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UEFA EURO 2024

Ademola Lookman scores stunning hat-trick as Atalanta wins Europa League title to end Bayer Leverkusen’s historic unbeaten run

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/23/sport/ademola-lookman-hat-trick-atalanta-europa-league-bayer-leverkusen-spt-intl/index.html

May 23, 2024

Bayer Leverkusen’s historic unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt on Wednesday as Atalanta ran riot in the Europa League final, winning 3-0 to lift just the second major trophy in the club’s history.

Matias Grez, CNN

Published 5:47 AM EDT, Thu May 23, 2024

CNN — Bayer Leverkusen’s historic unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt on Wednesday as Atalanta ran riot in the Europa League final, winning 3-0 to lift just the second major trophy in the club’s 116-year history. It was 26-year-old forward Ademola Lookman that etched himself into the Atalanta record books, scoring a stunning hat-trick to lead his team to victory and cement his place as a club hero. His performance in Dublin, Ireland was the crowning moment of a career that began in south east London with Charlton Athletic and has taken him to Everton, RB Leipzig, Fulham, Leicester City and, finally, Atalanta. Ad Feedback Even before Wednesday’s heroics, Lookman had played his way into the hearts of Atalanta fans and had found himself a new home in Bergamo, northern Italy. “I feel the support from the fans from the first minute I was in Bergamo,” Lookman said, per the BBC. “The city of Bergamo gives me a sense of calmness. It’s a very calm, relaxed city and that has helped me a lot with my living style. I’m focused on the important things.” The goals help, too. Lookman has now scored 15 in each of his first two seasons with Atalanta since joining in 2022, by far the most prolific stretch of his career so far. Lookman described the win, in which he scored his hat-trick with his only three shots at goal, as “one of the best nights of my life.” “Amazing performance from the team. We did it. We did it. We did it!” Lookman told TNT Sports after the game. This victory was “third time lucky” for Lookman after losing the Coppa Italia final last week and the Africa Cup of Nations final with Nigeria in February. Lookman celebrates with the Europa League trophy. Paul Childs/Reuters “I’m just happy we won today,” a relieved Lookman said. “We’re going to celebrate - we made history tonight.” Enter your email to subscribe to the CNN Five Things Newsletter.close dialogYou give us five minutes, we’ll give you five things you must know for the day.Please enter aboveSign me upBy subscribing you agree to ourprivacy policy.Success! Thanks for Subscribing Get a daily roundup of the top stories you may have missed, unique to your interests. 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{font-size: 15px;}}.bxc.bx-campaign-2534682 .bx-element-2534682-z4k8SKM {width: 300px;padding: 20px 0 0 0;}@media all and (max-width: 736px) {.bxc.bx-campaign-2534682 .bx-element-2534682-z4k8SKM {padding: 20px 0 5px;}}.bxc.bx-campaign-2534682 .bx-element-2534682-z4k8SKM> *:first-child {padding: 11px;font-size: 16px;}@media all and (max-width: 736px) {.bxc.bx-campaign-2534682 .bx-element-2534682-z4k8SKM> *:first-child {font-size: 14px;}} Lookman’s remarkable ascent since joining Atalanta has left even Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini stunned. “We had a senior manager at Atalanta who had worked at Leicester, who saw the opportunity to bring him in and thought he was a possible useful player,” the 66-year-old Gasperini, who lifted the first trophy of his managerial career, told the BBC. “Nobody could ever imagine he’d could make this much progress. He wasn’t overly prolific in England. I changed his position to a more attacking role. Tonight he achieved something which will remain in the annals of football history - a stunning hat-trick.” But this wasn’t supposed to be in the script. Most of the talk going into Wednesday’s final had been about Bayer Leverkusen’s remarkable season and its record-breaking 51-game unbeaten run. The team recently lifted the Bundesliga trophy as the first team in history to do so without losing a league game, but this was perhaps a game too far for Xabi Alonso’s men. Late, improbable comebacks have been a defining feature of this hard-nosed team’s unbeaten run, but Lookman’s third goal 15 minutes from time put an end to any lingering hopes Leverkusen fans had of their heroes producing another unlikely escape. Leverkusen's incredible unbeaten run finally came to an end. Andrew Boyers/Reuters “We were not planning to have a bad day today, but it was not meant to be,” Alonso told TNT Sports after the game. “We couldn’t cope with many difficult situations because Atalanta demand so much from you. “The unbeaten run has come to an end, but congratulations to Atalanta. They deserved it. Once they scored the first goal, that gave them a lot of energy. It was not about tactics, today individually they were better and as a team as well.” Though Alonso and Leverkusen fell at the penultimate hurdle in their unlikely quest for an unbeaten season, the team still has the chance to end this incredible campaign on a high when they face second division Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final. “We’ll learn from that,”Alonso said. “It hurts that the defeat comes on a big day but we have another final on Saturday and we will try and learn from today.” Bayer Leverkusen’s historic unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt on Wednesday as Atalanta ran riot in the Europa League final, winning 3-0 to lift just the second major trophy in the club’s 116-year history. It was 26-year-old forward Ademola Lookman that etched himself into the Atalanta record books, scoring a stunning hat-trick to lead his team to victory and cement his place as a club hero. His performance in Dublin, Ireland was the crowning moment of a career that began in south east London with Charlton Athletic and has taken him to Everton, RB Leipzig, Fulham, Leicester City and, finally, Atalanta. Even before Wednesday’s heroics, Lookman had played his way into the hearts of Atalanta fans and had found himself a new home in Bergamo, northern Italy. “I feel the support from the fans from the first minute I was in Bergamo,” Lookman said, per the BBC. “The city of Bergamo gives me a sense of calmness. It’s a very calm, relaxed city and that has helped me a lot with my living style. I’m focused on the important things.” The goals help, too. Lookman has now scored 15 in each of his first two seasons with Atalanta since joining in 2022, by far the most prolific stretch of his career so far. Lookman described the win, in which he scored his hat-trick with his only three shots at goal, as “one of the best nights of my life.” “Amazing performance from the team. We did it. We did it. We did it!” Lookman told TNT Sports after the game. This victory was “third time lucky” for Lookman after losing the Coppa Italia final last week and the Africa Cup of Nations final with Nigeria in February. “I’m just happy we won today,” a relieved Lookman said. “We’re going to celebrate - we made history tonight.” Lookman’s remarkable ascent since joining Atalanta has left even Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini stunned. “We had a senior manager at Atalanta who had worked at Leicester, who saw the opportunity to bring him in and thought he was a possible useful player,” the 66-year-old Gasperini, who lifted the first trophy of his managerial career, told the BBC. “Nobody could ever imagine he’d could make this much progress. He wasn’t overly prolific in England. I changed his position to a more attacking role. Tonight he achieved something which will remain in the annals of football history - a stunning hat-trick.” But this wasn’t supposed to be in the script. Most of the talk going into Wednesday’s final had been about Bayer Leverkusen’s remarkable season and its record-breaking 51-game unbeaten run. The team recently lifted the Bundesliga trophy as the first team in history to do so without losing a league game, but this was perhaps a game too far for Xabi Alonso’s men. Late, improbable comebacks have been a defining feature of this hard-nosed team’s unbeaten run, but Lookman’s third goal 15 minutes from time put an end to any lingering hopes Leverkusen fans had of their heroes producing another unlikely escape. “We were not planning to have a bad day today, but it was not meant to be,” Alonso told TNT Sports after the game. “We couldn’t cope with many difficult situations because Atalanta demand so much from you. “The unbeaten run has come to an end, but congratulations to Atalanta. They deserved it. Once they scored the first goal, that gave them a lot of energy. It was not about tactics, today individually they were better and as a team as well.” Though Alonso and Leverkusen fell at the penultimate hurdle in their unlikely quest for an unbeaten season, the team still has the chance to end this incredible campaign on a high when they face second division Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final. “We’ll learn from that,”Alonso said. “It hurts that the defeat comes on a big day but we have another final on Saturday and we will try and learn from today.”

UEFA EURO 2024

Oreo-maker Mondelez fined $366 million for rigging European markets

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/23/business/oreo-mondelez-eu-antitrust-fine/index.html

May 23, 2024

Mondelez, the maker of Oreo and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, has been fined €337.5 million ($366 million) for hindering the trade of chocolate, cookies and coffee between European Union countries in order to keep prices high.

Olesya Dmitracova, CNN

Updated 6:57 AM EDT, Thu May 23, 2024

Mondelez, the maker of Oreo and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, has been fined €337.5 million ($366 million) for hindering the trade of chocolate, cookies and coffee between European Union countries in order to keep prices high. Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief, said in a statement Thursday that Mondelez had illegally limited cross-border sales within the EU to maintain higher prices for its products. “This case is about the price of groceries. It’s a key concern to European citizens and even more obviously in times of very high inflation, where many are in a cost-of-living crisis,” she added during a press conference. The European Commission, which started looking into the case in 2019, found that Mondelez International (MDLZ) had deliberately restricted cross-border trade and abused “its dominant position” in some national markets for the sale of chocolate bars. It launched a formal investigation in 2021. Among other things, the company had ceased supplying chocolate bars in the Netherlands to prevent them from being imported into Belgium, where Mondelez was selling the same products at higher prices, the EU’s executive arm said in the statement. “The commission concluded that Mondelez’s illegal practices prevented retailers from being able to freely source products in (EU) member states with lower prices,” it added. A spokesperson for Mondelez International said the penalty related to “isolated incidents, most of which ceased or were remedied well in advance of the commission’s investigation.” “This historical matter is not representative of who we are and the strong culture of compliance for which we strive … This is why we will continue to place emphasis on our overall compliance culture and have strengthened our annual mandatory compliance program to reflect learnings,” the spokesperson added. Mondelez made an accrual for the fine last year and no further measures will be necessary to finance it. According to the EU, the company’s illegal practices date as far back as 2006 and include refusing to supply a wholesaler in Germany in order to prevent the resale of chocolate bars in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and Romania where prices were higher. In another case, Mondelez required a customer to charge higher prices for exports compared with domestic sales. This story has been updated with additional information. Mark Thompson contributed reporting.

Gaza strip confict

CIA Director Burns traveling back to Europe for ceasefire talks

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/23/politics/bill-burns-europe-visit-gaza-negotiations/index.html

May 24, 2024

CIA Director Bill Burns is traveling back to Europe to try to get the talks on a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel Hamas that would halt the war in Gaza back on track, a US official tells CNN.

Alex Marquardt, CNN

Updated 8:02 PM EDT, Thu May 23, 2024

CNN — CIA Director Bill Burns is traveling back to Europe to try to get the talks on a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas that would halt the war in Gaza back on track, a US official told CNN. “The Director is traveling to Europe in the coming days in an effort to revive the talks,” the US official said. “The director is in frequent discussions with the Egyptians, Qataris and Israelis. Both Egypt and Qatar are very engaged, as are the Israelis.” The latest round of talks comes as the war in Gaza has reached its seventh month, leaving more than 35,000 people dead and thousands of Palestinians in desperate need of food, water and medical aid. The last temporary truce, in November, saw the release of more than 100 hostages, but the Israel Defense Forces estimate that there are still around 130 people being held. Ad Feedback Burns has acted as a key interlocutor for the United States in the multiparty talks between Israel, Hamas, Egypt and Qatar, and he has been dispatched during previous rounds of talks, only to see them later collapse. A Qatari official told CNN that Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani will also take part. The prime minister is currently in Paris, the official said. Neither official would confirm the other participants. In the past they have been joined in Paris by Israel’s Mossad Director David Barnea and the head of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel. The talks were paused three weeks ago after Burns crisscrossed the region trying to close the remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas. CNN reported Tuesday that Egypt muddied the negotiations after independently changing the terms of a framework that Israel had signed on to and presenting it to Hamas who then declared they accepted it. The ceasefire agreement that Hamas ended up announcing on May 6 was not what the Qataris or the Americans believed had been submitted to Hamas for a potential final review, three sources told CNN. The proposal had been changed without the knowledge of Israel or the other mediators, the US and Qatar, prompting anger and frustration. Burns was in the region when word reached him that the Egyptians had changed the terms of the deal. Two days after Hamas’ response on May 6, Burns returned to Washington and sources told CNN the talks were “paused.” The Qataris are expected to play a bigger role in this round, a source previously told CNN, but Egypt is still expected to be central given their essential proximity to Hamas, as well as Israel’s preference of Egypt to Qatar. The discussions would still be expected to center on a broad framework that would include an initial stage in which up to 33 Israeli hostages would be released over at least six weeks. Hamas has been pushing to include the bodies of dead hostages in the initial release and also have the first phase flow into a second with no break — both positions that Israel has resisted. This story has been updated with additional reporting. CIA Director Bill Burns is traveling back to Europe to try to get the talks on a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas that would halt the war in Gaza back on track, a US official told CNN. “The Director is traveling to Europe in the coming days in an effort to revive the talks,” the US official said. “The director is in frequent discussions with the Egyptians, Qataris and Israelis. Both Egypt and Qatar are very engaged, as are the Israelis.” The latest round of talks comes as the war in Gaza has reached its seventh month, leaving more than 35,000 people dead and thousands of Palestinians in desperate need of food, water and medical aid. The last temporary truce, in November, saw the release of more than 100 hostages, but the Israel Defense Forces estimate that there are still around 130 people being held. Burns has acted as a key interlocutor for the United States in the multiparty talks between Israel, Hamas, Egypt and Qatar, and he has been dispatched during previous rounds of talks, only to see them later collapse. A Qatari official told CNN that Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani will also take part. The prime minister is currently in Paris, the official said. Neither official would confirm the other participants. In the past they have been joined in Paris by Israel’s Mossad Director David Barnea and the head of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel. The talks were paused three weeks ago after Burns crisscrossed the region trying to close the remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas. CNN reported Tuesday that Egypt muddied the negotiations after independently changing the terms of a framework that Israel had signed on to and presenting it to Hamas who then declared they accepted it. The ceasefire agreement that Hamas ended up announcing on May 6 was not what the Qataris or the Americans believed had been submitted to Hamas for a potential final review, three sources told CNN. The proposal had been changed without the knowledge of Israel or the other mediators, the US and Qatar, prompting anger and frustration. Burns was in the region when word reached him that the Egyptians had changed the terms of the deal. Two days after Hamas’ response on May 6, Burns returned to Washington and sources told CNN the talks were “paused.” The Qataris are expected to play a bigger role in this round, a source previously told CNN, but Egypt is still expected to be central given their essential proximity to Hamas, as well as Israel’s preference of Egypt to Qatar. The discussions would still be expected to center on a broad framework that would include an initial stage in which up to 33 Israeli hostages would be released over at least six weeks. Hamas has been pushing to include the bodies of dead hostages in the initial release and also have the first phase flow into a second with no break — both positions that Israel has resisted. This story has been updated with additional reporting.

2024 Olympic Games

US lawmakers call for DOJ, IOC investigations into Chinese doping before Olympics

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/23/sport/us-lawmakers-call-chinese-doping-investigation-olympics-intl-spt/index.html

May 23, 2024

A doping case involving 23 Chinese swimmers took a diplomatic twist on Wednesday after US lawmakers called on the US Department of Justice and the International Olympic Committee to launch inquiries into the controversy.

Amy Woodyatt and George Ramsay, CNN

Updated 1:54 PM EDT, Thu May 23, 2024

A doping case involving 23 Chinese swimmers took a diplomatic twist on Wednesday after US lawmakers called on the US Department of Justice and the International Olympic Committee to launch inquiries into the controversy. The Chinese swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned performance-enhancing substance, several months before the Tokyo Olympics – a tournament at which they were allowed to compete in, and went on to win medals at, according to a report from the New York Times released in coordination with German public broadcaster ARD. “This scandal raises serious legal, ethical, and competitive concerns and may constitute a broader state-sponsored strategy by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to unfairly compete at the Olympic Games in ways Russia has previously done,” said US Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and John Moolenaar, who are the two leading members of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. In a statement released Wednesday, the lawmakers called for an assessment as to whether the alleged doping was “state-sponsored,” adding that could warrant further diplomatic measures by the United States and the international community. “Furthermore, with less than 100 days until the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, understanding the full scope of the scandal is critical in ensuring our U.S. athletes are competing in a fair competition,” the statement added. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) last month dismissed allegations that the case was mishandled, describing them as “outrageous” and “completely false,” while the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) called media reporting about the situation “misleading.” WADA has since commissioned an independent review into its handling of the case. “WADA continues to stand by its handling of this contamination case. The truth is it followed every process and line of inquiry when reviewing this file and determined, based on compelling scientific evidence, that these were cases of contamination, not of doping,” a spokesman for WADA told CNN in an email. “To this day, no evidence has been produced that suggests otherwise,” he added, noting that the organization awaits the findings of the independent enquiry.› CNN has reached out to the Department of Justice and the IOC for comment. According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), trimetazidine “is a medicine used to prevent angina attacks, which are sudden pains to the chest, jaw and back brought on by physical effort, due to reduced blood flow to the heart.” It has an effect on metabolism – where the body breaks down substances in order to convert them into energy. It increases the rate at which glucose is broken down, allowing it to be used to protect against myocardial ischaemia – reduced blood supply to the heart muscle – according to the EMA. The reports have sparked concern among athletes and governing bodies. The Canadian Olympic Committee called the media reports “concerning” and “not previously known to us,” while Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said that the organization was “deeply disheartened” about allegations which challenge “the very foundation of what fair competition stands for.” In a press conference last month, WADA president Witold Banka said that the agency “followed all due processes and diligently investigated every lead and line of enquiry in this matter” and found “no evidence of wrongdoing … and no credible way to disprove the contamination theory that was accepted by CHINADA.” A statement from CHINADA cited by Xinhua said the swimmers tested positive for an “extremely low concentration” of trimetazidine at a national swimming event in 2021. Trimetazidine has the potential to boost endurance and has been banned by WADA since 2014. CHINADA ultimately decided that the athletes should not be held responsible for the results after its “immediate” investigation concluded that they were inadvertently exposed to the substance through contamination, Xinhua reported. CNN’s Sam Joseph contributed reporting.

Gaza strip confict

Aid brought into Gaza via the US constructed pier is now being distributed following days of delays

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/23/politics/aid-gaza-us-pier/index.html

May 23, 2024

Aid groups have begun distributing the humanitarian assistance offloaded at the US pier in Gaza to Palestinians, after encountering significant obstacles on distribution routes including Hamas drones and looting that delayed the deliveries.

Jennifer Hansler, Natasha Bertrand, Haley Britzky and Oren Liebermann, CNN

Published 5:26 PM EDT, Thu May 23, 2024

Aid groups have begun distributing the humanitarian assistance offloaded at the US pier in G