Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dusseymet Ivorian officials in Abidjan on Tuesday for talks on 49 Ivorian soldiers who were arrested in Mali earlier this month.
The soldiers were arrested on arrival in Bamako on suspicion of being mercenaries.
Ivory Coast insists the troops were there to support the UN mission, known as Minusma, under an agreed contract between the two countries.
But the junta in Mali says its foreign ministry was not informed of the deployment via the official channels.
On Tuesday, Mr Dussey indicated that the Ivorian president and the Malian junta leaders wanted to preserve peace between their nations, according to a statement.
President Alassane Ouattara expressed his gratitude to the minister for the initiative to find a resolution to the matter, the statement added.
Ivory Coast has been calling for the immediate release of its soldiers.
Heat records tumbled and firefighters faced new blazes as much of Western Europe baked in a gruelling heatwave.
The UK, normally used to milder climates, saw temperatures of more than 40C (104F) for the first time.
Germany saw its hottest day of the yearso far while Portugal raised its death toll after days of excess heat.
Deadly wildfires have swept the continent. The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned there was worse to come.
Heatwaves have become more frequent and more intense, and last longer because of human-induced climate change.
“In the future these kinds of heatwaves are going to be normal, and we will see even stronger extremes,” WMO chief Peterri Taalas said.
In addition to record temperatures in the UK, several fire services declared major incidents after a surge in fires.
A major blaze in Wennington, east London, set homes alight. Residents who had to be evacuated told the BBC that some eight homes and possibly a local church had been destroyed in the fire, while a firefighter at the scene described it as “absolute hell”.
In France, 64 different areas registered record-high temperatures on Monday.
Although the all-time high for mainland France has not been topped, the south-west of the country has experienced its biggest wildfires in more than 30 years. Since 12 July, fires have engulfed more than 20,300 hectares (49,400 acres) of the wine-growing Gironde region.
Nearly 37,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes.
Cooler weather has now returned to the UK and France.
In Belgium, a fire broke out in dunes at the Belgian resort of De Haan, setting several vehicles alight. But following the ferocious heat, the country is now bracing itself for thunderstorms that could lead to 20-30mm of rain in some region, Le Soir newspaper reports.
Weather warnings are still in place in Germany as the heatwave continues to move north and east.
On Tuesday, the country experienced its hottest day of 2022. The national weather service recorded 39.5C in the western city of Duisburg. The Netherlands also reached the same high of 39.5C in Maastricht, forecasters said.
Temperatures in Portugal have decreased significantly. However, more than 1,000 heatwave-related deaths have been recorded since last week.
Wildfires have become a common consequence of these extreme temperatures across Europe.
Central and north-western Spain has also been ravaged by wildfires.
The Copernicus monitoring service – part of the EU’s Earth observation programme – said total carbon emissions from wildfires between June and July are the highest seen in Spain for the period since 2003.
In Greece, a wildfire fuelled by gale-force winds raged on the mountainous region of Penteli, near Athens. It has damaged homes and and prompted local authorities to evacuate at least four areas and a hospital.
Forecasters in Italy are warning of temperatures as high as 40-42C between Wednesday and Friday.
Several wildfires have already been reported in the country, and blazes that broke out on Monday evening in Tuscany were still raging on Tuesday afternoon.
He bolted to the Maldives and then Singapore after thousands of protesters stormed his presidential residences and other government buildings, calling for his resignation.
They had also called for the resignation of Mr Wickremesinghe, who was appointed prime minister in May. Protesters burnt down his private home and also stormed his prime ministerial office in Colombo in demonstrations against his leadership.
Sri Lanka is effectively bankrupt and facing acute shortages of food, fuel and other basic supplies.
After his election, Mr Wickremesinghe told parliament the nation was “in a very difficult situation” adding that “we have big challenges ahead”.
He is aiming to restore political stability so the country can resume negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package. He has been involved in the talks so far.
The 73-year-old also called on his political opponents to work with his government for the good of the country.
Mr Wickremesinghe has been in Sri Lankan politics for 45 years and has previously twice run for presidency been prime minister six times.
The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramnua (SLPP) party also said the majority of their members had backed Mr Wickremesinghe because of his economic credentials.
“We feel that Ranil Wickremesinghe is the only person with the experience, the know-how and the capacity to provide solutions to the economic crisis,” General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam told the Reuters news agency.
However Mr Wickremesinghe’s election may spark further unrest and mass protests. On Wednesday, ahead of the results, barricades were set up around the parliament and soldiers lined the perimeter in preparation for any protests.
The past fortnight has seen demonstrators calling on Mr Wickremesinghe to step down, as they view him as part of the political elite who had mishandled Sri Lanka’s finances.
But he has defied those calls and last week assumed the position of acting president after Mr Rajapaksa fled. His victory means he will serve out the rest of the presidential term until November 2024.
His challenger Mr Alahapperuma is a dissident MP in the ruling party who gained the backing of the main opposition. He had pledged to bring a new cross-party government to Sri Lanka that would “put an end to the deceitful political culture”. However he failed to muster majority support.
Russia plans to annex more Ukrainian territory using a similar “playbook” to its takeover of Crimea, the US says.
Citing US intelligence, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Russia is already laying the groundwork for annexation.
Occupied regions of Ukraine could hold “sham” referenda on joining Russia as soon as September, he said.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 after a referendum which was widely viewed as illegitimate.
“We want to make it plain to the American people,” Mr Kirby told reporters. “Nobody is fooled by it. [Russian President Vladimir Putin] is dusting off the playbook from 2014.”
He accused Russiaof installing illegitimate pro-Russian officials to run occupied regions of Ukraine, with the aim of organising referenda on becoming part of Russia.
The results of the votes would be used by Russia “to try to claim annexation of sovereign Ukrainian territory”, Mr Kirby said.
Russia has already installed its own regional and local officials in the parts of Ukraine it has occupied.
Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014 after a hastily-organised referendum – viewed as illegal by the international community, in which voters chose to join Russia.
Many supporters of Kyiv boycotted the vote and the campaign was neither free nor fair.
Similar votes held in other parts of Ukraine would almost certainly see a similar situation, with any opposition to joining Russia largely supressed.
Mr Kirby said he was “exposing” the Russian plans “so the world knows that any purported annexation is premeditated, illegal and illegitimate”, and promised there would be a quick response from the US and its allies.
The areas targeted for annexation include Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk, he said.
Midfielder Salis Abdul Samed has revealed that his integration at Lens has been straightforward and he is ready to work hard in the 2022/23 season.
Samed joined RC Lens from Clermont Foot in the ongoing summer transfer window for an undisclosed amount.
On Saturday in Rodez, Salis Abdul Samed faced his former team with Lens. The midfielder shared his initial impressions with French portal La Montagne.
Salis, how is your debut at Lens?
“Honestly, very good! I have been very happy since my arrival, my integration is easy. My new teammates and the staff have done everything for me. And there, in addition, we have just won (smile). So inevitably, under these conditions, it’s always easier, especially since I think we produced good things and achieved a good quality game,”
When you learned that you were finally going to face Clermont in a friendly, that must have made you feel weird?
“No, it’s the opposite! Above all, I was very happy to find some friends,”
Did you feel your team clearly ahead of Clermont?
” Yes I think,”
Are you worried about them?
“They have to work and get stronger. But I’m still Clermontois in my heart, you know, and I think it’s going to be okay. There is still time before the start of the season. Me, I remain a supporter of Clermont Foot,”
Let’s go back to the conditions of your departure?
“Yes, it’s true … But I wanted to discover something else even if, it’s true, I didn’t do many seasons in Clermont (two, editor’s note) . My goal is to progress and that’s why I made this choice,” he said.
Talented Ghana attacker, Mohammed Kudus was on the scoresheet for Ajax on Tuesday afternoon when the team played Red Bull Salzburg.
The Dutch Champions as part of preparations for the next football season has today engaged the Austrian Bundesliga giants in a friendly match.
In a game that proved very exciting, Dusan Tadic scored in the 28th minute to give Ajax the lead.
Although Nicolas Capaldo will equalise to restore parity for Red Bull Salzburg four minutes later, Mohammed Kudus also scored in the 40th minute to restore the lead for the Dutch side.
Belgian midfielder of Ghanaian descent, Pierre Dwomoh is set to watch from the stands on Thursday, July 21, when his Royal Antwerp side takes on FC Drita in the playoff to the Uefa Conference League.
The Belgian Pro League club impressed last season and has the chance to play in Europe next season if the team manages to go past the side from Kosovo.
On Monday, three injured players include Birger Verstraete, Sam Vines, and Jelle Bataille joined the team for training after recovering from various injuries.
Unfortunately, Pierre Dwomoh who has been absent from training for a whiledid not join the team.
While it is unclear what is keeping the talented teenager away, he is expected to miss the important game against FC Drita.
It is important that he sorts out his issues as soon as possible to fight for a place in the Royal Antwerp team managed by Mark van Bommel.
Ghana international, Andre Ayew was on target for his Al-Sadd SC outfit on Tuesday afternoon when the team run riot over Wiener Viktoria in a pre-season friendly match.
The Qatari giants are stepping up pre-season as part of preparations for the start of the 2022/23 football season.
Today, the team engaged Wiener Viktoria from Austria in the first of a number of friendly games scheduled to be played in the next few weeks.
Featuring for Al-Sadd SC today, Andre Ayewput in a good shift and found the back of the net for his team in the 30th minute.
In addition to a brace from Baghdad Bounedjah and a hat-trick from Rodrigo Tabata, Al-Sadd SC cruised to an emphatic 7-0 win at the end of the friendly match.
Last season, Andre Ayew was a star for his team and helped the side to finish the Qatari Stars League campaign as champions.
Every season, he is sent out on loan for regular playing time to help him improve his game.
This summer, sources have reported that Dauda Mohammed is set to leave RSC Anderlecht for good.
According to information gathered today, the striker will leave the Belgian club by the close of the summer transfer window to join Spanish club Eibar.
It will mean a return to Spain where the forward spent last season. During a loan campaign with FC Cartagena, the 24-year-old scored nine goals and assisted three times after making 35 appearances.
The Ghana Police Service has arrested six armed robbers terrorising the people of Bono East Region.
The six, part of a gang, were arrested through an intelligence-led operation on July 17, 2022, at their hideouts within the Techiman Municipality.
Announcing the apprehension, the Police in a Facebook post on July 18, said the group admitted to their involvement in “a series of both residential and highway robberies within the region and beyond.â€
The suspects are Issa Mohammed, Reagan Kwaku Boakye, Kweku Boateng, Kelvin Antwi, Elija Osei and Gyimah Sadique.
Sadiq Gyimah, aged 33, works as an estate agent, while Osei Elijah, 24, is a cashew farmer. Issah Mohammed is a 23-year-old businessman, 22-year-old Regan Boakye is a driver, Kelvin Antwi, 21, is a tiler and Kweku Boateng, an 18-year-old, who is also a tiler.
Following the arrest, the Policeundertook a search at the hideouts and claimed weapons used by the robbers for their criminal activities.
They include a locally made pistol with four live AAA cartridges, toy pistol, a cutlass, hammer and three pairs of scissors.
Two motorbikes used to facilitate the robberies were also taken by the Service.
Items stolen and subsequently retrieved included GH₵2,500, €50, 22 mobile phones, a flashlight, cutter and a pepper spray.
According to the Police, a victim, who was robbed on July 17, at Nkwaeso on Sunyani Road “identified iPhone 11 pro max among the phones retrieved from the gang.â€
It is reported that the said victim identified Issa Mohammed among the group that robbed him.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has pledged to continue its intelligence-led operations to rid the country of criminals.
“We want to reassure the public that the Police are determined to fight crime and weed out criminal elements in our society,†the Police wrote.
Ghana captain Andre Ayew was on target for Al Sadd in their 3-3 draw against Hungarian side Haladas on Saturday.
The 32-year-old put up an impressive display in his side’s second friendly match of the overseas training camp in Austria, in preparation for the new 2022-23 season.
The intense game saw Ayew, Rodrigo Tabata and Moaz Al-Wadia get on the scoresheet for Al-Sadd. The first half ended in a 1-1 stalemate as well.
Al Sadd started in the first half with a lineup consisting of Yousef Al Balushi, Muhammad Almanai, Abdulrahman Al Nuaimi, Bahaa Al Laithi, Jung Woo-young, Guilherme Torres, Rodrigo Tabata, Santi Cazorla, Andre Ayew, Ahmed Al Saeed, and Baghdad Bounedjah.
Jehad Muhammad, Talal Behzad, Faisal Azadi, Abdulrahman Rashid, Nayef Hamid, Moaz Jad, Moaz Al-Wadia and Abdullah Al-Yazidi came on as substitutes.
This is the second friendly for Al-Sadd, after winning the first against the Austrian side Bruck an der Leitha 2-0.
Ayew scored 15 goals and provided one assist in 21 appearances for Al Sadd last season.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won a record fifth women’s 100m world title in a Jamaican clean sweep of the medals as Dina Asher-Smith finished fourth.
At 35, Fraser-Pryce ran a championship record of 10.67 seconds to finish ahead of Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah, who took silver and bronze respectively.
She is the first to win five world titles in an individual track event.
GB’s Asher-Smith equalled her British record of 10.83 in Eugene, Oregon.
“This performance is phenomenal for me and I’ve had a fantastic championships,” said Asher-Smith, who won silver in the event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha. “I really couldn’t fault it but I’m so gutted that it didn’t get me on the podium. I was so close. But that’s just champs. I’m upset.
“It’s been an interesting season for me so far. I’ve been in physical shape for a bit but I’ve had some life things that I’ll probably talk about more after the 200m. I needed to make sure my mind was actually in the race rather than with my family or here.
“We’re looking to keep going faster throughout the summer into Commonwealths and Europeans. But I definitely came here with an eye to get on to the podium.”
It is the first time a nation has taken a clean sweep of the women’s 100m medals at a World Championship, and comes a day after the United States completed the one-two-three in the men’s 100m final.
The same Jamaican trio achieved the feat at last year’s Olympics in Tokyo – Thompson-Herah winning her second gold on that occasion – with the nation also doing it at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Asher-Smith’s GB team-mate Daryll Neita missed out on a place in the final, finishing third in her semi-final in 10.97.
On Saturday, 26-year-old Asher-Smith had qualified fastest for the semi-finals in 10.84, the second quickest time of her career, and placed second in 10.89 in her semi-final behind Jackson on Sunday.
She drew lane eight for the final and after a good start, looked the most likely to threaten the Jamaicans’ podium domination but was reeled in by Jackson and Thompson-Herah.
Asher-Smith’s narrow miss of the podium – by just 0.02 seconds – comes after a mixed start to the season, in which she was beaten by Neita to the 100m UK title.
“I was in better shape than the times I was running throughout the season,” she added.
“I know sometimes it must have sounded crazy when I was saying I was in good shape and then the races were popping up with something different.
“But it is psychological. It’s one of those things where you really have to be in the room and emotionally in the room.
“For lots of the season I couldn’t do that. I didn’t have it in me. That’s just life stuff. I’m happy that I got it in time but I’m gutted.”
Fraser-Pryce ‘feels blessed’
Two-time Olympic champion Fraser-Pryce’s fifth world title comes 13 years after her first, won in 2009 in Berlin.
She now has 10 World Championship titles across the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. Three of those have come since she gave birth to her son in 2017.
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) July 18, 2022
“I feel blessed to have this talent and to continue to do it at 35, having a baby, still going, and hopefully inspiring women that they can make their own journey,” said Fraser-Pryce.
“I can’t even imagine the amount of times I’ve had setbacks and I’ve bounced back and I’m here again.
“I continue to remind myself that sometimes it’s not because you don’t have the ability but it’s the right time. It was the right time and I’m so, so grateful for the continuous support.
“This is the third one-two-three that I’ve been a part of and I’m so excited. I was able to come away with the win.”
Fraser-Pryce became the oldest woman to claim a 100m world title in 2019, and after extending that record by three years in Eugene, shows no signs of winding down.
“It’s my favourite world title – doing it at 35, yes I said 35,” Fraser-Pryce said.
“Whenever I’m healthy I’m going to compete. I’m hungry, I’m driven and I always believe I can run faster and I’m not going to stop until I stop believing that.”
The third day of the World Athletics Championships taking place in Eugene, Oregon, in the United States saw the men’s 10,000 metre race won by the defending champion and world record holder Joshua Cheptegei.
At least 30 green sea turtles have been found dead off a beach of a remote Japanese island, with many having been stabbed in the neck.
Locals on Kumejina island made the discovery last Thursday, after a low tide revealed the bodies.
At least one fishing operator admitted to wounding the animals to remove them from fishing nets, said news site the Mainichi.
Police are investigating animal cruelty claims.
“I disentangled some of the [turtles] and released them into the sea, but I couldn’t free [the] heavy ones so I stabbed them to get rid of them,” an unnamed fishing operator told a close source, said a report by the Mainichi.
Local media reported police had deployed officers to the scene last week, but it’s not clear if any action has been carried out.
Green sea turtles are listed as an endangered species by Japanese authorities and global conservation groups.
They’re known to frequent the seaweed and kelp beds off Kumejina – one of the tiny islands about 2,000km south of the Japanese mainland – where there are also active conservation efforts.
Marine biologists and other workers from the island’s Sea Turtle Museum had rushed to the beach after the turtles were discovered, but most had already become motionless by then.
Several had stab wounds at the base of their necks, while others were also slashed in their flippers. Pictures released by the museum show the animals floating in shallow water.
“I have never seen anything like this before,” one museum employee told The Asahi Shimbun.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said new signing Gabriel Jesus “creates chaos” after the Brazil forward scored in a 2-0 friendly win over Everton.
The £45m signing continued his impressive pre-season form by firing home from a 33rd-minute corner at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
Jesus, who scored twice against Nuremberg this month, helped set up Bukayo Saka for Arsenal’s second.
“He creates uncertainty and he’s always on your shoulder,” said Arteta.
“He’s a real threat and this is what we need. He’s very versatile, but obviously the way we would like to develop him is in that [number nine] position.”
Arsenal face Orlando City and Chelsea in Orlando next week.
Chelsea began their pre-season campaign with a 2-1 win over Mexican side Club America at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Chelsea took the lead in the 55th minute when Timo Werner converted the rebound after his initial effort was blocked by team-mate Michy Batshuayi.
Club America drew level in bizarre fashion as Reece James played a blind backpass that evaded keeper Marcus Bettinelli.
Mason Mount scored a superb winner with seven minutes remaining, shifting the ball away from a defender before curling in from 20 yards.
Chelsea face Charlotte FC in North Carolina on Wednesday before meeting Arsenal on Saturday, while Club America face Premier League champions Manchester City in Houston on Wednesday.
Justin Frimpong Koduah is the newly elected General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) after beating John Boadu at the end of the Party’s national executive election on July 16, 2022.
Some supporters and other party officials have been congratulating the lawyer known as JFK.
The Legal practitioner polled 2,857 votes to beat Mr. John Boadu who obtained 2,524 votes out of the total 5,556 votes cast.
The other candidates; Iddrisu Musah -104 votes, Ramseyer Ahmed 8 votes, Charles Bissue 12 votes and Frederick Ansah 50 votes.
Mr. Justin Frimpong Kodua will serve as the General Secretary of the party for the next four years.
JFK is the former Deputy Regional Youth Organiser in 2010 and a member of the NPP Ashanti Regional campaign team in 2008.
He also served as a member of the National Youth Wing of the party as a Chairman of the Legal Committee of the youth wing.
The Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, on his verified Twitter timeline wrote:
“Congratulations to chairman Ntim, GS JFK and all our executives. The elephant is our winning symbol. Time to work together to get Ghana out of the woods and do the unprecedented.”
Over 6,000 delegates voted in the election. They included selected party members from all the 16 regions in Ghana plus some members from the diaspora branches of the NPP.
In all, 46 candidates are contesting for ten national executive positions of the NPP.
John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden will miss Manchester City‘s pre-season tour of the United States because they do not meet entry requirements.
City have not given any further information.
The players will instead train with the club’s elite development squad in Croatia for their pre-season.
City play Club America and Bayern Munich in the US before the Community Shield against Liverpool on 30 July.
Aymeric Laporte was not named in the 26-man touring party because he is not fully fit. He will continue his rehabilitation in Manchester.
New signings Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips and Julian Alvarez were included, and Oleksandr Zinchenko was also named in the squad despite being linked with Arsenal.
Nathan Ake will also travel after Chelsea, who were interested in signing him, failed to meet City’s valuation.
Premier League champions City are scheduled to face Mexican side Club America in Houston, Texas, on 21 July and German champions Bayern Munich in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on 23 July.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has issued a disclaimer that there are no plans in place with a purported consultant for fans traveling to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The Ministry was responding to reports that the Ghana Mission in Qatar was pledging to support fans.
Nonetheless, the Ministry in a statement said it has not established ties with one Harriet Gyamfuah, who purports to be the Public Relations (PR) Consultant of the Ghana Mission in Qatar.
It cautioned the public against engaging with her, either towards the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 or on behalf of the Embassy of the Republic of Ghana in Qatar.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry noted that the Ministry of Youth and Sports had already appointed Kenpong Travel & Tours Company as the official travel agency for the 2022 World Cup, and further advised the general public to contact the company if they intend to travel to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
“While assuring of its commitment to uphold the friendly relations between Ghana and Qatar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration wishes to advise the public to adhere to the directives issued by the Ministry of Youth and Sports,†the statement concluded.
Kenpong Travel and Tours is the accredited agency to take fans to Qatar 2022.
Ghanaian international, Malik Abubakari will have the chance to feature in a match for the first time for his new club HJK Helsinki later today.
The talented young striker sealed a loan move to the Finnish club in midweek and has already had the chance to train in the last two days with his new teammates.
“Malmö’s 22-year-old Ghanaian striker Malik Abubakari signed a loan agreement with HJK for the rest of the year on Wednesday evening. Abubakari will train for the first time with his new team on Thursday,†a club statement from HJK Helsinki said on Wednesday.
With the player already fit and in good shape, the Ghanaian has been included in the HJK Helsinki squad for the next match.
The team will be in action on Saturday, July 16, 2022, in a league match against VPS at the Bolt Arena.
While it is not certain whether Malik Abubakari will be starting the game, he will surely have the chance to mark his debut.
Tiger Woods wiped away tears amid emotional scenes as he was cheered the full length of the 18th hole on Friday on what he says “feels like my last time” playing the Old Course in an Open Championship.
No matter that the former world number one was about to miss the halfway cut at the landmark 150th staging of the world’s oldest major, the standing ovation was recognition of his standing in the game.
Woods has won two of his three Claret Jugsat the revered St Andrews venue and skipped last month’s US Open to ensure he would be fit to play his favourite course this week.
The 46-year-old did not say it would be his final Open Championship, but added: “I came to understand what Jack [Nicklaus] and Arnold [Palmer] felt in the past and I felt that way. They understand what golf is all about and what it takes to be an Open champion.
“I have been lucky enough to win here twice – it felt emotional because I don’t know whether I will be able to play when it comes back here.”
The Open usually returns to St Andrews every five years, which would make the next one in 2027, although an official announcement is yet to be made.
The Australian world number six carded an eight-under-par 64 as he improved to 13 under.
Smith leads by two from American Cameron Young on a leaderboard stacked with the world’s best.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is on 10 under with Norway’s Viktor Hovland, while two-time major winner Dustin Johnson is at nine under, one ahead of world number one Scottie Scheffler and England’s Tyrrell Hatton.
Tiger Woods acknowledged the adulation of the fans as he crossed the Swilcan Bridge on the 18th fairway at the Old Course
But while the tournament ploughed on, few will forget the send-off for Woods.
An opening six-over-par 78 in round one left Woods saying he would “need a 66” to make the weekend. That would have been a tall order were the 15-time major winner in good health, but nigh-on impossible given he is still feeling the after-effects of the car crash in February 2021 that almost cost him his right leg.
A smile flashed across his face after a birdie on the third. But all thoughts of that 66 were extinguished by bogeys on the fourth and sixth holes.
A run of nine pars followed before he tried a flop shot over a greenside bunker on the 16th and only succeeded in sticking his ball in the sand, walking off with a double-bogey six.
Regardless of his performance, Woods was cheered round the links by thousands of fans eager for a glimpse of the man who has had such a huge impact on the game over the past quarter of a century.
He was playing with Matt Fitzpatrick, who triumphed at Brookline in June to win his first major. And the Englishman and playing partner Max Homa paused to let Woods cross the iconic Swilcan Bridge alone and acknowledge the adulation.
“It gave me goosebumps,” said Fitzpatrick. “Just looking around, seeing everyone stood up, and giving him a standing ovation coming down 18. Yeah, it was incredible. It’s something that will live with me forever.”
Woods had to compose himself before playing his final chip over the Valley of Sin, muttering “come on, come on” to himself. He nudged the ball to within four feet but then missed the birdie putt.
Fitzpatrick also missed a birdie putt but he signed for the 66 that Woods had craved, to reach six under at halfway.
Scoring goes low in calm conditions
Just as Woods was finishing up about 15:00 BST, Rory McIlroy was heading down the first, starting his second round on six under par.
He will have seen those that had gone out early carding low scores in drizzly conditions that helped soften up the greens.
Woods called the morning more akin to winter, the afternoon summer. Par for the Old Course.
And as the afternoon turned into evening, McIlroy was at his battling best as the sun shone at its brightest. The momentum of birdies on the fifth and seventh holes were halted by a bogey on the eighth. But a run of three birdies from the 10th lifted him to 10 under, only to give one back on the 15th.
But a superb 20-footer on the 17th saw him sign for a four-under 68. He was joined on 10 under by Hovland, who had a chip-in eagle two on the 15th in a 66.
“I’m picking holes in everything and walking off thinking I could have been a couple better, but I’m in a great position going into the weekend,” said McIlroy.
“It is nice to be in the mix.”
Former world number one Johnson, who has been suspended by the PGA Tour for joining the LIV Golf Series, shot a 67 in the morning gloom to set the initial pace on nine under.
The two-time major winner is one ahead of Scheffler and Hatton after they shot bogey-free rounds of 68 and 66 respectively.
Australia’s Adam Scott, who threw away victory a decade ago at the 2012 Open, carded the lowest round of the morning starters with a bogey-free 65 lifting him into a group on seven under.
However, when the sun came out mid-afternoon and the wind died away, Smith took advantage with five birdies in his opening eight holes. The world number six, who won the PGA Tour’s flagship Players Championship at Sawgrass in March, then holed a 64-foot eagle putt on the par-five 14th to move further clear.
“I feel like I’ve been in this spot a lot over the past couple of years, and things just haven’t quite gone my way yet,” said Smith, who is yet to win a major but has had four top-10 finishes in the past five Masters.
“I’ve just got to be really patient over the weekend. The golf course is going to get a lot harder and a lot faster. So just be patient and make good putts.”
Young, who led overnight on eight under, was among those out in the later wave, and he birdied the last to complete a three-under 69 and finish on 11 under.
England’s Barclay Brown is the leading amateur after following his opening 68 with a 70 for a six-under todal, three ahead of Italy’s Filippo Celli.
The cut mark came at level par, meaning defending champion Collin Morikawa, who ended on one over after a 73 is among those heading home early.
Manchester United are on the verge of completing their third summer signing after agreeing a £45m deal with Ajax for Argentina defender Lisandro Martinez.
United manager Erik ten Hag was keen to be reunited with the 24-year-old, who he signed for Ajax in 2019.
The Dutch club were reluctant to let Martinez leave but United chief executive Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough progressed the deal when they visited Amsterdam last week.
Martinez prefers to play on the left side of two central defenders and Ten Hag appeared to be planning for his arrival with his team selection against Melbourne Victory on Friday, when he moved captain Harry Maguire from his normal left-sided role to the right.
Martinez posted this picture of himself and agent Christian Bragarnik with a caption reading ‘heading to Manchester’
Martinez has flown to Manchester for a medical and to wrap up the remaining elements of the transfer, including getting a visa.
It is thought unlikely he will fly to Australia to play any part in United’s current tour and instead will link up with his new team-mates when they return to England on 24 July.
It has been a busy few days for United’s recruiting staff.
On Friday, they confirmed Christian Eriksen had signed a three-year contract while efforts continue to lure Frenkie de Jong to Old Trafford from Barcelona.
Despite reports that Netherlands midfielder De Jong may be left out of Barca’s US tour to encourage him to agree a move, he has been named in the squad.
Dutch full-back Tyrell Malacia was United’s first summer signing at the start of July.
Chelsea have signed centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly on a four-year deal from Serie A side Napoli.
The Senegal international, 31, joined Napolifrom Genk in 2014 and made 317 appearances for the Italian side.
His arrival at Stamford Bridge follows the departures of defenders Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen to Barcelona, both on free transfers.
“I’m very happy to be here with this team at Chelsea,” said Koulibaly.
“It’s a big team in the world and my dream was always to play in the Premier League. Chelsea came first to get me in 2016 but we didn’t make it. Now when they came to me I accepted it because they really wanted me to come to the Premier League to play for them.
“When I spoke to my good friends Edou [Mendy] and Jorginho they made my choice easier.”
Koulibaly made his senior debut for Senegal in September 2015 and has since earned 62 caps, captaining the team to victory at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
He becomes Chelsea’s second signing since the Todd Boehly-led takeover after Raheem Sterling joined the club in a £50m deal.
Boehly said: “Kalidou Koulibaly is one of the world’s elite defenders and we are delighted to be welcoming him to Chelsea.
“A great leader and an exemplary team player, Kalidou brings a wealth of experience and attributes that will benefit our squad and the club as a whole.”
Barcelona have reached a “verbal agreement” with Bayern Munich to sign Poland striker Robert Lewandowski, says the Bayern president.
The 33-year-old, who has one year left on his Bayern contract, told the club last month that he wishes to leave.
Lewandowski scored 50 goals in 46 games last season as he helped Bayern win a 10th straight Bundesliga title.
“It’s good to have clarity for all parties,” said Bayern president Herbert Hainer.
“We have come to a verbal agreement with Barcelona.
“Robert is an incredible player and he won everything with us. We are incredibly grateful to him.”
Lewandowski joined Bayern on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund in 2014 and has scored 344 times in 374 games for the club, making him their second-highest scorer of all time behind Gerd Muller.
The Pole has won the league in all eight of his seasons at Bayern and also helped the Bavarians win the Champions League in 2019-20.
Bayern have also announced that Germany winger Serge Gnabry, 27, has signed a contract extension until 2026.
Barcelona completed the signing of Raphinha from Leeds on Friday in a deal worth up to £55m having already signed Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen on free transfers earlier this month.
Newly elected Somalian president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, ended Friday a two-day official visit to his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta.
At the end of his trip, the countries’ foreign ministers announced the nations had agreed to restart with immediate effect the trade of the stimulant khat. Which means that air shipments of khat also known as miraa will resume after a 2-year hiatus.
Somalia is one of the biggest markets for miraa and central Kenyan, a big producer of the plant whose leaves and stems are a popular stimulant and appetite suppressant.
Among a range of deals signed, the leaders have directed immediate market access of fish from Somalia to Kenya and vice versa and agreed to ease some visa restrictions a s well as re-open the border.
President Kenyatta and President Mohamud have directed immediate market access of fish from Somalia to Kenya and vice versa.
Nigerian Afrobeats artist, Tiwa Savage, has been given an honorary doctorate by her alma mater, the UK’s University of Kent.
“Tiwa studied Business at Kent before she embarked on her incredible career – a reminder to all our graduates today to reach for the stars!.” the university tweeted, adding that they were “super proud”.
US President Joe Biden has been greeted by the Saudi crown prince on his arrival in the kingdom he said he would ostracise over its human rights record.
Mr Biden gave Mohammed bin Salman a fist bump.The White House has said the president is trying to avoid handshakes to protect him from Covid-19.
He has faced criticism over the trip in the wake of the murder of dissident Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.
The president has defended his visit, saying he did not want to rupture ties.
He flew to the kingdom directly from Israel – something previously barred.
Saudi Arabia, which does not officially recognise Israel and for decades led a regional boycott of the Jewish state, earlier announced it would allow “all carriers” to use its airspace, seen as a conciliatory gesture to Mr Biden and Israel.
The president is aiming to broaden Israel’s integration in the region, especially in the field of security and defence, as part of efforts to counter the threat from Iran.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are regional rivals, while Israel considers Iran its most dangerous foe. Iran does not recognise Israel’s right to exist and has repeatedly called for its elimination.
Mutual concerns about Iran have led to unofficial security and intelligence ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Saudi Arabia has long been an important regional ally to the US, serving as a major oil supplier and buying billions of dollars of US weaponry.
However, ties have been tested in recent years, with a US pivot towards Asia, withdrawal of forces and air defence capabilities from the Middle East and Mr Biden’s declared prioritisation of human rights as a plank of his foreign policy.
The US-Saudi relationship faced its most serious challenge with the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based journalist who wrote for the Washington Post.
IMAGE SOURCE,EPA Image caption, Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi agents in 2018
Crown Prince Mohammed was accused by US intelligence agencies of approving the murder. The prince denied the allegations, and Saudi prosecutors blamed “rogue” Saudi agents.
When he was campaigning for the presidency in 2019, Mr Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia “the pariah that they are” for killing Khashoggi.
Mr Biden subsequently faced a storm of criticism over his decision to visit the kingdom. It comes at a time of near record oil prices in the US, with the president expected to push Saudi officials to commit to increasing production.
The White House has downplayed Mr Biden’s meeting with Prince Mohammed, saying he will also be meeting other Arab leaders when he attends a conference in Jeddah on Saturday.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed to the BBC that a Saudi American businessman in his 70s – whose case has not been disclosed before – has been detained without charge by the Saudi authorities since November.
The information came from a member of his family, who requested anonymity. Relatives of those held there often do not make the cases public as they fear the consequences of doing so.
The man went missing on his arrival in Saudi Arabia last November. The member of his family believes his detention may be due to social media posts critical of the Saudi authorities.
A source at the US State Department told the BBC that the department had no higher priority than protecting US citizens abroad, but that for privacy reasons it would make no further comment.
Residents and holidaymakers have fled towns and villages in France as fires are whipped up by high winds and tinder-dry conditions in several countries in Europe.
More than 10,000 people have been forced to leave the south-western Gironde region in the past few days.
Dozens of fires are burning in Portugal and Spain where temperatures have surged above 40C.
At least 281 deaths in the two countries were linked to the heatwave.
Several towns in western Spain have been evacuated.
Heatwaves have become more frequent, more intense, and last longer because of human-induced climate change. The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.
Firefighters in Spain fought to protect the town of Monsagro as fires erupted further south in the Monfragüe national park, home to rare species of birds. The main N-5 route in Cáceres just east of the park was cut off when a forest fire reached the road.
— Emilio Mateos Ortega (@emiliomoska) July 14, 2022
Temperatures were set to top 40C in large areas of western Spain as well as Portugal on Friday. At Pinhão in the north, 47C was recorded on Thursday, a record high for July in mainland Portugal.
However, forecasters in Spain said temperatures would begin to fall on Friday.
The Carlos III Health Institute said on Thursday that at least 43 people had died during the first two days of the latest heatwave, on Sunday and Monday, because of the heat.
Health officials in Portugal recorded 238 deaths more than normal since 7 July which they attributed to the very hot and very dry conditions. The worst affected are the elderly, children and people with chronic diseases.
More than 30 fires were active in Portugal on Friday morning, including one in a forest at Pombal in the central region of Leiria which has lasted a week. More than 300 sq km have been torched this year, a bigger area than in all of 2021.
The EU’s Copernicus emergency management service tweeted a map showing the biggest fire risks across Southern Europe and Morocco.
Extreme Danger is present in areas of:
🇵🇹🇪🇸🇫🇷🇮🇹🇦🇹ðŸ‡ðŸ‡·ðŸ‡§ðŸ‡¦ðŸ‡²ðŸ‡ªðŸ‡¦ðŸ‡±ðŸ‡¸ðŸ‡°ðŸ‡µðŸ‡±ðŸ‡ðŸ‡ºðŸ‡·ðŸ‡¸ðŸ‡¬ðŸ‡·ðŸ‡¹ðŸ‡·ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡¾ pic.twitter.com/mkmsshOvJg
Police in south-west Francewent from door to door in an effort to evacuate 4,000 residents from the Cazaux district south-west of Bordeaux. Smoke could be seen close to the town of La Teste-de-Buch and there were long queues of traffic as people tried to leave and police blocked entrances to stop drivers getting in.
One holidaymaker, Matthias, told BFMTV how he and his son had been told to escape immediately: “We started packing our things but the lady told us, no, you have to leave everything as it is. You try to keep calm but it’s hard not to be scared because it happens so fast.”
IMAGE SOURCE,SDIS33/FRENCH FIRE SERVICE Image caption, Firefighters tried to stop the flames reaching La Teste-de-Buch and thousands of residents were told to leave
An estimated 73 sq km of pine forest has burned down in recent days, including around Arcachon and Landiras. Temperatures are set to reach 40C in some areas and the head of the national firefighters’ federation warned there were still two months of summer to go.
“The situation is highly complex. Our morale is still good but fatigue sets in fast. That’s why we’re calling for a target of 250,000 volunteer firefighters,” Mr Allione told RMC TV.
Italy and Croatia have also reported forest fires this week, and strong winds have greatly increased the risk of wildfires in five regions in Greece, civil protection officials have warned.
Central Greece, Attica and Create are among the areas most at risk and officials have appealed to Greeks not to do anything that could spark a fire.
Fires were reported in Crete and on the mainland in Attica on Friday. Emergency services issued an urgent appeal to residents south-east of Athens to flee the village of Feriza Saronikos for the coast.
He replaces Gotabaya Rajapaksa who fled to Singapore after unprecedented mass protests which saw demonstrators overrun the presidential palace.
Protesters defied a curfew to celebrate his resignation during the night.
Sri Lanka is experiencing economic chaos as it faces an acute shortage of food, fuel and other basic supplies.
The process of parliament electing a new president will begin on Saturday, with MPs likely to take a vote in a week’s time.
Given the governing party has a majority, MPs are thought likely to back Mr Wickremesinghe, who has close links with the Rajapaksa family.
But whether Sri Lanka’s public would accept this is another matter, because Mr Wickremesinghe’s resignation as PM was a key demand of protestors.
Earlier this week, crowds stormed the former prime minister’s compound, clashing with security forces.
A demonstrator, Manuri Pabasari, told the BBC at the time that a protest rally against Ranil Wickremesinghe was expected in the coming days.
“He has no people’s mandate [and] is a well known Rajapaksa supporter,” she added. “I mean the new president and the new prime minister should be not a Rajapaksa supporter.”
The governor of Sri Lanka’scentral bank, Nandalal Weerasinghe, has warned the country may shut down if no stable government is formed soon.
There was a “lot of uncertainty” over whether enough foreign exchange can be found to pay for essential petroleum, he told the BBC’s Newsnight programme, and progress on getting an international bailout package depended on having a stable administration.
Meanwhile, Singapore says the ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa did not ask for political asylum when he arrived there.
The former president, who arrived with his wife and two bodyguards, no longer has legal immunity as a head of state and his position is now more precarious as he tries to find a safe country to shelter in.
He is expected to stay in Singapore for some time before possibly moving to the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lankan security sources told AFP news agency.
Manchester United have agreed a £63.5m deal with Barcelona for Frenkie de Jong but there is still no guarantee the move will go ahead.
Senior club figures have travelled to Barcelona to try to push through a deal for the Netherlands midfielder, 25.
They now know what they have to pay for manager Erik ten Hag’s key target, with the agreed deal equating to a bigger up-front payment and £8.5m in add-ons.
However, the player’s dispute with Barcelona is threatening the move.
The contractual disagreement centres on deferred payments that were included in the playmaker’s new four-year deal that only became active on 1 July.
There have been widespread reports in Spain that Barcelona have told De Jong he needs to leave for financial reasons.
However, the former Ajax player knows the Catalan must honour his contract if he chooses to remain at the Nou Camp and he is understood to be reluctant to leave without an agreement over his exit terms, which would take into account the deferred payments.
United have alternatives should De Jong not join but are willing to give the situation more time to resolve itself before taking an alternative course.
Meanwhile the club are also still unsure if Cristiano Ronaldo will return to pre-season training.
Confirmation that Chelsea are no longer interested in signing the 37-year-old has reduced his options away from Old Trafford.
BBC Sport understands there is substance to reports of a huge offer to Ronaldo from Saudi Arabia but the player is believed to want to keep playing at the highest possible level.
Chelsea have ended their interest in signing Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese international, 37, wants to leave the club and has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge.
But after signing former Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling on Wednesday, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said his “focus is on defence”.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has also said Ronaldo is “in our plans” and “not for sale”.
The forward has yet to join Manchester United’s pre-season tour of Asia and Australia because of what Ten Hag called “personal issues”.
When BBC Sport asked Tuchel about interest in Ronaldo on Wednesday, he said: “Ronaldo’s career speaks for himself. I know there are rumours out there but I will not start speaking about other top clubs’ top players.”
Chelsea’s new owners are understood to be delighted with the recruitment of England international Sterling and consider him to be a marquee signing.
Sterling has linked up with the Chelsea squad in Los Angeles for pre-season.
Tuchel said he hoped Sterling could help “shape” his team and provide leadership to a young attack following the departure of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan on loan.
The German coach said Chelsea needed to “work smart and fast” in the transfer market to catch their rivals following sanctions on the club, with Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly set to sign a four-year deal and talks held with Manchester City centre-back Nathan Ake.
There have also been links with Paris St-Germain and France centre-back Presnel Kimpembe, who played under Tuchel when he was manager of the French club between 2018 and 2020.
Reigning African champions Nigeria qualified for a ninth Women’s World Cup in a row when beating Cameroon 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) in Casablanca.
Rasheedat Ajibade’s 57th-minute header ensured Nigeriawill meet hosts Morocco in Monday’s late semi-final and that their Wafcon winning streak against Cameroon continues.
In Thursday’s late game, South Africa sealed their return to the Women’s World Cup after a narrow 1-0 win over Tunisia in the Moroccan capital Rabat.
Jermaine Seopesenwe finished in expert fashion after 14 minutes but South Africa wasted good chances only to limp over the line after VAR checked a possible Tunisia penalty in stoppage time.
Rwandan referee Salima Mukansanga, who will referee at the men’s World Cup this year and made history earlier this year when becoming the first woman to referee a men’s Nations Cup match, pointed for a goal-kick, which VAR agreed with only after a nervy delay.
By then, South Africa – who will play Zambia in Monday’s first semi-final – should have been out of sight with Noxolo Cesane the biggest culprit when blazing over after a fine Linda Motlhalo run just before the hour.
Banyana Banyana missed Thembi Kgatlana, the 2018 Wafcon top scorer ruled out of the tournament on Monday with injury, while Nigeria also made it through with their star player, Asisat Oshoala, set to play no further part.
Making their debuts, Morocco and Zambia will join Banyana Banyana, whose tournament bow came in 2019, and the Super Falcons in next year’s 32-team finals in Australia and New Zealand.
Two more African sides could join them there, but will need to navigate a ten-team intercontinental play-off in New Zealand next February when the final three qualifiers will be decided.
Sunday’s crunch repechage ties pit Senegal against Tunisia, in Casablanca, and Botswana against Cameroon, in Rabat.
Super Falcons maintain edge
Nigeria and Cameroonhave met at each of the past nine tournaments, with the Super Falcons winning three finals and four semis while the Indomitable Lionesses’ sole win was in a third-play play-off in 2012.
Cameroon have failed to score against the nine-time champions at Wafcon since, including in their semi-final defeat last time out in 2018, and they seldom threatened Nigeria goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie in a match of few clear-cut openings.
Former Cameroon male legends such as Samuel Eto’o, who now heads up the country’s federation, and Geremi Njitap were in attendance in a Stade Mohammed V whose sparse attendance was atoned for by some lively support.
Nigeria captain Onome Ebi could become the first African to play at six World Cups
After the break, Ifeoma Onumonu’s cross was headed home by Atletico Madrid’s Ajebade, who moves joint top of the scoring charts with three, forcing the Indomitable Lionesses to find a rare Wafcon goal against Nigeria to stay in contention.
Yet Cameroon’s key players Njoya Ajara Njout and skipper Gabrielle Onguene failed to trouble the Nigerian backline and coach Gabriel Zabo will hope they can do more when the team enters a repechage tie on Sunday.
The clash against Botswana now represents the last chance for Cameroon, who made their Women’s World Cup debut in 2019, to reach next year’s finals in Australia and New Zealand.
Despite their African record of eight previous trips to the World Cup, Nigeria have only progressed past the group stage twice – firstly, when reaching the quarter-finals in 1999 and then in 2019, after the tournament had expanded to 24 teams four years earlier.
Nigeria captain Onome Ebi, 39, played at the finals for the first time in 2003 and has not missed one since, so becoming the first African to play in five Women’s World Cups.
American coach Randy Waldrum, meanwhile, has tried to improve Nigeria’s level by lining up some high-profile friendlies, including two against sixth-placed Canada before the tournament, ending in a defeat and draw for his side.
He will need his side to overcome a crunch Rabat clash against a host nation in good form to have a chance of arriving at the World Cup as African champions again.
A selection of the week’s best photos from across the continent and beyond:
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, The Corona Open J-Bay is an annual competition held at Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape province.
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, The next day a woman is pictured in traffic in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso – a country where reportedly nearly all adults own a motorcycle.
IMAGE SOURCE,AFP Image caption, An army officer in Ivory Coast addresses the media on Wednesday – about a row over the arrest of Ivorian soldiers at the main airport in neighbouring Mali.
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS Image caption, Ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid, a goat’s teeth are checked at a livestock market in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, on Friday…
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, On the same day in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, a similar market is busy with those preparing for the festival…
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS Image caption, Eid al-Adha means Festival of the Sacrifice – and often involves sacrificing an animal. Here a cockerel is seen at a market on Friday in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja…
IMAGE SOURCE,EPA Image caption, In Nigeria, Eid was marked on Saturday – and in Lagos the heavens open during the morning prayer in the city…
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Mali too celebrated Eid on Saturday – with these children dressed up at prayers held in the village of Djiakaking in the central region of Segou…
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, The Eid festivities in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano continued into Monday, with children seen here at an amusement park.
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Performers from Togo – a troupe called Afuma – tower over an audience in Poland on Saturday…
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, The men on stilts are taking part in the Ulica Festival – three days of street theatre in the southern Polish city of Kraków.
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, On the same day, Ugandan mixed-martial-arts fighter David Onama soaks up the atmosphere at a UFC Fight Night in the US city of Las Vegas, where he defeated Garrett Armfield.
IMAGE SOURCE,AFP Image caption, Children in northern Kenya take a boat to school on Wednesday as the rising water of Lake Turkana has made it impossible for them to go by land…
IMAGE SOURCE,AFP Image caption, However the area is also affected by drought and on Tuesday, people gather under a tree to attend an outreach clinic to help tackle health issues related to the lack of rain.
IMAGE SOURCE,EPA Image caption, On Friday, a scale is monitored at a scrap-metal dealer in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, where high levels of unemployment have left many looking for alternatives sources of income.
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, On Sunday, the sun is seen setting over the River Nile in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, South Africa’s Donald Ramphadi plays at Wimbledon during the quad wheelchair men’s doubles semi-final on Friday – but a mechanical issue with his wheelchair forced him to retire…
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS Image caption, There is also heartbreak for Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, who was runner-up on Saturday at Wimbledon’s women’s singles final…
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Nonetheless the tennis star is greeted as a hero on her return to Tunisia, posing with fans in Tunis on Wednesday.
IMAGE SOURCE,AFP Image caption, And that evening the supermoon is seen rising over the Tunisian capital.
Ivana Trump, Donald Trump’sfirst wife and the mother of three of his children, has died aged 73.
“She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life,” Mr Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social.
Ms Trump, who was born in what is now the Czech Republic, married the former president in 1977. They divorced 15 years later in 1992.
They had three children together – Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric Trump.
Police believe the cause of death may be accidental, according to the Associated Press.
Sources told the news agency Ms Trump was found unconscious near a staircase at her New York City home, and it is believed she may have fallen.
Donaldand Ivana Trump were notable public figures in New York in the 1980s and 1990s, and their split was the subject of intense public interest.
After their separation, Ms Trump went on to launch her own lines of beauty products, clothing and jewellery.
She took credit for bringing up their children in her 2017 memoir Raising Trump, saying she “made the decisions about their education, activities, travel, child care, and allowances” until college.
In the book, she added that her relationship with Mr Trump had improved since their divorce, and said she spoke to him about once a week.
The Trump familylauded her in a statement as “a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend”.
“Ivana Trump was a survivor. She fled from communism and embraced this country,” the statement added. “She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination.”
Ivanka Trump, who was said to be very close to her mother, said in an Instagram post she was “heartbroken”.
“Mom was brilliant, charming, passionate and wickedly funny. She modelled strength, tenacity and determination in her every action. She lived life to the fullest – never forgoing an opportunity to laugh and dance,” she wrote.
Mr Trump was Ivana’s second husband. Her first, Alfred Winklmayr, was an Austrian ski instructor and friend who she reportedly married in order to obtain Austrian citizenship.
That marriage allowed her to leave her communist home country – which was then Czechoslovakia – without defecting.
A long-time skier, Ms Trump is said to have skied competitively in the country.
But Mr Trump’s claims that she was an alternate on the 1972 Winter Olympics team were refuted in 1989 by a local Olympic official.
While living in Canada in the 1970s, she worked as a ski instructor and model.
On a work trip to New York City in 1976, she met Mr Trump while with a group of models. They were married the following year and quickly became a tabloid fixture.
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Ivana and Donald Trump at the 1985 Met Gala
Over the course of their marriage, Ms Trump held several roles within the Trump Organization, including as manager of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.
But Mr Trump reportedly locked her out of her office at the hotel in 1990 as they sparred over four pre-nuptial agreements.
When the divorce settlement was finalised in 1992, Ms Trump had signed a non-disclosure agreement but also received $14m (£11.8m) and a mansion in Connecticut among other things.
She was also married twice more: to Italian businessman Riccardo Mazzucchelli, from 1995-97; and to Italian actor Rossano Rubicondi, from 2008-09.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani wrote on Twitter that Ms Trump was “a truly talented, creative and beautiful person”, who had “contributed greatly” to his city.
“She lived the American Dream,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a top Trump ally.
In 2017, Ms Trump told ABC’s Good Morning America that she didn’t want to make Mr Trump’s current wife Melania jealous by calling him at the White House. “I’m basically first Trump wife. OK? I’m first lady,” she said.
It was one of many memorable quotes from the former model. In a cameo role in the 1996 movie The First Wives Club, she told disgruntled divorcees: “Ladies, you have to be strong and independent. And remember, don’t get mad, get everything.”
US President Joe Bidenwill meet Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank on Friday before he flies to a controversial summit in Saudi Arabia.
His meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is likely to be strained, analysts say, after ties hit a low under the Trump administration.
Later, Mr Biden will travel to Saudi Arabia to meet its de-facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Mr Biden will meet both the prince and his father, King Salman.
Two years ago, Mr Biden had pledged to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over the 2018 murder in Turkey of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.
The prince denies involvement, but US intelligence concluded he approved it.
Topics of discussion for the leaders will include energy supply, human rights, and security cooperation.
Mr Biden’s meeting with President Abbas in Bethlehem earlier on Friday will be the highest-level meeting between the US and the Palestinians since the Palestinians froze ties in a dispute over the closure of the Washington office of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) – the main representative body of the Palestinians – by the Trump administration in 2018.
The Palestinians want the US to do more to re-start peace talks with Israel, and to reopen the US consulate in Jerusalem, which served as a de facto embassy to the Palestinians before it was shut under President Trump in 2019.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest oil producer, and the attempted reset of relations follows a spike in oil prices driven by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The US is expected to push Saudi officials to commit to increasing production.
Late on Thursday, Saudi Arabia announced it would open its airspace to commercial Israeli flights – a decision welcomed by the US.
The move will see the kingdom’s airspace open to all carriers that meet its requirements for overflights, and paves the way for more flights to and from Israel.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it “paves the way for a more integrated, stable, and secure Middle East region”.
Mr Biden will become the first US president to fly directly to Saudi Arabia from Israel, which is seen as a small but significant sign of Riyadh’s growing acceptance of Israel after decades of boycott in solidarity with the Palestinians.
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Mr Biden will fly from Israel, where he has been meeting with Prime Minister Yair Lapid
On Friday evening, Mr Biden will arrive in the Saudi city of Jeddah, where he will meet Prince Mohammed for the first time since taking office.
Up to now, the president has insisted on speaking with King Salman, who US officials say is Mr Biden’s direct counterpart.
White House officials have refused to say whether Mr Biden will raise the murder of Mr Khashoggi, who was a Washington Post columnist and lived in the US.
They also declined to say if the pair would shake hands.
Sri Lanka’sparliament has accepted ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation, ending rule by a family that wielded power for nearly 20 years.
Mr Rajapaksa quit after fleeing to Singapore amid mass protests over his mismanagement of the economy.
Sri Lanka is in the grip of economic chaos as it faces an acute shortage of food, fuel and other basic supplies.
Mr Rajapaksa’s resignation paves the way for the country to begin the process of electing a new president.
Sri Lanka’s speaker of parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, said on Friday that he accepted Mr Rajapaksa’s resignation, which he received late on Thursday.
He has called for parliament to convene on Saturday to start the process of electing a new leader. PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as acting president.
Parliament has up to a month to elect a new leader, who could be Mr Wickremesinghe.
Mr Rajapaksa fled to Singapore on Thursday from the Maldives, as huge protests roiled Sri Lanka. He is believed to have wanted to leave Sri Lanka before stepping down in order to avoid the possibility of arrest under a new administration.
The embattled leader arrived in Singapore earlier on Thursday after first flying to the Maldives on Tuesday night. Reports say he is accompanied by his wife and two bodyguards.
Singapore’s foreign ministry said Mr Rajapaksa had not asked for asylum or been granted asylum. “Singapore generally does not grant requests for asylum,” it added.
Jubilation in the streets
In the capital Colombo on Thursday, delighted demonstrators greeted news of the president’s departure with dancing.
“We are beyond happy, but also beyond relieved so we can take a break and go back to our lives,” Viraga Perera told the BBC.
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa defied calls for his resignation for months but has now fled
But the crowds appeared smaller than before after Mr Wickremesinghe imposed a fresh round of curfews on Thursday to quell protests.
The streets of Colombo were calmer as anti-government demonstrators began leaving some of the official buildings they had occupied.
“We are peacefully withdrawing from the presidential palace, the presidential secretariat and the prime minister’s office with immediate effect, but will continue our struggle,” said a spokeswoman for the protesters.
One person died and 84 others were injured during Wednesday’s protests, which took place at key landmarks around the capital, Colombo, including the prime minister’s office.
Protesters broke into the presidential palace on Saturday and set fire to the prime minister’s private home.
Police fired tear gas at protesters attempting to break down the gates of the prime minister’s office in Colombo, before finally forcing their way in. They later headed for parliament but did not get in.
Wednesday saw some of the biggest demonstrations since the protests first began in April.
Black Stars vice-captain, Thomas Partey, will travel with the Arsenal squad to the United States for their pre-season tour.
Partey had been earlier reported to miss out on the pre-season camp away from London having missed out on the initial one in Germany.
However, the club confirmed he will be part of the team which will travel to the US to continue their preparations ahead of the 2022/23 season.
The 29-year-old played 45 minutes in the 5-1 win over Ipswich Town on his return after a thigh injury suffered in April.
The Gunners will play Everton in Baltimore, Maryland, on Sunday followed by games against Orlando City four days later and Chelsea a week on Saturday, both of which are in Orlando, Florida.
Below is the full travelling squad:
Goalkeepers: Aaron Ramsdale, Bernd Leno, Matt Turner, Arthur Okonkwo, Alex Runarsson.
Defenders: Kieran Tierney, Nuno Tavares, Gabriel, Pablo Mari, Ben White, Rob Holding, William Saliba, Hector Bellerin, Cedric Soares, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Reuell Walters.
Midfielders: Mohamed Elneny, Lucas Torreira, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith Rowe, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson.
Forwards: Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Jesus, Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka, Folarin Balogun, Marquinhos.
The rate of inflation was once again driven by Transport (41.6%); Household Equipment and Maintenance (39.6%); Housing, Water, Gas and Electricity (38.4%); Personal Care and Miscellaneous (31.7%); Recreation, Sports and Culture (31.3%) and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (30.7%). These items recorded inflation rates higher than the national average.
According to the figures, food inflation surged to 30.7% in June 2022, from 30.1% recorded in May 2022. Non-food inflation also went up by 3.4% to 29.1% in June 2022.
For food inflation, Oil and Fats (58%); Water (43.2%); Cereal Products (38.4%); Fruit and Vegetable Juices (37.3%); Milk, Diary Products and Eggs (35.7%); Fish and Other Sea Food (34.7%); Live Animals and Meat (33.5%); Soft Drinks (31.1%); Cocoa Drinks (30.9%) and Sugar and Deserts (30.1%) recorded the highest rates of inflation.
Similarly, month-on-month inflation between May 2022 and June 2022 was 3.0%.
Whilst inflation for locally produced items was 29.2%, that of imported items was 31.3%.
Eastern region records highest inflation rate
The Eastern region recorded the highest inflation rate of 35.8% in the month of June 2022.
It was followed by Western region with an inflation rate of 33.9% and then Central region with an inflation rate of 31.6%.
On the other hand, the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions recorded inflation rates of 30.9% and 27.2% respectively.
The Upper East region recorded the lowest rate rate of inflation of 21%. The region again recorded the lowest inflation rate of 19.9% for food inflation.
Eastern region registered the highest rate of inflation of 35.5% for non-food inflation.
The Member of Parliament for the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency, Lydia Alhassan, has assured that police officers will constantly be deployed at the East Legon branch of Ideal Collegeto ensure the safety of students.
This follows a clash between students of the school and land guards as well as purported police officers over the ownership of a piece of land.
Madam Lydia Alhassan gave the assurance on July 12, when she visited injured students of the school to assess the gravity of injuries recorded.
She said: “I could not sleep as a mother when I heard of the incident on social media concerning my constituency. I have therefore decided to come and see how you are doing today.”
Ayawaso West Wuogon MP, Lydia Alhassan, interacts with students of Ideal College
On Thursday, July 7, about 23 of the students sustained various degrees of injury after a confrontation with land guards and alleged officers of the Police Service due to the demolition of structures said to belong to the school.
According to reports, the land guards were on the school grounds to reclaim purported stolen lands.
In a viral video sighted by The Independent Ghana, the men in police uniform could be seen hitting the students with police batons.
After the incident, Public Relations Officer of the school, Naphtali Kyei Baffour, who spoke to the explained that the school has secured permission from the Assembly to put up the facilities that were nearly demolished by the land guards.
He also noted that in February this year, land guards attempted destroying the facilities on the said piece of land.
Meanwhile, management of Ideal College has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Dr Akufo-Dampare, over the assault of students and await a response.
As the police carry out their investigations, students of Ideal College have been entreated by Madam Lydia Alhassan to not hold any grudge but to focus on their studies as expected of them.
The Parent Association of two schools in the Central Region have resorted to financially supporting the feeding of their wards in some Senior High Schools due to food shortage.
The Association in Wesley Girls SHS and Mfantsipim SHS have agreed to pay an amount ranging from 250 cedis to 500 cedis to the school authorities to help feed their children very well.
Speaking to the media, some parents who have their wards in the Wesley Girls SHS say they are paying an amount of 500 cedis, while at Mfantsipim SHS, parents say they are paying an amount of 250 cedis to augment the feeding grant.
According to management of the various schools, “the situation is dire, making academic work very difficult for the students because they are underfed.“
Earlier, the Education Ministry noted that the ministry has the situation under control.
Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Education Kwasi Kwarteng in a tweet stated the “Ministry of Education has concluded a meeting with the leadership of Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) on the issue of the challenges in the supply of food to some Senior High Schools. The issue has been resolved and all affected Schools are expected to receive full food supplies latest by Tuesday 12, July 2022.“
Despite this assurance by the ministry, food supplies have still not been provided at the various schools.
In an interview with JoyNews on Tuesday evening, Kwasi Kwarteng admitted that there has been some level of challenges in the delivery of the foods to schools.
“We admit there are some level of challenges with the delivery with the supply of some selected food items which were expected to be supplied by our suppliers to the various schools .Unfortunately these supplies could not reach the schools but as at now the good news is that, Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has intervened and tracks full of food supplies have been dispatched to the various schools†he explained.
It is reported that there is serious food shortage in Senior High Schools in the country.
This is a result of the poor food supply situation in the schools which is reported to have reached dire and deteriorated levels.
The schools affected are in the following areas; Cape Coast in the Central Region, Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Bolgatanga, Upper East, and Ho in the Volta Region.
The man who planned one of the bloodiest single episodes of the Rwandan genocidehas been found guilty of complicity by a French court and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Laurent Bucyibaruta is the highest-ranking Rwandan to have faced trial in France over the 1994 massacres, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died.
As governor of the southern Gikongoro province, Mr Bucyibaruta encouraged tens of thousands of Tutsis to take refuge in the Murambi Technical School.
The UN says 20 people have been killed and dozens more abducted in multiple attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The dead include children and at least four patients who were burnt alive at a church clinic in North Kivu province.
The attack is blamed on fighters from the Islamic State-affiliated group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
It is known as the deadliest armed group operating in the country and has been designated as a terrorist outfit by the US.
Witnesses say intense fighting is still ongoing in the volatile North Kivu province where the Congolese army and UN peacekeepers are engaging fighters from the group.
The rebel attacks began last Thursday when the armed group attacked a local clinic in Lume town – where they killed several people including the four patients who were burnt alive in the health facility.
The UN mission in DR Congo says hundreds of houses in nearby villages have also been razed down.
Dozens of people including at least 30 children are reported missing and are believed to have been abducted by the group.
Peacekeepers have also exchanged fire with the fighters in Ituri province.
Mineral-rich DR Congo has witnessed a recent resurgence in conflict involving several armed groups including the M23 movement and the ADF.
The East African Community leaders last month agreed to send a regional force to help the Congolese government counter the violence in the east.
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has been appointed Acting President, according to the country’s Parliament’s Speaker.
It is reported that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has fled the country on a military jet informed Ranil Wickremesinghe of the appointment under Article 37.1 of Sri Lanka’s constitution.
But there remains no direct word from Rajapaksa himself.
Per reports, all announcements concerning the country in recent days have come from the parliament speaker and the prime minister’s office.
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s appointment comes at a time when citizens are displeased with the running of the country.
Sri Lanka has defaulted on its debt for the first time in its history as the country struggles with its worst financial crisis in more than 70 years.
Also, the country has suspended sales of fuel for non-essential vehicles as it faces its worst economic crisis in decades.
In view of the challenges, citizens have hit the street to protest. The protesters are staying defiant in the face of a nation-wide curfew imposed by the prime minister’s office.
They are gathered outside the Prime Minister’s office.
But the police are at the scene and have fired more volleys of teargas on the crowd in a bid to drive them back.
According to international media outlets, the avenue is wreathed in smoke.
A protester in Colombo throws back a canister of tear gas fired by police forces Credit: BBC
“People are running, trying to escape the gas. Those hit are dousing themselves with water and coughing.
“Soldiers are still holding down the fort. Perched on the building’s gates, they’re even dumping water on protesters to help those struggling to breathe,” BBC reported.
The protesters have managed to rip open the gates to the prime minister’s office in Colombo, but a wall of soldiers are holding them back.
Credit: BBC
A 31-year-old protester Viraga Perera told the BBC “the people here are here so they can have a vote for the future.”
“Our country is facing an extreme economic crisis. We will keep coming, we will keep fighting until we have some assurance that we and our children have some future in this country,” the said protestor added.
Amidst the crisis, Sri Lanka’s national television channel Rupavihini has suspended its telecast due to protestors entering the state television office.
On the other hand, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has confirmed his resignation due to the challenges facing the country.
Rajapaksa is currently not in Sri Lanka but in Maldives with his wife and two security officials.
His brother, former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, has also left Sri Lanka and is said to be heading to the US, according to sources.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksahas fled Sri Lanka on a military jet, amid mass protests over the island’s economic crisis.
The country’s air force confirmed the 73-year-old flew to the Maldives with his wife and two security officials.
In his absence, he has appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president.
Mr Rajapaksa’s departure ends a family dynasty that has dominated Sri Lanka’s politics for the past two decades.
The president had been in hiding after crowds stormed his residence on Saturday, and had pledged to resign on Wednesday 13 July.
A source told the BBC that Mr Rajapaksa will not remain in the Maldives and intends to travel on to a third country.
His brother, former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, has also left Sri Lanka and is said to be heading to the US.
As Sri Lankans awoke to the news, thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Colombo. Many gathered at Galle Face Green, the city’s main protest site. Some listened to fiery speeches at a makeshift stage set up for ordinary people to take the mic.
Punctuated by cries of “Victory to the struggle”, the rallying cry of the protest movement, speakers railed against a government and the leaders they feel have failed them.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has declared a state of emergency across the country and a curfew has been imposed in the western province, a spokesperson in his office said.
Police have fired tear gas to disperse a group of protesters who were walking near the prime minister’s office and towards parliament.
Some demonstrators were furious about Mr Rajapaksa’s departure, seeing a lack of accountability.
“We don’t like it. We want to keep him. We want our money back! And we want to put all the Rajapaksas in an open prison where they can do farm work,” said protester GP Nimal.
But 23-year-old university student Reshani Samarakoon told the BBC that the former president’s exile offered “hope that in the future we can eventually become a developed country, economically and socially”.
Image caption, One of the demonstrators in Colombo delivers a speech to the crowd
Sri Lankans blame President Rajapaksa’s administration for their worst economic crisis in decades.
For months they have been struggling with daily power cuts and shortages of basics like fuel, food and medicines.
The leader, who enjoys immunity from prosecution while he is president, is believed to have wanted to flee abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of arrest by the new administration.
The president’s departure threatens a potential power vacuum in Sri Lanka, which needs a functioning government to help start digging it out of financial ruin.
Politicians from other parties have been talking about forming a new unity government but there is no sign they are near agreement yet. It’s also not clear if the public would accept what they come up with.
Under the constitution, it’s the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who should act in the president’s stead if the latter resigns. The prime minister is considered the president’s deputy in parliament.
However, Mr Wickremesinghe is also deeply unpopular. Protesters set fire to his private residence on Saturday – he and his family were not inside – and he said he would resign to make way for a unity government, but gave no date.
That leaves the parliament’s speaker as the next most likely to step in as caretaker president, constitutional experts say. But Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena is an ally of the Rajapaksas, and it is unclear whether the public would accept his authority.
Whoever does become acting president has 30 days to hold an election for a new president from among members of parliament. The winner of that vote could then see out the remainder of Mr Rajapaksa’s term until late 2024.
On Monday, the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa told the BBC he would be tilting for the presidency. But he also lacks public support and there is deep public suspicion of politicians in general.
The protest movement which has brought Sri Lanka to the brink of change also does not have an obvious contender for the country’s leadership.
Sir Mo Farah was brought to the UK illegally as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant, he has revealed.
The Olympic star has told the BBC he was given the name Mohamed Farah by those who flew him over from Djibouti. His real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin.
He was flown over from the East African country aged nine by a woman he had never met, and then made to look after another family’s children, he says.
“For years I just kept blocking it out,” the Team GB athlete says.
“But you can only block it out for so long.”
The long-distance runner has previously said he came to the UK from Somalia with his parents as a refugee.
But in a documentary by the BBC and Red Bull Studios, seen by BBC News and airing on Wednesday, he says his parents have never been to the UK – his mother and two brothers live on their family farm in the breakaway state of Somaliland.
His father, Abdi, was killed by stray gunfire when Sir Mo was four years old, in civil violence in Somalia. Somaliland declared independence in 1991 but is not internationally recognised.
Sir Mo says he was about eight or nine years old when he was taken from home to stay with family in Djibouti. He was then flown over to the UK by a woman he had never met and wasn’t related to.
She told him he was being taken to Europe to live with relatives there – something he says he was “excited” about. “I’d never been on a plane before,” he says.
The woman told him to say his name was Mohamed. He says she had fake travel documents with her that showed his photo next to the name “Mohamed Farah”.
For the first time in the US, a pharmaceutical firm has asked to be allowed to sell birth control pills over the counter.
The announcement comes just weeks after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion.
The firm, Paris-based HRA Pharma, says its application to the Food and Drug Administration is unrelated.
The pills, the most common form of contraception in the US, have long required a prescription.
Studies have shown that over 50% of approximately 6.1 million pregnancies in the US each year are unintended. While birth control pills were first approved for use in the US more than 60 years ago, about one-third of US women who have tried to get or fill prescriptions have reported difficulties doing so.
Globally, more than 100 countries provide oral contraceptives without a prescription, making the US one of the few countries to require one. Several major US medication organisations – including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Family Physicians – have called on US authorities to do the same.
The application, the company has said, follows years of research intended to help make its case to US regulators.
“Moving a safe and effective birth control pill to OTC [over the counter] will help even more women and people access contraception without facing unnecessary barriers.”
According to the company, a decision from the FDA is expected next year. An approval would apply exclusively to the firm’s Opill drug, which was acquired from Pfizer in 2014. Patients have been able to use the pill, if prescribed, since 1973.
The BBC has reached out to the FDA for comment.
HRA’s application comes amid intense public debate over reproductive rights in the US, with Democratic lawmakers and pro-choice activists urging the FDA to consider similar requests.
In March, for example, 50 congressmen of the House of Representatives’ Pro-Choice Caucus wrote an open letter calling on the administration to “review applications for over the counter birth control pills without delay and solely on the data”.
Ms Welgryn told the New York Times that the firm’s application was unrelated and “a really sad coincidence”. “Birth control is not a solution for abortion access,” she said.
Since the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling, leading US retailers have reported rationing birth control pills amid surging demand.
Also on Monday, US President Joe Biden’s administration said healthcare providers must offer abortion services if the life of a mother is at risk.
The administration said federal law on emergency treatment guidelines superseded state laws that now ban the procedure.
The Department of Health and Human Services said physicians must provide abortions if they believe a “pregnant patient” is experiencing an emergency medical condition and if the procedure would be a “stabilising treatment”.
It said emergency conditions included “ectopic pregnancy, complications of pregnancy loss, or emergent hypertensive disorders, such as preeclampsia with severe features”.
A hearse bearing Abe’s body made its way past several landmarks before arriving at the Kirigaya funeral hall in the Shinagawa ward of Tokyo.
The private funeral, which was only open to friends and close family, took place at the Zojoji temple earlier.
The 67-year-old was shot dead last Friday while delivering a campaign speech in Nara in southern Japan.
Across Tokyo, flags are flying at half mast and outside the temple, a long line of mourners stretched over two blocks, many of them carrying bouquets of flowers.
Some stood with their heads bowed in prayer, some were in tears and others shouted “Thank you Abe” or “Goodbye Abe” as the motorcade drove past.
The late prime minister’s widow and chief mourner, Akie Abe, sat in the front seat of the hearse which carried Abe’s body.
Many mourners told the BBC that Abe gave them a sense of safety and security – one woman said that during the early days of Covid, she felt the Abe-led government had dealt with the crisis effectively.
The hearse went past the headquarters of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and made its way to the prime minister’s residence, where Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other lawmakers received the motorcade.
It then passed by the parliament building, where Abe first entered as a lawmaker in 1993, before arriving at the funeral hall.
Image caption, Many turned up outside the Zojoji Temple in Tokyo, where the funeral was held
Abe was Japan’s longest-serving post-war prime minister and one of its most influential politicians.
Police said the gunman targeted him due to grievances he had with a religious group that he believed Abe was a part of.
The attack sent shockwaves through a nation where incidences of gun violence are extremely rare.
A vigil held on Monday evening drew hundreds of dignitariesas well as thousands of ordinary Japanese citizens who came to lay flowers.
“I came here to offer flowers because I think he gave the Japanese something to be proud about,” said Emi Osa.
Abe was delivering a campaign speech in support of a candidate for Japan’s upper house election when he was shot twice.
Footage of the attack showed the gunman, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, using a makeshift weapon made of metal and wood and held together by duct tape.
Abe suffered two bullet wounds to his neck and damage to his heart during the attack. He was said to be conscious and responsive in the minutes after the attack, but doctors said no vital signs were detected by the time he was transferred for treatment.
Police are still investigating what the gunman’s motives were and whether he acted alone.
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Hundreds showed up to pay their last respects to the former prime minister of Japan
The shooting left Japan, a country unaccustomed to gun crimes and political violence, profoundly shaken. On average, there are fewer than 10 gun-related deaths in the country each year.
Guns are extremely difficult to acquire, and mandatory training, extensive background checks and psychological evaluation are required before permits are granted.
Abe’s death drew an outpouring of shock from prominent world leaders, with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemning the shooting as a “despicable attack”.
US President Joe Biden called Prime Minister Kishida to express his “outrage, sadness and deep condolences”, and called the assassination “a tragedy for Japan”.
Students and teachers of the Zabzugu Senior High School have been thrown into a state of mourning after two senior staff there, met their untimely death around Buipe in the Savannah Region.
They were returning from a workshop held at Koforidua in the Eastern Region when their vehicle got involved in a crash.
It is not yet clear what caused the crash, but Citi News understands another staff member who was involved in the crash survived and is responding to treatment.
One of the assistant heads of the school who spoke to Citi News said the loss of the teachers will greatly affect the school.
“The mood is total now for both teacher and non-teaching staff and students,†he said.
One of the deceased, aside from having teaching duties, was the counsellor of the school, “who had a very crucial role with both students and teachers.â€
The other deceased was the senior housemaster of the school.
“So you can imagine those two strong men just going like that,†the assistant headteacher said.
