After returning to the pitch for the first time in more than two years following a doping ban, Paul Pogba described his emotional Monaco debut as a moment of relief and gratitude on Saturday.
The former Manchester United and former Juventus player, who signed for the Ligue 1 side on a free transfer in June, had not played a competitive game since September 2023.
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After testing positive for the banned substance DHEA, which raises testosterone levels, Pogba was given a four-year ban in February 2024. Following a court of appeal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the suspension to 18 months.
The 32-year-old, who was recovering from a right ankle injury before coming on in the 85th minute of Monaco’s 4-1 defeat by Rennes at Roazhon Park, received a standing ovation.
I never imagined that would happen when I witnessed the crowd rise and cheer it on,” Pogba told reporters. I’m relieved to be playing football again, which is what I adore most.
“But I still need to work out to get back to full fitness and play 90 minutes,” he continued. “If I don’t do well at Monaco, I can forget about the French national team.”
I have faith in myself and in my qualities, and I never let up because I knew I had done nothing wrong and it was not my fault.
In his country’s 2018 FIFA World Cup victory, Pogba, who has made 91 appearances for France, was key. He was unable to represent France at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar due to knee and hamstring issues as well as knee surgery.
[Lou Benoist/AFP] Pogba in action during Rennes’ and Monaco’s French Ligue 1 game.
At least two people were killed and several others were hurt when Israeli fighter jets bombed villages in Lebanon, starting in the east of the Bekaa Valley and continuing to the south of the country. Israel has attacked Lebanon nearly daily since agreeing to a ceasefire a year ago, claiming that it is attacking Hezbollah positions.
As ambiguity and deep-seated doubts abound over the success of Washington’s 28-point plan to end the war with Russia, senior Ukrainian, European, British, and American officials will soon begin discussions in Geneva.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as President Donald Trump’s top representative at the talks, giving his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday to accept the deal.
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Before taking off for Switzerland, Rubio made it clear in a Sunday post on X that the US had written the proposal.
He wrote, “It is provided as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations.” It is based on input from Russia, the author says. However, it also draws on Ukraine’s ongoing and previous input.
The comments were in opposition to a claim made by a panel of veteran US senators who were most concerned with foreign policy that the plan was a Russian “wish list” rather than the actual proposal offering Washington’s positions.
Republican Mike Rounds from South Dakota claimed that the current form of this release, which “looked more like it was written in Russian”
The claim was called “blatantly false,” according to State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
The senators earlier on Saturday warned other leaders who had threatened their neighbors that the plan would only “reward aggression” by Moscow.
The plan’s critics claim that it heavily reflects the Kremlin’s frequent demands and war narrative.
The plan also includes reducing Ukraine’s military size and promoting its sovereignty, as well as laying out a security guarantee that it won’t be attacked in the future.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, welcomed the proposal late on Friday, saying it “could form the foundation of a final peace agreement” if Washington can appoint Ukraine and its allies in Europe.
Zelenskyy promises to “work calmly” with the US and his Western allies to get through what he calls “truly one of the most difficult moments in our history,” despite the country’s cautious attitude toward its rhetoric.
Further discussions are required, according to Ukraine’s European allies, who claim that the military restrictions would make it “vulnerable to future attack” .
National security advisors will be present at the Geneva discussions in France, the UK, and Germany, also known as the E3.
As fierce fighting persuades the US-led diplomatic efforts, the conflict is getting worse.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull won the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday, but Lando Norris of McLaren has a shot at the title thanks to finishing second and extending his lead over Oscar Piastri’s 30-point lead.
After Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who was ahead of the Australian at the chequered flag, added five seconds for jumping the start, Piastri placed fourth.
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The podium was secured for Mercedes by George Russell, who was the floodlit race’s winner last year and who, like Norris, made his 150th start.
With only two grands prix and a sprint remaining, Norris has 408 points, while Verstappen, who is four-times world champion, is still mathematically in contention with 366. Piastri has 378 points, with Verstappen having won the race twice.
With McLaren already clinching the constructors’ crown for the second year in a row, Norris finished 20.741 seconds clear of McLaren, who will now now have the opportunity to win his first title in Qatar next weekend.
Lando Norris of McLaren and Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing begin the Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix [Patrick T. Fallon/AFP]
A respectable gap
Verstappen rode to the podium with Terry Crews and Norris Russell in a LEGO pink Cadillac convertible as fireworks over the Strip lit up the sky. “The car was working pretty well, much more to my liking,” Verstappen said.
“A good gap was left at the end.”
Verstappen won the 69th time in his career, and it was Verstappen’s sixth of the season. He also won the 125th podium and eighth time in a row in Red Bull’s partnership with Honda, marking their 150th partnership grand prix.
Verstappen and Norris split up at the start, dropping to third when he ran wide at the first corner and opened the door for the Dutch driver and Russell.
On the 34th of the 50 laps, he reclaimed second place behind Russell, but he struggled to get to the finish line.
He made the joke, “I let Max win.” I allowed him to leave and had a pleasant race. No, he added, “I just braked too late,” giving an expletive from the live television feed that could cause trouble for the British citizen with the governing FIA.
“When the guy wins by 20 seconds, it’s because he has just done a better job and they’re a little quicker,” I said.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was sixth, and Carlos Sainz was seventh, while Antonelli came in fifth place. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg finished in the top 10, followed by Isack Hadjar, eighth, and Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari, eighth.
After making contact with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, who plunged last with a severely damaged car, Piastri dropped from fifth to seventh on the opening lap.
Verstappen rejoined in command after Russell and Norris had already switched to the hard tyre after 20 seconds of being 20 seconds clear of the field on lap 23.
As the Brazilian rookie slammed forcefully into the corner and ran out of road, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Sauber’s Gabriel Borteleto took him out right away.
Between turns one and four, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly activated the virtual safety car for marshals to retrieve debris. Gasly was also a spinner at the start.
After Williams’ Alex Albon and Hamilton collided, the latter racing from 19th and last on the grid to 13th on the opening lap, with the VSC deployed once more to remove debris from the track.
Albon was given a five-second penalty for causing the collision and reprimanded for an offense beginning with a starting procedure.
Verstappen became the first driver to twice triumph at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Residents of Australia’s Northern Territory have been clearing streets after a damaging tropical cyclone that brought intense winds overnight, tearing up trees and traffic lights and cutting power.
Tropical Cyclone Fina loomed off the coast of the Northern Territory for several days before rapidly strengthening to a Category 3 storm.
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It swept through on Saturday night between the busy city of Darwin and the sparsely populated Tiwi Islands – an archipelago about 80km (50 miles) off the coast – where wind gusts reached 110km (70 miles) per hour.
The “very destructive core” of the cyclone has moved away from the Northern Territory, but heavy rain and winds will persist on Sunday, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Angus Hines said.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said about 19, 000 homes and businesses had lost power in the past 24 hours, and efforts were being made to restore it.
She said there was significant debris, including trees and powerlines, and warned people to take care as they moved around.
“In true territory spirit, neighbours are coming out with chainsaws and , everyone’s chipping in”, she said Sunday.
“This cyclone saw a territory that was united and prepared for what was to come, and as a result, we’ve seen largely minimal impact and no injuries”, Finocchiaro said in a news conference televised from Darwin.
Airport shut down
Footage showed sheets of rain pouring from roofs during the peak of the cyclone, while huge trees toppled into back yards and roads.
A section of the roof at the Royal Darwin Hospital collapsed, leaving bricks and debris littering a corridor floor.
The Darwin airport, which was forced to shut on Saturday, reopened on Sunday.
Fina is now moving offshore towards Western Australia, and forecasts say it may intensify to a Category 4 storm.
But weather authorities said Sunday it was unlikely the cyclone would make landfall, and that it would gradually break apart in the coming days.
Researchers have repeatedly warned that climate change amplifies the risk of natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and cyclones.
The death toll from severe floods in south and central Vietnam has risen to 90, authorities said, as the Southeast Asian country continues to assess the damage after days of relentless rain.
In a statement on Sunday, the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said some 63 of the deaths since November 16 were recorded in the mountainous central Dak Lak province, where tens of thousands of homes were flooded.
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It said at least 12 people were still missing in the region.
While the floodwaters have begun to recede in hard-hit Dak Lak, several communities remain inundated and hundreds of families are still affected, the VnExpress news website reported.
Mach Van Si, a 61-year-old farmer in Dak Lak, said the floodwaters left him and his wife stranded on their sheet-metal rooftop for two nights.
“Our neighbourhood was completely destroyed. Nothing was left. Everything was covered in mud,” he told the AFP news agency on Sunday.
By the time they climbed a ladder to their roof, Si said he was no longer scared. “I just thought we were going to die because there was no way out,” he said.
Relentless rain has lashed south-central Vietnam since late October, hitting popular holiday destinations with several rounds of flooding. Whole city blocks were inundated last week in coastal Nha Trang, while deadly landslides struck highland passes around the Da Lat tourist hub.
More than 80,000 hectares (200,000 acres) of rice and other crops across Dak Lak and four other provinces were damaged in the last week, with more than 3.2 million livestock or poultry dead or washed away by floodwaters.
Authorities have used helicopters to airdrop aid to communities cut off by flooding and landslides, with the government deploying tens of thousands of personnel to deliver clothing, water purification tablets, instant noodles and other supplies to affected areas, state outlet Tuoi Tre News said.
Severe flooding in southern coastal Khanh Hoa province washed away two suspension bridges last week, leaving many households isolated, the outlet said, quoting officials.
Several locations on national highways remained blocked on Sunday due to flooding or landslides, according to the Environment Ministry, and some sections of railways were still suspended.
More than 129,000 customers remained without electricity, after more than a million were without power last week.
The Environment Ministry on Sunday estimated economic losses of $343m across five provinces due to the floods.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered authorities to provide Dak Lak with 500 billion Vietnamese dollars ($19m) to help residents rebuild homes and “restore public assets”, the Vietnam News outlet reported.
He ordered a further 300 billion Vietnamese dollars ($11.4m) for Lam Dong, and 150 billion Vietnamese dollars ($5.7bn) each for Gia Lai and Khanh Hoa provinces.
He also ordered authorities to help affected residents to support and complete the repair of homes before November 20 and to build houses for people who lost their homes by the end of January, for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Natural disasters have left 279 people dead or missing in Vietnam and caused more than $2bn in damage between January and October, according to the national statistics office.
