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I could understand “do not drink the water.” Or even “no swimming - polluted water.” But “do not touch the water”!? Something about that sign, and the reality it pointed to seemed deeply, irrevocably wrong. The fact that it was the nearest campground to Disneyland somehow made the whole situation even creepier.The memory of that toxic waste dump campground remained with me for years. I gradually realised that the place was not just the perfect anti-campground, but also an image of anti-paradise: a place where the flowing water is too filthy to be used to purify ourselves before prayer, and where the natural plants and creatures are poisoned and dying.The Qur’an tells us that the Paradise promised to believers is a garden with rivers flowing beneath. It is filled with fruits and flowers and growing things, offering nectar better than the finest earthly wine, and beauties and pleasures beyond earthly imagination. While we can never create such a perfect paradise on earth, Muslim architects, land-use planners and artists have sometimes used this image as a model for their efforts to preserve and celebrate the natural beauty of creation. Why not? The Qur’an tells us that all of nature is a sign of Allah, reflecting some of His mercy and magnificence.Indeed, all of nature, in the Islamic view, is in a state of continuous worship. Trees and grasses, fish and animals, are all bending in a sweet, invisible breeze that wafts their worship back toward their Creator. Human beings can learn from this process and seek harmony with it by joining creation in worship of the Lord of all worlds and creation. Or else, they can obstinately rebel, imagining themselves cut off and self-sufficient, and persist in transgressing the bounds that Allah has set for them until the inevitable payment comes due.In contrast to the prevailing view of nature in the West as a savage, fallen chaos that must be tamed by conquest, Islam insists that nature is respected and invites humans to learn from it and join it in harmonious coexistence.The polluted-campground experience awakened me to the fact that something is very wrong with the way of life that produced such a place, and that Islam holds the keys to understanding the root causes and solutions of our current environmental dilemma. It convinced me that we Muslims should be putting Islamic environmental activism at the very top of our social and personal agenda. Our planet is in a state of environmental crisis, and as Muslims we are the custodians of Allah’s last revelation, a revelation that gives humanity the knowledge and inspiration it needs to live in peace and harmony - in this life and the next.The Qur’anic solution to the problem of environment is, in a word, holistic and comprehensive. Living a truly Islamic life requires avoiding the evils of extravagance and the insanity of materialism, and that we attain harmony with our surroundings and have compassion for other creatures.It all begins, however, with the right orientation towards life: complete submission to Allah, The One Creator of all, and that this submission should be marked by pious awe, loving gratitude, inner peace, the struggle to do good, and the constant awareness that Allah is greater than any aspect of His creation. The Qur’anic orientation provides the key to restoring the lost balance between humans, nature, and The One who created both (i.e .Allah)Materialists and atheists say that nothing is sacred, which implies that there are no limits to what humans can do to gratify their material desires. Materialist culture, as my wise humanities professor once said, has two distinguishing characteristics: A tremendous drive to achieve more and more control over the natural world, and an equally energetic drive to re-make and perfect human society.Humans as trustees and keepers of the EarthIslam teaches that we are the successors and trustees of Allah on this beautiful earth, not prisoners in a flawed world that needs to be radically re-made. As successors, our task is to preserve and appreciate the beauty and goodness we find, in grateful submission to its Creator. All of our planet’s scientists are needed for a more obvious and simple task: Taking care of the planet Allah has given us, and taking care of our fellow human beings. This means finding ways to live, and live well, while expending far less physical energy, and making far less obtrusive changes to our physical environment, than is customary today. It means finding ways to redistribute the planet’s wealth more equitably, in the environment of zero economic growth or even negative growth that will surely be upon us in just a few short years, when oil production peaks and starts to decline.“Allah loves not the wasters”So, too, is the Islamic injunction: “Waste not!” Both the Qur’an and Sunnah make it absolutely clear that avoiding waste and prodigality is a matter of the highest importance. For example, Allah says (what means) : “Do not be extravagant, for Allah does not love the wasteful” [Qur’an, 96:141].And He Says (what means): “But waste not by excess, for Allah loves not the wasters” [Qur’an, 7:31]. And (what means): “Squander not in the manner of a spendthrift. For wasters are the brothers of the Satan, and the Satan is to his Lord ungrateful” [Qur’an, 17:26-27]. Here we see that the root of wasting is ingratitude: those who respond to the marvelous beauty and bounty of Allah with gratitude and amazement are happy with a little, while the ungrateful one is never satisfied no matter how much he has, so he abandons himself to an ever-increasing cycle of consumption and waste. If humanity is to survive, it will have to move from the spiritual state of ingratitude to gratitude and give up its wasteful ways, as the Qur’an urges.Conserving food and waterAlong with this Qur’anic teaching, the Sunnah (prophetic tradition) provides us with the best example of living in a state of gratitude and avoiding waste. The Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was famous for his attention to conserving and avoiding waste. He was careful not to waste a crumb of food, licking the last morsel from the utensils so that nothing would go to waste. He urged believers to avoid using more water than necessary when performing an act of worship like ablution. If we must be careful not to waste a drop of water in our ablutions, how much more necessary must it be to avoid waste in less-important activities.Unfortunately the dominant way of life among well-off people everywhere, especially in the West, is marked by unbelievable waste and extravagance. We eat more than what is good for us, buy things we do not really need, throw away things that either still work or could be repaired, buy over-sized large vehicles and drive short distances instead of walking or bicycling, build larger houses than we need and heat and cool them far beyond minimal comfort standards, waste huge amounts of water maintaining herbicide-sprinkled lawns and golf courses, and so on.In perhaps the single most absurd display of extravagance in all history, we are, in the US, currently burning up fossil fuels at a rate that will ensure that our economy, our environment, or both will completely collapse in the near future. This lunatic way of life, whose seductive pleasures and comforts disguise its utter madness, its complete lack of sustainability, was not developed by Muslims.To be true to our religion, we must change our ways, and make an effort to conserve, educate, and build alternative institutions to mitigate and help cope with the coming economic and environmental meltdown, preserve and strengthen of our Islamic communities and institutions, and think about how they can be of service in the struggle to help humanity exercise responsible stewardship over our corner of creation.(This article was written by an American Muslim)Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/Both the Qur’an and Sunnah make it absolutely clear that avoiding waste and prodigality is a matter of the highest importance

Kamala Harris launched a blistering attack on Donald Trump and his “extremist” Republicans as she addressed teachers yesterday, seeking to rally a key part of the Democratic coalition behind her bid to take on the billionaire for the presidency.Harris – the country’s first female vice-president and seeking to make history again in November – has enjoyed a groundswell of support from labour groups, ethnic minorities and her own party since announcing her 11th-hour candidacy to replace President Joe Biden as the candidate.The first union to endorse her – the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) – applauded at their convention in Houston as Harris warned that America was witnessing a “full-on attack” by Trump’s Republicans on “hard-won, hard-fought freedoms”.In a 20-minute address in Houston to the AFT, Harris focused on economic policy and workers’ rights, touting plans for affordable healthcare and child care and criticising Republicans for blocking gun limits in the wake of school shootings.“Today we face a choice between two very different visions of our nation, one focused on the future and the other focused on the past, and we are fighting for the future,” she said. “Donald Trump and his extreme allies want to take our nation back to failed trickle-down economic policies, back to union-busting, back to tax breaks for billionaires.”“We want to ban assault weapons and they want to ban books,” Harris said, a reference to the push by some Republicans to remove books that address gender and sexuality from some school libraries.The Second Amendment of the US Constitution defends the right to bear arms.“While you teach students about democracy and representative government, extremists attack the sacred freedom to vote. While you try to create safe and welcoming places where our children can learn, extremists attack our freedom to live safe from gun violence,” she said. “They have the nerve to tell teachers to strap on a gun in the classroom while they refuse to pass common sense gun safety laws.”Harris, 59, jumped into the election after weeks of turmoil over 81-year-old Biden, who bowed out on Sunday after a dismal debate performance against Trump accelerated concerns over his mental capacity and persistently low polling numbers.Calling herself “a proud product of public education”, she connected her personal story to her political outlook, telling her audience that the work of teaching was “personal and it is professional, and ... so critically important”.The former top prosecutor for California tied the event to a key campaign message about refusing to go back to Trump’s America, praising her audience as “visionaries” who look to the future.“You see the potential in every child. You foster it, you encourage it, and in so doing, you shape the future of our nation, which is why I say we need you so desperately right now today,” she said.And she contrasted Democratic efforts to cancel student debt and her vision of investment in public schools and universities with Trump’s vow to dismantle the Education Department and cut spending in half.Trump, who at 78 is the oldest presidential nominee in US history, has promised he will “not give one penny” of federal funds to schools with vaccine mandates.Every public school in America has vaccine mandates.The speech came with Harris facing increasingly extreme rhetoric from Trump, who on Wednesday called her a “radical left lunatic” and claimed – entirely falsely – that she was in favour of the “execution” of newborn babies.Trump also alleged on Fox News yesterday that Harris – who is due back in Washington later for talks with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu – had benefited from a Democratic “coup” against Biden.One of the most urgent tasks facing Harris is to forge her own political identity before she can be defined by Trump as inseparable from the unpopular Biden.This will include quickly spending some of the $100mn-plus that she has raised in the opening days to tell her personal story and to counter Republican characterisations of her as an out-of-touch liberal and responsible for illegal immigration.The Harris campaign sought to plant an early flag with its first TV spot yesterday – an ad featuring the Beyonce hit Freedom, warning that Americans’ rights are under threat from Trump.Under the slogan We Choose Freedom, Harris invites voters to unite against Project 2025 – a radical blueprint for centralising power in the presidency that was promoted by Trump and prepared by many of his current and former aides.Trump has recently tried to distance himself from the 900-page plan, which would remake the federal government in his image, removing key checks on his power and purging the entire administration of officials who are not unswervingly loyal.However, the plan tracks closely with many of the policies Trump and his closest advisers have said they want to pursue.The speech came amid a mushrooming controversy over resurfaced remarks by Trump’s vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, calling Democrats a “bunch of childless cat ladies with miserable lives”.A series of opinion polls conducted since Sunday, including one by Reuters/Ipsos, showed Harris and Trump beginning their head-to-head contest on roughly equal footing, setting the stage for a close-fought campaign over the next four-and-a-half months until the November 5 election.

A raging wildfire has devastated the western Canadian tourist town of Jasper and firefighters were working yesterday to save as many buildings as possible, authorities said.Jasper is in the middle of Jasper National Park, in the province of Alberta.The town and the park, which draw more than 2mn tourists a year, were evacuated on Monday, when officials estimated there were 15,000 visitors in the park.“There is no denying that this is the worst nightmare for any community,” Alberta premier Danielle Smith told reporters, saying that the fire was still out of control.“We’re seeing potentially 30% to 50% structural damage ... that’s going to be a significant rebuild.”Parks Canada said there had been a “significant loss” of buildings inside the town but added it could not give specific details of the damage or which areas had been hit.Video from the town showed entire blocks had burned to the ground, including a church.Jasper mayor Richard Ireland said the town was beginning to come to terms with “the devastating impact” of a fire that had ravaged the community.“The destruction and loss that many of you are facing and feeling is beyond description and comprehension,” he said in a letter to residents.One major concern for responders is if the fire reaches the Trans Mountain oil pipeline, which can carry 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Edmonton to Vancouver.“At this time there is no indication of damage to our infrastructure, and the pipelines continue to operate safely,” pipeline operator Trans Mountain said in a statement.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that his government had approved a request by Alberta province for federal assistance.“We’re deploying @CanadianForces resources, evacuations support, and more emergency wildfire resources to the province immediately – and we’re co-ordinating firefighting and airlift assistance,” Trudeau wrote on X.The federal government and other cities in Alberta are sending emergency crews. In addition, a total of 400 firefighters from Mexico, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand are due to arrive in the coming days.There are 176 wildfires burning in Alberta, more than 50 of which are out of control.Around 10 of those blazes are close to the border with British Columbia, where dozens of fires are also out of control.“Many of the wildfires we’re seeing at this time of year are lightning caused and we unfortunately can’t control the weather,” said Alberta forestry minister Todd Loewen.The federal government said in April that high temperatures and tinder dry forests meant this could be one of the worst years ever for fires in Canada.Officials said that at one point on Wednesday the flames had reached a height of 120m (400’) and were moving at 15m (50’) a minute.The Jasper Park Lodge, one of the largest hotels in town, said that the fire had reached its grounds.The Jasper fire could be one of the most damaging in Alberta since a 2016 conflagration that hit the oil town of Fort McMurray, forcing the evacuation of all 90,000 residents.The blaze destroyed 10% of all structures in the city.

President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he pulled out of the race against Republican Donald Trump over concerns about the future of US democracy, explaining that he was stepping aside to allow a new generation to take over in his first public remarks since ending his re-election bid.In an Oval Office address, Biden invoked previous presidents Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln as he described his love for the office that he will leave in six months, capping a half century in public office.“I revere this office,” Biden said. “But I love my country more.”Biden, 81, rebuffed weeks of pressure from Democrats to step aside after a disastrous debate performance on June 27, saying at one point that only the “Lord Almighty” could convince him to go.He spent days soul-searching and agonising over internal polling that showed he could lose to Trump in November and drag down fellow Democrats with him before stepping aside.“I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That’s the best way to unite our nation,” Biden said.He said that there is a “time and a place for new voices, fresh voices – yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now”.He praised Vice-President Kamala Harris, who, after his endorsement, secured enough Democratic delegates to become the Democratic nominee in his place.“She’s tough. She’s capable. She’s been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country,” Biden said.The president sprinkled his 11-minute speech with references to the danger he believes Americans face if Trump wins the November 5 election, without mentioning Trump by name.“Nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition,” he said.“The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule. The people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands,” Biden said.It was Biden’s first extended public remarks since he relented to pressure from fellow Democrats and announced on Sunday via social media that he had decided not to seek re-election on November 5.Biden is the first incumbent president not to seek re-election since 1968 when Lyndon Johnson, under fire for his handling of the Vietnam War, abruptly pulled out of the campaign on March 31.Biden also joins James K Polk, James Buchanan, Rutherford B Hayes, Calvin Coolidge and Harry Truman as presidents who all decided not to stand for a second elected term.Biden faced immediate calls to step aside after his rocky performance in the debate against Trump raised troubling questions about his mental acuity.Since he stepped aside, however, Democrats have rallied around him, paying tribute to his character and his record as president.“Nowhere else on Earth could a kid with a stutter, from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as president of the United States,” Biden said. “But here I am.”The White House has denied that Biden has any cognitive issues despite a recent increase in verbal slip-ups.Biden said he will focus on his job as president over his remaining six months in office.He pledged to help make the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) stronger and more united, stop Russian President Vladimir Putin from taking over Ukraine, work toward a ceasefire deal in Gaza and push for Supreme Court reform.Biden’s withdrawal has upended Trump’s campaign, which had previously focused on the president’s age and mental acuity.Now it is Trump, 78, who is the oldest candidate in US history.Trump, who had initially called for unity after surviving an assassination attempt on July 13, was in no mood for magnanimity after Biden’s speech.“Crooked Joe Biden’s Oval Office speech was barely understandable, and sooo bad!” Trump said on social media. – Reuters/AFP

The head of the Palestine Olympic Committee criticised “double standards” from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday over its decision to allow Israel to compete at the Paris Games. Palestinian Olympic head Jibril Rajoub demanded a boycott in a letter to the IOC earlier this week which was rejected by the head of the international Olympics body, Thomas Bach.“This confirms that there are international institutions that insist on applying double standards and not adhering to the Olympic Charter, laws and regulations, or morals,” Rajoub said as he arrived at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport with the Palestinian sporting delegation.Around a hundred people were there to welcome the athletes with dates and shouts of “Free, Free Palestine!”. “The Israelis or the Israeli Olympic Committee have lost the moral, sports, humanitarian and legal right to participate,” Rajoub added, saying Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza amounted to “crimes of genocide, ethnic cleansing”.Palestinian militants from Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of about 1,170 people. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign to destroy Hamas has killed 39,175 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Around 400 Palestinian athletes have been killed, while others have been unable to train or travel because of Israeli bombing or restrictions, the Palestine Olympic Committee says. Russia has been banned from the Paris Olympics by the IOC for violating the Olympic charter when it annexed Ukrainian sporting organisations after the Kremlin’s 2022 invasion.The IOC has in the past denied that Israel is in violation of the Olympic charter and stressed the relationship between Israeli and Palestinian Olympic Committees. “We have two National Olympic Committees, that is the difference with the world of politics, and in this respect both have been living in peaceful co-existence,” IOC chief Thomas Bach said in Paris on Tuesday. He added: “We are not in the political business, we are there to accomplish our mission to get the athletes together.”As he arrived on Thursday in Paris, Yazan al-Bawwab, a Palestinian swimmer, said he wanted to raise awareness about the Palestinian cause and the suffering in Gaza. “As an athlete... it’s not about the medals. It’s about reaching the most people, about the Palestinian cause,” he said. “If a medal gets me more awareness, that’s what I care about. Sports is a tool for peace also, it’s a way to spread my message to the world about Palestinians and that we’re suffering.”The Israeli national anthem was whistled at the Parc des Princes stadium and Palestinian flags were waved by a handful of spectators.

Coco Gauff joked on Thursday that she is worried about the height difference with her fellow Team USA flagbearer LeBron James, ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. Gauff was selected alongside NBA superstar James by her fellow US athletes to carry the flag during today’s ceremony along the river Seine. James is a foot taller – 2.06m (6ft 9ins) to 1.75m (5ft 9ins) – than the tennis world number two. “I am a little bit concerned about the height difference,” she said. “I thought it was two flags but I saw pictures (of previous Olympics) and they’re holding it together.”

Paris was on Thursday counting down the hours to the most ambitious Olympics opening ceremony in history on the river Seine.The show today evening will see up to 7,500 competitors sail down a six-kilometre stretch of the Seine on 85 boats, accompanied by a performance blending French culture and Olympic values that organisers promise will be spectacular.Compared to the Covid-blighted Tokyo Olympics, where the Games were delayed by a year and opened in an empty stadium, the Paris ceremony will take place in front of 300,000 spectators and an audience of VIPs and celebrities from around the world.The line-up of performers is a closely guarded secret but US pop star Lady Gaga and French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura – the most listened-to French-speaking singer in the world – are rumoured to be among them. The ceremony will take place amid an unprecedented security operation.Central Paris has been turned into a fortress, with metal barriers along both banks of the Seine. Only residents and people with hotel bookings can enter the high-security area. Police snipers are set to be positioned on every high point along the route, with an assassination attempt on US presidential candidate Donald Trump on July 13 helping focus minds. Israel and the Palestinian team will be given extra security with the tensions from the Israeli offensive in Gaza feared to be a potential motive for would-be attackers.At the Games on Thursday, women’s football took centre stage after a chaotic start to the sporting action in the men’s football 24 hours earlier. The Spanish women’s football team, the reigning world champions who are making their first-ever Olympics appearance, beat Japan 2-1 thanks to goals from 2023 world player of the year Aitana Bonmati and Mariona Caldentey.Scandal-hit reigning champions Canada overcame New Zealand 2-1 without their coach Bev Priestman on the sidelines after she decided it would be inappropriate following incidents of Canadian staff spying on their opponents’ training sessions with drones. Canada’s assistant coach and an analyst were dismissed from the Olympics for their part in the affair.It all added up to a difficult start for the football at the Games after a chaotic end to Argentina men’s match against Morocco when the football kicked off on Wednesday. Morocco beat the two-time Olympic champions 2-1 in Saint-Etienne, but only after a late equaliser for the South American side was disallowed and the final minutes took place in an empty stadium following crowd trouble.The tennis draw threw up a mouthwatering potential second-round tie between 2008 gold medallist Rafael Nadal and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, while two-time Olympic champion Andy Murray withdrew from the singles. “I am excited for this duel in the second round, and I will give it my all,” said Djokovic.US gymnastics superstar Simone Biles, set to once again be one of the faces of the Olympics, got her first taste of the Bercy Arena as she trained ahead of the start of competition at the weekend. Biles is strongly tipped to add to her haul of four Olympic golds at the Paris Games after a tumultuous campaign in Tokyo three years ago, when she pulled out of most of her events as she battled the disorientating condition that gymnasts call “twisties”.In other developments, US Olympic chiefs on Thursday called for an end to the feud between American anti-doping officials and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after renewed verbal sparring. Gene Sykes, the chairman of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said WADA and the US Anti-Doping Agency had been “playing ping pong with media bullets” since revelations about a 2021 doping scandal involving Chinese swimmers emerged.The acrimony between the two bodies flared again on Wednesday, with the International Olympic Committee warning US officials they could be stripped of the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City if WADA was not respected as the “supreme authority” of the anti-doping movement. “What we want to do is to cool the tempers and find a way for these organisations to constructively work better together,” Sykes said.

Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather and Lennox Lewis are among the boxing greats who have cut their teeth at the Olympics, with a new generation of fighters eager to follow in their footsteps in Paris.But there are serious questions over whether the sport will even remain on the Olympic programme.Boxing made its debut at the modern Olympics in 1904 and has been contested at every Summer Games since, apart from the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm as Swedish law banned the sport at the time.But it only went ahead at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games three years ago after the International Olympic Committee stepped in to oversee the competition.The IOC suspended its recognition of the International Boxing Association in 2019 because of concerns over governance, financial and ethical issues and last year it withdrew its recognition of the governing body.The IOC will once again organise the boxing in the French capital and has given the sport until 2025 to get its house in order, otherwise it risks being excluded from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.Against this uncertain backdrop, nearly 250 boxers – evenly split for the first time between men and women – will do battle between July 27 and August 10, the penultimate day of the Games.Women’s boxing made its Olympic debut at London 2012 across three weight categories but there will be six weight divisions in Paris, reflecting the growth of the sport.Olympic boxing will take place at the North Paris Arena on the outskirts of the city and at Roland-Garros, better known as the home of the French Open tennis.Among those to watch in the women’s competition will be Ireland’s Kellie Harrington, who won the lightweight title in Tokyo.She suffered her first defeat in three years in April and knows the pressure is on after her heroics in 2021 catapulted her into the spotlight.“It’s not about being the greatest, it’s not about bringing back a medal,” the 34-year-old recently told Irish media.“It’s that feeling of, ‘I’m just going to get this done because this is what I’ve worked for’.” Also in the women’s event is Cindy Ngamba, who was born in Cameroon but moved to Britain aged 11 and will represent the Refugee Olympic Team.There are several plotlines in the men’s competition, which will similarly feature reigning Olympic champions, some boxers with professional experience and also emerging talents.Led in the past by boxers such as Ali, Mayweather, George Foreman, Roy Jones Jr and Evander Holyfield, the United States is the most successful nation in the history of Olympic boxing. But its men have failed to take home gold since Andre Ward – another who went on to become a world champion – in 2004.Their hopes of ending that drought are led by the 21-year-old featherweight Jahmal Harvey. Cuba are another traditional heavyweight and in Arlen Lopez and Julio Cesar La Cruz they have two highly accomplished fighters who are looking to win gold for a third time.Only three boxers have ever done that in the history of the Games.Britain are another powerhouse, both in women’s and men’s boxing.Anthony Joshua won gold for the hosts at London 2012 before turning pro and becoming heavyweight world champion.Britain have high hopes for 27-year-old super-heavyweight Delicious Orie, who has been mentioned as the next possible Joshua and is a reigning Commonwealth Games champion. A sparring partner of Joshua’s, Orie once said: “Some say I’m the new Anthony Joshua, but one day I aim to be even better and dominate.”Waseem Abu Sal will be the first Palestinian boxer to compete at the Olympics after earning a wildcard spot. “This has been my dream since I was 10,” he told AFP at his gym in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah. “Every day I woke up wondering how to get to the Olympics.”

beIN Sports, the leading sports broadcaster in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), has set a new record with an unprecedented cumulative viewership of more than 1.2 billion views of its multilingual coverage of the month-long UEFA European Championships (Euro 2024) held in Germany.For context, the broadcaster’s coverage of the Euro 2020 tournament generated 0.96 billion views across the same numbers of matches, meaning this year marks a 27 per cent rise in views.Sunday’s final, the last of 51 games held between 14 June and 14 July, saw Spain beat England 2-1 to clinch a record fourth continental title courtesy of a late goal by Mikel Oyarzabal.The match saw more than 95.2 million viewers tune in, making it the most-watched game of the tournament. For further context, the broadcaster’s coverage of the Euro 2020 final between Italy and England attracted 64.4 million viewers, meaning this year marks a nearly 50 per cent rise in viewers.The two semi-finals in particular attracted huge audiences, with more than 54.1 million fans tuning in to watch a 16-year-old Lamine Yamal become the youngest goal-scorer in the competition’s history as Spain beat France, before 54.4 million watched England’s Ollie Watkins decide a tense encounter with the Netherlands in stoppage time. Across the whole tournament, 23.8 million viewers watched each match on average, which was over 5 million more viewers per match versus the average for Euro 2020.beIN’s cross-platform digital coverage, featuring minute-by-minute match updates, post-match highlights, interviews and special studio coverage saw its social media platforms reach record numbers. Total cumulative impressions across beIN’s social media channels soared to 2.6 billion, reflecting a 261.8% increase compared to 718 million in 2020. Meanwhile, cumulative video views across its platforms saw a 518% increase from 178 million in 2020 to 1.1 billion views recorded during the 2024 tournament.

Dina Asher-Smith once watched up close as Jessica Ennis-Hill won Olympic heptathlon gold and now Britain’s greatest ever female sprinter hopes the roles will be reversed in Paris.Asher-Smith carried bags for athletes at the 2012 London Games and watched one of her heroines Ennis-Hill take the title on what became known by the hosts as ‘Super Saturday’ as Greg Rutherford won the long jump and Mo Farah the 10,000 metres.At 28 this could be Asher-Smith’s last chance of securing an elusive Olympic individual medal at 100m or 200m.In a neat flip, Ennis-Hill will be watching from the BBC studio in the Stade de France.Asher-Smith has already emulated Ennis-Hill and her other athletics role model Christine Ohuruogu in winning her first global title - the 200m world outdoor title in 2019 - at 23, the same age they won their maiden crowns.With her morale boosted by her second European 100m title in Rome in June, she pits her wits against world 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson and the Jamaicans are bound to be strong.Stepping up into the 200m, she will find Jamaica’s world champion Shericka Jackson and American Gabby Thomas, who produced a remarkable come-from-behind run to win the London Diamond League meeting on Saturday as Asher-Smith faded to third.“We’re definitely in the golden age of women’s sprinting and it’s great to be acknowledged in that group,” the Briton told Eurosport.“We’ve been in the golden age of women’s sprinting for a while now - the times on the women’s side, what it takes to make the podium, what it takes to make the final, it’s incredibly fast. It just pushes you to really fulfil your potential.”Ennis-Hill remains a believer that Asher-Smith is a contender.“She’s had a good winter, she’s not had any particular niggles and she’s consistently built for Paris, so I think she can be right up there in the medals, definitely,” Ennis-Hill told The Standard.“She knows the field for both the 100 and 200 will be absolutely phenomenal. But she’s also got the talent to do it.”‘Light and joyful’ Asher-Smith had been guided for nearly 20 years by coach John Blackie but last year she made the decision to move to the United States. It was Blackie who Asher-Smith dedicated her 200m world title to as he had seen “special things” in her as an eight-year-old. They remain close. In Texas she is training with two up-and-coming young talents, St Lucia’s world indoor 60m champion Julien Alfred and Ireland’s European 400m silver medallist Rhasidat Adeleke. She has found the experience liberating.“What has stood out to me here (in the USA), is that I can just kind of ‘be’,” she told the Guardian.“That feeling of always being ‘on’ (in the UK) - of always having to look all right, because people will stop you and take a picture.“And always having to appear happy, even if you’re having the worst day ever. It has been almost 10 years since I can just kind of ‘be’ in my life. Being able to switch off has been one of the best things.”Already armed with a history degree, Asher-Smith has taken up another challenge, pottery.“I wanted to learn a new skill, something creative that stimulated my mind in a different way,” she said. “I’m loving it. I go once or twice a week, and I’m chatting to people, being bad at stuff, watching things collapse, and trying again. I’m still not very good at putting the handles on.”That will no doubt come in time but first up she has that date with the Olympics although she insists past disappointments do not play on her mind.“Some people are very motivated by previous frustrations.“But I’m somebody who just needs to feel free and light and joyful to run fast. That’s my mentality.”

Qatar Airways is proud to announce its latest partnership as the Official Title Partner and Official Airline Partner of The Qatar Airways British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia 2025.The British & Irish Lions Tour is a historic and highly anticipated event which takes place every four years.The Tour will see the Lions, a combined team of the best rugby players from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, take on the Wallabies in a series of Test matches as well as a number of games against Australian teams.Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium will host the first of three Tests on Saturday 19 July, 2025. The second Test will be played on Saturday 26 July, 2025 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), and the final Test will be played at Sydney’s Accor Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday 2 August.In preparation for the first Test, the Lions will face a combined Australian and New Zealand team at the Adelaide Oval, while the tour will also include fixtures in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer, Badr Mohamed al-Meer, said: “We are taking our commitment to the sport of rugby to the next level, flying some of the world’s best athletes, coaching staff and officials to compete in The Qatar Airways British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia 2025. We look forward to enabling rugby fans across the world to connect for this unique sporting event. Our network of over 170 destinations will serve as the perfect means to fly fans from all over the globe and experience the service that earned us the Skytrax World’s Best Airline award for a record eight times.”CEO of The British & Irish Lions, Ben Calveley, said, “An airline partner is a vital logistical component of every Lions tour and alongside our partners in Rugby Australia we are very pleased to welcome Qatar Airways on board as Series Title Partner for the 2025 Tour to Australia. Qatar Airways has a proven track record of excellence as a premium global airline, providing high-quality service to customers travelling to and from almost 100 countries. This three-way partnership between the Lions, Rugby Australia and Qatar Airways will play an important part in delivering the Lions Tour in 2025.”