Blog one column

Madonna has paid tribute to her brother Christopher Ciccone, who has died at the age of 63, describing him as “the closest thing to me for so long”. Her brother, who was a tour director for the pop star and danced in her early music videos including Lucky Star, died from cancer on Friday in […]

LeBron James and Bronny James made NBA history by becoming the first father-son duo to play together on the same team during the Los Angeles Lakers’ pre-season game against the Phoenix Suns. Bronny, on his 20th birthday, entered the court during the second quarter in a 118-114 defeat by the Suns. Never before had a […]

Despite having the mighty Zambezi River and the massive hydro-powered Kariba Dam, Zambia is currently grappling with the worst electricity blackouts in living memory. The crisis is so severe that cities and towns across the country are sometimes without electricity for three consecutive days, with people counting themselves lucky if the lights come on for […]

Veteran South African gospel artist Solomon Molokoane, popularly known as Solly Moholo, has died at the age of 65, his management has announced. The award-winning music icon had been in hospital for several weeks after falling ill while on a music tour in Botswana last month. He rose to fame in the early 2000s and […]

Aliou Cisse has been relieved of his position as Senegal coach after nine and a half years in charge of the Teranga Lions. The 48-year-old guided the West Africans to their first continental title, winning the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in February 2022. Although his previous contract ended in August, he remained […]

The case of two black women who were allegedly shot and fed to pigs by a white farmer and two of his workers has caused outrage in South Africa. Maria Makgato, 45, and Lucia Ndlovu, 34, were allegedly looking for food on the farm near Polokwane in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province in August when […]

Everybody’s phone buzzed at once with an alert at around 19:30 local time. It read: “You must enter a protected area immediately and remain there until further notice.” The message was sent by the Israel Defense Forces’s Home Front Command and ended with the phrase “life-saving instructions”. People began to head for shelter in safe […]

Major US ports will stay shut until pay demands are met, the union boss representing striking dockworkers has said. Harold Daggett, head of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), made the vow on a picket line in New Jersey on Tuesday, as tens of thousands of dockworkers on the east and gulf coasts walked out in […]

More than 100 people are to sue rap musician Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs for sexual assault, rape and sexual exploitation, a US lawyer has said. Texas-based lawyer Tony Buzbee said that some of the alleged victims include minors who were abused when they were as young as nine years old. “This is an important matter that […]

Seven people have been killed in a shooting and knife attack in Tel Aviv, police in Israel have confirmed. Several others were injured – some seriously – when a gunman opened fire at members of the public in the Jaffa area. The deadly attack began in a rail carriage and continued on the platform, local […]