In Abuja is currently the site of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS)’s 67th Ordinary Session.
The group’s 67th Ordinary Session comes one more month after the group’s previous one, which approved the withdrawal of Mali, Burkinabe, and Niger from the regional bloc, in December 2024.
Watch it below in real time:
In the midst of controversy over Todd Boehly’s involvement in Vivid Seats, the Premier League has written to Chelsea to ask for clarification regarding the club’s position regarding ticket resellers.
Boehly also owns a 13% stake in Chelsea, and he is also an investor and director in Vivid, which the league refers to as an “unauthorized ticket seller.”
Chelsea games are listed on the website’s platform, with some tickets going for as much as £20,000 last season. Although it is permitted overseas, it is not permitted to operate in the United Kingdom.
In an open letter released in March, Chelsea Supporters’ Trust wrote to the Premier League asking them to “act and investigate” the situation because they thought it was both a “breach of trust and a clear conflict of interest.
At a Football Supporters’ Association event last week, Premier League CEO Richard Masters explained that the matter is being discussed with Chelsea at an ongoing conversation.
The Supporters’ Trust has also presented the government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) with evidence against the American business.
For more information, Boehly, Chelsea, and Vivid have been contacted.
Sportico quoted Vivid CEO Stanley Chia as saying that “the company’s share price dropped by 61% this year due to economic and political volatility.”
Chelsea have recently pledged to stop ticket touting, but they won’t mention Vivid or any other ticket resellers, which the CST letter claimed was “encouraged “by.”
In the midst of struggles to find a singing section in the Conference League, there have been concerns about a “flat” atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, highlighted by previous manager Mauricio Pochettino and echoed by current head coach Enzo Maresca at times last season.
Coleen Nolan’s daughter, Ciara Fensome, is expecting her first child. The first time mum-to-be took to Instagram on Saturday (June 21) to share a stunning photo of herself cradling her growing bump.
She also posted a picture of herself and fiancé Maxx Innes proudly displaying their baby scan in a photo booth. Ciara, 24, captioned her post: “One of me is cute but two tho? Baby Innes pending..”
Coleen Nolan’s Loose Women co-star Ruth Langsford was quick to leave a congratulatory message, writing: “WONDERFUL! Congratulations!” Former panelist Saira Khan chimed in with: “Wow! ! Congratulations” alongside a red heart emoji.
Another comment read: “Omg massive congrats to you both! ! You two are gonna be the best parents, while another well-wisher added: “OMG, massive congratulations to you both! !”.
Later, Ciara updated her Instagram Story to tell her 17,300 followers that she can “finally” start posting her holiday photos following her announcement.
She’s currently on holiday in Faliraki with her mum, who has been sharing updates from their trip on social media.
This joyous news comes just over a year after Ciara got engaged to Maxx.
In April 2025, a thrilled Coleen shared a photo of Ciara and her fiancé in a romantic pose, confirming her daughter was officially off the market.
“Well, what can I say….I’m so so delighted that @maxxinnes has asked my beautiful daughter @ciarafensome to marry him,” Coleen wrote at the time.
“I love them both soooo much. Miss them even more! Can’t wait to see them. Off to buy a hat x,” she wrote, ending her post with a crying laughing emoji.
Coleen’s post was met with a flurry of congratulations from her celebrity friends. “Congratulations @ciarafensome,” Loose Women co-star Denise Welch penned. Charlene White quickly chimed in with “congrats! ! !” and Kelle Bryan added, “Such lovely news.”
Despite divorcing Ciara’s father Ray in 2018, Coleen, who also shares two sons with ex Shane Richie, has maintained a close friendship with him.
The ITV star, who has yet to comment on the baby news, is already a grandmother to two children. In 2016, her eldest son Shane Jr welcomed a daughter named Amelia. Then, in November 2024, her son Jake became a father to a little boy.
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“The work begins with a week in Portugal,” the author says.
Wales’ flight from Cardiff Airport to Portugal on Sunday afternoon sparked new levels of excitement, but captain Angharad James’ message was straightforward.
As fans had the chance to bid farewell to those who are slated to embark on what they hope will be the summer of a lifetime, messages read “Good luck Wales” and “Come on Wales” were prominently displayed on cards and banners.
In front of the terminal entrance, a steel band performed while Rhian Wilkinson, the head coach, and the players posed for photos with supporters and signed merchandise.
Wales is now in full swing as a result of their week-long training camp in the Algarve, which will make their tournament debut against the Netherlands in Lucerne on July 5th, making the dream come even closer.
And Wales, according to James, are fully deserving of their place on the biggest stage.
The 43-year-old manager, who is from Canada, has made it frequently a point to see Wales enjoy themselves in Switzerland starting next month and to put her side in the same league as the best.
Hannah Cain, the opener’s scorer against the Republic of Ireland on December 3 and the result that earned Wilkinson’s side a spot at the upcoming tournament, exemplified this message.
The Leicester City defender described the airport welcome as “unreal” and said, “It’s unbelievable.”
It’s amazing because we didn’t know this was going to be all there.
Jess Fishlock, 38, is the party’s most senior member in Wales, having reached the party’s seniority.
The Seattle Reign midfielder, whose 162 caps and 47 goals for her country are records, is perhaps the most deserving of a seat on the plane given her outstanding contributions to Wales since making her senior debut against the Swiss in 2006, which included making her senior debut in 2006.
And Fishlock paid a heartfelt tribute to those who had traveled to Rhoose to deliver the Welsh squad’s unforgettable welcome.
“This is stunning, and it means a lot to local clubs. She said, “It’s everything we’ve ever wanted.”
Before boarding the Boeing 737, all 23 squad members and boss Wilkinson posed for one final photo from the aircraft’s staircase before the assembled media took a photo.
As the plane rolled between two fire and rescue trucks while spraying water in a cannon salute, which is customarily reserved for a plane’s first flight, it received one final send off before leaving the Welsh tarmac.
After their opening game against the Dutch on July 9 and England on July 13, James is undoubtedly aware of the magnitude of the task that awaits them.
However, the 31-year-old warned those who were underestimating Wilkinson’s team in some way.
On Sunday, June 22, 2018, this is how things are going.
United States Vice President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have said that the US is not seeking to topple the government in Iran via “regime change” and is not at war with the country in the wake of its unprecedented surprise attack overnight on three of Iran’s nuclear sites.
The comments on Sunday followed Washington, DC joining Israel’s strikes on its arch-foe, which have been met by daily retaliatory strikes from Iran and are now in their 10th day.
Vance said on Sunday that the US had successfully set back Iran’s nuclear programme, adding that US President Donald Trump now hopes to pursue a diplomatic solution.
Speaking on the NBC News show Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, he maintained his country was “not at war with Iran, we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear programme”.
“We do not want to protract this or build this out any more than it’s already been built out. We want to end their nuclear programme,” Vance said, adding: “We want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here.”
Meanwhile, Hegseth claimed the series of US strikes against Iran “devastated” its nuclear programme, as he asserted Washington was not seeking “regime change” in Tehran.
There has been no independent confirmation of how heavily the US strikes impacted the sites, or Tehran’s nuclear efforts, which it has repeatedly said are for civilian purposes only.
The Pentagon chief urged Iran’s leaders to find an off-ramp to the conflict after Trump announced the strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordow, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.
Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing that the operation “did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people”.
“I can only confirm that there are both public and private messages being delivered to the Iranians in multiple channels, giving them every opportunity to come to the table,” Hegseth added in the news conference with General Dan Caine, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“This mission was not, and has not, been about regime change,” he said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier that the US strikes on his country have blown up any possibility of diplomacy and strongly intimated a response was in gestation.
During an address to a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on Sunday, Araghchi said the US crossed “a very big red line” by attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Trump’s intervention – despite his past pledges to avoid another “forever war” – threatens to dramatically widen the conflict after Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last week, with Tehran vowing to retaliate if Washington joined in.
The US and Iran had been engaged in multiple rounds of nuclear talks brokered by Oman before Israel launched a strike on Iran, unconditionally supported by the US, earlier this month.
Standing alongside Hegseth, Caine said that an assessment of the destruction sustained at Iran’s nuclear facilities will take time to confirm.
“I think PDA [preliminary damage assessment] is still pending and it would be way too early for me to comment on what or what may not still be there,” he said. He confirmed B-2 bombers were launched from the US on Friday for an 18-hour flight to their targets for the “strike package”.
“Operation Midnight Hammer” included several “deception and decoy” manoeuvres. High-speed suppression fire was used to protect the B-2s, and Caine said there’s no indication “any shots were fired” by Iranian defences.
“Iran’s fighters did not fly and it appears Iran’s missile systems did not see us,” Caine said.
He declined to comment on specific moves taken to protect US troops based in the Middle East from potential Iranian retaliation.
“Our joint force remains ready to defend the United States – our troops and our interests in the region,” said Caine.
Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, said Hegseth gave a very clear message on behalf of the US that this is not an open-ended operation, although there was a warning that while it is intentionally limited, the capabilities of the US military are not.
“What is clear is this was a well-coordinated operation,” Fisher said.
“But as we heard from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, they obviously still have to get full intelligence from the site, and this will take some time,” Fisher said. “So they don’t know whether it has been a huge success. But what it does do is send a real message.”
Separately, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS there were no planned military operations against Iran at the moment.
Trump announced that the US forces struck three Iranian nuclear sites in a “very successful attack” overnight into Sunday.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump’s decision to join Israel’s military campaign against Iran has escalated an already intensive conflict and threatens a potential all-out regional war.
The head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, said there were no fatalities in the US strikes on the nuclear facilities, according to Iranian state television.
An Iranian health ministry spokesperson cited by state media said none of those injured in the US attacks and sent to hospitals had radiation contamination.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian took part in a protest in Tehran on Sunday denouncing US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, according to images broadcast on state TV.
“Revenge, revenge!” protesters shouted with their fists raised, as the president was seen making his way through the crowd gathered in a square in central Tehran.
Trump has stepped up his rhetoric against Iran since Israel first struck Iran on June 13, repeating his insistence that it could never have nuclear weapons. He seemed to be uncertain of whether to move militarily, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have been one of the key voices he was attuned to.