Category World News

Who: Liverpool vs Bournmouth
What: English Premier League
Where: Anfield, Liverpool in United Kingdom
When: Friday, August 14, at 8pm (19:00 GMT)

How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 4pm (15:00 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.

The new Premier League season kicks off with champions Liverpool entertaining Bournemouth on Friday.

The 20-team English top-flight – still regarded as the best domestic league in world football – will run to Sunday, May 24.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the season opener at Anfield that will kick it off.

Who is Liverpool’s biggest rival?

Liverpool won the Premier League title by a staggering 10 points, while taking their foot off the gas at the end, in Arne Slot’s first season in charge. The previous season’s champions, Manchester City, suffered a shocking start from which their attempt to win a fifth-straight title never recovered. Arsenal finished second for a third consecutive season and were the Reds’ biggest challengers.

Both sides are expected to push Slot’s side all the way this season, while Chelsea will be in sharp focus following their FIFA Club World Cup final success against UEFA Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain.

Newcastle and Aston Villa have both been upstarts in recent years, while Manchester United and Tottenham have fallen away. A challenge from any of those four would come as more than a mild surprise.

Who has Liverpool signed for the new season?

Liverpool have been busy in the summer transfer window with Florian Wirtz’s arrival from Bayer Leverkusen, for $156m, heading up an impressive list that includes French forward Hugo Ekitike and Dutch wide man Jeremie Frimpong.

Slot also revealed on Thursday that highly-regarded 18-year-old defender Giovanni Leoni will be joining from Parma. The Reds have also been heavily linked with moves for Newcastle striker Alexander Isak and Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Caoimhin Kelleher have all departed this summer, while the club is still coming to terms with the tragic loss of Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash last month.

What business has Bournemouth conducted?

The Cherries manager, Andoni Iraola, will have to find a way to cope with the loss of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Dean Huijsen, Illia Zabarnyi and Milos Kerkez, who all moved on from the Bournemouth backline in the summer, the latter joining Liverpool.

Goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic has been brought in from Chelsea for 25 million pounds ($33.9m), while defenders Adrien Truffert and Julio Soler have arrived from Rennes and Lanus, respectively.

Has Liverpool ever lost to Bournemouth?

Yes. Bournemouth have twice beaten Liverpool in 24 previous meetings. The Reds have been overwhelmingly the better side in encounters between the sides, returning 19 wins in that time.

How many Premier League titles have Liverpool won?

Last season’s Premier League success took Liverpool’s number of English top-flight titles to 20, level with fierce rivals Manchester United.

Has Bournemouth ever won a trophy?

No. The south-coast club’s 2015 Championship win, the second tier of English football, remains their most high-profile success.

What the Liverpool manager said

Arne Slot: “The main reason that (winning the title) is so difficult is because there are so many competitors who can win the league.

“It’s unbelievable if you are able to do it in this league. This year will be even harder than before.

“We have lost five to six players who played quite a lot of minutes last season, and brought in four, so it’s normal there is adaptation.”

The new season starts here.

2025/26 🔜 pic.twitter.com/VmoxPb8dbu

Liverpool team news

Ryan Gravenberch is suspended following his red card on the final day of last season against Crystal Palace.

Joe Gomez is struggling with an Achilles injury, while fellow defender Conor Bradley has a muscular problem. Both are expected to miss out.

Bournemouth team news

Enes Unal and Lewis Cook both remain long-term absentees due to knee problems.

Ryan Christie, Luis Sinisterra and Justin Kluivert are all nearing returns but it is believed this game will come too soon for all three.

Liverpool predicted starting lineup:

Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike

Bournemouth predicted starting lineup:

Israel’s far-right finance minister has approved plans for thousands of illegal homes in the occupied West Bank — saying it ‘buries the idea of a Palestinian state’. Bezalel Smotrich announced 3,401 illegal housing units will be built in the controversial E1 settlement project.

The US State Department has issued an updated travel warning for Americans visiting Mexico, citing risks of “terrorism, crime, and kidnapping”.

The move follows months of intense pressure from President Donald Trump over issues such as immigration and the activities of criminal gangs involved in drug smuggling and human trafficking.

Here is what we know:

What happened?

On Tuesday, the United States government issued a new travel alert for Mexico, warning of “terrorist” violence in 30 of its 32 states. It’s the first time Washington has ever sounded the alarm on Mexico for terrorism risk.

The advisory paints a grim picture: soaring rates of homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery, alongside a new warning of possible terrorist attacks and terrorist violence.

“There is a risk of terrorist violence, including attacks and related activities,” it warned, urging Americans to take precautions. The travel alert was raised to Level 2 – “exercise increased caution” on a scale of four levels.

Which places did the US warn about and why?

The alert warns Americans not to travel to Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas provinces due to “terrorism, violent crime, and kidnapping.” These states are marked red on the map and classified as Level 4 — the most unsafe, per the US.

Travellers are advised to reconsider visiting Baja California, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, and Sonora for the same reasons; these appear in orange and are rated Level 3, or marginally safer.

Another 16 states – including Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Quintana Roo, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Morelos, Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Durango, Hidalgo, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Tlaxcala, and Veracruz – fall under “exercise increased caution”. While there are no outright travel bans, the advisory notes that both violent and non-violent crimes are common. These areas are shown in yellow and are listed under Level 2.

Only Yucatan and Campeche remain at Level 1, the lowest risk level, highlighted in blue.

What is the backdrop for this advisory?

According to experts, these actions follow increased pressure from Trump, which has prompted the Mexican government to take a range of measures.

Earlier this week, Mexico extradited 26 alleged cartel members to the US, in what appeared to be an effort to ease Trump’s demands for stronger action against fentanyl smuggling and organised crime.

In a statement, the US embassy said those extradited included key figures from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel, Mexico’s two most powerful organised crime groups.

We recognize @GabSeguridadMX for its dedication and commitment. This action reflects the strength of our bilateral cooperation as sovereign partners and our shared commitment to ensure our people’s security and well being. https://t.co/XbuqLNtmNK

This marks the second mass transfer of the year; in February, Mexican authorities sent 29 alleged cartel leaders to the US, a move that stirred debate over its political and legal merits.

Among them was Caro Quintero, a founding member of the Guadalajara Cartel, accused of murdering DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in 1985.

US officials had requested the extraditions, pledging not to seek the death penalty. Mexico described the suspects as high-risk criminals tied to drug trafficking and other serious offences.

While extraditions are not uncommon, they are typically carried out in ones and twos. But this year alone, Mexico has already handed over 55 people.

The transfers follow months of US pressure, reinforced by tariff threats, and reports that Trump directed the Pentagon to consider military action against Latin American cartels.

According to those reports, the order would permit direct military operations on foreign soil and in corresponding territorial waters against organised criminal groups. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has said the US and Mexico are close to finalising a security agreement to boost cooperation against cartels, but she has firmly rejected the idea of unilateral US military operations on Mexican soil.

How has Mexico responded to the new alert?

Sheinbaum downplayed the updated travel advisory. She argued the change stems from Washington’s decision to label cartels as terrorist organisations  – done through an executive order earlier this year – rather than from any new security reality.

Sheinbaum stressed that Mexico remains the top destination for US travellers, with about a million Americans living in the country, and noted that popular areas such as the Southeast, Baja California Peninsula, Pacific coast, and Mexico City continue to attract visitors despite the warning.

How bad is Mexico’s violence problem?

Bad, but it’s improving.

According to a 2024 report from Human Rights Watch, violent crime in Mexico has risen sharply since the government began its “war” on organised crime in 2006.

However, this year, Sheinbaum can report a 25.3 percent drop in daily homicides over her first 11 months in office, from 86.9 per day in September 2023 to 64.9 now – the lowest monthly figures since 2015.

While Mexico remains one of the world’s most violent countries, the decline is seen as a significant improvement, credited to her administration’s security strategy, but also US pressure.

When Trump took office, he quickly warned Mexico that it had to show real progress in stopping the flow of fentanyl, a drug that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, or face steep trade tariffs. He promised to push Mexico harder to curb drug trafficking and illegal migration, making it clear there would be serious economic consequences if it didn’t act.

In Sheinbaum’s first year in office, authorities have seized more than 3.5 million fentanyl pills and arrested at least 29,000 suspects, including high-level cartel leaders with local and national reach. Security chief Omar Garcia Harfuch credited the success to the crucial work of specialised intelligence and investigative units.

However, in places like Sinaloa, the bloodshed escalated sharply after the arrests of major figures, including Ismael Zambada, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, in August 2024.

During the first six months of this year, authorities recorded 883 homicides in the state, up from just 224 in the same period last year, with most killings concentrated in Culiacan.

The violence may be only part of the toll. Since Zambada’s arrest, more than 1,500 people have gone missing in Sinaloa. Security officials believe criminal groups are behind many of these disappearances, suggesting the real cost of the crackdown could be even higher.

Israel has imposed man-made starvation on the population of Gaza since the aggression against the enclave began in October 2023. This campaign intensified drastically after March 2025, when the Zionist occupation implemented even harsher restrictions on the already scarce aid allowed into Gaza. Since then, hundreds of men, women, and children have died from severe malnutrition. Doctors survive on meagre crumbs of bread and oil each day, often resorting to seawater to ingest much-needed electrolytes. Journalists have become too weak to carry out their duties, and men are too frail to risk their lives at GHF sites. The population now resembles skin stretched taut over bones.

Such severe malnutrition has, unfortunately, been witnessed throughout history, and its effects on the human body are well documented. Systems shut down one by one, fatigue envelops the victims, and the body begins to consume itself to death. Chilling accounts between 1920 and 1940 in the Soviet Union paint a similar picture. Performers collapsed mid-performance, dying where they stood. People dropped dead in the streets as if simply falling asleep. Desperation reached such extremes that court records tell of a mother dismembering her unconscious husband, believing him dead, to feed their children.

What is often overlooked, however, is that recovery from starvation can be just as devastating. Ironically, one of the earliest recorded accounts of this phenomenon comes from the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. For five months, under the command of Titus, son of Emperor Vespasian, the Roman army cut off all aid to the then-holy Jewish city. Like Gaza’s population today, Jerusalem’s citizens were wasted, disease-ridden, and forced to eat leather. After the Romans breached the gates and captured the city, Flavius Josephus, a Jewish commander who defected to the Romans, reported that many survivors died soon after eating. Malnourished citizens would gorge themselves on food to the point of vomiting, with many dying within hours.

Following World War II, similar accounts emerged involving Japanese prisoners of war. Malnourished soldiers liberated from captivity in the Philippines, New Guinea, and elsewhere gorged themselves on calorically rich food provided by their liberators. Approximately one in five of these prisoners died because of this refeeding process. Medical examinations revealed shrunken organs, heart failure, and other severe complications. Comparable observations have been reported repeatedly in starved civilian populations after famine relief, among post-operative patients, individuals suffering from anorexia nervosa, and chronic alcoholics.

Now commonly known as refeeding syndrome, this condition describes a dangerously rapid metabolic shift from a catabolic to an anabolic state. In starvation, the body suppresses insulin and relies on breaking down muscle and fat, depleting essential intracellular ions. Once feeding resumes, insulin surges, causing glucose and electrolytes to flood into cells. This sudden cellular shift sharply lowers blood levels of phosphate, potassium, and magnesium. Insulin also promotes sodium and water retention in the bloodstream, leading to fluid overload. If untreated, these changes can cause catastrophic damage to the heart, lungs, nerves, and blood, resulting in arrhythmias, respiratory failure, and death.

It is important to emphasise that refeeding syndrome is not simply “too many calories too quickly”; it is a metabolic shock. Controlled eating alone is insufficient. Patients require carefully planned treatment, beginning with electrolyte and vitamin supplementation before feeding starts. A skilled, multidisciplinary team and routine laboratory testing are essential to ensure recovery proceeds safely. Pharmacists, psychiatrists, lab technicians, and other specialists must work in concert to nurse the malnourished back to health.

In the context of the genocide in Gaza, imagining such care is heartbreaking. The medical infrastructure there has collapsed. Doctors treat only urgent cases. Anaesthetics have all but run out, and vinegar, if found, is used to clean wounds. Children’s limbs are amputated while they are fully conscious and in pain. This is not a system remotely capable of rehabilitating two million starved people. Israel deliberately ensures this by enforcing a blockade on medical supplies and brutally targeting health workers, ambulances, and hospitals.

Tragically, we cannot rely on starving individuals to control their own refeeding. Hunger twists the mind, making a person obsessively fixated on food. The thought “this may be your only chance to eat, so eat as much as possible” becomes overpowering. In the follow up of Ancel Keys’ malnutrition experiments, it was noted that several recovered participants went on to work in the food and restaurant industry. The reality is that a severely malnourished person cannot be expected to regulate their eating once food is available.

It is therefore crucial to demand international pressure on Israel to allow the immediate entry of medical equipment, laboratory facilities, and specialist teams into Gaza. Most crucially, they must stop targeting health workers and health facilities. This is nearly as vital as the entry of aid itself. Western governments possess a range of tools to compel Israel to halt its genocidal aggression and permit humanitarian and medical assistance, but they choose not to use them. They are complicit in one of the most horrendous genocides of modern times. Global citizens must press their governments to act. We must remain aware that without medical infrastructure accompanying aid, thousands will possibly die from refeeding syndrome.