US President Donald Trump says the international stabilisation force to maintain the Gaza ceasefire will be on the ground soon. The US is asking the UN for a mandate to mobilise the force in the devastated enclave.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa joined world leaders at the United Nations COP30 summit in Brazil, pledging his commitment to global efforts to limit climate change, in the latest sign that the war-torn country is returning to the international fold.
Al-Sharaa told the Brazil summit on Thursday that his country was fully on board with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and invited investments in renewable energy as part of his country’s “ambitious” plans for reconstruction and recovery.
list of 3 itemsend of list
The president acknowledged the complex challenges faced by Syria after the 14-year civil war that finally toppled longtime president Bashar al-Assad last December, in a definitive lightning offensive led by al-Sharaa, while underlining the urgency of tackling climate change, which hit Syria hard this year with “a drought unlike any it has seen in over six decades”.
He called on nations to strengthen “bonds of cooperation from the Amazon to the Barada and Euphrates rivers, within a framework of strong inter-state collaboration and in support of the growing role of developing nations”.
His visit to the Amazon came before talks with United States President Donald Trump in Washington. The White House declined to send high-level officials to the summit after Trump told the UN General Assembly (UNGA) this year that climate change is the world’s “greatest con job”.
On Thursday, the UN Security Council voted to remove sanctions imposed on al-Sharaa and his Interior Minister Anas Khattab, marking yet another step out of the international isolation that marked the al-Assad years.
The resolution, championed by the US, was seen as a largely symbolic move as sanctions were waived every time al-Sharaa needed to travel outside Syria anyway. He was the first Syrian head of state to attend the annual UNGA gathering in September in almost six decades, where he called for a lifting of all sanctions against his country.
An assets freeze and arms embargo will also be lifted.
Al-Sharaa led opposition fighters who overthrew President Bashar al-Assad’s government in December.
His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), began an offensive on November 27, 2024, reaching Damascus in only 12 days, resulting in the end of the al-Assad family’s 53-year reign.
Autumn Nations Series: Ireland v Japan
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 8 November Kick-off: 12:40 GMT
Whether you love him or not, when Eddie Jones speaks, you tend to listen.
From his underdog heroics with Japan in 2015, the blunt end to his trophy-laden spell as England boss or two contrasting spells with Australia – he has seen it all in 30 years of coaching.
Often outspoken, he can be viewed as a polarising figure but no one can accuse him of not caring about rugby.
And he has a plan to fix the sport he loves.
Speaking on the Ireland Rugby Social podcast before Japan’s game in Dublin on Saturday, he laid out the big changes he would make.
“In terms of professionalism, there’s no doubt we are at a financial point where something is going to have to give,” Jones said in Dublin.
“International teams are playing closer to 15 Tests because everyone needs more money. Say that takes up to 22 weeks, which leaves 30 weeks left of the year. How can you have a strong domestic season?
“The obvious answer is everyone has 10-team comps and they all play at the same time, and then you have a window for a Club World Cup competition that is the icing on the cake.
Jones is not only passionate about international rugby, which remains “massively attractive”, but also the club game – which he says is struggling.
The 65-year-old feels Super Rugby in Australia and New Zealand is “dead”, and said the Prem in England has “massive problems”.
Jones also feels there are issues which are not well known in France’s Top 14, says rugby in Japan relies on commercial sponsorship and investment, while the USA’s top tier has dropped to six teams.
In his words: “It’s not a healthy situation”.
He points to cricket’s Indian Premier League, an annual Twenty20 tournament which allows franchises to bid at auction for some of the sport’s biggest global stars.
“We need to find a way to get more money and finance into the game,” Jones added.
“I think sports fans want to see something fast and exciting now.
“Do we need a hybrid game at the domestic level that is more exciting?
“Have the serious domestic comps, and then have some IPL-type, 12-a-side or some sort of concept that encourages new fans to come in.”
When asked if the proposed R360 league was the answer to that problem, Jones remained unconvinced.
“They must have plenty of money,” he said.
“If they want to ship six teams into a city and play games, I imagine the only players who will go in the first instance will be players who are finished at the top level, who want a bit of fun and get paid well and that is great.
Jones’ concerns stretch to how the game is officiated.
He said the television match official, or TMO, is “killing the game” and pointed to Tadhg Beirne’s controversial red card in Ireland’s defeat by New Zealand in Chicago, which he called a “farce”.
He said: “It’s two of our best teams and we have the referee running to this little monitor.
“We just can’t have that.”
Jones also feels that constant interruptions from match officials break up the flow of the game, and the number of stoppages means that players are no longer suffering from fatigue in matches.
He feels it is getting so bad that teams could start going for an eight-zero split on the replacements’ bench as “you’ll only need forwards to play the game”.
Jones said on his ideal amount of TMO involvement: “I think we should go to goalline decisions, just three phases before the goalline.
“And if you see a red card offence that has been missed, you can come in.
Jones may now be 65 but he has no intentions of slowing down any time soon.
He had a short second stint as Australia’s head coach in 2023, which ended after nine matches in as many months and an early World Cup exit.
There was speculation he had spoken to Japan before he had departed his role as the Wallabies boss, which he has previously denied.
But before the year was out, he was back in charge of the Brave Blossoms for a second spell.
“I wanted to do Australia or Japan for the World Cup in Australia,” Jones said.
“The first choice was Australia, but because of circumstances – a lot was beyond my control but in the year I had I didn’t coach well.
“I tried to do things too quickly. Then Japan became an option.”
Jones had spoken about his desire to improve rugby globally but his immediate ambition is to keep developing the sport in Japan.
“I’ve been in the coaching game for a long time and I want to make Japan, within the conditions we’ve got, sustainably successful,” he said.
“Those teams in 2015 and 2019, sometimes you are lucky when a group of players come through at the same time and they help you win.
“But then they don’t always come through, and you have to create a system that Ireland have where the development of players is consistent.
“I’m trying to encourage the Japan Rugby Union, within the university structure, to how we can create a mini high performance environment so the kids can come through a bit quicker.”
Jones has a contract until the World Cup and then “we’ll take it from there”.
But, he says, after giving so much to the game over three decades of coaching, it may be his wife Hiroko who has the final say.
“I don’t have any preconception [about how long he will coach for] and maybe my wife will make the decision this time,” he said.
“But I’ll go to the World Cup and we’ll take it from there.
“I love the game and I love coaching. I want to see the game get better. We need to sort the game out.”
Three months on from the death of his baby daughter, Dougie Imrie can still hear the sounds of the machines in the neonatal unit as a desperate battle was waged to save her life.
Remi was born three and a half months prematurely.
The 20 days that Dougie and his partner Lauren spent with their daughter were the most difficult and precious of their lives.
“We had some good days,” the Morton manager says. “We thought at times she was turning a corner, and so did the staff. But, in the end, her little lungs just couldn’t get enough energy to keep her going.
“Myself and Lauren were there when she took her last breath.
“It was really tough. But I find it easier to talk about it rather than saying nothing and letting it build up, and maybe exploding down the line.
“I think I find comfort in speaking about the situation. Maybe another family that have gone through the same hurt and loss of their beloved baby can maybe relate and find a way to help with the situation they are going through.”
An issue with the placenta resulted in Remi being born 14 weeks early. She weighed one pound four ounces.
“Week 20, week 21 we just went for a routine check-up as every family does,” Imrie recalls. “They were very quiet. They were taking her measurements then said they would be back in a minute.
“You get that sense when three or four other doctors, nurses and midwives come through the door to look at the screen.
Scottish football rallied in support of Imrie and his family as the news of Remi’s plight emerged.
He would see it first hand as he took his team to face Partick Thistle in a Scottish Championship game.
“The moment when I came out of the tunnel at Firhill and saw the note from the [Morton] fans was something that will live with me forever.”
And, as a former Hamilton Academical player, Imrie was stunned by the show of support from derby rivals Motherwell.
“The Motherwell fans at Hearts the week after was amazing,” he adds. “The battles myself and Motherwell have had, that goes to the side and you see the true fans.
“That’s part and parcel of football, rivalries come together and it’s tit-for-tat but that blew me away. It blew my family away, it blew Lauren away.
“I will always be thankful to the fans for doing that. They didn’t have to do that, but it showed a touch of class from them.”
Remi lost her fight for life in August.
After the care the family had received, Imrie and Lauren decided they needed to do something positive in memory of their daughter.
Last month they presented the University Hospital Wishaw with a cheque for £18,000 raised in Remi’s memory.
“The staff were incredible,” he says. “These people were so, so calm and incredible at their job. We can give something back to them that they can help another family the way they helped us.
“I think I am doing OK. I have my moments, I’m not going to lie. It’s pretty raw. I have lost my daughter. I will never be able to spend time with her again.
“Lauren is there [at the grave] every day. The hurt and pain will never go away.”
Police have arrested 11 people during heated demonstrations in advance of the politically charged Europa League match between Aston Villa and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv in Birmingham.
Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli supporters gathered outside the stadium to protest on Thursday evening, but despite the tensions, the game went ahead without major disruptions.
list of 4 itemsend of list
The match, in which the hosts beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0, at Villa Park in Birmingham, was held under an enormous security operation.
West Midlands Police (WMP) said in a statement after the game that those arrested were all men and boys aged between 17 and 67. The majority were arrested for racially aggravated public offences.
Other arrests included a 21-year-old who tried to throw fireworks into the stadium and another person suspected of possessing drugs with the intent to supply. Police also detained a 21-year-old who refused to remove a face covering when ordered to do so, and a 17-year-old who ignored a dispersal order.
More than 700 officers from WMP and 25 other forces across the United Kingdom were deployed in the city for the match, which kicked off at 20:00 GMT – alongside police horses, dogs, drones and road units.
We’ve arrested six people tonight:
🔴 A man, 21, for failing to comply with an order to remove a face mask
🔴 A boy, 17, for failing to comply with a dispersal order
🔴 Three people arrested for racially aggravated public order offences
🔴 One person for a breach of the peace pic.twitter.com/Ia3CL7EgjJ
The atmosphere inside the stadium was relatively quiet, with large sections of empty seats.
Aston Villa announced last month that Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters would not be permitted to attend the match, a decision made by Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group based on intelligence provided by police.
Sky News reported on Thursday that police had banned Maccabi supporters due to “significant levels of hooliganism” in the fan base, which threatened safety around the match, rather than over threats to Israelis attending the game.
“I’m aware there’s a lot of commentary around the threat to the (Maccabi) fans being the reason for the decision. To be clear, that was not the primary driver,” West Midlands Police Chief Superintendent Tom Joyce told Sky.
“We have intelligence and information that says that there is a section of Maccabi fans, not all Maccabi fans, but a section who engage in quite significant levels of hooliganism,” Joyce said.
Fan bans are uncommon in European football and are usually imposed only when there is a history of violence between rival supporters. In this case, there have been no previous incidents involving fans of Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
However, Maccabi supporters have drawn increasing attention over the past year, partly due to tensions surrounding Israel’s war in Gaza. Most notably, violent clashes broke out between Maccabi fans and residents in Amsterdam last season during a Europa League match against Ajax.
More than 60 people were arrested, and five were taken to hospital following a night of unrest.
Police said anti-Israeli gangs on scooters chased and beat Maccabi fans.
However, verified video footage from the Reuters news agency showed Maccabi fans in Amsterdam chanting anti-Arab slogans in the days leading up to the game. Police reported that the team’s supporters also burned a Palestinian flag, tore down another, and vandalised a taxi. The city’s mayor later announced she would not host the Maccabi team again.
Football expert Nicholas Blincoe said the risk of unrest during the Aston Villa-Maccabi Tel Aviv game was also linked to what he described as the “racist” history of Maccabi supporters.
“These [Maccabi] ultras have become increasingly right-wing, nationalistic, and explicitly racist,” he told Al Jazeera.
The Ashes returns on 21 November and plenty of bowlers will be dreaming of wickets before the opening Test in Perth.
Nine English bowlers have taken a five-for in a men’s Ashes Tests away in Australia since 2005, can you name them all?
The Ashes: Australia v England