Lionel Messi won the eighth Ballon d’Or of his remarkable career, while Spain’s World Cup-winning star Aitana Bonmati took the women’s prize at a glittering ceremony in Paris.
For Messi, the trophy awarded to him on Monday rewards, above all else, his inspirational performances at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, when he dragged Argentina to victory, scoring seven goals and being named the tournament’s best player. It was the crowning moment of his astonishing career, and it allowed him to see off stiff competition, in particular from Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, to take the award on the stage of the Chatelet Theatre in Paris. It was a return to the French capital after he departed from Paris Saint-Germain in June and his subsequent move to Inter Miami in Major League Soccer. Messi thanked his Argentina coach, teammates and staff for making his victory possible. “Tonight I’m enjoying myself. It’s a pleasure that will never leave me, and I hope to be able to enjoy it for many years to come,” Messi said through a translator. “Becoming world champion was the title we were missing. I’d like to thank everyone who helped make Argentina the world champion team.” Messi dedicated the trophy to late Argentina legend Diego Maradona, who would have celebrated his 63rd birthday on Monday. “Happy birthday Diego. This is for you too,” he said. Messi benefits from a recent change which means the award is based on a player’s record over the last season, rather than over the calendar year.
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2023 FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu categorically rejected the idea of a ceasefire in Gaza, equating any pause in hostilities to a victory by Hamas during a press conference on Monday.
“Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism,” Netanyahu told reporters, vowing, “That will not happen.” “Just as the United States would not agree to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the terrorist attack of 9/11, Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas after the horrific attacks of October 7,” he continued. “Today, we draw a line between the forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism,” Netanyahu declared, arguing that countries that failed to align themselves with Israel in “a war for our common future” were placing themselves in harm’s way. “If Hamas and Iran’s axis of evil wins, you will be their next target,” he warned, vowing to fight until the Palestinian militant group was wiped out. Unlike Hamas, which he claimed was deliberately targeting civilians with beheadings, rapes, and other atrocities, the PM insisted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were going out of their way to avoid killing Palestinian civilians. “Even the most just wars have unintended civilian casualties,” he said. International human rights observers have repeatedly condemned Israel for its collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population, citing the deliberate targeting of hospitals, schools, and other civilian infrastructure and the withholding of food, water, medicine, and electricity as violations of international humanitarian law. Israel has argued Hamas uses civilian facilities as human shields and commandeers humanitarian aid deliveries. On Saturday, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Just 14 member states – including Israel and the US – opposed the measure, while 45 abstained. Israel has since deployed tanks to Gaza as part of a planned ground invasion. Since declaring war on Hamas following the militant group’s surprise attack on October 7, Israel has reportedly killed over 8,300 Palestinians. The UN’s human rights body has accused West Jerusalem of war crimes, including genocide, describing an evacuation order issued to over 1 million inhabitants of northern Gaza as a thinly-veiled attempt at ethnic cleansing under the fog of war. Last week, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres observed in a speech to the Security Council that Hamas’ attack had not occurred “in a vacuum” and condemned Israel for the “56 years of suffocating occupation” it had inflicted on the Palestinian people. Israel subsequently vowed to reject visa applications by UN officials, accusing Guterres of attempting to justify Hamas’ attack. The head of the Muslim Coordination Center in Russia’s North Caucasus, Ismail Berdiev, has condemned the rioters who targeted an airport in Dagestan on Sunday, accusing them of using the term ‘Allahu Akbar’ in an unacceptable way.
Dagestani capital Makhachkala was the scene of unrest when pro-Palestinian protesters broke into the local airport looking for alleged refugees from Israel. In an interview with RIA Novosti on Monday, Berdiev criticized the rioters, noting that “extolling the Almighty by shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ is appropriate only when there is a sound reason for it.” He added that religious holidays, prayers, or family celebrations were suitable occasions, but that praising Allah “during illegal marches and demonstrations, as happened during the storming of the airport in Makhachkala, [is] unacceptable.” Berdiev also noted that rioters had used exclamations of religious praise alongside “blasphemous words” that are forbidden in Islam. “The faithful are barred from uttering profanities. A Muslim must control his actions and not shoot off the mouth, thereby setting a bad example for his brothers,” he insisted. Berdiev’s comments came after hundreds of protesters gathered outside Makhachkala Airport on Sunday, later breaking into the facility and blocking the runway. They then boarded planes in search of “Jewish refugees” allegedly fleeing their homeland following the attack by Palestinian armed group Hamas earlier this month. The unrest at the airport led to clashes with police, resulting in several officers being injured and dozens of protesters being detained. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that the riots had “obviously” been influenced by foreign forces, and stressed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was paying close attention to the issue. The head of Dagestan, Sergey Melikov, alleged that Ukrainian nationalists were trying to destabilize the situation in the republic by fomenting ethnic and religious divisions through social media channels. He also vowed that those responsible for the rioting would be held accountable, suggesting that they could atone by joining Russian forces fighting Ukraine.
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It has been almost three months since Victoria Roshchyna's family and colleagues received any word from the award-winning Ukrainian journalist.
Roshchyna, who is known for her courageous reporting on Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, disappeared shortly after passing a checkpoint. Friends and colleagues believe Russian forces detained her. The reporter had quickly pivoted from covering court cases to reporting from the front lines when Russian forces invaded her home country. As a freelance journalist, she has written for publications that include the Ukrainian news websites Hromadske and Ukrainska Pravda, as well as the broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Roshchyna told the stories of children killed in Dnipro and Berdyansk. She spoke to survivors of a missile strike in Uman and reported from Mariupol, where Russian occupiers staged a celebration in front of ruined houses. She interviewed soldiers and civilians, putting a human face to the brutality of war. But covering these stories came with great personal risk. On March 5, 2022, the car that Roshchyna was traveling in was shot at by Russian forces. She and the driver managed to escape and seek shelter in a nearby house. Roshchyna's camera and laptop were stolen from the car, according to reports from the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based nonprofit. Less than a week later, Russian security agents detained Roshchyna. She was held for 10 days, hit and threatened.She detailed the experience for Hromadske, writing, "I didn't feel fear … there was only despair over the unknown and wasted time, the inability to do my job." "The fact that she was detained by Russian soldiers and lived through that experience and went back and kept reporting as if that never happened certainly shows an incredible amount of courage and tenacity and a journalist who's willing to risk everything to report the news," said Elisa Lees Munoz, executive director of the International Women's Media Foundation, or IWMF. The IWMF in 2022 awarded Roshchyna its Courage Award for her coverage of the war. One year on from presenting that award, Munoz and others are advocating for Roshchyna's release. "To disappear somebody is one of the worst things that one can do," Munoz said. "It's certainly intended to send a message to others — we can do that to anybody."
FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE LA CIUDAD DE MÉXICO 2023 - Race Results
American actor Matthew Perry, best known for his role as Chandler Bing in the 90s sitcom ‘Friends’, was found dead in a hot tub at his home in Los Angeles on Saturday, law enforcement sources told TMZ and NBC.
Perry’s body was reportedly found in a jacuzzi at his LA-area home, with no foul play suspected and no drugs found at the scene, police sources told TMZ. The incident was treated as a “water rescue,” according to a law enforcement source cited by NBC. Police sources also confirmed Perry’s death to Rolling Stone. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department said that officers “responded at 4:10 this afternoon to a death investigation for a male in his 50s.” However, the authorities have yet to officially confirm the identity of the deceased or details of the incident. Perry, a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and producer, was born on August 19, 1969 in Williamstown, Massachusetts and was raised in Ottawa, Ontario where his Canadian-born mother, Suzanne Morrison, a journalist who served as the press secretary for former Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau, moved following a divorce from his father, John Bennett Perry, an American actor. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of 15 to pursue an acting career and first appeared in the TV series ‘Second Chance’ before making his big screen debut in ‘A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon’. While ‘Friends’ is his biggest claim to fame, he also starred in memorable films such as ‘Fools Rush In’ along with his father and Salma Hayek, ‘The Whole Nine Yards’ with Bruce Willis, ‘Three to Tango’, ‘The Kid’, ’17 Again’, ‘Getting In’, and many others. Perry also acted in various TV shows – ‘Boys Will Be Boys’, ‘Growing Pains’, ‘Silver Spoons’, ‘Charles in Charge’, ‘Sydney’, ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’, Home Free’, and more. His roles in ‘West Wing’ and ‘The Ron Clark Story’ earned him Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Despite his humorous side, Perry struggled with drugs and alcohol. He was hooked on the painkiller Vicodin for years and was in and out of rehab even when filming ‘Friends’. He opened up about his struggles in his memoir ‘Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing’, which was published last year and became a best-seller on the Amazon and New York Times charts. Although Perry became sober a year ago, his appearance during a ‘Friends’ reunion show drew concern from his fans as he appeared unwell, slurring words and looking disorientated. He never married, but was briefly engaged to Molly Hurwitz, a literary manager, before calling off the engagement in June 2021.
FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE LA CIUDAD DE MÉXICO 2023 - Top 10 Qualifying Results
Israel launched massive strikes across northern Gaza, which reports said were the most intense since the start of the war on October 7. Hamas said internet has been snapped in the Gaza Strip. Reports said contact with Gaza is lost:
U.S. forces have struck two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups during the early morning hours of Friday.
“These precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement. “The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will not tolerate such attacks and will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests,” he added. A senior military official told reporters two F-16s used precision munitions against a weapons storage facility and an ammunition storage facility near Abu Kamal. Officials could not say at this time whether there were any casualties during the attacks. “We hit precisely what we aimed at,” the official said. Another senior military official said U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria now have been attacked with drones or rockets at least 19 times in recent days. USA has confirmed 17 of these attacks. Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the attacks, said that a drone landed on al-Harir Air Base Irbil but did not explode. Hours later, another drone exploded outside the base in Irbil, causing no injuries or damage, according to the officials. Another attack on Thursday was reported in northeastern Syria, with two rounds of indirect fire near a base in al-Shaddadi, Syria, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder reiterated previous comments blaming Iranian-backed proxies for the near daily attacks on U.S. forces. "We know that these are Iranian-backed militia groups that are supported by Iran and, of course, we hold Iran responsible for these groups," Ryder said. A senior defense official told reporters that the strikes were in defense of U.S. forces in the region and were not connected to any U.S. support to Israel. “What you saw us demonstrate is readiness to take military action to defend our forces, and we're ready to do it again,” the senior defense official said. Officials have raised concerns about the prospect of "more significant escalation" against U.S. military forces and personnel in the region from Iranian proxy groups. The attacks have resulted in 17 minor injuries to Americans in Syria and four minor injuries to American personnel in Iraq, with U.S. officials continuing to monitor any potential traumatic brain injuries, Ryder said. One U.S. contractor at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq suffered a cardiac episode while sheltering in place during a false alarm for an air attack and died. In addition to the three attacks on Thursday, officials say three rockets targeted a base that houses U.S. forces near Kharab al-Jir, Syria, on Wednesday, causing no injuries. At least 13 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria occurred between Oct. 17 and Oct. 23, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has asked the Qatari government to change its relationship with Hamas, starting with the way Al Jazeera reports on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Blinken reportedly revealed this to a group of America's Jewish community leaders on Monday, according to three people who attended the meeting and spoke with the outlet. The US diplomat visited Doha on October 13, just days after the Hamas incursion into Israel triggered the latest escalation of hostilities in the Middle East. During the visit, according to Axios’ sources, Blinken asked the Qatari government to “change its public posture” towards Hamas. As one example of how this could be done, he reportedly said they could “turn down the volume on Al Jazeera's coverage because it is full of anti-Israel incitement.” Blinken did not offer any examples of the rhetoric he wanted “toned down.” The State Department declined to comment on his reported remarks. The Qatari Foreign Ministry did not respond to Axios’ requests for comment and neither has Al Jazeera. Israel has accused the Doha-based network of being “a propaganda mouthpiece” for the Palestinian militant group, and has been looking at banning the channel. “The government is working on something,” Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat told the Jerusalem Post last week. “The idea is if they are crossing the line in assisting Hamas, we can shut out the entire channel.” Meanwhile, the White House has relied on Qatar’s relationship with Hamas to negotiate the release of some of the hostages taken on October 7. Blinken stated that he was “deeply appreciative of the role Qatar is playing” in freeing American captives amid their release last week, according to an unnamed State Department official speaking in a background briefing. At least 1,400 Israelis were killed and thousands more were injured during the Hamas incursion. West Jerusalem responded by declaring war on the Palestinian group and launching artillery and air strikes against Gaza. Al Jazeera has stated that its bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Al Dahdouh, lost his wife, son, daughter, and grandson in what it claimed was an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday. Santiago Giménez is scoring goals for fun at the moment, and his domestic form carried over into his Champions League debut on Wednesday.
The Feyenoord star scored a brace in a 3-1 win over Lazio, giving the Dutch champions a solid chance to advance out of Group E after starting with two wins from three games. Giménez has scored an incredible 13 goals in just nine Eredivisie games this season, bolstering rumors that he could be set for a big-money move to one of Europe’s giants either this winter or next summer. The Mexico international was suspended for the first two games of Feyenoord’s Champions League campaign, having been sent off in his side’s Europa League quarterfinal defeat to Roma last season. But the 22-year-old did not take long to open his Champions League account on Wednesday, expertly turning his defender in the box before firing home a pinpoint strike in the 31st minute. Giménez completed his double in the 74th minute with an easy finish from a rebound. Lazio would pull a goal back late but Feyenoord would cruise to a 3-1 victory in front of their home fans at De Kuip. If you’re a regular follower of vintage guitars or any other guitar-obsessed haunter, you’ll know that when it comes to the vintage market, no other production line model demands the kind of money associated with the 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard. When one of the roughly 1,400 so ’Bursts produced between 1958 and 1960 (so-called for their stunning sunburst finishes) hits the market, it is news in itself. Even more so when you narrow that to the most sought-after ’59 productions, which are thought to have been limited to just 643 guitars.Now a 1959 ’Burst dubbed ‘Miss Swiss’ is going up for sale via specialist dealer, Carter Vintage, with an asking price of $450,000. The instrument is described by the retailer as being “definitely one of the cleanest examples we've seen come through our showroom” and the images show it is in remarkably good condition for its 60+ years.
However, as Gibson’s Mark Agnesi recently said, they are still loved. “Everyone I know that has bought a ’Burst in the last five years is playing that guitar every single day,” says the Gibson man. “[Ultimately] if the thing doesn't play, it's worthless. So if you're sitting here with it and you're so worried about the value [dropping] you can't play the damn thing, it's worthless… There are far worse things you can do to guitars than put a new set of frets on it and have it PLEK-ed, so it plays like a new guitar again.” All of which, we imagine, will be welcome news to the new owner of the (refretted) Miss Swiss. If you’re in the market for a ’Burst, btw, you might also like the look of Kirk Hammett’s 1960 Les Paul Standard ‘Sunny’ – available for a snip more at $500,000, though it does come with its own Gibson Custom Shop replica model. For more information on the guitar, head to Carter Vintage.
2023 FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS
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