South Africa Make Womens World Cup History with Last-gasp Win over Italy

Kgatlana strikes two minutes into stoppage time to send South Africa into the knockout round for the first time, setting up a last 16 clash with the Netherlands.

South Africa's forward Thembi Kgatlana celebrates scoring her team's third goal [Marty Melville/AFP]

2 Aug 2023

Thembi Kgatlana scored a last-gasp winner to give South Africa their first-ever Womens World Cup win as they defeated Italy 3-2, qualifying for the last-16 round of the tournament and sending the Italians home.

Striker Kgatlana struck two minutes into stoppage time on Wednesday to set up a clash with the Netherlands in Sydney on Sunday and broke the hearts of the Italians, who needed just a draw to progress.

Italy had appeared to salvage the draw they needed when Arianna Caruso scored from a corner in the 74th minute but were left to rue what could have been after a series of late missed chances.

They fought like warriors, said an emotional coach Desiree Ellis, who was a founding member of the South African womens side in 1993.

They fought like the heroines that we know that they are. They fought to be historically remembered and theyve made history not just getting our first win, but going to the round of 16 and that is freaking amazing.

The Italians had opened the scoring when Karabo Dhlamini tripped Italy forward Chiara Beccari just inside the box in the 10th minute and Caruso put the penalty into the bottom left corner of the net.

South Africa equalised in the 32nd minute through an own goal from Benedetta Orsi, who did not check where goalkeeper Francesca Durante was before making a back pass.

Banyana Banyana went ahead for the first time in the 67th minute when Kgatlanas neat inside pass found Hildah Magaia free behind the defensive line and the forward swept it into the net.

Caruso grabbed her second of the match seven minutes later from a corner when the ball caught her hip in a goalmouth scramble and cannoned into the bottom right corner of the net.

It...

The WikiLeaks founder is facing 175 years in prison if convicted of espionage charges A delegation of Australian lawmakers called for the United States to end its attempts to extradite and prosecute Julian Assange during a meeting with US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy in Canberra on Tuesday. The Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Group informed Washingtons

Continue reading Australian lawmakers call on US to drop Assange extradition bid

Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that the WikiLeaks founder caused serious harm to US national security US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confirmed that Australia has raised the case of Julian Assanges continued prosecution, but declared that Washington will not cease seeking the extradition of the former WikiLeaks boss and intends to try him for

Continue reading US rejects Australian plea to drop Assange case

Anthony Albanese has said that his government remains firm in demanding that Washington drop its case against the WikiLeaks founder Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that he would continue to press the US to cease its prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has rejected previous

Continue reading Australian PM condemns US prosecution of Assange

Falana Warns ECOWAS Leaders Against Attacking Niger, Seeks Stringent Sanctions on Niger Military

By Yetunde Ayobami Ojo

02 August 2023 | 4:04 am

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has urged the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to impose more stringent sanctions on Niger Republic and adopt measures to make them work, particularly given the intransigence of the coup plotters.

This comes two days after ECOWAS declared the countrys airspace a no-flight zone and gave the military junta in Niger one week to cede power with a warning that the use of force was not ruled out.

The 15-member ECOWAS demanded immediate release and reinstatement of Nigers elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, who had been held by the military since Wednesday.

But Falana, while reacting to the steps taken by the West African bloc, said apart from suspending Niger from ECOWAS, the leaders of the sub-regional body should refrain from attending international conferences with coup plotters as was recently witnessed during the recently-concluded Russia-Africa Summit held in St. Petersburg, Russia.

According to a statement by Tayo Soyemi of Falana and Falana Chambers, the human rights lawyer gave the advice in his paper titled, Unconstitutional Change of Governments: the Role of Bar Associations, delivered, yesterday, at a two-day conference of the West African Bar Association (WABA) in Accra, Ghana.

The paper reads in part: Last week, Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani, the head of the presidential guards unit, overthrew the Mohamed Bazoum-led administration and declared himself Nigers new ruler.

In a prompt response to the embarrassing development, the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) gave the junta a seven-day ultimatum to step down from power and restore constitutional rule. ECOWAS leaders threatened to take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order and that if its demands were not met, such measures may include the use of force.

While the resolve of the ECOWAS leaders to re...

LAGOS AUGUST 1ST (URHOBOTODAY)-Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Asaba, on Monday reserved ruling in an application brought by the petitioners seeking a recount of ballot papers used for the March 18 election.

Governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Ovie Omo-Agege, is challenging the declaration of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of the People Democratic Party (PDP) as winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

At the resumed hearing, the three-man tribunal headed by Justice C.H Ahuchaogu, reserved the ruling on the application for Tuesday, August 1 after listening to argument by counsels to the parties.

Counsel to the petitioners, Alex Iziyon (SAN), urged the tribunal to make an order for the counting of the ballot papers already admitted in evidence.

In the circumstances, I will apply to the tribunal that the said bags already in evidence and marked as exhibits 3PR1-3PR176that the tribunal make an order for the count of the ballot papers already tendered, he said.

Oborevworis counsel, Damian Dodo (SAN), argued that the case for a recount of ballot by the petitioners has not been made out, adding that the petitioners failed to apply for a recount at the polling unit level.

He cited Section 61 of the Electoral Act to buttress his position, submitting that a demand for a recount at the polling unit level is by the intendment of the Electoral Act a sine qua non for an application for an order to recount before the tribunal.

Earlier, the tribunal dismissed an application brought the petitioners seeking a subpoena witness from INEC to testify in the matter.

In the ruling, Justice Ahuchaogu agreed with the argument of Mr. Dodo, and held that the witness cannot testify in areas in proof of the petitioners case moreso where he is a staff of one of the respondents.

We sustain the objection and expunge the answers offered by the witness as to the number of ballot papers contained in the respective bags.

The subpoened witness, Mr. Joseph Ellems, who is INEC Head of Electoral Operation Department, in Asaba, Delta State, had tendered bags of ballot papers used for the election.

Iziyon had applied for the witness to testify, an application that Dodo objected to.

Dodo argued that the witness could not testify, because the petitioner was limited by the terms of the subpoena Duces Tecom ard Testificandum issued by the tribunal.

According to Dodo, the witnessess duty is to produce...

I do hold the view that the luckiest thing that happened to this country was being colonised by the British. So says John Howard, the 25th Prime Minister of Australia (1996-2007) and the offices second longest servant in history. It comes in the build-up to the Voice to Parliament referendum, which will determine whether Australias constitution Continue reading "Lucky for Some: Howard Wades in as Australias Voice to Parliament Referendum Nears"

On our annual publishing break, well be pondering what the responsibility of the African intellectual is today.

I did not expect to enjoy Greta Gerwigs Barbie. More than this, I put up every defense against its thrall, and like a faithful Marxist, dutifully rehearsed every note against it: the coming wave of soulless, IP movies it augurs, the quickening death of indie cinema, its veneration of (white) girlboss feminism, and celebration of American consumerism. Be that as it mayit is a delightfully silly and fun film (I cannot stop singing Im just Ken, to the mild annoyance of my partner). If culture is on track to become a feast of flavorless bubblegum, Barbie was a more chewable piece.

The film has been polarizing. Along with Christopher Nolans Oppenheimer (which I have not yet seen), a debate has emerged considering on which terms a film (or any piece of art, for that matter) can be judged to be good, as well as by which standards these judgments are made. A debate that can be reduced to the questions: what is good art, alongside, what is good criticism.

In The Atlantic, Adam Kotsko complains that Moralism is ruining cultural criticism, writing that Just as the reduction of art to political propaganda leads to bad art, the aestheticization of politics leads to bad, irresponsible politics. Thats because aesthetics and politics are not the same thing. The points are well-taken (albeit, debatable). But the thing they underscore is the broad crisis of meaning that characterizes our political moment, riven with all sorts of existential questions about domains that not long ago, we would have taken for granted: what is art, what is politics, what is feminism, what is masculinity, what is the left, what is race, what is the energy transition, etc.

We could also ask: what is Africa? The name of this publication gives a tongue-in-cheek answer, meant to imply the opposite of what it says: Africa is not a country. Writing in The Pan African Review, however, Yusuf Serunkuma argues for the political potential of embracing otherwise:

Africans ought to appreciate the reality that w...

Remittances continue to serve as a vital source of support for the Lebanese economy and Lebanese families as they amount approximately $6 to $7 billion per year. Despite the COVID crisis and the global recession in the past years, remittances kept flowing from expats in support of their families, making Lebanon the third-highest recipient of remittances in terms of value in the MENA region, preceded only by Morocco and Egypt.

So wheres that money coming from?

Lebanese diaspora is spread all over the world but according to the latest UNDP report, 48% originate from the GCC (Gulf countries), followed by North American (16%), Western Europe (14%), Africa (14%), Australia (3%), Latin
America (3%), and lastly Eastern Europe (2%).

The same report lists the number of Lebanese emigrants by country, with 353,886 Lebanese in Arab Countries, 200,595 emigrants in North America, 186,057 in Europe and 140,000 in other countries. It is worth noting more than 100,000 people emigrated out of Lebanon in the past three years alone, which is a staggering number.

You can read the full report [here].