Author: Anadolu Agency

Manchester City’s Spanish midfielder Rodri received the 2024 Men’s Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) award Monday, which is presented annually to the best players in football. The 68th edition of the awards was held at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. Rodri has been suffering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury since September. A Rodri-led Sky Blues won 64 matches last season, except for the FA Cup final against Manchester United on May 25, which ended 1-2. Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham were ranked behind Rodri respectively. Barcelona’s Spanish player Aitana Bonmati won the 2024 Women’s Ballon D’or, her…

Istanbul football club Galatasaray on Monday triumphed over cross-town rivals Beşiktaş 2-1 in a Turkish Super Lig Istanbul derby. Galatasaray’s Colombian defender Davinson Sanchez scored in the 13th minute at Rams Park. The Lions’ Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen made it 2-0 for the hosts in the 67th minute. Beşiktaş’ Albanian winger Ernest Muci netted the only goal for the visitors in the 94th minute. Undefeated leaders the Lions sit atop of the Super Lig standings with 28 points, while Beşiktaş are in the number four spot with 20 points.

Manchester United announced Monday the departure of Erik ten Hag as first team manager, ending his tenure after 30 months. “We are grateful to Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him well for the future,” the club said in a written statement. Ruud van Nistelrooy, a former Man U striker, will take over as interim head coach, supported by the existing coaching staff, as the Premier League giant searches for a permanent replacement. Appointed in April 2022, ten Hag and led the club to two domestic trophies, clinching the Carabao Cup in 2023…

The SAHA Expo, one of Türkiye’s top defense events, saw the signing of dozens of agreements between foreign and domestic companies and institutions in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul. Among the deals were export cooperation agreements and memorandums of understandings. More than 130 agreements were signed worth $6.19 billion, with $4.33 billion of that amount going to export deals, the event organizer-SAHA Istanbul Defense and Aerospace Cluster-said Thursday. The event featured 1,478 companies, including 766 foreign firms and the rest domestic, said Haluk Bayraktar, who heads SAHA Expo and is also the CEO of defense firm Baykar. More than 120 countries…

Türkiye’s locally-produced Bayraktar TB3 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) has entered mass production and is expected to be exported within the next five to six months, according to Haluk Bayraktar, chairman of SAHA Istanbul and CEO of defense firm Baykar. Speaking at the SAHA EXPO 2024 in Istanbul, Bayraktar highlighted the rapid growth of the defense industry expo, which has expanded to 90,000 square meters from 10,000 square meters at its inception. “This year, 1,478 companies participated, with 766 international companies and 712 domestic firms,” Bayraktar noted, underscoring the event’s rising global influence. During the expo, which spanned four days,…

Türkiye’s research vessel Oruc Reis has arrived off the coast of Somalia to conduct seismic surveys for oil and natural gas, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced on Friday. “Oruc Reis has reached its mission location after its journey across continents,” Bayraktar shared on X. The minister along with Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will attend the welcoming ceremony for the seismic research vessel later in the day. The ship sailed for Somalia earlier this month to conduct seismic surveys for oil and natural gas in three areas where Türkiye has secured exploration licenses. Oruc Reis will…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is “very impressed” with the tight monetary policy stance Türkiye implemented to bring inflation down, Alfred Kammer, director of the European Department at the IMF, said Thursday. Kammer said the financial agency has been “very favorably impressed” by the monetary policy pivot in Türkiye since last year. He added that there are two main results of the policy change — vulnerability to a crisis risk that has been greatly reduced over this time, and inflation now on a downward trajectory. “Those are two huge achievements in this policy pivot that took place when it comes…

In recent years, two major attempts were made by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) to overthrow the Turkish government, once in December 2013 and again in an attempted coup on July 15, 2016, costing 252 lives and injuring 2,734 others. The losses incurred during and after these two plots have come back into the spotlight after the confirmed death of the organization’s U.S.-based ringleader, Fetullah Gülen, last week in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Besides the tragic loss of life, they resulted in heavy financial damages as well — more than $500 billion, data compiled by Anadolu suggests. Even before…

Starbucks reported on Wednesday that its global sales fell 7% in July-September-the coffee chain’s third consecutive quarter of decline. Starbucks’ global comparable store sales fell 7% in July-September and 2% for the full fiscal year, accounting for the 52-week period ending Sept. 29. The company’s earnings per share fell 25% compared to the same period last year to 80 cents. Its consolidated net revenues declined 3% to $9.1 billion. The coffee chain suspended its annual forecast for the next fiscal year as its new CEO, Brian Niccol, said Starbucks needs a “fundamental change.” “The lower-than-expected performance for the full fiscal…

Türkiye’s consumer confidence index went up by 3% to 80.6 in October, from 78.2 in September, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced on Wednesday. Among sub-indexes, the financial situation expectation of household over the next 12 months index posted the highest rise with 6.1% month-on-month in October. It was followed by an assessment of spending money on durable goods and general economic situation expectation, both over the next 12 months, with 4.1% and 1.1%, respectively. Meanwhile, the financial situation of household at present sub-index saw a monthly decline of 0.2%. The consumer confidence index, which can hover between 0 and…