BANNED

El-Shenawy was incensed ‌after Al-Ahly’s ​appeal for a penalty following ​a handball in stoppage time was denied.

Al-Ahly goalkeeper ⁠Mohamed El-Shenawy ⁠has been handed a four-match ban after striking a referee on ⁠the head following a 1-1 draw with Ceramica Cleopatra, the ⁠Egyptian Pro League said on Thursday.

The Egypt international, who was on the bench for Tuesday’s game, was incensed ‌after Al-Ahly’s appeal for a penalty following a handball in stoppage time was denied.

“He handed a four-match ban and fined 50,000 Egyptian pounds [$942] for assaulting the ⁠referee by pushing or ⁠pulling,” the league said in a statement.

The ban means ⁠El-Shenawy, who is expected to be Egypt’s starting ⁠goalkeeper at the World ⁠Cup in North America, will be sidelined until the final week of the league ‌playoffs.

Al-Ahly are third on 41 points, five points behind leaders Zamalek.

SIR Paul McCartney got a social media platform ban — for supposedly breaking the rules on his own fan page.

The Beatles legend, 83, joined a Reddit forum to send photos from his no-phones-allowed gig that took place in Los Angeles last Friday.

But his official account on the site was taken down by moderators who thought it was spam — sparking fury from fans.

It is thought Sir Paul’s media team was posting on his behalf.

A message, alongside a link to photos, said: “We wanted to make sure you had memories from the show to share with friends, family and loved ones.”

It was the first time since 2020 that the account of the former Wings frontman, who composed classic 1973 album Band on the Run, had been used.

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But hours later, a message on his u/paulmccartney profile said: “Paul McCartney has been banned.”

One fan on the forum declared: “What clownery is going on here that Paul McCartney himself gets banned? I wanted to see the photos but now I can’t.”

The account has since been allowed back on Reddit — but with the photos message still deleted.

It is unclear why he got the boot in the first place.

The forum warns there must be no advertising on its list of rules. Reddit also has a zero-tolerance policy towards spam, banning things judged as responsible for “artificially inflating exposure to unwanted or irrelevant content”.

Sir Paul, who also played the Fonda Theatre venue on Saturday, releases his 19th solo studio album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, in May.

Kenyan distance runner Albert Korir has admitted to doping, prompting officials on Monday to ban him for five years.

Long a fixture at the New York Marathon, Korir tested positive for a blood-boosting substance in three separate samples taken in October while he was training to run in the New York Marathon on Nov. 2. He finished third in the race.

A verdict issued by the Athletics Integrity Unit said that Korir’s results since October will be disqualified, including that third-place finish in New York.

The three positive results provide “clear evidence of the athlete’s use of a prohibited substance on multiple occasions which is expressly identified in the definition of aggravating circumstances,” the verdict stated.

The punishment was reduced by one year because Korir, 32, admitted to taking a banned substance without requesting a hearing. He is banned until January 2031.

Korir will keep his 2021 New York Marathon title. He also was runner-up in 2019 and 2023, and finished third in 2024 in addition to 2025. His other first-place finishes came in the 2019 Houston Marathon, the 2017 Vienna Street Race and the 2019 and 2025 Ottawa Race Weekend.

Korir tested positive for Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator (CERA), a long-acting agent that stimulates red blood cell production much like the banned substance EPO. It is used legally to treat anemia associated with chronic kidney disease and typically is administered once every two to three weeks.

The World Anti-Doping Agency said in October that Kenya had made “significant” progress in tackling doping but the country remains on probation while it seeks to improve its monitoring.

The action by WADA occurred after Kenyan runner Ruth Chepngetich, the world marathon record holder, was banned for three years after admitting the use of Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a banned diuretic used as a masking agent.

BUSY waterways, beautiful cottages and riverside hotels – this might sound like Venice, but it’s not.

Giethoorn has been compared to the ‘floating’ Italian city but in fact it’s over 800 miles away, and much smaller.

Two hours from Amsterdam in the Netherlands is the village of Giethoorn, a car-free village which has been called a ‘fairytale’ by visitors.

It’s also known as the ‘water village of the Netherlands‘ and has over 55 miles of waterways to explore.

One visitor called it a “beautiful and fairytale village in the Netherlands” and another even said it was “too perfect to be real”.

Another said: “Giethoorn is a dream place that looks like it came straight out of a picture book.”

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There are multiple hotels in the village to choose from. One of the most popular is the Giethoorn Old Art Hotel.

With rooms starting from £70, guests can even rent boats to take to the water themselves.

Another is Hotel Giethoorn, where guests can get a very authentically Dutch breakfast with fresh bread and toppings like hagelslag (which are chocolate sprinkles), cheese, or sliced meats.

No cars are allowed in the village, but it can be navigated by foot, or via boats – of which there are many.

These vary from large tour boats which you can hop on, or if you fancy being a captain yourself, self-navigated Whisper Boats can be hired out, as can Sloops, from €17.50 (£15.23) per hour.

Anyone taking the wheel doesn’t need a boating licence, just to be over the age of 16.

There are rules though, and one is that if you’re navigating your own boat and come across a tour boat – you must move out of the way as they have a VIP pass.

Like on the tube, there’s a certain side to stick to, and this is the right.

And anyone on the water cannot be too noisy – there are water police around.

Those wanting to avoid the water, or wanting to see the village at a different angle, can see it by foot.

There are around 180 narrow wooden bridges across the water and from here you can see more of the village’s pretty thatched cottages.

The village is usually quite busy with tourists and is a popular daytrip destination from the city of Amsterdam.

For those who want to stay a little longer without the crowds, the village tends to be quieter after 4pm.

If you fancy a similar experience but with fewer crowds, the nearby village of Dwarsgracht is also navigated via canals but is considered much-less busy than Giethoorn.

To explore both is possible as the villages are just a 10-minute cycle apart.

For more on the Netherlands, here’s the European city that one writer returns to every year and is reachable without having to fly.

And the lesser-known Dutch city nicknamed “Little Amsterdam” that’s cheaper and less crowded but just as cool.

Transgender women athletes will be excluded from the Olympics beginning with the 2028 Los Angeles Games after the International Olympic Committee implemented a new eligibility policy on Thursday.

Eligibility for women’s competition will be determined by a one-time, mandatory genetics test, according to the IOC. The test requires screening through saliva, a cheek swab or a blood sample.

No woman who transitioned from being born male competed at the 2024 Paris Summer Games, and it is unclear if any transgender women currently compete at an Olympic level. The new policy, however, aligns with President Trump’s executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s or girls’ sporting events in the United States.

The eligibility policy approved by the IOC is not retroactive and does not apply to recreational sports programs.

The IOC said in a statement that it “protects fairness, safety and integrity in the female category.

“Eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females.”

Until now, individual sports federations determined whether transgender women were allowed to compete in women’s categories, with the IOC providing only recommendations. Sports that placed restrictions on transgender athletes included track and field, boxing, swimming and rugby.

The IOC Executive Board approved the new policy after 18 months of study. It mirrors the guidelines approved by the World Athletics Council in June, determining eligibility for the female category through screening for the absence or presence of the SRY gene.

The IOC policy leans on scientific research that considers the presence of the SRY gene fixed for life and represents evidence that an athlete has experienced male sex development. Athletes who screen negative for the SRY gene will be eligible to compete in women’s sports.

SRY (which stands for sex-determining region Y gene) is found on the Y chromosome. In the cell, it binds to other DNA, leading to testis formation, according to the National Library of Medicine. Even men who lack Y chromosomes still have a copy of the SRY region on one of their X chromosomes, which accounts for their maleness.

Jane Thornton, the IOC medical and scientific director, last year presented to the executive board findings that transgender athletes born with male sexual markers retained physical advantages, even those that had received treatment to reduce testosterone.

Kirsty Coventry, a former gold-medal Olympics swimmer from Zimbabwe, was elected a year ago as the first woman president of the IOC. She campaigned on the importance of protecting the women’s category.

“At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat,” Coventry said Thursday in a statement. “So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category.”

Some surprising items are restricted under airport security rules when travelling with hand luggage only

If you’re jetting off this Easter and planning to cram your essentials into a carry-on bag, there are certain items that could land you in hot water without you even realising.

Hand luggage liquids generally need to be under 100ml to pass through airport security, including water bottles, face oils, moisturisers and hand gel.

However, some items that aren’t technically liquids can still cause issues at security. Fulton Umbrellas have put together a list of some surprising items you can and can’t take with you on your journey.

First up is soft cheese, which if you’re travelling back to the UK from the EU, falls under the 100ml limit. The same applies for jams, chutneys, sauces and anything sold in liquid form like antipasti or olives, reports the Express.

Some countries have even stricter rules when it comes to travelling with food, so always check before you pack.

Another item to avoid packing in your carry-on is protein powder. This is because powders can interfere with x-ray machines and will therefore need to be manually checked by staff.

This can be a time-consuming process, so it’s quickest and safest to just leave it at home. And if you really can’t do without it, pop it in your checked bag.

Surprisingly, in the UK, there is one item you are permitted to take on board that you might not expect. If you’re only taking carry-on luggage but fancy indulging in a bit of arts and crafts on the plane, you are allowed to bring a small pair of scissors on board.

The standard guideline in the UK is that any pair of scissors with a blade length less than 6cm is permissible.

For anything larger, it’s advisable to pack them in your checked luggage. Different airlines may have varying regulations regarding items with blades, so it’s wise to verify if you need to carry scissors with you.

March 13 (UPI) — A State Department official was barred Friday from going to Brazil because of a proposed visit to jailed former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is in prison for plotting a coup four years ago.

The official, Darren Beattie, was approved for a visa to attend a critical minerals summit next week, but his visa was pulled because the meeting with Bolsonaro was determined to be outside his diplomatic authorization, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday, Bloomberg and The Guardian reported.

After the ruling, current Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ordered his government to revoke Beattie’s visa entirely, at least partially because U.S. President Donald Trump denied Brazilian health minister Alexandre Padilha a visa and revoked visas held by his wife and daughter.

“That American guy who said he was coming here to visit Bolsonaro, he’s been barred from visiting and I have forbidden him from to Brazil so long as they don’t free up the visa of my health minister, which has been blocked,” Lula said Friday.

Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year prison sentence after he was convicted for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election to Lula.

The charges were based on Bolsonaro’s supporters storming government buildings in January 2023 — a plan that had started in 2021, before the 2022 election — in an effort to prevent Lula from taking office.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said that although Beattie’s visa application included the minerals summit and meetings with other Brazilian officials, he only asked for the other meetings after asking for the Bolsonaro visit.

Trump and many within his administration, including Beattie, have been critical of the Brazilian Supreme Court and the country’s officials for jailing Bolsonaro on the coup charges.

“It should be noted that a visit by a foreign state official to a former president in an election year may constitute undue interference in the internal affairs of the Brazilian state, Vieira told the Supreme Court.

Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro, who is the son of the former president, are currently locked in a close race for Brazil’s presidency after a poll found them tied for the first time with 41% of participants, which would lead to a runoff election.

The Brazilian presidential election is scheduled for Oct. 4, and a runoff would be Oct. 25.