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EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / TOPSHOT — Members of the Palestinian civil defence inspect the wreckage of a vehicle targeted by an Israeli strike as bystanders…
Coach Ronald Koeman announces Dutch team for the FIFA World Cup 2026 during a press conference in Zeist yesterday. (AFP) Selecting Memphis Depay for the Netherlands’ World Cup squad was always on the cards, but the country’s top scorer must now prove himself over the next few weeks before the tournament kicks off, coach Ronald Koeman said. The 32-year-old Depay, whose 55 goals in 108 appearances make him the most successful striker for the Dutch national team, was named by Koeman in the 26-man squad for the finals despite only two substitute appearances for his Brazilian club Corinthians over the past two months. Half of those minutes came for struggling Corinthians over the weekend, but Koeman said Depay had told him he would be starting Copa Libertadores tie at home to Platense of Argentina. “I would have preferred him to have played minutes earlier. But in April, I didn’t know when he would be able to play minutes again. He can be an asset, just like Jurrien Timber,” the Dutch coach told a press conference after his squad was released. “I selected Memphis because of who he still is. I don’t see anyone else in that position who can do it. I believe he can be an asset, but he does have to get through the coming period well,” the coach added. “We have two friendly matches. If he were where I think he needs to be, then he can start. If he is not, then he won’t start. I know he can fill the role of backup as well.” Arsenal defender Timber is another who will need game time after a groin injury kept him out since March. “We have Ian Maatsen and Lutsharel Geertruida on the standby list for Timber. The situation with him is that he was supposed to train with Arsenal today, to assess for the weekend. They have the Champions League final on Saturday. It remains to be seen whether he will be fit for that match,” Koeman said. Justin Kluivert has also been given a vote of confidence despite knee surgery in January and only two substitute appearances for Bournemouth since completing his rehabilitation. Kluivert was among the first players to report for training at the Dutch camp in Zeist on Monday, along with Noa Lang who has recovered from a bizarre finger injury suffered playing in the Champions League for Galatasaray against Liverpool in March and was also picked. West Ham United’s Crysencio Summerville and Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs are both uncapped while there was a surprise return for midfielder Marten de Roon, who won the last of his 42 caps two years ago.But there was no place for veteran centre back Stefan de Vrij, after a thigh injury suffered in Inter Milan’s last game of the Serie A season at Bologna on Saturday, or Liverpool full back Jeremie Frimpong. The Dutch warm up for the World Cup, hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, against Algeria and Uzbekistan before their opening Group F match against Japan in Dallas on June 14. Squad Goalkeepers: Mark Flekken (Bayer Leverkusen), Robin Roefs (Sunderland), Bart Verbruggen (Brighton & Hove Albion) Defenders: Nathan Ake (Manchester City), Denzel Dumfries (Inter Milan), Jorrel Hato (Chelsea), Jurrien Timber (Arsenal), Micky van de Ven (Tottenham Hotspur), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton & Hove Albion) Midfielders: Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), Marten de Roon (Atalanta), Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth), Teun Koopmeiners (Juventus), Tijjani Reijnders (Manchester City), Guus Til (PSV Eindhoven), Quinten Timber (Olympique de Marseille), Mats Wieffer (Brighton & Hove Albion) Forwards: Brian Brobbey (Sunderland), Memphis Depay (Corinthians), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Noa Lang (Galatasaray), Donyell Malen (AS Roma), Crysencio Summerville (West Ham United), Wout Weghorst (Ajax Amsterdam). Related Story Source link
German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche speaks to reporters in Beijing, yesterday. (Reuters) Germany’s economy minister began a visit to China yesterday with Berlin saying it wanted to boost co-operation with a key partner while also warning of worsening trade imbalances.Katherina Reiche arrived in Beijing for the three-day trip, the latest senior German official to head to Berlin’s top trading partner as they seek to navigate increasingly complex ties.China — long a reliable market for German exports, from cars to factory machinery — has in recent years become a fierce competitor in many industries, turning the relationship on its head.Reiche, accompanied by a business delegation and German MPs, said that China and Germany “are linked by one of the most significant economic relationships in the world”.”In times of global uncertainty, we need dialogue, trust and robust partnerships. I will therefore advocate on the ground for modern co-operation — based on openness, competition and mutual benefit,” she said in a statement from her ministry.As well as Beijing, Reiche will visit the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.She will hold talks with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and visit companies.But there are many areas where Beijing and Berlin disagree, from trade practices to human rights, and Reiche will likely broach some of these.The economy ministry noted that in particular there was now a “clear trade imbalance” between the world’s number two and number three economies.German exports fell by around 10% in 2025, to roughly 80bn euros ($93bn), while imports from China rose to around 170bn euros, it said.Increasing competition for German businesses in China has been one factor weighing on Europe’s top economy, which has stagnated in recent years.Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited China in February, and the widening trade gap was also a key focus.Still, both Berlin and Beijing are keen to strengthen ties at a time of global uncertainty sparked by US President Donald Trump’s often erratic policies. Related Story Source link
Israel launched broad strikes on Lebanon including near the city of Tyre yesterday, as Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with Israeli forces beyond an Israeli-declared “yellow line” in the south despite a ceasefire.Israel this week vowed to intensify operations in Lebanon and said it was expanding ground operations there, a move that comes ahead of talks on Friday between Lebanese and Israeli military delegations at the Pentagon and a new round of direct negotiations next week aimed at ending the hostilities.As many Lebanese tried to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes in the country’s south and in the eastern Bekaa valley, with Israel’s military saying it was hitting “Hezbollah infrastructure sites” in both regions.Israel’s military issued an evacuation warning for the southern city of Nabatieh for a second consecutive day, and another for swathes of the coastal city of Tyre and surrounding areas.The NNA and an AFP correspondent in Tyre later said strikes hit the city’s outskirts, as Israel’s army said it was attacking “Hezbollah command centres” in the area.Earlier, the correspondent reported residents from threatened areas had converged on parts of the city not covered by the evacuation warning.Authorities, however, warned that shelters were full and urged people to head to Beirut instead.- ‘Yellow line’ -Iran-backed Hezbollah said its fighters “clashed with the enemy forces at point-blank range” in the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, just beyond the Israeli-declared “yellow line” in south Lebanon where its troops have been operating.Since early Tuesday, the group had said its fighters had confronted Israeli troops seeking to enter the town, strategically located just six kilometres (four miles) from Nabatieh.The Israeli troop movement comes after a military official said Tuesday that soldiers had begun operating beyond the “yellow line”, which runs around 10 kilometres deep inside Lebanese territory.Also on Tuesday, Israel stepped up strikes on south and east Lebanon, issuing evacuation warnings for at least 50 towns and villages and killing at least 31 people.Lebanon’s army said that one of its soldiers was among the dead in the east.At the site of one of the strikes in south Lebanon’s Burj al-Shemali, an AFP correspondent saw rescuers removing debris and carrying a white body bag from the rubble, which was littered with items including rugs and cushions.The NNA, citing the mayor, said 15 people were killed there.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the army was “reinforcing the security buffer zone in order to protect the communities of northern Israel”.- West Bekaa -After Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel in retaliation for strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Israel has repeatedly struck Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa valley and warned residents to evacuate.But strikes have intensified in recent days, focusing on the West Bekaa town of Mashghara, where hundreds of displaced people had been sheltering and which has now largely emptied.Mayor Iskandar Barakeh told AFP that he was worried that “the West Bekaa region is becoming the scene of rear confrontations” between Israel and Hezbollah.The area links south Lebanon with Hezbollah strongholds in the northern Bekaa and is a key supply route for the group.Lebanese military expert Hassan Jouni told AFP that the West Bekaa “is a necessary corridor for Hezbollah members if they want to move between the Bekaa and the south” and could become the focus of further Israeli strikes.He said Israeli operations might soon expand to “target the north Bekaa intensively or even Beirut’s southern suburbs”, both areas that have been relatively spared since the ceasefire.A military delegation comprising six Lebanese officers, headed by the army’s director of operations Georges Rizkallah, will participate in the talks at the Pentagon on Friday.A military source told AFP the delegation will “emphasise the need for a ceasefire, and will present the army’s plan for a state weapons monopoly and the extension of state authority across the country”. Source link
Rajasthan Royals’ Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays a shot during the Indian Premier League match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in New Chandigarh, India, yesterday. (AFP) Teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi lashed a staggering 12 sixes to lead Rajasthan Royals (RR) to an IPL play-off showdown against Gujarat Titans after a 47-run drubbing of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The 15-year-old, who grabbed the Orange Cap for the most runs this season (680), destroyed Hyderabad’s famed bowling with an incredible 29-ball 97, around which Rajasthan constructed an imposing 243-8 in Chandigarh. Jofra Archer then produced a furious opening burst which fetched him three wickets in three overs as Hyderabad were bowled out for 196 in the eliminator. The exciting Sooryavanshi unleashed another stunning exhibition of stroke-making as he breezed past Chris Gayle’s 12-year-old record for the most sixes (59) in a single edition of the IPL. With 65 sixes so far, the left-handed opener has put Gujarat’s bowling on notice ahead of Friday’s faceoff. The winner of the second qualifier will take on holders Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad. “I think a little, not too much,” Sooryavanshi said. “Try and keep things simple. I try to play with good intent and dominate the bowlers. I want to pressurise the bowler. My focus (today) was on contributing for the team, my focus now is how to win the trophy.” Sooryavanshi warmed up with a straight six off Pat Cummins in the first over, then set about the Australian captain in his next with three sixes and a four. Three more sixes in the following over, off Sakib Hussain, took him to his half-century in just 16 deliveries and he seemed on course for the fastest IPL hundred – Gayle holds that record, off 30 deliveries – when he pummelled Praful Hinge for three sixes and two fours. Hinge, however, had the last laugh, having Sooryavanshi caught at third man to the utter disappointment of a full house. With Yashasvi Jaiswal as a silent, admiring partner, Sooryavanshi had totally dominated an opening salvo of 125, off just 49 deliveries. Dhruv Jurel kept up the charge with a 20-ball fifty, but Hyderabad fought back in the final five overs which yielded just 36 to give their explosive batting line-up a whiff of a chance. Archer put paid to those aspirations as he blasted out the prolific Abhishek Sharma off the second ball with a rapid bouncer, and even though Ishan Kishan threatened briefly, the Englishman had his number too before cleaning up Travis Head to leave the chase in tatters. When Yash Raj Punja, the leg-spinner, trapped Heinrich Klaasen leg before off an ill-advised reverse sweep, the writing was on the wall. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Salil Arora delayed the inevitable, but Sooryavanshi and Rajasthan were not to be denied. “I like to be a perfectionist, but even today we should have got 260 right? But with the ball we were impressive, held our own,” Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag said. “It was a good performance under pressure. (On talks with VS) We don’t have any conversations. Just leave him alone. We give him a lot of batting practice and he does his thing,” he said. SRH captain Pat Cummins lauded Sooryavanshi efforts. “He played pretty well. A very good pitch but the margins are so small, you miss our yorker but he doesn’t miss. Pretty good wicket. We are a very well rounded team. Praful and Sakib were great. We are one of the youngest team to get into the playoffs, and the coaching team have unearthed a few gems. A few teams things have to go right to chase 245 but we lost a couple of wickets at the wrong time. One tiny bit away from being in the top two, but can’t doubt the boys’ efforts.” BRIEF SCORES: Rajasthan Royals 243 for 8 (Sooryavanshi 97, Jurel 50, Hinge 3-54) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 196 (Reddy 38, Arora 35, Kishan 33, Archer 3-58, Burger 2-26) by 47 runs. Related Story Source…
Norway will come under France's nuclear umbrella, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told news agency NTB yesterday, as concerns grow in Europe over US commitment to the region's security. The move by Norway is significant as it has long been a so-called Atlanticist nation, one which believed its security was best achieved via close alignment with Washington.Stoere travelled to Paris yesterday afternoon to meet President Emmanuel Macron and sign a new defence agreement with France, which includes Norway joining a French-led nuclear weapons initiative. ‘We are doing this in light of the security policy situation in Europe, including Russia's massive rearmament, also in the nuclear domain, and that it is waging a full-scale war against another European country,’ Stoere told Norwegian news agency NTB. No nuclear weapons will be deployed in Norway in peacetime, he added. The Nordic nation of 5.6 mn inhabitants is a member of Nato, but not of the European Union, and shares a border with Russia in the Arctic. In March, France offered to extend the protection of its nuclear umbrella to other European countries which, in practice, means that an attack on Norway could trigger a French nuclear response. Norway becomes the latest country to receive France's nuclear protection, after Poland and Lithuania, which also share borders with Russia. Russia and the US are the world's biggest nuclear powers, with over 5,000 nuclear warheads each. China has about 500, France has 290 and Britain 225, according to the Federation of American Scientists. Source link
Vehicles drive past a banner depicting the late Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Bakr al-Sadr (R), the grandfather of influential Shia Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, erected along a…
The Horwitz Bishop Rapid chess tournament was held at Palestinian School in Abu Hamour, with young talents showcasing their skills across multiple age categories. In the Under-8 category, Rithik Lineesh emerged champion ahead of Ayan Biddappa and Hanvika Srithagna, who finished second and third respectively. Shlok Nirav Bavisi and Adinad Anand completed the top five standings. Mohamed Azam clinched the Under-10 title followed by Neavin Raghunathan in second place and Aadhavan Rajasekar in third. Dhrish Jibin and Dakshit Karthikeyan secured fourth and fifth positions respectively. In the Under-12 section, Chidambaram Chockalingam took top honours ahead of Rehaan Kannan and Edwin Idiculla Sanju. Rohan Sai Suresh finished fourth, while Swarit Tejas Mehta claimed fifth place. The tournament was conducted by Horwitz Bishop Chess Academy in a seven-round Swiss-System format under the supervision of Chief Arbiter Jaise Joseph and Deputy Chief Arbiter Rayan Joseph Jaise. The arbiting panel also included Ismath, Sreekanth, Jibin, Tijo, Sanju, Sanika and Vikas. Source link
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) talks to his Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Klymenko (R) as he arrives at the National Chernobyl Museum, heavily damaged by…
President Donald Trump during the cabinet meeting yesterday. (Reuters) President Donald Trump said yesterday the US and Iran still have issues to resolve in peace talks, after Washington dismissed an Iranian state television report of a framework deal to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz within a month and to lift a US naval blockade on Iranian ships.Trump told a cabinet meeting that Iran remained keen to end the war, which has choked global energy supplies through the strategic waterway, but that the terms did not satisfy Washington.”Iran is very much intent, they want very much to make a deal. So far they haven’t gotten there … We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be. Either that or we’ll have to just finish the job,” he said, without elaborating.”The deal has got to be perfect,” he later added, insisting that the Strait of Hormuz would be open immediately after a deal is reached and that no single country would have control over the waterway. Iranian state TV reported that it had obtained an unofficial draft of a memorandum of understanding under which the US would lift its blockade and withdraw its forces from Iran’s vicinity. It said the issue of US troops in the region needed further discussion, without elaborating. It did not mention Iran’s nuclear programme, which the US wants disbanded. In a statement on social media, the White House dismissed the report as a “complete fabrication”, while Tehran did not comment. Publicly, the two sides previously have outlined positions starkly at odds.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the cabinet meeting: “There’s been some progress and some interest, and we’ll see over the next few hours and days whether progress could be made.””The bottom line is Iran’s never going to have a nuclear weapon,” he added.Key sticking points in the talks have included reopening and management of the Strait of Hormuz waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the conflict, and the issue of the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear capacity.Trump said that once a deal is struck, the US would monitor shipping there. He also said that Oman, on the southern shores of the strait, would have to play its part in the process as well. The strait is covered by international law that guarantees foreign vessels the right to pass through.”We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it – that’s part of the negotiation that we have…,” he said. Oil prices fell more than 5% after the Iranian television report, before retracing about a fifth of that fall.The US military has some 15,000 troops enforcing a blockade of Iran and has thousands of additional forces at bases throughout the region, including in Gulf states.US naval vessels, some with thousands of sailors and Marines aboard, regularly transit the region, stopping in ports including in Oman. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Iranian sources have said talks on the nuclear issue will come in a second round of negotiations – something that may not be acceptable to some of Trump’s closest supporters. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.Earlier yesterday, a senior Iranian official told reporters on the sidelines of the first International Security Forum in Moscow that reopening the Strait of Hormuz remained a sticking point.”As long as we have not agreed on all issues, we consider that nothing has been agreed,” Iran’s deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Bagheri Kani, told reporters when asked about a deal on reopening the waterway.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Navy said yestersday that 23 ships including oil tankers, container ships and other commercial vessels passed through Hormuz with its permission in the previous 24 hours, a fraction of the daily 125 to 140 vessels passing through before the conflict. The war has killed thousands and caused an unprecedented oil supply shock, pushing up the costs of fuel, fertiliser and food.It has also created political problems for Trump at home. US polls show the war is deeply unpopular with the public six months before midterm elections. Related Story Source link