PARIS: Andy Murray said he was retiring “on my terms” as his trophy-filled career came to an emotional end at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, closing another chapter on tennis’s golden generation.
The former world number one and three-time Grand Slam title winner slipped into retirement aged 37 when he and Dan Evans lost in the men’s doubles quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
American pair Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul delivered the knockout blow with a 6-2, 6-4 victory on a packed Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Britain’s Murray had already announced that the Olympics would be his last event.
“I’m proud of my career, my achievements and what I put into the sport,” said Murray.
“Obviously it was emotional because it’s the last time I will play a competitive match. But I am genuinely happy just now. I’m happy with how it finished.”
He added: “I’m glad I got to go out here at the Olympics and finish on my terms because at times in the last few years that wasn’t a certainty.”
Just a few hours after Murray had made his exit, he cheekily wrote on X: “Never even liked tennis anyway.”
Career-long rival Novak Djokovic described Murray as “an incredible competitor.”
“One of the greatest warriors tennis has seen. His fighting spirit is definitely something that I’m sure is going to inspire many generations to come,” said the Serb.
One of the ‘Big Four’ in the sport, Murray joins 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer in retirement after the Swiss great quit in 2022.
Rafael Nadal, the winner of 22 majors but battling more injuries at the age of 38, exited the Paris Olympics on Wednesday and suggested that he had played his last match at Roland Garros, where he won 14 of his Slams.
Nadal also effectively ruled himself out of the US Open, sparking more speculation that the great Spaniard is also finished in the sport.
That would leave just 37-year-old Djokovic — winner of a record 24 Grand Slams — still active among the sport’s eminent talents who have carved up 69 majors between them.
Murray famously ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion at Wimbledon when he triumphed in 2013, defeating Djokovic in the final.
He added a second title in 2016, taking his career majors total to three after breaking his duck at the 2012 US Open.
Murray won gold at the 2012 Olympics on an emotional day at the All England Club when he defeated Federer just weeks after he had lost the Wimbledon final to the Swiss on the same Center Court.
Four years later he defeated Juan Martin del Potro to become the first player, man or woman, to win two Olympic singles golds.
Murray also led Britain to the Davis Cup title in 2015, the country’s first in 79 years.
He has won 46 titles in all and banked around $65 million in prize money.
However, he has been ravaged by injuries in recent years, slumping to 117th in the world.
The Scot has played with a metal hip since 2019 and suffered ankle damage earlier this year before undergoing surgery to remove a spinal cyst, which ruled him out of singles at Wimbledon.
Instead, he played doubles with brother Jamie and was defeated in the first round before an emotional tribute arranged by tournament chiefs.
“It’s hard because I would love to keep playing, but I can’t,” admitted Murray at the All England Club.
“Physically it is too tough now, all of the injuries, they have added up and they haven’t been insignificant.”
Men’s tennis has already opened up a new frontier.
Jannik Sinner, the 22-year-old Italian, succeeded Djokovic as Australian Open champion in January and eventually took his world number one ranking.
Carlos Alcaraz, 21, won the French Open and successfully defended his Wimbledon title, sweeping Djokovic off court in a one-sided final in July.
“It was a privilege to share the court with you, Andy!” Alcaraz wrote on X in tribute to Murray.
“Congratulations on a legendary career and for being an example to all. You will always have a fan here.”
‘Proud’ Murray bows out of tennis with Paris Olympics defeat
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‘Proud’ Murray bows out of tennis with Paris Olympics defeat
Tunisia shuts down large migrant camps
- The camps had prompted anger from residents in nearby villages, raising pressure on the authorities
EI AMRA, Tunisia: Tunisia has dismantled camps housing thousands of undocumented migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, police said, following a campaign against them on social media.
Around 20,000 migrants had set up tents in fields in the eastern regions of El-Amra and Jebeniana, said national guard spokesman Houcem Eddine Jebabli.
He said around 4,000 people of various nationalities had left one of the camps cleared by authorities, and operations would continue over the coming days.
Some of the migrants had “dispersed into the countryside,” with pregnant women and the infirm taken care of by the health authorities, he added.
The camps had prompted anger from residents in nearby villages, raising pressure on the authorities.
Jebabli said locals had taken legal action over the occupation of their olive groves by the migrants.
“It was our duty to end all the disorder,” he said.
Tunisian President Kais Saied on March 25 called on the International Organization for Migration to accelerate voluntary returns for irregular migrants to their home countries.
In recent years, Tunisia has become a key departure point in North Africa for migrants crossing the perilous Mediterranean Sea in hopes of reaching Europe.
Italy has agreements with Tunisia and Libya to provide funding in exchange for help stemming departures.
Italy plans to invest €20 million ($22 million) in a new project to help Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia send irregular migrants from their territories back to the migrants’ countries of origin.
The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed to cut irregular migration to Italy’s shores from North Africa — the majority of whom depart from Libya and Tunisia.
But many of the migrants who depart hail from other countries, especially sub-Saharan African countries.
Italy’s new plan “focuses on strengthening the institutional and administrative-managerial capacities of the partner countries,” with the involvement of 400 officials, Italy’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a recent statement.
Irregular migration would be better addressed “through the improvement and development of assisted voluntary repatriations from Algeria, Libya and Tunisia to the countries of origin,” it said.
It said the project would collaborate with the IOM to ensure migrants’ rights.
The ministry said the plan would benefit “around 3,300 of the most vulnerable migrants, carrying out their repatriation to their countries of origin sustainably and effectively.”
It said Italy’s Agency for Development Cooperation, which helps carry out development activities, would provide technical support.
The agency has also been charged with another plan targeted at the “socio-economic reintegration of returning migrants,” tapping Italian companies and civil society groups, it said.
On Wednesday, Libyan authorities said they would suspend the work of 10 international humanitarian groups, including Doctors Without Borders, accusing them of a plan to “settle migrants” from other parts of Africa in the country.
Senegal leader ‘did everything’ to bring Sahel trio back to regional group
- The three Sahel countries quit the Economic Community of West African States at the beginning of the year, accusing the bloc of failing in the fight against terrorism
DAKAR: Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said he had “done everything possible” to bring junta-led Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger back into west Africa’s ECOWAS regional group, to no avail.
The three Sahel countries quit the Economic Community of West African States at the beginning of the year, accusing the bloc of failing in the fight against terrorism.
The breakaway countries have formed their own Alliance of Sahel States, or AES, turning away from former colonial power France and pivoting toward Russia.
In July last year, Faye was appointed by ECOWAS as a mediator for the three Sahel countries, which are now led by juntas that seized power in recent coups.
“I pleaded for people to come together around a table and talk, to preserve the chances of maintaining a strong subregional organization,” Faye told local media during a marathon four-hour interview.
“But the fact remains that these countries, like others, are sovereign. They are free to make their own choices.
“All we owe them is to respect their will, knowing that we have done everything possible to reintegrate them” into ECOWAS, he said.
As for the new relationship between Senegal and former colonial power France, Faye insisted that Paris “remains an important partner for Senegal on all levels.”
Senegal is negotiating the departure of French troops from its territory by the end of this year.
“It happens that a country decides to redirect its trajectory at a certain point in its history. And that’s what happened with the French military presence in the country,” said Faye.
Last month, several facilities used by the French army in Dakar were returned to Senegal — the first to be transferred as part of the withdrawal.
How aid cuts have brought Afghanistan’s fragile health system to its knees
- Forty percent of the foreign aid given to Afghanistan came from USAID prior to the agency’s shutdown
- Experts say pregnant women, children, and the displaced will be hardest hit by the abrupt loss of funding
LONDON: Amid sweeping foreign aid cuts, Afghanistan’s healthcare system has been left teetering on the brink of collapse, with 80 percent of World Health Organization-supported services projected to shut down by June, threatening critical medical access for millions.
The abrupt closure of the US Agency for International Development, which once provided more than 40 percent of all humanitarian assistance to the impoverished nation of 40 million, dealt a devastating blow to an already fragile health system.
Researcher and public health expert Dr. Shafiq Mirzazada said that while it was too early to declare Afghanistan’s health system was in a state of collapse, the consequences of the aid cuts would be severe for “the entire population.”
“WHO funding is only one part of the system,” he told Arab News, pointing out that Afghanistan’s health sector is fully funded by donors through the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund, known as the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund before August 2021.
Established in 2002 after the US-led invasion, the ARTF supports international development in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban retook Kabul in August 2021, the fund has focused on providing essential services through UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations.
However, this approach has struggled to meet the growing needs, as donor fatigue and political challenges compound funding shortages.
“A significant portion of the funding goes to health programs through UNICEF and WHO,” Mirzazada said, referring to the UN children’s fund. “Primarily UNICEF channels funds through the Health Emergency Response project.”
Yet even those efforts have proven insufficient as facilities close at an alarming rate.
By early March, funding shortages forced 167 health facilities to close across 25 provinces, depriving 1.6 million people of care, according to the WHO.
Without urgent intervention, experts say 220 more facilities could close by June, leaving a further 1.8 million Afghans without primary care — particularly in northern, western and northeastern regions.
The closures are not just logistical setbacks, they represent life-or-death outcomes for millions.
“The consequences will be measured in lives lost,” Edwin Ceniza Salvador, the WHO’s representative in Afghanistan, said in a statement.
“These closures are not just numbers on a report. They represent mothers unable to give birth safely, children missing lifesaving vaccinations, entire communities left without protection from deadly disease outbreaks.”
Bearing the brunt of Afghanistan’s healthcare crisis are the most vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, children in need of vaccinations and those living in overcrowded displacement camps, where they are exposed to infectious and vaccine-preventable diseases.
Because Afghanistan’s health system was heavily focused on maternal and child care, Mirzazada said: “Any disruption will primarily affect women and children — including, but not limited to, vaccine-preventable diseases, as well as antenatal, delivery and postnatal services.
“We’re already seeing challenges, with outbreaks of measles in the country. The number of deaths due to measles is rising.”
This trend will be exacerbated by declining immunization rates.
“Children will face more diseases as vaccine coverage continues to decline,” Mirzazada said.
“We can already see a reduction in vaccine coverage. The Afghanistan Health Survey 2018 showed basic vaccine coverage at 51.4 percent, while the recent UNICEF-led Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey shows it has dropped to 36.6 percent in 2022-23.”
IN NUMBERS:
• 14.3 millions Afghans in need of medical assistance
• $126.7 millions Funding needed for healthcare
The WHO recorded more than 16,000 suspected measles cases, including 111 deaths, in the first two months of 2025 alone.
It warned that with immunization rates critically low — 51 percent for the first dose of the measles vaccine and 37 percent for the second — children were at heightened risk of preventable illness and death.
Meanwhile, midwives have reported dire conditions in the nation’s remaining facilities. Women in labor are arriving too late for lifesaving interventions due to clinic closures.
Women and girls are disproportionately bearing the brunt of these health challenges in great part due to Taliban policies.
Restrictions on women’s freedom of movement and employment have severely limited health access, while bans on education for women and girls have all but eliminated training for future female health workers.
In December, the Taliban closed all midwifery and nursing schools.
Wahid Majrooh, founder of the Afghanistan Center for Health and Peace Studies, said the move “threatens the capacity of Afghanistan’s already fragile health system” and violated international human rights commitments.
He wrote in the Lancet Global Health journal that “if left unaddressed, this restriction could set precedence for other fragile settings in which women’s rights are compromised.”
“Afghanistan faces a multifaceted crisis marked by alarming rates of poverty, human rights violations, economic instability and political deadlock, predominantly affecting women and children,” the former Afghan health minister said.
“Women are denied their basic rights to education, work and, to a large extent, access to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The ban on midwifery schools limits women’s access to health, erodes their agency in health institutions and eradicates women role models.”
Majrooh described the ban on midwifery and nursing education as “a public health emergency” that “requires urgent action.”
Afghanistan is facing one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, with 22.9 million people — roughly half its population — requiring urgent aid to access healthcare, food and clean water.
Critical funding shortfalls and operational barriers now jeopardize support for 3.5 million children aged 6 to 59 months facing acute malnutrition, according to UN figures, as aid groups grapple with the intersecting challenges of economic collapse, climate shocks and Taliban restrictions.
The provinces of Kabul, Helmand, Nangarhar, Herat and Kandahar bear the heaviest burden, collectively accounting for 42 percent of the nation’s malnutrition cases. As a result, aid organizations are struggling to meet the needs of malnourished children, with recent cuts in foreign aid forcing Save the Children to suspend lifesaving programs.
The UK-based charity has closed 18 health facilities and faces the potential closure of 14 more unless new funding is secured. These 32 clinics provided critical care to 134,000 children in January alone, including therapeutic feeding and immunizations, it said in a statement.
“With more children in need of aid than ever before, cutting off lifesaving support now is like trying to extinguish a wildfire with a hose that’s running out of water,” Gabriella Waaijman, chief operating officer at Save the Children International, said.
As well as the hunger crisis, Afghanistan is battling outbreaks of malaria, measles, dengue, polio and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. The WHO said that without functioning health facilities, efforts to control these diseases would be severely hindered.
The risk may be higher among internally displaced communities. Four decades of conflict have driven repeated waves of forced displacement, both within Afghanistan and across its borders, while recurring natural disasters have worsened the crisis.
About 6.3 million people remain displaced within the country, living in precarious conditions without access to adequate shelter or essential services, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
Mass deportations have compounded the crisis. More than 1.2 million Afghans returning from neighboring countries such as Pakistan in 2024 are now crowded into makeshift camps with poor sanitation. This had fueled outbreaks of measles, acute watery diarrhea, dengue fever and malaria, the UNHCR said in October.
With limited healthcare access, other diseases are also spreading rapidly.
Respiratory infections and COVID-19 are surging among returnees, with 293 suspected cases detected at border crossings in early 2025, according to the WHO’s February Emergency Situation Report.
Cases of acute respiratory infections, including pneumonia, have also risen, with 54 cases reported, primarily in children under the age of 5.
The WHO said that returnees settling in remote areas faced “healthcare deserts,” where clinics had been shuttered for years and where there were no aid pipelines.
Water scarcity in 30 provinces exacerbates acute watery diarrhea risks, while explosive ordnance contamination and road accidents cause trauma cases that overwhelm understaffed facilities.
Mirzazada said that “while the ARTF has some funds, they won’t be enough to sustain the system long term.”
To prevent the collapse of Afghanistan’s health system and keep services running, he urged the country’s Taliban authorities to contribute to its funding.
“Government contributions have been very limited in the past and now even more so,” he said.
“However, the recently developed health policy for Afghanistan mentions internally sourced funding for the health system. If that happens under the current or future authorities, it could help prevent collapse.”
He also called on Islamic and Arab nations to increase their funding efforts.
“Historically, Western countries have been the main funders of the ARTF,” Mirzazada said. “The largest contributors were the US, Germany, the European Commission and other Western nations.
“Islamic and Arab countries have contributed very little. That could change and still be channeled through the UN system, as NGOs continue to deliver services on behalf of donors and the government.
“This approach could remain in place until a solid, internally funded health system is established.”
Israeli general condemns West Bank settler riot, ‘vandalism’ by troops
- Major General Avi Bluth addressed a “series of unusual incidents” while visiting Israeli police officers in the West Bank
- Bluth “emphasized that these are exceptional incidents that must be addressed with the necessary severity“
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Israeli military’s top commander in the occupied West Bank condemned recent violence by Israeli settlers against police and “unacceptable” conduct by soldiers, in a video shared by the army on Friday.
A military statement said that Major General Avi Bluth addressed a “series of unusual incidents” while visiting Israeli police officers in the West Bank, near the site of a riot involving settlers earlier this week.
Israeli police said they had arrested 17 suspects over the “violent riot” on Wednesday near the settlement outpost of Givat Habaladim, northeast of the Palestinian city of Ramallah, during which Israeli settlers threw stones at officers and torched a police car.
Bluth “emphasized that these are exceptional incidents that must be addressed with the necessary severity,” the military statement said.
Referring to the settlers’ attack on Israeli forces, Bluth said in the video: “Beyond the fact that this is a red line that has been crossed and will be dealt with seriously, there is no greater act of ingratitude.”
Rights groups often accuse the army of protecting Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and the United Nations has said that settler attacks against Palestinians are taking place in a climate of “impunity.”
In a recent incident Bluth did not address in the video, the army said that this week “dozens of Israeli civilians... set fire to property” in the Palestinian village of Duma, injuring several people.
The Israeli general mentioned “vandalism and graffiti” by reserve soldiers during a military raid on Wednesday, in the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem.
While a major offensive since January has focused on refugee camps in the northern West Bank, Dheisheh in the south has seen an uptick in Israeli army raids in recent weeks.
Images shared on social media showed vandalized apartments, where furniture was broken and Israeli nationalist slogans spray painted on walls.
Bluth said that “the conduct in Dheisheh by our reserve soldiers is not what we stand for.”
“Vandalism and graffiti during an operational mission are, from our perspective, unacceptable incidents. It is inconceivable that IDF (army) soldiers do not act according to their commanders’ orders,” he said.
Since war began in October 2023 in the Gaza Strip — a separate Palestinian territory — violence has soared in the West Bank.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 917 Palestinians, including militants, in the West Bank since October 2023, according to Palestinian health ministry figures.
Palestinian attacks and clashes during military raids have killed at least 33 Israelis, including soldiers, over the same period, according to official figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, home to about three million Palestinians, since 1967.
Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, around 490,000 Israelis live there in settlements and outposts that are illegal under international law. Outposts are also illegal under Israeli law.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘The White Planet’
Authors: Jean Jouzel, Claude Lorius and Dominique Raynaud
From the Arctic Ocean and ice sheets of Greenland, to the glaciers of the Andes and Himalayas, to the great frozen desert of Antarctica, “The White Planet” takes readers on a spellbinding scientific journey through the shrinking world of ice and snow to tell the story of the expeditions and discoveries that have transformed our understanding of global climate.
Written by three internationally renowned scientists at the center of many breakthroughs in ice core and climate science, this book provides an unparalleled firsthand account of how the “white planet” affects global climate.
