THE JFT EDIT

Cardiff City are targeting a deal for Monaco defender Almamy Toure ahead of the 31 January transfer deadline.

Toure, 22, could be made available for a switch to the Premier League club with the right-back having struggled for game time in Ligue 1 this season.

The Monaco youth product, from Mali, was part of the side that won the French title in 2017 and has been reportedly valued at £8m.

Cardiff manager Neil Warnock has been keen on adding full-back options.

The Bluebirds boss missed out on Liverpool’s Nathaniel Clyne and a move for Nice midfielder Adrien Tameze also fell through during this window.

But after watching his side lose at Arsenal, Warnock said he was concentrating on defensive options before January business closes on Thursday.

Warnock has ruled out moving for a striker in the wake of Emiliano Sala’s disappearance.

The Argentine forward became the club’s record signing after a £15m agreement with Nantes before the plane he was travelling in with pilot David Ibbotson disappeared over the English Channel on Monday, 21 January.

SC:BBC

Hollywood stars are showing their support for Jussie Smollett after he was attacked.

Police in the US say they’re investigating it as a suspected homophobic and racist attack after “two unknown offenders approached him and gained his attention by yelling out racial and homophobic slurs”.

The Empire actor needed hospital treatment after the men punched him in the face, poured a chemical substance on him and tied a rope around his neck.

Oscar winner Viola Davis and supermodel Naomi Campbell are among those sharing their support.

Naomi Campbell, who starred in the first two seasons of the musical show about a hip-hop mogul whose sons and ex-wife fight over his business, said that one of the most beautiful things to happen to her when working on Empire was meeting Jussie Smollett.

Some media reports say that the actor had bleach poured on him but that’s not been confirmed yet.

According to the American website TMZ, Jussie has now been discharged from hospital.

SC:BBC

North Korea is unlikely to fully give up its nuclear weapons, a US intelligence report says, despite the hopes of the Trump administration.

North Korea is unlikely to fully give up its nuclear weapons, a US intelligence report says, despite the hopes of the Trump administration.

The Worldwide Threat Assessment report also says Iran is not making nuclear weapons, but that cyber threats from China and Russia are a growing concern.

Both countries may be seeking to influence the 2020 election, it says.

National intelligence director Dan Coats and other intelligence chiefs presented it the Senate on Tuesday.

North Korea remains “unlikely to give up” its weapon stockpiles and production abilities while it tries to negotiate “partial denuclearization steps to obtain key US and international concessions”, the report says.

Having nuclear weapons is seen as “critical to regime survival”, it reads.

• North Korea’s breakdown of communication
• Kim Jong-un, the king of Pyongyang

President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un met in Singapore last June to discuss denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

They signed an agreement pledging to “work toward complete denuclearisation” but there was no agreed pathway and little progress has been made since then on the issue.

• Did Trump and Kim really achieve anything in Singapore?
• When Trump met Kim: What happened next?

North Korea has always insisted it will not unilaterally give up its nuclear arsenal unless the US removes its own nuclear threat.

The White House has said they will meet for a second time in February, but no date or location has yet been confirmed.

The new US report highlights a growing threat from China and Russia, which are “more aligned than at any point since the mid-1950s”.

Both countries have sophisticated “cyber espionage” capabilities, which they may try to use to influence the 2020 US presidential election.

The report also says Iran is not currently making nuclear weapons, although it says the country’s “regional ambitions and improved military capabilities” will probably threaten US interests in the future.

• Trump re-imposes Iran sanctions: Now what?
• Iran nuclear deal: Key details

President Trump withdrew the US in 2018 from a landmark deal on curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and has imposed stricter sanctions to try to thwart its actions.

At the Senate hearing CIA director Gina Haspel said Iran was “technically… in compliance” with the 2015 nuclear deal, despite the US withdrawal.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, the report stresses that the so-called Islamic State group (IS) is not yet defeated, despite the Trump administration’s claims to the contrary.

While the group will probably not aim to take new territory, the report assesses IS will try to “exploit Sunni grievances, societal instability, and stretched security forces to regain territory in Iraq and Syria in the long term”.

President Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria shocked allies at home and abroad. Mr Trump said the group had been defeated.

The administration has since agreed to slow down the withdrawal.

Acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan however told reporters on Tuesday that IS is close to losing its remaining territory in Syria.

“I’d say 99.5% plus of the IS-controlled territory has been returned to the Syrians. Within a couple of weeks, it’ll be 100%,” he is quoted as saying.

SC:BBC

US R&B singer and songwriter James Ingram has died in Los Angeles at the age of 66.

The Grammy-winner and Oscar-nominee had two US number ones, with the smooth soul ballads Baby Come To Me (1986) and I Don’t Have The Heart (1990).

He also co-wrote Michael Jackson’s PYT with Quincy Jones.

Grey’s Anatomy actress and friend Debbie Allen announced his death on Twitter, saying she was “blessed to have been so close” to him.

In a statement, music producer Jones said: “There are no words to convey how much my heart aches with the news of the passing of my baby brother James Ingram.

“With that soulful, whisky-sounding voice, James Ingram was simply magical.”

Image Copyright @msdebbieallen @msdebbieallen