Headline

Ukrainian Journalist Shot Dead In Suspected Russian Sniper Attack

Published

2 years ago

April 27, 2023

A Ukrainian journalist, Bogdan Bitik was killed on Wednesday as he travelled to the city of Kherson with his Italian colleague.

Bitik, who was interpreting for La Repubblica reporter Corrado Zunino, was shot “most likely by Russian snipers” according to the Italian newspaper report.

Al-Jazeera reported that Zunino was shot in the shoulder and is now receiving medical treatment.

He told La Repubblica from a hospital bed that they had passed three Ukrainian checkpoints when they were suddenly hit.

“I heard a hiss, and I saw Bogdan on the ground,” Zunino said.

“He wasn’t moving. I crawled out of the line of fire. I ran until I passed a civilian car. I was full of blood. I had to be taken to Kherson Hospital.”

He added that he had been trying to call Bitik, who he described as “a great friend”, but got no answer.

“It’s excruciating,” he said.

Both men were wearing press vests when they were attacked near the destroyed Antonivskyi Bridge, according to Zunino.

At least 15 media workers and journalists have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Sergiy Tomilenko, head of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, said the attack was a “new war crime of the Russians” as he called for Italian groups and newspapers such as La Repubblica to do more to protect Ukrainian reporters.

“I’m fine. But I’m sad to have lost a friend,” Zunino said in an interview on the Breakfast Club show at Radio Capital.

“I went on five missions with Bogdan. I’ve known him since I first arrived in Ukraine. He had returned to Ukraine from Indonesia, where he has a wife and a son. I have just spoken to his wife. They are all extraordinary, kind and generous people”.

It has not yet been possible to recover Bitik’s body, La Repubblica reported.

Ukrainian forces liberated Kherson in November 2022 after the city had been occupied in the early weeks of the war.

Since then, Russian forces, which had retreated across the Dnipro River, have bombarded the region with regular artillery strikes, missiles, drone attacks and snipers.

In December 2022, two Italian reporters, Claudio Locatelli and Niccolò Celesti, accompanied by their interpreter, came under attack in a Russian strike in the Kherson region; they all survived but Locatelli was injured.

Headline

S’Africa Offers US New Trade Deal To Avoid 30% Tariff

Published

10 hours ago

August 12, 2025

Editor

South Africa will offer a “generous” new trade deal to the United States to avoid 30 percent tariffs, ministers said Tuesday.

Washington on Friday slapped the huge tariff on some South African exports, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, despite efforts by Pretoria to negotiate a better arrangement to avoid massive job losses.

The ministers did not release details of the new offer but said previously discussed measures to increase imports of US poultry, blueberries, and pork had been finalised.

“When the document is eventually made public, I think you would see it as a very broad, generous and ambitious offer to the United States on trade,” Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen said at a press briefing.

Officials have said the 30 per cent tariff could cost the economy around 30,000 jobs.

“Our goal is to demonstrate that South African exports do not pose a threat to US industries and that our trade relationship is, in fact, complementary,” Trade Minister Parks Tau said.

The United States is South Africa’s third-largest trading partner after the European Union and China.

However, South African exports account for only 0.25 per cent of total US imports and are “therefore not a threat to US production”, Tau said.

Steenhuisen said US diplomats raised issues related to South African domestic policies, which was a “surprise given the fact we thought we were in a trade negotiation”.

The two nations are at odds over a range of policies.

US President Donald Trump has criticised land and employment laws meant to redress racial inequalities that linger 30 years after the end of apartheid.

“Things like expropriation without compensation, things like some of the race laws in the country, are issues that they regard as barriers now to doing trade with South Africa,” he told AFP on the sidelines of the briefing.

“I think we’re seeing some form of a new era now where trade and tariffs are being used to deal with other issues, outside of what would generally be trade concerns,” Steenhuisen said.

Headline

Over 600 Pilgrims Hospitalised After Chlorine Gas Leaked In Iraq

Published

2 days ago

August 10, 2025

Editor

More than 600 pilgrims in Iraq were briefly hospitalised with respiratory problems after inhaling chlorine as the result of a leak at a water treatment station, authorities said on Sunday.

The incident took place overnight on the route between the two Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, located in the centre and south of Iraq, respectively.

This year, several million Shiite Muslim pilgrims are expected to make their way to Karbala, which houses the shrines of the revered Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas.

There, they will mark the Arbaeen — the 40-day period of mourning during which Shiites commemorate the death of Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.

In a brief statement, Iraq’s health ministry said, “621 cases of asphyxia have been recorded following a chlorine gas leak in Karbala”.

“All have received the necessary care and left the hospital in good health,” it said.

Security forces charged with protecting pilgrims, meanwhile, said the incident had been caused by “a chlorine leak from a water station on the Karbala-Najaf road”.

Much of Iraq’s infrastructure is in disrepair due to decades of conflict and corruption, with adherence to safety standards often lax.

In July, a massive fire at a shopping mall in the eastern city of Kut killed more than 60 people, many of whom suffocated in the toilets, according to authorities.

AFP

Headline

PHOTOS: US Soldier Searching For Her Nigerian Father

Published

2 days ago

August 10, 2025

Editor

Old photos of Zainab James Parents, Lateef Quadri and Claudine James. Credit: Facebook

A US soldier, Zainab James, has launched a public search for her Nigerian father, identified as Lateef Quadri

The 31-year-old took to Facebook on Sunday to share old photographs of her father and her late mother, Claudine James, including one where Claudine was pregnant with her.

According to Zainab, her mother became pregnant in 1993, and she was born in 1994. Sadly, she lost her mother.

Old photos of Zainab James Parents, Lateef Quadri and Claudine James. Credit: Facebook

In her post, Zainab wrote, “Update: Mother’s name : Claudine James, born Decenber 9, 1969 in Montego Bay, Jamaica (deceased) , Hey All! A real shot in the dark but why not! My mom(pictured) got pregnant with me in 1993 ( I was born 1994) while living in Brooklyn New York. I’m looking for my father or any of his family. All I know is he was Nigerian, possibly named Lateef Quadri or something like that. They didn’t have a long term relationship as he wasn’t present at my birth but he did choose my name. No one in my family met him either. Apparently she was friends with his sister who worked in a jewelry store with her.”