Author: Prima News

A fire at Cape Town International Airport on Tuesday disrupted international and domestic flights, though the state company that manages South Africa’s airports said the fire had been extinguished. Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) said in a statement that as a precaution international departures had been temporarily suspended and incoming international flights were being diverted. “Cape Town International Airport confirms that a fire occurred on the landside of the airport. The fire has been extinguished, and all passengers, staff, and visitors are safe,” ACSA’s statement said. “The fire affected network and IT services, including airport Wi-Fi and other essential systems.”…

South Sudan President Salva Kiir fired Finance Minister Bak Barnaba Chol in a reshuffle that was unveiled on state television on Monday evening. Chol was appointed to the post in November after the president fired Athian Diing Athian just two months after appointing him. Kiir appointed Salvatore Garang, an economist trained at the University of Khartoum in Sudan, as the new finance minister. Garang previously served as finance minister from 2018 to 2020, a period marked by economic reforms and fiscal strains During his first stint in the role, local media reported that Garang faced corruption allegations, including that he allocated $100,000…

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was evacuated from his residence in Canberra late on Tuesday following a security threat, and returned a few hours later after nothing suspicious was found, ABC News reported. Police said they had responded to an “alleged security incident”, without giving more details on the nature of the incident. “A thorough search of a protection establishment was undertaken and nothing suspicious was located. There is no current threat to the community or public safety,” an Australian Federal Police spokesperson said in a statement.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Ukraine’s allies on Tuesday to sustain their support for its four-year-old battle against Russian invasion, as divisions among its European partners overshadowed commemorations of the start of the conflict. European Union nations had hoped to agree a fresh package of sanctions against Russia as well as a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine but Hungary, which maintains close ties with Moscow, had on Monday kept up its veto on both. Hungary and neighbouring Slovakia accuse Kyiv of deliberately blocking their supplies of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline, which Ukraine says it is trying to repair…

 Israel has sent an indirect message to Lebanon that it would strike Lebanon hard, targeting civilian infrastructure including the airport, in the event that Hezbollah gets involved in any U.S.-Iran war, two senior Lebanese officials said on Tuesday. The office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Lebanese presidency did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Iran and the U.S. will hold a third round of nuclear talks on Thursday in Geneva, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on Sunday, amid growing concerns about the risk of military conflict between the adversaries. Israel dealt heavy blows to…

A policeman was killed and two others injured in an explosion outside the Savyolovsky railway station in Russia’s capital Moscow on Tuesday, the country’s Interior Ministry said. “According to preliminary data, as a result of the criminal’s actions, one traffic police officer suffered injuries incompatible with life,” the ministry said. In a separate statement, the Russian Investigative Committee said the perpetrator also died in the explosion. “It has been established that on the night of Feb. 23-24, a man approached three State Traffic Safety Inspectorate officers who were on duty at Savyolovsky Railway Station Square in Moscow and carried out…

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone with Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen on the first day of his tenure, emphasizing the enduring partnership between the United States and the Netherlands, the State Department said Monday. Rubio congratulated Berendsen on his appointment and underscored the “close and continuing cooperation” between the two nations, principal deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement. They discussed NATO, efforts to bring a negotiated end to the Russia-Ukraine war, and the Trump administration’s three-phase plan for Venezuela, Pigott added. “As the United States proudly celebrates 250 years of independence, we also mark…

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) on Tuesday accused the UK and France of actively working to provide Kyiv with a nuclear bomb. In a statement, the SVR claimed that Britain and France believe that by possessing nuclear weapons, Ukraine would be able to secure more favorable terms for ending the conflict. “It is believed that Ukraine needs to be supplied with a ‘wonder weapon.’ Kyiv will be able to claim more favorable terms for ending hostilities if it possesses an atomic bomb, or at least a so-called ‘dirty’ bomb,” the statement read. It noted that Germany “wisely refused to…

 More than 600 Kenyans who were lured to Cambodia by the promise of jobs but say they ended up being kept against their will in a trafficking scheme are seeking court orders to compel the Kenyan government to bring them home. The papers filed in Kenya’s High Court on Monday say the Kenyan citizens were kept in a guarded compound surrounded by high perimeter walls and barbed wire to prevent escape. They were forced to work continuously for 16 hours to meet extreme targets and several suffered stabbings and carried untreated injuries, the court filings say. They did not say…

Former British ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson was released from police custody on Tuesday after being arrested in London on suspicion of misconduct in public office, following revelations over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson, 72, was fired from the most prestigious posting in Britain’s diplomatic service in September, when the depth of his friendship with the convicted sex offender started to become clear. Police earlier this month began a criminal investigation into Mandelson after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government passed on communications between the former ambassador and Epstein. “Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct…