Author: Editor

WITH almost all votes counted in Liberia’s election, President George Weah and his main rival Joseph Boakai are still running neck and neck, meaning they are set for a run-off. Mr Weah currently has 43.8% of the vote with Mr Boakai on 43.5%, provisional results show. A candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to be declared the winner. The 10 October election was Liberia’s closest presidential race since a civil war ended two decades ago. The election commission released the latest results after votes had been counted in more than 98% of polling stations, giving Mr Weah a…

GERMAN football club Mainz on Tuesday said they had suspended player Anwar El Ghazi after the winger made an “unacceptable” comment on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on social media. “El Ghazi took a position on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East that was deemed unacceptable,” the Bundesliga club said in a statement. Dutch international El Ghazi made the comments in a “since-deleted” post on social media on Sunday night, Mainz said. “Prior to making this decision, the club and the player had engaged in an in-depth discussion. Mainz said they respected that there were “varying perspectives on the…

ENGLAND confirmed their qualification for Euro 2024 in Germany next summer after coming from behind to beat Italy at Wembley inspired by another Jude Bellingham masterclass. Gareth Southgate’s side only needed a point to secure their place and it briefly looked like the celebrations may be delayed when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca gave Italy the lead from close range after 15 minutes. Bellingham was England’s talisman once more as the 20-year-old Real Madrid star led the comeback, winning the penalty that brought captain Harry Kane’s equaliser. Kane scored his 60th goal for his country after Bellingham ran…

ISRAELI air strikes on a hospital compound in the Gaza Strip killed at least 500 people, officials in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said on Tuesday, sparking widespread condemnation and fury. But Israel’s army blamed a rocket misfired by militants in Gaza. Al Jazeera footage from the scene showed medics and civilians recovering bodies with white bags or blankets. Bloodstains and multiple torched cars were visible in the dark hospital courtyard. The strike came just hours before US President Joe Biden was due in the Middle East, to balance US backing for Israel with stopping its war against Hamas from spiralling…

UKRAINE has used US-supplied long-range missiles for the first time, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. His comments follow reports the weapons, known as ATACMS, destroyed nine helicopters at Russian bases in the east of the country. Ukraine has not confirmed the missiles were used. Ukraine said an air defence system and other equipment were among the targets hit in Berdyansk and Luhansk. Dozens of Russian troops were killed or injured in the operation, it added. “They have performed very accurately. ATACMS have proven themselves,” Mr Zelensky said in an evening address posted on social media, without giving details of when…

THE United States on Tuesday offered a $5 million reward for information on the whereabouts of a leader of the Somali militant group Al-Shabaab. Abukar Ali Adan, who was officially designated a terrorist by the United States in 2018, is the deputy commander of the group, the State Department said. It said he is also associated with several branches of Al-Qaeda. Al-Shabaab has been waging a violent insurgency against the government of Somalia for more than 15 years. Flushed out of major cities in 2011-2012, the organization is still present over vast rural areas, mainly in the center and south…

IN the Mozambican capital, Maputo, riot police have fired tear gas at opposition protesters who say last week’s local elections were rigged in favour of the ruling Frelimo party. Dozens of people have suffered minor injuries while fleeing the police. “They didn’t need to do this, after all, isn’t this democracy? We are marching peacefully and we don’t want problems with anyone,” said one protester. Analysts have questioned whether Mozambique’s state-owned electricity company deliberately cut off power to help sabotage the election. “Maputo City is not known for frequent power cuts. It’s funny how exactly on election day, at the…

SALMAN bin Abdulaziz, the ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has called for an emergency meeting of the member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The OIC is the second largest organisation after the United Nations with a membership of 57 states, including Nigeria, spread over four continents. The organisation is the collective voice of the Muslim world. According to a statement posted on OIC’s official website on Sunday, the meeting is slated for October 18 and 19, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The emergency meeting is called to discuss the ongoing conflict in the Gaza strip between…

CRICKET will feature as one of five new sports at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles after being approved on Monday in a vote of the International Olympic Committee’s session. The IOC’s executive board last week accepted a proposal by LA organisers for cricket’s Twenty20 format, together with baseball/softball, flag football, squash and lacrosse, to be included. But the final choice still had to be voted on Monday at the IOC session in Mumbai, one of the global centres for cricket, as India hosts the men’s 50-over Cricket World Cup. Only two delegates at the session voted against the…

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin on Monday called Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since the deadly Hamas attack, and briefed him on several talks with leaders from the region and Palestinian Authority. “The Israeli side was in particular informed of the essential points of telephone correspondences that took place today with the leaders of Palestine, Egypt, Iran and Syria,” the Kremlin said in a statement. According to Moscow, the discussion focused on “the crisis situation resulting from the brutal escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”. Putin expressed “his sincere condolences to the families and friends of the deceased Israelis,”…

THE last words of a six-year-old US Muslim boy stabbed to death in a suspected hate crime over the weekend were “Mom, I’m fine”, his uncle said as hundreds gathered to lay the child to rest. On Monday, the Mosque Foundation in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview was filled to overflowing, with some paying their respects on the pavement outside. Police say Wadea al-Fayoume was attacked because he was Muslim. His funeral was held as the family’s landlord appeared in court charged with the boy’s murder. The 71-year-old accused was allegedly upset about the Israel-Hamas war. Mourners came from all…

A SOMALI TV journalist was on Monday killed in a suicide bombing at a restaurant in the capital, Mogadishu, police have said. Abdifatah Moalim Nur, alias Qeys, who worked for Somali Cable Television, died in the explosion at Blue Sky restaurant near the presidential palace and national museum. In a statement, police said four other people were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the restaurant. Information Minister Daud Aweis condemned the “cowardly terrorist suicide attack”. Qeys, a staunch advocate of press freedom, faced threats, the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), a local media watchdog, said. The…

SOUTH African police say they have re-arrested an escaped suspect, Kingsley Leeto Chele, who is accused of impersonating a doctor. As we reported earlier, the police had said they had launched a manhunt for the suspect who escaped from custody last week. They described him as a “Facebook con artist” who targeted women. They now say he was re-arrested in the early hours of Monday in Vosloorus, near Johannesburg, following a tip-off from a media house. “[The] police in Gauteng appreciates the role played by the media in particular and the community in general in the fight against crime,” a…

NIGERIA’s Men Cricket Team, The Yellow-Green completed a clean sweep at the first West African Trophy concluded at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos on Sunday by winning all their ten matches at the event. On Sunday, they routed Rwanda to 17 runs victory, their fourth win over the East Africa side during the twenty-match series that kicked off on Wednesday, October 4, 2023. Nigeria had qualified for the finals of the West Africa Trophy after winning all her round-robin matches, which included playing Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda. The tenth match was a placement that pitched Nigeria, with 18…

SPAIN clinched their place at Euro 2024 on Sunday after a 1-0 win away to Norway, also sending Scotland through from Group A as Turkey joined the growing ranks of qualifiers. Barcelona midfielder Gavi scored the only goal early in the second half in Oslo, bouncing a shot into the corner to help Spain qualify for next year’s finals in Germany with two games to spare. They moved top of Group A on goal difference, but the result ensured Scotland punched their ticket to the tournament as well, with Norway five points adrift going into their last match next month.…

BUSINESSMAN Daniel Noboa is to become the youngest president in Ecuador’s history, at 35 years old. Mr Noboa won Sunday’s election with 52.3% of the vote, ahead of Luisa González’s 47.7%. She conceded defeat and congratulated her rival. The 35-year-old, of the National Democratic Action party, is the son of Álvaro Noboa, who ran unsuccessfully for the presidency five times. Mr Noboa will only have 17 months in office until the next election. He will govern from the end of November 2023 to May 2025, due to the fact that the current election was triggered early when outgoing President Guillermo…

ONE of Iran’s most prominent film directors, Dariush Mehrjui, has been found dead alongside his wife. The 83-year-old and Vahideh Mohammadifar were found with stab injuries in their home near the capital, Tehran, on Saturday evening, Iranian authorities say. Mehrjui was considered one of the founders of Iranian new wave cinema. Four people have been identified in connection to the deaths, according to local media reports. According to chief justice Hossein Fazeli, Mehrjui had invited his daughter to come over to his home in the city of Karaj for dinner on Saturday night. When she arrived, she is said to…

UGANDAN police foiled a bomb attack on churches by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group Sunday about 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the capital Kampala, President Yoweri Museveni said. The ADF made two bombs, which they “were planning to plant in churches in Kibibi, Butambala”, Museveni wrote on X, formerly Twitter. But the devices “were reported to police and defused”, he added. The ADF group has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. Earlier Sunday, Museveni, 79, who has ruled the country since 1986, said Ugandan forces had carried out air strikes against ADF positions in neighbouring Democratic Republic…

SOUTH Africa’s military has ordered home eight soldiers accused of sexual misconduct in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The suspects were part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in DR Congo’s troubled east. The UN said the men have been linked to “systematic widespread violation” of the organisation’s rules. It had received reports that the soldiers ignored a curfew and visited a bar “where transactional sex occurs”. On Sunday, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said: “Due to the serious nature of the allegations, the SANDF took a decision to recall the implicated soldiers back to South Africa to…

QATARI banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani has withdrawn from the process to buy Manchester United, BBC Sport has been told. Sheikh Jassim had bid £5bn for the club but further talks this week have broken down. The Glazer family, who bought United for £790m in 2005, announced in November 2022 they were considering selling. British businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group was the other main bidder. Sources have told BBC Sport, Ratcliffe is now hoping to conclude a deal for a minority stake in the club, thought to be 25%. Earlier this month BBC Sport reported Ratcliffe was…