Milan Adrien Rabiot has signed a one-year extension to his Juventus contract until 2024, the Serie A club said on Tuesday.

France midfielder Rabiot will reportedly earn a net salary of seven million euros next season after deciding to stay in Turin following his best campaign since arriving from Paris Saint-Germain in 2019.

The 28-year-old was one of the few bright spots of a troubled season for Juve which ended with no trophies and a seventh placed-finish in Italys top flight.

He scored a personal best of 11 goals for Juve in all competitions, setting up six more, and was a fixture in Frances run to the World Cup final.

Juves low league placing was due to a 10-point deduction for illicit transfer activity, and Rabiot has decided to stay at a club which might not have European football next term despite earning a spot in the the Europa Conference League.

The Turin giants could be banned from Europe for a season by UEFA for allegedly misleading European footballs governing body when negotiating a settlement agreement following breaches of Financial Fair Play rules.

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London Manchester United on Tuesday projected record annual revenue of up to 640 million ($815 million) in its financial year to the end of June even as a distracting takeover saga rumbles on.

Uniteds owners, the Glazer family, are weighing up offers for the club from Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, the founder of chemicals firm Ineos.

The Glazers first indicated they could sell by initiating a strategic review in November but the bidding process has dragged on.

Reports have suggested Sheikh Jassims bid, which is for 100 percent of the club, is now the most likely to be accepted. Sources close to the Qatari bid have indicated their eagerness to close the deal, with the summer transfer window now open.

Supporters staged fresh protests against the Glazers at Old Trafford on Tuesday as the club launched its kit for next season.

Revenue guidance for the current financial year was raised to a figure of between 630 million and 640 million in the third-quarter financial results for the period ending March 31, 2023, which were released on Tuesday.

The club posted record revenues of 627 million in 2018/19.

The current figures are driven by record match attendance and matchday revenues. Ticket sales for the 2022/23 season surpassed the previous record set in 2016/17, with 2.4 million sold.

Global memberships also hit 360,000, which United said was the largest paid membership programme in world sport.

Revenue for the third quarter was up 11 percent on the same period last year.

Broadcasting revenue was slightly down on the corresponding period due to the club being in the Europa League rather than the Champions League, but was partially offset by the clubs performance in domestic cup competitions.

Recruitment during the transfer window will not be affected by the results, according to sources close to the club, with enough cash available to enable United boss Erik ten Hag to invest in the team.

The limiting factor is understood to be the requirement to stay within financial sustainability rules.

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Marseille French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday faced accusations of minimising the problems of unemployment after he told the mother of a jobseeker that her son could easily find work.

In a typically robust exchange during a visit to the southern city of Marseille, the president told the woman her son could pick up to 10 offers if he walked around the citys historic Vieux Port area which is home to dozens of cafes and eateries.

Macron, 45, a former investment banker, has already had previous controversial exchanges over job seeking, in 2018 telling a young man he just had to cross the street to find work and telling another man in May work was just one metre away.

What does your son want to work in? Macron asked the woman during a walkabout in Marseille on Monday after she said her son, 33, could not find work and was in rent arrears.

It does not matter anything! she replied.

Macron told her: You are not going to persuade me that, if he is really looking for a job in Marseille, and that he is ready to take a job as a waiter, that there is no job as a waiter.

I promise you: If I take a walk around the Vieux Port tonight with you, Im sure we will find 10 job offers, he said.

But the new head of the CFDT union, Marylise Leon, warned the president that things were not as simple as all that.

What message is the president of the republic sending to people who are employed in cafes and restaurants that they just have to knock on the door and get work? she told BFM TV.

It denies the skills and the difficulties of the working conditions, she added.

MP for the hard-left France Unbowed party Mathilde Panot said Macron has become a caricature of Macron.

Showing such contempt to people, the only unemployed person we hope for in the country is Emmanuel Macron, she said.

Tensions have bubbled in France between Macrons government and the left over his pension reform to raise the retirement age. 

Earlier this year, his Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin accused the hard-left of wanting a society without effort and seeking the right to laziness.

The unemployment rate in France currently is at around 7 percent, its lowest level since the early 1980s.

Responding to Macrons challenge, the regional daily La Provence took a stroll around the Vieux Port and said it found no less than 13 job offers in one-and-a-half hours.  

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Brussels The EU struck a deal on Tuesday to implement internationally-agreed banking reforms intended to avert a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.

The European Commission first proposed the banking law in October 2021 but there has been a greater focus on banks following the collapse of lenders in the United States triggered market turbulence earlier this year.

The draft law is the European Unions interpretation of the Basel III reforms of international standards on how banks evaluate credit and market risks. 

They include stipulations that banks have adequate capital and liquidity.

The rules will apply from January 1, 2025, two years later than the 2023 deadline agreed under the reforms.

Negotiators from the European Council, which represents the 27 member states, and the European Parliament provisionally agreed on the rules on Tuesday.

This is a major step forward which will help ensure that European banks can continue to operate also in light of external shocks, crises or disasters, Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson said in a statement.

The EU is the first major jurisdiction to implement the final elements of the reforms, ahead of other countries including the United States.

But the bloc has pushed for its rules to take into account the concrete conditions of European banks which rely more on low-risk home loans than their American counterparts.

The draft law also requires banks to disclose their exposure to crypto assets, which include cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum, and more transparency on sustainability risks including the financing of fossil fuel projects.

The deal stipulated that banking executives must be deemed fit and proper under a framework for assessing the individuals suitability.

The EUs financial services commissioner, Mairead McGuinness, also welcomed the agreement, insisting the rules would ensure the EU banking sector is fit for the future.

The turmoil in March began when Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the United States failed in rapid succession and fears in the markets led to the forced takeover by Switzerlands leading bank, UBS, of its former rival Credit Suisse.

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Mecca If a landmark reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran has eased tensions in the Gulf, clouds have also lifted at the hajj pilgrimage, where Iranian visitors finally feel welcome again.

Seven years of enmity between the Sunni and Shiite powers had made for a cool reception for Iranian pilgrims joining worshippers from around the world for the massive event.

But at the current hajj, held three months after Riyadh and Tehran agreed to repair relations, the atmosphere is suddenly very different.

AnIranian tour operator who has joined the hajj on several occasions said he was feeling comfort and safety in Saudi Arabia for the first time.

Yes, we were subjected to harassment, said the 55-year-old who did not want to give his name, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

We felt that our presence was not wanted in the first place, he added, speaking in broken Arabic near the Grand Mosque in Mecca. But all that has changed now after the reconciliation.

The January 2016 schism was related to religion, as Riyadh cut ties following demonstrations at its Iranian missions over Saudi Arabias execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. 

In March, the two sides announced a surprise, Chinese-brokered detente. This month, Iran reopened its Riyadh embassy and the Saudi foreign minister visited Tehran.

The rapprochement has had a knock-on effect around the region, where Saudi Arabia and Iran have backed opposing sides in a number of conflicts and disputes.

Saudi Arabia opened talks with Yemens Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who they have been fighting at the head of an international coalition since 2015, and repaired relations with Syrias isolated leader Bashar al-Assad.

We have become friends

The hajj has previously proved a sticking point between Riyadh and Tehran. No Iranian pilgrims were allowed in 2016, the year that ties were ruptured, as the two sides were unable to organise a protocol for them to attend.

Saudi Arabia and Iran traded accusations in 2015, when 464 Iranians were among 2,300 pilgrims killed in a stampede, the worst in a series of hajj disasters.

In 1987, Saudi security forces clashed with Iranian pilgrims who organised an unauthorised protest, resulting in the deaths of more than 400 people including 275 Iranians, according to an official toll.

This year, however, the Islamic Republics flag is conspicuous at Mecca, adorning hotels and buses reserved for Iranian visitors.

Now things are back to normal. I feel comfortable and safe, said the tour operator, who said his family had joined him for the pilgrimage this year. 

More than 86,000 Iranians, including 300 aged over 80, are on this years hajj, according to Iranian media reports, after Saudi Arabia removed Covid-era caps on numbers and a ma...

London Climate change campaigners targeted the UK headquarters of oil giant TotalEnergies with paint Tuesday, protesting the French firms alleged human rights violations in the construction of a contentious oil pipeline in Uganda.

Supporters of the Just Stop Oil activist organisation sprayed black paint in the lobby of the companys headquarters in Londons Canary Wharf district, while others daubed orange paint outside, the protest group said.

Dozens of students from a pressure group opposed to the building of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) also massed outside the building during the stunt to show support, it added.

Londons Metropolitan police said officers had arrested 27 people for a combination of suspicion of criminal damage and aggravated trespass.

TotalEnergies said in a statement that it fully respects the right to demonstrate and freedom of expression, but deplores all forms of violence, whether verbal, physical or material.

TotalEnergies promotes transparent and constructive dialogue with all its stakeholders, it added.

The French company is the largest shareholder in the controversial east African venture, which is set to carry crude oil to the Tanzanian coast through several Ugandan protected nature reserves.

Communities in the region claim the energy firm and other EACOP backers have caused serious harm to their rights to land and food in building the 1,500-kilometre (930-mile) pipeline.

Critics have also called the project a carbon bomb which would release over 379 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere.

Direct action

Also on Tuesday in France, a group of Ugandan citizens and aid groups, joined by French aid organisations, filed a lawsuit in a Paris court against TotalEnergies for damages over the alleged human rights violations.

In its statement, TotalEnergies said it has a history of engaging directly with all members of civil society and does not tolerate any threats or attacks against those who peacefully defend and promote human rights in relation to its operations. 

Just Stop Oil wants the UK and other governments to end all new oil and gas exploration and has promised not to let up in its high-profile protests until it does so.

The group has repeatedly hit the headlines with its direct-action stunts, such as disrupting sporting events and targeting valuable works of art, to publicise their cause.

But some of their antics, in particular those most impacting peoples everyday lives, have prompted a public backlash, and appear to be increasingly dividing environmental campaigners and their financial backers.

Trevor Neilson, a former funder of the organisation and other direct action climate change groups, recently told the Sunday Times that they should end their disr...

Paris A controversial exiled Iranian opposition group is coming under increased pressure in Europe as it nervously eyes the intensification of European talks with Tehran in search of reviving a deal on the Islamic republics nuclear drive.

Supporters of the Peoples Mujahedin (MEK) regard it as the sole credible opposition group based outside Iran, although it is held in deep suspicion by many Iranians, including those opposed to the clerical authorities.

The MEK and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an umbrella group that essentially acts as its political wing, have accused the West of appeasement towards Iran over the troubles that it has faced.

Last week, French authorities cited security concerns for banning a major rally organised by the NCRI on July 1 which the group hoped would gather tens of thousands of people.

On June 20, Albanian authorities launched a raid against a MEK camp that has housed its members for a decade as part of a deal agreed in the wake of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. 

The NCRI said one MEK member was killed, a claim denied by Tirana. It also said Albanian police seized 200 computers.

And in an incident whose circumstances have yet to be fully explained, a bomb was thrown into an office of the NCRI outside Paris earlier this month without causing injuries, according to police and the group.

Policy of appeasement

Maryam Rajavi who leads both the MEK and NCRI, told a meeting outside Paris that the incidents were the products of a policy of appeasement by the West, alleging they took place at the request of the Iranian regime.

The MEK is outlawed by the authorities in Iran, which accuses the group of carrying out a violent campaign of attacks in the early 1980s.

It had for decades worked to oust the shah and initially backed the 1979 revolution. But it rapidly fell out with the new authorities and backed Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war, meaning its members had to be moved after the US-led 2003 invasion.

It still claims to have a network inside Iran and boasts of exposing the existence of Irans then-secret nuclear programme in 2002, which led to confrontation with the West. 

It has high-profile Western supporters, including former US national security advisor John Bolton and ex-vice president Mike Pence.

But detractors regard the group as a cult and argue it does not represent the Iranians who poured into the streets from September last year in a new protest movement.

This could make it vulnerable as Europe seeks to keep contacts alive with Iran in search of a revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, an accord the MEK bitterly opposed.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi held telephone talks on June 10 while EU foreign policy number two Enrique Mora met his Iranian counterpa...

Islamabad Pakistans national assembly has passed legislation limiting how long lawmakers can be disqualified from office, a state spokesman said Tuesday, paving the way for exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharifs return to politics.

Sharif served as Pakistans prime minister three times the last before being ousted over graft allegations in 2017.

The Supreme Court barred him from politics for life and he was later sentenced to seven years in jail.

In 2019 he was granted medical bail and flew to Britain, where he has remained ever since, continuing to steer the family-run Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party from behind the scenes.

His brother Shehbaz Sharif became prime minister last year, and the country is due to hold fresh general elections no later than October. 

On Tuesday, a government spokesman said the acting president had signed into law an amendment which says courts can only disqualify parliamentarians for a period not exceeding five years.

The spokesman said senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani served as acting president signing the bill on Monday, in the absence of President Arif Alvi who is abroad on the Hajj pilgrimage.

The ruling PML-N and its coalition partners want to bring Nawaz Sharif back, political analyst Hasan Askari told AFP. The bill has been passed to achieve this objective. 

Nawaz Sharif will be the main campaigner for PML-N in the next election, he added. His return will be very helpful for the party politically, but its not clear whether he himself will contest the election.

Sharif still faces the graft case which saw him sentenced during the tenure of his successor, Imran Khan, who won power pledging to undo the corruption which has historically plagued the country.

But in Pakistan, legal cases which tangle politicians in opposition are regularly wound back once their party regains office.

Shehbaz ousted Khan last April via a no-confidence vote. However, he is at the head of a shaky coalition of parties, while Khan remains widely popular in the countdown to polling.

Khan has been calling for snap elections, but his campaign has become bogged down in dozens of legal cases.

Last month he was briefly arrested on graft charges in Islamabad, sparking deadly unrest during which supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party poured onto the streets and clashed with police.

In the aftermath of his release following three days in custody, PTI has been targeted by a crackdown with thousands of arrests, reports of intimidation and muzzling of the press.

Khan says his party is being suppressed by the government, led by PML-N, and the powerful military establishment.

The post Paki...

Moscow Russia prepared Tuesday to take possession of heavy military hardware held by Wagner as Moscow moved to bring the mercenary group under its control after its aborted mutiny. 

The uprising at the weekend sparked Russias most serious security crisis in decades, raising questions over President Vladimir Putins grip on power as his campaign in Ukraine drags on. 

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was to leave for Belarus in a deal to defuse the confrontation, with Russias FSB saying Tuesday that the criminal case against the groups troops was now closed.

Preparations are underway for the transfer of heavy military equipment from the private military company Wagner to units of the Russian armed forces, the defence ministry said.

Putin on Monday accused Ukraine and its Western allies of wanting Russians to kill each other during the revolt, which stunned the country.

In his first address to the nation since the rebels pulled back, Putin said he had issued orders to avoid bloodshed and granted amnesty to the Wagner fighters.

Prigozhin had earlier defended his aborted mutiny as a bid to save his mercenary outfit and expose the failures of Russias military leadership but not to challenge the Kremlin. 

The rogue warlords first audio message since calling off his troops advance on Moscow was released as Russian officials attempted to present the public with a return to business as usual, with authorities in the capital standing down their enhanced security regime.

Fighting continued in Ukraine, where Kyivs forces claimed new victories in their battle to evict Russian troops from the east and south of the country. 

Prigozhin, who did not reveal from where he was speaking, said in an online audio message that his revolt was intended to prevent his Wagner force from being dismantled, and bragged that the ease with which it had advanced on Moscow exposes serious security problems.

We went to demonstrate our protest and not to overthrow power in the country, Prigozhin said, boasting that his men had blocked all military infrastructure including air bases on their route before they stopped 200 kilometres (125 miles) from Moscow.

Prighozin called off the advance and pulled out of a military base his men had seized in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, a nerve centre of the war in Ukraine, late on Saturday after mediation efforts from Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko.

Saturdays extraordinary sequence of events has been seen internationally as Russias most serious security crisis in decades. Wagner shot down six Russian helicopters and a command and control plane during their advance, according to Russian military bloggers. 

The Kremlin has since been at pains to stress that there had been a return to normal....

Paris The warnings are coming from all angles: artificial intelligence poses an existential risk to humanity and must be shackled before it is too late.

But what are these disaster scenarios and how are machines supposed to wipe out humanity?

Paperclips of doom

Most disaster scenarios start in the same place: machines will outstrip human capacities, escape human control and refuse to be switched off.

Once we have machines that have a self-preservation goal, we are in trouble, AI academic Yoshua Bengio told an event this month.

But because these machines do not yet exist, imagining how they could doom humanity is often left to philosophy and science fiction.

Philosopher Nick Bostrom has written about an intelligence explosion he says will happen when superintelligent machines begin designing machines of their own.

He illustrated the idea with the story of a superintelligent AI at a paperclip factory.

The AI is given the ultimate goal of maximising paperclip output and so proceeds by converting first the Earth and then increasingly large chunks of the observable universe into paperclips.

Bostroms ideas have been dismissed by many as science fiction, not least because he has separately argued that humanity is a computer simulation and supported theories close to eugenics.

He also recently apologised after a racist message he sent in the 1990s was unearthed.

Yet his thoughts on AI have been hugely influential, inspiring both Elon Musk and Professor Stephen Hawking.

The Terminator

If superintelligent machines are to destroy humanity, they surely need a physical form.

Arnold Schwarzeneggers red-eyed cyborg, sent from the future to end human resistance by an AI in the movie The Terminator, has proved a seductive image, particularly for the media.

But experts have rubbished the idea.

This science fiction concept is unlikely to become a reality in the coming decades if ever at all, the Stop Killer Robots campaign group wrote in a 2021 report.

However, the group has warned that giving machines the power to make decisions on life and death is an existential risk.

Robot expert Kerstin Dautenhahn, from Waterloo University in Canada, played down those fears.

She told AFP that AI was unlikely to give machines higher reasoning capabilities or imbue them with a desire to kill all humans.

Robots are not evil, she said, although she conceded programmers could make them do evil things.

Deadlier chemicals

A less overtly sci-fi scenario sees bad actors using AI to create toxins or new viruses and unleashing them on the world.

Large language models like GPT-3, which was used to create ChatGPT, it turns out are extremely good at invent...

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) An Iraqi official in the Environment Directorate in Najaf governorate in southern Iraq said that the percentage of desertification in Iraq reached about 70 percent because of the poor water flow coming from Iran and Turkey, Rudaw News reported.

The director of the Climate Change Department in the Environment Directorate in Najaf, Haider Fleih, explained that desertification in the governorate of Najaf increased by five percent compared to last year due to the scarcity of water that affected agricultural lands, forcing many Iraqi farmers to leave their lands.

Fleih explained that the percentage of desertification in Najaf reached 35 percent and 69.7 percent in Iraq, noting that the shortage of water has become a crisis that is remarkably threatening the livelihood of Iraqi farmers.

Iraq holds its neighbors Turkey and Iran responsible for reducing water levels due to the construction of dams on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Iraq asked the two countries more than once to increase Iraqs water share from the two rivers without receiving a response, according to Rudaw News.

Iraq, which has a population of more than 42 million, announced that Turkish water projects reduced Iraqs share of water by 80 percent, while Ankara accuses Baghdad of wasting large amounts of water.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources in Iraq issued directives earlier to reduce the agricultural land area due to the insufficient water coming from Turkey and Iran.

The Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture warned that water scarcity threatens the food security of the Iraqi people.

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Madrid Veteran Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric will stay at the club for another season after renewing his deal until June 2024, the Spanish side said Monday.

Modric, 37, remains a key player for Madrid and decided to stay despite strong interest from Saudi Arabia, looking to recruit him at the end of his previous contract, which expires this month.

The Croatian follows Toni Kroos, Dani Ceballos and Nacho Fernandez in extending his time at Madrid this summer.

In his 11 seasons defending our shirt, he has played 488 games and won 23 trophies, said Real Madrid in a statement.

Modric has lifted the Champions League five times with Madrid since joining in 2012 from Tottenham, as well as La Liga on three occasions and two Copas del Rey.

Turning 38 in September, 2018 Ballon dOr winner Modric faces stiff competition next season at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Madrid signed England international Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund for over 100 million euros ($109 million) earlier in June, while Kroos, Ceballos, Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni and Fede Valverde are jostling for places.

Youngster Bellingham said at his presentation he was looking forward to learning from Modric and Kroos in particular.

Modric finished second with Croatia in the Nations League and has not yet announced whether he will retire from international football, as was rumoured, or if he will continue until the 2024 European Championship next summer.

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Paris Russian mercenary group Wagner has been seen for years as an armed extension of Moscows influence in Syria and Africa a status now called into question by its leaders aborted revolt.

After calling off his troops advance toward Moscow, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin was expected to go into exile in Belarus.

But now questions hover over the future of the groups operations in more far-flung places, where it is said to profit greatly from exploiting natural resources and propping up regimes sceptical of, or hostile towards, the West. 

Given Wagners presence overseas, the greatest effects from this event may be felt in MENA (Middle East and North Africa)/Africa, Rob Lee, of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, wrote on Twitter.

Wagner has a large presence across Africa, which benefits and depends on the Russian government/military. 

Would the Kremlin allow the same dynamic to continue if Prigozhin and Wagner are based in Belarus? he added.

It is a question no-one can answer with certainty. 

Its a mystery, and it depends on how (the Russian authorities) want to compartmentalise whats going on in Africa and whats going on everywhere else, Michael Shurkin, director of programmes for the Africa-focused consulting firm 14 North, told AFP.

Russia might think that what they (Wagner) are doing in Africa is worth continuing because it serves Russians interests as well, he continued.

Its bad news for sure for the Malian and Centrafrican governments. No doubt about that. But we still dont know what is going to happen.

Codependent

What is likely, however, is that Prigozhin and Putin would have raised the subject before agreeing that the mercenary boss would go into exile rather than face charges over the mutiny. 

Wagner depends heavily on the Russian defence ministry for deliveries of troops, equipment and weapons to its theatres of activity. 

And Moscow, for its part, needs Wagner to help keep a grip on the troubled areas where it operates and where Russia is keen to undermine Western influence.

In Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Wagners mercenaries from Russia, former Soviet republics and Syria itself acted as special forces on the ground alongside Moscows regular army after it intervened in the countrys civil war in 2015. 

They are allegedly still present today, in smaller numbers, near oil wells and in the provinces of Hama and Latakia.

In Africa, Wagner fighters have been identified in Libya, Mozambique and Sudan. 

They are also on the front lines in insurgency-hit Mali whose junta insists it employs only Russian instructors as well...

Mina Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims walked or rode buses Monday to a giant tented city near Mecca for the climax of the annual hajj that Saudi officials say could break attendance records.

After performing the ritual circumambulation of the Kaaba, the giant black cube at Meccas Grand Mosque that Muslims pray towards each day, worshippers set off for Mina, about seven kilometres (more than four miles) away, in suffocating heat.

Pilgrims in robes and sandals, many carrying umbrellas against the beating sun, undertook the journey on foot or crowded onto hundreds of air-conditioned buses provided by Saudi authorities.

They will spend the night in white tents in Mina, which every year hosts the worlds largest encampment, before the hajjs high-point on Tuesday: prayers at Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is said to have delivered his final sermon.

It is an experience that is worth it, said Salim Ibrahim, a 39-year-old Nigerian, when asked about temperatures that have touched 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit).

Even if the heat gets stronger, I will repeat the hajj again, he added.

Saudi officials say this years hajj one of the five pillars of Islam could be the biggest in history. After 2.5 million attended in 2019, numbers were capped in 2020, 2021 and 2022 because of the Covid pandemic.

The event has seen multiple crises over the years, including militant attacks, deadly fires and a 2015 stampede that killed up to 2,300 people. There have been no major incidents since.

As part of the safety measures, helicopters and AI-equipped drones have been deployed to monitor the flow of traffic towards Mina, which sits in a narrow valley flanked by rocky mountains.

A small fleet of self-driving buses, seating up to 11 people, is in operation between the sites of the rituals, including Mecca Islams holiest city Mina and Muzdalifah.

Exhausted

One of the biggest risks this year at the hajj, which follows the lunar calendar, is heat, especially after maximum age restrictions were removed.

Habbia Abdel Nasser, a Moroccan woman who was performing the rituals with her husband, needed urgent medical treatment near the Grand Mosque because of the heat.

The weather is very hot here compared to Morocco, and we feel exhausted, said her husband, 62-year-old businessman Rahim Abdel Nasser, as he poured water on her head to cool her down.

The health ministry has recommended pilgrims use umbrellas during the day and has told the sick and elderly to stay indoors around midday to avoid sunstroke.

Four hospitals and 26 clinics are ready to deal with ailing pilgrims in Mina, and more than 190 ambulances have been deployed, officials said.

On Tuesday, the pilgrims will pray and recite...

Aden At a livestock market in war-battered Yemen, goats and sheep meant to be slaughtered for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday are happily munching on hay, instead of leaving with a buyer.

The market trader Eiad al-Alimi expected better business this year, following a lull in fighting and renewed efforts to end Yemens eight-year-long conflict.

But a grinding economic crisis marked by a collapsed currency and deepened by import bans and attacks on critical oil infrastructure has put holiday cheer on hold.

We had high expectations, Alimi told AFP from the southern city of Aden, the stronghold of the ousted government, as dozens of unsold sheep grazed behind him.

We expected things to improve, the lives of citizens to improve, he said. But unfortunately, everything is still expensive even more so than before.

Clashes in Yemen between Iran-backed Huthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition have reduced sharply since a UN-brokered truce began in April last year, even though it lapsed in October.

But talks towards a political solution appear stalled and there is no sign of a peace dividend for the embattled residents of the Arabian Peninsulas poorest country.

The economy has continued its downward spiral, leaving many Yemenis battling to survive as living conditions deteriorate.

People cant even afford to buy basic foodstuffs, said Amer Mohammed, a teacher from Aden who was shopping at the livestock market.

How can they afford sheep or mutton, he asked. Even those who were able to buy a sacrificial animal for Eid last year will only be able to buy half an animal this year.

We are almost dead

Yemens economy was already in crisis before the Huthis seized the capital Sanaa in September 2014, prompting the Saudi-led military intervention the following March.

Hundreds of thousands of people have died in the fighting or from indirect causes such as lack of food or water, in what the United Nations calls one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises.

More than two-thirds of the population live in poverty, according to the UN, including government employees in Huthi-controlled areas who have not been paid in years. 

The UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said economic warfare between the opposing parties has compounded the countrys problems.

While the parties have taken some steps forward, they have unfortunately also taken steps backward, he told the Yemen International Forum in The Hague this month.

Economic escalatory measures and countermeasures taken by the parties have further damaged Yemens already struggling economy.

At the end of last year, Huthi drone attacks on government-run oil terminals halted...

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) An earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale hit Duhok governorate in the Kurdistan region of Iraq on Monday, according to a statement issued by the General Directorate of Meteorology and Seismology of the Ministry of Transport and Communications in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

The Director of the General Directorate of Meteorology and Seismology, Fadel Ibrahim, said that an earthquake struck Duhok governorate on Monday morning, indicating that the tremor was recorded at 9:42 a.m. local time with a magnitude of 4.7 and a depth of two kilometers, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

The statement clarified that the earthquake was felt by people in Duhok and Mosul, noting that its center is 12 kilometers northwest of Duhok.

The General Directorate of Meteorology and Seismology in the Kurdistan region of Iraq called on citizens to be cautious, avoid rumors and false news, and follow the instructions issued by the directorate.

No casualties or material losses have been reported so far.

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London Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Michael B. Jordan are among a consortium that has bought a 24 percent stake in Formula One team Alpine Racing.

Alpines parent company Renault announced on Monday that the group will invest 200 million euros ($218 million) for their stake, valuing the team at $900 million, to help Alpines growth strategy and sporting ambitions.

Deadpool star Reynolds and Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia creator McElhenney have already enjoyed success with sporting investments as owners of football club Wrexham.

Backed by major investment, the Welsh side were promoted to the fourth tier of the English Football League in April for the first time in 15 years.

Creed and Black Panther star Jordan also has a stake in Premier League club Bournemouth.

Reynolds Maximum Effort production company has teamed up with Otro Capital and RedBird Capital Partners, who recently took control of AC Milan and have a stake in Fenway Sports Group, owners of Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox.

Alpine F1 team will benefit from the investor groups collective expertise and track record in the sports industry, said a statement released by the Renault Group.

Alpines F1 engine-making entity in the suburbs of Paris is not part of the transaction and will remain entirely owned by Renault.

Since the Renault team was rebranded as Alpine in 2021, they have managed one Grand Prix victory and two other podium finishes.

Alpine finished fourth in the constructors championship last season and sit fifth in the standings eight races into the 2023 season.

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Barcelona Ilkay Gundogan has signed for Barcelona on a free transfer at the end of his Manchester City contract, the Catalan club said Monday.

The German midfielder, 32, has agreed a two-year deal with the option for a years extension and a release clause of 400 million euros ($436 million).

He is bringing his presence, nose for goal and reading of the game which has made him one of the best midfielders of the past decade, said Barcelona in a statement.

Gundogan has been an influential presence for Pep Guardiolas City side since joining in 2016, captaining the team to a stunning treble this season.

The midfielder netted twice in the FA Cup final win over rivals Manchester United and Guardiola admitted City were trying to renew his deal.

Manchester City are poised to seal the arrival of Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea to help replace Gundogan, who won five Premier League titles during his time at the club, as well as helping them earn their first ever Champions League win this season.

This club made me realise all my dreams and I will forever be thankful for this opportunity, Gundogan told Manchester Citys club website.

I will carry City always in my heart. Once a blue, always a blue.

Gundogan was the first signing Guardiola made after arriving at City, joining for around 20 million pounds ($25 million).

He moved to City from Borussia Dortmund, where he won the Bundesliga and German Cup in 2012.

Gundogan scored 60 goals in 304 appearances for the club, winning 12 major trophies.

Ilkay has been tremendous, absolutely tremendous, said City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

To be the captain of this club in this historic treble, lifting the Premier League first and then the FA Cup and then the Champions League, he will go down in the folklore of Manchester City forever.

Citys director of football Txiki Begiristain highlighted Gundogans mental attributes.

Ilkays intelligence, leadership and commitment to the club both on and off the field has been an inspiration to everyone, said Begiristain.

New adventure

Barcelonas new signing bolsters a midfield with plenty of options, including young Spaniards Pedri and Gavi, and Dutchman Frenkie de Jong.

However coach Xavi Hernandez has said the club still need to sign a defensive midfielder after captain Sergio Busquets left for Inter Miami at the end of his contract.

Barcelona moved for Gundogan after failing to secure the return of Lionel Messi at the end of his deal with Paris Saint-Germain.

The clubs all-time record goalscorer and greatest ever player was tempted by a return but finally opted to join Inter Miami, with Busquets following him there.

Gundogan turns 33 in October but finished the season...

Nairobi Kenyan President William Ruto on Monday signed into law a bill that raises taxes on a wide range of items, the presidency said, defying criticism that it will pile more economic hardship on citizens.

The new tax package was approved by parliament last week and will double the tax on fuel to 16 percent and introduce a new housing levy, a move expected to have a ripple effect in a country hamstrung by high inflation. 

President Ruto has assented to the finance bill. Signed at State House, the presidency said in a message to journalists, accompanied by pictures of him signing the document.

Ruto who took office in September after a bitterly fought election is seeking to fill the governments depleted coffers and repair a heavily-indebted economy inherited from his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta, who splurged on major infrastructure projects.

Kenya is now sitting on a public debt mountain of almost $70 billion or about 67 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), and its repayment costs have jumped as the shilling sinks to record lows of around 140 to the dollar. 

The new law expected to generate more than $2.1 billion will hike taxes on basic goods and services including food and mobile money transfers.

One of the most contentious provisions is a 1.5 percent levy on the salaries of all tax-paying Kenyans to fund an affordable housing programme.

The opposition led by Rutos rival Raila Odinga has threatened fresh demonstrations over the tax package saying it will strain already squeezed incomes. 

Earlier this year, the opposition staged several anti-government protests over the cost of living crisis which degenerated into sometimes deadly street clashes between police and demonstrators.

At least a dozen protesters were also arrested this month during a march against the tax proposals.

Critics accuse Ruto of rowing back on promises made during the August 2022 election campaign, when he declared himself the champion of impoverished Kenyans and pledged to improve their economic fortunes.

Kenyans are already feeling the pinch from soaring prices for basic necessities, along with a sharp drop in the value of the local currency and the worst drought in four decades.

Economic growth slowed last year to 4.8 percent from 7.6 percent in 2021, reflecting the global fallout from Russias invasion of Ukraine and the drought buffeting the vital agriculture sector.

The Law Society of Kenya has vowed to challenge the taxes in court this week. 

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Sydney Tech giants could face billions of dollars in fines for failing to tackle disinformation under proposed Australian laws, which a watchdog on Monday said would bring mandatory standards to the little-regulated sector.

Under the proposed legislation, the owners of platforms like Facebook, Google, Twitter, TikTok and podcasting services would face penalties worth up to five percent of annual global turnover some of the highest proposed anywhere in the world.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority, a government watchdog, would be granted a range of powers to force companies to prevent misinformation or disinformation from spreading and stop it from being monetised.

The legislation, if passed, would provide the ACMA with a range of new powers to compel information from digital platforms, register and enforce mandatory industry codes as well as make industry standards, a spokesperson told AFP.

The watchdog would not have the power to take down or sanction individual posts.

But it could instead punish platforms for failing to monitor and combat intentionally false, misleading and deceptive content that could cause serious harm.

The rules would echo legislation expected to come into force in the European Union, where tech giants could face fines as high as six percent of annual turnover and outright bans on operating inside the bloc.

Australia has also been at the forefront of efforts to regulate digital platforms, prompting tech firms to make mostly unfulfilled threats to withdraw from the Australian market.

The proposed bill seeks to strengthen the current voluntary Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation that launched in 2021, but which has had only limited impact.

Tech giants including Adobe, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Redbubble, TikTok and Twitter are signatories of the current code.

The planned laws were unveiled Sunday and come amid a surge of misinformation in Australia concerning a referendum on Indigenous rights later this year.

Australians will be asked whether the constitution should recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and if an Indigenous consultative body should be created to weigh in on proposed legislation.

The Australian Electoral Commission said it had witnessed an increase in misinformation and abuse online about the referendum process.

Election commissioner Tom Rogers told local media on Thursday that the tone of online comments had become aggressive.

The government argues that tackling disinformation is essential to keeping Australians safe online, and safeguarding the countrys democracy.

Mis and disinformation sows division within the community, undermines trust and can threaten public health and safety, Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland said Sund...