"I want to keep experiencing a few more matches as world champion," says skipper after epic World Cup final victory.
Argentina star Lionel Messi on Sunday vowed to continue playing for his country despite finally realising his lifetime ambition of winning the World Cup.
"I want to keep experiencing a few more matches as world champion," Messi, 35, told local television following the country's epic penalty shoot-out victory over France in the World Cup final in Doha.
But Messi admitted his career was almost finished after the Argentina captain landed the one major international trophy missing from his collection.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward scored two goals in the stunning and chaotic final that ended 3-3 after 120 absorbing minutes, before the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner netted his spot-kick in the shoot-out that Argentina won 4-2.
"Obviously I would like to end my career with this, I cannot ask for more," said Messi. "My career is nearly over because these are my last years."
And after so many disappointments on the biggest stage in football, including losing the 2014 World Cup final to Germany in Brazil, Messi said he always felt his time would come.
"It's crazy that it happened at the time it happened, but it's amazing," he said. "It's amazing that it could end this way. I said previously that God was going to grant me this and I don't know why but I felt it was going to be this time."
Turning his attentions to the match itself, Messi said it was hard to explain after Argentina let slip a two-goal lead late in the game for the second time, following their quarter-final victory over the Netherlands a week earlier.
"It was a very strange match, the same as the other one against the Netherlands, and then when we went ahead in extra-time it happened again," said Messi.
But, he added, the World Cup trophy "is beautiful."
Messi hugged his family and team-mates after the match while coach Lionel Scaloni, winger Ángel Di María, who scored Argentina's second goal, and goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez could not contain their tears after the final whistle.
Messi has played 172 times for Argentina, scoring 98 goals since making his debut in 2005.
Erupsi Gunung Semeru di Kabupaten Lumajang, Jawa Timur kembali terjadi, pada hari Minggu, 18/12/2022, pukul 18.20 WIB. Erupsi itu berdurasi 200 detik dengan ketinggian 700 m dengan jarak luncur 1.000 meter mengarah ke tenggara atau Besuk Kobokan.
Kepala BPBD Kabupaten Lumajang Patria Dwi Hastiadi memastikan, erupsi disertai guguran seperti yang terlihat pada kamera CCTV Semeru bukan Awan Panas Guguran (APG).
"Sekitar jam setengah 7 malam ada aktivitas kegempaan berupa erupsi guguran, tapi bukan APG," kata Patria di kantornya, hari Minggu, 18/12/2022.
Beberapa titik terdampak dikabarkan terjadi hujan abu dengan intensitas rendah seperti Desa Sumbermujur, Desa Ranupani, dan Pasrujambe.
Hal ini karena saat erupsi terjadi, angin mengarah ke utara sehingga menyebabkan kepulan asap yang membawa material abu tertiup ke utara.
"Karena arah angin mengarah ke utara, disinyalir ada beberapa titik yang terdampak hujan abu," tambahnya.
Pada pagi hari terjadi tiga kali erupsi. Erupsi pertama kali terjadi pukul 05.00 WIB setinggi 300 meter di atas puncak atau 3.976 m di atas permukaan laut. Kemudian Erupsi kedua terjadi pukul 06.23 WIB. Tinggi letusan teramati 800 meter dari puncak atau 4.476 meter di atas permukaan laut. Ketiga terjadi pukul 07.55 WIB setinggi 700 meter dari puncak mahameru. Kolom abu teramati berwarna putih hingga kelabu dengan intensitas tebal ke arah utara.
Sementara, laporan Pos Pantau Gunung Api Semeru di Gunung Sawur periode pengamatan 00.00-18.00 WIB mencatat ada 11 erupsi berupa letusan asap yang teramati secara langsung.
Letusan asap berwarna putih kelabu itu teramati membumbung di atas puncak kawah Jonggring Saloko dengan ketinggian antara 300-800 meter mengarah ke utara.
Selain itu, guguran lava pijar juga terpantau terjadi empat kali dalam periode pengamatan tersebut. Jarak luncurnya antara 300 - 800 meter dari ujung lidah lava mengarah ke Besuk Kobokan.
Secara kegempaan, seismograf milik pos pantau merekam ada 53 kali gempa letusan dengan amplitudo maksimal 13-22 mm dengan durasi 50-165 detik.
Patria mengimbau masyarakat untuk tetap waspada dan tidak panik sambil menunggu informasi resmi dari petugas BPBD maupun PVMBG.
"Kita tetap waspada, saling memberikan informasi, masyarakat diminta untuk seleksi berita, seleksi data terutama menunggu informasi resmi dari PVMBG maupun BPBD," pungkas Patria.
Vivian Geraghty filed a lawsuit against Jackson Memorial Middle School in federal court this week
The teacher had to resign despite attempting to find “a solution that would allow her to continue teaching without violating her religious beliefs and constitutional rights,” according to her lawsuit.
A former Ohio school teacher has filed a lawsuit over the circumstances of her resignation.
According to media reports, Vivian Geraghty (24) is suing the school she used to work at, the Jackson Memorial Middle School in Massillon, as well as the Board of Education and two school district employees.
Geraghty, who resigned in August, claims that she quit her job after two students asked her to use names aligned “with their new gender identities rather than their legal names.”
As the students’ request was apparently in line with the school’s policy that stipulates teachers use students’ preferred pronouns, Geraghty, who describes herself as Christian, reached out to the principal in a bid to reach “a solution that would allow her to continue teaching without violating her religious beliefs and constitutional rights.”
However, as she insisted that she would not use the students’ preferred pronouns, Geraghty later had another meeting with the principal and another school district employee, and was told that “she would be required to put her beliefs aside as a public servant,” the lawsuit alleges.
The district employee then reportedly told Geraghty that, if she did not participate in the students’ “social transition”, she would have to quit, and the latter ended up resigning over what she described as “irreconcilable” differences between herself and the school district.
“While some may say this is forcing my beliefs on others, I say this is standing up for the mission that every teacher should fight for,” Geraghty reportedly stated.
The lawsuit claims the request signified the students' decisions to transition to genders inconsistent with their sex assigned at birth.
Feeling that doing so would violate both her Christian faith and "scientific understanding," Geraghty approached principal Kacy Carter to discuss "a way to move forward consistent with her conscience and her professional obligation."
"But as soon as Defendants found out that Ms. Geraghty had a religious basis for resisting their attempt to implement an orthodoxy, they forced her to resign," the lawsuit reads.
Carter allegedly told Geraghty that as a public employee, she must be willing to put her religious beliefs aside. With Geraghty unwilling to do so, she was allegedly handed a laptop by another employee and instructed to draft a resignation letter immediately.
"Within two hours of being notified that Ms. Geraghty had reservations about their approach to the issue, without there ever being any complaint from a student or disruption of any school services, Defendants ejected her from the school," the lawsuit reads.
Geraghty ultimately submitted a letter of resignation in which she said she was "standing up for the mission that every teacher should fight for." She feels that fighting for what she believes in aligns with what she and others strive to teach students to do every day.
Geraghty calls JLS's actions a violation of both freedom of speech and religion, as well as an attempt by Ohio to enforce a set of beliefs on its employees. Her argument is supported by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the conservative Christian legal advocacy group which filed the suit on her behalf.
“No school official can force a teacher to set her religious beliefs aside in order to keep her job. The school tried to force Vivian to recite as true the school’s viewpoint on issues that go to the foundation of morality and human identity, like what makes us male or female, by ordering her to personally participate in the social transition of her students," ADF Legal Counsel Logan Spena said. "The First Amendment prohibits that abuse of power."
JLS indicated to The National Desk (TND) that its goal is to "provide a safe, comfortable environment" for all of its nearly 6,000 students. While it is aware of the lawsuit and has engaged legal counsel, it says it has no further comment on pending litigations.
Teacher Who Refused to Use a Student’s Chosen Pronouns Jailed in Ireland
In September 2022 Enoch Burke, a teacher at the Church of Ireland’s diocesan school for Meath and Kildare, was arrested because he entered school grounds after being suspended and put on administrative leave. In doing so, he breached a court order and was subsequently arrested and sent to Mountjoy prison.
Burke teaches German, history and politics at Wilson’s Hospital School in Westmeath, Ireland, which is a Church of Ireland boarding school first founded in 1761 and was an all-boys school until 1969. Burke was given a court order at the start of fall term not to teach or be physically present at the school following his refusal to address one of his student’s with their chosen pronouns.
Burke refused to comply with the order and apparently showed up to the empty classroom and declared he was there to work. It was then that he was arrested after breaching the court order.
“I am a teacher and I don't want to go to prison. I want to be in my classroom today, that's where I was this morning when I was arrested,” Burke told Judge Michael Quinn in court. “I love my school, with its motto Res Non Verba, actions not words, but I am here today because I said I would not call a boy a girl.”
“Transgenderism is against my Christian belief. It is contrary to the scriptures, contrary to the ethos of the Church of Ireland and of my school,” he added.
“My religious beliefs are not misconduct. They are not gross misconduct. They never will be. They are dear to me. I will never deny them and never betray them, and I will never bow to an order that would require me to do so. It is just not possible for me to do that.”
Judge Quinn found Burke guilty of violating a High Court order to keep him off the school’s premises. Judge Quinn said he was not ruling on Burke’s principles or religious beliefs but on the question of whether or not he would try and return to the school despite being prohibited from doing so.
“It is insanity that I will be led from this courtroom to a place of incarceration, but I will not give up my Christian beliefs,” said Burke after the judge made his ruling.
Rosemary Mallon, who is a barrister-at-law for the board of management, told Judge Quinn that the school, in an effort to get Burke to comply with the order, saw that they had no choice but to send him to prison despite having a “heavy heart” in doing so.
“Mr. Burke is knowingly in breach of this order, he is therefore in contempt and he has made it clear that if he is not committed to prison he will attend at the school (today), and the concerns of the school regarding the ongoing disruption to the students remain,” said Mallon before the ruling.
Harimau benggala bernama Juve saat berada di kandang Taman Margasatwa Ragunan. Foto: Instagram/@ragunanzoo
Harimau Benggala bernama Juve di Taman Margasatwa Ragunan, viral karena kondisi badannya yang terlihat kurus. Pengelola kebun binatang meminta maaf dan menyebut harimau bernama Juve itu tengah menjalani penyembuhan.
Berawal dari beredarnya sebuah video yang memperlihatkan seekor harimau bertubuh kurus di Taman Margasatwa Ragunan, Jakarta Selatan. Unggahan video oleh akun Instagram Ketua Animal Defender Doni Herdaru.
Tampak dalam video tersebut, harimau berjalan dengan kaki belakang dan pinggul kurus. Cara menapak kaki kanan belakang hewan loreng tersebut juga terlihat tidak lurus seperti kaki kirinya.
Humas Taman Margasatwa Ragunan Wahyudi Bambang membenarkan bahwa harimau dalam video viral tersebut adalah satwa koleksi kebun binatang itu.
Melalui Instagram @ragunanzoo, pengelola Ragunan merespons unggahan Doni. Video itu juga diunggah oleh Doni.
"Kami ingin menanggapi video yang tengah viral mengenai salah satu harimau Benggala di Taman Margasatwa Ragunan," kata petugas Taman Margasatwa Ragunan dalam video tersebut.
Dia memberi penjelasan itu di depan kandang si harimau. Video juga merekam cara gerak harimau ini.
Menurut video klarifikasi yang diunggah di Instagram resmi Ragunan, Juve juga tampak tak sekurus dalam video yang diunggah Doni. Juve disebut terlihat kurus karena dilihat dari jauh dan ada kelainan kaki belakang dengan sendi menonjol dan kurus.
Namun, bagian perut hingga kepala Juve berukuran sedang dan tak sekurus bagian kaki belakangnya.
Kepala Humas Taman Satwa Ragunan Wahyudi Bambang mengatakan, Juve kurus bukan karena tak terawat. Harimau itu sempat sakit, berusia tua, dan memiliki kelainan di kaki belakang sehingga nampak kurus saat dilihat dari jauh.
Dalam keterangan tertulis Taman Margasatwa Ragunan yang diterima media Tempo, disebutkan bahwa binatang tersebut merupakan harimau bengal atau benggala jantan berusia 16 tahun bernama Juve.
Pengelola Ragunan menyatakan Juve sempat menderita penyakit saluran kencing. Namun kini kondisinya sudah membaik setelah diberikan pengobatan dan perawatan oleh tim dokter hewan UP Taman Margasatwa Ragunan (UP TMR).
Dijelaskan bahwa masa hidup harimau benggala di alam bebas adalah 15 tahun, sedangkan jika dirawat dalam penangkaran atau lembaga konservasi masa hidupnya meningkat menjadi 20 tahun.
Saat ini Juve berada di kandangnya, namun tidak dikeluarkan ke pekarangan. Sehingga pemandangan di pekarangan kandang Juve terlihat kosong.
“Sehingga, bisa dikatakan bahwa saat ini Juve sudah tergolong berusia tua untuk ukuran seekor harimau benggala,” kata pengelola Ragunan dalam keterangannya.
"Ada di kandangnya, tapi memang tidak dikeluarkan, dienklosur," kata Bambang.
Juve Miliki Berat Badan Ideal
Ragunan membantah tubuh harimau itu kurus. Dijelaskan bahwa Juve memiliki berat badan yang sudah ideal.
“Tim dokter hewan UP TMR menyatakan bahwa harimau benggala Juve memiliki berat badan yang ideal sesuai dengan penilaian menggunakan Body Condition Scoring (BCS) harimau benggala.”
Juve disebut memiliki skor 3 dari 5. Hal itu dilihat dari kondisi coste atau tulang dada yang tidak terlihat menonjol.
Selain itu, harimau benggala tersebut juga memang memiliki kelainan pada tulang kaki belakangnya yang merupakan kondisi bawaan sejak lahir. Kondisi tersebut membuat Juve tidak terlihat seperti harimau benggala pada umumnya saat berjalan.
“Unit Pengelola Taman Margasatwa Ragunan selaku Lembaga Konservasi selalu berusaha semaksimal mungkin untuk memenuhi kewajiban pengelolaan satwa dengan selalu mengutamakan dan memperhatikan kesejahteraan satwa,” katanya.
Qatar celebrates its National Day under the slogan “Our unity is the source of our strength”.
The state of Qatar marks its National Day on Sunday with messages of unity and triumph from state officials, including Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
Doha, which is set to close the FIFA World Cup 2022 on the same day, will also see a series of celebrations under the slogan “Our unity is the source of our strength”.
On Saturday, the Qatari Amir took part in the Arda performance – a traditional sword dance, which was held in the courtyard of Lusail Palace.
Speaker of the Shura Council Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim affirmed that the National Day was a celebration of the achievements of Qatar since it was founded.
In a statement to Qatar New Agency (QNA), Al Ghanim said that the National Day was a time to look back on the transformation and achievements of Qatar and to celebrate all its accomplishments.
Minister of Defence Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah said that the occasion inspired values of unity and loyalty, QNA reported.
Qatar has gone through “difficult times” in the past years, Al Attiyah said, adding that the experience was “strengthening and solidifying”.
Qatar’s Amir receives congratulatory cables to mark the occasion. Saudi ambassador in Qatar Mansour bin Khalid bin Farhan said the Qatari National Day coinciding with World Cup final makes it “a historical occasion” to be celebrated by everyone.
The Saudi official added that Qatar and Saudi Arabia were bound together by historical relations, which reaffirms the strength of ties between both countries and their people.
The French ambassador also congratulated the people of Qatar on the occasion, saying: “This year was a very special year for Qatar, as the National Day coincides with the FIFA World Cup, which adds a special dimension to the celebration as Qatar will share the joy of celebrating its National Day with the whole world.”
Officials from Egypt, Turkey, Jordan and Algeria were among those who congratulated Qatar on its National Day.
Everyone here at Lusail Stadium is looking at the sky. The Qatar National Day airshow is in full force.
Qatar National Day celebrations in Doha, ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup final match. (Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera)
Doha Metro has already become an "instant hit” with thousands of football fans from abroad and residing in Qatar. Excellent crowd management has ensured that football fans have had a safe and smooth travel experience.
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has clearly raised excitement around the world. It has become a sporting spectacle to remember for everyone who has already made it and will make it to Qatar – as well as the billions glued to their TVs and smartphones around the world.For decades, hosting the World Cup was a distant dream, but now it has become a reality.
Qatar’s hard work has indeed come to fruition and the country is now hosting an outstanding edition of the FIFA World Cup – one that will leave an important legacy for our country, the Middle East and globally.
FIFA confirms winter World Cup in Qatar; sets final for National Day
It’s official: Football’s governing body has decided to take the unprecedented step of moving the 2022 World Cup to the winter months to escape Qatar’s searing summer heat.
The tournament will now be played in November and December of 2022, ending with a final match on Qatar’s National Day, Dec. 18, FIFA confirmed today after its executive committee convened in Zurich.
The announcement follows more than four years of speculation on the date for the tournament, which Qatar bid for on the basis of summer dates, but which has been long thought would be moved to cooler months.
A FIFA taskforce had already made a historic recommendation to move Qatar’s tournament from the games’ traditional June/July dates to November/December following a meeting last month.
However, at the time it stopped short of confirming specific dates for when the matches would take place.
To help fans and players cope, local organizers proposed the development of a high-tech air conditioning system that would keep those within the stadiums cool.
It put its cooling technology on display last summer, albeit on a much smaller scale, at a fan zone in Katara set up for spectators watching football matches broadcast from the World Cup in Brazil.
However, even if the stadiums and fan zones were kept at a comfortable temperatures, there were still questions about how much tourists would enjoy their time visiting Qatar outside the official matches.
Local organizers told reporters during a press conference last month that it planned to continue to develop the cooling technology, which could be used in other applications such as greenhouses.
Crimea's Permanent Representative to the Russian President Georgiy Muradov called on Sunday the intention of Athens to transfer S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine a "risky step" for Greek national interests.
On Friday, Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said that the country's government is ready to send S-300 air defense systems from Crete to Ukraine if the US "installs the Patriot system in their place."
"Such a move by Athens would be not only a senseless demonstration of hostility towards Russia, but also a risky step towards its own national interests, which the Greek public is already loudly declaring," Muradov told Sputnik.
According to Muradov, the transfer of these systems to Kiev is "certainly capable of radically undermining the Greek defensive potential."
In March, Greece rejected an “informal request” from Kyiv to transfer its Tor-M1s and Osas, arguing that they could still be needed for its armed forces. However, unlike these systems, Greece’s S-300s were never integrated into military’s broader air defense network. Instead they remained stored on the island of Crete. Sources cited in the Greek press said Athens had not received any request for its S-300s from Ukraine. However, Kyiv would undoubtedly warmly welcome the delivery of these systems.
Slovakia recently donated its S-300 battery inherited from the former Soviet Union to Ukraine. However, Greece did not, of course, inherit its S-300s from the former Soviet Union. Rather, Moscow delivered Athens S-300s Cyprus had initially ordered as part of an arrangement to defuse a crisis between Turkey and Cyprus that began in early 1997. Therefore, transferring these systems to Ukraine today would likely prove much more complicated than Slovakia donating its inherited Soviet S-300.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. In response to Russia’s operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Pope slams conflict in Ukraine as world war
Pope Francis believes that the conflict in Ukraine is a 'world war' and will not end soon, according to his interview with the Spanish newspaper ABC published on Sunday.
"Now (Ukrainian President) Vladimir Zelensky is sending one of his religious advisers to me for the third time," the pontiff reported, "I'm in touch, accepting, helping". "I don't see the end [of the conflict] in the short term, because this is a world war," he noted. "There are already several hands involved in the war," Francis pointed out, "There are many interests.".
Kiev tried to kill Chief of Russia’s General Staff Gerasimov, The New York Times says
Ukraine’s authorities have allegedly made an attempt to assassinate General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
According to the daily, Kiev allegedly launched the attack when Gerasimov was on the front line. The newspaper gives neither the date nor any other information about the attack in question.
However, the daily said, Washington was against Kiev’s plans to kill Gerasimov for the worries that an attempt on his life could lead to an escalation. The Americans withheld the information about the general’s movements from the Ukrainians, and then asked "Ukraine to call off an attack — only to be told that the Ukrainians had already launched it."
Russian MoD Holds Briefing on Special Operation in Ukraine
Russian MoD’s briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:
Russian Forces eliminated up to 25 Ukrainian troops, as well as destroyed an armored carrier and two other vehicles near Kupyansk;
Russian troops eliminated or wounded up to 60 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as destroyed one tank and two pick-up trucks;
The Russian Army eliminated more than 40 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as destroyed two Ukrainian armored combat vehicles and three other vehicles near Donetsk;
Russian troops eliminated or wounded up to 50 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as destroyed an armored combat vehicle and three other vehicles in the Zaporozhye region and in the DPR;
Russian Forces hit 109 Ukrainian units at their firing positions;
The Russian Army destroyed a US-made AN/TPQ-36 radar station in the DPR;
Russian air defense destroyed one Ukrainian UAV, as well as intercepted nine HIMARS rockets.
