Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first active football player to reach billionaire status, with an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion, as reported by Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. Most of his fortune comes from career earnings that exceed $1.25 billion, including a $400 million tax-free contract extension with Al-Nassr signed in June 2025. He also earns over $100 million each year through sponsorships with major brands such as Nike and Armani. Even at age 40, Ronaldo remains a dominant force in football, having scored 900 career goals and still playing for Portugal’s national team—setting him apart from retired sports legends like…
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France’s Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned, hours after his cabinet was unveiled. The Elysée palace made the announcement after Lecornu met President Emmanuel Macron for an hour on Monday morning. The shock move comes only 26 days Lecornu was appointed prime minister following the collapse of the previous government of Francois Bayrou. Several parties in the National Assembly had fiercely criticised the composition of Lecornu’s cabinet, which was largely unchanged from Bayrou’s, and threatened to vote it down. – BBC News
Dame Sarah Mullally has been named as the new Archbishop of Canterbury designate – the first woman to be chosen for the role. A former NHS chief nurse, the 63-year-old became a priest in 2006 and was appointed as the first female Bishop of London in 2018 – the third most senior member of clergy in the Church of England. It is the first time in nearly 500 years of history that the Church nominated a woman to lead it. The Church has been without someone in the top job for almost a year after Justin Welby resigned over a…
China kicked off Wednesday a new visa programme aimed at attracting foreign talent in science and technology, part of ongoing efforts to position itself as a world leader in those sectors ahead of the United States. The Chinese measure, announced in August, stands in stark contrast to recent US policy, with the Trump administration suddenly introducing new and expensive changes to its own skilled worker visas last month. China’s new K visa significantly simplifies the immigration process for those eligible, according to state media. “Against the backdrop of some countries retracting, turning inward, and sidelining international talent, China has keenly…
Police in Madagascar have fired tear gas as hundreds of young protesters returned to the streets of the capital, despite the president agreeing to dissolve his government. The so-called Gen-Z protests have seen thousands demonstrate in cities across Madagascar since Thursday, demanding an end to repeated water and power cuts. President Andry Rajoelina sacked his government on Monday, but protesters responded to calls on social media for a fresh rally on Tuesday. A message on the protest movement’s Facebook page expressed disappointment with the president’s speech, calling for him to apologise and take responsibility after protesters were killed by the…
The University of Oxford says it has become the first UK institution of its kind to offer access to the education version of artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT to all of its students and staff. ChatGPT Edu, which has been specifically developed for educational use by OpenAI, will be made widely available to Oxford students following a successful trial over the past year. The rollout is part of an ongoing five-year partnership between the institution and OpenAI, which was announced in March. Prof Anne Trefethen, the university’s pro-vice-chancellor for digital, said the rollout marked an “exciting step in our ongoing…
Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera conceded defeat Wednesday in last week’s election, saying in an address to the nation that it was clear his rival Peter Mutharika had an “insurmountable lead”. The former pastor took power in 2020 elections when he defeated the then-president Mutharika, a constitutional law expert from the Democratic Progressive Party. “A few minutes ago, I called Professor Mutharika to wish him well,” Chakwera said just hours before the election authority was due to announce the final results of the September 16 election. Ahead of the announcement, “it was clear that my rival Peter Mutharika has an insurmountable…
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has appointed the world’s first AI-generated government minister to oversee public tenders, promising its artificial intelligence would make it “corruption-free”. Presenting his new cabinet at a meeting of his Socialist Party following a big May election victory, Rama introduced the new “member”, named “Diella” — “sun” in Albanian. “Diella is the first (government) member who is not physically present, but virtually created by artificial intelligence,” Rama said. Diella will be entrusted with all decisions on public tenders, making them “100-percent corruption-free and every public fund submitted to the tender procedure will be perfectly transparent”, he…
Ticket prices for next year’s FIFA World Cup will range from $60 for group-stage matches to $6,730 for the final, but could change as soccer’s top event adopts dynamic pricing for the first time. The prices are up from a range of $25 to $475 for the 1994 tournament in the United States, and from the US dollar equivalent $69 to $1,607 when ticket details were announced for the 2022 tournament in Qatar. “I think the message is ‘get your tickets early’, especially if you know where you will be, because you live in that city, or you’re a fan…
The Group of Seven (G7) leaders met for the first day of the two-day summit in Kananaskis in the province of Alberta, Canada, on Monday with emerging disagreements. According to CNN, US President Donald Trump does not intend to sign a joint statement calling for de-escalation between Israel and Iran. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa held a press conference Sunday night saying that Israel has a right to defend itself and that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer…
