Connect with us

International News

Biden Calls On Hamas To Accept Ceasefire By Ramadan

Published

on

Spread the love
US President Joe Biden called on Hamas on Tuesday to accept a Gaza ceasefire deal by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, while the Palestinian militant group warned talks for a truce and hostage release cannot go on “indefinitely”.
 

As famine threatens Gazans, US and Jordanian planes again airdropped food aid into the besieged territory of 2.4 million people in a joint operation with Egypt and France.

 

US Vice President Kamala Harris has expressed “deep concern about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza”, while the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported children dying of starvation in two northern Gaza hospitals.

 

Envoys from Hamas and the United States have been meeting Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Cairo for negotiations over a six-week truce, the exchange of dozens of remaining hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and the flow of aid to Gaza.

 

Egypt’s Al-Qahera News, which is close to the country’s intelligence services, said the talks would continue for a fourth consecutive day on Wednesday.

 

Biden warned Hamas to agree to a Gaza truce by Ramadan, which begins early next week, after his top diplomat Antony Blinken urged it to accept an “immediate ceasefire”.

 

“It’s in the hands of Hamas right now,” the US president told reporters from Maryland.

“There’s got to be a ceasefire because Ramadan — if we get into circumstances where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous.”

 

He did not elaborate but the United States urged Israel last week to allow Muslims to worship at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem during Ramadan.

The Israeli government said it would allow Muslim worshippers access to Al-Aqsa during Ramadan “in similar numbers to those in previous years”.

 

– Hostage list –

 

The talks in Cairo have so far not included Israel, with Israeli media reporting that its delegates had boycotted the talks after Hamas failed to provide a list of living hostages.

However, senior Hamas leader Bassem Naim told AFP that details on the prisoners “were not mentioned in any documents or proposals circulated during the negotiation process”.

Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official in Beirut, said his group would “not allow the path of negotiations to be open indefinitely”.

Israel has said it believes 130 of the 250 captives taken by Hamas fighters in their unprecedented October 7 attack, which triggered the war, remain in Gaza but that 31 have been killed.

 

 

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani met and agreed that “the release of sick, wounded, elderly, and women hostages would result in an immediate ceasefire in Gaza over a period of at least six weeks”.

 

The first phase of a ceasefire would enable “a surge of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, and provide time and space to secure more enduring arrangements and sustained calm”, a White House readout of the meeting said.

 

– Famine looms –

 

Israel is facing increasing criticism from its top ally the United States as conditions in the besieged Palestinian territory deteriorate and famine looms.

 

Harris met Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz in Washington on Monday, the same day the WHO said an aid mission at the weekend found that 10 children had died of starvation at the Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals.

 

In Khan Yunis, the main city in Gaza’s south, people described finding decomposing bodies lying in streets lined with destroyed buildings.

 

“We want to eat and live. Take a look at our homes. How am I to blame, a single, unarmed person without any income in this impoverished country?” said Nader Abu Shanab, pointing to the rubble with blackened hands.

 

 

American cargo planes airdropped more than 36,000 meals into Gaza Tuesday in a joint operation with Jordan, which said French and Egyptian planes also took part.

 

The UN’s World Food Programme said Israeli troops turned away an aid convoy at a checkpoint leading to northern Gaza and that it was later looted “by desperate people”.

 

The Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 resulted in about 1,160 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

 

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 30,600 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.

 

– UN tensions –

Tensions have flared between Israel and the United Nations over the handling of allegations of sexual assault by Hamas militants during the October attack.

 

The United Nations published a report on Monday that said there were “reasonable grounds to believe” rapes were committed and that hostages taken to Gaza had also been raped.

 

Israel has accused the United Nations of taking too long to respond to the claims and recalled its UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan shortly after the report’s release.

 

The war has sparked violence across the region, including near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.

 

The US military said it shot down three drones and a missile fired towards one of its destroyers in the Red Sea Huthi rebels in Yemen on Tuesday.

 

A statement by US Central Command said “one anti-ship ballistic missile and three one-way attack unmanned aerial systems” had been shot down and that its ship, the USS Carney, was undamaged.

 

Iran-backed Huthis have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea for months, saying they were hitting Israel-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

Anger over Israel’s Gaza campaign has grown across the Middle East, stoking violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFP

 

International News

EPL Sends 162 Players To 2026 World Cup; City Leads With 19

Published

on

Spread the love

 

According to Mundo Deportivo, the Premier League is the top league in terms of player contributions to the 2026 World Cup, sending 162 players to the 48-team tournament.

With the World Cup squad lists finalized, and despite last-minute withdrawals due to injury, such as Belardi from Argentina and Kahr from Germany, it can be concluded that the Premier League is once again leading the world’s major leagues. England’s top flight has solidified its position as the largest source of players for the 48 World Cup teams.

As of June 7th, out of the 1244 confirmed selected players, 13% play in the Premier League, totaling 162 individuals, with 5 clubs contributing at least 10 players each.

Manchester City leads the clubs contributing national team players to the World Cup with 19 players. Following closely among English teams are Arsenal with 16, Manchester United with 12, Crystal Palace with 12, and Liverpool with 11. The English top flight has once again proven its representation in football, and this advantage is now reflected on the World Cup stage.

Although there is a gap with the Premier League, the Bundesliga is still the second-highest contributor of players to the upcoming World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Specifically, 100 participating players currently play in the Bundesliga, with Bayern Munich being the largest contributor from the Bundesliga, with 17 players selected. Borussia Dortmund contributed 11 players. In recent years, the Bundesliga’s global influence has continuously increased, with Hoffenheim having 9 World Cup players and Eintracht Frankfurt having 8.

Without Barcelona, La Liga’s presence would be much smaller. Including Gündoğan, Barcelona will have 16 players participating in the World Cup, making it one of the clubs contributing the most players to this World Cup. La Liga has a total of 81 players selected, only half that of the Premier League. After Barcelona, Atlético Madrid is the Spanish club with the most players contributed, with 12, surpassing Real Madrid’s 10, as Real Madrid also suffers from the impact of a poor season performance.

Ligue 1 has a total of 78 players participating in the World Cup, with Paris Saint-Germain accounting for a large proportion. Among these 78 players, nearly 20% come from this newly crowned European champion, specifically 15 players. Following Paris Saint-Germain among Ligue 1 clubs are Lille and Nice, both with 8 players selected.

Italy once had the best league in the world, and now Serie A contributes 66 players to this most important football event, which is also related to the Italian team missing the World Cup for the third consecutive time. AC Milan, which finished fifth in Serie A, is the Italian club with the most World Cup players, with 10.

Another data point that demonstrates the strength of English football is that the EFL Championship, England’s second-tier league after the Premier League, has 36 players participating in the World Cup, which is more than the total of other major European second-tier leagues, such as the 2. Bundesliga with 6, Ligue 2 with 6, Serie B with 5, and Segunda División with 5. In fact, the Championship is among the top ten leagues contributing the most World Cup players, even higher than the Brazilian and Dutch leagues.

Continue Reading

International News

Barca Transfermarket Values: Raphinha, 8 Others Drop, 3 Players Rise

Published

on

Spread the love

 

June 5th, Transfermarkt updated. The new market values of Barcelona players. Three players increased and nine decreased, with Raphinha dropping by 10 million to 70 million euros.

 

Increase (Euros)
Joan-Garcia increased by 5 million to 45 million

Eric-Garcia increased by 5 million to 40 million

Gerard-Martin increased by 10 million to 35 million

Decrease (Euros)
Raphinha decreased by 10 million to 70 million

Kounde decreased by 5 million to 60 million

Balde decreased by 5 million to 50 million

De Jong decreased by 10 million to 35 million

Casado decreased by 2 million to 18 million

Christensen decreased by 1 million to 8 million

Cancelo decreased by 1 million to 8 million

Lewandowski decreased by 1 million to 7 million

Szczesny decreased by 100,000 to 800,000

Unchanged (Euros)
Yamal 200 million

Pedri 150 million

Fermin 100 million

Cubarsi 80 million

Olmo 60 million

Ferran Torres 50 million

Rashford 40 million

Gavi 30 million

Bernal 30 million

Araujo 20 million

Bardghji 15 million

Continue Reading

Business

Bitcoin Drops Below $60,000, First Time Since October 2024

Published

on

Spread the love

 

Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 on Friday, its lowest level since October 2024, just before Donald Trump’s election which propelled it to a record high.

 

The currency fell by about 6 percent around 1615 GMT, to $59.7709, before paring its losses slightly.

The election of Trump, a staunch advocate of cryptocurrencies, to the White House in November 2024 for a second term sparked a wave of enthusiasm in the sector, sending the price of bitcoin soaring to nearly $110,000.

 

AFP

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2026 TheColumn NG