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SECOND-HALF substitute Rasmus Hojlund scored twice as Manchester United fought back to earn a 2-1 win at Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday. The hosts took the lead shortly after half-time, but Hojlund levelled on 62 minutes, six minutes after replacing Marcus Rashford, when the Danish striker tapped in Amad Diallo’s deflected shot. Two minutes from time, he beat Plzen goalkeeper Martin Jedlicka again with a clinical finish, turning around his marker after United captain Bruno Fernandes had found him inside the box with a clever free-kick. Matej Vydra, a former Watford, West Brom, Reading, Derby and Burnley…

PALESTINIAN authorities have said that at least 33 people were killed in an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, as Israel continues to conduct devastating attacks across the strip. The Government Media Office in Gaza called the Thursday attack a “barbaric and heinous massacre”, noting that most of those killed hailed from the al-Sheikh Ali family. “The [Israeli] occupation army knew that this is a residential block with many apartment buildings housing dozens of civilians, children, women and displaced people,” the office said. Medics told the news agency Reuters that Israeli fire struck a postal office…

INDIAN chess prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju is toast of his nation after he beat China’s Ding Liren to become the game’s youngest-ever world champion at 18 years of age. Gukesh lived up to his tag as favourite in this year’s World Chess Championship final in Singapore on Thursday to smash a record held by Russia’s Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he became world champion in 1985. It was a dream come true for the bearded teenager, who six years earlier declared: “I want to become the youngest world chess champion.” Gukesh became India’s youngest grandmaster aged 12 years, seven months…

ETHIOPIA and Somalia have agreed to end their bitter dispute over Addis Ababa’s plans to build a port in the breakaway republic of Somaliland following talks in Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the “historic agreement”, which he said would eventually ensure landlocked Ethiopia’s access to the sea. At the press conference he held hands with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who both agreed to respect one another’s “sovereignty”. The two neighbours have been at loggerheads since January when Ethiopia signed a maritime deal with Somaliland – which Somalia considers as part of…

UGANDA’s President Yoweri Museveni, 80, has defended the use of military courts to try civilians – following an outcry over the arrest and trial of opposition leader Kizza Besigye. His 68-year-old rival has been charged in a military court with possession of pistols and attempting to purchase weapons abroad – accusations he denies. Besigye, who was abducted while visiting Kenya last month and forcibly taken to Uganda, found out on Tuesday that he would be spending Christmas in custody as his trial has been delayed until January. Museveni said any crime involving a gun was dealt with in a military…

CHINA jailed two more former top football officials for bribery on Wednesday, court statements showed, following a sweeping crackdown on corruption in the domestic game. Liu Yi, who was secretary general of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), was handed an 11-year sentence and fined 3.6 million yuan ($497,000) for taking bribes, a court in central Hubei province said. A separate court in the same province said Tan Hai, former head of the CFA’s referees management office, was given six and a half years and a 200,000 yuan fine. “The property he obtained will be clawed back in accordance with the…

AT least five people have been killed in Israeli attacks on several towns in southern Lebanon, the country’s Health Ministry has said, amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. “An Israeli enemy drone strike on the town of Ainata killed one person and wounded another,” the ministry said. An “Israeli strike on the town of Bint Jbeil killed three people,” while a third “on Beit Lif killed one person”, it added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the attacks. Israel’s army escalated its attacks on Lebanon in late September after more than 11 months of…

THE father and stepmother of a 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl were found guilty Wednesday of her murder in a gruesome case of child abuse that shocked the UK and triggered an international manhunt. Urfan Sharif, 42, and Beinash Batool, 30, were convicted of Sara Sharif’s murder after she was found dead at her home last year, having suffered extensive injuries including broken bones, burns and bite marks. Her uncle Faisal Malik, 29, was also found guilty of causing or allowing her death after a week of jury deliberations at London’s Old Bailey criminal court. The sentencing for the “extremely stressful and…

A COURT in France has found French-Cameroonian author Charles Onana guilty of downplaying the Rwandan genocide. The 60-year-old writer was fined €8,400 ($8,900; £7,000) and Damien Serieyx, his publishing director from Éditions du Toucan, was ordered to pay €5,000. They are also required to pay €11,000 in compensation to human rights organisations that that filed the suit. The Paris court ruled that Onana’s writings violated France’s laws prohibiting genocide denial and incitement to hatred, noting that France would “no longer be a haven for denialists”. In just 100 days in 1994, about 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda by ethnic…

POLICE in Ghana have arrested more than 100 people – mostly opposition supporters of President-elect John Mahama – over acts of lawlessness. Supporters of the newly elected president who want jobs have allegedly attacked some state institutions, looted properties, and engaged in disturbances that have left some police and military personnel injured. The irate supporters also torched two electoral commission offices due to a delay in announcing the outcome of Saturday’s elections and disagreements over some parliamentary results. Mahama has condemned the vandalism and called on President Nana Akufo-Addo and security agencies to “act decisively” in addressing the violence. Vice-President…

THE Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Edo State, Jarrett Tenebe, has defended Governor Monday Okpebholo after the governor faced public backlash for stumbling over budget figures during the presentation of the 2025 Appropriation Bill to the State House of Assembly on Tuesday. A video of the governor’s budget presentation which shows his repeated attempts to correctly state the budget’s total amount went viral on social media. In the video, Okpebholo appeared flustered, saying, “The Edo State 2025 Appropriation Bill of 6 billion… 650… 605 billion… 76 thou… 76 million… “Let me take it again. 506 billion… 605 billion……

CHAMPIONS League group phase leaders Liverpool virtually sealed a place in the last 16 with a tight 1-0 victory at Girona on Tuesday after Mohamed Salah struck from the penalty spot. Liverpool have made a stunning start in the competition under coach Arne Slot, winning all six of their matches to move provisionally five points clear of second-placed Inter Milan. The English giants, six-time winners of the competition, were given a tough night by Champions League debutants Girona, who fell to a fifth defeat and are on the verge of elimination. Teams finishing in the top eight will avoid an…

DOZENS of wounded patients at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza are at risk of dying due to lack of food and water, Palestinian health authorities have said. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said late on Tuesday that 60 patients were “at risk of death”. “The humanitarian situation inside the hospital has become extremely dangerous, as the wounded lack basic needs, which increases their suffering under the difficult conditions imposed by [Israeli] forces,” the ministry said in a statement on Telegram on Tuesday. The hospital is located in Beit Lahiya in the north of the Gaza Strip, which has…

THE United States offered a $10 million reward on Tuesday for information leading to the arrest of a Chinese man and co-conspirators wanted for hacking computer firewalls. Guan Tianfeng, 30, is believed to be living in China’s Sichuan Province, according to the State Department. An indictment charging Guan with conspiracy to commit computer fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud was unsealed on Tuesday. The Treasury Department said it had imposed sanctions on the company Guan worked for, Sichuan Silence Information Technology Co Ltd. Guan and co-conspirators at Sichuan Silence allegedly took advantage of a vulnerability in firewalls sold by…

ZAMBIA’s top court has barred former President Edgar Lungu from standing for re-election in 2026. The Constitutional Court ruled that the 68-year-old politician had already served the maximum two terms allowed by law. Lungu was first elected president in January 2015 to serve the remaining 20 months of his predecessor’s term. President Michael Sata had died in office in October 2014. Lungu had argued that this should not count as he did not serve a full five-year term. But the court disagreed – reversing previous rulings that had cleared him to run three years ago when he lost to Hakainde…

SUDAN’s military has been accused of carrying out an air strike on a marketplace in the western region of Darfur in which more than 100 people were reportedly killed. The Emergency Lawyers rights group described the bombing in Kabkabiya town on Monday, the weekly market day, as a “horrific massacre”. Clashes have intensified in different parts of Sudan in recent weeks between the army and its former ally, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Both sides deny carrying out war crimes during their 19-month power struggle that has caused the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis and forced more than 11 million…

FOUR Manchester City players have been named in the Fifpro men’s World XI for 2024. Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk is the fifth Premier League player in the team, which is completed by Real Madrid players. Argentina superstar Lionel Messi, who left Paris St-Germain for Inter Miami in July 2023, is absent for the first time since 2006. The 2024 forward line is made up of Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe, who left PSG for Real in the summer. His new team-mate at Real, Jude Bellingham, topped the men’s overall voting, with the 21-year-old…

DOZENS of Palestinians – including women and children – have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, health authorities say, as a power outage threatens the lives of more than 100 patients at a hospital in the besieged territory’s north. Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Monday that 50 people were killed the previous day and 84 others were injured as Israeli forces committed three “massacres” in the territory. An Israeli drone attack in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza on Monday morning killed three people, sources told Al Jazeera. “[The victims] were trying to leave their home in search…

WORLD oil prices jumped Monday on fresh moves by China to boost its economy and as traders tracked an uncertain future for Syria and the wider crude-rich Middle East. Major stock markets diverged as investors reacted to political crises in South Korea and France, and tracked the perspectives for interest rate cuts. Gold, seen as a haven investment, gained around one percent. “The week has kicked off on a largely upbeat tone following the welcome announcement that Chinese authorities plan to enact further stimulus over the year ahead,” noted Joshua Mahony, analyst at traders Scope Markets. “This shift has already…

SENEGAL’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has said he is “making progress” in a mediation mission with junta-led Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, after the trio announced their departure from regional bloc ECOWAS. The three Sahel countries announced in January they were leaving the Economic Community of West African States, which they accused of being subservient to former colonial ruler France and failing to support them in their fight against jihadist violence. Their departure becomes effective one year after the announcement, in January 2025, according to the bloc. The trio have formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) after severing ties…