Author: Editor

ARSENAL were stung by a late goal from Southampton’s Shea Charles as the Premier League leaders fell to defeat in the FA Cup quarter-finals. The match was Arsenal’s first after their Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City and followed an international break which was notable for 11 Gunners players withdrawing from their national teams because of injury. However, Mikel Arteta was still able to name a side containing captain Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes, with Arsenal eager to clear this hurdle. Despite Arsenal having such senior players in their ranks, and dominating possession, it was…

INSIDE the sprawling Shahid Beheshti University in northern Tehran, a research centre lies in ruins after warplanes bombed it. The attack on Friday on the Laser and Plasma Research Institute of the elite higher education facility is part of a growing pattern of civilian sites targeted by the United States and Israel in their war on Iran. There were no casualties at the university because it was mostly empty after all classes across the country were moved online by the government until further notice. Dormitories nearby were lightly damaged. The US and Israel did not officially divulge the rationale behind…

ISRAELI attacks on southern Lebanon have killed at least two children and wounded 40 people, according to Lebanese health officials. In a statement, the Ministry of Public Health said an Israeli strike on Habbush killed two girls and wounded 22 people on Saturday. In a separate statement, it said an attack on al-Hawsh near the coastal city of Tyre wounded 18, including a child, three women and three paramedics. The ministry had previously said the strike on al-Hawsh damaged a nearby major hospital. The director of the Lebanese Italian Hospital told the state-run National News Agency (NNA) on Saturday that…

CAMEROON’s President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest leader, is set to get a vice-president for the first time in his four-decade rule following controversial constitutional changes backed by parliament. Should anything now happen to Biya, 93, the vice-president will automatically step in and complete the term before a new election is held. The position was scrapped in 1972. In recent years the leader of the senate was expected to act as president but only until a fresh election was arranged. The opposition said the amendments were hastily drafted and aimed at consolidating power. Even one senator from Biya’s party described…

GOVERNMENT ministers in Senegal have been banned from all non-essential foreign travel following the rise in the price of oil resulting from the conflict in Iran, the prime minister has announced. Speaking at a youth rally on Friday, Ousmane Sonko said that the current cost of a barrel of oil was approaching double what had been budgeted for. Sonko has postponed his own trips to Niger, Spain and France as part of the restrictions. He said that the mines minister would announce further measures to curb government spending in the coming week. Senegal’s move is the latest response from the…

THE Nigeria Labour Congress has directed workers in states that have not fully implemented the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act to observe May Day 2026 on the streets, suspending all indoor or official celebrations. In a statement sent to News Point Nigeria on Friday by its General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, the union condemned several state governments for failing to implement key provisions of the Act, including consequential adjustments for senior workers, regular and timely payment of the new wage, and extending coverage to local government staff, primary school teachers, and health workers. The NLC described these violations as not only…

NIGERIAN striker Victor Osimhen has been named Footballer of the Year at the 72nd Annual Milliyet Sports Awards, one of Turkey’s most prestigious sporting honours, Saturday PUNCH reports. News Point Nigeria Sport reports that the award recognises Osimhen’s pivotal role in Galatasaray’s historic domestic double last season, during which the 27-year-old forward’s 37 goals goals and seven assists helped the club dominate both the Süper Lig and Turkish Cup. Held on Thursday night, the 72nd AXA Sigorta Milliyet Sports Awards, often described as the “Oscars of sports” in Turkey, celebrated Osimhen as the first Nigerian to receive the accolade. He…

MANCHESTER City manager Pep Guardiola says unhappy players can leave the club, but he hopes midfielder Rodri will stay. During the international break, ex-Atletico Madrid player Rodri said he would consider joining their city rivals Real as “you can’t turn down the best clubs in the world”. The 29-year-old Spain captain has made 293 appearances for City since joining in 2019 and will be out of contract next summer. “There is not one player that will turn [down] the chance to play for [Real] Madrid,” said Guardiola. “Always my wish is that Rodri could stay as long as possible in…

IRANIAN forces have said they struck down two fighter jets belonging to the United States military, one over the southwest part of the country and another around the Strait of Hormuz. A spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said on Friday that air defences completely destroyed one F-15 jet. Later in the day, the Iranian military said it targeted an A-10 US aircraft that crashed into the Gulf. The New York Times had cited unidentified officials as saying that the A10’s pilot was safe after the crash. But the fate of at least one pilot from the…

ISRAEL’s military has threatened to destroy more bridges in southern Lebanon in what observers say is an attempt to cut the area off from the rest of the country as Israeli forces press forward with a devastating ground invasion. In a social media post on Friday, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said the military planned to bomb the Sohmor and Mashghara bridges over the Litani River in the western Bekaa Valley, claiming they are being used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. “These are two main bridges – the main arteries for goods, for people, for movement – between the…

MEDICAL charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has denounced a drone attack on a Sudanese hospital that killed 10 people in the south-central part of the war-torn nation. The attack on Thursday involved two strikes on Al Jabalain Hospital in White Nile State, hitting an operating theatre and a maternity ward, MSF said in a statement on Friday, adding the assault was “reportedly” carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). “This unacceptable assault resulted in at least 10 fatalities, including seven medical staff, some of whom had previously worked with MSF,” Esperanza Santos, MSF…

DEMOCRACY “kills” and the people of Burkina Faso must “forget” it, the country’s military ruler has said in an interview aired on state television. Capt Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in a coup three years ago, suggested most Africans do not want the system of democracy and that Burkina Faso had its own, alternative approach, without giving details. Traoré initially pledged to restore democratic rule to the West African country by July 2024, but two months before this deadline, the junta announced it would extend its rule for another five years. In January, the authorities announced a ban on all…

THE head of Italy’s football federation (FIGC) resigned on Thursday, falling on his sword after the men’s national team failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time. Gabriele Gravina revealed he would step down as the country’s top football official following a meeting held at the FIGC’s headquarters in Rome on Thursday. His announcement came a day after Sport Minister Andrea Abodi called on him to resign. Four-time World Cup winners Italy fell at the play-offs again on Tuesday, this time after a penalty shoot-out against Bosnia and Hercegovina, and will miss this summer’s finals in…

THE United States has reiterated that Washington is open to diplomacy with Tehran as the US-Israel war on Iran drags on and as US President Donald Trump renews his threats to destroy the country’s civilian infrastructure. US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told Al Jazeera in a TV interview on Thursday that Trump pursued talks with Iran before the war, but accused Iran of continuing to pursue a nuclear weapon. “The president is always open to diplomacy, but he’s also been clear we will see his objectives be fulfilled here,” Pigott said. Trump addressed the nation about Iran late on…

RUSSIA plans to send a second ship carrying oil to Cuba, the Russian energy minister has said, as the Caribbean nation struggles under a crippling United States blockade. Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev said on Thursday that the cargo was being loaded and would be brought to Cuba. “Cuba is in a total blockade; it’s been cut off. Whose shipment of oil made it? A Russian vessel broke through the blockade,” Tsivilev said, referring to a first Russian tanker that reached the island earlier this week. “A second one is being loaded right now. We will not leave Cubans alone in…

A MAN has killed four children in a stabbing attack at a nursery school in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, police have said. “We confirm a tragic incident at the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school, in Makindye Division Kampala City where a male suspect brutally stabbed and killed four juveniles,” the Ugandan police said in a post on X on Thursday. Police Spokesperson Rachael Kawala told local media that one girl and three boys were killed by a 34-year-old attacker. The man had gained access to the school and attacked an “unspecified number of children with a sharp object”, according…

BURKINA Faso’s military is committing atrocities, including the ethnic cleansing of Fulani civilians, Human Rights Watch has found, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity in the West African country. In a report released on Thursday and titled None Can Run Away, the New York-based watchdog presented its findings after conducting in-person and phone interviews with more than 450 people in Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Mali about abuses between January 2023 and August 2025. Using extensive open-source analysis, including satellite imagery, audiovisual footage and official documents, its researchers verified 57 incidents involving Burkinabe military forces…

THE FIFA World Cup 2026 is set to be the biggest and most exciting tournament in football history. For the first time ever, 48 teams from around the globe will compete across an expanded format featuring 104 matches. Hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, the competition will span 16 vibrant host cities, bringing the game closer to fans than ever before. From thrilling group-stage clashes to the intensity of the knockout rounds, the full FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule showcases a month-long celebration of football, uniting nations, cultures, and supporters in a truly global spectacle. The 12…

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has said the United States could stop attacking Iran within two to three weeks and that a deal is not necessary to end a war that has disrupted energy supplies and shaken the global economy. His comments came as Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that no negotiations are going on with Washington despite direct and indirect exchanges of messages, nearly five weeks after the US and Israel began attacking Iran. Trump, who previously claimed that Iran was engaged in negotiations and “begging” for a deal, appeared to change his tune…

PALESTINIANS shops and public institutions, including universities, across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem were closed as people took to the streets to protest against a new Israeli law that imposes the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks. Hundreds of people gathered on Wednesday to march in Ramallah against the law backed by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, chanting slogans condemning the law and calling on the international community to reverse the law’s passage. At a protest in the city of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, demonstrators carried signs warning that time was running…