Author: staff
According to a statement from the Iranian Football Federation cited by the BBC, Iran also wants assurances that its team will receive enhanced security during the tournament and that respect for the Iranian flag and national anthem will be maintained. “All players and technical staff, especially those who served their military service in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, should be granted visas without problems,” Football Federation President Mehdi Taj told Iranian media, according to a report in the Independent. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has repeatedly stated that Iran will participate in the World Cup and play in the U.S. “because we have…
Fugitive former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro is now in the United States courtesy of a visa from President Donald Trump after fleeing Hungary, local media report. Ziobro had been in Hungary since 2025 after former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán granted the disgraced minister asylum. New Hungarian leader Péter Magyar, however, promised to launch extradition proceedings against Ziobro upon taking office. Ziobro is wanted in Poland over the alleged misuse of public funds and the deployment of Pegasus spyware against political opponents. He has consistently denied the charges, calling the investigation a political vendetta from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.…
Passengers began disembarking from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius in Tenerife on Sunday, as authorities launched evacuation and transfer operations at Granadilla port. Small boats ferried passengers wearing protective gear from the anchored vessel to the quayside, where buses were waiting to transport them to medical facilities and Tenerife South airport. Spanish nationals were prioritised in the first phase of the evacuation, officials said. Footage showed passengers boarding buses under tight health precautions before departing the port area. Authorities said no one on board the ship was currently showing symptoms of hantavirus. The vessel is expected to continue to…
Hungarian Health Minister-designate, Zsolt Hegedűs danced in front of the Parliament building after the inauguration of the country’s new national assembly and Péter Magyar as the new prime minister on Saturday. Hegedűs, who previously went viral for dancing during the April election victory celebrations, repeated the performance as supporters clapped and joined in. Footage showed crowds waving flags, dancing and celebrating after Magyar’s Tisza party secured a landslide election victory, ending Viktor Orbán’s long parliamentary dominance.
Published on 10/05/2026 – 11:58 GMT+2 Thousands of fans packed into Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday night for the Amir Cup final, in a match that for many felt like more than just football. The final, which saw Al Gharafa SC beat Al Sadd SC 4-1 to retain the Amir Cup title, came after weeks of regional tension that had kept many residents indoors and away from public gatherings. But Saturday’s final marked one of the clearest signs yet of fans returning to stadiums in large numbers as football once again took centre stage in Qatar. A crowd of 37,823…
There are around 44,000 to 45,000 church buildings in Germany – depending on which sacred spaces are included. Many of these buildings shape the character of villages, neighbourhoods and landscapes. But the question of how they can be preserved is being asked ever more often as congregations shrink and costs rise. The parish church of St Andrew in the Sanderau district of Würzburg is also facing such a transformation. From the outside it stands like a silent witness to post‑war modernism. Inside, however, the church interior is to take on a new function: where services were held for decades, people…
France, Germany, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands sent planes to repatriate their citizens, while the European Union sent two additional planes for the remaining EU nationals, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told a press conference on Saturday in Madrid. The United States and Britain are coordinating planes for non-EU citizens from countries that were unable to send transport. All of the more than 100 passengers are being tested for the hantavirus, which is a rare disease typically caused by exposure to infected rats. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Friday that there are a total of six confirmed cases…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said the war in Ukraine was winding down, slamming Western support for Kyiv, as the first day of a US-brokered ceasefire was marked by mutual accusations of violations. Putin spoke after telling soldiers at the scaled-down parade in Moscow that they were fighting an “aggressive force” in Ukraine, backed by all of NATO and describing his war goals as “just”. The Russian leader has made the memory of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II a central narrative of his 25-year rule and repeatedly invoked it to justify his Ukraine offensive.…
The 61st edition of the Venice Biennale will see artists from around the globe transform not just the pavilions in the Giardini and Arsenale spaces, but also everything from noble palazzi to canals around the city. These satellite exhibitions are vibrant and varied – and far more than just add-ons to the main show. Some are already pegged as some of the most highly anticipated art happenings of the year, and all aid in the metamorphosis of Venice in its entirety into a canvas for contemporary art. Given the profusion of these collateral events, it’s key to have a battle…
A cruise ship hit with a deadly hantavirus outbreak arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands Sunday, where most of the nearly 150 people on board will be evacuated and flown home after weeks at sea. The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius arrived at the Spanish port of Granadilla escorted by a Civil Guard vessel. Passengers and some of the crew are expected to evacuate before the ship, where an outbreak of hantavirus led to the deaths of three people, continues on its way to the Netherlands. Three passengers from the ship – a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman — have…