Israeli forces kill Palestinian gunman in West Bank raid
By Raneen Sawafta JENIN, West Bank Israeli forces killed a Palestinian fighter during a raid that set off
1970-01-01 08:00
Monaco is rebuilding after a poor finish in the French league at the end of last season
Monaco has made some massive changes in the hope of reversing its downward curve
1970-01-01 08:00
Have Spain moved past player mutiny on their run to Women’s World Cup final?
Spain will face England in Sunday’s Women’s World Cup final less than a year after 15 players staged a mutiny over their treatment. The row, which broke out in September last year, threatened to derail coach Jorge Vilda’s mission before an uneasy peace was brokered as the tournament neared. Here, the PA news agency takes a look at what happened and the repercussions. What is Vilda’s background? The 42-year-old is steeped in football having grown up watching is father Angel – currently head of women’s football at the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) – working as a physical trainer for among others, Luis Aragones at Atletico Madrid, Johan Cruyff at Barcelona and Jupp Heynckes at Real Madrid. Having worked his way up through the age groups, he was appointed manager in 2015 following predecessor Ignacio Quereda’s departure amid player unrest. When did news of the row emerge? The RFEF – or the Real Federacion Espanola de Futbol – released a statement on September 22 last year revealing that 15 players had submitted identical emails withdrawing their services if “significant” concerns over their “emotional state” and “health” were not addressed. Who were the players? “Las 15”, as they became known, were Patri Guijarro, Aitana Bonmati, Mapi Leon, Mariona Caldentey, Sandra Panos, Claudia Pina, Lola Gallardo, Ainhoa Moraza, Nerea Eizagirre, Amaiur Sarriegi, Lucia Garcia, Ona Batlle, Leila Ouahabi, Laia Aleixandri and Andrea Pereira. At the time, six of them played their club football at Barcelona, two each at Manchester City, Manchester United, Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad and one at Club America. Perhaps significantly, no Real Madrid players joined them. The protesters were supported publicly by skipper Irene Paredes, Jennifer Hermoso and Alexia Putellas, although the trio did not send the email. What were their complaints? Details remain vague, but reports since based on anonymous briefings have suggested members of the squad were unhappy in the wake of their Euro 2022 quarter-final exit at the hands of England. Further reports have claimed misgivings over travel and accommodation arrangements, but also complaints over the strictness of Vilda’s regime, including allegations that players were ordered to keep the doors to their hotel rooms open until midnight and had their bags searched if they went shopping during training camps. What was the RFEF’s response? The national team needs players committed to the project, defending our colours and proud to wear the Spain shirt RFEF statement Uncompromising to say the least. Acknowledging receipt of the emails, the Federation said deciding the make-up of the coaching staff was not within the players’ powers, although Paredes later insisted they had not called for Vilda’s head. The RFEF statement continued: “The national team needs players committed to the project, defending our colours and proud to wear the Spain shirt. The footballers who have submitted their resignation will only return to the discipline of the national team in the future if they accept their mistake and ask for forgiveness.” How has the issue been resolved? If an accommodation has been reached, it appears to be a delicate one. Only three members of Las 15 – Bonmati, Caldentey and Batlle – as well as Putellas, Paredes and Hermoso, were included in Vilda’s squad for the finals and Barcelona’s Leon in particular has been outspoken in her resistance. Vilda, who was not applauded by a significant number of his players when introduced at his squad announcement, revealed his “hurt” at the revolt, but called for a renewed united front and there have been suggestions from within the camp of a more relaxed atmosphere. However, although his team has gelled on the pitch, the coach has found himself largely on the periphery during post-match celebrations.
1970-01-01 08:00
Ex-Trump aide slams his use of word ‘riggers’ on Truth Social as a racist ‘bullhorn’
A former aide to Donald Trump has condemned his use of the word “riggers”, saying that it is “not a racial dog whistle” – it’s actually a racist “bullhorn”. After he was indicted on charges over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia this week, the former president launched into an angry rant on his Truth Social platform. In it, he claimed that he would announce a “large, complex, detailed but irrefutable REPORT” proving his election fraud claims in Georgia in a press conference slated for Monday 21 August. But, in the tirade, he also spewed what appeared to be a racist dog whistle. “There will be a complete EXONERATION!” Mr Trump wrote. “They never went after those that Rigged the Election. They only went after those that found to find the RIGGERS!.” The comment was widely condemned on social media while many said the use of the word “rigger” was clearly intentional and part of his “racist attacks” against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the Black woman prosecuting the case against him. On Wednesday, Mr Trump’s former White House Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah weighed in on the matter, describing the use of the term as “a bullhorn”. “With Trump, you don’t need to look for a dog whistle – it’s a bullhorn when it comes to race, and I do think that’s deliberate,” Ms Farah told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday. “We’ve seen the, I mean, slanderous attacks that he’s put out against Fani Willis. You know, alleging things I won’t even repeat, so he’s not really hiding that he’s going to lean into that element and this is, you know, taking place just outside of Atlanta. When you saw the courtroom, it was a lot of Black men and women who were serving in that courtroom.” While Ms Farah said that Mr Trump knows exactly what he’s doing in using the “disgusting” term, she said she was somewhat surprised. “The fact that he’s introducing race into this prosecution surprises me, it’s disgusting, it’s textbook Donald Trump, but it comes as no surprise,” she said. Her comments come after Keith Boykin, a former White House aide to Bill Clinton, said that “the use of the word ‘rigger’ is not unintentional”. “It’s not an accident after spending days making racist attacks against Fani Willis, the Black woman leading the prosecution against him in Atlanta,” he said. Whether or not Mr Trump intended to describe his political enemies using a word that is one letter away from being an exceptionally offensive slur is unclear. What is clear is that plenty of observers noted his use of the word. Arieh Kovler, a current affairs and politics writer, collected a sampling of responses from a group of Trump supporters who post anonymously at a Reddit-like forum. "I don't know if Trump deliberately uses 'RIGGERS!' as a dog whistle, but his supporters hear it either way," he wrote. “Worth noting here that the ‘riggers’ as a racist codeword has been used for a while in MAGA circles.” Mr Kovler included a screenshot from the site showing one user who said "I love [Trump] so much" because "he just used the word RIGGERS!" In other posts, supporters made clear they were not discussing alleged election manipulators while using the word. Similar responses could be found on Twitter when searching about Mr Trump’s use of the word. Mr Trump making racist-adjacent remarks is hardly novel. During his presidency he reportedly questioned why the US would allow Haitians and African immigrants to cross the border, referring to their homes as "s***hole countries." His niece, Mary Trump, has stated publicly that she heard the former president use racial slurs growing up and claimed racism was normal for his family. And he has given special nicknames for his Black opponents — like calling New York Attorney General "peekaboo James," which may or may not be a reference to a racist insult aimed at Black people. He also called Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg an "animal" and a "criminal" who works for George Soros. He called both Ms James and Mr Bragg "racists" and extended that charge to the woman leading Georgia's case against him, DA Willis. Ms Williams is Black, and Mr Trump has baselessly accused her of having an affair with a "gang member" she was prosecuting. “They say there’s a young woman, a young racist in Atlanta. She’s a racist. And they say, I guess they say that she was after a certain gang and she ended up having an affair with the head of the gang or a gang member,” Mr Trump said in his remarks to a group of veterans on 8 August. “And this is the person that wants to indict me. She’s got a lot of problems.” In contrast, when referring to DOJ special counsel Jack Smith, the white litigator leading the federal government's case against Mr Trump, the former president refers to him as "psycho" and "unhinged." Mr Trump has denied all accusations of being racist. On Monday, Mr Trump and 18 of his closest allies were hit with a sweeping 41-count indictment, over their efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Charged under Georgia’s RICO statute, the 19 defendants are accused of running a criminal enterprise with the goal of ensuring that Mr Trump remained in power at all costs. The other co-defendants are: former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, “Kraken” lawyer Sidney Powell, attorneys John Eastman, Kenneth Cheseboro, Jenna Ellis, Ray Smith III, and Robert Cheeley, former US Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, former Trump campaign official Michael Roman, former state senator and the former chair of the Georgia Republican Party David Schafer, Georgia state senator Shawn Still, Lutheran pastor Stephen Lee, mixed martial artist Harrison Floyd, Kanye West’s former PR Trevian Kutti, former head of the Republican Party in Coffee County Cathleen Latham, Atlanta-area bail bondsman Scott Hall, and former election supervisor of Coffee County Misty Hampton. DA Willis has spent more than two years investigating efforts by Mr Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in the crucial swing state. The investigation came following the release of a 2 January 2021 phone call Mr Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger where he told him to “find” enough votes to change the outcome of the election in the state. Mr Biden won the state by less than 12,000 votes. The investigation then expanded from that phone call to include a scheme whereby a group of fake Republican electors planned to falsely certify the results in Mr Trump’s favour instead of Mr Biden’s. The plot failed and the fake electors have since reached immunity deals with DA Willis’ office. Ms Willis said she would like to try the defendants altogether and within the next six months. In total, the former president is now facing 91 charges from four separate criminal cases. On 1 August, he was hit with a federal indictment charging him with four counts over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the events leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot, following an investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith’s office. This came after Mr Smith’s office charged Mr Trump in a separate indictment over his alleged mishandling of classified documents on leaving office. Back in April, Mr Trump was charged for the first time with New York state charges following an investigation into hush money payments made prior to the 2016 election. Read More Trump Georgia trial date proposed as woman arrested over Jan 6 judge ‘death threats’ – live updates New video shows Roger Stone ‘working to overturn 2020 election’ Trump judge makes barbed comment about Elon Musk as contents of Jack Smith’s Twitter warrant revealed Can Donald Trump still run for president after charges over 2020 election? China says it would welcome a visit by US commerce secretary after imposition of investment controls What is an arraignment and what is an indictment?
1970-01-01 08:00
Coe re-elected as president of World Athletics
Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics since 2015, was on Thursday re-elected as head of track and field's governing body on a...
1970-01-01 08:00
Are Adin Ross and IShowSpeed close? Kick streamer 'misses' recovering YouTuber while reacting to his recent livestream: 'S**t was fun'
Adin Ross recently reacted to IShowSpeed's live stream claiming the he misses him
1970-01-01 08:00
Donnie Brascao was the vision behind a quest in RPG Starfield
One of the quests in 'Starfield' took inspiration from crime drama 'Donnie Brascao'.
1970-01-01 08:00
Megadeth set for Wargaming Metal Fest
Megadeth and their mascot Vic Rattlehead are featured in Wargaming's Metal Fest.
1970-01-01 08:00
Ferrari boss labels Red Bull’s cost cap penalty a ‘big joke’
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has slammed the FIA and labelled Red Bull’s penalty last year for breaching the cost cap as a “big joke.” Red Bull, who have won the drivers’ title in the last two years and are on track to do so with Max Verstappen again this year, were found guilty of a minor financial overspend for 2021 and were handed a £6m fine and docked 10 per cent of their car development time. However, the penalty has had little impact on Red Bull’s progress having won all 12 races so far this year – and Christian Horner’s team have won 22 of the last 23 grands prix overall. Ex-Alfa Romeo chief Vasseur, who took over at Ferrari from Mattia Binotto before the start of this season, insists the punishment should have been a lot harsher on Red Bull. "A penalty like last year really isn’t severe. If it should be necessary again, such a penalty should be much heavier,” the Frenchman told Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport. "You have to keep in mind that a technical advantage will translate into a sporting advantage. Therefore, the penalty should be sporting and not a fine. “In soccer, if you use a hand, it’s a penalty... they don’t give you a [non-sporting] penalty. “The deduction of 10 per cent wind tunnel time is a big joke. They have already done most of the work by then." Verstappen is currently on a win-streak of eight and can match Sebastian Vettel’s all-time record from 2013 of nine with victory at his home race next up in Zandvoort. Ferrari, meanwhile, have not won a race since Austria last year and are currently fourth in the Constructors’ Championship behind Red Bull, Mercedes and Aston Martin. F1 returns after the summer break next week with the Dutch Grand Prix (25-27 August). Read More F1 2023 mid-season awards: Best driver, worst race and biggest surprise Carlos Sainz interview: ‘All of us at Ferrari expected more – we haven’t done the best job’ ‘It was pretty wild’: F1 champion Max Verstappen learns how to drift ‘It was pretty wild’: F1 champion Max Verstappen learns how to drift ‘Incredible’ Norris backed for more podium success by Verstappen and Perez F1 2023 calendar: All 23 Grand Prix this year
1970-01-01 08:00
How China's economic turmoil could hurt your portfolio
China's economy is in trouble. That's bad news for US stocks, and potentially for your portfolio.
1970-01-01 08:00
'Successful' surgery for Madrid keeper Courtois
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has had "successful" surgery on a knee injury he picked up in pre-season, the club...
1970-01-01 08:00
Walmart raises 2024 forecast after 'strong' quarter
Walmart raised its full-year forecast on Thursday following a jump in quarterly profits, pointing to solid increases at...
1970-01-01 08:00
