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SAUDI Arabian club Al-Hilal have signed Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic for a reported £34m, making him their third big summer signing. The 28-year-old Serbia international has signed a three-year deal. One of four clubs owned by the country’s public investment fund, Al-Hilal spent £47m to sign Wolves captain Ruben Neves and a reported £17m on Chelsea centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly. Milinkovic-Savic spent eight years with Lazio, scoring 69 goals in 341 games. Former Benfica boss Jorge Jesus took over as manager this summer. Al-Hilal have won a record four Asian Champions Leagues and 18 Saudi titles – but only finished third…

VETERAN news anchor Huw Edwards was on Wednesday revealed by his wife as the BBC presenter accused of paying for explicit images but police said no criminal offence had been committed. Vicky Flind said in a statement that her husband was “suffering from serious mental health issues” and was now “receiving in-patient hospital care where he will stay for the foreseeable future”. At the same time, Metropolitan Police issued a statement saying that there was “no information to indicate that a criminal offence has been committed”. The furore has been frontpage news and the lead story on radio and television…

TESLA boss Elon Musk has announced the formation of an artificial intelligence startup. The new company is called xAI, and includes several engineers that have worked at companies like OpenAI and Google. Mr Musk has previously stated he believes developments in AI should be paused and that the sector needs regulation. He said the start-up was created to “understand reality”. It is unclear how much funding the entity has, what its specific objectives are or what kind artificial intelligence the company wants to focus on. The company’s website says the goal of xAI is to “understand the true nature of…

IN a clear sign of their seriousness to end the escalating conflict in Sudan, four East African states, led by Kenya, are pushing for the deployment of a regional force to protect civilians and ensure that humanitarian aid reaches millions of people trapped in the war zone. But getting the agreement of the warring factions will be a tough call, as they have shown no interest in anything other than military victory since the conflict broke out in mid-April. The military, headed by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, controls most of eastern and central Sudan, and is fighting to hold on…

FIVE bodies were found under rubble on Tuesday after two buildings collapsed a day earlier in the Guinean capital Conakry, the government said. The buildings fell Monday around 1700 GMT in the southern suburb of Matoto, a government spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. “The government offers its condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured,” it said. The Minister of Justice had ordered a judicial investigation, it said. Rescue teams had recovered four bodies within 24 hours of the accident, Togba Isaac Kolie, head of the Civil Protection Service,…

THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Wednesday received 146 stranded Nigerians from Niamey, Niger Republic. Dr Nuraddeen Abdullahi, NEMA Co-coordinator, Kano Territorial Office, stated this while receiving the returnees at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the returnees arrived at the airport at about 10:35am on board B737-400 SKY MALI Airline plane with registration number UR-CQX. Abdullahi said the returnees were brought back through a voluntary repatriation programme, under the care of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). He said that the programme was meant for distressed persons who left…

KAZUYOSHI Miura, the world’s oldest professional footballer at 56, has extended his stay with Portuguese second-tier side Oliveirense. The ex-Japan striker joined Oliveirense on loan in January from Yokohama and will continue with them on that basis for an undisclosed duration. Miura has played just 28 minutes of football this year, spread over three substitute appearances. Yokohama and Oliveirense have the same Japanese owners. Miura was named man of the match on the final day of the Portuguese season after a 26-minute cameo in a 4-3 win over Leixoes. The opposition manager said the decision was “offensive” and turned it…

PARIS St-Germain believe Kylian Mbappe could face a hostile reception from the club’s fans through next season unless he resolves his contract dispute. At the weekend, the France forward said PSG were “a divisive team, a divisive club” in an interview with L’Equipe. Mbappe, who has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, has told PSG he will not sign a new contract. He says he will not leave this summer and instead will depart for free when his current deal expires next year. Lionel Messi’s last days at PSG were marked with fan protests after it became clear…

NORTH Korea has fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Japanese and South Korean officials report. The long-range missile flew for more than an hour before landing short of Japanese waters on Wednesday morning. Pyongyang’s launch comes after it threatened retaliation against what it said were recent US spy plane incursions over its territory. Earlier this week it threatened to shoot down such planes. Washington has dismissed the accusations, saying its military patrols are in line with international law. Security tensions have ramped up on the peninsula this year after a flurry of missile activity from North Korea. The US…

A YOUNG person has told BBC News they felt threatened by the BBC presenter at the centre of a row over payment for sexually explicit photos. The individual in their early 20s was first contacted anonymously by the male presenter on a dating app. They say they were put under pressure to meet up but never did. When the young person hinted online they might name the presenter, they were sent abusive, expletive-filled messages. Speaking to BBC News, the young person – who has no connection to the person at the centre of the Sun’s story about payments for photos…

SUDANESE public school teacher Imad Mohammed had worked for 32 years when war broke out almost three months ago, tearing his country apart and his finances to shreds. “We only eat one meal a day now,” he told AFP about his family of five. “And we don’t know how long this will go on,” said the teacher from Al-Jazirah state, which has been spared the brutal fighting but has still suffered dire shortages. Like other civil servants, Mohammed has gone without a salary since the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces took up arms against each other. When…

A LIBYAN court has jailed 37 people convicted of human trafficking – following the deaths of 11 migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. Five members of the criminal gang were sentenced to life in prison – others received between one and 15 years. All had been involved in organising a dilapidated boat that was supposed to take the migrants to Italy. Rights groups say many migrants experience horrific treatment there – both at the hands of smuggling gangs and inside state-run detention centres. Libya has been plagued by conflict and chaos since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011.

THE Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a 30-year-old man, Vincent Jeffrey Ehizojie, to death by hanging for killing his employer, Olusola Olusoga, the owner of Etashol Hotel and Suites and the manager of the hotel, Tunji Omikunle. Justice Oyindamola Ogala, condemned Ehizojie to death after she held that the prosecution had proven the ingredients of the charge beyond all reasonable doubt. The condemned convict, who at the time of the crime was working as a supervisor in the hotel, was arraigned before the court on a two-count charge bordering on murder. The state had told…

SPORTING a pair of sunglasses, Asisat Oshoala celebrated Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League triumph with her teammates in early June, but Nigeria was already on her mind. Standing on the balcony of the historic palace in Placa de Sant Jaume in the city’s Gothic neighbourhood before several thousand jubilant fans, Oshoala was handed the microphone. “Visca Barca and Visca Nigeria,” the 28-year-old forward said, swapping in her homeland for “Catalunya”, as the refrain usually goes. Ruled out with a hamstring injury, Oshoala could not play any part in Barcelona’s rollercoaster 3-2 win over Wolfsburg that saw them clinch their second Champions…

CHELSEA have revealed their home kit for the 2023-24 season without a front-of-shirt sponsor. A shirt deal with telecommunications company Three was not renewed when it expired at the end of last season. The Premier League blocked a deal with streaming service Paramount+, because of concerns about upsetting its broadcast rights holders. Chelsea decided against a shirt sponsorship agreement with an online gambling company. The club’s supporters’ trust had spoken out against such a partnership, although it is understood Chelsea had already ruled out a deal before that. In April, the Premier League announced that gambling sponsors would be withdrawn…

THREADS is looking into adding an alternative home feed, of only posts, in chronological order, from the people each individual user follows, according to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri. It currently shows a mix of recommended content and posts from those followed. Threads was billed as an “initial version” at launch and the company has signalled more features are to come. But a planned system to make Threads compatible with some other apps, such as Mastodon, has met with resistance. Instagram, which is owned by Meta, built the Threads app. Mr Mosseri posted the alternative home feed for Threads was “on…

EYEWITNESSES and the family of a 16-year-old Palestinian shot dead during Israel’s military assault in Jenin have told the BBC he was unarmed and killed “for no reason”, after videos emerged of the moment of his death. Twelve Palestinians, including four teenage children, and one Israeli soldier were killed during the two-day incursion in the occupied West Bank last week. Israel said all the Palestinians who were killed were combatants. But the videos show Abdul Rahman Hassan Ahmad Hardan, 16, was unarmed when he was shot. The teenager was shot in the head outside al-Amal hospital on the second day…

GABON’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba has announced that he will seek a third term in office in presidential elections planned for August. The Bongo family has already ruled Gabon for 55 years. Ali Bongo took over in 2009 from his father Omar Bongo, who had himself been in power for more than 40 years. The last elections held in 2016 were marred by claims of fraud. Mr Bongo defeated opposition candidate Jean Ping by less than 6,000 votes. Mr Ping declared himself the winner and contested those results. His passport was later confiscated and he was only allowed to leave…

JOHANNESBURG has seen its first snowfall since 2012, as cold weather is sweeping across much of the country. Residents are being advised to take extra precautions to stay warm and farmers to provide shelter for livestock. South Africa’s weather service said snow has also been reported in Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. “The public is advised to keep warm during these conditions,” said the South African Weather Service (Saws) in a statement. Weather experts have also advised initiation schools in the Eastern Cape to be extra vigilant over the next week as they keep watch over hundreds of teenage boys undergoing…

FRANCE striker Kylian Mbappe has called his club side Paris St-Germain “divisive” as doubts intensify over his future at the French champions. The 24-year-old, whose contract at PSG expires in 2024, made the comments to France Football magazine. PSG’s all-time leading scorer has told the club he will not sign a new deal. “I think that playing for PSG doesn’t help much because it’s a divisive team, a divisive club,” Mbappe is reported as saying. Paris St-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi said he would not allow Mbappe to leave on a free transfer when his contract expires next summer. Mbappe, who…