US intends further strikes on Iran-backed groups in Middle East, national security adviser says
Iran has so far avoided any direct role in the conflict, even as it backs those groups. The Pentagon has said it does not want war with Iran and does not believe Tehran wants war either. Sullivan declined to be drawn on whether the United States might attack sites inside Iran, something the US military has been very careful to avoid.
Eritrean troops accused of abducting farmers and stealing livestock in Ethiopia’s Tigray
In one incident, on January 22, eight herders were abducted with their donkeys and camels. In another, on December 6, six people were abducted along with 56 livestock. In a third, on December 5, Eritrean soldiers stole 100 animals.
Taylor Swift chases album of the year record but faces stiff competition from R&B artist SZA at female-focused Grammys
Swift is not a lock for the album award. Industry pundits said it could go to SOS from R&B artist SZA, who would be the first Black woman since Lauryn Hill 25 years ago to win the category as a lead artist. SZA, singer of dark ballad Kill Bill, leads all Grammy nominees this year with nine nods.
Senegalese President Sall calls off vote three weeks to poll citing unspecified ‘electoral issues’
Ndiack Fall, law professor at Dakar’s Cheikh Anta Diop University, noted that, according to the constitution, Sall’s mandate ends on April 2 after which the president of parliament should be in charge if the election has still not been held.
World music revolution: How and why Africa had fastest-growing recorded music revenues in 2022
There is also Afrobeat – different from Afrobeats – a blend of jazz, funk and traditional West African rhythms popularised by Nigerian musical icon and political agitator Fela Kuti in the 1970s. Then there’s Afropop, a rich variety of contemporary styles. The traditional soukous dance music out of Congo and other parts of Central Africa. The rhythmical and heavily vocal shaabi and chaabi heard on the streets of North Africa. Kenya’s benga and Tanzania’s bongo flava reverberate across dance floors in East Africa, just as fuji and highlife do in West Africa.
Kenya’s president blames corruptionfor huge fireball that killed 4, injured hundreds in Nairobi
The National Environment Management Authority board said in a statement it had suspended four officials, including the director of environmental compliance. The chairman of the board, Emilio Mugo, asked police to investigate the four.
Whether Trump will be on the ballot is the Supreme Court’s toughest election test since Bush v Gore
A case with the potential to disrupt Donald Trump’s drive to return to the White House is putting the Supreme Court uncomfortably at the centre of the 2024 presidential campaign. In arguments on Thursday, the justices will, for the first time, wrestle with a constitutional provision that was adopted after...
Ex-Pakistan PM and cricket icon Imran Khan and his wife sentenced to 7 years in prison for ‘unlawful marriage’
Bushra was accused of not completing the waiting period mandated by Islam, called “Iddat”, after divorcing her previous husband and marrying Khan.
Iran-made Shahed-136 is the ‘loitering munition’ of choice Houthis use to attack merchant ships
The Shahed-136 , which has been extensively used by Russian forces in Ukraine, can be fired from truck-mounted containers at a slightly upward angle. A small rocket booster helps propel the drone into the air before being jettisoned. Its main piston engine then takes over to power the flight.
How Houthi militants in Yemen attack ships in one of world’s busiest maritime trade routes
Houthi attacks have targeted ships in the southern Red Sea and the neighbouring Gulf of Aden, which are joined by the Bab al-Mandab strait, a chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.
