Headlines
Winless in Seven Games, Emery’s Days at Arsenal Numbered
Unai Emery’s future as Arsenal coach was plunged into further doubt on Thursday when the Gunners slumped to a 2-1 loss in the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt but the Spaniard said he did not fear for his job.
Arsenal are now winless in seven games, the club’s worst run since 1992.
Emery shrugged off multiple questions regarding his position during the post-match press conference.
“Now our moment is not good. We need to win, take confidence and I think we are better than we are showing. The players, the coaches and myself,” 48-year-old Emery said.
“I am thinking about the next match (against Norwich on Sunday) and how we can improve.
“My work and my job is firstly analysing that match, how we are in the Europa League, in our feelings and how we are going to play on Sunday.”
Japan midfielder Daichi Kamada scored a second-half double for Eintracht after captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had opened the scoring in first half injury time for Arsenal inside a half-full Emirates Stadium.
Boos from the lowest attendance at the ground since it opened in 2006 greeted Emery and his misfiring team at the final whistle while some disgruntled fans held up banners demanding ‘Emery Out’.
Aubameyang struck home just before the half-time whistle with a low effort for his ninth goal in 14 matches.
Kamada’s equaliser came 10 minutes later as he curled a tidy shot past Emiliano Martinez before adding his second on 64 minutes with a drive from outside the box to inflict a first home defeat of the campaign on Emery’s men.
The Gunners are still on course for a last 32 place if they draw with Standard Liege on December 12.
Scottish champions Celtic clinched top spot in Group E with a 3-1 win over Rennes while Wolves reached the knockout stages with a 3-3 draw at fellow qualifiers Braga in Group K.
Rangers drew 2-2 at Feyenoord to hold top spot in Group G with a one point lead ahead of their last game against Young Boys.
Earlier, Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini was hit by coins as the Italian club kept their last 32 hopes alive with a 3-0 victory at Istanbul Basaksehir.
Attacking midfielder Pellegrini had his head bandaged after he was struck by multiple coins with an hour of the game played after Jordan Veretout, Justin Kluivert and Edin Dzeko had claimed the advantage for the Serie A outfit in Turkey.
The visitors remain in contention for a knock-out spot and sit behind leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach, who beat Austrians Wolfsberg 1-0, on goal difference with the Turkish side a point behind on seven.
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
