Source: Reuters
Security & Justice
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Gaps in Coastal Radar Enabled Israeli Raid in Batroun, Army Commander Says
Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, detailed to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati how Israeli forces likely exploited gaps in the country's coastal radar system during the recent raid carried out in Batroun. The briefing comes as Lebanese officials seek answers on how Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 unit carried out the landing undetected.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Wednesday 7 December 2022 13:55:14
World Cup: Which Teams Qualified to the Quarter-Finals?
The World Cup knockout phase in Qatar will continue with the quarter-finals on Friday and Saturday. Below are the teams who made it into the last eight.
Argentina
Argentina beat off a frenzied Australia fightback to win 2-1 and reach the quarter-finals, where they will face the Netherlands on Friday.
Captain Lionel Messi, who has said he intends to retire from the national team after the tournament, scored his first goal in a World Cup knockout round in his 1,000th match to beat Diego Maradona’s tally of eight World Cup goals.
La Seleccion won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986, and reached the final on three more occasions, most recently in 2014 when they lost against Germany.
Brazil
Brazil stormed into the quarter-finals with an overwhelming 4-1 victory over South Korea, scoring all their goals in the first 36 minutes. They next face Croatia in the first match of the quarter-finals on Friday at 1500 GMT.
The Selecao have lifted the World Cup five times and are the pre-tournament favorites to win a record-extending sixth title.
Brazil have played in every World Cup since 1930 but have not reached the final since they last won the title in 2002.
Croatia
Goalkeeper Dominic Livakovic saved three spot-kicks as Croatia beat Japan 3-1 in a penalty shootout after an enthralling 120-minute contest finished deadlocked at 1-1.
The Croats will next face Brazil on Friday.
This is the sixth World Cup for Croatia, who reached the final in 2018 when they lost to France.
England
England secured a spot in the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win over African champions Senegal in another emphatic victory after comfortably beating Wales and Iran in the group stage.
The Three Lions are set to meet reigning champions France on Saturday.
England have won the World Cup only once in 1966, and finished fourth in 2018.
France
Another one of the bookmakers’ favorites to win the title, France beat Poland 3-1 to advance to the quarter-finals.
Led by Olivier Giroud - who surpassed Thierry Henry as France’s all-time top scorer with 52 goals - and current tournament top marksman Kylian Mbappe, Les Blues will meet England on Saturday.
France have won the World Cup twice, in 1998 and 2018.
Morocco
Morocco reached the quarter-finals for the first time with a 3-0 penalty shootout win over Spain and will face Portugal on Saturday.
Spanish-born Achraf Hakimi scored the decisive spot-kick for Morocco, following a 0-0 draw over 120 minutes.
They are playing in their sixth finals, having reached the last 16 once before in 1986.
The only African side still in the running, Morocco failed to qualify for the knockout stage in 2018 with one point.
Netherlands
The Netherlands advanced to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over the United States on Saturday, and will face Messi’s Argentina on Friday.
The Dutch -- unbeaten in 19 games after their elimination at
Euro 2020 -- have been the runners up at three World Cups in 1974, 1978 and 2010.
This year marks their return to the global stage after failing to qualify in 2018.
Portugal
Portugal’s Goncalo Ramos netted a hat-trick on his first World Cup start in a 6-1 demolition of Switzerland, sending his side through to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2006.
Coach Fernando Santos took the brave call to bench Cristiano Ronaldo and was rewarded with an artful display from his side as they set up a last-eight clash with Morocco on Saturday.
Portugal’s best World Cup result is a third place in 1966.
Most recently, they won the Euro 2016 in France.
The run-up to the last-16 match was marked with speculation regarding the future of Ronaldo, who left Manchester United by mutual consent last month, and his outburst following his substitution against South Korea.
