Author: Editor

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has hit out at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s claim that Iran won its recent 12-day war with Israel, also saying the United States will “absolutely” bomb the country again if it pursues nuclear weapons. The US president launched a torrent of abuse at Iran’s supreme leader on his Truth Social platform on Friday, claiming he had saved Khamenei from “A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH” and accusing him of “blatantly and foolishly” lying when he claimed “victory” in the war the previous day. In his first sortie since the Israel-Iran war ended with a ceasefire earlier this week,…

SOUTH Africa’s criminal intelligence chief Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo has been arrested and has appeared in court on allegations of fraud and corruption. Gen Khumalo was picked up on Thursday evening after landing at the main international airport in Johannesburg by members of anti-corruption unit, local media reported. He made his court appearance in the capital, Pretoria, on Friday, alongside six co-accused, all senior police officers. Their lawyer said they intended to plead not guilty to any charges laid against them. Details of the charges are not yet clear but local media say Gen Khumalo and the other six had been…

RWANDA and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed a peace deal in Washington aimed at ending decades of devastating conflict between the two neighbours, and potentially granting the US lucrative mineral access. The deal demands the “disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration” of armed groups fighting in eastern DR Congo. Further details are scant and previous peace deals in the region have failed – yet that has not deterred the US and Congolese presidents from framing this as a generational victory. “Today, the violence and destruction comes to an end, and the entire region begins a new chapter of hope…

ERLING Haaland scored his 300th top-level career goal to help Manchester City easily beat Juventus in the heat of Orlando to top Group G at the Club World Cup. Norway striker Haaland scuffed home a finish in the second half as the Premier League side withstood the 32C heat, as well as a short spell of showers, to dismantle Juve and avoid being in the same side of the draw as Champions League winners Paris St-Germain and Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. However, manager Pep Guardiola may still come up against his former player Xabi Alonso in the next round, should…

LAST Thursday, just days after he had ordered strikes upon Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood outside Beersheba’s Soroka Hospital and spoke of his outrage that the building had been hit in an Iranian counterstrike. “They’re targeting civilians because they’re a criminal regime. They’re the arch-terrorists of the world,” he said of the Iranian government. Similar accusations were levelled by other Israeli leaders, including the president, Isaac Herzog, and opposition leader Yair Lapid, during the conflict with Iran, which ended with a ceasefire brokered by United States President Donald Trump on Monday. However, what was missing from these leaders…

SURGING car theft in the UK is being driven by organised crime gangs targeting vehicles to be smuggled out and resold in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Russia, a study said Thursday. Criminals were increasingly using vehicle theft technology to enable a fast and well-organised “stolen to order” model especially of high-end cars, the report by the Royal United Services Institue think-tank said. Vehicle thefts have risen by 75 percent in a decade, according to government figures, a reversal of the trend seen over the previous two decades. The thieves use modern vehicle theft devices, often costing…

AT least 16 people died in the previous day’s protests across Kenya, Amnesty International said on Thursday, as businesses and residents were left to clean up the devastation in the capital and beyond. Burned-out buildings, smashed windows, looted shops — thousands of businesses in downtown Nairobi, the epicentre of Wednesday’s anti-government protests, were destroyed. The marches had been called to mark one year since the anti-tax demonstrations that left at least 60 people dead and peaked when a huge crowd stormed parliament. A protester jumps to break wooden planks to build barricades as demonstrators begin to gather for a march…

TWENTY-NINE children who were taking their school exams in the Central African Republic have been killed in a crush after a nearby explosion caused panic, a hospital director told the BBC. The blast, on the second day of the high-school finals on Wednesday, occurred at an electricity transformer, said Abel Assaye from the Bangui community hospital. “The noise of the explosion, combined with smoke” caused alarm among the almost 6,000 students sitting the baccalaureate at a school in the capital, Bangui, local radio station Ndeke Luka reported. President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has declared a period of national mourning. He also ordered…

CRISTIANO Ronaldo is close to agreeing a new contract with Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr, Saudi sources have told BBC Sport. The 40-year-old Portugal captain’s deal was due to expire at the end of June, but sources indicate a two-year extension is close to being finalised. Ronaldo posted on social media “the chapter is over” following the Riyadh club’s final Saudi Pro League game of the season last month, leading to speculation he was set to leave. Fifa president Gianni Infantino then raised the prospect of him joining a team involved at the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr’s failure to qualify…

ISRAELI attacks have killed at least 78 people in the Gaza Strip since dawn, including 14 Palestinians who were waiting near aid distribution centres, medical sources told Al Jazeera, even as United States President Donald Trump said “great progress” was being made to bring an end to the war. Sources at al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospitals in Gaza told Al Jazeera that at least nine Palestinians were killed and several others injured by Israeli fire early on Wednesday while waiting for aid near the Netzarim Junction in central Gaza. The deaths are the latest in a wave of violence near…

IRANIAN authorities are moving to allow for tougher punishment of cooperation with foreign governments after a 12-day war with Israel and the United States ended with a ceasefire on Monday. In a late Tuesday written message addressed to the Iranian nation, President Masoud Pezeshkian claimed a “historic victory” and said plans to sow “discord and division” among Iranians would fail. At the same time, the country’s parliament and judiciary are advancing efforts to enforce more serious punishment against any action viewed as damaging to national security. The Iranian parliament on Monday approved a plan to “intensify punishment for espionage and…

MARCHES in Kenya to mark a year since massive anti-government demos turned violent on Wednesday, with two killed and running battles between protesters and police, who flooded Nairobi’s streets with tear gas and sealed off government buildings with barbed wire. At least 60 people were killed last year by security forces in weeks of protests over tax rises and the dire economic situation for young Kenyans, peaking when a huge crowd stormed parliament on June 25. Thousands gathered in central Nairobi and other towns on Wednesday, including the families of last year’s victims, for initially peaceful anniversary marches. They soon…

A SOUTH African court has halted plans to bury former Zambian President Edgar Lungu at a private ceremony just as it was about to start. The news was only announced to mourners in a church in South Africa after a funeral mass had already finished. This is the latest twist in a row between the government and Lungu’s family over his burial, after the family opted for a private ceremony in South Africa, rather than a full state funeral at home. The Zambian government had filed an urgent case in the Pretoria High Court seeking to stop the burial planned…

MRS Medina Isah, the mother of the immediate past President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors ( NGE), Mustapha Isah, has passed away at the age of 80.  She died on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at the Auchi General Hospital, Edo State where she was receiving treatment for an illness.  Mrs Medina Isah was a devout Muslim and a philanthropist who impacted her community positively.  She has since been buried according to Islamic rites .  Mrs Medina Isah is survived by her husband, Chief Isah Umoru Osikhekha, the Ovhoitse of Ubuneke, Ivbiaro, in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo…

BENFICA beat Bayern Munich to progress into the Club World Cup last 16 as Group C winners amid sweltering temperatures in the United States. The match began at 3pm local time (20:00 BST) at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina with the temperature at 36C – and both sides were far from their best in the tough conditions. Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal in the 13th minute, with a low finish from 15 yards out after Fredrik Aursnes had done well and pulled the ball back into his path. Victory means Portugal’s Benfica will play the…

ISRAELI forces and drones have killed at least 86 Palestinians since dawn, including 56 near aid distribution centres, in the latest attacks on desperate people seeking aid in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to medical sources in hospitals. In Rafah alone, in the south of the enclave, 27 aid seekers were gunned down by the Israeli military on Tuesday. The overall death toll from Israel’s war has risen to more than 56,000 killed and 131,848 injuries since October 7, 2023. The killings are the latest in a wave of daily carnage near aid distribution points established late last month by…

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was holding, shortly after he lashed out at both countries and cursed as he accused them of violating the truce. In a fast-moving series of declarations, the 79-year-old Republican, who was on his way to attend a NATO summit in The Hague, posted on his Truth Social app that “the Ceasefire is in effect!” “ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran. Nobody will be hurt,” Trump wrote. Minutes earlier, he had…

“ANOTHER appalling attack” on a hospital in Sudan has seen more than 40 people killed, many of them children and medics, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. “We cannot say this louder,” wrote Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X on Tuesday, “attacks on health must stop everywhere!” Al-Mujlad Hospital was struck on Saturday, and is located in West Kordofan state, close to one of the frontlines where Sudan’s warring parties are fighting in the conflict that is now in its third year. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) blames its opponents the Sudanese army for attacking the hospital,…

MALI and Russia have signed a series of agreements aimed at expanding mutual trade and strengthening economic ties. Among them is a pledge for greater cooperation on nuclear energy, according to details released by the Kremlin. The announcement of the deals came during a visit by Mali’s junta leader Col Assimi Goïta to Moscow, which included two hours’ of talks with President Vladimir Putin, Russian state media report. Goïta has boosted relations with Russia since seizing power in 2021, while reducing ties with former colonial power France. This reflects a broader regional trend, with neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger also…

MANCHESTER United have submitted an improved bid of more than £60m for Brentford striker Bryan Mbeumo. This month United had a bid rejected for the 25-year-old of £45m plus up to £10m in add-ons. Talks over the Cameroon forward, who would become the club’s second signing of the summer, are due to continue this week. Following the £62.5m capture of Matheus Cunha from Wolves, United are keen to further strengthen Ruben Amorim’s squad before they return for pre-season training on 7 July. New Tottenham manager Thomas Frank was keen to be reunited with Mbeumo, while there has also been interest…