Former Cuban economic minister and others have been charged with espionage and a number of other financial crimes by the country’s top prosecutor.
Alejandro Gil, who served as Cuba’s attorney general from 2019 until his removal in February 2024, was the subject of a nearly two-year criminal investigation that the office of Cuba’s attorney general announced on Friday.
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Without specifying which nation or actors might have benefited from their actions, Gil and the others are held accountable for “espionage, acts detrimental to economic activity or contracting, embezzlement, and bribery.”
Other offenses include theft or damage of documents or other items in official custody, as well as tax evasion, influence peddling, money laundering, and money laundering.
The enumerated charges are punishable by Cuba’s penal code, which prohibits 10 years in prison and the death penalty.
In 2021, Gil was at the forefront of significant monetary reform in Cuba, including efforts to unify the country’s dual currency system, raise wages, adjustments to subsidies, and introduce new rules for cooperatives and private employment.
However, the policies caused soaring inflation, a falling national currency, and more trouble for a number of state-owned enterprises in Cuba, which was already severely contracting.
Official statements only stated that Gil, 61, was accused of making “grave errors” when he was removed from office.
When the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2025 debuts in Qatar on Monday, the next generation of football stars will showcase their talent on the biggest stage.
The tournament is set to produce a spectacle unlike any other thanks to an expanded field of 48 teams.
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Everything you need to know about the showpiece event is provided in this article:
What dates are crucial?
Kicking off the FIFA U-17 World Cup will be two matches between South Africa and Bolivia, and Costa Rica and the United Arab Emirates, both of which will take place in Qatar on November 3.
The 104-match tournament will come to an end on November 27th, when the final match will be played.
Stages 3 through 11 November
Round of 32: November 14 and 15
November 18th round of 16.
November 21 in the quarterfinals
November 24 in the semi-finals
Playoff for third place on November 27
Final date: November 27
Where is the location of the competition?
Starting this year, Qatar will host five more U-17 World Cups.
At the Aspire Zone complex in Al Rayyan, which is located about 9 kilometers (5,6 miles) from the capital Doha, all matches will take place until the final, which will be played over eight pitches.
The 45-meter-capacity Khalifa International Stadium, the home of six matches during the men’s FIFA 2022 World Cup, will host the final match. One of Qatar’s oldest stadiums, it was constructed in 1976.
Egypt hosted the U-17 World Cup in 1997 and the United Arab Emirates hosted the U-17 World Cup in 2013; this is the third time the event has taken place in the Arab world.
Qatar’s national football team plays at the Khalifa International Stadium. It will now host the Under-17 World Cup final [Lintao Zhang/Getty Images], having hosted major events like the Qatar 2022 World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup.
How many teams are participating?
Instead of the previous biennial 24-team competitions, the 2025 U-17 World Cup will be played in a 48-team format.
The participating countries, which come from six confederations, are divided into the following 12 groups:
Group A: Qatar, Italy, South Africa, Bolivia Group B: Portugal, Morocco, New Caledonia, and Japan Senegal, Croatia, Costa Rica, and the United Arab Emirates are all in Group C. Group D includes Argentina, Belgium, Tunisia, Fiji, and Groupe D: Group E includes England, Venezuela, Haiti, and Egypt. Group F includes Mexico, South Korea, the Ivory Coast, and Switzerland. Group G includes Germany, Colombia, North Korea, El Salvador, and Group G. Brazil, Honduras, Indonesia, and Zambia are included in Group H. US, Burkinabe, Tajikistan, Czechia, and Group I Group J: Paraguay, Uzbekistan, Panama, Republic of Ireland, Group J: Group K includes France, Chile, Canada, and Uganda. Group L: Mali, New Zealand, Austria, Saudi Arabia
What kind of tournaments are there?
The round of 32 will feature the top two teams from each of the 12 groups, along with the eight best third-placed teams.
The tournament will then follow a knockout format, with the round of 16 quarterfinals, semifinals, and final.
What is the significance of the U-17 World Cup?
Youth World Cups are fascinating to watch because they provide a glimpse into the future of football and showcase young talent before making their mark on the biggest professional stages.
The U-17 World Cup is of particular significance because it frequently serves as a launch pad for tomorrow’s stars.
Former and current players like Cesc Fabregas, Toni Kroos, and Phil Foden, who later won the tournament’s Golden Ball award for the best player, first attracted attention from the world as they won the trophy for it.
At the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India, which England won by beating Spain in the final [Anupam Nath/AP], Phil Foden, who currently plays for English Premier League side Manchester City, was awarded the Golden Ball award for the best player.
Who will win the lottery, odds are?
The front-runners in Qatar will be Brazil, who wants to win the fifth U-17 World Cup record-equalling title. Brazil, who are the reigning South American champions, are undoubtedly the best team in the region, having won the title 14 times in a row.
The Brazilians are the most successful team at the 2025 edition because Nigeria did not earn the necessary qualification for this competition.
Portugal and France, who frequently have a strong run at major tournaments, are other potential contenders for the title. They won their third U-17 Euro title in June.
Expectations are low for Germany this year because they failed to advance past the Euros group stage despite the fact that they are the defending champions of the 2023 World Cup.
Mexico, which has won the World Cup twice, is also the title favorite as they reach the finals for the eighth time in a row, while Uzbekistan, who has won the Asian title, and Saudi Arabia could be the dark horses.
Who should you watch for the most players?
Samuele Inacio, Italy’s top scorer in the Euros finals with five goals, is a must-see at the tournament. Inacio, a player for the Borussia Dortmund youth academy, is a constant threat to the goals thanks to his incredible creativity in the forward line.
Djylian N’Guessan, a forward from France and who scored nine times in the Euro qualifying and finals, is a key player in the area known for his excellent technique, calm finishing, and link-up play. N’Guessan, age 17, also represented his country at the recent U-20 World Cup in Chile.
Italy’s Samuele Inacio scored five goals for the U-17 team in Albania this year. [Ben McShane – Sportsfile/UEFA via Getty Images]
Thomas de Martis, a striker for the South American U-17 Championship, was the top scorer with six goals despite Argentina’s failure to advance to the semifinals. De Martis is excellent at finishing and being incredibly talented in the box.
Along with Morocco’s midfielder Abdellah Ouazane, the player of the tournament during their first U-17 Africa Cup of Nations title run, Sadriddin Khasanov was named the most valuable player (MVP) in Uzbekistan’s U-17 Asian Cup triumph for his goal-scoring abilities and impressive skills.
Where can I purchase tournament tickets?
General sale tickets for the U-17 World Cup can be found on FIFA’s official website. A day pass, a dedicated ticket for all of Qatar’s matches, and a standalone final ticket are all available.
The price of a day pass, which includes access to six selected pitches, is about $5.50, while final start tickets start at about $4.
There have been broadcast announcements for specific nations, including Brazil, Italy, the UK, and the US.
Qatar will host the FIFA U-17 World Cup this year, and five countries will make history there.
🇸🇻 El Salvador 🇫🇯 Fiji Republic of Ireland 🇺🇬 Uganda 🇿🇲 Zambia pic. twitter.com/oiOyOwyiLj
Following a summit dominated by a call-out agreement between the leaders of the United States and China to end their trade war, the leaders of the Asian and Pacific Rim have pledged their support for trade and investment that “benefits all.”
Following a high-stakes summit held on the sidelines of the event, US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, earlier agreed to lower the temperature in the heated US-China conflict.
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Trump left South Korea on Thursday following their first face-to-face meeting since 2019, putting the Chinese leader in the spotlight during the two-day economic forum.
At the event’s opening on Friday, Xi, who has portrayed China as a proponent of multilateralism and free trade, said that nations needed to collaborate because the world is becoming more “complex and volatile.”
The APEC leaders stated in their statement that “robust” trade and investment were essential for the growth of the region and that they were committed to “deepening economic cooperation to navigate the evolving global environment.”
According to the declaration, APEC, which has 21 members, includes the US, China, Japan, South Korea, and China, will promote “market-driven” economic integration and promote “experience sharing, capacity building, and business engagement.”
Additionally, the leaders pledged regional cooperation in the areas of declining birth rates and artificial intelligence.
The summit’s host, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, warned that economies were navigating a time of growing global uncertainty before the declaration.
According to Lee, “the free trade system is experiencing significant turbulence, global economic uncertainty is deepening, and trade and investment momentum is waning.”
“Freaked exercise”
In a sign of the fraying consensus on free trade amid rising populism around the world, Saturday’s statement made no direct reference to multilateralism or the World Trade Organization.
It was “probably a miracle” that the leaders could come to a consensus on a joint statement, according to Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore.
Any agreed language that could be included in a document was a difficult task, Elms said, citing the strong positions of some APEC economies.
These are typically prepared well in advance. As officials changed wording to find a workable compromise, this one hung in the balance until the very last second.
After arranging earlier meetings with Xi’s counterparts in Japan, Canada, and Thailand, Xi and Lee met for discussions slated to include trade and North Korea’s nuclear program.
Since Xi’s election in a snap election in June, the two leaders have met for the first time since Xi last visited South Korea in 2014.
Lee has pledged to pursue a more unbiased approach to China than Yoon Suk Yeol, his conservative predecessor, who was impeached for briefly enjoining martial law last year.
South Korea has had to draw a fine line between China, South Korea’s largest trading partner and the US, its security guarantor.
The US maintains about 28,500 troops in South Korea, which is bound by international law to defend it in the event of an attack. This is a testament to Washington’s support for the nation during its 1950-1953 conflict with North Korea.
In 2024, South Korea exported nearly one-fifth of its goods to China, with shipments totaling $133 billion.
With shipments worth $ 127.8 billion, the US was the second-largest export destination.
In recent years, South Korea’s relationship with China has been tampered with by a number of disputes, most notably one involving the US’s 2017 deployment of a THAAD missile defense system.
According to Rob York, director for regional affairs at the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum, Lee wants to see South Korea’s most significant relationships “main stable.” This means lowering tensions with China, preventing a drastic decline in US relations, and leveraging the diplomatic heavy lifting his predecessor did with Japan.
According to York, “for the time being, striking a friendly note with both Chairman Xi and President Trump will mean he will do so even as he steps in secret to lessen US reliance on the US to protect maritime security and to stop PRC hybrid war operations in South Korea related to maritime issues and technology theft,” according to York, who spoke in Mandarin Chinese.
Leading rivals were expelled from the race, but Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan emerged with nearly 98 percent of the vote and was declared the winner of the country’s disputed presidential election.
Hassan had won 97.66 percent of the vote on Wednesday, dominating every constituency, according to the final results released on Saturday.
Later on Saturday, according to state media, a swearing-in ceremony would take place.
Days of violent demonstrations followed the election of Hassan’s main rivals to the presidency and parliament, prompting what they termed widespread repression.
Despite having a heavy security presence, election day sprang into chaos, with some demonstrators tossing Hassan banners and setting government buildings on fire, according to reports citing witnesses.
According to figures gathered from a network of hospitals and health clinics, “about 700” people have been killed, according to Chadema, the main opposition force, who was prohibited from participating in the election.
At least 10 people were killed in three cities, according to credible reports, according to the UN’s human rights office.
Mahmoud Thabit Kombo, the country’s foreign minister, claimed on Friday that the elections were conducted fairly and that the authorities had acted appropriately.
He claimed that the government had “no official figures” regarding any protesters killed, and that “no excessive force has been used.” These 700 are not anywhere to be found.
UN Secretary-General “deeply concerned”
Hassan faced 16 candidates from smaller parties as she was elevated from vice president in 2021 following the sudden passing of her predecessor, John Magufuli.
After calling for electoral reforms, which he claimed were a prerequisite for free and fair elections, Chadema leader Tundu Lissu was imprisoned for months and charged with treason. He denies the accusations. Luhaga Mpina of the ACT-Wazalendo group, another opposition figure, was prohibited from running.
Before the election, rights groups claimed that Hassan oversaw a “wave of terror” in the nation, including a number of well-known abductions that grew worse in the following days. The government’s human rights record has been refuted by critics.
Hassan hasn’t made a statement in the media since the unrest started.
With a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, the Los Angeles Dodgers put the World Series series in its final seventh game to restrain their hopes of becoming Major League Baseball’s (MLB) first repeat champion in 25 years.
A Dodgers team with no room for error and facing elimination for the first time this postseason started with Mookie Betts and Will Smith providing the offense in six solid innings starting against Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
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On a bizarre play in the ninth inning, Toronto thought it had tied the game after hitting a homerun inside the park at the bottom of the outfield fence, where Dodgers outfielder Justin Dean raised his hands to declare the play dead.
A video review turned out to be a ground rule double, leaving Toronto with runners on second and third without an out.
Before Kike Hernandez turned the double play when he fired the ball into second base to end the game, Ernie Clement then hit an infield pop and Andres Gimenez lined out to left.
Fans of the lone MLB team in Canada are desperate to celebrate the Blue Jays’ first World Series victory in 32 years with a one-day delay at least.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, hits Bo Bichette in the sixth inning of Game 6 [Ashley Landis/AP]
Game 6 puts the Dodgers’ entire season on the line.
Few people expected the Blue Jays to present much of a challenge and even fewer called for it to go the distance because the Dodgers were already an overwhelming favorite at the start of the season.
Los Angeles opened the scoring in the third inning with a run-scoring double from Smith before Betts added a pair of runs to put them ahead 3-0.
After scoring on a George Springer single in the bottom half of the third, Barger doubled before leading the Blue Jays to within two.
The Dodgers’ starting rotation had been their strength this postseason, but Yamamoto once more took matters into his own hands and took the team’s 3-2 lead in the World Series.
Before the Dodgers switched to a bullpen, which has been their weak link all season, the Japanese ace, who threw complete-game gems in his previous two starts, struck out six batters and gave up one run on five hits in six innings.
Before Roki Sasaki retired Bo Bichette and Daulton Varsho grounded out to end the inning, the Blue Jays made a threat in the eighth inning when they had one more out. Then they faced another run of the same name.
A spectator scaled the outfield wall and stormed the field with a United States flag in the sixth inning before being promptly taken down by security guards and escorted away.
On Saturday in Toronto, Game 7 will be played.
In the final game of Game 7 between the Blue Jays and Yamamoto, Yamamoto and the Dodgers will battle it out on the road.
