Although it is a bit too soon to call a winner, a few contenders are beginning to emerge from the pack. While FC Goa, ATK Mohun Bagan, and Kerala Blasters were among the favorites, the likes of NorthEast United FC, Odisha FC, and Jamshedpur FC are starting to come to the fore. That said, let’s take a look at three clubs who are favorites to claim the ISL title this season....
The Red and Gold Brigade have lacked sharpness and an inability to finish has cost them games. The team has been poor on the other side of the pitch as well, conceding seven goals in three games so far. SC East Bengal are the only side without a point and pressure will be building on Robbie Flower to get the team winning. Owen Coyle, on the other hand, will be looking to take his team to their first-ever ISL playoffs and will look to continue on the upward trajectory....
The league made the decision to postpone the game, which was to be held at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco, due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Blasters camp. The Tuskers did not have the requisite number of players available for the match. No Mumbai City FC players were infected by the virus. But the rules suggest that if a team doesn’t have 15 players available to field for the game, the game will be postponed....
The last two of 23 U.S. entrants departed Monday. First, Madison Keys withdrew because of a strained left thigh before the scheduled resumption of her third-round match that was suspended because of darkness on Saturday. Then, No. 9 John Isner lost his third-round match despite hitting 52 aces, eliminated 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3), 7-5 by 19th-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain. Not since 1911 had zero U.S. men or women participated in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, according to the International Tennis Federation....
But what Amneh Muna, who was active in Fatah, the PLO faction of Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, really wanted was revenge for the Palestinians killed in recent political violence. She introduced herself to Ofir Rahum as “Sali,” an immigrant who recently arrived from Morocco. Just a few months after their first online meeting, the bullet-riddled body of the Jewish teen was found in a shallow grave in the Palestinian-controlled area of Ramallah....
Israeli forces openly claimed attacks over the weekend in Syria and the Palestinian-administered Gaza Strip and were blamed for two more operations in Lebanon and Iraq. As reports of what occurred across the region emerged, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at his country’s ongoing efforts abroad, telling a Monday planning meeting that “we will deepen our roots and strike at our enemies.” Israel has often accused Iran of attempting to set up forward bases across the Middle East, where most Arab nations have not formally recognized Israel due to its decades-long territorial dispute with Palestinians and other clashing interests....
But in spite of the tens of billions of dollars in aid given and pledged to Israel by the United States, and both nations routinely calling each other close friends and indispensable allies, the Israeli government didn’t even blink when it came time to tell the world what they thought of the FBI launching an investigation into the brutal murder of beloved journalist, and American citizen, Shireen Abu Akleh. In essence, Israel boldly and publicly flipped the United States an unmistakable middle finger and made it crystal clear that they would not participate in any such investigation....
But with Israel’s September 1 exchanges of fire across the Lebanese border with Iran-backed Hezbollah forces—only the second such encounter since the two sides fought a month-long war in 2006—analysts warn Israel and Hezbollah are risking an escalation in fighting that could erupt into an all-out war. The latest cross-border fighting broke out when Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles into northern Israel, making good on its threat to retaliate for an Israeli airstrike in Syria on August 24 that killed two Hezbollah commanders....
Scientists around the world have closely watched Israel to see how vaccinations could affect the pandemic, since the country launched a rapid vaccination campaign in December 2020. This saw more than half of its population fully vaccinated as early as March this year. Yet Israel currently has one of the worst rates of biweekly COVID cases per million people in the world as the country battles the delta variant, according to figures collected by OurWorldInData as of August 24....
After reports Monday of explosions in Syria’s northwest, the Syrian Defense Ministry released a statement in which an official source said that “the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression towards southeast Aleppo, targeting some sites in the Al-Safira area” at around 11:37 p.m. local time." “Our air defenses confronted the aggressor’s missiles and shot down most of them, and the results of the aggression are currently being assessed,” the statement added....
The Associated Press reported that the strike on Saturday came an hour after the Israeli military ordered people to evacuate the building. The strike demolished the 12-story structure. The Associated Press reported that an on-air anchorwoman on Al Jazeera, speaking after the strike, said: “Al Jazeera will not be silenced. “We can guarantee you that right now.” Al Jazeera shared footage of the building being hit and tweeted: “Israeli air raid flattens building that houses Al Jazeera and other international media outlets in Gaza City....
Minutes before a gunman killed at least 20 people and injured dozens more in a shooting rampage on Saturday at the Cielo Vista mall in El Paso, Texas, a manifesto appeared online that celebrated the deadly attack on Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand, and warned of a “Hispanic invasion” of the American Southwest. The document’s author, authorities believe, is the 21-year-old white male suspect they have in custody. The talking points of the manifesto—posted on 8chan, a message board simmering with racism, misogyny and xenophobia—are predictable, if clunkily presented, components of today’s white nationalism....
We’re also fast approaching climate overshoot, beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, by 2030. The Climate Overshoot Commission will meet several times this year to discuss ways to keep that from happening. Meanwhile the World Meteorological Organization calculates a 50 percent chance of touching the 1.5 degree threshold by 2026. Recent intensified storms, fires, floods, and droughts are all symptoms of the fever. The dominoes are falling. Resource consumption drives climate change, and the biggest driver of consumption is population growth....
The Senegal international constantly ruffled Spurs’ rearguard at Anfield on Saturday, scoring both goals to take his league tally for the season to 11. And while the Reds boss saluted his “wonderful performance,” he made a point of also highlighting the efforts of the rest of the team during the authoritative display. When asked about Mane’s influence, Wijnaldum applauded his teammate’s ability to make the difference, but admitted it is unfair for Liverpool’s results to be put solely down to the 24-year-old....
Del Bosque picked the same side throughout this tournament and after wins against Czech Republic and Turkey, Spain lost their third group game to Croatia. And despite that, the veteran coach kept faith in the same XI once again for the second-round meeting with Italy. But even in the warm-up it was all apparent that one team wanted this very much, while the other one barely seemed bothered. The Italian players raced around the pitch, while the Spain stars stood with their hands on their hips....
The overall rate of gun violence reached a 28-year high last year with drastic increases in murders among Black men, according to an analysis of federal data conducted by the Wall Street Journal. Some of this is not new; since 1990, rates of gun-related homicide have been highest among Black men in their twenties. And yet, after the highs of the 1990s, homicide rates plummeted, especially for Black men. What we’re seeing now is a reversal of that trend....
It’s commonly said that good artists borrow and great artists steal, but so far Warner Bros. experiments with the likes of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have really failed to either of those particularly well. The DCEU certainly isn’t stealing from Marvel Studios, yet when it tries to borrow ingredients from the MCU formula that have made it so successful, results have been mediocre at best. RELATED: Rumor: Mortal Kombat Studio Making Marvel Fighting Game...
Because the flying insects are declining in numbers, the UN has enacted safety measures to protect them. Bees are pollinators who move pollen from one part of the plant to another. Without that pollen, plants would not be able to reproduce and continue making the fruit that we eat. So I leave you with the eloquent words of Belgian poet Maurice Maeterlinck, winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize in Literature....
Smith and opener David Warner are back in the Australia fray having served their suspensions for the ball-tampering scandal that overshadowed their 2018 tour of South Africa. The former hit 89 not out against a New Zealand XI on Wednesday and followed that up with another stunning performance against the same opposition, finding the boundary 10 times in a 108-ball knock. Australia won the final match of their Brisbane training camp by 16 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, and Finch believes the experience of Smith and former vice-captain Warner will be a huge boost to their Cricket World Cup hopes....
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has sought to impose a Wimbledon-like ban on Russian and Belarusian players at the Italian Open, which begins in May. The men’s event in Rome is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 series, while the women’s tourmanent is a WTA 1000 event. According to Corriere della Sera, the move to ban the players has been backed by the president of the nation’s Olympic Committee, Giovanni Malagò....
