AFRICA’s four representatives at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup began the tournament last week with something of a whimper, playing one game each without a single win. The continent is being represented by Nigeria who have participated in all editions of the competition; champions, South Africa; Morocco, and Zambia. While all teams have played four matches, they only have a draw to show for it. That point came from Nigeria who battled to a barren draw with Olympic champions, Canada. The Super Falcons were resolute against the North Americans and had goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie to thank after she saved…
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MANAGER Carlo Ancelotti said Real Madrid are “lucky” to have the “fantastic” Jude Bellingham after the England midfielder impressed on debut in a 3-2 pre-season win against AC Milan in Los Angeles. It was another Englishman, Fikayo Tomori, who got his name on the scoresheet, heading the opener for AC Milan, but two second-half goals from Federico Valverde and a superb winner from Vinicius Jr, who ran on to a sublime Luka Modric pass, sent the majority of fans in a 70,000 crowd at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena home happy. Bellingham’s 62-minute debut had flashes of his natural technique…
IRAQ and some other Muslim-majority countries have strongly condemned the burning of a Quran on Monday by a group called “Danish Patriots” outside the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen. The far-right group livestreamed a similar act on Facebook on Friday. Nearly 1,000 demonstrators in Baghdad tried to reach the Danish embassy after that incident. Last week, crowds set fire to Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad after the planned burning of a Quran in Stockholm. In Monday’s incident in Denmark, two anti-Islam protesters stamped on the holy book and set it alight in a tin foil tray next to an Iraqi flag on…
WITH a year to go to the Olympics, Paris is in the final phase of a historic clean-up which will soon see swimmers and divers back in the River Seine. Banned for a century because of the filthy water, city swimming is set to be one of the major legacies of the Games thanks to a €1.4bn (£1.2bn; $1.6bn) regeneration project universally hailed as a success. Not only are three Olympic events – triathlon, marathon swimming and paratriathlon – scheduled to take place in the Seine in central Paris, but by 2025 three open-air swimming areas will be accessible from…
A SUICIDE bomber on Monday struck a military training camp in the Somalian capital Mogadishu, killing at least 20 soldiers, officials said. The attack at the Jaalle Siyad Military Academy was swiftly claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group. “Over 20 people were killed in the explosion,” Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu, a member of the Somali parliament told AFP. “The victims were not ordinary youths, they were servicemen who stood to defend their country from the terrorists,” Moalimu said, adding that he felt “pity about the tragedy”. Another legislator, who asked not to be named, said the toll stood at 27 with…
AT least 34 people have been killed and thousands evacuated after wildfires broke out across Algeria, the country’s interior ministry says. Outbreaks of 97 wildfires were recorded across 16 provinces affecting forest, crops and farmland on Monday. About 8,000 firefighters were working to bring the blazes under control, authorities said. Twenty-six people were also injured and 1,500 evacuated from their homes in Fenaia, Bejaia, Zbarbar and Bouira. Ten soldiers were killed battling the fires in Bejaia, the Algerian defence ministry said. The most extensive fires, in the mountainous Kabylie region to the east of Algiers, spread to residential areas in…
TWITTER’s owner Elon Musk and its new CEO said Sunday that the social media network would ditch its bird logo, be rebranded with the name X and move quickly into payments, banking and commerce. Founded in 2006, Twitter takes its name from the sound of birds chattering, and it has used avian branding since its early days, when the company bought a stock symbol of a light blue bird for $15, according to the design website Creative Bloq. Tweeting a picture of the company’s new logo — a white X on a black background — late Sunday night, Twitter chief…
HISTORY could be made on day five of the Fifa Women’s World Cup if Nouhaila Benzina plays for Morocco. The 25-year-old defender will become the first player to wear a hijab, the Islamic headscarf, at a World Cup if she features against one of the tournament favourites, Germany. That is the second game of the day, with Italy facing Argentina, who are trying to win their first World Cup match, earlier in the morning. Brazil, who have won all eight of their World Cup openers, get their tournament under way against debutants Panama. Italy are hoping to build on a…
PEP Guardiola says Manchester City can improve “many things” after coming from behind to beat Yokohama F Marinos 5-3 in Tokyo. The City boss also warned Erling Haaland was “fitter” than last season after scoring twice in the friendly. “It’s a good test because we don’t have enough preparation,” said Guardiola. The match saw Kyle Walker start as captain, Mateo Kovacic make his debut and Joao Cancelo play following his loan spell at Bayern Munich. “Yokohama played really well on the transitions – it was good for us,” added Guardiola. “Many things we can improve, of course, and no-one injured,…
AT least 11 people are now known to have died after the roof of school gymnasium collapsed under heavy rain in north-east China, state media reports. Officials say 19 people were trapped inside the gym when it collapsed. Eyewitnesses told media that many of the victims are children, although this is yet to be officially confirmed. Police have arrested the person in charge of the building in Qiqihar city in the industrial Heilongjiang province. Officials say four people managed to escape. Of the 15 people pulled out of the rubble, only four have survived. Perlite, a form of volcanic glass,…
THE death toll from overnight flash floods caused by torrential rain in central Afghanistan has risen to 26, with more than 40 people missing, officials said Sunday. Shafiullah Rahimi, spokesman for the State Ministry for Disaster Management, said a total of 31 people had been killed nationwide in floods since Friday and extensive damage had been caused to property and farmland. Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said urgent aid was being rushed to the main disaster zone in the Jalrez district of Maidan Wardak province. Although Afghanistan lies on the western edge of the Asian monsoon footprint, flash floods happen regularly…
A DISTRAUGHT Congolese soldier shot dead at least 13 civilians, most of them children, in a village in the northeast of the conflict-plagued country, military and local sources said Sunday. The naval serviceman couldn’t bear the fact that his child had been buried in his absence, the day before he arrived in the village of Nyakova, according to testimonies gathered by AFP. Nyakova is a fishing village in the Djugu territory, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) east of Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, one of eastern DR Congo’s violence hotspots, where deadly attacks are common. The angry soldier “fired…
IN a war-devastated district of Sudan’s capital, Abbas Mohammed Babiker says he and his family have only been able to eat once a day. Now even that is in doubt, but on Sunday a citizens’ support group issued an urgent appeal for donations to help people like him. “We only have enough for two more days,” Babiker said from Khartoum North, where residents said at least one person, a local musician, has already died from hunger. Since April 15, battles between Sudan’s army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), headed by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo,…
THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has released the final lists of successful candidates for the 2023 recruitment exercise for Narcotic Officer and Narcotic Assistant cadres. A statement released on Sunday by the agency spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said successful candidates for cadet, trainees are to report at the NDLEA Academy in Jos and NSCDC College of Peace and Disaster Management in Katsina states respectively. The statement partly read, “The under-listed successful candidates are therefore to report for Narcotic Officers Basic (Cadet) training at the NDLEA Academy, Kotton Rikus, Jos Plateau State, while the Narcotic Agent/Assistant (Trainees) will report for their…
THE Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has shifted the date to effect new tariff toll fare at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) from July 17 to Aug. 1. In a statement signed by the FAAN Management on Sunday in Abuja, the postponement was to make the airport users enjoy more of the current charges. According to the management, the fare for cars will change from N200 to N300, while that of buses and Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) will change from N300 to N500 only. It said the truck (six tyres) tariff would change from N500 to N1,000 while…
MANCHESTER United gained bragging rights over rivals Arsenal as first-half goals from Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho sealed a 2-0 friendly win at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The match was played in front of a stadium soccer record crowd of 82,262. Fernandes celebrated being appointed United’s new captain by beating Aaron Ramsdale from 20 yards, although the Arsenal keeper could have done better. And Sancho doubled the advantage with a powerful shot into the top corner. The winger, playing as a false nine in an outfield line-up manager Erik ten Hag changed completely at half-time, finished after speeding on…
ENGLAND squeezed past Haiti 1-0 as they began their Women’s World Cup title bid in unconvincing fashion on Saturday, but holders the United States and former champions Japan were far more comfortable. European champions England have been touted as the prime challengers to a United States team chasing an unprecedented third World Cup crown in a row. But they will have to play far better than they did in front of nearly 45,000 spectators in Brisbane, where a youthful Haiti side making their World Cup debut could have snatched a point at the end. A Georgia Stanway penalty in the…
THOUSANDS of people have been evacuated from homes and hotels on the Greek island of Rhodes after wildfires engulfed large parts of the island. The country’s fire service has described the fires as the most difficult it is currently facing. It is estimated more than 3,500 people have been moved by land and sea to safer locations. The island has been battling wildfires fanned by strong winds since Tuesday, amidst a heatwave in Europe. No injuries have been reported, according to the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection in Greece. It said visitors are being evacuated safely from the…
THE death of a Russian journalist in Ukraine was “a heinous, premeditated crime” committed by Western powers and Kyiv, Russia’s foreign ministry said Saturday, vowing a “response” against those to blame. Earlier the Russian military announced that Rostislav Zhuravlev, a war correspondent working for the state RIA Novosti news agency, had been killed in a Ukrainian strike in the southern Zaporizhzhia region on Saturday. The agency also reported his death, saying he was killed near the frontline village of Pytikhatki. “As a result of a strike by the Ukrainian army using cluster munitions, four journalists were wounded in various levels…
AT least 20 Sudanese civilians have been killed by rocket fire on residential areas of one of Darfur’s main cities and by shelling near hospitals in North Kordofan state, lawyers and medics said Saturday. The doctors’ union said that since Friday morning shells had struck near four hospitals in the North Kordofan state capital El-Obeid, killing four civilians and wounding 45. In the South Darfur state capital Nyala, the local lawyers’ union said that rocket fire had killed 16 civilians. The Darfur region, already ravaged by brutal conflict in the early 2000s, has seen some of the worst of the…