International
ANALYSIS: Contract rebel Ousmane Dembele mirrors Barcelona’s woes

FC Barcelona’s winger Ousmane Dembele released a scathing statement on Thursday in which he said, “I forbid anyone to give the impression that I am not involved in the sports project. I forbid anyone to attribute intentions to me that I’ve never had.”
He added that he was fully involved with the club and that he has always given everything for his colleagues.
The statement seems to be a response to comments from coach Xavi Hernandez and club director Mateu Alemany, who have both questioned Dembele’s commitment to the club. Alemany even went so far as to state that if the winger doesn’t want to be a part of their project, he will be sold immediately.
The genesis of this rift between the club and the player goes back to the contract negotiations which have been dragging on for months. Dembele’s contract expires on June 30 and the club risks losing him on a free transfer to one of Europe’s elite sides.
To prevent the eventuality, Barcelona have tried to convince Dembele to stay, but with the caveat that they cannot satisfy his new salary demands.
Barcelona’s financial woes have been well-documented, with the club racking up millions of euros on debts, posting a loss of 481 million euros in the 2020/21 season alone.
A major reason for these debts to reach sky-high levels is the high spending on transfer fees and wages for players such as Dembele, who simply haven’t lived up to expectations.
When Dembele came to Barcelona for 140 million euros, he was seen as a more-than-capable replacement for Neymar after having impressed for Borussia Dortmund at both club-level as well as in Europe. His body, however, has failed him multiple times as he has suffered one injury after another.
His injury record has been so poor that he has not been able to get more than 20 starts for the club in league matches, with this season in particular being his worst. A combination of injuries, COVID-19 and contract disputes have combined to reduce him to a paltry four starting games in the league.
When Dembele is on the pitch, he has shown flashes of brilliance such as the display versus Chelsea in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League Round of 16. These moments, however, haven’t led to consistent success. Dembele has yet to register more than eight goals in a single league season.
These troubles may make it seem prudent for Barcelona to sell the winger, but the problem is that the club does not have enough money for reinforcements. Their money problems have been so bad that they could not even register new signee Ferran Torres until they got veteran defender Samuel Umtiti to agree to a reduced salary.
Their squad particularly lacks someone of the French winger’s profile as the only other player they have who can somewhat replicate his skillset is wonderkid Ansu Fati, but he has also had a lot of injury trouble. The latest happened during a recent Copa Del Rey match against Athletic Bilbao, which could potentially leave him out for as long as six weeks.
The worst part about Dembele’s problems is that his situation is not an isolated incident at all. Barcelona have been facing similar troubles with Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann, whom they signed for a combined amount of 255 million euros.
Not only did the two players not make their mark as expected, but Barca have also failed to offload them as both of them are on sky-high wages that other clubs are simply unwilling to pay. As a result, Barca have had to resort to loaning them both to Aston Villa and Atletico Madrid, respectively, just to get them off the wage bill.
They have also spent big money on players who were simply not up to Barca’s standards — 41 million euros on winger Malcom and 37 million euros on midfielder Andre Gomes, both of whom were seen as head-scratching transfers at the time, who further justified this impression by failing to make any impact at all and having to be sold for a loss to other clubs.
It’s hard not to see all these problems being self-inflicted wounds as the club was a financial juggernaut, making millions from multiple sources, from TV deals and advertisements to shirt sales, and having some of the best players in the world, including Lionel Messi, whom many consider to be the greatest player to ever grace a football pitch.
All of these positives could not offset the mismanagement from the former club president Josep Bartomeu, who faced several allegations of corruption, income-tax fraud, and launching a smear campaign against some of the club’s players.
The Spanish giants are now a shell of their former selves and though new president Joan Laporta has taken some positive steps, they are a long way off reaching the heights they once used to occupy.
International
Murder of Hindu leader: India slams Bangladesh, says killing follows pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities

New Delhi, April 19: India on Saturday issued a sharp condemnation of the abduction and brutal killing of Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a prominent Hindu community leader in northern Bangladesh, calling it part of a “pattern of systematic persecution” of minorities under the country’s interim government.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal voiced India’s grave concern, stating that the incident reflects an alarming trend of targetted violence against Hindus and other minority groups in Bangladesh.
“We have noted with distress the abduction and brutal killing of Shri Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a Hindu minority leader in Bangladesh. This killing follows a pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities under the interim government, even as the perpetrators of previous such events roam with impunity,” Jaiswal said in a post on social media platform X.
He added, “We condemn this incident and once again remind the interim government to live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities, including Hindus, without inventing excuses or making distinctions.”
India has previously expressed similar concerns over rising attacks on minorities in Bangladesh, but this latest incident has drawn particular attention due to Roy’s prominence in the Hindu community.
Roy, who served as the Vice-President of the Biral unit of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, was abducted from his residence in Dinajpur district on Thursday evening. According to police and family accounts, he received a phone call around 4:30 p.m., after which four unidentified men arrived on motorcycles and forcibly took him to Narabari village. He was reportedly assaulted and later found unconscious. He was rushed to a hospital in Dinajpur, where he was declared dead on arrival. His wife, Shantana Roy believes the attackers used the call to confirm his location before carrying out the abduction.
Opposition leaders in India also slammed the shocking incident in the neighbouring country.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge highlighted that religious minorities, especially Hindus, are being persecuted in Bangladesh.
“Attacks on other religious minorities are also continuing. Recently, the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh made a very condemnable and disappointing comment about the northeastern states of India. The persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh, human rights violations, and the attempt to erase the memories of the 1971 Liberation War are efforts to weaken the relationship between India and Bangladesh. From 1971 till today, India has always wished for peace and prosperity for all the people of Bangladesh. This is in the best interest of the subcontinent,” he said.
International
Death toll from US airstrikes on Yemeni fuel port rises to 38: Houthis

Sanaa, April 18: The death toll from US overnight airstrikes on the Yemeni fuel port of Ras Isa has increased to 38, with 102 others wounded, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported on Friday, citing Houthi-controlled local health authorities.
According to al-Masirah, the casualties include five paramedics who were killed upon arriving at the scene, when the US military launched another wave of airstrikes on the port just minutes after the first on Thursday night.
More than 14 airstrikes on the fuel port were reported during the two waves, igniting massive fires in tanks storing imported fuel. The fires were extinguished within hours, said the report.
The US Central Command said earlier in a statement that it struck and destroyed the Ras Isa port on Thursday to “eliminate this source of fuel for” and “degrade the economic source of power of” the Houthis, Xinhua news agency reported.
In mid-March, US President Donald Trump ordered “decisive and powerful military action” against the Houthis after the group announced plans to resume attacks on Israeli vessels in the Red Sea, citing Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza as the reason.
Earlier on April 17, Yemen’s Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi had said his group had launched 26 attacks against Israel and 33 strikes on the US aircraft carrier and warships in the Red Sea since March 15.
In a televised speech aired by the group’s al-Masirah TV on Thursday, the Houthi leader said the attacks on Israel were carried out using “30 ballistic missiles and drones,” while those targeting the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its escorts involved “122 ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones”.
However, the Israeli military has reportedly intercepted many of the Houthi projectiles before they reached targets, Xinhua news agency reported.
The US Central Command dismissed the Houthi claims of daily attacks on the US aircraft carrier as “outlandish” in a post on the social media platform X.
Meanwhile, the Houthi leader noted that the US military had conducted more than 900 airstrikes against his group’s positions across northern Yemen during the past 30 days.
Tensions between the Houthi group and the US military have escalated since Washington resumed airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on March 15 to deter the group from attacking Israel and US warships in the Red Sea.
The Houthis, which control much of northern Yemen, said their attacks aim to press US-backed Israel to stop the offensive against the Gaza Strip and allow humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave.
Israel’s Channel 12 News reported last Saturday that a Yemeni drone was intercepted near the Dead Sea within the Jordanian airspace before it could reach Israel.
The Jordanian army confirmed later last week that an unidentified drone entered Jordanian airspace and crashed in the Ma’in area of Madaba governorate, near the Dead Sea, and no casualties were reported.
Even since Israel renewed its intensive strikes in March across the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have been launching frequent attacks against Israeli and US targets.
Earlier last week, the Houthi military spokesperson claimed fresh attacks against the US aircraft carrier, USS Harry S Truman, and other US warships in the northern Red Sea.
International
Houthis say 123 civilians in Yemen killed in one month of US airstrikes

Sanaa, April 15: A total of 123 civilians have been killed and 247 others injured, mostly women and children, since the US military resumed airstrikes across Yemen in mid-March, Houthi-run health authorities said in an statement.
The statement was issued following US airstrikes against a ceramic factory on the western outskirts of Yemen’s capital Sanaa late on Sunday night, which killed seven people and injured 29 others.
The health authorities’ previous statement on April 9 put the death toll from the renewed US air raids at 107 and the number of injuries at 223.
The Houthi group rarely discloses casualties among its fighters. However, the US military has repeatedly said the strikes have killed dozens of Houthi leaders, which the group has denied, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier on Sunday, Yemen’s Houthi group announced that it had shot down another US MQ-9 drone, the 19th it has downed since November 2023.
“A US MQ-9 drone was shot down while carrying out hostile missions in the airspace of Hajjah province” in northwestern Yemen, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.
Sarea added that the drone was downed by a locally manufactured surface-to-air missile, stressing “the ongoing US aggression” has not crippled the group’s military capabilities.
The statement affirmed the group’s support for the Palestinian people, saying its operations will continue “until the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip stops and the siege on it is lifted.”
The US resumed its air campaign against Houthi forces on March 15, stating that its strikes were aimed at deterring the group from launching attacks against Israeli and US naval assets in the Red Sea.
The Houthis, who control vast areas of northern Yemen, have been attacking Israeli targets since November 2023 to show solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip.
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