The development board of Rwanda’s premier league leaders announced on Wednesday that their partnership with Arsenal would end at the end of the current season.
The Visit Rwanda partnership, which was signed eight years ago, had become more and more sensitive as a result of the escalating violence in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which is close to Rwanda.
The M23 militia, which has seized large tracts of DRC territory since it took up arms in 2021, is being alleged by the DRC to be supporting and arming Rwanda.
Despite signing a ceasefire agreement and peace framework in recent months, the conflict has claimed the lives of thousands of people and created a humanitarian crisis.
Also read: McClaren steps down after Jamaica is excluded from the World Cup.
Arsenal supporters protested the partnership’s continued existence in April, in which case the Visit Rwanda logo is displayed on the players’ jersey sleeves.
The Rwanda Development Board announced in a statement that Arsenal and the Rwanda Development Board had reached a mutual agreement to end their partnership at the end of the current season, bringing the partnership to an end.
Rwanda maintains partnerships with Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain in Europe.
The government has announced legislation to outlaw the sale of tickets to sports events at inflated prices – but it’s not good news for football fans.
In September, a BBC investigation exposed a black market selling thousands of Premier League tickets at two to four times the face value.
Why the new legislation doesn’t apply to football
Football ticket sales in the UK are covered by existing legislation.
The 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act made it an offence to offer for sale tickets to a football match other than by the organisers of the game.
Only clubs, or organisers, are able to resell tickets on their own platforms if, for instance, season ticket holders are unable to attend.
The Act was designed to cover anti-social behaviour, and with regard to football was intended to reduce the risk of violence and disorder at matches.
This means football will not be part of the proposed new legislation on ticket sales.
However, the Act applies only to tickets sold in England and Wales.
What’s the black market for football tickets?
The Premier League’s “unauthorised” list of ticket sellers contains more than 50 websites including Stubhub and Vivid Seats, where Chelsea owner Todd Boehly is a director and investor.
The companies operating the black market resales are registered in countries such as Spain, Dubai, Germany and Estonia.
They are able to freely do this because the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act only applies to a ticket resale occurring within England and Wales – so they are untouchable.
BBC Sport looked at four sites on the list which listed tens of thousands of Premier League tickets.
For example, more than 18,000 tickets were advertised for Arsenal v Nottingham Forest alone – nearly a third of the Emirates’ capacity.
As part of the investigation we were able to buy tickets easily through the black market for four games.
Prices ranged from £55 to £14,962, often far exceeding face value and usually including a significant booking fee.
All our tickets were transferred digitally, in one instance on the morning of the game, and worked as mobile passes.
19 September
19 September
Why Wimbledon’s exemption could be good news for Man United
Wimbledon has secured an exemption for its debenture tickets, which provide a premium seat on the show courts for five years along with access to exclusive restaurants and bars.
There are 3,770 seats which can be bought and sold via a trading platform or privately.
This could be positive news for Manchester United, who are considering selling seat licences to finance their proposed new £2bn stadium.
Seat licences see fans pay a certain amount of money over an extended period of time to give them the right to buy the same seat as a season ticket, and potentially sell it on.
While United’s system would not be exactly like Wimbledon’s debentures, the price cap in the new legislation isn’t designed to threaten development of the UK’s live events venues.
Former United States Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has resigned from the OpenAI board, days after US President Donald Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate his and other prominent Democrats ‘ ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The outlet Axios first reported the resignation on Wednesday.
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“Larry has decided to resign from the OpenAI Board of Directors, and we respect his decision. We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the Board”, OpenAI ‘ s board of directors said in a statement.
The move comes one day after the Republican-controlled US Congress voted almost unanimously to force the release of Department of Justice files on Epstein, an outcome Trump had fought for months before ending his opposition.
He has served on the OpenAI board since late 2023, following the brief removal of the ChatGPT maker’s CEO, Sam Altman.
Other prominent companies with ties to Summers include edu-tech firm Skillsoft, where he has been a board member since 2021, and Santander, where he chairs the bank’s international advisory board. He was also a former president of Harvard University.
The resignation comes after Summers announced that he would step back from all other public commitments to “rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me”.
“Everyone in Washington has known who Larry Summers is for decades. This was always hiding in plain sight. He had to step down as president of Harvard in 2006 for similar issues. I’m glad we are finally able to turn the page on Larry Summers”, Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative, said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera.
Summers is still a professor at the university, but the institution is set to open a probe into Summers’s connections with Epstein, the university’s newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The Epstein scandal has been a political thorn in Trump’s side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters. One of the causes of his approval ratings’ decline, which dropped to a new low of 38 percent in Reuters/Ipsos polling this week, was the files’ non-releaseability. Only 20% of Americans approve of Trump’s approach to the problem.
Many Trump supporters think his administration has tampered with information about Epstein’s death in a Manhattan jail in 2019 and tampered with his connections to powerful people.
This year’s crop of celebrity baubles are hilarious.. But they may have been designed for the charity shop
View 11 Images
Selfridges’ latest drop of celebrity likeness baubles has had social media in stitches – this Princess Di decoration has been likened to Clare Balding
Continually voted most stylish, or most beautiful woman in the world, a Princess Diana bauble deserves a prime place on any Christmas tree.
But you’ll need a royal flush to afford this year’s offering from posh London department store Selfridges, which is selling a 1980s-style vision of the princess, wearing a red jumper covered in sheep, for £40.
And it’s not much of a likeness to the glamorous princess, according to royal fans who, in furious social media debates have likened the bauble to George Michael, Rodney Trotter from Only Fools and Horses and BBC sports presenter “Clare Balding wearing a Christmas jumper!”
Princess Di is not alone when it comes to bafflingly bad royal baubles.
READ MORE: ‘I’m a Christmas expert – this trick transforms festive decorations for just 50p’
Prince William hasn’t fared much better.
Combining his mother’s dazed and confused expression with a Colgate grin and a shiny bald pate, his grimace alone is a royal scandal.
Celebrities don’t escape the festive fun either …
Seeing Taylor Swift’s glum Christmas bauble, it’s fair to say it will take her a while to shake it off. For a 35-year-old billionaire, she looks as miserable as Ebenezer Scrooge!
At least Sabrina Carpenter’s bauble is smiling – but she looks more simpering than sexy.
The 26-year-old star may well be singing Please Please Please take the tree down when she sees it.
What Makes You Beautiful is not a question Harry Styles is likely to be asking his glass alter ego if he sees his Christmas bauble, either.
Fabulously flamboyant, the glass decoration is wearing the same pink outfit as Harry at Coachella in 2022 – also used for his Madame Tussauds waxwork in Berlin.
But, sadly, that’s where the similarities to the As It Was singer end.
Lookswise, this po-faced novelty is more of a Liberace-style effigy than a likeness of the handsome star.
Die-hard fans may feel there’s only one direction for this bauble after Christmas…the charity shop. Still, interior design expert Katie Malik thinks kitsch celebrity baubles are a fantastic festive trend.
She says: “Celebrity baubles are the surprisingly chic (and cheerfully chaotic) decor trend of Christmas.
“There’s a moment every December when a Christmas tree stops being just a tree and becomes a tiny extension of who we are.
“Some people go minimalist. Some go maximalist. And then there are the people who hang Princess Diana, David Beckham or Taylor Swift from a branch.
“Welcome to the wonderfully whimsical world of celebrity baubles: part décor, part pop-culture shrine, and entirely the conversation starter your tree didn’t know it needed.
“This year’s offerings are, frankly, chaotic. Slightly wonky paintwork. Eyes not quite where nature intended. A few curious angles. And people are loving it. A slightly wonky likeness of your favourite celebrity isn’t a flaw – it’s charming.”
Even the eyewatering costs can be justified, according to Katie.
She says: “Forty pounds is, objectively, a little steep for a single ornament. But if a bauble sparks joy, a smile, a story, or a delighted shriek from a guest, it’s worth far more than its price tag.”
Article continues below
READ MORE: Selfridges festive fail with £40 Diana bauble dubbed ‘Clare Balding in a jumper’
The celebrity haters of this year are hilarious. However, it is possible that they were created for a charity.
11 images to view
This Princess Di decoration has been likened to Clare Balding, according to Selfridges’ most recent collection of celebrity likeness baubles.
Continually voted most stylish, or most beautiful woman in the world, a Princess Diana bauble deserves a prime place on any Christmas tree.
However, you’ll need a royal flush to purchase the film from the posh London department store Selfridges, which retails for $40 and features a 1980s-style image of the princess in red jumpers and sheep.
And it’s not much of a likeness to the glamorous princess, according to royal fans who, in furious social media debates have likened the bauble to George Michael, Rodney Trotter from Only Fools and Horses and BBC sports presenter “Clare Balding wearing a Christmas jumper!”
When it comes to euphemistically bad royal baubles, Princess Di is not the only one.
READ MORE: ‘I’m a Christmas expert – this trick transforms festive decorations for just 50p’
Prince William hasn’t fared much better.
His grimace alone is a royal scandal because it combines his mother’s confused and dazed expression with a Colgate grin and a shiny bald pate.
Celebrities can’t escape the festive atmosphere either…
Seeing Taylor Swift’s glum Christmas bauble, it’s fair to say it will take her a while to shake it off. For a 35-year-old billionaire, she looks as miserable as Ebenezer Scrooge!
Sabrina Carpenter’s bauble appears to be smiling, but she doesn’t look particularly seductive.
The 26-year-old singer may be singing “Please Please Please take the tree down when she sees it.”
What Makes You Beautiful is not a question Harry Styles is likely to be asking his glass alter ego if he sees his Christmas bauble, either.
The glass decoration’s extravagant gown, which was worn for his Madame Tussauds waxwork in Berlin, was paired with Harry’s pink ensemble from Coachella in 2022.
Unfortunately, that is where the As It Was singer’s similarities end.
This po-faced novelty, according to Lookswise, is more of a Liberace-style effigy than a true representation of the handsome star.
Die-hard fans may feel there’s only one direction for this bauble after Christmas…the charity shop. Still, interior design expert Katie Malik thinks kitsch celebrity baubles are a fantastic festive trend.
She claims that the holiday decor trend of Christmas is surprisingly chic (and cheerfully chaotic).
Every December, there comes a point where a Christmas tree turns from being merely a tree to being a tiny extension of who we are.
“Some people go minimalist. Some go maximalist. And then there are the people who hang Princess Diana, David Beckham or Taylor Swift from a branch.
Part décor, part pop-culture shrine, and part celebrity baubles’ “welcome to the wonderfully whimsical world of celebrity baubles”
“Offerings this year are, to be honest, chaotic. Paintwork is a little wonky. Not quite what nature intended, though. a few perplexing viewpoints. And it’s adored by everyone. It’s charming, not a flaw, because your favorite celebrity has a slightly wonky likeness.
Katie believes that even the eye-watering costs are justifiable.
She claims that 40 pounds for a single ornament is a little steep on the surface. However, a bauble is much more valuable than its price tag if it brings joy, a smile, a story, or a delighted shriek from a guest.
Continue reading the article.
READ MORE: Selfridges festive fail with £40 Diana bauble dubbed ‘Clare Balding in a jumper’
Wales vs. New Zealand in the Nations Series in the autumn
Cardiff Principality Stadium Date: Saturday, November 22 Kick-off: 15:10 GMT
Dewi Lake hopes Welsh rugby can imitate Welsh rugby by accomplishing something exceptional this weekend.
At Cardiff City Stadium, Craig Bellamy’s men won the match 7-1 to advance to the World Cup play-off round.
On Saturday, Lake’s men will take on New Zealand, with Wales hoping to shock them for the first time since 1953.
Wales is almost unaffected by the situation, but Lake hopes the rugby team can inspire a country like the football players they train with.
Last night, we watched them play on the TV with everyone watching, according to Lake.
We’ve spoken about their performance as a group, which “excited the nation.”
When supporters are in that stadium or watching us from home, our job is to rekindle the flame in their bellies.
a day ago
two days ago
three days ago
Since winning the previous game 72 years ago, Wales have lost 33 of their previous 33 matches against New Zealand.
Ending that losing streak is improbable because Steve Tandy’s team are ranked 12th in the world and 10th overall.
“I believe Wales have always been a huge underdog against a team like New Zealand,” Lake said.
Being underdogs, we have always loved it, and I suppose it’s a case of not having a chance.
It’s about going out and working toward a victory because that’s what we want in the end.
This week, Lock Dafydd Jenkins stated that the squad believes they can win, and Lake claims that the home side must share this sentiment.
Lace told BBC Radio Cymru, “We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think we could win.”
If we thought we couldn’t win, then there’s no point in the building.
ten hours ago
Another Wales first for Lake
Lake, 26, will have the opportunity to play senior international against New Zealand, despite playing for Wales’ Under-20s when they defeated the Baby Blacks in the 2019 Junior World Championships in Argentina.
As a child, Lake said, “You dream about afflicting New Zealand.”
There is a lot of excitement because we know they’re an excellent team, so we’ll have to be there from scratch.
After losing 33-19 to England in the northern hemisphere in November, New Zealand coach Scott Robertson is under pressure.
England faced them on the weekend, according to Lake, who has played 24 international matches.
“They had a lot of fun flying into the air, picking up the second balls, and things like that.”
