LONDON – Britain was set Sunday to recognise a Palestinian state, UK media said, ahead of key United Nations (UN) talks where several nations are poised to follow suit to pressure Israel over Gaza. Prime minister Keir Starmer “will set out the position later on today,” his deputy David Lammy told the BBC, stopping short...
GAZA CITY – Israeli tanks and warplanes pounded Gaza City yesterday, prompting long lines of scared Palestinian civilians to flee as the military intensified its assault on the territory’s largest urban hub. Thick columns of smoke billowed into the sky as AFP journalists and witnesses saw a steady stream of Gazans heading south on foot,...
LONDON – A first group of severely ill children from Gaza has arrived in the UK under a scheme allowing them to receive urgent medical treatment, the British government said yesterday. A cross-government taskforce has spent weeks coordinating the “complex humanitarian operation” to evacuate the children and their immediate families for specialist care under the...
LUSAKA – Nearly 200 people affected by a major toxic spill at a northern Zambian mine have filed an US$80 billion lawsuit against the Chinese company that owns the mine, legal documents seen by AFP yesterday reveal. Millions of litres of acidic waste were released into streams, rivers, and fields near the town of Kitwe,...
KATHMANDU – Nepal flew flags at half-mast during a national day of mourning yesterday for the 73 people killed during youth-led anti-corruption protests that toppled the government. An interim government, which took over after two days of protests last week, declared the day of mourning “in honour of those who lost their lives during the...
LONDON – British foreign minister Yvette Cooper yesterday condemned Israel’s ground assault on Gaza City as “utterly reckless and appalling”, calling instead for an immediate ceasefire. “It will only bring more bloodshed, kill more innocent civilians and endanger the remaining hostages,” she said in a post on X. The European Union warned Tuesday that Israel’s...
JERUSALEM – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday told Israel that the United States backed the “constructive role” by Qatar in mediating in Gaza, after an Israeli strike on the Gulf state against Hamas. President Donald Trump and Rubio have both said they opposed the attack last week on Qatar, which is home to...
BIZERTE (Tunisia) – A flotilla bound for Gaza carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists set sail yesterday from Tunisia after repeated delays, aiming to break Israel’s blockade and deliver aid to the Palestinian territory. “The fleet that departed Barcelona is already at sea, and the Tunisian boats are now setting sail in stages,” the Global Sumud...
JOHANNESBURG – A South African court on Friday rejected an attempt to block the release of a Netflix documentary about a man convicted of rape and murder who faked his death to escape prison. Thabo Bester gained global notoriety in 2023 after his arrest in Tanzania, a year after he had escaped from a private...
JOHANNESBURG – South African prosecutors announced on Wednesday their plans to reopen an inquest into the death of prominent anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, nearly 50 years after he died while in police custody. Biko, founder of South Africa’s Black Consciousness Movement, died in a prison cell in 1977, aged just 30, after being beaten into...