The Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing from the Gaza Strip opened on Saturday morning, letting trucks carrying humanitarian aid into the blockaded enclave, which has been under siege from the Israeli military for almost two weeks.
The first of 200 trucks loaded with about 3,000 tons of aid, which have been blocked near the Rafah crossing for days, started moving toward Gaza early Saturday, the Associated Press reported.
Earlier this week, U.S. President Joe Biden said Egypt had agreed to open the border and let 20 trucks enter the Palestinian enclave, while Israel said it would allow the delivery of food, water or medicine — but no fuel — from Egypt, provided they were limited to civilians in the southern part of Gaza and would not go to Hamas militants.
European leaders were quick to welcome the border’s opening. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on social media that the crossing’s opening was “an important first step that will alleviate the suffering of innocent people.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was “good and important that the first humanitarian aid is now coming to the people in Gaza.”
“They need water, food and medicine – we won’t leave them alone,” Scholz said.
The Gaza Strip has been besieged by Israeli forces since October 9, when Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallan moved to restrict all access to food, water and energy in the enclave in retaliation for a surprise incursion from the Hamas militant group that killed at least 1,400 people in Israel.
The U.N. has called on Israel to reverse course, with a spokesperson saying an evacuation in Gaza “could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.”
The news of the border crossing’s opening comes as leaders of a dozen countries — including top officials from Germany, France, Turkey and Qatar — are set to meet in Cairo on Saturday at the invitation of Egypt’s leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in an attempt to prevent the conflict from escalating into a broader regional war.
Meanwhile, Israel asked its citizens living in neighboring Jordan and Egypt to leave those countries “as soon as possible” and to “avoid staying in all the Middle East/Arab countries,” according to a joint statement from the prime minister’s office and the foreign ministry.
LONDON — Rishi Sunak has delivered a message of British solidarity with Israel during a whirlwind trip to Tel Aviv, telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “We want you to win.”
Standing alongside Netanyahu for a televised address, Sunak said he “knew” Israel is “taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians” as it responds to last weekend’s attacks by Hamas.
The British PM arrived in Israel early Thursday morning for a two-day visit to the war-torn Middle East. He immediately held talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog as well as Netanyahu.
Sunak told Netanyahu afterward: “I’m proud to stand with you in Israel’s darkest hour as your friend, we will stand with you in solidarity, we will stand with your people, and we want you to win.”
Sunak also expressed the “deep condolences of the British people” at the mass loss of life during last weekend’s attacks.
“We’re increasing our aid to the region and we will look to get more support to people as quickly as we can,” Sunak added.
The PM stressed the U.K. supports Israel’s right to protect itself “in line with international law,” and added: “I know that you are taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians,” saying this was in “direct contrast to the terrorists of Hamas, which seeks to put civilians in harm’s way.”
Sunak is set to visit other regional capitals during his two-day tour, although Downing Street has not confirmed a specific itinerary, citing security reasons.
A No. 10 spokesman did confirm that Sunak will travel next to Saudi Arabia for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is conducting his own diplomatic push to try to stop the conflict spreading across the region. He is due to meet leaders in Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar during a three-day visit to the Middle East.
The visits come in the wake of a devastating blast at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday in which hundreds are feared to have died, and amid conflicting accusations about who was responsible for the attack.
In a statement released by Downing Street ahead of the trip, Sunak said: “The attack on Al-Ahli Hospital should be a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict.”
Five Americans freed from Iranian detention this week returned to US soil early Tuesday following an initial stop in Doha, Qatar, a US official tells CNN.
Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz and Siamak Namazi, along with two Americans who have not been publicly namedhave arrived in the Washington, DC, area, after they were released Monday as part of a wider deal that includes the US unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds.
The freed Americans will have the option to participate in a Department of Defense Program known as PISA (Post Isolation Support Activities) to help them acclimate back to normal life now that they are back in the United States.
The return of the five Americans, all of whom had been designated as wrongfully detained, caps a significant diplomatic breakthrough after years of complicated indirect negotiations between the US and Iran, who do not have formal diplomatic ties.
The group was flown out of Tehran on a Qatari government jet to Doha on Monday, before taking off for the Washington, DC, area to be reunited with their families, according to a senior administration official. Namazi’s mother, Effie Namazi, and Tahbaz’s wife, Vida Tahbaz, who had been previously unable to leave Iran, were also on the flight from Iran to Doha, the official said Monday.
After a year of indirect negotiations, the deal began to broadly come together in Doha about seven months ago and the first tangible public steps took place about five weeks ago, when four of the Americans were transferred to house arrest. The fifth American was already under house arrest.
President Joe Biden on Monday celebrated their release “after enduring years of agony, uncertainty, and suffering.” But while the release stood as the latest high-profile deal negotiated by his administration to secure the release of Americans deemed wrongly detained abroad, Biden drew criticism from some Republicans who likened the agreement to a “ransom payment.”
A senior Biden administration official said Monday that the deal “has not changed our relationship with Iran in any way,” noting the US would still work to hold Iran accountable for its human rights abuses and to constrain its nuclear program.
This story has been updated with additional information.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Five prisoners sought by the U.S. in a swap with Iran flew out of Tehran on Monday, officials said.
Flight-tracking data analyzed by the AP showed a Qatar Airways flight take off at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, which has been used for exchanges in the past. Iranian state media soon after said the flight had left Tehran.
Two people, including a senior Biden administration official, said that the prisoners had left Tehran. They both spoke on condition of anonymity because the exchange was ongoing.
In addition to the five freed Americans, two U.S. family members flew out, according to the Biden administration official. of Tehran.
“ The cash represents money South Korea owed Iran — but had not yet paid — for oil shipments. U.S. House Democrat Jason Crow said Monday that the Biden administration’s recent negotiations led to a situation in which those funds have more, rather than fewer, strings attached. ”
Earlier, officials said that the exchange would take place after nearly $6 billion in once-frozen Iranian assets reached Qatar, a key element of the planned swap.
Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, observed early Monday on MSNBC that the funds were available to Iran, and that South Korea could unilaterally have transferred them to Tehran, under terms of an arrangement struck by the Trump administration. The Biden administration’s recent negotiations led to a situation, he said, in which those funds have more, rather than fewer, strings attached.
The U.S. Treasury holds the power to reject any requested fund transfers to Iran, U.S. officials have said, even as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi claimed last week in an NBC interview that he was free under the deal’s terms to define the term humanitarian as he chose.
Observers, seeking to reconcile those positions, noted that Raisi likely had a domestic audience in mind and was expressing a view that he knew did not comport with reality.
Despite the exchange, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the U.S. and Iran, which are locked in various disputes, including over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani was the first to acknowledge the swap would take place Monday. He said the cash sought for the exchange that had been held by South Korea was now in Qatar.
Kanaani made his comments during a news conference aired on state television, but the feed cut immediately after his remarks.
“Fortunately Iran’s frozen assets in South Korea were released and God willing today the assets will start to be fully controlled by the government and the nation,” Kanaani said.
“On the subject of the prisoner swap, it will happen today and five prisoners, citizens of the Islamic Republic, will be released from the prisons in the U.S.,” he added. “Five imprisoned citizens who were in Iran will be given to the U.S. side.”
He said two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the U.S.
Mohammad Reza Farzin, Iran’s Central Bank chief, later came on state television to acknowledge the receipt of over 5.5 billion euros — $5.9 billion — in accounts in Qatar. Months ago, Iran had anticipated getting as much as $7 billion.
The planned exchange comes ahead of the convening of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly this week in New York, where Iran’s hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi will speak.
A Qatar Airways plane landed Monday morning at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, according to flight-tracking data analyzed by the AP. Qatar Airways uses Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport for its commercial flights, but previous prisoner releases have taken place at Mehrabad.
The announcement by Kanaani comes weeks after Iran said that five Iranian-Americans had been transferred from prison to house arrest as part of a confidence-building move. Meanwhile, Seoul allowed the frozen assets, held in South Korean won, to be converted into euros.
The planned swap has unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of U.S. troops boarding and guarding commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass.
The deal has also already opened U.S. President Joe Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others who say that the administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Mideast allies. That could have implications in his reelection campaign as well.
On the U.S. side, Washington has said the planned swap includes Siamak Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges; Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence. All of their charges have been widely criticized by their families, activists and the U.S. government.
U.S. official have so far declined to identify the fourth and fifth prisoner.
The five prisoners Iran has said it seeks are mostly held over allegedly trying to export banned material to Iran, such as dual use electronics that can be used by a military.
The cash represents money South Korea owed Iran — but had not yet paid — for oil purchased before the U.S. imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.
The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts and will only be able to be used for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program.
Iranian government officials have largely concurred with that explanation, though some hard-liners have insisted, without providing evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money.
Iran and the U.S. have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution. Their most recent major exchange happened in 2016, when Iran came to a deal with world powers to restrict its nuclear program in return for an easing of sanctions.
Four American captives, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, flew home from Iran at the time, and several Iranians in the U.S. won their freedom. That same day, then-President Barack Obama’s administration airlifted $400 million in cash to Tehran.
The West accuses Iran of using foreign prisoners — including those with dual nationality — as bargaining chips, an allegation Tehran rejects.
Negotiations over a major prisoner swap faltered after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear deal in 2018. From the following year on, a series of attacks and ship seizures attributed to Iran have raised tensions.
Meanwhile, Iran’s nuclear program now enriches closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. While the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has warned that Iran now has enough enriched uranium to produce “several” bombs, months more would likely be needed to build a weapon and potentially miniaturize it to put it on a missile — if Iran decided to pursue one.
Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful, and the U.S. intelligence community has kept its assessment that Iran is not pursuing an atomic bomb.
Iran has taken steps in recent months to settle some issues with the International Atomic Energy Agency. But the advances in its program have led to fears of a wider regional conflagration as Israel, itself a nuclear power, has said it would not allow Tehran to develop the bomb. Israel bombed both Iraq and Syria to stop their nuclear programs, giving the threat more weight. It also is suspected in carrying out a series of killings targeting Iran’s nuclear scientists.
Iran also supplies Russia with the bomb-carrying drones Moscow uses to target sites in Ukraine in its war on Kyiv, which remains another major dispute between Tehran and Washington.
Washington — The Biden administration has cleared the way for the eventual release of five American citizens detained in Iran by issuing a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of U.S. sanctions. In addition, as part of the deal, the administration has agreed to release five Iranian citizens held in the United States.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed off on the sanctions waivers last week, a U.S. official told CBS News, a month after U.S. and Iranian officials said an agreement in principle was in place.
Congress was not informed of the waiver decision until Monday, according to a congressional notification obtained by The Associated Press. The U.S. official confirmed that the administration had informed Congress of the move, saying the waiver is one of the final steps before the deal can be completed.
The outlines of the swap had been previously announced and the waiver was expected. But the notification marks the first time the administration said it was releasing five Iranian prisoners as part of the deal. The prisoners have not been named.
The waiver is likely to draw criticism of President Biden from Republicans and others that the deal will boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to U.S. troops and Mideast allies.
The waiver means that European, Middle Eastern and Asian banks will not run afoul of U.S. sanctions in converting the money frozen in South Korea and transferring it to Qatar’s central bank, where it will be held for Iran to use for the purchase of humanitarian goods.
The transfer of the $6 billion was the critical element in the prisoner release deal, which saw four of the five American detainees transferred from Iranian jails into house arrest last month. The fifth detainee had already been under house arrest.
Due to numerous U.S. sanctions on foreign banks that engage in transactions aimed at benefitting Iran, several European countries had balked at participating in the transfer. Blinken’s waiver is aimed at easing their concerns about any risk of U.S. sanctions.
The American prisoners include Siamak Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on internationally criticized spying charges; Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence. The fourth and fifth prisoners were not identified.
Sharghi’s family members told “Face the Nation” last month that they were holding their breath as the highly sensitive negotiations to bring the Americans home play out.
“My family and I are just on pins and needles,” his sister Neda Sharghi said. “We’re incredibly nervous about what happens next.”
Blinken outlined the parameters of the deal in the notification to Congress, writing: “To facilitate their release, the United States has committed to release five Iranian nationals currently held in the United States and to permit the transfer of approximately $6 billion in restricted Iranian funds held in [South Korea] to restricted accounts in Qatar, where the funds will be available only for humanitarian trade.”
The sanctions waiver applies to banks and other financial institutions in South Korea, Germany, Ireland, Qatar and Switzerland.
“I determine that it is in the national security interest of the United States to waive the imposition of sanctions … with respect to foreign financial institutions under the primary jurisdiction of Germany, Ireland, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, and Switzerland that are notified directly in writing by the U.S. government, to the extent necessary for such institutions to engage in transactions occurring on or after August 9, 2023,” Blinken wrote.
Sanctions waivers apply to transactions involving previously penalized entities such as the National Iranian Oil Company and Central Bank of Iran “to transfer funds from accounts in the Republic of Korea to accounts in Switzerland and Germany and from accounts in Switzerland and Germany to accounts in Qatar, and to use the transferred funds for further humanitarian transactions in accordance with written guidance from the U.S. Government,” he wrote.
Katie Archibald helps Great Britain to first world women’s team pursuit gold since 2014; victory hugely poignant for Archibald following death of partner and fellow cyclist Rab Wardell after cardiac arrest last year; para-cyclists Sam Ruddock, Blaine Hunt and Jaco van Gass also win gold
Last Updated: 05/08/23 10:57pm
Josie Knight (left) embraces Katie Archibald (right) after Great Britain’s first women’s team pursuit world title in nine years
Katie Archibald and Great Britain celebrated an emotional victory in the women’s team pursuit at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow.
Archibald, Elinor Barker, Josie Knight and Anna Morris won gold with a time of four minutes 8.771 seconds, more than four seconds ahead of New Zealand, as they scooped Britain’s first world title in this event since 2014.
Archibald’s fifth world title was hugely poignant with the 29-year-old’s late partner and fellow cyclist Rab Wardell dying of a cardiac arrest as he lay in bed last August.
The rider was given a tremendous reception from the crowd and told BBC Sport: “It is all coming out now with this event.
“Someone was talking about imposter syndrome the other day and you almost have it the other way round.
“We almost see ourselves as the best in the world but we have not been on the top step since 2014. So to have that feeling validated feels good.”
Archibald, Anna Morris, Elinor Baker, Megan Barker and Knight (left to right) pose with their gold medals
‘Archibald phenomenal – I don’t know how she does it’
Knight, who shares a house with Archibald, said of her team-mate: “I see her ups and downs every day. She’s had a really tough couple of weeks. I know her prep hasn’t been quite what she would have wanted.
“Usually she’s the real hero of this team. We’ve had to adapt and I’ve tried to step up, take that role on. But she is phenomenal. We all stepped up. And we’re world champions.”
Barker added: “Katie’s unbelievable. It’s really hard to summarise the year that she has had, how she feels about it, how we feel about it.
“Just the fact that she is here, it’s insane. I don’t really know how she does it, to be honest.”
Archibald and Barker were both part of the team when Britain last won the women’s team pursuit world title nine years ago, going on to enjoy Olympic glory in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 before taking silver in Tokyo at the following Games.
There were also more gold medals for Britain’s para-cyclists.
Sam Ruddock successfully defended his men’s C1 kilo title before Blaine Hunt took the C5 crown, with Jaco van Gass then beating team-mate Fin Graham to win the men’s C3 scratch race and his second rainbow jersey in as many days.
Closing in on a deal to free five Americans detained in Iran, US and Iranian delegations gathered in separate hotels in Doha – within sight of each other, but not within earshot – as Qatari diplomats shuttled back and forth trying feverishly to broker an elusive agreement between the two.
None of the conversation played out in face-to-face meetings between the US and Iran over more than a year of on-and-off hotel meetings in the Qatari capital, a US official familiar with the negotiations told CNN.
Instead, Qatari officials relayed messages back and forth, with some of the logistical work happening in the most discreet way possible, according to a US official familiar with the negotiations – via text thread between the Qataris and the US diplomats.
The indirect talks were part of a two-year process that brought about the deal announced this week, a potential diplomatic breakthrough between bitter adversaries who don’t even talk to each other.
The overall contours of the deal’s roadmap began to crystallize in Doha about six months ago, after two-and-a-half years of intensive on-and-off indirect discussions between Washington and Tehran. And on Thursday, those intense efforts yielded the first sign of payoff, when Iran released four Americans who had been detained in the notorious Evin Prison and moved them into house arrest.
“It’s a positive step that they were released from prison and sent to home detention. But this is just the beginning of a process that I hope and expect will lead to their return home to the United States,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after the transfer was announced.
If that plays out as agreed, the intricate diplomacy will have produced a momentous agreement between long-time adversaries whose relationship has been strained by Iran’s growing nuclear program and its alleged human rights abuses.
Befitting the relationship, the path has been thorny, according to accounts shared with CNN by several sources familiar with the talks. The United States and Iran don’t have diplomatic relations, and public overtures by Washington to engage directly with Tehran on the matter were rebuffed.
Instead, the US had to pursue indirect avenues, relying on partners in the Middle East and Europe including Qatar, Oman, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, all of whom served as interlocutors for the two sides over the course of the past two and a half years.
US officials approached the negotiations with the understanding that there were “no guarantees” with the Iranians, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. But as things seemed to fall into place, the US government began reaching out to Congress and to family members.
It was not until a couple of days before the transfer to house arrest that the American side realized the plan was going into motion. A fifth American was already under house arrest.
On Wednesday, the US had “what (appeared) to be concrete information” that the first step in the deal – moving the four Americans out of Evin Prison and into house arrest – would be taken on Thursday, the source familiar with the negotiations said.
Still, officials were wary.
“There are certainly elements of the Iranian system that do not want this to happen,” the source warned.
When Thursday came, US officials had a direct line to the Swiss Ambassador in Iran for updates as to progress on the ground, the US official said. Swiss diplomats serve as the protecting power – the eyes and ears on the ground – for the US in Iran.
Early in the afternoon Thursday Washington time, National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson announced the White House had “received confirmation that Iran has released from prison five Americans who were unjustly detained and has placed them on house arrest.”
The path forward now has been described as a step-by-step process, and American officials stress that the indirect negotiations are ongoing and sensitive.
One component of the deal is an expected prisoner swap between the US and Iran, and another involves making $6 billion in Iranian funds that have been in a restricted account in South Korea more readily available for “non-sanctionable trade” of goods like food and medicine by moving them to restricted accounts in Qatar. Sources tell CNN the funds came from oil sales that were allowed and placed into accounts set up under the Trump administration.
One source briefed on the agreement said the process to transfer the funds to Qatar is likely to take 30 to 45 days, and two sources said the money would go through Switzerland before getting to Qatar.
The implementation won’t be easy. The US Treasury will be heavily involved, as the transfer of Iranian funds to Qatar is expected to take weeks to complete particularly because the US is not lifting any sanctions in order to facilitate the transfer, sources said.
The indirect negotiations involved officials from across the Biden administration, including the State Department and the White House, and they closely involved the US Treasury Department, the official said. Treasury’s involvement made the process more arduous at times, but was necessary to be sure that any agreement would maintain strict oversight of the Iranian funds, the official added.
The process to get to this point – with the end goal of securing the Americans’ release – has been a long road for Biden administration officials. Sources said that bringing the Americans back home had been a priority from the outset of President Joe Biden’s tenure.
The three Americans publicly known to be in the deal – Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi – had been imprisoned for years before Biden took office, with Namazi being arrested when Biden was vice president and left behind in a deal secured under the Obama administration.
Now, US officials say the work continues, but they are cautiously optimistic that the five could be coming home.
“My belief is that this is the beginning of the end of their nightmare and the nightmare that their families have experienced,” Blinken said.
STRASBOURG — The European Parliament’s response to Qatargate: Fight corruption with paperwork.
When Belgian police made sweeping arrests and recovered €1.5 million from Parliament members in a cash-for-influence probe last December, it sparked mass clamoring for a deep clean of the institution, which has long languished with lax ethics and transparency rules, and even weaker enforcement.
Seven months later, the Parliament and its president, Roberta Metsola, can certainly claim to have tightened some rules — but the results are not much to shout about. With accused MEPs Eva Kaili and Marc Tarabella back in the Parliament and even voting on ethics changes themselves, the reforms lack the political punch to take the sting out of a scandal that Euroskeptic forces have leaped on ahead of the EU election next year.
“Judge us on what we’ve done rather [than] on what we didn’t,” Metsola told journalists earlier this month, arguing that Parliament has acted swiftly where it could.
While the Parliament can claim some limited improvements, calls for a more profound overhaul in the EU’s only directly elected institution — including more serious enforcement of existing rules — have been met with finger-pointing, blame-shifting and bureaucratic slow-walking.
The Parliament dodged some headline-worthy proposals in the process. It declined to launch its own inquiry into what really happened, it decided not to force MEPs to declare their assets and it won’t be stripping any convicted MEPs of their gold-plated pensions.
Instead, the institution favored more minimal nips and tucks. The rule changes amount to much more bureaucracy and more potential alarm bells to spot malfeasance sooner — but little in the way of stronger enforcement of ethics rules for MEPs.
EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly, who investigates complaints about EU administration lamented that the initial sense of urgency to adopt strict reforms had “dissipated.” After handing the EU a reputational blow, she argued, the scandal’s aftermath offered a pre-election chance, “to show that lessons have been learned and safeguards have been put in place.”
Former MEP Richard Corbett, who co-wrote the Socialists & Democrats group’s own inquiry into Qatargate and favors more aggressive reforms, admitted he isn’t sure whether Parliament will get there.
“The Parliament is getting to grips with this gradually, muddling its way through the complex field, but it’s too early to say whether it will do what it should,” he said.
Bags of cash
The sense of resignation that criminals will be criminals was only one of the starting points that shaped the Parliament’s response.
“We will never be able to prevent people taking bags of cash. This is human nature. What we have to do is create a protection network,” said Raphaël Glucksmann, a French MEP who sketched out some longer-term recommendations he hopes the Parliament will take up.
Another is that the Belgian authorities’ painstaking judicial investigation is still ongoing, with three MEPs charged and a fourth facing imminent questioning. Much is unknown about how the alleged bribery ring really operated, or what the countries Qatar, Morocco and Mauritania really got for their bribes.
On top of that, Parliament was occasionally looking outward rather than inward for people to blame.
Metsola’s message in the wake of the scandal was that EU democracy was “under attack” by foreign forces. The emphasis on “malign actors, linked to autocratic third countries” set the stage for the Parliament’s response to Qatargate: blame foreign interference, not an integrity deficit.
Instead of creating a new panel to investigate how corruption might have steered Parliament’s work, Parliament repurposed an existing committee on foreign interference and misinformation to probe the matter. The result was a set of medium- and long-term recommendations that focus as much on blocking IT contractors from Russia and China as they do on holding MEPs accountable — and they remain merely recommendations.
Metsola did also turn inward, presenting a 14-point plan in January she labeled as “first steps” of a promised ethics overhaul. The measures are a finely tailored lattice-work of technical measures that could make it harder for Qatargate to happen again, primarily by making it harder to lobby the Parliament undetected.
The central figure in Qatargate, an Italian ex-MEP called Pier Antonio Panzeri, enjoyed unfettered access to the Parliament, using it to give prominence to his human rights NGO Fight Impunity, which held events and even struck a collaboration deal with the institution.
This 14-point package, which Metsola declared is now “done,” includes a new entry register, a six-month cooling-off period banning ex-MEPs from lobbying their colleagues, tighter rules for events, stricter scrutiny of human rights work — all tailored to ensure a future Panzeri hits a tripwire and can be spotted sooner.
Notably, however, an initial idea to ban former MEPs from lobbying for two years after leaving office — which would mirror the European Commission’s rules — instead turned into just a six-month “cooling off” period.
Internal divisions
Behind the scenes, the house remains sharply divided over just how much change is needed. Many MEPs resisted bigger changes to how they conduct their work, despite Metsola’s promise in December that there would be “no business as usual,” which she repeated in July.
The limited ambition reflects an argument — pushed by a powerful subset of MEPs, primarily in Metsola’s large, center-right European People’s Party group — that changing that “business as usual” will only tie the hands of innocent politicians while doing little to stop the few with criminal intent. They’re bolstered by the fact that the Socialists & Democrats remain the only group touched by the scandal.
“There were voices in this house who said, ‘Do nothing, these things will always happen, things are fine as they are,’” Metsola said. Some of the changes, she said, had been “resisted for decades” before Qatargate momentum pushed them through.
The Parliament already has some of the Continent’s highest standards for legislative bodies, said Rainer Wieland, a long-serving EPP member from Germany who sits on the several key rule-making committees: “I don’t think anyone can hold a candle to us.”
MEP Rainer Wieland holds lots of sway over the reforms | Patrick Seeger/EFE via EPA
Those who are still complaining, he added in a debate last week, “are living in wonderland.”
Wieland holds lots of sway over the reforms. He chairs an internal working group on the Parliament’s rules that feeds into the Parliament’s powerful Committee on Constitutional Affairs, where Metsola’s 14-point plan will be translated into cold, hard rules.
Those rule changes are expected to be adopted by the full Parliament in September.
The measures will boost existing transparency rules significantly. The lead MEP on a legislative file will soon have to declare (and deal with) potential conflicts of interest, including those coming from their “emotional life.” And more MEPs will have to publish their meetings related to parliamentary business, including those with representatives from outside the EU.
Members will also have to disclose outside income over €5,000 — with additional details about the sector if they work in something like law or consulting.
Negotiators also agreed to double potential penalties for breaches: MEPs can lose their daily allowance and be barred from most parliamentary work for up to 60 days.
Yet the Parliament’s track record punishing MEPs who break the rules is virtually nonexistent.
As it stands, an internal advisory committee can recommend a punishment, but it’s up to the president to impose it. Of 26 breaches of transparency rules identified over the years, not one MEP has been punished. (Metsola has imposed penalties for things like harassment and hate speech.)
And hopes for an outside integrity cop to help with enforcement were dashed when a long-delayed Commission proposal for an EU-wide independent ethics body was scaled back.
Stymied by legal constraints and left-right divides within the Parliament, the Commission opted for suggesting a standards-setting panel that, at best, would pressure institutions into better policing their own rules.
“I really hate listening to some, especially members of the European Parliament, who say that ‘Without having the ethics body, we cannot behave ethical[ly],’” Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová lamented in June.
Metsola, for her part, has pledged to adhere to the advisory committee’s recommendations going forward. But MEPs from across the political spectrum flagged the president’s complete discretion to mete out punishments as unsustainable.
“The problem was not (and never really was) [so] much the details of the rules!!! But the enforcement,” French Green MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield — who sits in the working group — wrote to POLITICO.
Wieland, the German EPP member on the rule-making committees, presented the situation more matter-of-factly: Parliament had done what it said it would do.
“We fully delivered” on Metsola’s plan, Wieland told POLITICO in an interview. “Not more than that.”
Tom Pidcock on Tour de France descents after Gino Mader’s death: “That was pretty hard hitting. I didn’t see a single rider take any risks on the stages after that. What hit me was it happened descending, which I love. Things can happen when we’re riding down a descent at 100kph”
Last Updated: 29/06/23 8:41am
British cyclist Tom Pidcock says the recent death of Gino Mader will likely see descents at the Tour de France tackled differently
Britain’s Tom Pidcock said Gino Mader’s death during a high-speed descent in Switzerland less than two weeks ago could result in riders being more cautious at the Tour de France.
Swiss rider Mader died aged 26 due to injuries suffered when he crashed into a ravine during the Tour de Suisse. Pidcock’s Ineos Grenadiers team mate Magnus Sheffield crashed separately at the same corner, suffering concussion and spending three days in hospital.
Descending is one of Pidcock’s strengths but the 23-year-old, who won an iconic Tour de France stage at L’Alpe d’Huez last year, said Mader’s death may have an impact on his style.
“I think especially for everyone who was at the race, that was pretty hard hitting,” Pidcock, who was also competing in the eight-stage race, told reporters on Wednesday.
“I think I didn’t see a single rider take any risks on the last two stages after that incident. Personally, one of the things that hit me was it happened descending, which is something that I love.
Gino Mader died aged 26 following a fall at the 2023 Tour de Suisse earlier this month
“It showed me what the consequences can be when it goes wrong. I don’t take unnecessary risks but things can happen when we’re riding down a descent at 100kph in Lycra.”
Mader’s death raised questions about rider safety and triggered calls for safety nets in the most dangerous downhill sections but Pidcock said risk will always be part of the sport.
“I guess unless we all want to race round the motor racing circuits, then we have to accept that we will be racing down descents,” he told the Telegraph.
“I think risks are involved in cycling and sometimes – it doesn’t happen often – it can go wrong. I guess we do what we can to mitigate those risks but they’ll never be gone.”
Pidcock, who is also an Olympic gold medallist in cross country mountain biking, will lead Ineos at the Tour, which begins in Bilbao, Spain on Saturday.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani calls for ‘resolving differences through dialogue and diplomatic means’ in phone call with the Russian president.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, two days after a Russian militia group rebelled against Moscow.
“The call dealt with discussing bilateral relations between the two countries, in addition to discussing the latest regional and international developments and developments in the Russian Federation,” Qatar’s state news agency QNA reported on Monday.
Sheikh Tamim “affirmed Qatar’s position of calling for resolving differences through dialogue and diplomatic means” and called for a “need to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders”, the news agency said.
Qatar is among several Arab countries that have been largely neutral over Russia’s 16-month full-scale war on neighbouring Ukraine.
For its part, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement about the call that both leaders confirmed their mutual interest in further strengthening their countries’ ties in various areas.
“The Qatari leader expressed his support for the actions of the Russian authorities related to the events of June 24,” the ministry said.
🇷🇺🇶🇦 President Vladimir #Putin had a telephone conversation with Emir of Qatar @TamimBinHamad
Both Parties noted the high level of #RussianQatari cooperation and confirmed their mutual interest in further strengthening it in various areas🤝
On Saturday, Qatar had expressed “deep concern” over the developments in Russia after the armed uprising by the Wagner mercenary group.
“The State of Qatar is following, with deep concern, the developments in the Russian Federation, which resulted from the mutiny against the [Russian] army,” the Qatari foreign ministry had said in a statement.
“The escalation in Russia and Ukraine will have negative repercussions on international peace and security, and on food and energy supplies, which are already affected by the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.”
So far, Wagner’s mercenaries have been among the most important troops in the Russian war effort.
However, after months of tensions with Russia’s military leadership, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin on Saturday openly opposed the country’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu as he launched a dramatic march to Moscow.
As he faced the biggest challenge to his authority, Putin accused Prigozhin of treason.
Russian media reports on Monday said Prigozhin remains under investigation by the Federal Security Service (FSB) for leading the rebellion.
Projects include the construction of power plants that will reduce Iraq’s reliance on Iran for its energy needs.
Three Qatari companies and Iraq’s National Investment Commission have agreed to develop $9.5bn worth of projects in Iraq, including the construction of a pair of power plants that will generate a total of 2,400 megawatts.
UCC Holding and the investment commission on Thursday signed a 25-year, public-private partnership linked to the two power plants, which will cost $2.5bn to build, according to a statement issued by UCC Holding on Sunday.
The power plants will help reduce Iraq’s reliance on neighbouring Iran for its energy needs.
Iraq imports electricity and gas from Iran, which in total makes up between a third and 40 percent of its power supply, especially crucial in the sweltering summer months when temperatures can top 50C (122F) and power consumption peaks.
Iraq’s investment commission and Doha-based Estithmar Holding also signed deals worth $7bn to manage hospitals, develop two “new comprehensive cities” and build a series of new five-star hotels totalling 10,000 rooms, a statement issued by Estithmar said.
“The cities … will include residential complexes, villas, schools, commercial complexes, entertainment centres, and other facilities and services, in addition to all the infrastructure needed to build these cities,” Estithmar Vice Chairman Ramez Al-Khayyat said in the statement.
It is unclear how much money either the Qatari companies or Iraq’s investment commission will commit to these projects.
The agreements were signed during a visit to Baghdad by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Thursday, when he pledged to make a $5bn investment in Iraq.
Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan during the UEFA Champions League final match at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul.
Martin Rickett – Pa Images | Pa Images | Getty Images
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.
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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 as Saudi Arabia and Qatar look to ramp up their investment in the sport. The Gulf states have sought to use sport as an economic diversification tool in recent years as well as an attempt to improve their international image.
The UAE’s Sheikh Mansour purchased the club in 2008 and has since proceeded to spend more on transfers than any other club in world soccer. Data from German-based website Transfermarkt.com, which specializes in soccer transfers, estimates the club’s net transfer spending since 2008 comes in at an eye-watering $1.64 billion, outspending arch-rivals Manchester United over the same period by roughly $200 million.
The scale of the investment has attracted criticism, with human rights group Amnesty International saying the UAE’s spending amounts to one of soccer’s “most brazen attempts to ‘sportswash’ a country’s deeply tarnished image.” A spokesperson for the UAE’s foreign ministry did not respond to a CNBC request for comment.
“The success that Manchester City is achieving is not just vanity, it’s not just economic,” Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at the Skema Business School, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe” on Friday.
“But in terms of soft power, image reputation, nation branding, I think it’s significant as well.”
It also bankrolled the much-publicized LIV Golf, before a shock merger was announced last week between the breakaway circuit and the U.S.-based PGA Tour.
In recent weeks, the PIF has acquired 75% stakes in four of its country’s clubs, with the aim of acquiring some of Europe’s top soccer players.
Karim Benzema acknowledges the fans as they are presented to the crowd during the Karim Benzema Official Reception event at King Abdullah Sports City on June 08, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Yasser Bakhsh | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema has signed a deal worth a reported 100 million euros ($107.7 million) per season with the Al-Ittihad Club, while there is feverish speculation of several other well-known international players being courted.
In an interview with CNBC last week, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan cited the young demographic of the kingdom’s population as he outlined the kingdom’s sports strategy.
“In the past, I think eight, maybe five years ago, we created different numbers of federations for every sport that you can think of. So, we are interested in all these sports, it’s not only golf or football or basketball, but it’s many other sports there.”
French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain was acquired by Qatar Sports Investments, a subsidiary of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, in 2011.
Now, Doha is attempting to purchase Manchester United after the club’s American owners, the Glazer family, announced they would explore “strategic alternatives” for the club.
A statue of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton standing outside Old Trafford, home of Manchester United in Manchester, England.
Mike Hewitt | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
Little-known royal Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani has bid for the club, facing up against INEOS founder Jim Ratcliffe.
If Qatar were to succeed with its reported $6.3 billion bid for Manchester United, it would be a major coup for the Middle Eastern nation, particularly given the club’s storied past, worldwide fanbase and marketing appeal.
Irrespective of who acquires Manchester United, the recent rise in interest in soccer clubs from Middle East countries is unlikely to end anytime soon, according to Chadwick.
“I think what we’re going to see, what we’ve already seen over the last 20 years, but what we’ll see again over the next 20 years is the continuing investment in sport by these nations,” Chadwick said.
That’s “because it will help them to diversify, but as we know, there are other benefits associated with it too,” he added.
Correction: This story has been updated with the current comparison for net spend between Manchester City and Manchester United.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set for another five years as Turkey’s president after winning a divisive election that at one point seemed to threaten his hold on power.
The 69-year-old, who has dominated his country’s politics for two decades, was on track to win the runoff vote by 52 percent to 48 percent, with more than 99 percent of ballot boxes counted, beating opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, according to preliminary official results from Turkey’s Supreme Election Council.
In the first round of voting on May 14, the president also came out on top, defying the polls, but fell short of an outright majority, which triggered the runoff vote.
Erdoğan declared victory in front of his residence in Istanbul, singing his campaign song before his speech. “I thank our nation, which gave us the responsibility of governing again for the next five years,” he said.
“We have opened the door of Turkey’s century without compromising our democracy, development and our objectives,” he added.
Erdoğan also called on his supporters to take Istanbul back in the next local elections in 2024. His AK Party lost the city to the opposition in the 2019.
The triumphant president continued his campaign tactic of targeting LGBTQ+ people. “Can LGBT infiltrate AK Party or other members of the People’s Alliance [the broader coalition backing Erdoğan]? Family is sacred to us,” he said.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and French leader Emmanuel Macron were among the first world leaders to congratulate Erdoğan on his victory. Both leaders emphasized working together on world affairs. The government of Qatar and Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister, also congratulated the re-elected president.
Erdoğan’s victory follows a campaign in which he accused his rival of being linked to terrorism and argued that the country faced chaos if the six-party opposition alliance came to power.
He has ruled Turkey since 2003, first as prime minister and then as president, and the election has been widely seen as a defining moment for the country.
Erdoğan’s supporters say he has made the country stronger, but his critics argue that his authoritarian approach to power is fatally undermining Turkey’s democracy.
Kılıçdaroğlu said it had been “the most unfair election process in years” in his own post-election speech.
“All the resources of the state have been mobilized for one political party. They have been spread at the feet of one man,” he said.
The opposition candidate gave no indication that he was planning to resign, adding that the struggle would go on.
Erdogan taunted his rival, saying: “Bye, bye, bye Kemal.”
By contrast with earlier elections in which the president and his Islamist-oriented AK party easily beat their secular rivals, Erdoğan headed into this May’s contest behind in the polls.
His reelection campaign had to contend with economic problems such as painfully high inflation — currently 43 percent — and a weak currency, as well as the legacy of February’s devastating earthquake. At least 50,000 died in the disaster and the government was criticized for poor construction standards and its own slow response.
But Erdoğan’s first round performance on May 14 put him five percentage points ahead of Kılıçdaroğlu and just a few hundred thousand votes short of an absolute majority.
The opposition candidate then shifted to a more nationalist stance, promising to deport millions of Syrians and Afghans, but that move proved ultimately unsuccessful. Sinan Oğan, the nationalist candidate who won 5 percent in the first round then endorsed Erdoğan, not Kılıçdaroğlu.
Political analysts say Erdoğan’s victory highlights the polarization in Turkish society, particularly divisions between Islamists and secularists. While much of Turkey’s coastline, the big cities and the largely Kurdish southeast voted for Kılıçdaroğlu, the heartlands strongly favored Erdoğan.
Opposition supporters also argue that the election reflected Erdoğan’s grip on power, including his near-total influence on the country’s media, which is largely controlled by groups friendly toward the governing party.
After Kılıçdaroğlu’s candidacy was backed by Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party, Erdoğan accused his rival of being in league with Kurdish terrorists, showing a doctored video in the closing days of the campaign to make his case.
This article has been updated to include reaction from Erdoğan.
Geraint Thomas, who remains in the lead at the Giro d’Italia: “We stayed calm when a small group went in the first climb. We stayed in control with Ben Swift and Pavel Sivakov setting the pace. Great ride by them. The way it went at the end made it quite hard to attack”
Last Updated: 19/05/23 6:27pm
Britain’s Geraint Thomas continues to lead the Giro D’Italia after stage 13
Einer Rubio won stage 13 of the Giro d’Italia as Geraint Thomas retained the Maglia Rosa on a rain-interrupted day.
Movistar rider Rubio won the 74.6-kilometre stage in two hours 16 minutes and 21 seconds while Thibaut Pinot and Jefferson Alexander Cepeda finished second and third respectively.
Rubio said: “A big day that I was looking for by working very hard. It’s been difficult with the bad weather. But I had to keep going.
“I knew that Pinot was very strong. I had to finish with him and play it well tactically. It will take time for me to realise that I won a stage of the Giro d’Italia. I didn’t believe I’d do it.”
The stage started under heavy rain at Borgofranco d’Ivrea but organisers were forced to re-route some of it, with riders retreating to their team buses due to the conditions.
Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) retains the overall lead ahead of Primoz Roglic and Joao Almeida.
Thomas said: “We stayed calm when a small group went in the first climb. We stayed in control with Ben Swift and Pavel Sivakov setting the pace. Great ride by them. The way it went at the end made it quite hard to attack.
“But Primoz is probably happy to leave me in the Maglia Rosa for a few more days. I expect something more from him next week.”
The Indian nationals are accused of passing along information about a stealth-capable submarine.
Eight Indian nationals have been imprisoned in Qatar for months for spying on a submarine programme on behalf of Israel and could potentially face the death penalty, according to media reports.
The eight individuals are former officers in the Indian Navy and were arrested in late August, according to reports by Indian, Pakistani, Israeli and Arab media outlets.
New Delhi has had consular access to the eight prisoners and has tried to secure their release, but has been told by Doha that evidence suggests the former officers passed on intelligence to Israel, Indian news outlet ThePrint reported.
The Indian nationals had their first trial in late March, and another session is reportedly expected to be held this month.
Indian media reported that they were senior employees of Dahra Global Technologies and Consulting Services, a company advising on a Qatari programme aimed at obtaining high-tech Italian-made submarines that could evade radar detection.
Pakistani newspaper The News International reported last week that the company is now being shut down by Qatar, with as many as 75 Indian nationals, the majority of whom are former navy personnel, being told they were being let go by the end of May.
Qatar had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2020 with Italian-based shipbuilding firm Fincantieri SpA to build submarines as part of a larger project involving the construction of a naval base and maintenance of its military fleet. The MoU has reportedly not been implemented.
U212 Near Future Submarine
The submarines that Qatar is seeking are reportedly a smaller variety of the U212 Near Future Submarine, an ambitious submarine project in Italy built in cooperation with a German firm.
Israel has not officially commented on the issue, but it has stakes in preventing the development of military technologies across the Middle East, as it fears it could undercut its United States-backed military edge.
India and Pakistan are also interested in the submarine race as they seek to block each other from getting the upper hand.
The Pakistan Navy already operates midget submarines built by Italy and enjoys increasingly close ties with Qatar, while India is concerned about Pakistan potentially looking to acquire stealth technologies embedded in the new submarines.
Last year, when no details about the reason for the arrest of the eight Indian nationals had been publicised, Indian media had accused Pakistan of trying to “muddy the waters” with misleading reports.
Some Indian media outlets had even hinted at a Pakistani role in the arrests, citing social media posts online that speculated about the case.
Doha, Qatar – For taxi driver Mohammad Siyad, watching his favourite cricketers in the flesh was a dream come true.
Siyad was among nearly 7,000 fans who gathered at the Asian Town Cricket Stadium on Monday to watch the final of the Legends League Cricket (LLC) Twenty20 tournament that featured former greats like Shahid Afridi, Jaques Kallis, Ross Taylor and Misbah ul-Haq.
“I had never imagined I would be seeing so many legends in person,” the Sri Lankan national told Al Jazeera at the stadium in a working-class neighbourhood outside the Qatari capital, Doha.
The 10-day tournament, the second of its kind after the inaugural version in Oman last year, featured three teams – the India Maharajas, the Asia Lions and the World Giants, featuring cricketers from the rest of the world.
Fans at the Asian Town Cricket Stadium outside Doha [Nadim Asrar/Al Jazeera]
The event, where retired cricketing legends come back to play competitive cricket, also brought plenty of cheer and triggered old memories for the nearly 1.3 million cricket-crazy South Asian diaspora in the Gulf state.
“I have grown seeing these men play on TV. To see them in flesh and blood now is so very exciting,” said Siyad as he waved a Sri Lankan flag.
Title clash
The Sri Lankans had a lot to cheer about during the final between the Asia Lions – led by the iconic Pakistani cricketer Afridi – and the World Giants, with Australia’s Shane Watson as its captain.
Batting first, the Giants, pummelled by some sharp bowling by Pakistan’s Abdul Razzak and Afridi, managed to post just 147 – a modest target in a T20 game.
Sri Lankan openers gave an impressive start to the Asian Lions’ chase [Nadim Asrar/Al Jazeera]
In reply, Sri Lanka’s opening pair of Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan delivered a treat for the spectators, hitting the opposition bowlers – led by the likes of Australian paceman Brett Lee – all over the ground.
Construction worker Subhash Nishantha, 47, could not contain his excitement as he ran across the aisle holding two tiny plastic Sri Lankan flags.
“I am here to enjoy,” he said.
Sri Lankan national Subhash Nishantha enjoying the final match [Nadim Asrar/Al Jazeera]
Tharanga and Dilshan ended up scoring 115 for the opening wicket, both scoring half-centuries in the process and making the chase a breeze for the Lions on the way to the title.
“I last played international cricket in 2015, so it has been a while,” said Tharanga as he was declared the “Legend of the Tournament” for scoring the most runs. He hit three 50s in the four games he played.
Most Pakistanis in the crowd wanted to watch their hero Afridi bat. While his team’s authority on the field meant Afridi was not needed with the bat, loud cheers of “Lala, lala” – as the cricketer is fondly called in Pakistan – greeted him on the field in the first innings.
He would often wave back with a smile.
“I hope to come back next year. Before that, I need some more training,” he said after the game.
The missing ‘Maharajas’
Twenty20 cricket is where the “gentleman’s game” meets the market. India, with a population of 1.3 billion, is the game’s biggest market. It was no surprise, therefore, that India influenced the way the game was played at the Asian Town Cricket Stadium.
The latest songs from the Indian film industry punctuated every over – sometimes every ball – or when a boundary was hit or a batter was dismissed.
A group of fans – dressed in all yellow – from the southern Indian state of Kerala played drums throughout the game, adding to the cheer despite the absence of Indian cricketers on the field.
The Qatar Manjappada group performing during the game [Nadim Asrar/Al Jazeera]
On Saturday, the India Maharajas were eliminated from the event by the Asia Lions, despite captain Gautam Gambhir leading from the front and some stunning catches by Mohammad Kaif, who, at 46, still defies gravity by his fitness.
Khursheed Mohammad Zahiruddin, a truck driver in Qatar, said while he missed his favourite team, he was there for the love of the game.
“Maybe they will return next year,” the 35-year-old told Al Jazeera.
Doha: Customs authorities at Hamad International Airport foiled an attempt to smuggle narcotics into Qatar.
With several photos shared on social media, Customs stated that the seized substances, marijuana and hashish, were hidden inside a passenger’s bag.
Upon inspection, a total of 3,333.9 grams of marijuana pieces were found inside and at the bottom of the passenger’s bag. Hashish was also found with a total weight of 2,119.4 grams.
“Once the seizure process was completed, legal measures were immediately taken and a seizure report was issued,” announced Customs.
Recently, officials of Air Cargo and Private Airports Customs Department, seized a total of 1,977 lyrica pills that were found inside cricket bats.
Customs department has been warning against bringing illegal goods into the country. They are equipped with all means of support including the latest devices and continuous training to read the body language of passengers and to be aware of the latest methods followed by smugglers.
A former Fox executive was convicted Thursday of paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to nab broadcasting rights to the World Cup and other top soccer matches. A second ex-executive was acquitted.
A Brooklyn federal jury deliberated four days before returning the verdicts. Hernan Lopez, the former CEO of Fox International Channels, was convicted. Carlos Martinez, who headed the Latin America affiliate, was acquitted.
Prosecutors said the case revealed the corruption of international soccer. Defense lawyers said the former Fox execs were framed by an admitted criminal who was trying to minimize his own punishment.
An emotional Lopez hugged supporters in the courtroom after hearing the verdict, while his attorneys appeared stunned. The judge allowed him to be released on bail pending sentencing.
Former 21st Century Fox executive Hernan Lopez was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn of paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to nab broadcasting rights to the World Cup and other top soccer matches.
AP Photo/John Minchillo
John Gleeson, an attorney for Lopez, asserted there were “legal and factual errors.”
“We look forward to vindicating our client on appeal,” he said.
Second former exec acquitted
Martinez’s lawyer, Steve McCool, said “justice was served today for Carlos.”
“The jurors heard that he was an innocent man, and that he should never have been here in the first place,” McCool said outside court.
A South American sports media and marketing company also was convicted of graft allegations — involving different TV rights. Full Play Group SA, incorporated in Uruguay, was accused of paying bribes for the rights to the Copa America, a quadrennial national team competition, as well as to World Cup qualifying matches.
New York-based Fox Corp., which split from a subsidiary of international channels during a restructuring in 2019, was not charged and has denied any involvement in the bribery scandal.
Carlos Martinez, who headed Fox International Channels’ Latin America affiliate, was acquitted of charges in FIFA bribery case.
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
Lopez and Martinez are among dozens of people who have pleaded guilty or been convicted after a U.S.-led investigation into international soccer and its governing federation, FIFA. The probe burst into view in 2015, when U.S. prosecutors accused the leaders of soccer federations of tarnishing the sport for nearly a quarter century by taking $150 million in bribes and payoffs.
FIFA changes leadership
FIFA went on to expand and rename its executive leadership group. Then-President Sepp Blatter was forced out and replaced by current President Gianni Infantino, who has insisted the organization has reformed. However, it has in recent years been criticized for tolerating alleged abuse of migrant workers during the construction of World Cup stadiums used in Qatar last year and of maintaining inferior payments and tournament arrangements for women players.
In the Lopez and Martinez case, prosecutors’ star witness was the executives’ former business associate Alejandro Burzaco. He has cooperated in soccer corruption investigations since his 2015 arrest in a related bribery case.
During 11 days on the witness stand, Burzaco said he and the two executives paid millions of dollars in bribes to undermine competing bids for the TV rights to the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest annual tournament, the Copa Libertadores, and help land broadcasting rights to the sport’s most lucrative competition, the World Cup.
Two jurors who agreed to speak after the trial said Burzaco was not a factor in their decisions.
“We didn’t find him credible,” said one of the jurors, Robert Rose, who works as an attorney.
Instead jurors relied on reams of documents presented during the case.
Rose said “It wasn’t tough” to convict Lopez, and jurors wrestled over reaching a verdict for Martinez. In the end, Rose said, “there was enough doubt.”
Defense lawyers said Burzaco lied about the former Fox executives to minimize his own conduct and curry favor with the government ahead of his own sentencing. He pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and other charges.
Prosecutors allege the payoffs yielded confidential information from high-ranking soccer officials, including those at FIFA, that enabled Fox to beat out rival ESPN and secure U.S. broadcasting rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
The European Commission is rewriting its rules on staff travel expenses after POLITICO revealed that a top official accepted free flights with Qatar Airways while his team negotiated a major aviation deal with the Gulf state.
POLITICO reported on Monday that the director general of the Commission’s transport department, Henrik Hololei, traveled for free nine times with Qatar Airways between 2015 and 2021. He took most of these flights while his team was putting together a sweeping air agreement with the government of Qatar, which owns the airline.
Two of these flights were even paid for directly by the Qatari state, triggering concerns among MEPs over a potential conflict of interest. Others were funded by lobby groups and conference organizers.
A spokesperson for the Commission said it will be tightening its own rules in light of the revelations. While the institution has been reviewing its staff travel guidance — specifically to reduce carbon emissions — “for a while,” POLITICO’s report on Hololei’s flights has “provided an incentive to review also other aspects of the guide where further clarifications could be necessary,” the spokesperson said.
“The European Commission is in the process of tightening the rules concerning hospitality offered by an external event organizer to cover the mission costs of its staff members,” the spokesperson said. “Accepting such hospitality will be restricted to major international commitments e.g. the UN, the G7 and the G20, and to hospitality offered by Member State authorities in the context of official visits within the EU.”
Henrik Hololei, the director general of the Commission’s transport department, flew for free on Qatar Airways nine times between 2015 and 2021, according to details obtained by POLITICO | Rodrigo Antunes/EFE via EPA
If these rules had been in place at the time, the most controversial of Hololei’s free Qatar Airways flights would not have been permitted. Hololei declined to comment.
When POLITICO initially approached the Commission for comment on Hololei’s free flights, a spokesman insisted his travel was all within the rules, but gave no details of the process through which any potential conflict of interest had been managed.
In recent days, calls have been growing for an investigation.
Daniel Freund, a German MEP, had argued that the case should be handed over to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, or the bloc’s anti-fraud watchdog, OLAF.
“I don’t understand why anyone in the Commission is accepting free flights paid for by lobby organizations. I just don’t see how that is in line with the rules,” he said in a call with POLITICO.
A Commission spokesperson had previously said that all of Hololei’s flights were “authorized and conducted in accordance with the applicable rules,” and that potential conflicts of interest were “carefully considered and excluded,” a response Freund called “ludicrous.”
His colleague in the Green group, Irish MEP Ciarán Cuffe, who also sits on the European Parliament’s transport committee, said the revelations in POLITICO’s article — obtained through a freedom of information request to the Commission — raised “real concerns.”
“I will be seeking full details from the European Commission of free flights or other benefits given to staff working on aviation deals,” Cuffe wrote on social media, adding that it was “crucial that conflicts of interest do not arise.”
