| | 1. US, Iran to hold new nuclear talks on eve of Trump travel20:21[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | Trump, who will visit three other Gulf Arab monarchies next week, has voiced hope for reaching a deal with Tehran to avert an Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear program that could ignite a wider war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Oman, which has been mediating, had proposed Sunday as the date and both sides had accepted.
"Negotiations are moving ahead and naturally, the more we advance, the more consultations we have, and the more time the delegations need to examine the issues," he said in a video carried by Iranian media.
"But what's important is that we are moving forward so that we gradually get into the details," Araghchi said.
Steve Witkoff, Trump's friend who has served as his globe-trotting negotiator, will take part in the talks, the fourth since Trump returned to the White House, according to a source familiar with arrangements.
"As in the past, we expect both direct and indirect discussions," the person said on condition of anonymity.
Iranian and US representatives voiced optimism after the previous talks that took place in Oman and Rome, saying there was a friendly atmosphere despite the two countries' four decades of enmity.
But the two sides are not believed to have gone into technical detail, and basic questions remain.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted that Iran give up all uranium enrichment, even for civilian purposes. He has instead raised the possibility of Iran importing enriched uranium for any civilian energy.
Witkoff initially voiced more flexibility before backtracking.
'Blow 'em up nicely'
Trump himself has acknowledged tensions in his policy on Iran, saying at the start of his second term that hawkish advisors were pushing him to step up pressure reluctantly.
In an interview Thursday, Trump said he wanted "total verification" that Iran's contested nuclear work is shut down but through diplomacy.
"I'd much rather make a deal" than see military action, Trump told the conservative radio Hugh Hewitt.
"There are only two alternatives -- blow 'em up nicely or blow 'em up viciously," Trump said.
Trump in his first term withdrew from a nuclear agreement with Tehran negotiated by former president Barack Obama that allowed Iran to enrich uranium at low levels that could be used only for civilian purposes.
Many Iran watchers doubted that Iran would ever voluntarily dismantle its entire nuclear program and give up all enrichment.
But Iran has found itself in a weaker place over the past year. Israel has decimated Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia backed by Iran that could launch a counter-attack in any war, and Iran's main ally in the Arab world, Syria's Bashar al-Assad, was toppled in December.
Israel also struck Iranian air defenses as the two countries came openly to blows in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, which is also supported by Iran's clerical state.
The Trump administration has kept piling on sanctions despite the talks, angering Iran. On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions on another refinery in China, the main market for Iranian oil.
Since Trump's withdrawal from the Obama-era deal, the United States has used its power to try to stop all other countries from buying Iranian oil. Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
2. NATO chief seeks defence spending at 5% of GDP by 2032: Dutch PM20:03[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | US President Donald Trump has demanded that NATO allies ramp up their military spending to five percent of GDP, a level that not even the United States currently hits.
Schoof said Rutte had written to NATO's 32 member countries calling for them to reach 3.5 percent of GDP on "hard military spending" and 1.5 percent of GDP on "related spending such as infrastructure, cybersecurity and other things" over the next seven years.
Trump is piling the pressure on Europe and Canada to ratchet up NATO's spending target at a summit in The Hague next month.
Foreign ministers from alliance countries are expected to tackle the matter at an informal gathering in Antalya, Turkey, next week.
Rutte on Friday refused to confirm the figures being debated but said "internal discussions" were taking place within NATO.
Diplomats within NATO, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the proposal circulated last week envisioned increasing direct military spending by 0.2 percent each year to 2032.
They said the discussions were at an early stage and there were no clear signs yet that there would be consensus for the figures.
The parameters of what could be included in the 1.5 percent of loosely related defence spending were still to be defined, they said.
"It makes no sense to argue about abstract GDP percentages now. What is crucial is that we continuously expand our efforts over the next few years," Germany's new chancellor Friedrich Merz said during a visit to NATO's headquarters in Brussels on Friday.
Merz said that for Germany, every increase of one percent of GDP represented 45 billion euros ($50 billion).
Trump threatens
Trump has long accused Washington's allies of underspending on their defence and taking advantage of US largesse.
He has also threatened not to protect countries that do not spend enough on their military in his eyes.
European countries have ramped up their defence spending since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but Rutte says they must go considerably higher to ward off Moscow.
Last year 22 of NATO's 32 allies hit its current spending target of two percent of GDP on their militaries.
A string of countries such as Italy, Spain, Canada and Belgium that still lag below that level have pledged to reach it in 2025.
The United States last year spent 3.19 percent of its GDP on defence, behind eastern flank countries Poland, Estonia and Lithuania close to Russia.
But Washington remains by far the biggest military spender in NATO in absolute terms, accounting for 64 percent of all defence expenditure last year.
In a bid to help European countries bolster their spending, the EU has proposed loosening budget rules and establishing a 150-billion-euro defence fund. Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
3. Thousands gather for rare peace event in Jerusalem19:49[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | In recent days, Israel has announced plans for an expanded military campaign in Gaza entailing the "conquest" of the Palestinian territory. Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said this meant that the Gaza Strip would be "entirely destroyed".
"We cannot let the extremists on both sides that thrive over revenge, fear and hate also control our future," said Maoz Inon, 50, an Israeli entrepreneur and peace activist who was one of the main organisers of Friday's "People's Peace Summit".
"Even though they are controlling our present and reality, we must choose an alternative and create and shape an alternative future," he told AFP.
Friday's event was organised by a grouping of some 60 grassroots peace-building organisations working to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a political agreement.
At the event, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and ex-Palestinian Authority foreign minister Nasser al-Kidwa presented their proposal for peace, originally unveiled last year.
Kidwa, the nephew of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, joined via livestream from the occupied West Bank.
"Only a two-state solution is a prescription for a dramatic change in the direction of our country and of the entire region," said Olmert, a centrist predecessor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"We have to end the war and pull out of Gaza, Gaza is Palestinian... and it has to be part of a Palestinian state," he added.
He advocated for the establishment of an "internal security force" linked to the Palestinian Authority that would have "objective powers... to try and rebuild Gaza without any participation" of the militant group Hamas.
Two-state solution
Kidwa said the pair's peace proposal involved a two-state solution including the exchange of 4.4 percent of territory between Israel and a Palestinian state.
Under the plan unveiled last year, Kidwa and Olmert said this territory swap would involve Israel annexing land where the main Jewish settlement blocs exist in the West Bank, including some of the area around Jerusalem.
In exchange, an equally sized piece of Israeli territory would be annexed by a future Palestinian state, they said.
Their vision of a two-state solution is based on Israel's June 4, 1967 borders -- before the occupation of the West Bank.
The Olmert-Kidwa plan also advocates for shared sovereignty over Jerusalem's Old City, involving a trusteeship which would include Israel and a Palestinian state.
The current war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Of the 251 people abducted in Israel that day, 58 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the Israeli army.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 52,787 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the United Nations regards as reliable.
The territory has been under a total Israeli blockade since March 2, with UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations warning of dwindling supplies of everything from fuel and medicine to food and clean water. Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
4. La Rochelle head coach O'Gara suspended for five weeks19:27[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | The National Rugby League's disciplinary committee had initially only issued a reprimand and a fine for the La Rochelle coach for his behaviour during his team's 45-26 Top 14 defeat to Toulon at the end of January.
But the federal appeals committee took a more stringent approach towards O'Gara who has already been suspended several times in his career.
The former Ireland fly-half was found guilty of "actions against a match official" and "threatening acts or words towards a match official".
As a result, O'Gara will be banned from the pitch until the end of the regular season and for possible playoff games.
La Rochelle, who are seventh in the Top 14 and travelling to bottom side Vannes on Saturday, have the right to appeal this decision. Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
5. Measles roars back in the US, topping 1,000 cases19:23[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | The surge comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to undermine confidence in the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine -- a highly effective shot he has falsely claimed is dangerous and contains fetal debris.
An AFP tally showed there have been at least 1,012 cases since the start of the year, with Texas accounting for more than 70 percent.
A vaccine-skeptical Mennonite Christian community straddling the Texas–New Mexico border has been hit particularly hard.
A federal database maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has lagged behind state and county reporting, as the globally renowned health agency faces deep workforce and budget cuts under President Donald Trump's administration.
North Dakota is the latest state to report an outbreak, with nine cases so far. Around 180 school students have been forced to quarantine at home, according to the North Dakota Monitor.
"This is a virus that's the most contagious infectious disease of mankind and it's now spreading like wildfire," Paul Offit a pediatrician and vaccine expert at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia told AFP.
He warned the true case count could be far higher, as people shy away from seeking medical attention. "Those three deaths equal the total number of deaths from measles in the last 25 years in this country."
The fatalities so far include two young girls in Texas and an adult in New Mexico, all unvaccinated -- making it the deadliest US measles outbreak in decades.
It is also the highest number of cases since 2019, when outbreaks in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and New Jersey resulted in 1,274 infections but no deaths.
Vaccine misinformation
Nationwide immunization rates have been dropping in the United States, fueled by misinformation about vaccines, particularly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The CDC recommends a 95 percent vaccination rate to maintain herd immunity.
However, measles vaccine coverage among kindergartners has dropped from 95.2 percent in the 2019–2020 school year to 92.7 percent in 2023–2024.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus spread through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or simply breathes.
Known for its characteristic rash, it poses a serious risk to unvaccinated individuals, including infants under 12 months who are not ordinarily eligible for vaccination, and those with weakened immune systems.
Before the measles vaccine's introduction in 1963, it is thought that millions of Americans contracted the disease annually, and several hundred died. While measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, outbreaks persist each year.
Susan McLellan, an infectious disease professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch, pushed back against messaging that promotes remedies like Vitamin A -- which has valid but limited uses -- over vaccines.
Kennedy has led that messaging in frequent appearances on Fox News.
"Saying we're going to devote resources to studying therapies instead of enhancing uptake of the vaccine is a profoundly inefficient way of addressing a vaccine-preventable disease," she told AFP.
McLellan added that the crisis reflects broader erosion in public trust in health authorities.
She said it is hard for an individual untrained in statistics to understand measles is a problem if they don't personally see deaths around them. "Believing population-based statistics takes a leap, and that's public health." Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
6. Fulham boss Silva refuses to rule out Saudi switch19:15[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | Silva has one year left on his contract with the Cottagers and reports claimed he is a target for the Saudi Pro League side.
The 47-year-old has been in charge at Fulham for four years and the west Londoners are currently 11th in the Premier League.
"Being a manager means you have to be open to everything with what the market can give you, but the last few years is clear about what my ambitions are," Silva told reporters on Friday.
"I don't close doors to something like that, I'm not saying I won't work outside of Europe, it can happen in the future."
Silva is also said to be a potential candidate to replace Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham if the Australian is sacked.
Former Everton boss Silva would link up with former Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic if he decided to join Al Hilal.
The pair remain close and, speaking ahead of Saturday's game against Everton, Silva said: "It's clear the focus is what we can control at the football club. When we do good things these links are normal.
"I don't waste time to think about it but the most important thing is Fulham and we want to fight until the end of the season and focus on our goals and to prepare for the future of the club like we are doing.
"I have a great relationship with Mitrovic, normally we speak often, not about this situation, we have contact but not about this situation." Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
7. From Chicago to Chiclayo: Peruvian town hails adoptive son and pope19:11[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | Pope Leo spent eight years as a bishop close to the shores of the Pacific, becoming a Peruvian citizen in the process.
For Chiclayo locals, he is as much theirs as he is a Chicagoan.
"It's a magical day," said Lula Botey, a realtor and one of a crowd chanting, praying, and applauding his selection around St Mary's Cathedral.
Some of Leo's first words as pontiff uttered from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square, were to acknowledge this dusty town on the other side of the world.
"Greetings to everyone and especially to my dear diocese of Chiclayo," he said in fluent and modestly accented Spanish.
For Botey it was an emotional and unexpected moment.
"It was very moving," she told AFP. "We haven't stopped crying."
The 45-year-old remembers then Bishop Robert Prevost's "wonderful homilies," during which he "invoked charity and urged politicians to think of the common good."
Others in this city of 600,000 inhabitants, remember a "kind," "humble" man who was "close to the people."
"He is a person of great kindness," said 57-year-old Luis Cherco, remembering someone who would "greet you in the street."
"I really feel very, very excited. You can feel the emotion I have," he added.
"The hands of God are here, they are in the Vatican, and they are in Chiclayo now, aren't they?"
- 'The pope ate here' -
On the cathedral's steps, Father Juan Mechan Sanchez leads an impromptu prayer, the Lord's Prayer.
A quickly produced poster bearing the image of the new pontiff is brandished nearby, with the inscription: "The pope has a Chiclayo heart!"
People rush to pose in front of it.
It was around Chiclayo that the now pope once posed for photos riding a horse, and donned boots to face the region's sudden downpours.
Bernardo Victor Heredia David, an 81-year-old former theater teacher, still struggles to believe his former bishop is now pope.
"We didn't expect it, truly," he said incredulously, recalling a one-on-one conversation with his pastor after his wife passed away in 2022.
He is a "very simple" man whose "familiarity made you feel good, and who allowed many people to get closer to God."
The new pope has already made Chiclayo known to the world, it is now famous in Peru for more than its food.
A few steps from the cathedral, the Las Americas restaurant already displays a sign reading: "The pope ate here."
Manager Rodrigo Couto Vasquez enthusiastically recalls the pontiff's taste for good food, notably the local chicharron -- in this case fried chicken.
He was also known to enjoy goat, duck with rice and Peru's national obsession ceviche, a dish of citrus-marinated seafood served cured and cold.
Leo "will put Chiclayo in the world's spotlight!" 23-year-old entrepreneur Victor Becerra exclaimed. Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
8. Ivorian women fight FGM with reconstructive surgery19:07[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | The 45-year-old midwife is one of 28 women from the west African country who underwent the procedure last month in a public hospital in Ivory Coast's economic capital.
In charge of the surgery was obstetric surgeon Sarah Abramowicz, a leading specialist in female genital reconstruction in France.
Sungbeu, who has three boys aged 22, 16 and 12 and is going through a divorce, said before the operation that her circumcision did not cause her any difficulties.
But she said she felt "embarrassed" by the way partners looked at her.
"They don't say anything but you feel that they're not comfortable," she added. "And that makes you feel uncomfortable.
"When you look at other women, you're completely different. That's my problem. When I open my legs, it's completely flat."
Sungbeu said she had been trying to get the delicate surgery to repair her clitoris and labia minora for some time.
After the operation, she said she was "proud to have done it".
Another woman at the clinic, who preferred not to give her name as she waited her turn, said she travelled to neighbouring Burkina Faso and paid 370,000 CFA francs ($635) for the procedure.
But the operation was never carried out.
"I was circumcised at the age of six by a midwife. It's hampering my relationships and my husband left because of it," said the woman, 31.
'Militant' act
One of the aims of the initiative, spearheaded by the Muskoka Fund set up in 2010 by the French government, is to treat women for free in hospitals.
"It shouldn't be something accessible only to those who can afford it through private doctors," said Muskoka Fund coordinator Stephanie Nadal Gueye.
The mission has a budget of 60,000 euros ($67,500) and includes a significant and unprecedented training component for hospital obstetricians.
Abramowicz, one of the only women working in the field in France, has trained 10 surgeons from six French-speaking African countries -- Guinea, Benin, Senegal, Chad, Togo and Ivory Coast.
She also brought in seven paramedics, mainly midwives, to provide comprehensive care for the 28, including psychosocial care to prevent them being stigmatised for having undergone the procedure.
A report by the UN children agency, UNICEF, last year estimated that more than 230 million girls and women worldwide have undergone female genital mutilation -- 30 million more than in 2016.
In Ivory Coast, one woman in three is a victim of FGM.
The practice is internationally recognised as a human rights violation.
Abramowicz said her happy and proud former patients have since been sending her "10 photos a day" of their reconstructed genitals.
"The value of this mission is that it has planted seeds among healthcare workers but also among these women," she said.
"They should become advocates. There's something militant about getting repaired. The fight begins like that." Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
9. Pedersen wins opening stage of Giro d'Italia in Albania18:33[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | Pedersen was beautifully led out before resisting a late surge from Belgian Visma rider Wout van Aert. Primoz Roglic, the overall favourite to win the 21-day race, finished on the same time in a small bunch just behind.
"I knew he (Van Aert) was behind me so you never know if you can win until the line," said Pedersen.
"The team set it up. We rode hard and then got ahead for the finale."
Pedersen then took to the podium to slip on the iconic race leader's pink jersey and spray the crowds with a magnum of sparkling wine.
"It's the first leader's jersey I have in a Grand Tour, so that's something nice," said Pedersen, the 2019 world champion.
This was a 51st career win for Pedersen and his second on the Giro after one in 2023. He has also won stages at the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana.
Spanish climber Mikel Landa was one of five victims of a nasty crash on a tight corner 5km from the finish line as the 184 riders began their epic three-week 3,400km slog to the Vatican in Rome.
Landa, who was third on the Giro in 2015 and 2022, hit a curb and flew into a drop of one metre to the pavement and rolled in agony before being taken away in an ambulance, making him the first casualty of the Giro.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider Geoffrey Bouchard also pulled out after the fall.
Gee loses time
Another fancied rider for the overall top 10 Derek Gee of Israel Premier Tech was held up by the fall and now stands 1min 07sec adrift of Pedersen.
Team UAE's key rider Juan Ayuso and his teammate Adam Yates, Tom Pidcock, Simon Yates, Richard Carapaz, Jai Hindley, Egan Bernal and Nairo Quintana also all ended the stage in the top 36 riders on the same time as winner Pedersen, who picked up 10 bonus seconds for his triumph.
An enthusiastic early break surged ahead of the main peloton aiming for the first King of the Mountains blue jersey, taken by Cofidis rider Sylvain Moniquet.
Saturday's stage 2 is a 13.7km individual time-trial on the streets of the Albanian capital, with van Aert again a major contender for the stage and the pink jersey.
The time-trial features a short 1.3km climb, with the peculiarity of a U-turn at the top.
Sunday's stage 3 will suit the sprinters who were dropped in the hills on Friday as it is a flat run around the coastal city of Valona.
The final week of the Giro will be decisive with stage 20, which ends with a gruelling climb up the Colle delle Finestre to the Sestriere ski resort, the moment when the winner is likely to emerge. Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
10. Marc Marquez sets Le Mans lap record in French MotoGP practice18:23[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | The 32-year-old, who is one point behind his brother Alex Marquez at the top of the standings heading into the sixth race of the season, was comfortably fastest in both sessions on his Ducati.
In the second session he clocked 1min 29.855sec to improve on Jorge Martin's old track record, set last year, of 1min 29.919sec.
Frenchman Fabio Quartararo, world champion in 2021, confirmed his Yamaha's renewed form by setting the second fastest time of the session 0.177sec behind Marquez followed by Francesco Bagnaia's Ducati.
Spanish rookie Fermin Aldeguer continued to impress as he took fourth while Alex Marquez (Ducati-Gresini), who won his maiden MotoGP race in the last meet in Madrid, had to settle for fifth fastest 0.401sec behind his brother.
The riders will have qualifying on Saturday followed by the Sprint race.
Reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Marti is out of action indefinitely after a brutal crash in last month's Qatar Grand Prix.
The 27-year-old was making his first appearance of the season for his new team Aprilia.
He was first injured during pre-season testing in Sepang and had to undergo surgery at the beginning of February.
He then suffered another crash which necessitated another operation on his left hand at the end of February, just before the opening round of the season in Thailand. Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
11. Jungle music: Chimp drumming reveals building blocks of human rhythm18:09[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | Like humans, chimpanzees drum with distinct rhythms -- and two subspecies living on opposite sides of Africa have their own signature styles, according to a study published Friday in Current Biology.
The idea that ape drumming might hold clues to the origins of human musicality has long fascinated scientists, but collecting enough clean data amid the cacophony of the jungle had, until now, proven elusive.
"Finally we've been able to quantify that chimps drum rhythmically -- they don't just randomly drum," lead author Vesta Eleuteri of the University of Vienna told AFP.
The findings lend fresh weight to the theory that the raw ingredients of human music were present before our evolutionary split from chimpanzees six million years ago.
Previous work showed chimpanzees pound the huge flared buttress roots of rainforest trees to broadcast low-frequency booms through dense foliage. Scientists believe these rhythmic signals help transmit information across both short and long distances.
For the new study, Eleuteri and colleagues -- including senior authors Catherine Hobaiter of the University of St. Andrews in the UK and Andrea Ravignani of Sapienza University in Rome -- compiled more than a century's worth of observational data.
After cutting through the noise, the team focused on 371 high-quality drumming bouts recorded from 11 chimpanzee communities across six populations living in both rainforest and savannah-woodland habitats across eastern and western Africa.
Their analysis showed that chimpanzees drum with definitive rhythmic intent -- the timing of their strikes is not random.
Distinct differences also emerged between subspecies: western chimpanzees tended to produce more evenly timed beats, while eastern chimpanzees more frequently alternated between shorter and longer intervals.
Western chimps also drummed more frequently, kept a quicker tempo, and began drumming earlier in their signature chimp calls, made up of rapid pants and hoots.
The researchers do not yet know what is driving the differences -- but they propose that it might signify differences in social dynamics.
The western chimps' faster, predictable pulse might promote or be evidence of greater social cohesion, the authors argue, noting that western groups are generally less aggressive toward outsiders.
By contrast, the eastern apes' variable rhythms could carry extra nuance -- handy for locating or signalling companions when their parties are more widely dispersed.
Next, Hobaiter says she would like to study the data further to understand whether there are intergenerational differences between rhythms within the same groups.
"Music is not only a difference between different musical styles, but a musical style like rock or jazz, is itself going to evolve over time," she said.
"We're actually going to have to find a way to tease apart group and intergenerational differences to get at that question of whether or not it is socially learned," she said.
"Do you have one guy that comes in with a new style and the next generation picks it up?" Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
12. Guardiola tells Man City stars to question their hunger after troubled season18:01[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | Haaland recently said City's players "haven't had fully the hunger inside" throughout a campaign that ranks as one of the worst in Guardiola's glittering reign.
After winning the Premier League for six of the last seven seasons and clinching a historic treble in 2023, City are still not guaranteed to qualify for the Champions League and could finish without silverware for the first time since 2017.
Guardiola has been at a loss to explain City's malaise at times this term, but he conceded his players should discuss whether their appetite for success had been sated.
"If it's the feeling from Erling, the players should talk to each other and ask themselves why," Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
City's form has improved in recent weeks and they are now in third place after a seven-game unbeaten run in the league.
They also face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final at Wembley on May 17.
But Guardiola believes it is too soon to suggest that his players' desire has completely returned.
"We can do better, we are happy with the results we have but the situation comes back when we have sustained it for many, many months. It was just three or four weeks," he said.
Haaland, City's top scorer this season with 30 goals, is set to feature when his side travel to relegated Southampton on Saturday.
The Norway striker, who has not played since sustaining an ankle problem at Bournemouth in March, was an unused substitute in the victory over Wolves last week.
"He's ready, he's fit. Whether he starts, we'll decide tomorrow," Guardiola said.
The battle for Champions League qualification via a top five finish is set to go down to the wire.
With three games left, City hold a three-point advantage over sixth-placed Nottingham Forest.
Fourth-placed Newcastle are playing fifth-placed Chelsea on Sunday, giving City a chance to pull away from one of their top five rivals.
However, Guardiola is not taking anything for granted against bottom of the table Southampton, who have collected just 11 points in a dismal campaign.
"We start 0-0 and it's a massively important game for us. There are just three games left and after this it is two. We have huge respect for them," he said.
"There are six or seven teams who can qualify so we have to make our points and if we make three victories we will be there.
"It is in our hands. We don't need to wait on anything else. Win one game, then the next one and the next one." Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
13. Putin, Xi, Steven Seagal and missiles: Russia's Red Square parade17:55[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | These were the scenes in the VIP seats for Russia's flagship Victory Day parade on Friday, a grand showcase of military hardware in front of foreign guests in the midst of Moscow's offensive on Ukraine.
Putin, who launched the full-scale campaign on Ukraine in February 2022, has used the memory of the Soviet war effort to whip up support for the army.
Moscow had in 2023 and 2024 scaled down its celebrations of the Nazi defeat, displaying fewer tanks than normal. Analysts said many were at the front in Ukraine.
Foreign leaders were also few, not wanting to travel to Russia or be seen alongside Putin.
But for the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII and three years into the Ukraine campaign, the pomp was back in full force.
Under blue skies, Moscow showed off a fleet of new tanks, Iskander missiles and, for the first time, attack drones -- the kind of which it sends in waves to target Ukraine on a near daily basis.
An array of foreign leaders attended, and the parade even saw Chinese troops march on Russia's most famous square.
Putin used his short speech to assure that victory was approaching in Ukraine.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands and talk of peace is high on the agenda amid US President Donald Trump's attempts to end the fighting.
"The whole country, society and people support the participants of the special military operation," Putin said.
"We are proud of their bravery and determination, of the fortitude that has always brought us only victory," he added.
Moscow has banned criticism of its military campaign and thousands of Russians have left the country since.
"Victory will be ours" -- read giant banners hung on Red Square, drawing parallels between the defeat of the Nazis in 1945 and Moscow's current Ukraine campaign.
Snipers and Chinese troops
Security was tight for days ahead of the event, the authorities citing a "threat" from Ukraine, which had attacked with drones targeting the Russian capital this week.
Snipers were on standby on the roof of GUM -- Russia's most luxurious 19th-century department store that runs alongside Red Square.
The Internet was also jammed.
Troops shouted the traditional Russian chant of "Ura!" and paraded in front of more than 20 foreign leaders.
Alongside Xi, they included Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi -- with whom Moscow has good relations.
Other sanctioned leaders in Moscow for the occasion were Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, Cuba's Miguel Diaz-Canel and Belarus's Alexander Lukashenko, Putin's closest ally.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico attended a wreath laying ceremony outside Red Square, defying Brussels by travelling to Moscow.
The Kremlin hailed his visit as an "act of heroism."
North Korean commanders
Spectators applauded as troops who fought in Ukraine marched past them.
In the tribunes of guests, a German woman asked her friend: "Oh, have you seen the navy cadets?".
A motorcade of the "Night Wolves" -- a group of tattooed pro-Kremlin motorcycle enthusiasts -- sat near Steven Seagal, the US actor and longtime friend of Putin who has received Russian citizenship.
A guest from Beijing cheered and filmed as the commentator announced Beijing's troops were about to march.
After the ceremony, Putin came down from the stands to the square, where he shook hands with troops who had fought in Ukraine.
He also hugged and greeted commanders from North Korea -- which has become one of Russia's main allies, sending thousands of troops to help Moscow oust Ukrainian forces from its Kursk region.
"All the best to you and all your troops," Putin was heard telling them in a state TV broadcast. Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
14. Arteta wants Arsenal to use Liverpool guard of honour as title fuel17:31[-/+]Категория(?) Автор(?) | Arteta's side are destined to finish the season without a major trophy after failing to keep pace with Liverpool and crashing out of the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday.
The Gunners' 2-1 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain ended their bid to win the tournament for the first time.
It was a painful loss for Arsenal, who created a host of chances in the early stages of the second leg but couldn't find a way past inspired PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Still licking their wounds from the disappointment in Paris, Arsenal head to Anfield this weekend for the uncomfortable task of watching to Liverpool's ongoing title celebrations.
Arne Slot's men wrapped up the title two weeks ago, leaving second-placed Arsenal trailing in their wake.
After finishing as runners-up to Manchester City for the previous two seasons, the north Londoners remain with a title since 2004.
"Something has to drive you, motivate you, and pain for this is a good one to use, when you really want to do something. It's the right thing to do, usually as a motivation for next season," Arteta said of Arsenal's guard of honour for the champions.
"They've been the best team, they've been the most consistent, and what Arne and the coaching staff have done has been fascinating, it's been really good.
"They fully deserve it, and that's the sport. If somebody is better, you have to accept it and try to reach that level."
Arteta attracted criticism in some quarters for claiming Arsenal were the best team in the Champions League this season despite their last four exit.
The Spaniard stood by his claim days later, saying: "100 percent. I'm watching the impact, I'm watching all the stats because they were the best stats and the best goal difference in the semi-final, so it's very clear.
"When you look at the important stats that normally give you the best platform to win football matches, it's crystal clear who was better."
Arsenal's failure to sign a striker in the January transfer window was a major blow in a season marred by long injury absences for Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka at various stages.
"In January it was clear or not? I made a very clear statement, and the statement continues the same. I want the best team, the best players. If we have three goalscorers over 25, bring them in, we're going to be a much better team, yes," Arteta said.
Arteta conceded Arsenal have been unable to match his expectations this season.
But he is adamant they have the quality to end the club's five-year trophy drought.
"In the Premier League we've done a step backwards. With the points that we have created, it's clear that we haven't done as good as last season, that's obvious," he said.
"but with the amount of points that we have generated in the last few seasons, we could have two Premier Leagues.
"So we know how close. We are there, we are providing the numbers that win you titles. We have to be a little bit luckier, but still do better to make sure that nobody has a season better than you." Медиа: image / jpeg | ↑ |
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