Online Reporter
At least 11 people have been killed in a mass shooting at a hostel in South Africa.
Fourteen others were wounded when gunmen stormed the venue in Saulsville township, west of the capital Pretoria, early yesterday.
A three-year-old is among the dead.
“At least three unknown gunmen entered this hostel where a group of people were drinking and they started randomly shooting,” police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said.
The motive of the shooting is unknown, and no arrests have been made yet.
It is the latest in a string of mass shootings that have rocked the crime-ridden country in recent years.
The gunmen reportedly entered the place at 4.30am local time and opened fire on a group of men who were drinking.
A 12-year-old boy and a girl aged 16 were among those killed in the attack.
“I can confirm that a total of 25 people were shot,” Mathe said.
Describing the hostel as an “illegal shebeen”, she added, “We are having a serious challenge when it comes to these illegal and unlicensed liquor premises”, where she said the majority of mass shootings occur.
“Innocent people also get caught up in the crossfire,” she told public broadcaster SABC.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, at 45 people per 100 000, according to 2023-2024 figures from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Some 63 people were killed every day between April and September, according to police data. — BBC
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US, Rwanda sign US$228m deal under Washington’s new model
THE United States and Rwanda have signed a US$228 million agreement aimed at strengthening Rwanda’s health sector while promoting long-term financial self-reliance.
The deal was announced late on Friday, hours after Rwandan leader Paul Kagame and the DRC’s Felix Tshisekedi reaffirmed their commitment to a US-brokered peace plan for the eastern DRC.
Under the new health agreement, the US will allocate US$158 million to help Rwanda combat infectious diseases, including HIV.
It will also help strengthen surveillance and outbreak preparedness.
Kigali will increase its domestic health investment by US$70 million as evidence of its commitment, the US State Department said.
Earlier last week, Kenya became the first nation to strike a deal under the America First Global Health Strategy.
This new US approach to overseas aid aims to improve countries’ self-reliance in managing their health sectors. — Wires
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Protests in Mogadishu over Trump’s ‘garbage’ remark
Hundreds of people took to the streets of Mogadishu on Friday to voice their outrage over US President Trump’s reference to Somali immigrants as “garbage”.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump said Somali Americans “contribute nothing”. “We don’t want them in our country,” he said.
His comments have been met with shock and condemnation in the US and Somalia.
“We are protesting against Trump’s insulting words calling us garbage,” said Ridwan Mohamud at the demonstration in Mogadishu.
“We are not garbage. He is the one who is trash. Since he failed in his politics, he is trying to divert public attention.”
There are more than a quarter of a million people of Somali descent living in the US, including Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a frequent critic of the president and his policies. Demonstrators waved banners and images of Omar and chanted anti-Trump slogans.
“Trump has violated our dignity and we will not accept what he called us,” Fadumo Ahmed, another protester, said.
“We are Somalis, and we have our own pride. He does not understand this.”
Trump’s attack on Somali Americans was triggered by reports of fraud in social security programmes in Minnesota, which is home to a large Somali community. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and other state leaders have condemned Trump’s comments. — Wires
