france24--2020-11-23--Barca drift, Messi disillusioned as Koeman renovation yet to convince

Lionel Messi has only scored once in open play in the league this season Lionel Messi was almost unrecognisable and so were Barcelona as a rare defeat by Atletico Madrid on Saturday cast further doubt over the direction of the Ronald Koeman project .
Atletico had not beaten Barca in the league since 2010 , their 1-0 win at the Wanda Metropolitano a timely affirmation that they are contenders and arguably now favourites to win La Liga .
For Barca sitting 12th , albeit with a game or two in hand over some of those above them , the immediate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eight games was compounded by a knee ligament injury to Gerard Pique , which leaves Koeman with only one fit central defender .
But perhaps more concerning is the sense that Koeman 's Barcelona appear already to be stalling , devoid of either a clear identity or renewed enthusiasm , both of which might have been expected to follow the appointment of a new coach .
`` Like any coach , I am responsible , '' said Koeman on Saturday .
`` We have to improve the results .
We have to improve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ca n't do anything more . ''
It was almost a year ago that Ernesto Valverde was sacked mid-season with the team top of the table , both a jolt reaction to stodgy performances and a delayed one after historical Champions League failure .
His replacement Quique Setien arrived with a purist approach believed to be consistent with Barca 's DNA and for a while there were signs of it , only for results to dive and another split become unavoidable .
But Koeman 's first four months have brought neither the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imagination to impose a style that dominates opponents or endures through adversity .
Atletico absorbed a handful of chances late on but the onslaught never came and as Barca chased an equaliser , they grew more desperate , the lack of a plan - or at least their belief in one - becoming more and more apparent .
The result feels like a season already set to be consigned to a period of transition , even if Barcelona 's starting line-up against Atletico had only two new players and just three aged younger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but what team in the world would not find space for the likes of Messi , Antoine Griezmann , Ousmane Dembele , Frenkie de Jong , Jordi Alba , Pique and Marc-Andre ter Stegen ?
There has certainly been a glance to the future , with the emergence of Pedri , who started against Atletico , and Sergino Dest and Francisco Trincao , who came on .
There has been a new formation too , a shift to 4-2-3-1 , with De Jong as a pivot and Griezmann , and Messi , playing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and leadership , with one of Koeman 's biggest problems the drift of his captain .
When Messi ran beyond Atletico 's defence in the first half onto a pass from Alba , like he has done so many times before , the expectation was he would fire early past Jan Oblak , even from an acute angle .
Instead , he hesitated , looking up for a pass inside , before a tame finish rolled straight into the hands of the goalkeeper .
At full-time , Messi was among a number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the team 's post-match media duties but instead it was the 17-year-old Pedri in front of the cameras , just as Dest had spoken after the loss last month to Real Madrid .
Messi 's efforts on the pitch can not be questioned but he also looks increasingly burdened playing for Barcelona , with the enjoyment seemingly gone and the buzz lost ever since his failed attempt to leave .
`` I 'm fed up being the problem with everything that goes on at this club , '' said the frustrated 33-year-old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about his relationship with Griezmann , after a 15-hour flight back from Peru .
If Koeman does not inspire Messi , perhaps someone else will given a new club president in January could mean a new coach , either immediately or next summer , when Messi himself could walk away for free .
Every change will bring fresh upheaval .
Koeman 's transition could be the first of many .

Madrid (AFP) –
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Lionel Messi was almost unrecognisable and so were Barcelona as a rare defeat by Atletico Madrid on Saturday cast further doubt over the direction of the Ronald Koeman project.
Atletico had not beaten Barca in the league since 2010, their 1-0 win at the Wanda Metropolitano a timely affirmation that they are contenders and arguably now favourites to win La Liga.
For Barca sitting 12th, albeit with a game or two in hand over some of those above them, the immediate blow of a third league defeat in eight games was compounded by a knee ligament injury to Gerard Pique, which leaves Koeman with only one fit central defender.
But perhaps more concerning is the sense that Koeman's Barcelona appear already to be stalling, devoid of either a clear identity or renewed enthusiasm, both of which might have been expected to follow the appointment of a new coach.
"Like any coach, I am responsible," said Koeman on Saturday. "We have to improve the results. We have to improve defensively and in attack and after that I can't do anything more."
It was almost a year ago that Ernesto Valverde was sacked mid-season with the team top of the table, both a jolt reaction to stodgy performances and a delayed one after historical Champions League failure.
His replacement Quique Setien arrived with a purist approach believed to be consistent with Barca's DNA and for a while there were signs of it, only for results to dive and another split become unavoidable.
But Koeman's first four months have brought neither the pragmatism to grind out results nor the imagination to impose a style that dominates opponents or endures through adversity.
Atletico absorbed a handful of chances late on but the onslaught never came and as Barca chased an equaliser, they grew more desperate, the lack of a plan - or at least their belief in one - becoming more and more apparent.
The result feels like a season already set to be consigned to a period of transition, even if Barcelona's starting line-up against Atletico had only two new players and just three aged younger than 25.
- Koeman in the hot seat -
Koeman may be renovating but what team in the world would not find space for the likes of Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Frenkie de Jong, Jordi Alba, Pique and Marc-Andre ter Stegen?
There has certainly been a glance to the future, with the emergence of Pedri, who started against Atletico, and Sergino Dest and Francisco Trincao, who came on.
There has been a new formation too, a shift to 4-2-3-1, with De Jong as a pivot and Griezmann, and Messi, playing more central.
Yet change needs commitment and leadership, with one of Koeman's biggest problems the drift of his captain.
When Messi ran beyond Atletico's defence in the first half onto a pass from Alba, like he has done so many times before, the expectation was he would fire early past Jan Oblak, even from an acute angle.
Instead, he hesitated, looking up for a pass inside, before a tame finish rolled straight into the hands of the goalkeeper.
At full-time, Messi was among a number of senior players that could have taken responsibility for the team's post-match media duties but instead it was the 17-year-old Pedri in front of the cameras, just as Dest had spoken after the loss last month to Real Madrid.
Messi's efforts on the pitch cannot be questioned but he also looks increasingly burdened playing for Barcelona, with the enjoyment seemingly gone and the buzz lost ever since his failed attempt to leave.
"I'm fed up being the problem with everything that goes on at this club," said the frustrated 33-year-old on Wednesday, when questioned by reporters about his relationship with Griezmann, after a 15-hour flight back from Peru.
If Koeman does not inspire Messi, perhaps someone else will given a new club president in January could mean a new coach, either immediately or next summer, when Messi himself could walk away for free.
Every change will bring fresh upheaval. Koeman's transition could be the first of many.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-11-23--Is the Big-Three era in tennis drawing to a close?

Will Rafael Nadal ( right ) and Novak Djokovic dominate the Grand Slams in 2021 ?
Novak Djokovic , Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been absent from the title match at the ATP Finals for the past two years , replaced by younger rivals seeking to smash their monopoly .
Instead of the `` Big Three '' it was Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev who took centre stage at London 's O2 Arena on Sunday , with Russia 's Medvedev coming out on top .
But do the results at the season-ending tournament signal the end of an era @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dawn for the chasing pack ?
The demise of Djokovic and Nadal at the hands of younger rivals on a dramatic Saturday in London felt significant , and not just for the results themselves .
Austria 's Thiem , 27 , produced an astonishing comeback from 4-0 down in the deciding tie-break to beat world number one Djokovic -- after squandering four match points in the second-set tie-break .
Fourth-seed Medvedev did not let the loss of the first set to Nadal faze him , roaring back to end the Spaniard 's record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opening set .
But recent history shows the season-ending ATP Finals do not provide a reliable indicator of what is to come the following season .
Medvedev , 24 , is the sixth different winner of the event in six years .
Since Andy Murray lifted the trophy in 2016 , the champions have been Grigor Dimitrov , Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas , who can boast just one Grand Slam final appearance between them .
Indoor hard courts are Nadal 's weakest surface while Djokovic has not played his best in London @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a row from 2012 to 2015 .
Federer , absent this year with an injury , lifted the last of his six titles at the event in 2011 .
The Grand Slams remain the ultimate prizes in tennis and the period of unprecedented dominance for the Big Three is far from over .
They have won an astonishing 56 of the past 67 majors between them , including 14 of the last 15 .
Thiem finally broke the stranglehold by winning this year 's US Open but Nadal and Federer did not take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ until his disqualification .
Nadal has just won a 13th French Open title without dropping a set and he and Djokovic especially will still be the strong favourites going into 2021 .
The Spanish veteran issued a chilling warning to the young pretenders after his defeat to Medvedev in London .
`` My motivation has been always the same , '' he said .
`` Next year is going be an important year .
I hope to be ready to fight for the things that I want to fight ( for ) .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the guard many times over the past few years but such predictions have always proved premature .
It is impossible to delay the inevitable of course -- Federer will be 40 next year and has missed almost the whole 2020 season following two knee operations .
Nadal is 34 and Djokovic 33 and both can be shakier in the big moments than they once were .
Thiem , Medvedev , Zverev and Tsitsipas have had more success against the Big Three than the generations before them , and an even younger generation is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Nadal tied on 20 Slams and Djokovic three behind , the three dominant players of the past 15 years are playing for history and hugely motivated to achieve more .
Medvedev , who reached the 2019 US Open final , where he lost to Nadal , welcomed the rise of the young guns .
`` I think it 's super for tennis , '' he said .
`` We are starting to get to take our marks .
Dominic won his first Slam , playing unbelievable tennis right now . ''
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too soon to discount the old guard , predicting `` exciting times '' ahead .
`` We proved that we can play with the legends , that we can also beat them , that we can also win the biggest tournaments , '' he said .
`` I think in the next few years the Big Three still will play for every big title , but I guess there 's still going to be a time when those guys retire , I do n't know , in three , four , five years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be the favourites for all the big titles . ''

London (AFP) –
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Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been absent from the title match at the ATP Finals for the past two years, replaced by younger rivals seeking to smash their monopoly.
Instead of the "Big Three" it was Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev who took centre stage at London's O2 Arena on Sunday, with Russia's Medvedev coming out on top.
But do the results at the season-ending tournament signal the end of an era for men's tennis or another false dawn for the chasing pack?
Poor predictor
The demise of Djokovic and Nadal at the hands of younger rivals on a dramatic Saturday in London felt significant, and not just for the results themselves.
Austria's Thiem, 27, produced an astonishing comeback from 4-0 down in the deciding tie-break to beat world number one Djokovic -- after squandering four match points in the second-set tie-break.
Fourth-seed Medvedev did not let the loss of the first set to Nadal faze him, roaring back to end the Spaniard's record of 71 consecutive wins after winning the opening set.
But recent history shows the season-ending ATP Finals do not provide a reliable indicator of what is to come the following season.
Medvedev, 24, is the sixth different winner of the event in six years.
Since Andy Murray lifted the trophy in 2016, the champions have been Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who can boast just one Grand Slam final appearance between them.
Indoor hard courts are Nadal's weakest surface while Djokovic has not played his best in London since a run of four titles in a row from 2012 to 2015.
Federer, absent this year with an injury, lifted the last of his six titles at the event in 2011.
Grand Slam dominance
The Grand Slams remain the ultimate prizes in tennis and the period of unprecedented dominance for the Big Three is far from over.
They have won an astonishing 56 of the past 67 majors between them, including 14 of the last 15.
Thiem finally broke the stranglehold by winning this year's US Open but Nadal and Federer did not take part and Djokovic was the clear favourite until his disqualification.
Nadal has just won a 13th French Open title without dropping a set and he and Djokovic especially will still be the strong favourites going into 2021.
The Spanish veteran issued a chilling warning to the young pretenders after his defeat to Medvedev in London.
"My motivation has been always the same," he said. "Next year is going be an important year. I hope to be ready to fight for the things that I want to fight (for)."
Changing of the guard?
Pundits have predicted a changing of the guard many times over the past few years but such predictions have always proved premature.
It is impossible to delay the inevitable of course -- Federer will be 40 next year and has missed almost the whole 2020 season following two knee operations.
Nadal is 34 and Djokovic 33 and both can be shakier in the big moments than they once were.
Thiem, Medvedev, Zverev and Tsitsipas have had more success against the Big Three than the generations before them, and an even younger generation is making waves.
But, with Federer and Nadal tied on 20 Slams and Djokovic three behind, the three dominant players of the past 15 years are playing for history and hugely motivated to achieve more.
Medvedev, who reached the 2019 US Open final, where he lost to Nadal, welcomed the rise of the young guns.
"I think it's super for tennis," he said. "We are starting to get to take our marks. Dominic won his first Slam, playing unbelievable tennis right now."
But ATP Finals runner-up Thiem believes it is too soon to discount the old guard, predicting "exciting times" ahead.
"We proved that we can play with the legends, that we can also beat them, that we can also win the biggest tournaments," he said.
"I think in the next few years the Big Three still will play for every big title, but I guess there's still going to be a time when those guys retire, I don't know, in three, four, five years. And then I guess we will be the favourites for all the big titles."
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-11-23--The Arab Spring: A timeline

The Arab Spring: A timeline

What happened to the Arab Spring rulers ?
From the fall of old , authoritarian leaders to the repression of revolts , here are some key dates that make up what is known as the Arab Spring .
On December 17 , 2010 , a young Tunisian who sold vegetables from a barrow sets himself on fire to protest police harassment .
Mohamed Bouazizi dies on January 4 , 2011 but not before his gesture goes viral , sparking protests against the cost of living and the country 's authoritarian president , Zine El Abidine Ben Ali .
Ben Ali @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when he flees to Saudi Arabia , becoming the first leader of an Arab nation to be pushed out by popular protest .
The spirit of the `` Jasmine Revolution '' soon spreads .
On January 25 , thousands of Egyptians march in Cairo , Alexandria and other cities , demanding the departure of President Hosni Mubarak -- who has been in power for 30 years -- and `` bread , freedom and dignity '' .
On February 11 , as more than a million take to the streets , Mubarak resigns and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mass in Tahrir ( Liberation ) Square in Cairo , chanting , `` The people demand the removal of the regime . ''
On February 15 , protesters take over Pearl Square roundabout in the capital which they rename `` Tahrir Square '' , and demand a constitutional monarchy and other reforms .
But their camp is stormed by riot police three days later , leaving three dead and scores wounded .
Troops from neighbouring Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states enter Bahrain in March 2011 to help crush protests and crack down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bahrain protests start , Libyan police use force to break up a sit-in against the government in the second city , Benghazi .
The country 's leader Moamer Kadhafi vows to hunt down the `` rats '' opposing him `` street by street , alley by alley , house by house '' .
The uprising turns into civil war with French , British and US air forces intervening against Kadhafi .
On March 6 , a dozen teenagers tag the wall of their school in southern Syria with `` Your turn , doctor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a trained ophthalmologist .
The torture of the youths sparks mainly peaceful protests at first , and calls for democratic reform .
But with violent repression by the government , the revolt turns into civil war .
On October 20 , Moamer Kadhafi is captured and killed in his home region of Sirte by rebels who find him hiding in a storm drain .
On October 23 , Tunisians stream to the polls for their first free election , in which members of the Islamist Ennahdha movement triumph .
On February 27 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who had ruled Yemen for 33 years , hands power to his deputy Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi , after a year of protests .
He is the fourth leader to be undone by the Arab Spring -- this time through a negotiated transition under pressure from Gulf monarchies .
On June 29 , 2014 , the Islamic State group ( IS ) proclaims a `` caliphate '' over territory it has seized in Syria and Iraq .
Jihadists carry out beheadings , mass executions , abductions , rape and ethnic cleansing of minorities .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's biggest ally , starts air strikes against Syrian rebels on September 30 , 2015 , changing the course of the war .
After a decade of fighting which left 380,000 dead , Assad is able to claim decisive victories .

Paris (AFP) –
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From the fall of old, authoritarian leaders to the repression of revolts, here are some key dates that make up what is known as the Arab Spring.
- The Tunisian spark -
On December 17, 2010, a young Tunisian who sold vegetables from a barrow sets himself on fire to protest police harassment.
Mohamed Bouazizi dies on January 4, 2011 but not before his gesture goes viral, sparking protests against the cost of living and the country's authoritarian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Ben Ali's 23-year rule ends 10 days later when he flees to Saudi Arabia, becoming the first leader of an Arab nation to be pushed out by popular protest.
The spirit of the "Jasmine Revolution" soon spreads.
- 'Mubarak out!' -
On January 25, thousands of Egyptians march in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities, demanding the departure of President Hosni Mubarak -- who has been in power for 30 years -- and "bread, freedom and dignity".
On February 11, as more than a million take to the streets, Mubarak resigns and hands control to the military.
Thousands mass in Tahrir (Liberation) Square in Cairo, chanting, "The people demand the removal of the regime."
- Bahrain's 'Tahrir' -
On February 15, protesters take over Pearl Square roundabout in the capital which they rename "Tahrir Square", and demand a constitutional monarchy and other reforms.
But their camp is stormed by riot police three days later, leaving three dead and scores wounded.
Troops from neighbouring Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states enter Bahrain in March 2011 to help crush protests and crack down on dissent.
- Libya explodes -
The same day the Bahrain protests start, Libyan police use force to break up a sit-in against the government in the second city, Benghazi.
Clashes follow.
The country's leader Moamer Kadhafi vows to hunt down the "rats" opposing him "street by street, alley by alley, house by house".
The uprising turns into civil war with French, British and US air forces intervening against Kadhafi.
- Syria follows -
On March 6, a dozen teenagers tag the wall of their school in southern Syria with "Your turn, doctor," referring to President Bashar al-Assad, a trained ophthalmologist.
The torture of the youths sparks mainly peaceful protests at first, and calls for democratic reform.
But with violent repression by the government, the revolt turns into civil war.
- Kadhafi captured in drain -
On October 20, Moamer Kadhafi is captured and killed in his home region of Sirte by rebels who find him hiding in a storm drain.
- Tunisia's first election -
On October 23, Tunisians stream to the polls for their first free election, in which members of the Islamist Ennahdha movement triumph.
- Yemen's Saleh goes -
On February 27, 2012, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had ruled Yemen for 33 years, hands power to his deputy Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, after a year of protests.
He is the fourth leader to be undone by the Arab Spring -- this time through a negotiated transition under pressure from Gulf monarchies.
- 'The Caliphate' -
On June 29, 2014, the Islamic State group (IS) proclaims a "caliphate" over territory it has seized in Syria and Iraq.
Jihadists carry out beheadings, mass executions, abductions, rape and ethnic cleansing of minorities.
- Moscow saves Assad -
Russia, who with Iran is Assad's biggest ally, starts air strikes against Syrian rebels on September 30, 2015, changing the course of the war.
After a decade of fighting which left 380,000 dead, Assad is able to claim decisive victories.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-11-23--From hope to agony, what's left of the Arab Spring?

Ten years ago , a chain of uprisings shook the Middle East and North Africa region , soon dubbed the `` Arab Spring '' Ten years ago , a wildfire of revolts in the Arab world touched off an unlikely series of events that swelled , then dashed many hopes , and irrevocably changed the region .
From the quickfire collapse of seemingly invincible regimes to the rise and fall of a jihadist caliphate in its heart , the Middle East hurtled through the 21st century 's second decade in a state of relentless upheaval .
The chain of uprisings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and was soon dubbed the `` Arab Spring '' led to disparate long-term outcomes , with many countries today looking worse off .
The popular protests that erupted in Tunisia , Egypt , Libya and Yemen a decade ago were followed by disappointing reforms at best , dictatorial backlash or all-out conflict at worst .
Yet the spirit of the revolts is far from dead , as evidenced by the second wave of uprisings that caught on in Sudan , Algeria , Iraq and Lebanon eight years later .
Something `` in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since then , said Lina Mounzer , a Lebanese author and translator whose family has roots in both Egypt and Syria .
`` I do n't know that there is anything more moving or noble than a people demanding a life of dignity in a single voice , '' she added .
`` It proves that such a thing is possible , that people can revolt against the worst despots , that there is enough courage in people standing and working together to face down entire armies . ''
It all started on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ street vendor , goaded by years of police harassment , doused himself with fuel in front of the governor 's office in the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid and set himself on fire .
Mohamed Bouazizi 's was not the first self-immolation in the region , or even in Tunisia , but it sparked a rage never seen before .
Nor was his story caught on camera -- but it went viral nonetheless .
By the time Bouazizi died of his wounds on January 4 , the protest movement against President Zine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been in power for 23 years , had spread to the entire country .
Ten days later , Ben Ali was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia .
Within weeks , pro-democracy protests broke out in Egypt , Libya and Yemen .
It was when the rage spilled into the streets of Cairo , the region 's largest city and its historical political crucible , that the contagion earned its `` Arab Spring '' moniker .
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Egypt to shout their democratic aspirations and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president since 1981 .
It 's hard to overstate the sense of hope and euphoria that these images projected across the region and the rest of the world .
`` Look at the streets of Egypt tonight ; this is what hope looks like , '' celebrated Egyptian author Ahdaf Soueif wrote in The Guardian at the time .
The voice of the people was rising as one , not just in one country but across the region , toppling some of the planet 's most entrenched dictatorships .
One sentence that will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arab Spring rippled across the region : `` Al-shaab yureed isqat al-nizam '' -- Arabic for `` The people want the downfall of the regime '' .
These words were both a primal scream giving courage to a generation that never knew it had so much and a kind of incantation that , if repeated long enough , would miraculously free the people .
A new paradigm was being born for the Middle East with the realisation that its tyrants were not ten foot tall and that change could come from within .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ days shattered the sense of `` Arab defeat '' that weighed on two generations after the death of Egypt 's Gamal Abdel Nasser and his pan-Arab nationalistic project .
`` There was a sense that we Arabs were somehow too lazy and tired to rise up against oppression , that we accepted the rule of dictators and despots because we were fundamentally flawed , or else had been shaped into beasts of burden by colonialism and Western meddling , '' she told AFP .
The unthinkable happened on February 11 , 2011 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resigning .
`` The night that Mubarak fell I cried with joy .
I could n't believe how brave and beautiful were the Egyptian people .
It seemed like the dawn of a new era , '' Mounzer recalled .
`` And then , Syria .
If I thought I was happy for Egypt , surprised by Egypt , I was ecstatic for Syria ...
It felt like my parents ' Arab nationalist dreams were finally being realised ... through the force and will of the people themselves . ''
Six months before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and dissident Jamal Khashoggi argued the revolts once and for all put paid to the notion that Arabs and democracy were a mismatch .
`` The debate about the relationship between Islam and democracy conclusively ended with the coming of the Arab Spring , '' he said in a 2018 speech .
Besides Ben Ali and Mubarak , Libya 's Moamer Kadhafi , Yemen 's Ali Abdullah Saleh and last year Sudan 's Omar al-Bashir were the other significant scalps claimed by the Arab revolutions .
The five of them combined a whopping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Saleh 's 12 years as president of North Yemen before the country ’ s unification in 1990 .
For a while , the collapse of the region 's autocracies looked unstoppable .
Yet the term `` Arab Spring '' itself , which started appearing in late January 2011 , is seldom used in Arab countries -- where the words for uprising and revolution are preferred -- and has since been criticised as a misnomer .
Noah Feldman 's 2019 book on the subject is entitled `` Arab Winter '' , a catchphrase that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ phrase `` Arab Spring '' caught on .
In a cover blurb for the book , prominent academic Michael Ignatieff says it highlights `` one of the most important events of our time : the tragic failure of the Arab Spring '' .
The vacuum created by the downfall of reviled regimes was not filled by the democratic reforms protesters had been calling for , instead in many cases turmoil ensued .
In Egypt , a brief and exhilarating experience in self-rule was soon soured by brutal police repression .
In 2012 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whose programme was met with fierce opposition from part of the protest camp , paving the way for a 2013 coup by the defence minister .
Retired general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is still in power today and his rule is arguably more autocratic than Mubarak 's ever was .
The disappointment within the original protest camp was bitter .
Ahdaf Soueif 's hope from the heady days of February 2011 now seems a long-faded mirage .
`` I never imagined that my nephew , Alaa Abd el-Fattah , would still be in prison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` Or that poverty would be at an all-time high ... or that Egypt , for the first time in its history , should become a land its young want to leave . ''
In Bahrain , the only Gulf monarchy to experience mass protests , the uprising was brutally quashed with the help of Saudi Arabia , which preempted any revolutionary inclinations on its own soil with massive cash handouts .
Protests in civil war-scarred Algeria did not catch on , those in Morocco were doused with cosmetic reforms and repression through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ split into myriad militias that fragmented the country .
Yemen slid into a sectarian-fueled civil conflict .
But the place where the Arab Spring came to die was Syria .
Few of the region 's leaders could have seemed more difficult to unseat than Bashar al-Assad when 2011 started , but within weeks of the first protests , the writing was on the wall for the former London-based ophthalmologist .
Literally .
`` Your turn , doctor . ''
The words , inspired by the undoing of Ben Ali and Mubarak , were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ town of Daraa .
The teenagers guilty of such lese-majeste were swiftly detained and tortured , prompting a wave of angry protests for their release many point to as the spark for the nationwide uprising .
Assad 's turn never came however .
He weathered the storm , becoming the domino that did n't fall .
With the exception of Tunisia where there is now a fragile democracy , each of the revolution countries collapsed in their own way .
In Syria , the regime 's ultimately successful fight to the death killed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the graffiti boys , Moawiya Sayasina , told AFP in 2018 that the backlash was worse than he had ever imagined .
`` I 'm proud of what we did back then , but I never thought we 'd get to this point , that the regime would destroy us like this .
We thought we 'd get rid of it , '' he said .
As protest movements were brutally repressed and sectarian hatred ignited , jihadists -- in Syria and elsewhere -- found fertile ground .
`` It did n't take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to flicker out in the battle zones of Libya , Syria , and Yemen , '' author and journalist Robert F. Worth writes in `` A Rage for Order '' .
`` Under the convenient cover of street protests -- where they could travel without being recognised -- the jihadists were suddenly watching the collapse of the state in all three countries . ''
Their growth culminated with the 2014 proclamation by the Islamic State group of a `` caliphate '' roughly the size of Britain straddling Syria and Iraq .
The ultra-violence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the group 's ability to attract thousands of fighters from Europe and beyond instilled a fear in the West that wiped out the early pro-democracy enthusiasm .
The world 's focus shifted to the fight against terrorism and away from the removal of autocratic regimes , which quickly recast themselves as the last rampart against Islamic extremism .
The West , led by the US administration of Barack Obama , failed to see the Arab revolts coming , initially voicing support for protesters .
But they stopped short of direct intervention , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raids which dislodged Kadhafi in Libya .
`` The central political meaning of the Arab Spring and its aftermath is that it featured Arabic-speaking people acting essentially on their own , as full-fledged , independent makers of their own history and of global history more broadly , '' Feldman writes .
The West moved away from its decades of support to some of the region 's dictatorships , but failed to follow up by backing an alternative .
A decade on , one would be hard-pressed to look at the Arab revolts as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has left the country in ruins and triggered the worst human displacement since World War II .
In Yemen , children are starving to death , and Libya has turned into a lawless and fragmented battleground for militias and their foreign sponsors in which democratic aspirations have been buried deep .
So what is left of the Arab Spring , if anything ?
Ahdaf Soueif argues it is still too early to tell what its legacy will be and that the revolts are still a work in progress .
`` The conditions under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ onwards led to revolt .
It was unavoidable .
It continues to be unavoidable , '' she said .
She and other activists are eager to shoot down the narrative that links the growth of radical Islam to the revolutions , stressing it was the counter-revolutions that fueled the kind of disenfranchisement and poverty jihadists feed on .
Soueif also rejected the suggestion that Egypt has reverted to what it was before 2011 and argued that `` people are now alive and alert '' in a new way .
`` Also , there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ big push forward .
Issues like women 's rights and LGBTQ rights -- their path is very rough , but they 're more visible , they 've elbowed their way into a fraction more space , '' she said .
A fresh wave of protests demanding transparency and democratic reform broke out last year in Sudan , Algeria , Iraq and Lebanon .
The same slogans echoed again , confirming that the spirit of 2011 was still alive and a source of inspiration for the region 's youth .
For Arshin Adib-Moghaddam , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oriental and African Studies , the core demands of the protests are still bubbling under the surface and `` will boil over at the next opportunity like a political tsunami '' .
`` The people of the region set a new yardstick for the politics and governance that they demand .
Since then , all politics has been measured against those demands , '' said Adib-Moghaddam , who authored `` On the Arab revolts and the Iranian revolution : Power and resistance today '' .
`` Any state that does n't understand this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' he said .
History shows that revolutions can take many , often troubled , years to yield results but the less visible changes that occur among those who took part are not easily reversed .
Alaa al-Aswany , arguably Egypt 's best-known living novelist and a central character of the commune-like scene that briefly camped out on Cairo 's Tahrir square , likes to say that `` revolution is like falling in love , it makes you a better person . ''
Lina Mounzer , who since those days has lived @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , concurs that whatever comes next , the way people view their leaders , the rest of the world and perhaps more importantly themselves has been durably affected .
`` We have lived so long in a world that has tried to instill in us the idea that communitarian thinking is suspect and that individualism is synonymous with freedom .
It 's not .
Dignity is synonymous with freedom , '' she said .
`` This is what the Arab Spring , in its early , idealistic days , not only taught us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with that lesson -- bury it or build on it -- is something that remains to be seen , '' said Mounzer .
`` But I can never wish us back into a world before its emergence . ''
Tunisia 's `` Jasmine Revolution '' is often held up as an example of how the Arab revolts can indeed be successful .
The bloodletting was contained , politicians and citizens alike stayed mostly clear of tactics that could divide the nation , the dominant Islamist party Ennahdha made a relatively smooth transition to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ failure of Egypt and the disaster of Syria , however , Tunisia looks like an extreme outlier in the broader , regional phenomenon that it started , '' Feldman writes .
While the small North African country clearly fared better than others , the dividends of the revolt are still not obvious .
Speaking to AFP a few blocks away from where it all began , opposite the square in Sidi Bouzid where a sculpture of Bouazizi 's street cart was erected , Achref Ajmi is disenchanted .
Ben Ali is gone , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic situation has not improved .
`` The slogan of the revolution was 'work , freedom , national dignity ' .
We have n't seen any of it , '' the 21-year-old said .
`` There are no jobs . ''

Beirut (AFP) –
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Ten years ago, a wildfire of revolts in the Arab world touched off an unlikely series of events that swelled, then dashed many hopes, and irrevocably changed the region.
From the quickfire collapse of seemingly invincible regimes to the rise and fall of a jihadist caliphate in its heart, the Middle East hurtled through the 21st century's second decade in a state of relentless upheaval.
The chain of uprisings that shook the region from late 2010 and was soon dubbed the "Arab Spring" led to disparate long-term outcomes, with many countries today looking worse off.
The popular protests that erupted in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen a decade ago were followed by disappointing reforms at best, dictatorial backlash or all-out conflict at worst.
Yet the spirit of the revolts is far from dead, as evidenced by the second wave of uprisings that caught on in Sudan, Algeria, Iraq and Lebanon eight years later.
Something "in the fabric of reality itself" has changed since then, said Lina Mounzer, a Lebanese author and translator whose family has roots in both Egypt and Syria.
"I don't know that there is anything more moving or noble than a people demanding a life of dignity in a single voice," she added.
"It proves that such a thing is possible, that people can revolt against the worst despots, that there is enough courage in people standing and working together to face down entire armies."
- Tunisia spark -
It all started on December 17, 2010 when a young street vendor, goaded by years of police harassment, doused himself with fuel in front of the governor's office in the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid and set himself on fire.
Mohamed Bouazizi's was not the first self-immolation in the region, or even in Tunisia, but it sparked a rage never seen before. Nor was his story caught on camera -- but it went viral nonetheless.
By the time Bouazizi died of his wounds on January 4, the protest movement against President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had been in power for 23 years, had spread to the entire country.
Ten days later, Ben Ali was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia. Within weeks, pro-democracy protests broke out in Egypt, Libya and Yemen.
It was when the rage spilled into the streets of Cairo, the region's largest city and its historical political crucible, that the contagion earned its "Arab Spring" moniker.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Egypt to shout their democratic aspirations and demand the removal of Hosni Mubarak, president since 1981.
It's hard to overstate the sense of hope and euphoria that these images projected across the region and the rest of the world.
- Groundswell of hope -
"Look at the streets of Egypt tonight; this is what hope looks like," celebrated Egyptian author Ahdaf Soueif wrote in The Guardian at the time.
The voice of the people was rising as one, not just in one country but across the region, toppling some of the planet's most entrenched dictatorships.
One sentence that will go down as the slogan of the Arab Spring rippled across the region: "Al-shaab yureed isqat al-nizam" -- Arabic for "The people want the downfall of the regime".
These words were both a primal scream giving courage to a generation that never knew it had so much and a kind of incantation that, if repeated long enough, would miraculously free the people.
A new paradigm was being born for the Middle East with the realisation that its tyrants were not ten foot tall and that change could come from within.
Author Lina Mounzer remembers how the early days shattered the sense of "Arab defeat" that weighed on two generations after the death of Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser and his pan-Arab nationalistic project.
"There was a sense that we Arabs were somehow too lazy and tired to rise up against oppression, that we accepted the rule of dictators and despots because we were fundamentally flawed, or else had been shaped into beasts of burden by colonialism and Western meddling," she told AFP.
- Unthinkable -
The unthinkable happened on February 11, 2011, when it was announced that Mubarak was resigning.
"The night that Mubarak fell I cried with joy. I couldn't believe how brave and beautiful were the Egyptian people. It seemed like the dawn of a new era," Mounzer recalled.
"And then, Syria. If I thought I was happy for Egypt, surprised by Egypt, I was ecstatic for Syria... It felt like my parents' Arab nationalist dreams were finally being realised... through the force and will of the people themselves."
Six months before being murdered in Istanbul, Saudi author and dissident Jamal Khashoggi argued the revolts once and for all put paid to the notion that Arabs and democracy were a mismatch.
"The debate about the relationship between Islam and democracy conclusively ended with the coming of the Arab Spring," he said in a 2018 speech.
Besides Ben Ali and Mubarak, Libya's Moamer Kadhafi, Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh and last year Sudan's Omar al-Bashir were the other significant scalps claimed by the Arab revolutions.
The five of them combined a whopping 146 years of rule, not counting Saleh's 12 years as president of North Yemen before the country’s unification in 1990.
--- Ben Ali 1987 - 2011
--- Mubarak 1981 - 2011
--- Kadhafi 1969 - 2011
--- Saleh 1990 - 2012
--- Bashir 1989 - 2019
For a while, the collapse of the region's autocracies looked unstoppable.
- 'Arab Winter' -
Yet the term "Arab Spring" itself, which started appearing in late January 2011, is seldom used in Arab countries -- where the words for uprising and revolution are preferred -- and has since been criticised as a misnomer.
Noah Feldman's 2019 book on the subject is entitled "Arab Winter", a catchphrase that started being used almost immediately after the phrase "Arab Spring" caught on.
In a cover blurb for the book, prominent academic Michael Ignatieff says it highlights "one of the most important events of our time: the tragic failure of the Arab Spring".
The vacuum created by the downfall of reviled regimes was not filled by the democratic reforms protesters had been calling for, instead in many cases turmoil ensued.
In Egypt, a brief and exhilarating experience in self-rule was soon soured by brutal police repression.
In 2012, Egyptians elected Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist whose programme was met with fierce opposition from part of the protest camp, paving the way for a 2013 coup by the defence minister.
Retired general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is still in power today and his rule is arguably more autocratic than Mubarak's ever was.
The disappointment within the original protest camp was bitter. Ahdaf Soueif's hope from the heady days of February 2011 now seems a long-faded mirage.
"I never imagined that my nephew, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, would still be in prison today," she told AFP. "Or that poverty would be at an all-time high... or that Egypt, for the first time in its history, should become a land its young want to leave."
- Backlash -
In Bahrain, the only Gulf monarchy to experience mass protests, the uprising was brutally quashed with the help of Saudi Arabia, which preempted any revolutionary inclinations on its own soil with massive cash handouts.
Protests in civil war-scarred Algeria did not catch on, those in Morocco were doused with cosmetic reforms and repression through the courts.
Libya's erstwhile revolutionaries split into myriad militias that fragmented the country. Yemen slid into a sectarian-fueled civil conflict.
But the place where the Arab Spring came to die was Syria.
Few of the region's leaders could have seemed more difficult to unseat than Bashar al-Assad when 2011 started, but within weeks of the first protests, the writing was on the wall for the former London-based ophthalmologist. Literally.
"Your turn, doctor." The words, inspired by the undoing of Ben Ali and Mubarak, were spray-painted on a wall in the southern town of Daraa.
The teenagers guilty of such lese-majeste were swiftly detained and tortured, prompting a wave of angry protests for their release many point to as the spark for the nationwide uprising.
Assad's turn never came however. He weathered the storm, becoming the domino that didn't fall.
With the exception of Tunisia where there is now a fragile democracy, each of the revolution countries collapsed in their own way. In Syria, the regime's ultimately successful fight to the death killed more than 380,000 people.
- Jihadist diversion-
One of the graffiti boys, Moawiya Sayasina, told AFP in 2018 that the backlash was worse than he had ever imagined.
"I'm proud of what we did back then, but I never thought we'd get to this point, that the regime would destroy us like this. We thought we'd get rid of it," he said.
As protest movements were brutally repressed and sectarian hatred ignited, jihadists -- in Syria and elsewhere -- found fertile ground.
"It didn't take long for the protesters' non-violent ethos to flicker out in the battle zones of Libya, Syria, and Yemen," author and journalist Robert F. Worth writes in "A Rage for Order".
"Under the convenient cover of street protests -- where they could travel without being recognised -- the jihadists were suddenly watching the collapse of the state in all three countries."
Their growth culminated with the 2014 proclamation by the Islamic State group of a "caliphate" roughly the size of Britain straddling Syria and Iraq.
The ultra-violence that IS craftily propagated on social media and the group's ability to attract thousands of fighters from Europe and beyond instilled a fear in the West that wiped out the early pro-democracy enthusiasm.
The world's focus shifted to the fight against terrorism and away from the removal of autocratic regimes, which quickly recast themselves as the last rampart against Islamic extremism.
- Ravaged region -
The West, led by the US administration of Barack Obama, failed to see the Arab revolts coming, initially voicing support for protesters. But they stopped short of direct intervention, with the exception of the controversial NATO-led raids which dislodged Kadhafi in Libya.
"The central political meaning of the Arab Spring and its aftermath is that it featured Arabic-speaking people acting essentially on their own, as full-fledged, independent makers of their own history and of global history more broadly," Feldman writes.
The West moved away from its decades of support to some of the region's dictatorships, but failed to follow up by backing an alternative.
A decade on, one would be hard-pressed to look at the Arab revolts as a success.
The conflict in Syria has left the country in ruins and triggered the worst human displacement since World War II.
In Yemen, children are starving to death, and Libya has turned into a lawless and fragmented battleground for militias and their foreign sponsors in which democratic aspirations have been buried deep.
- Work in progress -
So what is left of the Arab Spring, if anything?
Ahdaf Soueif argues it is still too early to tell what its legacy will be and that the revolts are still a work in progress.
"The conditions under which people had lived from the mid-70s onwards led to revolt. It was unavoidable. It continues to be unavoidable," she said.
She and other activists are eager to shoot down the narrative that links the growth of radical Islam to the revolutions, stressing it was the counter-revolutions that fueled the kind of disenfranchisement and poverty jihadists feed on.
Soueif also rejected the suggestion that Egypt has reverted to what it was before 2011 and argued that "people are now alive and alert" in a new way.
"Also, there's a social revolution that got a big push forward. Issues like women's rights and LGBTQ rights -- their path is very rough, but they're more visible, they've elbowed their way into a fraction more space," she said.
A fresh wave of protests demanding transparency and democratic reform broke out last year in Sudan, Algeria, Iraq and Lebanon.
The same slogans echoed again, confirming that the spirit of 2011 was still alive and a source of inspiration for the region's youth.
- 'Tsunami' -
For Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, a professor at London's School of Oriental and African Studies, the core demands of the protests are still bubbling under the surface and "will boil over at the next opportunity like a political tsunami".
"The people of the region set a new yardstick for the politics and governance that they demand. Since then, all politics has been measured against those demands," said Adib-Moghaddam, who authored "On the Arab revolts and the Iranian revolution: Power and resistance today".
"Any state that doesn't understand this new reality is bound to be confronted," he said.
History shows that revolutions can take many, often troubled, years to yield results but the less visible changes that occur among those who took part are not easily reversed.
Alaa al-Aswany, arguably Egypt's best-known living novelist and a central character of the commune-like scene that briefly camped out on Cairo's Tahrir square, likes to say that "revolution is like falling in love, it makes you a better person."
Lina Mounzer, who since those days has lived through Lebanon's own revolt in 2019, concurs that whatever comes next, the way people view their leaders, the rest of the world and perhaps more importantly themselves has been durably affected.
"We have lived so long in a world that has tried to instill in us the idea that communitarian thinking is suspect and that individualism is synonymous with freedom. It's not. Dignity is synonymous with freedom," she said.
- What lessons? -
"This is what the Arab Spring, in its early, idealistic days, not only taught us, but confirmed... What we do with that lesson -- bury it or build on it -- is something that remains to be seen," said Mounzer.
"But I can never wish us back into a world before its emergence."
Tunisia's "Jasmine Revolution" is often held up as an example of how the Arab revolts can indeed be successful.
The bloodletting was contained, politicians and citizens alike stayed mostly clear of tactics that could divide the nation, the dominant Islamist party Ennahdha made a relatively smooth transition to consensus politics.
"Contrasted with the failure of Egypt and the disaster of Syria, however, Tunisia looks like an extreme outlier in the broader, regional phenomenon that it started," Feldman writes.
While the small North African country clearly fared better than others, the dividends of the revolt are still not obvious.
Speaking to AFP a few blocks away from where it all began, opposite the square in Sidi Bouzid where a sculpture of Bouazizi's street cart was erected, Achref Ajmi is disenchanted.
Ben Ali is gone, the country has held together but the economic situation has not improved.
"The slogan of the revolution was 'work, freedom, national dignity'. We haven't seen any of it," the 21-year-old said.
"There are no jobs."
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-11-23--England rugby coach Jones lapping up Liverpool lessons

Eddie Jones is a well-known cricket fan but the England rugby coach has been looking to Premier League football champions Liverpool in a quest to improve his Six Nations kings .
England made it two pool victories out of two in the Autumn Nations Cup with an 18-7 success against Ireland on Saturday .
That win saw Jonny May grab two tries , with the England wing 's second , a stunning length of the field score , up there with the very best witnessed at Twickenham .
But that remarkable effort started when a stray Ireland line-out throw was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ball found its way to dashing wing May .
Going from defence to attack -- or transitioning -- is a skill Jones is trying to hone with England after studying the methods of Liverpool .
Jones has even met with Liverpool analyst Ian Graham in a bid to add some Anfield nous into his Red Rose set-up .
`` Transitional parts are so important , '' said Jones , currently reading 'Believe Us ' , a book about Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp 's time on Merseyside .
`` It 's a pretty exciting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to see that try where we shifted the ball quickly to the outside and then it was a leg race .
There are not too many people in the world who can beat Jonny in a leg race .
`` Liverpool , and I think most football sides , are very advanced in being able to measure the movement of the players off the ball .
`` So we 're starting to get some measurements .
We 're in nursery school now whereas Liverpool are doing their PhD at Oxford . ''
May @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tests for England , leaving him joint-second on their all-time list of try-scorers alongside Ben Cohen and Will Greenwood .
But ex-England wing Rory Underwood , a mainstay from the mid-1980s to the mid 1990s , remains out in front with 49 tries in 85 Tests .
But with May , like Underwood , scoring at a rate of a try every two England appearances , Jones believes the 30-year-old ought to surpass his wing predecessor 's all-time England record .
`` I do n't see why he ca n't reach that total @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will complete their Nations Cup Pool B programme away to Wales in Llanelli .
`` He 's only going to get better and better .
I think he 's going to be at his best when he 's about 32 , 33 .
`` He 's 30 now so there 's no reason why he ca n't keep scoring tries and being one of our most important players . ''
The veteran Australian coach , formerly in charge of his native Wallabies and Japan , has seen plenty of wings but believes May @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's an incredible rugby player .
What I 've seen in that boy in the time I 've been lucky enough to coach him has been outstanding , '' said Jones , who recently celebrated his fifth anniversary in charge of England .
`` I 've never seen a more professional player .
He continues to get better , he gets faster , stronger , more elusive and his work off the ball is exceptional .
He 's always looking for ways to get quicker . ''

Twickenham (United Kingdom) (AFP) –
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Eddie Jones is a well-known cricket fan but the England rugby coach has been looking to Premier League football champions Liverpool in a quest to improve his Six Nations kings.
England made it two pool victories out of two in the Autumn Nations Cup with an 18-7 success against Ireland on Saturday.
That win saw Jonny May grab two tries, with the England wing's second, a stunning length of the field score, up there with the very best witnessed at Twickenham.
But that remarkable effort started when a stray Ireland line-out throw was collected by lock Maro Itoje before the ball found its way to dashing wing May.
Going from defence to attack -- or transitioning -- is a skill Jones is trying to hone with England after studying the methods of Liverpool.
Jones has even met with Liverpool analyst Ian Graham in a bid to add some Anfield nous into his Red Rose set-up.
"Transitional parts are so important," said Jones, currently reading 'Believe Us', a book about Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp's time on Merseyside.
"It's a pretty exciting area for us and it's pleasing to see that try where we shifted the ball quickly to the outside and then it was a leg race. There are not too many people in the world who can beat Jonny in a leg race.
"Liverpool, and I think most football sides, are very advanced in being able to measure the movement of the players off the ball.
"So we're starting to get some measurements. We're in nursery school now whereas Liverpool are doing their PhD at Oxford."
- 'Incredible May' -
May has now scored 31 tries in 59 Tests for England, leaving him joint-second on their all-time list of try-scorers alongside Ben Cohen and Will Greenwood.
But ex-England wing Rory Underwood, a mainstay from the mid-1980s to the mid 1990s, remains out in front with 49 tries in 85 Tests.
But with May, like Underwood, scoring at a rate of a try every two England appearances, Jones believes the 30-year-old ought to surpass his wing predecessor's all-time England record.
"I don't see why he can't reach that total," said Jones, whose side will complete their Nations Cup Pool B programme away to Wales in Llanelli.
"He's only going to get better and better. I think he's going to be at his best when he's about 32, 33.
"He's 30 now so there's no reason why he can't keep scoring tries and being one of our most important players."
The veteran Australian coach, formerly in charge of his native Wallabies and Japan, has seen plenty of wings but believes May is a special talent.
"He's an incredible rugby player. What I've seen in that boy in the time I've been lucky enough to coach him has been outstanding," said Jones, who recently celebrated his fifth anniversary in charge of England.
"I've never seen a more professional player. He continues to get better, he gets faster, stronger, more elusive and his work off the ball is exceptional. He's always looking for ways to get quicker."
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-11-23--More protests in Brazil after black man killed by supermarket security guards

Demonstrators hold a banner reading `` Black Lives Matter '' during a protest against racism in Porto Alegre , in Sao Goncalo near Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , November 22 , 2020 .
New demonstrations against racism took place Sunday outside Carrefour supermarkets in Brazil to protest the death of a black man beaten to death by white guards at a Porto Alegre store branch .
A video taken Thursday night in the southern city showed 40-year-old welder Joao Alberto Silveira Freitas repeatedly being punched in the face and head by a security guard while he is being restrained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The clip quickly went viral on social media , and triggered a first round of demonstrations on Friday as the country marked Black Consciousness Day .
More protests were held on Saturday , when Silveira Freitas was buried .
In Rio de Janeiro on Sunday , around 100 protesters gathered at a shopping center where one of the French group 's supermarkets is located , AFP journalists reported .
Other protests brought drew several dozen people demanding a boycott of Carrefour in various parts of the country , such as Salvador de Bahia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reading `` Murderous Carrefour '' and `` Black Lives Matter , '' using the slogan prominent in the United States during demonstrations against recent police killings of minorities .
In a series of tweets in Portuguese on Friday , Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard expressed his condolences over the `` horrible act '' and said that the images were `` unbearable '' .
He also ordered `` a complete review of training for employees and outsourced personnel in matters of safety , respect for diversity '' and `` rejection of intolerance . ''
Djefferson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Black People , who was demonstrating on Sunday in Rio , however said `` we no longer accept those apologies .
They have promised us measures , but so far we have not seen anything . ''
`` We are not going to shut up while they continue to kill our people , '' said Thais dos Santos , 23 .
`` This shows that racism is still very present in Brazil , not only in the supermarket , but also in the favelas , '' he added , referring to Rio @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in his speech at a virtual G20 summit , President Jair Bolsonaro once again downplayed structural racism in Brazil , a country where around 55 percent of its population of 212 million identifies as black or mixed-race .
The far-right leader condemned `` those who want to sow conflict and discord '' by trying to `` import '' tensions into the country `` that are not part of its history . ''

New demonstrations against racism took place Sunday outside Carrefour supermarkets in Brazil to protest the death of a black man beaten to death by white guards at a Porto Alegre store branch.
Demonstrators hold a banner reading "Black Lives Matter" during a protest against racism in Porto Alegre, in Sao Goncalo near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 22, 2020.
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A video taken Thursday night in the southern city showed 40-year-old welder Joao Alberto Silveira Freitas repeatedly being punched in the face and head by a security guard while he is being restrained by another at a Carrefour market.
The clip quickly went viral on social media, and triggered a first round of demonstrations on Friday as the country marked Black Consciousness Day.
More protests were held on Saturday, when Silveira Freitas was buried.
In Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, around 100 protesters gathered at a shopping center where one of the French group's supermarkets is located, AFP journalists reported.
Other protests brought drew several dozen people demanding a boycott of Carrefour in various parts of the country, such as Salvador de Bahia or Santos.
Rio protesters carried banners reading "Murderous Carrefour" and "Black Lives Matter," using the slogan prominent in the United States during demonstrations against recent police killings of minorities.
In a series of tweets in Portuguese on Friday, Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard expressed his condolences over the "horrible act" and said that the images were "unbearable".
He also ordered "a complete review of training for employees and outsourced personnel in matters of safety, respect for diversity" and "rejection of intolerance."
Djefferson Amadeus of the Institute for the Defense of Black People, who was demonstrating on Sunday in Rio, however said "we no longer accept those apologies. They have promised us measures, but so far we have not seen anything."
Other protesters echoed his concerns.
"We are not going to shut up while they continue to kill our people," said Thais dos Santos, 23.
"This shows that racism is still very present in Brazil, not only in the supermarket, but also in the favelas," he added, referring to Rio's poor districts.
On Saturday, in his speech at a virtual G20 summit, President Jair Bolsonaro once again downplayed structural racism in Brazil, a country where around 55 percent of its population of 212 million identifies as black or mixed-race.
The far-right leader condemned "those who want to sow conflict and discord" by trying to "import" tensions into the country "that are not part of its history."
(AFP)
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france24--2020-11-22--Henry powers Titans to come-from-behind OT win over Ravens

Derrick Henry delivered another stellar performance , rushing for the winning touchdown in overtime as the Tennessee Titans rallied to beat the Baltimore Ravens 30-24 in a testy NFL affair between the AFC division rivals on Sunday .
Henry capped the scoring with a 29-yard touchdown romp with 5:21 left in the extra session as the Titans stormed back from a 21-10 third quarter deficit in front of a pandemic-limited crowd of 21,000 at M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore , Maryland .
“ I try to do anything I can when the ball ’ s in my hand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Henry said .
Henry carried the ball 28 times for 133 yards to record his sixth 100 yard game of the season .
He also surpassed 1,000 total rushing yards for the third straight year .
In January , Henry ran roughshod over the top-seeded Ravens , finishing with 195 yards in the AFC Divisional playoff game .
There was a heated exchange before the game which was sparked by Tennessee 's apparent invasion of the Ravens ' space during the warmup .
Baltimore coach John Harbaugh took exception to the Titans ' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at midfield and Harbaugh and Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel ended up exchanging words .
“ We kind of knew there was going to be some extra stuff coming into this game because of last year , '' Titans wide receiver Corey Davis said .
“ We tried to keep our poise and go out there and handle business.
” Tennessee improved to 7-3 on the season and have now won two of their last five games .
`` You could just kind of tell as the game wore on to the fourth quarter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' Titans coach Vrabel said .
The first possession of overtime began with the Titans forcing the Ravens to punt .
Tennessee then moved 73 yards on six plays to win the game .
The Ravens , who were missing defensive linemen Calais Campbell and Brandon Williams with injuries , have lost two straight and three of four .
Elsewhere , Ben Roethlisberger threw for two touchdowns and 267 yards as the Pittsburgh Steelers continued their best start in franchise history with a 27-3 thrashing of the Jacksonville Jaguars in Florida .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ unbeaten team by winning their 10th straight to sit atop the AFC North .
Terrell Edmunds and Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted two passes each against Jaguars rookie quarterback Jake Luton .
Roethlisberger connected on 2 of 46 passes with touchdown throws to Canadian Chase Claypool and Eric Ebron .
Diontae Johnson had 12 catches for 111 yards for the Steelers , who had to overcome a slow start Sunday .
Luton was 16 of 37 for 151 yards for the Jaguars , who dropped to 1-9 and tied a single-season franchise record by losing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hill rushed for two touchdowns and passed for 233 yards in his first NFL start at quarterback , and New Orleans defeated visiting Atlanta 24-9 for its seventh straight victory .
Hill was given the start after the 41-year-old starting quarterback Drew Brees was sidelined with 11 fractured ribs and a collapsed lung .

Los Angeles (AFP) –
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Derrick Henry delivered another stellar performance, rushing for the winning touchdown in overtime as the Tennessee Titans rallied to beat the Baltimore Ravens 30-24 in a testy NFL affair between the AFC division rivals on Sunday.
Henry capped the scoring with a 29-yard touchdown romp with 5:21 left in the extra session as the Titans stormed back from a 21-10 third quarter deficit in front of a pandemic-limited crowd of 21,000 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.
“I try to do anything I can when the ball’s in my hand to help our team win,” Henry said.
Henry carried the ball 28 times for 133 yards to record his sixth 100 yard game of the season. He also surpassed 1,000 total rushing yards for the third straight year.
In January, Henry ran roughshod over the top-seeded Ravens, finishing with 195 yards in the AFC Divisional playoff game.
There was a heated exchange before the game which was sparked by Tennessee's apparent invasion of the Ravens' space during the warmup. Baltimore coach John Harbaugh took exception to the Titans' players congregating on the Ravens' logo at midfield and Harbaugh and Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel ended up exchanging words.
“We kind of knew there was going to be some extra stuff coming into this game because of last year," Titans wide receiver Corey Davis said. “We tried to keep our poise and go out there and handle business.”
Tennessee improved to 7-3 on the season and have now won two of their last five games.
"You could just kind of tell as the game wore on to the fourth quarter that we were wearing on them offensively," Titans coach Vrabel said.
The first possession of overtime began with the Titans forcing the Ravens to punt. Tennessee then moved 73 yards on six plays to win the game.
The Ravens, who were missing defensive linemen Calais Campbell and Brandon Williams with injuries, have lost two straight and three of four.
Elsewhere, Ben Roethlisberger threw for two touchdowns and 267 yards as the Pittsburgh Steelers continued their best start in franchise history with a 27-3 thrashing of the Jacksonville Jaguars in Florida.
The Steelers remained the NFL's lone unbeaten team by winning their 10th straight to sit atop the AFC North.
Terrell Edmunds and Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted two passes each against Jaguars rookie quarterback Jake Luton.
Roethlisberger connected on 2 of 46 passes with touchdown throws to Canadian Chase Claypool and Eric Ebron. Diontae Johnson had 12 catches for 111 yards for the Steelers, who had to overcome a slow start Sunday.
Luton was 16 of 37 for 151 yards for the Jaguars, who dropped to 1-9 and tied a single-season franchise record by losing their ninth straight.
Also, Taysom Hill rushed for two touchdowns and passed for 233 yards in his first NFL start at quarterback, and New Orleans defeated visiting Atlanta 24-9 for its seventh straight victory.
Hill was given the start after the 41-year-old starting quarterback Drew Brees was sidelined with 11 fractured ribs and a collapsed lung.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-11-22--Guatemala : anti-government demonstrations in the country

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france24--2020-11-22--Brazil sees more protests after black man killed by security guards

Relatives and friends of Joao Alberto Silveira Freitas , who died after being beaten by white security agents in a supermarket belonging to the Carrefour group , attend his funeral in Porto Alegre , Brazil New demonstrations against racism took place Sunday outside Carrefour supermarkets in Brazil to protest the death of a black man beaten to death by white guards at a Porto Alegre store branch .
A video taken Thursday night in the southern city showed 40-year-old welder Joao Alberto Silveira Freitas repeatedly being punched in the face and head by a security guard while he is being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The clip quickly went viral on social media , and triggered a first round of demonstrations on Friday as the country marked Black Consciousness Day .
More protests were held on Saturday , when Silveira Freitas was buried .
In Rio de Janeiro on Sunday , around 100 protesters gathered at a shopping center where one of the French group 's supermarkets is located , AFP journalists reported .
Other protests brought drew several dozen people demanding a boycott of Carrefour in various parts of the country , such as Salvador de @ @ @ @ @ @ @ banners reading `` Murderous Carrefour '' and `` Black Lives Matter , '' using the slogan prominent in the United States during demonstrations against recent police killings of minorities .
In a series of tweets in Portuguese on Friday , Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard expressed his condolences over the `` horrible act '' and said that the images were `` unbearable '' .
He also ordered `` a complete review of training for employees and outsourced personnel in matters of safety , respect for diversity '' and `` rejection of intolerance . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Defense of Black People , who was demonstrating on Sunday in Rio , however said `` we no longer accept those apologies .
They have promised us measures , but so far we have not seen anything . ''
`` We are not going to shut up while they continue to kill our people , '' said Thais dos Santos , 23 .
`` This shows that racism is still very present in Brazil , not only in the supermarket , but also in the favelas , '' he added , referring to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in his speech at a virtual G20 summit , President Jair Bolsonaro once again downplayed structural racism in Brazil , a country where around 55 percent of its population of 212 million identifies as black or mixed-race .
The far-right leader condemned `` those who want to sow conflict and discord '' by trying to `` import '' tensions into the country `` that are not part of its history . ''

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New demonstrations against racism took place Sunday outside Carrefour supermarkets in Brazil to protest the death of a black man beaten to death by white guards at a Porto Alegre store branch.
A video taken Thursday night in the southern city showed 40-year-old welder Joao Alberto Silveira Freitas repeatedly being punched in the face and head by a security guard while he is being restrained by another at a Carrefour market.
The clip quickly went viral on social media, and triggered a first round of demonstrations on Friday as the country marked Black Consciousness Day.
More protests were held on Saturday, when Silveira Freitas was buried.
In Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, around 100 protesters gathered at a shopping center where one of the French group's supermarkets is located, AFP journalists reported.
Other protests brought drew several dozen people demanding a boycott of Carrefour in various parts of the country, such as Salvador de Bahia or Santos.
Rio protesters carried banners reading "Murderous Carrefour" and "Black Lives Matter," using the slogan prominent in the United States during demonstrations against recent police killings of minorities.
In a series of tweets in Portuguese on Friday, Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard expressed his condolences over the "horrible act" and said that the images were "unbearable".
He also ordered "a complete review of training for employees and outsourced personnel in matters of safety, respect for diversity" and "rejection of intolerance."
Djefferson Amadeus of the Institute for the Defense of Black People, who was demonstrating on Sunday in Rio, however said "we no longer accept those apologies. They have promised us measures, but so far we have not seen anything."
Other protesters echoed his concerns.
"We are not going to shut up while they continue to kill our people," said Thais dos Santos, 23.
"This shows that racism is still very present in Brazil, not only in the supermarket, but also in the favelas," he added, referring to Rio's poor districts.
On Saturday, in his speech at a virtual G20 summit, President Jair Bolsonaro once again downplayed structural racism in Brazil, a country where around 55 percent of its population of 212 million identifies as black or mixed-race.
The far-right leader condemned "those who want to sow conflict and discord" by trying to "import" tensions into the country "that are not part of its history."
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-11-22--Three talking points from the Premier League

Title challengers ?
Son Heung-min 's form has Tottenham dreaming of a first league title since 1961 Tottenham bolstered their Premier League title credentials and raised fresh doubts over Manchester City 's challenge with a 2-0 win in the latest battle between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola to end the weekend on top of the table .
Chelsea also enjoyed moving top for a few hours for the first time in Frank Lampard 's time in charge with a dominant 2-0 win at Newcastle , but the Londoners still face a huge challenge to take Liverpool 's crown as English @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deprived Jurgen Klopp of eight first-team regulars , the Reds cruised past Leicester 3-0 on Sunday to join Tottenham on 20 points at the summit .
AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from the Premier League this weekend : Liverpool were without the injured Virgil van Dijk , Joe Gomez , Trent Alexander-Arnold , Jordan Henderson , Thiago Alcantara , Xherdan Shaqiri and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain , plus top scorer Mohamed Salah due to a positive coronavirus test and still wiped the floor with the side that started the weekend top of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Van Dijk and Gomez have opened the door to a host of other potential title contenders , but on this evidence Liverpool remain the team to beat .
Players may come and go but the system and spirit instilled over five years by Jurgen Klopp remains the constant .
James Milner and Fabinho shone in unfamiliar roles in the back four , while Curtis Jones and Naby Keita grabbed their chance to start in midfield .
Up front , Diogo Jota continued his stunning start to life at Anfield and Roberto Firmino got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
With Salah , Henderson , Thiago and Alexander-Arnold among those due back in the coming weeks , the champions schedule also eases up with Brighton , Fulham , Crystal Palace , West Brom and Newcastle to come before the end of the year .
It was n't just the clinical attacking play , tactical maturity and the defensive solidity that caught Jose Mourinho 's eye in Tottenham 's win over City .
Outwitting his old rival Pep Guardiola is always a sweet moment for Mourinho , but the Tottenham boss did not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that served as a significant statement of intent for his team 's title chances .
It was the way spirited Tottenham ignored the fatigue from a draining international break to cope with the City threat that most impressed Mourinho .
`` Harry Kane is fantastic and he very much represents the spirit of the team .
Then you look to the other guys , '' Mourinho said .
`` ( Steven ) Bergwijn was n't ill , he was dying .
Sonny the same , then Lucas ( Moura ) comes and does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this spirit to be the DNA of the team we are closer to doing good things . ''
Timo Werner wasted a host of glorious chances in Chelsea 's win at Newcastle , but the Germany forward still finished as the man of the match in Lampard 's eyes .
Werner was a constant threat to the Newcastle defence with his potent combination of raw pace and intelligent movement .
After missing plenty of chances to land the knockout punch himself , Werner made amends with a blistering burst from the halfway line @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Abraham to slot home Chelsea 's second .
Werner already has eight goals for his new club and is delivering on his £45 million ( $ 59 million ) price tag as Chelsea 's £220 million spending spree has transformed Lampard 's men into title challengers .
`` I thought he was a real threat for us throughout .
You need players of that quality to win games , '' Lampard said .
`` The pace he travels with the ball is something special .
He was so unselfish and you rely on @ @ @ @ @ @ @

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Tottenham bolstered their Premier League title credentials and raised fresh doubts over Manchester City's challenge with a 2-0 win in the latest battle between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola to end the weekend on top of the table.
Chelsea also enjoyed moving top for a few hours for the first time in Frank Lampard's time in charge with a dominant 2-0 win at Newcastle, but the Londoners still face a huge challenge to take Liverpool's crown as English champions.
Despite an injury crisis that deprived Jurgen Klopp of eight first-team regulars, the Reds cruised past Leicester 3-0 on Sunday to join Tottenham on 20 points at the summit.
AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from the Premier League this weekend:
Liverpool still set the standard
Liverpool were without the injured Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara, Xherdan Shaqiri and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, plus top scorer Mohamed Salah due to a positive coronavirus test and still wiped the floor with the side that started the weekend top of the table.
Long-term defensive injuries to Van Dijk and Gomez have opened the door to a host of other potential title contenders, but on this evidence Liverpool remain the team to beat.
Players may come and go but the system and spirit instilled over five years by Jurgen Klopp remains the constant. James Milner and Fabinho shone in unfamiliar roles in the back four, while Curtis Jones and Naby Keita grabbed their chance to start in midfield.
Up front, Diogo Jota continued his stunning start to life at Anfield and Roberto Firmino got a much-needed goal to quieten his critics.
With Salah, Henderson, Thiago and Alexander-Arnold among those due back in the coming weeks, the champions schedule also eases up with Brighton, Fulham, Crystal Palace, West Brom and Newcastle to come before the end of the year.
Spurs spirit excites Mourinho
It wasn't just the clinical attacking play, tactical maturity and the defensive solidity that caught Jose Mourinho's eye in Tottenham's win over City.
Outwitting his old rival Pep Guardiola is always a sweet moment for Mourinho, but the Tottenham boss did not dwell on that aspect of a victory that served as a significant statement of intent for his team's title chances.
It was the way spirited Tottenham ignored the fatigue from a draining international break to cope with the City threat that most impressed Mourinho.
"Harry Kane is fantastic and he very much represents the spirit of the team. Then you look to the other guys," Mourinho said.
"(Steven) Bergwijn wasn't ill, he was dying. Sonny the same, then Lucas (Moura) comes and does the same.
"If we manage this spirit to be the DNA of the team we are closer to doing good things."
Turbo Timo impresses Lampard
Timo Werner wasted a host of glorious chances in Chelsea's win at Newcastle, but the Germany forward still finished as the man of the match in Lampard's eyes.
Werner was a constant threat to the Newcastle defence with his potent combination of raw pace and intelligent movement.
After missing plenty of chances to land the knockout punch himself, Werner made amends with a blistering burst from the halfway line before slipping a precise pass for Tammy Abraham to slot home Chelsea's second.
Werner already has eight goals for his new club and is delivering on his £45 million ($59 million) price tag as Chelsea's £220 million spending spree has transformed Lampard's men into title challengers.
"I thought he was a real threat for us throughout. You need players of that quality to win games," Lampard said.
"The pace he travels with the ball is something special. He was so unselfish and you rely on those players who are top-class."
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-11-22--'Howler for YouTube', 'Losing': Who said what this sporting weekend

Making a song and dance : Russian figure skater Elizaveta Tuktamysheva takes part in the Rostelecom Cup gala , a day after winning the women 's title Who said what this sporting weekend : '' It 's okay if people laugh a little - there 'll be a few YouTube clips and a few memes . ''
-- Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky after slicing a clearance kick into his own goal in the 2-1 win over Arminia Bielefeld in the German Bundesliga .
`` There 's a lot of flying fish jumping on the deck .
Some have even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When I can , I try to save them and put them back in the sea . ''
-- Yacht skipper Sebastien Simon taking part in the Vendee Globe as the race headed to the Cape of Good Hope .
`` I remember watching him in the 2015 World Cup and at one stage he was going to end up in Row K. Now he 's a serious finisher . ''
-- England coach Eddie Jones on Jonny May whose two tries helped secure an 18-7 win over Ireland in the Autumn Nations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 31 tries in 59 Tests .
`` It 's been busy and sad and stressful and not a lot of training .
So it 's been really hard to imagine being here again and racing and being on the podium . ''
-- US ski star Mikaela Shiffrin after finishing second in Saturday 's World Cup slalom at Levi in Finland .
It was her first appearance in 10 months and followed the death of her father during the last season .
`` Like any coach , I am responsible . ''
-- @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defeat to Atletico Madrid condemned his team to their worst league start since 1991/92 .
`` The Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Team and I have a long story together , and we shared a lot of unforgettable moments of my career and my life .
This GP was emotional because we 've been racing together for 15 years . ''
-- Seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi , 41 , who will race for the Yamaha satellite team next season .
`` We 're old enough and ugly enough now to realise we 've @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to be told a million times about it . ''
-- Scotland rugby captain Stuart Hogg after his late kick to touch went dead instead and prevented his team from a possible chance to go for a score-levelling try against France in the Autumn Nations Cup .
The French won 22-15 .
`` The boys were on fire . ''
-- Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp after the 3-0 win over Leicester allowed the Premier League champions to set a new club record of 64 unbeaten league games at Anfield .

Paris (AFP) –
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Who said what this sporting weekend:
"It's okay if people laugh a little - there'll be a few YouTube clips and a few memes."
-- Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky after slicing a clearance kick into his own goal in the 2-1 win over Arminia Bielefeld in the German Bundesliga.
"There's a lot of flying fish jumping on the deck. Some have even passed right next to my face! When I can, I try to save them and put them back in the sea."
-- Yacht skipper Sebastien Simon taking part in the Vendee Globe as the race headed to the Cape of Good Hope.
"I remember watching him in the 2015 World Cup and at one stage he was going to end up in Row K. Now he's a serious finisher."
-- England coach Eddie Jones on Jonny May whose two tries helped secure an 18-7 win over Ireland in the Autumn Nations Cup at Twickenham. May now has 31 tries in 59 Tests.
"It's been busy and sad and stressful and not a lot of training. So it's been really hard to imagine being here again and racing and being on the podium."
-- US ski star Mikaela Shiffrin after finishing second in Saturday's World Cup slalom at Levi in Finland. It was her first appearance in 10 months and followed the death of her father during the last season.
"Like any coach, I am responsible."
-- Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman after the 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid condemned his team to their worst league start since 1991/92.
"The Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Team and I have a long story together, and we shared a lot of unforgettable moments of my career and my life. This GP was emotional because we've been racing together for 15 years."
-- Seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi, 41, who will race for the Yamaha satellite team next season.
"We're old enough and ugly enough now to realise we've made a mistake. I don't need to be told a million times about it."
-- Scotland rugby captain Stuart Hogg after his late kick to touch went dead instead and prevented his team from a possible chance to go for a score-levelling try against France in the Autumn Nations Cup. The French won 22-15.
"The boys were on fire."
-- Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp after the 3-0 win over Leicester allowed the Premier League champions to set a new club record of 64 unbeaten league games at Anfield.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-11-22--G20 Summit: What solutions amid coronavirus crisis ?

Abdallah Yahya Al-Mouallimi , Saudi Arabia representative to the UN , is France 24 's guest to discuss the G20 @ @ @ @ @ .


france24--2020-11-22--Lille sink Lorient to revive pursuit of PSG

Turkish midfielder Yusuf Yazici ( L ) scored twice as Lille cut PSG 's lead in Ligue 1 to two points Turkey international Yusuf Yazici struck twice as Lille ended a three-game winless run in Ligue 1 with a 4-0 victory over Lorient that cut Paris Saint-Germain 's lead at the top to two points .
Yazici slotted home from a Jonathan Bamba pass to put Lille ahead on 28 minutes before flicking in a Jonathan David cross to double the advantage early in the second half .
The midfielder then turned provider for Luiz Araujo to add a third @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jonathan David notching his long-awaited first goal for the club in the closing stages .
It has been a slow start to life in France for David , who was one of the biggest signings made by a Ligue 1 club in the summer as Lille paid a reported 27 million euros ( $ 32 million ) to recruit the 20-year-old Canada forward from Belgian side Gent .
Christophe Galtier 's side reclaimed second place from Lyon , who beat Angers 1-0 earlier in the day courtesy of a late winner from Zimbabwe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4-3 in a dramatic match to join Lyon and Monaco on 20 points , four adrift of PSG .
Defending champions PSG blew a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at Monaco on Friday and hand the chasing pack the chance to close the gap .
Lyon , semi-finalists in last season 's Champions League , took advantage , but needed an 80th-minute winner from Kadewere .
`` We came to win and take second and we did it , '' said Lyon coach Rudi Garcia .
`` It was n't our best game @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had lots of chances but did n't win , so that balances it out . ''
The 24-year-old Kadewere , a close-season arrival from second-tier outfit Le Havre , has scored four Ligue 1 goals this term .
Montpellier , the 2012 champions , led 2-0 through early goals from Pedro Mendes and Andy Delort , but Strasbourg hit back with a brace of penalties from Kenny Lala and Habib Diallo .
Former Wigan Athletic striker Delort restored the hosts ' advantage , and although Ludovic Ajorque levelled on the stroke of half-time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ midway through the second period .
Sixth-placed Marseille are only six points off the pace with two games in hand .

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Turkey international Yusuf Yazici struck twice as Lille ended a three-game winless run in Ligue 1 with a 4-0 victory over Lorient that cut Paris Saint-Germain's lead at the top to two points.
Yazici slotted home from a Jonathan Bamba pass to put Lille ahead on 28 minutes before flicking in a Jonathan David cross to double the advantage early in the second half.
The midfielder then turned provider for Luiz Araujo to add a third for Lille on the hour, with Jonathan David notching his long-awaited first goal for the club in the closing stages.
It has been a slow start to life in France for David, who was one of the biggest signings made by a Ligue 1 club in the summer as Lille paid a reported 27 million euros ($32 million) to recruit the 20-year-old Canada forward from Belgian side Gent.
Christophe Galtier's side reclaimed second place from Lyon, who beat Angers 1-0 earlier in the day courtesy of a late winner from Zimbabwe striker Tino Kadewere.
Montpellier beat Strasbourg 4-3 in a dramatic match to join Lyon and Monaco on 20 points, four adrift of PSG.
Defending champions PSG blew a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at Monaco on Friday and hand the chasing pack the chance to close the gap.
Lyon, semi-finalists in last season's Champions League, took advantage, but needed an 80th-minute winner from Kadewere.
"We came to win and take second and we did it," said Lyon coach Rudi Garcia. "It wasn't our best game but we've had matches when we had lots of chances but didn't win, so that balances it out."
The 24-year-old Kadewere, a close-season arrival from second-tier outfit Le Havre, has scored four Ligue 1 goals this term.
Montpellier, the 2012 champions, led 2-0 through early goals from Pedro Mendes and Andy Delort, but Strasbourg hit back with a brace of penalties from Kenny Lala and Habib Diallo.
Former Wigan Athletic striker Delort restored the hosts' advantage, and although Ludovic Ajorque levelled on the stroke of half-time, Gaetan Laborde had the final say midway through the second period.
Sixth-placed Marseille are only six points off the pace with two games in hand.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-11-22--Under-strength Liverpool still too strong for Leicester

Record breaker : Diogo Jota became the first Liverpool player to score in his first four home league games Liverpool were not derailed by an injury crisis as Jurgen Klopp 's men produced a dominant display to beat Leicester 3-0 and move level on points with Premier League leaders Tottenham .
Klopp was missing seven first-team regulars through injury and top scorer Mohamed Salah due to a positive coronavirus test , but Liverpool still swept aside a Leicester team who had started the weekend on top of the table .
Jonny Evans 's own goal was just reward for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ set a record-breaking start to life at Anfield .
The Portuguese international became the first Liverpool player to score in his first four home league games when he headed home Andy Robertson 's inch-perfect cross .
Kasper Schmeichel in the Leicester goal kept the score down as he made a series of second-half saves , notably from Sadio Mane and Jota , while Evans had a lucky escape as the post prevented him from scoring a second own goal .
Roberto Firmino thought he had been denied just his third league goal in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ came back off the post and his follow-up was cleared by Marc Albrighton with just 10 millimetres of the ball not over the line .
But Firmino rounded off a brilliant team performance by rising highest to meet James Milner 's corner .
Another muscle injury suffered by Naby Keita was the only negative for Klopp on a night when his side showed they will not give up their title easily despite losing centre-backs Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez for the rest of the season .
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ club and just like the previous meeting between the sides , which Liverpool won 4-0 in December , the Foxes were shown the gulf they have to bridge to become title contenders .
Harvey Barnes wasted one big opportunity for the visitors when he sliced wide Jamie Vardy 's cross at 1-0 .
But the end to a six-game winning run sees Leicester fall back to fourth , two points off the top .
Liverpool paid tribute to former goalkeeper Ray Clemence , who died aged 72 after a long battle with prostate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Alisson Becker wore a replica of Clemence 's jersey from the 1981 European Cup final win over Real Madrid in the warm-up , while his former teammates Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush paid their respects from the stands .
And two of Liverpool 's greatest ever players also got the chance to show their appreciation to the current crop , who surpassed a club record they set between 1978 and 1981 , as Klopp 's men are now unbeaten in 64 league games at Anfield stretching back to April 2017 .

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Liverpool were not derailed by an injury crisis as Jurgen Klopp's men produced a dominant display to beat Leicester 3-0 and move level on points with Premier League leaders Tottenham.
Klopp was missing seven first-team regulars through injury and top scorer Mohamed Salah due to a positive coronavirus test, but Liverpool still swept aside a Leicester team who had started the weekend on top of the table.
Jonny Evans's own goal was just reward for the Reds' bright start before Diogo Jota set a record-breaking start to life at Anfield.
The Portuguese international became the first Liverpool player to score in his first four home league games when he headed home Andy Robertson's inch-perfect cross.
Kasper Schmeichel in the Leicester goal kept the score down as he made a series of second-half saves, notably from Sadio Mane and Jota, while Evans had a lucky escape as the post prevented him from scoring a second own goal.
Roberto Firmino thought he had been denied just his third league goal in 24 games when the Brazilian's shot came back off the post and his follow-up was cleared by Marc Albrighton with just 10 millimetres of the ball not over the line.
But Firmino rounded off a brilliant team performance by rising highest to meet James Milner's corner.
Another muscle injury suffered by Naby Keita was the only negative for Klopp on a night when his side showed they will not give up their title easily despite losing centre-backs Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez for the rest of the season.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has now lost all three meetings against his former club and just like the previous meeting between the sides, which Liverpool won 4-0 in December, the Foxes were shown the gulf they have to bridge to become title contenders.
Harvey Barnes wasted one big opportunity for the visitors when he sliced wide Jamie Vardy's cross at 1-0.
But the end to a six-game winning run sees Leicester fall back to fourth, two points off the top.
Liverpool paid tribute to former goalkeeper Ray Clemence, who died aged 72 after a long battle with prostate cancer this week, before kick-off.
Alisson Becker wore a replica of Clemence's jersey from the 1981 European Cup final win over Real Madrid in the warm-up, while his former teammates Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush paid their respects from the stands.
And two of Liverpool's greatest ever players also got the chance to show their appreciation to the current crop, who surpassed a club record they set between 1978 and 1981, as Klopp's men are now unbeaten in 64 league games at Anfield stretching back to April 2017.
© 2020 AFP