Buildings across Gaza are being destroyed by Israeli bombardment due to heavy rain and strong winds. Since the start of December, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been sheltered in unsafe structures or in temporary tents.
Published On 17 Dec 2025
The CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) gets under way on Sunday, with the host nation Morocco facing Comoros in Group A at Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
Across the four weeklong continental showpiece, some of the game’s biggest names will take centre stage.
Here’s a look at our top-10 players who are set to light up the competition:
Arguably the biggest African football star of his generation, Mohamed Salah heads into the tournament hoping to lead Egypt to a record-extending eighth title. But the 33-year-old arrives short of his usual standards: he has scored just five goals in 20 matches across all competitions this season and has slipped down the pecking order under Liverpool’s new manager, Arne Slot.
Yet Salah’s importance to Egypt has never been in doubt. The two-time African Footballer of the Year remains their talisman, and his nine goals in the CAF World Cup qualifying phase were crucial in securing a spot at next summer’s World Cup.
At AFCON, Salah will be chasing both redemption and a return to the red-hot form that earned him the nickname “the Egyptian King”.
Fresh off the high of being crowned African footballer of the year, Achraf Hakimi headlines the cast of star home nation players set to take the field in Morocco.
The 27-year-old, widely regarded as one of the best right-backs in the world, was instrumental in PSG’s treble-winning campaign, capped off by their long-awaited UEFA Champions League triumph in May.
As Morocco’s captain, Hakimi carries the hopes of millions in the football-mad country. Morocco’s Atlas Lions will look to him not only for his defensive stability but also for his playmaking spark as they chase only the second AFCON title in their history – 50 years after their maiden crown.
Still recovering from the heartbreak of missing out on the 2026 World Cup, Victor Osimhen will look for solace and vindication at the continental championship.
The Galatasaray forward, known for his trademark face mask, has been in prolific form this season with 12 goals in 16 matches across all competitions, including six in the Champions League.
Despite sitting second on Nigeria’s all-time scorers list, Osimhen has struggled to translate that dominance to major tournaments: he has found the net only once, at the previous AFCON in 2023 when the Super Eagles reached the final. This edition offers him a chance to change that narrative.
Rediscovering his scoring touch, star forward Bryan Mbeumo could play a crucial role in Cameroon’s campaign as they begin a new chapter under a new coach following their failure to qualify for the World Cup.
With seven goals across all competitions, Mbeumo has been Manchester United’s standout performer in an otherwise mixed and chaotic season for the Red Devils.
An injury kept Mbeumo out of the previous AFCON, but this time, the 26-year-old has a golden opportunity to clinch his first trophy with Cameroon.
The task, however, will not be straightforward. With veteran striker Vincent Aboubakar surprisingly left out of the squad, Mbeumo inherits the dual responsibility of leading the line and captaining the team.
An impressive loan spell with Charlotte in Major League Soccer (MLS) has earned Wilfried Zaha a surprise recall to the national team for the first time in two years.
The 33-year-old winger was omitted from the squad that won AFCON 2023, but his return to form, marked by 10 goals and 10 assists this season, proved too compelling to ignore.
Zaha’s years of experience, ability to take on defenders and current sharpness should provide a timely boost to the reigning champions’ aspirations of defending their AFCON title in Morocco.
Sadio Mane once dominated headlines with his exploits in Europe for clubs such as Liverpool and Bayern Munich, but his move to Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League has shifted much of the media spotlight away from him.
Yet the 33-year-old, widely regarded as one of Africa’s greatest players, remains a decisive figure for Senegal: his five goals in CAF World Cup qualifying were the most by any Senegalese player.
In Morocco, Mane will aim to replicate the form that earned him player of the tournament honours at AFCON 2021 when the winger guided the Teranga Lions to their first continental title.
With six goal involvements in the Premier League, Iliman Ndiaye has been one of Everton’s most reliable players in the Premier League this season, and the 25-year-old will hope to bring that positive influence to Senegal’s attack.
The midfielder, known for his dribbling and finishing, has enjoyed a rapid ascent in recent years, moving from England’s second-tier league in 2023 to being a key contributor for the Toffees as they close in on a top-six spot in the top-flight.
On the international stage, Ndiaye has been an integral part of Senegal’s setup for the past three years, and he will look to make his mark at his third AFCON appearance.
Unlike many of the tournament’s big names, Carlos Baleba arrives at AFCON without any major-tournament experience, yet the 21-year-old has already produced performances that belie his age.
The versatile youngster has become a driving force in Premier League side Brighton’s defensive midfield and was instrumental in Cameroon’s flawless qualification for AFCON 2025.
Renowned for his stamina, dribbling and passing range, Baleba is once again attracting interest from major European clubs before a potential big-money move in January’s transfer window.
Once a hero for Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang now plies his trade at Marseille – and this year’s AFCON may represent his final shot at glory with Gabon.
At 36 and in the twilight of his career, the forward continues to shoulder the hopes of the small central African nation that has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals.
French-born Aubameyang, who won African Footballer of the Year a decade ago, has been the focal point of Gabon’s attack ever since his debut in 2009.
Mohamed Amoura is set to be a central figure in Algeria’s AFCON 2025 campaign.
Amoura was Africa’s leading scorer in World Cup 2026 qualification, outpacing even Egyptian legend Salah with a chart-topping 10 goals.
The 25-year-old striker has carried that clinical form into club football with Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, registering six goals and two assists in 15 appearances.
After lifting the African trophy in 2019, the Desert Foxes endured painful first-round exits in the two editions that followed, making this tournament an opportunity to rewrite their recent history. At AFCON 2025, Algeria will go as far as Amoura can take them as they attempt to win a third crown.
It’s been a rocky road for parents-of-three, Helen Flanagan and Scott Sinclair, who called time on their relationship in 2022.
The former Coronation Street actress, 35, and football star, 36, who co-parent their three kids, Matilda, Charlie and Delilah, were once splashed all over magazine covers, gushing over their fairy tale romance. However, since they split, it’s become more of a nightmare, culminating in Helen this week branding her ex a ‘piece of s**t’, after he reportedly missed their son’s nativity play.
So, as we wait for a response from Scott as the dust settles between the pair, here’s a look at their rocky relationship over the years after Helen admitted that the former couple do love each other, but ‘ don’t like each other at all… ‘
READ MORE: Inside Helen Flanagan and Scott Sinclair’s bitter split as she lashes out at ex before ChristmasREAD MORE: Helen Flanagan launches savage sweary outburst at ex-fiance Scott Sinclair
A year after welcoming their third child and moving into a new house in Cheshire, Helen shocked fans with the news that she and Scott had split after hitting a ‘ rough patch’.
After finally calling it quits after a number of reconciliations, she spoke to Charlotte Dawson on her podcast last year and insisted that she and Scott did love each other, but ‘ didn’t like each other at all’.
Lifting the lid on their rocky relationship, Helen said: “I still love him very much, I care about him deeply, but we don’t like each other. We don’t like each other at all, we don’t get on. I do know that Scott – he’d never admit it – cares about me too and he does love me”.
She added: The last time I saw him, I thought it was quite funny, I was taking the p*** out of him because he had a bucket hat on. I think he was trying not to laugh. “
Opening up about her relationship with The Sun earlier this year, the Rosie Webster star spoke of her sadness over the split, saying:” Break-ups are so sad, and if you can deal with it in a way where you’re on good terms, it’s better for your mental health and 100% better for the kids. “
However, it’s not always peace and love for Helen and Scott – who is notoriously private about his former relationship – as the actress admitted that the pair do continue to clash with one another.
Claiming their families still get on, despite the pair still telling each other to ‘ f*** off ‘ she continued:” Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we still end up telling each other to f**k off! However, we’ve managed to keep things quite nice and we’ve been fair to each other. It’s helped that our families get on and I have a good relationship with his mum. “
Despite still caring for one another and getting on with Scott’s mum, Helen talked about how she finally pulled the plug on the relationship with the footballer after struggling to make it work.
” Me and Scott really loved each other, but we were always quietly breaking up and then getting back together, so it had been a long time coming, “she said earlier this year.
Admitting they were happier apart, she concluded:” In the end, it was me who decided. I’ll always be sad it didn’t work out and we still have love for each other, but we’re happier apart. “
Helen was left raging on Tuesday evening and let her feelings about her former fiancé known – as she labelled him a piece of s**t on her Instagram.
Scott shared an array of snaps from his weekend at the Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi, which included views of the race course, drinks with friends and a sizeable yacht. He captioned the post:” What a weekend-Abu Dhabi F1″.
However, accusing her ex of missing their son’s nativity play at school, Helen snapped:” You really are a piece of s*** @scotty_sinclair how dare you not turn up to Charlie’s nativity”. She followed the dig with a picture of her and Charlie and said he was the ‘ best boy’.
The Mirror has contacted Scott’s representatives for comment and a response to Helen’s claims.
Rob Reiner’s daughter had no idea her mum had also been murdered. The Hollywood director and his wife, Michele, were found murdered at their home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, this weekend.
The couple had their throats slit by a relative. Their son, Nick Reiner, 32, has since been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after the deaths of his parents. It’s claimed that Nick and his father became engaged in a heated argument on Saturday night while attending a Christmas party hosted by Conan O’Brien.
On Sunday, Rob and Michele had planned to have a massage at their mansion. But when the masseuse rang the bell, they received no answer, leading them to knock on the door several times. After still getting no answer, Romy, 28, who lived across the road from her parents, visited the property with a roommate to check on her parents.
READ MORE: Rob Reiner death updates: Son Nick ‘placed on suicide watch’ as he’s charged with murderREAD MORE: Will Nick Reiner face the death penalty? Everything we know
Now, reports have emerged sharing the devastating outcome of Romy’s concerns for her parents. After entering the property, Romy discovered her dad and instantly fled the scene. Her roommate called for the emergency services while Romy also contacted her dad’s friend, Billy Crystal.
But Romy is said to have had no idea that her mum had also been brutally murdered. The New York Times reported that Romy only discovered her mum had been killed when police and paramedics arrived on the scene, and she was then informed of the devastating news.
Nick, however, was not located at the property when the emergency services responded to calls at around 3: 40pm local time on Sunday. He is believed to have checked into the Pierside Santa Monica at 4am, and staff reportedly discovered the shower “full of blood”, as well as a trail leading from his bed and bedsheets. His parents were discovered less than 11 hours later by their daughter, Romy, at 3: 30pm.
And now, Nick, who has been charged with the murders of his parents, faces life behind bars. On Tuesday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced two counts of first-degree murder against Nick Reiner, who is accused of killing his parents.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Hochman said no decision has been made if prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
Hochman said: “I’m here to announce that our office will be filing charges against Nick Reiner accused of killing his parents. These charges will be two counts of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders. He also faces a special allegation that he personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, that being a knife.
” These charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. No decision at this point has been made with the respect to the death penalty. Nick Reiner is being held without bail. I want to announce these are just charges. Charges are not evidence. Evidence is something that will be presenting in a court of law. “
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell explained that shortly after arriving on the scene over the weekend, officers from the Robbery Homicide Division and Homicide Special Section instantly launched an investigation. Police then gathered evidence which has resulted in the arrest of the couple’s son Nick Reiner, McDonnell said. He was taken into custody that night.
McDonnell added:” This case is heartbreaking and deeply personal, not only for the Reiner family and their loved ones, but for our entire city. We extend our deepest condolences to all of those who are affected by this tragedy. “
While Nick was previously detained on $4million bail, this has since been revoked. He is expected to make his first in-person appearance at court later today, having not been medically cleared to attend on Tuesday.
Published On 17 Dec 2025
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has left Oslo after travelling to Norway in secret last week to collect her Nobel Peace Prize, her spokesperson says.
Machado, a right-wing opposition figure, fractured a vertebra while fleeing Venezuela by boat to receive the award, according to the spokesperson. She was examined by doctors at Oslo University Hospital during her time in the Norwegian capital.
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“She is doing well and is currently attending medical appointments with a specialist to ensure her prompt and full recovery”, the spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. He added that Machado was no longer in Oslo but did not disclose her current location.
Machado travelled to Norway in defiance of a decade-long travel ban imposed by Venezuelan authorities and after spending more than a year in hiding. She arrived too late to attend the official Nobel Peace Prize ceremony held last week.
Media reports in the United States said Machado’s escape involved wearing a disguise, including a wig, and travelling from a small Venezuelan fishing village on a wooden boat to the Caribbean island of Curacao before boarding a private plane to Norway.
US forces stationed in the Caribbean were alerted during the voyage to avoid a strike on the vessel.
Machado has previously said she intends to return to Venezuela.
She has been in hiding since she was barred from running in Venezuela’s July 24 presidential election, saying she feared her life was under threat from President Nicolas Maduro, who has been in power for more than a decade.
At the height of his Neighbours fame, 80s heartthrob Jason Donovan was the picture of the clean-cut boy next door.
But as the soap legend has revealed, by the 90s he was fighting cocaine addiction – and at one point, was snorting up to three grammes of the drug a day – with binges that could last up to six days.
The Australian star, 57, opened up about his darkest days on Jamie Laing’s Great Company podcast – and as he spoke about that drug-fuelled chapter said, “I got vilified in the 90s for announcing on a news show once that, ‘why did I take drugs?’ because I liked them, which was the truth at the time.”
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Host Jamie, who welcomed baby boy Ziggy with wife Sophie Haboo earlier this month, added: “You said this, at that period of your life, you were consuming three grammes of cocaine a day. “You had the freedom and ability to do it. You meet your wife and your kid is born, what is that moment that you go, ‘I’m not doing this’.”
The singer and musical theatre star said, “Yes, there were days, weekends that would begin on Thursday and sometimes not end until the following Tuesday or whatever. ” Incredibly, he took three grams of cocaine a day.
“But it was a binge, not a consistent situation in the vein of heroin,” she continued. At some point, your body must shut down, particularly if you take cocaine. He continued, “I’ll also assert that because I kept working, I was able to shut down.”
Jamie then responded, “I just did, I could just do that,” and Jason responded, “How did you balance that?” I’m a bit of an all-or-nothing kind of guy and quite disciplined. I have spent the majority of my life working out, and that’s what knocks on your door.
You’ve done your big three-day or something, and you walk out and feel great and then go see Jason, that’s how you can feel if you don’t get back on it again. “Just go to the gym, have a steam, have a swim, and walk out.”
He continued, “Come on, let’s do a cheeky one, let’s blow it all up again,” and that you would feel good for two days until that little demon would appear and vanish. That was the issue.
Now 20 years clean, Jason confessed that he called his hard-partying lifestyle a day as it had become ‘boring’ – and he realised all he was doing was ‘chasing his own tail’ – as he detailed the worst aspects of his former coke habit.
When the paranoia begins to set in, especially with cocaine, 24 hours later, you mistakenly believe the MI5 are hiding out. The good news is that I haven’t done anything in 20 years and now know what I don’t want to.
And Jason told Jamie what inspired him to turn his life around was meeting his future wife, Angela Malloch in 1998, when she was stage manager for a musical he was starring in, who eventually gave him an ultimatum – his party lifestyle or her..
Meeting my wife was the “catalyst of change.” She didn’t alter me, but I did so at that time. He explained the birth of Jemma and the realization that I could leave now. “The body needed to repair when I was still in my 30s.” I hadn’t blown out, so there was still time to get back.
The couple, who had three children together, Jemma, Zac, and Molly, later tied the knot in 2008 and were able to survive those challenging circumstances.
*Frank provides unrestricted information on drugs and addiction (email frank@talktofrank.com, call 82111, or text frank@talktofrank.com, call 0300 123 6600), or the NHS has information on how to get help.