Rwandan and Mozambican troops have retaken a key port city from Islamist militants in northern Mozambique, the Rwandan military says.
It says Mocímboa da Praia was the rebels’ last stronghold. It is located in Cabo Delgado province, home to one of Africa’s biggest gas fields.
The insurgents have not yet commented.
Last month, Rwanda sent 1,000 soldiers to Mozambique to fight the militants, who launched an insurgency in 2017.
More than 3,000 people have been killed and 820,000 displaced during the conflict.
The Mozambican armed force have been struggling to regain control of the province.
“The port city of Mocímboa da Praia , a major stronghold of the insurgency for more than two years has been captured by Rwandan and Mozambican security forces,” the Rwanda Defence Force tweeted on Sunday.
Rwivanga later told the said the port “was the last stronghold of the insurgents, marking the end of the first phase of counter-insurgency operations”.
“We will continue with security operations to completely pacify those areas,” the spokesman added, voicing hopes that the displaced people would soon be able to return to their homes.
The Rwandan soldiers only arrived in Mozambique last month and already seem to be changing the course of the conflict. At least for now.
Highly trained, well-disciplined troops from a small African nation have, in some ways, achieved more in a few weeks than the Mozambican army has in four years.
Although Mozambique has been reluctant to seek foreign military help, it has now accepted that it cannot win the fight alone.
The southern African regional bloc, Sadc, is sending in hundreds of troops, the former colonial power Portugal is on the ground instructing soldiers, and the European Union has established a training mission.
Mozambique has forced more than 820,000 people to flee their homes. With this rush of foreign troops, Mozambique is beginning to look like other parts of Africa hit by Islamist insurgencies.
There are lessons to be learned. Poor co-ordination between multiple international and regional forces battling jihadists in Somalia and the Sahel has led to problems. What look like significant military victories can be illusory.
Chasing jihadists out of towns and other strategic areas does not mean they are defeated.
They melt away into terrain they know better than anyone else, splinter into smaller units, change their tactics and hide amongst civilians.
Lionel Messi broke down in tears when he confirmed he was leaving Barcelona after 21 years at his farewell press conference on Sunday morning.
The 34-year-old described hearing the news of his departure as “a cold shower” and “the hardest moment of his career”.
Barcelona said on Thursday that Messi will not be staying at the club “because of financial and structural obstacles”.
Messi also spoke of his adamancy to stay at the club, his understanding that “everything was agreed”, his meeting with Joan Laporta after the elections, the struggle for him and his family as well as his ambitions to win another Champions League.
Messi added a move to Paris Saint-Germain was “one possibility” along with “a lot” of other clubs and The Athletic understands he is now on the cusp of agreeing a deal to join the Ligue 1 side.
Here is the full transcript of his press conference…
What was your best moment at Barcelona? “It’s difficult to choose just one moment. But maybe the time I made my debut. That was my dream come true.
“Everything that came later was amazing but I’ll always remember that moment that everything started.”
Did you think you would renew your contract? “It’s everything that Laporta said.
“We had everything agreed but, at the last minute, it couldn’t happen [Messi staying at Barcelona]. I’ve heard lots of things being said about me, this year I wanted to stay and I couldn’t. Last year I didn’t want to stay, and I said it.
“This year I wanted to stay. I did everything possible but the club couldn’t do it because of La Liga.
“We have to take it and move forward.”
Do you think Barcelona did everything to keep you? “I don’t know, what I have very clear is that I did everything I could.
“From my side, I did everything to stay, that is what I wanted.”
What is the hardest for you? “Many things get in my head and I am a bit blocked. Until today it has not sunk in yet.
“I have been in the first team for 16 years and to start from scratch is hard for me and my family especially. We will adapt to what comes next. We have to accept it.”
Is PSG for you next? “It is a possibility, but I have not agreed anything with anyone. I have different clubs who are interested. And nothing is definitive but clearly we are talking to them.”
What is your legacy for the club? “I grew with values of this club and I wanted to be recognised that way.
“But in fact people can remember me whatever way they choose. Titles and also defeats made us grow, we had more happy moments than unhappy.”
Is this the hardest moment of your career? “No doubt, this is the hardest moment. We had hurtful defeats but football gives you a chance to avenge that. But there is no turning point to this.”
“I feel very sad now as I have to leave a club that I love. I did not expect this. I always told the truth. Last year I wanted to leave, this year I did not want to leave.”
How do you imagine this Barcelona without you? “The squad is great, other players will arrive, players come and go, the club is more important than anyone as Laporta said.
“People will get used to it. It might be strange to start but they will get used to it.
“The reality is that after the elections, I went for lunch with the new president and we spoke and after that meal I was convinced that I was going to stay and there would be no problem to do so.
“My contract was never a problem. But it was not possible.”
Would you return to have a homage with fans? “Of course. It will not be the same. The moment was now, but for this club I am willing to do anything. We will do something.”
Do you think there were false expectations in the last few weeks? “Not really, it was all agreed. From our side we were honest. It has not happened for the reasons we know.”
What could you say to Javier Tebas, who says he has done everything possible for you to stay? “I know we couldn’t agree because of La Liga, the club debt and the club did not want to increase the debt.
“I have nothing to say to him, I have no problem with him.
“When I heard about it it was like a cold shower. It was hard to hear it. We are still getting used to it in whatever way we can. When I leave here today it will be even harder.
“But my people will be close and I will continue playing football. When it all starts it’ll feel better.”
Xavi and Iniesta went very far to keep playing. You might have to face Barcelona, how do you feel? “People know me, they know I am competitive, I want to keep winning.
“My last years I want to fight for titles. Congratulations to Dani Alves, I want more titles than him, I am near and will keep at it.”
You took photos with PSG players in Ibiza? “Pure coincidence. I was going to meet Paredes and Di Maria. Ney (Neymar) called me, come over. And I said, I am with Paredes and Di Maria.
“Come over all of you, Ney said. We took photos, they kept telling me, come over to PSG and we joked, that was all.”
Did you consider doing a crazy thing to stay? “I did everything to stay. I can’t add anything else.
Do you feel with the new players, the young stars you could have won lots too? “I would have liked to win another Champions League, that semi with Liverpool, the one vs Chelsea … but this happens.
It was all joy and excitement at the Borno State Government House, Maiduguri, when Ruth Ngladar Pogu, one of the over 200 Chibok school girls abducted seven years ago by Boko Haram reunited with her mother.
The re-union was facilitated by Governor Babagana Zulum who had dispatched officials to fetch Ruth’s mother from Chibok after the young lady’s re-emergence from captivity over a week ago.
Sharing in the joy was Ruth’s son, one of the two she bore for the Boko Haram commander she had been married off to while in captivity.
Also in attendance were Borno State government officials.
Ruth and her husband surrendered to soldiers on July 28 via the Federal Government’s Operation Safe Corridor in Bama, Borno State.
Zulum, speaking at the brief ceremony, expressed delight that Ruth was back home safe and sound after seven years.
Zulum said the government would arrange a rehabilitation and reintegration programme for Ruth that will focus on her health, psychosocial wellbeing and her chosen path to a productive future, all of which will be determined by her.
He said reuniting with Ruth was a boost to keeping the hopes of parents, other family members and the Borno State alive.
He hoped that others still in captivity would return in good health.
He urged the parents of those still in captivity to remain hopeful and prayerful.
“I am extremely excited both as Borno’s governor and father of all sons and daughters of the state, and also as a father to daughters. I know the feeling of families of those still under captivity but we have to remain hopeful especially with today’s development, ” Zulum said.
He said his administration believed a non kinetic approach was key to the rescue of abductees and ending the Boko Haram insurgency.
Ruth Ngladar Pogu, now a Muslim, covered her head with a purple hijab.
The Chairman of the Chibok Parents Association Yakubu Nkeki confirmed that she was one of the missing students.
He said, the people of Chibok appreciated the efforts of security establishments and the concern and support regularly shown by Governor Zulum on the plight of parents whose daughters are still missing.
The mother said she was grateful to God and the government for making it possible for her return.
The Tokyo 2020 Games were declared closed on Sunday by IOC chief Thomas Bach, who said it had been the “most challenging Olympic journey” after a year’s pandemic delay and threats of cancellation.
Bach called the Tokyo Games “unprecedented” as he addressed the 68,000-seat Olympic Stadium, which was empty of spectators as Japan battles a record coronavirus outbreak.
“In these difficult times we are all living through, you give the world the most precious of gifts: hope,” the International Olympic Committee president told athletes at the ceremony.
“And now I have to mark the end of this most challenging Olympic journey to Tokyo: I declare the Games of the 32nd Olympiad closed,” Bach said.
It marked a low-key end to an extraordinary Olympics that have mostly played out in empty venues with only athletes, team officials and media present.
Athletes have lived in strict biosecure conditions with social distancing at the Olympic Village and instructions to wear masks unless eating, sleeping, training or competing.
As the Olympic flag was passed to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo for the 2024 Games, live footage showed cheering crowds in the French capital — in stark contrast to Tokyo.
Bach has described how the IOC considered cancelling the Olympics and claiming the costs on its insurance policy but said officials ploughed ahead with holding the Games “for the athletes”.
– ‘Our athletes moved people‘ – On Sunday, the climax of the biggest sports event since the pandemic, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge won the men’s marathon and the USA edged China at the top of the medals table.
The United States scored victories in volleyball, track cycling and basketball to top the tally with 39 gold medals, just one ahead of China.
The Olympics were plagued by low Japanese support as they went ahead with Tokyo and other regions under a state of emergency and with infections multiplying to new highs.
But Japan’s record haul of 27 golds to finish third on the table has won hearts.
Britain were fourth with 22 and the Russian Olympic Committee, the team for Russian athletes after their country was banned for systematic doping, were fifth with 20.
“We believe our athletes’ earnest spirit and all-out performance moved people,” said Tsuyoshi Fukui, chef de mission for the Japanese team.
A succession of big names have failed to perform in Japan, where new sports skateboarding, surfing, sport climbing and karate brought young new stars to the fore.
But marathon world record holder Kipchoge showed his class on Sunday, kicking in the closing stages and clocking 2hr 08min 38sec to retain the title he won in 2016.
“I know there were a lot of people against holding this Olympics due to the coronavirus,” said a flag-waving, 47-year-old fan on the marathon route who gave his name as Tsujita.
“But I am glad it took place. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone.”
The marathon, moved north to Sapporo to avoid Tokyo’s summer heat, was one of the few events to allow spectators.
– Trans athletes, ‘twisties‘ – Fears of a major outbreak among the mostly vaccinated Olympic athletes and officials proved unfounded and 430 cases were picked up during the Games, including 32 in the Olympic Village.
However, the virus has lurked as an ever-present threat. Victory celebrations were muted, with lonely laps of honour. But the athletes’ emotions were on full view.
Superstar gymnast Simone Biles provided the most jaw-dropping moment when the American abruptly pulled out of competition over a bout of the “twisties”, a disorientating mental block.
Biles, widely acknowledged as the greatest gymnast in history, recovered sufficiently to claim a redemptive bronze medal in her final event, the beam.
Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand became the first openly transgender woman to compete at the Games and Canada’s Quinn became the first openly transgender Olympic medallist, with gold in the women’s football.
In other highlights, US swimmer Caeleb Dressel assumed the mantle of Michael Phelps with five gold medals and Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah achieved a sprint double on the track.
Among the final events on Sunday, Jason Kenny claimed the men’s keirin to become the first Briton to win seven Olympic titles.
The USA started the day two golds behind China but the women’s basketball and volleyball titles and track cyclist Jennifer Valente’s omnium victory put them top of the table.
Tokyo will host the Paralympics from August 24. The Olympic circus will reconvene in just six months when Beijing, faced with boycott threats and a renewed coronavirus emergency, holds the Winter Games in February.
The Olympics are coming to a close Sunday, and in their final match, the South Korean women’s volleyball team finished their underdog campaign in fourth place with a loss in the bronze medal match against Serbia, three sets to zero.
This was the last Olympics for team captain Kim Yeon-keong, who said after the loss that she was happy they got so far.
The closing ceremony of the Olympics starts tonight at 8 PM. Carrying the flag for Team Korea will be the country’s final medal winner, Jun Woong-tae, who on Saturday won bronze in the men’s modern pentathlon.
It was Korea’s first medal in that sport, where athletes compete in five different events on the same day fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping, and finally a combination of cross country running and pistol shooting.
In total this year at the Tokyo Games, Korea won twenty medals, including six gold, which was good enough for 16th place in the medal count.
The Federal Government says it will collaborate with China Railway Investment Group Limited (CRIG) to harness the versed mineral deposits across the country.
Mr Olamilekan Adegbite, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, expressed government readiness while receiving the team of CRIG in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Adegbite, who made this known in a statement issued by Mrs Etore Thomas, the Director Press of the ministry, said that the ministry would avail CRIG the opportunities of investing in priority areas.
“The ministry can avail CRIG the opportunities to invest both on mining and metal sector once there is genuine expression of interest in the sector that will facilitate the industrialisation and prosperity of the nation,” he said.
Adegbite canvassed for investment in mining and processing of some of the major minerals, such as Gold, Bitumen, Barite, Led, Zinc, cobbalt, Lithium, coal and gemstones.
This, he said, would satisfy and expand both the local and international markets and ensure the GDP growth of the economy.
“The ministry is likely to begin auctioning of Bitumen licences by October this year and critical investors should utilise such ample opportunity to immensely contribute to the growth of the sector for a viable nation,” said the minister.
He also called on investors to fully invest in Ajaokuta Steel Plant, disclosing that about 13 to 14 minerals needed to produce Liquid Steel from the plant were all available in Nigeria.
“The only thing remaining for Ajaokuta steel plant to kickstart production is the completion of the blast furnace.”
He assured that the ministry would provide them with literatures on the abundant minerals in the country and their usages to enable their investment choices.
Earlier, the leader of the CRIG delegate, Dr Sunny Okorie, said that their firm, which is a big consortium with over 50,000 dollars turn over per annum, had already invested in many businesses in Nigeria.
He said the purpose of their visit was to seek investment opportunities in the mining sector for the benefit of the citizenry.
Also, Mr Yunusa Mohammed, Acting Director, Investment Promotion and Mineral Trade (IPMT) Department in the ministry, promised the team of the government support in providing needed information on the sector.
According to Mohammed, serious investors are needed to queue into this sector to contribute to the growth of the nation’s economy.
The Lagos-Kano train service will go into operation from Friday, Aug. 13.
Mr Ismail Adebiyi, Regional District Manager, Northern District of the Nigerian Railway Corporation made this known in Zaria, Kaduna State, on Sunday when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The train would leave Lagos on Friday evening and arrive in Kano on Sunday morning, he said.
Adebiyi said also that the corporation had concluded plans to restart the Kaduna to Kafanchan and Kaduna to Kano train service before the end of August.
He added that it would rehabilitate 100 wagons to further strengthen the rail sector within the next two months.
He explained that 21 of the rehabilitated wagons would be used in the northern district of the rail service comprising Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Yobe, Katsina and Zamfara states.
The regional district manager said the Minna-Kaduna rail mass transit had also been active for the past one month and that patronage was increasing on every trip. The service runs on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays.
The train leaves Minna at 7 a.m. and leaves Kaduna at about 2.30 p.m.
He added that since most of the routes were on narrow gauge, the corporation would strengthen its maintenance work to ensure hitch-free operations
Adebiyi stressed that the corporation had strengthened its collaboration with key security agencies and other relevant stakeholders to address vandalism on Railway properties.
He commended the Federal Government for boosting rail service and enjoined Nigerians to take advantage of the new posture.
Team Nigeria was placed 74th at the end of the 2020 Tokyo Games on Sunday and eighth best among the 54 African nations at the Games.
Team Nigeria won two medals comprising one silver and one bronze, after being represented by 55 athletes.
While Ese Brume won the bronze medal from the women’s long jump event, Blessing Oborududu won the silver medal from the wrestling event’s women’s freestyle 68kg.
The Games which began on July 23 and ended on Sunday had 93 of the 206 participating teams making it to the medals table, including 13 of the 54 from Africa.
1786 US Congress unanimously chooses the dollar as the monetary unit for the United States of America
1925 1st national march of Ku Klux Klan (between 25,000 and 40,000 marchers) in Washington, D.C.
1945 USSR establishes a communist government in North Korea
1974 US President Richard Nixon announces he will resign at 12pm the next day
1988 Ceasefire between Iran & Iraq takes effect after 8 years of war
Aug 8 in Film & TV 1939 7th Venice Film Festival opens with a United States boycott due to Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Italian regime
Aug 8 in Music 1992 Metallica band member James Hetfield suffers second and third-degree burns during a pyrotechnics explosion on stage at Olympic Stadium, Montreal
Aug 8 in Sport 1900 1st International Lawn Tennis Challenge (precursor to Davis Cup) begins at Longwood Cricket Club in Massachusetts, won 3-0 by US over British Isles
Do you know this fact about today? Did You Know? Discovery of most distant galaxy (15 * 10 ^ 12 light yrs) announced
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called on the military to carry out relief work in areas recently hit by heavy rains, according to state media reports.
More than 1,000 homes were damaged and about 5,000 people evacuated after the ensuing flooding, state television reported earlier this week.
Footage from the state-run KCTV showed homes flooded up to their roofs, as well as damaged bridges and railroads in the eastern province of South Hamgyong. It also said about 17km of roads and bridges had been damaged.
The report said “hundreds of hectares of farmland” were also submerged or lost as river levees collapsed, AFP news agency reports.
The move comes amid concerns over an economic crisis and food shortages. Agricultural land has been damaged, and Kim Jong-un said in June the country faced a “tense” food situation.
He said at the time the agricultural sector had failed to meet its grain targets due to typhoons last year, which caused flooding, and that much would depend on this year’s harvest.
With the soil already saturated, further rains could cause more damage with heavy rain forecast until 10 August, with eastern areas expected to be particularly hit, according to the country’s meteorological agency.
North Korea is struggling under international sanctions, imposed because of its nuclear programme.
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