African Daily News - Page 2

The Scottish side opens the 2025-26 United Rugby Championship on September 27 against Zebre Parma, enjoying a gentler start than last year. Backed by a stout defense and internationals like Darcy Graham and Hamish Watson, they aim to turn early points into a playoff push. Key early games include home clashes with Ulster and a crucial away test at Munster. All matches stream live on FloRugby with US Eastern Time kickoffs for fans across the Atlantic.

Xiaomi has rolled out the 17 Pro and Pro Max, flagship phones that combine a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip with a groundbreaking rear screen. The 6.9‑inch main panel boasts 3,500‑nit brightness, while a 3‑inch secondary display adds new ways to see alerts and game. A triple‑camera setup with Leica optics and a 5× periscope lens top the specs, and a huge 7,500 mAh battery supports 100W wired and 50W wireless fast charging.

Former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott says Robert Pires outshines Liverpool's Sadio Mane in a Premier League winger showdown. The TalkSPORT Ireland interview reveals why Walcott favors his old teammate, even though they never shared the pitch. The debate taps into nostalgia, stats, and personal experience, sparking fresh chatter about two of the league's most exciting wide players.

From September 25 to 28, eight teams will clash in Bengaluru and Colombo in day‑night warm‑up games ahead of the ICC Women's World Cup 2025. The schedule pits hosts India against England, and defending champions Australia against England, while Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand also get game time. These fixtures set the tone for a tournament returning to the sub‑continent after 12 years.

During Ryder Cup week, Bethpage Black shines as a world‑class public course that blends brutal challenge with surprisingly low rates. Ranked 34th in the U.S. and fifth among public courses, it welcomes New York residents for as little as $70 a round. Non‑residents pay roughly double, yet still far less than most top‑tier clubs. The course bans carts, keeping costs down, and its history includes multiple U.S. Opens and a 2019 PGA Championship.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Digital Economy Ministry has sealed a financing pact with Nigeria’s Fidelity Bank to push forward a $400 million satellite program. The deal creates a joint team to nail down technical and financial details, while also opening doors for the bank in the under‑banked Congolese market. With internet penetration at just 30.5% and banking access at 6%, the satellite aims to spark connectivity, education, health and economic growth across the country.

Liverpool host Southampton at Anfield for an EFL Cup third‑round clash on 23 September 2025. The Premier League leaders come in on a six‑game winning streak, while the Championship side sit near the bottom with just six points. History heavily favors Liverpool, and analysts predict a comfortable victory with multiple goals.

Watford got a morale boost when midfielder Imran Louza returned from suspension ahead of their clash with Millwall. Positive injury news also hinted at more options for Paulo Pezzolano. Despite the optimism, the Hornets slipped to a 1-0 defeat in a tight game decided by a free‑kick. Millwall earned their first home win of the season and moved up to 10th in the Championship.

Google DeepMind launched Gemini, a multimodal AI model family that can handle text, images, audio, video and code all at once. Five variants—Ultra, Pro, Flash, Nano and the 2.0 upgrade—serve everything from Pixel phones to enterprise clouds. Gemini powers new Search Overviews, Workspace tools and the upcoming agentic assistant vision.

ABC has suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live indefinitely after backlash to remarks involving Charlie Kirk, prompting warnings of regulatory scrutiny and a move by Nexstar to pull the show from its ABC affiliates. Protesters gathered outside ABC sites, while Kimmel has remained publicly silent. The suspension marks a rare shake-up in late-night TV and highlights rising tensions at the intersection of comedy and politics.

Reach PLC, publisher of the Mirror, Express and Star, plans its biggest restructure, putting about 600 jobs at risk as it pivots to live news and video. Some 321 editorial roles are affected, with 135 new posts created, leaving a net loss of 186 jobs. The NUJ condemned the move as a "devastating body blow." Shares rose 1% after the announcement. New CEO Piers North is steering the shift.

Nigeria spends a huge share of its budget through procurement, yet key data is still hidden and capacity is thin. New research by Sope Williams and Adedeji Adeniran outlines fixes: default disclosure, a federal e-procurement system, stronger dispute resolution, and real training for officials. A March 2024 Abuja workshop kicked off knowledge-sharing, but political will and institutional reforms remain the big test.