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…
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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…
AT least 91 Palestinians have been killed across the Gaza Strip since dawn, where Israeli forces continue to heavily bomb Gaza City, the main urban centre in the besieged enclave. Medical sources across Gaza hospitals told Al Jazeera on Saturday that at least 76 Palestinians were killed in Gaza City alone, where the Israeli army has been trying to forcibly expel the entire population in recent weeks. In the area’s Tuffah neighbourhood, at least six people were killed in an Israeli drone attack. In western Gaza City’s Shati camp, at least five people, including two girls, were killed in an…
AN elderly British couple released by the Taliban authorities after almost eight months in detention in Afghanistan arrived back in the UK on Saturday. Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, arrived on a flight from the Qatari capital, Doha, where they had stayed for medical checks following their release on Friday. A Qatari official welcomes Peter Reynolds and his wife, Barbie, after landing at the airport in Doha on September 19, 2025.(Photo by Karim JAAFAR / AFP) Qatar played a key role in helping to free the couple after mounting fears about their health. Barbie Reynolds smiled broadly…
SOUTH African police say they have dismantled a crystal methamphetamine laboratory, with drugs worth $20m (£15m), discovered on a farm in the east of the country. Five people “from a North American country” have been arrested, while two others “believed to be from West African countries” fled the scene, a statement said. Police photographs show industrial manufacturing equipment along with weighing scales and lunch boxes filled with the illegal drug. In a 2022 Global State of Harm Reduction report, South Africa was described as one of the largest crystal meth consumer markets in the world. Its geography and “porous borders”…
POLICE in Malawi have arrested eight people for alleged electoral fraud as the country waits for the final results of Tuesday’s general election. Inspector General Merlyne Yolamu said the suspects, who were working as data entry clerks, had been trying to manipulate the figures. Malawi’s 2019 election was marred by controversy when the highest court annulled then President Peter Mutharika’s victory, citing widespread irregularities. As a result, Malawi’s electoral commission is on high alert for any potential issues. Official tallies, so far, suggest Mutharika is leading the race for the presidency with incumbent Lazarus Chakwera in second place. More results…
MANCHESTER City boss Pep Guardiola said his side can ill afford a repeat of the “under-14s” defending that saw them thrashed 5-1 by Arsenal in February. Guardiola’s men travel to the Emirates again on Sunday, already trailing the Gunners and defending champions Liverpool in the Premier League title race. City lost two of their opening three games to Tottenham and Brighton, but have bounced back with comprehensive victories over Manchester United and in the Champions League over Napoli. The thrashing at the hands of his former protege, Mikel Arteta, was one of the low points in a miserable campaign for…
ISRAEL is pounding Gaza City with some of the heaviest strikes in two years of war in its bid to force residents to make a perilous and costly journey towards the overcrowded south. Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, warned Gaza City’s beleaguered population on Friday that it would be deploying “unprecedented force”, telling them to “take this opportunity and join the hundreds of thousands” moving south on al-Rashid coastal road – now the only permitted escape route. The Israeli military has said about 480,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City since late August, while Gaza’s civil defence agency said…
THE UK’s foreign intelligence service MI6 on Friday launched a “dark web portal” to try to recruit spies in Russia and around the world by offering a them secure communication channel. The “Silent Courier” portal lets anyone with access to sensitive information relating to terrorism or hostile intelligence activity to securely contact the UK, the agency said. Instructions on accessing the portal are available on the verified YouTube channel of the Secret Intelligence Service, better known as MI6. “Our virtual door is open to you,” outgoing MI6 chief Richard Moore said to potential spies as he launched the portal. The…
MORE than 70 people have been killed following a drone strike on a mosque in Sudan’s Darfur region, a senior medical source has told the BBC. Friday’s attack in the city of el-Fasher has been blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), but the group has not taken responsibility. The RSF and the army have been engaged in a ferocious civil war for more than two years. The paramilitaries are gaining ground as they fight to seize complete control of el-Fasher – the last army stronghold in Darfur and home to more than 300,000 civilians who have been trapped…