Jurgen Klinsmann, flag controversy set ominous tone for USA-Iran World Cup clash

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By Charles Boehm @cboehm -- mlssoccer.com -- AL-RAYYAN, Qatar – The US men’s national team already had to deal with intense pressure and massive stakes around Tuesday’s World Cup match with Iran Decades of bitter political history between the two nations always makes this matchup an emotional one, and now a place in the tournament’s knockout rounds is on the line, with the US needing a victory to advance out of Group B and Iran able to claim that spot with a draw or a win. Now events of the past few days have added an even sharper edge to this enormous fixture.

Klinsmann vs. Queiroz

Former USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann upset Iranians with his comments in an appearance on BBC in the wake of Team Melli’s dramatic win over Wales on Friday, in which he affirmed British presenters’ accusations of gamesmanship and dirty play by Iran as “just part of their culture.” This also drew the ire of Iran manager Carlos Queiroz, whose managerial track record Klinsmann critiqued unflatteringly in his comments. Queiroz, who coached the New York/New Jersey MetroStars (today the New York Red Bulls) in the early days of MLS, responded on Twitter with a lengthy, full-blooded denunciation of Klinsmann’s comments – concluding with a demand that the German-American resign from his current post on FIFA’s Technical Study Group. Chaired by Arsene Wenger, the TSG is a prominent body which analyzes and evaluates every World Cup match, compiling detailed statistics and gleaning insights about the present and future of the sport. Queiroz specifically noted Klinsmann’s “American/German” status in his Twitter thread. Klinsmann addressed Queiroz's comments on BBC on Sunday, saying "there was stuff really taken out of context. I will try to give him a call and calm things down. "I have never criticized Carlos or the Iranian bench," he added.

Flag fracas

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'Parliament cannot continue to deliberately delay and manipulate the election,' Rai warns

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BEIRUT — Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai warned on Sunday from Rome that Parliament "cannot continue to deliberately delay and manipulate the election of a head of state." Rai's remarks come as the country is experiencing its first dual executive power vacuum, with no president and without a fully empowered cabinet. Rai spoke on Sunday during a festive Mass in the Church of Saint Maron in the Pontifical Maronite Institute in Rome. He described the country's independence day, which falls on Nov. 22, as a "sad day," adding that "in the absence of a president, the state disintegrates, the internal unity is shaken up, the separation of powers is disrupted, chaos spreads, and the political, economic, social and living crises worsen, as is happening."

Parliamentary quorum

The head of the Maronite church criticized in his Sunday homily the decision by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to conclude parliamentary sessions dedicated to electing a new president after the first round of vote when some parties' MPs leave, slashing the quorum — two-thirds of MPs — Berri argues is required to continue the session. MPs failed for the seventh time on Thursday to elect a successor to Michel Aoun, whose term as president ended on Oct. 31. Each time, MPs from Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, the Free Patriotic Movement and their allies have left Parliament either ahead of or following a first round vote, torpedoing quorum, and disabling the session from continuing. "Regardless of the custom that states that a quorum of two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives is required in the session to elect the President of the Republic, we must not forget the legal principle that says: 'There is no custom contrary to the constitution," Rai said. Rai claimed that "Article 49 of the constitution stipulates the election of the president by two-thirds of the votes in the first session, and in the next and subsequent sessions by absolute majority (half plus one)," questioning the reason behind "clos[ing] the first session after each poll and disabl[ing] the quorum in the next session, contrary to Article 55 of the internal rules of the Parliament."

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.Dozens of women demand harsher sentences for sex offenders in front of Lebanese Parliament

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By Story by Daniel Stewart -- msn.com -- Dozens of women rallied in front of the Lebanese parliament building at Place de l'Etoile in Beirut to demand harsher penalties against sex offenders in the country. The women protesters were dressed in black with banners that read, among other slogans, "For a punishment commensurate with the crime." The demonstrators then raised their fists and chanted slogans such as "Tougher penalties! This crime must be prosecuted!", according to An Nahar newspaper. The demonstration comes after the women's rights group Abaad reported that six out of ten women victims of sexual abuse choose not to file a complaint for fear of harming their family's honor, according to Sky News.

The text is accompanied by a survey in which 75 percent of the women surveyed believe that sexual abuse is mainly a bodily and psychological attack, while 71 percent of them emphasize that Lebanese society sees this type of crime as an attack on the family's honor. The head of the organization, Guida Inati, insisted on the importance of taking this type of crime out of the narrow social view of "family honor", and to fight this scourge with force, according to statements reported by 'L'Orient le Jour'. In this regard, Inati announced the launch of a 16-day campaign starting this Saturday to end violence against women and girls, in constant coordination with the parliamentary blocs, for the reform of the penal code.

French commando lifts lid on dramatic 1991 rescue of Lebanon's Aoun

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by Tim Stickings -- thenationalnews.com -- Lebanon’s former president Michel Aoun had to be persuaded to put on a raincoat when French special forces spirited him out of the country in 1991, a French officer has revealed. Mr Aoun — who left office a second time last month after reclaiming power in 2016 — was whisked away in a secretive mission after taking refuge in the French embassy. He headed into exile after losing a violent power struggle at the end of Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war. Lebanon's parliament fails to elect president in fifth electoral session But he appeared to have second thoughts after French special forces arrived on a beach to take him to safety. “One of the biggest difficulties we had at the time was getting General Aoun to put on a rain jacket,” said rear admiral Bertrand de Gaullier des Bordes, who led a French commando unit. “I think it was probably a pretext for him to not leave Lebanon, but he didn’t want to put on the sea clothing. “Eventually he did, and it was very useful for him because the sea was a bit tricky when we left and it was very wet.”

The rear admiral’s recollections came as part of a new exhibition on the history of the French special forces. He said the 1991 operation involved “everything you see in special forces films”, with an armoured car waiting as French troops with lights and radios pulled up to the beach. The rescue mission was arranged with the French embassy where Mr Aoun had taken sanctuary in 1990, following his defeat by Syrian and Lebanese forces. Mr Aoun, now 89, feared for his safety after surviving at least one assassination attempt and was granted asylum by France, the former colonial power in Lebanon. Reports at the time described decoy cars being used to lead potential witnesses astray while Mr Aoun was driven to the beach at dawn. Smuggled away to France, he lived in exile until 2005 — before returning to Lebanon and eventually winning the presidency.

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The incredible gift worth half a million dollars the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince is giving to his players for beating Argentina

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By Eric Santos -- msn.com -- One of the big upsets of this World Cup came on November 22nd with the victory of Saudi Arabia against Argentina. Lionel Scaloni’s men went into the match on an unbeaten streak of 36 games and went ahead thanks to a penalty from Messi, but after the break, and after a much-noted half-time talk by coach Hervé Renard, the Saudis managed to turn the game around and record a famous victory that delighted Mohamed bin Salman, the country’s crown prince and one of the richest people in the world.

The footballers of the Saudi Arabian national team are now dreaming of qualifying for the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar, but while they are savoring this much-heralded victory they are going to receive a spectacular gift from the delighted Crown Prince. The 37-year-old from Jeddah is closely following Saudi Arabia’s participation in the World Cup in Qatar and personally congratulated the team members for winning their debut against all the odds, but he is so delighted that he has gone one step further and presented his beloved footballers with a gift valued at almost 500,000 dollars. The Crown Prince, according to CNN, has decided to give a Rolls-Royce Phantom, the basic model of which costs around $460,000, to each of the players who beat Argentina as a thank you for their performance and as a motivational tool for the next match, which they will play against to Poland. A decent result in that game and Saudi Arabia could achieve a historic qualification for the round of 16.

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Iran government supporters confront protesters at World Cup

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by AP -- AL-RAYYAN, Qatar: Tensions ran high at Iran’s second match at the World Cup on Friday as fans supporting the Iranian government harassed those protesting against it and stadium security seized flags, T-shirts and other items expressing support for the protest movement that has gripped the Islamic Republic. Some fans were stopped by security guards from bringing in Persian pre-revolutionary flags to the match against Wales at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium. Others carrying such flags had them ripped from their hands by pro-government Iran fans, who also shouted insults at fans wearing T-shirts with the slogan of the protest movement gripping the country, “Woman, Life, Freedom.” Unlike in their first match against England, the Iran players sang along to their national anthem before the match as some fans in the stadium wept, whistled and booed. The national team has come under close scrutiny for any statements or gestures about the nationwide protests that have wracked Iran for weeks. Shouting matches erupted in lines outside the stadium between fans screaming “Women, Life, Freedom” and others shouting back “The Islamic Republic!”

Mobs of men surrounded three different women giving interviews about the protests to foreign media outside the stadium, disrupting broadcasts as they angrily chanted, “The Islamic Republic of Iran!” Many female fans appeared shaken as Iranian government supporters shouted at them in Farsi and filmed them up close on their phones. After Iran’s 2-0 triumph, crowds of Iranian fans wildly waving national flags streamed out of the stadium. They thronged a group of protesters who held up photos of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old whose Sept. 16 death in the custody of the morality police first unleashed the protests, yelling “Victory!” to drown out chants of Amini’s name. One 35-year-old woman named Maryam, who like other Iran fans declined to give her last name for fear of government reprisals, started to cry as shouting men blowing horns encircled her and filmed her face. She had the words “Woman Life Freedom” painted on her face. “I’m not here to fight with anyone, but people have been attacking me and calling me a terrorist,” said Maryam, who lives in London but is originally from Tehran. “All I’m here to say is that football doesn’t matter if people are getting killed in the streets.” Maryam and her friends had worn hats emblazoned with the name of an outspoken Iranian former soccer player Voria Ghafouri, who had criticized Iranian authorities and was arrested in Iran on Thursday on accusations of spreading propaganda against the government. She said Iranian government supporters had taken the hats from their heads.

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