French footballer star Ousmane Dembele at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai. AFP
French footballer star Ousmane Dembele at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai. AFP
French footballer star Ousmane Dembele at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai. AFP
French footballer star Ousmane Dembele at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai. AFP

Ousmane Dembele named player of the year at Globe Soccer Awards, Cristiano Ronaldo grabs Middle East top prize


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Paris Saint-Germain star Ousmane Dembele capped a stunning year with another top prize as he was named the men's player of the year at the 16th Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai.

Dembele won the Ballon d'Or in September for a superb season with PSG, which included the Ligue 1 side's first Uefa Champions League title.

He helped the French club win six trophies in 2025, including the league title, European crown and the Fifa Intercontinental Cup.

Dembele, who also won the Fifa Best award in Qatar, scored 35 goals in all competitions as PSG dominated the season.

PSG were rewarded for their efforts, with coach Luis Enrique named the best coach and club boss Nasser Al Khelaifi the best president of the year.

The Paris club were also named the best team of the campaign.

"Without trophies, it does not mean anything," PSG president Al Khelaifi said. "Thanks to the team and staff who worked very had. It was not very easy. Last year was very tough, we almost did not even qualify for play-offs.

"This season changed it for us. It was an amazing journey."

  • Barcelona teen sensation Lamine Yamal at the Global Soccer Awards at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai. All images Antonie Robertson / The National
    Barcelona teen sensation Lamine Yamal at the Global Soccer Awards at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai. All images Antonie Robertson / The National
  • Barcelona's Lamine Yamal was named best forward of the year at Global Soccer Awards
    Barcelona's Lamine Yamal was named best forward of the year at Global Soccer Awards
  • Paul Pogba at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai
    Paul Pogba at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai
  • Spain legend Andres Iniesta with his family at the Global Soccer Awards
    Spain legend Andres Iniesta with his family at the Global Soccer Awards
  • MMA great Khabib Nurmagomedov at the Global Soccer Awards
    MMA great Khabib Nurmagomedov at the Global Soccer Awards
  • Rio Ferdinand at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai
    Rio Ferdinand at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai
  • Former manager Fabio Capello at the Global Soccer Awards
    Former manager Fabio Capello at the Global Soccer Awards

Portugal and Al Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo showed that he is still going strong at the age of 40 as he was named the best Middle East player of the year.

Having guided his nation Portugal to the Uefa Nations League title, Ronaldo continued his march toward the 1,000 goal mark as he helped Al Nassr enjoy a perfect start to the season, becoming the first team in Saudi Pro League history to win their first 10 games.

"I am still very motivated. I want to win more trophies and reach that number that you all know about. I will reach that number for sure, with no injuries Inshallah," Ronaldo said.

Barcelona midfield maestro Aitana Bonmati, who won her third consecutive Ballon d'Or earlier in the year and also picked up the Fifa Best award, was named the best women's player of 2025 in Dubai.

Barcelona teen sensation Lamine Yamal also had a memorable evening as he was named the best forward and also won the Maradona award.

The glittering ceremony at Atlantis The Royal was attended by Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

The grand evening concluded with a special award - the first Globe Sports Award, which was presented by Ronaldo to tennis great Novak Djokovic.

2025 Globe Soccer Awards

Paul Pogba, who won the comeback award, on the Globe Soccer Awards Red Carpet. Antonie Robertson / The National
Paul Pogba, who won the comeback award, on the Globe Soccer Awards Red Carpet. Antonie Robertson / The National

Best national team - Portugal

Best football agent - Jorge Mendes

Best sporting director - Luis Campos (PSG)

Best coach - Luis Enrique (PSG)

Special award - Diogo Jota

Best emerging player - Desire Doue (PSG)

Best midfielder - Vitinha (PSG)

Best forward - Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)

Comeback award - Paul Pogba

Best president - Nasser Al Khelaifi (PSG)

Best men’s club - PSG

Best Middle East player - Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr)

Maradona Award - Lamine Yamal

Best men’s player - Ousmane Dembele (PSG)

Best women's player - Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona)

Globe Sports Award - Novak Djokovic

Farage on Muslim Brotherhood

Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.

Match info:

Portugal 1
Ronaldo (4')

Morocco 0

Results

5pm: Al Falah – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Bshara, Richard Mullen (jockey), Salem Al Ketbi (trainer)

5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

6pm: Al Dhafra – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Mualami, Antonio Fresu, Abubakar Daud

6.30pm: Al Khaleej Al Arabi – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Hawafez, Adrie de Vries, Abubakar Daud

7pm: Al Mafraq – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: JAP Almahfuz, Royston Ffrench, Irfan Ellahi

7.30pm: Al Samha – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Celestial Spheres, Patrick Cosgrave, Ismail Mohammed

Specs%3A%202024%20McLaren%20Artura%20Spider
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Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

SHALASH%20THE%20IRAQI
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Shalash%3Cbr%3ETranslator%3A%20Luke%20Leafgren%3Cbr%3EPages%3A%20352%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20And%20Other%20Stories%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What are the main cyber security threats?

Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203S%20Money%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20London%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ivan%20Zhiznevsky%2C%20Eugene%20Dugaev%20and%20Andrei%20Dikouchine%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%245.6%20million%20raised%20in%20total%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The%20Beekeeper
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Poacher
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RESULT

Bayern Munich 0 AC Milan 4
Milan: Kessie (14'), Cutrone (25', 43'), Calhanoglu (85')

CHINESE GRAND PRIX STARTING GRID

1st row
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

2nd row
Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes-GP)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)

3rd row
Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)

4th row
Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Sergio Perez (Force India)

5th row
Carlos Sainz Jr (Renault)
Romain Grosjean (Haas)

6th row
Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
Esteban Ocon (Force India)

7th row
Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)

8th row
Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)

9th row
Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
Lance Stroll (Williams)

10th row
Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
arcus Ericsson (Sauber)

KINGDOM%20OF%20THE%20PLANET%20OF%20THE%20APES
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Wes%20Ball%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Owen%20Teague%2C%20Freya%20Allen%2C%20Kevin%20Durand%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4

Updated: December 28, 2025, 6:23 PM