Author: HeraldStar

A charismatic 37-year-old, Burkina Faso’s military ruler Capt Ibrahim Traoré has skilfully built the persona of a pan-Africanist leader determined to free his nation from what he regards as the clutches of Western imperialism and neo-colonialism. His message has resonated across Africa and beyond, with his admirers seeing him as following in the footsteps of African heroes like Burkina Faso’s very own Thomas Sankara – a Marxist revolutionary who is sometimes referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara”. “Traoré’s impact is huge. I have even heard politicians and authors in countries like Kenya [in East Africa] say: ‘This is it. He…

Malawian cricket is in mourning after the death of top official Arjun Menon on Saturday night. A statement from the Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) said that the 48-year-old had been “brutally murdered” at his residence in Blantyre. Local police in the Southern African nation are yet to issue a statement following Menon’s death. Menon, a wicketkeeper who represented Singapore five times at senior level, was the operations manager of Cricket Malawi. MNCS chief executive Dr Henry Kamata said Menon’s contributions to the sport were “immense and far-reaching” and that he had played a “pivotal role” in the growth…

At least 130 civilians were killed by Burkina Faso government forces and allied militia in March near the western town of Solenzo, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says in a new report. It says the “massacre”, following an operation led by Burkinabè special forces, resulted in widespread civilian deaths and displacement of ethnic Fulanis. The Fulani are a pastoralist, largely Muslim community who the government has often accused of backing Islamist militants – an allegation denied by community leaders. About 40% of Burkina Faso is under the control of groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State operating in West Africa’s Sahel region. The…

The first group of 49 white South Africans to be granted refugee status by President Donald Trump’s administration are due to arrive shortly in the US. On Sunday they boarded a flight from Johannesburg which is due to land in Washington DC later on Monday. Relations between South Africa and the US have been tense for months, after an executive order in February in which President Trump stated that Afrikaners were victims of “racial discrimination”. This was dismissed by South Africa’s Foreign Minister Ronald Lamoa, who said on Monday “there is no persecution of white Afrikaner South Africans”, adding that…

A UN-backed assessment has said that Gaza’s population of around 2.1 million Palestinians is at “critical risk” of famine and faces “extreme levels of food insecurity” as an Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid continues. The latest report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said there had been a “major deterioration” since October 2024, but concluded famine was not currently occurring. The two-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas “led to a temporary reprieve” in Gaza, the report said, but renewed hostilities and an Israeli blockade on aid – ongoing since early March – had “reversed” any improvements. Some 244,000…

In a decisive response to India’s unprovoked military attacks that commenced on the night of May 6 and 7, the Pakistan Armed Forces launched “Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos” on May 10. The operation, part of a broader strategy Marka-e-Haq, worked as a textbook demonstration of integration of three services. It hit 26 Indian military installations, delivering a proportionate yet restrained retaliation for what Pakistan has condemned as India’s “reprehensible” attacks. The operation, enabled by advanced network-centric warfare, real-time situational awareness, and seamless multi-domain operations, saw the Pakistan Army, Air Force, and Navy work in synergy to engage targets with precision-guided munitions, including…

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday expressed gratitude to US President Donald Trump for playing role in bringing lasting peace to South Asia. Taking to X, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan and US have been partners for decades who worked together closely to protect and promote our mutual interests as well as for peace and security in critical parts of the world. “I am confident that in President Trump, Pakistan has found a great partner who can reinvigorate our strategic partnership and strengthen Pakistan-US ties, not only in trade and investment but in all other areas of cooperation,”…

Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday that if talks were held with India, the discussion will centre around three points which include Kashmir, water issues, and terrorism. Underscoring the importance of the moment, the minister emphasised that this was a golden opportunity for both countries to resolve the decades-old Kashmir dispute. Speaking in an interview with a private TV channel, Asif said that Kashmir, terrorism, and water are three longstanding issues that have defined relations between the two nations for the past 76 years. He asserted that these matters must be discussed. He also noted that U.S. President…

Two days after US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire between Pakistan and India following intense fighting, the military operations chiefs (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan had a first round of talks to discuss the next steps to douse the flames on Monday. Security sources confirmed that Pakistan’s DGMO Maj Gen Kashif Abdullah and his Indian counterpart Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai spoke to each other over hotline. The two leaders are scheduled to have a detailed discussion in the coming days on modalities of the ceasefire agreement the two countries reached after US president’s intervention. Indian media reported on Monday morning that the two…

China’s defiance as it faced down US President Donald Trump’s tariffs has been a defining image of this trade war. It has prompted viral memes of Trump waiting for the Chinese leader to call. “We will not back down,” has been an almost daily message from Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As the tariffs and the rhetoric from Washington escalated, China dug its heels in. Even as Chinese officials headed to Switzerland for talks, a state-run social media account published a cartoon of the US Treasury secretary pushing an empty shopping trolley. There were even conflicting versions of who initiated…