Author: Staff Contributor
Uganda’s King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, once the world’s youngest reigning monarch, was buried on Saturday, days after a row broke out over who would succeed him. Oyo, 34, who had ruled the traditional kingdom of Tooro in western Uganda since the age of three, died last month while undergoing cancer treatment in the US. Tooro is one of Uganda’s traditional kingdoms. They were abolished in 1967 but restored in the 1990s under President Museveni. Their monarchs are recognised as cultural leaders rather than political rulers. Thousands of mourners lined the streets as the king’s casket was transported…
South African police have confirmed the death of a jogger, who went missing during a routine run last week, sparking a nationwide appeal for help finding her. The body of Elizabeth Moselakgomo was identified by her relatives on Monday after it was discovered east of Johannesburg on Saturday. She is one of five women whose bodies have been found half-naked and bruised in the same area, Kempton Park. Police said they were not linking the deaths to a serial killer but added that the “similarities are sufficiently concerning… to issue a public warning”. A jogger who knew Moselakgomo through their…
Yumi Liberman was up on stage in front of a panel of judges and an audience of 300 people, and she had to perform. But rather than singing, dancing or playing a musical instrument, she and two friends were in an auditorium in London in 2024 to pitch their business idea, hoping to secure a full-time job with cosmetics giant L’Oreal. “It reminded me of when I used to do competitive sports growing up and the pressure would get heavy,” says Liberman, now 24. “But somehow you just get into flow mode.” She and her friends had got through to…
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has launched Africa’s largest ever share sale, offering a stake in his oil refinery to the general public in a deal that could raise as much as $2.1bn (£1.6bn). The initial public offering (IPO) is for roughly 3% of the Dangote refinery, with the billionaire saying he wanted to give ordinary Nigerians the chance to share in the plant’s success. The refinery, which started production in 2024, is one of the largest in the world and took more than a decade to complete. It now supplies more than 70% of Nigeria’s energy consumption, and many Nigerians…
The UK needs a “culture shift” in how it does business, Andy Burnham has said ahead of a meeting between some of Britain’s biggest bosses and the government. The prime minister said those who take risks in business should be backed by government and local leaders should have the power to work with companies. Burnham had been due to attend the meeting, but cancelled his engagements for Monday and Tuesday following the death of his father. The Labour government has been criticised for increasing costs for firms, such as with the employer national insurance and minimum wage changes under Burnham’s predecessor Sir…
Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Canada is seeking a “unique alliance” with the European Union (EU) but not membership of the bloc, as its trade war with the US intensifies. “What we are looking – and will begin discussions for – [is] a unique alliance with the European Union,” Carney told reporters in Toronto on Sunday. Carney will this week travel to the UK and France, where he is due to address the European Parliament in Strasbourg. His comments come after the Wall Street Journal reported that EU officials were open to a suggestion from Carney that Canada could…
A Russian drone has hit a train near the Ukraine-Poland border shortly after former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and top European security officials had passed through. No casualties were reported after the strike at Yahodyn, which hit the train’s engine.All the passengers had been evacuated, Ukrainian authorities said. Johnson and other European national security advisers, including the UK’s Jonathan Powell, had passed along the same line on a different train on their way back from a conference in Kyiv. Russia’s defence ministry said it had struck “railway infrastructure” in western Ukraine, but Ukraine’s state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia said the…
China has hit out against what it has called “threat narratives” over AI governance and warned against “engaging in confrontation and malicious competition”. It follows Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s calls for a slowdown in AI development – but in a way that prevents China from pulling ahead in the AI race. Over the past week, industry insiders at the leading US artificial intelligence labs have been warning in extremely stark terms about the potential threat AI poses, with some saying it could wipe out humanity. But US President Donald Trump has said that his priority is making sure the US develops the…
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told lawyers to begin defamation proceedings against an Israeli newspaper over reports that the leader of the United Arab Emirates warned him that Hamas was planning an operation just days before the 7 October 2023 attacks. According to book extracts published by Haaretz, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan had a phone call with Netanyahu that September. The report said Netanyahu was warned that the then-Hamas chief in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was planning a major operation. Netanyahu’s office said “no warning was given to the prime minister from the United Arab Emirates…
The price of oil has jumped to $105 a barrel amid signs the conflict in the Middle East will not be resolved quickly, fuelling fears that inflation could accelerate. With the conflict between the US and Iran in the Gulf intensifying in recent days, the cost of both crude oil and gas has been rising sharply. Brent crude went back above $100 a barrel on Wednesday and has continued to climb. The war has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, preventing supplies of oil and gas from the Gulf from reaching global markets. US and UK…
