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A mysterious disease has killed dozens of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, local authorities have said.The illness is believed to have killed between 67 and 143 people, in the Panzi health zone of Kwango province in the southwest of the country, according to the deputy provincial governor, Remy Saki. A local epidemiologist told the Reuters news agency that women and children were the most seriously affected by the disease.The country's Ministry of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Security said in a post on X that reported symptoms include a fever, headache, cough and runny nose, difficulty breathing and anaemia.It said in order to provide a "rapid and effective response" to the "worrying situation" the ministry has dispatched a "rapid intervention team" to the affected area. Th...

Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians during its war against Hamas in Gaza.The human rights group said Israel sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by launching deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure and preventing the delivery of food, medicine and other aid. It said such actions met the legal threshold for the crime of genocide. It is the first time it has made such a determination during an active armed conflict.In a report, Amnesty said Israel's actions could not be justified by Hamas' attack into Israel on 7 October last year which ignited the war, or on the presence of militants in civilian areas.Amnesty said the US and other Israeli allies could be complicit in genocide and called on them to halt arms shipments. Israel h...

Singer Fuse ODG has released an "alternative" charity song to Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? after criticising the original for having potentially damaging effects on Africa.The single titled We Know It's Christmas (Band Aid Reply) was released by the British-Ghanaian singer on Tuesday, in what he described as "not just a song" but a "statement". Writing about his new song in The Guardian, the singer said he is "offering an Afrobeats alternative to Band Aid" as a "celebration of progress and a step toward reclaiming our narratives".He said the Afrobeats genre has in the past helped to unite Africans globally and "foster pride in our heritage"."We're no longer waiting for charity; we're building our own futures. This is about empowerment, pride, and showing the world that Africa's ...

Cathay Pacific has apologised after an episode of Family Guy depicting Tiananmen Square was included in inflight entertainment.The episode of the adult animated series - known for pushing boundaries - includes a scene referencing the 1989 protest crackdown, in which China's military violently suppressed massive pro-democracy protests. Cathay Pacific is Hong Kong's flagship airline."Cathay Pacific is aware of the incident and sincerely apologises to the affected customers," the company said in a statement."We emphasise that the content of the programme does not represent Cathay Pacific's standpoint, and have immediately arranged to have the programme removed as soon as possible." The airline said the content of its inflight entertainment system is managed by a third-party provider."We have ...

We're in the midst of a strange and unnerving geopolitical vacuum right now.Transitions between American presidencies are always fraught times. Domestically, there's always the question of how much the outgoing and incoming administration teams will cooperate.Globally, White House transition is a time when countries align themselves as best they can to the new American administration.It's also a time they may want to manoeuvre, to get things done, to make moves, before the new occupant of the White House moves in. At this time of profound global instability, and with a shift between two wholly different leaders with starkly different outlooks, this particular transition feels unprecedented and fraught with uncertainty.Joe Biden is not just a lame duck president.He is a very elderly man who...

South Korea's opposition party will attempt to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol for declaring marital law this weekend.The news came as the country's defence minister - said to be a key figure in the martial law order - resigned. Days after South Korea was plunged into its biggest political crisis since the 1980s, a spokesperson for the country's main opposition Democratic Party said it planned to hold a vote on impeaching the president at 7pm on Saturday (10am in the UK).Democratic Party MP Kim Seung-won said at a parliament session early on Thursday that the martial law order "caused great confusion and fear"."The people and the aides who protected parliament protected us with their bodies. The people won, and it's now time for us to protect the people," he said. "We need to immediately suspend the...

👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈 South Korean MPs have begun impeachment proceedings against President Yoon Suk Yeol after his shock announcement of martial law that sparked a very short-lived political crisis. On the Sky News Daily Niall Paterson asks, what was he thinking?He speaks to Asia correspondent Cordelia Lynch who is in Seoul about the events that have unfolded since the announcement.Plus, John Nilsson-Wright, Head of the University of Cambridge’s Japan and Korea programme discusses president Yoon’s politics and the ramifications for the wider region.Podcast Producer: Rosie GillottEditor: Philly Beaumont Source link