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MARRAKECH, Morocco International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday said the Israel-Hamas conflict was "heartbreaking" and

Under-fire Harry Maguire says a supportive call from former England captain David Beckham after being hounded at Hampden Park “meant everything” to him. Just over two years after being a Manchester United ever-present and part of the European Championship team of the tournament, the 30-year-old defender now finds himself as the butt of jokes. Many opposing fans have revelled in Maguire’s drop off and Scotland supporters goaded him mercilessly after coming on and scoring an own goal in England’s 3-1 win last month. Maguire immediately laughed it off as a “little bit of banter” but hearing from somebody that knows a thing or two about intense criticism meant the world to him. Few have faced sharper focus in an England shirt than Beckham, who has laid bare the pain he suffered after his 1998 World Cup red card against Argentina in a new Netflix documentary. “I actually spoke with David about three weeks ago, after the Scotland game,” Maguire said. “He got in touch with me, so it was really nice of him and I really appreciated that. It meant everything. I’ve spoken throughout my career about David Beckham being someone I looked up to and watched when I was a young boy. “Unfortunately, I didn’t end up on the right wing scoring and assisting as many goals as he has. But he was a big role model when I was growing up. “It shows how classy he is to reach out to me and to message me. It was something I really appreciated. It was touching really.” “You’re going through tough moments you’ve got to go through past experiences and past memories and where you’ve gone in your career and what you’ve been through,” he said at St George’s Park. “Every career is so up and down, especially when you reach what I’ve reached, in terms of being the captain of the biggest club in the world for three and a half years. He’s been in that position and knows what it’s like. “Obviously having watched the documentary I couldn’t believe how much he went through at the time. In the documentary Gary Neville speaks about how resilient he is as a person. I think he’s been a huge role model for many footballers growing up, especially in my era.” That chat and his experiences have helped Maguire retain belief and confidence, as has the continued faith shown in him by Gareth Southgate. The England boss has been in charge for all 59 of his caps and snapped in Glasgow at treatment he said was “ridiculous”, “a joke” and “beyond anything I’ve ever seen”. “I try and stay away from it all,” Maguire said, who says he posts on social media but avoids reading online comments. “Obviously you can’t stay away from it as your family and friends are probably seeing things, they probably read a lot more than I do. “Yeah, there has been a lot of talk about me over the last year. For that talk to happen, you have got to have built your way up to be a top performer like I’ve done over the previous five years to that. “Things haven’t gone to plan over the last year or so, but I am sure it will get back on track. A career is a long path. Many ups, many downs, it probably has been a little blip and I am trying to be back to where I was.” Maguire knows he needs to repay Southgate’s faith by playing more minutes with Euro 2024 looming large and says he can continue to “block” out any abuse. But he knows that is “a bit tougher” for his loved ones and his mother Zoe last month criticised the “disgraceful” abuse her son has been subjected to, which she claimed went far beyond football. “If she felt like that and wanted to do that, then I fully support her in terms of that,” Maguire said. “My mum’s been a big part of my career, she’s someone I go to for support and she was in the stands in the Scotland game. She probably felt affected by it and annoyed by it. “But she is more worried for myself, but I reiterate to her that I am all good and I’m strong mentally and I can deal with it. “It probably affects (my friends and family) a lot more than it does myself because they obviously do get affected by it but they also worry for me and how I’m dealing with it. But I reiterate to her all the time that I’m good.” Read More 5 Wales’ World Cup quarter-finals as Warren Gatland’s side gear up to face Pumas 5 memorable meetings between Wales and Argentina Ireland’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final hoodoo 5 classic Ireland v New Zealand encounters ahead of heavyweight World Cup clash AI scouting app gives players chance to be noticed in the professional game Josh Magennis determined to keep giving his all for Northern Ireland

Scottie Barnes ranked No. 15 on our list of the best young players in the NBA. Can he address his weaknesses and recapture the magic of his rookie season?

MARRAKECH The European Central Bank should aim to engineer a "soft landing" for the euro zone's economy as

Keegan Murray is ranked No. 17 on our list of the best young players in the NBA. He was one of the best rookie shooters in NBA history. This year he may get to show everything else he can do.

A single ticket, sold north of Los Angeles, is the second-largest lottery win in history.

Kim Kardashian has used a statement about the Israel-Hamas war to fly the flag for another humanitarian cause. Writing on Instagram, the influencer expressed sympathy for those caught in the unfolding conflict in the Middle East but urged people to also address "ethnic cleansing" in Armenia. Dedicating the message to "[her] Jewish friends and family," she wrote: "I love you. I support you. I have heard about how scared you feel during this time, and I want you to know you are not alone in this. “My heart is broken seeing the videos of these babies and families being terrorized and murdered in front of the whole world! “As human beings with a heart, how can anyone not be devastated by these horrific images that we will never be able to unsee?” She continued: “No matter who’s [sic] side you are on, or how you have been triggered by the horrors of these past few days, our hearts should always have room for compassion towards innocent victims caught in the cross hairs of warring over power, politics, religion, race and ethnicity,” she wrote. She added that she and her family are “praying for the safe return of hostages” and “for peace for all the innocent.” Then she brought attention to the people who are the “victims of an ethnic cleansing themselves” in Armenia. “They are in this moment also suffering from an extreme humanitarian crisis, and there are still prisoners of war being held captive or missing,” she wrote. Condemning the "indefensible violence" carried out by Hamas, she went on: "Although I know there is nothing, I can do to personally get rid of the pain of those who are suffering, my family and I are praying for the safe return of hostages, for those that have died and their affected families, for peace for all the innocent, and for the perpetrators of this indefensible violence to be brought to justice." She concluded her statement by urging her 364 million Instagram followers not to "judge" others for speaking out or staying silent at a time of crisis, and to check on the people they love. "My call to action today, something that we can all do, is simply to reach out to your friends, colleagues, and those in your community, those who are hurting, no matter what side they are on, check in on them and tell them you love them," she wrote. "I also ask that, during difficult times like these, not to judge who is or isn't speaking out, because everyone should be allowed to deal with times of crisis in the way that they feel most comfortable, whether it be privately or publicly." Her statement comes as the Israel-Hamas conflict escalates, with latest reports claiming Hamas murdered over 40 young children and babies. Israel has retaliated through air strikes in Gaza. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan took control of the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh in Armenia last month creating tensions and conflict between the ex-Soviet states. Armenians have left the region, saying they have been displaced. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Josh Giddey, the second leg of OKC's tall, oddly-paced backcourt, is ready for his leap to proper NBA stardom. He's ranked No. 19 on our list of the best young players in the NBA.

LONDON Holders of defaulted debt issued by Venezuela and its state oil company said they made two filings

US citizens are also among the hundreds of people taken hostage by the Palestinian militant group.

Artificial Intelligence can help talented players who might never normally be noticed get a chance in the professional game. Premier League clubs Chelsea and Burnley – as well as a host of MLS teams – are using an app, created by ai.io, that allows footballers around the world to complete specifically-designed drills and upload match footage of themselves. Using computer vision and deep-learning machinery, which can recognise and evaluate a player’s movement, each user receives a score and then scouts are alerted to anyone that matches set criteria. The aiSCOUT platform is the only digital scouting product invited into the FIFA Innovation Programme and already has several success stories, with Burnley signing Jez Davies and Chelsea handing a 10-week trial to Ben Greenwood, having discovered them on the app. Not every budding footballer will be visited by a scout, but almost everyone will have access to a smartphone and that provides the player with a unique opportunity. “It gives the power to the player,” ai.io COO and director of sports science Richard Felton-Thomas told the PA news agency. “You are always waiting for a scout to come and watch you, you can’t just ring them up and ask them to come. “This just puts power into the players’ hands. “We are really democratising that scouting process. Normally you go and watch and then go and collect more information afterwards, which is just inefficient. “You can’t replace the fundamentals a scout brings of going to a game, seeing how a player deals with adversity, how they transfer those raw skill sets to a match and taking instructions from a coach. “Our tech is there to do the early talent detection but then scouts have to ID that talent with the traditional method. “We give them the efficiency of enough information to say, ‘Don’t wait until the weekend to watch them’, because someone else might be doing that already. “We don’t make the future decision of the player. The scout and the recruitment do that. I don’t think anyone wants AI to decide their fate. We are there to say on certain metrics, players are worth a look.” Davies joined the Clarets when he was spotted on the aiSCOUT app shortly after being released by Tottenham and they quickly signed him up. This just puts power into the players' hands ai.io COO Richard Felton-Thomas Greenwood had a 10-week trial at Chelsea before earning a permanent deal at Bournemouth, going on to feature in the Carabao Cup and represent Republic of Ireland at under-19 level. There has also been huge success in India as players using a shared community phone have been scouted. “We have had players trial and sign for Chelsea and Burnley and in India players who have downloaded our app from a shared community phone are now in football programmes,” Felton-Thomas added. “If it wasn’t for a mobile phone they would never have the exposure. They were not playing registered football so a scout would never have found them but we are changing those lives through those opportunities with a phone. “Jez Davies signed at Burnley. He was released at Tottenham. We didn’t know about him but he entered our app uploaded his reels and you can imagine being 18 and just coming out of Tottenham, his drills were incredible. Burnley saw that and within two weeks he was signed. “The first player we trialled was a player called Ben Greenwood. He had brilliant stats, he was at a football college and had never been scouted by any team, he lived two miles away from Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham and they thought if he was that good, how come our scouts had missed him. “They brought him in for a day, just to validate our data, but he ended up staying for 10 weeks. He scored on his under-19s debut but he didn’t get a contract. “He was signed by Bournemouth and is on his second contract and played in the Carabao Cup for them. This is a player who had never once been scouted, so that was a huge success story.” Read More Josh Magennis determined to keep giving his all for Northern Ireland Andy Farrell feels Ireland are becoming better at handling pressure Charlie Savage impresses Rob Page during his Wales debut Harry Maguire supported by ‘role model’ David Beckham after Hampden experience I want to play – Harry Maguire admits lack of matches will become an issue Conor McGregor closes in on UFC return by re-entering anti-doping test programme

A kindergarten teacher who gave melatonin gummies to special education students at an elementary school in Humble, Texas, has resigned, school officials said.