- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
Nigeria Islamic police destroy nearly 4 mn beers
Religious police in northern Nigeria's city of Kano have destroyed nearly four milllion bottles of beer, on grounds that sale and consumption of alcohol is prohibited in the predominantly Muslim region.
Sharia police called Hisbah often destroy alcohol and confiscated drugs, but the huge beer haul was one of the largest in a recently intensified crackdown.
Hundreds of Hisbah offloaded 3,873,163 bottles of mostly beer and some assorted alcoholic drinks on Wednesday in an open space in Tudun Kalebawa village.
Bulldozers then rolled over the bottles to cries of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) from the crowd, which included senior Hisbah and government officials.
The Hisbah set fire to the crushed remains and the blaze continued throughout the night, according to residents of Tudun Kalebawa.
"Kano is a sharia state and the sale, consumption and possession of alcoholic substances are prohibited in the state," Haruna Ibn Sina, the head of Hisbah, said at the ceremony.
"This is a demonstration that we are winning the war against drug abuse and all forms of intoxicants in Kano," he declared.
The beer had been confiscated from trucks making their way into the city from the mainly Christian south over several months, Hisbah spokesman Lawan Ibrahim Fagge told AFP on Thursday.
"The beer consignments were destroyed after securing a court order from a magistrate's court," Fagge said.
Kano is one of a dozen mainly Muslim northern states to have reintroduced a strict version of sharia law since since Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999 after 15 years of military dictatorship.
Sale and consumption of alcohol are prohibited, and violators risk 80 lashes with a horsewhip.
The Hisbah has in recent times intensified crackdowns on drugs and alcohol sale in the state, where there is a high rate of drug abuse.
In December, youths in Kano's predominantly Christian neighbourhood of Sabon Gari clashed with Hisbah police when they tried to raid taverns and beer parlours in the area.
The mob set bonfires on the streets, prompting the deployment of regular police to restore order.
X.M.Francisco--PC