Tunisian football fans stage mass exit to Italy over club row

Argentina football fans share their excitement over watching their national team and star Lionel Messi play against Bolivia in the World Cup qualifiers. Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to overtake Pele as the top international goalscorer in South American football history on Thursday as Argentina cruised to a 3-0 victory over Bolivia in their 2022 World Cup qualifier.

President Kais Saied has vowed a new government and said the "Tunisian people have rejected the consitution." But opposition parties have rejected his plans.

Fans of European giants Real Madrid and Inter Milan will see their teams face unusual competition this autumn: a club from a tiny separatist region in one of Europe's least known countries, Moldova. After a couple of failed attempts, Sheriff FC is making its debut in the group stage of Europe's top football competition this year, becoming the first team ever from the ex-Soviet country to reach the Champions League itself. Sheriff FC hails from Transnistria, a Russian-speaking region which broke away from Moldova after a brief civil war following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Thursday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.⁣

The Tunisian army has remained apolitical throughout its modern history. But now, some locals fear the military is getting too close to President Kais Saied's increasingly unconstitutional regime.

President Kais Saied has tightened his grip on power with the announcement that he will rule by decree. Political opponents have labelled the move a 'coup.'

Brazilian football legend Pele publishes a video on Instagram where he is seen working out in a hospital in Sao Paulo. The star had undergone surgery earlier in the month to remove a suspected colon tumor and was transferred back to an intensive care unit after suffering breathing difficulties. "By cycling like this, I'll be back at Santos (football club) soon, don't you think?" he wrote in the social media post.

Over 100 members of the moderate Islamist Ennahda movement have stepped down due to frustration with their party's leader. Meanwhile, international rights groups have slammed a "power grab" by President Kais Saied.

This week at United Nations headquarters in New York, Joe Biden sat down with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The meeting came at a time when France, Washington's oldest ally, had recalled ambassadors to both countries – an unprecedented reaction to the blindside of a dropped submarine contract with Canberra and a surprise military alliance that brings in the UK and shuts out Paris.

The actions of President Kais Saied continue to divide Tunisia. Former allies have decried his most recent moves, but it's still impossible to know how the majority of Tunisians feel about him.

Two months after firing her predecessor and suspending parliament, President Saied tapped the engineering researcher to form a government.

We take a look at how the press is covering the appointment of a new Tunisian prime minister-designate and how the "historic" choice of a woman could also be a savvy power grab. The French papers are wondering if they, and politicians, should be focusing on far-right polemicist Eric Zemmour. We also discuss extinct species, Joe Biden’s difficult week and a drunken night out gone awry.