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JAMIE Vardy will leave former Premier League champions Leicester at the end of the season, the relegated club announced on Thursday, describing the lightning-quick forward as their “greatest-ever player”. The talismanic striker, a key member of the side that lifted the English league title against seemingly impossible odds in 2016, vowed to continue playing even at the age of 38. The former England international joined the Foxes in 2012 from non-league side Fleetwood for just £1 million ($1.3 million) and has scored 198 goals in nearly 500 appearances. The club captain is Leicester’s record Premier League goalscorer with 143 goals.…

AT least 59 people, including children, have been killed in a barrage of Israeli attacks across the besieged Gaza Strip, medical sources told Al Jazeera. Rescue teams and medics in the enclave said at least 12 people belonging to the same family were among those killed on Thursday when their home in northern Gaza’s Jabalia was targeted. Six members of another family – a couple and their four children – were killed when an air strike levelled their home in Gaza City, the civil defence said in a statement. Ahmed Arar, a first responder in Gaza City, said there were…

DONALD Trump called Thursday on Vladimir Putin to halt attacks on Ukraine, in a rare rebuke of the Russian leader after Moscow fired missiles and drones at Kyiv in the deadliest attack on the capital in months. The US president’s direct appeal to Putin came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his allies to put Russia under more pressure to halt its invasion. Zelensky cut short a trip to South Africa to deal with the aftermath of the strikes, the latest in a wave of Russian aerial attacks that have killed dozens of civilians. “I am not happy with the…

A NORMALLY bustling border crossing between Tanzania and Malawi was noticeably quieter than usual on Thursday as a result of an escalating regional trade row. From midnight, Tanzania banned the entry of all agricultural imports from Malawi and South Africa in response to what it sees as restrictions on some of its exports. South Africa has for years prohibited the entry of bananas from Tanzania. Malawi last month blocked imports of flour, rice, ginger, bananas and maize from its northern neighbour. “We are taking this step to protect our business interests… in business, we must all respect each other,” Tanzania’s…

THE Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have agreed to halt fighting in the east of the country until peace talks mediated by Qatar reach their “conclusion”. It is the latest truce since the rebels stepped up an offensive in eastern DR Congo where authorities say 7,000 people have been killed since January. Both sides on Wednesday jointly announced to work towards peace following more than a week of talks, which they described as “frank and constructive”. Last month, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame also reaffirmed their commitment to an “unconditional” ceasefire in…

ARDA Guler scored the only goal as Real Madrid defeated Getafe to cut Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga to four points. After suffering elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Arsenal last week, Carlo Ancelotti and his players were under growing pressure to make something of this season. A composed – if unspectacular – performance on a night when nothing but a win would do eased anxieties somewhat. Jude Bellingham started on the bench as Ancelotti made six changes to his team with an eye on Saturday’s Copa del Rey final against Barcelona, while Kylian…

FAR-RIGHT Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has claimed that top US Republican lawmakers support bombing “food and aid depots” in Gaza. The statement, made in a social media post on Wednesday, came after the Israeli national security minister said he had met with “senior Republican Party officials at [US President Donald] Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate” in Florida in the United States. “They expressed support for my very clear position on how to act in Gaza and that the food and aid depots should be bombed in order to create military and political pressure to bring our hostages home safely,” Ben-Gvir posted on…

LITHUANIA’s capital Vilnius presented Wednesday an evacuation plan in case of war, as the Baltic nation worries Russia could target the former Soviet republic next after its invasion of Ukraine. Lithuania, a NATO and EU member, has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since Moscow’s 2022 invasion, and has since ramped up defence spending and training. The three main evacuation routes run west, “as the enemy has historically come from the east”, Vilnius’s Mayor Valdas Benkunskas said at a press conference. “We do not want to cause panic,” he said. “Our goal is clear: to have a plan, to have…

OPPOSITION Lawmakers in Ghana have fiercely condemned the suspension of the country’s chief justice, accusing President John Mahama of trying to “pack the courts” with justices who are sympathetic to the governing party, the NDC. Gertrude Torkornoo was removed from her post on Wednesday – the first time a chief justice has been suspended in the country’s history. The action was taken after three petitions, which made allegations against Ms Torkornoo, were filed. The content of the petitions has not been made public and Ms Torkornoo is yet to comment openly on the matter. Mahama’s supporters have backed the move…

IVORY Coast’s main opposition leader has been removed from the electoral roll by the judiciary which says he is ineligible to run in October’s presidential election. Tidjane Thiam renounced his French citizenship in order to run for president, but a court argued on Thursday that the former Credit Suisse boss forfeited his Ivory Coast nationality when he acquired French citizenship in 1987. Thiam said the court’s decision was an “act of democratic vandalism, which will disenfranchise millions of voters”. His disqualification comes just a week after he was confirmed as the presidential candidate of the centre-right Democratic Party – the…

MANCHESTER United are interested in signing Wolves forward Matheus Cunha this summer. The Brazilian, who has a £62.5m release clause in his Wolves contract, is expected to leave Molineux at the end of the season. Multiple club sources have told BBC Sport the 25-year-old is one of a number of attacking options on United’s shortlist, with Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap, 22, also of interest. Improving United’s scoring record is a priority for head coach Ruben Amorim. Only Southampton, Leicester City, Ipswich, Everton and West Ham have scored fewer than the 38 goals United have managed in 33 Premier League…

ISRAELI forces have killed at least 32 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn, including 11 people who burned to death inside their home in Khan Younis, and carried out air strikes that destroyed equipment used to retrieve the dead from under rubble. Seven members of a family were also killed on Tuesday by an air raid on the home where they were sheltering in western Gaza City. Three civilians, including two girls, were killed when Israeli warplanes targeted a group of people in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, warned…

TURKEY’s opposition has called on supporters to rally outside the parliament in Ankara on Wednesday in defiance of an official ban on gatherings on a symbolic day for the republic. A month after the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest political rival — the president of Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) said he would speak outside parliament as the country marks National Sovereignty Day. Ozgur Ozel, who was recently named as leader of the CHP, which was established by the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Ozel reiterated a call to stage…

GHANA’s president on Tuesday announced the suspension of the country’s top judge while she is investigated for misconduct. The action against Supreme Court Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo came after three separate petitions called for her removal. Allegations against her include tampering with court records and misuse of public funds. A spokesman for President John Mahama said in a statement he had, “in consultation with the Council of State, determined that a prima facie case has been established” and that Torkornoo would be suspended while she is investigated. Specific details of the allegations that the five-member investigative committee will…

SOUTH Sudan’s opposition accused government forces of attacking one of its military positions near the capital on Tuesday as a fragile power-sharing agreement unravelled further. The southern state of Central Equatoria, which includes the capital Juba, was split into areas controlled by government and opposition forces under a 2018 deal that ended South Sudan’s five-year civil war, in which an estimated 400,000 people died. The agreement brought President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, Vice-President Riek Machar, together in a unity government. But the deal has become threatened in recent months as Kiir moves to sideline Machar, who was placed…

TWO children, a 13-year-old boy identified as Imam and a six-year-old girl Nasrin, have been reportedly killed in an explosion at Abakpa area of Kaduna State. Three residents also reportedly sustained injuries in the explosion which occurred on Tuesday, two kilometers away from the old site of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna. Our correspondent reports that the cause of the explosion has not been established, but security agencies are at the scene of the incident to investigate the incident. A resident of the area, who did not want to be mentioned, told our correspondent that he was taking his…

POPE Francis’s funeral will be held on Saturday, the Vatican announced Tuesday, as world leaders from US President Donald Trump to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said they would attend to honour the Catholic leader. The Argentine pontiff, 88, died on Monday from a stroke, less than a month after returning home from five weeks in hospital battling double pneumonia. His funeral, which is expected to draw huge crowds, will take place at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Saturday in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Francis’s coffin — which he previously ordered should be of wood…

LEEDS United and Burnley won promotion to the Premier League on Monday as faltering Sheffield United were forced to settle for a place in the Championship play-offs. Leeds, who last played in the top division in the 2022/23 season, humbled Stoke 6-0 at Elland Road, with Joel Piroe scoring four goals. Daniel Farke’s men knew that if Sheffield United failed to beat Burnley in the later kick-off, they would be back in the Premier League. Captain Josh Brownhill scored twice for Scott Parker’s Burnley, who have made an immediate return to the top flight. Leeds and Burnley both have 94…

THE Israeli military has killed at least 29 Palestinians across Gaza since dawn on Monday, with many fatalities in attacks on tent camps for displaced people. Also the Palestinian Civil Defence and the Palestine Red Crescent Society call for an independent investigation into the deaths of 14 Palestinian emergency workers and a United Nations employee, rejecting an Israeli investigation into last month’s brutal killings. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers have attacked a Bedouin family on the outskirts of the Palestinian village of Sinjil, near Ramallah, and torched their property. A video shared by local media showed several agricultural shacks gutted by the…

POPE Francis died of a cerebral stroke and irreversible heart failure, Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli says in a death certificate. The certificate released on Monday for the 88-year-old pontiff said the pope had fallen into a coma before his death on Monday morning. Francis died of “cerebral stroke, coma, irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse”, the death certificate said. It added that the first Latin American pontiff in the history of the Roman Catholic Church died at 7:35am (05:35 GMT) in his apartment at the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican. Just a day earlier, the pontiff made what would be his final…