- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
Footballer Sala felt pressure over transfer before plane death, inquest hears
Emiliano Sala felt under "a lot of pressure" to complete a transfer to the Premier League shortly before he died in a plane crash as he headed to his new club, an inquest heard on Tuesday.
The Argentina-born striker was joining Cardiff, then in the English top-flight, in a £15 million ($20 million) switch from French Ligue 1 side Nantes.
Dorset Coroner's Court, in southern England, heard that the 28-year-old was on board a private plane flying from Nantes to the Welsh capital on the evening of January 21, 2019 when it crashed in the English Channel, close to Guernsey.
Pilot David Ibbotson, 59, was also killed but his body has never been found.
On the first day of an inquest into the footballer's death, Sala's mother, Mercedes Taffarel, told the court in a written statement that her son was happy when he "eventually accepted the idea of a move".
"He felt it was the right time to move clubs and to another league," she said.
"It seemed to him that the Nantes management was also pushing his exit from the club because they were going through some financial problems."
- 'Intense weeks' -
She said the weeks leading up to his death, in December 2018 and January 2019, "seemed very intense".
"Cardiff put on a lot of pressure on him to complete the sale quickly but Nantes asked for more money and Emi felt in the middle of the dispute," Taffarel added.
"Emi was in some doubt to go ahead with the move. Finally, the sale was agreed, not because of his performances as a player at Nantes, which were very good, but because Nantes needed the money."
Taffarel said she spoke to her son regularly and, when she did not hear from him on the day of the flight, she assumed he had gone to bed early after arriving in Wales.
The following day she learned that the plane carrying her son was missing.
Eventually her family organised their own sea search and the plane was located with Sala's body inside.
She said: "No-one can bring Emi back to us, but we ask for justice so that Emi can rest in peace and give us a little bit of peace of mind knowing that we did everything we could so similar deaths are prevented in the future.
"Our pain will never go away and we carry it with us all the time. All we ask for is justice and we want no stone unturned to find out what happened."
David Henderson, the businessman who organised the flight that crashed in the Channel, was jailed in November for 18 months for flouting safety rules.
The inquest into Sala's death is due to last about five weeks.
S.Gregor--AMWN