LONDON: Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic believes “anything is possible” as his side aim to pull off one of the biggest ever shocks in a Champions League final against the mighty Real Madrid at London’s Wembley stadium on Saturday.
The star-studded Spanish giants are heavy favorites to be crowned European champions for the 15th time, and a sixth in the last 11 seasons, against a Dortmund team that have beaten the odds just to make it to the English capital.
Madrid have lost just twice in 54 games in all competitions this season, storming to the title in La Liga by 10 points and thrashing Barcelona 4-1 to lift the Spanish Super Cup along the way.
However, they have had to once again dig deep to reach what coach Carlo Ancelotti described as the “biggest game of any season” in the Champions League.
“We have to enjoy being here,” said the Italian at his pre-match press conference. “But knowing it can go wrong because we are close to the most important thing in football — winning a Champions League — but having the fear this can escape us.”
Ancelotti’s men withstood a barrage from defending champions Manchester City to win their quarter-final tie on penalties before another legendary late fightback at the Santiago Bernabeu to beat Bayern Munich in the last four.
“We never stop believing, no matter how the circumstances are,” said Luka Modric, who along with Nacho, Dani Carvajal and Toni Kroos, in the final match of his club career, can win the European Cup for a record-equalling sixth time as a player.
“We always believe, keep believing, keep pushing, fighting until the end. In the end, we manage to find a way to beat opponents.
“Many people say there is luck, but when it happens so many times, I think it’s not just luck.”
Dortmund must breach the financial gulf between the sides to win the Champions League for just the second time in their history.
Last season Madrid posted record revenues of 831 million euros ($901 million) compared to Dortmund’s 420 million euros, according to financial experts Deloitte.
The career path of Jude Bellingham exemplifies the scale of the task facing the Germans.
Plucked from English Championship side Birmingham as a teenager, he was molded and developed by Dortmund before being picked off by Madrid for a transfer fee in excess of 100 million euros 12 months ago.
Without him, Dortmund struggled domestically this season, finishing fifth in the Bundesliga, 27 points adrift of Bayer Leverkusen.
Yet, Terzic’s men have saved their best for the Champions League stage to reach the final for the third time in the club’s history and first since they lost at Wembley to Bayern Munich 11 years ago.
Dortmund topped the group of death featuring Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle.
PSV Eindhoven and Atletico Madrid were then seen off before a heroic defensive display kept out PSG over two legs in the semifinals.
“They are the favorites but we don’t care, we haven’t been the favorites against Atletico or against PSG,” said Terzic.
“But if we are brave and not here to watch Real Madrid lift the trophy, if we are here to give them a game, then we have a chance.”
Over 100,000 fans of the German giants are estimated to have made the trip to London despite the club being allocated just 30,000 tickets for the 90,000 capacity stadium.
UEFA will be hoping the focus is on the protagonists on the field come full-time to ensure their decision to return to Wembley for a major final is not questioned.
Three years ago, the final of Euro 2020 was marred by violence as ticketless fans stormed the stadium doors to gain entry.
The English Football Association have invested £5 million ($6 million) into improving safety and infrastructure at Wembley, which is also set to host the Euro 2028 final.
Dortmund dream of shocking Real Madrid in Champions League final
https://arab.news/cmnen
Dortmund dream of shocking Real Madrid in Champions League final
Pakistan fails to meet target of 50% Shariah-compliant banking by Jan. 2025 — data
- Pakistan’s central bank set a target to increase Islamic banking deposits’ share to 50% by January 2025
- Pakistan increased market share of Shariah-compliant banking deposits to only 24.9% by December
KARACHI: Pakistan’s government failed to achieve a target set by the central bank to increase the share of Islamic banking deposits in the country by 50% by January this year, according to official documents seen by Arab News, as Islamabad attempts to rid the country’s banking system of interest.
Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court (FSC) directed the government in April 2022 to eliminate interest by 2027, maintaining that Islam prohibited it in all its forms and manifestations. The FSC determines whether Pakistani laws comply with Islamic law or not.
Following the order, the government and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) have taken measures ranging from changing laws in October 2024 to issuing Sukuk (Islamic bonds) to replace interest-based treasury bills and investment bonds.
According to a presentation shared by the SBP with bankers in August 2024, a copy of which Arab News has seen, the central bank set an “indicative target” for the government to increase the share of Islamic banking deposits to 50% by January 2025, 65% by January 2026, 80% by January 2027 and 100% by December 2027.
Pakistan, however, missed this target and was able to increase the market share of its Shariah-compliant banking deposits to only 24.9% by December 2024, the document stated. Noor Ahmed, the chief spokesperson of the SBP, did not respond to Arab News’ request for comments.
“The SBP and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan are making a lot of efforts but the government should do more to speed up this process of conversion,” Ahmed Ali Siddiqui, the head of Shariah-compliance at Meezan Bank Ltd., told Arab News.
Meezan Bank is Pakistan’s largest Islamic bank which operates more than 1,000 branches in over 300 cities across the country. Pakistan has six full-fledged Islamic banks and 16 conventional banks that also offer Islamic products.
INTEREST-FREE BANKING ON THE RISE
The demand for interest-free banking, however, is increasing in the country.
This increasing demand is reflected in the over 20% growth of annual deposits that Islamic banks have been reporting in recent years, with their total assets swelling beyond Rs10 trillion ($35.6 billion) for the first time, said the SBP’s Quarterly Islamic Banking Bulletin from October to December 2024.
Total deposits of Islamic banks grew by 17% to Rs 7.91 trillion ($28.2 billion), which accounts for 25% of the total banking industry, the bulletin said. Islamic banks extended Rs 4.04 trillion ($14.4 billion) of financing to borrowers, while their investments totaled Rs 4.99 trillion ($17.8 billion).
“The steady rise in assets, deposits, financing, and investment highlights the sector’s resilience,” the central bank said in the report.
Both conventional and Islamic banks are expanding their branches across Pakistan. This led to a 21% year-on-year growth in the number of branches of Islamic banks to 6,017 and a 17% hike in conventional banks operating Islamic banking windows to 2,253.
“This expansion underpins the increasing accessibility and demand for Islamic banking services across the country,” the SBP said in the bulletin.
Pakistan’s leading banks are converting their branches into Shariah-compliant to align with the legal requirement for all banks to transition to Islamic banking by 2027.
In November, MCB Bank Ltd. converted 39 of its conventional branches into interest-free ones while the United Bank Ltd. has also converted all its branches located in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwest Balochistan provinces into interest-free ones.
“The government’s biggest challenge is to convert all its loans and financing into Islamic financing,” Siddiqui said.
He urged the government to take all its deposits to Islamic banks and convert its treasury bills and investment bonds into Sukuk as a first step.
“You should at least announce the conversion of National Bank Pakistan [into a Shariah-compliant bank], which is the state-owned bank,” Siddiqui said.
The banker said the government could speed up the process of conversion if all its institutions could carry out their transactions such as salaries and pension funds through Islamic banking.
Second US carrier arrives off coast of Yemen
- Video footage shows fighter jets taking off to launch attacks against Houthi militia
DUBAI: A second US aircraft carrier has arrived off the coast of Yemen as Washington ramps up its attacks on Houthi militia targets, according to new satellite images.
The USS Carl Vinson is operating in key shipping routes northeast of Socotra island in the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden.
The carrier is accompanied by the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Princeton and two Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, the USS Sterett and the USS William P. Lawrence.
The US sent the Vinson to back up the carrier USS Harry S. Truman, which has been launching airstrikes against the Houthis since March 15.
Video footage released by the US Navy showed the Vinson preparing ordinance and launching F-35 and F/A-18 fighter jets off its deck. US Central Command also posted videos saying there had been “24/7 strikes” on the Houthis by the two carriers.
Canadian university teachers warned against traveling to the United States
- The Canadian government recently updated its US travel advisory, warning residents they may face scrutiny from border guards and the possibility of detention if denied entry
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia: The association that represents academic staff at Canadian universities is warning its members against non-essential travel to the United States.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers released updated travel advice Tuesday due to the “political landscape” created by President Donald Trump’s administration and reports of some Canadians encountering difficulties crossing the border.
The association says academics who are from countries that have tense diplomatic relations with the United States, or who have themselves expressed negative views about the Trump administration, should be particularly cautious about US travel.
Its warning is particularly targeted to academics who identify as transgender or “whose research could be seen as being at odds with the position of the current US administration.”
In addition, the association says academics should carefully consider what information they have, or need to have, on their electronic devices when crossing the border, and take actions to protect sensitive information.
Reports of foreigners being sent to detention or processing centers for more than seven days, including Canadian Jasmine Mooney, a pair of German tourists, and a backpacker from Wales, have been making headlines since Trump took office in January.
The Canadian government recently updated its US travel advisory, warning residents they may face scrutiny from border guards and the possibility of detention if denied entry.
Crossings from Canada into the United States dropped by about 32 percent, or by 864,000 travelers, in March compared to the same month a year ago, according to data from US Customs and Border Protection. Many Canadians are furious about Trump’s annexation threats and trade war but also worried about entering the US
David Robinson, executive director of the university teachers association, said that the warning is the first time his group has advised against non-essential US travel in the 11 years he’s worked with them.
“It’s clear there’s been heightened scrutiny of people entering the United States, and … a heightened kind of political screening of people entering the country,” said Robinson, whose association represents 70,000 teachers, librarians, researchers, general staff and other academic professionals at 122 universities and colleges.
Robinson said the group made the decision after taking legal advice in recent weeks. He said lawyers told them that US border searches can compromise confidential information obtained by academics during their research.
He said the association will keep the warning in place until it sees “the end of political screening, and there is more respect for confidential information on electronic devices.”
Afghan children will die because of US funding cuts, aid official says
- More than 3.5 million children in Afghanistan will suffer from acute malnutrition this year, an increase of 20 percent from 2024
Afghan children will die because of US funding cuts, an aid agency official said Tuesday.
The warning follows the cancelation of foreign aid contracts by President Donald Trump’s administration, including to Afghanistan where more than half of the population needs humanitarian assistance to survive.
Action Against Hunger initially stopped all US-funded activities in March after the money dried up suddenly. But it kept the most critical services going in northeastern Badakhshan province and the capital Kabul through its own budget, a measure that stopped this month.
Its therapeutic feeding unit in Kabul is empty and closing this week. There are no patients, and staff contracts are ending because of the US funding cuts.
“If we don’t treat children with acute malnutrition there is a very high risk of (them) dying,” Action Against Hunger’s country director, Cobi Rietveld, told The Associated Press. “No child should die because of malnutrition. If we don’t fight hunger, people will die of hunger. If they don’t get medical care, there is a high risk of dying. They don’t get medical care, they die.”
More than 3.5 million children in Afghanistan will suffer from acute malnutrition this year, an increase of 20 percent from 2024. Decades of conflict — including the 20-year US war with the Taliban — as well as entrenched poverty and climate shocks have contributed to the country’s humanitarian crisis.
Last year, the United States provided 43 percent of all international humanitarian funding to Afghanistan.
Rietveld said there were other nongovernmental organizations dealing with funding cuts to Afghanistan. “So when we cut the funding, there will be more children who are going to die of malnutrition.”
The children who came to the feeding unit often could not walk or even crawl. Sometimes they were unable to eat because they didn’t have the energy. All the services were provided free of charge, including three meals a day.
Rietveld said children would need to be referred to other places, where there was less capacity and technical knowledge.
Dr. Abdul Hamid Salehi said Afghan mothers were facing a crisis. Poverty levels among families meant it was impossible to treat severely malnourished children in private clinics.
“People used to come to us in large numbers, and they are still hoping and waiting for this funding to be found again or for someone to sponsor us so that we can resume our work and start serving patients once more.”
Mixed-team golf event approved for 2028 Olympics
- Like the men’s and women’s individual events, the 36-hole mixed-team competition will take place at the Riviera Country Club
- Each country will be limited to a maximum of one team, according to the IGF
NEW YORK: The International Golf Federation (IGF) announced on Tuesday that the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles will see the debut of a mixed-team golf event, with each team composed of a male and female athlete from the individual competitions.
Like the men’s and women’s individual events, the 36-hole mixed-team competition will take place at the Riviera Country Club. It will consist of an 18-hole alternate shot format followed by 18 holes of best ball. Each country will be limited to a maximum of one team, according to the IGF.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to see a Mixed-Team Event added to the program for Los Angeles 2028,” Antony Scanlon, executive director of the IGF, said in a statement. “Golf was incredibly successful at Paris 2024, and as we continue building on the momentum from Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, we’re excited to bring even more attention to our sport through this additional format.
“The athletes were very enthusiastic about their desire to play with their compatriots, and we look forward to watching them compete together in Los Angeles.”
Golf made its return to the Olympic games in 2016, its first appearance since 1904. It now joins archery, athletics, gymnastics, rowing coastal beach sprint and table tennis as the lone sports to feature a mixed-gender competition for the 2028 Olympics.
