At least 20 people have been killed by a military airstrike in northwest Nigeria, according to local residents and the military, prompting human rights organizations to launch an investigation into the attack.
One of the areas most susceptible to violence from armed groups, known as “bandits,” was Zamfara state, where the strike took place over the weekend.
According to intelligence, “a significant number of terrorists were massing and preparing to strike unsuspecting settlements,” the Nigerian Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame stated.
According to a statement from Ejodame, “Further intelligence confirmed that the bandits killed some farmers and kidnapped a number of civilians, including women and children,” adding that the crossfire also left two local vigilantes dead and two others injured.
However, residents who were cited by the AFP news agency claimed that a group of neighborhood vigilantes were mistakenly bombed by a military jet.
Villagers who had earlier been attacked earlier this weekend had called in the air force. Unknown number of people were also hurt in the strike, according to locals.
According to Buhari Dangulbi, a resident of the affected area, “we were hit by double tragedy on Saturday.” “Bandits attacked the bandits to save them, and they attacked dozens of our people and a number of cows.” Twenty of them were killed.
Residents in the Maru district reported to AFP that the bandits had earlier robbed several people and taken cattle from Mani and Wabi villages. In response, vigilantes launched a search for the slain livestock and the captives.
According to Abdullahi Ali, a Mani resident and member of a local hunters’ militia, “the military aircraft arrived and started firing, killing at least 20 of our people.”
Ishiye Kabiru, a resident, said, “Our vigilantes from Maraya and nearby communities gathered and pursued the bandits.” A military jet, sadly, struck them.
The area’s Alka Tanimu continued, “We will still have to pay to get those kidnapped back, while the cows are permanently gone.”
Amnesty International urged a thorough investigation and condemned the strike.
The rights group claimed that while attacking villages by bandits clearly warrants a state response, it is against the law to repeatedly launch reckless air strikes into villages.
Nigeria’s military has previously acknowledged accidentally striking civilians while conducting airstrikes against armed gangs.
In Zamfara’s Zurmi district, at least 16 vigilantes were killed in a similar strike in January.
More than 100 people were killed in Mutunji village in December 2022 as bandits pursued them. At least 85 people were killed in an attack on a religious gathering in Kaduna state a year later.
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a new prisoner swap and the return of thousands of war dead during direct talks in Istanbul although little headway was made towards ending the war.
The delegations met on Monday at the Ottoman-era Ciragan Palace in the Turkish city, and officials confirmed that both sides will exchange prisoners of war and the remains of 6,000 soldiers killed in combat.
Negotiators from both sides confirmed they had reached a deal to swap all severely wounded soldiers as well as all captured fighters under the age of 25.
“We agreed to exchange all-for-all seriously wounded and seriously sick prisoners of war. The second category is young soldiers who are from 18 to 25 years old – all-for-all,” Ukraine’s lead negotiator and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov told reporters in Istanbul.
Russia’s lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said the swap would involve “at least 1,000” on each side – topping the 1,000-for-1,000 POW exchange agreed at talks last month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking from Vilnius, Lithuania, said the two parties “exchanged documents through the Turkish side” and Kyiv was preparing for the next group of captives to be released.
The Istanbul meeting marks the second direct dialogue in less than a month, but expectations were low. The talks on May 16 produced another major prisoner swap but failed to reach a ceasefire.
“The exchange of prisoners seems to be the diplomatic channel that actually works between Russia and Ukraine,” Al Jazeera correspondent Dmitry Medvedenko said, reporting from Istanbul.
“We’ve actually had exchanges of prisoners throughout this war, not in the numbers that have been happening as a result of these Istanbul talks,” Medvedenko added.
Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Kyiv also handed over a list of children it accuses Russia of abducting and demanded their return.
As for a truce, Russia and Ukraine remain sharply divided.
“The Russian side continued to reject the motion of an unconditional ceasefire,” Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya told reporters after the talks.
Russia said it had offered a limited pause in fighting.
“We have proposed a specific ceasefire for two to three days in certain areas of the front line,” top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said, adding this was needed to collect bodies of dead soldiers from the battlefield.
At the negotiating table, Russia presented a memorandum setting out the Kremlin’s terms for ending hostilities, the Ukrainian delegation said.
Umerov told reporters that Kyiv officials would need a week to review the document and decide on a response. Ukraine proposed further talks on a date between June 20 and June 30, he said.
After the talks, Russian state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti published the text of the Russian memorandum, which suggested that Ukraine withdraw its forces from the four regions that Russia annexed in September 2022 but never fully captured as a condition for a ceasefire.
As an alternate way of reaching a truce, the memorandum presses Ukraine to halt its mobilisation efforts and freeze Western arms deliveries, conditions were suggested earlier by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The document also suggests that Ukraine stop any redeployment of forces and ban any military presence of third countries on its soil as conditions for halting hostilities.
The Russian document further proposes that Ukraine end martial law and hold elections, after which the two countries could sign a comprehensive peace treaty that would see Ukraine declare its neutral status, abandon its bid to join NATO, set limits on the size of its armed forces and recognize Russian as the country’s official language on par with Ukrainian.
Ukraine and the West have previously rejected all those demands from Moscow.
Ceasefire hopes remain elusive
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the talks “magnificent”.
“My greatest wish is to bring together Putin and Zelenskyy in Istanbul or Ankara and even add [United States President Donald] Trump along,” he said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who chaired the talks, said the world was watching closely. He acknowledged the two sides had discussed the conditions for a ceasefire but no tangible outcome was announced.
Head of the Ukrainian delegation, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, speaks after a second round of direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials on June 2, 2025 [Adem Altan/AFP]
Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian member of parliament, told Al Jazeera he was not very optimistic about talks in Istanbul.
“Russia clearly shows that they don’t want to end the war because Ukraine proposed a 30-days ceasefire in March, and the American and Europe proposition was the same, but only one country [Russia] refused,” Goncharenko said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has ramped up its military efforts far beyond the front lines, claiming responsibility for drone attacks on Sunday that it said damaged or destroyed more than 40 Russian warplanes. The operation targeted airbases in three distant regions – the Arctic, Siberia and the Far East – thousands of kilometres from Ukraine.
“This brilliant operation will go down in history,” Zelenskyy said, calling the raids a turning point in Ukraine’s struggle.
Ukrainian officials said the attacks crippled nearly a third of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet. Vasyl Maliuk, head of the Security Service of Ukraine, said the mission had taken more than a year to plan.
Zelenskyy said the setback for Russia’s military would increase pressure on Moscow to return to the negotiating table.
“Russia must feel the cost of its aggression. That is what will push it towards diplomacy,” he said during his visit to Lithuania, where he met leaders from NATO’s eastern flank and Nordic countries.
Ukraine’s air force, meanwhile, reported that Russia launched 472 drones on Sunday – the highest number since the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022 – aiming to exhaust Ukrainian air defences. Most of those drones targeted civilian areas, it said.
On Monday, Russian forces bombarded southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, killing three people and injuring 19, including two children. Separately, five people were killed and nine injured in attacks near Zaporizhzhia in the neighbouring Zaporizhia region.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces had intercepted 162 Ukrainian drones overnight across eight regions and Crimea while Ukraine said it shot down 52 out of 80 drones launched by Russia.
Former Made In Chelsea star Caggie Dunlop, who appeared on the E4 series for three series before leaving in 2012, has welcomed her first child with her partner
Made In Chelsea’s Caggie Dunlop welcomes first child as she makes honest admission(Image: Instagram/caggiesworld)
Former Made In Chelsea star Caggie Dunlop revealed she welcomed her first child last week in a vulnerable post shared on social media. The star welcomed the little girl with her boyfriend, whose name she has not revealed, and said she was ‘completely overwhelmed by tiredness’.
The TV personality, who appeared on the E4 programme for three series before leaving in 2012, she the ‘last photos taken of her pregnant’, which featured her rocking a long-sleeved white top which she pulled up to reveal her baby bump as well as baggy jeans. She looked stunning as she took several snaps in the garden and on a sofa in her home.
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Caggie and her boyfriend welcomed their first child(Image: Instagram/caggiesworld)
Opening up to followers, she said: “These were the last pictures taken of me pregnant. I gave birth to our baby girl on Wednesday morning, Our hearts are exploding with love. And I’m completely overwhelmed by the tiredness.
“The initiation into motherhood has been unlike anything I could have imagined. I’m just trying to keep my head above water. I’ll share more in the coming days, but for now, we’re deep in the ‘newborn trenches,’ as they say.” Caggie continued: “Everyone told me to take photos while pregnant because I’d regret it if I didn’t. At the time, I really didn’t feel like being in front of a camera… but I’m so glad we captured these, the day before she arrived.
She shared the ‘last photos she took while pregnant’(Image: Instagram/caggiesworld)
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“I already miss her being in my belly—the safety, the unity. It’s been replaced with a constant undercurrent of worry and anxiety.
“I remember someone once described this part as “your heart now living outside your chest”—and I’m learning what that really means.”
She ended her post: “Every cry pierces deeply. Every feed touches a part of you you didn’t know existed. It’s a brutal awakening, a maddening kind of magic. I can’t believe I’m a mum.”
Friends and fas were over the moon with the news, with Kirsty Gallagher writing: “Love you. And her. So proud of you Mamma,” and another adding: “It’s a wild and beautiful ride – so excited and happy for you, Angel.”
Annalie Howling posted: “Congratulations. your honesty is so powerful. The volume of love and the fears that can come with it absolutely caught me by surprise.
“Please be super kind and gentle with yourself. None of us know what we are doing but you are leading with love and she is safe. You are already an amazing Mummy.”
Caggie first announced her pregnancy news in a post shared online in February. “It still feels surreal to say,” she said at the time.
“Pregnancy has been a wild ride, and in just three months, we’ll be meeting this new little soul. I keep looking at my tummy grow and am in awe of my body and of women and what we do and what we create, It’s pure magic.”
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With a comfortable straight-sets victory over Cameron Norrie on Monday, Novak Djokovic slipped into a record-breaking 19th Roland Garros quarter-final.
After defeating Norrie 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 on Court Philippe Chatrier, the three-time French Open champion will face third seed Alexander Zverev in the final eight on Wednesday.
His 19 quarter-final appearances at Roland Garros set a new record for the most Grand Slam victories.
On day 9 of the French Open tennis competition at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 2, 2025, Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves to Britain’s Cameron Norrie. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT/AFP)
“I feel good,” he said. I am aware of my ability to play better. But 12 sets played, 12 sets won, and so far, the 38-year-old described his 100th French Open victory as “a solid one.”
“Winner number 101 would be better, but it’s great.” I feel very honored, but I must move on.
Also available is a link to  ’s Gauff Returns to French Open Quarters and Vows to “Keep Fighting.”
Djokovic and German Zverev have a 8-5 winning record, but they both lost in their previous encounter in the Australian Open semi-finals in January.
Norrie, a former top-10 player and current 81st, has lost all six of his professional matches to Djokovic.
The Serb dominated from the beginning, aiming to break the previous all-time Grand Slam record of 25 this week.
In a one-set, he broke serve three times before battling through a closer second to save a crucial break point before holding for a 3-2 lead.
Djokovic won on his first match point, but Norrie, who was playing for the first time in Paris, did not face much resistance in the third set.
Bill Gates, the son of Microsoft’s founder and former chairman of the Gates Foundation, will meet with President Bola Tinubu this week to discuss ways to improve Nigeria’s primary healthcare system.
During his planned visit, he will speak with leaders from the federal and state levels to discuss reforms in the country’s primary healthcare system.
Gates will also attend a Goalkeepers Nigeria event with a focus on Africa’s innovation future, meet with local scientists and partners who are developing Nigeria’s national strategy for scaling up health solutions, and sign a statement from the Gates Foundation.
INCLUDE Gates Foundation To Spend $200 Million on Health, and Other Services In 20 Years.
According to Gates, the Foundation’s office in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal, as well as its first African office in Ethiopia about 13 years ago, were a great way to build partnerships, according to the statement.
Gates met with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Ethiopia, where he was informed that the country would travel there to discuss its continued support of crucial reforms, expanding essential services, and remaining resilient in the revolving global aid environment.
Gates also participated in an iodine-folic acid double-fortified salt initiative roundtable discussion with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute.
Gates will travel to Nigeria to meet with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and speak with state and federal leaders about the country’s reforms in primary healthcare.
He will also meet with local scientists and partners shaping Nigeria’s national AI strategy and expanding health solutions, according to the statement. He will also take part in a Goalkeepers Nigeria event that will be held in October.
Gates’ trip comes in response to the foundation’s historic announcement on May 8 that it would invest $200 billion over the course of the next 20 years to advance progress in saving lives and improving lives. In that time, Gate pledged to give the foundation “virtually all of his wealth.”
The foundation will collaborate with its partners to achieve three main objectives over the next 20 years, including preventing the deaths of mothers and babies; ensure that no one in the upcoming generation develops infectious diseases that are deadly; and direct millions of people to a path to prosperity, thereby putting them out of poverty. The foundation’s activities will stop at the end of 20 years.
Cardiff City Stadium Date: Friday, June 6th Kickoff: 19:45 BST
As Wales attempt to win back-to-back World Cup matches in order to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, Harry Wilson wants to make history in Belgium.
Craig Bellamy’s side travel to Cardiff on Friday to face group winners Belgium in Brussels three days later.
Wilson made his first appearance for Wales in 2013, when he started as a 16-year-old substitute, and the trip to the King Baudouin Stadium represents a return to the scene.
Wilson says Bellamy’s in-form team should aim for their first ever away win in Belgium despite their initial camp goal being to defeat Liechtenstein.
“We still have to go out there and perform,” Wilson said, adding that “international football has shown us that these are not easy games. “Of course, on paper people will think we should win [against Liechtenstein] comfortably,” he said.
Wales have a strong record against Belgium, which they defeated in their Euro 2016 qualifying match and ultimately lost to them.
It is amazing to have a record as good as that of a country as good as they are, which has been a golden era for the past ten and fifteen years, Wilson said.
“I’m not sure why the record is that good, but we can hopefully keep it going,” he said.
In September 2022, Wales lost to Belgium in Brussels when Kieffer Moore’s goal was ineffective and resulted in a 2-1 Nations League defeat for the hosts.
They have won eight of their previous eight games since Bellamy took over in the summer of 2024, but they have never won in Belgium. They will now travel confidently.
Wilson, who is in line to win his 61st cap against Liechtenstein, said, “We’ve gone eight games without losing since the manager’s come in. It’s not easy at all.
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I aspired to be a star on this team.
Wilson, who was then at Liverpool, received his chance in a 1-1 draw in Belgium in 2013, making him the youngest male international for Wales ever.
Wilson still holds the record for Wales’ youngest senior international, having been one of their most influential players for a decade.
Wilson remarked, “At the time, I didn’t know about the record.”
“At the time, it was just about starting to get better for my country.” It was something I’d always wanted to do, so it was amazing when I was just starting out.
Then, a few years away, which made me even more hungry to ensure that I was reinstated and really started to rack up the caps.
“I didn’t want to just be a 16-year-old one-cap.” I aspired to be a team staple. Although it took me a while, I now feel that way.
In a World Cup qualifier played behind closed doors due to the Covid pandemic, Wilson added another memorable moment in Belgium in 2021 when he put the finishing touches on a fantastic team move to open the scoring.
Wilson is proud of the team’s goal, which was “one of the better” ones, despite Wales’ eventual 3-1 defeat.
To score a team goal like that was amazing, he continued. The team they had out that night was one of their strongest.
