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GABON’s military leader Gen Brice Oligui Nguema has said he is giving up his salary as president and will only receive a wage as commander of the republican guard. He became the interim president following the overthrow of President Ali Bongo in August. Wednesday night’s announcement was made by the junta spokesperson, who said Gen Nguema took the decision because he was “aware of the social emergencies and many expectations of the Gabonese people”. “Each day that passes allows the [junta] to become more aware of the general state of deterioration of the country and of public finances in particular,”…

AC Milan’s Samuel Chukwueze has picked up a left hamstring injury while on Nigeria duty, the club said on Wednesday and could miss a month of action. “Samuel Chukwueze is already back at Milanello: the Nigerian suffered a left hamstring injury while away on international duty,” said the Serie A leaders in a statement on the club’s website. Milan did not specify the length of time the winger will be absent, but the Italian press has suggested Chukwueze will be out for one month. The Nigerian winger joins his compatriot Victor Osimhen on the physio’s table after the Napoli striker…

LIGUE 1 side Nice suspended Algerian international Youcef Atal “until further notice” on Wednesday after he shared a controversial post on social media linked to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. Even though he quickly deleted the post and apologised, the club said in a press release that, given the “seriousness” of the post, it was taking immediate disciplinary action “prior to any action that may be taken by the sporting and legal authorities”. French prosecutors on Monday launched a preliminary investigation into Atal on suspicion of “glorifying terrorism”. Atal, 27, was called into a meeting…

THE US Treasury announced sanctions on 10 Hamas members, operatives and financial facilitators Wednesday, including a key commander, as conflict rages after the militant group’s surprise attack on Israel. The new sanctions target individuals based in Gaza and elsewhere, including Sudan, Turkey, Algeria and Qatar, the US agency said in a statement. “The United States is taking swift and decisive action to target Hamas’s financiers and facilitators following its brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a statement. Hamas launched a surprise assault inside Israel on October 7, killing 1,400 people. After…

VENEZUELAN government officials and representatives of the opposition have signed an agreement which lays some of the groundwork for presidential elections that will be recognised by both sides to be held. The government agreed to invite international observers to monitor the election, which has been scheduled for the second half of 2024. The 2018 election had been widely dismissed as neither free nor fair. The deal was signed in Barbados. The agreement constitutes a rare breakthrough after a 11-month hiatus during which talks had stalled. But analysts point out that it fails to address many of the issues which the…

THE Senegalese opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, says he has resumed a hunger strike. He was jailed several months ago on various charges including criminal association with a terrorist enterprise and undermining state security. He says the charges were instigated by President Macky Sall and aimed at preventing him from running in presidential elections next year. In July, after years of uncertainty over his political future, Mr Sall said he would not be seeking a third term in office in 2024. Sonko said his renewed action was a demonstration of solidarity with other activists who had been unjustly arrested for expressing…

WITH almost all votes counted in Liberia’s election, President George Weah and his main rival Joseph Boakai are still running neck and neck, meaning they are set for a run-off. Mr Weah currently has 43.8% of the vote with Mr Boakai on 43.5%, provisional results show. A candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to be declared the winner. The 10 October election was Liberia’s closest presidential race since a civil war ended two decades ago. The election commission released the latest results after votes had been counted in more than 98% of polling stations, giving Mr Weah a…

GERMAN football club Mainz on Tuesday said they had suspended player Anwar El Ghazi after the winger made an “unacceptable” comment on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on social media. “El Ghazi took a position on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East that was deemed unacceptable,” the Bundesliga club said in a statement. Dutch international El Ghazi made the comments in a “since-deleted” post on social media on Sunday night, Mainz said. “Prior to making this decision, the club and the player had engaged in an in-depth discussion. Mainz said they respected that there were “varying perspectives on the…

ENGLAND confirmed their qualification for Euro 2024 in Germany next summer after coming from behind to beat Italy at Wembley inspired by another Jude Bellingham masterclass. Gareth Southgate’s side only needed a point to secure their place and it briefly looked like the celebrations may be delayed when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca gave Italy the lead from close range after 15 minutes. Bellingham was England’s talisman once more as the 20-year-old Real Madrid star led the comeback, winning the penalty that brought captain Harry Kane’s equaliser. Kane scored his 60th goal for his country after Bellingham ran…

ISRAELI air strikes on a hospital compound in the Gaza Strip killed at least 500 people, officials in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said on Tuesday, sparking widespread condemnation and fury. But Israel’s army blamed a rocket misfired by militants in Gaza. Al Jazeera footage from the scene showed medics and civilians recovering bodies with white bags or blankets. Bloodstains and multiple torched cars were visible in the dark hospital courtyard. The strike came just hours before US President Joe Biden was due in the Middle East, to balance US backing for Israel with stopping its war against Hamas from spiralling…

UKRAINE has used US-supplied long-range missiles for the first time, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. His comments follow reports the weapons, known as ATACMS, destroyed nine helicopters at Russian bases in the east of the country. Ukraine has not confirmed the missiles were used. Ukraine said an air defence system and other equipment were among the targets hit in Berdyansk and Luhansk. Dozens of Russian troops were killed or injured in the operation, it added. “They have performed very accurately. ATACMS have proven themselves,” Mr Zelensky said in an evening address posted on social media, without giving details of when…

THE United States on Tuesday offered a $5 million reward for information on the whereabouts of a leader of the Somali militant group Al-Shabaab. Abukar Ali Adan, who was officially designated a terrorist by the United States in 2018, is the deputy commander of the group, the State Department said. It said he is also associated with several branches of Al-Qaeda. Al-Shabaab has been waging a violent insurgency against the government of Somalia for more than 15 years. Flushed out of major cities in 2011-2012, the organization is still present over vast rural areas, mainly in the center and south…

IN the Mozambican capital, Maputo, riot police have fired tear gas at opposition protesters who say last week’s local elections were rigged in favour of the ruling Frelimo party. Dozens of people have suffered minor injuries while fleeing the police. “They didn’t need to do this, after all, isn’t this democracy? We are marching peacefully and we don’t want problems with anyone,” said one protester. Analysts have questioned whether Mozambique’s state-owned electricity company deliberately cut off power to help sabotage the election. “Maputo City is not known for frequent power cuts. It’s funny how exactly on election day, at the…

SALMAN bin Abdulaziz, the ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has called for an emergency meeting of the member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The OIC is the second largest organisation after the United Nations with a membership of 57 states, including Nigeria, spread over four continents. The organisation is the collective voice of the Muslim world. According to a statement posted on OIC’s official website on Sunday, the meeting is slated for October 18 and 19, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The emergency meeting is called to discuss the ongoing conflict in the Gaza strip between…

CRICKET will feature as one of five new sports at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles after being approved on Monday in a vote of the International Olympic Committee’s session. The IOC’s executive board last week accepted a proposal by LA organisers for cricket’s Twenty20 format, together with baseball/softball, flag football, squash and lacrosse, to be included. But the final choice still had to be voted on Monday at the IOC session in Mumbai, one of the global centres for cricket, as India hosts the men’s 50-over Cricket World Cup. Only two delegates at the session voted against the…

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin on Monday called Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since the deadly Hamas attack, and briefed him on several talks with leaders from the region and Palestinian Authority. “The Israeli side was in particular informed of the essential points of telephone correspondences that took place today with the leaders of Palestine, Egypt, Iran and Syria,” the Kremlin said in a statement. According to Moscow, the discussion focused on “the crisis situation resulting from the brutal escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”. Putin expressed “his sincere condolences to the families and friends of the deceased Israelis,”…

THE last words of a six-year-old US Muslim boy stabbed to death in a suspected hate crime over the weekend were “Mom, I’m fine”, his uncle said as hundreds gathered to lay the child to rest. On Monday, the Mosque Foundation in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview was filled to overflowing, with some paying their respects on the pavement outside. Police say Wadea al-Fayoume was attacked because he was Muslim. His funeral was held as the family’s landlord appeared in court charged with the boy’s murder. The 71-year-old accused was allegedly upset about the Israel-Hamas war. Mourners came from all…

A SOMALI TV journalist was on Monday killed in a suicide bombing at a restaurant in the capital, Mogadishu, police have said. Abdifatah Moalim Nur, alias Qeys, who worked for Somali Cable Television, died in the explosion at Blue Sky restaurant near the presidential palace and national museum. In a statement, police said four other people were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the restaurant. Information Minister Daud Aweis condemned the “cowardly terrorist suicide attack”. Qeys, a staunch advocate of press freedom, faced threats, the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), a local media watchdog, said. The…

SOUTH African police say they have re-arrested an escaped suspect, Kingsley Leeto Chele, who is accused of impersonating a doctor. As we reported earlier, the police had said they had launched a manhunt for the suspect who escaped from custody last week. They described him as a “Facebook con artist” who targeted women. They now say he was re-arrested in the early hours of Monday in Vosloorus, near Johannesburg, following a tip-off from a media house. “[The] police in Gauteng appreciates the role played by the media in particular and the community in general in the fight against crime,” a…

NIGERIA’s Men Cricket Team, The Yellow-Green completed a clean sweep at the first West African Trophy concluded at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos on Sunday by winning all their ten matches at the event. On Sunday, they routed Rwanda to 17 runs victory, their fourth win over the East Africa side during the twenty-match series that kicked off on Wednesday, October 4, 2023. Nigeria had qualified for the finals of the West Africa Trophy after winning all her round-robin matches, which included playing Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda. The tenth match was a placement that pitched Nigeria, with 18…