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Saudi Arabia to host inaugural Olympic Esports Games 2025
Saudi Arabia is to host inaugural Olympic Esports Games 2025, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Friday. The IOC also said the partnership with the Saudi National Olympic Committee would be 12 years. The decision will be ratified at the IOC Session to be held on the eve of the Olympic Games in Paris, after which work will begin on selecting a host city for the inaugural edition. "We are very fortunate to be able to work with the Saudi NOC on the Olympic Esports Games, because it has great – if not unique – expertise in the field of esports with...
Court rules El Ghazi's contract termination by Mainz was invalid
The Mainz labour court ruled that Anwar El Ghazi's contract termination by Bundesliga club Mainz in connection with pro-Palestine posts was invalid. Presiding judge Bettina Chaudhry justified the decision saying that there was no breach of duty that would make it necessary to terminate the employment relationship without notice. The case started when Mainz suspended El Ghazi over a pro-Palestine post on Instagram, which he later deleted, after the October 7 attack on Israel by militant group Hamas from the Gaza Strip. El Ghazi briefly returned to training after a club statement said he had distanced himself from the post. But El Ghazi swiftly dismissed this in another post, and his contract was terminated without notice by Mainz on November 3. His contract was to run until 2025. He's entitled to around 1.7 million euros in outstanding salaries and bonus payments and should also be reinstated as a licenced professional.
Germany says Hungary's EU presidency causing 'a lot of damage'
The German Foreign Office on Friday said Hungary has caused "a lot of damage" in the 12 days since it assumed the rotating EU presidency. A spokesman in Berlin called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's visits to Moscow and Beijing "solo Hungarian efforts that we observe with great astonishment and skepticism." He said Orbán was acting in a personal capacity and not as a representative of the EU. Regarding possible consequences for the visits, the spokesman said: "We have to see how Hungary's Council presidency continues. We are now on day 12 and it has already caused a lot of damage." Deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner said that Orbán could travel wherever he wanted. "What is not acceptable is that he travels through the world with the impression that he is doing so on behalf of others. And there will certainly be further discussion about how to deal with this," he added. Ahead of the NATO summit in Washington this week, Orbán met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing. Both visits included discussions on potential peace proposals for Ukraine, which has been fending off a Russian invasion for more than two years.
Report: Spanish federation to give coach De La Fuente new contract
The Spanish football federation RFEF plans to give coach Luis de La Fuente a new contract, the newspaper As reported on Friday. According to the report, the plan is independent of the outcome of Sunday's Euro 2024 final against England in Berlin. RFEF president Pedro Rocha plans to travel to Spain's Euro 2024 headquarters in Donaueschingen before the final to inform De La Fuente of the board's unanimous decision. With the new contract, the coach is to receive significantly better financial conditions: €1.8 million ($1.96 million) plus bonuses per year, three times more than he current salary of €600,000. An extension clause had been already activated in April, As said, but there was no salary increase back then. Should De La Fuente accept the new deal, he would still be in charge of the team at the 2026 World Cup. The contract also includes an option to extend his term until Euro 2028. The coach took over the Spanish team in 2021, but has been working with the national team's youth academy since 2013.
Erdoğan demands no NATO cooperation with Israel until end of Gaza war
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that he will not approve any future cooperation between the NATO military alliance and Israel while the war in Gaza is continuing. Turkey, a NATO member since 1952, will not accept this kind of cooperation "until a comprehensive and sustainable peace is established in the Palestinian Territories," Erdoğan wrote on X on Friday following the NATO summit in Washington. "It is impossible for the Israeli government, which tramples on the fundamental values of our alliance, to continue its partnership with NATO," Erdoğan wrote. Israel is not a member of the defence alliance, but closely cooperates with NATO as a partner. NATO's website states that NATO and Israel have been working together for almost 30 years in areas such as science, technology, counter-terrorism, civil defence, combating weapons of mass destruction and other issues. Israeli soldiers are also regularly involved in NATO military exercises. Since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October, relations between Israel and Turkey have deteriorated drastically. Erdoğan has described the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group as a "liberation organization" and has compared Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Lufthansa cuts financial forecast after slower second quarter
German aviation giant Lufthansa Group has slashed its financial forecast for the year following a disappointing performance in the second quarter. The firm - which encompasses Germany's flagship Lufthansa Airlines and a number of subsidiaries - said in a press release on Friday that its bottom line fell on the back of lower ticket revenues, especially for travel to Asia. In the second quarter, Lufthansa Airlines made a profit of only €213 million ($232 million), down from €515 million in the same period last year, the company announced in Frankfurt. The airline now has a loss of €427 million on its books for...
UEFA draws positive balance from Euro 2024 ahead of final
European football ruling body UEFA has drawn a positive balance from the Euro 2024 ahead of Sunday's final between Spain and England in Berlin. "We're very, very satisfied with how the tournament went. We had so many fans here in Germany from all over Europe who cam here peacefully and celebrated and cheered on their team," UEFA head of competitions Martin Kallen told dpa. "The organization was very, very good. The games were good. There were few surprises," Kallen said. He added, however, that the pitch invaders during the tournament were "very annoying." Some of these actions were commercial and there were people...
German defence expert says intelligence agencies need wider reach
A German opposition politician on Friday called on the government to strengthen the country's intelligence services, in the wake of an alleged Russian plot to assassinate the head of arms maker Rheinmetall. "It's about enabling our intelligence services to provide better reconnaissance," said Roderich Kiesewetter, a former member of the German armed services, on public broadcaster ZDF. The German agencies must be brought on a par with those of neighbouring countries, he added, warning against stricter legal regulations on communications between intelligence services, police and legal authorities. According to a report by US broadcaster CNN, US intelligence uncovered Russian government plans to assassinate...
German railway DB took on too much with Euro 2024, says minister
German railway provider Deutsche Bahn bit off more than it could chew with the Euro 2024 football championship, Transport Minister Volker Wissing said on Friday. Fans and teams alike have been late to matches due to railway delays. Reporters from around the globe covering the competition have written stories about the delays. Shortly after the tournament started, a headline in the New York Times read: "In Germany, a tournament runs smoothly, but the trains do not." Wissing, in remarks to the Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag published on Friday, acknowledged the problem. "What has happened to some of the fans is not in line...
German Interior Minister taking threats from Russia 'very seriously'
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Friday said she is taking the threat from Russia "very seriously," as the fallout from an alleged Russian plot to assassinate the head of German arms maker Rheinmetall continued. "We are not commenting on individual threats," the minister told dpa in Berlin after CNN first reported the story on Thursday. "But one thing is very clear: we are taking the significantly increased threat of Russian aggression very seriously." Faeser said Germany is taking action together with international partners and security authorities to protect itself and thwart Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans. Putin's regime is aiming to undermine...
European Commission finds Elon Musk's X breaches EU digital laws
Elon Musk's social media platform X is in breach of EU digital laws due to deceiving users and transparency failures, the European Commission announced on Friday in a preliminary finding. The commission said that X's verification system for users, known as the blue checkmark system, was open to abuse by "motivated malicious actors" since anyone may purchase the status. Before, the blue checkmark system "used to mean trustworthy sources of information," EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a statement. "Now with X, our preliminary view is that they deceive users," he said. "X has now the right of defence — but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines and require significant changes," he added. Under an EU set of laws called the Digital Services Act (DSA), social media platforms with more than 45 million active users like X are subject to far-reaching content moderation rules.
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