Global Pulse

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  • Ebola treatments trial begins in the Democratic Republic of Congo

    Ebola treatments trial begins in the Democratic Republic of Congo

    The ongoing cross-border Ebola outbreak that first emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda back in May has entered a new phase of response, after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the launch of clinical trials for untested, potentially life-saving treatments for the rare virus strain driving the current spread.

    WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed Thursday that the first patient has already been enrolled in the trial at a treatment site in the DRC, marking a critical milestone in the global fight against the outbreak, which the WHO previously designated a public health emergency of international concern.

    As of the end of June, official WHO data puts the total confirmed case count at 1,406 in the DRC alone, with an additional 301 suspected cases and 438 recorded deaths across the Central African nation. The outbreak has since spread beyond DRC borders: Uganda has reported 20 confirmed cases and two deaths as of July 1, while one imported confirmed case has been detected in France.

    What makes this outbreak particularly challenging for global health authorities is that it is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola – one of six known Ebola species, for which there are currently no globally approved vaccines or specific treatments. Bundibugyo is a highly infectious strain that, like other Ebola variants, targets the body’s immune system and vital organs, often leading to severe complications and death if left untreated.

    The multi-institutional trial is led by the WHO, with on-the-ground coordination and research support from three leading scientific bodies: the DRC’s own Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale, Belgium’s Institute of Tropical Medicine, and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of two separate therapeutic candidates for treating Bundibugyo Ebola infections.

    Addressing reporters at WHO headquarters in Geneva on Thursday, Tedros emphasized that even in the absence of approved targeted treatments, some patients have already recovered from the current outbreak. However, he added that access to proven, safe interventions would drastically reduce mortality from the disease.

    “Even without approved therapeutics, people are recovering from this disease, but of course, we could save many more lives with safe and effective therapeutics in our toolkit,” Tedros told reporters.

    Ebola, which originates in animal populations primarily carried by fruit bats, typically spills over to humans when people handle infected animal carcasses. Human-to-human transmission only occurs once an infected person develops symptoms, with an incubation period ranging from two to 21 days. Early symptoms mirror common tropical illnesses like influenza and malaria, starting with sudden onset of fever, headache, and fatigue, which can make early diagnosis challenging. Because Ebola strains are genetically distinct, vaccine and treatment development must be done separately for each variant to ensure effectiveness.

  • Killers of British couple in South Africa sentenced to life

    Killers of British couple in South Africa sentenced to life

    Six years after a British-South African botanist couple was kidnapped and murdered while conducting field research in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, three perpetrators have received the maximum penalty for their crimes. In a ruling delivered Thursday at the KwaZulu-Natal division of Durban High Court, the three convicted individuals were each sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the 2018 killings of 64-year-old Rachel Saunders and 73-year-old Rodney Saunders.

    The Saunders, who held dual South African and British citizenship, ran a specialized seed business based in Cape Town. In February 2018, the pair traveled north to KwaZulu-Natal to collect indigenous plant and seed samples, carrying research equipment and camping supplies for their field trip. They were last seen alive on February 10 in Ngoye Forest, a protected reserve roughly 93 miles north of the coastal port city of Durban, when they were abducted by the three perpetrators.

    Days after the couple went missing, searchers found their abandoned vehicle covered in blood evidence. Investigators later confirmed that the suspects drained roughly 734,000 South African rand, equivalent to around $44,700, from the couple’s bank accounts. They also used the couple’s stolen bank cards to buy goods in areas surrounding Durban. Rodney Saunders’ body was recovered by fishermen in the Tugela River several weeks after the abduction, while Rachel Saunders’ remains were not identified until June 13, 2018.

    The three convicted are 46-year-old Saffydeen Aslam del Vecchio, his 35-year-old wife Fatima Patel, and Malawian national Ahmad Mussa. All three were found guilty of murder, aggravated robbery, and theft last month, following a years-long legal process. Law enforcement took del Vecchio and Patel into custody just five days after the Saunders disappeared, when a search of their property turned up multiple personal items belonging to the slain couple. Mussa was arrested three weeks later.

    Alongside the life sentences for murder, the court added 15 years of imprisonment for aggravated robbery and four years for theft for each defendant. Del Vecchio received an additional five-year sentence for an unrelated charge of malicious damage to property. All sentences will run concurrently. The case carries additional context: Patel was previously detained in a 2016 anti-terrorism raid near Johannesburg alongside her brother, though no charges were filed in that incident. Court documents also allege that del Vecchio and Patel raised an Islamic State group flag at the Ngoye Forest reserve the same year the Saunders were killed.

  • UN experts report widespread peace deal violations in eastern Congo

    UN experts report widespread peace deal violations in eastern Congo

    In a newly published UN expert report obtained exclusively by the Associated Press in Dakar, Senegal, all belligerent parties involved in the escalating conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been found to systematically breach the terms of a regional peace agreement and perpetrate widespread human rights abuses across the volatile region.

    The December 2020 accord, brokered by the Trump administration, was designed to de-escalate a conflict that has stretched across decades in the mineral-rich eastern DRC. However, the UN panel of experts confirms that every major faction has failed to meet their core commitments under the agreement.

    On one hand, the Congolese national army has continued its long-running collaboration with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu rebel group whose ranks include perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide who fled across the border into the DRC after the mass killings. Under the terms of the December peace deal, the Kinshasa government explicitly pledged to cut all operational ties with the rebel faction.

    On the opposing side, Rwandan military forces continue to deploy thousands of troops inside the DRC to back the M23 rebel movement, despite repeated denials from Kigali. Rwanda has long justified its cross-border military activity by claiming it is targeting FDLR fighters to protect Rwandan national security, a narrative that the DRC government and the U.S. have rejected. Both accuse Rwanda of using counter-insurgency as a cover to seize control of the eastern DRC’s vast reserves of valuable minerals, including gold, coltan and tin that power global tech supply chains.

    M23, which launched a lightning offensive in early 2023 that captured the major eastern city of Goma and multiple other urban centers, also failed to honor its agreement to withdraw from occupied territories. Instead of drawing down, the rebel group has repositioned its forces tactically and retained its core goal of toppling the national government in Kinshasa.

    Today, M23 controls large swathes of territory across the DRC’s North and South Kivu provinces, and the report identifies the Rwanda-backed movement as the leading perpetrator of conflict-related sexual violence in the region. The UN panel estimates that between 14,000 and 18,000 Rwandan military personnel remain deployed inside the DRC as of late 2024, with no indication of a meaningful drawdown in violation of the 2020 accord. Rwanda maintains full operational control over the M23 insurgency, the experts added.

    The illicit smuggling of Congolese minerals from occupied mining areas continues to fund the conflict, the report confirms. M23 operates a parallel shadow economy in territories it controls, where minerals extracted from sites like Rubaya in Masisi territory are smuggled across the border into Rwanda and exported by Rwandan-affiliated companies.

    In recent diplomatic developments, the DRC last week filed a formal case against Rwanda at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), holding Kigali legally responsible for the widespread violence that has displaced millions of people and created what the UN has described as one of the world’s worst and most long-running humanitarian crises. Hours after the report’s findings emerged, the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Rwanda-based Gasabo Gold Refinery, accusing the facility of being part of an illicit network operating in coordination with M23. U.S. officials noted the sanctions are aligned with ongoing peace efforts led by the U.S. and Qatar to resolve the conflict.

  • Researchers launch study on Ebola treatments as Congo outbreak worsens

    Researchers launch study on Ebola treatments as Congo outbreak worsens

    A long-awaited clinical study to evaluate two potential Ebola treatments officially got underway Thursday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the World Health Organization (WHO) confirming the enrollment of the trial’s first participant. The launch comes as a still-expanding outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola continues to devastate eastern regions of the country, leaving global and local health officials scrambling for targeted solutions.

    Unlike the more widespread Zaire strain of Ebola, the Bundibugyo variant has no approved, specific vaccines or treatment protocols available for use today. As of Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported that the outbreak has already infected more than 1,400 people and claimed 438 lives. While basic supportive care – when administered early in the course of infection – can improve patient outcomes, with more than 200 people having recovered so far, public health leaders emphasize that more effective interventions are desperately needed to curb the outbreak’s growth.

    In his official statement marking the trial’s launch, Tedros framed the research initiative as a critical source of optimism for affected communities, noting that it “offers real hope that we can deliver concrete results for – and with – the communities at the heart of the outbreak.”

    The trial will compare the survival outcomes of patients receiving two experimental antiviral therapies against current standard care. The first candidate, remdesivir, is a broad-spectrum antiviral already approved for the treatment of COVID-19, manufactured by Gilead Sciences. Preliminary laboratory testing has already yielded early signs that the drug may be active against the Bundibugyo strain now spreading in Congo. The second candidate, MBP134, is an experimental monoclonal antibody treatment developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical, engineered specifically to bind to and neutralize multiple strains of Ebola, including Bundibugyo.

    Dr. Vasee Moorthy, a research adviser at the WHO, explained the trial’s methodology: all enrolled participants will receive the current best available standard care, then be randomly assigned to one of four groups: remdesivir alone, MBP134 alone, a combination of both drugs, or no additional experimental treatment. Researchers will track patient survival rates for 28 days after the initiation of treatment.

    Moorthy cautioned that clear, definitive results will not come quickly. The study may require several months of data collection and up to 1,000 total participants to confirm whether either treatment improves survival. He added, however, that if one of the candidates proves to be highly effective, researchers could reach a conclusion sooner with a smaller patient pool.

    At present, the trial is only open to patients at a single Ebola treatment center located in Congo’s Ituri province, a region that has been severely impacted by ongoing armed violence. Targeted attacks against healthcare workers responding to the outbreak have made operating in much of the region unsafe, so officials plan to expand the trial to additional treatment sites only once security conditions improve to allow safe operations.

    According to Moorthy, pharmaceutical developers and government partners have already donated a sufficient supply of both experimental drugs to complete the trial. Gilead has donated its supply of remdesivir, while the U.S. government – which funded MBP134 development and owns the trial doses – has contributed the supply of the antibody treatment. If either candidate is found to be effective, stakeholders will immediately move to expand access to the treatment for all patients affected by the outbreak, not just those enrolled in the clinical study.

    The WHO-backed trial is the product of a global collaborative effort, bringing together Congo’s national biomedical research institute INRB, the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, and multiple other international public health organizations.

    This reporting is part of coverage from The Associated Press Health and Science Department, which receives grant support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP maintains full editorial control over all published content.

  • Residents of Ethiopian town forced to kill hundreds of their own dogs after rabies deaths

    Residents of Ethiopian town forced to kill hundreds of their own dogs after rabies deaths

    A devastating rabies outbreak that killed three children and hospitalized dozens more has triggered an illegal mass culling of hundreds of dogs in the central Ethiopian town of Hossana, leaving animal welfare advocates and local residents heartbroken and demanding accountability. Local community groups with ties to regional governing structures ordered all residents to kill their own dogs — even fully vaccinated animals — threatening steep fines and arrest for anyone who refused to comply, multiple witnesses and local officials confirmed to the BBC. The order came after three local children died from rabies infections contracted through dog bites, with another 80 people requiring urgent hospital treatment for exposure, according to Hossana Mayor Samuel Shigute. Eyewitness accounts and graphic photos reviewed by the BBC, which cannot be published due to their disturbing content, paint a grim picture of the culling: many reluctant pet owners were forced to hang or beat their animals to death, photos show dozens of canine bodies hanging from tree branches or left in open fields with ropes still wrapped around their necks. One anonymous local resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, shared that he could not bring himself to kill his vaccinated 5-year-old companion dog, a beloved member of his family. “I decided not to kill him myself, but to let them do it without me seeing. I handed him over, and he was killed a little far from the settlement,” he said. “I am very saddened by the loss of the dog that lived with me for five years and was the pride of our house.” Mayor Samuel confirmed that roughly 70 percent of Hossana’s estimated 10,000 dogs are vaccinated guard dogs, meaning the majority of animals killed posed no risk of spreading the virus. Local veterinarian Alaazar Ayele told reporters he was deeply distressed by the brutal culling, estimating that between 400 and 450 dogs were killed in just the first few days after the order went into effect. “People dragged dogs out and killed them in shocking ways. This is immoral and unacceptable in religion, culture, and law. Videos show owners crying as their dogs were killed,” Alaazar said. While the mayor clarified that the community groups behind the directive are affiliated with local government, he stressed that the mass cull was never authorized by his administration, calling the killings outright illegal. Local police and security forces intervened to halt the public culling within a day of the order being issued, according to Samuel. But animal welfare advocates on the ground say the crackdown on unvaccinated dogs has not ended completely. Feven Melese, who leads an animal rights organization based in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, says her team has continued to receive reports that individuals are still going door-to-door pressuring homeowners to kill any unvaccinated dogs in their possession, a claim Alaazar echoed. Residents also confirmed that non-compliant owners face severe penalties: those who refuse to euthanize their dogs face arrest and a fine of 50,000 Ethiopian birr, equal to roughly $300 or £225. Under Ethiopian national law, the cruel killing of animals in public spaces or causing unnecessary suffering to animals is illegal. Mayor Samuel says he has ordered local law enforcement to open a full investigation into the unauthorized culling, while Feven is calling for national and regional authorities to hold all responsible parties accountable. “The local government bodies say that they did not do it and did not give the order. If not, they should hold the criminals accountable,” she said. Rabies is a deadly viral disease that is almost always transmitted to humans through bites or scratches from an infected animal, most commonly dogs. Once clinical symptoms appear in humans, rabies is nearly 100 percent fatal, but prompt post-exposure treatment before symptoms develop is highly effective at preventing death. There is no curative treatment for rabies in animals, and unvaccinated dogs that contract the virus almost never survive, so culling is only standard practice for confirmed infected animals globally. The unauthorized mass cull of both vaccinated and unvaccinated dogs in Hossana has sparked widespread condemnation from animal welfare groups across the country, who say the drastic measure violated both national law and basic ethical standards for animal care.

  • South Africa and Ghana in diplomatic row over killing of migrant

    South Africa and Ghana in diplomatic row over killing of migrant

    Tensions have flared into a full diplomatic dispute between South Africa and Ghana, sparked by conflicting claims over the death of a Ghanaian national amid a nationwide wave of anti-migrant unrest that has been building for months across South Africa. At the core of the disagreement are competing accounts of the death of 40-year-old Bashiru Isak, a Ghanaian tailor who had resided in South Africa for roughly two decades. Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it received deeply shocking reports that Isak was shot and killed at his workplace in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha township on Tuesday, the same day that anti-migrant groups held an unofficial deadline for all undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa. According to local Ghanaian media outlet Joy FM, the attackers confronted Isak at his shop, accusing him of taking employment opportunities from native South African citizens before opening fire. Ghana has formally rejected the killing, issued a diplomatic protest note to South African authorities, filed an official police complaint, and called for a full, transparent, and rapid investigation to hold all responsible parties accountable. The Ghanaian government has also stressed that South Africa must uphold its international commitments to protect the safety, dignity, and human rights of all foreign nationals residing within its borders, including Ghanaian citizens, and has begun arrangements to repatriate Isak’s remains to Ghana for burial while extending official condolences to his bereaved family. It has also issued a public advisory urging Ghanaian citizens who choose to remain in South Africa to stay alert and avoid areas deemed high risk for anti-migrant violence.

    However, South African officials have categorically denied Ghana’s version of events, dismissing claims linking the reported killing to anti-migrant protests as a fabricated, false narrative. South Africa’s Justice Minister has publicly pushed back against Ghanaian authorities, criticizing them for spreading inaccurate information related to developments around irregular migration in the country. South African police confirm they have no official record of a murder occurring in Khayelitsha matching the details Ghana has provided, and have formally requested that Ghanaian authorities share any evidence or specific details they hold about the alleged incident to allow for a formal investigation.

    South African police do confirm that they are probing the fatal shooting of a second Ghanaian national, 35-year-old Kwabena Boagen, whose killing took place one day before the reported Isak incident in Nyanga, a separate Cape Town township. According to police accounts, Boagen resided in the Khayelitsha area but worked in Nyanga, where the attack unfolded. Investigators say suspects entered the barbershop where Boagen worked, demanded an extortion payment from him, shot him, and then fled the scene. No arrests have been made in the case to date, and a post-mortem examination is currently being conducted in line with standard police procedures.

    The disputed killing comes as anti-immigrant sentiment has reached new heights in South Africa, a nation that currently holds one of the highest unemployment rates globally, with official figures topping 30%. As Africa’s most industrialized and developed economy, South Africa has long drawn economic migrants from lower-income neighboring and regional countries, who often take up low-wage work that native citizens frequently decline. Anti-migrant groups organized mass marches across South Africa’s major cities on Tuesday, the date of their self-imposed deadline for all undocumented foreigners to leave the country. South African police reported that the majority of the protests were largely peaceful, but noted that around 900 people were taken into custody on Tuesday, with most arrests tied to immigration violations and incidents of looting.

    Ahead of the deadline, multiple African governments including Ghana, Malawi, and Nigeria have begun repatriation operations to bring their citizens back home, after many migrant residents reported facing rising violence and intimidation targeting foreign nationals. South African officials confirm that as of this week, approximately 25,000 foreign migrants have already left the country to escape the growing hostile environment.

  • First Afcon, now World Cup – Senegal trapped in ‘football hell’

    First Afcon, now World Cup – Senegal trapped in ‘football hell’

    In Seattle, the American city best known as the birthplace of rock icons Nirvana, Senegal’s World Cup dream collapsed in gut-wrenching fashion this week, as a controversial extra-time penalty awarded via VAR intervention sealed a 3-2 last-gasp victory for Belgium that eliminated the Teranga Lions. For a side that already knows all too well the pain of contentious late VAR calls, the exit carried a devastating sense of déjà vu, mirroring the chaos and heartbreak of January’s Africa Cup of Nations final that still hangs over Senegalese football.

    For 85 minutes of the round-of-16 clash, Senegal produced one of their finest performances in recent memory, cruising to a commanding 2-0 lead thanks to clinical finishes from Premier League stars Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr. Sarr, who has been in irrepressible form throughout the tournament and just came off a club season where he scored 21 goals to lead Crystal Palace to the UEFA Conference League title, produced a candidate for goal of the tournament: a deft chest control of a long clearance that set up a blistering strike past Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois. The goal also saw the 28-year-old equal legendary Cameroon striker Roger Milla’s 34-year-old African record of four World Cup goals, set at the 1990 tournament in Italy. But for Sarr, the milestone will forever feel hollow — just as it did for Senegal as a whole, who never got the chance to build on their lead and advance to the quarter-finals.

    What followed was a historic comeback for Belgium, and another chapter of agony for Senegal. Romelu Lukaku cut the deficit in the 86th minute, before Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans scored an 89th-minute equaliser, capitalizing on a misjudged rushed punch from Senegal stand-in keeper Mory Diaw that left the net unguarded. Then, deep in the 125th minute of extra time, came the decisive moment that sealed Senegal’s fate: Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara slid in to challenge Tielemans, and referee Said Martinez sided with VAR to award a penalty, ruling Camara had caught Tielemans’ heel and disrupted his attempt to play the ball. Camara was visibly distraught after the call, and was comforted by his teammates as Tielemans stepped up to fire the spot kick into the top corner, beating the stranded Diaw. Unlike the 2025 Afcon final, there was no heroics from first-choice keeper Edouard Mendy, who was sidelined with injury for the World Cup clash and could only watch on helplessly from the touchline.

    The parallels between this exit and the controversial Afcon final against Morocco in January are almost impossible to ignore. In that match, a late controversial VAR-awarded penalty also left Senegal reeling, after a late Sarr goal was ruled out for a soft foul call, before a late penalty was given to Morocco following a VAR review. Chaos erupted after the call, with Senegal players walking off the pitch in protest, fans rioted, and stewards were injured before Sadio Mane coaxed the team back to finish the match. Morocco missed the penalty, Senegal won 1-0 in extra time, only to have the title stripped by the Confederation of African Football two months later. The case is currently before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with Senegal continuing to fight to overturn the decision.

    FIFA had tightened regulations following the Afcon final chaos to prevent any repeat of a player walk-off, and while Senegal’s side protested the penalty call loudly, they finished the match without disruption. Still, the aftermath has already brought significant unrest for the national program. Pape Gueye, the Villarreal midfielder who scored Senegal’s disputed winning goal in the Afcon final and was recently named the best African player in La Liga, announced he would take a break from international football until head coach Pape Thiaw and his entire coaching staff are removed from their posts. Gueye was substituted off in the 66th minute of the Belgium match, a tactical change that has drawn widespread criticism from Senegalese fans back home, who have also questioned Thiaw’s decision to withdraw Everton forward Iliman Ndiaye.

    Speaking after the final whistle, Thiaw — who took charge of Senegal in December 2024 — acknowledged the crushing nature of the defeat, drawing comparisons that feel all too familiar. “We had the game in hand,” he said, describing the loss as “cruel.” When asked about the penalty, he added, “Our interpretation was that there was no penalty. You have to accept, even if it’s difficult.” He also noted that after conceding the first Belgian goal, his side dropped deeper into defense, opening the space for the equalizer. “We tried to get back on our feet, but unfortunately it didn’t work,” he said. “It’s not easy to lose this kind of match. Unfortunately, it slipped away from us, but it’s football.” For Thiaw, who has now seen two major tournament runs end in controversy, the experience evokes the legend of Sisyphus — forever rolling a boulder up a hill, only to see it roll back down just before reaching the top. From Afcon champions in waiting to World Cup fall guys in six months, Senegal’s latest heartbreak has once again left one of African football’s brightest nations wondering what they have to do to outrun cruel football fate.

  • Gueye quits Senegal until coaching staff replaced

    Gueye quits Senegal until coaching staff replaced

    A stunning and controversial exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup knockout stage has triggered a high-profile rift in Senegal’s men’s national football program, with star midfielder Pape Gueye confirming he will step away from international duty for as long as the current coaching leadership remains in charge. The 27-year-old Villarreal playmaker, a veteran of 45 caps for the Teranga Lions who notched a crucial goal in the team’s group-stage victory over Iraq, made his announcement via social media just days after Senegal’s dramatic 3-2 extra-time defeat to Belgium in the round of 32.

    Senegal looked set for a comfortable progression through to the last 16 after early goals from Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr put the side 2-0 up heading into the final 15 minutes of regulation. But Belgium mounted a shocking late comeback: Romelu Lukaku pulled one back before Youri Tielemans equalized to force the match into extra time. The decisive moment came in the 125th minute, when referee awarded a hotly contested penalty to Belgium. Tielemans converted the spot kick, sending Belgium through and ending Senegal’s World Cup campaign.

    Gueye started the knockout tie but was substituted off in the 66th minute for Lamine Camara. In his social media statement, he confirmed the break would remain in place for the duration of current head coach Pape Thiaw’s tenure. This is not the first major controversy tied to Thiaw’s leadership: the manager took over the Senegal side in December 2024, and just one month later led his team off the pitch during the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final against Morocco in protest of a late stoppage-time penalty awarded to the opposition.

    After a 17-minute delay, Senegal’s players returned to the pitch, and Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved before Gueye scored an extra-time winner to secure what initially looked like a tournament title. However, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) overturned the result in March 2025, stripping Senegal of the title and awarding it to Morocco as a penalty for the walk-off protest. Senegal has since appealed the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with the case still pending as the team competes at the 2026 World Cup.

    The sudden announcement from one of Senegal’s most established midfielders adds another layer of uncertainty to a national program already roiled by off-field controversy, coming just hours after the team’s premature exit from the sport’s biggest global tournament.

  • Bus crash in South Africa’s Western Cape leaves 16 dead and 20 injured

    Bus crash in South Africa’s Western Cape leaves 16 dead and 20 injured

    JOHANNESBURG – A devastating early-morning road accident has left 16 people dead and 20 more wounded after a passenger bus bound for South Africa’s Eastern Cape province overturned on Thursday, marking the second deadly bus crash in the country in just seven days. The vehicle was carrying 78 travelers when it departed Cape Town, a major coastal hub in Western Cape, en route to the small town of Idutywa in Eastern Cape. Simon Zwane, spokesperson for South Africa’s Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), outlined the early sequence of events leading to the tragedy: the bus driver reportedly swerved to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming delivery van, which caused the driver to lose full control of the bus before it rolled over. Initial preliminary assessments placed the death toll at nine, but on-site investigations completed by emergency responders later updated the fatality count to 16, confirming the full scale of the disaster. All 20 injured passengers have been transferred to a public hospital in Worcester, a town located roughly 120 kilometers, or 75 miles, northeast of Cape Town, for urgent medical care. Notably, 43 uninjured passengers on board declined any medical evaluation or treatment after the crash. Zwane confirmed that a full joint probe into the root causes of the accident is currently underway, led by both the RTMC and the South African Police Service to rule out any additional contributing factors beyond the initial account of the collision avoidance maneuver. This latest tragedy comes on the heels of another fatal bus crash just one day prior, on Wednesday, when a bus carrying Malawian travelers to the Beitbridge border crossing in Limpopo province overturned, killing the bus driver. In the wake of back-to-back deadly incidents, road safety authorities have issued urgent warnings to all motorists across South Africa to exercise extreme caution during the country’s winter months. Winter weather conditions frequently create hazardous driving conditions across South African road networks, with thick fog, agricultural smoke, hidden black ice on pavement, and severely reduced visibility significantly raising crash risks for passenger and commercial vehicles alike.

  • Lopes will relish Messi duel, says Cape Verde defender’s mother

    Lopes will relish Messi duel, says Cape Verde defender’s mother

    The 2026 FIFA World Cup has already served up no shortage of underdog stories, and few have captured global attention quite like Cape Verde’s historic run to the knockout stages. As the smallest nation ever to advance past the group phase, the Blue Sharks now face their biggest test yet: a last-32 clash against defending champions Argentina, led by the tournament’s all-time great Lionel Messi, in Miami on Friday at 23:00 BST. For 44-cap Cape Verde center-back Roberto “Pico” Lopes, a key cog in the team’s tight defensive unit, the moment is one he will welcome rather than fear, according to his mother Judy Lopes.

    Most professional defenders would admit to feeling a flutter of nerves before marking the man who holds the record for the most World Cup goals in history, currently notching six goals in what is widely expected to be his final World Cup campaign. But Judy Lopes says her son’s temperament and depth of experience will carry him through the hype and pressure of the high-profile fixture. “He’ll relish the challenge of taking on Messi at the weekend and he’s always very composed, confident and performs very well under pressure,” Judy told BBC Sport NI’s Nicola McCarthy. “He just takes it all in his stride. He’s very grounded, level-headed and he’ll be well able to block out the noise that’s around in this fixture.”

    Lopes, who has spent a decade playing for Irish side Shamrock Rovers and featured in two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, has already proven his quality at the international level. Through Cape Verde’s three Group H matches, a pair of draws against 2010 champions Spain, 2022 champions Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia, the side finished second behind Spain to advance, conceding just two goals and finishing the group stage unbeaten. The defensive backbone of the side has been anchored by Lopes, with 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha turning in a star performance in the opening goalless draw against European champions Spain.

    Judy Lopes says even she never could have imagined this moment for her son, even as Cape Verde defied all pre-tournament projections that gave the side just a 1% chance of escaping their tough group. “Not in a million years, it’s like I’m watching it all happen from the outside,” she said. “I don’t actually believe I’m involved in it at all, it’s that amazing. Just to think he’s probably going up against one of the best players in the world at the moment. Also that he, Messi, will be studying Pico’s form before Friday and analysing his strategy and seeing how he’s going to beat the rock at the back!”

    While Lopes and his teammates are fully focused on extending their World Cup fairytale, Judy has returned to her day-to-day routine as a school secretary in Dublin for a handful of days, before traveling to Miami with her husband and Pico’s brothers to attend the match. Pre-tournament plans only included tickets for the three group stage matches, given the low expectations for the side, so she had originally scheduled a return to work right after the group phase wrapped up. Judy said her students gave her a warm send-off before she traveled for the group stage, creating a custom good luck poster for Pico that the entire Cape Verde squad has now signed. She plans to hang the memento in her school’s foyer when students return in September.

    This World Cup has already seen countless heavy favorites eliminated earlier than expected, making Cape Verde’s underdog run feel like part of a broader tournament trend. While Judy acknowledges Argentina enter the fixture as heavy favorites, with Messi playing in his sixth World Cup and 30th tournament match, she remains optimistic that the unlikely story can continue. “I think where maybe Argentina are the favourites to win the tournament, I think Cape Verde are the darlings of the tournament, without a doubt,” she said. “It would be wonderful [if they progressed], anything is possible in football. At the end of the day, it’s 90 minutes and it’s 11 against 11 and anything can happen. So, let’s hope the fairytale continues and they move on to the next stage.”