International News
Fear, Grief After 41 Dead In ‘Brutal’ Uganda School Attack
Grieving families prepared to bury their dead in western Uganda on Sunday (today) while others desperately searched for loved ones still missing after militants killed dozens of students in a school attack.
Officials say at least 41 people, mostly students, were massacred on Friday in the worst attack of its kind in Uganda since 2010.
Victims were hacked, shot and burned in the late-night raid on Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe, which lies less than two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Pope Francis offered a prayer on Sunday for “the young student victims of the brutal attack” that has shocked Uganda and drawn condemnation from around the globe.
Ugandan authorities have blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militia based in DR Congo, and are pursuing the attackers who fled back toward the border with six abductees in captivity.
Fifteen others from the community, including five girls, were still missing, said Eriphaz Muhindi, chairman of Kasese district, which shares a long and forested border with DR Congo.
Seventeen victims were burned beyond recognition when the attackers set a locked dormitory ablaze, frustrating efforts to identify the dead and account for the missing.
‘Great pain’
Muhindi said they had been taken away for DNA testing, a process that could take some time.
“This is a great pain to their families,” he told AFP.
Families desperate for news waited all night in the cold outside a mortuary in Bwera, a town near where the attack occurred.
Those able to identify loved ones inside the mortuary embraced and wept as they received the bodies and took them away in coffins for burial.
Others milled about anxiously, still without any information of their relatives.
The government said Sunday it would assist with funeral arrangements and supporting the injured.
Thirty-seven students died in the attack, said Uganda’s first lady and education minister, Janet Museveni.
The badly burned bodies of 17 male students were found in their dormitory which was totally destroyed by fire.
Witnesses said they locked the door when they heard gunshots.
Twenty female students tried to run to safety but were hacked to death with machetes.
Investigators said a security guard at the school gate was shot dead as the attackers forced their way in, while three members of the public were also killed.
‘They will pay’
The African Union, France and the United States, a close ally of Uganda, offered their condolences and condemned the bloodshed.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: “Those responsible for this appalling act must be brought to justice.”
Museveni said the army would track down “these evil people and they will pay for what they have done”.
But questions have been raised about how the attackers managed to evade detection in a border region with a heavy military presence.
Major General Dick Olum told AFP that intelligence suggested the presence of the ADF in the area at least two days before the attack, and an investigation would be needed to establish what went wrong.
Uganda and DR Congo launched a joint offensive in 2021 to drive the ADF out of their Congolese strongholds, but the measures have failed to blunt the group’s violence.
Originally insurgents in Uganda, the ADF gained a foothold in eastern DRC in the 1990s and have since been accused of killing thousands of civilians.
The Islamic State group has claimed the ADF as its Central African affiliate.
Attacks in Uganda are rare but in June 1998, 80 students were burnt to death in their dormitories in an ADF raid on Kichwamba Technical Institute near the DR Congo border.
More than 100 students were abducted.
Friday’s attack is the deadliest in Uganda since 2010, when 76 people were killed in twin bomb8
ngs in the capital Kampala by the Somalia-based group Al-Shabaab.
June 5th, Transfermarkt updated. The new market values of Barcelona players. Three players increased and nine decreased, with Raphinha dropping by 10 million to 70 million euros.
Increase (Euros)
Joan-Garcia increased by 5 million to 45 million
Eric-Garcia increased by 5 million to 40 million
Gerard-Martin increased by 10 million to 35 million
Decrease (Euros)
Raphinha decreased by 10 million to 70 million
Kounde decreased by 5 million to 60 million
Balde decreased by 5 million to 50 million
De Jong decreased by 10 million to 35 million
Casado decreased by 2 million to 18 million
Christensen decreased by 1 million to 8 million
Cancelo decreased by 1 million to 8 million
Lewandowski decreased by 1 million to 7 million
Szczesny decreased by 100,000 to 800,000
Unchanged (Euros)
Yamal 200 million
Pedri 150 million
Fermin 100 million
Cubarsi 80 million
Olmo 60 million
Ferran Torres 50 million
Rashford 40 million
Gavi 30 million
Bernal 30 million
Araujo 20 million
Bardghji 15 million
Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 on Friday, its lowest level since October 2024, just before Donald Trump’s election which propelled it to a record high.
The currency fell by about 6 percent around 1615 GMT, to $59.7709, before paring its losses slightly.
The election of Trump, a staunch advocate of cryptocurrencies, to the White House in November 2024 for a second term sparked a wave of enthusiasm in the sector, sending the price of bitcoin soaring to nearly $110,000.
AFP
Man City are considering taking legal action after a Real Madrid presedential candidate said he would sign Erling Haaland, if elected.
What actually happened?
Real presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme, who faces current president Florentino Perez in Sunday’s vote, claimed on Spanish TV show El Hormiguero on Wednesday night that Haaland had a release clause and wants to move to the Bernabeu. He also held up a Real shirt with ‘Haaland 9’ on the back.
Riquelme, who also promised to sign Haaland’s City team-mate Rodri, said: “If I break my promises regarding either of these players, I’ve signed a guarantee where I’d pay 100 per cent of membership costs for next season.
“Haaland has a release clause, and he wants to come to Madrid.”
What was City’s response?
However, Manchester City have moved quickly to refute those claims, saying in a statement that there is “no chance” Haaland will be leaving the Etihad Stadium any time soon. The Premier League club also said they are considering legal action over the shirt stunt.
A City spokesperson said in a statement: “The stories which have emerged from Spain regarding the future of Erling Haaland are untrue.
“There is no chance of this happening and there is no contractual clause to enable it.
“We are considering legal action for the use of our player image in this context.”
Haaland is under contract at the Etihad until the summer of 2034 and Haaland’s agent Rafaela Pimenta and his father Alfie Haaland laughed off suggestions the 25-year-old could soon be heading to the Spanish capital.
A joint-statement released in the early hours of Thursday morning said: “All very entertaining but not true. We wish all the best for both candidates in the Real Madrid elections.”
What was Perez’s response?
Meanwhile, current Real president Florentino Perez made his own election pledge on Wednesday night, seemingly confirming Jose Mourinho’s return to Real Madrid as manager, if he wins next Sunday’s presidential election.
Perez posted a video on X in which Mourinho features in a Real shirt saying: “Yes”, while the only other words to accompany it say: “Meanwhile, on TV, they just keep talking and talking and talking. So much history to be made.”
The video was posted in response to Riquelme’s TV apperaance promoting his rival bid.
Perez has made no secret of his intention to name Mourinho as head coach should he win the vote and remain for an eighth term in the role, but his social media post appears to have made it official.
Mourinho is widely expected to agree a three-year-deal to return to the Bernabeu Stadium and replace Alvaro Arbeloa, who was appointed in January after Xabi Alonso’s departure.
Benfica have yet to confirm Mourinho’s departure, while speculation has been mounting that Marco Silva is being lined up as his successor after the Portuguese announced he will leave Fulham when his contract expires in June.
Real Madrid’s presidential election on Sunday will be decided by the club’s members. It is the first contested election since 2006 as club members will choose between incumbent Perez, 79, and businessman Riquelme, 37.
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