BARCELONA secured their 29th Spanish league title after beating Real Madrid 2-0 in the Clasico on Sunday. Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres struck in the first half to help Hansi Flick’s side clinch La Liga in consecutive years, while consigning Madrid to a trophyless season. Barca moved an unassailable 14 points clear of second-place Los Blancos with three matches remaining. This was only the second time the outcome of La Liga has been decided directly by the result of a Clasico, with record 36-time champions Real Madrid winning their first title in 1932 after a draw with Barca. Madrid arrived…
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THE Lebanese Health Ministry says Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours have killed 51 people, including two medical workers. “The Israeli enemy continues to violate international laws and humanitarian norms, adding more crimes against paramedics, as it directly targeted two points of the Health Authority in Qalawiya and Tibnin, Bint Jbeil district, in two raids,” the ministry said. A ceasefire, brokered by the United States, is into its third week. The ministry said 2,846 people have been killed across the country since March 2, when Israeli forces began a new military operation. SInce then, the United Nations says at…
DONALD Trump is set to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening to discuss the Iran war and other issues with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping. White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said an opening ceremony and meeting will be on Thursday morning, and the trip will conclude on Friday. The US plans to host the Chinese leader during a reciprocal visit later this year. Kelly said that this week’s trip would be of “tremendous symbolic significance” and focus on “rebalancing the relationship with China and prioritising reciprocity and fairness to restore American economic independence”. Trump’s visit, initially…
THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has hosted some officials of Sierra Leone’s ministry of education to understudy Nigeria’s centralised admission system. The visiting officials are learning to understand and establish a body similar to JAMB, which would streamline Sierra Leone’s admission process. An X post on Sunday by Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s spokesperson, said the delegation includes Sarjoh Aziz Kamara, Sierra Leone’s deputy minister of education, Edwin Momoh, vice-chancellor of Ernest Bai Koroma university of science and technology, and Bashiru Koroma, vice-chancellor of Njala university. Benjamin said that the delegation was taken through the examination and admission processes at…
AN attack by armed rebels has killed at least 69 people in Ituri province in the conflict-torn northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to security officials. For more than 30 years, the mineral-rich eastern DRC has been a battleground for various armed groups, vying for control of its many mines. Two ethnic groups – the Hema and the Lendu – have been locked in a long-running violent conflict in Ituri, a gold-rich province that borders Uganda and South Sudan. Armed men affiliated with the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo (CODECO) coalition of militia groups,…
GALATASARAY have been crowned Turkish Super League champions after a dramatic 4-2 victory over Antalyaspor, with Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen delivering a decisive performance that secured the club’s 26th league title. The encounter began with high intensity as Antalyaspor stunned the home supporters by taking the lead just before half-time through Soner Dikmen in the 45th minute, piling early pressure on the league leaders. Galatasaray, however, responded strongly in the second half, with Mario Lemina restoring parity in the 56th minute to reignite belief and momentum among the champions-in-waiting. Antalyaspor quickly regained the advantage just six minutes later with a…
ISRAELI attacks across Lebanon have killed at least 23 people despite a United States-brokered ceasefire, now in its third week. In a statement on Saturday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said an Israeli attack on the town of al-Saksakieh in the southern Sidon district killed at least seven people, including a child, and wounded 15, including three children. Elsewhere, Israeli attacks killed a Syrian man and his daughter in Nabatieh; three people in Nahrain; three in Saadiyat; another three in Haboush; and one in Mefdoun. Later, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that one person was killed when an Israeli…
THE World Health Organization chief said Saturday he had arrived in Spain and would join government officials to oversee the disembarkation of a hantavirus-hit cruise ship in the Canary Islands. “I arrived in Spain, where I will join senior government officials in a mission to Tenerife to oversee safe disembarkation of the passengers, crew members and health experts from MV Hondius cruise ship,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X. Three passengers from the MV Hondius — a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman — have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads…
SOUTH Africa has pushed back against Ghana’s request for a debate at the upcoming African Union summit on xenophobic attacks against African nationals, saying it already acted against recent xenophobic violence. In a statement issued on Friday, the country’s Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation described Ghana’s move to elevate the matter to the African Union as “regrettable,” while insisting it remained open to diplomatic engagement and dialogue. FIRST BANK AD Do you live in Ogijo This comes amid diplomatic tension between South Africa and other African countries, including Ghana and Nigeria. On Thursday, Ghana’s government wrote to the African…
BOTSWANA’s former head of state Festus Mogae has died at the age of 86, President Duma Boko has announced. “Today Botswana mourns a distinguished statesman and patriot whose life was devoted to the service of his country,” Boko announced, adding that Mogae died early on Friday. The former president, who led Botswana from 1998 to 2008, had been in ill health for some time. In a statement last month, the government said he was receiving medical care at a hospital in the capital, Gaborone, without disclosing the nature of his illness. Mogae, the country’s thrid president, is widely credited with…
REAL Madrid announced on Friday that they had fined Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde 500,000 euros ($588,000) each after a training ground clash that left the latter needing hospital treatment. The club did not impose any sporting sanctions on the two players, saying in a statement that the fine “thereby concludes the internal procedures” launched against them. Valverde will miss Sunday’s Clásico against Barcelona as a result of the head injury he suffered during the altercation. The club said he would be out for up to two weeks. Tchouameni took part in training on Friday and could feature at Camp…
FOR 18 months, the family of Eid Nael Abu Shaar, aged 25, a Palestinian man from Gaza, believed this eldest son was dead. They had scoured Gaza for his body, requested a death certificate and erected a tent to mourn his loss ten months after he went missing, but then an unexpected phone call from a lawyer confirmed he was alive and being held in Israel’s Ofer Prison. It ended an agonising year-and-a-half search for Eid, but the revelation highlights the devastating plight of thousands of other families in the Gaza Strip who still await news about their missing relatives.…
UNITED States President Donald Trump says there will be a three-day ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Posting on Truth Social on Friday, the US leader said the truce would last from Saturday to Monday. “I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump posted. Soon after, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on X that a three-day truce had been arranged as part of US efforts to negotiate an end to the more than four-year-old war. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov…
DOZENS of people have reportedly been killed in attacks on two villages in central Mali, the deadliest assault since armed groups launched a co-ordinated offensive in the country last month. At least 30 people were killed when jihadists raided the villages of Korikori and Gomossogou in Mopti region, according to sources quoted by the AFP news agency. Other diplomatic and aid sources separately told the Reuters news agency the death toll from Wednesday’s simultaneous attacks had reached at least 50. The al Qaeda-linked group JNIM said it was responsible. The Malian army said it had conducted a “targeted operation” in…
SOUTH African opposition leader Julius Malema has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign after the Constitutional Court ruled that parliament had violated the constitution by blocking moves to impeach him in 2022. The judgement follows a legal challenge by Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and others, and could result in fresh impeachment proceedings. Ramaphosa’s office said he respects the judgement. In 2022, an independent panel said Ramaphosa may have a case to answer after burglars stole $580,000 (£430,000) in cash, hidden in a sofa, from his rural home. The theft led to allegations that he had not accounted for…
ENGLISH teams have reached the finals of three different European competitions in the same season for the first time. After Arsenal sealed their place in the final of the Champions League with a 2-1 aggregate victory against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace followed suit in their respective competitions later in the week. Unai Emery’s Villa side overturned a 1-0 first leg defeat to thrash Forest 4-1 on aggregate on Thursday and set up a Europa League final meeting with Bundesliga side Freiburg in Istanbul on 20 May. And simultaneous to Villa’s triumph, Crystal Palace followed up…
THE Iranian military has said it retaliated against United States Navy ships after US forces targeted an oil tanker in Iran’s territorial waters, a major escalation that puts further strain on the fragile truce between Washington and Tehran. Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters added on Thursday that the US also violated the ceasefire by carrying out air strikes on civilian areas, including Qeshm Island, “in cooperation with some regional countries”, without identifying them. “The American aggressor, terrorist and bandit army, violating the ceasefire, targeted an Iranian oil tanker,” the statement said. The statement also claimed that the Iranian response caused…
THE World Health Organization said Thursday that more cases of the hantavirus could emerge but expected the outbreak to be “limited” if precautions are taken, after the disease killed three passengers from a cruise ship. Another sick passenger from the MV Hondius landed in Europe earlier in the day, as the vessel headed to a Spanish island and health officials scrambled to map the outbreak of the potentially deadly human-to-human strain. The fate of the Hondius sparked international alarm after three people travelling on it died, though health officials have played down fears of a wider global outbreak from the…
SOUTH Africa’s government has condemned the circulation of what it called “fake videos and images” that have been described by some as recordings of attacks on foreign nationals in the country. The call comes as diplomatic tension has increased between South Africa and other African nations following accusations that xenophobic violence is on the rise once again in the country. Ghana’s government has written to the African Union (AU) asking the continental body to discuss the issue, which it says is a “serious risk to the safety and wellbeing” of Africans in South Africa. Nigeria has also raised the issue…
DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi has said he may consider seeking a third term in office when his mandate expires in 2028. Tshisekedi however said any extension of his presidency would only be done by consulting the people through a referendum. The law allows a maximum of two terms. “I have not asked for a third term, but I’m telling you – if the people want me to have a third term, I will accept,” he said on Wednesday. He added that the elections may not be held on schedule because of the conflict in the east of…