Author: Editor

THE qualification race for the 2026 World Cup is set to take place across Africa this week and early next week. In matchdays 5 and 6 qualifying fixtures in Africa, Nigeria’s Super Eagles will set to revive their dwindling hopes of reaching the US, Canada, and Mexico where the competition is billed to be held. Below are the fixtures for Matchday 5 and 6 across Africa: Matchday 5 March 19, Wednesday Group D: Eswatini v Cameroon; Group H: Liberia v Tunisia; Group I: Central African Republic v Madagascar (all 1600) March 20, Thursday Group A: Sierra Leone v Guinea-Bissau (1600);…

AT least two people were killed and 19 others wounded after an Israeli air strike on the outskirts of the southern Syrian province of Deraa, the Syrian state news agency, SANA, has reported. The Israeli military confirmed the strikes Monday night and said it was targeting military sites that contained weapons and vehicles that belonged to the forces of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Israeli army “is currently striking military targets in southern Syria, including command centres and military sites containing weapons and military vehicles belonging to the old Syrian regime,” an army statement said, adding that the “military…

UKRAINIAN forces launched a drone attack on southern Russia overnight, sparking a blaze at an oil refinery, local authorities said Monday, as Moscow launched a barrage of nearly 200 drones against Ukraine. The Ukrainian attack on the oil refinery in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region was the latest in a series of aerial strikes by both sides targeting energy facilities. Regional governor Igor Babushkin said staff of a “fuel and energy” complex were evacuated before the attack, which sparked a large blaze. “One person was wounded during the attack. The victim has now been taken to the hospital,” Babushkin wrote on…

RWANDA has cut diplomatic ties with Belgium, saying it has been “consistently undermined” by the European nation during the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Brussels has been leading calls for European nations to sanction Rwanda over its support for the M23, a rebel group at the centre of DR Congo’s crisis. The authorities in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, have given Belgian diplomats 48 hours to leave the country. Belgium, which is the former colonial power, has said it will respond to these measures and labelled Rwanda’s decision “disproportionate”. Despite assertions from the UN and US, Rwanda has denied…

A GROUP of scientists due to work together for months at a remote Antarctic research station has been rocked after a member of the team was accused of assault. About 10 researchers typically stay at the South African-run base, which sits about 170km (about 105 miles) from the edge of the ice shelf and is difficult to reach. But a spokesperson for the South African government told the BBC “there was an assault” at the station, following earlier allegations of inappropriate behaviour from inside the camp. In a further message seen by the BBC, the South African environment ministry said…

Q – What is the food that is permissible to give for Zakatul-Fitr? Nura Jamilu, Hadejia A – It is reported in the hadith that it is to be given from five things. They are wheat, barley, dried dates , raisins and cottage cheese. However, some of the research scholars have mentioned that specifying these five things was done because they were used at that time. Therefore, they permit giving it from whatever is the common food of the land like rice for example, and corn in the land where it is used as food and so forth. Q –…

FORMER Wimbledon and Aston Villa striker, John Fashanu has taken legal action against the Nigeria Police, demanding ₦200 million (£100,000) in compensation for what he describes as an unlawful arrest and violation of his rights. The 62-year-old, who was capped twice by England in international friendlies against Chile and Scotland in May 1989, was arrested alongside his wife, Vivian, and lawyer, Chinyere Chigbu, in connection with an ongoing land dispute. He is accused of criminal conspiracy, threat to life, intimidation, trespass, and obtaining by false pretence—charges he strongly denies. The dispute began when a group of investors reportedly agreed to…

SENEGALESE star and former Liverpool striker Sadio Mane has become a father for the first time after welcoming a baby girl with his 19-year-old wife, Aisha Tamba. The couple, who married in an Islamic arranged ceremony in January 2024, kept their relationship private before revealing their union after the wedding. The 32-year-old Al-Nassr forward marked the joyous occasion by dedicating his goal in Al-Nassr’s 3-1 victory over Al-Kholood on Friday to his newborn daughter. Mane celebrated by cradling his arms, beaming with pride after doubling his team’s lead, following Cristiano Ronaldo’s opening goal. Mane’s club, Al-Nassr, confirmed the birth of…

ON October 19, hundreds of displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza’s Hamad School in Beit Lahiya heard what everyone in the Palestinian enclave dreads. “At dawn, we heard [Israeli] tanks encircling the school, and quadcopters overhead began ordering everyone to get out,” Amal al-Masri, 30, who had given birth to her youngest daughter so recently she had not named her yet when the tanks came, recalled. People were already tense after shelling and explosions throughout the night – the adults too scared to sleep, the children crying in fear and confusion. “Buildings were being shelled all around us,” said Amal, who…

AT least 59 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in a devastating fire at a packed nightclub in Kocani in North Macedonia, according to Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski. The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that arrest warrants have been issued for four individuals in connection with the fire. The blaze erupted at the Pulse club at about 3am (02:00 GMT) on Sunday during a concert by the band DNK when pyrotechnics were set off inside the venue in Kocani, located about 100km (62 miles) east of the capital, Skopje. Videos posted on social media networks and shot…

BENEATH the broken earth of the besieged Sudanese city of El-Fasher in the western region of Darfur, Nafisa Malik clutches her five children close. As shells rain down, the 45-year-old mother tries to shield them in a cramped hole barely big enough to crouch in. “Time slows down here,” Malik said, from her home near El-Fasher’s Hajer Gadou market. “We sit in the darkness, listening, trying to guess when it’s over,” she told AFP by phone. For almost two years the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudan’s army have waged a war that has killed tens of thousands. United…

LIBYA’s education minister has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison because of a textbook shortage dating back to 2021, the attorney general’s office announced on Sunday. The Tripoli court of appeal also fined Moussa al-Megarief 1,000 dinars (about $200) and deprived him of his civil rights for the duration of his sentence and a year afterwards, the same source said in a statement on Facebook. Megarief, a member of the national unity government, was accused of “violating the principle of equality,” interceding in favour of an unnamed party, and “favouritism in contract management … over the…

Q – Salaamu Alaikum Ya Sheikh, is there a specific prayer recited for Ramadan or the last ten days? Aminu Kabiru, Abuja A: Tirmidhee and others report: `A’ishah asked: “O Messenger of Allaah! If I was to know which night is the night of qadr, what should I say therein?” He answered: “Say: ‘O Allaah! Verily, You are One who Pardons (`Afuww) and You love pardoning (`afw), so pardon (`afw) me!’” Al-`Afuww is a Name of Allaah. It is often translated to mean the One who pardons or forgives. `Afuww comes from `afw. `Afw linguistically means to leave or abandon…

AS mixed reactions continue to trail Amaju Pinnick’s exit from the FIFA Council, former Green Eagles player and 1984 AFCON silver medalist, Paul Okoku says Nigeria football gained nothing from his administration. Okoku spoke from his base in the United States of America, just as other stakeholders including former Green Eagles winger, Adegoke Adelabu, ex-national team player, Harrison Jalla and former chairman of Gombe FC, Ahmed Shuaibu Gara-Gombe advised Nigerian sports administrators to learn how to conduct themselves while occupying public offices. Pinnick’s regime in FIFA Council came to an end on Wednesday during an election in Cairo, Egypt, where…

AT least nine people, including three journalists, have been killed and several others wounded in an Israeli drone attack on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, according to Palestinian media. The attack on Saturday reportedly targeted a relief team that was accompanied by journalists and photographers. At least three local journalists are among the dead. The Palestinian Journalists’ Protection Center said in a statement that “the journalists were documenting humanitarian relief efforts for those affected by Israel’s genocidal war” and called on Gaza ceasefire mediators to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move forward with implementing the agreed truce and…

US President Donald Trump’s administration is mulling a new travel ban that would affect citizens from dozens of countries to varying degrees, the New York Times reported Friday. Citing anonymous officials, it said the draft list featured 43 countries, divided into three categories of travel restrictions. The red category of countries whose citizens would be completely barred from entering the United States includes Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. Another 10 countries in the orange category — Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan — would see…

SUDAN has suspended all imports from Kenya in protest after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who are fighting the army in a two-year civil war, were hosted in Nairobi. Last month, the RSF and its allied political and armed groups signed a founding charter in Kenya expressing the intention to form a parallel government in Sudan. Sudan’s military government said the import ban was to preserve the country’s sovereignty and “protect its national security”. The war-torn country imports several products from Kenya including tea, food items and pharmaceutical products. “The import of all products coming from Kenya through all…

SOUTH Africa has said the decision of the United States to expel Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool is “regrettable”, but the country “remains committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship” with Washington. South Africa’s presidency urged “all relevant and impacted stakeholders to maintain the established diplomatic decorum in their engagement with the matter” in a statement issued on Saturday morning, just hours after US State Secretary Marco Rubio called Rasool a “race-baiting politician” who hates the US and President Donald Trump. Rubio wrote on X that Rasool was “no longer welcome in our great country”, adding: “We have nothing to discuss with…

Q – As Fasting draws to an end, what is your message for us all? Mustapha Noor, Abuja A – Many people misunderstand the true nature of fasting, and they make it an occasion for eating and drinking, making special sweets and staying up late at night and watching shows on satellite TV. They make such preparations long before Ramadaan, lest they miss out on some food bargains before food prices go up. They prepare by buying food, preparing drinks and looking at the satellite TV guide so they can choose which shows to follow and which to ignore. They…

ENGLAND head coach Thomas Tuchel has named his squad for March’s FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia. Players earning recalls to the squad include Marcus Rashford, Reece James and Jordan Henderson. The Three Lions kick-off their new campaign with a Wembley double-header as they target a place at next year’s World Cup Finals in USA, Canada and Mexico. This selection of 26 players is Tuchel’s first for England since his appointment. The players are to report to St. George’s Park early next week to begin their preparations under the new regime. Among the group, there is a…