Global Pulse

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  • Watch: Why is JD Vance going after Abdul El-Sayed?

    Watch: Why is JD Vance going after Abdul El-Sayed?

    A high-stakes verbal clash has erupted between U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate vying for an open U.S. Senate seat from Michigan, with tensions rapidly evolving into a deeply personal confrontation that has caught the attention of political observers across the country.

    What began as routine policy-driven political friction between the two figures has quickly spiraled beyond the bounds of typical campaign discourse, with both sides trading sharp, personal barbs that have elevated the conflict far beyond the usual back-and-forth of electoral politics. Political analysts note that this increasingly personal exchange signals just how competitive the Michigan Senate race is shaping up to be, with control of the U.S. Senate potentially hanging in the balance of the 2026 midterm elections.

    El-Sayed, a former Detroit health commissioner and prominent progressive voice within the Democratic Party, has emerged as a top contender for the party’s nomination, drawing national attention and fundraising support that has put his race on the radar of top Republican leadership, including Vance. For Vance, a rising star in the Republican Party who has positioned himself as a key surrogate for GOP policy and messaging, targeting El-Sayed is seen as an early effort to define the Democratic candidate before he can consolidate support among general election voters.

    As the conflict continues to unfold, political operatives on both sides have indicated that the personal tone of the exchange is unlikely to soften in the coming months, as both candidates work to mobilize their base supporters and frame the choice for Michigan voters ahead of the general election. Observers will be watching closely to see whether the clash expands beyond verbal exchanges to become a central issue in the Senate race, shaping voter perceptions of both candidates from now through election day.

  • Cup noodles made with cold water? BBC tries Japan’s viral snack

    Cup noodles made with cold water? BBC tries Japan’s viral snack

    Japan’s food innovation space never fails to surprise global food lovers, and the newest viral sensation turning heads across social media and international media circles is surprisingly simple: instant cup noodles prepared entirely with cold water. The BBC has stepped in to put this unconventional snack to the test, sending Tokyo-based correspondent Kurumi Mori to experience the trend first-hand for curious audiences worldwide.

    What began as a clever hack for situations where boiling water is unavailable has quickly grown into a full-blown viral trend among young Japanese consumers. Originally conceived as a convenient solution for outdoor activities, emergency situations, or sweltering summer days when heating water feels like too much effort, cold-water cup noodles have exploded in popularity across Japanese social media platforms, with thousands of users sharing their own preparations and reviews of the quick snack.

    Unlike traditional instant noodles that require hot water to soften the dried noodle blocks and activate the flavoring powders, manufacturers behind this trend have reformulated their noodle products to soften gradually in cold water in just a few minutes. Depending on the brand and variety, most cold-water compatible cup noodles are ready to eat between three and five minutes after adding cold tap water, delivering a chewy, textured noodle that many fans describe as surprisingly satisfying, especially on hot days when a cold meal is more appealing than a steaming bowl.

    Mori’s test for the BBC followed the standard preparation method: adding cold water to the cup, sealing it, waiting the required time, then stirring in the flavoring to serve. Early reactions from the correspondent note that while the flavor profile differs slightly from the classic hot preparation, the snack delivers on convenience and novelty, two key factors that have helped it spread rapidly across Japan’s food culture.

    Food industry analysts note that this viral trend reflects two growing shifts in Japanese consumer behavior: rising demand for quick, no-fuss meal solutions for busy lifestyles, and growing appetite for novel, shareable food experiences that perform well on social media. As the trend continues to gain traction internationally via online content, many wonder if cold-water instant noodles could soon become a popular snack in markets outside of Japan.

  • Guardians reliever Carlos Hernández discloses he was texting before crashing his car in Venezuela

    Guardians reliever Carlos Hernández discloses he was texting before crashing his car in Venezuela

    CLEVELAND — For Major League Baseball relief pitcher Carlos Hernández, a January car crash caused by distracted driving nearly ended his professional career before he could get back to the mound. Now, months after surviving the devastating wreck in Venezuela that left him with multiple life-altering injuries, the 29-year-old right-hander has earned a spot back on the Cleveland Guardians’ 40-man major league roster, closing out a grueling, unlikely journey back to the top tier of American professional baseball.

    In a candid interview with reporters from the Guardians’ dugout during team batting practice, Hernández opened up about the fateful crash that changed his perspective on life and safety forever. Speaking through an interpreter, he said he was texting behind the wheel on January 11 when he lost control of his vehicle on a road outside San Felix, in Venezuela’s eastern Bolívar state. He was traveling with two other passengers: his brother-in-law and a close friend, conflicting with earlier local reports that listed his cousin as a second passenger. All people in the car survived, though everyone sustained injuries, and all have since made full recoveries.

    “When I got in that accident, I was distracted by my phone, texting while I was driving,” Hernández said. “The injuries I got were extremely serious. I broke my right femur, fractured my left arm, sprained my ankle, and suffered a deep cut on my arm that went almost all the way to the bone. I was terrified in that moment, I thought my career was over for good.”

    Today, Hernández says his unlikely return to the majors is nothing short of a miracle. “I feel like being here right now is just a testament of God’s will,” he said. “There’s no ordinary way to explain what I’ve been through and how I got back to this point.”

    After months of intensive physical therapy and rehab work at the Guardians’ Triple-A affiliate in Columbus, Hernández showed enough progress to earn his spot back on the 40-man roster, announced by the team Tuesday. He previously appeared in five games with Cleveland toward the end of the 2024 season, before the crash took place that off-season. Over the course of his professional career, Hernández has spent most of his time with the Kansas City Royals, pitching for the team between 2020 and 2024, with short stints with the Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers before joining Cleveland last year.

    Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said the organization has supported Hernández through every step of his recovery, checking in on him and his family repeatedly in the months after the crash. “I spoke to him right after the accident happened, and then checked in a couple more times once he got to Arizona to start rehab,” Vogt said. “Our first priority was always making sure he and his loved ones were safe and healthy, because some things are so much bigger than baseball. It’s absolutely incredible that he’s back on the mound and returning to the big leagues. I know he and his family have every reason to be incredibly proud of this milestone.”

    For Hernández, his story is more than just a comeback story — it’s a warning to drivers everywhere. “I want what happened to me to serve as a reminder for everyone: never text and drive,” he emphasized. “Thankfully, everyone in my car survived this. But that doesn’t mean this mistake can’t have permanent consequences for you and the people you love. I hope my experience stops other people from making the same dangerous choice I made that day.”

  • Israel imposes curriculum on 45,000 Palestinian students in East Jerusalem

    Israel imposes curriculum on 45,000 Palestinian students in East Jerusalem

    A sweeping expansion of Israeli education policy in occupied East Jerusalem is forcing more than 45,000 Palestinian students — roughly 38% of all Palestinian students in the city — to study under the Israeli national curriculum, a sharp, accelerated increase from enrollment numbers in recent years. Starting this week, all new first-grade and seventh-grade classes within East Jerusalem’s Israeli-run state school system will transition to the Israeli curriculum, completing the latest phase of a policy Palestinian officials describe as an unprecedented threat to their national identity.

    This rapid expansion marks a major jump from just five years ago, when only 10,347 Palestinian students attended Israeli curriculum schools. That number climbed to 27,041 by the 2025-26 school year, and now crosses the 45,000 threshold as the policy is extended to all new entering cohorts at state-run institutions.

    Palestinian students in East Jerusalem currently attend one of four school systems: schools operated by the United Nations, independent private institutions, schools run by the Islamic Waqf endowment, and Israeli municipal schools, where the new curriculum rules are now being widely enforced. The trajectory of education policy in the region has shifted dramatically since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967: initially, the education system remained aligned with the West Bank, using a Jordanian-designed curriculum, which was replaced by a Palestinian Authority-developed curriculum in the 1990s. Today’s expansion of the Israeli curriculum represents the most significant change to that framework in decades.

    Maarouf al-Rifai, spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate, called the decision a dangerous escalation unmatched since the 1967 occupation. He framed the policy as a direct assault on the Palestinian national and cultural identity of Jerusalem residents, noting that the Israeli curriculum systematically marginalizes core elements of Palestinian history and collective narrative. Key topics such as the Nakba, the status of Palestinian political prisoners, and the centrality of Jerusalem to Palestinian identity are erased or sidelined from the curriculum, turning education into a battleground for collective memory, national consciousness, and cultural identity in the contested city.

    The curriculum expansion is not an isolated move, but part of a coordinated, systematic campaign targeting Palestinian education across East Jerusalem, Palestinian officials say. Additional restrictions have thrown the start of the new academic year into chaos for Palestinian private schools: Israel has blocked entry permits for roughly 70 West Bank-based teachers who work in East Jerusalem, and 40% of all teachers at the city’s Palestinian private schools — most of them Palestinian Christians — reside in the West Bank. In response, private schools have announced they will delay the 2026-27 academic year indefinitely until entry permits are renewed or reissued for all affected staff.

    Omar Rjoob, media director for the Jerusalem Governorate, explained to Middle East Eye that the crackdown on education ties into a broader Israeli strategy to solidify the annexation of East Jerusalem and sever the city from its geographic and cultural Palestinian roots. Long-standing barriers including Israeli military checkpoints and the separation barrier constructed in the early 2000s already cut Jerusalem off from the rest of the West Bank, forcing many Palestinian residents of Jerusalem to seek employment in the Israeli labor market and increasing pressure for expanded Hebrew language education over time.

    Recent policy changes have accelerated this shift: in January 2026, Israel’s parliament passed a ban barring the hiring of teachers who hold academic degrees from Palestinian Authority-affiliated universities within the Israeli education system. The rule has had an immediate, severe impact on Arabic-language education in East Jerusalem, where a large share of teaching staff graduated from Palestinian higher education institutions.

    Israeli authorities have also targeted United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools that serve Palestinian refugees, closing multiple campuses and seizing agency-owned educational complexes in the Shuafat and Kafr Aqab refugee camps. Israeli newspaper Haaretz confirmed that a large purpose-built UNRWA school in central Shuafat has been taken over by the Jerusalem municipality, which plans to repurpose the site to house 14 high school classes, a co-ed primary school, and five special education kindergartens.
    “This entire trajectory, with all its components, represents an attempt to re-engineer the educational landscape of occupied Jerusalem to serve the Israeli occupation’s policy goals,” Rjoob told Middle East Eye. He added that the weakening of Palestinian educational institutions, movement restrictions on teachers, and forced curriculum changes collectively threaten the Palestinian identity of young students in the city, transforming education into a tool for annexation, Judaisation, and the erasure of East Jerusalem’s inherent Arab-Palestinian character.

    The policy announcement comes as high-profile far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir prepares to launch a children’s book celebrating his political “activities and achievements” to be distributed to Israeli educational institutions. Titled *The Minister Who Didn’t Stop*, the book is scheduled to launch Tuesday, the first day of the Israeli school year, at a conference for Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power party.

  • Remarkable US oil deal puzzles analysts – and angers many Venezuelans

    Remarkable US oil deal puzzles analysts – and angers many Venezuelans

    In January, elite U.S. special operations forces entered Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s Caracas compound to oust him from power, and from that operation’s outset, U.S. President Donald Trump openly framed control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves as a core strategic goal of his administration. At the time, Trump stated that the U.S. would directly “run” Venezuela and oversee the sale of the country’s crude for the foreseeable future. Last Wednesday, that years-in-the-making plan came to fruition as officials signed a landmark oil agreement in Caracas that hands a U.S.-led consortium a 100-year concession to 17 Venezuelan oil fields holding a staggering 65 billion barrels of proven crude – equivalent to more than one-fifth of the South American nation’s total documented oil reserves.

    Both the Trump administration and Venezuela’s interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez have celebrated the pact as a mutually beneficial breakthrough. Trump has hailed it as “the biggest oil deal in world history,” while Rodríguez framed the agreement as a historic turning point that will bring $100 billion in foreign direct investment and generate more than $200 billion in tax revenue for Venezuela’s cash-strapped public coffers. But not all observers have shared that optimistic assessment, with sharp criticism emerging from across the ideological spectrum on both sides of the bilateral relationship.

    Elliott Abrams, Trump’s own former special representative for Venezuela and Iran, has emerged as one of the deal’s most high-profile critics. He called the agreement a terrible giveaway, arguing that Rodríguez has surrendered 20% of Venezuela’s national natural patrimony for no meaningful long-term benefit, and suggested she is merely acting to comply with demands issued by Washington. Details released in a White House fact sheet last Tuesday laid out the framework for the partnership, which pairs the U.S. government with North American Blue Energy Partners (Nabep), Venezuela’s second-largest private oil producer after U.S. energy giant Chevron. One particularly notable provision grants the U.S. government formal veto power over every appointment to Nabep’s board of directors, and requires that a majority of the consortium’s board members hold U.S. citizenship.

    For the Trump administration, the deal comes amid heightened tensions with major oil producer Iran that have pushed up global gasoline prices, and officials frame the pact as a strategic win that shifts global energy market dynamics. U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox Business that the agreement shifts the geopolitical center of global energy markets away from the so-called “choke points in the Middle East” and back to the Western Hemisphere. While Abrams acknowledged the strategic logic of partnering on Venezuelan oil production amid unstable Gulf supplies, he argued the one-sided terms of the deal amount to a “fever dream of what colonialism looks like.” The White House has gone even further in framing the pact’s strategic meaning, saying it formally re-establishes the Monroe Doctrine – the 19th-century principle that asserts U.S. geopolitical dominance over the Western Hemisphere – allowing Washington to “purge foreign malign influence from our backyard and ensuring American dominance in our hemisphere is never again questioned.”

    Despite the rosy framing from both governments, the deal faces significant practical and political hurdles that could derail its projected timelines and outcomes. Trump has claimed the agreement will generate profits within two to three years, but energy industry experts warn that decades of underinvestment and mismanagement have left Venezuela’s oil sector in such disrepair that a 10-year timeline is far more realistic. Luis Pacheco, an energy researcher at Rice University’s Baker Institute in Houston, told BBC Mundo that Venezuela requires roughly $100 billion in investment over eight years just to return to the oil production levels it achieved three decades ago. Beyond the upfront investment gap, Pacheco questioned the stewardship of the new revenue, asking whether the same officials who squandered Venezuela’s last major oil boom will be placed in charge of managing the new influx of capital.

    Political opposition to the deal runs deep across Venezuela’s ideological divide. Venezuela’s mainstream opposition argues the agreement deepens Trump’s ties to Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president before his ouster, and who they argue still leads the same authoritarian regime the U.S. once labeled a corrupt drug cartel. The Trump administration once surrounded Venezuela with the largest naval deployment the region has seen in modern history to pressure Maduro’s government, making the rapid pivot to partnering with his former top deputy particularly galling for opposition groups. While Nobel Peace Prize winner and leading opposition presidential candidate María Corina Machado has avoided public criticism of Trump – whose support she needs to pursue power – other opposition figures have been far more outspoken. Venezuelan economist Ricardo Hausmann accused the Trump administration in a social media post directed at Secretary of State Marco Rubio of choosing to ally with Venezuela’s oppressors rather than liberate the Venezuelan people, calling the deal an unconstitutional asset seizure struck with an illegitimate government that fails to prioritize restoring constitutional order and democratic rule. Opposition leaders also point to the lack of any clear timeline for free and fair elections in Venezuela as evidence of a broken promise.

    Criticism also comes from the Venezuelan left, where the ruling PSUV socialist party has officially backed Rodríguez, but many long-time party members view the deal as an unconditional surrender of national sovereignty. For nearly three decades, Venezuela’s socialist movement has opposed U.S. influence in the region, and many see the deal as gifting the country’s most valuable natural resource to Washington. Rafael Ramírez, who served as oil minister and head of state-owned PDVSA under iconic socialist leader Hugo Chávez, called the agreement a door opening to a new era of U.S. colonialism. The deal marks a striking reversal of the legacy Chávez built: in 2008, Chávez visited expropriated ExxonMobil oil fields in the Orinoco River Belt, where he declared defiantly that “We have the reins in our hands and we won’t ever let them go again,” denouncing previous U.S.-aligned governments for turning Venezuela into “a nation of gringos” and framing the expropriation as an end to decades of foreign theft of Venezuelan resources. Now, more than 15 years later, a successor that emerged from Chávez’s own Bolivarian movement has signed the sweeping concession with Washington and praised it as a victory for the Venezuelan people.

  • Watch: Astronauts set out on rare all-female spacewalk

    Watch: Astronauts set out on rare all-female spacewalk

    In a moment that marks another significant step forward for gender representation in space exploration, a duo of female astronauts has pulled off a rare all-female extravehicular activity (EVA), more commonly known as a spacewalk, outside the International Space Station (ISS). This achievement stands as only the sixth time in humanity’s history of space travel that an entire spacewalk has been carried out by an all-women team.

  • Venezuela’s main airport partially resumes commercial flights after deadly earthquakes

    Venezuela’s main airport partially resumes commercial flights after deadly earthquakes

    Nearly 10 weeks after two of the deadliest and strongest earthquakes to hit Venezuela in more than a century, the South American nation has taken a key step toward recovery by partially restarting commercial activity at its primary international gateway.

    On Tuesday, Simón Bolívar International Airport, located 20 kilometers north of the capital Caracas in the Maiquetía district of coastal La Guaira state, welcomed its first commercial passengers since the twin 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude tremors struck on June 24. The powerful quakes, which hit just 39 seconds apart along Venezuela’s heavily populated coastal mountain range, left more than 6,500 people dead and displaced roughly 17,900 who lost their homes. Severe structural damage forced an immediate full closure of the airport, destroying sections of its runways, damaging the air traffic control tower, and rendering main passenger and cargo terminals unsafe for use.

    To enable the phased restart while permanent structural repairs move forward, authorities constructed a 10,000-square-meter temporary passenger processing hub out of modular metal structures in the airport’s existing parking lot. The temporary facility is equipped with full passenger amenities, including check-in counters, climate-controlled waiting lounges, complimentary Wi-Fi access, on-site medical services, and public restrooms. Due to the modified layout, passengers will be shuttled between the temporary terminal and departing aircraft via ground bus transportation.

    According to official projections, the new temporary setup can accommodate up to 2,168 passengers per day in this initial operational phase. Transportation Minister Francisco Garcés told reporters on Tuesday that the government expects to restore 25% of the airport’s pre-earthquake flight volume in this first stage. Officials plan a gradual ramp-up of capacity over the coming months, targeting 40% of pre-disaster operations within a few months, and 60% by the end of 2024 or early 2025. Garcés confirmed that international safety oversight organizations completed required inspections and formally certified the airport’s readiness to resume commercial operations.

    The restart began with 11 weekly round-trip flights: seven domestic routes and four international services operated by Panama’s Copa Airlines and Spain’s Air Europa. Additional carriers, including Spain’s flag carrier Iberia, are set to add their services to the airport in the coming weeks. Prior to the Tuesday restart, all international flights bound for Venezuela were diverted to smaller regional airports in Carabobo state, 168 kilometers southwest of Caracas, and Anzoátegui state, 314 kilometers east of the capital, forcing passengers to endure hours of additional overland travel to reach the capital.

    The disaster hit La Guaira state, Venezuela’s second smallest by area, particularly hard. Most of the earthquake-related fatalities were recorded here, where 440,000 residents, most from low-income backgrounds, rely heavily on tourism, commercial activity, and jobs tied to the airport and the country’s second-largest port, both located within the state’s borders. The tremors also caused widespread damage across the capital Caracas and neighboring central-western states including Carabobo, Miranda, Aragua, and Yaracuy.

  • UK’s Burnham urged to address alleged UAE plot against British academic

    UK’s Burnham urged to address alleged UAE plot against British academic

    A London-based civil society leader is demanding answers from UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham over explosive allegations that the United Arab Emirates orchestrated a covert plot to assassinate him on British territory, following a months-long investigative journalism project that uncovered detailed evidence of the alleged operation.

    Last month, Britain’s ITV News published an investigation claiming the UAE committed millions of dollars to contracting a mercenary operative to target Anas Altikriti, chief executive officer of the Cordoba Foundation, a London-headquartered policy think tank focused on Middle East issues.

    The alleged plotter, Abraham Golan, a dual Hungarian-Israeli citizen who led the private security firm Spear Operations Group, traveled to the United Kingdom in December 2016 specifically to carry out surveillance on Altikriti, according to evidence gathered by ITV. The outlet obtained Emirati financial records confirming Golan, who resided in the United States, received regular payments from the UAE government during the period of the operation. These included a six-figure annual retainer plus large performance bonuses, with one $1 million payment processed just weeks before Golan’s 2016 London trip, originally tied to a separate operation in Yemen.

    ITV’s investigation, built from a trove of evidence including witness testimony, email correspondence, WhatsApp communications and financial documents, found Golan worked alongside a retired U.S. special forces operator to track Altikriti’s daily movements. Golan reached out to a British political strategist, identified by the investigation only as “Victor”, in November 2016, asking for access to networks connected to Altikriti and the Cordoba Foundation. Once in London, Golan initially offered Victor £50,000 (equivalent to $68,000 at current exchange rates) to help locate the think tank chief, later increasing the bribe to £100,000 ($136,000).

    Documents and witness accounts confirm Golan shared detailed surveillance intelligence with Victor, including photos of Altikriti’s personal residence and vehicle, custom maps with satellite imagery, and granular notes on his routine travel between home and work. During one planning meeting, Golan explicitly raised the possibility of killing Altikriti, the investigation found. When questioned about the outcome of the operation, Golan’s former special forces associate made a throat-slitting gesture to indicate assassination.

    Victor told ITV he grew increasingly alarmed by the scope and intent of the plot, ultimately cutting ties with the group once he confirmed the operation planned to end in Altikriti’s death. After the plot was uncovered, British police visited Altikriti at his London home twice to warn him his life was in imminent danger—but officers refused to share any details about the source or nature of the threat, leaving him without full context about the risk he faced.

    In a formal letter sent to Prime Minister Andy Burnham on August 21, Altikriti has laid out a series of urgent demands for transparency and action from the UK government. The activist is asking Burnham to explain how a foreign government could apparently plan an assassination on British streets without facing any diplomatic or legal consequences, and to clarify what protection the state can guarantee to individuals in his position when such threats emerge.

    Altikriti also pressed the government to release all information British intelligence and law enforcement agencies held about the 2016 plot, and to answer why he was not given full details about the threat at the time when the information would have been most critical. Addressing the UK government’s stated goal of deepening diplomatic and trade ties with the UAE, Altikriti questioned how this ambition can align with credible evidence of an Emirati assassination plot on UK soil, asking what new requirements of trust, transparency and accountability will now be applied to the bilateral relationship. He added that he is ready and willing to meet with Burnham or any relevant cabinet minister to discuss the matter in person.

    Per ITV’s reporting, Golan told the British strategist he was acting on direct orders from Abu Dhabi, which considers Altikriti and the Cordoba Foundation to be affiliated with groups labeled as terrorist organizations by the UAE government.

  • Camara’s £47.1m move from Monaco to Chelsea collapses

    Camara’s £47.1m move from Monaco to Chelsea collapses

    On a chaotic final day of the summer football transfer window, a blockbuster move for Senegalese midfielder Lamine Camara to Chelsea fell apart at the eleventh hour, leaving the Premier League club scrambling and angry after they had already cleared space for his arrival. The 22-year-old, who has earned 37 senior international caps for Senegal, had successfully passed a medical examination in France earlier on Tuesday evening, with all signs pointing to the deal wrapping up moments after the 11pm BST deadline. What was supposed to be a major deadline day coup for Chelsea instead devolved into a bitter dispute, after Monaco confirmed in writing that they would not complete the £47.1 million transfer.

    The collapse of the deal is deeply tied to the tangled web of another proposed transfer: Folarin Balogun’s expected move from Monaco to Everton. For weeks, Monaco had resisted two separate bids from Chelsea for Camara, as the Ligue 1 side prioritized offloading Balogun, their American international striker, to meet summer financial targets. It was only when Balogun’s transfer to Everton hit unexpected doubt that Monaco softened their stance on Camara, dropping their asking price to the £47 million figure Chelsea had agreed to.

    Confident the deal would cross the finish line, Chelsea had already moved forward with their own high-profile outgoing transfer: Enzo Fernandez’s British joint-record £125 million move to Manchester City, a sale structured to free up both budget and squad space for Camara’s arrival. But when Balogun’s transfer to Everton unexpectedly got back on track, sources close to the situation told BBC Sport that Monaco reversed their decision to let Camara leave, providing no clear explanation to Chelsea for the last-minute change of heart.

    In the lead-up to deadline day, Camara featured for Monaco in their 2-0 league win over Marseille on Sunday, while Balogun was omitted entirely from the match squad – a clear sign at the time that both players were expected to depart the club. BBC Sport has reached out to Monaco for official comment on the collapsed transfer, leaving the final outcome of both Camara’s future and Balogun’s stalled Everton move unclear as the transfer window closes for another window.

  • Ndiaye’s journey from non-league football to £65m Man City move

    Ndiaye’s journey from non-league football to £65m Man City move

    On the final day of the summer 2026 Premier League transfer window, 26-year-old Senegalese winger Iliman Ndiaye completed a blockbuster move from Everton to English giants Manchester City, in a deal worth an initial £60 million with a further £5 million in performance-based add-ons that could take the total fee to £65 million. The transfer caps an extraordinary underdog journey for Ndiaye, who made his professional debut just over six years ago competing in the seventh tier of English football. Ndiaye has signed a five-year contract with the reigning top-flight side, and opened up about his gratitude for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

    “I’ve worked my whole life for an opportunity like this,” Ndiaye said after the move was confirmed. “City are one of the best clubs in the world and I’ve seen them win everything as I’ve grown up. To be able to write my own chapter in a story that special is the chance of a lifetime and I’m determined to grab it with both hands.”

    The path to Etihad Stadium was anything but straightforward. Earlier in the summer, Ndiaye held private transfer talks with Saudi Pro League powerhouse Al-Hilal, and as recently as Friday night, London-based Tottenham Hotspur had reached a full transfer agreement with Everton for the winger, with a proposed swap deal that would have seen Brazilian attacker Richarlison move back to his former club Everton. However, sources close to the negotiation confirmed that Richarlison was unable to agree personal terms with Everton, collapsing the swap and leaving Ndiaye’s transfer to Tottenham dead in the water. That opened the door for Manchester City, who moved quickly to seal the deal on deadline day.

    Ndiaye’s arrival is City’s second major marquee signing of the day, coming just hours after the club confirmed they had agreed to pay a joint all-time British transfer record £125 million to sign Argentine World Cup-winning midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea. Ndiaye becomes the club’s eighth senior summer signing, joining Fernandez, Elliot Anderson, Geronimo Rulli, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Allan Elias, Jeremy Monga and Pierce Charles at Etihad Stadium.

    Looking back at Ndiaye’s rise to the top of English football, his journey is one of relentless persistence. As a 19-year-old based in London, Ndiaye was in the youth system of non-league side Boreham Wood, playing amateur Sunday league football when he earned a one-week trial with then-Premier League club Sheffield United. Two impressive trial matches were enough to convince the club to sign the raw young talent, but he would not make his first senior appearance for the Blades for another 18 months. Instead, he spent the second half of the 2019-20 season on loan at Hyde United in the Northern Premier League, six divisions below the Premier League, to gain match experience. It was there that he got his first taste of professional football, making six appearances, and often stayed behind on the training ground to work on his game even if it meant risking missing the last train back to Sheffield. “It’s not always been easy in my career,” Ndiaye reflected. “But I always had the belief that I could play for a team challenging for the biggest prizes and now I’m here.”

    After returning to Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane ground, Ndiaye made his Premier League debut in March 2021 against Leicester City, but it would take another three and a half years for him to secure a regular place in the top flight after Sheffield United suffered relegation to the Championship. Over two seasons in England’s second tier, Ndiaye emerged as the Blades’ leading attacking threat, scoring 14 goals in 43 starts to spearhead the club’s return to the Premier League in 2023. However, that summer he was sold to French side Marseille.

    After a difficult, inconsistent season in Ligue 1, Ndiaye moved back to the Premier League, joining Everton for an initial fee of £16 million in July 2024. He quickly became a fan favourite on Merseyside, earning the affectionate nickname “Skiliman” for his dazzling ball work, and notched 15 goals and four assists across 67 Premier League appearances for the Toffees ahead of this summer’s exit. As part of the Ndiaye deal to City, Manchester City playmaker Jack Grealish has joined Everton on a season-long loan, replacing Ndiaye at Goodison Park.

    In an era of ballooning Premier League transfer valuations, the £65 million price tag for Ndiaye has sparked debate over whether the fee represents good value for Manchester City. On one hand, Ndiaye’s raw attacking skill is undeniable: he is lightning quick, notoriously difficult to defend against on the dribble, and his 73 completed dribbles for Everton last season accounted for nearly 30% of the club’s total completed dribbles, the highest share of any player in the entire Premier League. Everton fans have argued that the club sold Ndiaye for less than his market value, pointing to recent comparable deals such as City’s sale of winger Savio to Tottenham for an initial £75 million earlier this summer as evidence they could have demanded more.

    On the other hand, the deal hands Everton a massive profit on their initial investment: the club is set to earn four times the £16 million they paid Marseille for Ndiaye just two years ago. Critics of the fee point out that Ndiaye’s underlying attacking numbers are not yet elite by top club standards. Last season, he only ranked joint third for goal contributions among Everton players with nine, behind Beto (10) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (12). His creativity also lags behind other top wide players: he created 36 chances all season, good for fourth at Everton, 26 fewer than Toffees midfielder James Garner and eight fewer than Grealish, who missed half the season through injury. Across the entire Premier League, 45 players have recorded more goal contributions than Ndiaye’s 19 since he joined Everton two years ago.

    Most analysts agree that Ndiaye has the raw talent to thrive in Pep Guardiola (Enzo Maresca)’s attack-focused system at City, surrounded by a higher calibre of teammates than he played with at Everton. Even with the large upfront fee, most agree that the £65 million price tag is far from an unreasonable gamble for a club with City’s resources, given Ndiaye’s proven ability to improve at every step of his extraordinary journey to the top.