The new English Premier League season kicks off in two weeks. Former Arsenal star Bacary Sagna tells CNN’s Senior Sports Analyst Darren Lewis how this Arsenal squad has a family-like atmosphere.

London

Former Arsenal player Bacary Sagna has expressed confidence in Arsenal's current direction, emphasizing the strong sense of unity and family within the club under manager Mikel Arteta. Sagna highlighted Arteta's deep understanding of Arsenal's identity and praised the positive environment fostered for both players and staff.

Sagna also commented on Chelsea, noting a loss of the club's previous identity due to changes in squad structure and contract strategies. He pointed to Aston Villa as a club with a solid structure and a promising model, citing their careful spending and successful youth development as reasons for their potential to surprise in the upcoming season.

Former Arsenal star Bacary Sagna previews new season

I still believe Arsenal is really strong as a team, as an entity also. I think they have a fantastic mind in Michael Arteta because he breathes football and he understood the club from the first minute he walked in. He was first a captain, he had the Arsenal identity and I believe he brought the right people around him to look like a family and I witnessed them training in Dubai in December during their training camp and at the end of the day they all sat in the middle of the pitch because they had a really strong second part of the season to play and it was not only the players or the coaches, it was also the staff, the people helping and it was a strong image for me because I really saw a family, a strong family and I had and I exchanged words with some of the staff also. What did you talk about in general terms? They had only praise for the club, for Michael, for giving them opportunities. I witnessed this and I can tell it's on the right way to be successful. You were part of an Arsenal side that was successful so you'll know all about the importance of the right environment and clearly from what you're saying that's what Michael Arteta has created at Arsenal. You have to understand being a player is 80% mental. You need to find yourself in the right place before you can perform and I think players are happy to go training every day because they know they will be loved first of all, they know they will find someone to support them and vice versa and I think it's the best way to enter and wear the shirt because when you have the support and when you understand the impact it can have on the game it's terrific and I wish the fans could understand the impact they're having whenever they support the team. Let's just spin through a couple of the other clubs who are in the mix to win things next season. What do they look like defensively for you, Chelsea? I'm thinking about the old Chelsea. I'm nostalgic. I miss the old Chelsea. Why? Because you had warriors on the pitch. I think Jose Mourinho didn't need to be on the pitch. He had enough warriors on the pitch in Drogba, John Terry, Lampard. They were like… Ivanovic. Yes, yes, yes. Galas. Ashley Cole. They could deal by themselves and they would have been fine actually without a coach. I had the feeling that Chelsea lost that identity of it because of the number of players they had. They had 40-plus players. They put players on an eight-year contract. Of course, I respect their strategy but do you really think a player will really work hard if he knows he has still six years on his contract, sitting on a contract? I don't think it's good for the human being, not especially for players. Do you think it takes away the hunger? Yes, of course. If you know that you start the game and you still have more than 80 months to be able to cope and to get back on track, what difference would it make if you miss a game, if you score? Because you know your life is set. But when you know you have to perform because at the end of the season you might be gone, some players might come and take your position, and you need to go and shine to find a new club, it's different. The mindset is different. Tell me whether there is another team outside of what we used to call the established top four who you think might surprise us next season. I like Aston Villa because of the structure of the club. It's a solid team. They never spend a lot but they spend right. They have young players that are hungry because it's first of all one of the best academies in the UK. But no wonder the first team is solid because if you race right, you're going to perform right. And they are doing this perfectly and I think they understand they want to go gradually and not too fast to the top. I think as a model, Aston Villa to me is a team that looks maybe the best.

Trump administration special envoy Steve Witkoff will visit Gaza with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to assess claims of starvation in the enclave at the center of Israel's war against Hamas.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

U.S. officials to visit Gaza amid starvation, genocide accusations

The announcement comes as international pressure mounts on Israel over the war in Gaza and the deepening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

Ljubljana

Slovenia becomes first EU country to ban arms trade with Israel

The United States imposed sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials just as other nations are stressing the importance of the PA in governing Gaza in the event of an end to the devastating war in the enclave.

New York

U.S. sanctions Palestinian Authority in growing diplomatic rift

Ukraine’s Parliament has reversed a controversial law signed last week by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which would have allowed the government greater control over anti-corruption agencies. The decision comes as the country faces one of its most significant political crises since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine parliament reverses bill on anti-corruption agencies amid crisis

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order increasing tariffs on Canadian goods that don't meet the terms of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement to 35 per cent.

Ottawa

Global Tariffs

Trump raises Canada tariff to 35%, grants extension to Mexico

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 31 in a bid to salvage Gaza truce talks and tackle a humanitarian crisis in the enclave, where a global hunger monitor has warned that famine is unfolding.

Trump's envoy meets Netanyahu for Gaza aid, ceasefire push

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is visiting Israel as more countries join the call to recognize a Palestinian state in September. CBS News' Robert Berger has the latest.

Trump envoy in Israel as Canada joins call on Palestinian statehood

President Donald Trump says the U.S. will charge a 15% tariff on imports from South Korea as part of a deal that eases, for now, tension with a top-10 trading partner and key Asian ally.

Washington

Trump says U.S. will set 15% tariff on South Korean imports

U.S. President Donald Trump slapped a 50% tariff on most Brazilian goods to fight what he has called a "witch hunt" against former President Jair Bolsonaro, but softened the blow by excluding sectors such as aircraft, energy and orange juice from heavier levies.

Rio de Janeiro

Trump hits Brazil with tariffs, sanctions but key sectors excluded

Widespread damage from tsunami waves after one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded appears to have been largely avoided. Experts say this event should be used to gauge disaster preparedness for a more serious situation in the future.

Okinawa

Tsunami damage less severe than feared after Russian earthquake

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada will recognize a Palestinian state later this year if the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank, meets certain conditions.

Canada to recognize Palestinian state in September if conditions met

Australia said on Wednesday (July 30) it will add YouTube to sites covered by its world-first ban on social media for teenagers, reversing an earlier decision to exempt the Alphabet-owned video-sharing site and potentially setting up a legal challenge.

Canberra

Australia expands teen social media ban to YouTube

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (July 30) the United States will impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from India, as well as an unspecified penalty for buying Russian weapons and oil, on Aug. 1.

Trump says U.S. to hit India with 25% tariff starting August 1

Mourners flooded the streets of Birmingham to celebrate the life of rock-and-roll legend Ozzy Osbourne during his funeral procession in the United Kingdom. Mark Savage, a music reporter at the BBC, a CBS News partner, joins with more details.

Birmingham

Ozzy Osbourne fans flood Birmingham streets to mourn late music icon

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters before departing from Scotland that Jeffrey Epstein poached workers from his Mar-a-Lago spa. Trump mentioned Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's most vocal accusers, in his latest remarks.

Trump says Epstein 'stole' young women from Mar-a-Lago spa

Owdeh Hathaleen, a 31-year‑old Palestinian activist, teacher, and filmmaker behind the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was shot dead by an Israeli settler near the village of Umm al‑Khair in the South Hebron Hills.

Palestinian activist killed by Israeli settler in West Bank

A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula triggered tsunami waves of up to 16 feet nearby, and sparked evacuation orders in Japan, Hawaii and across the Pacific on Wednesday (July 30).

Hawaii

Tsunami reaches Hawaii after huge quake shakes Russia's Far East

The U.N. General Assembly brought high-level officials together to promote a two-state solution to the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict. Israel and the United States are boycotting the two-day meeting, co-chaired by the foreign ministers of France and Saudi Arabia

Israel and U.S. boycott UN Summit for two-state solution

With numerous countries facing an Aug. 1 trade agreement deadline, officials in the Trump administration say China could get an extension while negotiations continue.

Trump officials suggest potential tariff truce with China

Police say the man who shot and killed four people in a New York City office building before he took his own life had a "documented mental health history." Mayor Eric Adams says he may have been targeting the National Football League (NFL).

Manhattan gunman had 'documented mental health history'

Jeffrey Epstein-associate Ghislaine Maxwell is offering to testify before Congress in exchange for concessions like full immunity. CBS News Department of Justice reporter Jake Rosen has more.

Ghislaine Maxwell offers to testify before Congress

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday (July 29) Britain was prepared to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly unless Israel takes a number of steps to improve life for Palestinians.

UK to recognize Palestinian state unless Israel takes action

Russia launched overnight air strikes on over 70 Ukrainian cities, killing more than 20 people, according to President Zelenskyy. A pregnant woman died near a hospital in the southeast, while a prison strike killed at least 17.

Deadly Russian air raids hit Ukraine as Trump warns of sanctions

For the first time, human rights groups inside Israel are accusing their own government of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel insists it is targeting Hamas, not civilians—despite nearly 60,000 Palestinian deaths since the war began almost two years ago.

Rights groups in Israel accuse country of genocide

As Gaza’s crisis worsens, France is advocating for a two-state solution at a UN conference co-chaired by the French foreign minister. The meeting follows President Macron’s announcement that France will formally recognize a Palestinian state in September.

France leads UN talks on Israel-Palestine two-state solution

Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was found guilty of bribery and witness tampering in an unprecedented trial that has shaken the country.

Bogotá

Ex-Colombian president Uribe convicted of witness tampering, bribery

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev posted on social media that President Trump's deadline push for a ceasefire with Ukraine is "a threat and a step towards war."

Moscow

Russian official calls Trump's ceasefire deadline 'a threat'

Ukraine says Russia's overnight air strikes hit a prison in Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, killing at least 17 people. Another 35 were injured. Authorities say the attacks destroyed the jail buildings and damaged several nearby houses.

Zaporizhzhia

Russian air strikes hit a prison in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia, 17 killed

Russia launched yet another attack on Ukraine overnight, with more than 300 drones and seven missiles. While most of the barrage was intercepted, the attacks prompted President Trump to give his Russian counterpart an ultimatum.

Trump gives Putin new deadline to end Ukraine war

A gunman killed at least one police officer and shot a handful of other people Monday in the heart of New York City. CBS News New York has the latest details.

Breakdown