Northern

Riots broke out in Northern Ireland’s Ballymena after two teenage boys appeared in court accused of attempted rape. Police say the violence, which left homes and vehicles burned and officers injured, was racially motivated, following reports the suspects required a Romanian interpreter in court.

“I think back of when we were successful in 2016 and we were really, really hard to beat.

“We knew what we were good at and I see similarities in this team. There are a lot more legs and more youthfulness now, but there’s a similarity in being really hard to beat.”

As a former Northern Ireland Euro 2016 favourite and Premier League player with Leeds United, Stuart Dallas knows what it takes to be successful.

Now retired, he’s watching Michael O’Neill’s “new era” Northern Ireland gear up for World Cup qualifying, and he likes what he is seeing.

After a 2-1 defeat in Copenhagen to Denmark, O’Neill’s young side had to dig deep to beat Iceland at Windsor Park.

After Isaac Price’s latest moment of brilliance lit up a drab first-half, the game turned when Brodie Spencer was sent off in the 57th minute and Iceland piled on the pressure.

It was a new challenge for his young team and, as Dallas adds, “they had to show a different side to them”.

It was a test they passed with flying colours.

“This team have a strong character and desire when things are going against them to stay in the game,” said O’Neill.

“There’s a lot of things we can do better, but we can’t ask any more in terms of character and defending as a team and a unit.”

Rioters said to target ‘foreigners’ in Northern Ireland town following alleged sexual assault of local teenage girl.

Hundreds of masked rioters have attacked police and set homes and cars on fire in Northern Ireland’s Ballymena in the second night of disorder described as “racially motivated” by police following a protest over an alleged sexual assault in the town.

Police said they were dealing with “serious disorder” on Tuesday night in the town, located about 45km (30 miles) from the capital Belfast, and urged people to avoid the area.

Officers in riot gear and driving armoured vehicles responded with water cannon and firing plastic baton rounds after being attacked with Molotov cocktails, steel scaffolding poles and rocks that rioters gathered by knocking down nearby walls, the Reuters news agency reports.

One house was burned out and rioters attempted to set a second home alight, according to reports, while several cars were set on fire.

The Belfast Telegraph newspaper said that some residents in Ballymena have started to mark their front doors to indicate their nationality to avoid attack, while Irish media outlets report that a call has gone out for protests to be held in other towns and cities in Northern Ireland, currently part of the United Kingdom.

During earlier violence on Monday, four houses were damaged by fire and windows and doors were smashed in other homes and businesses, in what police said they are investigating as racially-motivated hate attacks.

“The terrible scenes of civil disorder we have witnessed in Ballymena again this evening have no place in Northern Ireland,” the UK’s Northern Ireland minister, Hilary Been, said in a post on social media.

“There is absolutely no justification for attacks on PSNI [Police Service of Northern Ireland] officers or for vandalism directed at people’s homes or property,” he said.

Unrest first erupted on Monday night after a vigil in a neighbourhood of Ballymena where an alleged sexual assault occurred on Saturday. The trouble began when people in masks “broke away from the vigil and began to build barricades, stockpiling missiles and attacking properties”, police said.

Two teenage boys, charged by police with the attempted rape of a teenage girl, had appeared in court earlier in the day, where they had asked for a Romanian interpreter, local media reports said.

Tensions in the town, which has a large migrant population, remained high throughout Tuesday, with residents describing the scenes as “terrifying” and telling reporters that those involved were targeting “foreigners”.

“This violence was clearly racially motivated and targeted at our minority ethnic community and police,” Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it was investigating “hate attacks” on homes and businesses and that 15 officers were injured in the rioting on Monday, including some who required hospital treatment.

Cornelia Albu, 52, a Romanian migrant and mother-of-two who lives opposite a house targeted in the attacks, said her family has been “very scared”.

“Last night, it was crazy, because too many people came here and tried to put the house on fire,” Albu, who works in a factory, told the AFP news agency.

She said she would now have to move, but was worried she would not find another place to live because she was Romanian.

Northern Ireland hold on for a narrow friendly victory over Iceland despite playing for more than half an hour with 10 men at Windsor Park.

Isaac Price’s curling first-half strike proved decisive as Michael O’Neill’s side held firm after Brodie Spencer’s dismissal early in the second half.

Report: Price hits winner as 10-man NI edge past Iceland

Crystal Palace’s Justin Devenny said he relished the challenge of playing a new position for Northern Ireland in their 2-1 friendly defeat by Denmark on Saturday.

The game in Copenhagen saw manager Michael O’Neill pick the 21-year-old to start at wing-back for the first time at international level.

Devenny, who won the FA Cup with Oliver Glasner’s side this season, performed admirably throughout, creating Northern Ireland’s early goal while also managing the threat posed by Lazio’s Gustav Isaksen.

“It was a new position for me but I enjoyed it and wherever I play for the team I’m willing to do a shift,” he said of what was his fourth cap.

“Michael had told me he was thinking of playing me there and we did a few bits and bobs in training. To be fair, I’m familiar with it from Palace as well.

“I know the roles and responsibilities of it and it’s just putting that into place.”

O’Neill has previously played the right-footed Brodie Spencer on the left side of his backline with the Huddersfield Town man performing well in recent internationals.

The manager thought that Devenny’s comfort on the ball gave his side a “nice outlet” at Parken Stadium.

“I thought he did really well,” O’Neill said.

“He’s got his hands full against a winger that obviously causes you a lot of problems. Justin’s a midfield player but he’s left-sided and I thought he dealt with it very, very well.

“He gave us a nice outlet on the left-hand side as well in terms of his use of the ball, so he was a big, big positive.”

Northern Ireland defender Trai Hume says he hopes the success players have had with their clubs will translate on to the international stage.

Hume and Ballard won promotion to the Premier League with Sunderland, Conor Bradley helped Liverpool to the league title and Justin Devenny won the FA Cup with Crystal Palace.

Northern Ireland face Denmark and Iceland in a double-header of friendlies over the next week in the final matches before the start of 2026 World Cup qualifying in September.

“There are four players there who won a lot this season and hopefully we can bring that winning mentality,” said defender Hume.

“It definitely helps the team. Hopefully that can push the squad on further, we can keep pushing and get where we want to be as a nation.”

Northern Ireland boss Tanya Oxtoby believes their 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Nations League in Zenica shows the “growth” of her side.

Captain Simone Magill’s composed finish was cancelled out by Sofija Krajsumovic’s equaliser for Bosnia, but NI saw out the draw which secured second place in the group and a promotion play-off.

That is an improvement on their third-place finish in the last edition of the Nations League, and despite the nervy nature of the draw, Oxtoby praised the application of her players to grind out a result.

“It’s always a difficult place to come with the travel, I thought we should have scored a few more in the first half and we conceded a sloppy one, but to show the character to see the game out that’s all that matters at this point,” she said.

“In international football there are no easy games, I said all along every game was going to be competitive in this group and you have to show the character and resilience.

“You have to win when it’s not pretty and get results when it’s not pretty and we’ve certainly done that when there have been times previously when we haven’t, so for me, that is growth.”

Kano governor declares day of mourning after athletes representing the state at a national sports event are killed.

A bus crash in Nigeria’s northern state of Kano has killed 22 athletes returning home from a national sports event, according to the local governor.

The bus, which was reportedly carrying more than 30 passengers, plunged off the Chiromawa Bridge on the Kano-Zaria expressway on Saturday, Kano Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf told The Associated Press news agency.

The exact cause of the accident was not known, but the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said it “might have occurred as a result of fatigue and excessive speed” after a long overnight trip.

The survivors of the crash were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Yusuf said the athletes, who were accompanied by their coaches and sporting officials, were representing Kano State at the Nigerian National Sports Festival, held about 1,000km (620 miles) to the south in Ogun State.

He declared Monday a day of mourning for the state. His deputy, Aminu Gwarzo, said the families of the victims would receive 1 million naira (about $630) and food supplies as support.

The National Association of Nigerian Students released a statement, Nigerian daily The Guardian reported, saying the “heartbreaking” incident had “cast a shadow of grief over the entire nation, particularly the youth and sports communities”.

Road accidents are common in Africa’s most populous country, in part due to poor road conditions and lax enforcement of traffic laws.

In March, at least six people died near the capital, Abuja, after a trailer crashed into parked vehicles and burst into flames.

Last year, Nigeria recorded 9,570 road accidents that resulted in 5,421 deaths, according to FRSC data.

The Nigerian National Sports Festival brings together athletes from the country’s 35 states every two years.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu recently said the games, which include sports ranging from wheelchair basketball to traditional West African wrestling, represent “the unity, strength and resilience that define us as a nation”.

May 29 (UPI) — Thousands of First Nations people in northern Manitoba are being evacuated as the central Canadian province issued a state of emergency to battle fast-moving wildfires, officials said.

There are a number of wildfires burning across thousands of acres in northern Manitoba, mostly near the border with Saskatchewan.

Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents 26 First Nations communities in the province, said in a statement that evacuation orders have been issued for nearly 17,500 people in four First Nations communities with two more communities on evacuation notice.

“A lot of our First Nations are under threat because of the fires that have consumed a lot of territory in our area, and I’m just asking all of you, my relatives, to be strong and to be brave and to be courageous during this very difficult time,” MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee said in a recorded statement published to Facebook.

“This is a very, very critical time in our First Nations.”

Premier Wab Kinew of Manitoba on Wednesday declared a provincewide state of emergency, which will be in effect for 30 days to ensure federal, provincial and local resources can be deployed in a coordinated response.

A statement from the provincial government states that evacuation orders have beeb issued for the city of Flin Flon and the First Nations of Pimicikamak and Mathias Colomb.

“This is the largest evacuation in many Manitobans’ living memory,” Kinew said during a press conference.

“This is a moment of fear and uncertainty. This is a moment of concern. But I want to tell you that your fellow Manitobans will welcome you. We will get through this difficult period, and we will get through this trying period the way we always do — by working together. “

He said he has spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who agreed to his request for assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces.

The military, he said, will be aiding with evacuation flights to the province’ capital of Winnipeg.

McIlroy joined 18-time major champion Nicklaus as part of an elite group of six players who have completed a career grand slam of all four major tournaments by winning The Masters at Augusta in April.

The world number two subsequently tied for 47th place at the US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow and is set to return to competitive action at the Canadian Open on 5 June as he prepares for the season’s third major, the US Open at Oakmont in Pennsylvania, from 12-15 June.

The PGA Tour’s final signature event of the season, the Travelers Championship, will be staged in Connecticut the following week.

“I know he likes to play so many in a row. He likes to play the week before a US Open. And so that’s what he’s doing. So, you know, I really don’t have a comment on it,” added Nicklaus.

“It’s very difficult, very difficult. I mean, I’m a big Rory fan, I always have been. I’m sure that I will remain that way. I just, I was a little surprised, yes.”

A large farm stretches across the uneven terrain of Bauchi State in northeastern Nigeria, where even motorcycles struggle to navigate the rugged countryside. The land is parched, and the air carries a sense of endurance—of people surviving, not living. This place, Gonar Abacha, is no longer just a farmland; it is a refuge and a wound. 

Now known as Garin Shuwa, it serves as a displacement camp, named after the Shuwa Arab community, which makes up most of its residents. Sitting at the foot of Bauchi’s rocky hills, the camp sprawls in fragile huts made of sticks and thatch, where displaced families live with little support, waiting for help that feels farther away each day.

This is where Imam Abdulkarim, a middle-aged man, and his family found shelter after Boko Haram terrorists forced them to flee their home in Kachan Shuwa, a village in Marte Local Government Area of Borno State, about eight years ago.

Before arriving here, they had tasted the ups and downs of life in an internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. The overcrowding and hardships eventually compelled Abdulkarim and his family to seek an alternative. With the support of the country’s former First Lady, Maryam Abacha, they were offered this land as a temporary, unofficial residence. That was how they came to settle in Garin Shuwa and began farming on borrowed land.

“We are between 600 and 700 people, and you can find many different stories, but we were all affected by Boko Haram violence,” he told HumAngle. “Among us there are widows, orphans, and those who have lost their relatives. It’s a large community of victims, but we are now surviving as a big family here.”

But there is a problem.

There is no school for the children at Garin Shuwa. No clinic, market, or even a small centre for basic relief. A mosque built recently through community donations is the only structure with a semblance of permanence.

Abdulkarim has learned not to expect too much.

“School is not our biggest problem,” he said. “We have a small madrasa (school) where children recite the Qur’an. What we need, what we truly need, is clean water and a clinic. Just a place to take our sick ones without watching them die slowly.”

“If a woman wants to give birth, she must travel to the town. But the road… even motorcycle riders fear it,” he added. According to Abdulkarim, several women have died due to this. Their babies did not survive. And for years, nothing has changed.

The road from Gonar Abacha to Bauchi town stretches barely 15 kilometres, yet the journey can take over an hour. During the rainy season, it dissolves into mud, swallowing bikes and bodies alike. Women in labour sometimes begin the journey with prayer, knowing the odds stacked against them.

And yet, they stay. Not out of love for this place, but because they have nowhere else to go.

A few metres from where we stood with Abdulkarim, a group of women gathered around a well, lowering water into its shadowy mouth. The well is deep, painfully so, but they are exhausting their energy to fetch the water because they have nowhere else to go.

Fatima Ibrahim, a young widow whose husband was killed by Boko Haram terrorists, wiped the sweat from her brow and spoke without lifting her gaze. “This is all we have,” she said. “This single well serves the whole camp: for drinking, cooking, washing, even bathing.”

She said it gets worse when the dry season comes. The well runs empty, and then they need to start walking again, like before, searching for water like refugees in their refuge.

Two boreholes were once dug in the camp by a local politician and a government agency, “but all of them have stopped working,” Abdulkarim said, showing the location of abandoned taps that had long not been used.

Different location, same problem

Bauchi is not alone in this quiet devastation. Hundreds of kilometres away, the story is the same as that of Katsina State in northwestern Nigeria. 

Many women gathered around the house of Dahiru Mangal, a Nigerian businessman and founder of Max Air, a local airline. They are not city beggars by origin. They are displaced women, survivors of attacks too terrifying to forget, from villages devastated by terrorist attacks: Batsari, Faskari, Dandume, Jibia, and many more. Violence chased them away from their homes, but hunger kept them on the streets.

“I never imagined my children would sleep like this,” says Rabi Ado, a mother of four from Faskari who fled home with her family. Despite her younger age, Rabi’s face shows every sign of hardship: hollow cheeks, sunken eyes, and cracked skin.

In the night, Rabi and many other displaced families sleep under the open sky, spreading their mats on bare ground, with only thin wrappers to shield them from the cold night. 

“We ran from the terrorists,” she said. “They came in the night, shot our neighbours, and burnt our house. We walked for days and then got into a car. When we got here, we had nothing.”

Behind Mangal’s compound, a local philanthropy serves food to the displaced. It is a slight relief, given in dignity, but never enough. “It’s first come, first served,” said Hauwa, a young woman who arrived with her grandmother. “Sometimes we get food, sometimes we don’t. And we have to look for something.”.

Aside from begging, some women turn to petty trading, selling second-hand items to make ends meet. It is a small market of old goods, clothes, utensils, mats, shoes, and everyday items that they could never afford to buy new.

Children, especially young girls, join their mothers on the streets, and others go alone. They beg from shop owners and passing motorists, often returning with just enough for a sachet of water. The boys beg, too; others run errands, or sift through rubbish bins in search of scraps of food.

The biggest problem is that these families have never witnessed government support, especially with the continued humanitarian aid cuts. 

They have become invisible in the very state that promised them refuge. There is no shelter, no IDP camp registration, and no aid agency monitoring their condition. The streets are both their home and their shame.

“Even if someone wants to help,” said Talatu Habibu, an elderly woman, “they don’t know we are here. We are not on any list. No government official has come. We are not counted among the displaced.”

Katsina State authorities occasionally promise interventions, such as cash support, resettlement plans, and empowerment programs, but they rarely reach those sleeping under the open skies. And when aid comes, it is often through personal charities, not accountability systems.

“There are many like us,” Talatu told HumAngle. “We are multiplying. When more villages are attacked, they come here too. This place is turning into another camp, but no one calls it one.”

Several women interviewed said several people have come promising support, but they don’t see it. “They come and tell us that they are from the government or Abuja, ask us about how we live, promise support, go, and never come back,” Talatu explained.

The IDPs have learned not to trust the government, local NGOs, or people who appear as philanthropists, even journalists. 

“They were told that when journalists interview them, they get money when the story gets published,” said Aminu, a local fixer for HumAngle. This climate of abandonment and broken promises has silenced many women who refused to speak to the press. “They are tired,” Aminu explained. “And I don’t blame them.”

‘We are all back to square one’

Lack of support defines the two IDP camps in Bauchi, Katsina, and several other communities in the country. In Gonar Abacha, Abdulkarim recalls when USAID, working through a local NGO, used to conduct medical outreach to their camp. “Nurses used to come, check women, and give them medicine,” he said. “The last time was, I think, some months ago. They said they would come back again, but they never did.”

There are over 60,000 documented IDPs in Bauchi. Many have received some support from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the North-East Development Commission (NEDC), but others remain completely unaided. Abdulhamid Sulaiman, the deputy chairman of the Bauchi IDP communities, explained the situation.

“For those within the IDP communities, they have gotten some support that includes foodstuffs, but the main support we receive from NGOs has been stopped,” he said.

The suspension of USAID-supported programmes has deepened the humanitarian crisis across the Northeast. Several local NGOs, previously dependent on USAID funding, have ceased operations. “We used to get small grants to train women on hygiene, to teach children how to read,” said Aliya Muhammad, formerly with a Bauchi-based NGO. “Now we are all back to square one.”

Humanitarian bodies working in northeastern Nigeria confirm that USAID’s pullback has negatively affected the delivery of essential services. According to surveys in the region, most local organisations relied heavily on USAID, and its withdrawal has crippled their ability to function.

A staff member of SEMA in Bauchi, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak, told HumAngle that there is a huge crisis in the activities of SEMA, making it difficult to achieve its plans, especially in the areas of WASH.

“The issue is, SEMA doesn’t rely on any local or foreign NGO for funding. The real problem is that some of the activities that SEMA covers are supported by local NGOs, which rely on donors. As they stop working, the problem increases for us, and it’s difficult or even impossible to solve all of them,” he said.

In Katsina, the situation is even more dire.

Over 250,000 IDPs are spread throughout the state. While those in Bauchi get some support, they don’t even think of getting any in Katsina. “If you are not in an official camp,” said Jamilu Muhammad, a volunteer aid worker in Katsina, “you don’t get counted. And if you’re not counted, you don’t get help.”

In this informal camp, children are the worst hit. The thought of taking them to school sounds like a privilege. “Some of our children used to go to school back in the village,” said Aisha, a mother holding an underweight baby. “But now, they need food first. Survival comes before anything.”

While street begging in northern Nigeria has long been associated with Almajiri boys in Qur’anic schools, a troubling trend is emerging in Katsina: the rising number of girl beggars. Unlike their male counterparts, these girls are not in any structured learning environment. They have no mentors, no protection, and no sense of direction.

HumAngle met girls between the ages of six and ten, wandering markets, mosques, and public spaces with begging bowls in hand. They are visibly malnourished, uneducated, and unguarded. Their parents, displaced by terrorist violence in places like Kankara and Jibia, are too overwhelmed to offer more than basic survival.

The girls said they are the daughters of the IDPs who fled their homes in places like Kankara and Jibia in Katsina State due to terrorist violence. With no schools to attend and no safe spaces to grow, they are forced to contribute to their families’ survival through street begging.

This growing population of girl beggars presents alarming risks. Beyond the obvious deprivation, they face threats of abuse, harassment, and trafficking. Their visibility in public spaces without guardianship or protection leaves them particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence.

As the international community scales back aid and state capacity remains stretched, girls in IDP families are becoming invisible casualties of a system that overlooks their specific needs. “Without urgent intervention, a generation of girls is at risk of growing up in trauma and perpetual poverty,” an aid worker who simply identified as Aliya said.

May 19 (UPI) — Two adults are dead, a baby is injured and a 5-year-old is missing after multiple people were struck by a train in northern Ohio, authorities and officials said.

Fremont Mayor Danny Sanchez told reporters at a brief press conference Sunday night that the victims appear to be a family from Indiana on a fishing trip. The two deceased have been identified as a 58-year-old woman and her 38-year-old daughter.

A 1-year-old was transported to the a local hospital, and responders are searching the Sandusky River for the missing 5-year-old, he said. The condition of the baby was not known.

“This is a very, very unfortunate tragedy that has hit our community today,” Sanchez said.

The Fremont Police Department said in a statement online that emergency crews were working near the Miles Newton Bridge, where the incident occurred. The bridge is currently closed, it added.

Crews responded to the scene at about 7:30 p.m. EDT, WTVG reported. The involved train began moving again at about 11 p.m.

This is a developing story.