Author: Saleem el-Salik

French defender Aymeric Laporte has joined Saudi football club Al Nassr, it was confirmed yesterday, ending a successful five-and-a-half years at Manchester City during which the defender won 13 major honours, Anadolu news agency reported. “Now he is set for pastures new, with Al Nassr the chosen destination for the next phase of his career,” Manchester City said in a statement, while thanking Aymeric for his contributions, wishing him “the very best of luck in this new chapter of his career.” “Let’s welcome the treble champion & Spain national team defender,” Al Nassr said in a statement on X, formerly…

Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinian farmers and shepherds working on their land on the eastern outskirts of Gaza City, forcing them to leave the area. According to the Wafa news agency, Israeli forces stationed in military watchtowers behind the fence separating the enclave from Israel, fired live ammunition and shot tear gas canisters at the farmers. Such deadly harassment happens frequently as the Israelis seek to impose a buffer zone within Gaza. No casualties were reported among the farmers and the shepherds on this occasion. Israeli occupation forces continue to restrict the movement of goods and people and prevent farmers from…

Amsterdam, Copenhagen, (15/7 – 22) The governing Dutch coalition led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte has been dissolved as a result of sharp differences in views among cabinet members in dealing with the hot potato of immigration, forcing a new election in the Kingdom of the Netherlands on Nov. 22, according to caretaker Interior Minister Hanke Bruins Slot and the General Election Commission (KPU) of the Netherlands. Rutte, the longest-serving prime minister in Dutch history and one of Europe’s most seasoned politicians, admitted that frank debate within the four-party coalition government in recent days had nevertheless failed to hammer out…

The Qatar Airways Group has reported on its 2022/23 fiscal year performance, showing strong profits amid network expansion, strong demand, and a robust performance across all divisions. Qatar Airways Group has turned in a strong financial performance as the Official Airline Partner of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. The airline attributes its positive results to a successful strategy implemented during an extraordinary year for the Group, which involved being FIFA’s Official Partner and Official Airline of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. The company’s premium product, focused on delivering a world-class customer experience, along with the dedication of its…

Paris, Brussels (13/7 – 37.5) In Kazakhstan, Ablyazov was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for murder, another sentence related to the creation of a criminal community, embezzlement and money laundering. In Russia, the ex-banker was sentenced to 15 years for embezzlement of almost 60 billion rubles.The French authorities demanded that the former head of the Kazakh BTA Bank, Mukhtar Ablyazov, leave the country within 30 days. He announced this on his Facebook page (owned by Meta, whose activities in Russia are recognized as extremist and banned). Ablyazov’s extradition is simultaneously sought by Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. The former…

Manchester City’s victory in the UEFA Champions League final over Inter Milan was historic for a number of reasons. It was the club’s first European triumph, securing a famous treble after its success in winning the English Premier League title and the FA Cup this season. It also marked the first time that a state-backed club claimed Europe’s top trophy, with the English soccer club owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, the brother of Mohammed bin Zayed, the third president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi. Manchester City’s win, heavily backed by UAE money, comes…

Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Central Asia (15/6 – 60) On 28 April, President Emomali Rahmon who has ruled Tajikistan since 1992 signed into law a Decree imposing the Procedure for “burying the bodies of terrorists neutralised in the course of a counterterrorism operation”. In the regime’s parlour, this means the bodies of those killed and/or assassinated. The new procedure denies the families of those killed in what the regime calls “anti-terrorism operations” the possibility of burying the dead in a place they want, knowing where the dead are buried, investigating how the death occurred, and burying the dead with the religious or…

Qatar condemned on Saturday the recent armed attack on its embassy building in Khartoum, which resulted in significant damage to the premises, Qatar News Agency reported. All embassy staff had been evacuated beforehand, according to the report. In an official statement, the Qatari Foreign Ministry stressed “the need to prosecute the perpetrators and hold them accountable for the consequences of this heinous criminal act, which constitutes a violation of international law and agreements. The ministry urged “an immediate halt to the fighting in Sudan” and all parties involved to exercise restraint and resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue. Since April…

Ukraine hacktivists tricked a group of Russian military wives into posing for a photo shoot that outed the identities of their husbands — who were purportedly responsible for bombing a Mariupol theater-turned-shelter last March, killing hundreds of civilians.The virtual false-flag operation exposed 12 elite Kremlin combat pilots to potential war crime charges in connection with both the brutal theatre massacre and hundreds of other airstrikes on Ukrainian homes and businesses, the Kyiv Post reported.It was spearheaded by Cyber Resistance, a Ukrainian hacker group that engages in guerrilla warfare, and InformNapalm, a Ukraine volunteer journalism outfit that investigates Russian war efforts, according to the latter group.Cyber Resistance was…

The EU’s anti-fraud office has opened an investigation into Henrik Hololei, the EU’s departing transport chief, following POLITICO’s revelations that he accepted free flights on Qatar Airways.The fresh probe comes shortly after Hololei resigned from his position as director general of the European Commission’s transport department on Wednesday amid mounting scrutiny over the free trips, which came while his team negotiated a major aviation deal with the Gulf state.Hololei approved the flights himself — a procedure that was allowed at the time. The rules were later changed following the revelations.“We can confirm that OLAF has opened an investigation into the matter,” said the agency,…