Nabil Fekir is a young man in demand. The 21-year-old, perhaps the revelation of a French season that could yet come to a thrilling climax as his Lyon chase champions Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the table, is being explicitly courted by PSG. For much of the past year, he has also been the subject of a tug-of-war between two national teams.
Cockerel or Desert Fox?
Fekir was born in France, in the Lyon area, the son of an Algerian, Mohammed Fekir, who emigrated to Europe in 1992. His father made it clear, as Nabil’s talent took him on a fast-track to the professional game, that he would like his son to represent Algeria, the so-called Desert Foxes, internationally. But there was a dilemma. France, the Cockerels, hosts of the next European championship, want him too.
Controversy and conflict
In March, Christian Courcuff, the head coach of Algeria — a Frenchman — reported that Fekir had told him, after a series of meetings, he had opted to play for Algeria. Not so, said Fekir, who, having spoken about the “complicated” choice, then declared he would be opting for the nation of his birth. He had also changed agents to be represented by the same agent who acts for Didier Deschamps, the France head coach. Deschamps gave him his international debut at the end of March. There was disappointment and some anger in Algeria.
In the footsteps of Benzema
The issue was in danger of overshadowing Fekir’s brilliance on the field for a dynamic Lyon, for who Fekir, who has a charmed left foot and a wide range of tricks on the ball, has scored 12 goals this season, dovetailing effectively with prolific striker Alexandre Lacazette. He operates just off the centre-forward, a No 10, and has been compared with fellow French-Algerian Karim Benzema, another who grew up at Lyon, and with the skilful Hatem Ben Arfa, who also played for Lyon and France before his career lost its way. “He reminds me of Ben Arfa,” said Real Madrid’s Benzema, “who I saw do some unbelievable things with the ball.”
Predatory PSG
Benzema, speaking at the time of Fekir’s first France call-up, added that he thought Ben Arfa had left Lyon — to join Marseille — too young. A hint to Fekir? Perhaps. There is no shortage of other clubs interested in signing him, and soon. Last week, PSG coach Laurent Blanc spoke about how much he admired Lacazette and Fekir. “Saying that now is an obvious attempt to destabilise us,” snarled Lyon coach, Hubert Fournier, who needs his talented front men fully focused on the championship run-in.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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9.15pm: Emirates.com (TB), Dh95,000 (D), 2,000m
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 715bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh1,289,376
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Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
UAE squad to face Ireland
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri (vice-captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmad, Zawar Farid, CP Rizwaan, Aryan Lakra, Karthik Meiyappan, Alishan Sharafu, Basil Hameed, Kashif Daud, Adithya Shetty, Vriitya Aravind
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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The%20US%20Congress%2C%20explained
%3Cp%3E-%20US%20Congress%20is%20divided%20into%20two%20chambers%3A%20the%20House%20of%20Representatives%20and%20Senate%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20435%20members%20make%20up%20the%20House%2C%20and%20100%20in%20the%20Senate%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20A%20party%20needs%20control%20of%20218%20seats%20to%20have%20a%20majority%20in%20the%20House%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20In%20the%20Senate%2C%20a%20party%20needs%20to%20hold%2051%20seats%20for%20control%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20In%20the%20event%20of%20a%2050-50%20split%2C%20the%20vice%20president's%20party%20retains%20power%20in%20the%20Senate%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
