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Germany’s Kroos retires from international football

AFP

Germany midfielder Toni Kroos said Friday he was retiring from international football, days after the team was knocked out of Euro 2020 by England.

“I have played 106 times for Germany. There will not be another time,” the 31-year-old Real Madrid star wrote on Twitter.

“I had already made the decision to retire after this tournament,” he added, referring to the European championships which ended for the Germans when they lost 2-0 to England in the last 16 on Tuesday at Wembley.

“It had been clear to me for a while that I will not be available for the World Cup 2022 in Qatar.”

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Kroos said he planned in the next years to place his “full concentration” on Real Madrid.

“I would also like to be there more as husband and father for my wife and children,” he wrote.

“Due to the (international) breaks that I will get in the future, I believe that I can recharge my battery better,” he added.

Thanking supporters and critics alike, Kroos also had special words for Joachim Loew, who bowed out as national coach on Tuesday following 15 years in the job.

“He made me a national team player and a world champion. He trusted me. We wrote a success story together.”

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Loew first picked Kroos for a friendly against Argentina in 2010. He went on to play a bit-part in that year’s World Cup campaign in South Africa when the Germans finished third.

Four years later he was a key component, playing every minute of every game and scoring twice in the 7-1 semi-final demolition of hosts Brazil, as Loew’s side lifted the World Cup trophy.

Kroos said he had considered retiring after Germany’s disastrous 2018 World Cup campaign in Russia, when they finished last in their group, but Loew talked him out of it.

“The trainer had to call more than once,” Kroos told German daily Bild, revealing that Loew’s replacement Hansi Flick had wanted Kroos to stay on after Euro 2020.

Kroos says he would have “loved” to have seen Germany go on to reach the Euro 2020 final and win “this one big title”.

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“It was a great honour for me to wear this jersey for such a long time. I did it with pride and passion,” he added.

There had been calls to drop Kroos during Euro 2020 after below-par performances in the group stages.

Yet the midfielder said the doubters only spurred him on, “thanks to all the critics for their extra motivation,” he wrote.

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Trump: ‘We Think It’s True’ Amid Claims Iran’s Supreme Leader Was Killed

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he believes multiple reports claiming the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the U.S. and Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic are likely true, though he stopped short of confirming the news.

“We have a feeling that the information is correct,” he said, according to NBC News. “I don’t want to say anything definitive until I see it, but we think that’s the case. And many of their leaders have disappeared,” he added.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “many indications” that Khamenei had died in an attack on his residential compound.

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Former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol Sentenced to Life for Insurrection

A South Korean court on Thursday sentenced former president Yoon Suk-yeol to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of leading an insurrection by declaring martial law in late 2024.

“The declaration of martial law resulted in enormous social costs, and it is difficult to find any indication that the defendant has shown remorse,” said Judge Ji Gwi-yeon of the Seoul Central District Court. “We sentence him to life in prison,” the judge stated.

Yoon declared martial law in a nationally televised address in December 2024, arguing that drastic measures were necessary to eliminate what he described as “anti-state forces.”

The 65-year-old conservative former leader was removed from office, arrested, and charged with multiple offenses, including insurrection and obstruction of justice.

Judge Ji noted that Yoon ordered military forces to the National Assembly in an attempt to silence political opponents.

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“The court determined that the intention was to paralyze the assembly for a considerable period of time,” the judge said.

Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was also sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the crisis.

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Eight Killed in Series of Armed Attacks in Ecuador’s Manabí Province

At least eight people were killed in four separate armed attacks reported Sunday night in the cities of Manta and Montecristi, in Ecuador’s coastal province of Manabí, one of the areas hardest hit by the country’s escalating wave of criminal violence, local media reported on Monday.

The shootings occurred between 7:50 p.m. and 10:50 p.m. local time and affected several neighborhoods, as well as a family gathering, according to press reports. Police are investigating the incidents.

The first attack took place in the Los Artesanos sector of Montecristi, where a couple was shot dead in a public street.

Minutes later, in Manta’s 12 de Octubre neighborhood, a man was killed while sitting down. Police arrested a suspect at the scene and seized a 9mm magazine, authorities said.

A third incident occurred in the Bellavista area of Manta, when an armed assailant entered a home and shot a man during a family celebration. The attacker was captured by neighbors and sustained injuries.

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The deadliest attack was reported at 10:50 p.m. in the Leonidas Proaño parish of Montecristi, where gunmen opened fire from two vehicles on a group of people, leaving four dead and five wounded.

According to Jaime Salgado, acting chief of the Manta Police District, officers recovered seven 7.62mm shell casings, consistent with rifle ammunition, and 14 .40-caliber casings at the scene.

With these killings, the Manta police district, a port and tourist area on Ecuador’s Pacific coast, has recorded 51 violent deaths so far in January 2026, according to official figures.

The attacks occurred amid a state of emergency declared by the government in December due to serious internal unrest in Manabí, where military operations have been intensified this month, particularly in high-conflict zones.