Author: Daily Sabah With Reuters
Aryna Sabalenka began her quest for a third consecutive Australian Open title with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Sloane Stephens on Sunday, following rain delays that disrupted the tournament’s opening day at Melbourne Park. The top seed did not have it all her own way against the 2017 U.S. Open champion but wrapped up the win in little more than an hour on Rod Laver Arena, one of three courts where play continued under closed roofs during the deluge. Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, who lost to Sabalenka in last year’s final, reached the second round indoors, while men’s sixth seed…
Bundesliga top scorer Harry Kane netted a 68th-minute penalty to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 victory at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday in their first league match after the winter break, keeping them four points clear of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen. The England captain sent Gladbach keeper Moritz Nicolas the wrong way to break the deadlock and bag his 15th league goal this season. Bayern had control of the game with some 70% possession in the first half but struggled to convert that to goals after going close through Thomas Mueller and Leon Goretzka. The Bavarians, who had several more chances to…
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on allies on Sunday to honour all promises to supply Ukraine with weapons, including those to counter Russian air attacks. Zelenskiy said that over the past week Russian forces had launched hundreds of strikes on Ukraine and nearly 700 aerial bombs and over 600 attack drones were used. Ukrainian air defences downed 60 out of 94 drones launched by Russia overnight, the air force said on Sunday. It said that 34 drones were “lost”, in reference to Ukraine’s use of electronic warfare to redirect Russian drones. “Every week, the Russian war continues only because the…
Iran announced on Sunday that a national held in Italy had return home, shortly after Rome said it was seeking to revoke his arrest and extradition warrant. Mohammad Abedini, 38, was arrested in Italy last month at the behest of the United States, which accused him of supplying sophisticated drone navigation technology to Iran’s military, in violation of US sanctions. “Esmaeil Baqaei, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced the release of Mr. Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, an Iranian citizen detained in Italy, and his return to his homeland,” the ministry said in a statement. The Iranian judiciary’s official…
Iran was holding air defence exercises on Saturday, state media reported, as the country braces for more friction with arch-enemy Israel and the United States under incoming U.S. president Donald Trump. The war games take place as Iranian leaders face the risk that Trump could empower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attack Iran’s nuclear sites, while further tightening U.S. sanctions on its oil industry through his “maximum pressure” policy. “In these exercises,…defence systems will practice the fight against air, missile and electronic warfare threats in real battlefield conditions… to protect the country’s skies and sensitive and vital areas,” Iranian…
Russia launched 74 drones at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv’s air force said in a statement early on Saturday, adding it had downed 47 of them, while 27 others disappeared from radars without reaching their targets. The air force said buildings and vehicles in seven different regions had been damaged by falling debris from downed drones, but that there had been no casualties.
Israel will send a delegation headed by the chief of its Mossad intelligence agency to Qatar to continue talks over a possible hostage deal in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Saturday.
Turkish police on Friday said it detained a PKK-linked mayor, along with five other managers of his municipality as part of a terrorism-related investigation, in the southern province of Mersin. Hoşyar Sarıyıldız, a member of the opposition’s Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and mayor of Mersin’s Akdeniz district, his deputy Nuriye Arslan, and four other party members of the municipality’s assembly were detained and taken in for questioning, police said in a statement. It added they were detained for “carrying out propaganda for a terrorist organization,” “membership of an armed terrorist organization” and “violation of the law to…
Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders are scheduled to meet on Jan. 20 for talks on opening new crossing points on the ethnically divided island, according to officials and diplomats on Friday. The island of Cyprus has nine crossings along the 180-kilometer (116-mile) cease-fire line that separates Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Thousands use them daily with long queues and traffic jams a regular occurrence. “We are going to this meeting with a constructive stance and hope the same sincere will is shown by the other side to facilitate the objective, which is opening new crossing points,” Konstantinos Letymbiotis, spokesperson for the…
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday to discuss continued support in the country’s war with Russia, the White House said.