died

Doctors initially said Lottie Perks was just dehydrated and should rest at home

A mum says she was ‘dismissed’ as being ‘overly anxious’ by doctors until her daughter’s holiday stomach bug turned out to be her appendix bursting – and potentially fatal sepsis. Lottie Perks, now 20, began experiencing ‘crippling’ stomach pain, coupled with vomiting just days into a holiday.

24 hours later she was back to normal and the family got back to enjoying their holiday in Brazil, but on arriving home in London it was clear Lottie was unwell.

“She began shaking uncontrollably and I noticed her lips, hands and feet were freezing cold,” said mum Laura. “Her feet were white and her lips were blue. And her temperature was weirdly very low. Her face and limbs were swollen and flushed.

“I had been trying to trust the doctors before this and convince myself they were right. But, at this point, it was clear something was very wrong. I was terrified.

“And then, she collapsed in my arms as her eyes rolled back in her head. Her blood pressure plummeted and her heart rate raced dangerously high. I thought this was the end.”

Laura had also experienced a bout of sickness after returning from the trip in April 2025, so the family assumed Lottie had contracted the same bug. But just hours after coming home, the stomach pain and vomiting started again, coupled with bleeding and diarrhoea.

They went to A&E but nothing was found to be wrong. Laura said: “She was very pale, weak and physically could not stop vomiting even though there was nothing left in her. Lottie was placed on an IV drip for three hours while being observed, but was ultimately discharged with a gastro bug, as her blood tests showed normal levels of inflammation.

“That night, and the next day, she didn’t improve and became much weaker. I called the hospital and asked if it could be appendicitis, but they said everything was fine.”

Laura rushed her daughter back to hospital and begged for her to be seen again. Doctors allegedly claimed she was simply dehydrated and that they needed to leave the hospital – until an unusual rash was spotted.

After further checks, Lottie’s legs had started to turn a mottled purple and her body was severely swollen. A CT scan was ordered and it was found that her appendix had burst, causing sepsis.

Laura said: “I knew something was clearly wrong and before they took me seriously, I felt powerless. She had emergency surgery, but it was too late, the sepsis had spread. When she collapsed in my arms, that was her going into septic shock.

“And the start of her organs ceasing to work. I thought she’d be OK after the operation But the look on the surgeon’s face afterwards told me otherwise.

“When they explained about the sepsis and septic shock, and said they’d done all they could do, I felt powerless.”

Doctors rushed to give Lottie antibiotics, as there was a one hour window before her organs would start to fail completely. As nothing else could be done, it was a waiting game for a week.

Luckily, the teen recovered and was slowly taken off medication, as well as machines, keeping her alive. And, despite her life being on the line, she managed to return to university and pass her first year with flying colours.

Now, she still suffers with bouts of sickness, stomach pain, dizziness, fatigue and difficulty keeping warm. The emotional toll is felt by not just Lottie, but her mum, too.

To help raise awareness, the pair are working with Sepsis Trust to warn others of the signs to look out for. And, to never dismiss whether worrying symptoms could be sepsis.

Laura added: “Sepsis doesn’t need a cut, injury or an appendix bursting. It can be from something as simple as a virus. The symptoms are so subtle and confusing; but can become fatal so quickly.

“Having that one question in your mind when advocating for a loved one could save their life. We both suffer from nightmares following the experience. It’s difficult to look at photos from that time.

“And it’s hard not to associate the trip with what happened. We’ve always enjoyed relatively adventurous holidays and discovering further away places.

“But this has definitely put on the radar the possibility of a medical emergency while we’re away. And so, as a family, we haven’t been away too far since. We’re trying not to let the worry and her vulnerability take over too much from enjoying life.

“It’s forever changed us, but we’re so incredibly lucky to have caught it just about in time. I was treated like an overly anxious mother – but that’s what saved my daughter’s life.”

Lottie added: “Initially, I was very scared. I tried to stay calm and thought it was probably a gastro bug or food poisoning. It quickly turned into frustration because I was in so much pain and it was clearly where my appendix was.

“There was a lot of fear; I was terrified. Genuinely feeling like you’re dying and can’t explain or get anyone to understand was [infuriating].

“I still don’t think I really understood what was happening while I was in the ICU. I remember being frustrated that I couldn’t go up to the normal ward. But this was obviously because my organs weren’t fully functioning on their own still.

“Another part of the recovery that was quite frustrating was the loss of all my muscle. I remember just doing one lap of the ICU when I was well enough and being completely exhausted and my legs feeling so tired.

”Going from being someone quite active, and having to come to terms with this new situation, was quite a shock. Looking back on it now, I just feel incredibly lucky and almost proud of my body for managing to push me through it.

“But that gratitude and appreciation also comes with a huge frustration that it could’ve been avoided or acted upon sooner. And I wouldn’t have had to have been in that position in the first place.

“But it taught me a lot and I’m obviously very grateful for all the doctors and nurses that helped me. I have learned to advocate for myself better and to speak out when something isn’t right.

“I also felt frustrated as just being young and female meant that so many things masked it – from doctors thinking I could be pregnant, toxic shock syndrome, period cramps. I wanted to explain that as women, we know what’s normal for us, and this clearly wasn’t normal.

“I understand that various possibilities needed to be ruled out; but I wish someone had considered rapidly progressing sepsis as one of those a little sooner. That said, I am well aware that I am one of the very lucky ones. I’ve been shocked to read all of the ways it could have ended differently.”

Don Nelson, the second-winningest coach in NBA history who won five championships as a player with the Boston Celtics, died Sunday. He was 86.

Nelson’s death was announced by the Golden State Warriors, one of the teams he coached. They did not release details.

Nelson is one of two coaches in NBA history to have at least 250 wins with three different franchises — Milwaukee, Dallas and Golden State — also serving as general manager for all three franchises. He was a three-time coach of the year and made the playoffs 18 times in 31 seasons. He went to the conference finals three times with the Bucks and once with the Mavericks, never winning a title.

Nelson introduced what is now known as the point forward, and his up-tempo style of offense created a buzz. He said the idea of shifting from the dominant big men of the 1970s to an offense focused on speed and the fast break came from his playing days under Hall of Fame Celtics coach Red Auerbach.

The Celtics’ Don Nelson drives to the basket under pressure from Milwaukee’s Cornell Warner on May 12, 1974, in Milwaukee.

(Associated Press)

“The league really hadn’t seen an offense like the one we were running, and the results were undeniable,” Nelson wrote in 2016 in the Players’ Tribune.

Nelson said that “without Red Auerbach teaching me the mechanics of running the fast break, none of it would have been possible. He deserves all the credit for Nellie Ball, and for how fast the game of basketball is played today.”

Nelson played 11 of his 14 seasons in Boston and was on five Celtics championship teams under four different coaches. He became an assistant coach in Milwaukee after retiring as a player, then took over after coach Larry Costello resigned 18 games into the 1976-77 season. Nelson coached the Bucks for 11 seasons starting in 1976 and won seven straight division titles.

In Nelson’s second season, Milwaukee overcame a 29-point fourth quarter deficit to beat Atlanta 117-115 in regulation.

“I coached the team as though I was still playing for the Celtics, while implementing a few of my own strategies,” Nelson wrote. “I knew I wanted to play unconventional basketball and use speed to my advantage.”

His fast-paced offenses were probably best on display with Golden State in the “Run TMC” era featuring future Hall of Famers Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin. Nelson said he wanted them on the court at the same time.

Nelson spent 11 seasons over two stints with Golden State. The first one was punctuated by a rift with rookie star Chris Webber, who was traded away a month into his second season. Nelson, demoralized by the trade, missed nine games that season because of illness and resigned under pressure three months later in February 1995.

In between, Nelson was fired after less than one season in New York in 1995-96, then coached in Dallas for eight seasons, missing 21 games with the Mavericks starting in December 2000 to recuperate from prostate cancer surgery.

Nelson’s son, Donnie, joined his father as an assistant coach with the Mavericks in 1998, later became general manager and remained with the organization until 2021. Together they persuaded 20-year-old German star Dirk Nowitzki to pass up European basketball and join the Mavericks. Don Nelson also developed Steve Nash into one of the NBA’s top point guards before Nash went on to win back-to-back MVPs with the Phoenix Suns in 2005 and 2006.

Golden State Warriors coach Don Nelson celebrates with his team after breaking the record for NBA career coaching victories with a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 7, 2010, in Minneapolis. It was Nelson’s 1,333rd win.

(Paul Battaglia / Associated Press)

“Don Nelson was a true innovator whose influence on the game of basketball is still felt today,” current Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He consistently challenged conventional thinking, experimented with different lineups and styles of play and saw possibilities in the game that others often did not. So much of what is now commonplace in the modern NBA can be traced back to the way Nellie approached the game.”

At Golden State, Nelson’s “We Believe” Warriors led by Baron Davis upset Nowitzki and the top-seeded Mavericks in the first round of the 2007 playoffs in one of the biggest shockers in NBA history. In his final season as a coach, Nelson mentored rookie Stephen Curry in 2009-10.

“One of the big reasons I was drafted by the Warriors was because of Don Nelson. The story is he never liked rookies, but from Day 1 he challenged me and gave me an opportunity to be my best self on the court,” Curry said in a statement released by the Warriors. “He taught me a lot during our one season together and I’ll never forget the night he became the winningest coach in NBA history in Minnesota. We were so happy for him. He had an immeasurable impact on the sport and will go down as one of the greatest minds in the history of the game.”

Davis added: “When I think of Nellie, I’ll always think of the ‘We Believe’ team and our incredible run in 2007. He understood what made us go and made us believe we could beat anybody, ultimately helping us make history as the first No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in a seven-game series. That time in my life and career was truly special, and Nellie was a huge part of making it possible.”

Don Nelson laughs while receiving the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award during a news conference on June 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City.

(Kyle Phillips / Associated Press)

Nelson retired as the NBA’s career coaching wins leader with 1,335, just ahead of Lenny Wilkens’ 1,332. Nelson kept that top spot for nearly 12 years before close friend and now-retired San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich passed him in March 2022.

Nelson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2025 he received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the National Basketball Coaches Assn. Miffed that the Mavericks sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers in a blockbuster trade, Nelson wore a pair of Doncic’s signature Jordan Brand sneakers to the awards ceremony. He called the trade a “tremendous mistake.”

Born in Muskegon, Mich., Nelson attended high school in Rock Island, Ill., and averaged a double-double in college at Iowa. He spent his retirement years living on the Hawaiian island of Maui and owned several short-term rentals on the island.

Memphis Grizzlies ⁠forward Brandon Clarke’s ⁠May 11 death ruled accidental, with effects of heroin and cocaine cited.

The Los Angeles County ‌Department of Medical Examiner reported on Friday ⁠that Memphis Grizzlies ⁠forward Brandon Clarke died due to the effects of heroin and cocaine.

The medical examiner ruled Clarke’s ⁠May 11 death an accident. The combined effects of multiple prescription medications were also identified as a significant contributing ⁠condition, though the specific medications were not disclosed. The full medical examiner’s report has not yet been released.

Clarke, 29, was discovered unresponsive in a bedroom at a residence ‌in California’s San Fernando Valley and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The medical examiner conducted an examination the following day before formally certifying the cause and manner of death on Friday.

Clarke spent his seven-year NBA career with Memphis after finishing ⁠his college career at Gonzaga. He averaged ⁠10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds over 309 games (50 starts) and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2019-20.

Injuries limited Clarke during ⁠his final seasons. He missed more than a year after tearing an Achilles ⁠tendon in 2023 and appeared in ⁠only two games during the 2025-26 campaign because of knee and calf ailments.

About six weeks before his death, Clarke was arrested in Arkansas ‌on charges that included possession and trafficking of a controlled substance following a traffic stop.

Following Clarke’s death, the Grizzlies ‌remembered ‌him as an “outstanding teammate and an even better person” whose influence extended beyond the organisation and into the Memphis community.

Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke died in May from “the effects of heroin and cocaine,” the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner announced Friday.

The manner of death was determined to be accidental, the department said.

Clarke died May 11 in a San Fernando Valley home, multiple media outlets reported at the time, and drug paraphernalia was found at the scene. The department said Clarke was found unresponsive around 5 p.m. that day and was pronounced dead by paramedics 15 minutes later. He was 29.

“On May 12, a deputy medical examiner conducted an examination of Mr. Clarke at the DME’s Forensic Science Center,” the department said in a statement. “The cause and manner of death were certified Aug. 7.”

Clarke was born in Vancouver, B.C., and played basketball at Desert Vista High in Phoenix, San Jose State and Gonzaga. Selected at No. 21 overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2021 NBA draft, Clarke was traded weeks later to Memphis, where he played his entire career.

He played in 309 games but only two last season because of injuries. Clarke averaged 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds during his career.

“Everyone loved BC because he was always there as the most supportive friend you could ever imagine,” his agency, Priority Sports, said in a statement after his death. “He was so unique in the joy he brought to all of those in his life. It’s just impossible to put into words how much he’ll be missed. We love you, BC.”

The son of former Manchester United footballer Mark Hughes died from sudden adult death syndrome, a coroner has found.

Alex Hughes was found collapsed at his home in Macclesfield, Cheshire, on 19 June by his two sons.

The 38-year-old, who followed his ex-Wales international father into football and held roles in recruitment at Grimsby Town, Manchester City and other clubs, could not be revived by paramedics, his inquest heard.

Following his death, Mark Hughes and his wife Jill said they were “totally heartbroken by the sudden and unexpected loss of our beloved son”.

Sudden adult death syndrome (SADS) – also known as sudden arrhythmic syndrome – is diagnosed when the cause of death cannot be explained in a post-mortem examination because the structure of the heart appears normal.

It affects about 500 people in the UK every year.

The British Heart Foundation said SADS “usually happens when a dangerously abnormal heart rhythm goes untreated and leads to a cardiac arrest”.

The foundation added that inherited heart conditions are “often the cause of SADS if the person who has it doesn’t know they do”.

Spain’s foreign minister maintains ‘the integrity of the Schengen area is absolutely guaranteed’.

Spain says “virtually all” of the estimated 60,000 migrants who stormed its North African enclave of Ceuta by land and sea in recent days have already left again voluntarily.

The number of people who had died trying to enter Ceuta was raised to at least 67 on Saturday, Spanish officials said, adding there could be additional casualties on the Moroccan side of the border. Some of the confirmed dead had drowned, and ⁠some were crushed while trying to climb the breakwater that holds the border fence.

“Virtually all those who entered Ceuta have now returned to Morocco,” Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares, wrote on X on Friday night.

The mass influx of migrants had dismayed European Union governments, and particularly those in the Schengen area – 29 countries that have abolished border controls for travel between them.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Friday described the images from Ceuta as “unacceptable”, while French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said France would tighten its borders with Spain.

In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni threatened to suspend Italy’s open-border Schengen agreement with Spain “to defend our borders and ensure the safety of our citizens”, though Italy does not share a border with Spain.

Spain’s Interior Ministry said about 50,000 people had crossed the border since Thursday morning, and estimated that 48,300 had returned by 6pm (16:00 GMT) on Friday. Juan Jesus Vivas, head of Ceuta’s local government, said as many as 60,000 people had pushed across over the past couple of days.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who travelled to Ceuta on Friday, said the mass crossing represented “a violation of Spain’s territorial sovereignty”.

Spain announced it was installing a containment barrier along the breakwater fence into the sea.

Moroccan police in riot gear used tear gas and water cannon trucks at the enclave’s border on Friday night to disperse people gathered near the fences and push them back.

“Honestly, I don’t even know why I came, and now I’m going back,” a young Moroccan man, who said he was from Tangier, told Reuters. “I haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday, even though I brought some money with me … What we’re doing is neither good nor enjoyable.”

Ceuta, together with Melilla – another autonomous ‌Spanish city in North Africa – represents the European Union’s only land border with Africa. Both cities often experience surges in attempted crossings by people seeking to migrate to Europe.

To reach Ceuta, migrants often swim from the Moroccan town of Fnideq, covering about 5km (3 miles) to reach Spanish territory. Others attempt the crossing from the nearby town of Belyounech, where the distance is shorter.

Ceuta authorities linked the surge in attempted crossings to a Spanish Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that prevented authorities from immediately returning migrants who arrive by sea. The ruling does not apply to migrants who enter Spain by land, including by climbing over the border fence.

Sanchez said on Friday that the influx of migrants was caused by mafias spreading rumours about this court ruling. But activists in Morocco expressed doubt that the ruling was behind the surge, arguing most migrants would have been unaware of such legal decisions.

Although the crossing appeared blocked later on Friday, many migrants still moved along the coast, seeking routes around the fence.

“I was late,” said Brahim, 32, who had arrived from Tangier hoping to cross through the gate, but found it effectively shut.

According to WHO figures, 999 people have died in DRC and two in Uganda due to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus.

Nearly 1,000 people have died from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the country’s health ministry says.

DRC’s National Institute of Public Health said on Wednesday that 999 deaths have been confirmed since the outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of the virus began in May.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), two people have also died from the virus in neighbouring Uganda.

DRC’s Health Ministry said that as of Monday, 2,473 cases had been recorded in the latest outbreak. At least 737 patients are currently in isolation and hospitals, it added.

The DRC outbreak was declared on May 15 after several deaths were recorded in the northeastern province of Ituri, where cases remain concentrated. Several cases linked to the DRC’s outbreak were then reported in Uganda.

This outbreak has killed more people at a quicker rate than any Ebola outbreak on record, including the 2013-2016 outbreak that is considered the worst on record with over 11,000 deaths out of at least 28,000 cases. That outbreak took about eight months to reach 1,000 deaths.

Last week, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the current outbreak had over the past month “expanded faster than any previous outbreak” of the virus.

Cases of Ebola, which spread through close contact and infected bodily fluids, have also been found in other Congolese provinces outside of Ituri.

‘We must act now’

The WHO’s incident manager for the Bundibugyo strain, Thierno Balde, told reporters on Tuesday that despite plans to ramp up responses to the virus, “the outbreak remains ahead of us and we are still in a phase of catching up”.

Currently, there are no approved vaccines or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain.

Separately, on Tuesday, the head of Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) also said the outbreak was “escalating at an alarming pace”.

“We must act now. If we do not stop it today, this will become the worst outbreak the world has ever documented,” Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said in a post on X.

“This is not the time for delay. We must mobilise every available resource, strengthen the response on the ground and stop this outbreak before more lives are lost.”

Kaseya also separately told a conference on Tuesday that he had written to US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and asked him to lift Ebola-related travel restrictions on Uganda since the country has not reported any new infections in about a month.

Uganda’s last Ebola patient was discharged on July 16, beginning a 42-day countdown after which it can be declared free of the virus, according to WHO guidelines.

But the US is restricting entry for all travellers who were recently in DRC and some travellers who recently visited Uganda or South Sudan.

A SOAP star died the day after her 35th birthday party from drinking a deadly amount of alcohol, her post-mortem has revealed.

Ece İrtem, best known for playing Işıl in the popular Turkish TV series Cranberry Sorbet, died of ethyl alcohol poisoning.

She died at her home in Istanbul, Turkey, after collapsing in front of her devastated mother.

Initial findings suggested Ece had died of a heart attack, but The Institute of Forensic Medicine ruled that the star died from alcohol poisoning after an extensive investigation.

395 milligrams of alcohol per decilitre (mg/dl) of blood was found in her system, nearly eight times Turkey’s legal drink-driving limit.

This blood alcohol level is deemed medically critical and can be fatal.

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Soap star dies of ‘sudden heart attack’ just one day after her 35th birthday

Experts concluded the exceptionally high blood alcohol level mixing with prescribed antidepressant and anti-anxiety medication caused the actress’ death.

The findings put to bed widespread rumours that Ece had died from an illness contracted from a monkey bite.

She had been bitten by a monkey on May 27, during a trip to Thailand, Ece’s lawyer Uğur Gökkoyun confirmed.

Macaques in Thailand can carry infectious diseases including rabies and herpes.

But Uğur explained that she had taken a 21-day course of preventative medication before safely stopping it after 11 days.

And the autopsy found no evidence suggesting that the monkey bite was at all linked to her death.

Ece had posted on social media just a day before her death thanking fans for their sweet birthday wishes.

Heartbreaking tributes have poured in for the young actress, saying she was full of love and happiness.

Caglar Kuru, her friend from university, wrote: “I cannot find the words. She was a person whose heart was full of love, energy and happiness.

“Living through this pain is truly very sad.”

Ece studied at Yasar University’s Opera and Vocal Studies Department before going on to train as an actress.

The soap star kicked off her television career in 2014 before going on to appear in series including Runaway Brides, That’s My Life and New Bride.

She also starred in shows including Payitaht Abdulhamid and Mr Wrong.

Ece was buried at Yenikoy Cemetery in Kusadasi, on Turkey’s Aegean coast.

But the funeral sparked a furious row after several people were spotted filming and taking photos of the coffin.

Footage of the moment went viral on social media and the fans were slammed for their disrespect towards the grieving family.

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland had early-stage chronic traumatic encephalopathy when he died by suicide at age 24 in November, according to test results released by his family Tuesday through the Concussion & CTE Foundation.

“While this diagnosis does not change the tragedy of his passing, it provides important context about some of the struggles he may have been facing,” Kneeland’s family, including girlfriend Catalina Mancera, said in a statement.

CTE is a degenerative brain disease that has been found in people who experience repetitive head trauma and can be diagnosed only after death.

“We share this information to help people understand what NFL and other high contact sport athletes might be struggling with,” the family said. “Raising awareness is important to us. We continue to remember Marshawn with compassion for the person he was, rather than defining him by the final moments of his life. One Love.”

Frisco, Texas, police said Kneeland didn’t stop when state Department of Public Safety troopers tried to pull him over on Nov. 5 for a traffic violation. The 2024 second-round draft pick was pursued by authorities in his vehicle and then on foot before being found “deceased with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Frisco police said in a statement at the time.

Police-dispatch audio from the incident revealed that Kneeland had sent out a group text to say goodbye to his family.

Researchers at the Boston University CTE Center analyzed Kneeland’s brain tissue and determined that the athlete, who started playing tackle football at age 7, was in stage one of four of CTE.

“Unfortunately, I was not surprised to find CTE in the brain of Mr. Kneeland, because we have found this progressive brain disease in nearly half of the athletes we’ve studied who have died before the age of 30,” Dr. Ann McKee, the center’s director, said in a statement.

“Thanks to the generosity of our brain donor families, we now better understand the earliest stages of CTE, and it is bringing us closer than ever to diagnosing it during life. My team and I are fully dedicated to finding effective treatments and a cure for CTE.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

An Argentine television presenter has resigned after falsely reporting that the father of Lionel Messi had died during Argentina’s first World Cup game.

Florencia Pena made the claim during a live broadcast on Argentine streaming channel Luzu TV following Argentina’s opening group game win over Algeria.

“I don’t want to bring bad news, but Messi’s father has just passed away. It was sudden. In the middle of the World Cup,” Pena said while hosting the show.

The report quickly spread on social media before Pena clarified that the information had not been confirmed.

The Messi family later issued a statement confirming that the player’s father, Jorge Messi, is receiving medical treatment for an undisclosed health condition.

The statement said the 68-year-old is under medical supervision and recovering, while criticising speculation surrounding his health and calling for privacy during a difficult period.

Pena apologised publicly and said the information had been passed to her during the programme as if it was verified news.

“I apologise to the Messi family,” she said in a statement. “I am deeply ashamed to have been involved in this mistake.”

The 51-year-old television personality and actress now says she was given unverified information.

“I have to clarify that this false information was given to me live on air as if it had been checked by the show’s production team, and I trusted it,” Pena wrote on social media on Thursday.

“Even so, I take responsibility for being part of the mistake and that is why I decided to step aside and end my participation in Luzu.

“I apologise again from the heart; I was wrong.”

Luzu TV also apologised and announced disciplinary action following the incident, saying the dissemination of sensitive information without proper verification was unacceptable.

Nicolas Occhiato, the show’s host and producer, said: “We at Luzu TV deeply regret what happened on the air during the program El Show de Verano. For our channel, the broadcast of sensitive information without proper prior verification is unacceptable.

“For this reason, Luzu TV management has decided to terminate the employment of all those responsible, and Florencia Pena has decided to step down.

“We reaffirm our commitment to responsible, respectful, and rigorous journalism.”

The controversy came after Messi scored a hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria. The 38-year-old appeared emotional during the match and later said he had experienced “difficult days” for personal reasons unrelated to football.

The false report triggered widespread criticism across Argentina, with many supporters condemning the failure to verify the information before it was broadcast.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei called it “Trash talk” on X, saying that Pena’s “outrageous and unscrupulous, unverified statements on a streaming channel, which would still be outrageous even if the information had been true, since they concern a citizen’s private life, remind us of the impunity with which some individuals believe they can operate simply because they have a microphone or a pen in their hand”.

Argentina continue their World Cup campaign against Austria on Monday (18:00 BST).

Coronation Street legend Kevin Webster got into a huge showdown with nephew Carl on Tuesday night’s episode of the world’s longest-running TV soap and a shot was fired

Kevin Webster got involved in a shocking gun showdown on Tuesday night’s episode of Coronation Street. The mechanic has been played by Michael Le Vell since 1983 and has been central to many of the soap’s biggest storylines, many of them involving his ex-wife Sally (Sally Dynevor), and their daughters, Rosie (Helen Flanagan) and Sophie (Brooke Vincent).

Over the last year, it’s been a typically dramatic time for Kevin and, not only has he had to deal with a testicular cancer diagnosis, he found out that his now-estranged wife Abi ( Sally Carman ) had been having an affair with Carl Webster, the man he thought was his brother. It was just this year that a major retcon took place and Kevin’s sister Debbie (Sue Devaney) revealed that she was, in fact, Carl’s birth mum.

On top of all that, Carl was recently injured when working on a car on the garage when Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) let the vehicle collapse down on him, and, to keep himself in the clear, lied to the police about his whereabouts that night, thereby landing innocent Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby) in prison over the murder of Theo Silverton.

Things came to a head in the latest episode of the world’s longest-running TV soap when Kevin and Carl came face-to-face in the garage as Ronnie Bailey, along with Tyrone, watched on in horror. Having obtained a gun from dodgy car dealer Fiona Morley (Sara Poyzer), it was lying on the floor between them – just after Kevin had tried to hit him with a wrench.

Carl told Kevin: ” Either we fix this… ..or you pick up that gun,” to which his brother-turned-nephew did, believing that it was fake and a violent tussle followed when Carl told him to pull the trigger. A gunshot was heard and it transpired that Kevin had pulled the trigger.

Tyrone got a hold of Kevin to make him see sense and, when he realised Carl had dodged the bullet, he said: “I’m sorry, Carl.” Later on, Carl called round to number 13 where he told Kevin: “Been a bit of a day, eh? Should never have agreed to do that job for Fiona. I don’t know what I was thinking, pulling that out on you. We’re a right pair, aren’t we, eh?

“So, is this us now? Putting everything behind us?” Kevin sighed as he said: “We’re never gonna be best mates, but yeah. We both love Debbie and if you’re serious about doing the right thing by her then we’ll move forward.

“Just one thing. Why did you do it? Abi, I mean. Like, I know I’ve gotta get past it, and it’s doing me no good dwelling on the past but I need to know. Please.” Carl said: “Because she was there, I was selfish, self-destructive. Jealous. Kev, whatever the reason, doing that to you, to both of you, it was wrong and I regret it. I regret it all. I don’t wanna be that person again and I don’t think I’m gonna be.” It was then that the warring relatives seemingly called a truce as they shook hands.

By the end of the episode, Ronnie and Debbie had found out about the whole thing and he claimed he had returned the gun, but now it was nowhere to be seen as Fiona hadn’t received it. Lamenting in the living room, Debbie said to Ronnie and Carl: “So, not only have we got God knows who coming after us, but there’s someone out there with a loaded gun!

“Right, first thing tomorrow, I want you both out there, and I want you to find it, because if you don’t, it won’t be Fiona you’ll have to worry about, it’ll be me! Now, get out of my sight… the pair of you,” and showed them the door. What none of them know, though, is Jodie Ramsey, the mysterious long-lost sister of Shona, had found the gun and taken it for herself.

Reacting to the tense episode, one fan wrote on X: “Carl bringing a gun to an argument.. yes only soft b******* do that!! #Corrie,” whilst another said: “So what’s Jodie planning on doing with the gun then?” Is she gonna use it on David if he doesn’t sleep with her?”

A third wrote: “Aw Carl and Kevin making up. Hope Carl sorts himself out for Debbie,” and a fourth said: “A near miss for Carl and Kevin. Oh s*** the gun has gone off!”

Coronation Street airs Monday to Friday at 8:30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream from 7am on ITV X.

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Authorities have identified the hiker who suffered a fatal medical emergency in Runyon Canyon as 78-year-old screenwriter William Hasley.

Hasley was a veteran TV writer who taught screenwriting classes at UCLA Extension. He was also a friend of Caitlyn Jenner and helped write the former athlete’s motivational book “Finding the Champion Within,” according to his biography.

The L.A. County medical examiner released Hasley’s identity Tuesday but had yet to rule on his cause of death.

More than two dozen personnel with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a report of a hiker in grave medical condition off Nichols Canyon Road near Hollywood Boulevard shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday.

A helicopter was used to reach the patient and allow paramedics to provide urgent medical care. They were unable to save him, and he was declared dead shortly after, according to the LAFD.

Hasley hailed from Pittsburgh and played university football before venturing to Hollywood to pursue his dreams as a writer. He wrote on 37 episodes of “The Smurfs” in the late 1980s and early ’90s as well as several episodes of “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,” according to IMDB. His TV writing credits also included “Swift Justice,” “Ghost Stories,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Young Riders” and “Highway to Heaven.”

He was able to channel his love of sports while working with NBC on the network’s project “Star Salute to the U.S. Olympic Team,” where he met Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner, according to his professional biography.

The pair became friends, and Hasley went on to help write a book about Jenner’s philosophy on overcoming adversity in sports and life. He was commissioned to ghostwrite several other motivational books including “Passion, Profit, & Power” for hypnotist Marshall Sylver and “The Slight Edge” for self-help expert Jeff Olson.

Hasley loved sharing his passion for writing with students at UCLA and described the process of writing as akin to assembling a puzzle, where one tries many different combinations of pieces before finding the perfect fit, according to his teaching biography.

“I personally believe that when you know your characters well enough they will start dictating their actions,” he wrote. “When that happens writing becomes a euphoric experience.”

In addition to teaching and writing, he enjoyed golfing, horseback riding, fighting City Hall over an environmental issue, volunteering in soup kitchens and speaking to youth organizations, according to his bio.

Hasley was formerly married to actor Robin Riker, best known for her roles on “Brothers” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

He lived in the Hollywood Hills not far from where he suffered the medical emergency. A neighbor told the New York Post they had seen him earlier Saturday carrying groceries home. “It’s very sad he had to die all alone like that,” the neighbor said.

Times staff writer Sonja Sharp contributed to this report.

PARIS — Acclaimed Iranian-French cartoonist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi, a prominent advocate for women’s rights, has died at 56, the French presidency said Thursday.

“Her passing marks the loss of a leading figure of French culture and an artist devoted to freedom, whose work carried a universal message and earned her immense international acclaim,” the French presidency said in a statement.

President Emmanuel Macron and his wife “pay tribute to a remarkable artist who transformed an Iranian childhood into a universal fable,” the statement said.

News broadcaster BFM TV and other French media reported Satrapi has “died of sadness” a little over a year after the death of her husband, Swedish film producer and actor Mattias Ripa, according to a statement from people close to the artist.

The French Academy of Fine Arts, of which she was a member, expressed its deep sadness in a social media statement, paying tribute to “a passionate advocate for cinema and film education” who earlier this year created a foundation to help international students come to Paris to study film.

Satrapi is best-known for her monochrome autobiographical comic book and film “Persepolis,” a coming-of-age tale set against the Islamic Revolution in her native Iran.

“Persepolis” won the Film Critics Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival in 2007 and the César Award for adapted screenplay in 2008, in addition to being nominated for animated feature at the 2008 Oscars.

The film, which details her life in Tehran as the willful daughter of intellectual Marxists, is a reminder that Iranians are just like everyone else, Satrapi told The Associated Press in a 2007 interview in Cannes.

“What we wanted to say is, if these people scare you, look closer: They have parents, they have lovers, they have hope, they have stories,” she said.

Iranian authorities at the time protested the movie’s inclusion at Cannes, sending a letter to the French Embassy in Tehran.

Satrapi was born on Nov. 22, 1969, in Rasht, Iran, but her parents sent her to Vienna, Austria, in 1983 to finish her studies because of the extremism in their country following the 1979 Revolution that brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power.

But Satrapi, who found Austria hostile and who desperately missed her parents, returned to Iran in 1989 to attend Tehran University, where she earned a degree in visual communications.

By the time she graduated, Satrapi decided she finally was ready to leave Iran and accept the opportunities her parents had been so desperate to give her a decade before. In 1994 she moved to France. She studied in Strasbourg and later moved to Paris.

Her graphic novels also include “Broderies” (“Embroideries”) and “Poulet aux prunes” (“Chicken with plums”), which also was adapted into a film. As a filmmaker, she has directed several works including “La Bande des Jotas” (“The Gang of Jotas”) and “Radioactive” (“Madame Curie”), a biography about the Polish physicist Marie Curie.

Satrapi in 2023 coordinated the book “Femme, vie, liberté” (“Woman, Life, Freedom”) together with a group of artists and academics to illustrate the revolts that occurred in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 at the hands of the so-called “morality police.” The work denounces the repression and lack of human rights that Iranian society, especially women, suffers at the hands of the Iranian regime, the foundation said.

Satrapi was elected member of the French Academy of Fine Arts in 2024. She also was offered France’s highest award, the Legion of Honor, that same year but declined it, arguing France was not doing enough to support Iranian people fighting for democracy.

“Supporting the women’s revolution in Iran cannot be reduced to photos or speeches,” she wrote in a January 2025 letter to French authorities. “When people are fighting for democracy, we should support them.”

In 2024, Satrapi won the Princess of Asturias Foundation award in Spain for communication and humanities. The organization said she was “an essential voice in the defense of human rights and freedom.” The judges described her as “a symbol of civic engagement led by women.”

Satrapi’s husband, Ripa, died in April 2025 at 53. On her Instagram page, only one message was left in a series of posts: “Because I have lost the love of my life.”

A Paralympic athlete died “in an accident waiting to happen” when a metal bar fell on him, a sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey has been told.

Abdullah Hayayei, a wheelchair using shot putter from the United Arab Emirates, was killed when a training cage collapsed in a gust of wind at a training facility in Newham, London, as he practised for the World Athletics Championships in July 2017.

UK Athletics, the event’s organiser, is being sentenced for corporate manslaughter.

Keith Davies, 78, UK Athletics’ former head of sport, is being sentenced for a breach of health and safety law. Both Mr Davies and UK Athletics pleaded guilty at a hearing earlier this year.

Prosecuting, John Price KC told judge Richard Marks KC that the equipment that killed Mr Hayayei, 36, was missing key components.

The entire structure collapsed in the wind, and a heavy metal bar weighing 25kg hit the athlete on the head. Mr Hayayei, who had a history of cerebral palsy, died at the scene.

The court heard a victim impact statement from Badriah Rashid Zayed Al-Yahyaei, the victim’s widow, who described how her husband’s death had left her alone with five young children.

“It was a huge shock to me because I was waiting for the news of his victory and success,” she said.

“Suddenly the news reached me. I could not comprehend it at first and refused to believe it, and today that moment is still in my mind.

“What happened was a result of gross negligence that could have been avoided had safety rules been adhered to.

“My husband went out to represent his country, raise the name of the UAE, and returned as a corpse.”

Mr Davies and representatives from UK Athletics listened as the prosecutor explained how key base support components from the heavy shot-putting cage had been missing that afternoon.

The KC said Mr Davies had told investigators that the equipment had been assembled according to the instructions.

“At the very least,” argued Mr Price, the official “ought to have known that it was incorrect”.

He added: “The evidence shows he actually knew it and therefore this was not a truthful statement by him.”

An expert called to the Newham site after the accident said some of the bolts were missing, and the KC claimed there was a “culture and practice” of assembling the cage without key pieces.

“It was an accident waiting to happen,” he told the court.

A legal statement which UK Athletics produced years after the incident was described by the prosecutor as ‘”a deeply unworthy document by a national sporting body and one of which it should be ashamed”.

UK Athletics, said the KC, had attempted to lay all the blame upon Mr Davies “and even appear to have pointed the finger at the Newham venue”.

Representing Mr Davies, Mark Balysz KC said his client had written to the court in advance of the sentencing.

Mr Davies says he has found it “so very hard” to come to come to terms with the athlete’s death.

“I have woken every night thinking about his loss, and his poor family,” he said.

“These feelings have intensified since I found out about the investigation for manslaughter.”

The hearing continues, and Judge Marks is expected to hand down his sentencing decisions on Tuesday.

Loved ones and healthcare workers gathered for the burial of a doctor who died after treating Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Fears among frontline medical teams are growing as the outbreak worsens, with more than 900 suspected cases of the virus.

YOUTUBE and Netflix star Danny Go has announced his son Isaac has tragically died aged 14.

Kids’ favourite Danny, whose real name is Daniel Coleman, took to Instagram today to post a heartbreaking tribute to his young son, who lived with Fanconi anemia.

The rare inherited genetic disorder led to the diagnosis of an aggressive mouth cancer.

The incurable condition, which affects the body’s ability to repair DNA, can also cause physical abnormalities.

Daniel shared a series of photographs of Isaac and wrote: “Isaac Daniel Coleman. 10/3/11 – 5/21/26. Oh my sweet boy. There’s so much I want to say, but I don’t know how yet. I already miss you so much…

“The pain in my heart is far more than I can process. But looking through thousands of pictures and videos this past week, I’m also filled with tremendous pride…

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“Your 14 years were full of so many challenges, but you met them all with such grit…and you somehow kept your trademark joy in spite of it all…

“You truly had a spark like no other, Isaac! Remembering how loved you were and how full of life your time here was gives me great comfort. Being your dad was the honor of a lifetime. I’m so proud of you and I love you forever. Rest peacefully, son.”

The youngster is survived by his dad, mum Mindy and brother Levi, 10.

Viral sensation Daniel has a huge global following thanks to his colourful animated adventures packed with catchy songs and interactive elements.

Fellow kids superstar and friend of Daniel’s, Ms Rachel, encouraged her following to send love to the family.

She wrote: “Hi wonderful parent and caregiver community – Please send so much love and so many thoughts and prayers to Danny Go and his beautiful family. Danny’s precious son passed away…

“We are so sorry for their loss and are thinking about their son’s amazing joy and their immense pride’. She added a caption reading: ‘Let’s all turn on Danny Go today and send so much love and so many prayers and wrap them up in support.”

In December, Daniel updated his followers on his personal Instagram account, informing them of Isaac’s cancer diagnosis, which he said was almost inevitable given his genetic disorder.

“We found out last week that Isaac has cancer in his mouth,” he wrote. “TBH, we always knew this day was coming, as it’s a near certainty w/ Fanconi anemia…

“But it’s definitely hitting a little earlier than we hoped and is still just such a shocking thing to hear about your child, even if you’ve braced for it for years. Been getting lots of scans and we’re not sure yet how much it’s spread…

“But for now, the plan is to try and remove the cancer surgically asap. We’ve done chemo before with Isaac’s bone marrow transplant, but it’s a much less ideal path due to his genetic disorder and the damage radiation does to the rest of his body….”

Unfortunately, the surgery did not fully remove the cancer, which was found to be on the cusp of stage four at the time, and last month Isaac was transferred into a hospice.

By the time the announcement that Abu Bilal Al-Minuki was killed reached the outside world, the strike itself was already hours old. In the early hours of Saturday, May 16, somewhere in Metele, in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria, a compound had been hit. 

First, US President Donald Trump posted a statement on Truth Social. Another came from Bayo Onanuga, Special Advisor to Nigeria’s president on Information and Strategy, on Facebook and X. Al-Minuki, described as one of the most senior figures inside Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), was dead, both statements claimed.

“Tonight, at my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield. Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally,” Trump said in the post.  

The Nigerian military said special forces were deployed to block escape routes while air components executed precision strikes against what was described as a “concealed and fortified terrorist enclave.” The mission was completed, the military added, “without casualties or equipment loss on the part of friendly forces.”

During a televised interview, the Director of Nigeria’s Defence Media Operations, Major Gen. Michael Onoja, explained that the US military provided intelligence and surveillance support, while Nigeria deployed boots on the ground for the operation. 

“There were no foreign boots on the ground during this operation. What we received were intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance support and other force enablers,” he said.

There was only one problem: according to the Nigerian military itself, Al-Minuki had already been killed once before – in 2024.

For nearly two years, Al-Minuki’s name – also known as Abubakar Mainok or simply Abu-Mainok – had existed in the strange afterlife of Nigeria’s counterterrorism war; a conflict where terrorist commanders are frequently declared dead only to reappear later through propaganda videos, from Abubakar Shekau to Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawy. 

“Our determined Nigerian Armed Forces, working closely with the Armed Forces of the United States, conducted a daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of the Islamic State,” President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said in a statement issued from Aso Villa on Saturday. “Early assessments confirm the elimination of the wanted IS senior leader, Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, along with several of his lieutenants, during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin.”

However, in the counterinsurgency operations in northeastern Nigeria, where insurgency and information warfare have become deeply intertwined, certainty is always expensive.

Strategic realignment 

Saturday’s strike was the first major public success to emerge from the military partnership between Nigeria and the US. The operation, designated under Nigeria’s existing counterterrorism framework as falling under Operation Hadin Kai, commenced at 12:01 a.m. and ended at 4:00 a.m. on May 16, according to a statement from the Joint Task Force North-East spokesperson, Lt.-Col. Sani Uba.

The operation reflects a rebuilding of the partnership after it had been almost damaged after a single catastrophic night on Christmas Day 2025, when Donald Trump ordered missile strikes into Sokoto State. Trump framed the strikes as retaliation against militants killing “innocent Christians”—a language that resonated with parts of his domestic base but landed badly across northern Nigeria, where the conflict is far more complicated than the religious framing imposed on it from abroad.

Several of the missiles reportedly malfunctioned. One strike landed near a civilian settlement with no known militant presence. Nigerian officials found themselves balancing two competing realities: the military needed American intelligence and surveillance capabilities, but the Nigerian government could not afford to appear subordinate to the US narrative of the war.

The months that followed produced a quieter arrangement. American military personnel arrived in northeastern Nigeria – eventually around 200 troops – under a structure designed carefully around optics as much as operations. Nigerian authorities retained formal command. The Americans supported intelligence gathering, aerial coordination, and technical operations around the A-29 Super Tucano fleet already deployed against insurgent groups in the Lake Chad Basin.

The choreography surrounding the recent announcement of Al-Minuki’s death was as deliberate as the operation itself. Donald Trump spoke first. Tinubu issued his statement a few hours after Trump posted on Truth Social. Major Gen. Samaila Uba, Director of Defence Information, released a detailed press statement under the Armed Forces of Nigeria letterhead, complete with Al-Minuki’s full array of aliases — Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Minuki, Abor Mainok, Abubakar Mainok, Abakar Mainok — and a comprehensive accounting of his alleged roles. 

Everyone involved in the recent communication appeared determined not to repeat the Sokoto embarrassment on  Christmas Day, when Washington’s messaging had almost completely overshadowed Abuja’s.

“Nigeria appreciates this partnership with the United States in advancing our shared security objectives,” Tinubu said. “I extend my sincere gratitude to President Trump for his leadership and unwavering support in this effort. I look forward to more decisive strikes against all terrorist enclaves across the nation.”

The statement was noted for its tone and content. Tinubu’s public gratitude to Trump marks a significant shift from the friction that defined the relationship only five months ago, when parts of Nigeria’s political and diplomatic establishment, along with some ordinary Nigerians, were quietly furious over both the Christmas strikes and the framing of responding to the claims of Christian genocide that accompanied them. 

So who exactly was Al-Minuki?

Trump described him as “the second in command of ISIS globally.” AFRICOM called him “the director of global operations for ISIS”. The Nigerian Defence Headquarters offered the most specific claim: that as recently as February 2026, Al-Minuki “may have been elevated to the position of Head of the General Directorate of States, placing him as the second most senior leader within the ISIS global hierarchy.”

The same statement linked him to the 2018 Dapchi kidnapping of more than 100 schoolgirls, to the facilitation of fighters into Libya between 2015 and 2016, to weapons manufacturing and drone development, and to “economic warfare” coordination across the Sahel.

“His death removes a critical node through which ISIS coordinated and directed operations across different regions of the world,” the Defence Headquarters’ (DHQ) statement said.

Al-Minuki was a product of the insurgency itself. Born in 1982 in Mainok, a town along the Benisheikh axis of Borno State, he took his nom de guerre (pseudonym) from his hometown. Those who knew him in his early years, during the rise of Mohammed Yusuf, the founder of Boko Haram, told HumAngle that he was a young man who ran a small barbing salon in Mainok village, about 58 kilometres west of Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria. Long before his name became associated with violence and insurgency, he was known simply as a village barber.

Before pledging allegiance to the Islamic State in 2015, he was a senior Boko Haram commander with a documented antagonism toward Abubakar Shekau. His split with Shekau was a result of competing visions of insurgency: Shekau operated through spectacle, brutality, and deliberate isolation from the Islamic State central command. The faction that became ISWAP sought structure, territorial governance, and integration with the IS international hierarchy. When IS reportedly requested fighters for Libya during the height of the Syrian conflict, Shekau refused. Al-Minuki, then commanding ISWAP’s Lake Chad division, complied — one reason, analysts say, he rose within IS’s provincial bureaucracy while Shekau remained suspect in its eyes.

The DHQ’s assertion that Al-Minuki served as “Nigeria-based al-Furqan GDP Office Emir” from 2023 onward is consistent with what analysts had been tracking for several years: his role as the connective tissue between ISWAP’s local operations and the IS’s transnational administrative architecture. His designation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US in June 2023 under Executive Order 13224, cited in Saturday’s military statement, reflected assessments that he had become central to ISWAP’s financial networks, weapons procurement, drone acquisition, and communications between the Lake Chad insurgency and IS-linked structures across West Africa and the Sahel. 

The “second in command of ISIS globally” framing is a political claim, pitched to an American domestic audience that requires a recognisable villain. Still, it doesn’t situate Al-Minuki well within ISIS’s formal hierarchy. 

Al-Minuki had long occupied a powerful position within the ranks of ISWAP, but his influence deepened after the deaths of Abu Musab al-Barnawi and, later, the death of Abu Rumaisa or Abba, both sons of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf in 2023, as reported by HumAngle. Their deaths created a vacuum at the centre of the ISWAP leadership structure and how it interacts with the Islamic State global networks, thrusting Mainok into a more strategic role in coordinating operations of the terror group across the Lake Chad region.

Al-Minuki was the man most responsible for keeping ISWAP wired into the Islamic State’s international infrastructure. His death is a meaningful disruption, but not the decapitation of a global terrorist hierarchy. 

ISWAP has repeatedly demonstrated that it can regenerate leadership after losses. It replaced leaders and survived the loss of top commanders. Its resilience has never derived primarily from any single commander; rather, it has stemmed from the political and economic conditions within Borno and across the Lake Chad Basin that continue to enable recruitment, taxation, and territorial control. The DHQ acknowledged as much, noting that “Battle Damage Assessment is ongoing, while follow-up exploitation operations are being conducted to clear remaining terrorist elements in the area.”

“Mistaken identity” 

The official statement from the Army said it was common for numerous terrorists to use the same names or aliases, suggesting that both the individual killed in 2024 and the commander killed in this strike shared the same name. It did not acknowledge any mistakes. 

“This time around, this individual [we killed] is the original owner of that name,” the Director of the Defence Media Operation said. 

Meanwhile, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s spokesperson, in a Facebook post on Saturday, claimed the discrepancy between the person killed in 2024 and the one killed now was due to a case of mistaken identity. He also warned that sceptics had “rushed to question the authenticity of the Nigerian-American joint military operation” and said the criticism was “premature and not grounded in the realities of modern counterterrorism operations.” He noted that Nigeria’s Armed Forces were “operating in one of the world’s most complex insurgency environments where targets often move across borders and use multiple identities.”

Nigeria has lived through this before. Shekau was declared dead multiple times across more than a decade until soldiers grew to distrust the announcements and civilians in Borno learned to reserve judgment until they saw real change on the ground.

The Presidency’s warning that “premature dismissal of military claims can inadvertently undermine operational morale and strategic messaging” is a legitimate concern. But it is also an argument for public deference rather than public accountability. 

For now, Trump has another example to point to as evidence that American military engagement abroad delivers results. Tinubu also has a successful joint operation that projects competence and international partnership without appearing commanded from outside.

The Armed Forces of Nigeria, in Major Gen. Uba’s words, have demonstrated “unwavering resolve to confront terrorism and deny extremist groups the ability to threaten national, regional and international security.”

But in the displacement camps and farming communities scattered across Borno State, the significance of Saturday’s strike will be measured differently.