United States
Mexico coach: Victory vs Nigeria good test ahead Concacaf Gold Cup
Gerardo Martino, Technical Director of the Mexican national team, has described the win against the home-based Eagles as a good test for his side ahead of this year’s Concacaf Gold Cup. A brace from Atletico Madrid midfielder Hector Herrera and a goal each from Jonathan Dos Santos, former Barcelona forward and Rogelio Funes Mori, earned Mexico a comfortable 4-0 win in Los Angeles, USA, in the early hours of Sunday. Speaking at a virtual press conference, the former Barcelona coach said: “It always gives peace of mind, especially since we are on the eve of a very important tournament for us. “Recovering feelings of the game and scoring goals, gives a greater margin of tranquility, this is a friendly match, it has been a good test and a good way to introduce ourselves into what is to come.” ...
Myanmar protesters burn junta leader’s images on his birthday
Protesters burned mock coffins and pictures of Myanmar’s army ruler Min Aung Hlaing on Saturday in the latest demonstrations against the coup over five months ago that has plunged the Southeast Asian country into chaos. “May you not rest in peace” and “may your birthday and deathday be the same,” read the messages on funeral wreaths in Theinzayet township in eastern Mon state. Similar protests took place in many parts of Myanmar. “We are burning this as a curse,” said one protester in the second city of Mandalay, setting ablaze a small pile of picture of the general, 65. A spokesman for the military authorities did not respond to requests for comment. Min Aung Hlaing took power on Feb. 1, overthrowing elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and cutting short a decade of democratic reforms that had...
Ethiopia urges Tigray rebels to join ceasefire, hostilities persist
Ethiopia’s government urged Tigrayan rebels to join a unilateral ceasefire in their conflict on Thursday as aid agencies struggled to reach hundreds of thousands of people facing famine. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the former rulers of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, said on Monday it was back in control of the regional capital Mekelle after nearly eight months of fighting. The government declared a unilateral ceasefire but the TPLF dismissed it as a joke. Hostilities persisted on Thursday and pressure built internationally for all sides to pull back. “Operations are under way … and the number of prisoners of war is increasing by the minute,” TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda told Reuters by satellite phone, with light artillery fire crackling in the background. “We are closing in on...
Ethiopia says army can re-enter seized Tigray capital Mekelle in weeks
The Ethiopian army could re-enter the seized Tigray regional capital of Mekelle within weeks if needed, a spokesman for a government task force said on Wednesday, adding that government-allied Eritrean forces had withdrawn from the region. It was the first public statement by a federal government official since Mekelle was taken by Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces this week in a major turn of events after eight months of conflict in which thousands of people have been killed. read more People in Mekelle, where communications were down on Wednesday, said on Monday incoming Tigrayan fighters had been greeted with cheers. There were similar scenes in the northern town of Shire on Wednesday, where Eritrean forces had pulled out and Tigrayan forces had entered, residents said. Peo...
Facebook hits $1 trillion valuation for first time
Social media giant, Facebook, has hit a $1 trillion valuation, following a dismissal of two antitrust lawsuits against the company. Facebook’s stock closed higher on Monday at $355.64 per share which contributed to the trillion-dollar valuation, Business Insider reported. The rise came after a United States court dismissed complaints by the Federal Trade Commission and a group of state attorneys generals against the social networking company. The FTC has claimed that Facebook is exercising monopoly as the social media giant controls over 60% of the social-networking market. In the ruling of the case, US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington dismissed the claim, as he explained that there was no proof to support their claim. In a separate case, 46 state attorneys general formed a coal...
Juul to pay US state $40 million for targeting teens with e-cigarettes
Electronic cigarette giant Juul Labs Inc will pay $40m to North Carolina and take more action to prevent underage use and sales, according to a landmark United States legal settlement announced on Monday after years of accusations that the company had fueled an explosion in teen vaping. A state judge accepted the first-of-its-kind agreement with a US state. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein had sued Juul, accusing it of employing unfair and deceptive marketing practices that targeted young people to use its vaping products, which deliver addictive nicotine. As part of the agreement, Juul will not advertise to anyone under 21 in North Carolina and will limit sales amounts of Juul products online to any state residents. It will also sell its products only behind counters at retailer...
Two injured in church bomb blast in eastern DR Congo
A makeshift bomb exploded inside a Catholic church in the city of Beni in the DR Congo’s conflict-plagued east on Sunday, injuring two just an hour before a children’s Confirmation ceremony was due to be held. The head of police in Beni’s town hall Narcisse Muteba Kashale told AFP that the explosion occurred at 06:00 and that experts from the UN’s mission to DR Congo had told “us it is a home-made bomb, a bomb that was set up for an ambush”. Beni’s vicar general Laurent Sondirya said two people were injured in the blast, which went off before crowds would have gathered to attend the Confirmation ceremony. “They were targeting a large crowd because the ceremony would bring together children, their parents and the faithful,” he told AFP, adding that “mass would not be postponed”. Traces of b...
Late goal gives Brazil controversial win over Colombia in Copa America
Brazil continued their winning romp through the Copa America on Wednesday, eking out a controversial 2-1 victory against Colombia after struggling most of the match to answer a magnificent bicycle-kick goal by Luis Diaz. The 11th-hour win gave the “Selecao” a perfect nine points from three matches in the South American championships, and extended their current winning streak to 11 matches. However, the victory was steeped in controversy: Brazil’s second-half equalizer, a Roberto Firmino header, was preceded by a Neymar pass that glanced off Argentine referee Nestor Pitana. Colombia heatedly argued afterward that play should have been stopped, but Pitana ruled neither side was hindered and allowed the match to continue. Disgruntled Colombia fans on social media turned the referee’s name int...
US universities admit about 13,000 Nigerians yearly
US Embassy in South Africa The United States Consulate’s Public Affairs Officer, Mr. Stephen Ibelli, has disclosed that about 13, 000 Nigerian students are admitted in US annually. Ibelli made the disclosure yesterday during the launch of the ‘Windows on America’ Hub at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka. He described Nigerians as one of the most dominant immigrant groups in the US. He said that the ‘Windows on America’ hub was aimed at providing Nigerian youths with educational opportunities available in U.S.A “Windows on America” are free spaces that offer services to students to learn about how to study in the United States and how to apply for scholarships to study abroad. “The hub will help to promote mutual understanding between the US and great youths of Nigeria to access inf...
U.S. blocks websites linked to Iranian disinformation
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday blocked some three dozen websites, many of them associated with Iranian disinformation activities, a U.S. government source said, adding an official announcement was expected. The source in Washington spoke after notices appeared earlier on Tuesday on a number of Iran-affiliated websites saying they had been seized by the United States government as part of law enforcement action. Iranian news agencies said that the U.S. government had seized several Iranian media websites and sites belonging to groups affiliated with Iran such as Yemen’s Houthi movement. Some sites later started to display as normal. The website of the Arabic-language Masirah TV, which is run by the Houthis, read: “The domain almasirah.net has been seized by the United States Governm...
Canada leads call on China to allow Xinjiang access – statement
More than 40 countries urged China on Tuesday to allow the U.N. human rights chief immediate access to Xinjiang region to look into reports that more than a million people have been unlawfully detained there, some subjected to torture or forced labour. The joint statement on China was read out by Canadian Ambassador Leslie Norton on behalf of countries including Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the United States to the U.N. Human Rights Council. Beijing denies all allegations of abuse of Uyghurs and describes the camps as vocational training facilities to combat religious extremism. “Credible reports indicate that over a million people have been arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang and that there is widespread surveillance disproportionately targeting Uyghurs and members of other...
White House: No plans for Joe Biden to meet new Iranian leader
There are currently no plans for U.S. President Joe Biden to meet with Iran’s newly elected leader, according to the White House, which downplayed Ebrahim Raisi’s influence. Raisi, a strident critic of the West, will take over from pragmatist Hassan Rouhani on Aug. 3 after an election on Friday. In a news conference on Monday, he backed talks to salvage a tattered nuclear deal with Washington but ruled out personally meeting with Biden. read more White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday that little had changed because Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the key decision maker in Tehran. “We don’t currently have any diplomatic relations with Iran or any plans to meet at the leader level,” she told reporters. “Our view is that the decision maker here is the Supreme Leader.” ...
