Author: Editor

AFGHANS fleeing the Taliban are being kidnapped and tortured by gangs as they try to cross the border between Iran and Turkey on their way to Europe, a BBC investigation has found. The gangs then send videos of the abuse to the families of migrants being held hostage, demanding a ransom for their release. Shackled together on a mountain-top with padlocks around their necks, a group of Afghan migrants beg for their release. “Whoever watches this video, I was kidnapped yesterday, they are demanding $4,000 (£3,200) for each one of us. They beat us day and night non-stop,” says one…

THE voice of the female doctor in war-hit Sudan is shaky. She is leaving a message with BBC Arabic’s mobile phone number via WhatsApp. It is for a special radio programme called Li Sudan Salam, which means both “greetings to Sudan” and “peace to Sudan”. It was launched following the outbreak of conflict there between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 15 April. Hundreds of people have died and more than a million have been forced from their homes across the country. The radio programme has received numerous messages about women and girls being raped amid…

Eighty members of a Ugandan religious cult who had been convinced to travel to Ethiopia and starve themselves have been repatriated, authorities in Uganda say. Their pastor allegedly told them that they would “meet Jesus Christ” after fasting for 40 days. A joint police operation is now leading a search for cult leader Simon Opolot. In Kenya, a different religious figure is alleged to have convinced hundreds to starve themselves to death. The 80 members of the Christ Disciples Church reportedly got rid of their belongings earlier this year and then travelled from a rural area in eastern Uganda to…

EGYPT’s Al Ahly have been crowned African Champions League winners – again – after beating Wydad Casablanca. On Sunday night, Africa’s most successful football club won a record-extending 11th continental crown. A 1-1 draw, with a late leveller on the night, handed them a 3-2 aggregate win over Wydad. The sides had met in the same fixture last year, when Wydad claimed the title for a third time. This year, the Egyptians travelled to Morocco with a 2-1 lead from the first leg. To say the North African derby was a cagey affair, however, would be an understatement. Prior to…

PARIS St-Germain are prepared to sell Kylian Mbappe this summer rather than risk losing him for free in a year’s time, after he told the French club he will not renew his contract. The France forward’s current deal expires at the end of next season, with the option of another year. There was a deadline of 31 July for Mbappe, 24, to tell PSG if he was going to renew until 2025. After months of talks, he has sent the club a letter saying he will not. PSG’s record goalscorer would be free to leave for nothing at the end…

DONALD Trump is spending the night in Miami, Florida, before he appears in court there on Tuesday charged with mishandling national security files. The former US president flew from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, to his Trump Doral resort near Miami. Mr Trump is facing dozens of charges of illegally retaining classified information, including some about nuclear secrets. It is the second time this year he has been charged with a crime. Mr Trump, campaigning to make a return to the White House in 2024, has denied wrongdoing as he faces the first ever federal criminal prosecution against…

MOURNERS at the funeral of an elderly Ecuadorian woman were startled to discover she was still alive. Bella Montoya, 76, was declared dead last week following a suspected stroke. Five hours into her wake on Friday, relatives preparing to change her clothes ahead of the burial found her gasping for air. Ms Montoya is now back in hospital in intensive care, and Ecuador’s health ministry has set up a committee to investigate the incident. In a statement, the ministry said that the woman went into cardiorespiratory arrest – a loss of breathing and heart function – and did not respond…

THREE leaders of Tunisia’s once-dominant Ennahdha party are on a hunger strike to protest their detention under a crackdown against opponents of President Kais Saied, the party and a detainee’s wife said Monday. One of them, Sahbi Atig, 64, a former leader of Ennahdha’s parliamentary bloc, has been on his hunger strike for 32 days, leading to a severe deterioration in his health, his wife Zeineb Mraihi said after visiting him in prison. “He lost 17 kilograms (37 pounds), his heart rhythm is weak and he can hardly speak,” Mraihi said. Atig spent several days in intensive care at hospital…

AT least 46 people, half of them children, were killed in a militia attack on a camp for displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, security analysts and a local community leader said Monday. A militia group involved in numerous ethnic killings in the area attacked the camp in northeastern Ituri province overnight Sunday to Monday, Richard Dheda, an official of the local administration for Bahema Badjere in Djugu territory, told AFP. The Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a network of observers based in DRC’s restive east, counted “at least 46” dead in the Lala camp. A community leader Desire…

THE announcement by the Federal Government that the controversial Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Godwin Emefiele has been suspended took the embattled banker by surprise and shocked his two emissaries who had pleaded on his behalf to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Quest Times reports that once Tinubu won the Presidential Elections, Emefiele and his godfather Jim Ovia ran to Billionaire Aliko Dangote to help appease the then President-Elect. Dangote who had benefitted immensely from the Governor especially in regards to supply of foreign exchange favours then approached then President-Elect Tinubu with international but Nigerian based business guru Gilbert…

SILVIO Berlusconi, the former prime minister who reshaped Italy’s political and cultural landscape while fending off multiple legal and sex scandals, has died aged 86, his spokesman confirmed to AFP Monday. The billionaire media mogul was admitted to a Milan hospital on Friday for what aides said were pre-planned tests related to his leukaemia. His admission came just three weeks after he was discharged following a six-week stay at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital, during which time doctors revealed he had a rare type of blood cancer. Berlusconi had suffered ill health for years, from heart surgery in 2016 to a…

ENYIMBA drew 1-1 with Rivers United at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos on Sunday to claim a ninth Nigeria Premier League title. The draw with the 2022 champions means that the People’s Elephant topped the NPFL Super Six playoffs table with nine points from five games. The two-time CAF Champions League winners took the lead against the Port Harcourt based side through Ekenne Awazie six minutes before the break due to shaky defending by United. Following a spirited fight back by River United, they levelled up the score through Nyima Nwagua three minutes after the break. With this outcome,…

NOVAK Djokovic created history on Sunday when he captured a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title with a third French Open triumph, reinforcing his case to be crowned the greatest player of all time. The 36-year-old Serb brushed off an early wobble to defeat Casper Ruud of Norway 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, 7-5 and snap the tie of 22 Slams he shared with career-long rival Rafael Nadal. Victory for the third time in Paris, after 2016 and 2021, adds to his 10 Australian Open titles, seven at Wimbledon and three at the US Open. Djokovic is the first man to win all…

ON Friday, in the dead of night at the heart of the Colombian jungle, army radios crackled to life with the message the nation had been praying for: “Miracle, miracle, miracle, miracle.” The military code revealed that four children missing in the jungle for 40 days had all been found – alive. The youngsters, all members of the indigenous Huitoto people, had been missing since the light plane they were travelling in crashed into the Amazon in the early hours of 1 May. The tragedy killed their mother and left the children – aged 13, nine, four and one -…

AT least 10 people have died and more than 20 others are in hospital after a wedding bus crashed in an Australian wine region. The passengers were returning from a wedding at a winery on Sunday night when their coach overturned on Wine County Drive near Greta in Hunter Valley, New South Wales. Police say they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash. The driver of the bus, a 58-year-old man, has been arrested. NSW Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman said the guests were travelling to Singleton “presumably for their accommodation”. The crash occurred around 23:30 local time -…

SIX civilians have been killed and 10 injured after al-Shabab militants attacked a beachside hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, police say. Security forces rescued more than 80 guests from the Pearl Beach hotel after a six-hour siege on Friday night. Three members of the security forces died in the rescue operation and have been praised for their bravery. All of the attackers were killed in a fierce gun battle with security forces, police said. Pearl Beach hotel was popular with government officials. Such places are frequently targeted by al-Shabab insurgents, who have been fighting Somalia’s government for more than…

FIGHTING between government forces and a rival paramilitary force broke out again on Sunday in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, after a 24-hour cease-fire ended, witnesses said. The country has seen deadly fighting since mid-April when clashes erupted between forces loyal to army chief and de facto leader Abdel al-Burhan and fighters commanded by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemeti, who leads the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The latest cease-fire deal had provided a rare lull in fighting for civilians in the capital and allowed them to stock up on food and other essential supplies. The deal was…

AFTER a record-breaking six months, Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez has booked his place in history as the first player to win a treble of European Cup, league and domestic cup – and a World Cup – in the same season. Nine players before the 23-year-old Argentine forward had won the European Cup or Champions League and the World Cup in the same season – but none had won the domestic double as well. Alvarez finishes the season as City’s second top scorer with 17 goals, despite starting fewer than half their games, and was the third top scorer at the…

PARIS St-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi says he has had nothing to do with the takeover of Manchester United. BBC Sport understands Al-Khelaifi was contacted by the Glazer family a month ago as United’s owners tried to get Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani to raise his offer. The conversation with Al-Khelaifi has led to suggestions of a wider Qatari involvement in Sheikh Jassim’s bid. Sheikh Jassim has repeatedly said his offer was made in a personal capacity. Speaking in Istanbul before the Champions League final after a meeting of the influential European Clubs’ Association (ECA) he chairs, Al-Khelaifi…

FORMER US President Donald Trump has called the federal indictment against him “ridiculous and baseless” in his first public appearance since the charges were announced. A 37-count indictment made public on Friday accuses him of keeping sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago property. The indictment amounted to “election interference” by the “corrupt” FBI and justice department, he said on Saturday. He has denied any wrongdoing. Mr Trump has been charged with mishandling hundreds of classified documents, including some about US nuclear secrets and military plans. The indictment accused him of keeping the files at his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago including in a…