PARIS St-Germain believe Kylian Mbappe could face a hostile reception from the club’s fans through next season unless he resolves his contract dispute. At the weekend, the France forward said PSG were “a divisive team, a divisive club” in an interview with L’Equipe. Mbappe, who has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, has told PSG he will not sign a new contract. He says he will not leave this summer and instead will depart for free when his current deal expires next year. Lionel Messi’s last days at PSG were marked with fan protests after it became clear…
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NORTH Korea has fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Japanese and South Korean officials report. The long-range missile flew for more than an hour before landing short of Japanese waters on Wednesday morning. Pyongyang’s launch comes after it threatened retaliation against what it said were recent US spy plane incursions over its territory. Earlier this week it threatened to shoot down such planes. Washington has dismissed the accusations, saying its military patrols are in line with international law. Security tensions have ramped up on the peninsula this year after a flurry of missile activity from North Korea. The US…
A YOUNG person has told BBC News they felt threatened by the BBC presenter at the centre of a row over payment for sexually explicit photos. The individual in their early 20s was first contacted anonymously by the male presenter on a dating app. They say they were put under pressure to meet up but never did. When the young person hinted online they might name the presenter, they were sent abusive, expletive-filled messages. Speaking to BBC News, the young person – who has no connection to the person at the centre of the Sun’s story about payments for photos…
SUDANESE public school teacher Imad Mohammed had worked for 32 years when war broke out almost three months ago, tearing his country apart and his finances to shreds. “We only eat one meal a day now,” he told AFP about his family of five. “And we don’t know how long this will go on,” said the teacher from Al-Jazirah state, which has been spared the brutal fighting but has still suffered dire shortages. Like other civil servants, Mohammed has gone without a salary since the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces took up arms against each other. When…
A LIBYAN court has jailed 37 people convicted of human trafficking – following the deaths of 11 migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. Five members of the criminal gang were sentenced to life in prison – others received between one and 15 years. All had been involved in organising a dilapidated boat that was supposed to take the migrants to Italy. Rights groups say many migrants experience horrific treatment there – both at the hands of smuggling gangs and inside state-run detention centres. Libya has been plagued by conflict and chaos since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011.
THE Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a 30-year-old man, Vincent Jeffrey Ehizojie, to death by hanging for killing his employer, Olusola Olusoga, the owner of Etashol Hotel and Suites and the manager of the hotel, Tunji Omikunle. Justice Oyindamola Ogala, condemned Ehizojie to death after she held that the prosecution had proven the ingredients of the charge beyond all reasonable doubt. The condemned convict, who at the time of the crime was working as a supervisor in the hotel, was arraigned before the court on a two-count charge bordering on murder. The state had told…
SPORTING a pair of sunglasses, Asisat Oshoala celebrated Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League triumph with her teammates in early June, but Nigeria was already on her mind. Standing on the balcony of the historic palace in Placa de Sant Jaume in the city’s Gothic neighbourhood before several thousand jubilant fans, Oshoala was handed the microphone. “Visca Barca and Visca Nigeria,” the 28-year-old forward said, swapping in her homeland for “Catalunya”, as the refrain usually goes. Ruled out with a hamstring injury, Oshoala could not play any part in Barcelona’s rollercoaster 3-2 win over Wolfsburg that saw them clinch their second Champions…
CHELSEA have revealed their home kit for the 2023-24 season without a front-of-shirt sponsor. A shirt deal with telecommunications company Three was not renewed when it expired at the end of last season. The Premier League blocked a deal with streaming service Paramount+, because of concerns about upsetting its broadcast rights holders. Chelsea decided against a shirt sponsorship agreement with an online gambling company. The club’s supporters’ trust had spoken out against such a partnership, although it is understood Chelsea had already ruled out a deal before that. In April, the Premier League announced that gambling sponsors would be withdrawn…
THREADS is looking into adding an alternative home feed, of only posts, in chronological order, from the people each individual user follows, according to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri. It currently shows a mix of recommended content and posts from those followed. Threads was billed as an “initial version” at launch and the company has signalled more features are to come. But a planned system to make Threads compatible with some other apps, such as Mastodon, has met with resistance. Instagram, which is owned by Meta, built the Threads app. Mr Mosseri posted the alternative home feed for Threads was “on…
EYEWITNESSES and the family of a 16-year-old Palestinian shot dead during Israel’s military assault in Jenin have told the BBC he was unarmed and killed “for no reason”, after videos emerged of the moment of his death. Twelve Palestinians, including four teenage children, and one Israeli soldier were killed during the two-day incursion in the occupied West Bank last week. Israel said all the Palestinians who were killed were combatants. But the videos show Abdul Rahman Hassan Ahmad Hardan, 16, was unarmed when he was shot. The teenager was shot in the head outside al-Amal hospital on the second day…
GABON’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba has announced that he will seek a third term in office in presidential elections planned for August. The Bongo family has already ruled Gabon for 55 years. Ali Bongo took over in 2009 from his father Omar Bongo, who had himself been in power for more than 40 years. The last elections held in 2016 were marred by claims of fraud. Mr Bongo defeated opposition candidate Jean Ping by less than 6,000 votes. Mr Ping declared himself the winner and contested those results. His passport was later confiscated and he was only allowed to leave…
JOHANNESBURG has seen its first snowfall since 2012, as cold weather is sweeping across much of the country. Residents are being advised to take extra precautions to stay warm and farmers to provide shelter for livestock. South Africa’s weather service said snow has also been reported in Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. “The public is advised to keep warm during these conditions,” said the South African Weather Service (Saws) in a statement. Weather experts have also advised initiation schools in the Eastern Cape to be extra vigilant over the next week as they keep watch over hundreds of teenage boys undergoing…
FRANCE striker Kylian Mbappe has called his club side Paris St-Germain “divisive” as doubts intensify over his future at the French champions. The 24-year-old, whose contract at PSG expires in 2024, made the comments to France Football magazine. PSG’s all-time leading scorer has told the club he will not sign a new deal. “I think that playing for PSG doesn’t help much because it’s a divisive team, a divisive club,” Mbappe is reported as saying. Paris St-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi said he would not allow Mbappe to leave on a free transfer when his contract expires next summer. Mbappe, who…
PARIS St-Germain have signed 27-year-old defender Lucas Hernandez from Bayern Munich for a reported £34m. A 2018 World Cup winner with France, Hernandez won a treble with Bayern in 2019-20 – his first season at the club. After winning the domestic league and cup double, Hernandez helped Hansi Flick’s team defeat PSG to win the Champions League. Hernandez, who played 107 times for the Bundesliga champions and scored twice, has signed a five-year deal. “I’m really excited,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been waiting to join PSG for a long time, and it’s finally happened. It’s a very special day for me…
SIX people have been killed and one injured in a kindergarten stabbing in China’s south-eastern Guangdong province, police tell the BBC. Police said they have arrested a 25-year-old man with the surname Wu. The victims include one teacher, two parents and three students, AFP reported, quoting a spokeswoman for the city government. The attack happened on Monday at 07:40 local time (23:40 Sunday GMT), and the man was arrested at 08:00. Police have called this a case of “intentional assault”. Violent crime is relatively rare in China, but the country has seen a spate of knife attacks in recent years,…
FRANCE has banned the sale, possession and transport of fireworks during the July 14 national holiday weekend, following riots sparked by the police killing a teenager, the government said Sunday. Fireworks were among the weapons of choice during the unrest that exploded in France after a police officer shot dead a 17-year-old during a traffic stop on June 27 near Paris, rekindling long pent-up frustrations and accusations of systemic racism among France’s security forces. “In order to prevent the risk of serious disturbances to public order during the July 14 festivities, the sale, possession, transport and use of pyrotechnical articles…
SPANISH rescuers are searching waters off the Canary Islands for a boat carrying at least 200 African migrants who went missing more than a week ago. The aid group Walking Borders says the fishing boat sailed from Kafountine, a coastal town in southern Senegal that is roughly 1,700km (1,057 miles) from Tenerife. The group says many children are on board, Spain’s Efe news agency reports. Two similar boats carrying dozens more people are also said to be missing. The boat carrying about 200 people left Kafountine on 27 June, heading for the Canary Islands. Spain’s maritime rescue service told Efe…
A LITTLE after midnight on 6 September, 2022, Musah Mustafa emerged from his thatched-roof hut to relieve himself and saw four cars speeding towards his tiny village. Mogyigna was barely a village. With just a handful of family homes and two dozen people in total, it was more like a dot in the middle of an expanse of farmland in northern Ghana. Cars were a rare sight during the day, let alone at night. Musah hid behind a tree and watched. When he saw armed men from the cars approach the two homes, he shouted in an attempt to wake…
SUPER Eagles striker, Taiwo Awoniyi says the team is targeting the trophy at the Africa Cup of Nation’s 2023 tournament coming up in January 2024 in Ivory Coast. The Eagles disappointingly exited in the second round at the last edition in Cameroon in 2022, losing 1-0 to Tunisia after Alex Iwobi received a red card from the referee for a bad tackle. Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Friday, Awoniyi said the team having achieved qualification for the next tournament, is determined to win it this time around. “I think everyone in the squad is happy, the first…
ENGLAND won the European Under-21 Championship for the first time in nearly 40 years after a dramatic last-minute penalty save by James Trafford ensured the Young Lions held on to beat Spain. Trafford, who is set to join Burnley from Manchester City in a deal that could be worth up to £19m, kept out Abel Ruiz’s low spot-kick in the 99th minute after a lengthy VAR check. The 20-year-old then produced another brilliant stop on the follow-up before being mobbed by his team-mates. The winning goal came with virtually the last kick of the first half when a Cole Palmer…