Mali suffered their second defeat in as many games as they were thrashed 118-58 by hosts Australia on Friday at the Basketball World Cup.
Having suffered a 89-56 loss to Japan on Thursday, the African runner-up champions lost every quarter against the Australians by at least 10 points in Sydney.
Mali are only playing at the tournament because Nigeria, who qualified after winning the 2021 AfroBasket Women championship, were withdrawn by their government owing to what the latter called “unending drama” in the country’s sport.
Mali meet France on Sunday before facing Serbia on Monday – their final Group B game is against Canada on Tuesday. All the games will be played in Sydney.
The top four in the group make it through to next week’s quarter-finals.
A woman and her younger brother who filed a lawsuit earlier this month against Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears, accusing the comedic duo of coercing them into making sexually themed sketch videos when they were minors, dropped the civil action Tuesday and said the family has “put this behind us.”
The “Jane Doe” who was representing herself in the federal civil case filed a notice of dismissal Tuesday with prejudice – meaning the suit cannot be re-filed. The filing included a statement from the plaintiff, TMZ reported, which read:
“My family and I have known Tiffany Haddish for many years – and we now know that she would never harm me or my brother or help anyone else do anything that could harm us. We wish Tiffany the best and are glad that we can all put this behind us.”
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 30 in federal court in California, accused Haddish and Spears of arranging for the children, who were 14 and 7 at the time of the 2013 incident, to be paid to appear in promotional videos via their mother – a friend of Haddish’s from the comedy circuit.
But the videos (which were seen and substantiated by the Daily Beast) turned out to be sexually themed. In one, the girl was asked to perform a suggestive act with a sandwich; in the other, filmed months later, the boy was depicted as the object of a pedophile’s obsession, with Haddish playing the boy’s mother and Spears playing the “pedophile.”
Haddish later said she regretted being part of the latter sketch.
A lawyer for Haddish told TheWrap after the suit was filed that the children’s mother had been trying for years to extort the comedian, calling the claims “bogus” and a “shakedown.” Newly listed lawyers for the comedians did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Spears also said later that the lawsuit was an extortion attempt and a shakedown.
Ye has said he has “new respect” for ex-wife Kim Kardashian and felt sorrow for causing stress in the relationship since Kardashian filed for divorce in February 2021.
“This is the mother of my children, and I apologize for any stress that I have caused, even in my frustration, because God calls me to be stronger,” Ye, the recording artist and entrepreneur formerly known as Kanye West, said in an exclusive morning interview that aired Thursday on “Good Morning America.” “I need this person to be less stressed and of the best, sound mind and as calm as possible to be able to raise those children at the end of the day.”
In a wide-ranging interview that covered Donda Academy, a school he started in California, to his plans to once again run for president, Ye repeatedly circled back to the responsibility that he has as a celebrity and his insistence that he have a say in the future of the four children he fathered with the global social media and reality TV star.
“As a dad and as a Christian. And I have a right to have a voice on what my kids are wearing, what they’re watching, what they’re eating,” he said. “I have a platform where I get to say what so many dads can’t say out loud.”
Relationship with his children
Ye said he “absolutely” wants his children to attend Donda Academy, “a gospel school” he created named after Donda West, his late mother who chaired the Department of English, Communications, Media Arts and Theatre at Chicago State University on Chicago’s South Side. She died in 2007.
“I’m their dad. It has to be co-parenting. It’s not up to only the woman. Like, men have a choice also. Men’s voices matter,” he said.
The private school, which Ye said was originally named the Yeezy Christian Academy, is located in Simi Valley, California. According to the school’s website, the academy’s mission is to help students “learn fundamentals, grow in their faith, and experience two enrichment classes.”
Ye said the school gives “kids practical tools that they need in a world post the iPhone being created.” He said the school is in its third year and has an enrollment of 82 students.
“So many schools are made to set kids up for industries that don’t even matter anymore,” he said, pointing out that the focus areas of the school is “on practical skills” such as engineering, computer programming and farming. He added that the school has tutors who focus on specific areas and could “actually turn your kids into, like, geniuses.”
“And if your kids are geniuses … they’re three grade levels ahead,” he added.
Ye told ABC News he hired a female basketball coach to help improve the skills of North, his 9-year-old daughter. He also helps coach North “every morning,” he said. The effort, Ye added, showed dramatic results. “She trained every day and I really stayed on her. And when she came back, she had the confidence,” he said.
Exiting the Gap
Ye, who created the fashion brand Yeezy, also addressed the dissolving of his partnership with the Gap. Last week, Ye sent the Gap a letter terminating the 10-year partnership, saying the clothing retailer breached its contract to sell his Yeezy Gap line of apparel. Ye said he plans to open his own line of stores simply called YZY.
Mark Breitbard, Gap brand president and CEO, said the company and West are “not aligned” in how they work together, according to a memo sent to employees and reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. “Simply put…while we share a vision how we work together to deliver this vision is not aligned,” Breitbard wrote, according to the Journal.
In addition to criticizing the Gap, Ye has recently criticized Adidas, a retailer that carries his apparel. Ye has been working with the athletic brand since their partnership was announced in 2016, but lashed out at Adidas when the brand released its Adilette 22 sandals, which resemble Ye’s Yeezy slides. Ye called their footwear “a fake Yeezy.”
“It was all kind of a disregard for the voice of something that I co-created. I co-created the product at Adidas. I co-created the product at Gap,” Ye said.
“That means that I was there for some specific agenda, not for Yeezy Gap to be everything that it could be, or this dream that I had about what the Gap could be,” he said. “It’s time for me to make my own thing.”
Adidas Chief Executive Kasper Rorsted said in August that West was probably the most important partner the company had, according to the Wall Street Journal. Adidas is trying to find a path toward continuing the partnership, the paper reported.
Since his ongoing battle with Adidas, Ye said he’s determined to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes of his brand.
“We had to level up,” Ye said. “Really show ’em who’s the new boss in town, that I’m the boss of me. I’m no longer just the man ridin’ atop the polo horse. I’m not just a mascot in the middle of the games, gettin’ the crowd hyped up sayin’, ‘Hey, wear this, do this,’ but you know, just learn financial engineering. Learn how to — learn how to really run a company.”
Ye added that he plans to move forward with an Oct. 3 fashion show in Paris that was initially planned in conjunction with the Gap. He secured a new producer for the event, he said, via Instagram.
Today, YZY Gap engineered by Balenciaga announced a new line of outerwear and knitwear, which will be made available online. YZY Gap engineered by Balenciaga also announced that YZY Gap will be available at stores outside of the U.S. for the first time at Gap’s Tokyo and Shanghai flagship stores.
Potentially, another presidential run
In November 2020, Ye conceded his run for president. He had loaned $6.8 million to his 2020 presidential committee, essentially self-funding his campaign during the first month and a half of his run, according to a Federal Election Commission disclosure filing.
Ye said he “absolutely” plans to run for president again but did not specify when.
“That time wasn’t in God’s time,” he said.
Ye said he is often misunderstood because of his adamancy for his Christian faith, which drives him to perform “Sunday Service” with a gospel choir at different locations around the U.S. He said he’s a “radical” for wanting to promote “the idea of family, the idea of God, the idea of protecting your children’s innocence for as long as possible.”
“When you remove the love and fear of God, you open up the love and fear of everything else. And it’s easier to have sheep when people don’t have God. It’s easier to control the people if people are not controlled by God. Because then they can be controlled by how many likes they have or whatever’s happening on their TikTok or how much money or the perception that people have,” he said.
“But we only have one audience here and that audience is God. And He’s watching us at all times,” Ye said. “He’s got my back.”
Stephen Colbert is sharing his experiences with grief on the new podcast “All There Is With Anderson Cooper.”
The late night host, 58, whose father and two brothers died in a plane crash in 1974, spoke with the CNN anchor about his philosophy on loss.
Cooper, 55, who has also experienced the death of multiple family members, including his brother Carter by suicide in 1988, expressed that Colbert’s belief — that it’s possible to find “gratitude” in grief — was profoundly moving.
Colbert shared, “I lost my father and my brothers, Peter and Paul, when I was 10. And that realization did not come until, you know, I’m on the doorstep of middle age. Literally walking down the street, I was struck with this realization that I had a gratitude for the pain of that grief. It doesn’t take the pain away. It doesn’t make the grief less profound. In some ways, it makes it more profound, because it allows you to look at it. It allows you to examine your grief in a way that it is not, like, holding up red hot ember in your hands, but rather seeing that pain as something that can warm you and light your knowledge of what other people might be going through. Which is really just another way of saying there is a value to having experienced it. Now, how does that become gratitude? That’s the part that shocked me, so I can’t tell you how to get to it.”
Colbert shared that waves of concern over his own mortality would hit him hardest as his kids were growing up.
“Since my father, my brothers died when I was 10, when my kids were younger, it would hit me at unexpected moments,” he explained. “In moments of great happiness, like even just my daughter, like jumping off the swing at the right point and landing and being happy about and running over and saying, ‘Did you see Daddy?’ and, you know, giving me a hug. That moment of absolutely inexpressible transporting joy. And she’s 6, let’s say in this memory. I’d go like, ‘Oh, isn’t this great? Four more years!’”
Cooper and Colbert first came together to discuss grief in a 2019 interview on CNN, where Cooper asked The Colbert Report alum about his experiences with death. Colbert, who is Catholic, said, “We’re asked to accept the world that God gives us and to accept it with love. If God is everywhere, and God is in everything, then the world as it is is all just an expression of God and his love, and you have to accept it with gratitude.”
In an earlier podcast episode, Cooper — who is now a father of two — shared that he never wanted his sons to see the grief that he often saw reflected in his mom, Gloria Vanderbilt, who was present when her son died by suicide.
“As a new parent of these two adorable sweet and joy-filled boys, I don’t want them to ever see in me what I sometimes saw in my mom,” he explained. “I don’t want them to see shadows of loss and grief hiding somewhere deep behind my eyes like I did with my mom. When my kids look in my eyes I want them to see my love for them reflected back, and that’s it. That’s what I want them to see. I want them to feel that stability, to know they’re in good hands and to know they’re loved.”
CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour said Thursday that she backed out of an interview with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after one of his aides said it would not happen unless she wore a headscarf.
In a Twitter thread, Amanpour chronicled how her scheduled interview with Raisi on Wednesday night in New York fell apart, characterizing the aide’s request as an “unprecedented and unexpected condition.”
Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor, said she planned to ask Raisi about the protests that have swept across Iran after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman held by the country’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly enforced dress code, died in custody last week.
Raisi was in New York for the U.N. General Assembly.
Amini’s family has denied that she had health issues.
People protest over the death of a woman who was detained by the morality police in downtown Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 21, 2022. (AP)
In recent days, Iranian security forces have clashed with anti-government protesters furious over Amini’s death, with some women burning their headscarves in defiance of the morality police and the country’s wider atmosphere of social repression. The deadly unrest has been documented on social media.
Amanpour said she and her CNN team planned the interview over the course of weeks and spent eight hours Wednesday setting up translation equipment, lights and cameras.
“[W]e were ready,” she wrote in part. “But no sign of President Raisi.”
Newly elected Iranian President Raisi throws doubt on restoring nuclear deal
As the international community works to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Israel is warning that newly elected Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi could further stall talks to limit the country’s nuclear capabilities. NBC News’ Tehran bureau chief Ali Arouzi breaks down President Raisi’s conservative political views and what the election means for the future of the nuclear deal.
Forty minutes after the interview was scheduled to begin, an aide to the Iranian president came over and said the president was “suggesting” that Amanpour wear a headscarf in recognition of the holy months of Muharram and Safar, she wrote. (Amanpour did not identify the aide.)
“I politely declined,” Amanpour wrote. “We are in New York, where there is no law or tradition regarding headscarves. I pointed out that no previous Iranian president has required this when I have interviewed them outside Iran.”
“The aide made it clear that the interview would not happen if I did not wear a headscarf,” she wrote. “He said it was ‘a matter of respect,’ and referred to ‘the situation in Iran’ — alluding to the protests sweeping the country.”
Amanpour wrote that she told the aide that she could not agree to what she described as an “unprecedented and unexpected condition” to the interview.
“And so we walked away. The interview didn’t happen,” Amanpour wrote in the Twitter thread’s concluding post. “As protests continue in Iran and people are being killed, it would have been an important moment to speak with President Raisi.”
Amanpour’s final tweet in the thread was accompanied by a photo of her facing an empty chair.
NBC News could not immediately reach Raisi for comment because the president’s office is closed until Saturday.
Again, I said that I couldn’t agree to this unprecedented and unexpected condition. 6/7
In a statement, a spokesperson for CNN said: “We fully support the decision of Christiane and her team to politely decline the interview with President Raisi.”
In an address to world leaders at the U.N. on Wednesday, Raisi did not address the escalating unrest in his country, instead using his time to assail the West and what he characterized as the “double standards of some governments regarding human rights.”
Greyson Chance, the young musician who became famous after his YouTube-posted performance of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” went viral in April 2010 and was invited to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, said in a new interview that he felt trauma over the way the host treated him.
“I’ve never met someone more manipulative, more self-centered, and more blatantly opportunistic than her,” he told Rolling Stone in a story published Thursday, as he released his new album, Palladium.
Through a rep, DeGeneres declined to comment for the Rolling Stone interview or Yahoo Entertainment’s story.
Chance, who’s now 25, was just 12 when he became the buzz of the internet. DeGeneres called a week later, and he took his first plane ride from Oklahoma to Los Angeles, Calif, where he said that DeGeneres assured him and his mother, Lisa, that they were “going to do this together.”
The A-list star, who was making a foray into the music business, hooked Chance up with an entire team of people and, most importantly, signed him to her new music label, which was distributed by Interscope Geffen A&M Records.
But Chance told the magazine that DeGeneres “became domineering and way too controlling.” For example, she stipulated what he wore, and what he didn’t; no leather, since she’s a vegan.
“She would come in and look at a rack, yell at stylists, berate people in front of me and say, ‘This is what you’re wearing on the show,’” Chance said. “She was just degrading to people.”
In one instance, the performer and his mom both said that she scolded the two of them over the phone, after he had failed to watch the Justin Bieber documentary that she had asked him to see, when he hadn’t watched it because he was tired from touring.
Some of Chance’s words echo what employees of DeGeneres’s former talk show alleged in a July 2020 report from BuzzFeed. They called Ellen a toxic workplace, where fear and intimidation were the norm. DeGeneres apologized on the show afterward.
“I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously and I want to say I am so sorry for the people who were affected,” she said. “I know that I’m in a position of privilege and power and I realize that with that comes responsibility and I take responsibility for what happens at my show.”
Back in 2012, when Ellen was still on the air, Chance’s second album bombed and ticket sales declined. He was dropped by the record label and by his team.
That’s when he said that DeGeneres “completely abandoned” him and wouldn’t even return his calls.
“I couldn’t get ahold of her. Couldn’t talk to her,” Chance said. “Whenever I would come on the show, it was such a fake smile. She wouldn’t even ask, ‘How are you doing? How are you holding up?’ It was just like, ‘Here’s what we’re going to talk about. We’ll see you on there.’”
But someone from her show contacted him at some point, because he appeared on it after he left the label. (In all, he was on DeGeneres’s stage 10 times over the years, twice after 2012, according to IMDb.) When he performed there in 2015, he said the two didn’t speak at all backstage. Still, he went back in 2019 to promote a new album, Portraits.
A show source pointed out that Chance hadn’t made any complaints at the time.
He said he was unhappy, though, especially on that final visit.
“She came out during soundcheck and she looked at me, hugged me. And she said, ‘How have you been?’ And that just killed me inside,” Chance said, “because I was like, ‘What do you mean how have I f***ing been? Where have you been?”
He didn’t appreciate her saying during their interview that she was proud of him for having come out as gay since they had last spoken.
“She had nothing to do with that. … [When I came out,] I hadn’t spoken to her in years,” he said. “That’s so messed up, that you’re now showing the world as if we’re so tight. We’re so good. And behind the scenes, you are this insanely manipulative person.”
Afterward, Chance said that, while he’s grateful for what DeGeneres did for him early in his career, he declined offers to be part of Ellen‘s final season. He knew the move meant less publicity, but he had to make it for his integrity.
Disney Music Group has teamed up with Deaf West Theatre, a Tony award-winning company, to release an American Sign Language version of the hit song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Walt Disney Animation’s “Encanto” in celebration of Friday’s International Day of Sign Languages.
The video features an all-deaf Colombian and Hispanic cast, utilizing both American Sign Language and Colombian Sign Language to add additional layers of authenticity to the song.
The sung English lyrics were translated by a team of sign language choreographers who worked through the text to find an accurate signed translation of the song for the video.
Featured in the video are Nataly Barahona (Pepa), Andres Otalora (Felix), Donna Valverde (Mirabel and Abuela), Jasmine Garcia (Isabela), Joseph Rocha (Camilo) and Andrea Rodriguez (Dolores).
Principle creatives include Donna Valverde and Nataly Barahona (ASL Choreographers), Andres Otalora (Director of Photography) and Austin Balaich (Editor).
“The impact this film has on children cannot be dismissed. The majority of Deaf children are born to hearing families and sometimes the only exposure to the community and sign language is through videos like this,” said DJ Kurs, Deaf West’s Artistic Director of the positive impact collaborations like these can make.
“By working with Disney Music Group on expanding the access to one of their songs to the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities brings us immense pride.”
The original motion picture soundtrack for the film features eight original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, with an original score by Academy Award-nominated composer Germaine Franco.
The soundtrack held the No. 1 position on the Billboard 200 album chart for nine non-consecutive weeks and the three-times platinum-certified “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” topped the Hot 100 chart for five weeks. Additionally, the soundtrack and song held the No. 1 position on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 simultaneously for five consecutive weeks.
Celebrity chef Mario Batali has long been known for the bright orange Crocs that he once wore everywhere, and for the celebrities, such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Jimmy Fallon, who often flocked to his side.
But to the employees who worked inside his restaurant empire, he was known for something else.
“He would hug you or kiss you or put his hands around your waist … or touch your hips,” Trish Nelson, a former server at now-shuttered New York City restaurant the Spotted Pig, in which Batali was the primary investor, says in Discovery+’s new documentary, Batali: The Fall of a Superstar Chef, which is available now. “We called him the red menace.”
Nelson is one of several former employees of Batali’s eateries who alleges in the doc that the restaurateur, once behind dozens of venues, a co-host on TV’s The Chew, the face of Eataly and, really, the creator of an entire food empire, had engaged in sexual misconduct over the years. They described instances in which he had said sexually suggestive things to them or become — as one of his former restaurant partners, Steve Crane, put it, “touchy feely” — or worse.
Chef Mario Batali attends the afterparty for the premiere of 2009 movie Fantastic Mr. Fox, in which he voiced a character, with co-stars Bill Murray, Meryl Streep and Willem Dafoe, and director Wes Anderson. (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
They described a man with two distinct sides: one who was charming and gregarious and another that came out after he drank too much. That guy, who surfaced as the night progressed, was lewd and sleazy. Workers said they felt trapped and unheard, because the restaurant industry wasn’t equipped to deal with their reports of sexual misconduct.
Nelson, for instance, recalled a night when she was bringing drinks to Batali’s table of seven. She could only carry six drinks, so she assured the seventh person that she would come right back with his. In front of everyone, she said, Batali told her that, if she sat on the man’s face, she would “come again and again.” Other women recounted that Batali had grabbed their breasts or behinds on multiple occasions.
Mario Batali attends an event hosted by Chrissy Teigen in Oct. 2016 in New York City. (Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for NYCWFF)
There were also fans, like Sharelle Klaus, the co-founder of Dry Soda Co., who alleged that Batali had inappropriately touched them in brief encounters.
“He asked me if I wanted a picture with him,” Klaus said. “And as they were taking the picture, he reached his hands down into my pants underneath my underwear and grabbed my ass.”
Eva DeVirgilis, a former hostess at Batali’s New York City restaurant Babbo, revealed herself publicly as one of Batali’s accusers in the documentary. She told her story in an interview with 60 Minutes in 2018, but her face was obscured then. Not this time.
DeVirgilis alleged that, in 2005, she agreed to go with Batali to the Spotted Pig after her shift, expecting other people would go, too. But her boss ended up picking her up in a limo and whisking her to a candle-lit banquette, where she drank wine and blacked out.
“And then I have a moment, a flash, where I’m being kissed by him very, like, hard. And then I have another flash where I’m throwing up in a toilet. I sense that he’s behind me,” DeVirgilis said. “And then there was nothing. And then I woke up… on a floor, hardwood floor. I had no idea where I was.”
Immediately, DeVirgilis said, she thought she had been drugged, because she usually didn’t end up sick or blacked out while drinking. She also said that she found scratches on the insides of her legs and something that could have been semen on her skirt. So she went to Mount Sinai Hospital and had a rape kit done, but declined to go to the police, because she was worried about her potential to get a job in the industry if she told her story. She gave notice and left Babbo.
Batali issued a controversial apology for past behavior in Dec. 2017, as Eater published four women’s accusations against him, but he also has denied all allegations of sexual assault. He declined to be part of Discovery+’s new documentary, and Yahoo was unable to reach him for comment.
But Batali: The Fall of a Superstar Chef explains that he was only part of the problem in an industry that long allowed bad behavior by many to go unchecked. As several journalists who covered alleged sexual misconduct by Batali — Julia Moskin and Kim Severson, of the New York Times, and freelancer Irene Plagianos, who wrote about the celebrity chef for Eater — explained in the documentary, their reporting on him came about in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo Movement.
After their reports emerged in 2017, Batali’s deals vanished.
Mario Batali leaves a Boston courtroom on May 24, 2019, after his arraignment on charges of indecent assault and battery. (Photo: Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)
New York Attorney General Letitia James eventually investigated the Spotted Pig and the restaurant group co-owned by Batali, where she found wrongdoing. While Batali was not charged with a crime in New York, he was charged with indecent assault and battery in Boston for forcibly grabbing and kissing Natali Tene at a local bar in 2017.
“I’ve never been touched before like that,” Tene had testified, “like squeezing in between my legs, squeezing my vagina to pull me closer to him, as if that’s a normal way to grab someone.”
The judge found that Tene had “significant credibility issues,” because of text messages she had sent about the encounter with Batali and because of her behavior as a juror in another case, and Batali was found not guilty in May.
He also has settled multiple civil lawsuits related to sexual misconduct in the past few years.
Luis Suarezbelieves Uruguay have enough quality in their squad to win the World Cup.
Uruguay finished third in the CONMEBOL qualification group, having recovered from a below-par start following the appointment of Diego Alonso as head coach.
They will face South Korea, Portugal and Ghana in Group H in Qatar, where Suarez could appear at a fourth successive edition of the tournament.
Suarez, who re-joined Nacional in July but is to leave when his short-term contract expires in November, believes the emergence of new Uruguayan talents offers hope of a third World Cup title for the Celeste.
Asked about burgeoning expectations, Suarez said: “This is generated by Pajarito [Federico Valverde], Darwin [Nunez], Ronald [Araujo] and Rodri [Bentancur]. Players at the top level in Europe generate this.
“This is a prize for the work that our country does. Uruguay will always try and compete at the World Cup at their maximum. To try to go as far as possible and why not to be the champions? Because we have players for this.
“Even though we know the difficulty that each game at a World Cup represents, we always have a real belief.”
Suarez is Uruguay’s all-time top goalscorer with 68 goals in 132 caps, while only Diego Godin (159), Edinson Cavani and Fernando Muslera (both 133) have appeared more often for the side.
The former Liverpool and Barcelona striker starred as Uruguay reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2010, albeit famously being red-carded for a goal-saving handball against Ghana in the quarters.
He has described the prospect of playing at a fourth tournament as a source of major satisfaction.
“It makes you feel proud to have the chance to be able to play a fourth consecutive World Cup,” Suarez said.
“It is a pride for our country and also my own pride that I have always fought and put in good performances in the national team.”
Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal have a “good chance” of mounting a serious challenge for the Premier League title this season, and has praised Mikel Arteta for returning a sense of identity to the club.
Arsenal hold a one-point advantage over Manchester City and Tottenham at the top of the Premier League table, having won six of their first seven games this campaign.
This represents just the third time Arsenal have won six of their first seven games in a Premier League season, having previously done so under Wenger in 2004-05 and 2007-08.
While City and Tottenham have joined Arsenal in remaining unbeaten so far, last season’s runners-up Liverpool have struggled, posting their lowest points tally after six games of a season since Jurgen Klopp took charge (nine).
Wenger, who won three league titles during his 22-year spell with the Gunners, believes his former club could capitalise on other sides’ struggles to make a push for silverware.
“I think they have a good chance this season, because I don’t see any super dominating team,” he told Sky Sports.
“I believe that there’s a good opportunity this season to do it, and of course, it’s a bit of a special season as well because you have the World Cup in the middle.
“You don’t know how much that will affect the performances of individual players in the teams, and overall, I believe there’s a good opportunity there.”
Arteta was named the Premier League’s manager of the month after leading Arsenal to a perfect August, but Wenger believes his most impressive achievement has been to establish an identity at the Emirates Stadium.
“I personally think that Mikel Arteta was very conscious of the values of the club, because he has been educated at Arsenal, he was captain of my teams, and he wanted to restore the values of the club,” Wenger added.
“Overall, I think he has done that well. After that, you need to create the belief and a sense of belonging, that you belong to something special, something bigger than you that you want to serve.
“On that front, I believe he has done well. I’m still in touch with them and overall, I believe they are going the right way.
“Arsenal is a special club, with special values. There’s a good balance between tradition and forward-thinking, and overall I think they are doing that well again now.”
Arsenal will face a major test of their credentials when the Premier League resumes after the international break, as they host Tottenham in the season’s first North London derby on October 1.
Japan stepped up their World Cup preparations with a deserved 2-0 friendly win over the United States on Friday, as Gregg Berhalter’s team produced a flat performance in Dusseldorf, Germany.
With Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic left out after sustaining a minor injury in training, the USA struggled from the first whistle and fell behind to Daichi Kamada’s side-footed finish.
Berhalter’s team were indebted to Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner for keeping the game alive after the break, but he could do nothing to prevent Kaoru Mitoma picking his spot to seal Japan‘s victory late on.
Turner got down to his right to deny Kamada with a reflex save 13 minutes in, but was beaten by the Eintracht Frankfurt man when he tucked a neat first-time finish into the bottom-right corner after 24 minutes.
The offside flag looked set to deny Japan, but the goal was awarded following a VAR review after Walker Zimmerman was shown to have played Kamada onside as he latched onto Hidemasa Morita’s pass.
Turner was forced to divert another Kamada effort away from the bottom-right corner after 65 minutes, and made a fine reflex save to tip Ritsu Doan’s strike over the crossbar 10 minutes later.
Brenden Aaronson’s wild effort was the closest the USA came to a response, and Mitoma made Japan’s win safe by curling into the bottom-right corner from long range with two minutes remaining, as Turner’s resistance finally waned.
3 – The @USMNT committed only 3 fouls against Japan, only having committed fewer in a match once since 2010 (2 vs. SVG in 2015). Timid. pic.twitter.com/vCT6uRV5Js
Kyle Lafferty has been withdrawn from Northern Ireland’s Nations League squad amid an investigation by his club into an alleged sectarian remark.
On Thursday, Kilmarnock said they were aware of footage “which appears to show a member of our playing staff using language of a sectarian nature”.
The Irish FA said on Friday that it “notes an investigation has been launched into the video” by the club.
It said a “minor back problem” had also prevented Lafferty training this week.
Speaking later, Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough said that he had seen the video but refused to comment on its contents.
“There’s an investigation going on with Kyle’s club and it would be wrong of me to comment,” added Baraclough, who added that the player had left the squad on Friday morning.
Asked about the 35-year-old’s back issue, the Northern Ireland manager replied: “Yes he hasn’t trained for the last few days and in the light of the situation, it was in the best interests of everybody.”
The Northern Ireland manager indicated the door does remain open to Lafferty continuing to add to his 89 international caps.
“It has been from me from day one and I know he has come back from being left out of the squad before and that’s his character and for me it’s no different there.”
On Thursday, the Scottish Premiership club said it found “all forms of discriminatory behaviour completely unacceptable”.
The Fermanagh man joined Kilmarnock in February 2021 and scored 13 goals in as many appearances before signing for Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta but then returned to the Scottish club in January.
Lafferty has earned 89 Northern Ireland caps since making his debut in 2006 and has scored 20 goals for his country.
Northern Ireland will aim for their first ever win in the Nations League when they host Kosovo in Belfast on Saturday evening and then face Greece in Athens on Tuesday.
Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been charged by the Football Association over footage which appeared to show him knocking a phone out of a fan’s hand.
A video was shared on social media alongside comments claiming he smashed the device as he left the pitch after a 1-0 loss at Everton in April.
Ronaldo, 37, later apologised on social media. He was cautioned by police regarding the incident in August.
“It is alleged that the forward’s conduct after the final whistle was improper and/or violent,” the FA said in a statement.
Manchester United said they would support Ronaldo in his response to the charge.
The defeat at Everton dealt a blow to United’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. They went on to finish sixth.
In an Instagram post after the incident, Ronaldo said it was “never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing”.
He added: “Nevertheless, we always have to be respectful, patient and set the example for all the youngsters who love the beautiful game.
“I would like to apologise for my outburst and, if possible, I would like to invite this supporter to watch a game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair play and sportsmanship.
American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was ruled out of the Tokyo Olympics after receiving a one-month ban for using the drug last year.
Wada agreed to review the cannabis ban after requests from “stakeholders”.
But it decided on Friday at a meeting of its executive committee to maintain the ban because the use of the drug “violated the spirit of sport”.
The ban for recreational drug use by athletes who test positive out of competition was reduced from two years to one to three months last year.
“Wada is aware of the diversity of opinions and perceptions related to this substance around the world, and even within certain countries,” director general Olivier Niggli said.
“Wada plans to continue research in this area in relation with [its] potential performance enhancing effects, its impact on the health of athletes and also in relation to perceptions of cannabis from athletes, experts and others around the world.”
In the UK cannabis is a class B drug and possession carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine.
The organisation also announced that the painkiller tramadol is to be added to the list of banned substances for athletes in competition from 2024.
“Tramadol abuse, with its dose-dependent risks of physical dependence, opiate addiction and overdoses in the general population, is of concern and has led to it being a controlled drug in many countries,” Wada said in a news release.
Former England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland said in July he had been driven to the point of suicide by his addiction to, and abuse of, tramadol after using the opioid to treat back injuries.
Heavyweight Joseph Parker has vowed to stop the Joe Joyce “hype train” in its tracks when they meet on Saturday.
The 30-year-old New Zealander is the underdog despite being a former world champion and says he is confident of a quick victory against the Briton, 37.
The pair will fight in Manchester for the WBO interim heavyweight title, with the winner in prime position to challenge champion Oleksandr Usyk.
“I see a lump, a big man,” Parker said at a media conference on Thursday.
“A man that’s confident, a man’s that ready, but a man who is going to be stopped in his tracks. Hype train.”
Joyce, who is unbeaten in his professional career and has 13 knockouts in 14 fights, did not respond to Parker’s taunts.
“This big lump is going to be coming at you on Saturday night,” he said.
Parker’s trainer Andy Lee explained why he expected an easy night for his fighter.
“Any fight can be an easy fight,” he said. “Joseph knows how to make this an easy fight, I know what he has to do.
“Parker is leagues apart. Joyce has a big engine, is strong, punches hard himself. We know what we’re up against. This is elite. Joe’s reaching new levels every time.
“Forget what you saw from Parker before, you’ve only seen glimpses.”
Parker, who trains with WBC champion Tyson Fury, lost his WBO world title to Anthony Joshua in their unification fight in 2018.
The Kiwi lost his next bout to another British fighter, Dillian Whyte, but then went on a six-fight winning streak.
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury says fellow Briton Anthony Joshua “does not want to fight” him for the world title later this year.
Fury, 34, offered Joshua the fight despite the 32-year-old failing to regain the WBA (Super), WBO and IBF belts he lost to Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua’s team said they have “accepted all terms” to the offer.
But Fury said: “I will be fighting on 3 December if [Joshua] does not sign this contract, which I don’t think he will.”
He added: “You’ve had the contract for I don’t know how long and ain’t signing it. You do not want to fight.”
In the same social media post, Fury used an expletive to describe Ukraine’s Usyk, who called for a unification fight with Fury after winning his rematch with Joshua.
Fury’s promoter Frank Warren then said the match “will be made” and Usyk, 35, said in an interview posted on his YouTube page on Thursday that he wants it to be one of his last three fights before retiring.
“The unification of all the belts is much more important than just a fight or another defence,” he said.
“I want to outbox Fury and I don’t want to work that much just for another defence. There’s much more than that and I can achieve it.”
Usyk also wants a lucrative “freak” fight with super-middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez before ending his career at Kyiv’s Olimpiyskiy Stadium.
Alvarez claimed a dominant points win over Gennady Golovkin last weekend to settle their trilogy with a second win for the Mexican, 32, after a controversial draw in his first bout with the Kazakh.
“I can have three more fights at the very most,” Usyk added.
“It is the most realistic to be in my top form. With Fury, Canelo and a farewell fight at Olimpiyskiy.
“With Canelo he said that he wanted to fight me. It would be a freak fight just for the sake of earning money.”
United Statescaptain Davis Love III insisted there was “still a long way to go” after his team opened a 4-1 lead over the International team on day one of the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow.
The US have won the past eight editions of the Ryder Cup-style event against a team comprised of players from the rest of the world outside Europe.
A total of 15½ points are needed to win the trophy.
“We’re going to keep fighting,” said International captain Trevor Immelman.
“Nobody here expects us to win. We’re up against maybe the strongest American team ever assembled on paper. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but we’ll keep going until they ring the bell.”
Both teams have lost players to the controversial LIV Golf circuit. The Americans are without Dustin Johnson, who won all five of his matches in last year’s record-breaking Ryder Cup victory over Europe at Whistling Straits.
But Immelman’s side has arguably felt the pain more with players such as Open championand world number three Cameron Smith of Australia unable to play and the team has eight debutants.
South African Immelman put two of his more experienced players out first in the alternate shot foursomes, but Australia’s Adam Scott and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama were thumped 6&5 by Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in a match that set the tone for the day.
Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas were 2&1 winners over South Korea’s Sungjae Im and Canada’s Corey Conners, while Cameron Young and Collin Morikawa were victorious by the same margin over South Korean pair Tom Kim and KH Lee.
A fourth point looked secure with world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 2UP after 14 holes against Si Woo Kim of South Korea and Australia’s Cameron Davis
However, Kim and Davis won the final four holes to win 2UP.
In the final match, Tony Finau and Max Homa parred the 18th to narrowly defeat Mito Pereira of Chile and Taylor Pendrith of Canada 1UP.
“We had some matches where we were rolling and the guys played great, and then some matches like this one with Tony and Max that they ground it out,” said Love III.
The US have won 11 of the previous 13 editions, with the International team winning one, with one match tied.
Friday’s format will switch to five fourballs matches, with four fourball and four foursomes matches to follow on Saturday and 12 singles matches on Sunday.
Friday fourballs (all times BST)
16:35 Jordan Spieth & Justin Thomas v Adam Scott & Cameron Davis
16:50 Scottie Scheffler & Sam Burns v Sungjae Im & Sebastian Munoz
17:05 Kevin Kisner & Cameron Young v Mito Pereira & Christiaan Bezuidenhout
17:20 Xander Schauffele & Patrick Cantlay v Hideki Matsuyama & Tom Kim
17:35 Billy Horschel & Max Homa v Corey Conners & Taylor Pendrith
Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu is through to the semi-finals of the Korea Open after beating third seed Magda Linette 6-2 6-2 in Seoul.
It is the first time the 19-year-old has won three matches in a row since her run to the US Open title in 2021.
The British number one is yet to drop a set at the WTA tournament.
She will face top seed Jelena Ostapenko, who beat teenager Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva 6-2 6-1, in order to reach the final.
Raducanu made a strong start, racing into a commanding 4-0 lead, and not dropping a point on her first serve as she easily won the opening set.
However, Poland’s Linette had three break points on Raducanu’s first service game in the second set.
But the former world number 10 reasserted herself, winning five points in a row to hold serve before breaking Linette for a 2-1 lead.
Linette had to take a medical off-court timeout, with Raducanu using the break to practice her serve, and the Briton continued to dominate to establish a 5-1 lead.
Raducanu then served out the match with ease, claiming victory in one hour 16 minutes and leaving the court with a smile and thumbs-up for the fans.
British number two Dan Evans won through to the quarter-finals of the San Diego Open with a 6-4 6-4 win over Japan’s Taro Daniel. He will play Constant Lestienne from France on Friday.
Flying England’s women in economy class to the World Cup in New Zealand has been described as a “challenging decision” by the Rugby Football Union.
The Red Roses are favourites to win the title and begin their journey, which will take almost 30 hours, on Friday.
England’s men travelled business class to the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The RFU said that because the women’s side is loss making, “we have to make challenging decisions around what we can invest in”.
England arrive in New Zealand on Sunday lunchtime, with light training currently planned two days later before full training on Thursday.
The Red Roses are the number one side in the world, set a record of 25 consecutive Test wins earlier in September and play their opening World Cup match against Fiji on 8 October.
England were the first women’s XVs side to be offered full-time contracts in 2019.
The RFU said it was “proud of the progress we’ve made”, adding that team management decided to invest in “additional physios, performance coaches, a nutritionist and a full-time psychologist… rather than flying in business”.
The decision comes after England captain Sarah Hunter defended the halving of the side’s match fees for World Cup warm-up games.
In 2018, airline British Airways announced that it would fly the England men’s and women’s teams to their respective World Cups as part of its partnership with the RFU.
However, that was before New Zealand was named as the host of the women’s tournament and the RFU said it had chosen to use “an alternative carrier” because British Airways “does not currently fly directly” to the country.
It is understood that Red Roses players have been asked not to post about their flight on social media, with the reason given that the chosen airline is not an official partner of England Rugby.
In July, England’s men flew business class to Australia with British Airways for their summer tour.
England’s men flew to Japan on an England Rugby-branded plane for the 2019 Rugby World Cup
The RFEF said the players claim his tenure is affecting their emotional state and health.
However, the RFEF said it “is not going to allow the players to question the continuity of the national coach”.
“These types of manoeuvres are far from exemplary and outside the values of football and sport,” they said.
“Making those decisions does not fall within their powers.”
It warned refusing to play for the national team was “a very serious infraction and can carry sanctions of between two and five years of disqualification” and went on to say it would not call up the 15.
“The Federation will only have committed footballers even if they have to play with youth,” it added.
“This fact has gone from being a sporting issue to a dignity issue. The selection is non-negotiable. It is an unprecedented situation in the history of football, both male and female, in Spain and worldwide.
“The national team needs players committed to the project, defending our colours and proud to wear the Spain shirt.”
It ended by saying the players – who have not been named – would only be called up again in the future “if they accept their mistake and ask for forgiveness”.
Vilda, 41, has been the national team coach since 2015 and led his side to the quarter-finals of Euro 22, where the pre-tournament favourites lost in extra time to eventual winners England.
In 2015 Vilda’s predecessor Ignacio Quereda resigned after Spain’s players called for him to be sacked. The move came after Spain finished bottom of their World Cup group.
Kenyan authorities say 22 citizens have been rescued from human trafficking rings in Laos in south-east Asia.
They say a Ugandan and a Burundian national were also rescued in a joint operation by the International Organization for Migration and the governments of Kenya and Laos.
This comes weeks after another group of Kenyans was rescued from human traffickers in Myanmar.
The government says it has received distress calls from Kenyans in several south-east Asian countries who have become stranded after falling for job scams.
Some are promised jobs in factories but then get trapped in prostitution or cybercrime rings.
Virgil van Dijk acknowledges he has not performed to the best of his ability during a frustrating start to the season for Liverpool.
Liverpool have taken just nine points from their first six matches of the Premier League season, their worst return since Jurgen Klopp took charge in 2015.
Postponements following the death of Queen Elizabeth II mean Liverpool have not played a domestic game since September 3, though they clinched a much-needed Champions League victory over Ajax last time out.
While Van Dijk has been an ever-present for the Reds this season, he has not always lived up to his reputation as steady defensive influence, most notably in a 4-1 thrashing at Napoli.
Speaking after the Netherlands posted a 2-0 Nations League win over Poland on Thursday, Van Dijk admitted he has been disappointed with his own displays.
“I know I could have done better in the beginning of the season. I’m not naive about that. I know very well when I make mistakes,” Van Dijk said.
“I also know that I am one of the important players at the club and of course also here at the national team. I feel that responsibility.
“Mentally it’s a challenge. You feel a lot of pressure on your head. A lot of people forget that too, it’s not easy to do that.
“We all try to show our best and if, in my case, you are one of the mainstays at the club, then you get the criticism you deserve. You have to deal with that and that is not always easy. But I did that just fine.”
The Netherlands conclude their Nations League campaign against Belgium on Sunday, with Louis van Gaal’s team needing to avoid defeat if they are to secure top spot in Group A4.
FIFA 23 is released next week and the top 10 players on the game have been revealed as excitement hits fever pitch.
There is a new man at the top of the rankings, while Liverpool, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain all boast two talents among the world’s elite.
Ahead of the general release on September 30, we take a look at the superstars that gamers will be desperate to see in action when they fire up their consoles.
10. Manuel Neuer — Goalkeeper, Bayern Munich (90)
Manuel Neuer’s spot is as consistent as his performances between the sticks as he maintains a respectable 90 overall rating and 10th place in the rankings.
The towering German, 36, boasts excellent all-round attributes and will be a rock-solid foundation to build a team upon.
9. Thibaut Courtois — Goalkeeper, Real Madrid (90)
Real Madrid stopper Thibaut Courtois jumps 10 places after his Champions League heroics helped Los Blancos land a record-extending 14th title.
The big Belgian, 30, is not as good with his feet as Neuer but makes up for it with incredible shot-stopping ability.
8. Cristiano Ronaldo — Striker, Manchester United (90)
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most lethal finishers on FIFA 23
Cristiano Ronaldo remains an elite option on FIFA with 93 finishing and shot power, five-star skill moves and a strong weak foot.
EA Sports have reduced the 37-year-old Manchester United and Portugal star’s pace but if you get the ball to him around the area, he will be impossible to stop.
7. Virgil van Dijk — Centre-back, Liverpool (90)
Virgil van Dijk shrugged off his injury woes from the previous campaign to return to his dominant best last season and was rewarded by edging into the 90 overall range.
The highest-rated defender on the game, the 31-year-old will be a must-own option for any Premier League XI on Ultimate Team.
6. Mohamed Salah — Right wing, Liverpool (90)
Van Dijk’s Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah‘s reward for sharing last season’s Premier League Golden Boot is a six-spot jump into the top 10.
With pace and dribbling stats of 90 and 89 shooting, gamers will enjoy watching the Egyptian, 30, cutting inside on to his formidable left foot.
5. Lionel Messi — Right wing, Paris Saint-Germain (91)
Lionel Messi has been dethroned as the king of FIFA
A changing of the guard sees Lionel Messi slide four places from his No1 spot last year thanks to a two-point drop in his overall rating.
The Argentine attacker, 35, has seen significant reductions to his pace and shooting ability but thankfully had plenty to spare.
4. Kevin De Bruyne — Central midfield, Manchester City (91)
Kevin De Bruyne, 31, keeps hold of fourth position thanks to another superb season with Premier League champions Manchester City.
The Belgian’s outrageous 93 passing score makes him the best midfielder on the game and his shooting and dribbling stats are not bad either.
3. Kylian Mbappe — Striker, Paris Saint-Germain (91)
Kylian Mbappe leaps above team-mate Messi into the top three despite seeing his overall rating stay at 91.
The fearsome Frenchman, 23, will be the most in-demand player on the game thanks to his 97 acceleration and sprint speed.
2. Robert Lewandowski — Striker, Barcelona (91)
Robert Lewandowski’s stunning start to life at Barcelona was not enough for him to beat last year’s No2 ranking.
The prolific Pole, 34, has been downgraded to 75 pace but with 94 ratings for positioning and finishing, will find a way to score regardless.
1. Karim Benzema — Striker, Real Madrid (91)
Karim Benzema has been named as the best player on FIFA 23 by EA Sports
EA Sports have crowned Karim Benzema the best player in the world after he fired Real Madrid to the Champions League last season.
FIFA 23’s release date is just around the corner and information is dropping about the highly-anticipated game.
The Premier League boasts arguably the deepest talent pool in world football and there are a number of elite options for Ultimate Team.
LiveScore have put together a star-studded XI in an adventurous 3-4-3 formation to give you a glimpse of the English top flight’s potential ahead of the release on September 30.
Check out our team below and make sure to let us know what you think on social media.
Alisson — Goalkeeper, Liverpool (89)
Alisson and Ederson are two of the best keepers on FIFA 23, with only Thibaut Courtois and Manuel Neuer (both 90) rated higher than the Premier League duo.
We have given the nod to the Liverpool man who is more well-rounded than his Brazil team-mate, although either would be a world-class option.
Kalidou Koulibaly — Centre-back, Chelsea (87)
Kalidou Koulibaly arrived at Chelsea this summer and provides yet another elite option at centre-back for those who want to build a Premier League XI.
With 88 sprint speed, 94 strength and plenty of defensive ability, the Senegal star can hold his own on the right of a back three.
Ruben Dias — Centre-back, Manchester City (88)
Ruben Dias brings plenty of quality to Manchester City as well as defensive steel
Ruben Dias has been a rock at the heart of Manchester City’s defence since arriving in England.
He is not the quickest option but has the technical ability to spray the ball around from the back and his defensive stats are elite.
Virgil van Dijk — Centre-back, Liverpool (90)
Virgil van Dijk is the best centre-back in the world, according to EA Sports statistics that is.
The Liverpool superstar is quick, strong and always in the right position to snuff out attacks.
Mohamed Salah — Right wing, Liverpool (90)
Mohamed Salah has been tormenting defences since his move to Anfield and is once again an exceptional option on FIFA.
His 91 sprint speed, 93 finishing and 90 dribbling are a lethal combination that make the Egyptian a must-own in the latest edition.
Kevin De Bruyne — Central midfield, Manchester City (91)
Kevin De Bruyne is the creative genius that makes Pep Guardiola’s Citizens tick and EA Sports have taken notice to make him the best midfielder on FIFA.
With superb stats in passing, shooting and dribbling, as well as high attacking and defensive work-rates, there is not much the Belgian cannot do in the engine room.
Casemiro — Central midfield, Manchester United (89)
Casemiro was brought in to anchor Manchester United’s struggling midfield
Casemiro brings a superb reputation to Manchester United and the Brazilian is one of the elite midfield enforcers on FIFA.
His 60 acceleration and 66 sprint speed are not ideal but with 97 defensive awareness and bags of ability in terms of winning the ball, he is a perfect foil to De Bruyne.
Heung-Min Son — Left wing, Tottenham (89)
Heung-Min Son shared the Golden Boot with Salah last season and lines up on the opposite flank to the Reds ace.
The Tottenham speedster combines pace and technical ability to make him one of the most reliable attackers on the latest edition.
Cristiano Ronaldo — Striker, Manchester United (90)
Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is still going strong at 37 after converting himself into a dominant centre forward.
He does not possess the game-breaking pace of yesteryear but with 95 positioning, 93 finishing and 93 shot power, he will still bang in goals for fun
Harry Kane — Striker, Tottenham (89)
Tottenham’s deadly duo Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane both make the cut
Harry Kane is one of the world’s best forwards in terms of scoring and creating chances and this is reflected in his ratings.
The Spurs sensation boats incredible shooting stats and 87 vision which will allow him to link together the exceptional talent that surrounds him.
Erling Haaland — Striker, Manchester City (88)
Erling Haaland has taken the Premier League by storm since signing from Borussia Dortmund.
His sprint speed, shot power and finishing all hit 94 and with 93 strength, he has several ways to beat a man.
Subs: Ederson — Goalkeeper, Manchester City (89), Bernardo Silva — Attacking midfield, Manchester City (88), Fabinho — Defensive midfield, Liverpool (87), N’Golo Kante — Defensive midfield, Chelsea (89), Joao Cancelo — Left-back, Manchester City (88), Rodri — Defensive midfield, Manchester City (87), Trent Alexander-Arnold — Right-back, Liverpool (87)
Williams have confirmed they will part ways with Nicholas Latifi at the end of the 2022 Formula One campaign.
Latifi was widely expected to leave Williams upon the expiration of his contract this year, with the team reportedly considering a full-time seat for Nyck de Vries, who recently deputised for them at Monza.
The Canadian failed to pick up any points during his first campaign with Williams in 2020, first doing so with a seventh-placed finish at last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Lafiti, whose crash at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix led to a highly contentious finish to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s title fight, has failed to finish higher than 12th in any race this term.
Williams chief executive and team principal Jost Capito said: “On behalf of the whole team, I would like to say an enormous thank you to Nicholas for his three years of hard work with Williams.
“He is a great team player who has a great attitude towards his colleagues and work and is well liked and respected throughout the business.
“Our time together is now coming to an end, but I know he will put full effort in to maximise what we can do together for the remainder of this season. We wish him all the very best of luck for his future, both in and out of the cockpit.”
Gareth Southgate is ready to stake his reputation on the continued selection of Harry Maguire, insisting the out-of-favour Manchester United defender remains one of England’s most important players.
Maguire has been dropped to the bench for United’s run of four consecutive Premier League victories, having started their back-to-back defeats to open the campaign last month.
The defender has only started one of United’s past five games in all competitions – a 1-0 Europa League loss to Real Sociedad – leading to criticism of Southgate’s decision to call him up for England’s remaining Nations League fixtures.
But speaking ahead of England’s meeting with Italy at San Siro, which is followed by the visit of Germany on Monday, Southgate insisted Maguire remains central to his plans.
“Whatever reputation I have I’m putting it on there,” Southgate said. “I think you always have to back your judgement, and we feel he is an important player.
“Clearly, it’s not an ideal situation. You want your best players playing regularly so that they’re physically in a good place and mentally in a good place.
“But he is an important player for us. I think it’s important to back our best players.
“I haven’t felt the need to speak to him any differently to the rest of the players. Look, he understands that he’s at a big club, big transfer fee and captain of the club so I think that’s why the spotlight has been on him more.
“But he’s focused on training well every day and getting himself back in the [United] team.”
While Southgate acknowledges a lack of alternatives contributed to his decision to stand by Maguire, he also highlighted the ball-playing ability of the defender and his partner John Stones.
“If we thought there were experienced players ready to step in and play at a level above, there would be a different consideration and in some positions there would be a different level of competition in that way,” Southgate said. “He is our most dominant aerial centre-back.
“Him and John are incredible with the ball really – the amount of pressure they have taken for the team in tournaments we have played because we don’t always have that midfield pivot player who can progress the game.
“It means there is a huge amount of pressure on our centre-backs to use the ball well and those two are as good as any in world football at doing that.”
England have only lost two of their past 26 matches, both against Hungary in June’s Nations League fixtures (W18 D6).
However, the Three Lions are also winless in their past four games (D2 L2), their longest such run since June 2014 (five), and a defeat to Italy in Milan would condemn Southgate’s side to relegation from the Nations League’s top tier.
Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez claims that Kevin De Bruyne is the “most incredible playmaker in world football”.
“It’s a message for all our fans, don’t take for granted watching Kevin De Bruyne play,” Martinez told reporters. “For me he’s the most incredible playmaker in world football at this present time.
“His way of seeing the game, his way of seeing the time and space and then the execution in front of goal,” he added.
The Manchester City midfielder dazzled with a goal and an assist in Belgium’s 2-1 win over Wales in the Nations League on Thursday.
De Bruyne, who is the reigning Premier League Player of the Season, also had a first-half shot hit the post.
“I thought his performance was magical today. But he’s been doing that, I look back at Poland [1-0 win in June], at home, he’s been doing that consistently. Sometimes I look at him, we’re so lucky to have a player like Kevin,” Martinez said.
The 31-year-old’s 2021-22 Premier League Player of the Season gong was the second of his career, also earning the honour in 2019-20. He currently leads the Premier League with six assists this term.
The former Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen and Genk midfielder has had a decorated career, starting with winning the Bundesliga Player of the Year in 2014-15.
More recently, De Bruyne is a four-time PFA Premier League Team of the Year member and has helped City to four Premier League titles. He also won the 2019-20 Champions League Midfielder of the Season.
The Belgian was named as one of the nominees last month for this year’s Ballon d’Or with the winner to be announced in October, having finished eighth in 2021.
Jose Mourinho has made a surprise appearance in the latest music video released by British rapper Stormzy.
The former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss, currently at Roma, is seen shushing the camera in trademark fashion during the video for Stormzy’s single “Mel Made Me Do It”.
As the camera pans to Mourinho, Stormzyquotes one of the most iconic lines from the three-time Premier League champion’s career, rapping: “I prefer not to speak like I’m Jose”.
After being angered by the officials’ performance during Chelsea’s loss to Aston Villa in 2014, Mourinho said: “I prefer not to speak. If I speak I’m in big trouble”.
Mourinho posted an image of himself alongside Stormzy on Instagram on Thursday, writing: “Was great fun doing this cameo for Stormzy’s new music video out today. I had a great time.”
Mourinho’s fiery demeanour in news conferences may have earned him a long rap sheet during his time in football, but few would have expected this.
Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe has stated that he was acting with the assistance of his France team-mates after prevailing in an image rights dispute with the French Football Federation (FFF).
Mbappe had been involved in a disagreement with the FFF since March, after he refused to show up to a photo shoot organised for the French men’s team.
The striker desired greater control of his image rights to avoid being associated with certain brands, and pledged to continue his refusal to engage in sponsorship activities after meeting up with Les Bleus for their Nations League fixtures this month.
After a meeting of FFF officials, the governing body said it would “work on the outlines of a new agreement” concerning players’ image rights on Tuesday.
Speaking after opening the scoring in a 2-0 win over Austria on Thursday, Mbappe insisted he was not alone in the dispute.
“The squad has always been behind me, maybe you didn’t know it,” he said.
“From the start, it was a team initiative, it’s just that I have no issue with going into the spotlight to fight for my team-mates.
“It doesn’t matter if I get criticised, it won’t change the way I play or live my life. If it can allow the squad to get what it wants, that’s the main thing.”
France will conclude their Nations League group campaign with a trip to Denmark on Sunday, having overtaken Austria in the Group A1 standings following the win over Austria.
France’s squad for their trip to Denmark has reduced as Jules Kounde and Mike Maignan have withdrawn after sustaining injuries.
This has compelled Didier Deschamps to call up Rennes’ Steve Mandanda.
A statement issued by the French Football Federation on Friday read: “Mike Maignan had to give up his place to Alphonse Areola at half-time in France-Austria on Thursday evening at the Stade de France, due to pain felt in the left calf.
“The Milan goalkeeper will not be able to play against Denmark on Sunday in Copenhagen. To replace him, Didier Deschamps called on Steve Mandanda.
“Maignan will leave the group during the day, as will Jules Kounde, who is suffering from a left hamstring injury. Both players will take exams in the morning before being released to their club.
“Kounde will not be replaced in the group that will arrive in Copenhagen on Saturday.”
Goals from Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud ensured Francepicked up the first win of their Nations League campaign against Austria on Thursday, but their injury crisis worsened at the Stade de France.
Deschamps’ team were already without Karim Benzema, Kingsley Coman, N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba and others for their final Nations League fixtures, and Juventus midfielder Pogba is a doubt for the World Cup after undergoing knee surgery.
They were further depleted when Barcelona new boy Kounde was withdrawn after 23 minutes against Austria, and it has now been revealed Maignan was in pain before his own half-time exit.
Mandanda has won 34 senior caps since making his France debut in 2008, and was part of the squad which won the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
France could still be relegated from the top tier of the Nations League and cannot progress to the competition’s finals, with Croatia and Denmark locked in a battle for top spot in Group A1.
Juventus are keeping Chelsea wingerChristian Pulisic on their radar amid uncertainty over the American’s future in England.
Pulisic, 24, has been a rare sight for fans of the West London club this season, having played just 156 minutes in the Premier League.
The USA international was linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge this summer, with Manchester United reportedly keen to take him on loan.
According to Tuttosport, Juve are closely monitoring Pulisic’s situation as they eye improvements to their frontline.
With Pulisic’s contract expiring in 2024, he may be on the market for a reduced fee should he decide to leave Graham Potter’s outfit.
In the 2019-20 season, the 51-cap international recorded 13 goal contributions in a campaign that saw Chelsea finish fourth in the Premier League but has struggled to hit those heights since.
The former Borussia Dortmund man admitted he had a strained relationship with former head coach Thomas Tuchel and was frustrated at broken promises.
Talking about the second leg of the Champions League defeat to Real Madrid last season, he said: “I honestly was dumbfounded and very disappointed.
“I thought that I’d earned a start and, most importantly, he had assured me previously I was going to start.
“So by the time he brought me on with about 25 minutes left, I was just so wound up.”
In other news
Sergio Busquets has been a loyal servant to Barcelona
Sergio Busquets is ready to leave Barcelona at the end of the season, with a move to Inter Miami on the cards, report SPORT.
According to Marca, Barcelona are plotting a swoop for Ruben Neves should Busquets depart the Catalan giants next summer.
Calciomercato suggest that Juventus are considering Eintracht Frankfurt defender Evan Ndicka, 23, as a long-term solution to their defensive woes.
The ECOWAS leaders made the decision in New York where they were attending the UN General Assembly.
They agreed on “gradual sanctions” on a list of people linked to the Guinean junta who will be identified “very soon”, the AFP news agency reports.
Guinean leaders say they need three years to return the country to democracy and they are unhappy with Ecowas’ demands for a faster transition.
In a statement, the Guinean interim prime minister, Bernard Gomou, had earlier described the Ecowas chief and president of neighbouring Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, as a “puppet” and an “overexcited” man who had “forced his way in” to lead the regional organisation.
Guinea was suspended from ECOWAS following the coup in September last year.
A viral video on social media is showing people taking bales of maize flour off a lorry that overturned on a major highway in Kenya‘s capital, Nairobi.
The crowd of looters include motorists, motorbike taxi operators and pedestrians.
The cause of the accident is unclear and there were no police officers on sight, according to the footage.
A local journalist is among those who has tweeted footage from the scene:
The prices of basic food commodities like maize flour and wheat flour, potatoes, vegetables and fruits have been rising in the country – attributed to a combination of external and domestic factors.
Last week the government scrapped a subsidy on petrolwhich has increased the retail price to an all-time high.
England‘s hopes of staying in Nations League Group A3 hang in the balance ahead of Friday night’s clash against Italy in Milan.
Four games in, the Three Lions are still searching for their first win in the competition and they are already out of contention to make next summer’s Nations League finals.
Italy, who beat England at Wembley in the final of Euro 2020, have problems themselves but have three points more on the board ahead of a big night at the San Siro.
Team news
Italy boss Roberto Mancini has already confirmed Lorenzo Pellegrini, Matteo Politano and Marco Verratti will play no part in September’s internationals.
Both Davide Calabria and Nicolo Zaniolo missed out on a place in the squad, while Leeds United’s Wilfried Gnonto and West Ham’s Gianluca Scamacca will hope to make an impact from the bench.
Lazio’s Ciro Immobile has not scored for Italy in 15 months, but he has notched four goals in his last six appearances for his club.
England boss Gareth Southgate has named Ivan Toney in his squad for the first time, but he is expected to play second fiddle to 50-goal captain Harry Kane.
Jordan Henderson has replaced the injured Kalvin Phillips in the squad, while John Stones will serve a suspension after being sent off in the 0-0 draw against Hungary in June.
Kyle Walker is a doubt due to an ongoing muscle injury, while Aaron Ramsdale is likely to start in goal with Jordan Pickford not part of the squad as he continues to recover from a thigh problem.
Ciro Immobile has impressed for Lazio in Serie A this season
The stats
Italy and England have drawn each of their last four meetings over 90 minutes, including the Euros final in July 2021 which Mancini’s men went on to win on penalties.
The Three Lions have struggled on their travels to Italy in the past, failing to win any of their previous five away matches against the Azzurri, with their last victory on Italian soil against them coming back in May 1961.
Southgate’s side are winless in their last four, with their most recent victory coming in a friendly against Ivory Coast in March.
Italy’s form is not much better, though, with Mancini’s side only victorious in two of their previous nine games.
Prediction
Both Italy and England seem to have gone backwards since the Euro 2020 final last year, and it is tough to back a winner with much conviction.
England will want to start the build-up to the World Cup on a positive note and bounce back from the dreadful 4-0 home defeat to Hungary in their most recent game in June.
However, a draw looks the most likely outcome between two countries who often seem to cancel each other out, while under 2.5 goals also appeals in what is expected to be a tight game.
Kevin De Bruyne was on target as Belgium kept their faint hopes of progressing to the Nations League Finals alive with a 2-1 victory over Wales.
De Bruyne opened the scoring and set up the second goal for Michy Batshuayi at the King Baudouin Stadium, as the Red Devilsremained three points behind leaders Netherlands in Group A4.
Kieffer Moore pulled one back for Wales, but the Dragons must now beat Poland on Sunday to have any chance of avoiding relegation from League A.
The Red Devils, whose head coach Roberto Martinez was sent from the touchline for time-wasting, need an emphatic win over the Dutch when they meet on Sunday to reach the Finals.
Belgium took just 10 minutes to break through as De Bruyne applied a wonderful first-time finish to Batshuayi’s lay-off to the edge of the penalty area.
Youri Tielemans steered Yannick Carrasco’s cross off target and Batshuayi fired over from a tight angle as the Red Devils continued to dominate, while the woodwork denied De Bruyne a second goal as he rattled the post from 20 yards out.
Eden Hazard then curled narrowly wide before the hosts doubled their lead in the 37th minute. This time, De Bruyne was the provider; sweeping in a pinpoint cross for Batshuayi to touch home.
Ethan Ampadu called Thibaut Courtois into action with Wales’ first attempt on goal, while Wayne Hennessey denied De Bruyne at the other end.
The visitors halved the deficit within five minutes of the restart as Moore rose to head home Brennan Johnson’s inviting cross.
Rob Page introduced Gareth Bale in the 64th minute and the Los Angeles FC forward went close soon after; Toby Alderweireld deflecting his header over from Dan James’ centre.
VAR overturned a Belgian penalty later on, but the hosts held on for maximum points after Martinez was ordered from the touchline in stoppage time.
What does it mean? Belgium still in the hunt
Belgium can still progress to the Nations League finals after Thursday’s win in Brussels.
But following the Netherlands’ 2-0 success over Poland, the Red Devils must record at least a 4-1 victory over the Dutch in the Group A4 decider to dislodge them at the summit.
As for Wales, they must beat Poland by two goals to avoid relegation from League A.
De Bruyne instrumental once more
Once again, De Bruyne played a starring role for his side with another commanding display in the middle of the park.
The Manchester City midfielder found the back of the net and provided an assist, while he also recorded game-high tallies of key passes (seven), crosses (six), shots (five), and efforts on target (three).
Batshuayi continues impressive form
Though he recorded just 22 touches and 15 passes, Batshuayi maintained his rich vein of form on the international stage with another goal and assist.
The Fenerbahce striker has now been directly involved in seven goals (scored four, assisted three) in his last seven games for his country.
What’s next?
Both sides conclude their Nations League campaigns on Sunday. Belgium travel to the Netherlands for the Group A4 decider, with Wales hosting Poland in the battle to avoid relegation.
South Africa has signed the first three agreements to grow its renewable energy supplies.
This will reduce its reliance on coal-fired power stations.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe yesterday led the deal-signing event with independent producers to supply wind energy.
Currently, South Africa is facing acute energy shortages, with its state energy provider, Eskom, suffering from a lack of investment amid allegations of corruption.
Coal is used to generate 80% of South African electricity but under Thursday’s deal, energy output will increase by 10% through private investment in wind and solar projects.
These are not expected to come online until 2024.
Official figures released earlier this month confirmed that South Africa’s GDP shrank partly because of daily rolling blackouts affecting both homes and industry.
The #IRP is a framework that propagates the development of mixed energy technologies. We should be able to repurpose some of the old Eskom power stations from coal to gas. We can’t be left behind, & believe that we can switch-off everything else & rely on renewables pic.twitter.com/0q5FIsUQTd
Egyptians have been mourning prominent film, television and stage actor Hisham Selim, who died of lung cancer at the age of 64.
Selim’s father was a famous footballer turned actor, and like him, he was a chain smoker.
Selim’s career spanned five decades and saw him make his debut film in 1972 beside the legendary star Faten Hamama.
He was in two classic films by the world-renowned Egyptian director, Youssef Chahine, including the epic Return of the Prodigal Son with the Lebanese superstar Majida al-Roumi.
She called him her soulmate in her affectionate tribute, which has been the most shared online.
He won a new following two years ago when he spoke openly and warmly about his transgender son – an issue that remains taboo in Egypt.
Former Nigeria basketball international, Ime Udoka, ceases to be Boston Celtics head coach for the 2022-23 season.
He was caught having a relationship with a female member of staff.
Udoka, who led the Celtics to the NBA Finals earlier this year in his first season as a head coach, was suspended for “violations of team policies”.
Udoka has been in a long-time relationship with well-known American actress Nia Long, with whom he has a child.
The team added that a decision about the 45-year-old’s future beyond 2022-23 “will be made at a later date”.
Assistant coach Joe Mazzulla will be promoted to interim head coach.
Udoka, born to a Nigerian father and an American mother, represented Nigeria in international competition throughout his playing career, earning bronze medals at the African Championships in 2005 and 2011.
United Nations experts warn have disclosed that rape victims in South Sudan lack access to medical and trauma care.
This includes even those who have been gang-raped multiple times in the ongoing conflict in the country.
Women are no longer bothering to report repeated sexual assaults, according to a UN panel on human rights in South Sudan.
Some women have been raped up to five times in the last nine years, the panel said.
“Just imagine what it means to be raped by multiple armed men, pick yourself up for the sake of your children and then for it to happen again and again and again,” said Yasmin Sooka, the chairperson of the panel.
She added: “These women are asking us when it will stop – 2013, 2016, 2018, 2021 and now in 2022 – they say they keep telling their stories and nothing changes.”
In several villages in Western Equatoria State and Unity State – where fighting in ongoing – there is no medical care to rape victims, the panel said.
“Women raped by armed forces while collecting firewood are threatened with death if they report it,” said Prof Andrew Clapham, a member of the panel.
The experts have been participating in meetings at the UN General Assembly in New York to speak about the situation in South Sudan.
Ayder Hospital reports that that one person has been killed following an air strike in the capital city of Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray.
The biggest hospital in the region revealed that the deceased is a sexagenarian.
The 60-year-old man was brought in on Friday morning after a drone attack around Desta Hotel in Mekelle city.
The Friday strike is the latest since fighting between Tigrayan forces and federal government and forces its allies resumed a month ago shattering a five-month truce.
More than a dozen people have died to date with at least five air strikes hitting the city so far, including the Friday one.
There have been no comment from the Ethiopian authorities regarding the strikes.
The Church of England has barred late Desmond Tutu’s daughter from leading the funeral of her godfather, Martin Kenyon, in Shropshire on Thursday.
This is because Ms Tutu van Furth is married to a woman. Mpho Tutu van Furth is an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Washington DC.
Ms Tutu van Furth told BBC News it “seemed really churlish and hurtful” as well as “a difficult situation”.
The Church of England does not permit its clergy to be in a same-sex marriage because its official teaching is that marriage is only between one man and one woman.
However, The Episcopal Church, its sister Anglican church in the US does allow clergy to enter into same-sex marriages.
“Advice was given in line with the House of Bishops current guidance on same-sex marriage,” a statement from the Diocese of Hereford said.
The former Bishop of Liverpool, the Right Reverend Paul Bayes, who is a campaigner for the church to change its position on sexuality, said to “plead that things are difficult is not good enough”.
“We urgently need to make space for conscience, space for pastoral care, and space for love,” he said.
After Mr Kenyon’s family was told of the Church’s decision, they moved the funeral service from St Michael and All Angels in Wentnor, near Bishops Castle, to a marquee in the vicarage next door so Ms Tutu van Furth could officiate and preach.
“It feels like a bureaucratic response with maybe a lack of compassion,” she told BBC News.
Martin Kenyon, then 91, became an internet sensation in December 2020 with his frank answers during a CNN interview after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.
Asked how it felt to be one of the first people in the world to receive the jab, he said: “I don’t think I feel much at all”. But added he hoped not to have the “bug” now because he had granddaughters.
“There’s no point in dying when I’ve lived this long, is there?” he said.
Mr Kenyon was close friends with the late South African Archbishop, Desmond Tutu.
Ms Tutu van Furth was forced to give her up right to officiate as a priest in South Africa after she married Marceline van Furth, a Dutch academic, in 2015.
Her father Desmond Tutu, who died in December 2021, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his struggle against apartheid in South Africa. He also campaigned in favour of gay rights and backed same-sex marriage.
“I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place,” he said in 2013. “I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this.”
He added: “I am as passionate about this campaign as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level.”
Ivan Toney has enjoyed a meteoric rise from League Two striker to England call-up — and a spot on the plane to Qatar is next in his sights.
The 26-year-old is enjoying a stellar season so far, catching Gareth Southgate’s attention after firing Brentford into the top half of the table.
And Toney’s excellent showings have been rewarded with a call-up to the Three Lions squad for their Nations League games against Italy and Germany.
Ahead of England’s clash with the Azzurri tonight, we take a look at the attacking star’s prospects of booking his place at the World Cup.
Meteoric rise
Toney started out in League Two with Northampton before being signed by Newcastle and loaned to a number of League One sides — though the Magpies eventually sold him to Peterborough after he failed to make an impact at St James’ Park.
The forward was playing in the third tier as recently as 2020 but has never been fazed by a new challenge.
He scored 31 times in his first — and only — Championship campaign as Brentford won promotion via the play-offs, where he added another two strikes to his tally.
Last season was Toney’s first full Premier League campaign and he took the division by storm, notching 12 goals as the Bees comfortably avoided relegation.
The West Londoners’ No17 looks on course to better that total this term and will be hoping to make his mark on the international stage at the first time of asking.
Toney has been a man on a mission this season, scoring five Premier League goals in just seven games — only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Aleksandar Mitrovic have more.
The Northampton native’s incisive movement has seen him get on the end of seven big chances so far, scoring three.
While the fact he has missed four significant opportunities may seem like cause for concern, the rate at which he finds himself in those dangerous positions is a positive sign.
Additionally, his five strikes have come from an expected goals tally of just 2.78, allaying any fears over how clinical he is in the final third.
Spot on from 12 yards
Not that anyone who watched Toney’s sensational hat-trick against Leeds would have any cause to doubt his finishing ability.
His treble certainly did not lack variety, scoring a penalty, a direct free-kick and an audacious dink.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank hailed the centre forward as the world’s best penalty taker — and the league’s most in-form striker after Kane.
He said: “It’s a nightmare to play against [Toney].
“Also, I have said many times he is the best penalty taker in the world and hopefully I won’t get bored saying it.
“The free-kick? Wow! I said to him, if you want to take them, you have to practice. It was a classic Ivan goal, fantastic technique.
“Then [the] last one is just ridiculous, to dink it over the keeper and pull that finish out of the hat.
“Off the top of my head, looking at strikers on form, Harry Kane is number one but there is not a better striker [than Toney] after Kane on form.
“I don’t see a better one. Plus, England have been in a few penalty shootouts and if they want to win one, they need to pick Ivan.”
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has supported Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 85-year-old said Russia’s leader was “pushed” into the conflict.
Silvio Berlusconi believes that Russian troops were meant to replace the government with “decent people” then leave.
“Putin was pushed by the Russian population, by his party and by his ministers to invent this special operation. The troops were supposed to enter, reach Kyiv in a week, replace the Zelensky government with decent people and a week later come back,” Mr Berlusconi.
Unfortunately, he said they found “an unexpected resistance, which was then fed by arms of all kinds from the West.”
The three-time Italian PM is a long-term ally of the Russian President.
This weekend his party is expected to take power as part of a right-wing coalition in a general election in Italy.
A narrative alleging the Ukrainian government was slaughtering Russian speakers in the east of the country was created by the media in Moscow, Mr Berlusconi told Italian TV.
He said the reporting, pushed by separatist forces and nationalist politicians in the Russian government, had left Mr Putin with no choice but to launch a limited invasion.
Mr Berlusconi has long been an admirer of Mr Putin, in 2012 joining the then-prime minister for a skiing trip in the Russian city of Sochi.
But in April, he condemned the invasion and said he was “deeply disappointed and saddened” by Mr Putin’s behaviour, adding that the “massacres of civilians in Bucha and other localities are real war crimes”.
The Forza Italia party leader is currently campaigning as part of a right-wing coalition ahead of Sunday’s general election.
His centre-right party is the junior partner of the alliance, which is anchored by Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right Brothers of Italy and Matteo Salvini’s populist Lega Nord party. Polls have suggested the bloc will win a majority.
Despite Mr Berlusconi’s past friendship with Mr Putin, and Mr Salvini’s criticism of Western sanctions on Russia, Ms Meloni, who is expected to lead any potential government, has pledged to continue Italy’s support of Ukraine.
“The war in Ukraine is the tip of the iceberg of a conflict aimed at reshaping the world order,” she said earlier this month. “So we have to fight this battle.”
The Ministry of Energy, supported by the Petroleum Commission, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, GOIL and Base Energy, is promoting Ghana’s offshore oil blocks and farm-in opportunities for investment.
Also, the Ghanaian delegation includes two Members of Parliament from both Majority and Minority sides of the House.
The Ghanaian delegation in its engagement on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, highlighted prospects of the Deep-Water Cape Three Points Block, Offshore Cape Three Points South Block and Shallow Water Cape Three Points Block.
It also included the Southwest Saltpond Block as well as the Expanded Shallow Water Tano (ESWT) Block.
In his remarks, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh spoke of the country’s “stable political and business climate, its highly prospective sedimentary basin with its commensurate high exploration success rate, guaranteed and attractive fiscal terms as well as its defined legal and regulatory framework.”
The Energy Minister also used the opportunity to reveal the availability of an existing architecture to support infrastructure-led exploration, which shortens the time between exploration and production.
His comments drew the needed attention from prospective investors for the country’s upstream petroleum space.
He is optimistic that through these engagements, the ministry will secure the necessary deals to drive the country’s needed economic growth.
Due to the possible gains made, Dr Opoku Prempeh has pledged to “deepen these investment-driven engagements at the Africa-Houston Energy Summit, especially as I will join colleague Ministers at a round-table discussion.”
The two suspects arrested for the murder of aspiring trainee nurse, Georgina Asor Botwe, at Mankessimin the Central Region have confessed to their crimes, the Police Service has revealed.
The accused currently in police custody are Tufuhene of Ekumfi Akwaakrom, Christopher Ekow Clark Quansah, and self-styled pastor, Michael Darko.
In a statement on Thursday, September 22, 2022, the Police revealed that the suspects admitted to “murdering the victim for money rituals.”
Following this revelation, they were arraigned before the District Court II in Cape Coast on Thursday, and have been remanded to reappear before the Court on 4th October 2022.
The alleged boyfriend of the deceased’s senior sister, Michael Darko, was invited for interrogation as it was found out that he was the last person to have interacted with Georgina.
Later, the Tufuhene of Ekumfi Akwaakrom was apprehended for the role he played in the murder ofaspiring trainee nurse.
According to the Police, the interrogation also led officers to the location where the 25-year-old had been buried.
The Police statement did not make mention of the exact spot they retrieved the remains of the lady.
Meanwhile, the deceased’s remains have since been exhumed and deposited at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital morgue for preservation and autopsy.
Ecuador have three kits for their fourth appearance at a World Cup — a plain yellow home strip, a blue away shirt with patterns and a white third choice.
Senegal
Senegal have unveiled both their kits for the World Cup
Senegal’s home kit is white with a yellow hoop across the chest, while their away one is green with the badge, maker’s name and number all in the middle.
Netherlands
The Netherlands have released their orange and blue kits for their first World Cup in eight years
The Netherlands return to the World Cup after missing the 2018 edition and have a bold home kit with different shades of orange, while they will wear a smart blue away strip.
Group B
England
England’s new away kit draws inspiration from classic designs
England’s home kit is white with blue splashes on the shoulders, while the away kit is red with a blue collar and sure to be popular with fans.
Iran
Iran are yet to confirm their kits for the 2022 World Cup.
USA
The United States’ two kits for the upcoming World Cup
The United States’ home kit is white with a block of blue under the collar, while their away option is blue.
Wales
Wales have unveiled their two kits for their first World Cup appearance since 1958
Adidas have pulled out two smart kits for Wales’ first World Cup in 64 years — a traditional red home effort with a white away design.
Group C
Argentina
Argentina’s two-toned purple away kit will go alongside their traditional blue and white home kit
Argentina’s traditional blue and white home kit will be complemented by a two-tone purple away strip in Qatar.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s kits for the 2022 World Cup
Saudi Arabia will have two of the smartest kits in Qatar. Their dark green home jersey has light green marks on it, while the white away version also has a light pattern.
Mexico
Mexico’s away shirt complete with Aztec patterns is one of the best on show
Mexico’s home kit is two shades of their usual green, while their away strip has an Aztec pattern.
Poland
Poland’s plain home and away shirts have been unveiled
There are no frills with Poland’s two kits, an all-red home shirt backed up by a white away top.
Group D
France
France will look to defend the Jules Rimet trophy in Qatar
France stick with the dark shade of blue that they won the 2018 World Cup wearing, albeit with a buttoned collar, while a plain white away kit is the order of the day.
Australia
Australia will wear a yellow home kit and blue away kit in Qatar
Australia’s home shirt comes with different smudges of yellow across it, while their navy away kit has a turquoise trim at the top.
New Balance’s only World Cup kits are two very basic Costa Rica efforts, with blue sleeves on red and white shirts.
Germany
Germany’s two kits for the 2022 World Cup
Germany’s usual white home strip has a thick black stripe down the middle, while they have a more jazzy red away top.
Japan
Japan’s two adidas kits for Qatar
Japan’s home kit is one of the best at the tournament with different shaded triangles of white and blue, while their second strip is a basic white number.
Group F
Belgium
Kevin De Bruyne models Belgium’s new home kit
Belgium’s plain red shirt is dominated by the flames incorporated on to the otherwise all-black sleeves, while they will wear a plain white away strip.
Canada
Canada will not have a new kit for the World Cup after their surprise qualification
Canada are the only team at the World Cup who will not get a new kit. Les Rouges have earned qualification to the global showpiece for the first time since 1986.
Morocco
Morocco’s two kits for the World Cup
Morocco will wear a smart red home shirt and their all-white away number is a beauty.
Croatia
Croatia have two striking kits for the World Cup
Croatia’s traditional red and white squared home kit has a new twist with white patches all over it, while the away kit is mainly blue apart from similar patterns on the shoulders.
Group G
Brazil
Brazil will wear their traditional yellow and blue shirts in Qatar
There is no messing around from Brazil with their traditional yellow home shirt and a blue away one, with some interesting sleeves, to go alongside it.
Serbia
Serbia’s dark red home kit goes alongside a white away one
Serbia’s home kit is dark red and their away shirt, like the other PUMA designs, is an interesting twist on the norm.
Switzerland
Switzerland’s red and white home and away kits
Switzerland’s home shirt is red with thin white lines at the top, while the all white away kit has the number, badge and maker’s name all in the middle as per PUMA’s style this winter.
Cameroon
Cameroon are yet to announce their two kits.
Group H
Portugal
Portugal’s home and away kits for their World Cup campaign
Portugal’s red and green home kit has proven controversial, but their white away one with a hoop across the chest is smart.
Ghana
Ghana’s plain white home shirt is paired with a bright red away one
Ghana’s plain white home shirt offers very little, while their bright red away shirt is certainly striking.
Uruguay
Uruguay’s smart home kit is matched with one of PUMA’s better away designs
Uruguay’s white away kit with a light blue trim is one of PUMA’s smarter efforts alongside their traditional home strip.
South Korea
South Korea have unveiled their kits — including a bold away one
South Korea’s simple salmon home kit is a stark contrast to their black away one, complete with splashes of yellow, red and blue.
The World Bank has confirmed that the Akufo-Addo-led government put to good use the money it received from the Bank to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to the media, the Bank’s Country Director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, Mr. Pierre Frank Laporte, revealed that the World Bank held the country accountable by perusing all the necessary documentations and receipts on what the money was spent on.
“We know each and every dollar that is spent and accounted for. We have done the necessary audits”, he said.
Mr. Pierre Frank Laporte, however, noted that “There are always a few things here and there and some documentation that needs to be followed.”
Nonetheless, he added that “we are very satisfied that our resources were spent in line with the procurement requirements that existed.”
According to Mr. Pierre Frank Laporte, the government has not spent all the funds it received to combat the virus.
“All the funds for COVID were not spent. There were immediate things to be spent on, but there was also construction and procurement of equipment. We don’t feel that our resources have not been properly spent,” he explained.
In 2020, the World Bank is provided $100 million to Ghana to assist the country in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
This financing package included $35 million in emergency support to help the country provide improved response systems.
In addition to the emergency facility, a $65 million contingency emergency response component was triggered from the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project (GARID) to support critical activities such as laboratory equipment and chemicals essential medical equipment and supplies including test kits and personal protection equipment.
Apart from the $430 million, the World Bank also advanced an additional $130 million to Ghana for the purchase of vaccines.
In June 2022, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced that a total of ¢12.04 billion has been expended so far on COVID-19.
According to figures put out by the Finance Minister in his address to Parliament on Wednesday, June 22, an amount of GH¢11.16 billion was allocated for expenditures related to Covid-19.
However, government ended up spending GH¢8.12 billion by the end of 2020.
In the arena of Covid-19 funding, according to data contained in the 2021 mid-year budget, government also received ¢19.3 billion in 2020 as budget support, following the impact of the pandemic.
Funding Sources for 2020 Budget
IMF – ¢5.85 bn
World Bank – ¢1.33 bn
EU – ¢504 m
AfDB – ¢405.7 m
Bank of Ghana – ¢10 bn
GOG Contingency Fund – ¢1.2 bn
Funding sources for 2021 Budget
According to the 2021 mid-year budget document, government also received ¢6.29 billion in the same year.
Nigerian university teachers who are currently on strike are appealing against the order of an arbitration court directing them to suspend their seven-month strike and return to work.
The National Industrial Court gave the order on Wednesday while it considered a government’s suit challenging the strike.
But the Academic Staff Union of Universities have urged its members to “remain calm” as its lawyers are already filing an appeal.
The government approached the court to stop the lecturers from continuing their strike, after both parties failed to resolve their differences. It said the strike would result in irreparable damage to Nigerian students and to the country if not suspended.
For the past seven months, public university lecturers have suspended classes across the country due to pay disagreements with the government.
The lecturers accused the government of failing to fulfil some of the agreements reached with the union 10 years ago.
The umbrella body of university students in Nigeria, the National Association of Nigerian Students (Nans), had earlier welcomed the court order, describing it as a win-win situation for all the stakeholders in the matter.
The students’ union however urged the government not to see the ruling as a victory over the lecturers.
Darcy Swain, Australialock, has been barred for six weeks following his charge into the knee of Quinn Tupaea ruled the New Zealand centre out for nine months.
Swain, 25, drove his shoulder into Tupaea’s leg as the All Black stood over a breakdown during Australia’s 39-37 loss in Melbourne on 15 September.
Sanzaar decided the incident was “not intentional” but “highly reckless”.
Swain has been selected for an Australia A squad that will play three games against Japan in October.
He is now ineligible for those matches, this weekend’s rematch against New Zealand in the final round of the Rugby Championship and the Wallabies’ tour matches against Scotland and France on 29 October and 5 November respectively.
Swain received a yellow card for the incident on the field, before citing officials decided it was worthy of a red and sent it for review after the match.
“Darcy’s not happy with the result [of what he did] and he’s been punished,” said Australia coach Dave Rennie. “Six weeks is a hefty punishment, I reckon, and fitting.”
New Zealand were highly critical of Swain’s clear-out.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster said his team had “a big issue” with it.
Playmaker Beauden Barrett said Tupaea was “a sitting duck”.
“It was a bit of a free shot. We don’t like to see these sorts of injuries,” he added.
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