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MORE than 700 Airbus Atlantic staff are believed to have fallen ill following the company’s Christmas dinner, health authorities in France have said. Workers from the aerospace group’s site in western France were left suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea, Agence Régionale de Santé (ARS) said. It is unclear what was on the menu at the festive feast turned nightmare before Christmas. Airbus told the BBC, however, that only “around 100” were taken ill. In a statement, it said it was co-operating with the ARS “to identify the cause of the illness and ensure this cannot happen again in the future”.…

A WEST African delegation led by the leaders of Senegal and Ghana were in Sierra Leone on Saturday to lay the groundwork for a “security mission” in the wake of an alleged coup attempt in November. On November 26, armed attackers stormed a military armoury, two barracks, two prisons and two police stations, clashing with security forces. Twenty-one people were killed and hundreds of prisoners escaped before authorities were able to regain control after what they deemed a coup attempt by members of the armed forces. The violence sparked fears of another coup in West Africa, where Mali, Burkina Faso,…

AN attack by rebels in western Burundi has killed 20 people, all but one of them civilians, the government said on Saturday. The attack was claimed by the RED-Tabara rebel group, which in its own statement said it had killed 10 members of the security forces. The attack occurred on Friday evening in the town of Vugizo, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo where the rebels have a base. The government said the “terrorist, vile, barbaric act” targeted civilians and killed “12 children, including five less than five years old; three women including two who are pregnant;…

NIGERIAN striker, Victor Osimhen, has renewed his contract with Napoli which will now see him remain at the club until 2026. The Italian champions announced the contract extension of the African Footballer of the Year in a post on its official X handle on Saturday. “Victor and Napoli together until 2026,” said Napoli on social media, alongside a picture of the Nigerian international striker signing the new deal alongside club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis. Napoli have not revealed any details of the new contract but Italian media report that a release clause worth between 120 million and 130 million euros…

MANCHESTER City won the Club World Cup for the first time to end 2023 with five trophies after a 4-0 win over Fluminense in Jeddah on Friday. City’s victory extended European clubs’ domination of the competition since 2012 and was never in doubt once Julian Alvarez opened the scoring inside the first minute. Nino’s first-half own goal realistically ended the Brazilians’ dreams of an upset, before Phil Foden and Alvarez rounded off the scoring in the final 20 minutes. City’s poor Premier League form before flying out to Saudi Arabia had raised Fluminense hopes that Pep Guardiola’s men could be…

URUGUAYAN striker Luis Suarez, a former Barcelona, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid and Ajax star, will join Inter Miami for the 2024 season, the MLS club announced on Friday. Suarez, who turns 37 next month, won four Liga titles and the Champions League with Barcelona and also collected league titles with Ajax and Atletico. He joins a Miami side that contains former Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. “I’m very happy and excited to take on this new challenge with Inter Miami,” Suarez said. “I can’t wait to get started and I’m ready to work to make the dream…

ISRAEL’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip continued late into the night on Friday, with reports of sustained air strikes and bombardments. An Israeli air strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp killed at least 18 people, according to Palestinian media. People in another camp, Bureij, were ordered by Israel’s army to move south as it continued its ground offensive. In New York, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution urging more humanitarian aid for Gaza. However the motion fell short of calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war. Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, said at least 18 people died…

FORMER Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was granted bail Friday in a case alleging he leaked state secrets, lawyers said, but he remained jailed on other charges ahead of an election due in February. Khan — detained since August — alleges the powerful military is colluding with dynastic parties that have long dominated Pakistan to crush his populist movement and prevent him from standing for office. The 71-year-old has been pummelled by a barrage of legal cases since being ousted in April 2022 after falling out with the top brass, and has twice been jailed. “The case has completely collapsed,…

A BELGIAN court on Friday sentenced a Rwandan former militia leader to life in jail for dozens of murders and rapes committed during the 1994 genocide. Seraphin Twarhirwa, 66, was found guilty of directly participating in or overseeing the atrocities by Hutu Interahamwe militiamen in Kigali during the slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus 30 years ago. A second defendant Pierre Basabose, a one-time close associate of former President Juvenal Habyarimana, was also found guilty of “genocide” and “war crimes” for funding the militia. But the 76-year-old, who suffers from incurable senile dementia and was unable to attend hearings, was…

SUDAN’s army chief has lambasted “negligent” commanders after a rival paramilitary group captured the strategic city of Wad Madani. The army had been criticised for leaving the capital of Gezira state, without putting up a fight. More than 300,000 people have fled Gezira, which had been seen as a safe haven in the eight-month civil war. Four days after Wad Madani’s fall, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan addressed the matter publicly. “We will hold every negligent commander accountable. Those who were responsible for this withdrawal will also be held accountable without leniency,” he said. The army says it will investigate the…

THE goalkeeper and assistant coach of an Algerian top-flight club have been killed in a team bus crash, prompting the national federation to call off all matches this weekend. Ten other players from the MC El Bayadh squad were injured in the accident as the team travelled north to Tizi Ouzou for their weekend fixture against JS Kabylie, the Algerian Football Federation said. The federation said the bus crashed in Tiaret, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) from the Mediterranean coast, but did not elaborate on the cause. It said that as a mark of respect it had decided to “suspend…

IRAN’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Ali Bagheri Kani, has called on Islamic countries to ensure Palestinians have an opportunity to determine their own fate. Bagheri Kani made the remarks at a meeting with Ahmad Yildiz, his counterpart from Turkey, who was in Tehran as the head of a delegation of Turkish officials on Thursday. The talks covered various topics of mutual interest in bilateral, regional and international fields. Both sides explored new ways to promote Tehran-Ankara relations in political, security, economic, cultural, media and scientific fields. Among the key issues discussed was the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza,…

US actor Vin Diesel’s former personal assistant is suing the Fast & Furious star, accusing him of sexual assault during the 2010 filming of Fast Five. A lawyer for the actor, real name Mark Sinclair, said his client “denies this claim in its entirety”. Asta Jonasson claims in the lawsuit that the actor pinned her to a wall as he performed a sex act on himself. She is further suing for wrongful termination, claiming his company fired her hours after the alleged attack. Ms Jonasson’s lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles on Thursday, alleges that the sexual battery took…

ANGOLA said on Thursday it would leave OPEC over a disagreement on production quotas following the oil cartel’s decision last month to further slash output next year. Mineral Resources and Petroleum minister Diamantino Azevedo said that the decision was not taken lightly, but OPEC membership no longer served the African country’s interests. “We feel that at this moment Angola gains nothing by remaining in the organization and, in defence of its interests, it decided to leave,” the presidency quoted Azevedo as saying in a statement. The presidency said the decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by President Joao…

FRANCE will close its embassy in Niger, where anti-French sentiment has grown since a July coup, because a staff exodus following an attack left it unable to function, diplomatic sources said Thursday. “After the attack on our embassy July 30, and the setting up of a blockade around our building by Niger forces, most of our diplomatic staff left in late September,” the sources said. “The French embassy in Niger is therefore no longer able to function normally or fulfil its missions. Taking note of this situation, we have decided to close our embassy.” Local staff members have been dismissed…

THE Federal Government has resumed payment of arrears to beneficiaries of the N-Power programme. The beneficiaries were being owed some months’ salaries by the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration. However, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, said the payment of arrears to beneficiaries which was started on Wednesday (yesterday) will continue until the last person is paid. Edu was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday monitored by News Point Nigeria. “Presently, a payment for N-Power is ongoing; we were in the office yesterday up until the early hours of this morning, just to…

KYLIAN Mbappe marked his 25th birthday with two goals as Paris St-Germain beat Metz – with his 16-year-old brother Ethan making his debut late on. Vitinha put the French champions ahead from Lee Kang-in’s 49th-minute cross. Mbappe fired a brilliant second into the top corner from 20 yards before Matthieu Udol gave Metz hope. PSG’s all-time top goalscorer got his second when he ran on to a loose backpass before rounding the goalkeeper with seven minutes remaining. He is the first PSG player to score a league goal on his birthday for six years – when he netted in a…

AT least 20,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began bombarding the enclave more than 10 weeks ago, according to Palestinian officials. At least 8,000 children and 6,200 women are among those killed, Gaza’s Government Media Office said on Wednesday. The grim milestone was passed as the United Nations Security Council postponed a key vote on a bid to boost humanitarian aid for Gaza for the third time to avoid a veto from the United States, which traditionally shields its ally Israel from UN action. Since a seven-day truce collapsed on December 1, the war has…

BODIES of 87 people killed during bitter ethnic violence over the past eight months in India’s Manipur state were buried in a mass ceremony on Wednesday, a community leader said. At least 200 people have been killed in the northeastern state since fighting broke out in May between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community. Tensions between the two communities have revolved around competition for land and public jobs, with rights activists accusing local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain. The far-flung state has fractured along ethnic lines, with rival militias setting up blockades…

THE African Development Bank (AfDB) said Wednesday it was withdrawing international staff from Ethiopia after the arrest and assault of two staffers “by Ethiopian security forces” in October. It said two of its Addis Ababa-based staff had been “unlawfully arrested, physically assaulted, and detained for hours without charge or any official explanation” at the end of October. “This was a gross violation of their personal diplomatic immunities, rights, and privileges,” the Abidjan-based bank said in a statement. The AfDB office in the Ethiopian capital will remain open with local staff, it added. The bank did not identify the two victims.…