Author: Editor

ARSENAL expect Noni Madueke to miss six to eight weeks with the knee injury sustained in the 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Sunday. However, the 23-year-old England winger is not believed to have suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The summer signing from Chelsea was substituted at half-time of the Premier League match with City and has been having tests to discover the severity of the problem. “It looks like Noni is going to be out for a few weeks, but we don’t really know yet, we will have to scan him next week again,” said Arsenal manager…

DEADLY Israeli air attacks have intensified in Gaza City and ground forces have advanced in the south of the city, killing at least 36 Palestinians across the enclave. This is as Gaza’s Health Ministry has warned that patients are facing “certain death” as hospitals in the besieged territory may have to shutter vital departments within “a few days” due to fuel shortages. Also, leaders of six countries, including France, have moved to recognise Palestinian statehood at a high-level summit before the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. Meanwhile, Israel has also ordered the indefinite closure of the…

SAUDI Arabia’s Grand Mufti and head of the Council of Senior Scholars, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, has died in Riyadh at the age of 82. The Saudi Royal Court confirmed his death in a statement on Tuesday morning. Abdulaziz was appointed imam and preacher of the historic Namirah Mosque in Arafat in 1982. For 34 consecutive years, until 2014, he delivered the annual Hajj sermon at the Arafat plain. In 1999, following the death of Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ibn Baz, Abdulaziz was appointed the Kingdom’s grand mufti. “The Royal Court stated that with his passing, the kingdom and the Islamic…

UGANDA’s long-time President Yoweri Museveni has been confirmed to stand in the January 2026 elections, as he seeks to extend his nearly 40-year rule in the African country. Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, on Tuesday urged supporters to back his vision for the future after electoral officials near the capital, Kampala, announced that the 81-year-old leader would be on the ballot. The governing National Resistance Movement (NRM) party officially confirmed him in June as its presidential candidate. In a post on X, Museveni thanked his supporters for entrusting him to run again for the 2026-2031 term. “In…

MALI, Burkina Faso and Niger, three nations in West Africa run by military governments after coups in recent years, have announced their exit from the International Criminal Court (ICC), referring to it as “neocolonial repression” and accusing the judicial body of selective justice. In a joint statement on Monday night, the three countries said the ICC had become incapable of prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and genocide without elaborating. “[The ICC is an] instrument of neocolonial repression in the hands of imperialism,” the joint statement read, adding that the countries were seeking more “sovereignty”. The three…

SUPER Falcons goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie placed fourth, while England’s Hannah Hampton claimed the Women’s Yashin Trophy at the 2025 Ballon d’Or awards. Hampton, 24, played a decisive role in England’s Euro 2025 triumph, saving two penalties against Spain in the final. She also helped Chelsea secure an unbeaten treble, cementing her place as the world’s top goalkeeper for the 2024/25 season. Nnadozie was a standout performer for the Super Falcons at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. The former Paris FC goalkeeper was named best goalkeeper of the tournament as Nigeria beat hosts Morocco 3-2 in Rabat. Nnadozie’s efforts guided…

“When used properly, he could become the best player in the world.” This bold statement from former Barcelona boss Xavi back in 2021 contained a sentiment Ousmane Dembele had heard throughout his career. Some raised their eyebrows and many doubted the mercurial Frenchman would ever be able to reach the heights predicted for him after becoming the second most expensive player in the world when he signed for Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth £135.5m in 2017. But, after a journey that has had many lows as he battled against injury, inconsistency and questions about his attitude, the…

FRANCE has recognised a Palestinian state, joining several Western countries in doing so, ahead of the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in New York. “France today recognises a State of Palestine,” Macron told the UN summit as the Palestinian delegation led an ovation, saying he was supporting “peace between the Israeli and Palestinian people. The Palestinian Authority on hailed the French move as a “historic and courageous decision”. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates welcomes the recognition of the State of Palestine by the friendly Republic of France, considering it a historic and courageous decision that is…

EGYPT’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has pardoned the prominent British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, who has been imprisoned for six years, state media and his family say. Abdel Fattah was one of six people whose sentences were commuted following a request from the National Council for Human Rights, according to Al-Qahera News. His sister Mona Seif wrote on X: “My heart will explode.” The 43-year-old blogger and pro-democracy activist is one of Egypt’s best known political prisoners. He was arrested in 2019 during a crackdown on dissent and sentenced to five years in prison in 2021 after being convicted of…

ON an early September morning, a pig’s head, covered in blood, was discovered at the doorstep of the Javel mosque in the heart of Paris. On it, a name had been scrawled in blue ink: Macron. A couple of kilometres (about a mile) from the Eiffel Tower, the mosque is a place of worship for a diverse community of Muslims with Lebanese, Algerian, Iranian and other roots, which has long coexisted with neighbours in a leafy district of the French capital. “It’s the first time something like this has ever happened to us,” Najat Benali, the mosque’s rector, told Al…

BOTSWANA has declared a public holiday to celebrate the country’s victory in the men’s 4×400 metres at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, the first African nation to win the event. President Duma Boko hailed the gold medal as a “historic African win”, in an online address praising the team for their performance. He announced Monday, 29 September, as a holiday to celebrate the achievement – a day ahead of the country’s independence day. On Sunday, Botswana’s team of Lee Bhekempilo Eppie, Letsile Tebogo, Bayapo Ndori and Busang Collen Kebinatshipi edged out the US, the winners of the last 10…

FRANCE and Paris Saint-Germain forward, Ousmane Dembélé, has been crowned the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner, sealing his place among the pantheon of football’s greats. The announcement at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris was met with a mixture of celebration and awe. For many, Dembélé’s triumph represents more than just a single award. After a career at Barcelona plagued by injuries and inconsistency, his move to Paris unlocked a new level of performance, culminating in a season of unprecedented success. Dembele, 28, pipped Barcelona and Spain teenage sensation Lamine Yamal to the prize and succeeds Manchester City and Spain midfielder…

As Conference Holds In Abuja Nov 3-6 THE Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), the elite professional body of Managing Directors, Directors of News and Editors of print, broadcast and corporate online organisations, will hold its 2025 All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) from November 3-6, 2025 at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. According to a press statement on Sunday by Eze Anaba and Onuoha Ukeh, NGE President and General Secretary respectively made available to News Point Nigeria, the annual conference, which will be declared open by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has as its theme: “Democratic Governance and National Cohesion: The…

SUBSTITUTE Gabriel Martinelli scored a stoppage-time equaliser as Arsenal drew with Manchester City in a hard-fought Premier League game. It is the second match in a row that Martinelli has made an impact off the bench, having provided a goal and assist against Athletic Club in the Champions League in midweek. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said his “finishers could be more important” than the starting XI after Tuesday’s win in Bilbao – and that belief was again backed up at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners went behind in the ninth minute on Sunday when Erling Haaland rolled past David Raya at…

BRITISH Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the United Kingdom’s decision to formally recognise a Palestinian state more than 100 years after the Balfour Declaration backed “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”, and 77 years after the creation of Israel in the British Mandate of Palestine. “In the face of the growing horror in the Middle East, we are acting to keep alive the possibility of peace and of a two-state solution,” Starmer said in a video statement Sunday. The UK government said in July that it would shift its longstanding approach of holding…

THOUSANDS of Brazilians took to the streets Sunday in anger at moves by Congress to boost lawmaker’s immunity and push for amnesty that could include far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, convicted of trying to stage a coup. As Brazil grapples with the fallout from the divisive Bolsonaro trial, which saw him sentenced to 27 years in prison, the conservative-majority Congress has come under fire from critics who accuse it of putting its own interests above social and economic issues. Demonstrations have been called in over a dozen cities Sunday, including Rio de Janeiro where octogenarian music icons Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil…

POLICE in Somalia have arrested four TikTokers for allegedly insulting President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in a dance video. In the post several young men are seen dancing to a remix of a campaign song originally used during the president’s election bid in 2022, but with the lyrics altered to include derogatory language. In a statement, the police said the suspects were in custody and would be formally charged. They have not commented since their arrest. Several social media influencers have been arrested and jailed in the past for spreading clan-based insults, incitement or “immoral” content on platforms like TikTok but…

MALAWI’s former president Peter Mutharika has taken an early lead in this week’s election, according to provisional results. In his face off against incumbent Lazarus Chakwera, Mutharika has roughly 51 percent of votes cast in a quarter of the nation’s councils, compared to 39 percent for Chakwera, Reuters reported on Sunday. Election observers had predicted that the September 16 vote would be a two-horse race between Mutharika and Chakwera, the candidates for Malawi’s two biggest parties. In the five years since 70-year-old Chakwera took office, Malawi has faced economic stagnation. A cyclone and drought wiped out crops and increased food…

GUNMEN suspected to be kidnappers launched a deadly attack on the residence of the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Frank Mba, in Ezimo Community, Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, killing a police officer on duty. News Point Nigeria gathered that the daring assault, which occurred at about 7:00pm on Thursday evening, has thrown the community into panic and sparked renewed fears about worsening insecurity in the South-East. According to multiple community sources, the assailants, who were heavily armed, stormed the quiet Ezimo neighbourhood under the cover of darkness and attempted to gain access to DIG Mbah’s residence.…

MANCHESTER United capitalised on Robert Sanchez’s fifth-minute red card to secure a crucial victory over Chelsea in torrential rain at Old Trafford. The first match in Premier League history to see two or more goals, red cards and substitutions in the first half was settled by goals from United skipper Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro, who was the other player sent off before the break. It was Sanchez’s dismissal that set the course of the game though. The Spain international raced from his goal to meet Bryan Mbeumo as the striker ran beyond the Chelsea defence. Sanchez then upended the forward…