FORMER England and Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard has been named manager of Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq. The 43-year-old had said in June he had been invited over to the country to “look at a potential offer” but that he would not be taking it up. “Without a doubt, Gerrard’s presence will be an addition and a quantum leap to our league,” said Khalid Al-Dabal, the club’s chairman. Gerrard has signed a two-year contract with the Saudi club. Al-Ettifaq were seventh in the 16-team Saudi Pro League last season, finishing 35 points behind champions Al-Ittihad. Gerrard has been out of work…
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NEWCASTLE United have signed AC Milan and Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali. The 23-year-old has signed a five-year contract, becoming Eddie Howe’s first signing of the summer as his side prepares for Champions League football. The reported £55m fee would make him the most expensive Italian footballer of all time. Tonali helped Milan win Serie A in 2021-22 and was part of the side which reached last season’s Champions League semi-finals. He was also a member of Italy’s squad at the Under-21 European Championships. Tonali told the club website: “I want to repay the trust on the pitch, giving it my…
IRAN has hanged at least 354 people in the first six months of 2023, a rights group said Monday, adding that the pace of executions was much higher than in 2022. Rights groups have accused Tehran of increasing the use of the death penalty to spread fear across society in the wake of the protest movement that erupted last September over the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating strict dress rules for women. Norway-based Iran Human Rights said the 354 people figure for the first six months up to June 30 was up 36 percent…
SAUDI Arabia on Monday put to death five people convicted of carrying out a deadly attack on a house of worship, state media said, the biggest group execution this year. The five men — four Saudis and one Egyptian national — were tried for an attack that killed five people and injured an untold number of others in the kingdom’s east, home to most Saudi oil and most members of its Shiite minority. An interior ministry statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency did not specify when the attack took place or what type of house of worship was…
SENEGAL’s President Macky Sall has ruled out seeking re-election in 2024, ending widespread speculation that he would run for a third term. “The 2019 term was my second and last term,” he said in a televised address. Rumours he would try to extend his grip on power have fuelled unrest several times since 2021, with dozens killed. The opposition had called for fresh protests if Mr Sall decided to run again – which most legal experts say would have violated the constitution. In his address late on Monday, Mr Sall, 61, said: “There has been much speculation and commentary on…
A GROUP of parents in The Gambia have begun legal action against the government, an Indian pharmaceutical company and a medicine importer followings the deaths of their children which have been linked to cough syrup manufactured in India. The 19 parents are seeking about $4.7m (£3.7m) in damages. A team of lawyers from the Gambia Bar Association and the Female Lawyers Association of The Gambia are representing the parents. They want the health ministry and the medicines control agency to admit they failed in their duties to regulate the importation, distribution, and sale of medicines in the country. They are…
VENUS Williams insists she’s not ready to call time on her career, claiming on Saturday she is probably the only player able to keep competing until she’s 50. The 43-year-old American, a seven-time major winner, kicks off her 24th Wimbledon on Monday, 26 years after her debut at the All England Club. Brushing aside questions over whether she intends to follow younger sister Serena into retirement, Venus insists that even playing at 50 is not out of the question. “It’s never been done before so if there is anyone who could do it, it would be me,” said the five-time…
ANTHONY Gordon’s first-half finish sealed England a place in the European Under-21 Championship semi-finals as they defeated Portugal in Georgia. The Newcastle forward smashed home from inside the area from a Morgan Gibbs-White cutback after good work from Chelsea’s Noni Madueke. Portugal hit the bar through Henrique Araujo in the second half. But Lee Carsley’s side, yet to concede a goal in this tournament, held out and will face Israel on Wednesday. They needed to show defensive resilience to win in Kutaisi, as Portugal had them under pressure for long periods after the break. Victory secured a place in the…
THE Israeli army has launched a massive military operation on the Jenin camp in the northern West Bank. It started with multiple air strikes. Videos published on social media showed smoke rising from a residential block. The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least three Palestinians were killed and 12 others wounded in the ongoing raid. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they were striking “terrorist infrastructure in the Jenin area”. “We will not standby idle while terrorists continue to harm civilians using Jenin Camp as a hideout,” they said, adding that the camp was a “terrorist stronghold”. The Jenin Battalion,…
TWO people have been killed and another 28 injured in a shooting in the US city of Baltimore, Maryland, police say. A spokesman said that three people remained in a critical condition. The incident happened just after midnight (05:00 GMT) in the Brooklyn Homes area, where people had gathered for an event called Brooklyn Day. There are no details about suspects. More than a dozen of the victims were aged under 18, the city’s acting commissioner reported. Officials have said that more than one assailant opened fire at the celebration. The motive behind the shooting is still unclear and police…
KENYAN President William Ruto announced Sunday the lifting of a near six-year ban on logging, despite the concerns of environmental campaigners. Ruto said the move was “long overdue” and was aimed at creating jobs and opening up sectors of the economy that rely on forest products. “We can’t have mature trees rotting in forests while locals suffer due to lack of timber. That’s foolishness,” he said at a church service in Molo, a town about 200 kilometres (120 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi. “This is why we have decided to open up the forest and harvest timber so that…
SOUTH Africa’s Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini is being treated in hospital for suspected poisoning, his traditional prime minister has said. The king sought medical attention in Eswatini as he is uncomfortable with seeking treatment in South Africa, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi added. This follows the sudden death of one of his senior advisers, also of suspected poisoning, Chief Buthelezi said. However, the king’s official spokesman said he was in “perfect health”. The monarch was currently not in hospital, and “unnecessary panic” should not be created, Prince Africa Zulu said, in what appeared to be an indirect reference to Chief Buthelezi’s statement.…
FORMER Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has announced his immediate retirement from football. The 36-year-old calls time on a career during which he won the World Cup with Spain, the Premier League twice at Chelsea and La Liga with Barcelona. “It is with great sadness that the time has come for me to hang up my playing boots,” Fabregas posted on Instagram. He ends his career one year into a two-year contract with Italian club Como in Serie B. Fabregas says he will now move into the dugout by coaching Como’s reserve and youth teams. “It’s not all…
PATRICK Vieira is set to become the new manager at Ligue 1 club RC Strasbourg. BBC Sport understands Vieira, 47, will sign a three-year contract and the deal should be completed on Sunday. The ex-Arsenal midfielder has been out of work since being sacked by Premier League side Crystal Palace in March. Chelsea’s owners have recently agreed a deal to buy a majority stake in Strasbourg, who finished 15th in the French top flight last season, five points above the relegation zone. It is not the first time that Vieira has worked in a multi-club group. He coached Manchester City…
TWITTER has applied a temporary limit to the number of tweets users can read in a day, owner Elon Musk has said. In a tweet of his own, Mr Musk said unverified accounts are now limited to reading 1,000posts a day. For new unverified accounts, the number is 500. Meanwhile, accounts with “verified” status are currently limited to 10,000 posts a day. The tech billionaire initially set stricter limits, but he changed these within hours of announcing the move. Mr Musk said the temporary limits were to address “extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation”. He did not explain…
UKRAINE’s counter-offensive against Russia will be difficult and “very bloody”, the US’ highest-ranking military officer has said. Gen Mark Milley said he was unsurprised that progress had been slower than predicted – but added that Ukraine was “advancing steadily”. “It goes a little slow, but that is part of the nature of war,” he said. It comes as Volodymyr Zelensky accused “some” Western partners of delaying promised training for Ukrainian pilots. Several Western countries have pledged to train Kyiv’s pilots on US-made F-16 fighter jets, but the Ukrainian president said some allies had been “dragging their feet” on the promise.…
THE government’s deal to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda risks “downgrading” UK foreign policy, a former cabinet minister has said. A final report by a United Nations Group of Experts, published earlier this month, concluded that the Rwandans were supporting the M23 rebel group which is active in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is subject to UN and US sanctions. Justine Greening withdrew £21m in aid funding to the country in 2012 when she was international development secretary after the United Nations first reported that the Rwandans were helping the M23 rebels. While the US and EU…
A BUILDING under construction collapsed in an upscale neighbourhood of Côte d’Ivoire’s economic hub Abidjan, killing six people and injuring nine others, the government said Saturday. The building was an illegal construction coming up in Cocody, home to several embassies and the presidential palace, the construction ministry said. It collapsed on Friday. The search for victims under rubble took several hours, said an AFP photographer at the scene. Abidjan is undergoing a demographic and economic boom and several illegal buildings are mushrooming in the Atlantic Ocean port city, a major gateway to West Africa. Government spokesman Amadou Coulibaly had in…
PARIS St-Germain manager Christophe Galtier will go on trial in December as a result of an investigation into alleged discrimination. In April, Galtier was accused of making racist remarks when he was manager of Nice – allegations he denied. On Friday, the 56-year-old was arrested and taken in for questioning following an investigation launched in April. He will stand trial on December 15 before the Nice Criminal Court. Galtier has been charged with “moral harassment and discrimination on the grounds of actual or supposed membership or non-membership of a particular ethnic group, nation, alleged race or religion”, Nice’s public prosecutor…
THE Premier League club told Leipzig that they will trigger the player’s 70m euro (£60.1m) release clause. The 22-year-old Hungary attacking midfielder helped Leipzig finish third in the Bundesliga and win the German Cup last season. A meeting has taken between the representatives of Szoboszlai and Liverpool, who are looking to bolster their midfield. The release clause for Szoboszlai, who has also been linked with Newcastle United, expires on Friday. Szoboszlai made 31 appearances in the Bundesliga last season, scoring six goals and registering eight assists. He signed from Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg in January 2021 and has since…