The surprise attendance of pop superstar Taylor Swift at Sunday's Kansas City Chiefs game also brought an unexpected surge in sales of Chiefs' tight end Travis Kelce's jersey, according to sports retailer Fanatics.

Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney announced Wednesday that he will not run for reelection to the Senate and called for a "new generation of leaders" as he criticized both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti expects both Jude Bellingham & Vinicius Junior to be fit to face Atletico Madrid.

Mildred stated in her confessional, 'Ever since I met Aussie's friend, Mo, I notice a different person in Aussie'

Former President Donald Trump's legal team has proposed more lax rules than those sought by prosecutors over what he can do with evidence he is provided in the criminal election interference case.

After nearly three weeks of appealing to the United States and other allies for help restoring Niger’s president to power, friends and supporters of the democratically elected leader are making a simpler plea: Save his life. President Mohamed Bazoum, leader of the last remaining Western-allied democracy across a vast stretch of Africa’s Sahara and Sahel, sits confined with his family in an unlit basement of his presidential compound, cut off from resupplies of food and from electricity and cooking gas by the junta that overthrew him, Niger's ambassador to the United States told The Associated Press. “They are killing him,” said the ambassador, Mamadou Kiari Liman-Tinguiri, a close associate who maintains daily calls with the detained leader. The two have been colleagues for three decades, since the now 63-year-old president was a young philosophy instructor, a teacher’s union leader, and a democracy advocate noted for his eloquence. “The plan of the head of the junta is to starve him to death," Liman-Tinguiri told the AP in one of his first interviews since mutinous troops allegedly cut off food deliveries to the president, his wife and his 20-year-old son almost a week ago. “This is inhuman, and the world should not tolerate that,” the ambassador said. “It cannot be tolerated in 2023.” Bazoum sits in the dark basement, the ambassador said. He answers the phone when a call comes in that he knows to be his friend or someone else he wants to speak to. The beleaguered president and his ambassador, whom junta members have declared out of a job, talk one or more times a day. Bazoum has not been seen out in public since July 26, when military vehicles blocked the gates to the presidential palace and security forces announced they were taking power. It is not possible to independently determine the president's circumstances. The United States, United Nations and others have expressed repeated concern for what they called Bazoum's deteriorating conditions in detention, and warned the junta they would hold it responsible for the well-being of Bazoum and his family. Separately, Human Rights Watch said Friday it had spoken directly to the detained president and to others in his circle, and received some similar accounts of mistreatment. However, an activist who supports Niger's new military rulers in its communications said the reports of the president's dire state were false. Insa Garba Saidou said he was in contact with some junta members but did not say how he had knowledge of the president's lot. “Bazoum was lucky he was not taken anywhere,” Saidou said. “He was left in his palace with his phone. Those who did that don’t intend to hurt Bazoum.” Niger's military coup and the plight of its ousted leader have drawn global attention — but not because that kind of turmoil is unusual for West Africa. Niger alone has had about a half-dozen military takeovers since independence in 1960. Niger leaders have suffered in coups before, most notably when a military-installed leader was shot down in 1999 by the same presidential guard unit that instigated the current coup. Niger's return to reflexive armed takeovers by disgruntled troops is reverberating in the U.S. and internationally for two key reasons. One is because Bazoum came to power in a rare democratic presidential election in the Africa's unstable Sahara and Sahel, in the only peaceful, democratic transfer of power that Niger has managed. The United States alone has invested close to $1 billion in Niger in recent years to support its democracy and deliver aid, in addition to building national forces capable of holding off north and west Africa's al-Qaida- and Islamic State-allied armed groups. The U.S.-backed counterterror presence is the second key reason that Niger's coup is resonating. Americans have a 1,100-strong security presence and have built bases in Niger's capital and far north into its main outposts to counter West Africa's armed jihadist groups. The Biden administration has yet to call what has happened in Niger a coup, citing laws that would obligate the U.S. to cut many of its military partnerships with the country. Niger's region is dominated by military or military-aligned governments and a growing number of them have entered security partnerships with Russia's Wagner mercenary groups. The soldiers who ousted Bazoum have announced a ruling structure but said little publicly about their plans. U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland met with Niger's junta members in the capital this week but called them unreceptive to her demands to restore Niger's democracy. “They were quite firm about how they want to proceed, and it is not in support of the constitution of Niger,” Nuland told reporters after. The junta also told Nuland that Bazoum would die if the regional ECOWAS security bloc intervened militarily to restore democracy, U.S. officials told the AP. Late this week, the ambassador shrugged that threat off, saying the junta is already on track to kill Bazoum by trapping his family and him with little more than a shrinking supply of dried rice and no means to cook it. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken several times with the detained president and expressed concern for his and his family's safety. The U.S. says it has cut some aid to the government and paused military cooperation. Blinken has expressed broad support for ECOWAS, whose diplomatic efforts have been spurned by the Niger junta and which has warned of military force as a last resort. Blinken said in a statement Friday he was “particularly dismayed” that Niger's mutinous soldiers had refused to release Bazoum's family as a goodwill gesture. He gave no details. While the junta adviser Saidou denied that the junta threatened to kill Bazoum if ECOWAS invaded, he said Bazoum's death would be inevitable if that happened. “Even if the high officers of the junta won’t touch Bazoum, if one gun is shot at one of Niger’s borders in order to reinstate Bazoum, I’m sure that there will be soldiers who will put an end to his life," he said. Bazoum told Human Rights Watch that family members and friends who brought food were being turned away, and that the junta had refused treatment for his young son, who has a heart condition. Bazoum and his undetained allies want regional partners, the U.S. and others to intervene. With Bazoum vulnerable in captivity, neither he nor the ambassadors specify what they want the U.S. and other allies to do. Bazoum is a member of Niger's tiny minority of nomadic Arabs, in a country of varying cultures rich in tradition. Despite his political career, Bazoum has retained his people's devotion to livestock, keeping camels that he dotes on, Liman-Tinguiri said. For all his deprivations, the ambassador said, Bazoum remains in good spirits. “He is a man who is mentally very strong,” he said. “He’s a man of faith.” ___ Associated Press writer Sam Mednick contributed from Niamey, Niger. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Developers have Black families fighting to maintain property and history Rising political threats take US into uncharted territory as 2024 election looms A mudslide kills at least 2 in China while rain from Khanun cancels some trains in the northeast

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 25, 2023--

Michael Beale was left frustrated by his “wasteful” Rangers side in their narrow 2-1 win over 10-man Servette in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round at Ibrox. Skipper James Tavernier scored a penalty in the sixth minute before striker Cyriel Dessers knocked in a second eight minutes later with his first Gers goal. Sam Lammers missed a great chance to make it 3-0 and, just before the break, Servette attacker Chris Bedia reduced the deficit from the spot after the VAR intervened to flag up a Dessers handball. Servette were reduced to 10 men in the 59th minute after David Douline was sent off for picking up the second of two yellow cards for a foul on Todd Cantwell. But the visitors defended resolutely and will fancy their chances of turning the tie around in Switzerland next Tuesday night. Beale said: “We started really well and I thought the energy from the team was really good in and out of possession. “The desire shown by Nico and Todd before the first goal to go chase a couple of lost causes down was fantastic. “I felt Borna Barisic had a good night and put some great crosses in. “Playing with the two nine’s gives you that opportunity that we got when Danilo went across the first post and Cyriel scores. “At that moment we were in a great place. But after that I thought we were wasteful. “Then comes the VAR decision for the penalty. I thought it was harsh but that’s the ruling. “The second half, their keeper made a fantastic save from Sam and Cyriel and we had other moments again where we were wasteful on a night when we played well in my opinion for a long period of time. “What it does is keep our wits about us. We know it will be difficult going to Geneva. It’s going to be a full house and we’ll see a different game like we always do in Europe. “I’ll never knock a win in European competition because I know they’re so difficult to come by. “But as a team, we do a lot of good things and create enormous opportunities and we have to be more decisive. “I’ll give our forwards [a break] at the moment because they’re new coming into the club and it’s early in the season. “But if we keep creating chances like that then we have to take them if we’re to put teams away.” Beale believes there is still more to come from his revamped squad. He said: “We are not using it as an excuse but 13 players left and nine came in. “Danilo has trained with his team-mates for four days and has had a pre-season which was all over the shop at Feyenoord. “We are not the sum of our parts right now but I thought we had more forward running and more energy. “I thought the front three were exciting and they will get better with each game.” Servette boss Rene Weiler is relishing the return game. He said: “The result leaves the door open for the second leg next week. “It was a tough start for us when we went 2-0 down and they played at a high level but we got a bit of luck with the penalty. “But overall the first half was balanced. We tried to attack but when we got a red card it was tough but it leaves us with the possibility for next week.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live James Trafford tipped to star for Burnley by Joleon Lescott Premier League looking into ‘historic’ financial issues at Chelsea Premier League may have to scrap mid-season break due to demands of calendar

Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last dollar.

Australia will look to advance to the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup as they host Denmark at a sold-out Olympic Stadium in Sydney. The World Cup co-hosts survived a “do or die” clash with Canada to progress to the knockout stages in style, thrashing the Olympic champions 4-0 to finish top of Group B. The Matildas could be boosted by the return of star striker and captain Sam Kerr, who missed all three group games due to injury but could be back for the knockout stages. Denmark are led by Kerr’s former Chelsea team-mate Pernille Harder and reached the last-16 after finishing runner-up to England in Group B. The early exits of Germany, the USA and Brazil have opened up the World Cup and now Australia and Denmark have an opportunity to make a claim. Follow live updates from Australia vs Denmark in the Women’s World Cup last-16, below. Read More Women’s World Cup TV schedule: How to watch every match today Women’s World Cup golden boot: Who’s leading the top-scorer standings? Women’s football world rankings: Who could take No 1 at the World Cup?

India’s biggest multiplex operator PVR INOX Ltd. swung to its highest ever quarterly profit as people thronged to

Strong winds are bringing a wildfire north of Athens closer to the Greek capital, destroying homes and threatening