Author: News Desk

Barcelona : Lionel Messi is leaving Barcelona, the Spanish club said on Thursday. “Despite club and player reaching an agreement and their clear intention to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles,” Barcelona said in a statement on its website. The 34-year-old, who last month won his first Copa America with Argentina, admitted in the summer of 2020 that he had wanted to leave “all year” and claimed a clause in his contract meant he could do so for free, but in the end Messi was forced to stay as Barcelona disagreed and…

UK : British police have arrested 11 people across the UK in connection with episodes of racist abuse targeting England football players on social media following the team’s Euro 2020 final loss to Italy. The UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) launched a hate crime investigation after racist comments were directed at some of England’s Black players following the game on July 11. The unit said it received more than 600 reports from individuals, charities, clubs and other organizations. According to the UKFPU, 207 of these were found to be criminal in their nature. A large inflatable version of the trophy is seen on…

Tokyo : Kristina Timanovskaya, the Olympic sprinter from Belarus who defected to Poland, said she hopes to compete in “at least two more” Olympics in the future. During a joint press conference with Belarusian opposition politician Pavel Latushko in Warsaw, Poland today, the 24-year old said she is “very saddened by the fact that I was deprived of my chance to participate in the Olympic Games.” Timanovskaya could not compete due to Belarusian team officials pulling her from the women’s 200 meter sprint after she criticized the country’s sport authorities on social media. Timanovskaya refused to return to Belarus over safety concerns and…

Brazil : A Brazilian Supreme Court justice has ruled that President Jair Bolsonaro should be investigated for his unproven claims that the country’s electronic voting system is vulnerable to fraud. Wednesday’s ruling resulted from Bolsonaro missing a deadline on Monday to present any proof of his claims. The Supreme Court will now lead an investigation into the dissemination of “fake news” about the court and its members, as well as looking into a supposed “digital militia” financed by private companies to do so. Bolsonaro has repeatedly made claims of fraud within the Brazil’s voting system without presenting any evidence. The President, who…

Delhi : Delhi’s chief minister has ordered a judicial inquiry into the alleged rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl in the Indian capital, as protests continue for a fifth day. Since Sunday, crowds have taken to the streets to demand action taken against the alleged perpetrators — as well as broader change to address India’s high rates of rape, sexual violence and caste discrimination. “The injustice this family has faced is unfortunate and cannot be compensated, but the government will give 10 lakh rupees ($13,480) to them and order a magisterial inquiry into the matter,” said Arvind Kejriwal, the head of the…

US : Unless you have been living on another planet for the past six months, you know by now that Donald Trump leaned on state and national officials in the final days of his presidency to force investigations into made-up claims of widespread election fraud in the 2020 race. But the story keeps getting worse — as we learn more and more about the extremes that Trump-loyal officials were willing to go to in an attempt to overturn the election, with zero proof or evidence to do so. The latest bombshell came Wednesday with the revelation that Jeffrey Clark, a top official…

US : US intelligence agencies are digging through a treasure trove of genetic data that could be key to uncovering the origins of the coronavirus — as soon as they can decipher it. This giant catalog of information contains genetic blueprints drawn from virus samples studied at the lab in Wuhan, China which some officials believe may have been the source of the Covid-19 outbreak, multiple people familiar with the matter. It’s unclear exactly how or when US intelligence agencies gained access to the information, but the machines involved in creating and processing this kind of genetic data from viruses are typically connected to…

Tokyo : American track and field legend Carl Lewis didn’t hold back in his assessment of the US men’s 4x100m relay team after the quartet finished sixth in its semifinal on Thursday. The performance by the team, which comprised of two of the individual 100m finalists, Fred Kerley and Ronnie Baker, world leader Trayvon Bromell and Cravon Gillespie, ensured the US extended its longest run without an Olympic medal in this event. “The USA team did everything wrong in the men’s relay,” the 60-year-old Lewis, who won the 4×100 Olympic gold medal twice as well as seven other golds, wrote on Twitter. CNN .

US : Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has admitted he made “a huge mistake” in spending time with sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Gates told  he had “several dinners” about a philanthropy project that did not emerge, and should not have given him “credibility”. Epstein hanged himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting a sex-trafficking trial. Mr. Gates also discussed his divorce with Melinda French Gates, calling it “a source of great personal sadness”. The 65-year-old, who announced in March last year he was stepping down from the Microsoft board, said he and his ex-wife were “going to…

US ; A push to impeach New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is gaining momentum after an independent inquiry said he had harassed multiple women. The state senate leader and fellow Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins called his behaviour “unacceptable” and said he should resign. A majority of the state assembly favour impeachment proceedings, which could lead to his removal. The governor has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to stay in office. Telling reporters it was not in his nature to assault a woman, he blamed cultural differences and political vindictiveness for the scandal. He is part of a Democratic political dynasty -…