Bafana Bafana’s departure was delayed due to non-issuance of visas for several players and support staff.

The South African national team members have left for their World Cup training base in Pachuca, Mexico, in advance of their opening game against the tournament cohosts on June 11.

The delegation that left on Monday did not include assistant coach Helman Mkhalele, who has yet to obtain a United States visa.

The charter flight departed Johannesburg following a frantic 24 hours after the squad was originally scheduled to leave on Sunday, but was held back by a delay in obtaining visas in what was described as an administrative bungle by the South African Football Association (SAFA).

Mkhalele, a former international winger who played 66 times for Bafana Bafana, including at their World Cup debut in France in 1998, will have to travel later after his visa application was initially denied.

Blaming the US Consulate General in Johannesburg for the delay, SAFA president Danny Jordaan told the South African Broadcasting Corporation, “They refused the visa, but gave no reasons. It is very difficult to deal with the process where you get no information.”

“We don’t know [why it was denied], we are clutching in the dark, but we hope the matter will be resolved [soon]. All of the players are [on the flight] and 99 percent of the technical staff.”

South Africa are due to play Jamaica in a friendly on Friday before taking on Mexico in the showpiece opening match in Mexico City.

“Now we are very happy that we can go to Mexico,” South Africa coach Hugo Broos said. “The past days have been a little bit stressful with all the problems we had, but those problems are behind us now, and we can focus on what’s coming.”

“These 10 days go very fast. Once we get there, we will start working, focusing on the first game against Mexico, so time will pass very quickly. I think everybody is looking forward to starting the World Cup.”

South Africa are in Group A and will face Czechia in Atlanta on June 18 and South Korea in Monterrey, Mexico, six days later.

They are appearing in their fourth World Cup and looking to advance from the group stage for the first time.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/6/2/south-africas-world-cup-delegation-departs-for-mexico-without-coach?traffic_source=rss

Russia launches 656 drones and 73 missiles at Ukraine overnight, according to Ukraine’s air force.

Ukrainian authorities say at least 12 people have been killed and dozens wounded in Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine, days after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was preparing a major assault.

Russia launched 656 drones and 73 missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said on Tuesday.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least four people were killed in the Ukrainian capital and 58, including two children, were wounded in the “mass enemy attack”.

“Explosions in the city. Air defence forces are working! Stay in shelters!” Klitschko had warned earlier.

In the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine, at least eight people were killed and at least 36 others, including children, were wounded in Russian attacks, Governor Oleksandr Ganzha said.

Ten people, including a child, were wounded in the city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov.

Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Audrey Macalpine said the government had warned Ukrainians about a potential large-scale Russian attack and many had been sheltering in place.

Russia’s military said the bombardment targeted Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.

The “massive strike” using “high-precision weapons” was aimed at targets in Kyiv and the regions of Zaporizhia, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk as well as energy and transport infrastructure used by the Ukrainian military in other regions, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person in Russia’s Kursk region near the border with Ukraine, Governor Alexander Khinshtein said.

Another drone attack sparked a fire at an oil refinery in the southwestern city of Krasnodar, local authorities said on Telegram.

The attacks on Ukraine came after Zelenskyy said on Friday that “we have intelligence information about Russia preparing a new massive strike” as he called on people to heed safety precautions.

“Please pay attention to air alerts. Protect your lives. Our services are working efficiently and are prepared. The air force and other defenders of our skies will be on duty 24/7, as always.”

This major Russian assault comes as United States-led peace efforts to end the war that began in February 2022 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine have largely been paused as US President Donald Trump’s administration remains focused on conflicts in the Middle East.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/2/at-least-nine-people-killed-dozens-wounded-in-russian-attacks-on-ukraine?traffic_source=rss

Ousted PM says his party, which holds the parliamentary majority, will not participate in new government.

Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has announced a new government featuring several members and allies of a party led by sacked prime minister and estranged ally Ousmane Sonko, who has pledged his group would not join it.

Faye’s announcement came on Monday during a live television broadcast, less than two weeks after he fired Sonko, his former mentor, and dismissed the cabinet following disagreements, including over the troubled economy.

A popular figure, Sonko was promptly elected speaker of parliament by allies in a vote boycotted by the opposition, deepening the political crisis in the West African country.

Sonko said in a post on X that he met on Monday with Faye and that “points of disagreement” emerged on the future role of the Pastef party.

Therefore, Pastef “will not participate in the next government and will not be represented by any ministers”, Sonko said. “We wish the new team every success.”

Sonko remains the undisputed leader of Pastef, the party he founded in 2014 – to which Faye also belongs – and which controls 130 of the 165 seats in Senegal’s only legislative body.

On Monday, Faye named senior economist Ahmadou Al Aminou Mohamed Lo as prime minister, saying the new appointee had the expertise to steer Senegal out of its crippling debt.

Lo on Monday read out a list of 30 new ministers, including several Pastef members, but notable for the absence of several of its senior figures who had been in the previous government.

Sonko said his party would not join the cabinet after disagreeing about it with Faye during a “long conversation” on Monday.

“Some points of agreement were indeed confirmed, but also, above all, points of disagreement,” Sonko said in a statement on social media.

“Pastef will not take part and will not be represented by any ministers.”

Faye appointed Sonko as prime minister in April 2024, just days after being elected president.

Sonko would almost certainly have won the top job if he had not been barred from the presidential election due to a defamation conviction.

With his pan-Africanist rhetoric, Sonko had gained a following among young Senegalese after a power struggle with former President Macky Sall, who ruled from 2012 to 2024.

Tensions began to surface in July when the outspoken Sonko accused Faye of a “failure of leadership” by not backing him up enough against his many critics.

In May, the president took a shot at Sonko, saying the party needed to be “depersonalised” from any leader dominating it.

While Faye is open to discussions with the International Monetary Fund on a new loan programme, Sonko had advocated a more sovereign approach.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/2/senegal-president-names-government-boycotted-by-ally-turned-rival?traffic_source=rss