While the potential arrival of Natan-Tah could create competition for places in the starting XI, it is unlikely to have a significant impact on Araujo's future at the club. Barcelona values Araujo's contributions both on and off the pitch and sees him as a vital part of their long-term plans.
Chinese EV Companies Are Getting A Warm Welcome In MexicoAs the debate on heading and brain health in football continues to intensify, it is crucial for all stakeholders in the sport to work together towards implementing preventive measures and providing necessary support for those affected. The health and safety of players, both current and retired, should always be a top priority for football authorities.
State Administration Council Vice-Chairman Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Senior General Soe Win delivered a speech at the work coordination meeting 5/2024 of the Illegal Trade Eradication Steering Committee at the Ministry of Commerce in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday. Speaking at the meeting, the Vice-Senior General, who is also the committee chairman, said after the 17th coordination meeting of the committee, a total of 560 decisions were made and implemented until the 16th meeting. Effective actions should be taken to combat the illegal trade as it causes losses to consumers and local business people. Moreover, illegal trade can cause revenue losses for the country. There is the cost of illegal trade combatting activities. In the local production sector, the imported substandard raw materials can make products of low quality for the local entrepreneurs. Moreover, it can be harmful to the local consumers and substandard products in the international market, and the market share of the country can be affected seriously. Fake and substandard raw materials imported from foreign countries without any guarantees can affect the local production sector and cause losses. Moreover, illegal trading in various forms can affect the economic growth of the country and receivable revenues like commercial tax, income tax and special commodities tax, and show a decline in the GDP of the State. He also stressed the duties of the steering committee, region and state special task forces to crack down on illegal trade effectively and decisively, and the serious consequences of unlawful trade in the economic sector. Every government in the country drafts policies for political, economic and social affairs. The SAC also set the policies in these fields and the ministries, state and region governments, organizations and entrepreneurs should find their proper ways in their respective regions to overcome the limitations and challenges in implementing the economic policy of the country without any delays. He continued that Myanmar is an agriculture-based country, and US$14.641 billion worth of products were exported in the 2023-2024 financial year and the export volume reached US$9.825 billion until November of 2024-2025 financial year. Therefore, the departments concerned should make efforts for the agriculture, livestock and breeding sectors this financial year to develop the export sector. He added that smuggled and illegal commodities worth K379.247 billion were seized in 17,258 cases from January 2022 to November 2024. Concerning seizures in Myanmar, the Vice-Senior General noted that the Customs Department and Mandalay Region stood first for the seizure of smuggled and illegal commodities in September, October and November 2024, followed by the Kayin State and Kachin State. Among them, he continued that unregistered vehicles and illegal commodities were seized as the most enormous volume, followed by intermediate goods and capital goods. Although the monthly seizures show an increase in 2024, the record of export and import data of trading partner countries shows huge gaps when compared with the export and import data of the country. Therefore, the steering committee and special task forces are needed to accelerate their actions four times than before. He then highlighted the instruction of the Prime Minister to double the current export volumes and added that illicit trade brings huge hindrances to the MSMEs and local entrepreneurs in their production sectors. He also pointed out that the people informed 204 illegal trading in September, October and November 2024, of which 79 were false news, four were late news, and 121 were accurate news. A high number of trustworthy news outlets show supportive measures to carry out duties more effectively. A total of K5 billion worth of illegal goods were seized from 242 cases. He urged the MSME entrepreneurs to get rights for their products as the country enacts The Trademark Law, the Industrial Design Law, the Patent Law and the Copyright Law. The responsible agencies should facilitate the application processes and take action against those who break the law. Intellectual Property rights are complicated and can cause transnational crimes. According to the findings of CECD and WIPO, the value of international trade in counterfeit goods was estimated at US$509 billion, the equivalent of three per cent of world trade. He also called for attendees to work together to combat the unlawful trade. After hearing the reports made by the attendees, the Vice-Senior General coordinated all discussions and reports. — MNA/KTZH
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s federal police on Thursday formally accused former President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 other people of attempting a coup to keep him in office after his defeat in the 2022 elections. Police said their sealed findings were being delivered Thursday to Brazil’s Supreme Court, which will refer them to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, who decides either to formally charge Bolsonaro and put him on trial, or toss the investigation. Bolsonaro told the website Metropoles that he was waiting for his lawyer to review the accusation, reportedly about 700 pages long. But he said he would fight the case and dismissed the investigation as being the result of “creativity.” The former right-wing president has denied all claims he tried to stay in office after his narrow electoral defeat in 2022 to his rival, leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has faced a series of legal threats since then. Police said in a brief statement that the Supreme Court had agreed to reveal the names of all 37 people who were accused “to avoid the dissemination of incorrect news.” Dozens of former and current Bolsonaro aides also were accused, including Gen. Walter Braga Netto, who was his running mate in the 2022 campaign; former Army commander Gen. Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira; Valdemar Costa Neto, the chairman of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party; and his veteran former adviser, Gen. Augusto Heleno. Other investigations produced formal accusations of Bolsonaro’s roles in smuggling diamond jewelry into Brazil without properly declaring them and in directing a subordinate to falsify his and others’ COVID-19 vaccination statuses. Bolsonaro has denied any involvement in either. Another probe found that he had abused his authority to cast doubt on the country’s voting system, and judges barred him from running again until 2030. Still, he has insisted that he will run in 2026, and many in his orbit were heartened by the recent U.S. election win of Donald Trump, despite his own swirling legal threats. But the far-reaching investigations already have weakened Bolsonaro’s status as a leader of Brazil’s right wing, said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo. “Bolsonaro is already barred from running in the 2026 elections,” Melo told the The Associated Press. “And if he is convicted he could also be jailed by then. To avoid being behind bars, he will have to convince Supreme Court justices that he has nothing to do with a plot that involves dozens of his aides. That’s a very tall order,” Melo said. A formal accusation of an attempted coup means the investigation has gathered indications of “a crime and its author,” said Eloísa Machado de Almeida, a law professor at Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university in Sao Paulo. She said she believed there was enough legal grounds for the prosecutor-general to file charges. Bolsonaro’s allies in Congress have been negotiating a bill to pardon individuals who stormed the Brazilian capital and rioted on Jan. 8, 2023 in a failed attempt to keep the former president in power. Analysts have speculated that lawmakers want to extend the legislation to cover the former president himself. However, efforts to push a broad amnesty bill may be “politically challenging” given recent attacks on the judiciary and details emerging in investigations, Machado said. On Tuesday, Federal Police arrested four military and a Federal Police officer, accused of plotting to assassinate Lula and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes as a means to overthrow the government following the 2022 elections. And last week, a man carried out a bomb attack in the capital Brasilia . He attempted to enter the Supreme Court and threw explosives outside, killing himself.Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah from Namibia’s ruling political party, SWAPO, won the country’s presidential election on December 3 to become the first female president and the first in Southern Africa. “The Namibian nation has voted for peace and stability,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said after she was declared president-elect. Read also: Nandi-Ndaitwah wins election to become Namibias first female president Born in 1952, the ninth child to a clergyman, Petrus Nandi at Onamutai in northern Namibia. Nandi-Ndaitwah had always been keen on politics having witnessed SWAPO political activities while growing up “Growing up, political activities were also not very far from me,” she told the Swapo Today newsletter last year. “I could see Swapo activities being organised by the likes of Kaxumba Kandola. They would come near our house to hold meetings because there were big trees for shade,” she said. She attended a course at the Lenin Higher Komsomol School in the Soviet Union from 1975 until 1976. She graduated in management from the Glasgow College of Technology, in the United Kingdom, and in 1988 a further post-graduate diploma, in international relations, from Keele University, also in the UK. In 1989 Nandi-Ndaitwah obtained a master’s degree in diplomatic studies, also from Keele University. Nandi-Ndaitwah went into exile in 1974 and joined SWAPO members in Zambia. She worked at the SWAPO headquarters in Lusaka from 1974 to 1975, and served in numerous senior roles. She became the SWAPO deputy representative in Zambia from 1976 until 1978 and the chief representative in Zambia from 1978 to 1980. From 1980 until 1986, she was the SWAPO chief representative in East Africa, based at Dar es Salaam. She was a member of the SWAPO central committee from 1976 to 1986 and the Namibian National Women’s Organisation (NANAWO) president from 1991 to 1994. She was a member of the Namibian National Assembly from 1990. And has held several ministerial position including foreign affairs and women and children affairs. Under President Hage Geingob, Nandi-Ndaitwah was appointed as Deputy- prime Minster of Namibia in March 2015, while serving in parallel as Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. she was the party’s secretary for information and mobilisation and as such, is one of SWAPO’s main spokespeople. In March 2023, President Geingob named Nandi-Ndaitwah as SWAPO’s presidential candidate in the 2024 Namibian general election. Following Geingob’s death in February 2024, Nandi-Ndaitwah was appointed vice president. She is the first woman serving in that role She was elected president in the general election held in November, making her the first woman to hold the position. On December 3 2024, she was officially declared the President-elect of the Republic of Namibia Nandi-Ndaitwah received 683,560 votes (58.7%), making her the first woman to win a Namibian Presidential election. She will be inaugurated on 21 March 2025 and will become the first female President in Namibian history. Nandi-Ndaitwah is married to Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah, former Chief of the Namibian Defence Force.
Iowa moves on without injured quarterback Brendan Sullivan when the Hawkeyes visit Maryland for a Big Ten Conference contest on Saturday afternoon. Former starter Cade McNamara is not ready to return from a concussion, so Iowa (6-4, 4-3) turns to former walk-on and fourth-stringer Jackson Stratton to lead the offense in College Park, Md. "Confident that he'll do a great job," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said of Stratton on his weekly radio show. "He stepped in, did a really nice job in our last ballgame. And he's got a good ability to throw the football, and he's learning every day. ... We'll go with him and see what we can do." Iowa had been on an upswing with Sullivan, who had sparked the Hawkeyes to convincing wins over Northwestern and Wisconsin before suffering an ankle injury in a 20-17 loss at UCLA on Nov. 8. Stratton came on in relief against the Bruins and completed 3 of 6 passes for 28 yards. Another storyline for Saturday is that Ferentz will be opposing his son, Brian Ferentz, an assistant at Maryland. Brian Ferentz was Iowa's offensive coordinator from 2017-23. "We've all got business to take care of on Saturday," Kirk Ferentz said. "I think his experience has been good and everything I know about it. As a parent, I'm glad he's with good people." Maryland (4-6, 1-6) needs a win to keep its hopes alive for a fourth straight bowl appearance under Mike Locksley. The Terrapins have dropped five of their last six games, all by at least 14 points, including a 31-17 loss at home to Rutgers last weekend. "It's been a challenging last few weeks to say the least," Locksley said. The challenge this week will be to stop Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson, who leads the Big Ten in rushing yards (1,328) and touchdowns (20), averaging 7.1 yards per carry. "With running backs, it's not always about speed. It's about power, vision and the ability to make something out of nothing," Locksley said. "This guy is a load and runs behind his pads." Maryland answers with quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who leads the Big Ten in passing yards per game (285.5) and completions (268). His top target is Tai Felton, who leads the conference in catches (86) and receiving yards (1,040). --Field Level Media
A bashful Bashar might blush at this. Jihadi rebels invading President Bashar al-Assad’s palace in Aleppo last week came across a photo of the Syrian leader as a young man, sporting nothing but a tiny Speedo. The photo shows the embattled dictator posing demurely alongside three others clad in swimsuits and perched on the side of a boat in the night, the Jerusalem Post reported. The picture quickly gained attention on social media. “A photo found in the palace of the idiot and criminal Bashar al-Assad,” a Syrian X user posted on Thursday. “May Allah forgive you, you ruined our morning with this sight,” one woman commented in response to the photograph. The cheeky relic comes amid reports Saturday that Assad has fled Damascus as Islamic-backed rebel forces closed in on the capital . Assad’s office dubbed the reports “rumors and false news” and claimed he “is following up on his work and national and constitutional duties from the capital” despite protests erupting there. Armed opposition groups have seized several cities in southern and northern Syria during a shocking 10-day offensive that began in Aleppo at the start of December and continued on to cities across the north and south. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition groups aiming to overthrow the brutal regime.The artwork features Master Chief, clad in his signature armor, sporting a rugged fedora and wielding a whip, embodying the adventurous spirit and fearless determination of Indiana Jones. The depiction is both thrilling and captivating, as fans are given a glimpse into a crossover that combines the futuristic world of Halo with the timeless allure of treasure hunting and exploration.Free Agent Returning to Dodgers With $66 Million Contract
In conclusion, while the Premier League's top teams have been led by their experienced players in the first 15 rounds of the season, the lackluster performances in the 2024 summer transfer window have left much to be desired. It remains to be seen whether the reliance on veteran players will be enough to sustain their success or if the failure to strengthen squad depth will cost them in the long run. As fans eagerly await the second half of the season, the pressure will be on clubs to deliver in the transfer market and prove that they are serious contenders for silverware.Former officials urge closed-door Senate hearings on Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for intel chief'Open your doors': Notre Dame re-opens after five-year refit