French authorities ordered Paris Saint-Germain star Achraf Hakimi to stand trial for the alleged 2023 rape of a woman, which the Moroccan international denied on Friday.
The prosecutor’s office in Nanterre informed the AFP news agency that they had requested that the prosecutor take the rape case before a criminal court.
The prosecutor’s office told AFP in a statement that “it is now up to the investigating magistrate to make a decision within the parameters of his order.”
Hakimi, 26, scored the opener in PSG’s 5-0 win over Inter Milan in the May final, which was a significant contribution to PSG’s quest for their first Champions League title.
Hakimi, who helped Morocco reach the 2022 World Cup’s historic semifinals in March 2023, was accused of raping a 24-year-old woman.
While his wife and children were away on vacation, Hakimi allegedly paid for his accuser to visit his home in Boulogne-Billancourt on February 25, 2023.
Following the incident, the woman alleges rape and was question by police before going to a police station.
Prosecutors decided to bring charges against the player despite the woman’s refusal to make a formal accusation.
She claimed to have met Hakimi on Instagram in January 2023 when she was reporting to the police at the time.
She claimed that she had taken a taxi from Hakimi to his house the night of the incident. Before raping her, she claimed to have told police that Hakimi had started kissing her and making consensual sexual advances, according to a police source.
She claimed she was able to free herself and text a friend who had arrived to pick her up.
In light of the facts surrounding the case, Hakimi’s attorney, Fanny Colin, who spoke with AFP after the news was made, described the trial request by the prosecution as “uncomprehensible and meaningless”.
“We and Achraf Hakimi continue to be as composed as they were when the proceedings began.
We would obviously pursue all possible appeals, she continued.
The woman’s lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, told AFP, “My client welcomes this news with immense relief.
Hakimi, who was born in Madrid, joined Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga in 2018 after spending some time in the youth system at Real Madrid.
He then made 73 Bundesliga appearances.
He made his first team-related move to Inter Milan in 2020, before moving on to PSG in 2021, where he has established himself as a key player.
In response to growing international outcry over the continuation of the Strip’s famine, US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, has visited aid distribution centers in Gaza. Since May, more than 1, 000 deaths have been linked to the aid facilities, which are operated by the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Witzoff claimed that his visit will aid in the development of President Donald Trump’s “plan to distribute food and medical aid to the people of Gaza.”
In his most recent exchange with Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev, US President Donald Trump has decreed that two nuclear submarines be flown closer to Russia.
Trump claimed on his platform Truth Social on Friday that the submarine movements were prompted by Medvedev’s “highly provocative statements” this week.
Medvedev had earlier urged Trump to be aware of “how dangerous the fabled “Dead Hand” can be in reference to Russia’s nuclear weapons system during the Cold War.
In case these obscene and uproarious statements are more than that, Trump wrote, “I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions.”
I hope this will not be one of those situations where words are very significant and can frequently have unintended consequences.
Trump and Medvedev have recently engaged in an escalating verbal spat with one another, who is currently the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council under current President Vladimir Putin.
Putin and Medvedev were close friends when they were elected presidents from 2008 to 2012. Medvedev served as his prime minister from 2012 to 2020 when Putin assumed office.
Trump has since started criticizing Medvedev, a well-known war hawk, as he has gotten more and more angry with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Both men have made concessions about the nuclear capabilities of their respective nations, and their exchanges have become more heated.
On July 30 [Ekaterina Shtukina/Sputnik Pool Photo via AP], Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of the Russian Security Council, shakes hands with Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith.
A verbal war
Trump switched from a discussion of trade between Russia and India to an attack on Medvedev for his sabre-rattling remarks earlier this week in a social media post.
What India does with Russia doesn’t matter to me. For the love of my life, Trump wrote that they could combine their dead economies.
“Russo and the USA have hardly any business together. Let’s keep things simple and pass on Medvedev’s words to the man who believes he is still in charge of the failed former Russian president. He’s entering “very dangerous” territory!
Medvedev has also shown that he enjoys the US president’s provocation.
In a post on Telegram, Medvedev said, “Russia is doing everything right and will continue to proceed along its own path” if some words from the former Russian president sputter such a nervous reaction from the then-honorable president of the United States.
In an apparent nod to the destruction that Russia has the authority to cause, Medvedev then made a reference to the zombie apocalypse television show The Walking Dead.
Let Trump recall his favorite movies about the “Walking Dead,” and to the “dead economy” of India and Russia and “entry into dangerous territory.”
Not for the first time have Trump and Medvedev discussed their feud online this week. The two men also engaged in physical combat in late June.
Did I hear former Russian President Medvedev impromptuly banging on the “N word” (Nuclear)? ), and asserting that Iran would receive nuclear weapons from other nations. Trump published a letter on June 23.
He then cited Iran’s recent US attack as an example of how the nation might respond to other threats.
“Our Nuclear Submarines are by far the strongest and best equipment we have, 20 years ahead of the pack,” Trump wrote in a statement. They are “the most deadly and powerful weapons ever created.”
He also criticized Medvedev’s handling of the situation under Putin, saying that he was wrong to make threats.
Trump made a joke about Putin, saying, “I suppose that’s why he’s “THE BOSS.”
Concerns about the war in Ukraine
The high stakes back-and-forth comes as Trump grows more and more annoyed with Ukraine’s slow progress toward peace.
A slow-moving conflict has been brewing in the nation since February 2022 as Ukraine tries to halt a full-scale invasion from Russia.
Trump’s administration has publicly urged the Republican leader to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and he entered his second term as president with the pledge to be a “peacemaker and unifier.”
However, his efforts to resolve the Ukraine-Russian conflict have been unsuccessful.
Trump himself faced criticism at the beginning of his second term for allegedly undermining Ukraine’s cause, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being a “dictator” and making an ostensible offer to Russia, including annexing Ukrainian territory.
In contrast, Trump initially addressed Putin in a friendly manner, telling Zelenskyy that Putin had experienced “a hell of a lot” with him during a tumultuous Oval Office meeting.
Trump has threatened Russia with sanctions as the war progresses, but that relationship appears to have cooled in recent months. He announced on July 28 that Russia would have “10 or 12 days” to end its offensive, or the penalties would be severed.
Trump then criticized Russia’s continued military action on Thursday as it shelled Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
“Russia,” I find what they’re doing to be revolting. He claimed that it was repulsive.
However, Medvedev has previously referred to Trump’s deadlines as “theatrical” and claimed that “Russia didn’t care” about the threats. He also warned that Trump’s aggressive foreign policy may have a negative impact on his supporters who put “America First” in office.
Medvedev wrote earlier this week on the social media platform X that “Trump is playing the ultimatum game with Russia.”
Palestinian Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority are accused by the US of lowering peace prospects.
Members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have been accused of undermining efforts to bring about peace.
More Western governments are publicly criticizing Israel, urging the nation to end its occupation of Gaza and move toward a two-state solution.
More nations have made it clear that they will support the recognition of Palestinian statehood under certain conditions, including Hamas’ disarmament and PA reform.
What’s the purpose of the US sanctions, then?
Are they a bargaining chip for more peace negotiations, or do they indicate there will be more difficulties?
Presenter: Adrian Finighan
Guests:
Former Palestine Liberation Organization adviser Xavier Abu Eid
Eli Clifton, Senior Advisor at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
As the neighbours prepare for talks next week aimed at maintaining a tense truce, Thailand has released two injured Cambodian soldiers who were taken after long fighting close to a disputed border area.
The Cambodian Defense Ministry reported that Oddar Meanchey and Surin province in Thailand were connected via a checkpoint on Friday.
Their return to their home country comes as both governments continue to accuse them of violating international law and alleged civilian targeting during a five-day conflict that broke out last week.
Eighteen additional Cambodian troops were detained on Tuesday during a ceasefire negotiation, and they are still in Thai custody.
According to Maly Socheata, a spokesperson for Cambodia’s Defense Ministry, “the wounded soldiers were returned through a designated border point,” calling on Bangkok to repatriate the remaining captured soldiers “in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
The two governments’ accounts of the soldiers’ capture are starkly different.
Phnom Penh claims its troops greeted Thai troops with consolation and post-conflict greetings as they approached them with peaceful intentions. Bangkok disputes that claim, alleging that the soldiers’ apparent hostility led to their arrest when they allegedly entered Thai territory while being held hostage.
Officials in Thailand claim that while reviewing the soldiers’ actions, they are following legal guidelines. No release date has been specified.
Nationalist rage is raging online, with social media platforms in both nations flooded with patriotic fervour and reciprocal reproaches as a result of the ceasefire.
In the meantime, both countries have taken foreign diplomats and observers on guided tours of former combat zones. Using the visits to support their narratives, each side has accused the other of inflicting harm.
Infantry clashes, Cambodian rocket fire, Thai air strikes, artillery exchanges, and recent violence. More than 260, 000 people were forced to leave their homes as a result of the fighting, which included more than 30 civilians.
Military representatives from both nations are scheduled to meet in Malaysia the following week to discuss de-escalation measures in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.
The underlying territorial dispute, which has raged for decades, will not be a focus of these discussions, though.
Between August 4 and August 4, Thailand’s acting defense minister Nattaphon Narkphanit announced that the General Border Committee, which coordinates border security, ceasefires, and troop deployments, will meet.
A Malaysian government spokesperson stated to reporters that “defensive attaches from other ASEAN nations will be invited as well as the defense attaches from the US and China.” The country is currently a member of the Southeast Asian regional bloc.
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol also stated on Friday that Phnom Penh plans to nominate US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his contribution to brokering the ceasefire.
He thanked Trump earlier in the capital for “bringing peace” and argued that the award was deserved for the US leader.
Megan Romano, the first female and first US athlete to compete in the Olympic-style sport venture that will host an event next year without conducting any drug testing, has been chosen as its first female and first US athlete.
In an event that will allow athletes to use performance enhancers, the Enhanced Games will debut in Las Vegas in May with swimming, track, and weightlifting competitions.
Romano describes the event as “an opportunity to push the boundaries of human performance in a transparent and scientifically supported environment, and to compete on a stage where female athletes are valued and compensated fairly.” equally . This is the future of sport, in my opinion.
Anyone who breaks the 100-meter sprint (track) and 50-meter freestyle (swimming) world records will receive $500, 000 in prize money for each event at The Enhanced Games.
After winning the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay final at the 2012 Short Course Swimming World Championships, Megan Romano, right, and the US relay team’s medal-winning athletes pose with podiums.
Because international federations must ratify records, which require record-breakers to pass doping tests, those marks wouldn’t count as “official.”
The Enhanced Games would be a good way to end any notion of fair play and fair competition in sport, according to the International Olympic Committee.
However, founder Aron D’Souza claims that the games have gained some traction and raised money in the “double-digit millions” (double-digit millions) since then.
Four male swimmers have signed up for the competition, including Australian Olympic medalist James Magnussen.
