Alan Shearer, a BBB Sport correspondent, claims Erling Haaland “should have been game” for ignoring Omar Marmoush’s penalty in their 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
Multiple ISIL sleeper cells operating across Aleppo were targeted by the General Security Department and the General Intelligence Service, according to a statement from Syria’s Ministry of Interior on Saturday.
According to the report, one security officer was killed during the operation.
According to the statement, “forces stormed the site and seized a number of General Security force uniforms,” including “explosive devices,” an explosive vest, and.”
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the operation took place in the Haidariya district of Aleppo and that other neighborhoods also experienced clashes.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, the interim leader of Syria, has long opposed ISIL. He took office in Damascus in December. During the Syrian War, his forces fought the self-declared caliphate of the group.
Donald Trump, the president of the United States, met with al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia this week, and he described him as an “attractive guy with a very strong past.”
Washington announced following the meeting that it would lift sanctions against Syria, a significant step in the direction of al-Sharaa’s transitional government.
After Bashar al-Assad was toppled by his forces in a lightning offensive, Al-Sharaa took control of Damascus in December. Al-Sharaa cut ties with al-Qaeda in 2016.
Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
Venue: Imola Date: 18 May Race start: 14:00 BST on Sunday
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to pole position at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in a qualifying session that featured an enormous accident for Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Piastri edged Verstappen by 0.034 seconds despite encountering traffic in the final two corners and failing to improve his time in the final sector.
Both Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris fell short on their final laps, and the Briton was demoted to fourth by Mercedes’ George Russell.
And the surprise of qualifying was both the performance of the Aston Martin team and the failure of Ferrari to get either car into the top 10.
Fernando Alonso took Aston Martin’s best result of the season with fifth place, team-mate Lance Stroll also making the top 10 in eighth place.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton could manage only 11th and 12th places at Ferrari’s first home race of the season, underlining their continuing struggles.
The session featured two red flags, the first for a terrifying accident for Tsunoda, who lost control on the entry to the Villeneuve chicane and spun across the gravel before the car was launched into the air off the tyre barrier.
It somersaulted and landed upside down, before righting itself upon landing. The Japanese was uninjured and able to walk away from the crash.
He said the crash was “just really stupid, pushing unnecessarily hard,” at a time when he was not familiar with a number of significant changes made to the set-up after a difficult final practice session.
Tsunoda was not the only driver to hit the barriers, as Alpine debutant Franco Colapinto also spun into the barriers, this time at the Tamburello chicane.
The pole fight always looked to be between the McLarens and Verstappen, and the Red Bull driver laid down the gauntlet with the fastest time on the first runs in final qualifying.
Piastri ran first on the final runs, and was looking good after the first two sectors, only to come across a run of about five cars preparing their laps as he reached the two Rivazza left-handers that end the lap.
He could not improve his time in that sector of the lap but the first two sectors had been enough to vault him ahead of Verstappen.
The Dutchman did improve on his final lap, but only by 0.07secs and he just fell short of pole.
Norris, third fastest on his first run, was unable to improve and was leapfrogged by Russell, who used the medium tyres on his final lap, echoing the wider use of mediums by Aston Martin through the session.
Piastri said: “Very tough session with the red flags and also the tyres. Today the C6 (compound, the soft) was a real mystery.
“The team did a nice job getting the car into a good place. The last lap was good, I had about four cars in the last corner which didn’t help but it was enough.”
Verstappen said: “Everything was going really well, just the softest compound, it is very difficult to keep them alive around the lap. Sector one was good and then the tyres fell away from me. George set his time on a medium. The soft was maybe a bit too soft for this track.”
Pirelli brought the three softest tyres of their range to this race in the hope of preventing the race being the locked-in one-stop strategy it has traditionally been at Imola.
That looks unlikely to work, with the medium compound working well, and Aston Martin leaned into it throughout qualifying.
The Aston Martin has a major upgrade on it this weekend, with a new floor and engine cover influenced by design legend Adrian Newey, who joined the team as managing technical partner in March.
Alonso and Stroll clearly had a strategy to use the mediums, as they turned to them for their final runs in each session.
Even though the team had no brand new mediums to use in the top 10 shootout, Alonso vaulted up from the seventh place he had secured with soft tyres on his first run to an excellent fifth on his second.
Alonso said: “It is a little bit better than expected, both cars in Q3, the car felt competitive so let’s see tomorrow. Definitely the new parts we brought here are performing well.”
Ferrari suffered from failing to get their new tyres into the right temperature window for their final run in the second session.
Grand Prix Emilia-Romagna
Imola Date: May 18 Start time for the race: Sunday at 14:00 BST
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to pole position at the Grand Prix Emilia-Romagna in a qualifying session that featured an enormous accident for Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Despite encountering traffic in the final two corners and failing to improve his time in the final sector, Piastri edged Verstappen by 0.034 seconds.
Lando Norris of Verstappen and McLaren’s final races were punctured by George Russell of Mercedes, who placed fourth.
And the surprise of qualifying was Ferrari’s failure to topple any of its rivals, as well as Aston Martin’s team’s performance.
Fernando Alonso placed fifth in the Aston Martin team’s best performance of the season, while team-mate Lance Stroll placed eighth in order.
At Ferrari’s opening home race of the season, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were unable to finish in 11th and 12th, underscoring their ongoing struggles.
The second red flag for a terrifying accident for Tsunoda was during the session, which was the Villeneuve chicane’s car being launched into the air from the tyre barrier.
It savaged and turned around before reversing upon landing. The Japanese were unharmed and able to leave the collision.
He claimed that the crash was “just really stupid, pushing unnecessarily hard” at the time when the setup had undergone a number of significant adjustments following a challenging final practice session.
Franco Colapinto, an Alpine debutant, also spun into the barriers, this time at the Tamburello chicane, making it even more impressive.
Verstappen and McLarens always appeared to be competing for the pole position, and the Red Bull driver ran the fastest on the first runs of qualifying for pole.
Piastri was leading the final two laps after the first two sectors, but as he approached the two Rivazza left-handers that ended the lap, he noticed a run of about five cars preparing for the final lap.
Although he could not have improved his time in Verstappen’s lap, his first two sectors had been sufficient to put him ahead of him.
The Dutchman did improve on his final lap, but only by 0.07 seconds, and he only managed to finish second.
Russell used the medium tyres on his final lap, akin to Aston Martin’s more frequent use of mediums throughout the session, but Norris, who was third fastest on his first run, was unable to improve.
“Very tough session with the red flags and the tires,” Piastri said. Today, the C6 (compound, soft) was a real mystery.
The team did a good job of putting the car in a good position. The final turn was good; however, I only had four cars in the final corner, which didn’t help.
Verstappen once said, “Everything was going really well, just the softest compound,” and it’s very difficult to keep them alive in the lap. The tires fell off me after Sector One, which was good. George sat down for a medium. For this track, the softness was perhaps a little too soft.
In an effort to stop the race from being the locked-in one-stop strategy it has always used at Imola, Pirelli brought the three softest tyres of their range to this race.
Aston Martin leaned into it throughout qualifying, but that seems unlikely to work given how well the medium compound is.
This weekend, the Aston Martin received a significant upgrade, including new floors and engine covers inspired by design legend Adrian Newey, who became the team’s managing technical partner in March.
As they turned to them for their final runs in each session, Alonso and Stroll made it obvious that they were using the mediums.
Alonso rose from the seventh place he had secured with soft tyres on his first run to an excellent fifth on his second run despite the team’s lack of brand-new mediums for the top 10 shootout.
Alonso said, “It’s a little bit better than expected, both cars in Q3, and it felt competitive.” We’ll see how things turn out tomorrow. Without a doubt, the new components we brought here are performing well.
Ferrari’s final run in the second session was delayed by failing to fit their new tires into the appropriate temperature window.
Grand Prix Emilia-Romagna
Imola Date: May 18 Start time for the race: Sunday at 14:00 BST
Lando Norris said he was “just not good enough” after qualifying fourth for the Grand Prix Emilia-Romagna with his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri on pole.
On an Imola track where overtaking is infamously difficult, Norris was 0. 292 seconds slower than Piastri.
After the first six races of the season, Briton Norris is 16 points adrift in the championship.
In my final lap of “quali,” Norris declared, “Never good enough.” “Everyone moves more quickly, and I always move more slowly.”
Norris’ depressing assessment of his own performance was consistent with his difficulties in qualifying for this year.
In 2024, the Briton was only defeated four times by his team-mate, who had previously dominated Piastri.
Piastri has turned the tables when combined with what team principal Andrea Stella refers to as a “relatively numb” front axle, which is not providing Norris with the “cues” he needs to drive at the limit.
His third pole in seven races was his, a total that was equal to Norris’, which was Max Verstappen’s total in Imola. Norris has won just one of the six grand prix thus far, compared to Pirassic.
Norris remarked, “I’m not going to just put the car on the brakes.” Not me, that’s. The entire weekend, I felt good. In both Q1 and Q2, I felt well. There was some melancholy there.
However, it just doesn’t go when I attempt to do lap time. Evidently, a lot has changed since last year.
Qualifying has been my biggest strength throughout my entire career. It’s just not coming my way this year.
However, Stella pointed out that Piastri finished third in the previous race in Miami before winning.
Our car, which is a very competitive car, is not the easiest to drive in qualifying conditions when you have to go for the last millisecond, according to Stella, who has been speaking since the start of the season.
“Imola, and there is now a focus on Lando’s P4, but let’s go one race back and ask the winner of the Miami race.
Oscar was actually Oscar, but I don’t think we talked much about his race winning status.
Norris said he needed to rely on strategy to find a way to win the race because it would be “tough” for him.
The Spaniard’s performance was his team’s best performance so far in what has been a difficult year, and it is the result of a significant improvement that has, at least partially, been influenced by their new managing technical partner, Adrian Newey, the design legend who came in March.
Lance Stroll, Alonso’s teammate, placed eighth in the standings.
Alonso said, “To be with both cars in Q3 really lifts a little bit of pressure from the shoulders of everyone in the team.”
You never know until you reach qualifying, according to the package we introduced yesterday, which had some positive results.
We must maintain the foot on the ground, and perhaps the track characteristics, which aid the Aston, so we must watch Monaco and Barcelona closely during the upcoming races. But so far, we’re pleased with the improvement.
The 43-year-old, however, emphasized that while being “happy to be fifth,” his or the team’s goals were far away.
Alonso stated, “I want to win the race when I’m in Australia (at the start of the season) next year.
“It’s going to be a tactical race,” he declared. It’s challenging to overtake in Imola, as always. Everyone is able to make fewer stops, which would prevent overtaking.
Let’s see the pace, and I anticipate a good start and good strategy. I’m prepared to lose a few positions, at least not too many, because I don’t believe it to be as good as P5.
Piastri praised his will to keep the lead at all times.
He said, “As long as I can get a good start, then I’m confident,” It’s challenging to overtake on the track. Our pace was quick. Yesterday’s long-run pace appeared very encouraging. So, yes, as long as I can start well and do a good first lap, that would be good.
Verstappen said: “I’ll just try to do a good start and see where I’m at with the pace because yesterday wasn’t particularly good in the long run also. He claimed his car was better balanced than it was on Friday.
The Eurovision Song Contest has received criticism after allegedly covering Yuval Raphael’s performance for Israel while adding fake applause. When she performed New Day Will Rise for a rehearsal on Friday night, it is said that the competition’s bosses drowned out the booing noises.
The singing competition has been plagued by controversy over Israel’s participation in the annual event. Just last week, over 70 past Eurovision stars penned a letter demanding that the contest chiefs exclude Israel amid the country’s ongoing bombardment of Palestine, which is seeing Palestinians starving to death due to a blockade of aid.
Israel made plans earlier this month to annex the entire Gaza Strip and drive thousands of people south. Palestinians are also suffering from hunger because of a two-month aid freeze.
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Since early March, all food, water, medical supplies, and shelter have been halted in the Strip due to growing concerns that 65, 000 children could be in severe malnutrition.
Following Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which Amnesty International has labeled a genocide, protests have also taken place in Basel, the city where it is located.
More than a third of the Palestinians killed in the conflict, according to reports, are minors. Over 50 000 Palestinians have been killed.
Fans shared their annoyance at Israel’s performances being drowned out or dubbed with cheers in posts shared on Twitter/X.
One fan wrote, “It’s a huge issue that the EBU keeps silencing the booing and adds fake cheers to make it appear as though the audience is welcoming the country.”
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The public service broadcaster EBU is supposed to “serve the public, not to silence them.”
Another fan argued, “Why do you substitute audience boos with fake applause effects and mute them?” What are your moral principles?
Former Eurovision acts have demanded that Israel not be allowed to compete over the country’s “genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the decades-long regime of apartheid and military occupation against the entire Palestinian people.”
Former winners Portugal’s Fernando Tordo, British singer Mae Muller, and French singer La Zarra were also signed by the letter, which was published on Artists For Palestine. Additionally, Mara and GTE, two of the competition from the previous year, signed it.
When Israel’s entry appeared on screen in the semi-final on Thursday, the audience booed.
On the performance’s social media footage, the boos were more audible. Following the public vote, Yuval won her spot despite the protests and demands that Israel not be allowed to compete in the final.
The Mirror have reached out to Eurovision for comment.
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