LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Mohamed Salah continued his rehabilitation at Liverpool by scoring for the team for the first time since the start of November in a 6-0 thrashing of Qarabag in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The Egypt winger curled home a shot at a free kick in the 50th minute to put Liverpool 3-0 up at Anfield, helping the English club finish in third place in the 36-team standings and qualifying directly to the round of 16.
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Liverpool's Mohamed Salah applauds fans at the end of the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Qarabag in Liverpool, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, second right, scores his side's third goal during the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Qarabag in Liverpool, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, centre, celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Qarabag in Liverpool, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah prepares to execute a corner kick during the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Qarabag in Liverpool, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Salah's future at Liverpool, where he has starred since 2017, was plunged into doubt when he said in early December that he'd been “thrown under the bus” after being dropped for the third game in succession by manager Arne Slot.
He went to the Africa Cup of Nations with uncertainty surrounding his position at Liverpool but has started three straight games since his return from the tournament in Morocco, and now has a first goal since scoring against Aston Villa on Nov. 1.
The victory ensured Liverpool avoided needing to go through the playoffs — just like last season when Arne Slot's team did even better, finishing top of the standings, only to get drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16. Liverpool lost in a penalty shootout and PSG went on to win the title for the first time.
“It’s great to be in the top eight again," said Alexis Mac Allister, who scored twice for Liverpool against Qarabag, "but then I think back to last season when we finished top and then got Paris in the next round.
"It’s going to be very difficult, but we’ve done well to get there and it was a good night for us.”
Liverpool will play one of Club Brugge, Galatasaray, Juventus or Atletico Madrid in the last 16.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah applauds fans at the end of the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Qarabag in Liverpool, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, second right, scores his side's third goal during the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Qarabag in Liverpool, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, centre, celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Qarabag in Liverpool, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah prepares to execute a corner kick during the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Qarabag in Liverpool, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man who once escaped from custody and was on the run for three days after being sentenced to death for fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend was scheduled Wednesday evening to be the first person executed in the U.S. this year.
Charles Victor Thompson was condemned for the April 1998 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Glenda Dennise Hayslip, 39; and her new boyfriend, Darren Keith Cain, 30, at her apartment in the Houston suburb of Tomball.
Thompson, 55, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
Prosecutors say Thompson and Hayslip had been romantically involved for a year but split after Thompson “became increasingly possessive, jealous and abusive.”
According to court records, Hayslip and Cain were dating when Thompson came to Hayslip’s apartment and began arguing with Cain around 3 a.m. the night of the killings. Police were called and told Thompson to leave the apartment complex. Thompson returned three hours later and shot both Hayslip and Cain, who died at the scene. Hayslip died in the hospital a week later.
“The Hayslip and Cain families have waited over twenty-five years for justice to occur,” prosecutors with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said in court filings.
About an hour before the scheduled 6 p.m. CDT execution, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a brief order that rejected Thompson’s final appeal to block the execution from proceeding. No reason was given for rejecting the appeal.
Thompson’s attorneys had argued in court filings with the Supreme Court that he was not allowed to refute or confront the prosecution's evidence that concluded Hayslip died from a gunshot wound to the face. Thompson's attorneys have argued Hayslip actually died from flawed medical care she received after the shooting that resulted in severe brain damage sustained from oxygen deprivation following a failed intubation.
Earlier Wednesday, Thompson was brought to the small holding cell near the death chamber, a prison spokeswoman said. She added that he asked to see his attorney and was offered a meal from the day's prison menu that featured fried chicken, scrambled eggs and other items.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday denied Thompson’s request to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty.
“If he had been able to raise a reasonable doubt as to the cause of Ms. Hayslip’s death, he would not be guilty of capital murder,” Thompson’s attorneys said in court filings with the Supreme Court.
Prosecutors said a jury has already rejected the claim and, concluded under state law that Thompson was responsible for Hayslip’s death because it “would not have occurred but for his conduct.”
Hayslip’s family had filed a lawsuit against one of her doctors, alleging that medical negligence during her treatment left her brain-dead. A jury in 2002 found in favor of the doctor.
Thompson had his death sentence overturned and had a new punishment trial held in November 2005. A jury again ordered him to die by lethal injection.
Shortly after being resentenced, Thompson escaped from the Harris County Jail in Houston by walking out the front door virtually unchallenged by deputies. Thompson later told The Associated Press that after meeting with his attorney in a small interview cell, he slipped out of his handcuffs and orange jail jumpsuit and left the room, which was unlocked. Thompson waived an ID badge fashioned out of his prison ID card to get past several deputies.
“I got to smell the trees, feel the wind in my hair, grass under my feet, see the stars at night. It took me straight back to childhood being outside on a summer night,” Thompson said of his days on the run during a 2005 interview with the AP. He was arrested in Shreveport, Louisiana, while trying to arrange for wire transfers of money from overseas so he could make it to Canada.
If the execution is carried out, Thompson would be the first person put to death this year in the United States. Texas has historically held more executions than any other state, though Florida had the most executions in 2025, with 19.
Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://x.com/juanlozano70
This photo provided by Texas Department of Criminal Justice. shows Texas death row inmate Charles Victor Thompson. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
