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ONE of Sudan’s most prominent singers, and the country’s biggest female musician, Shaden Gardood, has been killed in crossfire in the Sudanese city of Omdurman. Gardood died amid clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Friday. The 37-year-old’s death came only one day after the warring parties signed a deal to alleviate civilian suffering. Fighting erupted in Sudan in April over a vicious power struggle within the country’s military leadership. Gardood lived in the al-Hashmab neighbourhood, where RSF presence has increased in recent days. Her niece, Heraa Hassan Mohammed, confirmed her death on Facebook…

AT least 11 people have been killed in militia clashes in the western Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said Saturday, as a province in the restive region declared a curfew to respond to the violence. “Mobondo” militants attacked the village of Batshongo, in Kwango province, late on Friday, said provincial government spokesman Adelar Nkisi, referring to a militia from the Yaka community. Two soldiers, one police officer and two civilians were killed in the attack, Nkisi told AFP, adding that the soldiers had been “practically chopped to pieces”. But later on Saturday, the spokesman said the death toll had risen…

MANCHESTER City’s Erling Haaland has scooped the Football Writers Association men’s Player of the Year award in his first season. Haaland won by a large margin after a blistering season with 51 goals to his name and still chasing a treble in the Champions League, Premier League and the FA Cup The Norwegian striker left second-placed Bukayo Saka in the dust at the polls after securing over 82% of the votes, the biggest berth in the EPL In third place was Saka’s Arsenal colleague Martin Odegaard while Kevin De Bruyne of City was fourth and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford was…

MANCHESTER United can attract “quality players” this summer despite uncertainty over the club’s ownership, says manager Erik ten Hag. He said it was difficult to convince players to move to Old Trafford after he took charge at the end of last season. “I see a big difference in comparison with last year,” Ten Hag said. “Now many players see the project, what’s going on, the dynamic and the ambition.” Last summer midfielder Casemiro joined from Real Madrid for £70m and United also signed midfielder Christian Eriksen, forward Antony and defenders Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia during the summer transfer window.…

JUST days after anointing King Charles III, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was prosecuted in court for speeding, it emerged on Friday. The offence occurred on October 2, and the leader of the worldwide Anglican communion tried three times to pay the £300 ($375) fine in order to avoid court action, a Lambeth Palace spokesperson said. “He has all the paperwork to prove that he has tried to pay. Admin errors seem to be causing problems,” the spokesperson told AFP. “He hadn’t been notified that it had gone to court.” After the fine went unpaid, a court prosecution followed automatically…

ISRAEL has killed a sixth senior leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in an air strike in the Gaza Strip, as fighting between them escalated. It said Iyad al-Hassani had directed the militant group’s operations since his predecessor was killed on Tuesday. Friday’s strike, which medics said also killed another person, followed a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza, some of which reached near Jerusalem. The chances of an imminent ceasefire appeared slim after the exchange. However, a Palestinian official familiar with the talks taking place in Egypt told the BBC that Egyptian officials “presented this evening a new proposal…

SOUTH Africans were left angry and baffled on Friday after the US accused their country of secretly shipping arms to Russia, a charge that triggered both a government rebuke but also the announcement of an inquiry. US ambassador Reuben Brigety on Thursday said Washington was confident weapons and ammunition had been laden onto a Russian freighter that docked at a Cape Town naval base. The explosive remarks drew an angry response from President Cyril Ramaphosa, who however did not deny the charge but said a retired judge would lead an investigation into the matter. The move was welcomed by the…

KENYAN police have exhumed the highest number of bodies in a single day from a forest in Kilifi, Kenya’s coastal region, which is linked to a controversial doomsday cult. Twenty-nine more bodies were exhumed on Friday. So far, 179 people, believed to be members of the Good News International Church, are confirmed to have died either of starvation, strangulation or blunt force trauma. The more forensic teams dig, the more bodies they find. One shallow grave had 12 bodies huddled together. The Kenya Red Cross says 609 people who are reported to be members of the doomsday cult allegedly led…

NIGERIA’s Golden Eaglets crashed out of the under 17 AFCON 2023 after falling 2-1 to fellow West Africans Burkina Faso in the quarter-finals in Algiers. The result meant the Golden Eaglets won’t feature in the under 17 World Cup that would take place later this year, with Burkina Faso completing the quartet of teams to represent Africa in the tournament. The other teams are Senegal, Mali and Morocco. The Nigerians have their poor finishing skills and defensive blunders to blame for the result. The Junior Stallions went into a 2-0 lead over the five-time world champions courtesy of Aboubacar Camara.…

FEDERICO Gatti headed home in the 97th minute to earn Juventus a 1-1 draw against Sevilla in their Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday. Youssef En-Nesyri gave the record six-time champions the lead in the first half and they seemed set to take that advantage back to Seville before Gatti’s late intervention. Moroccan international En-Nesyri finished a sharp counter-attack in the 26th minute to break the deadlock in Turin. Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side deserved their lead at the break and although Juventus improved, the Andalucians shut them out well in their bid to take their advantage back to the…

ELON Musk says that he has found a new chief executive to lead Twitter. He announced the news on the social media platform, which he bought last year for $44bn (£35.2bn). Mr Musk did not name the site’s new boss but said “she” would start in six weeks, at which point he would become executive chairman and chief technology officer. He has been under pressure to name someone else to lead the company and focus on his other businesses. Last year, after Twitter users voted for him to step down in an online poll, he said: “No one wants the…

PORTUGAL is planning measures to ban smoking near schools and hospitals as well as in covered outdoor seating areas, the country’s health minister said on Thursday. The law, which will be discussed in Parliament at an unspecified date, would also forbid the practice in all indoor spaces such as smoking areas inside cafes. Additionally, it would prohibit installing new such areas and would stop the sale of tobacco products in locations where smoking is banned, from 2025. Last June, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said it had an ambition to decrease tobacco use in the 27-country bloc to…

SOUTH Africa slammed remarks Thursday by the US ambassador in Pretoria, who accused the country of having covertly provided arms to Russia despite its professed neutrality in the Ukraine war. The US envoy to South Africa on Thursday accused the country of having covertly provided arms to Russia, a charge that drew an angry rebuke from Pretoria. Ambassador Reuben Brigety told a media briefing the US believed weapons and ammunition had been laden onto a Russian freighter that docked at a Cape Town naval base in December. “We are confident that weapons were loaded onto that vessel and I would…

TWO babies have been rescued floating near the shores of Lake Kivu days after floods killed more than 400 people in east Democratic Republic of Congo. “It is a miracle, we were all amazed,” local community leader Delphin Birimbi tells the BBC. Their parents have died but the community is in touch with people who can raise them, Mr Birimbi adds. It is not clear how the babies survived three days in the lake, but onlookers say they were floating on debris. The babies were rescued on Monday – one in Bushushu and the other in Nyamukubi, the two villages…

AHEAD of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in June, aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday met with members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) at the national headquarters in Abuja. In attendance are Senators Abdulaziz Yari, Orji Kalu, Mohammed Musa, and Sadiq Umar. The APC Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu; National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore; and National Women Leader, Beta Edu were also present at the meeting. Addressing the NWC, Kalu, a Senate President aspirant, said giving every part of the country a pie makes the country beautiful. He argued that the party should not zone…

INTER Milan took a big step towards reaching the Champions League final as they beat their city rivals in a thrilling Milan derby at San Siro. In a game that had been anticipated for weeks in Italy and was witnessed at the ground by a vocal and passionate 80,000-strong crowd, Inter made the perfect start when Edin Dzeko volleyed home in the eighth minute. The goal silenced the Milan fans – the designated home side for this tie in the stadium the two sides share – as they significantly outnumbered the Inter supporters. And the hosts were stunned further three…

CAPTAIN Sergio Busquets has confirmed he will leave Barcelona at the end of the season after 18 years at the club. The former Spain midfielder, 34, has played 718 matches for Barcelona – the third-most in the club’s history. His list of honours won with the club includes eight La Liga titles, seven Copa del Reys, seven Spanish Super Cups and three Champions Leagues. “Although it has not been an easy decision, I think the time has come,” Busquets said. “It has been an unforgettable journey,” he added. “I always dreamed of playing with this shirt and at this stadium.…

AN eight-year-old boy lost in the remote woodlands of Michigan survived for two days by eating snow and hiding beneath a log for shelter. Nante Niemi went missing on Saturday while camping with his family in the Porcupine Mountains state park. He got lost while walking to gather firewood, sparking a 150-person search effort to rescue him. On Monday he was found underneath his log “in good health”, about two miles from his camp. “He had braved the elements by taking shelter under a log where he was ultimately found,” Michigan State Police said in a statement. The boy told…

FORMER Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan appeared in a special court at the capital’s police headquarters Wednesday to answer graft charges, local media reported, a day after his arrest prompted violent nationwide protests. Some local media, citing unnamed sources, said prosecutors had asked for Khan to be remanded in custody for 14 days. Geo TV said Khan was allowed to consult with his lawyers during the hearing, but court officials were not available to confirm details of the proceedings, held behind closed doors. Khan’s detention Tuesday follows months of political crisis and came hours after the powerful military rebuked the…

FEROCIOUS fighting between paramilitary fighters and the military is taking place in the northern suburbs of Sudan’s capital, residents say. The battles in Bahri echo those that took place in central Khartoum in the first days of the conflict, which erupted more than three weeks ago. The paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) group said in a video that it had shot down a military fighter jet in Bahri. This is yet to be confirmed independently. Since the start of the conflict, RSF fighters have been in control of much of Khartoum with the army attacking them from the air. The…