38 killed in Al Shabaab attack in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland

The death toll from al Shabaab attack on a town in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region on Thursday has risen to 38 from 20 reported earlier, a military officer said.
“Now we confirm 38 people, mostly soldiers, died and 18 others wounded.
I believe some were captured alive and taken away,” Major Mohamed Abdi, a Puntland military officer, told Reuters.
“Numerous, heavily armed al Shabaab fighters attacked us from every direction and after hours of fierce battle I was among those who ran for their lives.”

Credit: Reuters

43 people killed in accident on Zimbabwe - Zambia Highway

Over 40 people have been killed in a bus crash in northern Zimbabwe on Thursday after a bus on which they were traveling run into a tree, police in the country have confirmed.
The immediate cause of the accident according to police was due to loss of control of the vehicle by the driver. The state-affiliated Herald newspaper also reports that over twenty others have been sent to hospital.
“We were informed of the death of 43 (people). The bus was traveling to Zambia when the driver lost control of the vehicle last night in a corner,” Zimbabwean police spokesman Charity Charamba confirmed.
“We are always present at the scene of the accident, more details will follow,” she added.
The accident is said to have occured in the Nyamakate area near the Zambian border. Many travelers and businessmen regularly use buses to shuttle between the two countries.
Accidents are not uncommon in Zimbabwe, due in part to the poor condition of roads and vehicles. Last year, at least 30 people were killed in the collision of two buses that linked the two main cities of the country, Harare and Bulawayo.

Photo credit: The Herald Newspaper

Black Stars beat Gambia in friendly game

 The first half had just a handful of chances to cheer for the handful of supporters who trooped to the national stadium to watch the early kick off.
Ghana had chances to take the lead in the second half but squandered those moments. Coach Maxwell Konadu made a magical substitution when he replaced Richmond Lamptey with in-form Thomas Abbey and the latter, from a beautiful through ball from Zakaria Mumuni, looped the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper Modou Jobe into the yawning net.
The Gambians nearly equalised through an own goal but the follow-up corner kick was wasted as well.

The West African neighbours mounted more pressure in search for the equaliser and it paid off as Lamin Jallow from 20 yards hit a low shot to equalise for The Gambia.
Ghana immediately went into restoring the lead but missed a couple of more chances. In the 77th minute Ghana were awarded a penalty after Joseph Paintsil was brought down.

Goalkeeper Razak Abalora elected to effect the kick and did well to restore Ghana’s lead from the spot as he sent fellow goalkeeper Modou Jobe the wrong way.
Ghana held on to victory after 90 minutes.