Netflix’s first original African animated series premiered on Thursday in a debut its creator said she hoped would pave the way for more productions from the continent.
Set in a futuristic version of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, “Supa Team 4” tells the story of four teen girls who turn undercover superheroes after being recruited by a retired secret agent to save the world.
“I’m excited that the world finally gets to see the fantastic show that the incredibly talented super team, from Africa and beyond, have put together,” Zambian writer Malenga Mulendema told AFP in a statement.
“We hope ‘Supa Team 4’… will lead to further investment and collaboration so we can continue to grow the industry.”
Mulendema created the series after pitching it at a pan-African talent search by animation studio Triggerfish, where she became one of the winners in 2015.
When the show was first announced in 2019, Mulendema said she set the story in her home country to “illustrate that anyone from anywhere can be a superhero”.
“(Animation) series shaped our childhoods and to know young Zambians get to see what they’ve never seen on TV before is Amazing!!” Zambian singer Sampa the Great, who worked on the theme song, wrote on Instagram this month.
Netflix has bet on diversifying its production outside the United States in recent years, scoring big with series including Spanish smash “Money Heist” and South Korean dystopian drama “Squid Game“.
In April, the firm said it planned to expand operations in Africa and give “more African storytellers an amplified voice on the global stage”.
In order to discuss the effects of the continuing protests on manufacturers, the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) organised a news conference today.
Rajan Shah, the chair of KAM, expressed his group’s sincere concern for the safety and welfare of Kenyans, their staff members, and their clients amid the ongoing protests.
They sympathise with the relatives of the unfortunate victims during these trying times because they regret that some people have passed away.
The manufacturing industry has suffered a great deal, according to Mr. Shah, as a result of the ongoing protests.
They share the suffering of the majority of their members who have stated that countless businesses have been negatively impacted by outages, which have impeded their day-to-day operations.
“The ongoing protests have dealt a significant blow to the manufacturing sector. We share the pain of most of our members who have reported that numerous businesses have experienced disruptions, hindering their day-to-day operations,” said KAM Chair.
He added, ” Our manufacturing sector contribution to the Kenyan economy stands at about 1 trillion shillings as per the Economic Survey 2023. This translates to approximately 2.86 billion shillings daily in value addition. Therefore, the country stands to lose up to 2.86 billion shillings daily if the protests continue to disrupt businesses as we have witnessed in the last two weeks.”
According to the KAM Chair, investors heavily rely on a stable political and social climate that ensures the security of their investments while also ensuring that business operations won’t be interfered with.
Additionally, these demonstrations put Kenya’s standing as a desirable investment hub at jeopardy.
He continued by pleading with the Government and Azimio La Umoja to take the initiative and work to end this impasse by peaceful methods like negotiation and any other avenues allowed by the Constitution.
Kenyan comedian turned activist Eric Omondi paid a visit to Victor Juma on July 21 after anti-riot police arrested him.
Juma is the man in the viral video who clashed with anti-riot law enforcement officers in Mathare Constituency after they threw tear gas into his house.
Mr Juma could be heard in the viral video asking the police officers why they threw tear gas into his house when no one from his family was out on the streets participating in the opposition-led protests that were taking place across the country.
“Why have you tear-gassed my child? Who are you pointing at? You want to shoot me? Just know you have also sired children. You want to kill my child? You’ve tear-gassed my child and she fainted in the house. Beat me. I haven’t carried any weapons. I have come from the house to tell you the truth. What are you telling me? You are hurting our children. Why did you tear gas my child?” Juma shouted at the gathered officers.
One officer, posing as a journalist, rushed up behind him and arrested him, leading him to his colleagues, who bundled him into a police lorry. They also mocked him for ‘behaving like a man’ while manhandling him.
According to Eric Omondi, in an exclusive interview with a local media outlet, Mr Juma is not doing well in police custody but expressed hope that he will soon be fine.
“He has just been taken to Milimani Law Courts and I am following him there. He was arrested for unlawful assembly. Right now, we want to look at paying his bail- to look into his legal rights to get a cash bail- and then look into getting him a job to take care of his family. We are yet to know what work he would go for because we are focused on securing his freedom,” began Eric Omondi.
He also revealed that Mr Juma told him that the police intentionally fired tear gas into his house while battling demonstrators, causing his toddler daughter to collapse.
Mr Omondi went on to say that Juma and his wife were at a loss as to what to do next: rush the child to the hospital or stay home and remain safe because demonstrators were clashing with police and they risked being beaten by police regardless of their urgency.
Then Mr Juma went outside and angrily confronted the gathered anti-riot police officers while his wife nursed their child back to health.
Eric Omondi also plans to pay a visit to the family once Juma is released and reunited with his family.
Lionel Messi is expected to make his much-hyped Inter Miami debut in Friday’s Leagues Cup match at home to Mexican side Cruz Azul.
His former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets could also make his debut – with the pair managed by their ex-Barca boss Gerard Martino, who replaced Phil Neville in June.
And a third Barca legend in Jordi Alba is set to sign too, although his debut is likely to be against Atlanta on Tuesday.
Among their team-mates are a Finn with an English dad, Neville’s son and a former Premier League player who drives around in a golf cart.
BBC Sport takes a look at some of the players Messi, Busquets and Alba are likely to line up with over the second half of the Major League Soccer (MLS) season.
Goalkeeper
Drake Callender
The 25-year-old joined Inter Miami before their first season in 2020 and is in his second campaign as their first-choice keeper.
He has been named in USA squads but is yet to make his international debut.
Defenders
Sergii Kryvtsov
Sergii Kryvtsov is the only current Ukraine international who plays his club football outside Europe
The 32-year-old Ukraine centre-back joined Inter Miami in January, having spent his career before then in his homeland.
In over a decade with Shakhtar Donetsk, he won eight league titles and played 20 Champions League matches.
Kryvtsov left war-torn Ukraine with his wife and children last year.
DeAndre Yedlin
DeAndre Yedlin scored two Premier League goals for Newcastle
The 30-year-old United States right-back is the only one of Messi’s new team-mates with Premier League experience.
Yedlin played 109 times in the Premier League between 2014 and 2021, with most of those appearances coming for Newcastle after spells with Tottenham and Sunderland.
Last year, he told GQ magazine his main mode of transport is a golf cart, despite the fact he does not really play golf.
Christopher McVey
The 26-year-old had spent his career with Elfsborg in his homeland of Sweden until joining Inter Miami in 2022.
He is eligible for the United States through family and Sweden – for whom he last played at under-18 level.
Kamal Miller
The Canada centre-back, 26, only joined Inter Miami in April, having started the season with another MLS team Montreal.
He was named an MLS All-Star last season.
Harvey Neville
Neville has been in the Manchester United, Manchester City and Valencia youth set-ups
Full-back Neville, 20, has stayed at Inter Miami despite his father Phil being sacked as manager, and is still involved in the first team.
He was previously on the books of Manchester United, his father’s old club, and Valencia when Phil was assistant manager there.
Neville, who can also play in midfield, has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-19 level.
Ian Fray
Defender Fray, 20, has played in recent weeks after his first two seasons were plagued by injury.
He was named in Jamaica’s provisional 50-man squad for the recent Gold Cup, but did not make the final squad – and remains eligible for the US.
Noah Allen
Allen, 19, is in his second season with Inter Miami’s first team and is a US Under-20s international.
Ryan Sailor
Sailor, 24, is in his second season with Inter Miami after playing for the University of Washington Huskies.
Israel Boatwright
Dominican Republic Under-20s right-back Boatwright, 18, has played twice this season on short-term deals from the reserve team.
Midfielders
Dixon Arroyo
The Ecuador defensive midfielder, 31, is one of a host of South Americans to join Inter Miami this year.
He was signed as a replacement for the injured Brazilian Gregore.
Benjamin Cremaschi
Cremaschi, 18, has been called up to the Argentina and United States Under-20s squads.
He is a Miami native, but his father Pablo played international rugby union for Argentina.
David Ruiz
The 19-year-old only became a member of Inter Miami’s senior squad in April, having played twice before on brief loan spells from their reserve team.
He represented Honduras in the recent Under-20 World Cup, but has been named in US youth squads too.
Robert Taylor
Taylor has won 29 caps for Finland
Finland midfielder Taylor, 28, is in his second season at Inter Miami – and was a key part of their run to the play-offs last year.
Taylor, who can also play on the wing or at wing-back, spent time on the books of Nottingham Forest and Lincoln City when he was younger. His father Paul was an English footballer who played in Finland in the mid-1990s.
Lawson Sunderland
The 21-year-old made his debut in Inter Miami’s last game, a 3-0 loss at St Louis, but was subbed off at half-time.
Edison Azcona
Azcona, 19, is a senior Dominican Republic international and in 2021 became the first Inter Miami academy product to play for the first team. He finished last season on loan at El Paso Locomotive in the USL Championship.
Victor Ulloa
Defensive midfielder Ulloa, 31, is eligible for Mexico and the United States but uncapped by either. He has lots of MLS experience, playing 250 times in the US top flight for Dallas, Cincinnati and Inter Miami.
Forwards
Leonardo Campana
Ecuador forward Campana, 22, was a Wolves player for three years until joining Inter Miami on a permanent deal in January this year – although never played for the English team.
He went on loan to Famalicao in Portugal, Swiss side Grasshoppers and then Inter Miami, where he scored 12 goals last year.
Campana’s father Pablo represented Ecuador in the Olympics at tennis, reached the third round of the US Open, and was the country’s minister of commerce from 2017 to 2019.
Josef Martinez
Martinez is one of the MLS’s most prolific strikers
Venezuela frontman Martinez, 30, is joint 10th on the all-time MLS goalscoring list.
He joined Inter Miami from Atlanta United at the start of the season to replace the retired Gonzalo Higuain.
In 2018 Martinez won the MLS title, Golden Boot and Most Valuable Player (MVP) award with Atlanta.
He previously played in Europe for Young Boys and Thun in Switzerland, and Torino in Italy.
Nicolas Stefanelli
Argentine forward Stefanelli, 28, has done plenty of travelling in recent years.
Since 2019 he has played in Cyprus, Chile, Sweden and now the United States, joining Inter Miami at the start of the season from AIK.
Shanyder Borgelin
Haiti striker Borgelin, 21, made his MLS debut this season, having been Inter Miami II’s top scorer last season with 14 goals. Born in Florida, he is 6ft 4in.
Robbie Robinson
Robinson, 24, was the top pick in the 2020 MLS draft having played college football at Clemson. He was called up to the Chile squad in 2021 but said he needed time to think about his international future as he was also eligible for the USA. He remains uncapped by either.
Christine Sinclair missed a chance to become the first player to score at six Fifa World Cups as Canada were held by Nigeria.
Nigeria keeper Chiamaka Nnadozie kept out Sinclair’s spot-kick early in the second half as the Olympic champions were frustrated in Melbourne.
Deborah Abiodun was sent off late on for Nigeria, however they earned a point with a battling display.
Canada and Nigeria have one point in Group B, behind co-hosts Australia.
The Canadians face Republic of Ireland in their next game on 26 July, after the Irish were beaten by Australia on Thursday.
Their captain Sinclair went into this game aiming to make some personal history. The 40-year-old forward was making her 324th international appearance and has scored 190 goals for her country.
She is one of three players to score at five Fifa World Cups – alongside Marta and Cristiano Ronaldo – and seemed destined to make history when she was fouled inside the area by Francisca Ordega early in the second half.
Referee Lina Lehtovaara awarded the penalty after the video assistant referee intervened, however Sinclair’s effort was weak and well saved by impressive Nigerian keeper Nnadozie.
‘Chiamaka’s save really lit the fire’
“I’m probably going to embarrass her, but I think she’s one of the best young goalkeepers in the world,” said Nigeria coach Randy Waldrum.
“I think Chiamaka’s save really lit the fire and made us realise there’s still something to play for.”
Nigeria, ranked 33 places lower than Canada in the Fifa rankings, defended deep and prevented Canada from many clear chances other than the penalty.
Sinclair fired narrowly wide from the edge of the area in the first half, while Nnadozie kept out Evelyne Viens’ stabbed effort in the second.
“We’ve got to move on very quickly – you can get lost and be really down on that,” said Canada coach Beverly Priestman.
“Of course the team and I are devastated. We didn’t get three points. But at the end of the day we got one and we took two from another team.”
Nigeria came closest to a goal in the first half when a mistake from Canadian keeper Kailen Sheridan allowed forward Asisat Oshoala to round her, however the Barcelona forward’s shot from a tight angle was well blocked by Ashley Lawrence.
VAR again intervened in the final seconds to instruct Lehtovaara to send off Abiodun for a high tackle on Lawrence, after the Finnish official originally only gave a yellow card.
However Nigeria held on to give them fresh hope of getting out of their Women’s World Cup group for only the third time in nine tournaments.
Three-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce powered to victory in her first 100m sprint of the 2023 season in Luzern, Switzerland.
The 36-year-old Jamaican has been recovering from a knee injury but clocked 10.82 seconds at the Spitzen Leichtathletik event.
New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs came second and American Kennedy Blackmon third.
Fraser-Pryce will defend her title at the World Championships in Budapest next month.
The veteran sprinter returned to action in the 200m at the Jamaican National Championships on 9 July in Kingston, where Shericka Jackson claimed a sprint double.
The World Championships women’s 100m final is set to take place on 21 August.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti moved on Thursday to tamp down discussion of his possible future move to the Brazilian national team, saying he was focused on the Spanish giants and their upcoming season.
“I will never talk about Brazil, about what is going to happen,” the Italian told reporters in Los Angeles, where Real Madrid will play the first of four US friendlies on Sunday against AC Milan at the Rose Bowl.
“I am the coach of Real Madrid and I am staying here,” Ancelotti insisted, two weeks after Brazilian Confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues indicated Ancelotti was poised to become the first foreigner in almost 60 years to coach the Selecao after his Real Madrid contract expires.
That would put the Italian at the helm in time for the Copa America in the United States from June 2024, but Ancelotti said for him the subject was closed.
“I will never talk about this matter again,” he said, noting that he had a contract with Real Madrid “until 30 June, 2024”.
Ancelotti also declined to comment on Madrid’s chances of signing French star Kylian Mbappe, who is involved in a contract dispute with Paris Saint-Germain.
Mbappe “is a player who is not at Madrid,” he noted. “To talk about players who are not here, it doesn’t seem right to me.”
Ancelotti did discuss his plans for dealing with the departure of Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, who last month inked a three-year deal with Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia.
He said he would experiment with a system that exploits the attacking potential of signings such as England’s Jude Bellingham and Turkey’s Arda Guler.
Even though an elite direct replacement for Benzema has yet to arrive, Ancelotti said he was satisfied with how the Real Madrid squad has come together for next season.
“For me, the squad has improved,” he said. “We have lost a player who has been fundamental for years in Karim, whom we wish the best and who has been a club legend. But we have a very young group that we are convinced will give us a lot of satisfaction,” he said.
After the press conference, Ancelotti led the first practice on the University of California at Los Angeles, where several hundred fans turned out to welcome the team.
On 26 July the team travel to Texas to face Manchester United in Houston before a Clasico against Barcelona in Dallas on 29 July.
Before returning to Spain, Madrid will face Juventus in Orlando, Florida, on 2 August.
PSG and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was tied up during an armed robbery at his Paris home and was treated in hospital afterwards, a source close to the investigation told AFP on Friday.
A group of “several individuals” broke into Donnarumma’s home in the upmarket 8th district of the capital overnight on Thursday-Friday.
He was “lightly injured” and “tied up” along with his partner, said the source, who was not authorised to speak publicly.
The thieves fled after stealing jewellery, watches and other luxury goods worth an estimated 500 000 euros ($550 000), the source said, confirming a report by the Actu17 website which first reported the break-in.
Donnarumma and his partner raised the alarm at a hotel next to their home.
Several PSG players have been targeted in robberies over the last few years, including Presnel Kimpembe, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Angel Di Maria, Dani Alves, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Sergio Rico and Mauro Icardi.
Four men were given prison sentences in January and February this year over burglaries at the homes of Marquinhos and Di Maria in 2021.
“PSG has confidence in the justice system to find the culprits as quickly as possible,” said a spokesman for PSG in response to the robbery of Donnarumma.
Chicago rapper G Herbo faces up to 20 years in prison after he agreed to plead guilty to using false identities to acquire large amounts of money to fund his rap career.
The rapper, born Herbert Randall Wright III, was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2020 on federal charges of lying to U.S. Secret Service agents and wire fraud. He and five other associates are accused of using fake identities and racking up more than $1.5. million in trips and luxury items, according to Rolling Stone and court documents obtained by The Chicago Tribune.
Herbo and his associates, including his promotor Antonio Strong, reportedly used the funds for a villa in Jamaica, private jet destinations and “designer puppies.” Federal agents tracked their whereabouts for years and revealed how Herbo and his associates used over a million dollars in stolen credit cards to fund the 27-year-old’s career.
Bossip reported Herbo is charged with two counts of aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to reports, his plea deal is not official without an approval from a judge. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. However, court documents indicate he could receive a lower sentence, per Rolling Stone.
The plea agreement was released on Wednesday, detailing how Herbo and his team racked up around $1.5 million in fraudulent charges.
“Wright used the proceeds of these frauds to travel to various concert venues and to advance his career by posting photographs and/or videos of himself on the private jets, in the exotic cars, and at the Jamaican villa,” the plea agreement stated. “In addition, Wright helped Strong obtain designer puppies from a business by falsely representing to the business that Wright was the actual purchaser of the puppies and by concealing Strong’s actual identity from the business.”
Herbo is accused of lying to a U.S. federal agent about his relationship with Strong in November 2018. At the time, the Chicago native claimed he never received money or luxury items from Strong, but court records show that he has accepted funds and other valuable goods from the promoter and has been in communication with him since 2016.
As part of the plea agreement, Herbo will pay $140,000 in restitution to the alleged victims, including $10,458 to Woof Woof Puppies in Michigan, per Rolling Stone.
A section of Ngong Road will be closed on Sunday, July 23 to facilitate the erection of a footbridge, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) has announced.
In a public notice issued on Friday, KURA said the road will be closed from 9 am to 6 pm for the works.
“The Kenya Urban Roads Authority wishes to notify the general public that a section of Ngong Road at the Kenyatta National Hospital stage will be closed off on Sunday to allow for the erection of the steel deck footbridge crossing,” reads the notice by Kura’s DG Silas Kinoti.
To ensure smooth traffic flow during the closure, motorists heading to Nairobi CBD will be diverted to Valley Road, while those heading to Mombasa Road will be rerouted to Mbagathi Way.
KURA has urged both motorists and pedestrians to exercise caution when approaching the construction area and strictly follow the diversions indicated by traffic signs and traffic marshals on site.
“We request the public to be patient as we work to enhance pedestrian safety and urban mobility,” the Authority said in its notice.
