Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera conceded defeat Wednesday in last week’s election, saying in an address to the nation that it was clear his rival Peter Mutharika had an “insurmountable lead”. The former pastor took power in 2020 elections when he defeated the then-president Mutharika, a constitutional law expert from the Democratic Progressive Party. “A few minutes ago, I called Professor Mutharika to wish him well,” Chakwera said just hours before the election authority was due to announce the final results of the September 16 election. Ahead of the announcement, “it was clear that my rival Peter Mutharika has an insurmountable…
Author: Agency
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has appointed the world’s first AI-generated government minister to oversee public tenders, promising its artificial intelligence would make it “corruption-free”. Presenting his new cabinet at a meeting of his Socialist Party following a big May election victory, Rama introduced the new “member”, named “Diella” — “sun” in Albanian. “Diella is the first (government) member who is not physically present, but virtually created by artificial intelligence,” Rama said. Diella will be entrusted with all decisions on public tenders, making them “100-percent corruption-free and every public fund submitted to the tender procedure will be perfectly transparent”, he…
Ticket prices for next year’s FIFA World Cup will range from $60 for group-stage matches to $6,730 for the final, but could change as soccer’s top event adopts dynamic pricing for the first time. The prices are up from a range of $25 to $475 for the 1994 tournament in the United States, and from the US dollar equivalent $69 to $1,607 when ticket details were announced for the 2022 tournament in Qatar. “I think the message is ‘get your tickets early’, especially if you know where you will be, because you live in that city, or you’re a fan…
The Group of Seven (G7) leaders met for the first day of the two-day summit in Kananaskis in the province of Alberta, Canada, on Monday with emerging disagreements. According to CNN, US President Donald Trump does not intend to sign a joint statement calling for de-escalation between Israel and Iran. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa held a press conference Sunday night saying that Israel has a right to defend itself and that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer…
Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defence minister, as well as Hamas’s military commander. A statement said a pre-trial chamber had rejected Israel’s challenges to the court’s jurisdiction and issued warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. A warrant was also issued for Mohammed Deif, although the Israeli military has said he was killed in an air strike in Gaza in July. The judges said there were “reasonable grounds” the three men bore “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war between Israel and…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Yemen’s Houthis will pay a “heavy price” after a missile fired by the group landed in central Israel. The Israeli military said the missile landed in an uninhabited area early on Sunday, but that shrapnel indicated air defence systems had failed to destroy it before it entered Israeli airspace. It added that it was investigating how the missile was able to reach so far into Israeli territory. The strike marks the first time a missile fired by the group has reached central Israel, which is around 2,000km (1,240 miles) from Yemen. The Israel…
Berlin has agreed to allow skilled and semi-skilled Kenyan workers into Germany in a controlled and targeted labour migration deal. Kenya is struggling with increasing difficulties in providing work and sufficient income for its young professionals, while Germany is facing a shortage of skilled labour. The German government has said the deal does not specify the number of workers who will be allowed in. Migration agreements are a central pillar in the German government’s efforts to curb immigration. The agreement will also simplify the repatriation of Kenyans who are in Germany without legal permission. Five Kenyan bus drivers have already…
A vulnerable widower has been left homeless and “truly suffering” after being hoodwinked into sending £85,000 to a woman who never existed. Rodrick Lodge, 69, was living in Leiston, Suffolk, when a friend he had met three years before in Kenya put him in contact with a “woman” named Anita. After building a relationship over social media, he felt himself falling in love for the first time since the death of his wife Pauline in 2019, and he later agreed to move to Nairobi to marry her. But what Mr Lodge was actually falling for was an elaborate scam, which…
The US has charged Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and several other prominent figures in the Palestinian group in connection with its deadly attack in Israel on 7 October last year. The justice department said it was indicting six Hamas members with seven charges, including the murder of US citizens, conspiracy to finance terrorism and use of weapons of mass destruction. The criminal complaint covers decades of alleged attacks by Hamas, as well as the unprecedented assault on southern Israel nearly a year ago. It is the first step by US law enforcement to hold accountable the ringleaders of the 7…
The US has seized a plane belonging to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, claiming it was bought illegally for $13m (£9.8m) and smuggled out of the country. According to the US justice department, the Falcon 900EX aircraft was seized in the Dominican Republic and transferred to the US state of Florida. It is unclear how and when the plane ended up in the Dominican Republic. Tracking data showed it leaving La Isabela airport near the capital Santo Domingo on Monday, arriving at Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida soon after. Venezuela has denounced the seizure, saying that it amounted to an act…
