the highest-level meeting...
KHARTOUM – An Ethiopian military base close to the Sudanese border is lending support to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, according to a report by a research unit at Yale University released Wednesday. The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) said analysis of satellite imagery and open-source data shows activity “consistent with...
ROME – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said yesterday the European Union should consider temporarily suspending its strict spending rules if the Iran war and the resulting energy shock worsens.But Brussels cautioned that under EU rules a suspension was possible only if the 27-nation bloc was to experience a severe economic crisis a condition currently...
BEIRUT – Calls were mounting yesterday for the ceasefire between the US and Iran to be extended to Israel’s war with Hezbollah, after a massive wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed more than 200 people. US President Donald Trump has claimed victory in the Middle East war after agreeing a two-week truce to allow...
LONDON – Oil prices jumped and most stock markets fell yesterday on investor concerns over the Middle East ceasefire holding and as the key Strait of Hormuz remained largely blocked to traffic. Equity markets across the globe had soared and crude futures plunged Wednesday after US President Donald Trump announced the two-week halt in the...
KANO – Armed men killed 50 people in a village in Niger state in northwestern Nigeria earlier this week, humanitarian sources said yesterday, in a much higher toll than previously reported. The attackers struck the village of Erena in the Shiroro local government area on Tuesday, in a wider region battling a surge in insecurity.A...
KHARTOUM – A drone strike on the paramilitary-controlled town of Kutum in Sudan’s North Darfur state has killed 12 civilians, including six children, a medical source and local activists said this week. The strike on Wednesday comes amid an increase in drone attacks by both Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which have...
PARIS – France’s cuts to greenhouse gas emissions slowed for a second straight year in 2025 and remain well below what is needed to meet its climate goals, according to government-commissioned data published yesterday. The slowdown comes as other major economies also struggle to make good on their promise to reduce planet-warming emissions, even as...