Manchester United's late swoop for Nigerian international striker Odion Ighalo was the most striking move of a quiet transfer deadline day for Premier League clubs on Friday.
United looked set to miss out on cover for the injured Marcus Rashford when interest in Josh King was rebuffed by Bournemouth, but Ighalo, 30, will join on loan for the rest of the season from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua.
The Red Devils were also responsible for the biggest move of the window with the signing of Portuguese international midfielder Bruno Fernandes for an initial 55 million euros (?47 million, $61 million) that could rise to 80 million euros in add-ons.
However, deals were difficult to do for even some of the world's richest clubs as Chelsea and Tottenham were frustrated in their search for a striker.
Total spending for the month by English clubs was marginally up from last season's ?180 million ($234 million), but well short of the record ?430-million outlay in 2018.
The mid-season window is ...

Ighalo makes shock move to Man Utd in climax to quiet January window

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Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Friday that it would be unfair to compare new signing Bruno Fernandes to Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 25-year-old followed the path first made famous by five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo in 2003 when he joined United from Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon on Thursday.
Solskjaer said that Fernandes would play a part in Saturday's game against Wolves at Old Trafford, but warned against comparing him to his illustrious compatriot.
"Cristiano is unique so to compare the boy to him is not fair. Obviously we hope Bruno is going to come and have a fantastic career at Manchester United," he said.
"He is another piece in the jigsaw and I am sure he is going to give us that X-factor that we have been missing at times this season."
Fernandes said after signing that his "love of Manchester United" started while watching Ronaldo play for the club.
United were finally able to land Fernandes after chasing him for several months and Solskjaer says ..

Solskjaer says comparing Fernandes to Ronaldo unfair

African countries are scrambling to avert an outbreak of the rapidly spreading coronavirus strain, as health officials warn that the poorest countries are ill-equipped to combat the deadly disease.
Across the continent, governments have stationed nurses at airports to check for feverish passengers and have suspended Chinese entry visas, while ordinary people grow increasingly nervous.
There have been no verified infections in Africa to date, but deep trade links with China and often overstretched healthcare systems are raising concerns about the capacity to respond to an outbreak.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared a global emergency as coronavirus infections spread, after initially downplaying the threat.
"Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International ...

Africa mobilises against coronavirus as fears mount

Britain's partisan papers met Brexit with the same unbridled joy and tearful anguish that was felt across the streets and pubs of Britain on Friday night.
"Rise and shine... it's a glorious new Britain," the right-wing Daily Express tabloid proclaimed on the day the divided country's 47-year stay in the European Union came to an end after three delays.
"Muscles without Brussels," declared The Sun, a tabloid that campaigned tirelessly for Brexit in the 2016 EU membership referendum, above a video of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit Day address.
"It will be a bumpy road," London's Standard newspaper countered over an image of the same Johnson video message.
Britain's main television channels tried to reflect the historic nature of a night delayed by years of political wrangling and indecision.
"Farewell, au revoir, auf wiedersehen," Sky News wrote in a breaking news alert.
The BBC, a publically-financed broadcaster that came under fire from from Brexit critics and supporters alike .

'Optimism and regret': UK papers rejoice, mourn Brexit Day

In the Israeli Arab town of Umm al-Fahm residents are scared and angry over US President Donald Trump's peace plan which sees them as part of a future Palestinian state.
At the same time, the "deal of the century" would give the Jewish state a green light to annex chunks of territory in the occupied West Bank, where more than 400,000 Israelis live in settlements deemed illegal under international law.
In Umm al-Fahm, a hilltop town of over 50,000 people in  northern Israel, locals are aghast at a clause on page 13 of the 181-page plan, which would barter their Israeli citizenship for the interests of the settlers.
As part of an "exchange" of territory, the Trump deal, entitled Peace To Prosperity, could transfer control of the Arab "triangle" --  a cluster of 14 towns and villages where more than 260,000 Israeli Arabs live -- from Israel to a mooted Palestinian state.
"The Vision contemplates the possibility, subject to agreement of the parties that the borders of Israel will be ...

Israeli Arabs fear for their future under Trump peace plan

The death toll from China's new coronavirus outbreak has risen to 259 and the tally of confirmed infections has surged to nearly 12,000, the government said on Saturday.
The National Health Commission said in its daily update that 46 more people had succumbed to the respiratory disease.
All but one of the new deaths came in hardest-hit Hubei province, the epicentre of an outbreak that has spread around the world.
The virus emerged in December in Hubei's provincial capital Wuhan, and has been traced to a meat market that sold wild game.
The number of infections in China also rose, by 2,102, bringing the nationwide total to 11,791.
That's despite unprecedented quarantine measures imposed last week on millions of people in Hubei and aggressive preventive steps elsewhere in the country.
The number of new deaths and newly confirmed cases have both spiralled higher on a daily basis since China sounded the nationwide alarm a week ago.
The epidemic has spread far and wide as huge numbers of ..

China virus death toll rises to 259, infections surge

The US Senate narrowly rejected subpoenaing new witnesses and documents for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on Friday, opening the way for a final vote expected to clear the US leader of abuse of power.
The Senate voted 51-49 along party lines to turn back Democrat efforts to call former White House national security advisor John Bolton and other Trump aides to testify.
Two Republicans, Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, crossed party lines to vote for witnesses, but it was not enough to win approval for the measure.

Senate rejects calling new witnesses in Trump trial

Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised a "new era of friendly cooperation" with the European Union on Friday as Britain prepared to leave the bloc after almost five decades.
In a public address broadcast one hour before Brexit, Johnson acknowledged there may be "bumps in the road" ahead but promised the departure was an opportunity for "stunning success".
"The most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end but a beginning," he said in a pre-recorded statement from Downing Street.
Britain remains as split over Brexit as it was in the 2016 referendum. But after more than three years of wrangling, it leaves the EU at 11:00 pm (2300 GMT).
"For many people this is an astonishing moment of hope, a moment they thought would never come," Johnson said.
"And there are many of course who feel a sense of anxiety and loss.
"And then there's a third group, perhaps the biggest, who had started to worry that the whole political wrangle would never come to an end.
"I understand all ...

Brexit heralds new beginning, new ties with EU: Johnson

Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised a "new era of friendly cooperation" with the European Union on Friday as Britain prepared to leave the bloc after almost five decades.
In a public address broadcast one hour before Brexit, Johnson promised the departure was an opportunity for "stunning success", adding: "The most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end but a beginning.

Brexit heralds 'new era of friendly cooperation' with EU: UK

The US said Friday it was declaring a public health emergency and temporarily banning the entry of foreign nationals who had travelled to China over the past two weeks to contain the spread of a deadly new virus.
"Foreign nationals, other than immediate family of US citizens and permanent residents who have travelled in China within the last 14 days will be denied entry into the United States for this time," said Alex Azar, secretary of the Health and Human Services department.
The order takes effect on February 2 from 5:00 pm eastern time (2200 GMT).
In addition, any US citizen returning from Hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak, will be subject to a 14-day mandatory quarantine in a facility.
"Any US citizen returning to the United States who has been in the rest of mainland China within the previous 14 days will undergo proactive entry health screening at a select number of ports of entry and up to 14 days of monitored self quarantine," at home, added Azar.

Coronavirus: US bans entry to foreign nationals who travelled to China

No manufacturer will have a coronavirus vaccine ready for use before the middle of 2020, despite an intensive global effort, a biotech executive told AFP on Friday.
Stephane Bancel is chief executive of Moderna Therapeutics, one of several entities involved in an all-out international effort to create a vaccine as soon as possible for the deadly SARS-like virus, also known as nCoV-2019, that has already killed more than 200 people.
Moderna is working in coordination with the US National Institutes of Health, while Inovio Pharmaceuticals and the University of Queensland in Australia are pursuing alternative tracks.
They have all received funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), an international body established to finance costly biotechnology research.
But Bancel warned that "no manufacturer will be able to have a vaccine ready for the summer".
In a French-language interview with AFP, Bancel also described the technology Moderna was using in its ...

Coronavirus vaccine will take months: biotech exec

European officials removed the British flag outside the European Parliament buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg on Friday and took it down from the European Council.
The flags were removed from the main institutions of the bloc four hours ahead of Britain's midnight departure, symbolising its withdrawal from the European Union.
The blue and gold EU flag was raised in place of the British one, alongside those of the 27 remaining member states, 47 years after the UK first joined the union.

EU lowers UK flags outside parliament

More than 75,000 people -- ten times the official tally of confirmed cases -- have been infected with the coronavirus in Wuhan, ground zero of a global health emergency, according to research published Friday.
"We estimate that 75,815 individuals have been infected in Wuhan as of January 25, 2020," a team led by Gabriel Leung from the University of Hong Kong reported in The Lancet.
As of January 31, the Chinese government said the number of confirmed cases had risen above 9,700 for all of China, including 213 deaths.
For Hubei Province -- including Wuhan, a city in central China of 11 million -- the official figure was nearly 6,000 confirmed cases and just over 200 deaths.
The World Health Organization on Thursday declared the outbreak a global health emergency, but said it was not recommending any international trade or travel restrictions.
"The apparent discrepancy between our modelled estimates of 2019-nCoV infections and the actual number of confirmed cases in Wuhan could be due ..

75,000 in Wuhan infected with coronavirus: study estimates

Countries expanded restrictions on travellers from China over a deadly virus epidemic Friday as an official admitted that a botched response worsened an outbreak that has grown into a global health emergency.
At least 213 people have died and nearly 10,000 people have been infected in China by the new coronavirus, while new cases were found abroad with more than 20 countries now affected by the disease.
The top Communist Party official in Wuhan, the central city of 11 million people where the virus first emerged in December, said Friday he felt "remorse" because local authorities had acted too slowly.
Last week, China's central government finally jumped into action, effectively sealing off Wuhan and its surrounding Hubei province, and curbing travel across the nation of 1.4 billion people.
But the epidemic has spread far and wide as Chinese people travelled across the country and abroad over the Lunar New Year holiday that started last week.
The World Health Organization on Thursday ..

Countries tighten China travel curbs as official admits mishandling virus

USA Gymnastics has offered $215 million (194 million euros) to victims of sexual abuse by former national team doctor Larry Nassar to settle legal claims, a plan the attorney for more than 200 women called "unconscionable."
The offer was unveiled Thursday in a 76-page reorganization plan filed by the US sport governing body with the US bankruptcy court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Olympic gymnasts are among more than 300 people who have sued USA Gymnastics for failure to properly safeguard them from Nassar, who in 2018 was sentenced to 40-125 years in prison for abusing female gymnasts while supposedly treating them.
USA Gymnastics, which hopes to escape bankruptcy protection before the July start of the Tokyo Olympics, says women abused by Nassar can vote as a group to accept $215 million to settle all claims or continue to pursue lawsuits and collect judgments from the organization's insurance policies -- with the option preferred collectively applying to all with abuse ...

USA Gymnastics offers Nassar victims $215 mil to settle claims

As Britain starts life outside the European Union, pro-EU diehards could at least claim a tiny consolation victory on Friday in the weekly pop charts.
Having fought a titanic political contest for three years over Brexit, Britain's "Leavers" and "Remainers" did battle in the singles charts, trying to get rival songs to number one.
While both sides fell well short, Remainers managed to get the EU's anthem "Ode to Joy" to number 30 -- and it was the most downloaded track of the week.
The piece from German composer Ludwig van Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" was performed by the Johann Strauss Orchestra, led by Dutch conductor Andre Rieu.
That trumped comedian Dominic Frisby's profane rival tune "17 Million Fuck-Offs" backed by Brexiteers, which made it to number 43, the UK Official Charts Company said.
The novelty pro-Brexit song takes aim at the Brussels and London establishments as well as pro-EU celebrities.
Overall, Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi topped the charts with "Before 

Bitter sweet symphony: EU anthem tops UK download chart

Britain's EU departure on Friday marks a "sea change" for the bloc, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said.
"It is clearly a sea change for Europe because the UK was an important member of the EU for 47 years -- nearly half a century," said Steffen Seibert said at a government press conference.
Berlin hopes Britain will continue to be a "close partner and friend", Seibert added.
"We regret (Brexit), and we think the majority of the German population feel the same, but we respect the decision made by the British people."
In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this month, Merkel said Brexit was a "wake-up call" for the EU.
"That means that we will work even more intensively on being strong and innovative," said Seibert.
"European integration has brought Europe peace and prosperity... We and the other 26 remaining member states are determined to continue this success story."
Britain is due to officially leave the European Union at 2300 GMT -- midnight in Brussels and 

Brexit is a 'sea change' for Europe: Merkel spokesman

Beijing on Friday sharply criticised the United States for warning American citizens to avoid China and for urging those already there to leave due to the coronavirus health emergency.
"Certain US officials' words and actions are neither factual nor appropriate," China's foreign affairs ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said in a statement.
"Just as the WHO recommended against travel restrictions, the US rushed to go in the opposite way. Certainly not a gesture of goodwill.

China slams US for travel warning over virus: statement

The United States on Friday named a special envoy to seek progress in the crisis in South Sudan, whose rival leaders have repeatedly missed deadlines to end their devastating conflict.
The State Department said that Stuart Symington, a retired ambassador with long experience in Africa, "will lead US efforts to support the peace process and a successful political transition in South Sudan."
The United States has been a major supporter of the impoverished, majority-Christian nation that won independence from Sudan in 2011, contributing around USD 1 billion a year in food and other humanitarian aid.
A fallout soon after independence between President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar has triggered brutal violence that has left almost 400,000 people dead and displaced four million more.
African mediators have twice given the two leaders extensions in an agreement to form a unity government, with the latest deadline looming in mid-February.
The United States has voiced anger at the ..

US appoints special envoy for S Sudan crisis

A French citizen evacuated by plane with 179 others from the Chinese city of Wuhan has been hospitalised with coronavirus symptoms, Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said Friday.
On landing at a military base near the southern port city of Marseille, "the person was directly transferred to Timone hospital and will obviously be tested," said the minister, who met the passengers on arrival.
The plane was the first sent by France to evacuate French nationals from Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The remaining passengers were taken to a seaside holiday camp, where they will be kept in quarantine for two weeks.
Announcing the flight on Wednesday, Buzyn had said that it would be reserved for people "who show no symptoms" of the virus that has killed 213 people and infected nearly 10,000 in mainland China, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global emergency.
She had said that "if people have symptoms or are sick... they will be repatriated on specific ...

French citizen evacuated from China hospitalised with coronavirus symptoms

Airbus is set to pay a massive 3.6 billion euros (USD 4 billion) in fines to Britain, France and the US to settle corruption inquiries sparked by suspicious equipment sales, according to a deal approved by a French court Friday.
Airbus will pay 2.1 billion euros in to French authorities, as well as 984 million euros in Britain and 526 million euros in the US.
The European aerospace giant said this week that it had already set aside the money, while awaiting court approval of the deal.
"These agreements are made in the context of investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption, as well as compliance with the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations," Airbus said on Tuesday.
Similar court hearings to approve the deal are expected in London and Washington later on Friday.
The fines are expected to weigh heavily on the company's 2019 earnings, set to be released on February 13.
But the settlement allows Airbus to avoid costly litigation over suspected corruption that emerged 

AFP

AFP

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