Category: Africa

Australian politicians urged restraint on Tuesday after police in Sydney clashed with people protesting the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog, who is accused of inciting a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Police made at least 27 arrests amid allegations of excessive force used against protesters and rights groups, reports said. Violence broke out on the evening of 9 February after thousands of people gathered near Sydney Town Hall to oppose Mr Herzog’s visit.
The New South Wales Police said officers moved to clear the area after demonstrators attempted to breach blockades, resulting in arrests. Ten people were accused of assaulting police officers.
Tear gas and pepper spray were used to disperse the crowd, while television footage showed officers pushing protesters back and restraining some of them on the ground. Police said there were no reports of serious injuries.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese said he was “devastated” by the scenes and called for peaceful protests.
“Au..

President Donald Trump responded to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl message of American unity with a stark reminder of his expansionist ambitions.
Toward the end of his halftime set Sunday, the Puerto Rican singer was handed a ball with the words “Together, we are America” written on it.
His show was widely interpreted as a rebuke to the president’s tough anti-immigration crackdown, which Bad Bunny has vocally opposed.
Apparently, this did not go down well with Trump, who slammed the performance and claimed it was “an affront to the Greatness of America.”
open image in galleryDonald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself showing a map of the U.S. incorporating Canada and Greenland to European leaders (@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER! It makes no sense,” Trump wrote on Truth Social approximately 30 minutes after the set ended.
The president appeared to double down on his criticism with a subsequent post on Truth ..

CloseDeputy chief of Russian military intelligence shot and wounded in MoscowA man suspected of shooting a top military intelligence officer in Moscow has been detained, according to Russia’s security service.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev – an official previously linked to the Salisbury poisonings – was shot several times outside an apartment building in an alleged assassination attempt. He is currently recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said that a Russian citizen named Lyubomir Korba was detained in Dubai and has been extradited to Russia, in a statement on Sunday.
Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister accused Ukraine of the attack, which it has denied.
It comes as the US is aiming to get a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia over the line in March despite a lack of progress on territorial concessions, according to reports.
President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters that the Americans “want to do everything by Ju..

President Donald Trump has slammed Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show performance as “an affront to the Greatness of America” in a lengthy post on Truth Social.
“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence,” Trump said on Truth Social approximately 30 minutes after the performance ended.
Trump’s rant comes as Turning Point USA’s “All-American” Super Bowl halftime show, headlined by Kid Rock, garnered roughly four million views. The event, which was streamed online, was launched in protest against the NFL’s picks.
The average Super Bowl halftime show pulls in around 127 million, while last year Kendrick Lamar set a record with 133.5 million.
Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is the first male solo Latin artist to perform the halftime show, as well as the first to perform their set entirely in Spanish.
T..

Savannah Guthrie released a new video on Instagram addressing the suspected kidnapper who abducted her mother, Nancy.
In the 20-second video, she says that her family has “received your message” and “will pay” for their mother’s return.
“We received your message and we understand,” the Today anchor said. She was joined by her brother, Camron and sister Annie, with the siblings all holding hands.
She included the same caption on the video that she has in all of her previous videos: “Bring her home.”
“We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her,” Guthrie said. She added that her mother is “very valuable to us” and “we will pay.”
open image in gallerySavannah Guthrie tells suspected kidnapper ‘We received your message’ and will ‘pay’ for mother’s return in heartbreaking new video (Instagram)On Wednesday, the family addressed the suspected kidnapper for the first time in another video address.
“Our mom is our heart and our home. She’s 84 years old. Her ..

CloseZelensky says Ukraine is preparing for 'next trilateral meetings' after Abu Dhabi talksA man suspected of shooting a top military intelligence officer in Moscow has been detained, according to Russia’s security service.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev was shot several times at an apartment building in what Russia has called an assassination attempt. He is currently recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said that a man had been detained in Dubai and was being extradited to Russia, in a statement on Sunday.
Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
It comes as the US is aiming to get a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia over the line in March despite a lack of progress on territorial concessions, according to reports.
President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters that the Americans “want to do everything by June” in comments released on Saturday.
But attacks continued as Russia launched more than 400 drones and a..

A top Russian military general, accused of being involved in the 2018 Salisbury poisonings, was shot outside his Moscow apartment in an alleged assassination attempt.
An unidentified gunman fired several shots at Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence arm, before fleeing the scene, the investigators said.
It is the latest in a series of assassination attempts Russia has blamed on Ukraine.
Mr Alexeyev, 64, has previously been recognised by president Vladimir Putin with a Hero of Russia award. His position meant he would have been closely involved in prosecuting Russia's war in Ukraine.
Mr Alexeyev is believed to have been behind the deadly Salisbury poisonings that caused the tragic death of mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess, 44, according to reports. The EU imposed sanctions on him over the poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury in 2018.
A UK public inquiry concluded in December that Mr ..

ClosePutin’s senior general shot ‘several times’ in Moscow by unknown suspectRussia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy system on Saturday, targeting electricity production and distribution, according to the country’s energy minister.
The government was forced to impose emergency power cuts across the country in response to the onslaught. “Russian criminals carried out another massive attack on Ukraine's energy facilities. The attack continues,” Ukrainian energy minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.
It comes after Russia blamed Kyiv for the shooting of a senior military general outside a residential building in Moscow, state media reported.
The Kremlin claimed that Kyiv was responsible for the shooting of Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, without providing evidence. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
The suspect is said to have fled the scene after shooting Lieutenant General Alexeyev several times in the Russian capital. He is currently in the hospi..

CloseNext round of talks on war settlement likely to take place in US, says ZelenskyA senior Russian general has been rushed to hospital after being shot in Moscow, state media reported on Friday.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev is deputy chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff at the Defence Ministry.
When Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin staged a short-lived mutiny in June 2023, Alexeyev was one of the top officials who were sent to negotiate with him.
Several senior Russian military officials have been assassinated since the start of the war in Ukraine. Moscow has blamed the attacks on Kyiv.
The news came as the US and Russia said they would restart high-level dialogue between their militaries, a level of engagement that was suspended late in 2021 ahead of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The agreement is one of the few tangible outcomes from much-anticipated trilateral peace talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi over the past two..

CloseSavannah Guthrie's brother issues new plea to mother's kidnappersPolice have confirmed that there are no suspects so far in the search for Today show host Savannah Guthrie’s mom.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was first reported missing on Sunday morning with cops now believing that she vanished from her home at some point between Saturday evening and the early hours of the following day.
Speaking to reporters, Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed that authorities had found traces of Nancy’s blood at her Tuscon, Arizona, home.
“The only DNA evidence we got back is on the porch,” he said. “We saw the importance of that blood. It came back to Nancy.”
He also warned Nancy’s potential kidnappers that the 84-year-old needs daily medication in order to survive.
“We also know that, this is day four or five, and we don't know that she's getting her medication,” he said. “That could, in itself, prove fatal.”
His warning comes as the deadline on an alleged ransom note runs out, with the se..