Goa to host ISL as per SOPs, MHA guidelines: Minister
Panaji: Goa Sports Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar has said the Indian Super League will be held in the coastal state as per the standard operating procedures and guidelines of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Goa government will also try to boost tourism in the state by hosting the Indian Super League (ISL), Ajgaonkar told reporters on Sunday.
All matches of the seventh edition of ISL will be held at three venues in Goa, likely in November, amid strict health and safety measures to deal with the COVID-19 threat, the organisers said on Sunday.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda in Margao, the Tilak Nagar Stadium at Vasco da Gama and the GMC Athletic Stadium at Bambolim are the venues slated to host the matches.
Ajgaonkar said the Goa government is happy to host ISL in the state. "We have already given permission for the ISL games in Goa", he said, adding that all SOPs will be followed along with guidelines of the MHA. Football is our state game and through it, we will be pushing for tourism, said Ajgaonkar, who also holds charge of the tourism department in the Pramod Sawant-led government.
He said nearly 500 rooms in various hotels would be booked for the event, which will provide business to the tourism stakeholders.
The matches will be held without the presence of spectators at the venues, the minister said. "But, if we manage to find any solution for COVID-19, then we might even allow spectators," he added.
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Trump launches new effort to reopen Strait of Hormuz
Dubai (AP): US forces on Monday launched an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds have been stuck since the Iran war began.
Two American-flagged merchant ships have “successfully transited” through the critical waterway, the US military said. Separately, the US military denied Iran's claims that it struck an American Navy vessel southeast of the strait.
Iran handed over its latest proposal for negotiations with the US to mediators in Pakistan, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday. Trump subsequently said he's “not satisfied” with it, but did not elaborate on the proposal's apparent shortcomings. The shaky ceasefire between the US and Iran has lasted for three weeks.
Here's the latest:
European leaders see Trump's troop drawdown from Germany as new proof they must go it alone
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European leaders on Monday said President Trump's snap decision to pull thousands of US troops out of Germany came as a surprise but is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security.
The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters Saturday that “we're going to cut way down. And we're cutting a lot further than 5,000.”
He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the US-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump's anger over European allies' reluctance to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.
Wall Street hesitates and oil prices climb with uncertainty about the Strait of Hormuz
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The US stock market is holding tentatively near its record heights Monday, while oil prices climb with uncertainty about when oil tankers can resume crossing the Strait of Hormuz and restore the world's flow of crude. Dueling claims about a possible Iranian strike on a U.S. Navy vessel in the strait heightened the tensions.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 216 points, or 0.4 per cent, as of 9:35 am Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1 per cent.
The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 2 per cent to USD 110.37 and briefly topped USD 114 during the morning. Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its war with the United States has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide. That in turn has sent the price of Brent soaring from roughly USD 70 per barrel before the war.
Iran stands firm on its grip of the strait
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The disruption of the waterway has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas, raising prices far beyond the region.
Trump has promised to bring down gas prices as he faces midterm elections this year.
The US has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran for transit of the strait. It has enacted a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling 49 commercial ships to turn back, U.S. Central Command said Sunday. The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
US officials have expressed hope the blockade forces Iran back to the negotiation table.
US claims progress in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, saying two merchant ships have transited
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The US military said Monday that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz and Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf were helping to restore shipping traffic. It separately denied Iran's claims to have struck an American Navy vessel.
The announcement came a day after US President Donald Trump announced a new initiative to help guide ships through the critical waterway for global energy. Iran has effectively closed the strait since the US and Israel started the war Feb 28, rattling the global economy.
The US-led Joint Maritime Information Center has advised ships to cross the strait in Oman's waters, saying it set up an “enhanced security area.” U.S. Central Command didn't say when the Navy ships arrived or when the merchant vessels departed.
It was unclear whether shipping companies, and their insurers, will feel comfortable taking the risk given that Iran has fired on ships in the waterway and vowed to keep doing so.
