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StartTimes eyes mouth-watering games this week

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Football fans throughout Africa can look forward to a feast of great football as they will be able to watch some of Europe’s top sides in action in three great leagues.

The Super Week kicks off on Thursday with Premier League powerhouses Arsenal and Manchester United involved in Europe League action.

United brought an end to Liverpool’s astonishing run of 17 consecutive league victories (dating back to the 2018/19 season) with a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday for a result that gives beleaguered coach Ole Gunnar Solskjær some breathing space ahead of the Reds’ table-topping away match in the Europa League against Partizan Belgrade.

The Serbian club currently top Group L on goals scored from United and will fancy their chances in what is bound to be a sold-out Partizan stadium.

Parni valjak (The Steamroller), as the club is affectionately known by its fans, has two African players in their squad, with both not only getting regular game-time, they are also amongst the club’s top scorers.

Nigerian forward Umar Sadiq, who is on loan from Serie A club AS Roma, has scored five goals this season and is Coach Savo Milošević’s preferred striker. The 22-year-old scored both goals in Partizan’s 2-1 victory at Astana, which took them to the top of the group.

Guinean attacking midfielder Seydouba Soumah has even scored one goal more than Sadiq and also features prominently in Milošević’s game plan.

Milošević, who played in the Premier League for Aston Villa, said he would “do everything to make sure our guests will feel comfortable and to think only of a game of football.

“I will say to our fans: ‘A big club, a giant club, is coming to visit us — and we should be honoured to play against Manchester United for the first time since 1966’. We have to be proud to host the players, coaches, leaders and fans of such a great club.”

Also on Thursday Arsenal with superstar Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang defend their Group F lead at home against Vitória de Guimarães.

Having won both previous matches in the group phase, the Gunners can go into their game against their Portuguese opponents with some confidence, although they will have had just three days’ rest after playing Sheffield United in the league.

The Super Week moves to the Bundesliga on Saturday as arguably the biggest derby in German football: The Ruhr derby, takes place in the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen and sees Schalke 04 welcome Borussia Dortmund.

On par with the world’s greatest derbies, like Al Ahly v Zamalek, AC Milan v Inter, or Barcelona v Real Madrid, the game between the two giants of the Bundesliga enflames passion not only around the whole Ruhr region, but throughout Germany.

Schalke missed out on an opportunity to go to the top of the Bundesliga table for the first time since 2010 as they were beaten 2-0 in Sunday’s late match at Hoffenheim. A victory would have seen Die Knappen open up a one-point lead in the standings.

Dortmund, for their part, will go into the local derby buoyed with confidence having beaten log leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 on Saturday to move to within a point of the Bundesliga summit.

Schalke coach David Wagner said although he was disappointed with the result in Hoffenheim, there had been a lot of positive things that his side displayed. “We were let down by not converting our chances. But now we will regroup and focus on the next game. We will take our good points into the game against Dortmund as we want to do well against them.”

Germany international Marco Reus, who scored Dortmund’s winning goal against Mönchengladbach, said that they were facing some tough matches, starting with Schalke. “That will show in which direction we are heading this season. Of course we want to go to the top and the victory on the weekend was an important step towards that. We will now go into the game against Schalke with a lot of confidence.”

But as the saying goes: All good things come in threes and African football fans will look towards Ligue 1 to complete the Super Week of football as the first of this season’s Le Classique takes place in the Parc des Princes as Paris Saint-Germain welcome Olympique de Marseille.

Once the star of French football, OM have lost some of their standing to big-spenders PSG and the last time the club from the French Riviera beat their rivals was in 2011 and there is little to suggest that things could be any different this time around.

Even OM coach André Villas-Boas, who took his side to a victory against Strasbourg on Sunday, is aware of the enormity of the task that awaits his side. “We will try to do something, we dream of winning, but it (PSG) is a team from another league, in my opinion. If you look at the ranking after six match days, in my opinion, you have the reality. Paris is focused on the Champions League. “

“It is true that there are gaps”, said midfielder Valentin Rongier. “But I do not think they are unbeatable, they lost in Reims and against Rennes.”

Defender Boubacar Kamara, who was only 12 the last time his club beat PSG, is similarly upbeat, saying tongue in cheek: “Cavani, Neymar or Mbappé, we all know them. We use them to play FIFA and we win.”

African football fans will be the first to know if OM can win Le Classique as they can watch all the matches of the Super Week live and exclusive on the StarTimes football channels. It is a week no real football fan will want to miss.

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The Peruvian Government Has Officially Classified Transgender, Nonbinary And Intersex People As “Mentally ill”

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According to the country’s ministry of health, the controversial decision was made to ensure the country’s public health services could “guarantee full coverage of medical attention for mental health” for the trans community.

It also categorises “dual-role transvestitism,” “fetishistic transvestism,” and “other gender identity disorders” under the same bracket of mental illness.

The new law will change language in the Essential Health Insurance Plan (PEAS) to reflect the view of trans and intersex people as a mental health disorder.

Trans groups across Peru have loudly condemned the decision as a step backwards for the country’s already complex relationship with LGBTQ+ rights.

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Math Teacher Accused Of Having Sex With 2 Students And Getting Pregnant For One Tearfully Reveals The Baby Was Taken Away From Her

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The UK teacher who had a baby with an underage student while on trial for having sex with another teenage boy broke down in court after revealing her newborn baby girl had been “taken away” from her.

Manchester math teacher Rebecca Joynes, 30, sobbed to jurors over how her baby was taken “24 hours after being born” this past January — and now she only sees her for nine hours a week, Joynes told jurors on Monday, May 13, according to the Manchester Evening News.

“At the moment I have contact with her three times a week for three hours and that’s it,” she said through tears.

Joynes was arrested and released on bail on orders not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 after allegedly grooming her pupil, known as Boy A in court, by buying him a $430 Gucci belt before bringing him to her apartment for unprotected sex.

She was suspended from school and eventually fired, but soon after, she began having a relationship with a 15-year-old boy, known in court as Boy B, whom she had a baby with in January.

Joynes, who has denied having sex with either boy when they were underage, told the court that when she learned of the allegations against her she had gone to the second boy in a “panic” and he deleted all of her phone’s content.

The former teacher denied having a sexual relationship with the second boy until after he turned 16 and she was already suspended from teaching.

According to her narration,

She said he had added her on Snapchat twice, which she only accepted the second time because she thought he “wanted to tell her something.”

Joynes said a friendship developed and he quickly became her “best friend” even though the boy would make flirtatious and sexualized comments toward her when he was drunk.

She told jurors that it wasn’t until after his 16th birthday that he messaged her saying “I’ve left school now” with a winky face.

After she received notice that she had been dismissed from her job, he went to her apartment, where following an emotional conversation, they had sex.

The two then entered a relationship that Joynes described as “quite toxic” telling the court how the teenager was “very controlling.”

After discovering she was pregnant, Joynes hid love notes for the boy to find around her apartment.

The notes eventually led to a piece of baby clothing that had the words “I love my daddy to the moon and back” written on it.

The court was told that she gave birth to their baby girl in January, but following an emergency court hearing, the newborn was taken away from Joynes.

Joynes has denied two counts of sexual activity with Boy A; two counts of sexual activity with Boy B; and two counts of sexual activity with Boy B while being a person in a position of trust.

Her trial is ongoing.

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First Man To Receive Pig Kidney Transplant Has Died

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The first Man to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died two months after the operation.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), which carried out the procedure in March, announced Sunday, May 12, that Richard “Rick” Slayman, 62, has died.

They said there was no indication his death was a result of the transplant.

Transplants of other organs from genetically modified pigs have failed in the past, but the operation on Mr Slayman, who was suffering with end-stage kidney disease, was hailed as a historic milestone.

In addition to kidney disease, Mr Slayman also suffered from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

In 2018, he had a human kidney transplant, but it began to fail after five years.

Following his pig kidney transplant on March 16, his doctors confirmed he no longer needed dialysis after the new organ was said to be functioning well.

“Mr Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide and we are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation,” MGH said in a statement.

Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another.

MGH said it was “deeply saddened” at his sudden death and offered condolences to his family.

Mr Slayman’s relatives said his story was an inspiration.

“Rick said that one of the reasons he underwent this procedure was to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” they said.

“Rick accomplished that goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever.

“To us, Rick was a kind-hearted man with a quick-witted sense of humour who was fiercely dedicated to his family, friends, and co-workers,” they added.

While Mr Slayman received the first pig kidney to be transplanted into a human, it is not the first pig organ to be used in a transplant procedure.

Two other patients have received pig heart transplants, but those procedures were unsuccessful as the recipients died a few weeks later.

In one case, there were signs the patient’s immune system had rejected the organ, which is a common risk in transplants.

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