Author: Editor

AFTER a week of intense competition for medals by paralympians from different continents of the world, the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games, which began on August 28, will end tomorrow, September 7, in Paris, France. Team Nigeria, after a dismal showing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, is being represented at the ongoing Paralympics by a contingent of 35 athletes who are accompanied by a team of coaches and medical personnel. In view of the painful fact that the Nigerian Olympic contingent had posted another barren outing in spite of the huge government support, the 2024 Paralympic Games became a significant opportunity…

KEVIN de Bruyne scored twice as Belgium beat Israel behind closed doors in Hungary for a winning start to their Uefa Nations League campaign. Several Belgian cities refused to host the home game over security fears relating to the Israel-Gaza war. In October, a gunman killed two Swedes before Belgium’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Sweden at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, which hosts most of their games. In Debrecen, De Bruyne sidefooted Belgium into the lead following a cutback from Manchester City team-mate Jeremy Doku. But Israel levelled when Anan Khalaili’s header took a huge deflection off Timothy Castagne…

IN the four days between Monday and Thursday this week, 110 Palestinians were reported killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza and 230 people were injured, the United Nations reports. Among the most deadly attacks this week was an Israeli strike on a residential building in central Gaza City on Tuesday that killed nine people, including at least five children and one woman, UN’s OCHA said in its latest situation report. A children’s nursery was also hit in Jabalia, in northern Gaza, on the same day killing seven people. Humanitarian workers on the ground in Gaza are also warning of “widespread…

THE sentencing of former United States President Donald Trump in a criminal hush money case has been delayed until after the November presidential election. New York Judge Juan Merchan announced on Friday that he would move the sentencing date, previously scheduled for September 18, to November 26. This is the second delay in the sentencing hearing, which was originally set for July 11. Merchan explained the new date was chosen to reflect Trump’s candidacy in the upcoming election. “The imposition of sentence will be adjourned to avoid any appearance — however unwarranted — that the proceeding has been affected by…

A FIRE ripped through the dormitory of a boarding school in central Kenya, killing 17 boys who were sleeping and injuring 14 others, police and government officials said. The death toll could rise, police warned on Friday, following the disaster at Hillside Endarasha Primary School in Nyeri county, as the survivors are being treated in numerous hospitals. Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said the boys were in grades 4 to 8, putting their ages at about nine to 13 years. The dormitory housed 156 boys. Vice President Rigathi Gachagua said 70 pupils remained unaccounted for, although he added that some may…

CHINESE President Xi Jinping has pledged to create “at least” one million jobs in Africa as he seeks to position Beijing as the development partner of choice for the Global South. Speaking at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on Thursday, Xi said China would provide African countries 360 billion yuan ($51bn) in new financing and support 30 infrastructure projects to boost connectivity across the continent. Addressing delegates from more than 50 African nations gathered in Beijing for the forum, he said 210 billion yuan ($29.6bn) of the financing would be disbursed through credit lines and at least 70 billion yuan…

CRISTIANO Ronaldo became the first player to score 900 top-level career goals as Portugal kicked off their Nations League campaign with victory over Croatia. The 39-year-old volleyed in from the edge of the six-yard box in the 34th minute to double Portugal’s lead from Nuno Mendes’ deep cross. It was a record-extending 131st goal for Portugal, coming 20 years after his first, and the veteran sank to his knees in an emotional celebration. Manchester United full-back Diogo Dalot had put Portugal ahead early on but later turned the ball into his own net as Croatia responded before the break. As…

ISRAEL will cease to exist if United States Vice President Kamala is elected to the White House in November, former President Donald Trump has claimed. Addressing Jewish donors in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Thursday, the Republican nominee claimed that Harris would “totally abandon” Israel as president and that “terrorist armies” would wage war to “drive Jews out of the Holy Land”. “You are going to be abandoned if she becomes president, and I think you have to explain that to your people. Because they don’t know it. They have no idea what they are getting into,” Trump said in a…

GERMAN police shot and killed a man who opened fire on them with a vintage rifle near the Israeli consulate in Munich on Thursday in what they treated as a foiled attack on the diplomatic mission.Authorities identified the gunman, who was killed in a hail of police bullets, as an 18-year-old Austrian man but did not immediately comment on media reports that he was a known extremist. German news site Spiegel Online and Austrian media said that he had been investigated last year for allegedly spreading Islamic State group propaganda, but that the case had been dropped. While the motive…

CHINESE leader Xi Jinping on Thursday pledged over $50 billion in financing for Africa over the next three years, promising to deepen cooperation in infrastructure and trade with the continent as he addressed Beijing’s biggest summit since the pandemic. More than 50 African leaders and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres are attending this week’s China-Africa forum, according to state media. African leaders already secured a plethora of deals this week for greater cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, mining, trade and energy. Addressing the leaders at the forum’s opening ceremony in Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of the People on Thursday, Xi hailed…

THE Democratic Republic of the Congo has received its first batch of mpox vaccines, which health authorities hope will help curb an outbreak that has prompted the United Nations to declare a global public health emergency. The Central African country of about 100 million people is at the epicentre of an mpox outbreak that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global public health emergency last month. A plane carrying vaccine doses donated by the European Union touched down in the capital Kinshasa around 1pm local time (12:00 GMT), the Reuters news agency reported. Congo’s Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba…

VICTOR Osimhen will receive €6 million net seasonal salary at Galatasaray following his season-long loan to the Turkish Super League club from Napoli. The Turkish club disclosed this on Wednesday in an official statement announcing the deal for the current reigning African Footballer of the year. This means that the Super Eagles of Nigeria striker will be earning around €115,000 a week after tax during his one year stay in Turkey. “An agreement has been reached with professional footballer Victor James Osimhen and his club SSCN Napoli SPA for the temporary transfer of the player free of charge. “The football…

AN Israeli air attack on a car in the occupied West Bank city of Tubas has killed at least five Palestinian people and left others wounded, local media and medical workers report. Israel said early on Thursday morning that military aircraft took part in “three different attacks” on Palestinian fighters who “posed a threat” to their forces in the Tubas region. Palestinian medics reported that five people were killed in an Israeli air strike targeting a car and two people were injured, one of whom was critical, according to the Palestinian state news agency, Wafa. The Reuters news agency later…

AT least four people died and nine were wounded in a high school shooting in the US state of Georgia on Wednesday, law enforcement authorities said, with a suspect taken into custody. After the latest chapter of America’s gun violence crisis — nearly 400 mass shootings this year alone, by one tally — people gathered at a sports field outside Apalachee High School, some forming a circle with their arms linked. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said four people had been killed. There was no immediate word on a motive. “An additional nine taken to various hospitals with injuries. Suspect…

THE 21-year-old daughter of South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma is marrying the Eswatini king for love, a spokesman for Africa’s last remaining absolute monarchy has told the BBC. Nomcebo Zuma’s engagement to King Mswati III was made official earlier this week at the end of the eight-day reed dance ceremony – a traditional rite of passage for young women and girls held every year. The 56-year-old monarch is currently in a polygamous arrangement with 11 wives – and has been married 15 times in total. Eswatini spokesman Alpheous Nxumalo dismissed outright the suggestion that the marriage would be a…

THE man who had been chief engineer at South Africa’s state-owned passenger rail company has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for faking his qualifications. Once hailed for his successful career, Daniel Mthimkhulu was head of engineering at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) for five years – earning an annual salary of about 2.8m rand ($156,000; £119,000). On his CV, the 49-year-old claimed to have had several mechanical engineering qualifications, including a degree from South Africa’s respected Witwatersrand University as well as a doctorate from a German university. However, the court in Johannesburg heard that he…

THE United States Justice Department has announced criminal charges against top leaders of Hamas over their roles in the October 7 attacks in southern Israel in what some see as a largely symbolic move against the Palestinian organisation. Six defendants, three of whom are deceased, were named in the complaint unsealed on Tuesday. The deceased defendants are former Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in July in Tehran; Mohammed Deif, who was killed in an Israel air strike on Gaza in July; and Marwan Issa, whom Israel said it killed in an attack in March. The living defendants…

THE United States Justice Department has filed charges against a former top aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, accusing the aide of pursuing unlawful “political activities” on behalf of the Chinese government. The aide in question, 41-year-old Linda Sun, was appointed as Hochul’s deputy chief of staff in 2021 and previously worked under Hochul’s predecessor, Governor Andrew Cuomo. But in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday, federal prosecutors accused Sun and her husband Christopher Hu, 40, of using her position to benefit the Chinese government and profit from the exchange. “Linda Sun, a former New York State government employee, acted…

NEARLY 60 percent of young Africans want to leave their countries because their governments are not reining in corruption, according to a new poll of youth across 16 African nations. They cited corruption as the biggest obstacle to progress, according to the 2024 African Youth Survey published on Tuesday. The poll commissioned by the Johannesburg-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation surveyed 5,604 people between the ages of 18 and 24 in Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. Eighty-three percent of them said they are concerned…

UGANDAN athlete Rebecca Cheptegei is in a critical condition in a Kenyan hospital, after allegedly being doused with petrol and set on fire by a former boyfriend. The 33-year-old marathon runner, who competed at the recent Paris Olympics, had suffered extensive burns, the doctor treating her said. She was attacked at her home in western Kenya, where she had been training. There are concerns about the increasing cases of violence against female athletes in Kenya, some of which have resulted in death. Ms Cheptegei is said to have been rescued by neighbours after the incident that happened on Sunday at…