Author: Editor

THE UN says it has pulled its peacekeepers out of a camp in northern Mali earlier than planned, because “their lives were in danger”. It says its last convoy left the camp in Tessalit on Saturday. Mali’s military leaders, who ordered the withdrawal of all UN and French troops earlier this year, says the Tessalit camp is now in its control. Saturday’s withdrawal happened “in an extremely tense and degraded security context putting in danger the lives of personnel”, said the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, Minusma, in a statement seen by AFP. With fewer international troops on the ground…

AN auction in France of items belonging to the first Senegalese president has been delayed, as the government in Dakar negotiates to buy them directly. Léopold Sédar Senghor’s possessions – including military medals and jewellery – were to be sold in the city of Caen. The current president of Senegal, Macky Sall, urged the culture minister and the embassy in Paris to hold discussions with the auctioneers. Senghor led Senegal for 20 years after independence from France in 1960. He was a distinguished poet who pioneered Négritude – an anti-colonialist movement that championed African cultures – alongside Martinican poet Aimé…

FORMER two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has revealed the punch that he won’t forget among some of the big hits he has received in his boxing career. From the beating he sustained at the hands of Andy Ruiz Jr, the 24 rounds he shared with world champion Oleksandr Usyk, the war against Wladimir Klitschko where he was hurt on numerous occasions and getting clipped by Russian dynamo Alexander Povetkin, Joshua had been on the receiving end of some heavy leather. However, in a recent feature with Men’s Health when asked the most pain he ever felt in the ring,…

MANCHESTER United manager Erik ten Hag believes “a legend and giant” has been lost in the passing of Sir Bobby Charlton. And Ten Hag said that his players were inspired to their 2-1 win at Sheffield United by wanting to pay a fitting tribute to the 1966 World Cup hero. Charlton’s death at the age of 86 was announced four hours before kick-off at Bramall Lane, as Diogo Dalot curled home a suitably spectacular winner late on. Having said before the game United ‘have to win for Sir Bobby’ following the announcement of Charlton’s passing, it was appropriate in-form midfielder…

ISRAEL is to step up its punishing strikes in Gaza to increase pressure on Hamas, a military spokesman said Saturday as top officers warned troops to be ready to enter the besieged Palestinian territory. Since shock Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, Israel has launched devastating air and ground bombardments of Gaza. The Hamas authorities say 4,385 people have died. Israel has massed tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks along the Gaza border for a widely anticipated ground invasion. “We have to enter the next phase of the war in the best conditions, not according to…

SIX postal workers have been killed and a further 16 injured after a missile hit a distribution centre in eastern Ukraine late on Saturday night. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram the Nova Poshta sorting office was struck in Kharkiv. Pictures from the scene posted on President Zelensky’s account showed the building with windows blown out. Kharkiv’s regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said the victims all worked for the postal company. Police said 22 people were inside when the suspected S-300 rocket hit the building just before 22:30 local time (20:30 BST). Investigators, together with criminologists and forensic experts, are…

SIX people including two civilians were killed and nine others wounded in a suicide attack on a military outpost in the outskirts of the Somali capital Mogadishu Saturday, police said. Witnesses told AFP a suicide bomber drove a vehicle loaded with explosives to the Ceelasha-Biyaha military post in the western suburbs of Mogadishu. The subsequent powerful blast caused extensive damage, including to nearby homes, they said. “The Kharijites (al-Shabaab), as they usually do, tried to bring a vehicle loaded with explosives and metal into Mogadishu,” said Somali police spokesman Sadik Dudishe. “But after they were denied access, they have detonated…

MORE than 45,000 hens have been slaughtered, burnt and buried in southern Mozambique to prevent the spread of bird flu, officials say. The birds had been imported from neighbouring South Africa, which has been hit by an outbreak of the disease. The outbreak has now spread to Mozambique’s district of Morrumbene in the southern Inhambane province. Authorities are trying to contain it as fears grow that it could spread to other parts of the country. Bird flu is an infectious disease of poultry and wild birds. It can spread through entire flocks of domestic birds within a matter of days,…

SIR Bobby Charlton, the Manchester United legend who was a key figure in England’s 1966 World Cup victory, has died at the age of 86. Charlton won 106 caps for England and scored 49 international goals – records for his country at the time. During a 17-year first-team career with United he won three league titles, a European Cup and an FA Cup. Charlton’s family said he “passed peacefully in the early hours of Saturday morning”. In November 2020, it was announced Charlton had been diagnosed with dementia. He died surrounded by his family, who said in a statement they…

THE Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, has congratulated the leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, and New Nigeria People’s Party Presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso on the auspicious occasion of his 67th birthday. The congratulatory message was contained in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Yusufc, Bature Sanusi Dawakin Tofa, and issued to newsmen on Saturday. Governor Yusuf described Kwankwaso as a man of principle, courage, patience, perseverance and foresight. “Your ideology of human capital development and the passion for the masses is a great example to all contemporary leaders,” the…

FIFA on Friday suspended a former youth coach in the Democratic Republic of Congo from football for 20 years for sexually abusing a youth player. The governing body of world football said in a statement that Jonathan Bukabakwa had been “found guilty of sexually abusing a minor football player”. It said the adjudicatory chamber had also fined Bukabakwa 100,000 Swiss francs (112,000 dollars). The case, said FIFA’s statement, followed allegations on several media platforms of the sexual abuse of minors by coaches in different regions and leagues in DR Congo. Bukabakwa was provisionally suspended for five months earlier this year.…

ARSENAL’s late winner against Manchester City two weeks ago has fuelled the Gunners’ belief that they can end a 20-year wait to win the title. Mikel Arteta’s men are second, behind north London rivals Tottenham only on goals scored, and will end Saturday top of the table if they win because Spurs are not in action until Monday. The international break came at the wrong time for Chelsea after they posted back-to-back league wins under Mauricio Pochettino for the first time. The Blues have finally found their scoring touch, netting six times in victories against Fulham and Burnley, but Arsenal…

GAZA’s Hamas rulers released two Americans on Friday among some 200 hostages they abducted in brutal October 7 attacks in Israel and indicated that more could follow. Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan were back in Israel late Friday, the Israeli government said. No details were given on their condition but US President Joe Biden quickly said he was “overjoyed” at the news. And Hamas said it was working with Qatar and Egypt to free its “civilian” hostages, in a sign that more releases could follow. The pair were met at the Gaza border by an Israeli…

ITALIAN Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced on Friday she was separating from her partner, with whom she has a daughter after he was recorded making sleazy comments. The announcement came after Andrea Giambruno, a television presenter, was caught making overtly sexual and sexist comments to female colleagues off-air. “My relationship with Andrea Giambruno, which lasted almost 10 years, ends here,” Meloni wrote on social media, saying their paths had “diverged for some time”. “How do you do, darling?” Giambruno is heard telling a female colleague on the sidelines of his talk show on the Rete 4 channel, owned by Mediaset.…

LAWYERS for Niger’s ousted president on Friday rejected claims by the new military rulers that he had tried to escape, as France said its forces would be gone from the West African country by year’s end as planned. Since he was toppled by the military on July 26, Niger’s president Mohamed Bazoum had been held at his residence in the heart of the presidential palace along with his wife and son. The military regime said late on Thursday that Bazoum had “tried to escape” with his family, two cooks and two security agents. The escape plan involved getting to a…

TWO Namibian trainee nurses are facing disciplinary action after they posted a video on TikTok of themselves dancing inside a health clinic. The two said they were celebrating after helping a patient successfully deliver a baby, local media report. Privately owned Welwitchia Health Training Centre said the dancing was “unacceptable behaviour” and summoned them before a disciplinary panel. The main students’ union in Namibia has called for a fair hearing. Charmaine Keandra and Smart Muranda are seen in their nursing uniforms dancing in front of an empty patient bed. The Namibian newspaper reported the video was recorded two weeks ago…

SAUDI Arabia wants to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup, says the technical director of the country’s women’s team. The Gulf kingdom has already lodged a formal bid to host the 2034 men’s World Cup. “I believe it’s a bright future (for the women’s and girls’ game in Saudi Arabia),” said Monika Staab at the Leaders Week conference at Twickenham. Saudi Arabia has been accused of human rights abuses and same-sex sexual activity is illegal. There are also concerns over women’s rights in the county. Many women’s football players are open about their sexuality, with several critical of plans for…

CANADA said Thursday it had withdrawn 41 diplomats from India — fallout from a bitter row over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil. New Delhi planned to revoke diplomatic immunity for all but 21 of Canada’s diplomats and their families by Friday, forcing Ottawa to pull out the others, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said. “We have facilitated their safe departure from India,” Joly added. “This means that our diplomats and their families have now left.” Relations between India and Canada have plunged since Ottawa last month publicly linked Indian intelligence to the killing of Canadian citizen…

A US Navy ship in the Red Sea on Thursday shot down missiles and drones that had been fired by Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen, possibly at Israel, the Pentagon said. Three “land-attack cruise missiles and several drones” were intercepted by a destroyer, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters. The attack was “launched by Huthi forces in Yemen” potentially toward targets in Israel, he added. The ship, USS Carney, was patrolling in the Red Sea as part of a heavily reinforced US military presence ordered by President Joe Biden to maintain stability in the wake of war between…

THE military government in Niger says it has foiled an attempt by the deposed former President, Mohamed Bazoum, to escape from custody. The former president attempted to flee in the night with his family, cooks and security, a military spokesman said. There were plans for the group to fly out on helicopters but the plan was foiled, he added. Mr Bazoum has been under house arrest since members of his presidential guard staged a coup in late July. Niger is a key part of the African region known as the Sahel – a belt of land that stretches from the…