Haller scored the winning goal in last year's AFCON final as hosts Ivory Coast came from behind to beat Nigeria 2-1 in Abidjan. The striker had recovered from testicular cancer just a few months before the premier African football tournament kicked off. An undisclosed injury sustained while training has forced Saudi Arabia-based midfielder Houssem Aouar to withdraw from the Algeria squad, according to officials. Zambia head coach Moses Sichone cannot sit on the bench as he lacks the necessary Confederation of African Football (CAF) qualifications, according to reports. Zambia are in Group A with title favourites Morocco, Comoros and Mali.

Nasdaq rallies again while yen falls despite BOJ rate hikeNEW YORK, Dec 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Resurgent artificial intelligence shares lifted the Nasdaq Friday for a second straight session while the yen retreated despite a Bank of Japan interest rate hike. The tech-forward Nasdaq piled on 1.3 percent after a similar gain Thursday following blowout earnings from chip company Micron Technology. Also Friday, the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates to a 30-year high. "Cautious comments on the rate outlook from BoJ Governor Ueda at his press conference have undercut the yen." Russia's central bank said it was cutting its benchmark interest rate to 16 percent as the country's economy sags under the financial burden of the Ukraine offensive and Western sanctions.

DORTMUND, Germany, Dec 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Goals from Julian Brandt and Maximilian Beier lifted Borussia Dortmund to a nervy 2-0 home win over Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday and up to second in the Bundesliga table. Gladbach's teenage midfielder Wael Mohya forced a reflex save from Dortmund 'keeper Gregor Kobel with 10 minutes remaining, before Beier sealed the victory deep into stoppage time. "It felt good to score a late goal of our own this time and not concede an equaliser," Brandt said to Sky Germany. Former Dortmund midfielder and United States international Gio Reyna returned to the Westfalenstadion for the first time since joining Gladbach in the summer. Handed just his second league start of the season, defender Niklas Suele created Dortmund's opener, drifting in a cross for Brandt to volley home 10 minutes in.

Australia all out for 349, set England 435 to win 3rd Ashes TestADELAIDE, Australia, Dec 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Travis Head slammed 170 and Alex Carey 72 before Australia were all out for 349 Saturday, setting England the ominous task of scoring 435 to win the third Test and keep the Ashes alive. The hosts resumed day four at Adelaide Oval at 271-4 with Head on 142 and first-innings century-maker Carey not out 52. England quickly wrapped up the tail with Josh Tongue the pick of the bowlers with 4-70. The tourists face a huge task to win the Test and keep the series alive. Australia lead the five-Test series 2-0 and will retain the Ashes if they win or draw, after back-to-back eight-wicket thumpings in Perth and Brisbane.

MOUNT MAUNGANUI, New Zealand, Dec 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Kavem Hodge stood firm with 83 for the West Indies on Saturday as they moved to 310-4 at tea on day three of the third New Zealand Test at Mount Maunganui, trailing by 265 runs. Hodge needs 17 runs after the interval for his second Test century having negotiated some tricky moments throughout the day. The West Indies resumed on Saturday at 110-0 and added only one run before Duffy made the breakthrough in the second over of the day. It ended the first West Indies century opening stand since February 2023. Wicketkeeper Imlach was promoted to bat at number four after Shai Hope spent the whole of the second day at the team hotel with illness.

WASHINGTON, United States, Dec 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the new year offered a chance for a humanitarian truce in war-ravaged Sudan as he urged outside countries to exert leverage. "Ninety-nine percent of our focus is this humanitarian truce and achieving that as soon as possible," Rubio told a news conference. Rubio said both sides have violated commitments as he voiced alarm at new reports of humanitarian convoys being struck. Rubio, who has repeatedly spoken to UAE officials about Sudan, declined to criticize countries by name but noted that Sudan's warring parties relied on outside weapons. The UAE is a close partner of the United States, which welcomes its relationship with Israel.

DAMASCUS, Dec 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday welcomed the permanent lifting by the United States of the so-called Caesar sanctions, paving the way for the return of investments to the war-ravaged nation. The US Congress on Wednesday permanently ended the sanctions imposed on Syria under Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December last year. The Caesar Act, named after an anonymous photographer who documented atrocities in Assad's prisons, severely restricted investment and cut off Syria from the international banking system. "Today is the first day that Syria is without sanctions, thanks to God Almighty, and then to your efforts and patience for 14 years," Sharaa said in a recorded video in the first post of his official X account. Trump had already twice suspended the implementation of sanctions against Syria in response to pleas from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, allies of the new government headed by Sharaa, a former jihadist.

US strikes over 70 IS targets in Syria after attack on troopsWASHINGTON, United States, Dec 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - US forces struck more than 70 Islamic State group targets in Syria on Friday in what President Donald Trump described as "very serious retaliation" for an attack that killed three Americans last weekend. In response, the United States "struck more than 70 targets at multiple locations across central Syria with fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery," US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement. The Americans killed in the Palmyra attack last weekend were Iowa National Guard sergeants William Howard and Edgar Torres Tovar, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a civilian from Michigan who worked as an interpreter. Trump, Hegseth and top military officer General Dan Caine were among the US officials who attended a somber ceremony marking the return of the dead to the United States on Wednesday. Trump has long been skeptical of Washington's presence in Syria, ordering the withdrawal of troops during his first term but ultimately leaving American forces in the country.

KYIV, Ukraine, Dec 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A Russian ballistic missile strike killed seven and wounded 15 in Ukraine's Black Sea Odesa region, a local governor said Friday, adding that the attack targeted port infrastructure. Moscow has stepped up barrages on the important coastal region in recent weeks after President Vladimir Putin threatened retaliation for a slew of Ukrainian strikes on tankers carrying Russian oil. "The enemy struck the port infrastructure of Odesa region -- seven dead, fifteen wounded," Odesa regional governor Oleg Kiper said on social media. According to him, "the strike caused a fire in a parking lot of trucks." Kyiv also struck similar vessels in the Black Sea earlier this month.

DHAKA, Dec 19, 2025 (BSS)- Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of Inqilab Mancha spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi. BFF posted a picture of Hadi on its social media Facebook page on Thursday last night and wrote: "We are deeply saddened. Inqilab Mancha spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi breathed his last while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Singapore." The BFF also wrote: "BFF prays for the eternal peace of Hadi's departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family." At the same time, in a statement last night, the BCB also expressed its shock and sorrow, posting with a picture of Hadi and said: "BCB expresses deep shock and sorrow on the death of Sharif Osman Hadi."

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Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday said the wave of violence, arson, and vandalism following the death of Inquilab Mancha spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi is part of a planned conspiracy to push the country toward chaos and obstruct the democratic transition. He said the offices of Prothom Alo and the English daily The Daily Star in Dhaka were vandalized and set on fire. “These incidents prove that an old and identified quarter is deliberately trying to plunge the country into anarchy,” Fakhrul said. As a result, the image of both the government and the country is being damaged at home and abroad, he added. The BNP secretary general noted that political parties across the country have already protested the killing of Osman Hadi and were pressing the government to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

DHAKA, Dec 19, 2025 (BSS) - Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has announced a two-day programme following the demise of Inquilab Mancha spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi. The decision was disclosed today in a press release signed by Mujibul Alam, senior publicity assistant of the party's central publicity department. As part of the programme, Jamaat-e-Islami's district and city units will organize doa mahfils on December 20, seeking eternal peace for the departed soul of Osman Hadi. In addition, the party's central unit will hold a doa mahfil at the Al-Falah Auditorium in Moghbazar at 10:00 am on December 21. The programmes were finalized following discussions on the country's overall political situation, as well as matters related to receiving the body of Inquilab Mancha spokesperson and July warrior Sharif Osman Hadi and his janaza.

“Where are the eggs and jam?” asked my husband this morning as he stood gaping at the wide-open refrigerator. But now in our fifth decade of marriage, I inhale deeply and (try to) chuckle. “No,” he insisted, “I never want that to haunt us.” He stood firm and insisted on getting his green card before we married. “We’ll go now.” Given the late hour, she tried to dissuade him, but he insisted, and off they went. She lives in Bethesda and is a 2019 graduate of the Johns Hopkins science writing master’s degree program.

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