THE head of Ethiopia’s electoral board, Birtukan Mideksa, has announced her resignation. In a Facebook post on Monday, Ms Birtukan cited health as her reason to leave her post. Parliament still has to accept the resignation. She is a former judge and political prisoner, and her appointment more than four years ago was seen as part of reform measures introduced by a new government. In 2018, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office pledging to end decades of authoritarian rule. When he recommended Ms Birtukan to the all-important post of chairperson of the electoral board, he described her as someone who…
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ARSENAL boss Mikel Arteta accepts his side must strengthen in the transfer market if they are to become Premier League champions next season. Arteta’s side were beaten to the 2022-23 title by Manchester City. The Gunners have been linked with a move for West Ham midfielder Declan Rice and are also closing in on forward Kai Havertz from Chelsea. “Next season is going to be the toughest league in Premier League history,” said Arteta. “Why? It already was last year. I’ve been here [England] for 22 years and I’ve never seen a competitive level like that. So much quality, so…
KALIDOU Koulibaly has become the latest Chelsea player to move to Saudi Arabia after the defender completed a transfer to Al-Hilal for an undisclosed fee. The centre-back, 32, joins Ruben Neves at the Saudi Pro League side following the Wolves midfielder’s £47m switch. Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante has also agreed to sign for Saudi champions Al-Ittihad, while team-mate Edouard Mendy is close to joining Al-Ahli. Koulibaly signed for Chelsea from Napoli last July on a four-year deal. He arrived at Stamford Bridge with European and international experience, after helping Napoli win the Italian Cup in 2020 and Senegal claim the…
PRINCE William is launching a major five-year campaign to end homelessness, which he says should not exist in a “modern and progressive society”. The Prince of Wales’s charitable foundation is putting in £3m of start-up funding to help make homelessness “rare, brief and unrepeated”. Six locations across the UK will be used to test ideas to cut homelessness. “Everyone should have a safe and secure home and be treated with dignity,” says Prince William. This “Homewards” initiative is likely to be one of the defining projects for the Prince of Wales – a commitment which he will be aware comes…
THE president of Honduras has declared an immediate curfew in a town where 13 people were shot dead on Saturday. Xiomara Castro described the killings in a pool hall in Choloma as a “brutal and ruthless terrorist attack”. The victims, who were at a birthday party, were 12 men and one woman. Separate murders in the northern Sula Valley region brought Saturday’s death toll to at least 20, authorities said, and are thought to be linked to drug-trafficking gangs. The curfew comes in from 21:00 local time (04:00 BST) to 04:00 from Sunday and will run for at least 15…
MALI’s military-led government on Thursday seized the diplomatic passport of influential and outspoken Muslim cleric Mahmoud Dicko, who is a vocal critic of the ruling junta. Community-based station Radio Nostalgie reported that the authorities seized Mr Dicko’s passport at an airport in the capital, Bamako, upon his return from neighbouring Mauritania. Mr Dicko was issued with the passport by the government of the late President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. “Less than a week after vehemently criticising the transitional government, Dicko is more than ever in the crosshairs of the authorities,” privately-owned channel Renouveau TV reported. In May, Mr Dicko and several…
ZAMBIA’s President Hakainde Hichilema can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the outlines of a deal aimed at lifting his country out of its debt crisis have been unveiled. In 2020, the copper-rich country became the first African nation to default on its debt payments during the Covid pandemic. It was burdened by loans and high interest rates that severely restricted the government’s ability to invest in critical social programmes and infrastructure development, both crucial for economic growth. Following months of talks, Zambia has now successfully agreed new repayment terms with its state creditors on up to $6.3bn (£5bn)…
THE Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has stated that electricity tariff across its franchise states will increase from July 1 2023. In a terse statement on Sunday night, AEDC stated that the review was due to the fluctuation of the maira in the exchange rate market. The statement read: “Effective July 1st 2023, please be informed that there will be an upward review to the electricity tariff influenced by the fluctuating exchange rate.” “Under the MYTO 2022 guidelines, the previously set exchange rate of N441/$1 may now be revised to approximately N750/$1 which will have an impact on the tariffs…
REAL Madrid defender David Alaba on Thursday met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Paris, France. Alaba who plays for Austria has a Nigerian root. The meeting was part of President Tinubu’s engagement with Nigerians in the Diaspora during his visit to France to attend a two-day Global Financing Summit. He received a signed number 4 Real Madrid jersey from Alaba on the sidelines of the engagement. Alaba is the captain of the Austrian football team, but he was born to a Nigerian father. Through several efforts in development, he has expressed interest in reconnecting with his Nigerian roots.
THE former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, and the immediate past vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, have led electoral observers in the ongoing general elections in Sierra Leone as counting begins for a new president in the country. While Mr Jonathan is leading the West African Elders Forum 2023 Election Mission to Sierra Leone, Mr Osinbajo chairs a 12-person Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) for the country’s elections. The election is considered a straight contest between the president and candidate of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), Julius Bio, and Samura Kamara, the flagbearer of the All Peoples Congress (APC). Other presidential candidates…
CARLOS Alcaraz moved to the brink of his first grass court title and reclaiming the world number one ranking from Novak Djokovic after sweeping aside Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final at Queen’s Club on Saturday. The Spaniard will face Australia’s Alex de Minaur, who beat second seed Holger Rune 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), in Sunday’s final. Playing in just his third grass court tournament of his career, Alcaraz has adapted quickly to the conditions after a tough first round clash against French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech. The US Open champion had to recover from a slow start as…
NEWCASTLE United are close to signing Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali from Serie A side AC Milan, according to his agent. The 23-year-old is expected to sign a six-year contract and complete his medical in the coming days. Speaking to Italian media, Tonali’s agent Giuseppe Riso said the transfer could be worth up to 80m euros (£68.5m) including add-ons. He said final details are being agreed by both sides. “When such an important offer is received it is difficult to refuse both for the club and the player,” he said Riso added that personal terms have been agreed between Newcastle and…
GREEKS are voting for the second time in a month with conservative ex-Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis hoping to secure a big majority. He convincingly beat his centre-left rival in May but called new elections in a bid to govern Greece alone. Sunday’s vote comes little more than a week after a migrant boat tragedy off the Greek coast in which 500 people are thought to have died. But the disaster has had little effect on the campaign. Mr Mitsotakis’s conservatives won last month’s elections by a 20-point margin over the centre-left Syriza party of Alexis Tsipras, another former prime minister,…
YEVGENY Prigozhin calls it his “March of Justice”. Vladimir Putin says it is a “criminal escapade” and an “armed mutiny”. One senior Russian commander has called it “a coup”. Whatever you call it, the Wagner chief has gone for broke to try to topple Russia’s military leadership. This had been brewing. For months there has been very public infighting between Wagner and Russia’s ministry of defence over how the war in Ukraine has been fought. Wagner had repeatedly accused the ministry of failing to supply the mercenary group with sufficient ammunition (and doing that on purpose.) Prigozhin had been increasingly…
ZIMBABWE’s electoral body has cleared 11 people to contest in presidential elections in August, after many politicians complained of exorbitant application fees. The Zimbabwe electoral commission raised registration costs to $20,000, up from $1,000 in the previous elections. Fees for the MPs’ positions were raised from $50 to $1,000. Opposition parties said the fee had a negative effect on democracy as most people earn less than $300 a month. Zimbabwe will hold presidential, parliamentary and council elections on 23 August. The electoral commission worked late into the night to approve the 11 candidates. They include the two front runners, President…
SIERRA Leoneans are awaiting general election results following a tense campaign marred by violence. There was a high turnout, with voters telling the BBC the process was smooth despite ballots opening hours late in many areas. There had been concern about potential clashes in the run up to the vote. On Wednesday, the main opposition party alleged that one of its supporters was shot dead by police, which the police have denied. Supporters of both main parties have been accused of attacking opponents. Accusations of election irregularities were also being thrown on Saturday, after the leader of the opposition alleged…
THREE of 14 medical students from different medical schools in Nigeria have drowned in waterways in Calabar, Cross River State, while having a boat cruise. It was learnt that divers from the Nigerian Navy were able to rescue 11 of them after the boat capsized Saturday afternoon. The students were said to have converged on Medical School Calabar for the 2023 Nigeria Medical Association Health Week. An official of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Cross River State chapter who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the incident to our correspondent. He said the three drowned students were from Ahmadu Bello University…
INTER Miami have announced the signing of Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets, reuniting him with former team-mate Lionel Messi. Busquets, 34, announced in May he would be leaving the La Liga champions after 18 years at the club. The midfielder will link up with Argentina forward Messi, 35, who confirmed this month he was moving to Inter Miami from Paris St-Germain. Busquets and Messi spent 13 seasons together at Barca from 2008 to 2021. They were part of a successful team which won three Champions Leagues, eight La Liga titles and six Copa del Reys. It has been reported that, like…
MANCHESTER City attacking midfielder Bernardo Silva is a target for Saudi Pro-League side Al Hilal. Silva’s contract with City runs to 2025 and, while the club are keen for him to sign an extension, he has a number of offers on the table. Paris St-Germain are also interested in the 28-year-old, as are Barcelona, who have been linked with the Portuguese for the past two summers. Barcelona have already agreed to sign his club captain Ilkay Gundogan. However, both clubs could be eclipsed by the salaries on offer in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh-based Al Hilal, who are in the process of…
US intelligence agencies have found no direct evidence that Covid-19 broke out from a Chinese laboratory, a declassified report has said. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said both a natural and laboratory origin remain plausible scenarios. It noted most US intelligence agencies agree the virus was not genetically engineered or “laboratory-adapted”. The origins of the pandemic have been a matter of bitter debate in the US. The lab-leak theory has been strongly rejected by China. The ODNI report was released on Friday night after Congress passed a bill in March giving US intelligence 90 days to…