PSG coach confirms Lionel Messi’s departure from French league club

PSG coach confirms Lionel Messi’s departure from French league club
PSG’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi speaks with French teammate Kylian Mbappe during a training session at the club’s training ground in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris, on June 1, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 01 June 2023
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PSG coach confirms Lionel Messi’s departure from French league club

PSG coach confirms Lionel Messi’s departure from French league club
  • Galter said ahead of PSG’s game against Clermont on Saturday that it would be Messi's last match at the Parc des Princes

PARIS: Lionel Messi will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season after two years at the club, coach Christophe Galtier said Thursday.
Galter said ahead of PSG’s game against Clermont on Saturday that it would be Messi’s last match at the Parc des Princes.
“I had the privilege of coaching the best player in the history of soccer,” Galtier said. “This will be his last match at the Parc des Princes, and I hope that he will receive the warmest of welcomes.”


Saudi Arabia offers condolences to Iraq after deadly wedding hall fire

Saudi Arabia offers condolences to Iraq after deadly wedding hall fire
Updated 1 min 48 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia offers condolences to Iraq after deadly wedding hall fire

Saudi Arabia offers condolences to Iraq after deadly wedding hall fire
  • The fire broke out during a wedding on Tuesday night, at an event hall in the northern Iraqi town of Qaraqosh

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia offered condolences to Iraq after a fire ripped through a wedding hall, killing more than 100 and injuring scores more.
The Kingdom shared its sympathy through a foreign ministry statement issued on Wednesday morning, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
The fire broke out during a wedding on Tuesday night, at an event hall in the northern Iraqi town of Qaraqosh, officials said early Wednesday.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry said it had issued four arrest warrants for owners of the wedding hall, state media reported, and President Abdul Latif Rashid called for an investigation


Iran says it puts imaging satellite sucessfully into orbit amid tensions with West

Iran says it puts imaging satellite sucessfully into orbit amid tensions with West
Updated 36 min 18 sec ago
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Iran says it puts imaging satellite sucessfully into orbit amid tensions with West

Iran says it puts imaging satellite sucessfully into orbit amid tensions with West
  • here was no immediate acknowledgment from Western officials of the launch

DUBAI: Iran claimed on Wednesday that it has successfully put an imaging satellite into space.
The state-run IRNA news agency, quoting the country’s Communication Minister Isa Zarepour, said the Noor-3 satellite had been put in an orbit 450 kilometers (280 miles) above the Earth’s surface.
There was no immediate acknowledgment from Western officials of the launch or of the satellite being put into orbit. Iran has had a series of failed launches in recent years.
Zarepour said the aerospace arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched the satellite carrier, which has had success in launching satellites from its previously secret launch program. Authorities did not immediately release images of the launch.
The United States has alleged that Iran’s satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution and has called on Tehran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The US intelligence community’s 2022 threat assessment claims such a satellite launch vehicle “shortens the timeline” to an intercontinental ballistic missile for Iran as it uses “similar technologies.”
Iran, which has long said it does not seek nuclear weapons, previously maintained that its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Iran abandoned an organized military nuclear program in 2003. Iran has maintained its program is for peaceful purposes.


Biden administration seeking greater Mideast engagement, influence: Experts

Biden administration seeking greater Mideast engagement, influence: Experts
Updated 46 min 53 sec ago
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Biden administration seeking greater Mideast engagement, influence: Experts

Biden administration seeking greater Mideast engagement, influence: Experts
  • China’s growing power, Russia-Ukraine war forced US policy turnaround, say panelists at Washington D.C. forum
  • Saudi Arabia considered a key partner in America’s new foreign policy approach

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden’s administration is seeking increased engagement with Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries — a marked shift from its previous policy position — because of China’s and Russia’s growing influence in the region, and their military and economic expansionist ambitions. 

This was the consensus reached by experts evaluating US foreign policy at a forum convened on Monday by the Middle East Institute in Washington D.C. 

The event titled “Assessing Biden’s Middle East Policy Approach, 2021–2023,” saw panelists analyze why the administration, which took office in 2021, initially had little desire to engage with what the US perceived as the declining geopolitical importance of Middle East nations. 

The experts argued that there were two main reasons for the White House’s subsequent change of heart — the first being Russia’s war in Ukraine launched in February 2021, and the second China’s rising regional influence which saw Beijing score a coup of sorts by brokering a rapprochement deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran earlier this year. 

Brian Katulis, a senior fellow and the vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute, said the Biden administration came into office with the mantra of the “Three Cs” — COVID-19, China and climate change. 

Katulis argued that Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s increased footprint in the Middle East triggered an alarm in Biden’s White House. 

“Last spring there was a steady realization in Washington that traditional allies such as Saudi Arabia might be leaning toward China,” he said.  

“China’s brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia earlier this year was a seismic moment and a wake-up call for many in the White House,” he added. 

Dennis Ross, a former advisor on the Middle East to several Democrat and Republican administrations and currently a fellow at the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the Biden administration did not care about the Middle East when it took office in 2021. 

Ross said the conflict in Ukraine changed the dynamics and it was not just oil and energy — the revenue from which Russia needs to finance its war — that drove the administration to reengage in the Middle East.  

Ross said Biden’s world view also played a role, which was that there was a global ideological struggle at play between democracy and totalitarianism.     

He said the administration wanted to establish a liberal, rules-based international order to counter perceived threats from China and Russia. But it soon realized that it needed what it viewed as non-democratic nations to be part of the coalition. 

 “It turns out that you need non-democracies who have assets to be part of your coalition or at least ensure they are not part of the other coalition,” he said. 

“Biden said we are not going to withdraw from the Middle East and leave a vacuum that the Russians and the Chinese are going to fill,” he added. 

Ross argued that Biden’s policy toward the Middle East was more about China than Russia, arguing that the latter was likely to be much weaker because of the war in Ukraine. 

The US was also seeking to be the architect of an agreement to establish formal ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, as part of its vision to prevent powerful competitors from establishing footholds in the oil-rich region.  

Ross said the recent visits to Saudi Arabia by Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security advisor, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, were part of the efforts to reengage with the Kingdom’s leadership. 

Agreeing with Ross’ main arguments, Middle East expert and academic Vali Nasr pointed to the manner in which the Biden administration attempted to construct a Middle East coalition to oppose Iran’s nuclear ambitions. 

Nasr, who is professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University, said that Biden had traveled to Saudi Arabia in July 2022 after a visit to Israel, in order to sell them the idea of an “Arab NATO,” a proposed US-sponsored Middle East military coalition designed to counter Iran. 

“But Biden was completely rebuffed by the Saudis who told him that they are going on the path of reengagement with Iran,” he said. 

Nasr added that the US saw it needed to change its policies after perceiving China to have developed closer ties with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. 


Rose Zhang and Solheim Cup stars join lineup at Aramco Team Series Hong Kong

Rose Zhang and Solheim Cup stars join lineup at Aramco Team Series Hong Kong
Rose Zhang of the United States has joined a strong field at the Aramco Team Series Hong Kong (Getty Images)
Updated 47 min 19 sec ago
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Rose Zhang and Solheim Cup stars join lineup at Aramco Team Series Hong Kong

Rose Zhang and Solheim Cup stars join lineup at Aramco Team Series Hong Kong
  • US world No. 1 Lilia Vu and world No. 3 Jin Young Ko will take part in the event at the Hong Kong Golf Club from Oct. 6-8

HONG KONG: The Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Hong Kong is set to receive another boost of star power with the addition of 20-year-old golf sensation Rose Zhang.

The star-studded field already features fellow team US world No. 1 Lilia Vu and world No. 3 Jin Young Ko, alongside Chinese stars Muni He and Xiyu Lin, promising an exciting spectacle at the Hong Kong Golf Club from Oct. 6 to 8.

Zhang’s professional debut sent shockwaves through the golf world when she secured victory at the Mizuho Americas Open in June. Her win made her the first player to achieve this feat on the LPGA Tour since Japanese star Hinako Shibuno in 2019. Zhang’s triumph marked her as the eighth player since 1992 to win in their first professional start on Tour, joining the ranks of household names such as Karrie Webb.

Zhang’s extraordinary amateur career included eight wins in a single season, a record that ties her with golf legend Tiger Woods for the most victories by a Stanford player in the school’s history. Zhang’s journey saw her win 12 times in just 20 starts during her Stanford career, surpassing all other players, both male and female.

Zhang’s reign as the world’s No. 1-ranked amateur extended over an impressive 141 weeks, a record unmatched by any other player. Her amateur tenure also featured 13 starts on Tour, including participation in eight major championships, with her best finish being T11 at the 2020 Chevron Championship.

Currently ranked 32nd in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Zhang is eagerly anticipating her Aramco Team Series debut and said: “I’m delighted to be part of the Aramco Team Series – Hong Kong. It’s an incredible opportunity to be part of such an exciting world-class event, and I’m eager to take on some of the world’s best on this fantastic stage in Hong Kong.”

The addition of Zhang further solidifies the event’s status as a gathering of golf’s brightest talents. Fans can look forward to witnessing this young star’s extraordinary skills on the grand stage at Hong Kong Golf Club as she competes alongside other top professionals and accomplished amateurs from around the world.

The Aramco Team Series Hong Kong follows a dramatic Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin in Spain, which eventually ended 14-all between the American and European sides. Vu posted a 1-3-0 record, and Zhang, who made her Solheim Cup debut, finished with a 0-2-1 for the week.

Joining Zhang and Vu in Hong Kong from the European side are Aramco Florida champion Carlota Ciganda and Caroline Hedwall. Ciganda secured the crucial point to help Team Europe retain the Solheim Cup by defeating Aramco London champion Nelly Korda in their singles match on the final day. She went undefeated at 4-0-0 for an impressive week in Spain.

Accompanying Ciganda is fellow European Hedwall, who defeated American Ally Ewing in a decisive Sunday singles match, concluding the week with a 1-1-0 record.

 


Carolina Herrera to show SS24 collection at Dubai Fashion Week  

Carolina Herrera to show SS24 collection at Dubai Fashion Week  
Updated 27 September 2023
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Carolina Herrera to show SS24 collection at Dubai Fashion Week  

Carolina Herrera to show SS24 collection at Dubai Fashion Week  

DUBAI: New York-based luxury label Carolina Herrera will present its Spring/Summer 2024 collection at Dubai Fashion Week, organized by the Arab Fashion Council. 

Designed by creative director Wes Gordon, the show will be held on Oct. 9 at Dubai Design District.  

“We are thrilled to announce that Carolina Herrera is this season’s Guest of Honour to inaugurate Dubai Fashion Week SS24,” said Mohammed Aqra, chief strategy officer of the Arab Fashion Council. “Carolina Herrera’s unwavering commitment to excellence, coupled with their unique DNA that has always been appreciated by our region, aligns perfectly with the spirit of Dubai Fashion Week. We anticipate that Herrera’s presentation will undoubtedly leave an indelible mark on the fashion landscape regionally and inspire aspiring designers and fashion enthusiasts alike.”