Napoli may target Kobbie Mainoo, while Brighton may make a move for Said el Mala, and Jean-Philippe Mateta may take notice.
If they can’t come up with a new deal with the 28-year-old France international, Crystal Palace will consider the summer offers made to Jean-Philippe Mateta. (Sun)
In January, Napoli are looking to sign a new midfielder, and Kobbie Mainoo, a 20-year-old England international, is their first choice. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian)
In a deal that could cost up to 35 million euros (£30. m), Brighton could make a move for Cologne’s 19-year-old German winger Said el Mala. (Teamtalk)
El Mala is admired by Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea, with United hailed as “the most logical choice.” (Talksport)
Samuel Chukwueze, 26, will be made permanently at Fulham through a loan agreement worth 28 million euros (£24.5 million). (Calcio Mercato, Italian)
Nathaniel Brown, a 22-year-old Germany defender, is a trader between Manchester United, Arsenal, and Real Madrid. (In German, subscription required)
Igor Thiago, 24, a Brazilian striker, could be linked with Aston Villa, Tottenham, Newcastle, and Aston Villa in January. (Caught Offside)
With West Ham and Sunderland interested in the 24-year-old, Santiago Gimenez could leave AC Milan in January. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian)
Before the January transfer window, West Ham are closely monitoring Portugal’s 32-year-old goalkeeper Jose Sa. Football Insider
West Ham’s Niclas Fullkrug is no longer wanted by Eintracht Frankfurt, but other Bundesliga clubs, including Wolfsburg, are interested in the German international. (Florian Plettenberg)
As an alternative to Joshua Zirkzee, 24, who plays for Manchester United, Roma are targeting Tottenham’s 20-year-old French forward Mathys Tel. (Ekrem Konur)
Bilal El Khannouss, 24, a Moroccan international who is currently a loanee from Leicester City, is being looked after by Newcastle. (Teamtalk)
Chelsea are confident in securing deals with Metz’s 16-year-old Luxembourg forward Brian Madjo and Lille’s 18-year-old French midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi. (Caught Offside)
In an effort to update outdated laws, India introduces simplified labor codes.
India, the second-largest country in the world, is making the biggest labor changes in a long time. The government has consolidated numerous laws into four less complex codes.
It claims that investors will be drawn to the overhaul. After US President Donald Trump imposes 50% tariffs on Indian goods, this will be crucial.
Minimum wages, equal pay, and expanded social security are among the reforms. Unions disagree, saying that the laws only strengthen employer control and accuse the government of “deceptive fraud.”
Will the changes, by streamlining the rules, increase India’s global competitiveness? Or could they increase productivity and risk for workers?
Presenter: Adrian Finighan,  .
Guests:
Harshil Sharma, a Labour economist with a focus on welfare and reforms,
Surbhi Kesar, senior economics lecturer at SOAS University of London
Following the team’s terrible start to the season, the Los Angeles Clippers have released 12-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul.
Before their game against the Atlanta Hawks, the Clippers announced Paul’s departure. In 14 of their previous 16 games, the Clippers have lost.
Paul, 40, is one of the greatest players to play in his final season of professional basketball.
Chris and I are going to end our relationship, according to Clippers owner Lawrence Frank, who spoke to ESPN.
Chris has a legendary career and is a legendary Clipper. One thing should be very clear, I want to say. Nobody blames Chris for our subpar performance.
I take responsibility for the information available at this time. There are many causes of our difficulties. We’re appreciative of Chris’s influence on the franchise.
Paul confirmed his departure in a post on Instagram, writing, “Just found out I’m being sent home.”
Before his departure, Paul and the Clippers’ head coach Tyronn Lue reportedly had “a few weeks of unrepeated conversations.”
Paul played for the Clippers for six seasons between 2011 and 2017, before signing a one-year deal with the team in July.
Paul has 12 assists, just behind John Stockton’s 15 806, and he is second on the NBA All-Times list.
He leads only Stockton by 3 265 in steals, which he leads by 2 728.
Former Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith, who spearheaded the two federal prosecutions of President Donald Trump, has been subpoenaed by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee.
Despite Smith’s previous offering to speak at an open meeting with the Republican-led panel looking into the indictments against Trump, the announcement was made on Wednesday.
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In a letter to Smith from committee chairman Republican Jim Jordan, the committee concluded that the committee believes that you have information that is essential to its oversight of this matter because of your service as Special Counsel.
Smith’s testimony was also requested by Jordan to provide records for the committee. Later this month, Smith will be scheduled for a closed-door interview.
One of the federal indictments that Smith spearheaded involved Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election’s outcomes and his actions on January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the US Capitol.
The second incident involved his resort in Florida’s hoarding of classified documents.
After Trump’s re-election in November 2024, both cases were dropped. A sitting president’s prosecution is prohibited by a long-standing Justice Department rule.
Trump has described the indictments as being part of a coordinated, politically motivated “witch-hunt.”
In a statement, Smith’s attorney, Peter Koski, criticized the planned deposition’s private nature.
The American people won’t have the opportunity to speak with Jack directly on these subjects, Koski said. “We are disappointed that offer was rejected.
In order to clarify the various falsehoods about his investigation, Jack looks forward to meeting with the committee later this month to discuss his work.
Republicans in Congress have been making headlines recently as to reports that Smith’s team analyzed some lawmakers’ phone records prior to the riot on January 6.
President Donald Trump and defense lawyer Todd Blanche are seen talking in a sketch of an ad during federal hearings on August 3, 2023.
The only basic information about incoming and outgoing calls, including their time, date, and duration, was maintained by Smith’s legal team, who maintained that the records did not include the contents of the phone conversations.
In a letter to lawmakers in October, Smith’s attorneys wrote to lawmakers that “Mr. Smith’s actions as Special Counsel were consistent with the decisions of a prosecutor who has dedicated his career to following the facts and the law, without fear or favor, and without regard for the political consequences.”
His investigative decisions had similar motivations, and the subpoena for toll records was lawful, accurate, and in line with established Department of Justice rules. Politics have never influenced Mr. Smith’s decision-making, they continued, despite the fact that Mr. Smith’s prosecutions of President Trump have, as one might expect, been politicized by others.
Trump repeatedly attacked Smith, calling him “a sick man,” when asked about the subpoena at a Wednesday press conference at the Oval Office.
The US-chaired ceasefire monitoring committee’s session in Naqoura brought together civil representatives from Lebanon and Israel, marking the first direct exchanges between the two nations in more than 40 years.
Nawaf Salam, the leader of Lebanon, stated on Wednesday that Beirut is willing to engage in negotiations that go beyond security concerns and that normalization is dependent on a peace process.
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According to Salam, these discussions are merely aimed at “the cessation of hostilities,” the release of Lebanese hostages, and “the complete Israeli withdrawal” from Lebanese territory.
Salam claimed that Lebanon had no intention of striking a separate peace agreement with Israel despite its continued support for the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which demands a full normalization of relations with Israel in exchange for its complete withdrawal from the 1967 occupied territory.
He claimed that the presence of civilian envoys could “defuse tensions,” noting recent Israeli airstrikes as a sure sign of rising escalation.
Along the Blue Line, the border between Israel and Lebanon, the committee met for roughly three hours.
The committee hoped to “nurture peace” along the long-volatile border, according to a statement released afterward that praised the addition of civilian envoys as an “important step” in “lasting civilian as well as military dialogue.
Renewed escalation
The committee’s role should go beyond just overseeing the 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, as has been urged by the United States for months. The most recent meeting comes amid growing concerns that Israeli airstrikes may have continued into the capital of Lebanon.
Despite the ceasefire’s stipulation that it withdraw entirely, Israel has continued to launch regular air strikes in Lebanon, frequently claiming that it is attacking Hezbollah members and facilities. It has also kept troops in five areas in the south.
In an online press release, Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesman for the Israeli government, described Wednesday’s meeting as “historical development.”
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to change the face of the Middle East led to this direct meeting between Israel and Lebanon,” Netanyahu said. There are unique opportunities to make peace with our neighbors, Bedrosian said, as the prime minister has stated.
Appointment is subject to investigation.
In the afternoon session, Lebanon’s presidential office announced Morgan Ortagus and Simon Karam, a lawyer and former US ambassador to Washington in the early 1990s, would represent Beirut.
According to a statement, the president, prime minister, and parliament speaker discussed his appointment after consultations.
Some Lebanoni political actors criticized the inclusion of Karam, who saw the move as a concession. Salman defended the decision, claiming that it had national support and was politically sound.
He claimed that Netanyahu had overstated the appointment’s significance and that Beirut had not yet engaged in peace talks.
After the Lebanese presidency made the announcement, Netanyahu had previously referred to Karam’s participation as “the first attempt to lay the groundwork for relations and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”
Netanyahu’s office claimed that Israel had invited the deputy head of its foreign policy division to the meeting, citing the ongoing US-mediated dialogue.
Hezbollah de-armament
Salam said Lebanon is open to expanding the committee’s scope to include direct investigation into Israeli allegations that Hezbollah is re-arming and to monitor Lebanese army counterterrorism efforts.
When he inquired whether there might be French or US troops stationed there, he said, “of course.”
Political and diplomatic pressure is mounting on Hezbollah to disarm. After Israel launched attacks on Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 70, 000 people have been killed by Israel’s genocidal war, the group is being pressured to hand over its weapons by Israel and the United States.
Hezbollah has rejected calls for disarmament, citing them as part of a joint US-Israeli effort to stifle Lebanon. Naim Qassem, the head of Hezbollah, suggested that the Lebanese state had failed to protect the country’s southern from Israeli bombardment.
Qassem asserts that the organization has the right to react to the assassination of its top military officer by an Israeli airstrike last week in southern Beirut. The Lebanese organization has repeatedly criticized any “trap” negotiations with Israel.
According to Salam, “We have received Israeli messages suggesting a possible escalation, but without specific dates,” in response to Israeli calls for Hezbollah to cease operations.
He reaffirmed that Hezbollah must give up its weapons, calling it “one of the essential components” for its participation in state-building. He claimed that the government has “regained the decision over war and peace” and that Israel’s arsenal has not “deterred Israel and has not protected Lebanon.”
According to her attorney, Geslaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in the United States for her involvement in a alleged sex trafficking ring led by billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein, intends to file a petition for her release.
The plan was made public on Wednesday, but it did not specify the legal arguments Maxwell would use in her petition. She was instructed to pursue her early release without the assistance of an attorney, it continued.
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The letter also urged against making public documents about Maxwell’s case because they might contain “untested and unproven allegations.”
If Maxwell’s petition for release were to be made public, it stated that “it would lead to undue prejudice such that it would make it impossible for a fair retrial.”
The late Epstein’s crimes and those who may have been aware of them are being investigated more seriously by the petition.
Particularly, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has been questioned about how his administration handled the case’s files, which may contain information about Epstein’s powerful associates.
Trump has also been under pressure to address his personal feelings toward Epstein.
speculation about a pardon
The billionaire financier committed suicide in August 2019 while he was incarcerated in a New York City jail.
Numerous women have come forward to say they have witnessed Epstein’s crimes. Many people want more accountability from Epstein’s political and business contacts.
Epstein’s death and his powerful social circle have also fueled conspiracy theories about possible cover-ups and unnamed accomplices.
Those who spread the conspiracy theories included members of Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) base, including officials like Kash Patel.
Prior to taking office, Patel, who is currently the FBI’s director, discussed the possibility that Epstein might have used a “client list” or “black book” to extort his contacts.
Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi later refuted those conspiracy theories by claiming there were no client lists or grounds to pursue additional defendants in a July memo.
Trump’s MAGA base was irritated by that memo, which also drew new attention to the president’s ties to Epstein.
Trump has made an effort to stop that speculation, but the president has already denied being close to the financier.
The Trump administration sent a Justice Department official to interview Maxwell over the course of two days in response to pressure to release all of the government’s Epstein-related files.
Maxwell claimed in a later transcript that she had never witnessed Trump in “any inappropriate setting.”
Maxwell was moved from a Florida prison to a Texas facility with lower security shortly after the July interview.
Document release pressure
Criticism has claimed that the Trump administration has avoided disclosing the relevant files despite promises to be transparent in its handling of the Epstein case.
Trump changed his mind about the subject by signing a law that requires the Department of Justice to release all unclassified materials related to Epstein in a “searchable and downloadable format” within 30 days.
Additionally, rumors are growing about whether Trump will pardon Maxwell or commute her sentence.
A whistleblower reported that Maxwell was working on a “Commutation Application” to be sent to the Trump administration in November, according to House Democrats.
A presidential pardon or commutation was opposed in a petition filed by Jamie Raskin, the top Democratic member on the House Judiciary Committee, a few weeks later.
Every Member should back this Resolution in order for President Donald Trump to send a clear and unambiguous message to him before he again mocks the pardon system, he said.
America opposes giving the unrepentant, unremorseful liar and criminal who was a key player in a vicious billion-dollar international child sex trafficking ring a get-out-of-jail card.
