Troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) have killed a terrorist commander and five other insurgents in the Region of Lake Chad
The MNJTF spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Olaniyi Osoba, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
He identified the key Boko Haram commander as Amir Dumkei, saying nine AK-47 rifles, three boats and a large cache of ammunition were recovered.
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“The ISWAP/Boko Haram terrorists initiated their offensive in the early hours of Tuesday, 15 July 2025, attacking the MNJTF military base in Koulfoua Island,” the statement read.
“However, they were met with superior firepower from the MNJTF troops. Through intense artillery and coordinated firepower bombardments, the terrorist commander was neutralised along with five others, while the remaining terrorists fled with gunshot wounds.
“During the operation, the troops successfully captured a substantial cache of arms. Currently, the troops are in pursuit of the fleeing terrorists, and clearance operations are ongoing to ensure the area is secure.”
Osoba said the Force Commander of the MNJTF, Major General Godwin Mutkut, commended the troops for their unwavering commitment to eradicating terrorism and ensuring the safety and security of the people in the Lake Chad region.
American Idol runner-up Jessica Sanchez announced during an audition on America’s Got Talent, which aired this week, that she’s expecting a baby with her husband
Former American Idol runner-up Jessica Sanchez has announced that she’s pregnant. The singer-songwriter shared the news in her latest audition for America’s Got Talent (AGT), which aired earlier this week in the US.
Jessica, 29, returned to AGT this year after having previously been a semi-finalist on the first season of the NBC show, which began in 2006. She auditioned again for the latest season and got a golden buzzer from Sofia Vergara, 53.
Ahead of her performance for the judges and audience, Jessica updated them on her life since her first appearance. She shared: “I’m married now and I’m actually … another surprising thing is … I recently found out that I’m pregnant.”
Simon Cowell, 65, who has an 11-year-old son, said: “What? Oh my god. Congratulations. This is amazing.” After Jessica confirmed that it’s her first child, he said: “Let me tell you – this is the best thing that can ever happen in your life ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. I’m very happy for you.”
American Idol runner-up Jessica Sanchez has announced that she’s pregnant(Image: jessicaesanchez/instagram)
Jessica has since announced the news on Instagram. This afternoon she shared a series of photos alongside a caption about expecting her first child with her husband Rickie Gallardo. She began by writing: “Our hearts are so full.”
She continued in the post: “This is my first time sharing about the pregnancy, and it’s been so hard keeping it quiet these past 5 months! Thank you all for the love, support, and sweet messages — it truly means the world. Most of all, thank You God for this beautiful blessing growing inside me.”
The post included photos of Jessica showcasing her baby bump, with her seen beside her husband Rickie in some of them. It also featured a photo of an ultrasound scan and another included several positive pregnancy tests.
After first announcing her pregnancy on AGT, Jessica performed a cover of Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things. She received a standing ovation from the judges before being met with praise from Simon, Mel B and Howie Mandel.
Sofia was the last of the judges to share her feedback. She described the performance as a “special moment” and ended up hitting the golden buzzer, which guarantees Jessica a place in the upcoming quarter-finals.
The singer first shared the news in an audition on America’s Got Talent before posting about it on social media this week(Image: Trae Patton/NBC via Getty Images)
Sharing her thoughts, judge Sofia told her: “Something very special happened on this stage with you. It’s so amazing that we’re on the 20th anniversary, the 20th season, of AGT. You’re here again after 20 years. You’re pregnant. I mean … you’re so beautiful. You’re so ready to do all this.”
Earlier in the audition, Jessica had reflected on her return to AGT after first competing in the debut season when she was a child. She reached the semi-finals of the competition in 2006 but didn’t progress through to the grand finals.
Six years after appearing on the show, Jessica competed on American Idol in 2012, though Simon had already left the judging panel by then. She reached the final of the Fox show and placed as runner-up behind winner Phillip Phillips.
Jessica, who has released music since then, shared with the judges on AGT that she had “fell out of love” with music over the years. She said in her latest audition: “Throughout the years, I kind of fell out of love with music because I was really young and I was so swayed by what everybody wanted me to be, who they wanted me to be. And so y’know, maybe it took me 20 years but I know exactly who I am. I know exactly what I want. I’m excited to be back.”
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The Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Wednesday, said former President Muhammadu Buhari’s death is a major loss to the nation and the entire African continent.
Shettima stated this after a brief prayer for the repose of the soul of Buhari at the deceased’s residence in Daura, Katsina State.
According to him, people from far and wide have called to commiserate with President Tinubu over the sad demise of our elder statesman.
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“The President was personally pained by the loss. He sent me to London earlier on to go and visit the late President. I was there for two days, and when he answered the call of Allah, the President equally directed me and the Chief of Staff to go and accompany the family and the body of the late President back home,” Shettima said.
President Bola Tinubu bidding farewell to former President Muhammadu Buhari at the former leader’s funeral in Daura, Katsina State, on Tuesday, July 15, 2025.
“And in consultation with President Tinubu, the family of the late President Buhari and the Government of Katsina State, it was unanimously resolved that tomorrow (Thursday), by God’s grace, by noon, we shall all gather here to offer our prayers for the repose of the soul of the late President.”
He stated that every soul shall test the torment of death, adding that while death is an inevitable destiny that hangs over everyone’s neck, everyone should consider themselves as travellers with their bags and baggage waiting for the train.
Shettima prayed to Allah to grant the soul of the late former President Buhari eternal rest and reward him with Al-Jannah Firdaus and protect the family he left behind.
The Vice President noted that the late former president was not an ordinary person, just as he said, Nigerians from all walks of life are still free to come and offer their condolences to the Government and people of Katsina State.
Shettima said the Katsina state governor, Dikko Radda, will be in the state, and members of the family of the late President will be in Daura to accept condolences.
President Bola Tinubu receiving the body of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, at the Katsina airport on Tuesday, July 15, 2025
“But the formal ceremony will come to an end tomorrow based on consultation between His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, the family of the late President, and the governor of Katsina state,” he stated.
Earlier, the Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda, said the demise of Buhari was a great loss to the people of Katsina, the nation, and Africa in general.
He urged leaders at all levels to sustain the legacies of the late President Buhari by ensuring transparency, honesty, and accountability in governance, adding that “Buhari lived and died for the people.”
The governor appealed to all Nigerians to continue to pray for the repose of the soul of the late former President Buhari.
Radda thanked President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima for honouring the late former President and the people of Katsina with their presence during the burial.
Dignitaries at the Katsina airport ahead of the funeral of former President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Also, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, extolled the virtues of the late former Nigerian leader.
“We are here to pray for the repose of the soul of our former leader, President Muhammadu Buhari. May Allah accept his soul. Yesterday, as we all know, the former President was buried here in his compound, and it was witnessed by people from all walks of life, including the President of Nigeria, President Tinubu, GCFR.
England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham has undergone successful surgery for a long-standing shoulder issue.
The 22-year-old is expected to miss the whole of Real’s pre-season and at least the first six weeks of the campaign, which would include England’s World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia in September.
Bellingham has struggled with the problem since 2023, when he dislocated his shoulder in a game against Rayo Vallecano.
Real said he will now undergo a period of rehabilitation before returning to training.
The Spanish club, under new manager Xabi Alonso, start their La Liga season at home to Osasuna on 19 August.
Bellingham has worn strapping on his shoulder, but told reporters in June he was “tired of playing with the sling”.
Real scheduled his surgery for after the Club World Cup in the United States, where they were beaten in the semi-finals by Paris St-Germain last week.
Bellingham joined Real from Borussia Dortmund for £115m two years ago and won the La Liga title and Champions League in his first season, scoring 23 goals in 43 appearances.
Bahrain’s crown prince is set to invest more than $17bn in the United States.
The White House outlined the new deal before a meeting between Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and US President Donald Trump.
Sitting with the crown prince of Bahrain, he described the Gulf nation as a “fantastic ally.” He said they would discuss trade and other topics.
The prince said they would announce investments in the United States, which “builds upon a legacy that we’re very proud of”.
As part of the investment, Bahrain will sign a deal between Gulf Air and Boeing/GE valued at about $7bn for 12 aircraft with an option for six more.
The deal also includes the sale of 40 GE engines, according to the White House.
The announcement from the crown prince comes on the heels of foreign investment deals Trump made during a trip to the Middle East in May. During a visit to Riyadh, Trump secured a $600bn commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the United States and agreed to sell the Saudis an arms package worth nearly $142bn.
The White House said the Bahrain deal will support 30,000 American jobs and was secured with help from Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The crown prince will also commit to deploying additional capital amounting to billions of dollars.
Bahrain is expected to be signing deals with Oracle and Cisco, with plans to replace Chinese servers with Cisco products, the White House said.
Bahrain also seeks to increase its investments in US energy, tech and manufacturing sectors.
The White House says the crown prince intends to deploy capital to increase US domestic aluminium production, invest in US LNG production to secure BAH energy supplies and buy cutting-edge AI chips, partnering with US hyper-scalers.
During the visit, the crown prince will also announce the kingdom’s intention to make these investments and sign various deals and memorandums of understanding (MOUs).
One of these MOUs creates a framework for Bahrain to begin discussions towards developing commercial nuclear capabilities.
Later this year, the king of Bahrain will visit Washington to finalise these agreements and solidify the progress made in building our two nations’s economic prosperity, the White House said.
US markets remained relatively flat on the announcement. As of 12:00pm ET (16:00 GMT) the S&P 500 was down 0.1 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 0.09 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.04 percent. Boeing stock is down 0.3 percent from the market open, after an earlier upward surge this morning. GE trending upwards on the news, up 0.1.
The new investment agreement comes as the White House’s tariff strategy remains in the spotlight. In April, when the White House paused country-specific tariffs, the Trump administration said it would have 90 deals in 90 days. With that deadline having passed, the US has only solidified three, including Vietnam, UK and as of Tuesday, Indonesia.
Durham have proposed a radical shake-up of English domestic cricket, including a rugby-style Grand Final to decide the County Championship.
The county has addressed members with a change to the domestic structure and schedule in a bid to reduce player fatigue.
The proposal, which Durham said has been developed along with other counties and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), suggests the current two-division championship should be scrapped.
It would be replaced by two upper divisions of six teams each, and a lower division of six teams.
The Grand Final format is already in use in Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa.
The lower conference sides would be competing for two promotion places, with one county from each upper conference being relegated to accommodate them.
‘More compelling cricket’
Durham chairman Phil Collins said in a statement on the club website: “We support the 18-county model but, believe the current 10/8 division structure lacks meaningful fixtures as the season progresses.
“The current structure produces a plethora of games in both divisions that do not have any meaning; teams involved in mid table games in the last third of the season onwards do not have any jeopardy… the teams involved cannot get into a title or promotion race and are safe from relegation.
“We don’t believe this produces the intensity of cricket that our great game needs and is something that both players and fans constantly comment on to us.”
The proposal also suggests the T20 Blast should be reduced in size and comprise three groups of six teams each, with the entire competition played before The Hundred begins.
The county said the plans have been drawn up following a Professional Cricketers’ Association survey, which found that 83% of players think the current schedule “harms physical wellbeing”, 72% saying it “hinders high performance”, and over two-thirds claiming mental health is affected by the intensity.
The statement added that other counties have proposed alternative structures, including an 8/10 and a 10/8 division split.
Collins said the idea will be discussed at a members forum on 30 July.
“These proposals aim to reduce workload, enhance performance, and offer more compelling cricket. We believe they represent the best way forward,” he added.
