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PARIS Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe has refused to meet officials from Al Hilal, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the Saudis’ ambitious hopes of completing a world record 300-million-euro ($333 million) swoop. The French star has refused “any discussion with the representatives of the Al-Hilal club, present in Paris this Wednesday,” reported L’Equipe sports daily. According to the report, a delegation from the Saudi club came to Paris to finalise the transfer of Brazilian Malcom from Zenit Saint Petersburg. They also wanted to present their project to Mbappe while in the French capital. “This approach will not succeed,” added L’Equipe…

AN OHIO policeman who released an attack dog on a black truck driver who was trying to surrender after a highway chase has been fired. Officials said that his actions “did not meet the standards and expectations we hold for our police officers”. Bodycam footage of the 4 July arrest shows Ryan Speakman of Circleville police directing his dog to attack driver Jadarrius Rose. Other officers repeatedly instructed Mr Speakman to “not release the dog”. The incident took place in the town of Circleville, around 30 miles (48km) south of Columbus, after police tried to pull over a commercial lorry…

MOLDOVA says it will expel 45 Russian diplomats and other embassy staff because of their “unfriendly actions”. The total will be cut to just 25 – a figure closer to the number Moldova has at its Moscow embassy. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 the Moldovan government has accused Moscow of spying and backing opposition groups. Russia condemned the expulsion and said it would “not go unanswered”. On Tuesday, Moldova’s foreign ministry voiced concern about a media report on new surveillance equipment installed on the Russian embassy roof and a neighbouring building used by Russia. The report…

TWENTY-TWO people died and 52 were injured Wednesday when a bus crashed in northern Senegal, the fire brigade told AFP. The accident happened in the village of Ngeune Sarre in Louga region, a national fire brigade official said, while a rescue worker at the site said the final death toll could rise. They did not specify the cause or time of the accident. In January, 19 people were killed and 24 injured in a collision in the same area, near Louga. The previous week, around 40 people died in a bus crash in the centre of Senegal. That tragedy, on…

MORE than 40 people have died in Algeria, Italy and Greece and thousands have been evacuated as Mediterranean wildfires threaten villages and holiday resorts. The entire island of Rhodes has been put into a state of emergency, as fires also rage on Corfu and Evia. The current long heatwave shows no let-up – temperatures are expected to rise above 44C (111F) in parts of Greece. Fires in Sicily and Puglia have forced thousands of people to flee. High winds and tinder-dry vegetation mean firefighters are struggling in many areas to douse the flames and create firebreaks. The heaviest death toll…

ACCESS to the official residence of Niger President Mohamed Bazoum was blocked off early Wednesday by members of the elite Presidential Guard, a source close to Bazoum said, although the reason was unclear. Unconfirmed reports suggest that a coup attempt is possibly ongoing at the presidential palace in Niamey. The president is reported to be negotiating with armed forces who have blocked access to the palace. The situation is unclear at present. The landlocked West African state is one of the most coup-prone nations in the world, experiencing four since independence from France in 1960 as well as numerous attempted…

NIGERIAN champions Enyimba have been drawn against Egyptian club Al-Ahly Benghazi in the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League while Remo Stars face Ghana’s Medeama Sporting Club. This followed Tuesday’s draw for the preliminary round of the 2023/24 edition of the competition held at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. The first leg of the tie will be played between August 18-20 in Libya while the return fixture takes place a week later in the Nigerian city of Aba, Abia State. A win for either club will see them take on either Cameroon’s Coton Sport or Cote d’Ivoire’s ASEC…

THE Philippines won a World Cup match for the first time as they stunned co-hosts New Zealand on Tuesday, while teenage star Linda Caicedo scored to help Colombia surge past South Korea. Philippines coach Alen Stajcic said on the eve of the New Zealand match that his side wanted to “crash the party”, and they did just that with a gutsy 1-0 victory in front of 32,357 fans in Wellington. Sarina Bolden scored the only goal with a header in the first half for a famous Philippine win — the country’s first at either a men’s or women’s World Cup.…

A RETIRED US church pastor who presided nearly half a century ago at the funeral of a kidnapped eight-year-old girl has been charged with her murder. Gretchen Harrington went missing in the Philadelphia suburb of Marple Township on the morning of 15 August 1975 while attending summer Bible camp. Earlier this year, an anonymous woman told investigators she believed her best friend’s father was the culprit. David Zandstra, 83, is now charged with murder and kidnapping of a minor. “He is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer told reporters on Monday. “He killed this poor eight-year-old…

THE former Chinese Communist Party chief in the e-commerce hub of Hangzhou has been handed a suspended death sentence after he was found guilty of taking $25 million in bribe, state media said on Tuesday. Tackling corruption has been a centrepiece of President Xi Jinping’s time in power, with more than 1.5 million officials affected according to government data. Zhou Jiangyong was the former Communist Party secretary of Hangzhou, the hometown of internet giant Alibaba, and was handed a death sentence with a two-year suspension, state broadcaster CCTV said. The broadcaster said a court found him guilty of taking more…

AIR strikes and artillery barrages from Sudan’s warring generals killed at least 16 people in a Khartoum neighbourhood on Tuesday, a neighbourhood group reported. After more than 100 days of war, the latest bombardments added to a toll of at least 3,900 killed nationwide. “Sixteen citizens died today in this senseless war” when shells hit civilian homes in the Ombada area of Khartoum’s northwest, the neighbourhood group said. It is one of many pro-democracy “resistance committees” that have cobbled together supplies over the patchy internet, land lines, or by risking their own lives to venture out since the war began.…

GHANA’s parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty, joining a long list of African countries that have done so in recent years. The country currently has 170 men and six women on death row, whose sentences will now be replaced by life imprisonment. The last execution took place in 1993. Execution has been the mandatory sentence for murder in Ghana. Opinion surveys suggest that most Ghanaians approve abolition. Last year seven people were sentenced to death in Ghana – but none were executed. Treason has also been punishable by death in Ghana. The bill to amend the Criminal Offences…

AFRICA’s four representatives at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup began the tournament last week with something of a whimper, playing one game each without a single win. The continent is being represented by Nigeria who have participated in all editions of the competition; champions, South Africa; Morocco, and Zambia. While all teams have played four matches, they only have a draw to show for it. That point came from Nigeria who battled to a barren draw with Olympic champions, Canada. The Super Falcons were resolute against the North Americans and had goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie to thank after she saved…

MANAGER Carlo Ancelotti said Real Madrid are “lucky” to have the “fantastic” Jude Bellingham after the England midfielder impressed on debut in a 3-2 pre-season win against AC Milan in Los Angeles. It was another Englishman, Fikayo Tomori, who got his name on the scoresheet, heading the opener for AC Milan, but two second-half goals from Federico Valverde and a superb winner from Vinicius Jr, who ran on to a sublime Luka Modric pass, sent the majority of fans in a 70,000 crowd at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena home happy. Bellingham’s 62-minute debut had flashes of his natural technique…

IRAQ and some other Muslim-majority countries have strongly condemned the burning of a Quran on Monday by a group called “Danish Patriots” outside the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen. The far-right group livestreamed a similar act on Facebook on Friday. Nearly 1,000 demonstrators in Baghdad tried to reach the Danish embassy after that incident. Last week, crowds set fire to Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad after the planned burning of a Quran in Stockholm. In Monday’s incident in Denmark, two anti-Islam protesters stamped on the holy book and set it alight in a tin foil tray next to an Iraqi flag on…

WITH a year to go to the Olympics, Paris is in the final phase of a historic clean-up which will soon see swimmers and divers back in the River Seine. Banned for a century because of the filthy water, city swimming is set to be one of the major legacies of the Games thanks to a €1.4bn (£1.2bn; $1.6bn) regeneration project universally hailed as a success. Not only are three Olympic events – triathlon, marathon swimming and paratriathlon – scheduled to take place in the Seine in central Paris, but by 2025 three open-air swimming areas will be accessible from…

A SUICIDE bomber on Monday struck a military training camp in the Somalian capital Mogadishu, killing at least 20 soldiers, officials said. The attack at the Jaalle Siyad Military Academy was swiftly claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group. “Over 20 people were killed in the explosion,” Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu, a member of the Somali parliament told AFP. “The victims were not ordinary youths, they were servicemen who stood to defend their country from the terrorists,” Moalimu said, adding that he felt “pity about the tragedy”. Another legislator, who asked not to be named, said the toll stood at 27 with…

AT least 34 people have been killed and thousands evacuated after wildfires broke out across Algeria, the country’s interior ministry says. Outbreaks of 97 wildfires were recorded across 16 provinces affecting forest, crops and farmland on Monday. About 8,000 firefighters were working to bring the blazes under control, authorities said. Twenty-six people were also injured and 1,500 evacuated from their homes in Fenaia, Bejaia, Zbarbar and Bouira. Ten soldiers were killed battling the fires in Bejaia, the Algerian defence ministry said. The most extensive fires, in the mountainous Kabylie region to the east of Algiers, spread to residential areas in…

TWITTER’s owner Elon Musk and its new CEO said Sunday that the social media network would ditch its bird logo, be rebranded with the name X and move quickly into payments, banking and commerce. Founded in 2006, Twitter takes its name from the sound of birds chattering, and it has used avian branding since its early days, when the company bought a stock symbol of a light blue bird for $15, according to the design website Creative Bloq. Tweeting a picture of the company’s new logo — a white X on a black background — late Sunday night, Twitter chief…

HISTORY could be made on day five of the Fifa Women’s World Cup if Nouhaila Benzina plays for Morocco. The 25-year-old defender will become the first player to wear a hijab, the Islamic headscarf, at a World Cup if she features against one of the tournament favourites, Germany. That is the second game of the day, with Italy facing Argentina, who are trying to win their first World Cup match, earlier in the morning. Brazil, who have won all eight of their World Cup openers, get their tournament under way against debutants Panama. Italy are hoping to build on a…