Thursday-18-April-2024 {HMC} The President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, is reported to have rejected a plan presented by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, who asked him to stop the draft resolution that will be presented to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday for Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations, according to Axios, which is close to the White House.
Gaining full membership — the equivalent of the UN recognizing a Palestinian state — first requires nine votes to put the resolution before the 15-member UN Security Council for a vote.
The Council, which includes the United States, will need to approve the request, and then receive at least a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly to elevate Palestine from observer status to full UN membership.
US and Israeli officials said the Biden administration was trying to prevent the Palestinians from getting the nine votes so the US would not be forced to use the controversial vote it has used three times in a resolution calling for a cease-fire.
Thursday -18-April-2024 {HMC} Haitian business leaders said in a letter addressed to Kenyan President William Ruto that they were “extremely concerned” over a delay to a United Nations-backed security mission his government has pledged to lead to fight gangs in the Caribbean nation.
In a letter dated Monday but distributed on Wednesday, the leaders of eight top business chambers said they were concerned as the mission has yet to deploy more than six months after its approval and as the end of its initial mandate fast approaches.
The U.N. Security Council had on October 2 approved a voluntary corps of international troops to deploy to Haiti to help its under-resourced police battle gangs that have cemented their control over nearly all of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The authorization is valid for 12 months with a review after nine, but the mission has yet to deploy, and some countries that did pledge funds or troops have struggled to get these approved by their parliaments or have been slow to hand over the resources.
Kenya is the only country that has offered to lead the mission, but as of early March, it had not yet presented a letter to the United Nations formalizing its contribution.
On March 11, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who had first requested the deployment back in 2022, announced his resignation, prompting Kenya to put its plans on pause. Days earlier, Henry and Ruto had signed a deal intended to fast-track the force.
Haiti has yet to formally install a transition council to take over from Henry, though it named the designated representatives on Tuesday after extended delays that prompted critics to accuse the government of delaying the process.
Meanwhile, gangs have further escalated their assaults on parts of the capital they do not yet control. Key ports have been closed for over a month, blocking supplies of food and essential goods while millions go hungry, and hundreds of thousands are internally displaced.
Pointing to the transition council’s “imminent formation,” the letter said Haiti’s business leaders “look forward to welcoming the Kenyan forces in a relatively short order.”
Thursday -18-April-2024 {HMC} Heavy rain has been battering Gulf states, causing deadly flash floods as well as disrupting flights at the world’s second-busiest airport.
Dubai International Airport says it is facing “very challenging conditions”. It advised some passengers not to turn up as areas were inundated with water.
Further north, a man died when his car was caught in flash floods.
In Oman, rescuers found the body of a girl in Saham, bringing the death toll in the country to 19 since Sunday.
About 290 flights to and from Dubai International Airport on Wednesday were cancelled, according to Flight Aware data at 21:00 GMT (22:00 BST).
There were a further 440 delayed flights, the data showed.
The airport, which serves as a major hub for connecting flights to every continent, warned recovery would take “some time”.
It said its latest update advised against visiting Terminal 1 without confirmation from airlines and avoiding trips to the airport.
Emirates, a major international airline headquartered in Dubai, has suspended check-in for passengers departing from the city until Thursday.
Authorities warned that more thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds were forecast, with many low-lying areas still under water.
The United Arab Emirates, Oman’s northern neighbour, experienced on Tuesday its largest rainfall event since records began 75 years ago.
The National Centre of Meteorology announced that 254.8mm (9.7in) had fallen on Khatm al-Shakla, in the region of al-Ain, over less than 24 hours.
The country averages 140-200 mm of rainfall per year, while Dubai typically receives only 97mm. The monthly average for April is only about 8mm.
Footage from the centre of Dubai showed dozens of submerged vehicles on a flooded part of Sheikh Zayed Road, as well as long traffic jams elsewhere on the 12-lane highway.
‘It’s been total chaos’
Kate and Andrew Golding were among several British tourists stranded at the main international airport. They had been there for 12 hours.
“I’m trying to get on another flight,” Andrew, 62, told BBC News. “My wife, Kate is standing in another queue as we’re trying to hedge our bets.”
The couple from Kent were on holiday to celebrate Kate’s 60th birthday, a trip Andrew says she will now “never forget”.
Kate and Andrew Golding are now queuing separately in a bid to improve their luck
“It has been worse I think than anyone expected, but the system within the airport has completely fallen apart and Emirates, which I consider to be one of finest airlines – no staff, no information, no coordination, no professionalism, no care – no disaster planning at Emirates, it’s weird – big companies normally plan for these events.
“It’s been total chaos.
“People are sleeping in the lounges, on the floors, food packets everywhere. It’s just been a pretty filthy experience really.”
BBC News has contacted Emirates for comment.
‘Passengers shouting’
Elsewhere at the airport, Anne Wing, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was with her husband and three children hoping to fly to London Heathrow.
They arrived at the airport at 08:00 local time (04:00 GMT) for their 11:25 flight, and were initially told it had been delayed by an hour.
“We have spoken to no-one from Emirates since 08:00 this morning,” she said.
“Passengers were shouting and rioting at the connection desk, there were no staff to be seen.”
“Its horrific, we are squashed in like animals – it is dangerous and inhumane,” she added. “It’s absolutely ridiculous here”.
She said her family had not eaten since lunchtime, and all that had been provided were some “small cartons of water”.
The BBC has also been contacted by passengers who were diverted to another Dubai airport, known as Dubai World Central, who have described similar scenes and a lack of proper meals and water.
Anne Wing reported lengthy queues at the airport on Wednesday evening
No deaths were reported in Dubai, but an elderly man was killed when his vehicle was swept away in a flash flood in Ras al-Khaimah.
Although the rain had eased by Tuesday evening, Dubai International Airport warned of further disruption, and said there was crowding.
The intense storm that began on Tuesday morning and continued through most of the day forced the airport to suspend operations for 25 minutes, divert several inbound planes and cancel a number of inbound and outbound flights.
Videos posted on social media showed aircraft ploughing through several inches of water that completely covered the airport’s apron and taxiways.
Dubai International Airport’s apron resembled a lake during the storm, videos posted on social media showed
“We are currently experiencing significant disruption due to the weather and are continuously working with our emergency response teams and service partners to restore normal operations as quickly as possible,” it said on X, formerly Twitter.
Emirates, one of the UAE’s two flag carriers and the world’s largest international airline, told customers that check-in had been suspended at the airport for all flights until Thursday morning.
The chief executive of Dubai Airports, Paul Griffiths, told local radio station Dubai Eye: “In living memory, I don’t think anyone has ever seen conditions like it.”
Software engineer Kanish Kumar Deb Barman, who is stuck at the airport on his way home to India, told Reuters news agency: “There are hundreds and thousands of other passengers just like me in this airport who have been waiting for 10 hours, 16 hours, some even for 24 to 30 hours.”
People queue at the check-in counter at Dubai International Airport on Wednesday
The UAE’s National Emergency Crisis Management Authority did issue a warning before the storm telling people to stay at home. The government also told its employees to work from home and private schools were also advised to carry out remote learning.
In Oman, more than 1,400 people have been evacuated to shelters. Schools and government offices have been closed as a precaution.
On Sunday, 10 schoolchildren aged between 10 and 15 and an adult were killed when their bus was swamped by floodwater as it attempted to drive through a wadi in the al-Mudhaibi area of Sharqiya province, about 115km (70 miles) south of the capital, Muscat.
Three other children and the driver were rescued. Two of them were reportedly airlifted to safety after being swept 600m (1,970ft) from the bus.
The sultanate’s council of ministers said it was “filled with grief” over the deaths and sent their condolences to the victims’ families.
Precipitation is scarce in Oman. Annual average rainfall ranges from 150 to 300mm in the north, with most falling in pre- and post-monsoon storms.
In the hours that followed the floods, some social media users wrongly attributed the extreme weather solely to recent cloud seeding operations in the country. Cloud seeding, which is when planes spray clouds with particles to make rain, has been going on in the United Arab Emirates for more than 10 years.
However experts say that at best it would have had a minor effect on the storm and that focusing on cloud seeding is “misleading”.
“The UAE does have an operational cloud seeding programme to enhance the rainfall in this arid part of the world, however, there is no technology in existence that can create or even severely modify this kind of rainfall event,” said Prof Maarten Ambaum from the University of Reading.
BBC Weather meteorologist Matt Taylor also noted the storm had already been forecast.
“This was already forecast to be a severe weather event. Ahead of the event, computer models [that don’t factor in potential cloud seeding effects] were already predicting well over a year’s worth of rain to fall in around 24 hours.
“The impacts were much wider than I would expect from cloud-seeding alone too – severe flooding impacting large areas from Bahrain to Oman.”
The heavy rain also hit Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, where videos showed cars stranded in flooded roads.
Many factors contribute to flooding, but a warming atmosphere caused by climate change makes extreme rainfall more likely.
The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.
Additional reporting by Rozina Sini and James Kelly
Thursday -18-April-2024 {HMC} Scientists have identified what was probably the largest marine reptile ever to swim in the seas – a creature longer than two, nose-to-nose buses.
The creature lived around 202 million years ago alongside the dinosaurs.
Its fossilised jawbone was found in 2016 by a fossil hunter on a beach in Somerset, UK. In 2020 a father and daughter found another similar jawbone.
Experts now say the fossils are from two giant ichthyosaur reptiles, which could have been 25m long.
That is bigger than a huge pliosaur whose skull was found embedded in Dorset cliffs and was in the David Attenborough documentary the Giant Sea Monster.
“Based on the size of the jawbones – one of them over a meter long and the other two metres long – we can work out that the entire animal would have been about 25m long, about as long as a blue whale,” according to Dr Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist at the University of Bristol, who wrote the scientific paper published on Wednesday.
But he says more evidence, like a complete skull and skeleton, is needed to confirm the exact size of the creature because just a few fragments have been found so far.
The giant ichthyosaur died out in a mass extinction and the ichthyosaurs that lived after that never reached the enormous size again, he said.
The first glimpse of the creature came in 2016 when fossil hunter Paul de la Salle was scouring Somerset beaches. He has collected fossils for 25 years after being inspired by famous fossilist Steve Etches.
Trawling the beach with his wife Carol, he saw what turned out to be the find of a lifetime – the first known jawbone of this giant, marine reptile.
When he talked to Dean Lomax, they suspected they might be on to a major discovery. They published their findings in 2018.
But they wanted more evidence to understand just how big the creature had been.
“We kept our fingers crossed for more discoveries,” says Dean. In 2020, father and daughter Justin and Ruby Reynolds found what Dean was looking for, 10km down the coast at Blue Anchor.
“I was massively impressed – really, really excited. I knew that right at that point we had a second giant jawbone from one of these massive ichthyosaurs just like Paul’s,” Dean says.
Paul rushed to the beach and helped them uncover more. “I dug through all the thick mud. After about an hour, my shovel hit something solid – and this bone came out perfectly preserved,” he says.
The team, as well as family members, carried on looking for fragments of the second jaw – the last piece was found in 2022.
The discovery gave them more evidence to estimate its size. Now they have concluded that the huge animal is a new species of ichthyosaur, which they have named Ichthyotitan severnensis, or giant fish lizard of the Severn.
Dean co-wrote the latest scientific paper with Ruby Reynolds – one day he says the specimen she found may even be named Ruby.
Gabriel Ugueto Artist impression of the giant ichthyosaurGabriel Ugueto
The specimen Paul found has been in his garage for three years while the team analysed it. Soon it will go on public display at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.
“I will be a bit sad to say cheerio. I’ve come to know it and studied it in such intense detail. But it’s also a relief because I won’t have to worry about it so much,” says Paul.
Dean says the discovery highlights how important amateur fossil collectors are.
“Families and all sorts of people can make amazing discoveries You don’t have to be a world expert. As long as you have that bit of patience and a keen eye, you can make a discovery,” he says.
Thursday -18-April-2024 {HMC} Clashes between the Sudanese army and its rival paramilitary have killed at least 25 civilians in the North Darfur town of el-Fasher, a pro-democracy lawyers committee said Tuesday.
The city and its surrounding villages have suffered several days of “arbitrary shelling and airstrikes,” according to the Emergency Lawyers, which have been documenting atrocities committed against civilians since fighting began a year ago between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
As the war entered its second year, the United Nations and United States have warned that the breakdown of the fragile peace in el-Fasher, the last Darfur state capital not under RSF control, will be catastrophic for hundreds of thousands suffering a humanitarian disaster.
El-Fasher also functions as the main humanitarian hub in the vast western region of Darfur, home to around a quarter of Sudan’s 48 million people and the site of harrowing violence during this and previous conflicts.
Over the past year, Darfur residents and the U.N. have reported displacement centers routinely besieged and attacked by fighters.
The fragile health infrastructure in Darfur has nearly collapsed.
Across the country, 70 percent of health facilities are out of service, according to the U.N.
“Dozens of injured have arrived to the hospital today,” a medical source at el-Fasher Southern Hospital told AFP, requesting anonymity for fear of reprisal from the warring parties, who are known to target medics.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including targeting civilians and aid workers, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and torture.
Since it began last April 15, the war has killed many thousands, including up to 15,000 in a single West Darfur town, according to U.N. experts. It has also forced over 8.5 million people from their homes.
But peace talks are on the horizon.
Saudi Arabia will host talks within the next three weeks, the United States said, calling Tuesday for both sides to “negotiate in good faith toward a cease-fire.”
The discussions, which will be held in Saudi Arabia’s port city of Jeddah, were announced on Monday at a France-backed international conference in Paris that raised more than 2 million euros for Sudan.
Khamiis-18-April-2024 {HMC} Madaxweynaha Falastiin, Maxamuud Cabbaas ayaa lagu warramaya inuu diidday qorshe uu usoo bandhigay Madaxweyne Mareykanka , Joe Biden, oo ka dalbaday inuu joojiyo qaraarka qabyada ah ee Khamiista la horgeynayo Golaha ammaanka ee Qaramada Midoobay oo ku saabsan in Falastiin ay xubin buuxda ka noqoto Qaramada Midoobay, sida ay sheegtay warbaahinta Axios oo ku dhow Aqalka Cad.
Helitaanka xubin buuxda – taas oo u dhiganta in Qaramada Midoobay ay aqoonsato dawlad Falastiin – marka hore waxay u baahan tahay sagaal cod si qaraarka loo horgeeyo 15-ka xubnood ee Golaha Ammaanka ee Qaramada Midoobay oo cod u qaadaya.
Golaha oo uu ku jiro Mareykanka, wuxuu u baahan doonaa inuu ansixiyo codsiga, ka dibna waa inuu helaa ugu yaraan saddex-meelood laba meel codadka Golaha Guud, si ay Falastiin uga dalacdo goob-joogaha ay ka tahay Qaramada Midoobay oo ay u noqoto dal xubin buuxa ka ah.
Saraakiisha Maraykanka iyo Israa’iil ayaa sheegay in maamulka Biden uu isku dayayo inuu ka hor istaago Falastiiniyiinta inay helaan sagaalka cod si uusan Mareykanka ugu qasbanaan inuu adeegsado codka qayaxan oo dhaleeceyn badan uu kala kulmay saddex mar oo uu u adeegsaday qaraar ku baaqayay xabbad-jooninta Qasa.
Thursday -18-April-2024 {HMC} Israel will decide on its own how to respond to Iran’s missile and drone attacks last weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday, even as Western countries pleaded for restraint to avoid all-out Middle East warfare.
The United States, European Union and the G7 group of industrialized nations all announced plans to consider tighter sanctions on Iran, a move aimed at supporting Israel and at the same time persuading it to rein in its intention to retaliate against Tehran.
Netanyahu met with British foreign minister David Cameron and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, who both traveled to Israel as part of a Western attempt to keep the Israel-Iran confrontation from escalating further, on top of the Israeli war against Hamas militants in Gaza, which is now in its seventh month.
Netanyahu’s office said he thanked Cameron and Baerbock for their support, while telling them: “I want to make it clear – we will make our own decisions, and the State of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.”
Earlier, Cameron said it was now apparent Israel planned to retaliate for the hundreds of missiles and drones Iran aimed at Israel, almost all of which Israel and its allies shot down. Tehran launched the Saturday attack in response to a presumed April 1 Israeli airstrike that killed military officers at Iran’s embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visits northern Israel, April 16, 2024, in this handout photo from the Israeli defense ministry. (Credit: Ariel Hermoni)
Baerbock said escalation “would serve no one, not Israel’s security, not the many dozens of hostages still in the hands of Hamas, not the suffering population of Gaza, not the many people in Iran who are themselves suffering under the regime, and not the third countries in the region who simply want to live in peace.”
Israel says it must retaliate to preserve its credibility.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, speaking at an annual military parade on the outskirts of Tehran, warned against Israel retaliating, saying Iran would follow with a “massive and harsh response.”
The United States said it is planning to impose new sanctions targeting Iran’s missile and drone program in the coming days and expects its allies will follow suit. EU leaders are set to discuss sanctions at a summit in Brussels, and sanctions are also on the agenda at G7 talks in Italy.
Since Hamas fighters triggered the war in Gaza by attacking southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and leading to the capture of about 250 hostages, clashes have erupted between Israel and Iran-supported groups based in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
Inside Gaza, Israel’s counter-offensive has killed nearly 34,000 people in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children, Gaza health officials say, while Israel says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas fighters.
Cameron met with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, voicing support for enacting coordinated sanctions against Iran, as his counterparts from the Group of Seven leading industrial nations prepared for the talks in Italy.
“I think there’s more that we can do to show a united front, that Iran is behind so much of the malign activity in this region, backing Hamas, backing Hezbollah, backing the Houthis,” Cameron said. “They need to be given a clear, unequivocal message by the G7.”
Senior U.S. officials have said the Iranian attack on Israel, the first ever launched from Iranian soil, involved more than 110 ballistic missiles, 30 cruise missiles and more than 150 one-way, explosive aerial drones. They said Iranian proxy forces in Iraq, Syria and Yemen also took part in the attack.
Iran has called Sunday’s aerial assault a one-off event carried out in retaliation for the attack on its consulate in Damascus.
The Israeli war Cabinet, which includes Gallant, has met repeatedly in recent days to debate Israel’s response options.
Speaking to VOA’s “Flashpoint Global Crises” program in a Tuesday phone interview from northern Israel, former Israeli intelligence official Avi Melamed said Israel could retaliate against Iran with a direct military strike on Iranian territory, a cyberattack or some other kind of covert kinetic action.
Any Israeli retaliation likely would have to be coordinated with the United States, said Melamed, who runs Inside the Middle East, a U.S. nonprofit research group. He said an Israeli response also would need to make Iran pay a significant price that sends a strong message to the region while not being so painful that it triggers further Iranian escalation.
“When I look at all those components, I think it is very likely that there will be a series of covert, significant Israeli actions against Iranian assets,” Melamed said.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a Tuesday briefing that Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in consultations with his regional counterparts, has let it be known that the U.S. does not want to see further escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict.
Israel’s Katz said in a post on the X platform that he has reached out to 32 nations to push for sanctions against Iran’s missile program and to declare Iran’s top military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a terrorist organization.
The United States is one of several countries that already designate the IRGC as a terror group. Since October, the U.S. has imposed several rounds of sanctions targeting the Iranian ballistic missile program as U.N. sanctions on that program expired.
Thursday -18-April-2024 {HMC} Manchester City’s hold on the Champions League was wrestled away by Real Madrid as they were beaten on penalties in a dramatic quarter-final at Etihad Stadium.
The holders recovered from going behind to Rodrygo’s early strike to lay siege to Real’s goal, finally equalising 14 minutes from the end of normal time when Kevin de Bruyne pounced on Antonio Rudiger’s clearance.
It was the least City deserved for their almost total domination but a lack of the finishing touch cost them as Real, despite being exhausted and mounting a desperate rearguard action, held out for spot-kicks.
City looked on course to meet Bayern Munich in the semi-final when Luka Modric missed Real’s first penalty but Bernardo Silva’s dreadful effort and another from substitute Mateo Kovacic were saved by keeper Andriy Lunin, leaving former Chelsea defender Rudiger to step up and clinch victory for the great Champions League specialists.
It ended City’s bid for another Treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup – and they must now recover from this gruelling encounter to defend the latter in the semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday.
Guardiola’s side count cost of missed chances
City will wonder for a long time how they failed to win this game despite exerting complete superiority over their Spanish opponents apart from the early stages when the La Liga leaders struck through Rodrygo.
The answer is simple – Pep Guardiola’s side piled up the opportunities but could not take them, letting Real off the hook.
City had 33 shots to Real’s eight, 18 corners to one but they just could not put Carlo Ancelotti’s men away.
And there was always a danger that Real, who have been the great escapologists against City in this competition before, would find a way to get the job done.
So it proved, with the key moment coming when Silva chose to loft an awful penalty straight into the hands of Lunin, shifting the emphasis of the shootout back in Real’s favour after Modric’s first miss.
The home fans rose to their side amid their despair, the Champions League won against Inter Milan in Istanbul last season lost in the most painful of circumstances.
Focus will switch to trying to win the domestic double of the Premier League and FA Cup. This was a top-class display from City simply missing the second goal they deserved.
It was another tough night for Erling Haaland, who hit the bar with a header early on but was kept at arm’s length by Real, eventually being substituted for Julian Alvarez at the start of extra time.
Guardiola must now lift and re-energise City before that Wembley meeting with Chelsea on Saturday evening.
Lunin the hero for Real
Real goalkeeper Lunin has stepped into the breach impressively with the world-class Thibaut Courtois sidelined by injury, making amends for an error for Silva’s goal in the Bernabeu with a superb display here.
The Ukraine international, 23, did everything required as Real somehow stood firm in the face of a sustained City assault in the second half to keep manager Ancelotti on course for a fifth win in this competition.
Real were, literally in many cases, run to a standstill by the end of extra time but they are the great Champions League survivors and will once again believe they are destined to win the trophy having disposed of City.
And for England’s Jude Bellingham, it was another stage in his learning experience at this elite level, which can only benefit him for the rest of this season with Real and then for his country at Euro 2024.
Like the rest of his team-mates, Bellingham was made to suffer by City’s intensity but he still made two vital contributions.
The 20-year-old showed magnificent control in the build-up to Rodrygo’s goal and then stepped forward with confidence in the shootout to silence the jeers of the Etihad with a calmly converted penalty.
This was not Bellingham’s best night – but he still played his part.
Thursday -18-April-2024 {HMC} Arsenal made a bitterly disappointing exit from the Champions League as they were beaten by Bayern Munich in a euphoric atmosphere at Allianz Arena.
Joshua Kimmich’s powerful 63rd-minute header from Raphael Guerreiro’s cross was enough to send the Germans through to the semi-finals 3-2 on aggregate after the two teams had drawn 2-2 in London in the first leg.
Despite being held at Emirates Stadium, Arsenal were confident of advancing against a Bayern Munich side who had endured a poor domestic season and were without key players Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman because of injury.
In a tight and cagey second leg, Gabriel Martinelli had Arsenal’s best chance of the first half but shot straight at Manuel Neuer after Jamal Musiala had forced David Raya into a full-stretch save at the other end.
While Harry Kane had just nine touches in the opening 45 minutes, Neuer was forced into another save by Martin Odegaard’s deflected attempt, which had the long-serving Bayern Munich keeper scrambling across his line.
With so much at stake for both teams, it was perhaps understandable chances were in limited supply but the second half was a livelier affair with Leon Goretzka heading against the post before Guerreiro’s follow up was scrambled away by Raya, via the post.
But Kimmich’s attacking header proved decisive and ensured Arsenal’s long wait to win the Champions League for the first time goes on.
Damaging week for Arsenal
While Bayern Munich’s players celebrated in front of their jubilant fans at the final whistle, Arsenal’s players looked dispirited after a damaging few days that has hurt their campaign.
There has been much talk about a possible Premier League-Champions League double but with Arsenal now out of Europe, they have to regroup quickly and keep themselves in the hunt for the domestic title.
They are away at Wolves on Saturday and cannot afford to drop any more points after losing their place at the top of the table to Manchester City following defeat at home to Aston Villa.
That result, coupled with Wednesday’s defeat in Germany, will inevitably lead to comparisons with last season, when Arsenal dropped crucial points in the run-in and ended up with nothing after starting April with an eight-point lead at the top.
Arsenal’s season is not over by a long stretch but they must put this disappointing European exit behind them.
This tie was seen as an ideal opportunity for Arteta’s side to reach a Champions League semi-final for the first time for 15 years against a Bayern side who have performed poorly by their high standards this season.
Bayern show grit
With Bayer Leverkusen wrapping up the Bundesliga title with five games to spare at the weekend, Bayern Munich’s season rested on this game.
They were under huge pressure to appease their fans by delivering a Champions League night to remember.
It was far from a vintage performance but Thomas Tuchel’s side dug deep to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2020.
Bayern have already announced that Tuchel will be leaving the club at the end of the season and a search is on to find his replacement after an underwhelming domestic campaign.
But Tuchel will not be short of offers, having reached the semi-finals of the Champions League with three different clubs – Paris St-Germain (2020, when they were runners-up), Chelsea (2021, when they won it) and now Bayern Munich (2024).
It remains a possibility that Tuchel’s last game in charge could be in the final at Wembley on 1 June.
Thursday -18-April-2024 {HMC} Flooding caused by heavy rains has affected large areas of Kenya including the capital, Nairobi. At least 11 people have been killed and more than 17,000 are displaced.
The rainy season that began in mid-March has damaged homes and farmland.
Those affected are appealing for urgent government assistance as hunger and the risk of disease loom.
The Kenya Red Cross is helping those who have been forced from their homes and has advised those in low-lying areas to seek shelter.
The rain is forecast to last until early next week.
