Manchester City celebrated Pep Guardiola’s 1,000th game in management with a statement 3-0 win over Liverpool to close to within four points of Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Erling Haaland shrugged off missing an early penalty on Sunday to head in his 99th Premier League goal before Nico Gonzalez’s deflected effort and a wonder strike from Jeremy Doku confirmed City’s status as Arsenal’s major title rivals.
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Liverpool have now lost four of their last five league games to leave the defending champions down in eighth, eight points off the top.
Arsenal’s 10-game winning run came to an end in a 2-2 draw at Sunderland on Saturday and Guardiola’s men took full advantage in the battle of the two sides that have dominated English football’s Premier League over the past decade.
Even if decisions went against Arne Slot’s men, this was another display of how far they have fallen since cruising to a 2-0 win at the Etihad in February.
The Reds showed signs of a revival in beating Aston Villa and Real Madrid in the past eight days, but had no answer to the slickness of a rejuvenated City, who have won 11 of their last 14 games in all competitions.
Conor Bradley shut down the threat of Madrid’s Vinicius Junior on Tuesday, but was given a torrid time by the pace and trickery of Doku down City’s left.
Early in the first half, Doku made the most of Ibrahima Konate’s clearance off Bradley to round Giorgi Mamardashvili before his trailing leg was clipped by the Georgian goalkeeper.
Referee Chris Kavanagh was initially unmoved, but pointed to the spot after a VAR review.
Haaland has struck 28 times already this season for club and country, but has yet to score for City from the penalty spot in 2025-26.
Mamardashvili redeemed himself by getting down low to his left to turn the Norwegian’s penalty to safety to briefly lift the mood among the Liverpool players and travelling support.
City remained in control of the game, though, as Rayan Cherki’s effort was deflected wide before Mamardashvili turned Doku’s strike after another mazy run into the side netting.
Haaland has only failed to score in two of his 18 appearances this season, and duly delivered with a looping header to meet Matheus Nunes’s wicked delivery at 29 minutes.
Pep Guardiola marked his 1,000th game in management in style [Michael Regan/Getty Images]
Liverpool thought they were level nine minutes later, when van Dijk’s header from a corner arrowed into the far corner.
However, Andrew Robertson ducked out of the way of his captain’s effort and was deemed to have interfered with Gianluigi Donnarumma from an offside position.
Instead of going in all square, City rubbed salt in the wounds of Liverpool’s perceived injustice.
The visitors were slow to get out from a corner, and Gonzalez had time to take aim before his shot deflected off van Dijk to wrong-foot Mamardashvili.
Liverpool only had themselves to blame for not getting back in the game early in the second period as Cody Gakpo blazed over with the goal gaping at the end of a fine move involving Mohamed Salah and Bradley.
But Doku fittingly rounded off arguably his best performance in three seasons at City to seal a statement victory.
The Belgian jinked inside the leaden-footed Konate before curling into the top corner from outside the box.
Salah summed up Liverpool’s day and season so far when he dinked wide a glorious chance 10 minutes from time.
Despite the visitors’ need for goals, Slot left 125-million-pound ($165m) striker Alexander Isak on the bench for the entire match due to his lack of match fitness.
The decision to tear up the squad that coasted to the title with a near 450-million-pound ($692m) spend in the transfer window looks more misguided by the game as Liverpool find themselves in a battle just to make the top four rather than the title race.
After the game, Doku told Sky Sports that he was very happy with the team’s performance.
“It is always good for the confidence [to dominate a match], but I have great players around me. That gives me the feeling that I have to do more in every game and every day I want to improve,” he said.
Van Dijk said Liverpool struggled to recover from a difficult first half.
“Our pressing just wasn’t good enough; it should have been better. We need to find more consistency. Losing hurts, always, but 3-0 especially,” he said.
“There were some good moments in the game, but you play Man City at home, who can make it very difficult. The focus should be on reflecting on this when we come back and then fight again.”
Earlier on Sunday, Aston Villa thrashed Bournemouth 4-0 to move into seventh place in the Premier League. But Newcastle United’s poor domestic form continued as they slumped to defeat at Brentford.
Nottingham Forest ended a winless Premier League run stretching back to the first weekend of the season as they came from behind to beat Leeds United 3-1 at the City Ground.
The White House says nearly 15,000 trucks carrying commercial goods and humanitarian aid have entered Gaza since October 10, but Palestinians and aid groups have sharply disputed the figures.
White House spokesperson Dylan Johnson told Al Jazeera on Sunday an average of 674 trucks have entered Gaza daily since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire took effect.
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Humanitarian workers “have reached more than one million people with household food parcels since October 10”, while meal production in Gaza has increased 82 percent since late September, he said.
“Eggs appeared on shelves in Gaza for the first time since February” when Israel began a total blockade of all humanitarian aid into the besieged Strip, Johnson said.
The US figures could not be independently verified.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), only half the required food aid is currently reaching Gaza, while a coalition of Palestinian relief agencies said total aid deliveries amounted to just one-quarter of what was agreed under the ceasefire deal.
“The United States is leading a historic effort to address the critical needs of Gazans right now,” Johnson said, insisting the administration of US President Donald Trump is committed to treating Palestinians “with dignity and respect”.
‘Engineered starvation’
Despite US claims, conditions on the ground remain dire. Gaza’s Government Media Office said on Thursday since the start of the ceasefire only 28 percent of the agreed-upon number of aid trucks have been allowed to enter – totalling 4,453 vehicles, far below the promised 15,600 – amounting to 171 trucks per day.
“These limited quantities fall far below the minimum humanitarian threshold,” the office said, calling for the immediate entry of at least 600 trucks daily to provide essential supplies such as food, medicine, fuel, and cooking gas.
The media office also accused Israel of “engineered starvation” saying Israeli authorities have banned more than 350 basic food items – including eggs, meat, cheese, vegetables, and nutritional supplements – while permitting low-value products such as soft drinks, chocolate, and crisps sold at inflated prices.
“This proves that the occupation is deliberately implementing a policy of food manipulation as a weapon against civilians,” a press office statement said.
‘Only the beginning’
Johnson, however, promoted US-led aid efforts saying “17,000 cubic metres [4.5 million gallons] of drinking water has been delivered daily, increasing drinking water in northern Gaza by 130 percent in October alone”.
“There has been great progress, but there is still much to do. This is only the beginning,” he said.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted improvements in southern Gaza since the truce, with families eating two meals a day compared to one in July. However, it said food security in northern Gaza has remained in catastrophic condition.
UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Friday while humanitarian access has improved, “people’s urgent needs are still immense” with aid convoys restricted to just two Israeli crossings.
The United Kingdom’s government is considering an amendment to immigration rules modelled on Denmark’s controversial policy amid pressure from the far-right groups, who have attacked the Labour government over the rising number of refugees and migrants crossing into the country.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood last month dispatched officials to study the workings of the Danish immigration and asylum system, widely considered the toughest in Europe. The officials are reportedly looking to review the British immigration rules on family reunion and limit refugees to a temporary stay.
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The Labour government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been under immense pressure amid growing public opposition to immigration and the surge in the popularity of the far-right Reform UK, which has centred its campaign around the issue of immigration.
So, what’s in Denmark’s immigration laws, and why is the centre-left Labour government adopting laws on asylum and border controls championed by the right wing?
Migrants wade into the sea to try to board smugglers’ boats in an attempt to cross the English Channel off the beach of Gravelines, northern France on September 27, 2025. Britain and France have signed a deal to prevent the arrival of refugees and migrants via boats [File: Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP]
What are Denmark’s immigration laws?
Over the last two decades in Europe, Denmark has led the way in implementing increasingly restrictive policies in its immigration and asylum system, with top leaders aiming for “zero asylum seekers” arriving in the country.
First, Denmark has made family reunions tougher, keeping the bar of conditions comparatively higher than it is in allied countries. Those who live in estates designated as “parallel societies”, where more than 50 percent of residents are from so-called “non-Western” backgrounds, are barred from being granted family reunion. This has been decried by rights groups as racist for refugees’ ethnic profiling.
In Denmark, a refugee with residency rights must meet several criteria for their partner to join them in the country. Both must be age 24 or older, the partner in Denmark must not have claimed benefits for three years, and both partners need to pass a Danish language test.
Permanent residency is possible only after eight years under very strict criteria, including full-time employment.
Christian Albrekt Larsen, a professor in the Political Science department of Aalborg University in Denmark, told Al Jazeera that successive Danish governments’ restrictive policies on “immigration and integration have turned [it] into a consensus position – meaning the ‘need’ for radical anti-immigration parties has been reduced”.
Noting that “there is not one single Danish ‘model’”, but that the evolution has been a process of adjustments since 1998, Larsen said, “In general, Denmark’s ‘effectiveness’ lies in being seen as less attractive than its close neighbours, [including] Germany, Sweden, and Norway.”
Copenhagen is more likely to give asylum to those who have been targeted by a foreign regime, while those fleeing conflicts are increasingly limited in remaining in the country temporarily.
However, Denmark decides which country is safe on its own. For example, in 2022, the Danish government did not renew permits for more than 1,200 refugees from Syria because it judged Damascus to be safe for refugees to return to.
In 2021, Denmark also passed laws allowing it to process asylum seekers outside of Europe, like negotiating with Rwanda, though putting this into practice has been controversial and challenging.
Denmark has reduced the number of successful asylum claims to a 40-year low, except in 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic’s travel restrictions.
The UK Border Force vessel ‘Typhoon’, carrying migrants picked up at sea while attempting to cross the English Channel from France, prepares to dock in Dover, southeast England, on January 13, 2025 [Ben Stansall/AFP]
How do these differ from the UK’s current immigration laws?
The UK allows individuals to claim asylum if they prove they are unsafe in their home countries. Refugee status is granted if an individual is at risk of persecution under the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention. Refugees are usually granted five years of leave to remain, with the option to apply for permanent settlement afterward.
Most migrants and refugees can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after five years, followed by eligibility for citizenship one year later. Requirements include English proficiency and passing the “Life in the UK” test.
The UK system currently does not impose an age limit beyond 18, but requires a minimum annual income of 29,000 British pounds ($38,161), and is subject to a rise pending a review, for sponsoring partners.
Asylum seekers are excluded from mainstream welfare and receive a meagre weekly allowance. However, once granted protection, they access the same benefits as British nationals.
The UK under the previous Conservative government passed controversial legislation to enable deportation to Rwanda, but the policy has not yet been implemented due to ongoing legal challenges.
Before September this year, the UK Home Office allowed spouses, partners, and dependents under 18 to come to the UK without fulfilling the income and English-language tests that apply to other migrants. That is currently suspended, pending the drafting of new rules.
People hold a banner as they gather to attend a United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) anti-immigration march in central London on October 25, 2025 [Jack Taylor/Reuters]
Why is the Labour government changing the UK’s immigration laws?
Facing heat from the opposition over the rising arrivals of migrants and refugees by boats, Prime Minister Starmer in May proposed a draft paper on immigration, calling it a move towards a “controlled, selective and fair” system.
As part of the proposal, the standard waiting time for migrants and refugees for permanent settlement would be doubled to 10 years, and English language requirements would be tightened.
The Labour Party, which advocated for a more open migration model, has been on the back foot over the issue of immigration.
From January through July of this year, more than 25,000 people crossed the English Channel into the UK.
The opposition has seized on this issue.
Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK party, has accused Labour of being soft on immigration. Farage has pledged to scrap indefinite leave to remain – a proposal Starmer has dubbed as “racist” and “immoral”.
Successive British governments have tried unsuccessfully to reduce net migration, which is the number of people coming to the UK, minus the number leaving. Net migration climbed to a record 906,000 in June 2023. It stood at 728,000 last year.
Starmer’s administration has framed the new immigration rules as a “clean break” from a system they see as overreliant on low-paid overseas labour.
A survey released by Ipsos last month revealed that immigration continues to be seen as the biggest issue facing the country, with 51 percent of Britons mentioning it as a concern. That is more than the economy (35 percent) or healthcare (26 percent).
However, at the same time, a YouGov poll found only 26 percent of people said immigration and asylum was one of the three most important issues facing their community.
Concern about immigration is a “manufactured panic”, a report published by the Best for Britain campaign group noted.
The group’s director of policy and research, Tom Brufatto, said that “the data clearly demonstrates that media exposure and political discourse are fanning the flames of anti-immigration sentiment in the UK, causing the government to lose support both to its right and left flank simultaneously.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has faced criticism for shifting his stance on immigration [File: Phil Noble/Reuters]
Is there opposition to the change within the Labour Party?
The left-leaning leaders of the Labour Party have condemned the “far-right”, “racist” approach of the British government’s moves to adapt the Danish model.
Labour MPs urged Home Secretary Mahmood to dial down her plans for a Danish-style overhaul of the immigration and asylum system.
Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that she thinks that “this is a dead end – morally, politically and electorally”.
“I think these are policies of the far right,” she said. “I don’t think anyone wants to see a Labour government flirting with them.”
Whittome argued that it would be a “dangerous path” to take and that some of the Danish policies, especially those around “parallel societies”, were “undeniably racist”.
Clive Lewis, the MP for Norwich South, said: “Denmark’s Social Democrats have gone down what I would call a hardcore approach to immigration.
“They’ve adopted many of the talking points of what we would call the far right,” Lewis said. “Labour does need to win back some Reform-leaning voters, but you can’t do that at the cost of losing progressive votes.”
Meanwhile, members of Parliament from the traditional “Red Wall” constituencies, where the Reform UK party has a support base, are receptive to Mahmood’s plans.
The fissures grew more apparent after Lucy Powell, who won the Labour deputy leadership contest last month, challenged Starmer to soften his stance on immigration.
“Division and hate are on the rise,” Powell said last month. “Discontent and disillusionment are widespread. We have this one big chance to show that progressive mainstream politics really can change people’s lives for the better.”
People hold anti-racist placards as they take part in a ‘Stop the Far Right’ demonstration on a National Day of Protest, outside of the headquarters of the Reform UK political party, in London on August 10, 2024 [Benjamin Cremel/AFP]
How do immigration laws vary across Europe?
European countries differ widely in how they manage immigration. Some are major destinations for large absolute numbers of migrants and refugees, while others have adopted restrictive legal measures or strong integration policies.
In 2023, the largest absolute numbers of immigrants entering European Union countries were recorded in Germany and Spain, over 1.2 million each, followed by Italy and France, according to the EU’s latest Migration and Asylum report.
These four countries together accounted for more than half of all non-EU immigration to the EU.
EU member states operate within EU migration and asylum rules, and Schengen zone rules where applicable, and are bound by international obligations such as the UN Refugee Convention. But individual states apply national legislation that interprets those obligations, and in recent years, public sentiment has turned against immigration amid a cost-of-living crisis.
YouGov polling conducted in Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden found that respondents believe immigration over the past decade has been too high. In Britain, 70 percent of those surveyed said that immigration rates have been too high, according to the survey released in February.
On the other hand, countries like Hungary, Poland, and Austria, in addition to Denmark, have formed immigration policies focused on building border fences and restrictive family reunification rules, alongside expedited deportations and limits on access to social benefits.
Austrian and German ministers have referenced the Danish model as a source of inspiration for their own domestic policies.
Several EU states have also tried a version of externalising asylum processes, including Italy with Albania, Denmark with Rwanda, Greece with Turkiye, Spain with Morocco, and Malta with Libya and Tunisia.
Israel has received the body of a soldier held in Gaza for more than a decade after he was killed in an ambush by Hamas fighters in 2014 during the last major ground assault on the Palestinian enclave.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Sunday the remains were handed over to Israeli forces in Gaza by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) after Hamas transferred the body to the aid organisation.
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Formal identification of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, 23, was confirmed by Israeli forensics teams.
At the start of a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said holding the body for so long has caused “great agony for his family, which will now be able to give him a Jewish burial”.
“Lieutenant Hadar Goldin fell in heroic combat during Operation Protective Edge,” Israel’s leader said.
The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, said the body was retrieved on Saturday from a tunnel in the Yebna refugee camp in Rafah in southern Gaza.
Goldin was killed on August 1, 2014, two hours after a ceasefire took effect and ended that year’s war between Israel and Hamas. He was part of an Israeli unit tasked with locating and destroying Hamas tunnels.
Another Israeli soldier, Oron Shaul, was also killed in the six-week war, and his body was returned earlier this year.
There are now four deceased abductees remaining in Gaza to be returned under the terms of a ceasefire that began last month. Hamas has so far released 20 living captives and 24 bodies.
For each body returned, Israel has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians. Ahmed Dheir, director of forensic medicine at the Nasser Medical Complex in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, said 300 bodies have now been returned and 89 identified.
Israeli attacks continue
Israel has also released nearly 2,000 living Palestinian prisoners since the October 10 truce began. Palestinian authorities said more than 10,000 people still remain in Israeli detention.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said 241 Palestinians have been killed and 619 wounded since the ceasefire began and 528 bodies have been recovered from under rubble and at attack sites.
Despite the truce, Israel’s military continues to carry out attacks across the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, one man was killed in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, and two died in separate assaults in the north and south, the Health Ministry said.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in the Far’a refugee camp near Tubas while Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers in several areas, according to local reports.
According to Israeli authorities, Palestinian armed groups captured 251 people during Hamas’s attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and killed at least 1,139 people.
Israel began its war in Gaza on the same day. It has killed at least 68,875 Palestinians and wounded 170,679, according to the Health Ministry.
On Monday, Egyptians will head to the polls in the first of a two-phase process aimed at electing a new House of Representatives. Expatriates already voted on November 7 and 8.
Egypt has taken an increasingly proactive role regionally as of late, joining Qatar as a key negotiator for the ceasefire in Gaza. The country has also deployed Foreign Ministry representatives to Lebanon in recent weeks.
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The elections for the House come on the back of last year’s Senate elections and are expected to be the final elections in President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s third term.
So why is this significant? Read on, and find out.
(Al Jazeera)
What is happening?
Monday will see the start of voting for the 596-member House of Representatives.
Of those seats, 284 are individual seats, while another 284 are filled via a closed party list system. Twenty-eight more members are appointed by presidential decree. A quarter of the seats must be held by women.
There are 70 counting committees, and voting will be conducted across 5,606 polling stations, according to Egyptian media. Fourteen governorates vote in the first phase and 13 vote in the second.
Results for the voting may not be fully known before the end of December.
Phase one includes the governorates of Alexandria, Assiut, Aswan, Beheira, Beni Suef, Fayoum, Giza, Luxor, Matrouh, Minya, New Valley, Qena, Red Sea, and Sohag.
Phase two includes Cairo, Daqahlia, Damietta, Gharbia, Ismailia, Kafr El-Sheikh, Menoufia, North Sinai, Port Said, Qalyubia, Sharqia, South Sinai, and Suez.
Phase one results will be announced on November 18.
If phase one requires run-offs, voting will be held internationally over the first two days of December and then in Egypt on December 3 and 4, with results announced on December 11.
Phase-two voting for Egyptians abroad will take place on November 21 and 22. Voting inside Egypt will take place on November 24 and 25, with results announced on December 2.
In case of phase-two run-offs, voting will take place on December 15 and 16 abroad and 17 and 18 inside Egypt, with the final results announced on December 25.
(Al Jazeera)
Who is running?
First, voting has to be broken down by “party-list constituencies” and individual candidates. Each group is competing for 284 seats.
The party-list constituencies in Egypt divide the country into four areas. Cairo and the Central and Southern Delta has 102 seats. North, Central, and South Upper Egypt has 102 seats. The Eastern Delta and Western Delta have 40 seats apiece.
Then, individual candidates are running for another 284 across 143 constituencies.
The electoral lists are closed, meaning that parties must be approved to run.
The current lists include 12 political parties plus the Coordination Committee of Parties’ Youth Leaders and Politicians, who will compete for the 284 party-list seats. The National List for Egypt, the Generation List, the Popular List, Your Voice for Egypt List, and the Egypt Call List are seen as some of the bigger parties running.
How did expat voting go?
Ahram Online reported that it went smoothly.
A total 139 electoral committees were set up in 117 countries. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also set up 24-hour operation rooms in every mission to coordinate with the National Elections Authority in Cairo.
The round two vote is still set to take place in late November.
How long will House members serve?
Members of the House of Representatives serve five-year terms.
The current House was elected in late 2020 for a five-year term that expires in January 2026.
(Al Jazeera)
Why is this vote important?
President el-Sisi is in his third and, constitutionally, final term. In 2019, the Parliament of Egypt changed the constitution to allow him to serve until 2030, and there’s a widely held belief that Parliament could once again amend the constitution, allowing el-Sisi to extend his mandate.
In recent years, el-Sisi has worked to reshape Egypt by liberalising the economy, but many Egyptians are struggling with a rising cost of living and will likely be heading to the polls with the economy in mind.
Other important issues expressed by Egyptians include health and medical care, and a new rental law that threatens to evict millions living in rent-controlled properties.
Analysts say these elections could play a significant role in the country’s future, especially after the end of el-Sisi’s term.
