Carlotta Wamser is sent off after blocking a goal-bound effort with her hand and Fridolina Rolfo scores the resulting penalty to put Sweden 3-1 up against Germany at Euro 2025.
READ MORE: Sweden overwhelm Germany to top group
Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi State has attributed the growing security challenges in the state to the activities of informants and the inadequate presence of security personnel.
He made this known during a condolence visit to Zogirma community in Bunza Local Government Area, where three mobile policemen were recently killed by armed assailants.
According to the governor, the attackers were not Lakurawa or known bandits, but criminals allegedly invited by informants within the community.
READ ALSO: Kebbi Community Declares Support For Gov Idris
“Those who killed the policemen are not Lakurawa or bandits. They are thieves invited by informants to steal the money we gave to the victims of the windstorm disaster,” he said.
Governor Idris also revealed plans by his administration to propose an executive bill to criminalize the act of aiding criminals through information sharing.
“We are going to sponsor an executive bill that will make it a serious offense for anyone to serve as an informant. If found guilty, such a person may face the death penalty,” he warned.
He stressed that his government would not tolerate any threats to the peace and stability of the state.
Wimbledon 2025
Venue: All England Club Dates: 30 June-13 July
If history has taught us anything about Iga Swiatek, it is that once she breaks her opponent’s serve a dominant victory is on the cards.
That is what happened in Saturday’s Wimbledon final as she claimed the title for the first time with a ruthless 57-minute 6-0 6-0 victory over Amanda Anisimova.
It was undoubtedly tough on the American, but she is not alone in being on the receiving end of such a result.
In 2021 Swiatek beat former world number one Karolina Pliskova by the same scoreline in the Italian Open final.
This year alone, 12 players have lost a set 6-0 to Swiatek, including Dayana Yastremska (twice), Emma Raducanu, Belinda Bencic and Victoria Azarenka.
At January’s Australian Open, Swiatek registered 6-0 sets in three of her first four matches – and now those same scorelines are appearing on the grass courts.
“Coming here, I could really focus on getting better and developing as a player rather than everybody just asking me to win,” Poland’s Swiatek said.
The rarity of a 6-0 6-0 scoreline in a final underlines Swiatek’s dominance.
This is the first 6-0 6-0 win in a Grand Slam final since Steffi Graff beat Natasha Zvereva in just 34 minutes at the 1988 French Open.
It is the first time it has been done in a Wimbledon final in the Open era, which is when tennis became professional. In 1911, Dorothea Lambert Chambers beat Dora Boothby by the same scoreline – but that was in the challenge match era, where the defending champion played just once.
Swiatek is also just the fourth player in the Open era to win the first set of the Wimbledon women’s singles final with a 6-0 scoreline after Billie Jean King (1973, 1975), Chris Evert (1974) and Martina Navratilova (1983).
Swiatek broke to love in the very first game of the match and it was clear she was in clinical form as Anisimova struggled with nerves.
Eighth seed Swiatek did not face a single break point, won 21 of 29 points on her first serve and five out of eight on her second.
Swiatek was helped along the way by the mistakes Anisimova made as the pressure of playing in a first Grand Slam final told.
The American made 28 unforced errors compared with just 11 for Swiatek and double-faulted five times.
Anisimova said after the match her serve is something she can work on.
“I’ve struggled with my serve, as most people probably can tell by the looks of it and the statistics,” she said.
Anisimova hit 41 double faults over the two weeks at Wimbledon – 17 more than any other player in the women’s singles draw.
In tennis a 6-0 scoreline is nicknamed a bagel, while a 6-1 win is a breadstick.
Swiatek wins so many sets by those scorelines that in the past few years, fans have nicknamed those results ‘Iga’s bakery’.
She has won 32 sets by a 6-0 scoreline in Grand Slam matches, with three of those coming at Wimbledon this year.
That doubled her tally from all her previous matches at the Championships, emphasising her improvement on grass.
“I think winning on the grass is proving that she can win on every surface,” former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“It gives her that new platform in her career because for a very long time she was seen as only a clay-court player.
Crystal Palace have been demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League by UEFA for a breach of multi-club ownership rules, European football’s governing body confirmed on Friday.
US businessman John Textor owns a stake in the Eagles and is the majority owner of French club Lyon, who have also qualified for the Europa League.
Under UEFA multi-club ownership rules, Lyon have been allowed to keep their place in the second-tier competition of European football as they finished higher in Ligue 1 (6th) than Palace (12th) in the Premier League last season.
Palace qualified for European competition for the first time by winning the FA Cup in May – the club’s first ever major trophy.
Textor has since agreed to sell his 43 percent stake in the London club to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.
However, that deal is yet to be completed and was struck well after UEFA’s deadline of March 1 for multi-club conflicts to be resolved.
A decision on Palace’s fate had been delayed by a separate case that initially saw Lyon relegated to the second tier of French football due to financial problems.
The seven-time French champions won an appeal against that decision on Wednesday after Textor stood aside from the day-to-day running of the club.
Palace are expected to appeal the verdict to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Parish told Sky Sports: “We are obviously devastated, most importantly for the supporters. Supporters of all clubs should be devastated for it.
“It is a bad day for football,” Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish declared.
“Most right-minded football fans will see what a terrible injustice this is for the football club and one that I hope someone can remedy because I do believe that nobody in football wants to see this – I don’t think UEFA want to see it,” he told Sky Sports.
India had no right to complain about England’s tactics in a dramatic finale to the third day of the third Test at Lord’s after their own time-wasting earlier in the match, says bowling coach Tim Southee.
Opener Zak Crawley repeatedly delayed bowler Jasprit Bumrah and called for a physio after being hit on the finger as he successfully ensured he and Ben Duckett only had to face one over before the close, instead of two.
India’s players reacted angrily to the delays, with captain Shubman Gill gesticulating to Crawley shouting an expletive in his direction.
“It is always exciting to see both sides animated towards the end,” said Southee, who is England’s fast-bowling consultant.
“Not sure what they were complaining about when Shubman was lying down getting a massage in the middle of the day yesterday.
“It’s obviously part of the game. It is an exciting way to finish.”
“Obviously we wanted to bowl two overs,” India batter KL Rahul said.
“There were six minutes left. Obviously, two overs is a no-brainer that any team will bowl two overs with six minutes to go.
“We were all pumped up either way because we know how difficult it is for a batter to come in to bat for two overs when you have been in the field all day.
“We were hoping we could get a wicket there, and a wicket at the end of the day’s play would have been perfect for us.”
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England ended the over 2-0, meaning they lead by two runs at the end of the third day.
“It’s as good a piece of time-wasting I’ve ever seen,” former England captain Michael Vaughan told the Test Match Special podcast.
“India can’t complain because yesterday Gill was down with the hamstring strain – Rahul was off the field and wouldn’t have been able to open the batting.
“Neither team can complain, but what great drama and what a great day. We’re in for a fourth and fifth day that will be fantastic.”
Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook said the series, much anticipated beforehand and tied at 1-1 after the first two Tests, “needed” the late drama.
“Everyone has been so friendly, but this always happens in a series of five matches,” he said.
“There’s little moments after playing against each other so many times.
Nearly 60 lawmakers in the United Kingdom have written to Foreign Secretary David Lammy this week, calling out Israel’s plans for the “ethnic cleansing” of Gaza and demanding the country immediately recognise Palestine as a state.
The 59 lawmakers, all from the governing Labour Party, criticised Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz’s plans to force Gaza’s 2.1 million Palestinians into a so-called “humanitarian city” – likened by some analysts to a concentration camp – built on the ruins of Rafah.
The letter, sent to Lammy on Thursday and made public on Saturday, cited Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard as saying Palestinians were being pushed to the southern tip of Gaza “in preparation for deportation outside the strip”, slamming the move as “ethnic cleansing”.
They urged the foreign secretary to stop Israel’s “operational plan for crimes against humanity”. It also called on London to follow the lead of French President Emmanuel Macron, who recently announced an intent to recognise a Palestinian state, so as not to undermine its own policy in support of a two-state solution.
Dozens of Labour MPs have signed letter calling on @FCDOGovUK Secretary David Lammy to take concrete action on #Gaza including immediate recognition of #Palestine
Here it is in full, though more MPs signing up by the minute
Thanks @LFPME for coordinating, government must heed pic.twitter.com/fOxiylKKVi
Reporting from London, Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego said Macron had given calls to formally recognise Palestine as a state “extra heft” during his three-day state visit to the UK this week.
In an address on Tuesday to the UK’s Parliament, he had said the move was a matter of “absolute urgency” and the “only path to peace”, calling on the country to help create the “political momentum” for a two-state solution.
Gallego pointed out that Lammy had on Tuesday criticised the controversial US-backed GHF sites at Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
“It’s not doing a good job. Too many people are close to starvation. Too many people have lost their lives,” Lammy had said.
Three out of the enclave’s four GHF sites, which have sidelined Gaza’s vast UN-led aid delivery network, are located in southern Gaza, effectively forcing starving Palestinians towards Israel’s new “humanitarian city” in Rafah.
On Friday, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that 819 Palestinians have been killed while waiting for food – 634 in the vicinity of GHF sites, which have been operational since late May. On Saturday, 34 more were killed near a GHF site in Rafah.
Lammy had also said that the UK could take further action against Israel if a ceasefire deal to end the war in the Palestinian territory does not materialise. But he stressed that London wants to recognise Palestine as part of a concrete move towards the two-state solution, not just as a symbolic gesture.
The lawmakers welcomed the Labour government’s calls for a ceasefire, its suspension of arms licenses to Israel, and its sanctioning of hardline Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, but said the “desperation and seriousness” of the situation in Gaza required more action.
“We cannot leave actions in our back pocket while the situation facing Palestinian civilians reaches critical and existential levels,” said the letter, which was organised by Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East, co-chaired by lawmakers Sarah Owen and Andrew Pakes.
“By not recognising [Palestine] as a state, we … set an expectation that the status quo can continue and see the effective erasure and annexation of Palestinian territory,” it added.
