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Chelsea’s Thompson ‘a real bright spark’ but best ‘still to come’

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Chelsea’s dominant victory over Paris FC was lit up by the newest member of their attack, Alyssa Thompson, who traversed the Stamford Bridge pitch with agile runs and eventually got the rewards her efforts deserved.

Thompson may be just 20 years old, but her arrival at Chelsea was accompanied by lofty expectations arising from the club record price tag. Now, in her seventh appearance, she has finally got off the mark.

She darted down the wings and led her side’s counter-attacks, showing expert positioning to put herself in the right place to be able to set up Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s goal, and tapped home an excellent Keira Walsh delivery to get her first goal for the club.

It was an impressive display, but, says manager Sonia Bompastor, the best of her is still to come.

“A young player, a lot of talent, but I think we haven’t seen yet the best of her, but hopefully we will see that soon,” said Bompastor.

“She is coming from abroad, she speaks the language, which helps, but again, it’s a new environment, a new club, she needs to learn to connect with new players on the pitch, new team-mates, so hopefully, even sooner, we will see an even better version.”

Thompson’s first goal is one which will put her at “ease”, says Brighton forward Fran Kirby, who previously spent nine years at Chelsea.

Former Scotland captain Rachel Corsie added that now Thompson has scored, she imagines the “floodgates will open”.

“She’s been a real bright spark,” Kirby said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “I think against Tottenham she looked really sharp, it was probably that final product.

Of her six appearances in all competitions for Bompastor’s side before Wednesday, half had come as a substitute.

While she had not previously been involved in any goals, Thompson had already displayed her talents by creating chances, coming close to scoring herself, and drawing a red card after West Ham defender Ines Belloumou pulled her hair during her first start.

Corsie said Thompson played as if she “was not feeling” any pressure against Paris and was “very lively”.

“She’s willing to learn. I think she’s done an exceptional job to get in the team and play as many minutes as she has.

“There is an adjustment when you move, and when you move for that amount of money, there’s an expectation you’ll hit the ground running.”

Thompson, meanwhile, said she feels she is starting to build “rhythm” with her new club.

‘Players needed time to recover from Euros’

While Chelsea are unbeaten, much of their start to the season has been somewhat unconvincing.

They were held to a draw by Twente in their opening Champions League match last week, drew with Manchester United in the league and other victories – including their 1-0 success against Tottenham at the weekend – have come by slender margins.

Thompson said they played “more as a team than individuals” in their dominant Champions League victory.

“After the last few games we really came together and wanted to celebrate each other more and be more positive on the field and have more togetherness,” she added.

“Now we are working more as a team rather than individuals and we are going to continue that going forward, and carrying a positive vibe through. “

Asked about her side’s recent dip in form, Bompastor attributed some of it to the lack of time her players have had to recover since Euro 2025.

There were just 40 days between the final and the opening match of the Women’s Super League season.

She said they way they have performed over their last two games, following back-to-back draws, is a “perfect way to finish” before the international break.

“I have a lot of players who went so far in the tournament, in the Euros, so mentally and physically, when you come back to the club, it doesn’t come just like this. You also need time for them to recover from that tournament.

‘We are building better performances’

A key part of Chelsea’s success against Paris was the magnitude of their victory, with it being the second time this season they have scored four or more goals.

In each of their previous three games going into the match against the French side, they had been unable to score more than one.

Midfielder Erin Cuthbert, who netted against Paris, said they had been told to “finish their chances” going into Wednesday’s match.

Captain Millie Bright added that she felt Chelsea “got their mojo back” in their performance against Paris.

“At the weekend we didn’t really finish our chances,” Cuthbert told Disney+. “We had a lot of chances on goal and did not finish them. Even tonight there were times where we could be more clinical but we are definitely building better performances the last week or so.

“I think for us it is just about building. It’s the group stages, it’s still early on. We had a really disappointing result matchday one but we want more and we need to do more.”

Corsie, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, said she felt Chelsea played as if they wanted to prove a point to their doubters.

“It was the sort of display that was indicative of a team that feels a few people have been criticising their performances, and I think they wanted to set that straight. Four brilliant goals, four brilliant scorers,” she said.

Ellen White, Jen Beattie and Ben Haines

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AU suspends Madagascar as military leader to be sworn in as president

Military leader Colonel Michael Randrianirina will be sworn in as Madagascar’s transitional president on Friday, the country’s new leadership has announced, as the African Union (AU) said it would suspend the country after a coup to remove President Andry Rajoelina.

Randrianirina “will be sworn in as President of the Refoundation of the Republic of Madagascar during a solemn hearing of the High Constitutional Court” on October 17, said the statement, published on social media by a state television station on Thursday.

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Rajoelina, who was impeached by lawmakers after fleeing abroad during the weekend, has condemned the takeover and refused to step down despite youth-led demonstrations demanding his resignation and widespread defections in the security forces.

Randrianirina led a rebellion that sided with the protesters and ousted Rajoelina on Tuesday in the sprawling country of about 30 million people off of Africa’s east coast. Since gaining independence from France in 1960, the country has had a history of coups and political crises.

The latest military takeover capped weeks of protests against Rajoelina and his government, led by youth groups calling themselves “Gen Z Madagascar”. The protesters, who also included labour unions and civic groups, have demanded better government and job opportunities, echoing youth-led protests elsewhere in the world.

Among other things, the Madagascar protesters have railed against chronic water and electricity outages, limited access to higher education, government corruption and poverty, which affects roughly three out of every four Madagascans, according to the World Bank.

Although some suggest the military seized power on the backs of the civilian protesters, demonstrators cheered Randrianirina and other soldiers from his elite CAPSAT unit as they triumphantly rode through the streets of the capital Antananarivo on Tuesday. The colonel has promised elections in two years.

The takeover was “an awakening of the people. It was launched by the youth. And the military supported us”, said the protest leader, Safika, who only gave one name as has been typical with the demonstrators. “We must always be wary, but the current state of affairs gives us reason to be confident,” Safika told The Associated Press news agency.

The protests reached a turning point Saturday when Randrianirina and soldiers from his unit sided with the demonstrators calling for the president to resign. Rajoelina said he fled to an undisclosed country because he feared for his life.

Randrianirina had long been a vocal critic of Rajoelina’s administration and was reportedly imprisoned for several months in 2023 for plotting a coup.

Trump appears to confirm report he authorised CIA operations in Venezuela

United States President Donald Trump has appeared to confirm a New York Times report that his administration authorised the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to carry out covert operations in Venezuela.

On Wednesday, Trump held a news conference with some of his top law enforcement officials, where he faced questions about the report. One reporter asked directly, “Why did you authorise the CIA to go into Venezuela?”

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“I authorised for two reasons, really,” Trump replied. “Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America.”

“The other thing,” he continued, was Venezuela’s role in drug-trafficking. He then appeared to imply that the US would take actions on foreign soil to prevent the flow of narcotics and other drugs.

“We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela,” Trump said. “A lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea.  So you get to see that. But we’re going to stop them by land also.”

Trump’s remarks are likely to further escalate tensions with Venezuela, whose leader, Nicolas Maduro, has long been a target for the US president, stretching back to his first term in office.

Already, both leaders have bolstered their military forces along the Caribbean Sea in a show of potential force.

But the New York Times’ reporting suggests Trump has gone a step further, greenlighting the presence of US intelligence officials on Venezuelan soil to carry out lethal missions.

Citing anonymous administration officials, the Times says the new authorisation is part of a broader strategy to topple Maduro. Reporters sought to confront Trump with that assertion as well.

“Does the CIA have authority to take out Maduro?” one journalist asked at the White House on Wednesday.

“Oh, I don’t want to answer a question like that. That’s a ridiculous question for me to be given,” Trump said, demurring. “Not really a ridiculous question, but wouldn’t it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?”

He then offered an addendum: “But I think Venezuela’s feeling heat.”

Claiming wartime powers

Trump’s response, at times meandering, touched on his oft-repeated claims about Venezuela, though.

Since taking office for a second term, Trump has sought to assume wartime powers — using laws like the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 — by alleging that Venezuela had masterminded an “invasion” of migrants and criminal groups onto US soil.

He has offered little proof for his assertions, though, and his statements have been undercut by the assessments of his own intelligence community.

In May, for example, a declassified US report revealed that intelligence officials had found no evidence directly linking Maduro to criminal groups like Tren de Aragua, as Trump has alleged.

Still, on Wednesday, Trump revisited the baseless claim that Venezuela under Maduro had sent prisoners and people with mental health conditions to destabilise the US.

“Many countries have done it, but not like Venezuela.  They were down and dirty,” Trump said.

If accurate, the Times report would be the latest indication that Trump has been signing secret proclamations to lay the groundwork for lethal action overseas.

In August, for instance, anonymous sources told the US media that Trump had also signed an order allowing the US military to take action against drug-trafficking cartels and other Latin American criminal networks.

And in October, it emerged that Trump had sent a memo to the US Congress asserting that the country was in a “non-international armed conflict” with the cartels, whom he termed “unlawful combatants”.

Many such groups, including Tren de Aragua, have also been added to the US’s list of “foreign terrorist organisations”, though experts point out that the label alone does not provide a legal basis for military action.

Strikes in the Caribbean Sea

Nevertheless, the US under Trump has taken a series of escalatory military actions, including by conducting multiple missile strikes on small vessels off the Venezuelan coast.

At least five known air strikes have been conducted on boats since September 2, killing 27 people.

The most recent attack was announced on Tuesday in a social media post: A video Trump shared showed a boat floating in the water, before a missile set it alight. Six people were reportedly killed in that bombing.

Many legal experts and former military officials have said that the strikes appear to be a clear violation of international law. Drug traffickers have not traditionally met the definition of armed combatants in a war.

But Trump has justified the strikes by saying they will save American lives lost to drug addiction.

He has maintained the people on board the targeted boats were “narco-terrorists” headed to the US, though he has failed to provide evidence for those assertions.

On Wednesday, he again brushed aside a question about the lack of evidence. He also defended himself against concerns that the bombings amount to extrajudicial killings.

“When they’re loaded up with drugs, they’re fair game,” Trump told reporters, adding there was “fentanyl dust all over the boat after those bombs go off”.

He added, “We know we have much information about each boat that goes. Deep, strong information.”

Framing the bombing campaign in the Caribbean as a success, Trump then explained his administration might start to pivot its strategy.

“ We’ve almost totally stopped it by sea. Now, we’ll stop it by land,” he said of the alleged drug trafficking. He joked that even fishermen had decided to stay off the waters.

Britney Spears slams Kevin Federline ‘knife’ allegations in savage five-word statement

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Pop icon Britney Spears has issued a sharp response after ex-husband Kevin Federline made a series of alarming allegations about her parenting and mental wellbeing

Britney Spears has responded through her representatives to claims made by her ex-husband Kevin Federline in his upcoming memoir You Thought You Knew, which includes allegations about her behaviour and his concerns for their children.

In the book, Federline, 47, alleges that their sons, Sean Preston, 20, and Jayden James, 19, made troubling statements about their mother when they were younger.

Federline wrote in his memoir: “They would awaken sometimes at night to find her standing silently in the doorway, watching them sleep. ‘Oh, you’re awake?’, with a knife in her hand. Then she’d turn around and pad off without explanation.”

He also wrote that he believes Spears’ situation has become increasingly unstable, stating: “It’s become impossible to pretend everything’s OK.

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“From where I sit, the clock is ticking, and we’re getting close to the 11th hour. Something bad is going to happen if things don’t change, and my biggest fear is that our sons will be left holding the pieces.”

Federline further expressed concern that the #FreeBritney movement, which helped end Spears’ 13-year conservatorship in 2021, may have caused more damage than supporters realise.

“Now, more than ever, [our children] need your support,” he wrote. “I’ve been their buffer for years, but now it’s bigger than me. It’s time to sound the alarm.”

Following publication of extracts from the memoir, a spokesperson for Spears, 43, issued a statement to People magazine.

“With news from Kevin’s book breaking, once again he and others are profiting off her and sadly it comes after child support has ended with Kevin,” the statement said.

“All she cares about are her kids, Sean Preston and Jayden James, and their well-being during this sensationalism. She detailed her journey in her memoir The Woman in Me.”

Spears and Federline married in 2004 and divorced in 2007. Their two sons were born during their marriage.

The couple’s custody arrangements and Spears’ mental health struggles were widely publicised during and after their separation.

In her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, Spears accused Federline of damaging her emotionally during their custody dispute. “He took my world away from me,” she wrote. “He knocked the breath out of me. And my family did not hold me.”

You Thought You Knew is due for release on October 21. Federline has not issued any further public comment about Spears’ response.

The Mirror has reached out to Britney’s representatives for comment on this story.

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What’s next for released Palestinian prisoners?

Thousands of Palestinian prisoners – most of them detained without charge – have been released from Israeli jails as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

Reunions saw a mix of joy and sadness after people heard about the conditions and mistreatment their loved ones endured.

Hundreds more were forced into exile by Israel.

And the majority return to rubble in Gaza, and others risk being arrested again in the occupied West Bank.

So, is it possible for former Palestinian prisoners to embrace freedom with life under occupation and the scars of Israeli detention?

Presenter: Sami Zeidan

Guests:

Milena Ansari – Israel and Palestine Researcher at Human Rights Watch

Basil Farraj – Assistant Professor at Birzeit University, specialising in political prisoners and carceral violence

Gaza medics find signs of torture on Palestinian bodies returned by Israel

Gaza’s Ministry of Health says it has received the remains of 45 Palestinians who were held in Israeli custody via the International Committee of the Red Cross, bringing the total number of bodies returned to 90 as part of a United States-brokered ceasefire deal.

Medical teams are continuing to examine, document and prepare the bodies for delivery to families “in line with approved medical procedures and protocols”, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

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Under a ceasefire deal backed by US President Donald Trump and aimed at ending the two-year Gaza war, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned. The remains of 45 people were returned on Monday.

Palestinians awaited information about the bodies that arrived at Nasser Hospital on Tuesday and Wednesday. The forensics team described disturbing conditions, bearing signs of physical abuse.

Some of the Palestinian bodies were blindfolded and handcuffed, indicating “field executions” may have taken place, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

Israel is expected to hand over more bodies, though officials have not said how many are in its custody or how many will be returned. It remains unclear whether the bodies were dug up from cemeteries by the Israeli army during its ground offensive or if they belong to detainees who were killed during the Israeli assault. Throughout the war, Israel’s military has exhumed bodies as part of its search for the remains of captives.

As forensic teams examined the first remains returned, the Health Ministry on Wednesday released images of 32 unidentified bodies to help families recognise missing relatives.

Many appeared decomposed or burned. Some were missing limbs or teeth, while others were coated in sand and dust. Health officials have said Israeli restrictions on allowing DNA testing equipment into Gaza have often forced morgues to rely on physical features and clothing for identification.

The forensics team that received the bodies said some arrived still shackled or bearing signs of physical abuse.

“There are signs of torture and executions,” Sameh Hamad, a member of a commission tasked with receiving the bodies at Nasser Hospital, said.

The bodies belonged to men aged 25 to 70. Most had bands on their necks, including one who had a rope around his neck. Most of the bodies wore civilian clothing, but some were in uniforms, suggesting they were Palestinian fighters.

Hamad said the Red Cross provided names for only three of the dead, leaving many families uncertain of their relatives’ fate.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians since October 2023, according to the Health Ministry. Palestinian officials say the true toll could be far higher, with tens of thousands of bodies believed to be under the rubble.

Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross and Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Rasmiya Qudeih, 52, waited outside Nasser Hospital, hoping her son would be among the 45 bodies transferred from Israel on Wednesday.

He vanished on October 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas-led attack. She was told he was killed by an Israeli strike.

“God willing, he will be with the bodies,” she said.

The Health Ministry released a video showing medical workers examining the bodies, saying the remains would be returned to families or buried if left unidentified.