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ARSENAL sporting director Andrea Berta has held face-to-face talks with Sporting in Portugal as the Premier League club move closer towards a deal for striker Viktor Gyokeres. BBC Sport revealed last Thursday the Gunners had accelerated their interest in the Sweden international as their well-documented search for a new centre-forward reaches a climax. And well-placed sources have indicated that process saw Berta fly to the Portuguese capital towards the end of last week for key discussions with Sporting counterparts over a deal that could be worth around £70m. It is unclear if he returned to London over the weekend, but…

IRANIAN President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview released on Monday that Israel, which last month fought a 12-day war with Iran, had attempted to assassinate him. “They did try, yes. They acted accordingly, but they failed,” Pezeshkian told US media figure Tucker Carlson in response to a question on whether he believed Israel had tried to kill him. “It was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel. I was in a meeting… they tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting,” he said according to a translation…

US-BRAZIL relations slid into crisis Monday after President Donald Trump criticized the high-profile coup trial of his right-wing ally, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro. Trump accused Brazilian authorities of carrying out a “WITCH HUNT” against the 70-year-old firebrand, warning they should “LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE.” His comments drew a quick and sharp rebuke. Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva set diplomatic niceties aside and hit back at Trump’s “interference,” adding that “no one is above the law.” Bolsonaro is facing trial, accused of leading a “criminal organization” that plotted a coup to keep him in power after his 2022 election loss.…

ELEVEN people have been killed nationwide during antigovernment protests in Kenya on the 35th anniversary of a pro-democracy uprising, the country’s police has said. A statement from the police on Monday added that 52 police officers had been injured. Police fired live rounds and water cannon at protesters in the capital Nairobi, as hundreds of people demonstrated in the city, with some blowing whistles while they marched amid heavy police deployment. People rally each year on July 7 to mark the date in 1990 when Kenyans demanded a return to multiparty democracy after years of autocratic rule by then-President Daniel…

POLICE Minister Senzo Mchunu has been accused of having ties to criminal gangs and of meddling in police investigations into politically motivated murders. These explosive allegations were made by KwaZulu-Natal police boss Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi at a press briefing on Sunday. He said Mr Mchunu was receiving financial support from an allegedly corrupt businessman to fund his “political endeavours”. Mr Mchunu has since denied what he says are “wild allegations” while President Cyril Ramaphosa said they were of “grave national security concern” and “receiving the highest priority attention”. Gen Mkhwanazi detailed a sequence of events he claims led to the “orchestrated”…

ARSENAL have completed the signing of Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad in a deal worth almost £60m. The Spain midfielder is the Gunners’ second signing of the summer transfer window, following the arrival of goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea for £5m. They are also in talks to sign Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres for £70m. Zubimendi, who rejected an approach from Liverpool last summer, came through the ranks at Real Sociedad before becoming a regular in their first team. The 26-year-old deep-lying midfielder – who played 236 times for the Spanish club, scoring 10 goals – has signed a five-year deal.…

ISRAELI attacks on Gaza City kill at least 39 today, a day after killing at least 78 Palestinians in attacks across the besieged Strip. At least 61 people have been killed in Gaza today by Israeli attacks across the enclave. The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed at least 743 Palestinians in attacks at sites run by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) since late May. Meanwhile, the Hezbollah chief says the Lebanese group remains open to peace, but it will not disarm or back down from confronting Israel until it ends its air raids and…

FRENCH military and intelligence officials claim China has deployed its embassies to spread doubts about the performance of French-made Rafale jets following the aerial combat between India and Pakistan in May. The Associated Press news agency, quoting French officials, reported on Sunday that Beijing is working to harm the reputation and sales of France’s flagship fighter aircraft. French officials say they have found that the Chinese embassies are trying to undermine Rafale sales by persuading countries that have already ordered the jets, notably Indonesia, not to buy them and instead choose Chinese-made fighters. The AP report said the findings were…

UGANDA’s long-serving president, Yoweri Museveni, 80, has been declared the governing party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election, opening the way for him to seek to extend his nearly 40 years in power. In his acceptance speech, Museveni said that he had responded to the call and, if elected, would press ahead with his mission to turn Uganda into a “high middle income country”. Museveni’s critics say he has ruled with an iron hand since he seized power as a rebel leader in 1986. He has won every election held since then, and the constitution has been amended twice to…

THE US has deported eight people to South Sudan following a legal battle that saw them diverted to Djibouti for several weeks. The men – convicted of crimes including murder, sexual assault and robbery – had either completed or were near the end of their prison sentences. Only one of the eight is from South Sudan. The rest are nationals of Myanmar, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and Mexico. US officials said most of their home countries had refused to accept them. The Trump administration is working to expand its deportations to third countries. It has deported people to El Salvador and…

REAL Madrid survived a dramatic added time period, which featured three goals and a red card, against Borussia Dortmund to qualify for the semi-final of the Club World Cup. Gonzalo Garcia added his fourth goal in the side’s five matches of the competition after volleying in Arda Guler’s cross in the 10th minute and Fran Garcia tapped in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross 10 minutes later. Madrid were coasting towards a 2-0 victory but substitute Maximilian Beier hit the first for Dortmund, sparking a dramatic end to the game. Substitute Kylian Mbappe scored an acrobatic volley shortly after but defender Dean Huijsen…

ISRAEL is sending a negotiating team to Qatar for talks on a Gaza ceasefire proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed. In a statement late on Saturday, Netanyahu’s office said the team would travel on Sunday after the Israeli leader instructed negotiators “to accept the invitation for close talks”. But the statement said that “the changes Hamas is requesting to make to the Qatari proposal were delivered to us last night and are unacceptable to Israel”. It did not elaborate on what changes were being requested. Hamas said on Friday that it had provided a “positive” response to a…

RESCUERS were desperately searching for at least 20 girls missing from a riverside summer camp, officials said Friday, after torrential rains caused a “catastrophic” flash flood that killed at least 24 people as it swept through south-central Texas. “At this point we’re at about 24 fatalities,” Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha told an evening press conference as rescue teams scrambled to locate stranded residents in the region northwest of San Antonio. Some of the dead were children, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said at a previous news conference. The county sheriff said there were “kids that are still missing”, adding…

MALI’s military leader Gen Assimi Goïta has been granted a five-year presidential term by the transitional parliament, which is renewable without elections. The junta leader, who has seized power twice, had promised the return of democracy last year, but it never materialised. The bill granting his new mandate said it could be renewed “as many times as necessary” and until Mali was “pacified”. It clears Gen Goïta to lead the West African country until at least 2030, with many fearing the move could lead to the repression of the opposition or dissenting opinions. The 41-year-old military leader was named transitional…

PLANS for a futuristic city in Senegal dreamt up by the singer Akon have been scrapped and instead he will work on something more realistic, officials say. “The Akon City project no longer exists,” Serigne Mamadou Mboup, the head of Senegal’s tourism development body, Sapco, told the BBC. “Fortunately, an agreement has been reached between Sapco and the entrepreneur Alioune Badara Thiam [aka Akon]. What he’s preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support.” Known for his string of noughties chart hits, Akon – who was born in the US but partly raised in Senegal -…

LIVERPOOL and Portugal forward Diogo Jota has died in a car crash, aged 28. The Portugal forward’s brother Andre Silva also died in the accident, which took place in the Spanish province of Zamora. The 26-year-old was also a professional footballer, with Portuguese second-tier club Penafiel. The Guardia Civil has told BBC Sport that Jota and his brother died at about 00:30 local time on Thursday. They said that their car, a Lamborghini, left the road due to a tyre blow-out while overtaking another vehicle and then caught fire. Jota married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso, with whom he has…

DORTMUND and Real Madrid were the last set of teams to reach the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup after victories against Juventus and Monterrey, respectively. Youngster Gonzalo Garcia headed home his third goal of the tournament to help Madrid edge the Italian side Juventus at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Serhou Guirassy struck twice for the German outfit as they scraped past Sergio Ramos’s side 2-1 in a tight last-16 clash in Atlanta and denied the former Real Madrid skipper a match-up against his former team. The quarter-finals will begin on Friday and end on Saturday. FULL FIXTURES…

AT the sight of her son Ahmed’s bullet-riddled body laid out in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, Asmahan Shaat collapsed on the ground, overcome by grief. Her screams echoed through the air, her voice choked by shock and sorrow. She kissed the 23-year-old’s face, hands and feet as she cried. Her six other children and relatives tried to hold her back, but she pushed them away. “Leave me with him. Leave me with him,” she cried. “Ahmed will speak again. He told me, ‘Mom, I am not going to die. I’ll bring you something from the aid…

IRAN’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has signed a law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), amid growing tensions between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog following Israeli and US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities last month. “Masoud Pezeshkian promulgated the law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Iranian state TV reported on Wednesday. The announcement comes a week after Iran’s parliament passed legislation to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, citing Israel’s June 13 surprise attack on Iran and later strikes by the US on Iranian nuclear facilities. According to the parliament resolution, IAEA inspectors will not…

GUINEA’s ruling junta wants to extend presidential terms from five to seven years, with a two-term limit, according to a draft constitution due to be put to a referendum in September. The draft was presented last Thursday to General Mamadi Doumbouya, head of the junta that ousted President Alpha Conde in 2021 — one in a series of military coups in west Africa. It did not specify whether Doumbouya would be able to run for president when the country returns to democratic elections. The upcoming referendum is meant to pave the way for a return to constitutional rule in the…