SUPER Eagles coach Jose Peseiro insisted his team did everything to start their 2023 AFCON campaign on a winning note after settling for a 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday. Reining African Player of The Year, Victor Osimhen, spared the Eagles blushes with a towering goal-mouth header after the Equatoguineans had opened scoring through Iban Salvador. Osimhen and his teammates were, however, guilty of not burying their chances as the game ended in a stalemate, leaving them with some work to do when they face Ivory Coast in the next game. Peseiro was seemingly pleased with the performance of…
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VINICIUS Junior struck a first-half hat-trick to fire Real Madrid to Spanish Super Cup glory in a thumping 4-1 win over rivals Barcelona on Sunday in Saudi Arabia. Robert Lewandowski struck for Barcelona, who had defender Ronald Araujo sent off in the second half on a dismal night for the Spanish champions. Rodrygo rounded off Real Madrid’s rout as they won the competition for the 13th time, avenging last year’s final defeat by record 14-time winners Barcelona. “(Vinicius) needed two or three games to get back to his best level, and he’s back to it,” said Real Madrid coach Carlo…
THE war between Israel and Hamas entered its 101st day on Sunday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “no one will stop us” from destroying the Hamas. The conflict has triggered a humanitarian crisis, with more than 23,000 people reported killed in Gaza and much of the besieged Palestinian territory reduced to rubble, as fears grow that fighting could engulf the wider region. Fresh strikes hit Iran-backed Huthis in Yemen on Saturday after the rebels warned of more attacks in support of Gaza on what they deem Israeli-linked Red After the Hague-based International Court of Justice heard arguments this…
IRAN has freed two female journalists jailed for more than a year for covering the death of Mahsa Amini, which triggered nationwide protests. Niloufar Hamedi, 31, and Elaheh Mohammadi, 36, were released on bail, Iranian media reported. The reporters are appealing against jail sentences and will remain out of prison until a court makes a decision, reports said. Ms Amini died in custody after being detained by Iran’s morality police. She had been held for allegedly violating strict rules requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf. Iran’s state coroner attributed her death to pre-existing medical conditions,…
TWENTY-TWO people have died following a landslide at an illegal mine in northern Tanzania, officials said. The incident occurred at Ng’alita mine in Bariadi district, Simiyu region on Saturday, district commissioner Simon Simalenga said. It occurred after a group of people started mining in an area where activity was restricted due to heavy rains, he told Reuters news agency. President Samia Suluhu Hassan expressed her “great sadness” at the news. “These fellow Tanzanians were small miners in the area, trying to earn a living for themselves, their families,” she said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Mr…
NAMIBIA has condemned former colonial ruler Germany for rejecting a case at the UN’s top court accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Germany has offered to intervene on Israel’s behalf in the case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. President Hage Geingob urged Germany to “reconsider its untimely decision to intervene as a third-party in defence”. In 2021 Berlin acknowledged committing genocide in Namibia. German colonisers massacred more than 70,000 Herero and Nama people between 1904 and 1908. Historians consider this to be the 20th Century’s first genocide. President Geingob said…
CAMEROON captain Vincent Aboubakar will miss his team’s opening group game at the Africa Cup of Nations against Guinea due to injury, the team’s coaching staff told AFP on Saturday. The Besiktas striker pulled out of a training session on Friday with a left thigh issue, but tests carried out revealed only a “minor injury”, the Cameroon team doctor said in a statement. It was initially feared the problem could rule the 31-year-old Aboubakar out of the tournament. Cameroon face Guinea on Monday before a heavyweight clash with defending champions Senegal on January 19. They face Gambia four days later…
MANCHESTER City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne says he has missed playing football and influencing games while he has been out with a hamstring injury. The Belgian came off the bench at Newcastle and equalised for the Blues before an inch-perfect pass set up Oscar Bobb’s stoppage-time winner. De Bruyne, 32, was playing in the league for the first time since the opening day of the season on 11 August. “I enjoyed myself. It was crazy,” De Bruyne told TNT Sports. “I missed this. I had a big injury and I needed the time.” Of his performance, he added: “I think…
THE United Nations said on Saturday the Gaza war was “staining humanity” on the eve of its 100th day as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on vows to defeat Hamas. The devastating conflict has unleashed a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and fears of a regional escalation intensified after US and British forces struck pro-Hamas Houthi rebels in Yemen on Friday following attacks on Red Sea shipping. Israel vowed to destroy Gaza’s rulers and launched a relentless bombardment that has killed at least 23,843 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll from the territory’s health ministry.…
TAIWAN’s president-elect Lai Ching-te vowed Saturday to defend the self-ruled island from “intimidation” by China, after voters defied warnings from Beijing and swept him to election victory. Lai — branded by Beijing as a threat to peace in the flashpoint region — secured an unprecedented third consecutive term for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Saturday’s poll after a raucous campaign in which he pitched himself as a defender of Taiwan’s democratic way of life. Communist China claims democratic Taiwan, separated from the mainland by a 180-kilometer (110-mile) strait, as its own and refuses to rule out using force to…
A MINISTER from Mali’s military government has said his junta wishes to hold transitional elections “as soon as possible”, according to the state-owned news site L’Essor. Col Abdoulaye Maiga said the latest challenge to the electoral process is the resumption of hostilities with former northern separatist groups, but assured the public that the government was working to ensure stability. He also addressed the junta postponement of elections last September. “Whether we like it or not, and whatever the arguments for or against, today Kidal [a stronghold recovered by the army last year] is the result of the extension. “These are…
A STATUE of the late South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu wearing a Palestinian scarf has been unveiled in Cape Town to symbolise his support for the Palestinian cause. The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said the statue would be temporarily on show until the bombing of Gaza stops. Israel says it is trying to eliminate Hamas, which launched an attack on Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,300 people and taking some 240 others back to Gaza as hostages. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 23,350 people – mostly women and children – have been killed…
THE hosts, Ivory Coast start with three points! Terrific finishes in either half – first from Seko Fofana, then Jean-Philippe Krasso – give them a reasonably comfortable victory over a game but toiling Guinea-Bissau. On a night when winning was all-important, Ivory Coast have delivered. It wasn’t quite as goal-laden as their 5-1 friendly win over Sierra Leone last Saturday, but Ivory Coast have now scored at least twice in each of their last four matches, hitting the net 18 times across those games. The test will be whether they can continue that form against sterner defences. Most of the…
THE 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations – one of the most exciting events on this year’s sporting calendar – kicks off in just 10 minutes’ time. Absorbing games, crackling atmospheres and drama featuring some of the best players in the world are guaranteed as holders Senegal defend the trophy they won by beating Egypt on penalties in the 2021 final in Cameroon two years ago. Hosts Ivory Coast and underdogs Guinea-Bissau are about to start almost a month of action as 24 teams take to six stadiums which are either new or transformed for Afcon – and…
MANCHESTER City striker Erling Haaland is likely to be out until the end of January, manager Pep Guardiola says. A foot injury has kept 23-year-old Haaland out since the defeat by Aston Villa on 6 December, although few details have been given. It had been hoped City’s top scorer would return for the Club World Cup in December but the injury has still not healed. “It’s the bone. It needs time,” Guardiola said. “With every injury you can do whatever you want but it’s a question of time.” Norway international Haaland, who has scored 19 goals in 22 club games…
IT is time to stop talking about the risk that the war in Gaza will spread elsewhere in the Middle East. It has already happened. Hopes for containing what is happening rest on the fact that it is still relatively low-level, compared to the worst-case scenarios of regional war. The US and British attacks on the Houthis in Yemen are not just, as ministers in London have suggested, about the freedom of navigation and world trade. They are directly linked to events in Gaza and represent an escalation of the crisis that is gripping the region. The Houthis immediately vowed…
THE UN’s top legal body has now heard two days of powerful legal argument on the “crime of all crimes”: genocide. It is now for the judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to decide whether Israel, in its war in Gaza, is guilty of an attempt to “destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part,” as defined by the 1948 Convention on Genocide. There could hardly be a more weighty matter. Both sides have played heavily on the strong emotions swirling around the conflict that erupted on 7 October last year. Around 1,300…
CAPE Verde has become the third African nation and first West African to be declared malaria free, even as the disease continues to kill hundreds of thousands of people on the continent, the World Health Organization said Friday. The Atlantic archipelago of about 500,000 inhabitants follows Mauritius in 1973 and Algeria in 2019. Worldwide some 43 countries have been certified as malaria-free by the WHO, which requires showing that the domestic chain of transmission has been broken for at least three consecutive years. “I salute the government and people of Cabo Verde for their unwavering commitment and resilience in their…
FIGHTING between rival Sudanese forces, including air strikes on the capital Khartoum, have killed at least 33 civilians, pro-democracy lawyers said overnight to Friday. Sudan has been gripped by nearly nine months of war pitting army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his former deputy, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. The war has claimed at least 12,190 lives according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project, and the United Nations says more than seven million people have been displaced. On Thursday, 23 civilians were killed and several more wounded by aerial bombing in Khartoum’s Soba…
GOVERNOR Agbu Kefas of Taraba state has described as devastating news of the demise of ace journalists Isa Gasau who passed on Thursday night. Isa Gusau, until his death, was spokesman to Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno state. He has also held high media profiles with other governors of Borno state. Governor Kefas said Gusau, a consumate news man, will be sorely missed by his colleagues and the people of Borno state where he worked as spokesman in various governments. He prayed for the repose of Gusau soul while condoling with family and associates of the late reporter. Governor Kefas…