Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso

More than 1,000 people have been killed in a landslide that destroyed a village in western Sudan, according to a rebel group controlling the area. The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM) said the disaster struck on Sunday after heavy rainfall triggered the collapse of the mountainside, wiping out the village of Tarasin in the Marra mountains. The group reported that only one person survived. “Initial information indicates the death of all village residents, estimated to be more than 1,000 individuals, with only one survivor,” the movement said in a statement. “The village has now been completely levelled to the ground.” Footage…

An 11-year-old boy has been shot dead in Houston, Texas, while playing a doorbell prank game with friends. Police said the child was struck several times as he attempted to run from a house in the city’s Eastside neighbourhood on Saturday evening. He was later pronounced dead at the scene. The Houston police department confirmed a middle-aged man had been arrested in connection with the shooting. Several firearms were recovered from the property. Neither the suspect nor the victim have been publicly named. According to detectives, the boy and his friends had been playing “ding-dong ditch”, a prank in which…

Berlin police have launched an internal investigation after video footage emerged of an Irish activist being punched in the face twice by an officer during a pro-Palestinian demonstration, prompting concern from Ireland’s foreign office. The activist, Kitty O’Brien, was seen in footage posted on social media being struck by a male officer before being dragged away, bloodied, from Thursday’s rally in the Mitte district of the German capital. Local newspaper Der Tagesspiegel reported that O’Brien’s arm was also broken, though this has not been independently verified. Longer video clips showed O’Brien, who uses non-binary pronouns, shouting at officers, calling them…

The United States has suspended almost all visa approvals for Palestinians, according to reports, in a move that significantly expands earlier restrictions and has drawn widespread criticism. The New York Times reported that the suspension applies to nearly all holders of Palestinian passports, effectively blocking access to the US for medical treatment, study, business and family visits. The measure goes well beyond previous policies, which had focused primarily on residents of Gaza. Officials cited by the newspaper, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said the restrictions were intended to be temporary while the State Department conducts a broader review…

Donald Trump’s efforts to influence the US Federal Reserve risk destabilising the global economy, the president of the European Central Bank has warned. Christine Lagarde said attempts by the US president to undermine the independence of the world’s most powerful central bank would have repercussions well beyond America’s borders. Speaking to France’s Radio Classique, Lagarde said removing the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, or governor Lisa Cook would be a “very serious danger for the US economy and the world economy”. “If US monetary policy were no longer independent and instead dependent on the dictates of this or that person, then…

A plane carrying the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, was forced to circle above Bulgaria for an hour after losing satellite navigation signals in what authorities believe was the result of Russian interference. The incident occurred on Sunday as von der Leyen was travelling by charter aircraft to the city of Plovdiv during a tour of EU member states on the bloc’s eastern frontier. Bulgarian officials suspect the disruption was caused by “blatant interference” from Russia, according to the commission’s deputy spokesperson, Arianna Podestà. “We are aware and used to the threats and intimidations that are a regular…

At least 250 people have been killed and hundreds more injured after a powerful earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late on Sunday, flattening homes and leaving rescuers scrambling to reach remote communities. The magnitude 6 tremor struck the rugged province of Kunar at 11.47pm, with its epicentre located 27km north-east of Jalalabad in neighbouring Nangarhar, according to the United States Geological Survey. The quake struck at a depth of just 8km, amplifying the destruction. A second tremor, measuring 4.5, followed 20 minutes later in the same province. Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s health ministry, confirmed the death toll was likely…

The Taliban have ordered the closure of clandestine beauty salons still operating in Afghanistan, warning that women running them have one month to cease work or face arrest. The directive intensifies the group’s already severe restrictions on women’s lives, stripping away one of the last remaining spaces where Afghan women could gather, earn livelihoods and maintain a sense of dignity. Officially, all beauty salons were closed in August 2023, a move that shuttered an estimated 12,000 businesses and wiped out more than 50,000 jobs held almost exclusively by women. The ban not only eliminated a vital source of income but…

A federal judge in Washington has temporarily blocked the deportation of a group of Guatemalan children who crossed the United States border without their families, after lawyers argued that the minors were being placed on planes in violation of laws designed to protect migrant children. Attorneys for ten Guatemalan children, aged between 10 and 17, filed papers late on Saturday reporting that the youngsters were due to be flown to Guatemala within hours. Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan ruled on Sunday that the children could not be deported for at least 14 days, ordering that they be returned from the aircraft…

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin met on Sunday on the sidelines of a high-profile summit in Tianjin that seeks to present an alternative to western-led alliances. The Chinese and Russian leaders, who describe their relationship as a “limitless” partnership, held talks covering Putin’s recent meeting with Donald Trump, though the Kremlin declined to give details. Their bilateral discussion was one of several held by Xi during the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. The SCO, a ten-member bloc of Eurasian nations founded in 2001, is hosting its largest gathering to date, with leaders from 16 observer or “dialogue partner” states…