Uefa says it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s Fifa leadership as the fallout from the scrapped controversial investment plan intensifies. On Saturday, Infantino said Fifa would no longer proceed with the proposal to sell stakes in the governing body’s competitions to private investors. Uefa – which governs European football – had earlier voted to boycott World Cups if the plans went ahead, and other governing bodies also voiced their opposition. On Saturday, Uefa said it welcomed the decision to withdraw the plan, describing it as “a victory for the whole game”. It also accused Infantino of failing to deliver…
Author: Oki Bin Oki
Spain has condemned the “selfish, polarising and unlawful” reaction of some EU countries to the influx of about 60,000 migrants from Morocco to Ceuta. Officials say almost all those who reached the enclave on 30 July have returned, while Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on Saturday that the death toll had risen to at least 67. It comes after Italy temporarily suspended the EU’s border-free Schengen arrangement with Spain, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the scenes “shocking”. Finland and Denmark backed Italy’s move, while Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš urged a temporary suspension of Spain’s Schengen membership. In…
Leaders of countries making up an African Union military mission in Somalia on Friday insisted they wanted to extend its mandate, despite Washington ending political and critical financial support. Somalia has battled Al-Shabaab insurgents for around two decades, but the Islamist group still controls vast swathes of the country. The African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) is the leading force supporting the Somali army, providing roughly 12,000 troops. But the United States has announced it will end support to the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS), which crucially provides logistics to the mission, at the end of…
Spain’s prime minister has blamed trafficking gangs after about 60,000 migrants crossed into the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco. At least 57 people died during the surge, according to local media. Pedro Sánchez called the incident a “violation of Spain’s territorial integrity”. Italy has responded by suspending the EU’s border-free Schengen arrangements with Spain. As of Friday evening, more than 48,000 of the migrants had voluntarily returned to Morocco, Spanish officials said. The influx comes after Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla, another Spanish enclave, cannot be…
Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s position came under further scrutiny on Friday as the governing body’s chief operating officer strongly criticised his plan to sell stakes in competitions to private investors. In a statement released to the Associated Press, Kevin Lamour described the controversial plans as “the project of one person” and said “the time has now come for football political leaders to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions”. The lengthy statement did not mention Infantino by name. It came on the same day a third confederation spoke out against the plans, a senior adviser to Infantino…
A postmortem exercise on the body of prominent mental health researcher Dr. Victoria Mutiso revealed died from excessive bleeding after sustaining three gunshot wounds during a fatal shooting in Nairobi’s Upper Hill area on Wednesday. The autopsy was conducted at the Kenyatta National Hospital Mortuary by Chief Government Pathologist Dr. Johansen Oduor, assisted by pathologist Bernard Midia. Dr. Oduor said the injuries inflicted on Dr. Mutiso were fatal. “What led to her death was severe bleeding. There were also chest injuries and head injuries because of the three gunshot wounds,” said Dr Oduor. The pathologist disclosed that Dr. Mutiso was…
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has criticised the recent boycott of some judges and judicial officers by lawyers, warning that the action undermines the administration of justice by disrupting court proceedings and delaying the hearing of cases. In a statement issued after a consultative meeting with the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Senior Counsel Bar (SCB), Chief Justice and JSC Chairperson Martha Koome said while concerns over the conduct of judicial officers are legitimate, they should be addressed through the constitutional and legal mechanisms established under the Constitution and the Judicial Service Act. The statement comes days after…
Nigerians might be surprised to learn they live in a landlocked country and people in Ivory Coast shocked that they are East African not West African – but that is what a map used by a US official at a recent conference showed. Not only that, the cartographic malfunction included completely unrecognisable shapes of the six misidentified countries. The erroneous map appeared during a State Department slide presentation about Washington’s funding for programmes tackling HIV at an Aids conference in Brazil on Sunday. The State Department has described it as “an unfortunate error” caused when a team member “hurriedly altered”…
Ghana’s government on Thursday accepted a proposal to extend the presidential term to five years and lower the minimum age for candidates to 35. Ghana, one of Africa’s leading gold and cocoa producers, has maintained a stable democratic system since 1992. President John Dramani Mahama established a committee last year to review the constitution. The committee submitted its final report to him on Thursday. “The government has accepted the recommendation to extend the term of office of the president from four years to five years,” Justice Minister Dominic Ayine told journalists. The committee said parliament’s term should also be increased…
FIFA vowed on Friday to press on with its “open and democratic” consultation with stakeholders on a proposed private investment plan despite fierce backlash from European football governing body UEFA and others. “Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports,” world football governing body FIFA said in a statement. “We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each (member association) has the ability to express its vote based on facts.” European football’s governing body UEFA said Thursday it would boycott the World Cup should FIFA press ahead with its private investor plan. “No UEFA national teams…
One of the most recognised figures in mountaineering today, British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja holds multiple records. But his most famous feat was in 2019, when he climbed the world’s 14 tallest peaks in just over six months – setting a record at the time for the fastest anyone had scaled all 14 mountains. Purja, also known as Nims Dai, is among 10 climbers who went missing after an avalanche on Thursday on Broad Peak, a 8,047m (26,400ft) mountain in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan. Search operations are under way. Here’s what to know about Purja. From military to mountaineering The 43-year-old was born…
About 60,000 migrants have crossed into Spain’s North African territory of Ceuta from Morocco in the last 24 hours, Ceuta’s president said, adding that at least 34 others died during the crossing. The influx comes after Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla, another Spanish exclave, cannot be summarily returned to Morocco. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the situation as an “attack” and said all illegal migrants would be returned to Morocco “as soon as possible”. Several European leaders have expressed concern, some promising to tighten border controls. More than 25,000…
Just days after South African singer Tyla released the dates for her upcoming world tour, Nigeria has been removed from the list of destinations. On Monday, the Grammy winner announced details of her headline tour in the wake of last week’s release of her second album A*POP. Her official website initially named 34 cities, including Lagos, Johannesburg and Cape Town, where she would be performing, but by Friday, an updated list was published without the Nigerian city. No reason has been given for the change but there have been growing calls in Nigeria for the 24-year-old to cancel her concert…
President William Ruto officially launched the process of developing Kenya’s next long-term development blueprint to succeed Vision 2030, unveiling plans for a nationwide public participation exercise that he says will shape the country’s future beyond the current strategy. In a national address on Thursday evening, President Ruto announced that the government will formally launch a National Conversation on Kenya’s Future Beyond Vision 2030 on August 12, 2026, describing it as the most consequential public participation exercise since the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution. The President said the process would bring together every institution of the Republic, all 47 counties and…
Hundreds of migrants have entered Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco over the past week, the territory’s leader has said. Juan Jesús Vivas said the influx is overwhelming resources and urged the Spanish government to intervene. Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska is expected to visit on Friday, according to news agency Reuters. Footage showed migrants swimming and using inflatable rings and other flotation devices to swim to Ceuta on Thursday, while others ran through a gate in the border fence. Ceuta, on Morocco’s northern coast, is separated from mainland Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar and has long…