Bayern''s Kane expected to be available for Tuesday''s Champions League match at Real Madrid
Madrid (AP): Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane practiced on Monday and is expected to be available for Tuesday's quarterfinal against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Kane missed Bayern's win over Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday because of a minor ankle issue sustained in training with England last week.
He took part in the team's training session in Munich before the squad traveled to the Spanish capital for Tuesday's match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
“He is a goal scorer. He is a great player,” Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior said Monday about Kane. “But Bayern is a great team and has many players who switch positions and make it difficult for us. Whoever plays, it will be tough. We will need to be well prepared.”
Madrid and Bayern are meeting in the knockout stage of the Champions League for the sixth time in the past 14 seasons, with 15-time champion Madrid having won four of five two-legged matchups with Bayern since the 2011-12 season: once in the quarterfinals and three times in the semifinals, most recently in 2024. Bayern won in the semifinals in 2012 after a penalty shootout.
“Bayern is an unbelievable team, we've seen what it can do this season,” Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa said. “We have a lot of respect for them. They're having an exceptional season. I think Bayern has been the most consistent side in Europe this season. They're fearless, aggressive, very focused defensively, with an unbelievable striker in Harry Kane.”
Bayern is unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions, with 11 wins, while Madrid is coming off a 2-1 loss at Mallorca on Saturday that hurt its Spanish league title hopes.
“We don't think about not winning the tie and there is only one possible scenario, which is to beat Bayern and get through the tie,” Arbeloa said. “It's the only thing we want and the only thing we believe in. All our energy is in the game against Bayern.”
Arbeloa also downplayed criticism of Kylian Mbappé, who has been questioned by some in Madrid recently. Mbappé is coming off a controversial knee injury that reduced his playing time with the Spanish club.
“Mbappé knows perfectly well what Real Madrid is,” Arbeloa said. “I have no doubt about that. He's someone who has dreamed of being a Real Madrid player. We've all seen images of Kylian Mbappé wearing the Real Madrid jersey, dreaming of becoming a Real Madrid player. What he has done to come here wasn't easy.”
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
US warns shipping firms they could face sanctions over paying Iranian tolls in Strait of Hormuz
Dubai (AP): The United States is warning shipping companies that they could face sanctions for making payments to Iran to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The alert posted Friday by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control adds another layer of pressure in the standoff between the US and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
About a fifth of the world's trade in oil and natural gas typically passes through the strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf in peacetime.
Iran effectively closed the strait to normal traffic by attacking and threatening to attack ships after the US and Israel launched a war on Feb. 28. It later began offering some ships safe passage by detouring them through alternate routes closer to its shoreline, charging fees at times for the service.
That "tollbooth” effort is the focus of the US sanctions warning.
The payment demands could include transfers not only in cash but also “digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments,” including chartibale donations and payments at Iranian embassies, OFAC said.
“OFAC is issuing this alert to warn US and non-US persons about the sanctions risks of making these payments to, or soliciting guarantees from, the Iranian regime for safe passage. These risks exist regardless of payment method,” it said.
ALSO READ: Student preparing for NEET dies after falling from hostel's fourth floor in Kota
The US responded to Iran's closure of the strait with a naval blockade of its own on April 13, preventing any Iranian tankers from leaving and depriving Iran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
The US Central Command said 45 commercial ships have been told to turn around since the blockade began.
Trump rejects Iranian proposal
--------------------------------------
The warning came as US President Donald Trump swiftly rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war between the countries.
“They want to make a deal, I'm not satisfied with it, so we'll see what happens,” Trump said Friday at the White House. He didn't elaborate on what he saw as its shortcomings but expressed frustration with the Iranian leadership.
“It's a very disjointed leadership,” Trump said. “They all want to make a deal, but they're all messed up.”
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Iran handed over its plan to mediators in Pakistan on Thursday night.
The shaky three-week ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to be holding, though both countries have traded accusations of violations. The standoff is increasingly putting pressure on the global economy, driving up prices and leading to shortages of fuel and other products tied to the oil industry.
Negotiations continued by phone after Trump called off his envoys' trip to Pakistan last week, the president said. Trump this week floated a new plan to reopen the critical passageway used by America's Gulf allies to export their oil and gas.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has briefed many of his regional counterparts on the country's initiatives to end the ear, according to his social media. He also held talks Friday with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who is in contact with the EU's Gulf partners.
China's UN envoy urges Iran to lift restrictions
------------------------------------------------------
Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassdor to the United Nations, said Friday that maintaining the ceasefire is “the most urgent issue" as well as bringing together the sides to resume good faith negotiations “to make sure that the ground is laid for reopening of Hormuz.”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi “has been on the phone almost constantly” with representatives from all sides, Fu said, adding that China supports Pakistan's efforts to mediate between the parties.
Fu stressed the root cause of the tremendous suffering in Iran and neighboring countries and the growing turmoil in the global economy, especially in developing countries, “is the illegitimate war by the US and Israel.
