Muslims of the world are much more united than they think

Let me be completely honest: I’m sick of hearing about division among Muslims. I find it heartbreaking to see how many people in my community express hopelessness and despondency because they falsely believe that the Ummah is divided and that we are all “losers.”

I am aware that having witnessed the violence and injustices being committed against our faith in various Muslim-majority nations, with the impression of impunity, in the context of various geopolitical conflicts.

As Muslims, however, we have a responsibility not to despair. Our religion encourages reflection and adhering to the Islamic maxims of “al-amr bil ma’rouf and al-nahy anil munkar (enjoining good and forbidding evil)”. This calls for thorough analysis and, if necessary, criticism of the status quo. But never dejection.

A large majority of Muslims put their all effort and resources into finding a way to “reunite” the Ummah following the collapse of the Khilafa in 1922. Without a Khilafa, they assumed, Muslims of the world would struggle to remain on the same page on important issues and suffer the consequences. This resulted in seemingly endless infighting, primarily between those who wanted to keep up old religious customs and beliefs and those who wanted to fundamentally change the faith in order to bring the Ummah back together. Where did all this screaming and fighting lead to? What did all this achieve? Many of us are still grieving because of the dissolution of the Muslim community after a century since there was a Khilafa.

Without a shared political system, those who became obsessed with the Ummah’s loss of “unity” lost sight of things that still inspire unity that can actually contribute to the advancement of justice, peace, and prosperity as a whole.

A Utopian empire stretching from Morocco to Malaysia cannot be found in the enforcement of political or cultural uniformity. It is already present in our collective adherence to Islam’s core principles, which are inherently universal. The Quranic message, delivered by Prophet Muhammad, underscores this universality. Islam’s origins as an oral, lived tradition made it uniquely accessible to diverse societies, from nomadic tribes to advanced civilisations. This accessibility gave rise to a fundamentally challenging unity.

Muslims around the world are much more united than we ever have been, despite not having a Khilafa or a common political system. We are united in our principles, our practices, our values. For us Muslims, recognising this unity, and harnessing its power, is a theological imperative. Equally important is the political resistance to the persistent legacy of colonial and imperial tyranny by accepting and cherishing this unity rather than giving in to misguided narratives of division.

Because our community is not entirely responsible for our ongoing infighting and pessimism over our perceived lack of unity. The false narrative of “disunity” is pushed on us by outsiders, by tyrannical powers, who have been working to subjugate us for many centuries. They claim that because there isn’t a pan-Islamic political unification, we are not at all united. They want us to get lost in despair, and become truly divided, so that they can maintain dominance over our people.

Indeed, the fragmentation narrative that currently dominates the Muslim community cannot be removed from the effects of colonialism and imperialism. For more than two centuries, the Muslim world was subjected to political, economic, and social subjugation under Western imperial powers. Our people are divided, and colonial administrators’ artificial borders allowed us to remain under their control, causing division in the regions with the largest Muslim populations. These imposed boundaries continue to cause conflict and conflict today.

Yet the Ummah’s unity persists in ways that these “invaders” could not erase. An unbroken metaphysical bond can be seen in the continuity of Islamic practices over the course of 1,400 years, from prayer to pilgrimage. This unity, rooted in faith, has outlived countless empires and regimes. Recognizing that it is more important to change the narrative to emphasize resilience than ignore the very real political issues.

Accepting the diversity of the global Muslim community is essential to understanding this. The early Muslim community was multicultural, multilingual, and multiracial. The first four caliphs’ differences in governance and political practices did not undermine unity; instead, they demonstrated the freedom and inclusivity of Islamic principles. Political differences do not equate to division, as demonstrated by the multiple Islamic political movements that exist on different continents, from the Abbasids to the Ottomans.

It is a very bad mistake to interpret diversity as a weakness and a sign of division in the context of this rich history. The Ummah has historically been enriched by its ability to accommodate diverse viewpoints, schools of thought, and cultural expressions. For instance, differences in the way that Islamic schools of thought pray are expressed reflect a strong tradition that values diversity within a shared framework rather than division.

Our response must not be condemning “disunity” and falling into despair, but rather demonstrating resilience and putting our attention on all the things that unite our people when we are faced with oppression, violence, injustice, and defeat against a tyrannic outside force, as we have tragically seen many examples of in recent years.

The British colonial government’s 1857 mutiny against Indian rule is a moving illustration of resilience in the face of defeat. The Deoband ulema did not give in to despair following the failed uprising that led to the slaughter of thousands of Indian Muslim scholars. They accepted their failure, acknowledged the psychological repercussions of the losses they suffered, and set about raising their family. They remained calm and unconcerned about the Ummah’s division and weakness. They did not become despondent. They knew too well that oppressors can defeat individual Muslims, but that sacred knowledge that unites us in something greater than ourselves cannot be defeated, so they decided to advance by protecting Islamic knowledge in British India.

In response to Darul Uloom Deoband’s proactive response, their initiative helped to create a foundation for renewal, which later led to the establishment of educational institutions that served and strengthened the Muslims of the entire subcontinent, if not the entire world. A true example of the leadership style Muslims should desire today was in response to failure.

Our focus as Muslims should be on the accomplishments and enduring bonds that connect the Ummah across time and space rather than fixating on stories of failure at this time of conflict, inequality, and widespread injustice. The Muslim world’s commitment to one another is a living, breathing reality that calls for appreciation and celebration.

Of course, acknowledging the Ummah’s theological unity should not lead to complacency either. Innovative solutions are needed to address the issues facing the modern world, from political unrest to systemic human rights violations to economic inequities. These solutions, however, must build on the existing foundation of unity, not undermine it with pessimistic narratives.

Muslims can advance with confidence by changing the narrative and embracing what unites them, creating new forms of resistance and renewal in a world where colonialism is still rife with remnants.

This is not the time for despondency. It’s about time for us to use our faith in the Eternal Powers of Allah to make active efforts to reform and improve our Muslim endeavors!

Will Lebanon finally elect a president?

Lebanon’s parliament is meeting to elect a president of the republic, more than two years after the last president’s term ended.

As the debate grew over who will take the top office, Lebanese political parties and influential figures have been in talks with foreign officials.

Here’s everything you need to know about Lebanon’s presidential vote on Thursday:

Two years? Why so long between presidents?

Parliament hasn’t managed to find a consensus candidate.

Political parties prioritize their interests over the good of Lebanon, which would be served by a stable government, despite the numerous crises Lebanon has recently experienced.

At the end of 2023, all attempts to elect a president were thwarted as a result of Israel’s war against Lebanon.

During the ceasefire negotiations, the issue of selecting a president became an important topic of discussion.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati attends a parliamentary session]File: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]

Does parliament elect the president?

Yes.

Not the Lebanese electorate, the parliament elects the president through candidates who are active in political parties and members of parliament (MPs).

Lebanon has 128 MPs, and a candidate needs a majority with at least 86 votes.

Lebanese presidents have been consensus candidates who haven’t been a part of political movements since the end of the civil war in 1990.

Michel Aoun, who served as president and was the Free Patriotic Movement’s leader, is one of the few exceptions.

Who will win?

The Lebanese president has to be a Maronite Christian, according to Lebanon’s political representation system.

General Joseph Aoun, the head of the Lebanese army, appears to be the most likely candidate to win the 86-vote threshold.

His name has received support from the international community and has been in conversation for more than a year.

Aoun wouldn’t be the first army chief to become president.

Emile Lahoud (president from 1998 to 2007), Michel Sleiman (2008 to 2014), and Michel Aoun (2016 to 2022) were also chiefs before becoming president, with Lahoud and Sleiman becoming president directly after leading the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Aoun is no relation to former President Michel Aoun, it’s just a common name in Lebanon.

A handout picture provided by the Lebanese army website shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Miqati (L) meeting with Lebanese Army Chief Joseph Aoun (C) and other military officials at the ministry of defence in Yarze, on the eastern outskirts of the capital Beirut on October 14, 2021. - Tank deployments and deadly exchanges of fire turned Beirut into a war zone after a demonstration organised by Shiite Muslim parties against the lead investigator into last year's devastating port blast turned violent. (Photo by STRINGER / Lebanese Army Website / AFP) / === RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT
Lebanese army chief Joseph Aoun (C) and other military officials at the Ministry of Defence in Yarzeh]Handout/AFP]

Aoun has a lot of support and is relatively uncontroversial.

This includes from Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party, the National Moderation bloc – which comprises ex-members of former PM Saad Hariri’s Future Movement – Sleiman Frangieh’s Marada Movement, the Kataeb (Phalangist) Party and some reform MPs who were elected in 2022, riding the wave of the 2019 revolution.

The right-wing Christian Lebanese Forces party hasn’t committed but said it may support Aoun, while he is also thought to be the United States’s favoured candidate.

Is there a notable challenger?

There was one, Sleiman Frangieh.

Hezbollah, a Shia political party led by Speaker of the parliament, and Amal, a government organization, supported him.

A small Christian party called Marada, which has a stronghold in the northern Zgharta region, is led by Frangieh.

Frangieh’s chances took a hit after Hezbollah was weakened by Israel’s war on Lebanon and Syria’s Assad regime – a close ally of the Frangiehs – fell.

Frangieh withdrew his candidacy and supported Joseph Aoun the day before the vote.

Lebanon
The last time a successful presidential election was held in Lebanon was in 2016, Joseph Eid (Joseph Eid/Reuters)]

Are these the only candidates?

No. The ring contains a few more names than just that.

In 2023, Jihad Azour, a former finance minister and IMF employee, was well-liked by Christian organizations like the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement.

His support, however, appears to have declined as Aoun is being considered by the Lebanese Forces.

There’s also Elias Baysari, the interim head of Lebanon’s General Security directorate.

He was perceived as a potential front-runner, but he lacks open support, and an MP said Baysari may eventually withdraw from the race in his own name.

Other contenders are businessman and MP Neemat Frem, who has said he might back Aoun himself, and the Free Patriotic Movement’s Gebran Bassil, who has little support outside his party.

Ziad Baroud, a former interior minister, is occasionally mentioned as a potential consensus candidate.

While serving as minister, Baroud was well-known and well-respected in civil society, but he lacks much support from the traditional players.

Gebran Bassil
Gebran Bassil, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, has [Tamas Kovacs/MTI via AP] ambitions but lacks support for being president.

Once Lebanon has a president, what happens next?

Of course, electing a president won’t solve Lebanon’s myriad crises.

However, they can elect a prime minister once the president is in place, which will then create a government that can replace the caretaker administration.

Lebanon needs more extensive systemic reforms, according to international lenders like the World Bank, which can provide a cash injection.

A new administration might be able to accomplish that.

Why are foreign powers involved in choosing Lebanon’s president?

Many Lebanese political parties seek foreign support or funding to bolster domestic influence.

Clashes in Mozambique as main opposition leader Mondlane returns from exile

After Venancio Mondlane returned from self-imposed exile, police shot live ammunition and tear gas at him to stop him from greeting him at the airport.

As protesters attempted to breach the main highway leading to the city’s Mavalane International Airport while pursuing them, police from the capital Maputo captured live images that Al Jazeera broadcast on Thursday. Some of the protesters threw rocks at the protesters.

Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller, reporting from the site of the clashes in Maputo, said some of Mondlane’s supporters were injured in the clashes.

“Police have been pushing back at protesters, firing tear gas. We also heard live ammunition being used”, she said.

“The protesters are trying to reach the airport to greet Mondlane, and they can’t. So they are increasingly agitated. There has been a fighting between protesters and the police.

It was difficult to immediately calculate the number of injuries.

A man allegedly shot in the head by police at a checkpoint close to the Maputo international airport is being looked after by Mondlane’s supporters on Thursday [Amilton Neves/AFP]

After leaving the airport building, Mondlane, who was met by a large crowd of journalists, claims Daniel Chapo, the candidate who is scheduled to take the oath of office on January 15, was rigged in favor of the ruling Frelimo party’s candidate.

After two senior members of his party were killed in their cars by unknown gunmen in the wake of the election, which also claimed the lives of dozens of other people, Mondlane went into hiding more than two months ago, in fear for his life.

Mondlane addressed reporters outside the airport, “I’m here to tell you that if you want to negotiate, I’m here.”

According to a local rights group’s tally, about 300 people have been killed in violent waves of violence, including protesters who were killed in a police crackdown.

According to authorities, police officers have also been killed, and there has also been theft and vandalism. A decision by Mozambique’s top court, the Constitutional Council, to validate the election results triggered more demonstrations.

After 50 years under the rule of Frelimo, there were concerns that Mondlane might be detained upon his return, including on charges relating to the weeks of protests by his supporters, many of whom were young Mozambicans desperate for change.

Frelimo, which has been in power since 1975’s end of the Portuguese colonial war, refutes accusations of electoral fraud by the opposition. This year’s election, according to Western observers, was not free and fair.

Al Jazeera’s Miller said the government is blaming Mondlane for “inciting” the unrest across the country in recent weeks.

They also stated that he should be responsible for the damages that occurred in Mozambique at that time. The question now is, how will the government now respond”?

Mondlane’s supporters say his return from a two-month exile gives people hope. “We young people are here fighting for our tomorrow”, said Fatima Pinto, 20, who trained as a general medical technician.

‘For Ethiopia’s heritage’: Family fights to reclaim war hero’s stolen medal

When the Italians invaded and briefly colonized Ethiopia in 1935, Amaha Kassa’s grandfather was the last commander who bravely rallied troops and fought back. The Italians had initially attempted to annex the nation four decades earlier, but they were met with a strong defeat. This time though, the story would be different.

The Ethiopians couldn’t compete with the new machineguns the Italians carried and the jet’s deadly chemicals sprayed from the sky with rifles and spears.

Although Kassa’s grandfather, Ras (Prince) Desta Damtew, fought long and hard, he was eventually caught and executed in 1937. In addition to the seven-year occupation, civilians and Red Cross personnel would be killed, according to tens of thousands of Ethiopians, leaving many people there still grieving.

Imperial Order of the Star of Ethiopia]Courtesy of La Galerie Numismatique]

So Kassa and his siblings learned in November that a Swiss art gallery was going to auction off a gold medal that Damtew owned, with shock and anger. The piece was going for between 60, 000 and 90, 000 euros ($61, 800 and $92, 700).

Its description or provenance clearly stated that the medal was from an Italian soldier’s estate and that Damtew had been killed there.

“They were not in any way attempting to hide the provenance of this item, and were even using the personal circumstances of his death and execution as a selling point”, Kassa, who runs African Communities Together, a New York-based activist organisation, told Al Jazeera.

“I just can’t imagine that something like this would happen and be made in the Nazi era.” There’s a way that people have not come to think of African issues as being worthy of respect”, he said.

A global search for the medal has been sparked by the case. Additionally, it highlights a pressing, ongoing conversation in Africa as governments and individuals from Kenya to Cameroon lobby for the return of thousands of antiquities stolen by colonizing Western powers.

In Ethiopia, hoards of artefacts were looted, first by the British, and later, by the Italians. Although the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947 mandated that Italy pay all of the art and religious loot stolen during its brief occupation and pay $25 million in reparations in the course of 18 months, the agreement has not fully been upheld.

“The Vatican Library has more than 300 Ethiopian manuscripts, most of which were looted during the occupation”, Alula Pankhurst, the country director of Oxford University’s Young Lives Ethiopia project, told Al Jazeera. While some items have been returned, Italy has continued to hold on to hundreds of other items like crowns, royal regalia, and paintings, said the veteran professor of Ethiopian studies.

Ethiopia
Members of the Ethiopian Patriotic Association, whose purpose is to honour resistance fighters in Italian East Africa during the second world war, parade at an event to commemorate Arbegnoch Qen, or Ethiopian Patriots ‘ Victory Day, in the capital, Addis Ababa, on Thursday, May 5, 2022. The occasion commemorates the Emperor’s victory in Addis Ababa in 1941, which ended the city’s five-year Italian occupation of the city.

Symbol of African resistance

At the age of 44, Ras Desta Damtew was put to death by the Italian army in February 1937. His distinguished service to the then-Ethiopian Empire lasted for a long period of time. In 1896, Ethiopian forces humiliated Italian invaders in their first offensive attempt, and his father passed away in command of the iconic Battle of Adwa. For the first time, an African force overran an invaded European nation.

Damtew too fought for various monarchs. He helped Emperor Haile Selassie attain the throne and later married Leult (Princess) Tenagnework, the emperor’s eldest child.

“I didn’t grow up with personal memories of him, but I certainly heard a lot about him”, Kassa said, sharing that his mother, Princess Seble – one of the couple’s eight children – was only a child when Damtew&nbsp, died. “He was this kind of legend. There is a great deal of pride in the sacrifices he made, but there is also a lot of sadness in it.

In old newspaper articles, Damtew is described as stoic, handsome and intelligent, with a mastery of French. He is seen in royal regalia, wearing heavily decorated mid-length robes and shiny leather shoes, in grainy black and white photos. A star-shaped brooch, which is thought to be from the Imperial Order of the Star of Ethiopia, was pinned to his right chest in one, along with a medal of pure gold that denoted a rare military award given for service to the crown and the object at the heart of the current uprising.

The prince, who was Ethiopia’s special ambassador, traveled to the United States in July 1933, donned in flowing robes, and carrying gifts like lion manes and pictures of the emperor. President Franklin Roosevelt drew him to Washington. Two years later in October 1935, the Italians, under fascist leader Benito Mussolini, invaded and seized Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia
From left to right standing: Princess Tsehai, the Crown Prince of Ethiopia, Asfaw Wossen, the Ethiopian princess – wife of Ras Desta, Ras Desta, son-in-law of the emperor, married to the eldest daughter, the crown princess, Princess Thahai, Prince Makonnen, (seated in front) the emperor and empress with the two children of Ras Desta and the eldest daughter of the Emperor Haile Selassie, shown on August 20, 1935]File: AP Photo]

With their “deadly rain” of sulfur and machineguns, the 100, 000-plus Italian army decimated Ethiopia’s defences, even though the local forces outnumbered the invaders eight to one. To clamp down on a budding civilian resistance, the Italians massacred people in their thousands, while also pillaging Ethiopia’s cultural objects. By the end of the occupation in 1941, Ethiopians had already lost at least 100 000 lives.

As Selassie fled into exile, Damtew’s battalion continued to hold the fort for two years. By the time the prince was caught, he had been wounded in the fighting. According to some, he confessed, making him a prisoner of war, and killing him, a war crime under the Geneva Convention, which was passed in 1931.

The prince became a symbol of African resistance for many people on a continent where the calls for independence were becoming louder. In Ethiopia, Damtew became a hero. His name is displayed at one Addis Ababa medical school.

After the war, in 1948, Ethiopia wrote to the United Nations War Crime Commission (UNWCC), accusing 10 Italians of being involved in the prince’s killing, and alleging a war crime.

Before November last year, the whereabouts of Damtew’s star-shaped brooch were unknown. When they killed him, or later, is it unknown whether the Italian soldier allegedly stole the gold medal from his body. What’s clear, the prince’s family said, is that the medal is in the wrong hands and should be sent back to Ethiopia.

“We’re not seeking personal ownership of this piece”, Kassa said. This is an Ethiopian museum, according to our opinion. Because it is not just our family’s heritage, we want to see it restored and put on display for Ethiopians.

Obelisk
The 1, 000-year-old obelisk of Axum, which was brought to Italy after fascist dictator Benito Mussolini’s 1937 invasion of Ethiopia, stands upright in the heart of downtown Rome, on July 21, 2001. The monument was returned in 2008]File: Plinio Lepri/AP Photo]

Medal auction ignites a panicked campaign

Only days before the auction, Kassa, his siblings, and their cousins approached lawyer Christopher Marinello, an art recovery expert and founder of Art Recovery International, for help. Marinello has decades of experience dealing with stolen artefacts, from Nazi-looted artworks to stolen Indian artefacts.

“The family came to me saying: ‘ We are in a panic'”, Marinello, who is working pro bono, told Al Jazeera. “They wanted to stop the auction, so I took up the case”.

The medal was put up for auction by La Galerie Numismatique, an institution based in Switzerland, on behalf of its current possessor, Philip Bosworth Eagleton, a British art collector based in Spain. However, when Marinello approached the gallery, he was rebuffed. The gallery instead requested the family buy the medal, the lawyer said in emails that were shared openly.

“It’s typical”, Marinello said. How can I get my money out of this when you tell someone they have something that belongs to someone else? Greed really runs these things”.

La Galerie Numismatique did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

The auction went live on December 1, 2024. By that time, Kassa and other family members had begun using social media to promote the medal, initiating a global campaign to stop the sale. The bid was halted by the Ethiopian embassy in Switzerland in a letter to the gallery. Although the auction proceeded, the medal eventually failed to receive the minimum bid of 60, 000 euros, meaning it remains unsold.

Marinello stated that Eagleton and Marinello are currently negotiating to retrieve the medal.

Eagleton claimed in a statement to Al Jazeera that the medal’s history was more complex than what is thought to be the case, but that he was willing to cooperate. He’d bought the piece five years ago and had not paid much attention to its originality, he said. Eagleton claimed that he consulted an expert after the family launched a campaign in December and discovered that the piece had only been produced ten years ago.

Due to the drama surrounding this, the collector said, “I don’t want to hold onto it because it starts to smell like a dead horse in the tropics.” “]But] it would be tragic to convey a known debunked ‘ fake ‘ to the esteemed family who have suffered enough from their grandfather’s death”.

Before the medal went on sale for auction, Eagleton would have had to approve its original description. The collector confirmed that he did sign off on the published provenance, but added that he “didn’t pay too much attention” to the description until now.

Italy-ethiopia war
Following an Italian air raid on December 6, 1935, abyssinians search the smoldering remains of destroyed homes. A squadron of 18 bombers flew over Dessie and dropped explosive and incendiary bombs in the most brutal bombing raid of the Italian war against Abyssinia. Some 300 bombs were dropped in one day, killing more than 40 and injuring 325. Among the buildings hit were the Red Cross and the Emperor’s Palace]File: AP Photo]

So much lost, one thing found?

Amaha Kassa and his two sisters were forced to flee Ethiopia for the United States in 1977.

In an effort to create a socialist state, the military’s bloody revolution saw the fall of Emperor Selassie’s monarchy. The communist military, or Derg, would place Kassa’s mother in prison for more than ten years after her capture. Their father, a government minister, was one of several empire officers executed after the coup.

“Our family lost everything in the revolution”, Laly Kassa, Amaha’s sister, said in an interview with Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation in January. Our mother and aunts were probably not thinking about this medal because we were counting lives, not belongings, because everything our parents or grandparents owned was lost.

The family says they are unaffected by claims that the medal may be fake and are unwilling to let it go now that something from their grandfather has surfaced.

We don’t want to think that the auctioneers were attempting to defraud by listing it as the real thing, Kassa said. “We really don’t want to think they are lying”.

Indeed, some observers observe that Ras Damtew’s opulent Order of the Star brooch is slightly different from the one that is typically worn on auction. There are gold discs where the crosses would have been in the original, which is believed to have contained five mini crosses.

The medal “was deliberately defaced to hide the five crosses on it presumably to hide its origins”, said Pankhurst, the professor of Ethiopian history. He continued, Kassa and his family are coordinating with Ethiopia’s archives to verify the authenticity of the medal.

According to Gregory Copley, the Strategic Advisor to the former empire’s affairs organization, the organization in charge of former empire affairs, several items that were once owned by Ethiopian officials were being illegally traded for large sums of money, according to Copley.

He claimed that the Emperor’s decision to give this medal to Damtew was likely due to the fact that other breast stars given to officers were merely gold-plated. However, he added that a single image cannot establish ownership.

“On the basis of this limited information, however, we would definitely say that the probability of the breast star being illegally obtained is extremely high”, Copley added.

Ultimately, Kassa said, the family does not plan to back down on the fight and is moving forward believing the listed medal is their grandfather’s property.

Brazil’s Neymar says FIFA World Cup 2026 will be his last

Neymar, the Brazilian forward, stated that this will be his last FIFA World Cup appearance, adding that he is confident Brazil will make it to North America’s final.

Neymar, who was once one of football’s most feared forwards, has since had long, unremarkable injuries. He currently plays for Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal.

“I know this will be my last World Cup, my last shot, my last chance and I will do everything I can to play in it”, the 32-year-old attacker, who has not played for Brazil in more than a year, told CNN.

He also stated in the interview that he would not rule out joining former Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at Inter Miami, a Major League Soccer organization.

“Obviously, playing again with Messi and Suarez would be incredible”, Neymar said at an award ceremony in Dubai.

Brazil’s qualifying for the South American World Cup was difficult.

After 12 of the 18 rounds, they are fifth in the 10-nation group. However, Brazil is five points ahead of Bolivia in seventh place and the top six are guaranteed places in the World Cup.

“I have a lot of faith in the team, in the players who are emerging, who are young”, he said. We don’t want to be where we’d like to be.

“I believe we can accomplish a lot together,” he said. We have a year, a year-and-a-half to work, to do the right things to reach the World Cup. “

Brazil’s first four qualifying games were started by Neymar, who then injured himself at halftime as they lost to Uruguay in October 2023. He missed a year of service following knee surgery.

He made two brief appearances for Al Hilal in October and November, but he hasn’t played since because of a hamstring injury. He stated that the World Cup is in order.

” I want to be there, I’m going to try to do my best, to work very hard so that I can be with the Brazilian team. “

By the time the US, Canada, and Mexico competitions begin, he will be 34.

Before that, he could play in the US. Al Hilal will compete in the expanded Club World Cup in the US in June, where Messi and Suarez will also be playing.

” They are my friends. “said Neymar, who also played with Messi at Paris Saint-Germain”. We still speak to each other. This trio could be revived, which would be interesting.

” I’m happy in Saudi Arabia, but who knows? Football is full of surprises.

Syrians mark a month since al-Assad’s overthrow with concert in capital

It’s been a month since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown, ending more than five decades of his family’s rule in Syria and almost 14 years of civil war. Al-Assad vanished to Russia on December 8 and hasn’t been seen since.

Some Syrians believed the uprising would never occur at a concert in the capital Damascus on Wednesday night.

According to Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor James Bays, who was reporting from Damascus, people gathered for the celebratory concert, which marked a month of relative calm and stability.

He claimed that “everyone here feels like they are exuberant exactly one month after al-Assad’s rule was overthrown.”

“Al-Assad used to have a large poster outside of this stadium, but now you can only see his forehead and hair. The remainder of it has been completely destroyed, he continued, noting that his regime, his army, and the entire apparatus have already been destroyed.

The White Helmets, a civil defense force that fought alongside the al-Assad regime to rescue civilians from the rubble during the Russian and Syrian air attacks, will receive the proceeds from the concert, according to Bays.

In Damascus, many Syrians were also looking ahead to a new country. “I hope the future will be better. There was no life under al-Assad. We were scared of him and his army”, Nada Daye, a Syrian resident, told Al Jazeera.

Owner of a bookshop Mamoun Nahlawi said the United States and other Western nations should now have lifted their sanctions. “The sanctions must be lifted. Otherwise people won’t see a positive effect. People were humiliated during al-Assad”, he told Al Jazeera.

Syria is among the most sanctioned countries in the world and the country’s new administration, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, is trying to change that. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held its first meeting of the year on Wednesday, focusing on the matter.

Gabriel Elizondo, a journalist for Al Jazeera, reported from the UN headquarters in New York that the UNSC had pushed for the UNSC to lift sanctions.

Working on an inclusive political transition, according to UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, will help ensure that Syria “quickly receives the economic support it desperately needs, which also necessitates a smooth end to sanctions,” according to Geir Pedersen.

Elizondo noted that Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian affairs under-secretary-general, also told the UNSC that sanctions should not impede humanitarian support to the country.

A national conference to discuss Syria’s transition to democracy is scheduled to take place in the upcoming weeks.

In the event that the new government offers political stability and reduces ties with Russia and Iran, US officials have also started discussions with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates about easing financial restrictions on Damascus.