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PRESIDENT Emmanuel Macron has said France will withdraw its ambassador and end all military co-operation with Niger following a coup. “France has decided to withdraw its ambassador. In the next hours our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France,” Mr Macron said. He added that military co-operation was “over” and French troops would leave in “the months to come”. The military junta which seized power in Niger in July welcomed the move. “This Sunday we celebrate a new step towards the sovereignty of Niger,” the junta said, in a statement quoted by AFP news agency. There are about 1,500…

EMERGENCY workers in central Somalia dug through rubble to recover more bodies Sunday after a truck bombing killed over a dozen people and brought buildings crashing down. A suicide bomber drove the vehicle which was loaded with explosives towards a security checkpoint in the town of Beledweyne on Saturday, triggering an explosion that left scores trapped under bricks and concrete. Police told AFP on Sunday that the toll had climbed past the 13 deaths reported earlier but could not provide an exact figure. “The search and clearing operation is going on at the site of the explosion and dead bodies…

MANCHESTER United forward, Marcus Rashford, has been involved in a car accident after Saturday evening’s Premier League match against Burnley, The Sun reports. The Reds’ number 10 had left Burnley’s Turf Moor alongside his teammates aboard a team coach headed to United’s Carrington base. Rashford dented his £700,000 Rolls-Royce on the road while he remains uninjured. Teammate and captain, Bruno Fernandes, came across the scene and urgently stopped to offer help, the report says. Police rushed to the scene but no arrests were made, and no ambulances were called. Pictures from the area today show traffic cones and barriers around…

TWO years after the suspected rape and eventual death of Karen-Happuch Akpagher, student of Premiere Academy in Lugbe, Abuja, her family still has no explanation for what happened. The family however believes that the Nigeria Police Force was compromised very early in their investigation and may have bungled it. There have also been allegations that the police are undermining the family’s effort to pursue the matter in court. The FCT Police Command is allegedly in cahoots with the school authorities to block access to the medical records at Queen’s Hospital where Karen was last treated. Our correspondents gathered that Karen’s…

JESSE Lingard is training with Al-Ettifaq, the Saudi Pro-League side has announced. They said the ex-England and Manchester United midfielder would spend a month at the club. Lingard, 30, had been training with Premier League side West Ham United after being released by Nottingham Forest in the summer. Al-Ettifaq, managed by Steven Gerrard, signed Jordan Henderson from Liverpool in a £12m deal in July. Lingard, who won the last of his 32 England caps in 2021, has been a free agent since leaving the City Ground. He spent the majority of his career at Manchester United, apart from loan spells…

POLICE in Florida got a shock when the driver they stopped on a major highway turned out to be a 10-year-old boy. The boy and his 11-year-old sister were stopped in Alachua, hundreds of miles from where they were reported missing by their mother earlier in the week. Police said the pair had made their runaway bid after she had confiscated their electronic gadgets. “Much to their surprise deputies observed a 10-year-old male driver exit, with his sister,” they said. The Alachua County Sheriff’s office described the traffic stop as “high risk” and late at night – 03:50 local time…

FRENCH rapper MHD has been given a 12-year jail term for the murder of a young man in Paris in 2018. A court in the capital found the 29-year-old MHD, real name Mohamed Sylla, guilty of involvement in the gang-related killing of Loic K, 23. The victim was knocked down by MHD’s Mercedes, then beaten and stabbed to death by a crowd of about 12 people. MHD, who is known for blending trap and West African music to get “Afro trap”, pleaded not guilty to the charges. “From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence in this case and I…

THE head of Sudan’s army has told the BBC he is willing to talk to the commander of rebel forces whom he is battling for control of the country. Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said he was ready in principle to sit down with Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The two men have been fighting a brutal internal war since April, which the UN says has left more 5,000 people dead. It says that more than five million people have been displaced. Gen Burhan – who seized power in a coup in 2021 – was speaking…

TWO people have been killed and five others injured after shells were fired on the historic northern Malian city of Timbuktu, the army says. The military blamed what it called “terrorists” for the shelling. Timbuktu, a UN-designated World Heritage Site, has been under siege in recent weeks by jihadists, leading to acute food shortages. Back in 2012, it was captured by Islamist and Tuareg fighters, who were eventually ousted by French forces. However, the jihadists continued to stage attacks from their bases further north in the Sahara Desert. The insurgency was the main reason Mali’s military seized power in 2020,…

THE once mighty Manchester United find themselves 13th in the league ahead of today’s fixture against Burnley and have lost four of their opening six games of a season in all competitions for the first time since 1986/87 which was the same season that Sir Alex Ferguson was called in to take charge of the club which should send a worrying message to Erik Ten Hag. Wednesday night’s 4-3 heartbreak at the hands of Bayern Munich in the Champions League etched a grim record in history – the first time they’ve conceded three or more goals in three consecutive games…

SPAIN’s world champions and their Swedish opponents on Friday held up a banner with the slogan “It’s over” in protest over the sexism scandal which has engulfed the Spanish football federation. Spain won the Nations League clash in Gothenburg 3-2 when Mariona Caldentey converted a penalty six minutes into added time. The pre-match protest came as the Spain team returned to action for the first time since lifting the World Cup where former federation chief Luis Rubiales kissed player Jenni Hermoso on the lips. The 22 players held up the banner bearing the Spanish phrase “Se Acabo” (“It’s over”) adding…

A VETERAN US senator has temporarily stepped down as head of the chamber’s powerful foreign relations committee as he battles bribery charges. Justice department prosecutors allege Robert Menendez and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for aid to Egypt’s government. The couple have denied the charges. The embattled senator has rejected calls from fellow Democrats back in his home state of New Jersey to resign his seat. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said on Friday that Mr Menendez had decided to step down as chairman of the influential committee “until the matter has been resolved”. The…

PEOPLE living with long Covid after being admitted to hospital are more likely to show some damage to major organs, according to a new study. MRI scans revealed patients were three times more likely to have some abnormalities in multiple organs such as the lungs, brain and kidneys. Researchers believe there is a link with the severity of the illness. It is hoped the UK study will help in the development of more effective treatments for long Covid. The study, published in Lancet Respiratory Medicine, looked at 259 patients who fell so ill with the virus that they were admitted…

EXILED former Central African Republic president Francois Bozize, who became a rebel leader, has been sentenced in absentia to forced labour for life for conspiracy and rebellion, authorities said Friday. Bozize, 76, who was in exile in Chad until March when he moved to Guinea Bissau, heads an alliance of rebel groups called the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), formed in December 2020. The ex-president, who seized power in the CAR in 2003 but was toppled a decade later, was sentenced on Thursday, according to a judgement sent to AFP by the justice ministry. Two of Bozize’s sons and…

LIBYA’s flood disaster, which killed thousands in the city of Derna, also displaced more than 43,000 people, the International Organization for Migration said Thursday. A tsunami-sized flash flood broke through two ageing river dams upstream from the coastal city after the Mediterranean Storm Daniel lashed the area on September 10. It razed entire neighbourhoods, sweeping untold thousands of people into the sea. The official death toll stands at more than 3,300 — but the eventual count is expected to be far higher, with international aid groups giving estimates of up to 10,000 people missing. “An estimated 43,059 individuals have been…

DESPITE a resounding victory in their last game of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and their only game since the last FIFA world rankings in June, Nigeria dropped a place in the latest FIFA men’s rankings for June. The Super Eagles, who were ranked 39th in the rankings released in June, lost three points and dropped to 40th. The Eagles defeated Sao Tome and Principe 6-0 in their last game of the AFCON qualifiers but the results turned out not to have any positive effect on their position on the rankings table. Jose Peseiro’s men finished top of…

SAUDI Arabia crown prince Mohammed bin Salman says he does not care about accusations of ‘sportswashing’. The Gulf kingdom has been accused of investing in sport and using high-profile events to improve its international reputation. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) led the takeover of Newcastle United last year and launched LIV Golf. “If sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by 1%, then we’ll continue doing sportswashing,” Bin Salman said. He told Fox News: “I don’t care [about the term]. I have 1% growth in GDP from sport and I am aiming for another 1.5%. “Call it what you…

GUNSHOTS were heard late in the evening near the US embassy in Lebanon, a spokesperson told AFP Thursday morning, reporting no casualties. “At 10:37 pm local time, small arms fire was reported in the vicinity of the entrance to the US Embassy,” said embassy spokesperson Jake Nelson. “There were no injuries, and our facility is safe,” he said, adding that the embassy was in “close contact” with law enforcement. The highly-secured embassy complex is located in the northern Beirut suburb of Awkar. US diplomatic and military missions in Lebanon were attacked on a number of occasions during the 1975-1990 civil…

INDIA has stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens amid an escalating row over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil. India said the temporary move was due to “security threats” disrupting work at its missions in Canada. Tensions flared this week after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said India may have been behind the 18 June killing. But Mr Trudeau said on Thursday he was not looking to provoke India with the allegation. India has angrily rejected the allegation, calling it “absurd”. Speaking to reporters in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Mr Trudeau said:…

SUDAN’s leader has warned the United Nations his country’s war could spill over into neighbouring African nations. In a speech, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan also urged the international community to designate his opponents, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a terrorist group. Meanwhile, RSF leader Hamdan Dagalo said he was prepared for a ceasefire. Since April, Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war that has killed thousands of people. Back in 2021, the two generals staged a coup, but in recent months a power struggle between them has led to their men taking up arms against each other. Speaking to…