Israel renewed its bombardment of the Gaza Strip Tuesday, after its key military backer the United States renewed its criticism of its ally over the high civilian casualty toll of the war.
International News
Israel Bombs Gaza After US Criticises High Civilian Toll
Residents told AFP of Israeli warplanes striking central Gaza and artillery fire hitting the territory’s south, while medics said they pulled multiple bodies from the rubble of the latest bombardment.
Hours earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told two top Israeli officials that casualties among Palestinian civilians “still remain unacceptably high”.
“We continue to see far too many civilians killed in this conflict,” spokesman Matthew Miller said after Blinken meth Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi.
Washington has been pushing for a truce between Israel and Hamas.
But Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh said Sunday that the group was pulling out of indirect talks for a deal in protest at recent Israeli “massacres”, including a massive strike on Sunday that the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said killed at least 92 people.
Haniyeh said Hamas stood ready to return to the indirect talks once Israel “demonstrates seriousness in reaching a ceasefire agreement and a prisoner exchange deal”.
After the latest deadly strikes, medics from the Palestinian Red Crescent said they recovered four bodies from a house outside the southern city of Khan Yunis and another from Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza.
The Israeli military said that over the previous 24 hours its air force struck “approximately 40 terror targets” in Gaza. They included “sniping posts, observation posts, Hamas military structures, terror infrastructure, and buildings rigged with explosives”.
It said its troops were also continuing targeted raids in the far-southern city of Rafah and in the central Gaza Strip.
Prisoner abuse allegations
The war began with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza including 42 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel responded with a military offensive that has killed at least 38,664 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry.
The Israeli military has also rounded up scores of Gazans, who have made allegations of torture, rape and other abuse in custody that Israeli authorities have denied.
Palestinian lawyer Khaled Mahajna said Monday that prisoners had recounted guards using “electric prods” on inmates’ bodies.
In the case of one prisoner, a “fire extinguisher tube was inserted into his buttocks and the fire extinguisher was turned on,” Mahajna said after visiting detained Palestinian journalists.
The lawyer said prisoners were handcuffed when they ate the meagre meals provided, while detainees reported widespread disease and untreated wounds.
Five Israeli human rights groups have gone to court over conditions at the Sde Teiman desert camp where Gazans are being held. Israeli officials insist they act within international law.
Mass displacement
Indirect talks on ending the devastating war have been brokered by Qatar and Egypt, with US support, but months of negotiations have failed to bring a breakthrough.
At the end of May, US President Joe Biden outlined a ceasefire roadmap he said had been drawn up by Israel that triggered an intensification of the talks.
But despite meetings in both Cairo and Doha, there has been no sign of progress on how the roadmap might be implemented.
Critics in Israel, including tens of thousands of demonstrators who have marched to demand a deal to bring home the hostages, have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the war.
The war has forced 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.4 million people to flee their homes. Many of have sought refuge in UN-run schools, six of which have been hit by Israeli strikes since July 6.
There have also been near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, a Hamas ally.
On Monday, a Hezbollah fighter and his sister were killed in an Israeli strike on the south Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil, Hezbollah and the state-run National News Agency said.
Israel said its strike hit a Hezbollah arms depot.
AFP
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.
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
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
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