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The secret Saudi plan to buy the World CupCrown Prince MBS privately promised to pay for all Greece’s infrastructure, in exchange for Athens signing up to the joint 2030 bid.Saudi Arabia offered to pay for new sports stadiums in Greece and Egypt if they agreed to team up with the oil-rich Gulf heavyweight in a joint bid to host the 2030 football World Cup, POLITICO can reveal. In exchange, the Saudis would get to stage three-quarters of all the matches, under the proposed deal. The dramatic offer — likely worth billions of euros in construction costs — was discussed in a private conversation between Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in summer 2022, according to a senior official familiar with the matter.It is not clear whether the offer was taken up. But the three countries are now working on a joint proposal to host the 2030 tournament, a move which has triggered a backlash against Greece. In Greece, paying for sports infrastructure is a touchy subject, where it is seen as a monument to government profligacy. Back in 2004, Athens hosted the Olympic Games, with Greece splurging around €9 billion. However, much of the infrastructure was left abandoned after the Olympic flame went out. As the country entered a decade-long depression and had to resort to bailout programs to avoid bankruptcy, the Olympics became a source of anger for Greeks who questioned whether the Games pushed their country further into recession. Nearly two decades after the Olympics extravaganza, many of the 30 venues remain unused, while some have been demolished.The decision on World Cup 2030 hosting will be made in 2024, with the bidding process set to open officially later this year.
Turkey and Syria earthquake death toll passes 7,800 as rescue efforts falterAftershocks and freezing weather hamper efforts of rescue teams searching for survivors after 7.8-magnitude quake
20,000 feared dead in earthquake carnage as rescuers race against time to save trapped victimsAround 23m lives – including those of 1.4m children – blighted by the disaster, says the World Health Organisation
Fawlty Towers: John Cleese to reboot series with daughterThe much-loved comedy series is set to return with the father-daughter pairing taking on a boutique hotelJohn Cleese is set to reboot his much-loved comedy series Fawlty Towers.The actor and writer will team up with daughter Camilla Cleese, with the pair both set to write and star. The new series will “explore how Cleese’s over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates the modern world”, according to early information, with the plot focusing on his relationship with his daughter as they manage a boutique hotel together.
Church of England to consider use of gender-neutral terms for GodUse of ‘he’ when referring to God to be examined by new a commission in spring.
Microsoft launches new AI chat-powered Bing and Edge browserMicrosoft announced on Tuesday a new version of its Bing search engine powered by a next-generation OpenAI language model more powerful than ChatGPT and specially trained for web search.You can request access to the new AI-powered Bing web search engine by clicking "Join the waitlist" on this page.
How will Google and Microsoft AI chatbots affect us and how we work?
New King Charles III stamps unveiled – but a limited number will be released firstOut on April 4, the stamps won’t be widely circulated until current stocks featuring the late Queen have been used up
Homes in Great Yarmouth evacuated overnight as Second World War bomb find sparks major incidentThe bomb was discovered during dredging work in the River Yare at Bollard Quay close to the junction with Boundary Road, as part of works for the third river crossing in the town.
Shrapnel injuries warning as police admit Great Yarmouth bomb explosion is a ‘real possibility'
Mystery over pristine 1974 Vauxhall Victor FE discovered with just 86 miles on itBought brand new by Mr P Milner from Ilkeston in Derbyshire, the car sat untouched for decades with its seats covered in polythene
Carnival Corp sells Costa brand cruise ship to Greece’s Seajets Carnival Corp is shedding a 17-year-old cruise ship to Greek buyers.Shipping market sources in Piraeus are linking Marios Iliopoulos company Seajets to a deal for the 102,700-gt Costa Magica (built 2004).The Costa Magica has 1,359 cabins that accommodate up to 4,000 passengers and about 1,000 crew members.Under Seajets’ management, the Costa Magica is likely to return in grand style to Mediterranean waters.According to available data, it becomes the biggest and youngest ship ever in the cruise ship fleet of Marios Iliopoulos-led Seajets.
Google Chrome 110 Stable fixes 15 security vulnerabilitiesGoogle Chrome 110 is available already, but the automatic distribution of the update may take days or weeks. Chrome users may load chrome://settings/help to display the version of the browser that is installed currently. Chrome runs a check for updates when the page is opened and will download and install any update that it finds automatically. A restart of the web browser is required to complete the update.The following version should be displayed on the page after the installation of Chrome 110: Chrome for Windows 110.0.5481.77 or 110.0.5481.78 Chrome for Mac or Linux: 110.0.5481.77 Chrome for iOS: 110.0.5481.83 Chrome for Android: 110.0.5481.63 or 110.0.5481.64