Russia’s president has backed the leadership of Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s president, a day after world football’s governing body was engulfed in controversy by the prospect of twin criminal corruption investigations in the US and Switzerland. Vladimir Putin’s support for Blatter came as the FIFA leader cancelled a public appearance at[…]
Football’s governing body Fifa is due to open its annual congress despite warnings from sponsors that they may review ties over the arrest of senior officials on corruption charges. Coca-Cola, Adidas and Visa were among the companies to voice their concern. The European football body Uefa will decide whether to boycott Friday’s[…]
Malaysia has said it believes 139 people are buried in graves at remote detention camps used by people smugglers on the Thai border which were discovered on the weekend. Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said on Thursday that each grave site contained the remains of one person, not multiple[…]
Activists have organised a flotilla to Gaza in an ongoing bid to break the siege on the Strip, which will enter its ninth year next month. The Freedom Flotilla III, which will be made up of at least three ships, has planned its course to be in the Mediterranean waters[…]
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday resigned as envoy of the Middle East Quartet diplomatic group after eight years in the job, his office said. “Tony Blair has tendered his resignation in a letter to (UN Secretary General) Ban Ki-moon,” a spokeswoman for Blair told AFP. Sources said[…]
Swiss authorities have arrested seven leading FIFA officials in Zurich on racketeering and bribery charges brought by the United States and announced they have opened a criminal case in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. The arrested officials are among 14 people named in a[…]
A UK-based international rights organisation has accused Hamas, a Palestinian group that governs the Gaza Strip, of committing atrocities against Palestinian political rivals during Israel’s military offensive in the besieged territory last year. In a report released on Tuesday, Amnesty International said that Hamas members carried out a campaign of[…]
A Saudi-led coalition Wednesday targeted the headquarters of Yemen’s special forces in the capital, Sana’a, killing at least 30 people, medical officials said. A health ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said most of the dead were special forces troops, and at least 100 people had also been injured.[…]
The European Commission is due to unveil its latest version of a controversial plan to force EU member states to more evenly absorb the wave of migrants reaching Europe via the Mediterranean. UN chief Ban Ki-moon was also due in Brussels on Wednesday after urging Europe to do more to[…]
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for an overnight attack on a guesthouse in the diplomatic enclave of the Afghan capital that ended after a stand-off with government forces. The interior ministry said the fighters had been armed with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and other weapons. All four attackers were killed[…]
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