Bulgaria is officially adopting the euro and saying goodbye to the lev, but some people worry that shops will round up when changing currencies, increasing the price of everything. Aksel Zaimovic of Al Jazeera explains their concerns.
Published On 31 Dec 2025
Algozoli Nooh wasted the chance to equalize for Sudan when Lassina Traore’s early strike was wide from the Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca on Wednesday.
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Late in the second half, French Ligue 1 side Lorient’s Arsene Kouassi sealed Burkinabe’s victory.
After Algeria, both teams had already advanced from Group E to the knockout stage. To advance to the top of the table, Burkinabe simply needed to avoid defeat.
The winners of Group F, which ends later on Wednesday with reigning champions Ivory Coast and Cameroon and Mozambique, will face the 2013 runners-up in a final-16 match at Marrakech.
Sudanese lost to Equatorial Guinea for the second time in three games, but a 1-0 victory over them made them the best third-placed team.
Since winning the Cup of Nations in 1970, Sudan, which is ranked 117th in the world, has only won two of its 19 matches.
It would be a surprise if they defeated Senegal’s Sadio Mane on Saturday in Tangier because this is their second appearance in the knockout stages since then.
However, getting this far is a great thing for a nation that has been devastated by conflict since fighting broke out between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023.
In the opening 16 minutes of a Burkinabe team that has made seven changes since their most recent game, Traore headed in from Stephane Aziz Ki’s chipped cross.
To the delight of the majority of the 10, 084 crowd, Sudan were awarded a penalty midway through the first half.
Herve Koffi, a goalkeeper from Burkinabe, awkwardly rushed out and defeated Algozoli while recovering from an injury.
The Sudanese winger rose, but the spot-kick was only able to be aimed wide of the left-hand post.
Kouassi broke into the area to give Burkinabe a 2-0 lead at half-time, but the injured Koffi was substituted for Kilian Nikiema.
Equatorial Guinea defeated Algeria in Rabat to advance to the group stage with a flawless record.
Nothing was in the Moroccan capital’s hands as Equatorial Guinea was already eliminated and Algeria had already qualified for Group E.
With a tie in the last-16 set to occur against the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic made nine changes to his starting lineup.
Algeria won the game despite the changes, scoring three goals in 14 first-half minutes.
On 19 minutes, Ibrahim Maza released Fares Chaibi for the winning goal, which was scored by Defender Zineddine Belaid from a corner.
Emilio Nsue pulled one back for Equatorial Guinea after the impressive Maza of Bayer Leverkusen completed his team’s third.
After an 11-year ineligible career with Equatorial Guinea, it was Nsue’s first legal entry to the Africa Cup of Nations.
The 35-year-old Nsue was the tournament’s top scorer, scoring five goals, but FIFA in 2024 declared him unfit for Equatorial Guinea and for six months to prevent him from playing for the nation’s team.
Nsue was finally given the march of this year’s eligibility.
He was sidelined for the Africa Cup after missing his team’s opening game, 2-1 defeat to Burkinabe, before starting as a substitute for the team’s 1-0 defeat to Sudan. On Wednesday, he made his first start for Algeria and scored from a challenging angle.
The “great qualities” of Anthony Joshua’s friends Latif “Latz” Ayodele and Sina Ghami, who were killed in a car crash in Nigeria, will be “deeply missed,” according to matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn.
On a major highway near Lagos, Ghami and Ayodele died when the car they were driving collided with a stationary truck along with heavyweight boxer Joshua and another passenger.
Joshua was hurt, but the Ogun state government says he is now stable, conscious, and doesn’t require emergency medical care.
Hearn, who has promoted the 36-year-old since he turned professional after winning gold at the 2012 Olympics, paid tribute to the British people’s close friends and teammates.
Hearn shared the song “Rest in peace Latz and Sina” on Instagram.
“You will be greatly missed, along with your enthusiasm and commitment to so many other outstanding traits. Throughout this extremely difficult time, I pray for strength and guidance for all of their families, friends, and of course AJ.
For more than ten years, Ghami worked with Joshua as his full-time sport and exercise rehabilitation coach.
Joshua and his long-time friend Ayodele, a personal trainer, shared a video on Instagram just hours before the collision.
Over the course of the past 24 hours, British heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and two-time undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk posted condolences on Instagram.
Tony Bellew, a retired world champion at cruiserweight, wrote on X: “Thoughts and prayers to these men’s families. Tragic losses under wretched circumstances!
However, with just one league win, the bubble burst in December.
However, Enzo Maresca’s manager has been put under more pressure than just the results.
The hierarchy of the Italian club has potential fissures emerging.
Maresca stunned key players and his own staff when he claimed that “many people” had caused his “worst 48 hours” since joining the club after that solitary December league win at home to Everton.
After a strong performance and victory, those comments appeared to have been directed at the hierarchy, but they were in a weak position.
However, there were also pleasant comments from admirers, and a final decision was still needed to be made regarding whether to continue with Maresca or stay together.
With just one win in their previous seven league games, Maresca’s job has become even more threatened by Maresca’s job as Chelsea are now 15th (seven points away) than third (nine points) in the table.
Without suspended key midfielder Moises Caicedo, Chelsea travel to Manchester City without him to begin a difficult month that also includes games against Napoli and Arsenal.
Therefore, January is likely to be a turning point.
Stamford Bridge’s leading figures, including owner Behdad Eghbali and sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Lawrence Stewart, expressed genuine joy and support.
In accordance with the agreed strategy when Leicester City appointed Maresca in 2024, for which the club paid £10 million, he concentrated on coaching the team while those in his position took over the management of the backroom staff, the medical department, and transfers.
The Premier League’s youngest team will still be based on the signing of the best young players from lesser leagues.
Maresca will have been aware of his commitments. His criticisms are more about how well-versed he is in his work with this young group than about the quality of his players or his strategy.
The Italian is encouraged to change his squad, but he frequently feels that his team loses points in the Premier League when he does so. He has also openly questioned the organization’s hierarchy.
Given the age of the squad, those who are familiar with his thinking claim that he has defended his work because he believes his performance is better than many people have predicted. Additionally, he thinks that the club should have protected him from negative comments from the outside.
Following recent success, Maresca has attempted to establish himself. Without Chelsea’s permission, he had the idea to publish a book, which the club had blocked, and he had the opportunity to speak at an event organized by La Gazzetta dello Sport in Trento, Italy.
Without giving club staff or senior management any prior notice, who would have prefered that discussions continue in private, he made the remarks, “Worst 48 hours.” Even his own team members were surprised by the remarks.
In addition, Maresca publicly criticised Chelsea for failing to sign a central defender following Levi Colwill’s pre-season injury. The hierarchy explained that doing so might lead Maresca to decline, which would ultimately lead to the resignation of promising academy prospect Josh Acheampong.
Additionally, there have been references to potential moves to replace Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, which Maresca has denied, as well as agents switching from the Wasserman agency to Jorge Mendes.
Additionally, he has switched to his own clothing and has increasingly opted against club tracksuits.
Chelsea have a history of disappointing December performance, having only able to score 120 points from their last seven campaigns. Only two victories were recorded between mid-December and the final week of February last year.
Before the end of the month, they travel to Fulham, Crystal Palace, Brentford, and West Ham, followed by a series of home and away Premier League matches against Manchester City and Manchester City.
Additionally, they have two crucial Champions League games at home to Pafos and away to Napoli, including an FA Cup third-round match with Charlton, a Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Premier League leaders Arsenal, and two crucial FA Cup third-round games.
To avoid the play-off round and place in the top eight in the league phase, Chelsea must win both European games.
Peter Kay might find himself laughing all the way to the bank. The actor and comedian, 52, is said to have built a hugely impressive property empire to help bolster his bank balance.
Official documents filed with Companies House claim that Peter’s property portfolio is estimated to be worth £23 million. According to reports, the creator of Max and Paddy is the director of Hussein Traders, a company with properties worth £23 million, registered in Oldham.
Additionally, he co-directs Goodnight Vienna Productions, a separate business. According to documents, both businesses have generated a profit of almost $2.6 million over the past year. Additionally, Peter’s investment strategy has received praise.
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A financial expert told The Sun: “He’s done what so many celebrities do and put a lot of it into property, and given how big his portfolio is, it will see the comedian vying with movie stars and rock icons.”
Peter recently announced an additional nine dates to his record-smashing Better Late Than Never tour, which is now set to run until the end of August next year. The Bolton-born comic will now wrap up his tour at Manchester’s AO Arena on August 8.
Additionally, he has disclosed that 12 different cancer charities will receive a portion of the tour’s proceeds. Everyone knows someone who has been affected by the illness, according to Peter Peter.
Speaking on The One Show just before Christmas, he said: “You don’t even have to like me to come, it goes beyond that, this is about supporting these charities.”
While Peter is working on his stand-up comeback next year, he just made it clear that Phoenix Nights, his cherished sitcom, won’t soon be available for streaming on a streaming service. He claimed that despite reaching out to him about acquiring the broadcasting rights, he chose to decline their offer.
He claimed that because they had urged them to include a trigger warning in the series, he turned down their proposal. The show, which follows his alter ego Brian Potter’s attempts to establish itself as Greater Manchester’s premier working men’s club, is not politically correct right now, Peter said.
He stated in a statement from Capital Breakfast last month, “They got in touch with me last year because they wanted to make Phoenix Nights on Netflix.”
They called me up and said, “Can we license some of your shows to put on Netflix?” Anyway, I received a lot of paperwork from them.
It’s not very politically correct right now, in essence. Do you know what I mean when I say that this was made in a certain period of time?
Then he said, “I don’t really want a warning before that, I’m not interested in that.” I simply responded, “No, I’ll leave it.” Anyway, I received an air fryer from them. That was, in my opinion, trying to sweeten me.
The member states of Mali, Burkinabe, and Niger have hoped that their security and economic conditions will improve following a recent summit of The Alliance of Sahel States. Nicolas Haque from Al Jazeera visited Bamako, the capital of Mali, to find out what the populace wants from the new alliance.
Published On 31 Dec 2025