Author: Editor

CRISTIANO Ronaldo became the first player to score 900 top-level career goals as Portugal kicked off their Nations League campaign with victory over Croatia. The 39-year-old volleyed in from the edge of the six-yard box in the 34th minute to double Portugal’s lead from Nuno Mendes’ deep cross. It was a record-extending 131st goal for Portugal, coming 20 years after his first, and the veteran sank to his knees in an emotional celebration. Manchester United full-back Diogo Dalot had put Portugal ahead early on but later turned the ball into his own net as Croatia responded before the break. As…

ISRAEL will cease to exist if United States Vice President Kamala is elected to the White House in November, former President Donald Trump has claimed. Addressing Jewish donors in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Thursday, the Republican nominee claimed that Harris would “totally abandon” Israel as president and that “terrorist armies” would wage war to “drive Jews out of the Holy Land”. “You are going to be abandoned if she becomes president, and I think you have to explain that to your people. Because they don’t know it. They have no idea what they are getting into,” Trump said in a…

GERMAN police shot and killed a man who opened fire on them with a vintage rifle near the Israeli consulate in Munich on Thursday in what they treated as a foiled attack on the diplomatic mission.Authorities identified the gunman, who was killed in a hail of police bullets, as an 18-year-old Austrian man but did not immediately comment on media reports that he was a known extremist. German news site Spiegel Online and Austrian media said that he had been investigated last year for allegedly spreading Islamic State group propaganda, but that the case had been dropped. While the motive…

CHINESE leader Xi Jinping on Thursday pledged over $50 billion in financing for Africa over the next three years, promising to deepen cooperation in infrastructure and trade with the continent as he addressed Beijing’s biggest summit since the pandemic. More than 50 African leaders and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres are attending this week’s China-Africa forum, according to state media. African leaders already secured a plethora of deals this week for greater cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, mining, trade and energy. Addressing the leaders at the forum’s opening ceremony in Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of the People on Thursday, Xi hailed…

THE Democratic Republic of the Congo has received its first batch of mpox vaccines, which health authorities hope will help curb an outbreak that has prompted the United Nations to declare a global public health emergency. The Central African country of about 100 million people is at the epicentre of an mpox outbreak that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global public health emergency last month. A plane carrying vaccine doses donated by the European Union touched down in the capital Kinshasa around 1pm local time (12:00 GMT), the Reuters news agency reported. Congo’s Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba…

VICTOR Osimhen will receive €6 million net seasonal salary at Galatasaray following his season-long loan to the Turkish Super League club from Napoli. The Turkish club disclosed this on Wednesday in an official statement announcing the deal for the current reigning African Footballer of the year. This means that the Super Eagles of Nigeria striker will be earning around €115,000 a week after tax during his one year stay in Turkey. “An agreement has been reached with professional footballer Victor James Osimhen and his club SSCN Napoli SPA for the temporary transfer of the player free of charge. “The football…

AN Israeli air attack on a car in the occupied West Bank city of Tubas has killed at least five Palestinian people and left others wounded, local media and medical workers report. Israel said early on Thursday morning that military aircraft took part in “three different attacks” on Palestinian fighters who “posed a threat” to their forces in the Tubas region. Palestinian medics reported that five people were killed in an Israeli air strike targeting a car and two people were injured, one of whom was critical, according to the Palestinian state news agency, Wafa. The Reuters news agency later…

AT least four people died and nine were wounded in a high school shooting in the US state of Georgia on Wednesday, law enforcement authorities said, with a suspect taken into custody. After the latest chapter of America’s gun violence crisis — nearly 400 mass shootings this year alone, by one tally — people gathered at a sports field outside Apalachee High School, some forming a circle with their arms linked. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said four people had been killed. There was no immediate word on a motive. “An additional nine taken to various hospitals with injuries. Suspect…

THE 21-year-old daughter of South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma is marrying the Eswatini king for love, a spokesman for Africa’s last remaining absolute monarchy has told the BBC. Nomcebo Zuma’s engagement to King Mswati III was made official earlier this week at the end of the eight-day reed dance ceremony – a traditional rite of passage for young women and girls held every year. The 56-year-old monarch is currently in a polygamous arrangement with 11 wives – and has been married 15 times in total. Eswatini spokesman Alpheous Nxumalo dismissed outright the suggestion that the marriage would be a…

THE man who had been chief engineer at South Africa’s state-owned passenger rail company has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for faking his qualifications. Once hailed for his successful career, Daniel Mthimkhulu was head of engineering at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) for five years – earning an annual salary of about 2.8m rand ($156,000; £119,000). On his CV, the 49-year-old claimed to have had several mechanical engineering qualifications, including a degree from South Africa’s respected Witwatersrand University as well as a doctorate from a German university. However, the court in Johannesburg heard that he…

THE United States Justice Department has announced criminal charges against top leaders of Hamas over their roles in the October 7 attacks in southern Israel in what some see as a largely symbolic move against the Palestinian organisation. Six defendants, three of whom are deceased, were named in the complaint unsealed on Tuesday. The deceased defendants are former Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in July in Tehran; Mohammed Deif, who was killed in an Israel air strike on Gaza in July; and Marwan Issa, whom Israel said it killed in an attack in March. The living defendants…

THE United States Justice Department has filed charges against a former top aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, accusing the aide of pursuing unlawful “political activities” on behalf of the Chinese government. The aide in question, 41-year-old Linda Sun, was appointed as Hochul’s deputy chief of staff in 2021 and previously worked under Hochul’s predecessor, Governor Andrew Cuomo. But in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday, federal prosecutors accused Sun and her husband Christopher Hu, 40, of using her position to benefit the Chinese government and profit from the exchange. “Linda Sun, a former New York State government employee, acted…

NEARLY 60 percent of young Africans want to leave their countries because their governments are not reining in corruption, according to a new poll of youth across 16 African nations. They cited corruption as the biggest obstacle to progress, according to the 2024 African Youth Survey published on Tuesday. The poll commissioned by the Johannesburg-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation surveyed 5,604 people between the ages of 18 and 24 in Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. Eighty-three percent of them said they are concerned…

UGANDAN athlete Rebecca Cheptegei is in a critical condition in a Kenyan hospital, after allegedly being doused with petrol and set on fire by a former boyfriend. The 33-year-old marathon runner, who competed at the recent Paris Olympics, had suffered extensive burns, the doctor treating her said. She was attacked at her home in western Kenya, where she had been training. There are concerns about the increasing cases of violence against female athletes in Kenya, some of which have resulted in death. Ms Cheptegei is said to have been rescued by neighbours after the incident that happened on Sunday at…

A ONE-YEAR loan deal has been sealed between Napoli and Turkish club Galatasaray for Victor Osimhen. The Super Eagles of Nigeria forward is already on his way to Turkey for presentation to Galatasaray fans. According to a post by Fabrizio Romano on his X handle on Monday night, Napoli’s release clause has been reduced from €130m to €75m. The deal also leaves Napoli with an option to extend the player’s contract until 2027. The loan move to Galatasaray until June 2025 covers Osimhen €9/10m salary. The move to Turkey ends the transfer saga involving the Nigerian striker, Chelsea and Saudi…

IN what is still a rare public criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu, United States President Joe Biden has said that the Israeli prime minister is not doing enough to finalise a Gaza ceasefire deal. Biden told reporters outside the White House on Monday that the US is “very close” to presenting a final proposal that would lead to the release of Israeli captives in Gaza. Asked why he thinks this push would succeed when other attempts to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza have failed, Biden said: “Hope springs eternal.” The US president then answered with a simple “no” when a…

THE United Kingdom says it will suspend 30 out of 350 arms exports licences to Israel, citing a “clear risk” they could be used in serious breaches of international humanitarian law. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament on Monday that the partial ban covers items “which could be used in the current conflict in Gaza” against Hamas but did not include parts for F-35 fighter jets. He said the decision to suspend the licences did not amount to a blanket ban or an arms embargo, adding that the UK continues to support Israel’s right to self-defence in accordance with international…

AUTHORITIES in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have said at least 129 people were killed while trying to escape from the central Makala prison in the capital Kinshasa. In a statement posted on X early on Tuesday, Interior Minister Shabani Lukoo said prisoners attempted the break out on Monday amid a fire that hit the building’s administrative buildings including the infirmary. “The provisional toll is 129 dead, including 24 by gunfire, after warning,” Lukoo said in a statement posted on X, adding that some 59 people were injured. He said there was “significant material damage.” Lukoo said he…

TUNISIA’s electoral commission has approved just three candidates to run in next month’s presidential election ignoring a court ruling to reinstate three others. Among those approved are President Kais Saied and Ayachi Zammel, whose campaign team had earlier said had been arrested on Monday. The president faces accusations of trying to restrict the number of those allowed to run against him. Since he won his first term in 2019 Mr Saied has suspended parliament and concentrated power in his hands. Last week, the country’s highest court said three candidates who had been barred from running by the electoral commission should…

MANCHESTER United manager Erik ten Hag says he is “not Harry Potter”, and is adamant his side have a great chance to lift a trophy this season despite their chastening 3-0 home defeat by Liverpool. The visitors already had a goal ruled out before Luis Diaz struck twice in seven first-half minutes at Old Trafford. Mohamed Salah added a third nine minutes after the restart and United were fortunate to escape without a repeat of their 5-0 humiliation in the same fixture in 2021. It was a bad day for Ten Hag given his starting line-up included six of his…