‘A group of people decided to kill me’: Michel Platini on Fifa, Uefa and the fight to clear his name

‘A group of people decided to kill me’: Michel Platini on Fifa, Uefa and the fight to clear his name

Former Uefa president – caught between moving on and settling scores – talks candidly about his downfall, Infantino and the snakepit of the game’s governance “There are millions and millions of romantics in football,” Michel Platini says. He has been asked whether, after a decade frozen out of the game, its lustre has vanished for him. “Millions who share the ideas that I have. But in the end, it’s big business.” It is an industry whose peaks Platini scaled before, in one of football’s biggest falls from grace, it spat him out. He maintains he would have become Fifa president if he had not been banned from football over an alleged unlawful payment made to him in 2011, when he was running Uefa, by Sepp Blatter. The scandal led to a criminal case but both men were acquitted for a second time , definitively so, by a Swiss appeals court last year . Nothing hangs over Platini any more, bar a conviction that he was cheated. Continue reading...

Alarm as Trump DoJ pushes for voter information on millions of Americans

Alarm as Trump DoJ pushes for voter information on millions of Americans

Officials ask at least 43 states for sensitive details as critics fear effort to sow doubt about midterm election results The justice department is undertaking an unprecedented effort to collect sensitive voter information about tens of millions of Americans, a push that relies on thin legal reasoning and which could be aimed at sowing doubt about the midterm election results this year. The department has asked at least 43 states for their comprehensive information on voters, including the last four digits of their social security numbers, full dates of birth and addresses, according to the Brennan Center for Justice . Eight states have voluntarily turned over the information, according to the Brennan Center, and the department has sued 23 states and the District of Columbia for the information. Continue reading...

How a billionaire with interests in Greenland encouraged Trump to acquire the territory

How a billionaire with interests in Greenland encouraged Trump to acquire the territory

US president’s friend Ronald Lauder – who first proposed Arctic expansion – is now making deals in the island One day during his first term, Donald Trump summoned a top aide to discuss a new idea. “Trump called me down to the Oval Office,” John Bolton, national security adviser in 2018, told the Guardian. “He said a prominent businessman had just suggested the US buy Greenland.” It was an extraordinary proposal. And it originated from a longtime friend of the president who would go on to acquire business interests in the Danish territory. Continue reading...

New York bakery staff push for union, claiming they were forced to bake for Israeli fundraisers

New York bakery staff push for union, claiming they were forced to bake for Israeli fundraisers

Breads Bakery workers demand better pay and conditions and criticize chain for supporting ‘the genocide in Palestine’ Workers at popular New York City bakery chain Breads Bakery announced a move to unionize, claiming it has “underpaid, undervalued, disrespected, discriminated against, intimidated and hurt” staff, as well as supported “the genocide happening in Palestine”. The company, which has ties to Israel , expressed concern that “divisive political issues” had been introduced into its stores. “We make babka; we don’t engage in politics,” a spokesperson said. Continue reading...

Historic market in Kinshasa ready to reopen to a million shoppers a day after five-year makeover

Historic market in Kinshasa ready to reopen to a million shoppers a day after five-year makeover

Long criticised as overcrowded and filthy, the city’s Zando marketplace has had an elegant and sustainable redesign Selling vegetables was Dieudonné Bakarani’s first job. He had a little stall at Kinshasa Central Market in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Decades later, the 57-year-old entrepreneur is redeveloping the historic marketplace that gave him his start in business to be an award-winning city landmark. Bakarani hopes to see the market, known as Zando, flourish again and reopen in February after a five-year hiatus. The design has already been recognised internationally; in December, the architects responsible for it won a Holcim Foundation award for sustainable design . Continue reading...

Andy Robertson admits Liverpool future unclear with contract expiring in summer

Andy Robertson admits Liverpool future unclear with contract expiring in summer

Defender frustrated by lack of playing time this season ‘We need to see option to stay or if there’s options to go’ Andy Robertson has said his Liverpool future remains unresolved despite his contract expiring in five months and admitted this season’s limited playing time has been a frustration. Liverpool have held talks over extending their vice-captain’s outstanding Anfield career but, with no firm offer on the table, Robertson’s next step is uncertain beyond competing in Scotland’s first World Cup for 28 years. The left-back, who turns 32 in March, turned down Atlético Madrid last summer and is likely to have several options should he become a free agent. Continue reading...