Hussein al-Sheikh, a veteran of Fatah, has been appointed PLO’s deputy chair.
In addition to being the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, the 89-year-old leader of both, is in good hands.
Following years of international pressure to reform the PLO, which was brought to attention by Arab and Western actors who saw the PA playing a bigger role in the Gaza Strip’s post-war administration, al-Sheikh was appointed.
Al-Sheikh’s appointment was approved on Saturday during the 32nd session of the Palestinian Central Council, which took place earlier this week.
Al-Sheikh’s profession
Al-Sheikh, 64, is a seasoned member of Abbas’s Fatah movement, which is viewed as close to the president.
Abbas has “groomed for the past 18 years,” according to Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst.
According to Bishara, “Heal-Sheikh] has been in place since 2007 when Abbas resurrected following the division between Gaza and the occupied West Bank,” noting that the new deputy leader has been the primary liaison with Israel on security issues.
More than they trust Abbas, the Israelis know him and trust him.
He has been in charge of the General Authority of Civil Affairs, which oversees a lot of cooperation with Israel in the occupied West Bank, since 2007.
He became the secretary-general and head of the negotiations division of the PLO Executive Committee in 2022, demonstrating his close ties to Abbas.
Additionally, Abbas recently appointed him to lead a committee that oversees Palestinian diplomatic missions abroad.
Early life
Al-Sheikh was born in Ramallah in 1960 to a merchant family that had fled their village as a result of the 1948 Nakba’s ethnic cleansing.
At the age of six, he witnessed Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, which likely prompted him to enlist in Fatah. From 1978 to 1988, he spent 10 years in prison after Israel released him from prison.
He was able to negotiate with Israel in the future by learning Hebrew while he was imprisoned.
He stayed with Fatah and rose up the ranks after his release.
He has two sons and four daughters.
What follows?
The deputy chair would be expected to take over as acting head of the PLO and the State of Palestine, which are recognized by nearly 150 nations, in the event of Abbas’s passing or resignation.
Within the PLO, there are growing concerns that Israel might use Abbas’s departure and a potential power vacuum.
Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, greeted al-Sheikh’s visitation with a chilly reception.
He said in a statement, “The Palestinian people are not a herd that has imposed on them leaders with a dubious history who have ties to the occupation today and tomorrow.”
The Palestinian people alone have the authority to rule our country, according to the statement.
A number of Palestinian political parties are incorporated into the PLO as a whole. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, who are currently fighting Israeli forces in Gaza and disagree with Abbas, are not included in the list.
Amira Mohamed never left the pitch for the first time; it was a game. For her, and hundreds of Egyptian female footballers, the field was a battlefield – not one against opponents, but against generational scepticism.
She claimed that playing football wasn’t always what was customary for girls. No one seemed to take our situation seriously. But we kept going anyway. We simply played for the love of the game, without any audience.
Growing up, Mohamed had a dream about playing under the lights of a stadium one day, dressing up for either of Egypt’s two biggest teams, Al Ahly or Zamalek, and getting her name called out by commentators. Back then, it felt impossible, “a fantasy reserved only for boys”, as she put it.
However, despite being slow and agonizing, change has come over the past ten years.
She told Al Jazeera, “Things have changed.” “It’s now easier as big clubs are investing, matches are on TV, and dreams we used to hide are finally being seen”.
Football has been a man’s game for as long as Egyptians have been aware of it, played in dusty alleyways, cheered from crowded stadiums, and broadcast on television screens all over the country. However, the majority of women stayed on the sidelines. That dynamic, for the most part, still holds. However, something changed in 2024. For the first time, the Women’s Premier League of Egypt was broadcast on national television, a moment when dreams come true for players like Mohamed.
Launched in 1998, the women’s league limped along in obscurity for years, with few clubs willing to support it, and as recently as 2021, it featured just 11 teams. However, there hasn’t been much change in recent years. There are now five brand-new clubs, and there are also under-13 level youth teams for girls in the under-15 age range. Even mega clubs like Al Ahly and Zamalek have established women’s squads, driven not only by FIFA regulations but also by a growing awareness of the potential and power of women in sport.
Women’s league games are now on TV, especially those featuring famous clubs, and Egypt’s ON Sports satellite channel has done something unprecedented. Some of these games now include post-match analysis, which is surprising.
Amira Mohamed, front, playing for Masar against Wadi Degla in the Egyptian Women’s League [Photo by Fatma Badawy]
A cultural shift
Despite numerous roadblocks, Egypt’s women’s national team head coach, Abdel Fattah Abbas, claims that the game has made significant progress.
Sahar el-Hawary, a former member of the Egyptian Football Association and a steadfast champion of the women’s game, receives a lot of the momentum, he said. “She was instrumental in persuading FIFA to withhold professional licensing from major clubs unless they field women’s teams”.
Egyptian footballers Eman Hassan and Laila El Behery both signed professional contracts with international clubs as a result of the burgeoning movement, which transformed what was once seen as a pastime into a lucrative career. Some parents are currently enrolling their daughters in residential football programs.
Initiatives such as “1, 000 Girls, 1, 000 Dreams”, a collaboration between the British Council and Egypt’s Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Dutch-funded KNVB WorldCoaches programme, are empowering women in local communities.
Basant Tarek, a veteran player and trainer with KNVB, says, “every coach returns to their hometown, spreading the game and opening doors for girls.” Despite the success of some of these programs, they continue to be influential. Girls ‘ football teams are now emerging in schools and youth centres across the country.
Far from over
However, societal stigma held back women’s development in football for years. Many parents refused to support their daughters ‘ ambitions, seeing football as a sport for boys. Families frequently worried about their daughters’ reputations because they thought it would violate traditional gender roles to play traditionally masculine sports.
Aya Abdel Hady, a pioneering coach with roots in Upper Egypt, is well-versed in the cultural resistance that female footballers frequently encounter.
“It was hard to get full support at first”, she said. There were “so many obstacles”: family, society, clubs, and even the individuals. Simply put, “women’s football was not worth playing.”
But her love for the game never wavered. Although her playing career was eventually ended by her injuries, she was unable to return to football.
She continued, “If anything, they [the injuries] pushed me into coaching.” “It was a new challenge, and I embraced it”.
Sheikh Zayed Academy’s head coach and the women’s division technical director at City Club were among the elite positions she took after moving from her local academies. In Saudi Arabia, Abdel Hady is currently in charge of futsal, a game that is played indoors and has five players on each side.
Once her playing career was over, Aya Abdel Hady travelled overseas to learn high-level football coaching in Europe. She is the head coach of a youth team at the Italian competition, [Photo by Fatma Badawy]
These transformational sentiments were shared by Yara Amir, another rising star in Egypt’s women’s football movement.
“The perception of women’s football has changed significantly in recent years”, she explained. It is now more discernible. Although the interest is definitely growing, it still falls short of the men’s game’s popularity.
That shift did not come easily. Amir recalled the initial skepticism she encountered.
She told Al Jazeera, “Many people thought football wasn’t a sport for girls.” “They were genuinely surprised to see me play. I had to demonstrate that I belonged rather than just my abilities.
She started out playing games with boys in her neighborhood when she was just a kid, and she eventually kicked a plastic ball alone.
“That deepened my love for the game”, Amir added. “My family rallied around me, and that was what really mattered,” he said.
Yara Amir, left, plays for the Egyptian League’s ENPPI against the Aviation Club on February 11, 2025 in Cairo. [Photo by Fatma Badawy]
A similar story belongs to Yasmin Yasser, a licensed coach and professional player who grew up in Mansoura, a city without a single women’s league team.
She told Al Jazeera, “Many people assumed football was just for boys.” Many people believed that a girl should be playing at home rather than on the field.
The pushback was relentless. Yasser credits her steadfast success to her late father, a former professional footballer himself. She honed her skills playing in the streets before enlisting in academies and eventually joining Al Ahly’s ranks, having had few opportunities in her hometown. Yasser then enrolled in coaching programmes, earning both D and C-standard licences, allowing her to work with players from beginner to advanced skill levels.
She continued, “I want to be a role model for parents, so they understand the value of supporting young talent,” adding, “Not just for the girls, but for the parents.”
[Photo by Fatma Badawy] Yasmine Yasser wants to inspire the next generation of female footballers as she prepares for the Ramadan football championship final on March 29, 2025 at Al-Nile Club in Mansoura, Egypt.
More needs to be done
Advocates like Abbas contend that the sport’s visibility must result in tangible investment as Egypt’s interest in women’s football is rising.
Without them, he said, “these promising talents run the risk of being squandered in a cycle of underinvestment and missed opportunities.” “The steps taken were vital, but they’re far from enough. Women’s football receives significantly less funding than men’s football, despite this. This lack of support affects everything from salaries to transportation to training quality.
For Abdel Hady, the televised matches are a sign of genuine progress, as “it opens doors for players to go professional, locally and internationally”.
She maintains that the growth is still fragile. Without long-term planning and real investment, including technical, financial, and infrastructural, the momentum could easily wane. Support from top clubs is still limited.
“These televised matches give girls across the country the chance to be seen, to believe this path is possible”, Yasser agreed, but like Abdel Hady, she is keenly aware of the disparities.
“Left-tier teams hardly have uniforms, let alone medical staff or travel funding,” they claim. Yasser once spent money on transportation and training expenses during her career.
“Societal doubt hasn’t fully faded”, Amir said, echoing the same sentiment. Some people don’t know for sure whether women’s football is truly “worth it.” But “We keep pushing”
Like many of her peers, she dreamed of playing professionally for leading clubs and one day donning the national team jersey.
She added, “I also want to be a part of something bigger.” There is no limit to what we can do.
Aya Abdel Hady is hopeful that TV broadcasts of Egyptian women’s football will open the doors for more players to turn professional in the future]Courtesy of Fatma Badawy]
As tensions between the Indian and Pakistani diaspora flare up in London following a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, protests have erupted. India and Pakistan held Pakistan responsible for the 26-person fatal shooting in Pahalgam, which rekindled conflict in the region.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, described his one-on-one meeting with US President Donald Trump as “productive.” It was their first such encounter since the fiery Oval Office exchange in February. They interacted during Pope Francis’ funeral.
In the 45th London Marathon, Ethiopian Tigst Assefa broke the women’s-only world record for winning, while Kenyan Sabastian Sawe made a wise tactical choice to destroy a stacked men’s field for victory.
After setting a blistering early pace on Sunday morning, the 28-year-old Assefa, who won the silver medal at the previous year’s Paris Olympics, cut off from Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei over the final few kilometers.
She completed the race in 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 50 seconds, breaking Kenyan Peres Jepchir’s previous women’s-only record of 2: 16: 16 set in London last year, which she claimed helped because the temperatures had risen to 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) by the time the race was finished.
Assefa, who finished second in the 2024 London race, said, “Last year, I did have some issues with the cold.” “Toward the end of the race, my hamstring tightened up.” I’m really pleased with the way the race turned out because this year’s weather was really good for me.
“I was second here last year, and it’s very special to win here this year.”
Jepkosgei, 31, crossed second in 2: 18: 44.
Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, the reigning Olympic marathon champion and 2024 London winner, resisted the sizzling early pace and came out on top around the halfway mark to finish third in 2: 19:00.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya wins the men’s race scheduled for April 27, 2025. [Photo by Justin Tallis/AFP]
On his way to crossing in 2:02:27, the 29-year-old Sawe, who won his first marathon in December and made a stunning debut there, pulled out of the lead pack when the others reached for bottles to refuel on their way to crossing in 10 kilometers.
I’m thrilled that this is my first major marathon victory. I had a good preparation for this race, which is why it’s now simple for me to win, “Sawe said.” I’m now optimistic about my future as a marathoner because it will be so important and simple for me.
In a photo finish, Alexander Mutiso Munyao of Kenya and Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands completed the record-breaking half-marathon in 2:03:37, while Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda, who broke the world record in February, finished third.
In 1:25:25, Marcel Hug won his sixth London Marathon title, and Catherine Debrunner won her third women’s title in 4 years, breaking her own world record by two seconds.
The 42.195km race, which snaked along the River Thames before passing the Mall, was anticipated to have a world record 56, 000 runners turn up.
Alex Yee, a respectable 14th in his marathon debut, and Eilish McColgan, a British Olympic gold medalist, were two of the athletes who set a Scottish record of 2:24:25 to finish eighth in her distance debut.
The first-place women’s team Ethiopian Olympian Tigst Assefa and Kenyan men’s first-place women’s athlete Sabastian Sawe pose for a photo with the Chris Brasher Sporting Life Trophy following the 2025 TCS London Marathon photo on April 27, 2025 [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]
After a commercial ship sank off the coast of Ras Al-Ara in Lahj province, Yemen, a video shows Yemenis frantically rescuing hundreds of sheep from the Red Sea. More than 160 sheep were drowned when the vessel capsized, according to local sources, making it possible for it to travel to Djibouti.
