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Gracias, Messi! 28 International Front Pages Mark Argentina’s World Cup Win

It’s been hailed as one of the most riveting finals in World Cup history ever. After 120 minutes of improbable reversal of fortunes, Argentina beat France on penalties. Argentine striker Lionel Messi scored twice (plus a penalty in the decisive showdown), securing his status of one of the sport's all-time greats.

This is how newspapers in Argentina, France and the rest of the world featured the historic match on their front pages.

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LGBTQ+ International: Russia’s Short-Lived Queer Museum, Italy’s Gender-Neutral Toilet — And Other News

Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on a topic you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll!

This week featuring:

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Morocco Has Become The World Cup Flag Bearer For A Nation: Palestine

The World Cup in Qatar has been political on many fronts. Right now, with the event in an Arab country for the first time and Morocco as the first Arab team to make the quarterfinals, the Palestinian question is now very much on the agenda.

When Morocco beat powerhouse Spain at Qatar's Al Rayyan stadium on Tuesday, it was a small bit of soccer history: the first time Morocco had qualified for the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

But the victory traveled well beyond the field, and beyond Morocco. Joy and celebration erupted across the Middle East and North Africa, where people of different nationalities gathered to celebrate that Morocco was also the first ever Arab team to ever qualify for the quarterfinals.

And those who were at the stadium or watching the post-game celebrations on the field will have noticed a peculiar detail: waving in the hands of the victorious players was not the Moroccan flag, but the Palestinian one.

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Let's Not Forget The Original Sin Of The Qatar World Cup: Greed

Soccer is a useful political tool for dictatorships. But Qatar is able to milk the World Cup as much as possible because the sport is infected by unbridled capitalistic greed.

-OpEd-

BOGOTÁ — Soccer lost its innocence years ago. Its history of spectacular feats and heart-wrenching moments contain a catalogue of outrages. Beyond the miracles and goals, the "beautiful game" must face up to its own infection by capitalism and greed for profits.

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Society
Suman Mandal

The Singular Legacy Of Qatar's World Cup: Dead Migrant Workers

The deaths of migrant worker deaths and Qatar's poor human rights record will linger over the upcoming World Cup. Foreign powers need to intervene to help the situation of those trapped in slavery-like conditions.

When the captain of the winning team lifts the FIFA World Cup trophy above his head in Qatar’s Lusail stadium on Dec. 19, football fans will celebrate another sporting success story. There will be heroes and villains, missed opportunities and glorious goals.

Not celebrating will be the families of the migrant workers — most from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – who died to make the event possible in the first place.

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Society
Laura-Mai Gaveriaux

Lusail Postcard: City Of The Future, Window Into Qatar's Ambitions

The Qatar World Cup has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons. However, the newly constructed city of Lusail in the country makes one thing clear: the West is not the target audience for this World Cup. Qatar has different, even bigger ambitions.

LUSAIL — In business class on Qatar Airways, the screens are showing a series of 3D images of a high-tech, utopian city. The focus is on environmental performance, luxury and sophistication. Shopping centers, high-rise apartment blocks and luscious green spaces reel past, 50 seconds of refinement and harmony accompanied by elevator music. In the final scene, a man wearing a white thobe and keffiyeh, the iconic traditional dress of the Gulf region, proclaims: “Lusail City, it’s my home.”

Some 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from the center of Doha, the “city of the future” is still emerging from the ground. Only three of the planned districts are ready to move into, but according to Lusail Real Estate Development, 90% of the homes have already been sold. However, it is impossible to know exactly what state the construction site is in – the authorities have not responded to inquiries. Lusail is a symbol of the new era that Qatar ushered in in 2010 when its bid to host the 22nd Football World Cup was successful. The city is due to host the final match of the competition on Dec. 18.

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LGBTQ Plus
Laura Valentina Cortés Sierra, Sophia Constantino and Shaun Lavelle

LGBTQ+ International: World Cup Pressure, Buenos Aires Pride — And The Week’s Other Top News

Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on a topic you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll!

This week featuring:

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LGBTQ Plus
Laura Valentina Cortés Sierra, Sophia Constantino and Laure Gautherin

LGBTQ+ International: Rainbow Flag On Putin Peak, Lula Relief — And The Week’s Other Top News

Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on a topic you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll!

This week featuring:

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Geopolitics
Beesan Kassab, Daniel O'Connell, Ehsan Salah, Hazem Tharwat and Najih Dawoud

Patronage Or Politics? What's Driving Qatar And Egypt Grand Rapprochement

For Cairo, Qatar had been part of an “axis of evil,” with anger directed at Al Jazeera, the main Qatari outlet, and others critical of Egypt after the Muslim Brotherhood ouster. But the vitriol is now gone, with the first ever visit by Egyptian President al-Sisi to Doha.

For the first time since coming to power in 2014, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi traveled to Doha last month on an official visit, a capstone in a steadily building rapprochement between the two countries in the last year.

Not long ago, however, the photo-op capturing the two heads of state smiling at one another in Doha would have seemed impossible. In the wake of the Armed Forces’ ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood government in 2013, Qatar and Egypt traded barbs.

In the lexicon of the intelligence-controlled Egyptian press landscape, Qatar had been part of an “axis of evil” working to undermine Egypt’s stability. Al Jazeera, the main Qatari outlet, was banned from Egypt, but, from its social media accounts and television broadcast, it regularly published salacious and insulting details about the Egyptian administration.

But all of that vitriol is now gone.

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LGBTQ Plus

LGBTQ+ International: Argentine Trans Icon Murder, Fleeing Russia, Bad Bunny Kiss — And The Week’s Other Top News

Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on a topic you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll!

This week featuring:

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Economy
Laura-Mai Gaveriaux

Dubai Delivery Riders Challenge  UAE Royal Family's Absolute Power

Labor strikes are forbidden in the Emirates, but two consecutive work stoppages by food delivery drivers have made news lately. Could it be a sign of challenges to the UAE's unequal and authoritarian economic model?

DUBAI — About a month ago, on May 9, the food delivery drivers who work with Talabat (a subsidiary of the German app Delivery Hero) went on strike in Dubai in order to receive a raise of 2 dirhams ($0.54) per delivery run, up from the current pay of 7.5 dh ($2.04).

Yet any sort of labor strike is illegal in the United Arab Emirates.

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Sources
Daniel Gerlach*

Qatar's Strongman Has A Problem, And It's Called Hamas

The emirate of Qatar is tiny, but it wields disproportionate power in the world, where it maintains complicated and often troubling relationships. Just ask Israel.

DOHA — Khaled Mashal, political leader of Palestine’s Islamist militia Hamas, can sleep well at night. Despite being a target of the world’s best intelligence services, the man lives in what is a virtual fortress that protects him from almost any attack — the emirate of Qatar.

While Israeli bombs fall on the Gaza Strip, and Hamas continues to fire rockets on Israeli cities, Mashal holds court in Qatar. The Islamist leader lives among crystal candelabra and comfortable divans covered in dark green silk brocade.

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