Author: Editor

ARSENAL manager Mikel Arteta says his side have “made strong steps” this season, regardless of how their final two Premier League games play out. They travel to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest on Saturday, knowing defeat would hand the title to Manchester City. The Gunners were seven points clear at the top on 26 December but are now four points behind Pep Guardiola’s side. “We have built that core and that foundation,” Arteta said. “There’s a lot of quality, a lot of youth, a lot of enthusiasm, but as well surrounded by a lot of good people with the right experience, with…

RUSSIA on Friday said it banned entry to 500 Americans, including former president Barack Obama, in response to sanctions imposed by Washington. “In response to the anti-Russian sanctions regularly imposed by the Biden administration… entry into the Russian Federation is closed for 500 Americans,” the foreign ministry said, adding that Obama was among those on the list. On Friday, the United States added hundreds more companies and individuals to its sanctions blacklist as it broadened efforts to choke off Russia’s economy over the Ukraine offensive. “Washington should have learned a long time ago that not a single hostile step against…

PRESIDENT Bashar Al-Assad strode into the Arab League summit in Jeddah, relishing the clearest recognition yet that he has won his war for Syria. He was embraced by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. A decade ago, the Saudis funded anti-Assad militias. Now the prince, known as MBS, wants to remake the Middle East, and he needs Syria onside. In a speech, President Assad insisted that Syria would always belong to the Arab world. But other countries should not interfere with what happened inside its borders. “It is important to leave internal affairs to the country’s people as they…

SUDAN’s army chief Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has sacked his deputy and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti. Both Gen Burhan and Hemedti have served as chairman and deputy of the ruling Sovereign Council respectively, since the October 2021 military coup. In a decree released on Friday, Gen Burhan appointed former rebel leader Malik Agar as his deputy. Mr Agar is also a Sovereign Council member. He directed the secretariat of the Sovereign Council and the relevant state authorities to immediately effect the decree. The army chief had last month dissolved the…

SOME 82 Ghanaian police officers have sued the government accusing it of failing to promote them after they finished their studies under the country’s study leave with pay policy. Led by deputy inspector Kofi Osal, the officers say they were denied their deserved promotions as well as entry into police college after the successful completion of their studies during the 2017/2018 academic year. They said the move was “unfair and unreasonable” and urged the Accra High Court to issue an order directing the police service to grant them the promotions.

WEST Ham reached their first European final for 47 years after Thursday’s 1-0 victory at AZ Alkmaar clinched a 3-1 aggregate success in the Europa Conference League semi-finals. Pablo Fornals scored West Ham’s winner in the final moments of the tense second leg to set up a clash with Fiorentina or FC Basel in the final in Prague on June 7. The Hammers last reached a major European final in 1976 when they were beaten by Anderlecht in the Cup Winners Cup. West Ham have not won a major trophy since Trevor Brooking’s goal beat Arsenal in the 1980 FA…

JOSE Mourinho’s Roma remain on track for a second European trophy in two seasons, after a 0-0 draw at Bayer Leverkusen sent them through 1-0 on aggregate on Thursday. The Europa Conference League holders created little in attack but defended doggedly, as the increasingly frustrated home side peppered their goal in search of an equaliser. The visitors held on through eight minutes of added time and will face either Juventus or Sevilla in the final in Budapest in late May. Roma came into the game holding onto a narrow 1-0 lead, thanks to a second-half goal from Rome-born midfielder Edoardo…

QUEEN Elizabeth II’s state funeral and related events following her death last September cost UK taxpayers nearly £162 million ($201 million), the government revealed on Thursday in its first public estimate. The elaborate state funeral for Britain’s longest-serving monarch, held on September 19, entailed a vast security operation for hundreds of foreign heads of state and royals. It followed hundreds of thousands of people queuing round the clock for days to view her coffin as it lay in state at the UK parliament in London and in Edinburgh, which also required costly security and logistical arrangements. In a written statement…

A HEBREW Bible more than 1,000 years old sold for $38.1 million in New York on Wednesday, setting a record for the most valuable manuscript ever sold at auction. The Codex Sassoon — which dates to the late ninth to early 10th century — is the earliest near-complete Hebrew Bible known to still exist. It was sold by Sotheby’s following a four-minute bidding battle between two bidders, the auction house said in a statement. The Bible was bought by former US diplomat Alfred Moses on behalf of an American nonprofit that will gift it to the ANU Museum of the…

KENYA has suspended more than 27 officials after around 1,000 tonnes of sugar were released to the market despite being declared unfit for consumption. President William Ruto’s chief of staff Felix Koskei said in a statement late Wednesday that the consignment had been imported in 2018 but was condemned as expired. It had been earmarked for conversion into industrial ethanol but despite being condemned as “unfit for human consumption,” the sugar was released into the market in what Koskei described as an “irregular and criminal” act. Koskei said 27 people had been suspended including the head of the Kenya Bureau…

AIR strikes have pounded parts of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, as further fighting erupted near a military camp in the south of the city. The army has used air power and heavy artillery to try to drive back the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from residential areas of Khartoum and its adjoining cities of Bahri and Omdurman. The Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate accused the RSF of attacking three ambulances and arresting their drivers and a doctor in Khartoum. The union said it had documented attacks on 20 hospitals.

THE Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared N655.932 billion as of April 2023 Federation Account Revenue to the federal, state, and local governments. This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the FAAC meeting for May 2023, according to a statement by its Director, Press and Public Relations, Stephen Kilebi. The amount includes gross statutory revenue, value-added tax, exchange gain, electronic money transfer levies, and augmentations from forex and non-oil mineral revenue. “The Federal Government received N248.809 billion, the states received N218.307 billion, the local government councils got N160.600 billion, while the oil producing states received…

THE Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission not to limit its corruption probe to governors alone, but to extend it officials of the Presidency and the members of the Federal Executive Council. The governor made the demand in a statement on Wednesday, in reaction to a report that quoted the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa,as saying the anti-graft agency had sent invitations to all outgoing governors and commissioners for corruption probe. Matawalle said while he had no problem with plan to probe outgoing governors, officials of the Presidency should also not be spared.…

CHELSEA striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is to return to the Gabon side a year after announcing his international retirement. The 33-year-old retired as his country’s record scorer, with 28 goals in 68 appearances, in May 2022. The forward said the return was prompted by a meeting with the African country’s president Ali Bongo Ondimba. “(I) listened to the wise words he said to me as a father talking to his son,” Aubameyang posted on Instagram. Gabon, led by former La Rochelle defender Patrice Neveu, are currently top their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification group. They can seal their place at…

BRENTFORD striker Ivan Toney has been banned from football for eight months after he accepted breaking Football Association betting rules. Toney has also been charged £50,000 and warned about his future conduct for 232 breaches of the FA’s betting rules. His suspension starts immediately, but the 27-year-old can return to training with Brentford four months before it ends on 17 September. He will not be allowed to play again until 17 January, 2024. Posting on his Instagram story, Toney said he was “naturally disappointed” at the verdict, and would make no further comment until the the independent Regulatory Commission publishes…

A LIMOUSINE driver in New York has been convicted of manslaughter for a 2018 wreck that killed 20 people. Nauman Hussain, 33, the former service manager for Prestige Limousine, now faces up to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors said Hussain failed to conduct routine inspections on the stretch-style 2001 Ford Excursion. His lawyers blamed mechanics for the crash. It was America’s deadliest transport crash since 2009, officials said at the time. The collision killed 17 people who were going to a surprise 30th birthday party, the driver and two bystanders. Applause broke out in court after the jury’s sentence was…

MONTANA is set to become the first US state to ban Chinese-owned media giant TikTok from personal devices. Governor Greg Gianforte signed the ban into law on Wednesday. It is due to take effect on 1 January. The video-sharing platform says the ban “infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana”. TikTok has come under scrutiny from authorities around the world over concerns that data could be passed to the Chinese government. Mr Gianforte, a Republican, told lawmakers that a wider ban would further “our shared priority to protect Montanans from Chinese Communist Party surveillance.” TikTok said…

EIGHT out of 10 South African school children struggle to read by the age of ten, an international study has found. South Africa ranked last out of 57 countries assessed in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, which tested the reading ability of 400,000 students globally in 2021. Illiteracy among South African children rose from from 78% in 2016 to 81%. The country’s education minister blamed the results on school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic. Describing the results as “disappointingly low”, Angie Motshekga also said the country’s education system was faced with significant historical challenges, including poverty, inequality and…

A TANZANIAN teen has won the Amal Clooney Women’s Empowerment Award in London for her efforts to support girls’ education. The annual Prince’s Trust Awards recognise young people who have succeeded against the odds, improved their chances in life and had a positive impact on their local community. Award winner Zamana was recognised after launching her own campaign to support and encourage girls to stay in school in Tanzania. Through her “Allow Me To Study” campaign, Zamana focuses on helping schoolgirls and their parents understand the importance of completing their education. “This award means so much to me. Every girl…

– City Play Inter In Istanbul June 10 MANCHESTER City are into the final of the Champions League after Bernardo Silva scored twice in a hugely impressive win over Real Madrid at Etihad Stadium. Both of Silva’s goals came in a stunning first-half display by the hosts before Eder Militao’s own goal and a strike by substitute Julian Alvarez late on wrapped a dominant 4-0 win on the night and a 5-1 victory on aggregate. City, who are on the verge of winning the Premier League and are in the FA Cup final, will play Inter Milan in the final…