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Neymar in line to make PSG comeback against Real Madrid

AFP

Neymar could play his first game for Paris Saint-Germain since November when they face Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.

The French club revealed on the eve of the tie that former Real defender Sergio Ramos is the only player missing due to injury as he continues to struggle with a calf problem.

Neymar, meanwhile, has been back in training and could feature for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in a Ligue 1 game against Saint-Etienne on November 28.

“He is fine and he is full of confidence. Even if he hasn’t played a game he will give 100 percent if he does come on but the coach will decide if he is on the bench or if he plays,” said PSG captain Marquinhos.

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Paris coach Mauricio Pochettino is under pressure to deliver heading into the tie with an exit in the first knockout round of Europe’s elite club competition unthinkable for the club that signed Lionel Messi at the start of the season.

“Given the players involved this could have been the final,” pointed out Pochettino, whose side lost in the semi-finals last season to Manchester City.

The Qatar-owned club lost the 2020 final to Bayern Munich but before that had gone out in the last 16 in three straight seasons.

“PSG have been trying to win this trophy for 50 years so we are the challengers,” said Pochettino, whose team have struggled to convince this season despite sitting 13 points clear at the top of Ligue 1.

“The team we are coming up against are the ones who are used to winning the Champions League.”

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Pochettino said that neither Idrissa Gana Gueye nor Abdou Diallo would be considered to start the game at the Parc des Princes having returned last week from winning the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.

PSG are hoping for a big performance from Messi, who has scored five of his seven goals so far this season in the Champions League.

He holds the record for most goals scored in the ‘Clasico’ having netted 26 times against Real Madrid while at Barcelona.

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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.