NICOLAS Jackson was sent off four minutes after coming on as a substitute as Chelsea suffered a second-half collapse against Flamengo at the Fifa Club World Cup. The Blues led through Pedro Neto but conceded twice and lost Jackson to a red card in a disastrous six-minute spell after half-time. Neto’s cool finish under the goalkeeper’s legs delivered a positive start for the Premier League side but similar far post tap-ins from substitute Bruno Henrique and Danilo allowed the Brazilian team to take the lead. Referee Ivan Barton then quickly issued a red card after Jackson’s studs made contact with…
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AT least 34 Palestinians have been killed and several others wounded by Israeli fire while waiting for humanitarian aid in central and southern Gaza Strip, hospital sources told Al Jazeera. At least 82 Palestinians were killed across Gaza by the Israeli army on Friday, sources said, including several in an attack where jets bombed a house west of Deir el-Balah. At least 37 people were killed in central Gaza, of whom 23 were aid seekers; another 23 people were killed in Gaza City; and 22 people were killed in the south of Gaza, 11 of whom were aid seekers, hospital…
UNITED States President Donald Trump has said his director of national intelligence was “wrong” when she testified that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon and that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had not re-authorised the country’s suspended nuclear weapons programme. The comments come after Trump earlier this week cast doubt on Tulsi Gabbard’s March 25 report to Congress, in which she reiterated the US intelligence community’s assessment. On Tuesday, Trump told reporters, “I don’t care” that the intelligence community’s finding contradicted his own claims, saying Iran was in the late stages of developing a nuclear weapon. But speaking on…
THE family of Zambia’s former President Edgar Lungu says he will be buried in South Africa in a private ceremony following a row with the government over the funeral arrangements. Late on Thursday, President Hakainde Hichilema cut short a period of national mourning after Lungu’s family refused to allow his body to be repatriated from South Africa as planned. His funeral had been set for Sunday in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. The family now says it will announce later when Lungu will be buried in Johannesburg in “dignity and peace”. It will be the first time a former head of state…
MORE than 200 gunmen on motorbikes have attacked a Niger army base near the border with Mali, leaving at least 34 soldiers dead, the country’s defence ministry said. The attackers – described by the ministry as “mercenaries” – raided the base in the western town of Banibangou on Thursday, injuring 14 other soldiers. The ministry said that its forces killed “dozens of terrorists” in the battle. Niger’s military is under pressure for failing to curb militant attacks, one of its justifications for deposing democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum in 2023. “This Thursday, June 19, a cowardly and barbaric attack was…
THE National Opposition Coalition Group, led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ex-Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has formally applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the registration of a new political party—the All Democratic Alliance. The application, dated June 19, was acknowledged by INEC on Friday, signalling the coalition’s determination to float a new platform instead of aligning with any existing political party. The formation of ADA, backed by some other key political heavyweights, including former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi and Umar Ardo, convener of the League of Northern Democrats and former aide to President Olusegun…
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu will choose his running mate for the 2027 presidential election only after formally accepting the party’s nomination during its convention in 2026. Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, disclosed this on Thursday in an exclusive interview with this newspaper. Responding to a question on why the presidency has remained silent amid growing controversy over the omission of Vice President Kashim Shettima from a wave of endorsements for Tinubu, Onanuga dismissed suggestions that the silence amounted to tacit approval of the vice president’s exclusion. “When I read the report, I dismissed it…
LIONEL Messi scored his 50th goal for Inter Miami as they came from behind to beat Porto for their first win at the Fifa Club World Cup. Porto took the lead after just eight minutes when Samu Aghehowa squeezed a penalty under the arm of goalkeeper Oscar Ustari. Martin Anselmi’s side could have been further clear by half-time but Francesco Moura saw a shot cleared off the line and Alan Varela struck the post. Telasco Segovia sparked the Inter Miami comeback when powering Marcelo Weigandt’s cut-back into the top corner. Messi then sealed the MLS franchise’s maiden victory in the…
AT least 92 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip as desperate Palestinians continue to seek food amid an ongoing hunger crisis. Among those killed since dawn on Thursday, 64 were in Gaza City and the north and 16 others were waiting for aid assistance near the Netzarim Corridor, which splits north and south Gaza. Starving Palestinians have gathered in the area daily to receive packages from the United States- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which the United Nations has condemned for its “weaponisation” of aid. Bassam Abu Shaar, who witnessed the Israeli attack at…
THE French Senate passed a bill late on Wednesday that includes lack of consent in the country’s criminal definition of rape, paving the way for its official adoption in the coming months. The vote comes several months after a court in Avignon found a French man guilty of drugging his wife so he and strangers could rape her. The case drew renewed attention to the widespread crime of rape and the issue of consent. The bill passed this week redefines all sexual assaults — including rape — as “any non-consensual act”. France’s lower house of parliament approved a slightly different…
CONTROVERSIAL South African opposition MP, central to a row over race relations in the country, has been denied entry to the UK. The Home Office said Julius Malema had been deemed “non-conducive to the public good” and that it was “undesirable” to grant him entry. In a letter released by Malema’s party, the Home Office cited his vocal support for Hamas, including a speech he made after the 7 October attacks in which he said his own party would arm the group if it came to power. The UK said Malema had made “statements calling for the slaughter of white…
THE Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have signed a provisional agreement aimed at stopping the conflict in eastern DRC, according to a joint statement from the two countries and the United States Department of State. The development late on Wednesday in Washington, DC, came after “three days of constructive dialogue regarding political, security, and economic interests”, the statement said. The draft agreement contains provisions on issues including disarmament, the integration of non-state armed groups and the return of refugees and internally displaced people. Eastern DRC has been riven by conflict for decades, with armed groups competing for…
FEDERICO Valverde missed a stoppage-time penalty as Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal in the Club World Cup on Wednesday. A large contingent of Real fans in a crowd of 62,415 at the Hard Rock Stadium were left frustrated after new manager Xabi Alonso’s first game in charge ended in a point share. For the Saudi club, with Italian Simone Inzaghi also making his debut on the bench, it was an impressive performance where they caused Real’s defence plenty of problems before securing a hugely encouraging surprise result. Al-Hilal started in effervescent fashion and…
AT least 72 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire across Gaza since dawn, including 29 people who were waiting for aid trucks, Palestinian health officials say, the latest carnage hitting people desperate to secure food for their hungry families. The latest incidence of the daily killing of Palestinian aid seekers in recent weeks took place early on Wednesday on Salah al-Din Street near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera. More than 100 others were injured in the attack, they said. In other deadly Israeli strikes across Gaza, eight people were killed, and others injured,…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump has continued to offer mixed signals about whether the United States would directly intervene in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, which has seen six days of intense bombing. The Republican leader began his Wednesday on the White House lawn, where he installed two giant flagpoles, each 88 feet — or 27 metres — high. During that appearance, however, he was confronted with the question looming over the Middle East conflict: Would the US join Israel in striking Iran’s nuclear facilities? “You don’t know that I’m going to even do it,” Trump told one reporter. “I…
THE family of Zambia’s former President Edgar Lungu has halted the return of his body from South Africa, accusing the government of breaching key agreements over his funeral. The arrangements had been finalised and his remains were due to be flown back home on Wednesday on a private charter plane after days of uncertainty and negotiations between the family and the government. But the family has now stopped that plan, saying it “finds it very difficult to believe that the government will stick to their end of the agreement”. “Sadly so, that the mortal remains of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu…
CONTROVERSIAL Kenyan televangelist Gilbert Deya, who claimed he created miraculous pregnancies, has died in a road crash. Police told local media that Deya died on the spot on Tuesday evening after his vehicle was involved in an accident with a university bus and another vehicle near the town of Kisumu in western Kenya. At least 30 other people were reportedly injured, including a person identified as his wife and a passenger in his vehicle, and 15 students in the bus. Deya, who ran a church in London, rose to infamy in the early 2000s, following his claim that he could…
CHAIRMAN of the Nigeria Premier Football League, Gbenga Elegbeleye, has revealed that the league body is in search of sponsors for the procurement of Video Assistant Referee machines for the Nigerian topflight. Elegbeleye made this known while addressing the media during an end-of-season parley in Abuja. The introduction of VAR has usually come to the fore in the NPFL, no thanks to some questionable officiating which has marred the image of the league. The NPFL boss however defended the referees, noting that the Nigerian officials are among the best in the world. To aid their delivery, Elegbeleye admits that the…
CAMPAIGNERS have criticised Fifa after it appeared to drop anti-racism messaging at the Club World Cup, with some suggesting it may be connected to the policies of US President Donald Trump. Fifa backed ‘no discrimination’ armbands at the Qatar 2022 World Cup and last month hailed a new disciplinary code “to fight racism more efficiently and decisively”. So far however, such sentiments seem to have been absent during matches at the revamped competition in the US, with the governing body instead promoting a ‘Football Unites the World’ campaign. Fifa has not commented on a report in The Athletic, external that…
ISRAELI troops have killed at least 70 Palestinians and wounded hundreds as they sought aid in Gaza on Tuesday, firing at them with tank shells, machine guns and drones. Those casualties are among the 89 Palestinians killed in attacks across the besieged enclave since dawn. Israeli soldiers fired at the desperate crowds of aid seekers on Tuesday morning as they gathered along the main eastern road in the southern city of Khan Younis. It was the latest in a sustained wave of carnage since the Israel- and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) launched operations to distribute food in the…