FIFA moves ahead with new human rights strategy for World Cup games, but advocates are skeptical
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Arab News
41 minutes ago
- Arab News
Alcaraz defies sweltering conditions in Cincinnati victory
CINCINNATI: Carlos Alcaraz beat the heat and humidity of a Midwest summer as the world No. 2 advanced to the fourth round of the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Open on Tuesday. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport The Spanish second seed kept his exposure to a minimum in 32 Celsius conditions, taking an efficient 95 minutes to dispatch Serb Hamad Medjedovic 6-4, 6-4, for his 50th match win of the year. 'Medjedovic doesn't like to run that much, so I tried to move him around as much as possible,' Alcaraz said. 'But it was difficult with the ball flying so much and his shots coming so fast. I tried to defend in a good way.' Alcaraz has been on a tear in 2025 as he chases Jannik Sinner in the ATP rankings, and now owns 13 straight victories at the Masters 1000 level. He will play for the quarterfinals against Luca Nardi after the Italian defeated Jakob Mensik 6-2, 2-1 with the Czech retiring after 42 minutes. Five-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz, who is preparing for the approaching US Open start, added: 'I was really happy to get the win in a very difficult match. 'The season is very long and in at least half of your matches you don't feel that good (physically). 'But you have to stay positive and play your best tennis on the day. I'm proud about that. It's a goal of the season.' Francisco Comesano and Reilly Opelka both felt the heat of their mid-day match, which was interrupted for 45 minutes by rain, as the Argentine limped to a 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-5 win while saving three match points. Comesano needed a medical time out midway through the second set, but came back out to continue what turned into a fight of nearly three hours against the American. Opelka called for the doctor just moments from his eventual loss, complaining of dizziness and high blood pressure after being broken for 5-6 in the final set. After a quick consultation at his chair, Opelka was back on court to weakly scoop a return into the net on his opponent's second match point. The 71st-ranked South American will face ninth seed Andrey Rublev, who beat Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-5. Opelka, noted for his big serve, fired 27 aces but also committed nearly 60 unforced errors. Comesano broke on four of his 13 chances. He is the first Argentine into the Cincy round of 16 since Diego Schwartzman in 2022. In the WTA draw, second seed Coco Gauff eased into the fourth round when opponent Dayana Yastremska withdrew before their Tuesday match. The American, who won the 2023 Cincinnati title and followed up with a US Open crown, will await an opponent from former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko and Italian Lucia Bronzetti. Yastremska was unable to play due to illness, the WTA said. Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, last season's Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist, defeated American Ashlyn Krueger 7-6, (7/2), 6-1 while German qualifier Ella Seidel continued her strong showing with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (8/6) defeat of McCartney Kessler. Two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova outlasted American Iva Jovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Arab News
41 minutes ago
- Arab News
Homeless who refuse to cooperate with Trump crackdown may go to jail, White House says
WASHINGTON: Homeless people in Washington, D.C., could face jail time if they do not comply with President Donald Trump's efforts to crack down on crime and rid the US capital of homeless encampments, the White House said on Tuesday. 'Homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental-health services, and if they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time,' White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters. Leavitt said the administration was exploring strategies to relocate homeless individuals 'far from the capital.' She said US Park Police have removed 70 homeless encampments from federal parks since March and are set to clear the remaining two encampments in the city later this week. Andy Wassenich, director of policy at Miriam's Kitchen — an organization offering services to the homeless — said his team was out trying to warn people. He said there was still a lot of confusion about what the crackdown may bring. Their best advice, he said, was: 'Go to shelter if you can, if you can stand it. If you have anybody you can stay with, get off the street, and seek safety and let us know what we can do for you.' Trump said on social media that he wanted the homeless out of Washington even before he announced the extraordinary step of temporarily taking over the District of Columbia's police department and deploying 800 National Guard troops as part of a crackdown on crime there — an effort that also includes another 500 federal law enforcement agents. A billionaire real estate developer, Trump described the homeless as one of several groups who have 'overtaken' Washington that include 'violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs.' He likened his intended crackdown to his administration's actions to secure the US border with Mexico. HOMELESSNESS REACHED A RECORD HIGH NATIONWIDE IN 2024 US communities have long experienced seemingly intractable problems with homelessness, which reached an all-time national high of over 771,000 men, women and children on a single night in 2024, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's latest homelessness report to Congress. The HUD report estimated Washington's homeless population at 5,616, a 14.1 percent increase from the year before. That made Washington, a city of just over 700,000 people, the 16th out of the 20 US cities with the largest homeless populations, according to the website USA Facts. The top five cities are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and Denver. But the District of Columbia had the highest prevalence of homelessness among US states, with 83 homeless individuals for every 10,000 people, HUD data showed. Homeless people did not appear to be caught up in a Monday night sweep by 850 officers and federal agents, who the White House said made 23 arrests across the city, an operation which Leavitt announced at a press conference on Monday. The District of Columbia operates under the Home Rule Act, which gives Congress ultimate authority but allows residents to elect a mayor and city council. Trump bypassed the city's elected leaders by declaring a 'public safety emergency' and invoking a section of the act that allows the president to take over the police force for 30 days under emergency conditions. On Sunday night, a small group of federal agents arrived at Union Station — a gathering place for homeless people — and briefly questioned a person standing there, according to a man who was outside the building at the time. After about 15 minutes, the agents, who were from a variety of federal agencies, left with little fanfare. Jacob Adams, a political activist with FLARE USA, a self-described anti-Trump group, was sitting at the organization's table set up near the fountain outside the station. He said the agents did nothing to disperse the people who had gathered there, and in fact told them they could stay overnight. 'I don't know if it was a show of force or photo ops. But it didn't come off as very forceful,' Adams said. Wassenich said on Tuesday that so far there was little evidence of the unhoused population being directly affected by the surge in law enforcement. 'If they are caught up in other things, that's certainly possible,' he said. 'The tents are still standing. The people are still sleeping on whatever bench they might be on.'
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Israel rejects UN allegations that its forces have sexually abused detained Palestinians
UNITED NATIONS: The UN chief warned Israel that the United Nations has 'credible information' of sexual violence and other violations by Israeli forces against detained Palestinians, which Israel's UN ambassador dismissed as 'baseless accusations.' Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to Ambassador Danny Danon that he is 'gravely concerned' about reported violations against Palestinians by Israeli military and security forces in several prisons, a detention center and a military base. Guterres said he was putting Israeli forces on notice that they could be listed as abusers in his next report on sexual violence in conflict 'due to significant concerns of patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations.' Danon, who circulated the letter and his response Tuesday, said the allegations 'are steeped in biased publications.' 'The UN must focus on the shocking war crimes and sexual violence of Hamas and the release of all hostages,' he said. Danon was referring to the militant group's surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, where some 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage. Israeli authorities said women were raped and sexually abused. The Hamas attack triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed more than 61,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but that about half were women and children. Danon stressed that 'Israel will not shy away from protecting its citizens and will continue to act in accordance with international law.' Because Israel has denied access to UN monitors, it has been 'challenging to make a definitive determination' about patterns, trends and the systematic use of sexual violence by its forces, Guterres said in the letter. He urged Israel's government 'to take the necessary measures to ensure immediate cessation of all acts of sexual violence, and make and implement specific time-bound commitments.' The secretary-general said these should include investigations of credible allegations, clear orders and codes of conduct for military and security forces that prohibit sexual violence, and unimpeded access for UN monitors. In March, UN-backed human rights experts accused Israel of 'the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence.' The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said it documented a range of violations perpetrated against Palestinian women, men, girls and boys and accused Israeli security forces of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees. At the time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the UN Human Rights Council, which commissioned the team of independent experts, as an 'anti-Israel circus' that 'has long been exposed as an antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body.' His statement did not address the findings themselves.
