A MAN has been shot dead by US Secret Service officers after opening fire on a security checkpoint near the White House, with a bystander wounded in the gunfire. Shortly after 6pm on Saturday (22:00 GMT), the suspect approached a Secret Service checkpoint at the intersection of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, pulled a weapon from his bag, and began shooting at officers posted there. The Secret Service, the federal agency responsible for protecting the president, confirmed the sequence of events in an official statement, saying a preliminary investigation indicated that the suspect had concealed his weapon…
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SENEGALESE President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has sacked Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and dissolved the nation’s government after months of tensions between the two men. A shock decree, read out on TV by a presidential aide, said Faye had “ended the duties” of his one-time political ally Sonko and “consequently those of the ministers and secretaries of state who are members of the government”. Sonko, a popular figure among Senegal’s youth, said on social media that he would “sleep with a light heart”. The split comes as the country faces mounting economic pressure, with its public debt having reached the equivalent…
BUYERS trudged through a muddy market in Abidjan, looking for the best-priced sheep to be sacrificed for Eid al-Adha, with traders driving hard bargains in the run-up to the Muslim festival. Prices have shot up this year, and animals are harder to come by as the Ivory Coast’s usual supply from neighbouring Sahel countries has been hit by export bans and conflict. Ivory Coast depends heavily on imports to meet demand. Around 75 percent of the sheep and cattle needed for Tabaski, the name for Eid in West Africa, come from countries such as Burkina Faso and Mali. That amounts…
COLE Palmer and Phil Foden were among a number of high-profile players left out of Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad announced on Friday. Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander Arnold was also omitted, with Saudi-based Al-Ahli striker Ivan Toney the surprise inclusion. Tuchel, a Champions League winner during his time at Chelsea, has been hired to end England’s 60-year wait to win a major international tournament. The German former Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich boss has made a series of bold calls that will be harshly judged if the Three Lions fall short of glory in the coming weeks. Palmer and Foden…
PAKISTAN’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, is in Iran as part of ongoing mediation efforts to end Israel and the United States’s war that began on February 28. Munir arrived in Tehran on Friday, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported, citing the Pakistan Army. “On arrival, he was received and warmly welcomed by Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni,” IRNA said, adding that “Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was also present at the reception.” It is the second such trip to Tehran by Munir amid Pakistani mediation efforts to end the war. Islamabad helped secure a temporary ceasefire between the…
TULSI Gabbard is resigning from her job as United States President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, according to her resignation letter posted on her X account. In her resignation letter, Gabbard told Trump she was “deeply grateful for the trust you placed in me and for the opportunity to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the last year and a half”. She cited her husband’s recent diagnosis with a rare form of bone cancer as the reason for her resignation. Trump also confirmed the resignation in a post on his Truth Social account, saying, “Unfortunately,…
THE US has sanctioned a senior Tanzanian police official over allegations linked to the “torture and sexual assault” of East African rights activists Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire last year. In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department had designated Faustine Jackson Mafwele based on “credible information that he was involved in gross violations of human rights”. Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo told the BBC that the government was yet to receive the formal designation, which bars Mafwele from entering the US. The sanctions come amid growing scrutiny of Tanzania’s human rights record,…
THE risk from the deadly Ebola outbreak has been raised to the highest level for the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organisation said Friday, as the toll continues to rise. The WHO upgraded its risk assessment level from high to very high for the DR Congo, while keeping the regional risk level at high and the global risk level at low. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the situation was “deeply worrisome”. He said there were now nearly 750 suspected cases in the DR Congo and 177 suspected deaths, as health workers scramble to track down contacts of…
WHEN referee Anthony Taylor blew the final whistle at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday, he not only ended the match between Bournemouth and Manchester City. That moment ushered in Arsenal as the new English Premier League winners, ending the Gunners’ 22-year wait for the domestic title. While the celebrations erupted in North London and across the world, at the heart of this historic coronation were four stars of Nigerian heritage whose flair, goals, and resilience helped Arsenal break the two-decade deadlock. For millions of Nigerians, Arsenal’s victory felt more personal because of Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, and Ethan…
CRISTIANO Ronaldo scored twice as Al Nassr clinched the Saudi Pro League title with a 4-1 win over Damac on Thursday, ending his long wait for domestic silverware. A trademark free-kick and a close-range finish, both in the final half-hour, sealed the win Al Nassr needed on the last night of the season, with Al Hilal finishing just two points behind. Ronaldo, 41, who was without a major club trophy since winning Serie A with Juventus in 2020, arrived in the oil-rich desert kingdom to great acclaim in 2023, wept as he watched the final minutes from the bench. He…
IN a week that began with Donald Trump revealing he was just an hour away from “making the decision” to resume attacks on Iran, the United States president has oscillated between expressing hope for a lasting ceasefire and threatening military escalation. Trump’s mixed messaging has also coincided with a renewed flurry of diplomacy, with Iran as of Thursday saying it had received and was reviewing Washington’s response to Tehran’s latest ceasefire proposal. Trump, meanwhile, appeared to indicate an appetite for a third option: a prolonged, grinding conflict. On Thursday, he reposted a New York Post op-ed by Richard Goldberg, a…
ISRAEL has deported hundreds of foreign activists abducted by Israeli forces who stormed a Gaza aid flotilla earlier this week, following global outcry over their treatment in custody. In Turkiye, dozens of flotilla participants arrived at the Istanbul airport throughout Thursday, some wearing keffiyehs and holding up their fingers in a peace sign. Crowds of supporters brandishing Palestinian flags welcomed them. Ankara has evacuated 422 people on chartered flights, including 85 of its own citizens, and deployed doctors and ambulances to treat participants. The French Foreign Ministry said the group included 37 French nationals. Some Spanish activists arrived in Madrid…
AN Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to a part of eastern South Kivu province under the control of the Rwanda-backed M23 militia, the group’s spokesman said on Thursday, heightening fears of the deadly disease’s growing spread. Efforts to get a grip on the latest outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever, which the World Health Organization has declared an international emergency, have been hampered by the DRC’s long-running conflicts, including between the Congolese army and the M23.Having seized swathes of land in the mineral-rich east with Rwanda’s help, the M23 has set up to govern…
GHANA said Thursday it has delayed the evacuation of more than 800 of its citizens from South Africa after a viral video showing the alleged assault of a Ghanaian man triggered outrage. The footage showing the attack on Emmanuel Asamoah, a Ghanaian living in South Africa, circulated widely on social media during the latest wave of xenophobic violence targeting foreign nationals in the country. The Ghanaian foreign ministry said earlier this month that it was evacuating citizens from South Africa as a result. Some 800 Ghanaians were to be evacuated starting Thursday, but the process was delayed because of the…
DOMINANT Aston Villa dispatched Freiburg to win the Europa League and end a 30-year trophy drought. First-half stunners from Youri Tielemans and Emi Buendia gave Villa control before Morgan Rogers’ strike sealed a second major European title 44 years after they won the European Cup. Nine of that team from 1982 were at Besiktas Park in Istanbul to watch Unai Emery win his fifth Europa League. Emery replaced Steven Gerrard in November 2022 with Villa three points above the relegation zone and has transformed them into top five contenders and, now, a European champion. Villa supporter Prince William celebrated at…
IRAN’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said it coordinated the transit of 26 vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, as talks between Washington and Tehran over the resumption of traffic through the narrow waterway remain stalled. “Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is being carried out with permission and in coordination with the IRGC Navy,” the statement carried by Iran’s state-affiliated ISNA news agency said on Wednesday. Later on Wednesday, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) published a new map of Hormuz on X, marking a controlled maritime zone that vessels will not be…
UNITED States federal prosecutors have indicted Cuba’s former President Raul Castro in connection with the 1996 downing of planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. The indictment, unsealed on Wednesday, marks one of the sharpest escalations in tensions between Washington and Havana in years. The US Department of Justice alleges that Castro, Cuba’s defence minister at the time, played a leading role in the decision to have Cuban fighter jets shoot down two civilian aircraft on February 24, 1996. It has charged Castro with one count of conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder…
THE World Health Organization (WHO) says it could take up to nine months before a vaccine against this particular species of Ebola is ready. Two possible “candidate vaccines” against the Bundibugyo species are being developed, but neither had gone through clinical trials yet, WHO advisor Dr Vasee Moorthy said on Wednesday. WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there have been 600 suspected cases of Ebola and 139 suspected deaths but numbers are expected to rise given the time taken to detect the virus. Speaking to journalists in Geneva, he said 51 cases have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic…
SIERRA Leone has become the latest African country to receive migrants deported from the United States amid Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. A plane carrying nine West African migrants landed at Sierra Leone’s international airport, just outside the capital, Freetown, on Wednesday morning. Last week, Foreign Minister Timothy Musa Kabba told the Reuters news agency his country had agreed to accept up to 300 people a year expelled by the United States. However, he added that the new arrivals must originally come from member states of Ecowas, west Africa’s economic bloc. The US has already sent deportees to several…
THE Lagos State Government has unveiled an ambitious roadmap to end the “culture of blackouts” and establish a 24-hour electricity market driven by private-sector investment, smart metering, and independent power generation across the state. News Point Nigeria reports that the Lagos State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Biodun Ogunleye, disclosed this during the 2026 Ministerial Press Briefing held in Alausa, Ikeja, on Monday, where he presented the achievements and strategic direction of the ministry under the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration. Ogunleye said the state had commenced aggressive reforms following the implementation of the Lagos State Electricity Law 2024, describing the…