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New LIV CEO O’Neil predicts golf will ‘open up again’

The new CEO of LIV told AFP the world of golf will eventually “open up again” and the Saudi-bankrolled league has an important role in growing the game around the world.American sports executive Scott O’Neil, who has in the past run NBA and NHL teams, took the reins from Greg Norman in January.The period since has seen a flurry of meetings between the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and their Saudi backers, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), but still no deal reached to reunite the sport.”I think LIV has a place and an important place, and it’s very different from anybody else in golf,” O’Neil told AFP in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of this week’s LIV Hong Kong tournament.Only days ago leading PGA Tour player Rory McIlroy said that a deal to reunify golf did not feel any closer.O’Neil would not comment on the stop-start talks with the PGA Tour but pointed out that the once icy reception from golf’s majors to the breakaway series had thawed.”I feel like the narrative just generally is shifting in and around LIV and golf,” said O’Neil, who is the former CEO of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. “That’s probably most highlighted by each of the four majors in inviting LIV players and providing a pathway for LIV players to play in the majors, which I think is a great, positive step in the right direction.”But as it stands LIV’s multiple major champions and greats of the game such as Jon Rahm, current US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson only go up against the cream of the PGA Tour four times a year.- ‘That day will come’ -There remains no free movement of players between the tours, and the only time LIV players can currently face the best of the PGA Tour is at those four majors.O’Neil, however, is optimistic.”Eventually, I believe that golf will open up again,” he told AFP. “We would like player movement. We’d like opportunities for our incredible stars to play around the world.”And I think that day will come. But in the meantime, let’s enjoy the majors.”Asked if there was a place for LIV in a future integrated golf calendar, along the lines of cricket’s money-spinning IPL, O’Neil said he saw LIV as the pinnacle of the sport.”We’re very much the Formula One of golf,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any other parallel that you can find.”LIV Golf, with its unique 54-hole, shotgun-start tournaments which have individual and team competitions with music blasting across the fairways, is in its fourth year and third full season.And O’Neil predicted it had a bright future.The league’s slogan has evolved this year from “Golf But Louder” to “Long LIV Golf” and O’Neil said that “is the essence of who we will become”.”It’s kind of our seal of approval, if you will, of our entry into the golf infrastructure around the world.”For now, the CEO is happy to wait for the day when golf’s conflicts are resolved, and said he was focused on moving forward with LIV.”I don’t spend too much time looking in the rearview mirror. I spend much more time looking through the windshield,” he said.”We take great pleasure, and we feel it’s a humbling honour, to be able to take these star players to the four corners of the earth.”Whether it be Riyadh, Adelaide, Hong Kong — we’re now off to Singapore, and pit-stopping in Miami, before Mexico City, and then Seoul, Korea.”Everywhere we go I kind of sit back and just smile. I think this is the way golf should be.”I think golf is growing all over the world, and I think we’ll play a role in that growth.”

Man with Palestinian flag arrested after scaling London’s Big Ben

A man who scaled London’s Big Ben, and spent the day perched on the historic clock tower with a Palestinian flag, was arrested shortly after he came down after midnight Sunday, police said.Pictures from the scene showed a cherry picker transporting him to waiting emergency crews on the ground.London’s Metropolitan Police force, which was first alerted to the climber around 0700 GMT Saturday, said the man was arrested after the “protracted incident”.The man spent the day perched barefoot on a ledge several metres up the landmark, even as emergency crews urged him to come down from the Elizabeth Tower in central London, more commonly known for its clock bell, Big Ben.Negotiators had boarded a fire truck lift and used a megaphone to speak with the man, but footage on social media showed the figure in a hoodie and baseball cap saying: “I will come down on my own terms.”In the footage, negotiators indicated concerns about an injury to his foot, saying there was “quite a lot of blood” and that his clothes were not warm enough as temperatures dropped after nightfall.AFP journalists at the scene earlier said the man appeared to be bleeding from his foot.Crowds gathered from behind a police cordon, with supporters chanting “Free Palestine” and “you are a hero”.Police had closed off the surrounding area, including Westminster Bridge, while the Houses of Parliament cancelled tours.Westminster police later said all roads in the area had been reopened.”Every day in Parliament I see dozens of armed police officers patrolling Portcullis House and the parliamentary estate. Where were they today?” Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty posted on X.”On Monday there needs to be a full explanation to MPs and staff as to how this protester was able to evade security so easily.”On Friday night, pro-Palestinian protesters sprayed “GAZA IS NOT 4 SALE” in huge white letters on the lawn of US President Donald Trump’s golf resort in Scotland.The Palestine Action group said it was a “direct response to the US administration’s stated intent to ethnically cleanse Gaza”.Police Scotland told AFP it was investigating after receiving a report of damage.

Syria forces beef up security amid reports of mass killings of Alawites

Syrian security forces deployed heavily in the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast on Saturday, after a war monitor reported that government and allied forces killed nearly 750 civilians from the religious minority in recent days.Residents of the region continued to report killings of civilians after deadly clashes broke out on Thursday between Syria’s new authorities and gunmen loyal to toppled president Bashar al-Assad, himself an Alawite.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 745 Alawite civilians were killed in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus.The Britain-based Observatory said they were killed in “executions” carried out by security personnel or pro-government fighters, accompanied by the “looting of homes and properties”.The civilian deaths took the overall toll from violence in the region since Thursday to 1,018, after fighting killed 125 members of the new government’s security forces and 148 pro-Assad fighters, according to the Observatory’s figures.The official SANA news agency reported that security forces had deployed to Latakia, as well as Jableh and Baniyas farther south, to restore order.Baniyas resident Samir Haidar, 67, told AFP two of his brothers and his niece were killed by “armed groups” that entered people’s homes, adding that there were “foreigners among them”.He managed to escape to a Sunni neighbourhood, but said: “If I had been five minutes late, I would have been killed… we were saved in the last minutes.”Though himself an Alawite, Haidar was part of the leftist opposition to the Assads and was imprisoned for more than a decade under their rule.Defence ministry spokesman Hassan Abdul Ghani said the security forces had “reimposed control” over areas that had seen attacks by Assad loyalists.”It is strictly forbidden to approach any home or attack anyone inside their homes,” he added in a video posted by SANA.- Calls to surrender -The news agency later reported that “regime remnants” staged an ambush in the town of Al-Haffah in Latakia province, killing one member of the security forces and wounding two.Education Minister Nazir al-Qadri announced that schools would remain shut on Sunday and Monday in both Latakia and Tartus provinces due to the “unstable security conditions”.SANA reported a power outage throughout Latakia province due to attacks on the grid by Assad loyalists.The killings followed clashes sparked by the arrest of a wanted suspect in a predominantly Alawite village, the Observatory reported. The monitor said there had been a “relative return to calm” in the region on Saturday, as the security forces deployed reinforcements.A defence ministry source told SANA that troops had blocked roads leading to the coast to prevent “violations”, without specifying who was committing them.Latakia province security director Mustafa Kneifati said: “We will not allow for sedition or the targeting of any component of the Syrian people.”We will not tolerate any acts of revenge under any circumstances,” he told SANA.Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the lightning offensive that toppled Assad in December, has its roots in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and remains proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many governments including the United States.Since the rebel victory, it has sought to moderate its rhetoric and vowed to protect Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities.- ‘Slaughtered’ -The Alawite heartland has been gripped by fear of reprisals for the Assad family’s brutal rule, which included widespread torture and disappearances.Social media users have shared posts documenting the killing of Alawite friends and relatives, with one user saying her mother and brothers were “slaughtered” in their home.AFP could not independently verify the accounts.The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, has reported multiple “massacres” in recent days, with women and children among the dead.The Observatory and activists released footage showing dozens of bodies in civilian clothing piled outside a house, with blood stains nearby and women wailing.Other videos appeared to show men in military garb shooting people at close range.AFP could not independently verify the images.The leaders of Syria’s three main Christian churches issued a joint statement condemning “the massacres targeting innocent civilians”.The spiritual leader of Syria’s Druze minority, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, also called for an end to the violence.The International Committee of the Red Cross urged all parties to “ensure umimpeded access to health care and protection of medical facilities”. Aron Lund of the Century International think tank said the violence was “a bad omen”. The new government lacks the tools, incentives and local support base to engage with disgruntled Alawites, he said.”All they have is repressive power, and a lot of that… is made up of jihadist zealots who think Alawites are enemies of God.”

Man with Palestinian flag scales London’s Big Ben clock tower

A man with a Palestinian flag who climbed London’s Big Ben clock tower early on Saturday was still perched on the famous landmark after nightfall, even as emergency crews urged him to come down.Police said they were first alerted shortly after 0700 GMT and the man has spent the day barefoot on a ledge several metres up the historic structure.Crowds have been watching from behind a police cordon, with supporters chanting “Free Palestine” and “You are a hero.”Negotiators boarded a fire truck lift and used a megaphone to speak with the man, but footage on social media showed him saying: “I will come down on my own terms.”Police closed off the surrounding area including Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament cancelled tours.AFP journalists at the scene earlier said the man appeared to be bleeding from his foot.”Officers are at the scene working to bring the incident to a safe conclusion,” London Metropolitan Police force told AFP.”They are being assisted by the London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service.”

Protesters rally on International Women’s Day, fearing far right

Protesters took to the streets across the world Saturday to mark International Women’s Day, demanding equal pay, political representation and an end to gender-based violence while voicing fears of rising repression.In eastern Ukraine, scores of demonstrators held a minute’s silence to honour women killed defending the country from Russia’s invasion. Many carried banners bearing the faces of the deceased.”Women are half of our society and we need to talk about what they do, what they are like, how they protect and what they do to make our country free and independent,” activist Iryna Lysykova told AFP in Kharkiv.Many of the women marking on the streets in European capitals including Paris, Berlin and Madrid said they feared the growing strength of reactionary political forces, including a resurgent far right. “It is coming now and we’re taking backwards steps,” said Dori Martinez Monroy, 63, in the Spanish capital. “We have to reclaim what has already been won, because women are the first to be targeted.”In Jakarta, one activist, Ajeng, accused the Indonesian government of budget cuts that were “making women lose their rights.”Women are killed, impoverished, criminalised,” she said, as nearby protesters held up placards reading “This body belongs to me” and “Glory to the women of the working class”. “Indonesian woman are fighting against the state for these reasons,” he said.- ‘Not over’ -Some demonstrators their directed ire at US President Donald Trump.In Paris, women from the Femen activist group marched topless with either the US or the Russian national flag, marked with a swastika, painted on their chests.Dozens of women have alleged the Republican sexually abused them, and his administration has been accused of pushing through anti-women policies.”This is a battle, it’s not over,” said 49-year-old Sabine, who was marching with her seven-year-old son in Paris, where organisers put turnout at around 250,000. Police gave a figure of 47,000.”We’re going in the right direction: Trump, the masculinists, they make lots of noise but they’re not as strong as we are,” she told AFP.At the Berlin protest, some protesters held placards bearing messages including “Burn the patriarchy not the planet”.One marcher, Steff Voigt, expressed her fears for the future.”I find it quite frightening how certain developments are reversing, how women’s rights could simply be moving backward again, so to speak, because of the right. Especially in the USA,” she said.At the rally in Istanbul, Cigdem Ozdemir took aim at male violence against women and the Turkish authorities’ declaration of 2025 as “The Year of the Family”.”Since 2025 was declared ‘The Year of The Family’, we as women have been confined to our homes,” the psychologist lamented, adding that LGBTQ people like her were “criminalised”.”Today, we are here to make our struggle visible, to defend our lives against male violence, to defend our place in society and our rights.”Iran’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi said it would be women who would overthrow the Islamic republic established after the 1979 revolution.”Women have risen up against the Islamic republic in such a way that the regime no longer has the power to suppress them,” Mohammadi said in a video message where she was, as usual, not wearing the headscarf obligatory for all Iranian women.Mohammadi, 52, who won the 2023 Nobel prize in recognition of her years-long fight for human rights in Iran, is currently on temporary release from a prison term for health reasons.Her lawyers fear she could be sent back to prison at any time.burs-afptv-sbk/jj