With a 29-run victory over Welsh Fire, Southern Brave won the first group game to complete The Hundred and won it all.
Record-breaking Brave won the Hundred Final unbeaten.
Bell leads Brave to record-breaking victory over Fire
What do a US envoy’s ‘animalistic’ remarks to journalists signify
After US Special Envoy Tom Barack tells Beirut journalists to “be civilized,” raged.
The US envoy’s comments about journalists as “animalistic” are out in Lebanon.
The US president has increased his attacks on the media he dislikes as a result of Tom Barrack’s comments.
What’s the cause of the Trump administration’s hostility toward journalists, then? Are there implications for countries other than the US?
Presenter: James Bays
Guests:
Rami Khouri, Distinguished Fellow at the Beirut American University
Committee to Protect Journalists’ CEO, Jodie Ginsberg
United Nations says children make up 50 percent of gang members in Haiti
As gangs in Haiti continue to be roiling the Caribbean nation as a result of violence and political and economic instability, according to the UN, children now make up about half of the population.
As she and other officials pushed for more funding in Haiti, UNICEF’s (UNICEF) director, Catherine Russell, made the “alarming” statistics public on Thursday.
According to Russell, “children currently make up a shocking 50% of the armed groups active today.”
Children are being forced to play combat roles and engage in armed conflict. Others are being abused as domestic workers who use porters, lookouts, and couriers to carry weapons.
She continued, noting that there are more recruits in the pipeline. In comparison to , the same period last year, child participation in gang activities, including recruitment, increased by 700% in the first three months of the year.
That was a result of Haiti’s increasing number of children who were the victims of human rights violations.
More than 2, 000 serious crimes against minors were reported by the UN in 2024, an increase of 500% from the previous year.
In Haiti, especially in the wake of Jovenel Moise’s assassination in 2021, criminal organizations and gangs have grown in size.
Nearly 1.3 million Haitians have fled their homes as a result of the violence, with half of them thought to be young people.
As much as 90% of the city is now under the control of gangs, according to a previous UN warning that the capital, Port-au-Prince, has been given “near-total control.”
As a result, roads are being blocked, public services are being cut, and food prices are skyrocketing.
Political corruption has long been cited as a motivator for the expansion of territorial control and power in Haitian gangs. However, gang violence has increased significantly because nearly 5, 000 people were killed in all between October and June alone.
The widespread bloodshed has been addressed by both the Haitian government and the international community.
UN Security Council approved a Kenya-led mission to assist Haiti’s police in October 2023, but those forces have struggled to gain traction and have been hampered by limited funding and resources.
Given the country’s disastrous history of colonial and military occupation, critics have also feared that foreign intervention might occur.
Dorothy Shea, the ambassador of the United States, stated at a UN Security Council meeting that Panama and her country would discuss a draft resolution to form a security force to combat gangs.
How the UN-backed security force’s current combination would be impacted.
However, the Haitian government has recently pressed for greater cooperation with private security companies, including Vectus Global, which is led by private military entrepreneur Erik Prince, who has links to US President Donald Trump.
In August, the UN reported that less than 10% of the Haitian crisis’s funding goal had been met.
Migrants and refugees fleeing Haiti’s upheaval have struggled to find safety in other nations despite the level of violence there.
Chelsea agree £40m fee for Man Utd’s Garnacho
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Alejandro Garnacho has been signed by Chelsea for a £40 million contract.
At the end of last season, head coach Ruben Amorim instructed the 21-year-old Argentina international to look for a new club.
According to United sources, Garnacho’s transfer, which includes a 10% sell-on clause, will now be the club’s fourth-largest sale since Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku, and Angel di Maria, when the initial offer from Chelsea was £25 million.
In just over three years, since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital bought the club, Chelsea has spent more than £500 million on wingers, including add-on clauses.
Although there have been significant player sales, with Chelsea likely to fully balance the books this summer on departures, the total will be more than £650 million, including strikers, once more with add-ons.
More than £200 million will have been spent on five attackers as a result of sales.
In January, Garnacho and Chelsea discussed moving to Stamford Bridge, and United initially requested £60 million for the forward.
The fee will also be crucial to meeting the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) as a homegrown player since Atletico Madrid left as a 16-year-old in 2020.
A new forward line that includes Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, and Benjamin Sesko has already been spent £200m by the Old Trafford club.
Garnacho’s final competitive game for United was in the Europa League final in May, where he questioned Amorim’s decision to stop him in the 1-0 defeat by Tottenham.
He was not chosen for the three-game summer trip to the United States, despite the club’s post-season tour of Asia that included him.
Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony, and Marcus Rashford, who later signed for Barcelona on loan, were given the instruction to train at various times for Amorim’s squad.
Maresca “gets his man,” says Maresca.
Enzo Maresca, Blues manager, weighs the importance of Garnacho’s signing.
At a press conference, the Italian stated that signing a central defender and a left-winger capable of supplying a rival for Jamie Gittens’ addition to the summer transfer market was his top priorities.
However, the club only gave Maresca’s advice and only gave him one recommendation, adding an attacker, and allowing him to use the other defensive options.
Enter Garnacho, who has been a long-term target since Carlos Cambeiro and Quique de Lucas were seen in person at Stamford Bridge in late January.
Chelsea allegedly used delaying tactics to lower the Argentine’s price while attempting to fill a spot for Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku, and Tyrique George despite knowing he was available.
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Real Madrid to face Liverpool, PSG face Barcelona in Champions League draw
In the league phase of the current season’s league, champions Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona will square off against record-eighteen champions Real Madrid, who have already defeated them 15 times.
In theory, PSG’s league opponents will be matches against Athletic Bilbao and Newcastle United in England.
In a replay of their Super Cup victory two weeks ago, Tottenham, the Europa League champion, will also face PSG. Bayer Leverkusen, Atalanta, and Sporting Lisbon complete PSG’s eight-game schedule.
Real Madrid also received a challenging draw, which included a trip far east to Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty, which is located 6,420 kilometers (4, 000 miles) away from the Spanish capital.
Madrid faced Manchester City, whom it defeated in the knockout playoffs last year, and a return to Liverpool after defeating Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield in the league phase last year. The pot of highest-ranked teams gave Madrid two English opponents.
In addition to its 2017 final victory, Madrid will face Juventus, two French rivals, Marseille and Monaco, where superstar forward Kylian Mbappe began his career.
Fans of Liverpool will welcome Trent Alexander-Arnold back from his Madrid return and make frequent trips to Inter Milan, Eintracht Frankfurt, Marseille, and Galatasaray’s vibrant stadiums.
Bayern Munich will face PSG, PSG, and Chelsea, the 2012 champion at home, in a rematch of the previous final, which it defeated in the 2020 final. Additionally, Bayern will travel to Cyprus to face Pafos.
North of the Arctic Circle, Manchester City will face Bodo/Glimt of Norway and former Manchester City fan Kevin De Bruyne’s new club Napoli.
Liverpool and Arsenal will host Inter Milan’s top two Premier League rivals last season, losing two of their final three games. Last season, Inter defeated Arsenal at the San Siro.
Club Brugge, Olympiakos, and Pafos will also be present at Kairat. To play at Arsenal and Sporting Lisbon, the team also has to travel four time zones west.
Juventus, Tottenham, and Monaco will also be playing against Bodo/Glimt.
Another long-haul journey east to Baku for Chelsea, Eintracht, Ajax, and Copenhagen is via Qarabag in Azerbaijan.
What will the trophy’s next name be? ✒️#UCLdraw pic. https://twitter.com/fl/b1cisxsES
36 teams are ranked in a single-standings table and play eight different opponents in the second season of the league phase format, which runs until January 1.
Bodo/Glimt, Kairat Almaty, Pafos, and Belgian champion Union Saint-Gilloise are the only newcomers to the Champions League’s main competition.
Bodo and Almaty games have the potential to be the visiting teams’ longest-ever home games, and they also have the coldest winter games ever. Bodo plays on a heated artificial turf field.
Each team received two opponents from each of the four seeding pots in a computerized drawing. Teams are ranked based on their UEFA competition ranking over the course of five seasons.
Former World Cup winner Kaka pressed the button to reveal the opponents’ names while retired great Zlatan Ibrahimovic selected each team from its draw.
The final league matchday is January 28 and the games begin on September 16. All 36 teams play 18 games that start at once on that same Wednesday evening.
The final eight teams advance to the March 16th round. Eight knockout playoffs featuring teams ranked ninth through 24 will be held in their place in February. The top 12 teams have been eliminated.
Can Norrie test Djokovic’s ‘vulnerability’?
US Open 2025
Dates: August 24 through September 7 in Flushing Meadows, New York
How can someone like Novak Djokovic solve a problem?
Over the past 20 years, hundreds of players have self-asked themselves with the question, and many have never been able to respond.
Cameron Norrie is one of those people.
The 29-year-old Briton, who has lost all six of his previous encounters with the 24-time Grand Slam champion, will face off on Friday in their third-round US Open match.
Norrie, who is ranked 35th in the world, said, “The chances are getting better as the years go on, though not much.
“It’s crazy what he brings, and how competitive he is.” Every time I’ve played him, he alters his strategy and makes things difficult.
I’m prepared for anything, including him playing unreal, or him not playing well before he stops the match for something before playing well.
Djokovic needed medical attention for a blister on his toe during his first-round victory over Learner Tien, who looked shaky on his feet in humid conditions.
Seventh seed Djokovic showed signs of rustiness on Wednesday, dropping a set against American qualifier Zachary Svajda, who had not played for six weeks prior to the US Open.
Norrie is undoubtedly cautious, and it’s always risky to suggest Djokovic may be vulnerable.
However, if the former world number eight wants to end his losing streak against the Serb great, Norrie’s style of tennis, which attempts to make things physically and force Djokovic to lose, could be crucial.
Norrie, who won a four-set battle against Argentina’s Francisco Comesana on Wednesday, said, “I will have to beat him with physicality.”
He is the king of hardship, even though I saw the blister. He fights and maneuvers it.
Given that Djokovic is widely regarded as the best player in the sport’s history, lopsided head-to-head records are not uncommon against him.
Consider Gael Monfils. The 38-year-old French entertainer, a former world number six and one of the most accomplished shot-makers of his generation, has the worst head-to-head record in ATP Tour history against Djokovic, who lost to him at age 20.
Norrie, a down-to-earth person off the court, doesn’t seem to be preoccupied by his record-seeming shortcomings.
He made a vow to his team earlier this year when his career hit a snag, but he is now focusing on enjoying life on the tour.
Since then, he has advanced to the Wimbledon quarter-finals and the French Open fourth round, where he lost to Djokovic.
As he prepares to compete in the US Open for the longest time, he has spent time “watching” people in New York at regular dinners in the East Village neighborhood.
“It’s what has worked for me to focus on my enjoyment,” Norrie continued.
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