Day: May 5, 2022

Spanish La Liga club Celta Vigo’s forward Santi Mina was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday by the Provincial Court of Almeria for sexually abusing a woman.

Celta Vigo announced that they decided to open a disciplinary file on Mina following the ruling.

The 26-year-old is said to have appealed against the sentence.

The club said they decided to temporarily remove the player from first-team training “as a precaution” until the court process concludes.

The statement added that Celta Vigo respect the player’s right to defense but are obliged to take measures against those events that notoriously undermine the image of the club and directly attack its values.

Mina joined Celta Vigo from Valencia in 2019 on a free transfer.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The jersey worn by Diego Maradona when he scored his famous “Hand of God” goal against England in the 1986 World Cup was sold at an auction at Sotheby’s in London on Wednesday for a world record price of $9.28 million.

The previous record for a game-worn jersey was $5.64 million paid in 2019 for the jersey that Babe Ruth wore during his 1928-1930 seasons with the New York Yankees.

The record for a piece of sports memorabilia was also set in 2019, when an original hand-drawn Olympic manifesto was sold in New York for $8.8 million.

The famous “Hand of God” goal was scored by Maradona, who actually flicked the ball with his hand over England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and into the net in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal match against England, which was won 2-1 by Argentina. The referee didn’t see it, so the goal stood.

Following the match, Maradona said the goal was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.”

As a result, Argentina bagged their second and last World Cup to date.

Maradona, who died of heart failure on Nov. 25, 2020, is regarded as one of football’s greatest players ever.

Maradona, who was 25 at the time, was Argentina’s captain when he helped his nation win the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

He played for Argentina’s Boca Juniors, Spanish clubs Barcelona and Sevilla and Italian club Napoli.

The Argentine national was a beloved Napoli player as he won the 1987 and 1990 Italian Serie A titles as well as the 1989 UEFA Cup with this club.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Millions of British voters are heading to polling stations Thursday in England, Scotland and Wales to elect new local representatives and new members of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

In 140 councils across England, 4,350 seats will be up for grabs, whereas all seats of Scotland’s 32 and Wales’ 22 councils will be contested.

Northern Irish voters will vote to fill their 90-seat local parliament.

Higher inflation and the cost of living crisis are the two main problems in the UK which may prompt voters to decide their votes. The vote will also show how voters react to the illegal parties held at Downing Street during the coronavirus lockdown by the most senior party leaders.

The elections will start at 7 a.m. and polling stations will close at 10 p.m.

The counting in England will start after 10 p.m. and results could start coming in as early as midnight. However, a clearer picture will come midday Friday with more votes counted.

In Scotland and Wales, the counts will begin Friday, and the earliest results are expected in the afternoon, with more results in the evening.

The count in Northern Ireland will also start at 9 a.m. on Friday and first results are expected around lunchtime.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Somalia will elect its next president on May 15, the presidential election committee announced on Thursday, with two former presidents among more than a dozen candidates expected to contest for the coveted position.

The Federal Parliament of Somalia’s 15-member committee responsible for organizing the election released the schedule, asking candidates to file nomination papers from Saturday to Monday.

“Somalia’s Presidential Election Commission convenes today to elect its chairman Abdikani Geelle and deputy chairman Mohamed Keerow,” Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu, a member of the presidential election commission, tweeted, adding: “We have also set May 15 as Election Day.”

Former presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, and President of the northeastern Puntland state Said Abdullahi Deni are all expected to run for the prestigious position among over a dozen contenders.

The presidential election in Somalia is 15 months behind schedule as President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s constitutional mandate expired in 2021.

The Horn of Africa nation has completed the country’s longest parliamentary election, which lasted over 22 months.

Due to the election impasse, Somalia has seen multiple standoffs, primarily between the president and his prime minister, Mohamed Hussein Roble.

Citizens seem to be fed up with political tensions, hoping to see a return to political normalcy in the country.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Global markets are buoyant with US and Asia stocks rallying following Federal Reserve’s rate hike as expected.

On Wednesday, the Fed increased its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points, marking its steepest rate hike since 2000.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said similar moves were possible for meetings in June and July as a 75 basis points hike is “not something that the committee is actively considering.”

The dollar index decreased to its one-week low of 102.52 following the aggressive rate hike, while euro/dollar parity rose over 1.06.

Precious metals and crude oil prices were on the rise, with gold adding 1% to $1,901 and global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $111.15, up 0.92%.

On Thursday, investors will monitor Germany’s factory orders, Bank of England interest rate decision and initial jobless claims.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The US is ready to provide security insurance to Sweden during its possible application process to NATO, Sweden’s foreign minister said Wednesday, according to local media.

Ann Linde made the remarks while speaking to Swedish public broadcaster SVT following her meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“There is great interest on the part of the United States for Sweden and Finland joining NATO,” she added.

Linde is currently in Washington, D.C. and has also met with several high-ranking American politicians.

According to media reports, Finland and Sweden agreed to file their applications for NATO membership together in mid-May.

The two countries had been strictly militarily neutral during the Cold War and struck a partnership agreement with NATO in 1995.

Support for NATO membership has significantly increased in both countries after Russia launched its war against neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Russia has repeatedly expressed opposition to Finland or Sweden joining NATO.

At least 3,238 civilians have been killed and 3,397 others injured in Ukraine since the war with Russia began, according to UN estimates. The true toll is feared to be much higher.

More than 5.6 million people have fled to other countries, with over 7.7 million people internally displaced, data from the UN refugee agency shows.

Source: Anadolu Agency

German factory orders decreased for the second month in row in March, according to the country’s statistical office Destatis on Thursday.

New orders in manufacturing fell by 4.7% from February on account of weaker non-euro area demand, provisional data showed.

“The decrease of new orders in manufacturing is mainly due to orders abroad: foreign orders decreased by 6.7% in March on the previous month,” it said.

New orders from the non-euro area went down by 13.2%, while it was up 5.6% for the euro area. Domestic orders also dropped 1.8% month-on-month in March.

The producers of capital goods declined 8.3% in the same period, suggesting reluctance to invest grows amid the Russian war on Ukraine.

On an annual basis, the March figure was also down by 3.1%.

Source: Anadolu Agency