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Futbol

Why Salah Turned Down '500m Saudi Move' For Liverpool Stay

Mohamed Salah is staying at Liverpool, bringing one of the season's key storylines to a conclusion. At times, though, it seemed in doubt. So what happened behind the scenes? Was there a £500m offer from Saudi Arabia and how did the Egypt forward go from being unsure of his future to expressing delight at signing a deal that lasts until he turns 34? Senior football correspondent Sami Mokbel reports… When Salah set the cat among the pigeons about his future in November by saying he was 'more out than in', he wasn't being disingenuous. Yet it was also not misleading to say the Egyptian always wanted to stay at Liverpool. The two stances weren't necessarily mutually exclusive. It has always been Salah's ambition to extend his eight-year stay at Anfield – and news today of his new two-year contract will bring the 32-year-old's tenure at the club to a decade, should he see out the duration of the terms. But the conditions – for both Salah and Liverpool – had to be right. Thankfully for the club's supporters a middle ground was finally reached. Sources close to the situation indicated a breakthrough in talks between Salah, his representative Ramy Abbas Issa and Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes was reached at the end of March, with the formalities of the deal concluded earlier this week. Indeed, in an interview with BBC Sport, left-back Andy Robertson revealed he only found out about Salah's new contract on Thursday. Salah is not taking a pay cut to stay at Liverpool - and will earn close to £400,000-per-week. The two-year contract offers him a level of security players of his age are not often afforded. Liverpool have pushed the boat out, but haven't done so on a whim. Salah is a special case. Replacing their talismanic attacker, who has made 54 goal contributions already this season, would be vastly difficult and, more pertinently, an expensive task. Identifying a Salah replacement would be hard enough, but finding the sort of money to pull off such a deal would enter a higher plane of difficulty. What appears to be Trent Alexander-Arnold's pending move to Real Madrid, when his contract expires this summer, would have provided Liverpool with greater financial leeway in their efforts to assemble financial packages to keep Salah and Virgil van Dijk, with the Dutchman expected to sign a new deal in the coming days. Yet, while money is always a factor when it comes to contractual negotiations, it wasn't the determining consideration for a footballer at the peak of his powers. If money was Salah's determining consideration, he'd have left Liverpool for the Saudi Pro League who, until as recently as last week, still believed they could attract him to the Middle East. The financial lure of a move to Saudi Arabia was clear. The 'homecoming' of one of the greatest and recognisable Arab footballers - and the synergy, and earning power, for all parties was inescapable. Indeed, sources have told BBC Sport that Salah was in line to earn at least £500m in Saudi – an eye-popping figure, although still short of the 1bn euros (£859m) Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr was reportedly offered. It was said the option of exploring a Saudi move was first raised with Salah last February - and that door will likely remain open in the future. But, right now, the forward has put sporting ambition ahead of his wallet. Salah's a player at the top of his game - those close to the frontman believe he has at least another three years at the highest level. The evidence suggests as much. His physique is optimum and his levels of professionalism are obsessive. Salah believes he still has more to accomplish in European football too, starting, of course, with winning Liverpool's 20th league title this season. He has ambitions on winning the Ballon d'Or too, with fifth his highest placing in both 2019 and 2022. Salah also wants to win the Champions League again, and ensure Liverpool remain at the pinnacle of English football. Interestingly, it is said another one of the key factors in his decision to re-sign was a desire to compete among the elite to help prepare for Egypt's forthcoming World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations campaigns. It's the sporting challenge that has driven his decision for Salah, although the fact his wife Magi and daughters Makka and Kayan are enjoying life on Merseyside has also been described as a key factor too.

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Worldnews

US Bill To Ban Israel Boycotts Faces Right-wing Backlash Over Free Speech

Allies of US President Donald Trump voice opposition to a bipartisan proposal that would expand a law that punishes boycotting Israel. Washington, DC – A bill in the United States Congress that aims to further penalise the boycotting of countries friendly to the US is facing opposition from allies of President Donald Trump over free speech concerns, putting its passage in jeopardy. According to Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a vote in the House of Representatives on the proposal, previously scheduled for Monday, has been cancelled. Although Trump’s Republican Party has been leading legislative efforts to crack down on boycotts of Israel, over the past days, several conservatives close to the US president voiced opposition to the bill, dubbed the International Governmental Organization (IGO) Anti-Boycott Act. “It is my job to defend American’s [sic] rights to buy or boycott whomever they choose without the government harshly fining them or imprisoning them,” Greene said in a social media post on Monday. “But what I don’t understand is why we are voting on a bill on behalf of other countries and not the President’s executive orders that are FOR OUR COUNTRY???” Charlie Kirk, a prominent right-wing activist and commentator, also said that the bill should not pass. “In America you are allowed to hold differing views. You are allowed to disagree and protest,” Kirk wrote on X on Sunday. “We’ve allowed far too many people who hate America move here from abroad, but the right to speak freely is the birthright of all Americans.” Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser and influential right-wing media personality, backed the comments of Kirk and Greene, writing on the social media platform Gettr, “Fact check: True” and “Agreed” in response to their statements, respectively. The proposed legislation was introduced by pro-Israel hawks in the US Congress, Republican Mike Lawler and Democrat Josh Gottheimer, in January, and has been co-sponsored by 22 other lawmakers from both major parties. The bill would expand a 2018 law that bans coercive boycotts imposed by foreign governments to include international governmental organisations (IGOs). The original legislation prohibits boycotting a country friendly to the US based on an “agreement with, a requirement of, or a request from or on behalf” of another nation. It imposes penalties of up to $1m and 20 years in prison for violations. Expanding the legislation to include IGOs risks penalising individuals and companies in the US that boycott firms listed by the United Nations as doing business in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. While the bill itself does not explicitly mention Israel, its drafters have said that it targets the UN and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, which calls for economic pressure on the Israeli government to end its abuses against Palestinians. “This change targets harmful and inherently anti-Semitic BDS efforts at IGOs, such as the UN, by extending protections already in place for boycotts instigated by foreign countries,” Lawler’s office said in January. States and the federal government have been passing anti-BDS laws for years, raising the alarm about the violation of free speech rights, which are guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Numerous legal cases have challenged these laws, and some judges have ruled that they are unconstitutional, while others have upheld them. Rights groups and Palestinian rights advocates have argued that anti-boycott laws aim to shut down the debate about Israel and criminalise peaceful resistance against its violations of international law. Over the years, leading UN agencies and rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have accused Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including imposing apartheid on Palestinians. But supporters of anti-BDS laws say the measures are designed to combat discrimination against Israel and regulate trade, not speech. Such laws have mainly faced opposition from progressive Democrats, but the IGO Anti-Boycott Act has generated anger from right-wing politicians, too. “Americans have the right to boycott, and penalizing this risks free speech. I reject and vehemently condemn antisemitism but I cannot violate the first amendment,” Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, wrote on X. I agree with @RepMTG .
I’ll be voting No on this bill as well. https://t.co/YOPga59Xyc — Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) May 4, 2025 The right-wing rejection of the Lawler-Gottheimer bill comes as the Trump administration continues with its push to target criticism of and protests against Israel, especially on college campuses. Since Trump took office, the US government has revoked the visas of hundreds of students for activism against Israel’s war on Gaza. Several students, including legal permanent residents, have been jailed over allegations of anti-Semitism and “spreading Hamas propaganda”. Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University, has been detained since March, and the only known allegation against her is co-authoring an op-ed calling on her college to honour the student senate’s call for divesting from Israeli companies. Trump has also frozen and threatened to freeze federal funding for several universities, including Harvard, over pro-Palestine protests. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Worldnews

Israel Bombs Yemens Hodeidah Port After Attack Near Tel Aviv

Air strikes come a day after the Iran-aligned Houthis fired a missile that struck near Israel’s main airport. Israel strikes target Yemen’s Hodeidah a day after Houthi missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport The Israeli military says it has carried out air strikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port and a cement factory, claiming the sites were used to support Houthi operations against Israel. The strikes on Monday injured at least 21 people, the Houthi-run health ministry spokesman Anees al-Asbahi said. According to the Israeli army, fighter jets struck infrastructure linked to the Houthis, including a cement factory east of Hodeidah that it described as “an important economic resource” used in building tunnels and military infrastructure. “The Hodeidah seaport serves as a hub for the transfer of Iranian weapons and equipment for military needs,” the Israeli army said in a statement. The claim could not be independently verified. Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that six Israeli strikes hit Hodeidah’s port and blamed both Israel and the United States. Axios journalist Barak Ravid quoted a senior US official who said the air raids were coordinated between Israel and the US. A US defence source told Al Jazeera that “US forces did not participate in the Israeli strikes on Yemen today” but did not deny nonlethal support may have been provided. The attack was carried out after a ballistic missile fired from Yemen on Sunday struck close to Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pledged retaliation for the Houthi attack, the first known missile to avoid interception since the Yemeni group began targeting Israel in November 2023. Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem reported that about 30 Israeli warplanes took part in Monday’s operation, which was overseen by Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz from a command centre in Tel Aviv. Hashem said the strikes mark a “new phase” in Israeli attacks on Yemen. Since US President Donald Trump returned to power in January, the US has embarked on a more aggressive assault on Yemen “which is related directly to Israeli interests”, Hashem added. This is not the first time Israel has bombed targets in Yemen. In December, air raids struck the Ras Isa oil terminal and other sites in Hodeidah province, killing at least nine people. While most Houthi-launched projectiles have been intercepted, Sunday’s attack was the “most significant strike”, Hashem said, since the group launched its campaign in November 2023, which it said is in response to Israel’s war on Gaza and to show solidarity with Palestinians. A drone had previously hit a building in Tel Aviv last year. Since November 2023, the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, have launched more than 100 drone and missile attacks targeting vessels they said are linked to Israel in the Red Sea. Although the Houthis paused attacks during a ceasefire in Gaza this year, they resumed their operations in March after Israel cut off humanitarian aid to Gaza and resumed its offensive. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Worldnews

Palestinian Author Mosab Abu Toha Wins Pulitzer Prize For Commentary

The poet gets the prestigious award for New Yorker essays ‘on the physical and emotional carnage in Gaza’ amid war. Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, who has been targeted by pro-Israel groups in the United States for deportation, has won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Abu Toha received the prestigious award on Monday for essays published in The New Yorker “on the physical and emotional carnage in Gaza that combine deep reporting with the intimacy of memoir to convey the Palestinian experience” of the war. “I have just won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary,” Abu Toha wrote on social media. “Let it bring hope. Let it be a tale.” The comment appears to be a tribute to his fellow Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, was killed in an Israeli attack in Gaza in December 2023. Alareer’s final poem was titled, “If I must die, let it be a tale”. Abu Toha was detained by Israeli forces in Gaza in 2023 before being released to Egypt and subsequently moving to the US. “In the past year, I have lost many of the tangible parts of my memories – the people and places and things that helped me remember,” Abu Toha wrote in one of his New Yorker essays. “I have struggled to create good memories. In Gaza, every destroyed house becomes a kind of album, filled not with photos but with real people, the dead pressed between its pages.” In recent months, right-wing groups in the US have called for deporting Abu Toha amid a campaign by President Donald Trump cracking down non-citizens critical of Israel. The author cancelled events at universities in recent months, citing fears for his safety. I have just won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Let it bring hope
Let it be a tale pic.twitter.com/VP6RsPY6vz — Mosab Abu Toha (@MosabAbuToha) May 5, 2025 The Palestinian poet told Al Jazeera’s The Take podcast in December that the feeling of inability to help people in Gaza has been “devastating”. “Imagine that you are with your parents, with your siblings and their children in a school shelter in Gaza,” Abu Toha said. “You are unable to protect anyone. You are unable to provide them with any food, with any water, with any medicine. But now you are in the United States, the country that is funding the genocide. So, it is heartbreaking.” In other Pulitzer categories, New York Times won prizes for explanatory reporting, local reporting, international coverage and breaking news photography on Monday. With the four awards, the New York-based newspaper received the most prizes from Pulitzer’s 14 journalism contests this year. Winners of the award, named after the Hungarian-American newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, are selected by a board of journalists and academics and announced at Columbia University annually. The New York Times received the international reporting prize for its coverage of the conflict in Sudan, edging out The Washington Post, which was a finalist in the category for its “documented Israeli atrocities” in Gaza, including investigations into the killings of Palestinian medics and journalists. The Post won the breaking news prize for its coverage of the Trump assassination attempt during a campaign rally last year. The Reuters news agency took the investigative reporting award for a “boldly reported expose of lax regulation in the US and abroad that makes fentanyl”. Follow Al Jazeera English:...