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Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has won Africa’s top football honour, beating four-time winner Ivorian Yaya Toure and Ghana's Andre Ayew to the 2015 Caf African Footballer of the Year award at a ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria on Thursday. The 26-year-old polled 143 points, seven more than Toure whilst Ayew finished a distant third with 112 points to claim the prize for the first time, capping a season where he has put up stellar performances for his Bundesliga outfit, Borussia Dortmund. He becomes the first player from the German league to win the award having finished as runner-up in the 2014 edition staged in Lagos. The recipient of the award is decided by national team coaches and technical directors in Africa – with Yaya and Samuel Eto'o the most-honoured individuals with four titles each. Aubameyang was also included on the African finest XI shortlist that had the trio of Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, Kelechi Nwakali and Azubuike Okechukwu on the substitutes bench. Os

Michel Platini has withdrawn his candidacy for the Fifa presidency in order to clear his name following his eight-year ban from football. Platini will appeal the sanction handed down by Fifa's ethics committee over an alleged "disloyal payment" made by Sepp Blatter to the Frenchman in 2011. In an interview with French sports newspaper L'Equipe, an extract of which was published on Thursday, he said: "I am no longer putting myself forward to be president of Fifa, I have withdrawn my candidacy. "I cannot do it, I do not have the time to see voters, meet people, to fight with the others. By removing myself, I have made the choice to dedicate myself to my defence." The election to replace Blatter - who is also serving an eight-year ban - at the head of the game's governing body is scheduled for February 26. "There is a timing issue but it's not just that," Platini added. "How can one win an election when you are unable to

A US Hellfire missile has turned up in Cuba after going missing in a fiasco that has left American officials worried the technology may be shared with China, Russia or North Korea, the Wall Street Journal reported. Though the missile was not carrying a warhead, the alarming diversion while it was in transit from Europe has spurred US investigators to probe whether its arrival on the communist island was the result of criminal activity or merely a series of mistakes, according to the newspaper. And despite a historic thaw in ties with Cuba over the past year, Washington has been unsuccessful in its push to get the missile back, the WSJ said, citing unnamed sources. It reported that American officials were not concerned that Cuba would take apart the Hellfire -- an air-to-ground missile often carried by helicopters -- but were worried that Havana would share the technology with US rivals China and Russia, as well as North Korea. The missile's far-flung journey began in

The family of  Natalie Cole  released a statement to ET on Sunday revealing the singer's cause of death: Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. "This is a very serious and progressive disorder in which the small blood vessels of the lungs are markedly narrowed or obstructed," the family's statement read, adding that Cole had been diagnosed with IPAH five years ago after a successful kidney transplant. "She responded well to PAH-specific agents over many years, during which she performed many concerts worldwide," the statement continued. "[She] eventually succumbed to intractable right heart failure, an outcome that unfortunately commonly occurs in this progressive disorder, despite modern therapies." Cole died  at Ceders-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve at the age of 65. After her death, friends and fans  took to social media to express their grief  over the loss of the legendary singer.

I was one of the lucky few chosen to be a canvas for a hand painted masterpiece that took 14 hours to put on,” Rousey – who also posed for the publication in 2015 –Instagrammed on Thursday. “I can’t wait to show you guys the final pics the when the issue hits stands!”  The   28-year-old athlete   posed on a beach in Grenada, and in an effort to beat the paparazzi to the punch,   SI   posted some behind-the-scenes pics from the super sexy photoshoot. It’s yet to be confirmed if Rousey will cover this year’s swimsuit issue, which hits newsstands in February, but her famous fan, Beyonce, might have some pointers for her. The  former  Sports Illustrated  swimsuit cover girl  has been using the athlete’s inspiring “do nothing b**ch” speech during her performances. “To be honest, it’s a honor to have a real powerhouse of a woman like Beyonce just recognize my existence,” Rousey told ET. “Such a huge compliment, I couldn’t be more grateful.” View gallery .

The bodies of “Eastenders” actress Sian Blake and her two young sons were discovered in the garden of the family’s south-east London home on Wednesday. Blake, 43, along with Zachary Bilal Kent-Blake, 8, and Amon Ben George Kent-Blake, 4, had not been seen since Dec. 13 and were officially reported missing three days later, according to  BBC News . A police spokesperson said they had died from “head and neck injuries.” Blake’s partner, Arthur Simpson-Kent, is being sought by police in connection to the deaths, and it is suspected that he may have left the U.K. for Ghana. The 48-year-old,  who  played Frankie Pierre on the long-running BBC soap from 1996 and 1997, disappeared after speaking to detectives on Dec. 16. “Unfortunately, I believe Arthur was responsible. I want him to face justice and explain why,” Sian’s sister, Ava Blake, told  ITV News . “He’ll have to answer to the courts of this country and to God eventually.” Forensic specialists had searched the fami

President Barack Obama tore into the National Rifle Association on Thursday as he sought support for his actions on gun control, accusing the powerful lobby group of peddling an "imaginary fiction" that he said has distorted the national debate about gun violence. In a prime-time, televised town hall meeting, Obama dismissed what he called a "conspiracy" alleging that the federal government — and Obama in particular — wants to seize all firearms as a precursor to imposing martial law. He blamed that notion on the NRA and like-minded groups that convince its members that "somebody's going to come grab your guns." "Yes, that is a conspiracy," Obama said. "I'm only going to be here for another year. When would I have started on this enterprise?" Obama defended his support for the constitutional right to gun . ownership while arguing it was consistent with his efforts to curb mass shootings. He said the NRA refused to acknow