Brave Arsenal defender ‘outgunned’ three thieves with baseball bats to keep his car, watch and phone
Arsenal defender Gabriel bravely fought back against thieves armed with baseball bats who were trying to steal his car, watch and mobile phone at his home. The incident occurred in August when Gabriel, who joined Arsenal in a £27 million ($36 million) deal from Lille last year, and a friend...
China’s minerals-for-infrastructure policy oiled former DR Congo president’s gravy train – Sentry report
When the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government handed a no-bid contract to a subsidiary of China Railway to rebuild and maintain the road from the mining hub of Lubumbashi to the border with Zambia, with tolls charged to fund the work, it opened further taps for free flow of...
Sudan’s democratic transition remains in abeyance, the military needs domestic and foreign goodwill to rule
The Sudanese public has since October 24 coup demonstrated that they will not accept the new governing arrangement, despite Abdallah Hamdok’s reinstatement as prime minister. The military, therefore, faces the prospect of ongoing protests, strikes and other forms of civil disobedience that can cripple the military’s ability to govern. Unlike...
How international pressure forced Sudan’s refashioned military government to reappoint Hamdok
In the weeks following the October 25 coup there were numerous reports that the military was looking to name a civilian prime minister to head up the military’s refashioned government. Always high up on the list of candidates was the current transitional prime minister, Abdallah Hamdok, whom the military kept...
As Western firms give DR Congo’s minerals wide berth, China’s rivers of dollars fill ex-president’s accounts
A leak of 3.5 million documents shows how a Chinese-run company moved millions of dollars to former Congo President Joseph Kabila’s family and allies. The Chinese businessman had walked out of a bank in Kinshasa with 13,624 hundred-dollar bills, 10,001 fifties and 43,000 smaller US notes, despite explicit instructions to...
Omicron threat: Scientists urge patience as they investigate ‘This variant (that) is completely insane’
At 7:30 am on November 24, Kristian Andersen, an infectious disease researcher at Scripps Research, received a message on Slack: “This variant is completely insane.” Andrew Rambaut of the University of Edinburgh was reacting to a new SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence found in three samples collected in Botswana on November 11...
Story of English Premier League dominance in Lionel Messi’s seventh Ballon d’Or triumph
Messi, who joined PSG from Barcelona last summer, was named the 2021 Ballon d’Or winner at a ceremony held in Paris on Monday night, with Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski second and Chelsea midfielder Jorginho third. The 34-year-old ended his long wait for a major international trophy by helping Argentina win...
Clash over White Nile waters claims lives of six Sudanese soldiers as Ethiopian army attacks border town
Sudan’s armed forces have said six of its forces were killed in fighting in the country’s border region with Ethiopia. It came a day after the military claimed that Ethiopian military and militia forces attacked the border area of al-Fashaqa, a disputed agricultural area that straddles the two countries. A...
European journalists to Polish government: Don’t jail investigative writer for refusing to disclose source
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joined the partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in calling on the District Prosecutor’s Office in the Polish city of Gdansk to drop its legal case against Gazeta Wyborcza reporter Katarzyna Włodkowska. In a statement issued on Monday, EFJ also wants...
Why Carrick benched Ronaldo: He’s just a player like any other, there shouldn’t drama
Manchester United interim boss Michael Carrick has explained his decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo for the Premier League clash against Chelsea. Carrick made four changes from Tuesday’s Champions League victory over Villarreal for his first Premier League match as temporary manager. England international Marcus Rashford came in for the benched...
