A senior cleric and member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts has said that the country will select its next supreme leader soon, with candidates determined. Seyed Ahmad Khatami made the remarks in an interview with state-run IRIB TV four days after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack on the Iranian capital Tehran. He stressed that no problem has occurred in the country’s leadership, noting that the interim leadership council, comprising Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei and Alireza Arafi, a jurist from the country’s Constitutional Council, is running the country. Khatami expressed his…
Author: Agency
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres raised concerns on Monday that the rule of law is being “outmuscled” by the rule of force in his opening speech at the 61st UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva. Guterres also warned that a two-state solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict was being undermined, noting that human rights “are under a full-scale attack around the world”. “Around the world, human rights are being pushed back deliberately, strategically and sometimes proudly,” he said, adding that the consequences are “devastating”. “I began this month speaking to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of…
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday warned against escalation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, calling on all parties to exercise restraint and resolve differences through peaceful dialogue and measures aimed at rebuilding trust. The secretary-general is closely following developments in Tigray, where renewed tensions and reported clashes have contributed to a worsening security environment, his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement. Guterres is “deeply concerned about the potential impact on civilians and the risk of a return to a wider conflict in a region still working to rebuild and recover,” said Haq. The UN chief urged the…
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Iran was “seriously talking” with the United States. Asked by reporters aboard Air Force One whether he had made a final decision on Iran, Trump said, “Certainly, I can’t tell you that, but we do have very big, powerful ships heading in that direction.” “I hope they negotiate something that’s acceptable,” Trump said, adding, “We could make a negotiated deal that would be satisfactory, with no nuclear weapons, and they should do that, but I don’t know if they will.” The president also told Fox News that the United States could not…
Elon Musk’s AI tool Grok is facing global backlash for generating sexualised deepfakes of women and children, with the European Union joining the condemnation and Britain warning of an investigation. Complaints of abuse flooded the internet after the recent rollout of an “edit image” button on Grok, which enabled users to alter online images with prompts such as “put her in a bikini” or “remove her clothes.” The digital undressing spree, which follows growing concerns among tech campaigners over proliferating AI “nudify” apps, prompted swift probes or calls for remedial action from countries including France, India and Malaysia. The European…
Emirates, the Middle East’s biggest airline, topped up its order of Boeing 777X planes on Monday despite years of delays, delivering a vote of confidence to the US manufacturer at the Dubai Airshow. The order of 65 777-9s, valued at $38 billion (Sh4.94 trillion) including engines, came despite last month’s announcement that delivery was now due in 2027 — seven years behind the original schedule. Emirates, already the biggest customer for the Boeing 777, now has 270 777X, 10 777 freighters and 35 Boeing 787s on order. The 777X deliveries will start in the second quarter of 2027, Emirates Group…
A new chapter in South Africa’s long-running Zuma saga is set to begin with the 43-year-old daughter of the former president due to go on trial this week on terrorism-related charges. In what is believed to be a first for the country, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is being prosecuted over what she wrote on social media four years ago during deadly protests. Jacob Zuma’s nine-year presidency, littered with controversies, came to a halt in 2018 amid extensive graft allegations – all denied. Then in 2021 he was jailed for failing to show up at a corruption inquiry, triggering protests and the worst…
Tanzania was on lockdown with a communications blackout early Thursday, a day after elections turned into violent chaos with unconfirmed reports of many dead. President Samia Suluhu Hassan had sought to solidify her position and silence criticism within her party in the virtually uncontested polls, with the main challengers either jailed or disqualified. In the run-up, rights groups condemned a “wave of terror” in the east African nation, which has seen a string of high-profile abductions that ramped up in the final days. A heavy security presence on Wednesday failed to deter hundreds protesting in economic hub Dar es Salaam…
The US consulate in Lagos has revoked the visa of Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka, the Nobel laureate has said. “I want to assure the consulate… that I’m very content with the revocation of my visa,” Soyinka, a famed playwright and author who won the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature, told a news conference. Soyinka previously held permanent residency in the United States, though he destroyed his green card after Donald Trump’s first election in 2016. He has remained critical of the US president, who is now serving his second term, and speculated that his recent comments comparing Trump to former…
Real Madrid finally ended its recent struggles against rival Barcelona in a tense Clasico that saw players confronting each other after the final whistle. Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham scored as Los Blancos beat Barcelona 2-1 in the first Clasico of the season on Sunday, halting a fourgame losing streak against the Catalan giant. The victory increased Madrid’s league lead over Barcelona to five points after 10 rounds. There was a scuffle between the bench players from both teams after Barcelona’s Pedri was sent off just before the final whistle. The altercation continued after the game ended, with Madrid forward…
