Author: Editor

NIGER’s post-coup military rulers have demanded in a statement seen by AFP on Wednesday that the United Nations coordinator in the West African country leave Niger within 72 hours. The foreign ministry said in the statement dated Tuesday that the government had ordered Louise Aubin, the UN’s resident and humanitarian coordinator, “to take all necessary measures to leave Niamey within 72 hours”. It pointed to “obstacles” which it said were presented by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “with a view to thwarting the full and complete participation of Niger” at last month’s UN General Assembly. The military regime has already criticised…

NIGERIA, South Africa and Morocco could be placed in the same group when the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) draw is made in the Ivory Coast on Thursday. The six top seeds include Morocco, who created history at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by becoming the first semi-finalists from Africa. Nigeria are among the second seeds while South Africa has had to settle for a place among the third seeds for the draw in Abidjan, the Ivorian economic capital. Add surprise 2021 Cup of Nations quarter-finalists Gambia from the fourth seeds and it would be a striking “group of…

LUTON Town say striker Elijah Adebayo is “tired” of the racist abuse aimed at him after suffering it again following his side’s defeat by Tottenham. The Hatters were beaten 1-0 by Spurs on Saturday during a weekend of matches to highlight the Premier League’s No Room For Racism campaign. Luton say the “vile, cowardly act of online abuse” was posted on Instagram. The club has reported the post to Bedfordshire Police, the Premier League and Instagram’s parent company, Meta. “We have spoken to Elijah to offer him our support,” said a Luton statement. “But do you know what the sad…

A SECOND large earthquake has hit Afghanistan just days after a 6.3 magnitude quake in the same region killed more than 1,000 people. The latest quake, of the same magnitude, struck at around 05:10 local time (00:40 GMT) on Wednesday. The epicentre is 28km (17 miles) north of the city of Herat. The impact of the new quake is not yet clear, but many are already sleeping in the open after their homes were destroyed on Saturday. There is also a shortage of blankets, food and other supplies. Saturday morning’s earthquake hit Zindajan, a rural district some 40km (25 miles)…

THE State of Palestine has petitioned the United Nations, demanding that Israel leaves what it described as “its territory” amid the ongoing conflict. On October 8, the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel in a shocking move. Over 1,500 people have been confirmed dead in the conflict with fears that the death toll could increase. Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, the Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Abdullahp Shawesh called on the UN to apply international law on Israel and compel her to seize its occupation of Palestinian territories. Shawesh stated that the applicability of the law will bring…

BURUNDI’s recently dismissed central bank governor has been arrested on allegations of corruption. Dieudonné Murengerantwari has been accused by the justice ministry of “undermining the proper functioning of the national economy, passive corruption, money laundering and misappropriation of public assets”. He has not responded to the allegations against him. On Sunday, Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye fired Mr Murengerantwari and replaced him with Édouard Normand Bigendako. Mr Murengerantwari had been appointed to lead Burundi’s central bank for five years beginning in August last year. Attorney General Leonard Manirakiza on Tuesday said that the allegations against Mr Murengerantwari are provisional while investigations…

FIFTEEN opposition MPs in Zimbabwe have filed a court appeal saying they were tricked into losing their parliamentary seats. The losses came after a man falsely claiming to be the party’s secretary said the MPs were no longer members. On receipt of the fake letter, Zimbabwe’s parliamentary speaker declared the 15 seats vacant. Resultant by-elections could hand ruling party Zanu-PF the majority it needs to amend the constitution. Monday’s letter was signed by “Sengezo Tshabangu”, who claimed to be the secretary general for Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), Zimbabwe’s main opposition party. It was littered with grammatical errors. CCC leader…

ARSENAL forward Bukayo Saka has been ruled out of England’s games against Australia and Italy because of injury. Saka missed his side’s 1-0 Premier League win over champions Manchester City on Sunday with a hamstring injury. The FA confirmed he has withdrawn after being assessed by England’s medical team and would not be replaced in the squad, which now has 25 players. England face Australia on 13 October, before taking on Italy in a European Championship qualifier four days later. “No, he will not make it,” said Gunners boss Arteta after Sunday’s game. “He has not trained for a single…

THE Gaza Strip could be on the brink of a new humanitarian crisis if supplies are not allowed in, authorities say, as Israel responds to the Hamas attacks. On Monday, Israel declared a “complete siege” on the territory, saying electricity, food, fuel and water would be cut off. According to residents, aid has not reached the enclave since Saturday. BBC footage shows deserted streets covered with rubble from collapsed buildings following Israeli airstrikes. Nearly 700 people have died in these attacks and thousands more are reported to have been injured. The area is home to about 2.3 million people in…

ANTI-VACCINE conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr said Monday he was quitting the race for the Democratic US presidential nomination and would pursue his run as an independent. Next year’s election is likely to be a rematch between President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump. But in a tight race, a third-party candidate siphoning even a few votes from Biden in battleground states could be bad news for the Democrat. Many analysts however believe Kennedy, a long-time spreader of misinformation about public health and a darling of the right-wing US media, would take more votes away from Trump than…

LIBERIANS are set to vote in a fiercely contested presidential election, with former football star George Weah, 57, making a bid for a second term. His main challenger is former Deputy President Joseph Boakai, 78. Mr Boakai has waged his campaign under the slogan “Rescue”, arguing that the West African state went downhill during Mr Weah’s first six years in office. But Mr Weah is confident of victory, saying that he has kept Liberia stable and has improved education. This will be the first time that a generation of young voters, born in peace-time Liberia, will vote for a president.…

A KENYAN high court has blocked the government’s plans to deploy police officers to Haiti or any other country pending the hearing of a petition. The judge cited issues raised in the application as being of national importance and public interest. One of the petitioners, former presidential candidate Ekuru Aukot said the proposed deployment was unconstitutional. It is argued that there is a question mark over whether regular police can actually be deployed on international assignments. Mr Aukot added the country could not afford to spare 1,000 officers before addressing insecurity at home. Last week ethnic clashes in western Kenya…

AS efforts to resolve the Niger crisis continue, overtures by the head of the military junta in that West African country, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, to have direct access and discussion with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been outrightly rejected by the Nigerian leader, Empowered Newswire reports. According to diplomatic sources, consenting to such direct one-on-one talks is both an assault on democratic governance in the region and a disrespect to the still-detained Nigerien President, Mohamed Bazoum. Sources close to the Niger’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York confirmed that President Tinubu was approached with Tchiani’s request by…

TEENAGER Lamine Yamal became the youngest goalscorer in La Liga history as Barcelona fought back from two goals down to earn a point against Granada. Aged 16 years and 87 days old, Yamal kickstarted Barcelona’s comeback. The visitors fell behind after just 17 seconds, with Bryan Zaragoza’s first-half double putting Granada in charge. But, after Yamal scored in first half added time, Sergi Roberto eventually ended Granada’s resistance with five minutes remaining. The point left Barcelona third, three points behind leaders Real Madrid and one behind second-placed Girona heading into the international break. Remarkably, Xavi’s side fell behind after just…

THE death toll from a series of earthquakes in western Afghanistan rose sharply on Sunday to more than 2,000, the Taliban government said, as bodies continued to be pulled from demolished villages and buried in mass graves. More than 1,300 homes were toppled when Saturday’s magnitude 6.3 quake — followed by eight strong aftershocks — jolted hard-to-reach areas 30 kilometres (19 miles) northwest of the provincial capital of Herat, according to officials. In the rural Zinda Jan district, village households were reduced to jumbles of broken masonry, where makeshift rescue teams continued to dig trenches on Sunday. Aid gradually trickled…

DESPITE global calls for ceasefire, the US says it is moving an aircraft carrier, ships and jets to the eastern Mediterranean and will also give Israel additional equipment and ammunition. It follows the Hamas attack on southern Israel, which President Biden called an “unprecedented and appalling assault”. The US was also working to verify reports its citizens were among those killed and taken captive, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Israel says more than 700 people have been killed and 100 kidnapped. In Gaza, more than 400 people have been killed following retaliatory Israeli air strikes, according to Palestinian officials.…

TWO Israeli tourists and their Egyptian guide have been shot dead in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, the Israeli foreign ministry says. Another Israeli was wounded in the attack on Sunday morning, which the ministry said a “local” carried out. There was no immediate confirmation from Egyptian authorities. But the private Extra News TV channel reported that a policeman had opened fire on a group visiting an ancient Roman site known as Pompey’s Pillar. The assailant fired “at random” using his personal weapon, it cited a security source as saying, adding that he was detained at the scene. Footage of…

MANY people are feared missing in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé, after landslides destroyed several homes in a locality called Mbankolo. It followed heavy rainfall across the city on Sunday evening. It remains unclear how many people have died or are unaccounted for so far, but workers are on site to rescue victims and find others who are missing. In November last year, a landslide in the capital killed at least 14 people attending a funeral.

AC MILAN beat Genoa to go top of Serie A despite playing the last seven minutes of their match with striker Olivier Giroud in goal as both teams’ goalkeepers were sent off. With Milan out of substitutes, Giroud put on the gloves after keeper Mike Maignan was sent off in the ninth minute of added time. Christian Pulisic had scored the game’s only goal in the 87th minute. Genoa’s keeper Josep Martinez was given a second yellow in the 113th minute. Martinez, who had been booked for timewasting with the score goalless in the 86th minute, caught Yunus Musah with…

ISRAEL is at war following an unprecedented attack by the HAMAS group. Over 5,000 rockets were fired towards Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip in just 20 minutes after it declared Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Air raid sirens across Israel shattered the morning silence and the Iron Dome system, one of the best air defence systems in the world, was again in action. In dramatic visuals, the Iron Dome destroyed rockets mid-air and the sky was illuminated with bursts of flares. This time, however, the scale of the attack was unprecedented. The Iron Dome system is a ground-to-air short-range air defence…