Author: News Desk

William Saliba says everyone at Arsenal is ‘so happy’ to have Martin Odegaard back fit and firing, hailing his captain as one of the ‘top three’ midfielders on the planet. Odegaard picked up an ankle injury while on international duty with Norway in early September and the 25-year-old was sidelined for 12 Arsenal games as a result. The Norwegian’s absence from the side coincided with a desperately disappointing run of results for the Gunners, with Mikel Arteta’s men now nine points adrift of top-of-the-table Liverpool in the Premier League. But Odegaard looked to be back to his best at the…

Ruben Amorim has been urged to bring Danny Welbeck back to Manchester United by another former Old Trafford star. Amorim was appointed as United’s new manager on November 11 and oversaw a 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town in his first game in charge. Given his fairly unique philosophy, Amorim has admitted it will be a slow process to turn Manchester United around, with the Red Devils currently in the bottom-half of the Premier League. The Portuguese ex-Sporting Lisbon boss is also expected to bring in some of his own signings, with his former player Viktor Gyokeres being heavily linked with…

Pep Guardiola is a ‘broken man’ who has no idea how to fix Manchester City, according to a leading body language expert. The Spaniard called City’s 3-3 draw with Feyenoord last night ‘difficult to swallow’ and admitted he understood the boos that greeted the final whistle after his side threw away a 3-0 lead in the last 15 minutes. Guardiola’s own frustrations were apparent given the number of scratches visible on his head after the match. The Catalan had arrived at the ground with a cut on his nose, which he said he had caused himself with a long fingernail.…

Electric car targets under review as backlash grows There is a growing row between the government and the car industry over electric vehicle sales targets which companies say are too high for current consumer demand. The government has said it will launch a consultation on the targets but said it will stick to a deadline to phase-out sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. The move comes after Stellantis, the owner of Vauxhall, said it would close a plant in Luton – putting 1,100 jobs at risk – due in part to the EV target rules. The Society…

A ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon makes much of the news today bringing an end to a year of fighting. The deal, brokered by France and the US, came into effect at 04:00 local time on Wednesday. Thousands of Lebanese civilians have started returning to their homes in the south, but Israel warns it is not yet safe to return to certain areas.

Britain is set to be battered by another storm – Storm Conall, which will bring heavy rain to south-east England and endanger areas already dealing with flooding from Storm Bert. As of Wednesday morning, there were 99 flood warnings in England, including a severe “danger to life” notice for the River Nene in Northamptonshire, as well as four in Wales.

The upcoming assisted dying bill vote makes the UK news – in print and online – as MPs prepare for Friday’s vote. MPs will get their first chance to debate and vote on Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in principle on Friday. Leadbeater said she expected the vote to be “very close”.

Manchester City’s 3-3 draw finds plenty of space in the UK media. It’s now the sixth game without a win – and more concerningly, City led by 3-0 into the second half.

Locally heavy rain will clear slowly eastwards across central and southern England and Wales, with skies brightening in the west. Gales possible in the southeast. Fog and frost clearing elsewhere to give a day of sunny spells and isolated showers. Tonight: A few showers affecting North Sea coasts of both England and Scotland. Dry elsewhere with clear periods and gentle winds, leading to a widespread frost with some freezing fog patches.

What leading the France24 website today?  Much of the France 24 website is dominated by the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, brokered by France and the US. It brings an end to almost a year of fighting and nearly two months after Israel launched a ground attack.  The French mass rape trial dominates the local news on the site – as prosecutors seek the toughest sentence possible for the men at the centre of one of the most horrific cases in modern France. It is a story that has gripped France and the world. 

Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants have begun a ceasefire in a major step toward ending nearly 14 months of fighting. As a region on edge wonders whether it would hold, FRANCE 24’s Mark Owen welcomes Yossi Mekelberg, Associate Fellow in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Programme at Chatham House in London. 'At a certain point, a war must end with some political arrangement'

It’s hard to believe she’s only been out of power for three years. While no one expects Angela Merkel’s supporters to rally behind calls to “make Germany great again”, the excitement surrounding the release of her memoirs highlights a sense of nostalgia for a leader whose record-breaking tenure came to embody stability in a changing world. But what is Merkel’s true legacy?  What's left of the German model? The Merkel years revisited

Displaced people living in Sudan’s North Darfur state cheer at the arrival of the first convoy of food and supplies in months, but the glimmer of hope is still vastly short of what’s needed. Also, Namibia heads into general elections, with the ruling party SWAPO facing stiffer than ever competition amid popular frustration over disparities. Plus we head to the Gambia, which plans to reduce plastic waste by 86 percent over the next 10 years. But some fear economic fallout for the poorest. World Food Programme scales up operations to deliver aid in famine-hit Sudan