NOVAK Djokovic created history on Sunday when he captured a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title with a third French Open triumph, reinforcing his case to be crowned the greatest player of all time. The 36-year-old Serb brushed off an early wobble to defeat Casper Ruud of Norway 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, 7-5 and snap the tie of 22 Slams he shared with career-long rival Rafael Nadal. Victory for the third time in Paris, after 2016 and 2021, adds to his 10 Australian Open titles, seven at Wimbledon and three at the US Open. Djokovic is the first man to win all…
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ON Friday, in the dead of night at the heart of the Colombian jungle, army radios crackled to life with the message the nation had been praying for: “Miracle, miracle, miracle, miracle.” The military code revealed that four children missing in the jungle for 40 days had all been found – alive. The youngsters, all members of the indigenous Huitoto people, had been missing since the light plane they were travelling in crashed into the Amazon in the early hours of 1 May. The tragedy killed their mother and left the children – aged 13, nine, four and one -…
AT least 10 people have died and more than 20 others are in hospital after a wedding bus crashed in an Australian wine region. The passengers were returning from a wedding at a winery on Sunday night when their coach overturned on Wine County Drive near Greta in Hunter Valley, New South Wales. Police say they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash. The driver of the bus, a 58-year-old man, has been arrested. NSW Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman said the guests were travelling to Singleton “presumably for their accommodation”. The crash occurred around 23:30 local time -…
SIX civilians have been killed and 10 injured after al-Shabab militants attacked a beachside hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, police say. Security forces rescued more than 80 guests from the Pearl Beach hotel after a six-hour siege on Friday night. Three members of the security forces died in the rescue operation and have been praised for their bravery. All of the attackers were killed in a fierce gun battle with security forces, police said. Pearl Beach hotel was popular with government officials. Such places are frequently targeted by al-Shabab insurgents, who have been fighting Somalia’s government for more than…
FIGHTING between government forces and a rival paramilitary force broke out again on Sunday in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, after a 24-hour cease-fire ended, witnesses said. The country has seen deadly fighting since mid-April when clashes erupted between forces loyal to army chief and de facto leader Abdel al-Burhan and fighters commanded by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemeti, who leads the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The latest cease-fire deal had provided a rare lull in fighting for civilians in the capital and allowed them to stock up on food and other essential supplies. The deal was…
AFTER a record-breaking six months, Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez has booked his place in history as the first player to win a treble of European Cup, league and domestic cup – and a World Cup – in the same season. Nine players before the 23-year-old Argentine forward had won the European Cup or Champions League and the World Cup in the same season – but none had won the domestic double as well. Alvarez finishes the season as City’s second top scorer with 17 goals, despite starting fewer than half their games, and was the third top scorer at the…
PARIS St-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi says he has had nothing to do with the takeover of Manchester United. BBC Sport understands Al-Khelaifi was contacted by the Glazer family a month ago as United’s owners tried to get Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani to raise his offer. The conversation with Al-Khelaifi has led to suggestions of a wider Qatari involvement in Sheikh Jassim’s bid. Sheikh Jassim has repeatedly said his offer was made in a personal capacity. Speaking in Istanbul before the Champions League final after a meeting of the influential European Clubs’ Association (ECA) he chairs, Al-Khelaifi…
FORMER US President Donald Trump has called the federal indictment against him “ridiculous and baseless” in his first public appearance since the charges were announced. A 37-count indictment made public on Friday accuses him of keeping sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago property. The indictment amounted to “election interference” by the “corrupt” FBI and justice department, he said on Saturday. He has denied any wrongdoing. Mr Trump has been charged with mishandling hundreds of classified documents, including some about US nuclear secrets and military plans. The indictment accused him of keeping the files at his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago including in a…
TED Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, has been found dead in his prison cell, federal officials confirmed to the BBC. Kaczynski, 81, killed three people and injured 23 more during a mass mail-bombing spree between 1978 and 1995. He later pleaded guilty to his crimes. He was sentenced to life without parole in 1996 after evading capture for almost 20 years. The Harvard-trained mathematician was eventually caught in a Montana cabin. He was a man who fascinated America for decades, and he became the focus of numerous TV documentaries. Kaczynski spent the past three decades held at prisons across…
ROMANIA has recalled its ambassador to Kenya and apologised after he compared Africans to monkeys. Dragos Tigau made the comments during a meeting at a UN building in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, on April 26. According to the AFP news agency, Mr Tigau said “the African group has joined us” when he saw a monkey outside a window. Mr Tigau’s behaviour was first made public on Thursday by Kenyan foreign affairs official Kamau Macharia. On Twitter Mr Macharia said he was left “appalled and disgusted” by the incident, and claimed that attempts were made to cover up Mr Tigau’s behaviour. African…
RESIDENTS say an uneasy calm has returned to Sudan’s capital city, Khartoum, after the country’s warring generals agreed to a 24-hour truce that was brokered by Saudi Arabia. Previous attempts at ceasefires between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have failed. People are using the brief pause in fighting to buy food and medicines. At least 1.5 million Sudanese have fled their homes since the conflict began in April, according to UN estimates. The truce is meant to hold until 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT) on Sunday. It is not clear if Saturday’s ceasefire is being respected…
MANCHESTER City will look to win the Champions League for the first time and complete the Treble when they play Inter Milan in the final at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul. Pep Guardiola’s side have already won the Premier League and FA Cup. It is the second time in three years City have reached the Champions League final, losing to Chelsea in 2020-21. “We just need to find a way to win the first one,” City playmaker Kevin de Bruyne told BBC Radio 5 Live. “If we could do that, it would be immense for the players, the clubs…
SUPER Eagles coach, José Santos Peseiro has invited notable players such as Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, captain Ahmed Musa, defender William Ekong, midfielders Alex Iwobi and Wilfred Ndidi for next weekend’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone in Monrovia, Liberia. Man of the moment, Osimhen, whose 31 goals in all competitions for SSC Napoli this season helped the Italian giants to clinch their first Serie A title in 33 years and the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, tops the strikers’ list. La Liga Best African Player for the 2022/2023 season, Villarreal’s Samuel…
FOUR children have been found alive more than a month after their plane crashed in Colombia’s Amazon jungle, the country’s president has said. The siblings, aged 13, nine, four and a one-year-old baby, were on board the plane with their mother, a pilot and a co-pilot when it crashed on 1 May. Their mother and the other adults on board the plane died. President Gustavo Petro said finding the children after weeks of searching was “a joy for the whole country”. He called it a “magical day”, adding: “They were alone, they themselves achieved an example of total survival which…
FORMER President Donald Trump has been charged with mishandling hundreds of classified documents, including about US nuclear secrets and military plans. The 37-count indictment accuses him of keeping the files at his Florida estate, including in a ballroom and a shower, and lying to investigators. It alleges he then tried to obstruct the investigation into the handling of the documents. Mr Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, denies any wrongdoing. Charges have also been filed against Walt Nauta, a personal aide to Mr Trump. The former White House military valet is accused of moving files to hide…
THE UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) says it is suspending some food aid to Ethiopia while it addresses worries that donations are being diverted from those in need. It will continue to help the most vulnerable, such as children and new mothers, and welcomed what it called the Ethiopian government’s commitment to investigate. The United States – the biggest donor to Ethiopia – also suspended aid a day ago, saying it had uncovered a campaign to divert assistance. It did not say who was behind it. Donors have heard allegations that Ethiopian government entities were the orchestrators, and military units…
SUSPECTED militants have killed at least 27 people in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Local reports say they used axes and machetes to attack civilians in their homes in Bukokoma village, Nord Kivu province, on Thursday evening. The attackers are thought to be from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militia linked to the Islamic State group. Eastern DR Congo is a hotbed for rival militia who’ve been blamed for attacks that have killed thousands of people. A similar attack last week in Beni territory left at least nine dead.
I’M getting ahead of myself. Father’s Day is still next Sunday. But after the Executive Editor of LeVogue, LEADERSHIP’s Fashion and Lifestyle magazine, Nikki Odu-Khiran, asked me if I could write a piece to mark the day, it got me thinking. If my father, who passed on May 28, 2000, ever had to write on Father’s Day, what would he have written? Of course, he wouldn’t have written anything. A pensioner who worked as a storekeeper at the Apapa (Lagos) Quays of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) before he retired in 1996, Robert could barely write. But my, oh, my,…
SHEIKH Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani made a fifth bid to buy Manchester United earlier this week, according to a source close to the Qatari banker. This will be Sheikh Jassim’s final bid, and after Friday he will no longer engage with the process. The bid is for 100% of the club, will clear United’s debt and has a separate fund for the club and local community. Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group are the other main party trying to buy the Premier League club. Figures in March showed United owed £969.6m through a combination of gross debt, bank borrowings and…
WORLD Cup-winning France midfielder N’Golo Kante’s planned move to Saudi side Al-Ittihad is being stalled by medical issues, a club source told AFP on Thursday. Kante, 32, has a history of injuries and missed six months of Chelsea’s Premier League season with a hamstring problem. The Al-Ittihad source said Kante had signed a binding agreement but the club were examining the results of medical tests before agreeing a final deal. On Tuesday, the Jeddah-based club officially unveiled 35-year-old French Ballon d’Or-winner Karim Benzema as the biggest signing in their history. “Kante signed a binding agreement, not a final contract,” the…