��������

JAKARTA: Indonesia will not issue visas to Israeli athletes for the upcoming world artistic gymnastics championships in Jakarta, a minister said Thursday, citing the nation’s support for Palestinians.
The event, scheduled for October 19-25 in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, is expected to feature more than 500 athletes from 79 countries.
Israeli athletes were reportedly among those set to compete, but coordinating minister for legal affairs and human rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the government would not allow them entry.
“The Indonesian government has a firm stance that it will not have any contact with Israel until Israel recognizes the existence of a free and sovereign Palestine,” Yusril said in a statement.
Indonesia has no formal ties with Israel, but Israeli nationals or their sponsors, such as Indonesian-based businesses or Indonesian nationals, can apply for a short-term visa under the “calling visa” procedure.
Israeli nationals with dual passports can also enter Indonesia using their other passport.
Immigration and Corrections Minister Agus Andrianto told local media Kompas.com on Thursday the move followed a formal request from the Indonesian Gymnastics Federation.
Andrianto confirmed the decision to AFP, without elaborating.
The federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In July 2023, Indonesia pulled out of hosting the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) World Beach Games following controversy over Israel’s participation.
In March that year, Indonesia lost the hosting rights to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup after two governors objected to Israel’s participation.

BERLIN: A World Cup without Germany used to be unthinkable. Now the four-time champion needs to turn things around to ensure a spot at next year’s tournament.
A shock 2-0 loss to Slovakia in World Cup qualifying means Julian Nagelsmann’s team may need a perfect record in the rest of their qualifiers, starting with wins over Luxembourg on Friday and Northern Ireland on Monday.
“Everyone expects of us that we’ll beat every opponent 5-0, 6-0 but that’s no longer possible,” midfielder Nadiem Amiri said in comments reported by German agency dpa.
“The times have simply changed. Everyone’s good, everyone can hold their own. For us it’s just important to win. We need win after win.”
The qualifying format — a four-team group where only the winner qualifies automatically — means Germany must win each of their remaining games unless Slovakia slips up, and get ahead of Slovakia on goal difference too.
Second place would put Germany into a bracket of four teams competing for one spot early next year.
Making history the wrong way
If Germany did fail to make it to the expanded, 48-team World Cup, it would be a historic shock.
Until their loss in Slovakia last month, Germany had never lost a World Cup qualifying game away from home. The only times they missed the men’s World Cup were the inaugural 13-team 1930 event, which they skipped along with most of Europe, and 1950, when they were excluded following World War II.
Of course, even when they have qualified, Germany haven’t always produced the goods.
Group-stage exits in 2018 and 2022 were huge disappointments for a team which had top-class individual players but didn’t seem to gel as a team. A goose-themed motivational talk by then-coach Hansi Flick at the 2022 World Cup fell flat and seemed to typify the lack of enthusiasm.
That all means Germany haven’t played a World Cup knockout game since winning the 2014 final.
Overcoming injuries
Germany’s qualification fight has been made harder by injuries.
Barcelona’s Marc-André ter Stegen would be first-choice goalkeeper if fit but hasn’t played all year, while Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger is out with a muscle injury and Bayern Munich’s attacking midfield star Jamal Musiala likely won’t return until the new year.
Nagelsmann seems intent on forging a partnership between Florian Wirtz and Newcastle’s Nick Woltemade, but Wirtz has yet to find his best form since his Liverpool move and Woltemade has had a flu-like illness this week. That meant the tall striker was training separately Wednesday.
There’s extra attention on new player Nathaniel Brown, a left back from Eintracht Frankurt who would also be eligible for the United States. Brown faces the challenge of doing better than his Frankfurt teammate Nnamdi Collins, who was dropped after costly errors on debut in the Slovakia loss.