The Foreign Post - FPI

Dish-Dash DJ music artists perform during the Soundstorm 2022 music festival, organized by MDLBEAST, in Banban on the outskirts of the Saudi capital Riyadh on December 1, 2022. Ravers sporting face paint and flashing LED sunglasses jump in time to the thudding beats of Dish Dash, a DJ act whose rise mirrors that of the Saudi music scene. The confetti-strewn dance hall in Riyadh is packed with young men and women, most in streetwear hoodies and jeans, a few in traditional white robes and abayas.

Pumping 'new black gold', Saudi DJs sense big opportunities

Lifestyle

Ravers sporting face paint and flashing LED sunglasses jump in time to the thudding beats of Dish Dash, a DJ act whose rise mirrors that of the Saudi music scene.

The confetti-strewn dance hall in Riyadh is packed with young men and women, most in streetwear hoodies and jeans, a few in traditional white robes and abayas.

The setting bears scant resemblance to the venues where Dish Dash -- the Jeddah-born brothers Abbas and Hassan Ghazzawi –- began performing more than 15 years ago.

Among their early gigs were gender-segregated weddings in which the duo would be walled off from female guests.

"They used to lock us in the room. We would stay in this room for five hours and basically DJ for the wall," Hassan recalled, laughing.

"The only way you could tell if people are enjoying it is if you hear people are screaming."

Like other facets of cultural life in conservative but fast-changing Saudi Arabia, the music scene is undergoing a revamp, emerging as a regular stop for top global pop stars from Justin Bieber to Usher and Mariah Carey.

At this past weekend's MDLBEAST Soundstorm festival, organisers said more than 600,000 fans took in sets by the likes of Bruno Mars and DJ Khaled, who dutifully documented his sampling of Saudi food and traditional sword-dancing for his 31 million Instagram followers.

Such events have helped advertise reforms championed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has overseen an easing of rules that once barred cinemas and gender-mixed concerts –- albeit during a ramped-up repression of political dissent.

Now, Saudi performers like Dish Dash want to take advantage of the opening-up to foster a domestic music industry that can thrive even when the spotlight veers elsewhere.

- 'New boom' -

In between their sets at Soundstorm, Saudi acts told AFP they were encouraged by the progress so far, pointing to new labels, studios and performance venues that make it easier to build careers.

Not long ago "people used to tell us, 'Dude, you're just wasting your time. You're not doing anything,'" Hassan said.

"And now people are calling us to get (on) guest lists and stuff like that."

Nouf Sufyani, a DJ who performs under the name Cosmicat, said she only began taking a music career seriously after the first edition of Soundstorm in 2019.

Before that, she had been working as a dentist and DJing on the side, but the buzz around the event spurred her to pursue music exclusively.

Today "I'm 100 percent able to live on music alone," she said. "And that should be a push also for anyone who wants to do music, and has the talent, but hesitates."

It is an increasingly common story in a kingdom whose youthful population of 34 million represents a vast underserved market, said Talal Albahiti, MDLBEAST's chief operating officer.

"I keep telling people this is our new black gold," he said, a reference to the oil that Saudi Arabia is primarily known for.

"This is the new boom, and it's all about these creatives and what they bring to the table... I believe the next big hit or superstar will come out of this region."

- 'Baby steps' -

But challenges remain, notably a still-developing network of recording studios that until five or six years ago "were mainly focused on classical Arabic music" and "pretty much neglected all other genres and all other types of artists", Albahiti said.

The process of setting up rules governing music rights, licensing and royalties is also "in its infancy still", he added.

On top of that, Saudi Arabia's alcohol ban could slow the emergence of a club scene that can support artists beyond sporadic festivals.

But Hassan, of Dish Dash, said he believed such a scene would ultimately be viable, calling it the logical "next step".

The changes to date have already captured the attention of artists elsewhere in the region, including from bigger markets like Egypt.

Disco Misr, an Egyptian DJ trio known for up-tempo remixes of Arabic pop classics, first played Saudi Arabia in 2019 and returned to perform in September at the Azimuth music festival in the northern desert city of Al-Ula.

That event, more intimate than Soundstorm, attracted around 1,000 fans to a stage nestled between sandstone mountains for two nights of dusk-to-dawn sets.

"Their baby steps are surprising. I cannot call them baby steps. It's huge... I can only compare what's happening in Saudi Arabia with Tomorrowland," Disco Misr member Schady Wasfy said, referring to the Belgian electronic dance music festival.

"I cannot compare (it) with anything happening in the Arab region. I'm actually surprised -- I'm really surprised. And I'm hoping to see more."

rcb/th/it/dhc

Google's money churning ad engine sputters in rough economy

Business

San Francisco, United States - Google parent Alphabet reported quarterly earnings that fell short of market expectations as belts tightened in the digital ad market that drives its revenue.

Alphabet said it made a profit of $14 billion in the third quarter on ad revenue that grew just 6 percent to $69 billion when compared with the same period of last year.

Aside from one period at the start of the Covid pandemic, that would mark the weakest revenue growth at Alphabet for any quarter since 2014.

"When Google stumbles, it's a bad omen for digital advertising at large," said Insider Intelligence analyst Evelyn Mitchell.

"This disappointing quarter for Google signifies hard times ahead if market conditions continue to deteriorate."

Alphabet shares slipped 6.8 percent to $97.35 in after-market trades that followed the release of the earnings report.

Google's foundation in advertising on its heavily used search engine does give it an advantage, however, over other ad-reliant tech firms such as Meta, Snap and Twitter, the analyst added.

"Over time, we've had periods of extraordinary growth and then there are periods I viewed as a moment where you take the time to optimize the company to make sure we are set up for the next decade of growth ahead," Alphabet and Google chief Sundar Pichai said on an earnings call.

"I view this as one of those moments."

Alphabet chief financial officer Ruth Porat said the financial results in the quarter showed "healthy fundamental growth in Search and momentum in Cloud" computing revenue, but suffered from foreign exchange rates given the strong US dollar.

"We're working to realign resources to fuel our highest growth priorities," Porat said.

Big tech firms are grappling with multiple challenges, from inflation to the war in Ukraine, putting pressure on earnings.

Alphabet recruited throughout the pandemic, but announced a slowdown in hiring as ad revenue growth cooled this year.

"Within this slower headcount growth next year we will continue hiring for critical roles, particularly focused on top engineering and technical talent," Porat said.

Many other tech companies have decided to lay off staff, including Netflix and Twitter, or slow the pace of hiring, such as Microsoft and Snap.

- YouTube squeeze? -

Worsening the financial situation for Alphabet is the fact that Google tends not to aggressively promote advertising on its platform with tactics such as trying to convince businesses that online marketing is a smart move during tough economic times, said independent tech analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.

"They don't like the idea of making their money off advertising, so they don't treat the market very well," Enderle contended.

"Now, you are seeing the adverse impact of not taking your revenue source seriously."

The earnings report also showed that ad revenue at YouTube was slightly lower than it was in the same quarter a year earlier, despite a hot trend of people watching video on-demand on the internet.

"Overall, I feel YouTube remains in a really good position to continue to benefit from the streaming boom," chief business officer Philipp Schindler said during an earnings call.

However, Alphabet noticed a "pullback in spending" by advertisers at YouTube in the quarter, Schindler told analysts.

"They have a ton of competition in video, and TikTok is probably hitting YouTube pretty hard," Enderle said.

Netflix last week reported that it gained subscribers in the recent quarter, calming investor fears that the streaming giant was losing paying customers.

The company said it ended the third quarter with slightly more than 223 million subscribers worldwide, up some 2.4 million, after seeing subscriber ranks ebb during the first half of the year.

The turn-around in subscriber growth comes as Netflix is poised to debut a subscription option subsidized by ads in November across a dozen countries.

Rival streaming platform Disney+ is to launch ad-subsidized subscriptions in December.

gc/dw

amer Haj-Yehia, the Arab-Israeli chairman of the Israeli bank since 2019, appeared at the Saudi investor forum often referred to as 'Davos in the Desert' and hailed 'amazing' opportunities in the kingdom

Arab-Israeli banker talks up Saudi market at investor forum

Business

Riyadh (AFP) – The head of an Israeli bank appeared at a Saudi investor forum and hailed "amazing" opportunities in the kingdom, a sign of the business world's interest in seeing diplomatic ties between the former enemies.

Samer Haj-Yehia, the Arab-Israeli chairman of Bank Leumi since 2019, was addressing the Future Investment Initiative, a three-day conference held in the Saudi capital and often referred to as "Davos in the Desert".

"The opportunities are amazing and the fintech industry in particular is on the rise," he said during a panel discussion.

"You see the economy is very healthy, unlike other economies around the world, and the prospects for the future are very positive," he added, highlighting strong access to capital in oil-rich Saudi Arabia and the young population's adoption of "very advanced mobile technology".

A statement from Bank Leumi described Haj-Yehia's appearance as "the first official public visit of a senior Israeli business official to the country".

It comes amid rampant speculation about future bilateral ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which US officials stoked ahead of President Joe Biden's visit to Jeddah in July.

Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel and did not join the 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords that saw the Jewish state establish ties with two of the kingdom's neighbours, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Several Israeli journalists who hold foreign passports were able to visit Saudi Arabia both before and during Biden's tour of the Middle East.

The Saudi civil aviation authority announced during that trip that it was lifting overflight restrictions on "all carriers", paving the way for Israeli planes to use Saudi airspace.

But the Saudi foreign minister later said the move had "nothing to do" with Israel and was "not in any way a precursor to any further steps" towards normalisation.

Riyadh has repeatedly said it would stick to the decades-old Arab League position of not establishing official ties with Israel until the conflict with the Palestinians is resolved.

Thursday's panel also featured the CEO of the Saudi EXIM Bank Group and bankers from the United States, France and elsewhere.

'Baby step'

Haj-Yehia is not new to the Gulf.

In late 2020, around the signing of the of the Abraham Accords, he "led the first delegation of senior Israeli businessmen to Dubai", according to the statement from Bank Leumi.

That visit saw Bank Leumi sign memoranda of understanding with First Abu Dhabi Bank and Emirates NBD Bank in Dubai.

The following year, Haj-Yehia led a visit to Bahrain "with the aim of promoting business and economic cooperation", the bank's statement said.

After Thursday's panel, Haj-Yehia declined to answer journalists' questions about how his bank might overcome the current hurdles Israeli firms face to doing business in the Saudi market.

He also declined to answer questions about the logistics of his travel and the passport he used.

His appearance was nevertheless "a further baby step towards increased but limited Saudi-Israeli interaction, cooperation and even commerce", said Hussein Ibish of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

"The Israelis will take anything they can get from the Saudis," he said. "And the Saudi government is effectively comfortable with anything that doesn't create too much public controversy: limited steps, things that appear not to signal a major change in relations or policy. This is like that."

Supporters of the Social Democratic Party react to exit polls during the post-election partyin Copenhagen, Denmark, on November 2, 2022. Denmark's Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen clung to power in the November 1 general election after the country's left-wing bloc won a one-seat majority, final results showed.

Bikes, bacon and borders: Five things to know about Denmark

The World

Copenhagen, Denmark - Denmark votes in what is set to be a tight parliamentary election between the incumbent left-wing bloc and right-wing and far-right candidates.

Here are five things to know about the Scandinavian country, home to more bikes than cars, and millions of polluting pigs.

Covering some 43,000 square kilometres (about 16,500 square miles), mainland Denmark is home to 5.9 million people spread across the Jutland peninsula north of Germany and 444 islands.

But factoring in its two autonomous territories -- the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic, and the Arctic island of Greenland and its more than two million square kilometres -- the Nordic nation is the largest country in the European Union and the twelfth largest in the world.

The Faroe Islands and Greenland, which also have local parliaments, have four seats in the 179-seat Danish parliament, the Folketing.

With polls predicting a tight race, these MPs could be decisive in forming a parliamentary majority.

In 1998, the election of a left-wing MP in the Faroe Islands, with a lead of only 176 votes, enabled Social Democrat Poul Nyrup Rasmussen to form a government.

As far-right parties have had an influence on politics since the 1990s, Denmark has adopted a hard line on immigration.

Even as a member of the centre-left Social Democratic party, current Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has been an advocate of "zero refugees" policies since she came to power in 2019.

The country was the first, and so far only, country in Europe to rescind residence permits of Syrian refugees from Damascus in 2020, on the grounds that the situation there was now sufficiently safe to return.

Like the UK, the government seeks to open centres abroad to relocate asylum seekers during their application process, with discussions ongoing with Rwanda.

At the outset of the 2015 migration crisis, Denmark adopted a number of measures to deter asylum seekers, including passing a law that allowed the confiscation of migrants' belongings to help finance their care.

In the small country, which prides itself on being a champion of green energy, climate is one of the main concerns of voters.

According to a recent poll, 36 percent of Danes believe the next government should make climate a priority, just behind healthcare and the economy.

Denmark likes to highlight that it sources 67 percent of its electricity from renewable energy (46.8 percent from wind power and 11.2 percent from biomass), but it is at the same time one of the world's largest pig-farming nations, a highly polluting industry.

The Social Democrats government has announced plans to introduce a carbon tax on agriculture, a measure supported by the majority of other parties.

Home to the world's largest wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas, Denmark aims to reduce its emissions by 70 percent by 2030, compared to a 55 percent reduction by the EU as a whole.

It aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, in line with EU commitments.

Denmark boasts an extensive welfare state model, financed by high taxes to ensure a social safety net.

Access to education and healthcare is free of charge, and a normal work week is 37 hours.

A staunch defence of freedom of expression is a cornerstone of Danish society, which is modern and progressive.

Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1933 and the country was also the first in the world to recognise same-sex unions with the creation of registered partnership in 1989.

Same-sex marriages were then introduced in 2011.

One of the capital's landmarks is the libertarian neighbourhood of Christiania, the home of a self-managed community since 1971 known for its overt narcotics trade.

The country also has the largest sperm bank in the world, which exports to over 80 countries.

Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard's 2022 Tour de France victory, which began in Copenhagen, underscored Danes' passion for cycling.

The flat country, the highest point of which is merely 170 metres (560 feet) above sea level, has more than 12,000 kilometres of cycle paths and 15 percent of daily trips are made by bike, in summer and winter.

In Copenhagen, which claims to be the world's cycling capital, there are five times as many bicycles as cars.

Sport is also omnipresent.

Danes, who invented handball at the end of the 19th century, are among the most athletic in the EU with 59 percent of them practising some sport at least once a week.

cbw/map/jll/gw/smw

The other World Cup: Qatari brothers inspire racquet boom

Sports

Doha, Qatar- As Qatar busily prepares for the football World Cup, many residents' eyes this week are on its national team in padel, a tennis-like sport that has taken the country by storm.

Five years since it was introduced in the tiny Gulf nation, this doubles game is now its "fastest growing sport", said Mohammed Saadon Alkuwari.

He is playing for Qatar at this year's World Championship that began a short hop away in Dubai on Monday and finishes on Saturday.

With hundreds of courts in public parks, commercial centres, hotels, private homes and on towering rooftops, the new national craze is hard to miss.

In part due to the success of Alkuwari and his brothers, who are professional padel players, Qatar has invested in the sport and hosted last year's World Padel Championship.

While the Qatar Padel Federation, part of the national tennis association, did not provide exect figures, Alkuwari told AFP he believes there are as many as 100,000 amateur and professional pairs in the country of 2.8 million.

At Padel In, the club Alkuwari and his brother Khalid opened, courts now stretch over a wide area and stay open 24 hours a day.

"We have more than 24,000 players," said the athlete and entrepreneur, noting an "exceptional" rate of Qatari padelists in a country where foreigners make up more than 80 percent of the population.

- 'So much fun' -

Padel is played in doubles on a court similar to tennis but smaller, enclosed by four walls. It was created in Mexico in the 1960s and made an entry into Qatar in 2017.

Mohammed Alkuwari -- ranked 159 globally, making him the world's top Arab and Asian player -- first tried it on a visit to Dubai in 2016.

"It's a very social sport, easy to learn, so much fun -- and then you improve really fast," he told AFP at his club.

He got his brothers hooked, and when the family built their first two outdoor courts in the capital Doha in the summer of 2017, "in two weeks they were fully booked" despite scorching heat of around 50 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit).

Alkuwari, a television presenter on beIN Sports, has also used his influence on social media to promote the sport in Qatar.

"We as a family... helped this sport grow" and "build a community in Qatar," he said.

The Alkuwaris saw a potential "on the business level but also" for new players, he recalled.

"We started to train, we travelled, we played... in Japan, in America, in Europe, so people started to see us taking it seriously," helping others "discover" padel and start playing too.

- Mideast 'leaders' -

Many have since joined, and state-owned Qatar Sports Investments launched its own professional tour this year, Premier Padel, which had its first edition in Doha in March.

Qatar was meant to host the World Championship for a second consecutive year, just weeks before the football tournament kicks off on November 20.

But the 2022 event was moved to the United Arab Emirates "due to some force majeure issues", the International Padel Federation said.

Qatar is represented there by the men's team, which includes Mohammed, Khalid and a third Alkuwari brother -- Abdulaziz.

The Qataris won gold in a Middle Eastern tournament in May, but finished last out of 16 national teams that qualified for the 2021 World Championship.

"It is very important for us to be the leaders of this sport in this region, where the sport is growing very fast," Mohammed said.

At this year's championship, facing the highly-rated Spanish, Argentinian and Brazilian teams as well as Egypt and the UAE, "our target is to finish in the top 10."

bur-pel/ami/dwo

Rafael Nadal returned to action at the Paris Masters after the birth of his first child

Nadal stunned by Paul at Paris Masters as Alcaraz cruises

Sports

Paris, France- Rafael Nadal crashed out of the Paris Masters in the second round on Wednesday after losing in three sets to American Tommy Paul, boosting Carlos Alcaraz's hopes of finishing the year as world number one.

Nadal was playing his first singles match in two months after a short break at home in Mallorca with his wife and newborn son.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion shook off an early break in the opening set by winning five of the next six games.

But Paul recovered from dropping serve in the third game of the second set to win a tie-break, having failed to convert a set point with Nadal serving at 4-5.

The Spaniard's lack of match practice told as Paul dominated the final set, breaking three times to seal the biggest win of his career.

His reward is a meeting with Pablo Carreno Busta for a place in the quarter-finals.

Alcaraz, the reigning US Open champion, will play Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16 after defeating Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-4.

The 19-year-old smacked 30 winners including nine aces despite a heavily-taped left knee, an issue he had downplayed on Monday.

"I tried to find my best level. I think I played really well. I don't think about the pressure of being world number one," said Alcaraz.

The Spaniard was presented with the world number one trophy earlier in the week, having become the youngest player to top the ATP rankings in September.

"I felt number one before getting the trophy, but of course with the trophy, is amazing. It was amazing feeling when I had the trophy in my hands."

Alcaraz admitted there is a target on his back now as the world's top-ranked player.

"Probably the difference, the way the players play against me, probably I felt that difference, but not too much," he said.

"I would say the players play better or more aggressive with me."

- Medvedev beaten -

Nadal's early exit was preceded by that of Daniil Medvedev, the 2020 Paris champion who was knocked out by Australia's Alex de Minaur 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.

De Minaur, who had not previously beaten a top-five player, will now face US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe, who eased past Jack Draper 6-3, 7-5.

Felix Auger-Aliassime qualified for the season-ending Tour finals for the first time, with Andrey Rublev completing the eight-man field in Turin after Taylor Fritz and Hubert Hurkacz both lost.

Auger-Aliassime began his bid for a fourth title in four weeks by battling back from the brink to beat Mikael Ymer in three hours and 30 minutes.

The Canadian eighth seed scraped through 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) to extend his winning streak to 14 matches.

Auger-Aliassime saved two break points at 1-4 in the second set just as Ymer looked poised to end his unbeaten run.

"Somehow I found a second wind after saving those break points at 4-1," said Auger-Aliassime.

"It was pretty epic. Definitely a win to remember."

Fritz was upset 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 by the 37-year-old Gilles Simon, who is retiring after the tournament.

Hurkacz's qualification hopes ended with his 7-5, 6-1 loss to Danish teenager Holger Rune.

Fifth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas had no problem in seeing off Britain's Dan Evans 6-3, 6-4 to book his place in the last 16.

Italy's Lorenzo Musetti beat Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-4, 6-2 to set up a last-16 meeting with third seed Casper Ruud.

ig/gk/bsp-mw/jc

Pentagon combines sea drones, AI to police Gulf region

Innovations

Iran's recent seizure of unmanned US Navy boats shined a light on a pioneering Pentagon program to develop networks of air, surface and underwater drones for patrolling large regions, meshing their surveillance with artificial intelligence.

The year-old program operates numerous unmanned surface vessels, or USVs, in the waters around the Arabian peninsula, gathering data and images to be beamed back to collection centers in the Gulf.

The program operated without incident until Iranian forces tried to grab three seven-meter Saildrone Explorer USVs in two incidents, on August 29-30 and September 1.

In the first, a ship of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hooked a line to a Saildrone in the Gulf and began towing it away, only releasing it when a US Navy Patrol boat and helicopter sped to the scene.

In the second, an Iranian destroyer picked up two Saildrones in the Red Sea, hoisting them aboard.

Two US Navy destroyers and helicopters quickly descended, and persuaded the Iranians to give them up the next day, but only after stripping cameras from them, according to the US military.

The Iranians said the USVs were in international shipping lanes and were picked up "to prevent possible accidents."

The US Navy said the USVs were operating well out of shipping lanes and unarmed.

Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, called the Iranian actions "flagrant, unwarranted and inconsistent with the behavior of a professional maritime force."

US forces "will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows," he added.

- One year at sea -

The drones are operated by the Bahrain-based US 5th Fleet's Task Force 59, created last year to integrate unmanned systems and artificial intelligence into Middle East operations.

Airborne and subsea drones are pretty well developed and proven, but unmanned surface boats are much newer and yet essential for the future, 5th Fleet spokesman Commander Tim Hawkins told AFP.

Since starting last year, the US Navy and regional partners have deployed both slow USVs like Saildrones and battery-powered speedboats like the Mantas T-12.

Equipped with solar panels and sail wings, the Saildrones carry multiple sensors and cameras, and are designed to spend up to a year at sea transmitting data by satellite.

San Francisco-based Saildrone operates around 100 vessels around the world for clients including the Pentagon, major oceanographic institutes, meteorological agencies, and groups studying fisheries and pollution.

"Having circumnavigated Antarctica in 2019 and then having sailed through the eye of a category-four hurricane last year, there really isn’t any maritime environment our drones cannot operate," said Saildrone spokeswoman Susan Ryan.

- Focus on Iranian activities -

In the Gulf, Hawkins would only say that they collect information for "enhancing our vigilance of the surrounding seas and strengthening our regional deterrence posture."

But Iranian activities are likely the main target.

Iran also patrols the region and has accosted and seized foreign commercial vessels and harassed US Navy ships in several tense confrontations in recent years.

The US Navy has sought to prevent Iran from shipping weapons to Yemen's Houthi rebels and other groups, and also helps enforce sanctions on Iran.

The key, Hawkins said, is taking the information collected from all sorts of unmanned sources, in the air, on the ground and on the sea, and making sense of it quickly.

Artificial intelligence helps identify unusual activity, like unnoticed vessels, in the USV data that human observers might miss.

"You need artificial intelligence to pick out what warrants more attention," he said.

- No secret -

Hawkins said it was unclear why only after a year into the program that the Iranians suddenly decide to try to retrieve some Saildrones.

None of what the US is doing is secret, he noted.

The program was announced last September, and in February the 5th Fleet hosted International Maritime Exercise 2022, which brought together 10 countries and more than 80 USVs to try out in the Gulf.

Even so, the US chose to place Task Force 59 in the tension-filled Gulf instead of another less challenging region, and the activities apparently have Tehran bothered.

The US military says the program is in part about developing tactics and doctrines for operating USVs, including learning how to deal with a country like Iran trying to grab them off the sea.

Right now the US operates them with manned surface vessels nearby to deal with interference.

"You can't just go pick up stuff out of the ocean that has a country's flag on it," said one US official.

"If it's the sovereign property of our nation, they have to give it over," the official said.

pmh/dw

Skating royalty: Japan's 'Ice Prince' Yuzuru Hanyu

Sports

Japan's "Ice Prince" Yuzuru Hanyu, who announced his retirement from competitive figure skating at the age of 27, is one of the sport's all-time greats and an icon to his worldwide legion of adoring fans.

After winning his first men's individual Olympic gold medal aged 19 at the 2014 Sochi Games, Hanyu became the first man in 66 years to retain his crown when he again stood atop the podium at Pyeongchang 2018.

He also claimed the world title twice but his impact on figure skating goes far beyond just medals.

With his elegant style and delicate, boyish looks, Hanyu inspires devotion like few other athletes in world sport.

His supporters, known as "Fanyus", follow his every move, spend fortunes watching him compete and even carve sculptures of the rake-thin star, who is known as "Yuzu" to his devotees.

They also shower the ice with Winnie the Pooh toys after his routines, in a chaotic tribute to the tissue box cover he carries to the rink with him.

"The way he looks and his technique and the effort he puts in -- no one else will have that total package," 46-year-old fan Yumi Matsuo told AFP earlier this year.

"I'm really happy that I'm alive at this time so that I can support him."

- 'Everything has gone wrong' -

Hanyu has been at the top of men's figure skating for almost a decade.

He began skating as a child in his native Sendai, in Japan's northeast. When the massive earthquake and tsunami hit the region in 2011, he was practising on the ice and was forced to flee the rink on his skates.

Hanyu makes a point of honouring the victims of the disaster and he dedicated his first Olympic title as "a gift for my country".

"I'm the only gold medallist but I don't think I'm just spiritually by myself, I'm here because of all the people in Japan who supported me," he said after his Sochi gold.

Hanyu went on to win world titles in 2014 and 2017, breaking records with jaw-dropping scores, as he and American rival Nathan Chen battled it out for skating supremacy.

Hanyu had to overcome an ankle ligament injury to win his second Olympic gold in Pyeongchang, admitting afterwards that he was at barely a quarter of full fitness.

His second title earned him a place in skating immortality and cemented his hero status in Japan, where he became the youngest recipient of his country's prestigious People's Honour Award the same year.

Injuries dogged him later in his career and hampered his bid this year to join 1920s star Gillis Grafstrom of Sweden as the only other man to win three Olympic singles titles.

He fell in his short programme at the Beijing Olympics and placed fourth overall, revealing afterwards that he had pain-killing injections before taking the ice.

He said he "did everything" but felt that "everything has gone wrong this time around".

- 'Greatest skater ever' -

Eventual winner Chen paid tribute to Hanyu as "the greatest skater ever".

"Watching him when I was a kid, I never even dreamed that I would be able to have the opportunity to even skate with him," said the American.

Hanyu refused to rule out another tilt at the Olympic title immediately afterwards and said that he was determined to land the quadruple axel, a legendary jump that no skater has ever pulled off in competition.

Tuesday's announcement ends a competitive career unlike any other in skating history, leaving his fans in shock and disbelief at the news.

Hanyu still remains something of an enigma despite the huge attention, rarely granting interviews and having no social media presence.

But it is all part of the appeal for his devoted supporters, who will still be able to watch him perform in exhibition shows.

For Hanyu himself, his achievements are etched into skating history.

"I'm an Olympic champion -- I won two titles in a row and I'm proud of that," he told reporters in Beijing in February.

"As someone who has won two consecutive titles, I want to make sure I'm proud of myself, and that's how I intend to live my life from here on."

amk/sah/dh/pst

In this file photograph taken on February 6, 2022, French Rugby Federation (FFR) president Bernard Laporte (L) and French businessman and Montpellier's rugby club president Mohed Altrad (R) attend the Six Nations rugby union international match between France and Italy at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.

Laporte: French rugby supremo who relishes challenges

Sports

Bernard Laporte, the president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR), has served as a player, coach and even a minister, overcoming controversy and setbacks to become one of the most powerful figures in the sport.

The 58-year-old faces his latest challenge this time in court, accused of favouritism in awarding the shirt sponsors contract for the national side to close friend and billionaire owner of Top 14 champions Montpellier, Mohed Altrad.

Laporte has had a varied and colourful career which has covered all angles from sports to business to politics and now sees him in a role at the heart of preparations for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

On the rugby front he has been a title-winning scrum-half as well as a successful coach both with the national team -- achieving Six Nations Grand Slams in 2002 and 2004 -- and at club level.

A figure whose prominence transcends rugby, he has featured in advertising campaigns from ham to dog food.

In politics he put up posters for Socialist Francois Mitterrand during one of his presidential campaigns and then served as a minister in the right-wing government under former prime minister Francois Fillon, who was later convicted in a fake job scandal.

He was not a political natural and he lashed out at some of his former colleagues once he had been relieved of his duties in 2009.

"They did not consider me part of their world," he told Paris Match in 2009.

"I lacked the polish and the networks, I simply did not exist."

That seemed a strange admission from a man of whom an English observer remarked: "Apart from (Cardinal) Richelieu no one else in France has shown more political sense."

The hard lessons learned from his two years as a minister paid off, for he has worked the corridors of power more effectively in the world he understands, rugby.

Laporte, who is also a vice-chairman of global governing body World Rugby, was named by highly regarded magazine Rugby World the most influential personality in the sport.

- 'Thrives on adversity' -

His brusque, straight-talking manner -- sometimes delivered with colourful language -- in his strong southwest France accent can rub people up the wrong way.

However, his devil-may-care and take-no-prisoners attitude to life may be down to when he had a brush with death.

He was in a coma for a week as a result of injuries he suffered in a car crash in 1985.

"It is the most important moment in my life," he said.

Ignoring the doctor who told him he would never play rugby again, he showed his bull-headed determination in doing so and six years later as captain lifted the French league crown with Bordeaux-Begles.

Laporte drives people as hard as he drives himself -- though as a club coach he did benefit from two wealthy owners.

However, he would point to results as he guided Stade Francais from the third tier to being crowned French champions in 1998 and Toulon to three successive European Cup triumphs as well as the 2014 national title.

"Bernard will never let things go and will always say what he thinks and without sugar coating it either," said former Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal.

"He is not someone one can buy off or coax over to one's side.

"He is not a bird one can shut in its cage."

This plain speaking allied to a ruthless streak has also produced results as federation president.

He notably masterminded a shock victory for France in winning the right to host the 2023 World Cup, when South Africa were regarded as overwhelming favourites.

However, according to federation vice president Serge Simon, one of his oldest friends dating back to the Bordeaux title-winning side days, overcoming the odds is Laporte's forte.

"He thrives on adversity. He builds his personality round that," said Simon.

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Serena Williams -- dressed for success

Sports

Over a career which stretched to more than a quarter of a century, c were often as eye-catching as her tennis.

AFP Sport looks at 10 of the best worn by the 23-time Grand Slam title winner:

2002 - Catsuit, not wet suit

-- When Williams won her second US Open in 2002, she did it dressed in a Lycra catsuit.

It dominated large parts of her opening round press conference where some reporters were bemused.

"Great outfit. Does it come with flippers, mask and snorkel?"

"Of course not," fired back the American. "This is more of a cat suit. It's not a wet suit. A wet suit has long sleeves and it's usually longer and thicker material.

"This is made of Lycra. It's supposed to have the illusion of looking a little bit like leather from a distance. But it's made of Lycra because it kind of sticks to the body. It kind of really sticks to what type of shape you have. If you don't have a decent shape, this isn't the best outfit to have."

2004 - In the Paris pink

-- Williams appeared at Roland Garros in a bright pink two-piece outfit designed by Nike.

Her headband was emblazoned with the letter 'S' while her crop-top revealed a belly button stud.

2004 - Biker girl in black leather

-- Williams's initial dilemma was whether or not she would be allowed to play at the US Open in knee-high boots rather than tennis shoes.

"You can wear them while you're playing, I'm sure," she said before removing them.

"It's like a rebel-look, when I'm being really rebellious. I'm just doing things different with the black and the studs. I'm just being a rebel. So maybe I would start out with something like, 'Serena's going rebel without a cause'."

2008 - Game, set, mac!

-- Serena lost the 2008 Wimbledon final to sister Venus but made a statement when she arrived on Centre Court at the start of the tournament wearing a white trench coat.

"I don't think it's going to keep the rain away but we can always hope. I absolutely love trench coats," she explained.

Britain's Daily Express captioned the moment: 'Game, Set and Mac, Miss Williams.'

2014 - Leopard print curve ball

-- Pink leopard print for day matches, black for the night at the 2008 US Open. Nike called it: "The fierce Nike Serena Dress."

Fellow player Elena Vesnina told USA Today: "She's trying to show her curves. That's a good thing -– you're showing the best part of your body and you're covering some kind of things that you don't want to show. Serena looks really good in it."

2018 - Superhero and a warrior?

-- One of her most controversial outfits was her black catsuit unveiled at Roland Garros.

"I feel like a warrior in it, a warrior princess from Wakanda," said Serena, in reference to the hit movie, Black Panther. "I've always wanted to be a superhero."

The French Open, however, took a dim view and banned it at future events with French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli insisting: "One must respect the game and the place."

2018 - Tennis in a tutu

-- After the French Open ban, the American appeared at Flushing Meadows in a black tutu dress. The top of the costume had one long sleeve while the right-hand side was sleeveless.

"It's easy to play in. Kind of aerodynamic with the one arm free. It feels really good. Yeah, the tutu is easy to play in because I practiced in it before. That was fun," she said.

2021 - Salute to Flo Jo

-- At Melbourne Park, the American wore a brightly-coloured red, pink and black one-piece outfit with just the right leg covered.

It was, she said, a tribute to late US sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner.

"FloJo was a wonderful track athlete, amazing athlete when I was growing up. Well, watching her fashion, just always changing, her outfits were always amazing," explained Williams.

2021 - Train of thought at Wimbledon

-- Williams appeared on court with a removable white train.

Her fashion statement, however, was quickly forgotten when she was forced to retire from her first round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich with a right leg injury after just six games.

"Feeling the extraordinary warmth and support of the crowd today when I walked on -- and off -- the court meant the world to me," she said in a statement.

2022 - Diamond life in New York

-- For her final bow at the US Open, Williams's outfit caught the eye, a skirt designed with six layers -— one tier for every US Open title she has won —- and a diamond-encrusted bodice.

"It is a dress made for a supernova's farewell," said The New York Times.

Williams later revealed she had adapted the dress on the fly.

"I have six layers to represent the six wins but I took four out because it was too heavy," she said.

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