Chelsea’s Palmer Comes Back to Haunt Man City in Thrilling 4-4 Draw 

Football - Premier League - Chelsea v Manchester City - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - November 12, 2023 Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Nicolas Jackson. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Chelsea v Manchester City - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - November 12, 2023 Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Nicolas Jackson. (Reuters)
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Chelsea’s Palmer Comes Back to Haunt Man City in Thrilling 4-4 Draw 

Football - Premier League - Chelsea v Manchester City - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - November 12, 2023 Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Nicolas Jackson. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Chelsea v Manchester City - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - November 12, 2023 Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Nicolas Jackson. (Reuters)

Former Manchester City player Cole Palmer scored a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time as Chelsea came back to draw 4-4 with the defending Premier League champions on Sunday.

Palmer left City for Chelsea in a deal worth around $52 million in September and showed supreme composure to fire past Ederson in the dying stages of a thrilling match at Stamford Bridge.

Rodri had looked like securing a win for Pep Guardiola's team with a deflected effort with four minutes left of regulation time.

But referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot when Ruben Dias slid into substitute Armando Broja in the box. After a delay, Palmer swept his shot into the corner to stop City moving three points clear at the top.

Chelsea dented Tottenham’s title ambitions with a wild 4-1 win against Ange Postecoglou’s team on Monday and proved a challenge for City, too, by coming back from behind on three occasions.

Erling Haaland fired City ahead from the penalty spot in the 25th after VAR adjudged Marc Cucurella to have fouled the Norwegian.

Thiago Silva evened the score four minutes later with header from Conor Gallagher’s corner.

Another former City player, Raheem Sterling, put Chelsea 2-1 up in the 37th by tapping in Reece James' cross after a sweeping attack,

The score was even again in first-half stoppage time when Bernardo Silva crossed for Manuel Akanji to head in.

City re-took the lead two minutes after the break, with Haaland the goal scorer again — sliding in to convert from close range.

Chelsea pushed again for an equalizer and Palmer was close to scoring when running from deep into the box and forcing a one-on-one save from Ederson.

Chelsea's third goal eventually came from Nicolas Jackson in the 67th. The striker fired in from the rebound after Gallagher’s long shot was parried.

Malo Gusto wasted a golden chance to put Chelsea ahead again by firing over from inside the box when he had the whole goal to aim at. And that miss proved costly when Rodri came up with what looked like the winner.

The Spain midfielder’s powerful effort from the edge of the box took a big deflection off Thiago Silva to send Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez the wrong way as the ball flew into the opposite corner.

It looked like being a cruel way to decide such a thrilling contest until Palmer's late intervention.



Italy Foils Russian Cyberattacks Targeting Olympics

 Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating Training - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 04, 2026. Ruiyang Zhang of China during training. (Reuters)
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating Training - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 04, 2026. Ruiyang Zhang of China during training. (Reuters)
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Italy Foils Russian Cyberattacks Targeting Olympics

 Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating Training - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 04, 2026. Ruiyang Zhang of China during training. (Reuters)
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating Training - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 04, 2026. Ruiyang Zhang of China during training. (Reuters)

Italy has thwarted "a series of cyberattacks" of "Russian origin" targeting the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, the foreign minister said Wednesday, as security operations ramp up with just hours to go before the opening ceremony.

The attacks were "on foreign ministry offices, starting with Washington, and also some Winter Olympics sites, including hotels in Cortina", Antonio Tajani said during a trip to the US city.

His office did not provide further details, nor did the International Olympic Committee (IOC) immediately respond to a request for comment.

But a Russian hacker group claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said was in response to the Italian government's support for Ukraine.

"The pro-Ukrainian course of the Italian government leads to the fact that support for Ukrainian terrorists is punishable by our DDoS missiles on websites," read a statement on a Telegram channel purporting to represent the group Noname057.

DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks halt access to a website by overloading its servers with traffic.

AFP was not able to immediately verify the account's ownership but its statements appear to match those cited by cybersecurity analysts online.

The group said it had attacked the websites of several hotels in Cortina d'Ampezzo, one of the towns hosting events for the February 6-22 Games.

Access to one of them remained blocked on Wednesday afternoon.

- Skiers and snipers -

Italy has deployed around 6,000 police plus nearly 2,000 military personnel across the Games area, which stretches across half a dozen sites from Milan to the Dolomites.

Bomb disposal experts, snipers, anti-terrorism units and skiing policemen are among those deployed.

The defense ministry is also providing 170 vehicles plus radars, drones and aircraft.

Security is particularly focused on Milan, where political leaders including US Vice President JD Vance are expected for Friday's opening ceremony.

The issue has become a fraught topic after it emerged that agents from the controversial US immigration enforcement agency ICE would be present.

Italy's interior minister Matteo Piantedosi stressed Wednesday that ICE agents, currently embroiled in an often brutal crackdown on illegal immigration in the United States, would not be patrolling the streets of Milan.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arm will operate within US diplomatic missions only and "are not operational agents" and "have no executive function", he told parliament.

Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala last week said ICE agents were "not welcome", adding: "This is a militia that kills."

Piantedosi noted it was standard for countries to send security officials to the Olympics, with Italy having sent them to Paris for the 2024 Games, and said the controversy was "completely unfounded.

"ICE does not and will never be able to carry out operational police activities on our national territory," he emphasized.

The HSI investigates global threats, and is separate from the department carrying out the US immigration crackdown that has sparked widespread protests.

The US ambassador to Italy, Tilman J. Fertitta, said last week the HSI will be "strictly advisory and intelligence-based, with no patrolling or enforcement involvement".

"At the Olympics, HSI criminal investigators will contribute their expertise by providing intelligence on transnational criminal threats, with a focus on cybercrimes and national security threats," he said.

- Ice House to Winter House -

But the row continues. A pop-up hospitality house organized by US Figure Skating, USA Hockey and US Speedskating at a hotel in Milan has even changed its name from "Ice House" to "Winter House".

Small protests have been staged against the deployment of ICE in Italy, and further demonstrations are expected during the opening weekend of the Games, focusing on various issues.

Pro-Palestinian activists are planning a demonstration during the arrival of the Olympic flame in Milan on Thursday, to protest Israel's participation in the Games due to the war in Gaza.

Other events are likely to coincide with Friday's opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro stadium, while a march is planned in the city on Saturday.

Critics of the Winter Games complain about the impact of infrastructure -- from new buildings to transport -- on fragile mountain environments, as well as the widespread and energy-intensive use of artificial snow.


Germany Rejects Calls for World Cup Boycott

Soccer Football - World Cup Playoff Tournament and European Playoff draws - FIFA Headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland- November 20, 2025 The original FIFA World Cup trophy is kept on display during the draws REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Soccer Football - World Cup Playoff Tournament and European Playoff draws - FIFA Headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland- November 20, 2025 The original FIFA World Cup trophy is kept on display during the draws REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
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Germany Rejects Calls for World Cup Boycott

Soccer Football - World Cup Playoff Tournament and European Playoff draws - FIFA Headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland- November 20, 2025 The original FIFA World Cup trophy is kept on display during the draws REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Soccer Football - World Cup Playoff Tournament and European Playoff draws - FIFA Headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland- November 20, 2025 The original FIFA World Cup trophy is kept on display during the draws REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Germany's government on Wednesday rejected calls for a boycott of the football World Cup co-hosted by the United States, after President Donald Trump retreated from his threats to seize Greenland.

A boycott of the tournament would not be "the right approach", government spokesman Steffen Meyer told a press conference in Berlin, AFP reported.

"Political disputes should be settled at the political level, and sport should be left to be sport."

This year's World Cup is to be held between June 11 and July 19 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Some German politicians had questioned whether the country should still participate after Trump last month stepped up his longstanding threats to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.

He targeted eight European countries, including Germany, with tariffs for their opposition to his ambitions.

But the US leader later withdrew his tariff threats and vowed not to take the Arctic island by force, after saying he had struck a "framework" deal with NATO chief Mark Rutte to ensure greater American influence.

At the height of the crisis, Berlin had avoided taking a clear stance on a boycott, saying only it was up to the country's football association to decide.

Germany's minister for sports, Christiane Schenderlein, also said Wednesday the government had decided that it did not support a boycott.

"Sport must not be exploited like this," she told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily.

 

 

 


Fenerbahce Thanks Erdogan for Backing Kante Deal

FILE - France's N'golo Kante fights for the ball against Ukraine's Yehor Nazaryna during a World Cup 2026 group D qualifying soccer match between France and Ukraine in Paris, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, file)
FILE - France's N'golo Kante fights for the ball against Ukraine's Yehor Nazaryna during a World Cup 2026 group D qualifying soccer match between France and Ukraine in Paris, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, file)
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Fenerbahce Thanks Erdogan for Backing Kante Deal

FILE - France's N'golo Kante fights for the ball against Ukraine's Yehor Nazaryna during a World Cup 2026 group D qualifying soccer match between France and Ukraine in Paris, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, file)
FILE - France's N'golo Kante fights for the ball against Ukraine's Yehor Nazaryna during a World Cup 2026 group D qualifying soccer match between France and Ukraine in Paris, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, file)

France midfielder Ngolo Kante has signed for Fenerbahce thanks to "support" from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish club said on Wednesday.

The length of Kante's contract has not been revealed but it offers the two-time Premier League winning midfielder (Leicester 2016, Chelsea 2017) a chance to further his claim for a place in France's World Cup finals squad.

"Our club has successfully completed the transfer of N'Golo Kante, a prominent figure in world football," Fenerbahce president Sadettin Saran said.

"On behalf of myself and our club, I would like to express my gratitude to our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his significant support in ensuring the positive conclusion of this process, which will contribute to the development of both Fenerbahce and Turkish football," he added.

Fenerbahce, 19 times Turkish champions, have also signed Kante's fellow France midfielder Matteo Guendouzi during the winter transfer window.

They are locked in a tight battle for the league title, three points off fellow-Istanbul side Galatasary, and face English outfit Nottingham Forest in the Europa League knockout phase play-offs later this month.