Aliou Cissé, the Senegal coach, was not well during yesterday’s match against Cameroon 🇨🇲 and has been hospitalized afterward. He is currently undergoing additional tests in the emergency room, and we hope for a positive outcome. #AFCON2023  

Super Eagles assistant coach, Finidi George says discipline and tactical switch in formation earned the team victory over Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Finidi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after a pulsating match that the boys played to instructions in a very tactical game against the hosts.

“We are very happy with the victory but nothing has been done yet.

“It was a tactical game, we switched formation and had to defend most of the time and using counter attacks from the flanks.

“It’s a team (Cote d’Ivoire) that is very good on the ball, so we had to sit back a bit, close the spaces and go on counter attacks,” he said.

The coach said in spite of the win, the boys will not get carried away but work harder in their next match against Guinea Bissau on Monday.

“We will keep our cool in the next match because nothing has been achieved yet, we go all out again,” he said.

NAN reports that Nigeria who are currently second in Group A will face Guinea-Bissau on Monday at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny in Abidjan for their third and final round of Group A matches from 5.00 p.m. (local time)

The government of Cote d’Ivoire has declared Thursday, January 18, a public holiday for students.
It also said that some government parastatals will work half a day in the country as they are expected to close work by 1 pm.

The gesture is to drum more support for the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire ahead of their second group A game against the Super Eagles of Nigeria slated for 5:45 pm (Nigerian time) at the Alassane Outtara Stadium in Abijdan this evening.

According to the information, the government decided to give every citizen enough time to prepare for the all-important game.

Cote d’Ivoire started their AFCON campaign with a 2-0 victory over Guinea Bissau while Nigeria were held to a 1-1 draw by Equatorial Guinea in their opening game.

“All the students in the primary and secondary didn’t go to school today but the university students will go to class in the morning. Some government agencies will also work half day and they are expected to close at work by 1 pm today. Every citizen is expected to give maximum support to our team against the Super Eagles,” a citizen of Cote d’Ivoire told Nation Sport.

We Are Totally Against The Violence Meted Out On The People In Gaza

Nigeria has been consistently standing as an African leader against what we consider to be wrong - Foreign Affairs Minister, Tuggar

The judge presiding over Donald Trump's civil fraud case has been subject to a bomb threat, Sky News's US partner network NBC News reports.

Police in Nassau County - east of New York City - responded to the threat at Arthur Engoron's home on Thursday, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.

Closing arguments in the trial are scheduled today, just hours after a bomb squad was called to the judge's home on Thursday morning.

It is not known if he was home at the time.

On Wednesday, the former president's lawyer, Chris Kise, asked the judge if Mr Trump could speak during the closing arguments - a request he denied.

Court spokesman Al Baker said security will be increased after a threat was made against the judge, without giving further details.

Mr Trump is still expected to attend court, where the state of New York seeks nearly $370m (£291m) from him in penalties for overstating his net worth to banks.

He took part in a campaign event in Iowa on Wednesday night and said he was being "forced" to return to New York for the closing arguments, despite there being no obligation for him to be present.

"This is a rigged and unfair trial," he wrote in a post on social media.

Because of the alleged threat, there was a delay in processing lawyers and members of the media through security lines into court on Thursday morning.

Protesters, meanwhile, chanted behind with banner reading "No Dictators in the USA" while briefly blocking traffic.

Mr Engoron will issue a verdict at a later date without a jury, after he found Mr Trump liable for fraud in September - leaving the trial to focus on how much money he should surrender as ill-gotten gains.

The lawsuit, brought forward by New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleges Mr Trump and his associates inflated the value of his assets by billions of dollars to secure better loan terms.

Trump's court cameo will continue to propel his popularity whilst Prosecutor warns of 'frightening future' if Trump wins case.

Mr Trump, who has decried the case as a political with hunt, has denied wrongdoing.

The frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination has complained the trial interferes with his campaign, though he uses court appearances to rally support with inflammatory remarks to news cameras.

But Mr Engoron denied his attempt to make his own closing argument after Mr Trump refused to accept rules barring him from making a "campaign speech".

The lawsuit is just one of many legal troubles Mr Trump faces as he campaigns to challenge President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election.

A 60-day state of emergency has begun in Ecuador after a convicted gang leader vanished from his prison cell.

Adolfo Macías Villamar, better known as "Fito", is the leader of Los Choneros, a powerful gang which is thought to have been behind some of the deadly prison riots in recent months.

He was being held in the maximum security wing of a jail in Guayaquil.

The emergency measures include the suspension of the right of assembly and a nightly curfew.

They were announced in a decree issued by President Daniel Noboa, who took office less than two months ago as the second-youngest holder of the post in Ecuadorean history.

He won the election after a campaign overshadowed by unprecedented levels of violence, including the assassination of another candidate, Fernando Villavicencio.

President Noboa said the emergency would allow the military and police to take control of the country's prisons at a national level. Los Choneros control much of the compound at La Regional prison, where Fito was being held.


"These narco-terrorist groups intend to intimidate us and they think we will give in to their demands," the president said.

But he added: "We will not negotiate with terrorists and we will not rest until we have restored peace."

Fito is a notorious criminal suspected of having played a role in last year's killing of Villavicencio, whom he had sent death threats.

Police said they had noticed his absence early on Sunday and could not find him anywhere in the prison wing.

He often defies the authorities, most recently by releasing a "narcocorrido", a slick music video glorifying his criminal exploits, which was partly recorded inside the jail.

The video shows the Mariachi Bravo duo singing along with Fito's daughter, known as Queen Michelle, and praising the "man of honour" they say the criminal is.

"I take my hat off to you, Fito, my dad," his daughter croons, claiming that "through his veins good blood flows".

The video shows Fito caressing a fighting cockerel and freely chatting to fellow inmates.

The fact that the video could be recorded behind bars suggests that the ban on electronic devices inside the jail had been breached.

It is still not clear if Fito managed to leave the prison compound in the port city or if he may be hiding somewhere inside.

A police commander said he could "neither confirm nor deny" an escape, nor could he say for how long the convict had been missing.

He said hundreds of officers were searching the prison.

La Regional jail is located in a large prison compound which houses a total of five penitentiaries and more than 12,000 inmates. Fito has spent much of his past 12 years behind bars there.

In August, he was briefly transferred to La Roca, a smaller jail in the same compound, which is considered safer because of the lower number of inmates. It took thousands of soldiers to move him.

When Fito was transferred, graffiti appeared in the football field of his old jail demanding he be returned
But the convict's lawyer appealed against the decision to transfer him and won, and Fito was moved back to La Regional after just a month.

Fito has escaped from the prison compound before. In 2013, he and 17 other inmates broke out of La Roca and fled in boats on the River Daule, which borders the compound.

The fugitive was captured along with his brother, a fellow member of Los Choneros, four months later at their mother's home in the city of Manta.

Fito has been in prison ever since. After the killing in December 2020 of Jorge Luis Zambrano, he took over the leadership of Los Choneros.

The gang, which is named after its power base in the town of Chone, mainly engages in drug trafficking and extortion and has forged links with Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel.

Moffi’s inclusion is now subject to the approval of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and his Ligue 1 club, OGC Nice.

As a player:
🏆 World Cup
🏆 EUROs
⚽ 2 Ballon d’Or
🏆 5x Bundesliga
🏆 4x German Cup
🏆 3x European Cup
🏆 1x Cup Winners' Cup
🏆 2x UEFA Super Cup
🏆 1x Intercontinental Cup
🏆 3x American Soccer League

👔 As a coach:
🏆 World Cup
🏆 UEFA Cup
🏆 Ligue 1
🏆 Bundesliga

German football legend Franz Beckenbauer, one of the greatest players of all time, has died at the age of 78.

Beckenbauer, nicknamed 'Der Kaiser', won the World Cup with West Germany as a player in 1974 and a manager in 1990, while at club level he is considered a Bayern Munich legend.

A family statement read: "It is with deep sadness that we announce that my husband and our father, Franz Beckenbauer, passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday, Sunday, surrounded by his family.

"We ask that you be able to grieve in silence and refrain from asking any questions."

The Supreme Court in the United States of America has said that it will hear a landmark case to determine whether Donald Trump is eligible to run for president.

The justices decided to consider Mr. Trump’s appeal against Colorado’s decision to bar him from the state’s ballot for 2024.

The decision in this case will be implemented nationally, and the trial is scheduled for February.

Several states are pursuing lawsuits to disqualify Trump from running for office on the grounds that he participated in an act of rebellion during the US Capitol riot that occurred three years ago.

The legal challenge hinges on whether a constitutional amendment from the Civil War era makes Mr. Trump ineligible to run for office.

The attorneys general from 27 states submitted a brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn Colorado’s judgement, which led to the court’s decision to consider Mr Trump’s appeal.

They contend in it that Mr. Trump’s exclusion from the vote would “create widespread chaos.”

The submission further read, “Most obviously, it casts confusion into an election cycle that is just weeks away… Beyond that, it upsets the respective roles of the Congress, the States, and the courts.”

Although the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment prohibits anybody who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding federal office, the attorneys representing the former president contend that Trump is exempt from this provision.

They took the argument further by saying, “The Colorado Supreme Court decision would unconstitutionally disenfranchise millions of voters in Colorado and likely be used as a template to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters nationwide.”

Additionally, Mr. Trump has filed an appeal challenging the Maine election officials’ decision to remove him from the ballot.

Colorado Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, after the Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday, said that she had certified the state’s ballots for the forthcoming presidential primary elections and that Mr. Trump’s name was on them.

The presidential candidates that will run in November’s election will be determined in part by the results of each state’s primary elections.

Colorado’s is scheduled for early March, not long after it is anticipated that the Supreme Court will rule on Mr. Trump’s case.

Griswold, in a statement, said, “The United States Supreme Court has accepted the case, and Donald Trump will appear on the ballot as a result.”

The Colorado Supreme Court’s divided 4–3 ruling last month is the first instance in US history that the 14th Amendment has been applied to remove a presidential contender from the race.

The Supreme Court will examine the interpretation of the provision for the first time.

In November’s election, Mr. Trump is the current front-runner for the Republican nomination against the Democratic incumbent, President Joe Biden.

Attempts to remove Mr. Trump from office have been rejected by courts in Minnesota and Michigan. There are still outstanding cases, one of which is in Oregon.

With three justices that were nominated by President Trump during his administration, the US Supreme Court has a conservative majority.

However, they decisively decided against him in his cases contesting his loss to Mr. Biden in 2020.

On Friday, the court decided to accelerate the case, setting a date for oral arguments on February 8.

The opening brief from Mr. Trump’s legal team is to be submitted by January 18th.

By January 31st, the organisation advocating for Mr. Trump’s disqualification must present its case.

The involvement of the highest court in the United States has evoked analogies to the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, which resulted in a Supreme Court case.

By stopping Florida’s vote recount, the conservative-majority court effectively gave Mr. Bush the win.

On the day of the US Capitol riot, supporters of Trump stormed Congress as senators were confirming Joe Biden’s election victory.

The then-president called on protestors to “fight like hell” and march “peacefully” to the Capitol on that day, repeating bogus accusations of widespread election fraud. The event was staged outside the White House.

Republicans who oppose Mr. Trump contend that he ought to be disqualified for his behaviour during the violence as well as for his and his campaign’s attempts to void the election results in areas where he lost.

Although prosecutions in federal court and a state court in Georgia centre on Mr. Trump’s purported attempts to influence the results of the 2020 presidential election, he has not been charged with inciting insurrection in any of the cases.

An Alaska Airlines flight traveling from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, had to make an emergency landing Friday night after a portion of the aircraft blew out mid-air.

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 left Portland International Airport at 4:52 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, according to the public flight tracking website FlightAware. The aircraft returned to Portland and landed safely a little before 5:30 p.m.

Social media video obtained by CBS News appeared to show that one of the passenger window panels had been blown out.

The aircraft reached approximately 16,000 feet about six minutes into the flight before beginning its descent, according to FlightAware.

The jet had 174 passengers and six crew members aboard. In a statement provided to CBS News, Alaska Airlines said that Flight No. 1282 "experienced an incident this evening soon after departure" and "landed safely back" in Portland but did not elaborate.

Immediately after the incident, the pilot radioed to the air traffic controller, declaring that the flight had depressurized.

"We're declaring an emergency," the pilot said. "We do need to come down to 10,000."

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the crew reported a "pressurization issue." Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board said they were launching investigations.

CBS News learned that the plane, a Boeing 737-MAX 9, had been recently delivered to the airline in October.

This type of aircraft comes equipped with a rear emergency exit door, used mainly by international airlines, and has a seat configuration that allows for more passengers on the plane. Most U.S. airliners don't use that configuration and design the area to appear as a window from the inside of the aircraft.

In a statement sent to CBS News, Boeing was "working to gather more information" and was in contact with Alaska Airlines.

Boeing said it has a technical team standing by to support the investigation.

Alaska Airlines chartered a replacement flight following the ordeal to bring passengers from Portland to Ontario.

A statement from Alaska Airlines CEO, Ben Minicucci:
At Alaska Airlines, safety is our foundational value and the most important thing we focus on every day. Following tonight’s event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft. Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections. We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days.

I am personally committed to doing everything we can to conduct this review in a timely and transparent way.

We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred tonight, and will share updates as more information is available. The NTSB is investigating this event and we will fully support their investigation.

My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced. I am so grateful for the response of our pilots and flight attendants. We have teams on the ground in Portland assisting passengers and are working to support guests who are traveling in the days ahead.

-Ben

Information for impacted guests
Guests whose flights have been impacted by this grounding are being notified with guidance on next steps and are also encouraged to visit alaskaair.com for self-service options. We deeply apologize to our guests and are working to reaccommodate everyone as quickly as possible.

The first person to win the FIFA World Cup as both a player and coach, Mario Zagallo was as instrumental a figure as any in Brazil's rise to prominence as a global football power.

Zagallo, who died Friday at the age of 92, was the only surviving member of the Brazil team that lifted the 1958 World Cup trophy, the country's first title and one that eased the pain of a traumatic defeat by Uruguay at the Maracana eight years prior.

"I was at the Maracana for that fateful loss to Uruguay. I was a soldier and it was my job to keep people off the pitch," said Zagallo of a result that prompted national mourning.

"I'll never forget the silence, the sadness and the disappointment of that defeat."

His legendary teammate Pele died in December 2022.

While that memory remained vivid, Zagallo would do his utmost to relieve the anguish by leaving his fingerprints on four of Brazil's five World Cup triumphs.

Emerging from the amateur ranks during the 1950s, Zagallo, a diminutive left winger, embodied Brazil's quest to blend attacking flair with defensive solidity, combining his own exquisite technique with admirable commitment.

He won five Rio de Janeiro state championships with Flamengo and Botafogo. He only made his Brazil debut at the age of 26, shortly before the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, but became an integral member of the team, winning 37 caps.

Brazil's run of success
The tournament, which launched 17-year-old sensation Pele on the world stage, ended with Brazil beating the hosts 5-2 in the final. Zagallo scored his team's fourth and then set up Pele for the final goal.

Four years later, Zagallo played every single minute as a Garrincha-inspired Brazil overcame an injury sustained by Pele in the group stage to retain their crown, coming from behind to beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 in Santiago.

After retirement, Zagallo returned to the game as a manager, taking over former club Botafogo and leading them to two more state titles in a country under a military dictatorship.

Joao Saldanha had guided the national team to the 1970 World Cup in Mexico but was cast aside before the tournament in favor of Zagallo. Saldanha fell out with Pele and refused to bow to demands of then-president Emilio Garrastazu Medici on squad selection and, as a known Communist sympathizer, his fate was sealed.

Zagallo, just 38 at the time, inherited an exceptionally gifted squad -- including Pele, Carlos Alberto, Jairzinho and Rivelino -- and oversaw six wins from six games as Brazil captured the title for a third time in four attempts.

Years ahead of his time as a player, Zagallo quickly demonstrated his merit as a coach. He later reflected on the fabled 1970 World Cup, dominated by a spectacular Brazilian display, as his "greatest memory as a manager".

A counter-intuitive type who believed in the number 13, Zagallo's unabating hunger for success brought further domestic titles with Fluminense and Flamengo before he ventured abroad to Kuwait, winning the Gulf Cup in 1976 and reaching that year's Asian Cup final.

Tireless pursuit of glory
After taking United Arab Emirates to Italy in 1990, Zagallo was called on by Brazil for a final time, as technical director for the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Together with his protege, Carlos Alberto Perreira, he guided the side to another world title after a dull final against Italy led to a penalty shootout.

His tilt at a fifth success fell agonizingly short in 1998, when Ronaldo, the pre-eminent player of his generation, suffered a mysterious fit before the final and Brazil slumped to a 3-0 defeat to hosts France.

Zagallo's durability and lasting aura ensured he was a natural choice to stand in briefly for the departed Luiz Felipe Scolari following Brazil's fifth World Cup victory in 2002.

"He was one of the greatest Brazilian players of his generation and, after winning the World Cup four times, he has left a permanent mark on Brazilian football," said Ronaldo of the man nicknamed "The Professor".

His wife of 57 years, Alcina de Castro, passed away in 2012.

A top Hamas official, Saleh Arouri, has been killed in an Israeli drone strike in the south of Beirut, according to Hezbollah media.

Arouri, one of the founders of Hamas's military wing, had headed the Palestinian militant group's presence in the West Bank.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to kill him even before the Hamas-Israel war began on 7 October 2023.

Israeli officials declined to comment.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the blast killed four people and was carried out by an Israeli drone.

An explosion shook the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs on Tuesday evening causing chaos in the militant Hezbollah group's stronghold, but the nature of the blast was not immediately known.

It was not clear if the explosion inflicted any casualties in the Beirut suburb but videos circulating on social media showed serious damage and fire.

The explosion came during more than two months of heavy exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and members of Hezbollah along Lebanon's southern border.

Since the fighting began it has been concentrated a few miles from the border but on several occasions Israel's air force hit Hezbollah targets deeper in Lebanon.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah said its fighters carried out several attacks along the Lebanon-Israel border targeting Israeli military posts.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wrapped the year with fresh threats of a nuclear attack on Seoul and orders for a military arsenal build-up to prepare for a war that can “break out at any time” on the peninsula, state media reported Sunday.

Kim lambasted the United States during a lengthy speech at the end of five days of year-end party meetings that set his country’s military, political, and economic policy decisions for 2024.

The meeting announced plans for further military development in the coming year, including launching three more spy satellites, building unmanned drones and developing electronic warfare capabilities, as well as strengthening nuclear and missile forces, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Pyongyang this year successfully launched a reconnaissance satellite, enshrined its status as a nuclear power in its constitution, and test-fired the most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in its arsenal.

At the meeting that ended Saturday, Kim accused the United States of posing “various types of military threat” and ordered his armed forces to maintain “overwhelming war response capability”, according to KCNA.

It is a “fait accompli that a war can break out at any time on the Korean peninsula due to reckless moves by the enemies to invade us”, Kim said.

In an effort to deter Pyongyang, Washington earlier this month deployed a nuclear-powered submarine in the South Korean port city of Busan, and flew its long-range bombers in drills with Seoul and Tokyo.

The North has previously described the deployment of Washington’s strategic weapons – such as B-52 bombers – in joint drills on the Korean peninsula as the “intentional nuclear war provocative moves”.

“We must respond quickly to a possible nuclear crisis and continue to accelerate preparations to pacify the entire territory of South Korea by mobilising all physical means and forces, including nuclear force, in case of emergency,” Kim said.

‘Uncontrollable crisis situation’
At the meeting, Kim said he would no longer seek reconciliation and reunification with South Korea, noting the “persisting uncontrollable crisis situation” which he said was triggered by Seoul and Washington.

Inter-Korean relations have deteriorated to a low point this year, with Pyongyang’s spy satellite launch prompting Seoul to partially suspend a 2018 military agreement aimed at defusing tensions.

“I believe that it is a mistake that we should no longer make to consider the people who declare us as the ‘main enemy’... as a counterpart for reconciliation and unification,” KCNA cited Kim as saying.

Kim ordered the drawing-up of measures for reorganising departments handling cross-border affairs, to “fundamentally shift the direction”.

Leif Easley, a professor of international relations at Ewha University in Seoul, said the emphasis on North Korea’s “significant military capabilities” was likely aimed at hiding the country’s poor economic achievements this year.

“Much of what state-controlled media publishes is recycled propaganda,” he said, adding: “Pyongyang’s bellicose rhetoric suggests its military moves are not only about deterrence but also domestic politics and international coercion.”

Pyongyang declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power last year and has repeatedly said it will never give up its nukes programme, which the regime views as essential for its survival.

The United Nations Security Council has adopted many resolutions calling on North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes since it first conducted a nuclear test in 2006.

A gunman killed at least 15 people and wounded at least 24 others at a Prague university on Thursday before he was "eliminated", according to police and Prague emergency services, marking the country's worst-ever mass shooting.

Czech police responded to the shooting at Charles University's faculty of arts building in Jan Palach Square shortly after 3 p.m. (1400 GMT). Police said the father of the shooter - a student at the faculty - was found dead earlier on Thursday.

"We always thought that this was a thing that did not concern us. Now it turns out that, unfortunately, our world is also changing and the problem of the individual shooter is emerging here as well," Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda told Czech Television.

Petr Nedoma, director of the Rudolfinum Gallery at a concert hall across Palach Square, told Czech TV he saw the shooter.

"I saw a young person on the gallery who had some weapon in his hand, like and automatic weapon, and shooting toward the Manes Bridge. Repeatedly, with some interruptions, then I saw as he shot, put hands up and threw the weapon down on the street, it lay there on the pedestrian crossing," he said.

Police sealed off the square and the area adjacent to the building, located in a busy part of town with a popular street leading tourists to Old Town Square.

Czech TV live broadcast showed several ambulances and police cars with flashing lights lined up alongside the building accompanied by the sound of sirens.

One witness told news website iDnes.cz that they got off at the tram stop by the school and "suddenly I heard shooting".

Klara, a student, told the news website she was among those who police evacuated from the building.

"It was terribly scary, there were a lot of policemen everywhere, who were shouting at us with submachine guns, telling us to run outside," she said.

An email sent to staff and students had said the shooter was in one of the buildings.

"Don't go anywhere, if you're in the offices, lock them and place furniture in front of the door, turn off the lights," the email said.

One X user posted a photo of a group of students, hiding crouched on a ledge of the building.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala cancelled his trip to the east of the country and was en route to Prague, he said on X.

Gun crime is relatively rare in the Czech Republic. In December 2019, a 42-year-old gunman killed six people at a hospital waiting room in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava before fleeing and fatally shooting himself, police said.

In 2015, a man fatally shot eight people and then killed himself at a restaurant in Uhersky Brod.

Angola is leaving the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) because membership is not serving its interests, oil minister Diamantino Azevedo said on Thursday.

Angola, which joined OPEC in 2007, produces about 1.1 million barrels of oil per day, compared with 28 million bpd for the whole group.

Confirming an earlier report by local news agency ANGOP, Azevedo told public television the decision to leave was because OPEC membership was not serving Angola's interests, but did not give further details.

Oil prices extended losses on the news, with Brent prices down over $1 to $78.50 a barrel by 1250 GMT.

Angola's exit is a setback for OPEC and its allies, just as the group tries to get members to cut output to support prices.

Last month, Azevedo's office protested a decision by OPEC to cut its production quota for 2024. Bloomberg also quoted Angola's OPEC Governor Estevao Pedro as saying the country was unhappy with its 2024 target and did not plan to stick to it.

Disagreements over African output quotas had earlier helped delay a meeting of the wider OPEC+ oil producer group.

A Vatican court has sentenced Italian cardinal Angelo Becciu, a former adviser to Pope Francis, to five-and-a-half years in jail for financial crimes.

Becciu, 75, was the most senior Vatican official ever to face such charges and once seen as a papal contender himself.

The trial centred on a London property deal that ended in huge losses for the Catholic Church.

He strongly denied charges including embezzlement and abuse of office.

Cardinal Becciu's lawyer said his client was innocent and would lodge an appeal.

He was on trial with nine other defendants accused of embezzlement, abuse of office and witness tampering. All were convicted on some counts and found not guilty on others.

The United States on Friday vetoed a proposed United Nations Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, diplomatically isolating Washington as it shields its ally.

Thirteen other members voted in favor of a brief draft resolution, put forward by the United Arab Emirates, while Britain abstained. The vote came after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a rare move on Wednesday to formally warn the 15-member council of a global threat from the two-month long war.

"What is the message we are sending Palestinians if we cannot unite behind a call to halt the relentless bombardment of Gaza?" Deputy UAE U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Abushahab asked the council. "Indeed, what is the message we are sending civilians across the world who may find themselves in similar situations?"

The United States and Israel oppose a ceasefire because they believe it would only benefit Hamas. Washington instead supports pauses in fighting to protect civilians and allow the release of hostages taken by Hamas in a deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood told the council that the draft resolution was a rushed, imbalanced text "that was divorced from reality, that would not move the needle forward on the ground in any concrete way."

"We do not support this resolution's call for an unsustainable ceasefire that will only plant the seeds for the next war," said Wood.

The U.S. had offered substantial amendments to the draft, including a condemnation of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that Israel says killed 1,200 people and in which 240 people were taken hostage.

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said her country abstained because there was no condemnation of Hamas.

"Israel needs to be able to address the threat posed by Hamas and it needs to do so in a manner that abides by international humanitarian law so that such an attack can never be carried out again," she told the council.

'HUMAN PINBALLS'
Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour told the council the result of the vote was "disastrous," adding: "Millions of Palestinian lives hang in the balance. Every single one of them is sacred, worth saving."

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan did not address the Security Council after the vote, but in a statement said: "A ceasefire will be possible only with the return of all the hostages and the destruction of Hamas."

The United States favors its own diplomacy over Security Council action to win the release of more hostages and press Israel to better protect civilians in Gaza as it retaliates against Hamas.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged on Thursday that there was a "gap" between Israel's intent to protect civilians and what has happened on the ground. Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 17,480 people have been killed.

Israel has bombarded Gaza from the air, imposed a siege and launched a ground offensive. The vast majority of the Palestinian enclave's 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes.

"There is no effective protection of civilians," Guterres told the council earlier on Friday. "The people of Gaza are being told to move like human pinballs – ricocheting between ever-smaller slivers of the south, without any of the basics for survival. But nowhere in Gaza is safe."

A seven-day pause - during which Hamas released some hostages and there was an increase in badly needed humanitarian aid to Gaza - ended on Dec. 1.

After several failed attempts to take action, the Security Council last month called for pauses in fighting to allow aid access to Gaza, which Guterres on Friday described as a "spiraling humanitarian nightmare."

The last place former president #NelsonMandela called home has been abandoned. The mansion on 12th avenue in Houghton was being occupied by Mandela’s grandchildren but they moved out after the lights were cut due to unpaid utility bills - which according to his grandchildren are supposed to be paid by the Nelson Rolihlala Mandela Trust. 10 years after the statesman’s death and his estate has still not been wind up.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said it is a duty of women to halt a fall in the country’s births in order to strengthen national power, state media said Monday, as his government steps up the call for the people to have more children.

While getting a detailed read on North Korea’s population trends is extremely difficult because of the limited statistics it discloses, South Korea’s government assesses that the North’s fertility rate has declined steadily for the past 10 years. That is a concerning development for a country that depends on mobilized labor to help keep its broken, heavily sanctioned economy afloat.

Kim’s latest appeal for women to have more children was made Sunday during the country’s National Mothers Meeting, the first of its kind in 11 years.

“Stopping the decline in birthrates and providing good child care and education are all our family affairs that we should solve together with our mothers,” Kim said in his opening speech.

According to South Korea’s government statistics agency, North Korea’s total fertility rate, or the average number of babies expected to be born to a woman over her lifetime, was at 1.79 in 2022, down from 1.88 in 2014. The decline is still slower than its wealthier rival South Korea, whose fertility rate last year was 0.78, down from 1.20 in 2014.

South Korea’s fertility rate, the lowest in the developed world, is believed to be due to a potent cocktail of reasons discouraging people from having babies, including a decaying job market, a brutally competitive school environment for children, traditionally weak child care assistance and a male-centered corporate culture where many women find it impossible to combine careers and family.

While North Korea is one of the poorest nations in the world, the change in its demographic structure is similar to that of rich countries, some observers say.

“Many families in North Korea also don’t intend to have more than one child these days as they know they need lots of money to raise their kids, send them to school and help them get jobs,” said Ahn Kyung-su, head of DPRKHEALTH.ORG, a website focusing on health issues in North Korea.

Ahn, who has interviewed many North Korean defectors, said the smuggling of a vast amount of South Korean TV dramas and movies in the past 20 years that showed an elevated social status for women has also likely influenced women in North Korea not to have many children.

North Korea implemented birth control programs in the 1970-80s to slow a postwar population growth. The country’s fertility rate recorded a major decline following a famine in the mid-1990s that was estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of people, the Seoul-based Hyundai Research Institute said in a report in August.

“Given North Korea lacks resources and technological advancements, it could face difficulties to revive and develop its manufacturing industry if sufficient labor forces are not provided,” the institute report said.

According to North Korean state media reports this year, the country has introduced a set of benefits for families with three or more children, including preferential free housing arrangements, state subsidies, free food, medicine and household goods and educational perks for children.

South Korea’s statistics agency estimates the North’s population at 25.7 million. The Hyundai institute report said that North Korea was expected to experience a population shrink from 2034 and forecast its population would decrease to 23.7 million by 2070.

Ahn, the website head, said that Kim Jong Un’s repeated public appearances with his young daughter, Ju Ae, are also likely be efforts to encourage families. Other experts said the daughter’s appearances were more likely an attempt to show she’s her father’s heir.

Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory.

The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza.

Liberian incumbent president and football legend George Weah conceded defeat on Friday evening after nearly complete returns showed opposition leader Joseph Boakai leading with nearly 51 percent of the run-off ballots.

"The results announced tonight, though not final, indicate that... Boakai is in a lead that we cannot surpass," Weah said in a speech on national radio.

The "CDC (party) has lost the election, but Liberia has won. This is the time for graciousness in defeat, to put national interest above personal interest," he said.

The expected victory for former Vice President Boakai would be sweet revenge for the 78-year-old, who lost to Weah, 57, by a large margin in the second-round presidential vote in 2017.

With more than 99.5 percent of the polling stations reporting vote tallies after Tuesday's second-round vote, Boakai had garnered 50.89 percent of ballots cast, with Weah on 49.11 percent, according to official results released by the electoral commission.

Boakai was 28,000 votes ahead of Weah, according to Friday's figures, after the two men finished neck-and-neck in the first round last month, with a national lead of just 7,126 votes for Weah.

The United States extended its congratulations to "president-elect Boakai on his victory and President Weah for his peaceful acceptance of the results".

"We call on all citizens to follow President Weah's example and accept the results," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Former vice president Joseph Boakai had garnered 50.89 percent of votes cast, with incumbent George Weah on 49.11 percent with most polling stations tallied

Weah said he had spoken to Boakai "to congratulate him on his victory".

"The Liberian people have spoken, and we have heard their voice. However, the closeness of the results reveals a deep division within our country," Weah said in his speech.

"Let us heal the divisions caused by the campaign and come together as one nation and one united people."

The elections were the first since the United Nations in 2018 ended its peacekeeping mission, created after more than 250,000 people died in two civil wars in Liberia between 1989 and 2003.

International observers, including the European Union, commended Liberia this week for holding a peaceful election.

Regional bloc ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, said the election was "largely" peaceful, but it noted isolated incidents that led to "injuries and hospitalisations" in four provinces.

Clashes during the campaign left several dead before the first round and raised fears of post-election violence.

Around 2.4 million Liberians were eligible to vote on Tuesday, but no turnout figures have been released.

Boakai is an old political hand, having served as vice president to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female head of state, from 2006 to 2018.

He is set to lead the English-speaking country of around five million people, one of the poorest in the world, for six years.

More than a fifth of the population lives on less than $2.15 a day, according to the World Bank.

Nepal said on Monday it would ban China's TikTok, adding that social harmony and goodwill were being disturbed by "misuse" of the popular video app and there was rising demand to control it.

TikTok has already been either partially or completely banned by other countries, with many citing security concerns.

More than 1,600 TikTok-related cyber crime cases have been registered over the last four years in Nepal, according to local media reports.

Nepal's Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma said the decision to ban TikTok had been made at a cabinet meeting earlier on Monday.

"Colleagues are working on closing it technically," Sharma told Reuters.

Nepal Telecom Authority Chair Purushottam Khanal said that internet service providers have been asked to close the app.

"Some have already closed while others are doing it later today," Khanal told Reuters.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter. It has previously said such bans are "misguided" and that they are based on "misconceptions".

Opposition leaders in Nepal criticised the move, saying that it lacked "effectiveness, maturity and responsibility".

"There are many unwanted materials in other social media also. What must be done is to regulate and not restrict them," Pradeep Gyawali, former foreign minister and a senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), said.

Nepal's neighbour India banned TikTok along with dozens of other apps by Chinese developers in June 2020, saying that they could compromise national security and integrity.

Another South Asian country, Pakistan, has banned the app at least four times over what the country's government terms its "immoral and indecent" content.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has criticised refereeing and the use of VAR in La Liga and called on the Spanish government to intervene.

Both refereeing and video technology has been under the microscope in Spain in recent months – as they have in other leagues such as the Premier League.

Perez, speaking at the club's annual general meeting on Saturday, says more needs to be done to improve officiating.

"In Spain, the situation of football is worrying," he said. "I will not dedicate many words at this moment to the Spanish Football Federation, given that it is immersed in a process of regeneration.

"There are many issues of particular relevance that depend directly on the Spanish Football Federation. Issues as sensitive and as important as the quality of refereeing and the application of VAR, a technological instrument that came to improve football and that today is so questioned by the management and use made by those responsible for it.

"I am confident that the Spanish government will act and take the necessary measures to regenerate the refereeing profession once and for all."

Super League can mark 'new era for the good of football'
Florentino Perez claims that a European Super League can be the beginning of “a new era for the good of football”.

Real were one of 12 founding members of a proposed new European competition that was launched and subsequently failed in 72 chaotic hours back in April 2021.

Following a challenge from Super League organisers, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in UEFA’s favour in December 2022 with the final binding verdict – originally expected to come in March – now set to be made in December.

Real, alongside La Liga rivals Barcelona, have consistently maintained their support for the project throughout with Perez using the club's annual general meeting on Saturday to again do so as well as criticise UEFA's current running of the European game.

FIFA have confirmed that Saudi Arabia have submitted the only bid to host the 2034 World Cup 🇸🇦🏆

A man shot and killed at least 16 people at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday and then fled into the night, sparking a massive search by hundreds of officers while frightened residents stayed locked in their homes.

A police bulletin identified Robert Card, 40, as a person of interest in the attack that sent panicked bowlers scrambling behind pins when shots rang out around 7 p.m. Card was described as a firearms instructor believed to be in the Army Reserve and assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine.

The document, circulated to law enforcement officials, said Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks in the summer of 2023. It did not provide details about his treatment or condition but said Card had reported “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” the military base. A telephone number listed for Card in public records was not in service.

Lewiston Police said in an earlier Facebook post that they were dealing with an active shooter incident at Schemengees Bar and Grille and at Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) away.

One bowler, who identified himself only as Brandon, said he heard about 10 shots, thinking the first was a balloon popping.

“I had my back turned to the door. And as soon as I turned and saw it was not a balloon — he was holding a weapon — I just booked it,” he told The Associated Press.

Brandon said he scrambled down the length of the alley, sliding into the pin area and climbing up to hide in the machinery. He was among a busload of survivors who were driven to a middle school in the neighboring city of Auburn to be reunited with family and friends.

“I was putting on my bowling shoes when when it started. I’ve been barefoot for five hours,” he said.

Melinda Small, the owner of Legends Sports Bar and Grill, said her staff immediately locked their doors and moved all 25 customers and employees away from the doors after a customer reported hearing about the shooting at the bowling alley less than a quarter-mile away. Soon, the police flooded the roadway and a police officer eventually escorted everyone out of the building.

“I am honestly in a state of shock. I am blessed that my team responded quickly and everyone is safe,” Small said. “But the same time, my heart is broken for this area and for what everyone is dealing with. I just feel numb.”

After the shooting, police, many armed with rifles, took up positions while the city descended into eerie quiet — punctuated by occasional sirens — as people hunkered down at home.

The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office released two photos of the suspect on its Facebook page that showed the shooter walking into an establishment with a weapon raised to his shoulder.

Two law enforcement officials told The AP that at least 16 people were killed and the toll was expected to rise. However, Michael Sauschuck, commissioner of the Maine Department of Public Safety, declined to provide a specific estimate at a news conference, calling it a “fluid situation.”

The two law enforcement officials said dozens of people also had been wounded. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

On its website, Central Maine Medical Center said staff were “reacting to a mass casualty, mass shooter event” and were coordinating with area hospitals to take in patients. The hospital was locked down and police, some armed with rifles, stood by the entrances.

Meanwhile, hospitals as far away as Portland, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) to the south, were on alert to potentially receive victims.

An order for residents and business owners to stay inside and off the streets of the city of 37,000 was extended Wednesday night from Lewiston to Lisbon, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) away, after a “vehicle of interest” was found there, authorities said.

Gov. Janet Mills released a statement echoing instructions for people to shelter. She said she had been briefed on the situation and will remain in close contact with public safety officials.

President Joe Biden spoke by phone to Mills and the state’s Senate and House members, offering “full federal support in the wake of this horrific attack,” a White House statement said.

Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent, said he was “deeply sad for the city of Lewiston and all those worried about their family, friends and neighbors” and was monitoring the situation. King’s office said the senator would be headed directly home to Maine on the first flight possible.

Local schools will be closed Thursday and people should shelter in place or seek safety, Superintendent Jake Langlais said, adding: “Stay close to your loved ones. Embrace them.”


Wednesday’s death toll was staggering for a state that in 2022 had 29 homicides the entire year.

Maine doesn’t require permits to carry guns, and the state has a longstanding culture of gun ownership that is tied to its traditions of hunting and sport shooting.

Some recent attempts by gun control advocates to tighten the state’s gun laws have failed. Proposals to require background checks for private gun sales and create a 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases failed earlier this year. Proposals that focused on school security and banning bump stocks failed in 2019.

State residents have also voted down some attempts to tighten gun laws in Maine. A proposal to require background checks for gun sales failed in a 2016 public vote.

Iceland's prime minister is expected to join tens of thousands of women in a strike for equal pay on Tuesday, labour unions in the country have said.

Katrín Jakobsdóttir told Icelandic media that she plans to take part in the industrial action, organised under the slogan 'Do you call this equality?', and not come to work.

She told the mbl.is website: "I will not work this day, as I expect all the women [in cabinet] will do as well.

"I have decided not to have a cabinet meeting tomorrow and in Alþingi [Iceland's parliament] only male ministers will answer impromptu questions. We show solidarity in this way."

Organisers said on the campaign's official website: "On 24 October, all women in Iceland, including immigrant women, are encouraged to stop work, both paid and unpaid [including household chores].

"For the whole day, women (and non-binary people) will strike, to demonstrate the importance of their contribution to society."

The strike, which is known as the "Kvennafrí" or "Women's Day Off", hopes to raise awareness about "systemic" pay discrimination and gender-based violence.

Iceland is seen as one of the most progressive in the world in terms of gender equality and has topped the World Economic Forum's gender gap index 14 years in a row.

No nation has achieved full gender equality, according to the index, but Iceland has closed at least 91% of its gap and is the only country to have passed 90%.

However, women in some jobs there earn at least 20% less than their male colleagues, Statistics Iceland has said.

And a study by the University of Iceland found 40% of Icelandic women experience gender-based and sexual violence in their lifetime.

Strike organiser Freyja Steingrímsdóttir, of the Icelandic Federation for Public Workers, said: "We're seeking to bring attention to the fact that we're called an equality paradise, but there are still gender disparities and urgent need for action.

"Female-led professions such as healthcare services and childcare are still undervalued and much lower paid."

Industries where women make up the majority of workers, like healthcare and education, will be especially affected.

The first Women's Day Off took place on 24 October, 1975 , when 90% of Icelandic women stopped work to protest gender inequality and it has been repeated in 1985, 2005, 2010, 2016 and 2018.

The Kazakh government has banned hijab headscarves for students and teachers at schools. Officials stress the need to preserve secularism, meanwhile some girls are dropping out of school in protest.

The Kazakh government's recent announcement of a ban on wearing the hijab headscarf in educational institutions has sparked fierce debate in the country.

"Requirements for the school uniform prohibit the wearing of the hijab, since any attribute, symbol, element in one way or another implies propaganda of the dogma to which they relate. Ensuring the equality of all religions before the law, the principles of secularism do not allow the advantage of any religion,” reads the statement on the "For citizens” section of the Kazakh government's website, dated October 16.

The statement also bans the hijab for school teachers. However, it emphasizes that the ban does not apply outside of schools.

A secular state
According to official figures, almost 70% of Kazakhstan's population practices Islam. But both supporters and opponents of the ban quickly came forward. Proponents stressed that Kazakhstan was a secular country and should therefore avoid privileging any particular religion. Opponents however believe that such restrictions violate the principles of freedom of conscience, and some have taken extreme measures to protest the ban.

Kazakh Education Minister Gani Beisembayev confirmed that in the Atyrau region alone, 150 girls have dropped out of school since the beginning of September because of the ban. And in the Turkestan region, two men reportedly beat a local school director because she refused to allow girls wearing hijabs to attend classes.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also commented on the matter at the national teachers' congress in the capital Astana, saying that a school is an educational institution where people come to acquire knowledge, while religious beliefs are a private matter. "Freedom of religion is guaranteed by law in our country. I think it is right for children to decide for themselves when they grow up and develop their own worldview," Tokayev said, adding that Kazakhstan was and would remain a secular state.

So far the authorities have not objected to this suggestion, though the ban on wearing the hijab applies to all educational institutions in Kazakhstan without exception.