Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin has said she has taken a drug test, after new footage emerged showing the leader dancing with a Finnish popstar.
Sanna Marin, 36, came under fire this week after a leaked video showed her partying, with some politicians saying she should be tested for narcotics.
At a news conference on Friday, Ms Marin said she took the test on Friday, with the results expected next week.
Ms Marin repeated her denials that she has ever taken drugs.
“I did nothing illegal,” she said at Friday’s news conference in Helsinki.
“Even in my teenage years I have not used any kind of drugs,” Ms Marin said, adding that she took the drug test to allay any concerns.
Reporters questioned whether the prime minister, who has been in power since December 2019, would have been able to make snap governmental decisions if necessary.
“I don’t remember a single time that there was a sudden situation in the middle of the night to go to the State Council Palace,” she insisted.
“I think my ability to function was really good. There were no known meetings on the days I was partying.”
Although Ms Marin acknowledged she was constantly being filmed, she said she was upset that the footage had become public.
“I trust that people understand that leisure time and work time can be separated,” she added.
Italy U-21 Ghanaian forward Kelvin Yeboahis hoping to score decisive goals for Genoa in the Italian Serie B this season.
The 22-year-old got his first Genoa goal after eight months when he scored the match winner in their 2-1 victory in the first league game of the season last Sunday against Venezia.
Yeboah was introduced in the game in the 72nd minute as a replacement to Ghanaian international Caleb Ekuban.
He scored the winning goal three minutes from time after connecting a pass from Icelandic forward Albert Gudmundsson.
According to Yeboah, he is hoping to score decisive goals that will propel his side to victory in matches.
“I owe it to an old Austrian friend – he revealed – How many cups this year? I hope as much as possible. It is difficult to give a specific number, but I hope to score decisive goals that will be used by Genoa to score the three points. ”
Yeboah signed for the Italian club in January this year as he joined from Austrian Bundesliga side Sturm Graz.
Ghanaian midfielder Emmanuel Lomotey has expressed his readiness to feature for his new club Malmo FF in the 2022/23 season.
The 24-year-old joined the club from French side Amiens SC on a four-year deal after passing his medicals.
Lomotey, who was born in Ghana’s capital, Accra began his professional career at Dreams FC.
“Where I grew up, we play Chelsea and it was a few years ago that they faced Malmö FF. I actually liked the way Malmö played, even though it was Chelsea who won the games,” Lomotey told Sydsvenskan .
“I am ready and I had hoped to play tomorrow if it was possible. I have run a whole pre-season with Amiens and feel “fit”. If the coach had taken me out, I would have been ready any second.”
Lomotey moved to Extremadura UD in the Spanish third division after a year and a half in the domestic league.
In total, he played just under 50 games in the Spanish second and third divisions, both for Extremadura and Villarreal B before continuing his career at French side Amiens SC.
In Amiens, he played for himself a regular place and over two seasons featured in 55 games in Ligue 2.
Lomotey, who can play both in the midfield and in the back line is expected to play a key role for Malmö FF this season and beyond.
A woman at the heart of R. Kelly’s second federal trial has testified that the R&B singer had sex with her “hundreds” of times before she turned 18.
The 37-year-old woman, known as “Jane”, said that improper contact with Kelly began when she was just 13.
The singer is on trial in Chicago for child pornography, obstruction of justice and other charges.
His lawyers have insisted he is not “a monster” and deserves a fair trial.
Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is facing 13 criminal charges including creating and receiving child pornography, obstruction of justice and enticing minors into sexual activity.
He is already serving a 30-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex trafficking and racketing in a separate trial held in New York last year.
The current case rests in large part on the testimony of “Jane”, one of his accusers. Prosecutors allege that Kelly made at least four videos with Jane, parts of which will be shown to jurors.
In court on Thursday, Jane testified that Kelly had sex with her “uncountable times” starting when she was 15. Jurors were shown photographs of her in high school to illustrate how young she appeared at the time.
Over the course of her two-hour testimony, Jane described a number of sexual encounters that Kelly allegedly recorded. In one video, Kelly appeared to hand her money.
When asked why, Jane alleged that Kelly believed that “if it was released for some reason, he [Kelly] would say I was a prostitute”, according to the Chicago Tribune.
One of the videos was also at the centre of a separate 2008 trial in which Kelly and Jane both denied it was them in the tape. Kelly was ultimately acquitted on all charges.
Asked about that earlier denial on Thursday, she told jurors that she ” was afraid something bad would happen to Robert”, according to the Associated Press.
“I was protecting him.”
Some analysts have characterised the current trial as a do-over of the 2008 trial, in which the singer faced 14 charges of child pornography.
Two of Kelly’s former employees are also facing charges in this trial. Derrel McDavid, his former business manager, is accused of helping Kelly fix the 2008 trial, and Milton Brown is charged with receiving child pornography.
Both men have pleaded not guilty.
During opening statements earlier this week, attorneys for Kelly and the two former employees dismissed the charges and called on jurors to give Kelly a fair trial despite widespread public attention, and decried a “mob-justice” climate surrounding the case.
Additionally, they alleged that some of those expected to testify were “criminals” who have previously “extorted him” and secured immunity deals from prosecutors.
Almost 13,000 people were evacuated from several campsites on Thursday evening and sheltered in public buildings, ahead of more expected damage. But authorities said on Friday morning that the night had passed without any major incidents.
Extreme storms have become more frequent recently because of climate change.
Witnesses to the storms said they had been completely unexpected and no warning was given.
“We have never seen such huge storms as this, you would think it was a tropical storm,” restaurant owner Cedric Boell told Reuters news agency.
On the French mainland, some southern areas were hit by power cuts and streets were flooded in the country’s second city, Marseille.
In Austria two girls aged four and eight were killed by a falling tree near a lake in Carinthia.
Later, three women were reported to have died in Lower Austria province, also as a result of a falling tree.
Officials said 13 people had been injured, including five children.
A Chinese-Canadian billionaire has been sentenced to 13 years in prison in China and his company fined more than $8bn (£6.7bn).
Xiao Jianhua and his company Tomorrow Holdings were charged with embezzlement and bribery, a court in Shanghai said.
Xiao – one of China’s richest people – was last seen being whisked away from a luxury hotel in Hong Kong in 2017.
There had been no official word from him since, until the Canadian embassy said in July he would be facing trial.
The trial was said to have started on 4 July.
Xiao and his firm were found guilty of “illegally absorbing public deposits, breaching trust in the use of entrusted property… [and] illegal use of funds,” a statement from the Shanghai court quoted by AFP said. It also said Tomorrow Holdings was guilty of the “crime of bribery”.
It added that Xiao and his firm had “severely violated the financial management order” and “hurt state financial security”.
The court said Xiao and his company had pleaded guilty and had cooperated with authorities and so their punishment was mitigated.
Asked on Friday about Xiao’s right to access Canadian consular services as a Canadian citizen, China’s foreign ministry said China did not recognise dual citizenship and so Xiao was not entitled to such rights.
Xiao reportedly had close connections to the upper echelons of the ruling Communist Party, including to President Xi Jinping’s family.
By 2016, his net worth had grown to an estimated $6bn (£4.7bn) according to Hurun Report, a ranking of China’s wealthiest people.
What happened to Xiao Jianhua?
In 2017, Xiao was whisked away from the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong, where he was understood to have been living at the time.
His family filed a missing person’s report with Hong Kong authorities after he disappeared, but withdrew it a day later, saying they had “regained contact” with Xiao.
Hong Kong police said surveillance footage at the scene showed Xiao did not leave the hotel under duress, but refused to release the footage.
Xiao later issued a statement that was run on the front page of a popular newspaper saying he was receiving medical treatment abroad. He also praised the “rule of law” in China and said that he had not been kidnapped and taken to the Chinese mainland.
His company also released statements on his behalf saying he was fine, though these were later removed.
A controversial decision to dissolve Vanuatu‘s parliament looked set to be challenged in court, as opponents accused the country’s embattled prime minister of illegally dodging a Friday vote of no confidence.
Hours before a parliamentary vote that could have brought down Prime Minister Bob Loughman’s government, he engineered parliament to be dissolved, triggering elections two years earlier than expected.
The opposition — backed by 17 members of government — had backed a vote of no confidence in Loughman, who has led the Pacific island nation since 2020.
Opposition figure Ralph Regenvanu said he would be “challenging this dissolution in court”, with an emergency petition expected to come as soon as Monday.
The tussle is likely to spell a period of political tumult in Vanuatu, which has traditionally been more stable than the neighboring Solomon Islands or Papua New Guinea.
“It’s unprecedented,” said Tess Newton Cain, a long-time Vanuatu watcher and project lead for the Pacific hub at Griffith University, but “not a constitutional crisis at this stage”.
Politics in Vanuatu centres around personal ties and regional politics, rather than ideological parties. Membership of coalitions and even political parties can be fluid.
The decision to dissolve parliament was carried out by recently elected president Nikenike Vurobaravu, a party ally of Loughman, prompting questions about political interference.
Loughman insisted the decision was above board.
“The president exercised powers invested in him by the constitution and as a caretaker Prime Minister of a caretaker government, we welcome the decision,” he said.
If the decision is upheld, Vanuatu will face elections within the next 60 days.
Before parliament was dissolved, a general election had not been due to be held on Vanuatu until 2024.
In June, the country announced agreements with Beijing, deepening their economic ties with China, after Loughman met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the capital Port Vila.
Pacific nations have come under intense political scrutiny amid China-US tensions, with Beijing seeking to increase its security and trade presence in the region.
Ghanaian striker Dauda Mohammedhas made history by becoming the second African player to score on his CD Tenerife debut.
The 24-year-old bagged scored his first goal for Tenerife against Eibar in the Spanish Segunda Division last Saturday. Tenerife lost 2-1 at the Municipal de Ipurua Stadium.
Mohammed became the 14th African player to play for Club Deportivo Tenerife and only two of them managed to debut with a goal, the Ghanaian and Dani Kome, who is well remembered for scoring the goal in the last promotion to the First Division of the Blue and Whites, in 2009.
Tenerife will take on CD Lugo in their next Segunda Division game.
Mohammed joined the Spanish Segunda outfit CD Tenerife a season long loan, having spent last season in Spain where he played for FC Cartagena.
Defender Stephan Ambrosius, who was loaned out from Hamburger SV just three days ago, is set to make his debut for Karlsruher SC in the German second tier on Saturday.
“We have deposited the wish that the new player should be operational quickly,” said coach Christian Eichner on Thursday.
“If he dares, and I only expect an answer, then he has very good opportunities to play,”
The defender had his medicals on Monday and completed his move on Tuesday morning.
His signing comes as a huge boost for Karlsruher SC who have five of their seven central defenders injured.
He could make his debut for Karlsruher SC when they travel to face Jahn Regensburg in the Bundesliga 2.
Ambrosius has struggled to break into manager Tim Walter’s team at Hamburg since returning from injury, which ruled him out the entire last season.
The Essikado Astro Turf was opened in grand style as part of the annual Kundum festival of the Chiefs and people of the Essikado Traditional Area and its environs.
Nana Kobina Nketsia V who graced the occasion undertook the symbolic kick-off which saw the formal opening of the Astro Turf pitch.
Two tournaments took place over three days to mark the formal opening of the football pitch. The two tournaments were the Nana Nketsia IV Tournament and the Joe Ghartey Invitational Tournament.
The Astro Turfwas officially opened by Nana Kobina Nketsia V, Omanhin of the Essikado Traditional Area. He was supported by Kojokrom Chief, Nana Panyin Yens IV, and the Paramount Queen-mother, Nana Kodu.
The Member of Parliament, Joe Ghartey and the Chief Executive of the Zongo Development Fund, Dr. Arafat Suleman Abdulai, and others from the Zongo Development Fund were also part of the opening ceremony. Dr. Arafat praised Hon Joe Ghartey for his persistence in ensuring that development came to his constituency.
Against all odds, the Black Stars held Real Madrid to a thrilling three-all tie on Sunday, August 19, 1962, at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Madrid, the five-time European champions at the time, rallied three times to tie the score at three all.
Former Republicans and Eleven Wise strikers Edward Acquah and Kwame Adarkwa scored goals for Ghana, while Real Madrid’s scorers were Ferenc Puskas, Ignacio Zoco, and Yanko Daucik.
After 60 years, GhanaWeb investigates the location of the Black Stars players who took part in the illustrious match.
Line-up:
Ghana: Dodoo Ankrah, Oblitey Ownes, Ben Simmons, Franklin Cretsil, Addo Odametey, Kwame Adarkwa, Baba Yara, Aggrey Fyn, Wilberforce Mfum, C.K Gyamfi, Edward Acquah.
Subs: Osei Kofi, Kofi Pare.
Dodoo Ankrah
Legendary goalkeeper, Dodoo Ankrah is one of the few players who are alive. In his club career, he played for the fearsome Real Republicans.
Ben Acheampong
Ben Simmons as he was affectionately called passed away in 2019. During his playing career, he played for Cornerstone, Great Ashantis, Asante Kotoko and Real Republicans.
He lived a life dedicated to football and became a coach after retirement. He managed Cornerstone, Ashanti Heroes, Kaaseman, Gihoc Stars, Wa Upper West Heroes, BA United and Kumasi Asante Kotoko, among others.
Addo Odametey
Addo Odametey played for Hearts of Oak and the Black Stars. He was an AFCON winner. He passed away in 2006.
Kwame Adarkwa
Kwame Adarkwa died in 2016. He played for Kumasi Asante Kotoko and won AFCON with the Black Stars.
Osei Kofi
The former Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak midfielder is alive and is pretty much strong. He involves himself in local football activities as and when needed.
Baba Yara
Baba Yara died seven years after the match. He played for Asante Kotokoand Real Publicans in his club career.
Aggrey Fyn
Edward Jeff Aggrey-Fynn passed away in November 2004. He captained Real Republicans and the Black Stars to enormous successes in his career. He is regarded as Ghana’s greatest ever skipper.
Wilberforce Mfum
Wilberforce Mfum is alive and looks more active. In his playing career, he played for Asante Kotokobefore leaving the shores of Ghana to play for Ukrainian SC FC, and New York Cosmos.
C.K Gyamfi
Charles Kumi Gyamfi passed on in November 2015. He played for Hearts of Oak, Ebusua Dwarfs, Asante Kotoko, Fortuna Dusseldorf, and Great Ashantis. He became a coach after retirement and managed Black Stars, AFC Leopards, Ashanti Gold, Somalia U21, Africa XI and Municipal Club.
Kofi Pare
Kofi Pare is currently a reverend. He played for Asante Kotokoin his club career.
The move would make the plant more vulnerable, a Russian official said.
The calls come amid growing concern over safety at the site – Europe’s largest nuclear plant – as both sides accuse each other of shelling the area.
Ukrainian workers operate the plant, which has been under Russian control since March.
It was one of the first sites seized by Russian troops following the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
UN Secretary General António Guterres sounded the alarm after meeting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Lviv on Thursday.
“Any potential damage to Zaporizhzhia is suicide,” Mr Guterres warned.
The Ukrainian president urged the UN to ensure demilitarisation of the nuclear plant – Europe’s biggest. Mr Guterres added that “the facility must not be used as part of any military operation”.
Mr Erdogan echoed the UN chief’s concerns, telling reporters that he was worried about the danger of “another Chernobyl” disaster erupting at the plant.
Mr Zelensky has criticised “deliberate” Russian attacks on the power plant.
Moscow is accused of turning the facility into an army base, with all three leaders urging the Russians to demilitarise the zone as soon as possible.
But Ivan Nechayev, deputy director of the Russian foreign ministry’s Information and Press Department, rejected the call.
“Their implementation will make the plant even more vulnerable,” Mr Nechayev told reporters.
The appeals come as Ukrainian staff, who are working at the plant under Russian direction, warned of a potential nuclear catastrophe at the facility, saying in the past two weeks it has become “the target of continuous military attacks”.
“What is happening is horrific and beyond common sense and morality,” staff wrote in a Telegram post (in Ukrainian).
Later on Thursday, an official Twitter channel used by the Ukrainian government said that members of Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, had “urgently” left the facility, and an “unexpected day off” had been announced.
“Ukrainian intelligence officers believe that the Russians are preparing a provocation at the [facility],” Ukraine’s Centre for Information security tweeted.
“Following their extensive shelling… [Russian forces] could ‘raise the stakes’ and stage a real terrorist attack on Europe’s largest nuclear facility,” it said.
The BBC has been unable to verify the claims.
Despite concerns, though, the site is said to be far more secure than the Chernobyl plant – the site of the worst nuclear incident in history.
The reactor is in a steel-reinforced concrete building that can “withstand extreme external events, both natural and man-made, such as an aircraft crash or explosions,” experts told the BBC in March.
Rapper A$AP Rocky has pleaded not guilty to two charges of assault with a firearm in connection with a shooting in Hollywood last November.
The star, real name Rakim Mayers, is alleged to have pointed the gun at a former friend during an argument.
Prosecutors say he later fired the weapon twice in the direction of the victim, who sustained a minor injury.
The 33-year-old, who has had two US number one albums, could face up to nine years in prison if found guilty.
The rapper, who had a baby with singer Rihanna in May, appeared in court in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The star was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in April, as he returned from a holiday with Rihanna. He was released three hours later – after posting bail of $550,000 (£421,000).
Terell Ephron, who is part of the A$AP Mob hip-hop collective, identified himself as the victim and took legal action against his former friend last week – alleging assault and battery, negligence and emotional distress.
Mr Ephron, known as A$AP Relli, alleged that Mr Mayers had “lured” him to an obscure location in Hollywood to discuss a disagreement.
The lawsuit claims that, after a verbal altercation, Mr Mayers “pulled out a handgun and purposefully pointed it in the direction of [Mr Ephron] and fired multiple shots”.
Mr Ephron was “struck by bullet projectile/fragments” in his left hand and required medical attention, according to the court papers. He is seeking at least $25,000 (£20,750) in damages.
At Wednesday’s hearing, judge Victoria B Wilson put a restraining order in place, ordering Mr Mayers to stay 100 yards (91m) away from Mr Ephron at all times, and set a preliminary trial date of 2 November.
Mr Mayers was previously given a two-year suspended sentence for his role in a brawl in Stockholm in August 2019.
As A$AP Rocky, he was one of the biggest breakout stars of the 2010s, earning eight platinum singles in the US, including Wild For The Night, Everyday, LSD and A$AP Forever.
He rose to fame after being championed by Drake, and has worked with artists including Alicia Keys, Lana Del Rey, Skepta, Selena Gomez and Kendrick Lamar.
Last year, he confirmed he was in a relationship with Rihanna, calling her the “love of my life” and “the one”.
Experts have issued warnings for flash foods, but say the brief rainfall will not be enough to refill the country’s dry rivers. In Spain and Portugal, wildfires were finally brought under control.
Officials in Germany said on Thursday that the rainfall hitting the country after weeks of dry weather would not be enough to raise water levels high enough to restore normal river traffic.
The rain will not be long or sustained enough, according to the German Weather Service (DWD), and will mostly be confined to the north, east, and parts of the south of Germany.
At the same time, the DWD had to issue a flash flood warning for areas around the Danube river in southern Germany, which was expected to be hit with heavy rain and thunderstorms on Friday.
Areas parched by drought suffer from an increased likelihood of flash floods because of the soil’s inability to absorb water quickly.
Outside of Berlin, a forest fire that had been started by errant police munitions that raged for days was finally brought under control. However, local officials announced that large parts of the Grunewald forest would be closed to visitors for up to a year as experts combed the woods for dangerous materials that may have scattered throughout the area during the blaze.
Crisis felt across Europe
The low water levels in the Rhine have also deeply affected the Netherlands, through which the river also flows. Volunteers there have begun rescuing fish trapped in bodies of water that used to be connected by the country’s intricate systems of canals and waterways.
Teams from fishing clubs have been using nets to pluck up huge groups of carp, bream, and pike out of distressed lakes and streams and bringing them to areas with more plentiful water.
In France, six people died in Corsica after a violent storm with hurricane-force winds battered the island. There was still no rain in the Loire valley, however, bringing river transport in the area to a total standstill as the water was even too shallow for flat-bottomed tourist boats.
In Spain and Portugal, long-awaited rainfall meant that widespread wildfires could finally be brought under control. Thousands of firefighters had battled the fires and thousands of residents had been forced to leave their homes.
“The fire is under control, but it is not extinguished. Consolidation work will continue in the coming days,” Portugal’s civil protection commander, Miguel Oliveira, told TSF radio.
More than 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) of land burned in Portugal during the latest spate of fires. In Spain; it was 13,000 hectares.
In Italy, the province of Tuscany was battered by storms after weeks of drought. The gales killed at least two people as a tornado hit the coastal town of Piombino.
Following the clash, some vehicles, numbering about 12 were destroyed. However, calm has been restored by police officers who were deployed to the school.
The violent clashes between students of the University Hall (Katanga) and Unity Hall (Continental) started late Thursday afternoon.
The 12 injured students were from both halls who suffered various injuries.
They were treated at the KNUST Hospital.
The 12 vehicles destroyed belonged to staff of the university.
The police in a statement said an investigation was ongoing to arrest those “behind this unfortunate, needless and unjustifiable attacks and bring them to face justice.”
“We, therefore, urge all law abiding members of the university community to remain calm and support the police as we deal with the situation,” the police added.
Hall week
Hall week activities on the campus started on August 10 and was expected to end on August 28.
The motive was to offer each hall the opportunity to celebrate their achievements and to fraternise.
As usual, students from Katanga, who were celebrating their hall week embarked on a procession, they moved to the main university entrance gate, blocked traffic flow on the Kumasi – Accra highway and created a lot of vehicular traffic.
On their return to campus, they decided to use the Unity Hall arena, against a mutual arrangement not to encroach on each other’s “territory.”
Without any provocation, the Katanga students reportedly decided to pelt stones at residents of Unity Hall in an attempt to force them to react, reports Daniel Kenu.
When that failed, the Katangees reportedly destroyed anything on site including cars, some of which belonged to staff.
The police moved in to disperse the students to restore order on campus.
The University Relations Officer (URO), Dr. Norris Bekoe said the police have commenced investigation to arrest the “trouble makers” and cause them to face the law.
“Despite the incident, the university calendar has not been disrupted and every programme is back on course,” he told Graphic Online.
At a glance
both halls who suffered various degrees of injury were treated and discharged by the university hospital last night.
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has said it will soon start arresting and prosecuting some unscrupulous persons who are engaged in diverting and selling fertilizers and other agro-inputs.
The COCOBOD explained that the cocoa fertilizers have been fully financed by the government in ensuring that their disbursement reach every farmer, therefore, selling them is illegal and an offense.
This comes on the back of the attention drawn to the Management of Ghana Cocoa Board that, cocoa fertilizers supplied to cocoa farmers through various farmer Cooperatives, Groups, and Associations for application on farms are being diverted and sold by unscrupulous persons.
Addressing the matter, it said, “We wish to inform the general public that the cocoa fertilizers have been heavily subsidized by government to ensure accessibility and affordability to all farmers to increase farm yields and any attempt to resell them amounts to diversion which is an offence.â€
Having said that, it cautioned all persons involved in this illegal act to desist from the practice or risk facing the full rigours of the law, which will include arrest and prosecution.
“We also wish to caution cocoa farmers who are conniving with such miscreants in the diversion of the subsidized fertilizers to refrain from it immediately or face the consequences of their actions,†COCOBOD warned in a statement from the management.
They want the security agencies particularly the Ghana Police Service to assist them to arrest these bad nuts from such unlawful practices.
“We are, by this release, urging all security agencies to be vigilant and intercept suspected cocoa fertilizers, chemicals, and other inputs in the possession of persons without the required documentations covering the movement of such items for further investigations.
“We also wish to encourage the general public to report all suspected cases to the Ghana Police Service for the necessary action,†says, the Management of Ghana Cocoa Board.
Kim Yo Jong, a member of North Korea‘s politburo, also described President Yoon Suk-yeol as “really simple and still childish” after he offered phased economic aid if the north ends nuclear weapons development.
The sister of North Korean President Kim Jong Un has told South Korea’s President to “shut his mouth” as she rejected an offer of economic aid in return for nuclear disarmament.
Kim Yo Jong, a member of North Korea’s politburo, also described South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol as “really simple and still childish”.
“No one barters its destiny for corn cake,” she added in a statement released by state news agency KCNA.
South Korea’s unification minister, Kwon Young-se, described her comments as “disrespectful and indecent”.
It is the first time that a senior North Korean official has commented directly on what Mr Yoon has called an “audacious” plan.
He has said he is willing to provide phased economic aid to North Korea if it ends nuclear weapons development and begins denuclearization.
But Ms Kim was scathing in her denouncement of the idea, saying of Mr Yoon: “It would have been more favorable for his image to shut his mouth, rather than talking nonsense as he had nothing better to say.”
Last week, she threatened retaliation following an outbreak of COVID-19 in the north – something claimed to have been caused by southern activists dropping leaflets and other items from balloons.
Speaking to a large audience in Pyongyang on 10 August, she said: “What matters is the fact that the South Korean puppets are still thrusting leaflets and dirty objects into our territory.
“The main culprit who gravely violated our people’s safety inflicted pains and caused anxiety to millions of parents in our country, who had to endure all the hardships to protect the lives of their precious children, were the despicable South Koreans.”
She added: “We have cleared out the virus spread by the South Korean scum. We must counter it toughly. We have already considered various counteraction plans but our countermeasure must be a deadly retaliatory one.”
The south’s offer of economic aid was first proposed in May – and Mr Yoon talked about it again on Wednesday as he marked 100 days in office.
He has also pushed to increase his country’s military deterrence against North Korea, and Seoul has resumed long-suspended joint drills with the United States, including major field exercises due to begin next week.
Ukraine has said Russia is preparing to stage a “provocation” at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant on Friday.
The country’s intelligence agency made the claim just hours after Moscow accused Ukraine of trying to stage an “accident” there, which may involve a radiation leak, during the UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres’ visit to the war-ravaged nation.
Located in the southeast of Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia plant was captured by Russia in the early days of the war and in recent weeks has repeatedly come under fire.
Both sides have pointed the finger at each other for the shelling.
Russian news agencies have reported shelling over Enerhodar overnight, close to the power plant, which is being blamed on Ukraine.
There had been suggestions Russia may try to carry out a false flag operation in the area – Russia’s defense ministry earlier claimed Ukraine would stage a “minor accident” and “provocation” – and blame it on them – to coincide with Mr Guterres’ trip.
In efforts to clamp down on the illegal mining activities also known as galamsey in the Atwima Mponua district in the Ashanti Region, a police taskforce embarked on an operation which led to the arrest of nine illegal miners.
The suspects were arrested during the operation carried out by the district anti-galamsey taskforce, led by Mr Isaac Kofi Marfo, the District Chief Executive, at Mpasatia, Beposo and Abompe.
Six Changfan boats which were impounded during the operations were destroyed while 17 android and 11 keypad mobile phones belonging to the suspects were confiscated.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr James Amekah told the Ghana News Agency that, the suspects were in police custody waiting to be put before the court.
He mentioned the names of the suspects as Andrews Badim 42, Dugah Etse 31, Adjetey Anaglo 39, Collins Teyeh 24 and Amenuve Kpapeba 22.
The rest were Kwadwo Bosompem 30, William Sovi 25, Baba Noah 27 and Winfred Nyantoma 32.
DSP Amekah called on the people in the communities to be vigilant and report people engaged in any illegal activity to the security agencies.
Some disability advocates want inhuman practices against persons with disabilities at the airports to come to an end.
In view of this, they have called on the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Airports Company to investigate instances of mistreatment and inhumane service meted out to physically challenged persons who use the airports in Ghana.
A letter signed by eight disability advocates and copied to the Ministers of Transport, Tourism, Gender, children and Social Protection and the Chairman of Airlines Board referred to the case of Madam Jennifer Mensa-Bonzie, a physically challenged person domiciled in the USA who recounted her ordeal as a passenger of domestic flights to Kumasi and Tamale.
It said: “there are many passengers like her in Ghana, and our community continues to suffer the pain of the irresponsible services by the airline operators in our airports for domestic flights.
“As the chief duty bearer in our airports, we the signatories to this letter humbly appeal to you to engage the airline operators and swiftly design and deploy practical solutions to the challenges recounted by the gracious Mad. Mensa-Bonzie.
“Particularly, we demand that you issue directives and institute an operational regime, where physically challenged, non-verbal, visually impaired persons and others with disabilities, once they disclose such disabilities, would be assisted appropriately as passengers to use the aircraft and airports.
We think it is only civil, and therefore suggest that facilities like wheelchairs, lifts, mobile ramps and pulleys, crutches, writing and visual aiding devices and the like are promptly provided to assist persons with disabilities(PWDs) as passengers/humans, and at no extra cost to them.
The cost of living crisis could spark a “public health emergency” and lead to a rise in excess winter deaths unless the government takes action to help people with rising energy costs, health chiefs have warned.
Families are looking ahead to a grim winter as experts predict the cap on energy bills will hit close to £3,600 per year from October – before rising again in April next year.
Surging prices mean people will have to choose between skipping meals to heat their homes or living in poor conditions, the National Health Service(NHS) Confederation said in a letter to ministers.
This will inevitably lead to more people falling ill and seeing their health deteriorate.
The body, which represents NHS leaders across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, also warned rising rates of poverty will lead to increased hospital admissions as well as a huge increase in demand on other parts of the NHS, placing front-line services and staff under “intolerable pressure”.
“If people cannot afford to heat their homes sufficiently and if they cannot afford nutritious food, then their health will quickly deteriorate,” the health chiefs wrote.
“This will increase the already high number of annual deaths associated with cold homes – estimated at around 10,000 a year.
Management of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has issued a stern warning to persons involved in the diversion of Cocoa fertilizers and agro-inputs to desist from the practice.
According to COCOBOD, anyone caught engaged in this act will not be left off the hook.
A statement issued in Accra by Management of the Board said cocoa fertilizers supplied to cocoafarmers through various farmer Cooperatives/Groups and Associations for application on farms were being diverted and sold by unscrupulous persons.
It said the cocoa fertilizers had been heavily subsidized by the government to ensure accessibility and affordability to all farmers to increase farm yields and any attempt to resell them amounted to diversion which is an offence.
“We also wish to caution cocoa farmers who are conniving with such miscreants in the diversion of the subsidized fertilizers to refrain from it immediately or face the consequences of their actions,†it added.
It urged all security agencies to be vigilant and intercept suspected cocoa fertilizers, chemicals, and other inputs in the possession of persons without the required documentations covering the movement of such items for further investigations.
The statement encouraged the public to report all suspected cases to the Ghana Police Service for the necessary action.
Police said the 23-year-old remains in custody for questioning.
Officers believe the child was abducted in Warne Avenue in Droylsden, before being taken to a wooded area, then to a van.
She was reunited with her family after finding her way back to a nearby park, but parents in the area were warned to be “extra vigilant”.
The arrest comes after police released a number of CCTV images of a man they wanted to track down, saying he had been “hanging around” prior to the incident.
A 35-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday but released without further action.
Locals have been urged to check CCTV, dashcam video and doorbell footage for any clips that might assist the investigation.
Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 9262.
The Sector Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, in a press release stated that, her outfit is working with authorities in the United Arab Emirates to bring back these stranded citizens back to the country.
These stranded persons, according to Madam Ayorkor Botchwey, were misled by agents who promised them jobs in Dubai and the UAE.
The agents have, however, abandoned these persons, making them easy targets for arrest and detention by law enforcement agencies in the UAE.
The Ministry is thus cautioning persons who wish to travel, to do so through the appropriate authorities.
“Even though our stranded compatriots went to the UAE on their own, the government of Ghana is making necessary efforts in collaboration with the UAE authorities to effect the evacuation of our stranded nationalsâ€.
“The Ministry wishes to seize this opportunity to caution some prospective travellers of the Golf region to be mindful of nefarious activities by unscrupulous agents.â€
Several terrorists reached their early graves and others were severely injured after police officers in Katsina State repelled them in Wapa village, Kurfi Local Government Area of the state.
According to police authorities in the state, the incident occurred on Friday at about 0100hrs after a distress call was received that terrorists, numbering twenty-four (24) on motorbikes and shooting sporadically with AK-47 rifles, attacked the village and kidnapped the duo of Aminu Wapa and Wada Sale of Wapa village, Kurfi LGA.
Upon receipt of the information, the State Police Command deployed its tactical teams to the area and engaged the hoodlums in a fierce gun duel.
He said, the State Police Commissioner, CP Idrisu Dabban Dauda, appreciated the efforts of the personnel in repelling the terrorists. He further urged the public to continue to cooperate with security agencies in the ongoing campaign against terrorists in the state.
His visit was meant to commemorate and pay tribute to aid workers killed in the line of duty. He urges the sector to pay particular attention to “emerging issues” including “the increasing number of orphans and widows.
“World Humanitarian Day is commemorated every year on the 19th of August to pay tribute to humanitarian workers killed and injured in the course of their work, to honor all the aid and health workers who continue despite the odds to provide life-saving support and protection to people most in need,” said Babagana Umara Zulum, the Governor of Borno state.
According to the country’s Humanitarian Minister Sadiya Farouq, “since 2016 35 aid workers have died, 72 (have been) wounded and 28 kidnapped.
The jihadist violence has killed over 40,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in the northeast since 2009, according to the UN.
Boko Haram and rival ISWAP are notorious for kidnapping women, children and aid workers.
They have been engaged in a 12-year-old conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million.
The home-based Black Stars are preparing for the crucial game against rivals Nigeria this month.
Ghana Will host Nigeria on August 26 at the Cape Coast Stadium before they travel to Abuja for the return leg at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in September.
Ahead of the clash, Annor Walker and his charges have been preparing for the intriguing fixture as they seek to qualify for the tournament next year.
Toady, the Black Galaxies engaged lower-tier side Mighty Jets in a friendly and walloped them at the end of the game.
Hearts of Oak forward Daniel Afriyie Barnieh bagged a hat-trick with Maxwell Abbey Quaye and Umar Bashiru scoring a brace respectively.
Seidu Suraj grabbed a goal to make it 8-0 at the end of the game.
The Black Galaxies are expected to play some friendly games before the Nigeria encounter later this month.
Following violent altercations between students from the university’s Katanga and Unity Halls, police have brought peace back to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology campus.
The clashes ensued when students of Unity Hallrefused to allow students of University Hall to use a route in front of their Hall for a procession.
The chaotic brawl, left three vehicles damaged, with scores of students injured.
Police personnel who were at the scene were able to restore calm between the two Halls.
In a press statement, the Police service stated that they are in â€firm control of the situation and investigations are ongoing to arrest those behind what they describe as the unfortunate, needless, and unjustifiable attacks.â€
The policeare therefore urging all law-abiding members of the university community to remain calm and support the security agency as they deal with the situation.
Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Security Council says it will crack down on any individual or group of persons who would want to foment trouble on the campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
The Regional Security Council indicated that it has deployed armed Police personnel on campus to prevent further clashes.
Angolans head to the polls next week in what is likely to be a tense standoff between a ruling party in power for nearly five decades and an opposition with growing appeal to a frustrated, impoverished youth.
The MPLA, led by João Lourenço since 2017, has governed Africa’s second-biggest oil producer since independence from Portugal in 1975. But longtime opposition party UNITA is stronger than ever, as anger grows at government failures to convert vast oil wealth into better living conditions for all.
Angola, one of the world’s most unequal nations, will on Aug. 24 elect a new president and lawmakers in its fifth multi-party election since the first in 1992.
Half of Angolans live in poverty and more than half of those under 25 are unemployed, facts which UNITA hopes to capitalize on in promising a change of regime. Half of voters are under 35.
An Afro barometer survey in May showed Angolans favoring UNITA, led by the charismatic Adalberto Costa Júnior, had increased to 22% from 13% in 2019, still seven points behind the MPLA. Nearly half of voters were undecided.
“Without a doubt, this election is the tensest since 1992,” said Oxford University researcher Ricardo Soares de Oliveira. “There’s a huge amount of volatility and unpredictability – and the party in power has a lot of fear.”
He investigated corruption during the dos Santos era, targeting the former leader’s children in seeking to recover billions of dollars of siphoned-off revenue, a moved aimed at trying to “gain some popular legitimacy,” said Justin Pearce, senior lecturer in history at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University.
Lourenço also signed a deal with the IMF and improved ties with the West to reposition Angola as a trustworthy investment destination, but was confronted with COVID-19 and a fall in oil prices, then the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Issues that affect people very directly … haven’t been solved,” Jon Schubert, an anthropology professor at the University of Basel. “The cost of living is very high and salaries are worth a third of what they were six years ago.”
Angola emerged from a 27-year civil war between the MPLA and UNITA in 2002, but Soares de Oliveira said the youth had little concern for this history, and worried more about economic ills.
That raises the risk of violent protest, if they feel their voices were not heard. A report by the Institute for Security Studies said that if an MPLA win is perceived as fraudulent, unrest could follow.
Empoli Football Club announces that they have reached an agreement with Parma Calcio 1913 for the temporary acquisition, with the right and obligation to buy back under certain conditions, of the registration rights of the player Alberto Grassi.
The World Health Organization‘s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has suggested that racism is behind a lack of international attention being paid to the plight of civilians in Ethiopia’s war-shattered Tigray region.
Calling it the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world”, with 6 million people unable to access basic services, Tedros questioned in an emotional appeal why the situation is not getting the same attention as the Ukraine conflict.
“Maybe the reason is the color of the skin of the people,” Tedros, who is from Tigray, told a virtual media briefing on Wednesday. In April this year at a briefing, he questioned whether “black and white lives” in emergencies worldwide are given equal attention.
Fighting between Ethiopian and Tigrayan forces have left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands facing severe food insecurity, according to Internal Displacement Monitoring Center.
Last year, the crisis set a world record for displacements in a single year causing over 5.1 million displacements.
WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan also hit out at an apparent shortage of concern about the drought and famine unfolding in the Horn of Africa, and the ensuing health crisis.
“No one seems to give a damn about what’s happening in the Horn of Africa,” said Ryan, speaking at a virtual media briefing on Wednesday.
The WHO called for $123.7 million to tackle the health problems resulting from growing malnutrition in the region, where around 200 million people live and millions are going hungry.
Northern Ireland’srecord goalscorer Rachel Furness has revealed that she is to step away from international football “for the foreseeable future”.
The Liverpool midfielder has cored 38 goals in 85 appearances and was part of the NI squad which took part in this summer’s Euro 2022 finals in England.
Furness has emphasised that she is not retiring from the international game.
“It’s a decision I’ve found incredibly hard, but one I feel is right,” said Furness on her Twitter account.
Northern Ireland face away trips to Luxembourg and Latvia in World Cup qualifiers on 2 and 6 September, with the squad for that double-header scheduled to be announced on Friday.
“I have informed the Irish Football Association that I am making myself unavailable for selection for the upcoming games and training camps for the foreseeable future, due to personal reasons,” she explained.
“I’d like to put on record that I am not retiring from international football and I hope to make myself available again in the future. I wish the girls all the best.”
Furness scored some crucial goals to help Northern Ireland reach their first ever major tournament finals and ultimately overtook men’s record scorer David Healy’s benchmark of 36 international goals.
She was named as BBC Northern Ireland’s Sports Personality of the Year last December.
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Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano speaks ahead of the UEFA Europa Conference League first leg play-off against Twente.
“It’s an important match, for everyone. We worked hard to be here, we want to do well. I am proud. I will do my best. I am happy for me and the team. We need to be at our best against Twente. They are a strong side. We need to improve. Some players in specific moments have something extra – we need this. It’s a special night. The fans always push us, they take us further.”
Manchester City have been charged by the Football Association after fans invaded the pitch following last season’s Premier League title win.
Thousands of City fans poured on to the pitch as the club won its fourth title in five seasons by beating Aston Villa 3-2 on the final day at Etihad Stadium.
Aston Villa keeper Robin Olsen was attacked during the disorder, while a crossbar was broken.
City have until Thursday, 25 August to respond to the charge.
An FA statement said: “It is alleged that after the final whistle of this fixture that Manchester City failed to ensure that its spectators – and all persons purporting to be its supporters or followers – conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and refrained from using threatening and/or violent behaviour whilst encroaching onto the pitch.”
In May, two people were charged in connection with the pitch invasion, while Greater Manchester Police said last month that it was still investigating a number of offences, including criminal damage.
City scored three goals in five minutes as they came from 2-0 down with 15 minutes remaining to beat Villa and win the title by one point from Liverpool.
You can now get Man City news notifications in the BBC Sport app – find out more
Our coverage of Manchester City is bigger and better than ever before – here’s everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a momentEverything City – go straight to all the best content
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres discussed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the UN’s efforts to establish a fact-finding mission into the attack that killed more than 150 Ukrainian prisoners of war at Olenivka late in July.
He said the terms of reference for such a mission had been shared with Ukraine and Russia, and he had appointed a Brazilian general with long experience of peacekeeping operations, Carlos dos Santos Cruz, to lead the mission.
The Russian defense ministry said immediately after the attack that it was inviting the UN and International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the site, but the ICRC later said its requests had gone unanswered.
Each side has accused the other of being behind the attack, but a CNN investigation found that the Russian version of what had happened was highly unlikely.
In remarks distributed by his office, Guterres said the UN “will now continue to work to obtain the necessary assurances to guarantee secure access to the site and any other relevant locations.”
Wesley Fofana has played every minute of Leicester’s two games so far this season
Brendan Rodgers expects Wesley Fofana to still be a Leicester player when the transfer window closes on 1 September.
The France Under-21 defender has been the subject of interest from Chelsea, who have had two bids rejected.
Rodgers said: “The idea is that he is a Leicester City player.
“He is not for sale, the club have made that clear, unless anything changes he will still be here. At this moment there is nothing new and nothing has changed from when we last spoke.”
Fofana signed a new deal with the Foxes in March, committing him to the club until 2027.
He joined Leicester from Saint-Etienne in 2020 and made 38 appearances in his first year at the club.
Last season, he did not play until March, having broken his leg the previous August in a pre-season friendly against Villarreal.
However, he started both of Foxes’ first two game of the current campaign as they drew 2-2 with Brentford and lost 4-2 at Arsenal.
Son (centre) was alleged to have been abused as he took a corner at the Shed End of Stamford Bridge
Chelseainsist they will take the “strongest action” as they investigate reports Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was racially abused at Stamford Bridge.
The incident is alleged to have happened when Son went to take a corner in the second half during Sunday’s 2-2 draw in the Premier League.
The club have previously banned fans for life following racist incidents.
It added: “Chelsea FC has consistently made its zero tolerance position on discriminatory behaviour very clear, yet there are still idiots like this that attach themselves to this club as so called ‘fans’, which shames Chelsea FC, our coaches, players, staff and our true supporters.
“We are investigating this incident and, if identified, this individual will face the strongest action from the club.
“It has no place at Chelsea or in any of our communities.”
Chelsea’s long-running ‘No To Hate’ campaign launched its latest initiative on Sunday, which gives instructions on the back of every seat on how supporters can report alleged abuses by either by text or by barcode on a smartphone.
They believe that identifying a specific seat from which incidents either happen or are reported will help increase the chances of individuals being caught.
Nigeria’s aviation ministry says it is “working hard” to release trapped funds to the Emirates airline after the carrier suspended flights to Nigeria beginning from next month.
Emirates announced in a statement Thursday that it has put a hold on flight operations in and out of Nigeria due to its inability to repatriate funds from the West African country.
The airline said there has been “no progress” in reaching Nigerian authorities for a solution.
“Emirates has tried every avenue to address our ongoing challenges in repatriating funds from Nigeria and have made considerable efforts to initiate dialogue with the relevant authorities for their urgent intervention to help find a viable solution. Regrettable there has been no progress,” Emirates said in a statement.
The decision comes after Emirates announced last month of flights it would reduce flights to Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos, the carrier said it could not access its funds amounting to $85 million withheld in the country. The stuck funds had been rising by over $10 million every month, the airline said in a letter addressed to Nigeria’s Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika.
It is said that nothing is certain except death and taxes – but is it also inevitable that Manchester Unitedwill lose against Liverpool this weekend?
“It’s the only result I am absolutely certain of, out of all 10 Premier League games,” said BBC Sport’s predictions expert Chris Sutton.
“It’s just a question of how many United are beaten by. It could get very messy for them.”
Sutton is picking scores for every top-flight game this season against a variety of guests.
For this weekend’s fixtures, he is up against Gareth Kelly, aka GK, from Bradford rap trio Bad Boy Chiller Crew.
Sutton has been beaten by both his guests so far, and Bradford City fan GK is confident he can make it three defeats out of three.
“I know Chris always has a lot to say but he’s up against the Bad Boys now,” GK told BBC Sport. “This is only going to end one way.”
Sutton, predictably, disagrees.
“Is that him being a wordsmith?” he replied. “He might be good at rapping but the truth is he shouldn’t be coming into this game, against an experienced Premier League winner like myself.”
Bad Boy Chiller Crew’s debut album, Disrespectful, reached number two in the charts earlier this year. Their new single, When It Rains It Pours, is out now.
BBCC started out as a group of mates uploading prank videos, but now their mission is to make people smile with their music instead, with lyrics inspired by life in their home city.
Their 2020 breakout single, 450, has had 20m views on YouTube and was supported by the likes of Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1 as their fame went national, then global. Their local links remain strong, though, including with Bradford City.
GK’s grandad is a Manchester United fan and his dad supports Celtic so he has football in his blood – “in our house we followed the Premier League, Scottish Premier League – and Bradford’s league,” he laughs – but he dreamed of fame in other sports before music came calling.
“I actually wanted to be a wrestler,” he explained. “But I started eating Big Macs when I was about three.
“As I grew up, I played more rugby league because I am a big lad, but I still used to watch a lot of football, and I went to Bradford quite a lot. The atmosphere’s always brilliant – even if you’re not enjoying the game, you still have a good crack.
“I really want to see them do well – because I’m from Bradford, I like to rep Bradford all the time.
“Everything we’ve done with BBCC is to celebrate our city, and as part of that we’ve got involved with the club as much as we can – it doesn’t seem to stop them losing though!”
As well as making predictions for this weekend’s Premier League games, GK is backing the Bantams to beat Hartlepool in League Two on Saturday. “I’m going 1-0 to Bradford, or a least that’s what I want to happen!” he said.
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
SUTTON’S PREDICTIONS
Games kick off at 15:00 BST unless otherwise stated
SATURDAYTottenham v Wolves (12:30 BST)
I was a bit disappointed with Tottenham’s performance against Chelsea last weekend.
Spurs showed good character to come back and get a draw, but that result was more to do with poor refereeing decisions and luck as far as I could see.
Wolves have signed Portugal forward Goncalo Guedes from Valencia to try to increase their goal threat, but he couldn’t make much difference when he came on against Fulham last week.
Bruno Lage’s side’s biggest issue last year was they didn’t score enough goals, despite having some very talented players.
Tottenham clearly don’t have that problem. It will be interesting to see if Antonio Conte starts with Richarlison this time, but either way they will have too much firepower for Wolves to handle.
Sutton’s prediction: 3-1
GK’s prediction: 2-0
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Crystal Palace v Aston Villa
Crystal Palace put in a very good performance against Liverpool on Monday, but when the Reds went down to 10 men you just wondered whether the Eagles could have taken the game to them with their numerical advantage.
Palace will still gain a lot of confidence from that result, though, and they will be looking to get their first win of the season here.
Villa will fancy their chances too, and they were much improved against Everton after losing to Bournemouth on the opening day.
It was a blow for Steven Gerrard to lose defender Diego Carlos to a long-term Achilles injury, and he has to decide whether to pick Emiliano Buendia in midfield over Philippe Coutinho, who did not do much in the first two games.
This is a hard one to call either way, so I am going to go for a draw.
Sutton’s prediction: 1-1
GK’s prediction: 0-1
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Everton v Nottingham Forest
I get how important Nottingham Forest’s win over West Ham was, given the number of new signings they have made, but I actually felt the Hammers should have got something from the game.
Everton badly need a similar result to kick-start their season, but I don’t think they are playing that badly.
The Toffees are still missing a proper centre-forward, but they looked much better against Villa when new signing Amadou Onana came on.
I fancy them here, especially because they are at home.
Sutton’s prediction: 2-0
GK’s prediction: 1-1
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Fulham v Brentford
I really like what Brentford are doing, and I almost made the prediction of the century when I said they would beat United 3-0 last week. I was so unlucky that they actually scored four.
Fulham will have a real go at them, like they did against Liverpool in their last home game, so this is a much bigger test than United offered and it should be a good game.
It will be close, too. The Cottagers have drawn both their games so far, and I can see the points being shared again.
Sutton’s prediction: 1-1
GK’s prediction: 1-0
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Leicester v Southampton
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl seems to be under a bit of pressure, which seems unfair so early in the season, so it was important for him that they came back from 2-0 down to draw with Leeds last time out.
Hasenhuttl had been tinkering with playing three at the back during pre-season, but he went back to a four against Leeds, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him stick with that here.
Leicester also have problems at the back, not helped by having the uncertainty over Wesley Fofana’s future hanging over them, but the Foxes still have plenty of quality going forward.
There will be goals in this one, and I’m going with Brendan Rodgers to get his first win of the season.
Sutton’s prediction: 2-1
GK’s prediction: 1-1
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Bournemouth v Arsenal (17:30)
Arsenal have made a great start to the season, and Gabriel Jesus has made the difference.
There was a lot of hype about his arrival, and he is backing it up – he is not in my Fantasy team, though, so I hope he doesn’t score again this time.
I still don’t think we should get carried away by what the Gunners are doing, and I still don’t think they will challenge for the title this season – but I can understand why their fans are excited.
If you look at the scoreline, Bournemouth got walloped by Manchester City in their last game, but they actually didn’t do that much wrong.
They are at home this time and might think this is a game where they can go for it a little bit more. I don’t think it will work, but the Cherries will not roll over even if they go behind.
Sutton’s prediction: 0-2
GK’s prediction: 1-2
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SUNDAYLeeds v Chelsea (14:00)
Leeds boss Jesse Marsch will have been deeply disappointed to see his side pegged back by Southampton after going two goals up, and I think he might have to deal with another setback here.
There are still a few question marks over what is going on with Chelsea up front, and they keep getting linked with new players too, but they were excellent against Spurs last week.
If they play like that at Elland Road, they will win.
Sutton’s prediction: 0-1
GK’s prediction: 0-3
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West Ham v Brighton (14:00)
West Ham have lost their first two matches but they had a difficult pre-season with injuries, and I certainly don’t think there is any reason to panic.
The Hammers will turn the corner soon, but they haven’t beaten Brighton in 10 attempts since the Seagulls returned to the Premier League in 2017, and I don’t see that run ending here.
Graham Potter’s team are superbly organised and I’d back them to get something from this game too.
Sutton’s prediction: 1-1
GK’s prediction: 0-0
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Newcastle v Manchester City (16:30)
There will be a great atmosphere at St James’ Park and Newcastle might create one or two chances for Callum Wilson.
I can only see a Manchester City win here, though. They have not really put a foot wrong so far.
Lots has been made of how few touches Erling Haaland had against Bournemouth, but he still made one of them count with his pass to Ilkay Gundogan for the opening goal.
If the opposition are going to focus on stopping Haaland, then it is going to leave space for their other attacking players, and we already know how dangerous they are.
Sutton’s prediction: 1-3
GK’s prediction: 0-2
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MONDAYManchester United v Liverpool (20:00)
If Manchester United win this game, they leapfrog Liverpool in the table, but that is not going to happen.
United aren’t able to press teams with the players they have got, and I don’t really know what Erik ten Hag can change with what he has got in his squad.
Liverpool have started slowly too, and Darwin Nunez’s suspension won’t help on top of their injuries. That leaves them a bit short up front, although Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz looked lively against Palace.
Whatever happens, you just know Jurgen Klopp’s side will outwork United at the very least.
Maybe United’s players will run around a little bit more this week than they did against Brentford, but they need to find some heart. Unless something happens this week that triggers a change in attitude in the squad, I don’t see it happening.
The home crowd will be willing them to take the game to Liverpool, and if they do that then they are in big trouble because that’s when Klopp’s side are at their best.
They won 5-0 at Old Trafford last season and it is going to be a similar story this time, although I am going to give United a goal just to lift their spirits a little.
Sutton’s prediction: 1-5
GK’s prediction: 0-0
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Chris Sutton and GK were speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.
How did Sutton do last week?
Sutton got five correct results from 10 matches, with no exact scores, giving him a total of 50 points.
He was beaten by Kasabian frontman Serge Pizzorno, who got four correct results but with one exact score, giving him a total of 70 points.
GUEST LEADERBOARD 2022-23Ali Bruce-Ball110Serge Pizzorno70Chris Sutton55 (average after two weeks)Total scores after week 2Guests180Chris Sutton110How did you get on?
Manchester United’s awful performance and 4-0 defeat last weekend was the latest setback for Erik ten Hag’s side, but was Brentford beating them really that much of a surprise?
Sutton went for a 3-0 Bees victory, Serge said they would win 2-0 and, from more than 70,000 votes, 47% of you backed Brentford too.
“I’m actually disappointed with my prediction,” Sutton said. “I should have been braver.”
Elsewhere, Liverpool’s slow start to the season continued to fox pretty much everyone. After 87% of you went for a Reds win at Fulham on week one, 85% of you thought Liverpool would beat the Eagles – and were wrong again. Only 9% of you thought Crystal Palace would get a draw at Anfield.
In contrast, Chris, Serge and 94% of you predicted a Manchester City win over Bournemouth. City won 4-0, making that the most popular prediction to actually happen.
You vs Chris & the guests – Week TwoPositionCorrect resultsYou*6/10Chris5/10Serge Pizzorno4/10
*Win, draw, loss prediction based on highest % of vote for each match.
Total scores after week 2You*12/20Chris11/20Guests9/20
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Morgan Gibbs-White is set to become Nottingham Forest’s 16th signing of the summer
Nottingham Foresthave agreed a deal worth up to £42m including add-ons for Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White.
The 22-year-old would become Forest’s 16th signing of a busy summer at the City Ground.
Forest have spent most of the summer trying to sign Gibbs-White, who came through Wolves’ academy.
The Stafford-born player has started both Premier League games for Bruno Lage’s side this season.
All your Forest news and views in one place
However, Wolves are still trying to reshape Lage’s squad and it was likely Forest would make another push to sign him.
Forest will pay an initial fee of £25m, with up to £17m in potential add-ons.
Gibbs-White, who has 10 England Under-21s caps, impressed in the Championship last season on loan at Sheffield United.
He is due to have his medical later on Thursday.
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Thousands of Unification Church members gathered in Seoul on Thursday to protest what they call discriminatory and unfair Japanese media coverage of their church since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe‘s assassination.
The suspect in Abe’s July 8 shooting, Tetsuya Yamagami, bore a grudge against the church, alleging it bankrupted his mother and blaming Abe for promoting it, according to his social media posts and news reports.
“Stop biased reporting and religious persecution!” demonstrators in the South Korean capital chanted in Korean and Japanese, holding placards reading “Respect religious freedom!” and “Stop hate speech” toward the church.
Longstanding links between the strongly anti-communist church, which critics call a cult, and Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, have hurt the popularity of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government, prompting him to reshuffle his cabinet last week and say the church held no sway over the party.
Founded in South Korea in the 1950s by self-declared messiah Sun Myung Moon and known for its mass weddings, the group has faced criticism for its fundraising and other issues. The church rejects such views and says it is a legitimate religious movement.
Demonstrators at the central Seoul rally, who numbered about 4,000 according to a church spokesperson, called for respecting religious freedom and said a prayer to mourn Abe’s death. Reuters could not independently verify the crowd size.
Participants said the Japanese press vilified the Unification Church, tying it to Abe’s killing and exposing members to social discrimination, while police investigation of the shooting was still underway.
“The media is witch-hunting the family federation with groundless, sensational and biased reports day and night,” said Taeko Yamada, a Japanese member who married a South Korean at a mass wedding, referring to the church’s full name, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.
Abe, who remained a powerful LDP politician until his death, appeared at an event hosted by an group affiliated with the church last September. He delivered a speech praising the affiliate’s work for peace on the Korean peninsula, according to the church’s website.
Gabriel Jesus is a great pick, if not an original one, but the 591,013 managers who gave him the captain’s armband against Leicester stole a march on nearly six million others who went with either Erling Haaland or Mo Salah in gameweek two.
You may well be tempted to follow suit in gameweek three with Arsenal away to Bournemouth and if you’re a Darwin Nunez owner who doesn’t have Jesus then that is a very obvious switch with the Liverpool striker now suspended for three games after his red card against Crystal Palace.
Away from the obvious names of Haaland and Harry Kane, I think Brentford’s Ivan Toney is definitely a good Nunez replacement with a goal and two assists to his name already this season before a run of fixtures against the likes of Fulham, Everton, Leeds and Southampton.
That would also give you a couple of million to beef up your defence or midfield.
Going back to the Arsenal theme Gabriel Martinelli, now £6.3m, has definitely been worth the saving on Bukayo Saka (£8m) so far, but if you’re a Saka owner like me then I would stick with him and I’m even tempted to be greedy and go for both.
There’s no harm in an Arsenal double-up, or even triple-up along with Jesus, for fixtures against Bournemouth, Fulham, Aston Villa, Manchester United and Everton in the next five gameweeks.
The double Manchester City defence, Joao Cancelo plus one of Ruben Dias, Kyle Walker or Ederson, looks like a very sound strategy as they simply haven’t looked like conceding a goal so far this season. Walker is the best value option there but his price has already risen to £5.1m with lots of managers adding him to their teams.
If you chose Kevin De Bruyne over Mo Salah or Son Heung-Min as your premium midfielder then that worked out very nicely in gameweek two, but I wouldn’t sell Salah or Son if that’s the way you’ve gone because their time will come.
De Bruyne is purring though at the start of this season and comes with less rotation risk than the likes of Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez, hence his higher price tag.
Don’t ignore Ilkay Gundogan either at £7.5m, particularly with Bernardo Silva’s future still up in the air. The German has started both games this season and continues to get in great attacking positions as proved by his goal against Bournemouth.
Talking of attacking positions, I commentated on Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 win over West Ham last weekend and Neco Williams really caught the eye, putting in some excellent crosses from set-pieces and open play. If you’re looking for a bargain defender then he’s your man at £4m.
I’m already going off the idea of my two £4m Leicester goalkeepers though – Danny Ward and Daniel Iversen – after the team has shipped six goals against Brentford and Arsenal, so I think I’m going to bump one of them up to Brighton’s Robert Sanchez, who costs just £500,000 more.
Leon Bailey also looks like an early problem in my squad, as he will be for plenty of other managers as he was owned by almost 15% of us in the game in gameweek two, but there’s not many reliable options at his price point of £5m to replace him.
Brentford’s Josh Dasilva is an option at just £4.6m and his return to first-team action has been a heart-warming story this season, but will he continue to start regularly in a competitive Brentford midfield?
I still think Fulham’s Andreas Pereira is the best £4.5m midfielder if he’s fit, or you could go for Brighton’s Pascal Gross at £5.6m if you’re able to spend a little more.
The best bet, if you haven’t already got him, might be to make some money by downgrading someone else in your squad and bumping Bailey up to Martinelli – can you tell I’m quite keen on him?
Finally we’d love you to get involved on the Fantasy 606 podcast this season with me, Chris Sutton and Statman Dave.
We’ve got a team managed by the listeners going up against us, but unfortunately gameweek two hasn’t gone all that well for you – Robbie from Brisbane opted for a -4 to take Andy Robertson and Jesus out of the team to replace them with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Nunez, a move which actually ended up costing 26 points!
If you want to have a go then please e-mail us on fantasy606@bbc.co.uk.
The first episode of the podcast previewing the new season is currently available on the BBC Sounds App.
Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before – follow your team and sign up for notifications in the BBC Sport app to make sure you never miss a moment.
* Atalantahave lost each of their last three Serie A games against Milan, having been unbeaten in 10 of the previous 11 (W4 D6). The Bergamo side could collect four defeats in a row against the Rossoneri in the top-flight for the first time since 1993-1996.
* Atalanta will play their home seasonal debut in Serie A hosting AC Milan for the first time since 1955/56: on that occasion, the Nerazzurri won 4-3 and among the matches played inBergamo, only on 24th December 1950 has seen more goals in this fixture (11, 7-4 win for Milan).
* With Stefano Pioli on the bench, Milan have always won their first two games of a Serie A championship: 2020/21 against Bologna and Crotone and 2021/22 against Sampdoria and Cagliari.
* Atalanta, who won in Genova against Sampdoria in the first matchday of this term, have won both of their first two games of a Serie A championship only four times in their history: in 1949/50, 1964/65, 2008/09 and 2020/21.
* AC Milan have won their last seven Serie A games: the last time they had a longer streak in the competition was in 2006, under the management of Carlo Ancelotti (nine).
* AC Milan conceded two headed goals on Matchday 1 of this Serie A season against Udinese, half of the total (four) they conceded in the entire 2021/22 Serie A campaign.
* Atalanta have conceded the fewest shots on target (one of 11 total shots) in the first matchday, while only Napoli (six) have faced fewer total shots than Milan (nine) in general.
* Duván Zapata has scored just one goal in his last 13 Serie A games: this is his joint-worst run since the beginning of his time with Atalanta in the top-flight (in that case a goal in the first 13 appearances of the 2018/19 season).
* Ante Rebic scored twice in the first match against Udinese: no player in the history of Milan has ever started the Serie A season by scoring at least two goals in each of the first two games played by the Rossoneri.
* Atalanta are the only side that Rafael Leao scored against in two different games in Serie A in 2021/22.
Allen Weisselberg, who served as The Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, had been charged with concealing more than $1.7m (£1.4m) in off-the-books income.
He is expected to be sentenced to five months at the notorious Rikers Island jail and must pay back the owed money.
Mr Trump has not been charged.
The former president – who is not accused of wrongdoing – has described the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal investigation into his family’s real estate company as a witch hunt.
The case relates to a 15-year scheme that prosecutors said helped executives at The Trump Organization avoid paying taxes on corporate benefits such as rent, luxury car payments and private school fees.
The inquiry focused on whether Weisselberg and other executives received these benefits without reporting them properly on their tax returns.
And at the plea hearing on Thursday, the 75-year-old admitted his involvement in the scheme and to receiving private school tuition for his grandchildren, BMW cars and a home in Manhattan.
“[He] decided to enter a plea of guilty today to put an end to this case and the years-long legal and personal nightmares it has caused for him and his family,” his lawyer said in a statement shortly after.
Weisselberg, who is seen as one of Mr Trump’s most loyal business associates, worked for the former president for almost 50 years. He left his job as chief financial officer which he had held since 2005 when he was arrested last year.
The Trump Organization is also a defendant in this case and its lawyers have entered a not guilty plea.
Weisselberg must now testify against the company at a criminal trial later this year, after agreeing to a plea deal that was first reported by The New York Times.
But he refused to co-operate with prosecutors in their wider investigation into Donald Trump and his business practices, reports say.
That means any testimony he provides at the trial – which is scheduled for late October – will only relate to this case and will not implicate the former president directly.
Weisselberg had faced intense pressure from prosecutors to co-operate against Mr Trump, The New York Times reported, but resisted and accepted jail time.
He will be sentenced at the end of The Trump Organization trial, Judge Juan Merchan said on Thursday. He could be freed from a likely five-month sentence after 100 days if time is credited for good behaviour, a number of sources told US media.
That is far shorter than the many years in state prison he could have faced if – rather than plead guilty – he were convicted at trial.
Weisselberg’s guilty plea – which legal experts suggest will strengthen the case against The Trump Organization – comes as Mr Trump is investigated on several fronts.
Just last week, he declined to answer questions as part of a separate New York state investigation into his family’s business practices. That inquiry is a civil one, meaning it will not result in criminal charges.
Mr Trump, who denies wrongdoing, had sued in an effort to block the interview at the attorney general’s office. But the questioning lasted around four hours and Mr Trump – who invoked his Fifth Amendment rights – said “same answer” throughout.
There are also separate investigations into the former president’s handling of classified documents – which led the FBI to search his Florida home – and others related to his efforts to undermine the result of the 2020 election.
Greater Accra Regional Head of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry(GNCCI), Mr Daniel Osei Torgbor, has cautioned exporters to be mindful of the originality of Certificates of Origin (COO) that accompany their exports.
According to him, some unscrupulous freight forwarders are generating fake certificates.
Mr Daniel Osei Torgbor, said the phenomenon which is becoming rampant, could mar the image of the country globally and affect bilateral agreements meant to extend some privileges to Ghanaian exporters.
Speaking to Ghana News Agency in an interview in Kumasi, he said COO was an important international trade document that certified that goods in a particular export shipment were wholly obtained, produced, manufactured and processed in a particular country.
It also facilitates international trade and proves authenticity of the product, while providing documentary evidence of origin of the goods exported and other varieties of documentation such as packing lists, commercial invoices and proforma invoices.
Mr. Torgbor said goods that were flagged went through checks which caused delays and the exporter was mandated to pay the full exporting cost in the instance, where the certificate of origin was confirmed to be fake.
Therefore, he said exporters must be vigilant and entreat their freight forwarders to do the right thing since it could result in serious consequences for the nation.
He stressed that immediate attention and action was needed to address the issues considering the role of the certificate of origin in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), since it was the primary document that was being used to facilitate trade.
According to him, under AfCFTA, the rules of origin which was born out of certificate of origin would be key, and stringent measures must be taken to prevent exporters from taking advantage of products that were not properly certified across the continent in the name of AfCFTA.
He advised exporters to provide commercial invoice packing list, customs declaration form, bill of lading, among others, to the Ghana Chamber of Commerce to help process their certificates.
Beneficiaries of Nation Builders Corps (NABCo) programme, on Thursday, hit the streets of Accra to register their displeasure about the delay in the payment of their allowances.
According to the aggrieved protestors, government has failed to pay them for a period of 10 month.
The lack of remuneration, according to the NABCoamidst the current economic challenges has made life unbearable.
Demanding government to provide the necessary financial commitment promised them, the agitated group presented a presented a petition to the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
Deputy Chief of Staff, Emmanuel Adumua-Bossman, received the petition on behalf of the Vice President.
“This government is indeed a listening government so these things that you have scripted shall be carefully considered at the highest levels and as soon as it is practicable, you would hear something tangible on the issues you have raised.â€
The NABCo program is expected to end in September this year, after it was extended by the Government.
The Akufo-Addo-led administration introduced NABCo in 2017 as part of measures to address graduate unemployment in the country.
The initiative was run under seven modules: Educate Ghana, Heal Ghana, Feed Ghana, Revenue Ghana, Digitize Ghana, Enterprise Ghana, and Civic Ghana.
It was reported that government invested approximately GH¢2.2 billion into the policy.
Bayern Munich routinely bring the entertainment in the German Bundesliga, and they have some huge games in September and October that you won’t want to miss. Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
The American football season is easy by comparison. Your team has either 12 or 17 games — depending on if you most closely follow college football or the NFL — and at a glance you can piece together the season’s hardest stretches, most important games, et cetera. Whether you’re a writer or a fan, you can make sense of the calendar. You can craft a battle plan of sorts.
The European football season, on the other hand, is endless. It starts before the American football season and ends months after it. When Tottenham Hotspur’s Antonio Conte and Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel nearly came to blows after a wild and contentious derby match, there was no need to get excited and check the calendar for when the rematch occurs: It’s six months from now! Many things (including an entire World Cup) will happen between now and then!
Neither the matches nor the narrative machinations ever stop. Somehow, the transfer rumors never stop either. In other words, it’s a lot more difficult to craft a plan for the season, but you can at least create a set of guidelines to follow from week to week to get the most enjoyment out of the season. So, here are mine.
Each week I try to keep up with not only the biggest match-ups but also the most bitter match-ups, the most interesting players and the games involving teams that are either particularly fun, particularly weird or both. Here are the guiding principles I’m following this season.
Make sure your internal calendar doesn’t stop with the major rivalries
Each week indeed starts with some fence posts, so consider this a loose guide for the biggest and/or most intense matches of each week between now and the World Cup. It’s hard to pin particularly huge stakes to single games this early in a long season, but these matches will deliver plenty of bang regardless of the stakes.
Weekend of August 19-21: Liverpool at Manchester United (Aug. 22), AC Milan at Atalanta, PSG at Lille. The big match comes on Monday night, as Manchester United attempts to arrest its ridiculous and existentially awful start, but any Milan trip to Bergamo produces a wild atmosphere while PSG vs. Lille is a battle of the last two Ligue 1 champs.
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Weekend of August 26-28: Roma at Juventus, Marseille at Nice, Borussia Monchengladbach at Bayern Munich. Gladbach is Bayern’s perpetual bogey team — one Bayern win in their last five meetings — and we’ll get a great look at what Roma has to offer this weekend. But honestly, Nice vs. Marseille might be the headliner. Few matchups in Europe are more intense, for better or worse.
Weekend of September 2-4: Arsenal at Manchester United, Inter Milan at AC Milan, Barcelona at Sevilla. LaLiga’s slate is back-loaded a bit, with a lot of the biggest derbies of the first half of the season coming in January but Barca vs. Sevilla should deliver, and the Milan Derby always delivers.
– ESPN+ Viewer’s Guide: Bundesliga, LaLiga and more all season
Weekend of September 9-11: Tottenham Hotspur at Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund at RB Leipzig, Nottingham Forest at Leeds United (Sept. 12). Spurs vs. City and BVB vs. RBL are easy enough to explain, but if you want atmosphere, tune into the first Forest vs. Leeds Premier League match since 1999 and turn the volume up loud.
Weekend of September 16-18: Real Madrid at Atletico Madrid, Schalke 04 at Borussia Dortmund, Leeds United at Manchester United. Two of the most famous derbies in Europe plus, in Leeds vs. United, one of the most underrated (and, for most of the 2000s, dormant)? Yes, please.
play1:06Dawson: Unhappy Ronaldo adding to Ten Hag’s huge task
Rob Dawson explains why Cristiano Ronaldo is as big a problem as any for Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.
Weekend of October 7-9: Bayern Munich at Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool at Arsenal, Koln at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Juventus at AC Milan, Lens at Lille, Nantes at Rennes. Bayern vs. Dortmund has become the Bundesliga’s marquee match given that both teams end up at the top of the table, but Koln vs. Gladbach could be even more intense. We’ve got a couple of huge, regional French rivalries this weekend, too.
Weekend of October 14-16: Barcelona at Real Madrid, Manchester City at Liverpool, Juventus at Torino, Marseille at PSG. El Clasico and City vs. Liverpool in the same weekend? That automatically qualifies this as the biggest weekend of the early season.
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Weekend of October 21-23: Manchester United at Chelsea, Napoli at Roma, Sevilla at Real Madrid. By now, we should understand the stakes of the Serie A title race and whether Napoli or Roma, though intense, might or might not be a part of that. (We’ll also know what the stakes of United’s season are by now, too.)
Weekend of October 28-30: This is the one weekend of the early season that really doesn’t boast an obvious bellcow match.
Weekend of November 4-6: Arsenal at Chelsea, Sevilla at Real Betis, Bayer Leverkusen at Köln (Nov. 8), Lazio at Roma, Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur, Inter Milan at Juventus, Lyon at Marseille. We finish up the pre-World Cup portion of the season with an absolutely massive set of matches. Goodness.
Understand the tightest races
It is folly to assign title significance to early matches: The season’s just too long, and we’ll wear ourselves out if we pay too much attention to the table too early. But we also head into each season with an understanding of which races might be tighter than others. It doesn’t hurt to acknowledge that.
AC Milan won Serie A last season in dramatic fashion last year over their cross-town rivals, Inter, and this year’s battle should prove to be just as entertaining from start to finish. Nicola Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images
The Italian Serie A title (the Scudetto). Juventus’ nearly decade-long title streak ended a couple of years ago and Serie A’s balance of power has been pretty blurry since. That’s bad for fans of the Old Lady, but it’s great for us. Inter and AC Milan have split the last two titles, Juve have added some fun, creative pieces this offseason, and both Napoli and Roma bring quite a bit of optimism into the 2022-23 campaign. Inter is the betting favorite at the moment, but no major title race could feature more teams or more plot twists.
Third and fourth place in the Premier League. For now, we’ll ignore Liverpool’s slow start (two draws from two matches) and assume that the title race again comes down to the Reds and Manchester City. But three other members of England’s Big Six — Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and, of course, Chelsea — seem to very much have their acts together this season, and only two of them can snare Champions League berths.
Fourth place in the Bundesliga. It’s fair to assume that Bayern and Borussia Dortmund will snare two of Germany’s four Champions League spots, and despite a slow start, RB Leipzig remain a pretty solid favorite as well. But who finishes fourth? Will Bayer Leverkusen get going after a dreadfully slow start? Will defense-heavy (and intensely lovable) upstarts Freiburg and Union Berlin continue to thrive? Are Borussia Monchengladbach ready for a rebound? What about Koln or Eintracht Frankfurt? Right now, FiveThirtyEight gives 13 teams at least an 8% chance of securing a Champions League slot!
Premier League relegation. Two weeks into the season, nearly every team in the Premier League has shown at least a hint of promise. But three teams will go down, of course, and FiveThirtyEight gives 11 teams — more than half the league! — at least a 10% chance of doing so. Heck, Manchester United are at 8%! Someone with either a massive bank account or a very good plan will be playing second-division ball next year.
Second place in Ligue 1. PSG have been rampant out of the gate this year and might run away with the title once again. Fine. But the second-best team in the country could be almost literally anyone in the league. Monaco? Marseille? Lyon? Lille? Rennes? A promoted team like Toulouse (we’ll get to them in a bit)? You could convince me of any of these.
Sevilla will have to work hard to retain their top-four status in LaLiga this season. Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images
Fourth place in LaLiga. The top four leagues in Europe — Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A — command 16 of the current 32 bids in the Champions League. Of last year’s 16 qualifiers, no one feels more vulnerable to me than Sevilla.* They were awfully poor down the stretch last spring, and clubs like Real Betis, Villarreal and Real Sociedad are all hinting that they might have their respective acts together this season. Granted, they hinted at the same thing last year and couldn’t maintain form, but Sevilla should be preparing for a huge challenge here.
*Leverkusen is certainly making a case, too.
The “Fun, young-ish and making a spirited run at a Champions League spot (or better)” contenders
Each season features a set of clubs that might always have high expectations but manage to bring a lot of up-and-comer energy to the table. They are usually (but not always) pretty young and typically quite fun to watch. Here’s my best guess at this year’s batch:
Napoli. They scored the third-most goals in Serie A last season, allowed the second-fewest and finished with a better goal differential than champion AC Milan. Forward Victor Osimhen is one of the most fun players in Italy while newcomer Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, a 21-year old Georgia international winger acquired from Dinamo Batumi, made the best possible first impression this past week, recording both a goal and an assist in his club debut.
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WEDNESDAY, AUG. 17
• Sheffield United vs. Sunderland, 3 p.m. ET
• Chelsea vs. Olympique Lyon, 9 p.m. ET
FRIDAY, AUG. 19
• Espanyol vs. Rayo Vallecano, 1:50 p.m. ET
• Gladbach vs. Hertha BSC, 2:20 p.m. ET
• Norwich City vs. Millwall, 3 p.m. ET
• Sevilla vs. Valladolid, 3:50 p.m. ET
Whether or not they win their first Scudetto since 1990, you will never regret tuning into a Napoli match. They are intense and wonderfully optimistic. (To say the least, their 5-2 win over Hellas Verona on Monday was proof of concept in this regard. Man oh man, were they enjoying themselves.)
Arsenal. Yes, Arsenal. I’m honestly not sure how to respond to liking the moves the Gunners make in a given offseason, but adding Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko — a pair of seasoned Manchester City title winners who are each somehow still just 25 years old — to one of the Premier League’s youngest and most high-upside rosters was fantastic business. Jesus has exploded for two goals and two assists in Arsenal’s first two matches (both wins), and the team is playing at a high level despite getting little from Bukayo Saka thus far.
This was the third-best team in England last season after a dreadful first three matches, and there’s legitimate reason to be optimistic that their five-season streak of Champions League absences might end soon, even if they’re going to have to beat out one similarly rich and organized team to get there.
Arsenal brought in Jesus, left, and Zinchenko, right, this summer and the Gunners are one to watch this season as a result. Xinhua via Getty Images
Real Betis. There’s nothing particularly young about this Betis squad — only one player under 25 started in Los Verdiblancos’ debut romp over 10-man Elche — but Manuel Pellegrini’s squad, led in attack by Juanmi, Nabil Fekir and Borja Iglesias, was maybe LaLiga’s most optimistic and exciting last year, and the Betis crowd is one of Spain’s best. Only a slow start kept them out of the top four last season.
Lyon. Like Arsenal, Lyon bring history and expectations to the table, but they’ve been stuck outside the top three for three straight years. Adding veterans Alexandre Lacazette, Nicolas Tagliafico and Corentin Tolisso to a lineup that features younger talents like winger Tete (22), midfielder Lucas Paqueta (24) and another newcomer, Johann Lepenant (19), could reap dividends. Tete looked particularly inspired in a season-opening win.
Basically everyone in Belgium. Do you enjoy the Bundesliga, but think its matches somehow aren’t chaotic enough? Say hello to the Jupiler Pro League! It featured easily the best title race of any of Europe’s top leagues, with Union Saint-Gilloise making a shocking post-promotion run to the regular season crown, but narrowly losing the playoff to heavyweight Club Brugge. It also features goals, goals, goals and more goals.
Through four matchdays, seven teams are averaging at least 1.8 goals per match, while Genk average 3.3. Royal Antwerp have raced out to 12 points, but Brugge, Genk, Gent and Anderlecht are all well-positioned for title runs. This is going to be absolute, wonderful nonsense from start to finish… and ESPN+ airs a selection of matches each weekend!).
Teams doing weird stuff
There is, at any moment, a dominant style of play in any sport. We’re heavy on three-pointers and layups in basketball at the moment, while the strikeouts-and-homers era in baseball is full-go. Soccer has been trending toward a modern combination of slow buildup, possession play and counter-pressing for a while now, but in an environment in which only the richest club teams can acquire the most possession-friendly pieces. That leaves everyone else to either try to win without the ball or piece together a more unique approach.
Among these five teams, only one has decent odds of a top-tier finish, but they are “Trying Things” and are worth watching because of it.
Brighton flummoxed Manchester United in their season opener, but you’ll enjoy watching how Potter’s side frustrate bigger-budgeted teams this season. Michael Regan/Getty Images
Brighton: possession without firepower. For two straight seasons, Graham Potter’s Seagulls have done as well as any mid-level team when it comes to crafting a possession-friendly approach without a heavyweight budget. They’ve lacked the high-quality finishing required to snare one of England’s European berths, but they notched top 10 finishes in both years, and their level of organization is maddening for most opponents.
Athletic Club: just impossibly annoying, year after year. Both Freiburg and Union Berlin nearly snared Champions League bids last year by deploying a defense-heavy style antithetical to our assumptions of “Bundesliga ball,” But let’s pay homage to a team that has been doing that forever. Athletic recorded yet another top-10 finish last season by allowing less than a goal per match. They almost never offer opponents good looks at goal, and while they aren’t as physical as they were in the “Butcher of Bilbao” days of the 1980s, they still don’t mind some bruises. They continue to execute this cup-friendly style as well as anyone, even if they never score nearly enough for a top-four finish.
Bayer Leverkusen: possession and counterattacks, simultaneously. Granted, the balance has been off so far this season — their defensive spacing has been woeful — but Gerardo Seoane’s squad crafted a particularly attractive style of play last year by combining elements of possession with a propensity for luring opponents into their half of the field in order to open up huge counterattacking opportunities. I assume they get back to a high level at some point soon. (For Seoane’s sake, they better.)
Udinese: haymakers, all the time. Twelfth place is just about the most forgettable spot in the table, but Udinese achieved 12th in memorable fashion last season, both scoring and allowing over a goal and a half per match. They were excellent at creating scoring chances in transition, and terrible at preventing opponents from doing the same. From a “styles make fights” perspective, they could suck anyone into a track meet. And despite a new manager (Andrea Sottil), their opening match — a wide-open 4-2 loss at defending champs Milan — suggests they’re still pretty open to such a style this season. That’s good news for us, at least.
Toulouse: NERRRRRDS. Looking for a Moneyball soccer team to adopt? Well, how about one associated with Moneyball godfather Billy Beane himself? In 2020, American investment firm RedBird Capital, with which Beane is associated, acquired this recently-relegated club and set about restoring it to glory through the power of analytics.
So far, so good. Toulouse handily earned promotion last season, hitting all the notes of a strong possession-and-pressing team, and while there’s only so much you can learn from one match, they controlled the field and held their own against likely top-10 French side Nice in a 1-1 draw to start the season. We’ll see if they have the depth to do any sustained damage, but if you’re looking to see where nerds want to take this sport, watch this club.
Teams with tantalizing new signings
The Transfer Industrial Complex never stops humming and cranking out rumors, even when transfer windows are closed and big matches are on the horizon. It occasionally produces thrilling results, too!
These five teams are particularly worth following this season, in part because of what the transfer market brought to town.
play1:42Gomez warns Dest against ‘career derailing’ Man Utd move
Herculez Gomez says a switch to Man Utd would be even worse for Sergino Dest than staying on the bench at Barcelona.
Barcelona. Watching this storied club attempt to work its way out of debt by spending more, by mortgaging away future earnings in service of the present tense, has not been particularly appealing, especially considering the base of young talent Barca boasts and how good they could have pretty quickly become by building around that talent. That said, while adding attackers Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, midfielder Franck Kessie and defenders Jules Kounde (who still isn’t registered) and Andreas Christensen doesn’t give them a starting XI that can compete with that of Manchester City, Liverpool, Bayern or probably Real Madrid, it probably makes them better. It definitely makes them worth watching.
Borussia Dortmund. This was the offseason in which BVB fully reinvested the funds from the transfers of both Jadon Sancho last summer and Erling Haaland this summer. New arrival Sebastien Haller is out for the foreseeable future as he deals with what turned out to be a malignant tumor — the club acquired 34-year old Anthony Modeste from Koln to fill that gap — but two young German internationals, forward Karim Adeyemi and defender Nico Schlotterbeck, have both already made a difference, with the former scoring in the DFB-Pokal and the latter already putting out many fires in the back.
Combined with the presence of teenagers Jude Bellingham, Youssoufa Moukoko and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, BVB remain one of the most exciting and youth-dependent teams on the continent.
Dortmund said goodbye to Haaland this summer, but have an abundance of exciting young talent to enjoy all season long. Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images
AS Roma. I’m including Roma more because of “vibes” than a volume of new talent. After winning the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League last season, the club and its fans celebrated like they’d won the Champions League. Jose Mourinho even got another tattoo! Then they signed Paulo Dybala from Juventus and celebrated like they had signed prime Leo Messi. (They added Mourinho-friendly veteran midfielders Georginio Wijnaldum and Nemanja Matic, too.)
The attacking foursome of Dybala, Tammy Abraham, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Nicolo Zaniolo certainly looked the part in a season-opening 1-0 win over Salernitana that was much closer to 2-0 or 3-0 than 1-1. There’s still a hill to climb if Roma wants to join the crowded Scudetto race, but again, the vibes are strong.
Nottingham Forest. It was incredible watching the former European champions qualify for their first Premier League season since 1999. It’s been even more incredible watching them attempt to spend their way into staying there. After earning promotion with a lineup heavy on loan acquisitions, Forest have signed 15 players and counting this summer, though they’re on this list not because of the volume of signings; it’s about who they’ve signed.
Taiwo Awoniyi is one of the most positive and exciting young(ish) attackers in Europe. Emmanuel Dennis was too good for Watford and could pair beautifully with Awoniyi and holdover Brennan Johnson. Jesse Lingard is finally free of Manchester United, while Neco Williams, Omar Richards and Giulian Biancone are all exciting young fullbacks, too.
Forest have spent over $130 million and counting on roster upgrades, and you could see how this high-wire act could pay off. If they can survive this season and avoid relegation, they will have a roster loaded with upside players in a similar age range (21-25) who can grow in future seasons. But Steve Cooper’s got an incredible chemistry experiment to deal with in the meantime.
Fiorentina. Luka Jovic was one of the best goalscorers in Germany before what turned out to be an ill-fated move to Real Madrid. Fullback Dodo was one of Shakhtar Donetsk’s most exciting young players. They both join a team that finished ahead of Atalanta last season and was only two points out of fifth place in Serie A. The team wasn’t particularly impressive in a season-opening win over freshly promoted Cremonese — they needed a shaky stoppage-time goal to win, 3-2, despite a man advantage — but both Jovic and another newcomer, Rolando Mandragora, scored to save the day.
Make no mistake: This is an exciting team.
The players you’re going to be obsessed with after the World Cup
Just call them the “James Rodriguez All Stars.” The Colombian forward was coming off a decent, nine-goal season with AS Monaco in 2013-14 when he won the Golden Boot at the 2014 World Cup, scoring six goals and tossing in two assists. Within days, Real Madrid was spending big to acquire him.
Every major tournament produces breakout stars, and this one will be no different (even though pretty much everything else about this tournament is different). Here are 10 players I could see becoming highly sought if their respective national teams enjoy stronger-than-expected runs in Qatar.
Jonathan David, FW, Canada (Lille). He’s scored 28 league goals in the last two years, and Canada’s style suits him perfectly. It’s honestly somewhat surprising he’s still at Lille.
Jonathan David is in brilliant form for Lille and Canada will be expecting it to carry over to this winter’s World Cup, too. FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI/AFP via Getty Images
Mikkel Damsgaard, MF, Denmark (Brentford). I’m doubling down! Damsgaard was one of my favorites in last summer’s Euros and while he did not follow that success up with a standout club season, he’s got another chance after signing with the Bees.
Luka Sucic, MF, Croatia (Salzburg). The 19-year-old midfielder is already on the radar of clubs like Liverpool and played well in last year’s Champions League; he could do some serious damage next to Luka Modric & Co. in Qatar.
Ismaila Sarr, FW, Senegal (Watford). He couldn’t save Watford from relegation last year, but Senegal have a manageable World Cup group (with the Netherlands, Ecuador and hosts Qatar) and Sarr could be a major reason they advance to the knockout rounds.
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Piero Hincapie, DF, Ecuador (Bayer Leverkusen). The 20-year-old is asked to do a lot in defense for Leverkusen — arguably too much of late — but he could be Premier League-bound by next season… or in January if he does well in the World Cup.
Takefusa Kubo, MF, Japan (Real Sociedad). A product of Barcelona’s La Masia, Kubo signed with Real Madrid at 18 years old, but couldn’t break through. Now the winger is in a potentially excellent spot in San Sebastian: In his debut for La Real, he scored and created two chances from the right wing.
Takuma Asano, FW, Japan (Bochum). One reason to think Kubo might have a lovely World Cup: He’s got some veteran creators, like the 27-year-old Asano, around him. Asano is relentless up front, pressing well and constantly trying to stretch opponents’ back line. He’s perfect for Bochum… and could be perfect for your club next!
Luka Jovic, FW, Serbia (Fiorentina). Another promising youngster who couldn’t find his way at Real Madrid, Jovic scored in his Fiorentina debut last weekend. He’s scored more than 60 career goals, he’s already played for Crvena Zvezda, Benfica, Eintracht Frankfurt and Madrid, and he’s somehow still only 24.
Brennan Johnson is a gem for Forest on the wing and should complement Gareth Bale nicely out wide for Wales in Qatar this winter. Zac Goodwin/PA Images via Getty Images
Brennan Johnson, MF, Wales (Nottingham Forest). A rare holdover in a sea of Forest newcomers, the 21-year old led a promoted team in scoring in the not-particularly-youth-friendly Championship. He could be a difference-maker for both Forest and an otherwise veteran-heavy Wales squad.
Mohammed Kudus, MF, Ghana (Ajax). Injuries and club depth have hampered the 22-year old since he joined Ajax two years ago, but he has been a difference-maker for Ghana in that same time period, and his club career could take off soon enough, be it with Ajax or another team.
The last step to maximum enjoyment: Adopt a Champions League underdog
It’s pretty easy to find people complaining about how, as Europe’s richest teams have gotten richer, the early stages of the Champions League have grown more predictable, too. And to be sure, the complaints are pretty well-based in fact. But if we know that the sport’s heavyweights are going to advance mostly incident-free to the next rounds, then we can spend most of our early focus on the fun underdog stories.
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Be it up-and-comers from power leagues (RB Leipzig, Atalanta and Lyon in 2019-20, for instance) or champs from lesser leagues (Ajax making the semis in 2018-19, FC Sheriff upsetting Real Madrid and nearly making the knockouts in 2021-22), they’re always out there. And they offer an element of discovery — fun, young players and coaches, interesting back stories, weird stadiums — to the event.
We’re midway through the final round of qualification, so we don’t yet know for sure who will be in the Champions League field of 32. The impeccably organized Bodo/Glimt — the team best known for beating Mourinho’s Roma twice last season and nearly wrecking their Conference League plans — might get there if they can finish off Dinamo Zagreb next week. And the winner of the PSV Eindhoven-Rangers tie will be very much worth your time and investment. We know that an increasingly impressive Celtic will be in the group stage for the first time since 2018. So will the recklessly optimistic Napoli. Oh, and Eintracht Frankfurt is worth the time investment for its obsessed and loyal fan base alone. Pick someone and follow their journey.
Adopt a Europa League and Conference League team, too
The stories are even richer here. The Europa League is where the next chapter of the Union Saint-Gilloise story might be written. Union Berlin, too. It’s where Bodo/Glimt might end up. The loser of PSV Eindhoven-Rangers will be playing its intensely watchable football there, as will AS Monaco.
While the Conference League group stage is a lot to take in, by the time of the knockout rounds we’ll have filtered out both the teams that don’t really want to be there as well as the teams that aren’t good enough to be there. Last year’s knockout rounds gave us outstanding ties like Leicester City vs. PSV, Roma vs. Leicester, Roma vs. Bodo/Glimt II and Feyenoord vs. Slavia Prague. It was quite rewarding, and you won’t regret following along.
The US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade was first unveiled in June, with both sides now saying they had “reached consensus on the negotiating mandate”.
“We plan to pursue an ambitious schedule…. that will help build a fairer, more prosperous and resilient 21st century economy,” said Deputy United States Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi in a statement.
The announcement comes as China launched its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan after Ms Pelosi’s visit earlier in August.
Under the “One China policy”, the US recognises and has formal ties with China rather than the island of Taiwan but maintains a “robust unofficial” relationship with Taiwan, including continued arms sales to the island so that it can defend itself.
Beijing sees the self-governing island as its own, renegade territory that must be united with the mainland.
However, Taiwan is a self-ruled island that sees itself as distinct from the mainland.
Seperately on Thursday, top US diplomat for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink said Beijing’s “growing coercion….threatens the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait”.
“We will continue to take calm, but resolute steps to uphold peace and stability in the face of Beijing’s ongoing efforts to undermine it and to support Taiwan in line with our long-standing policy,” he said.
