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Crystal Palace manger Oliver Glasner believes the club should have spent more in the summer given their European commitments, arguing that January is too late to bolster his squad.

MATCH REPORT: Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United

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Ministers implicated in scandal involving misused and stolen funds earmarked for anti-flooding infrastructure.

Two ministers in Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s cabinet resigned on Tuesday after being implicated in an ongoing investigation into “ghost” infrastructure and billions of dollars of missing government funds, deepening a crisis facing the country’s government over the corruption scandal.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman have both stepped down from their posts, presidential palace press officer Claire Castro said on Tuesday.

Castro said the pair chose to resign “after their departments were mentioned in allegations related to the flood control anomaly” and “in recognition of the responsibility to allow the administration to address the matter appropriately,” according to The Philippines Inquirer newspaper.

Bersamin and Pangandaman are the highest-ranking members of the Marcos government to be hit directly by the corruption scandal since it broke in July, according to Aries Arugay, an expert in Philippines politics and a visiting senior fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

Marcos himself has managed to stay above the fray – for now – although Arugay said that could change at any time.

“At the moment, the palace is trying to take the president out of this, and this is why you have the ‘resignations’ of the executive secretary, the budget secretary. They’re the ones accepting command responsibility over this,” he told Al Jazeera.

Arugay said Marcos Jr still has a “comfortable” majority in the legislature because many MPs still prefer him to leadership under Vice President Sara Duterte, but “all bets are off” should more evidence emerge.

Earlier this week, politician Zaldy Co – who is currently not in the Philippines – alleged that Marcos directed him to add $1.7bn to the budget for “dubious public works” while he headed an appropriations committee, according to The South China Morning Post, although the claims have not been verified.

Co was among the first group of officials to be charged this week for their role in the corruption scandal following a months-long investigation, according to The Philippines Inquirer.

The scandal has engulfed the Philippines since Marcos Jr revealed in a speech to Congress earlier this year that billions of dollars of public funds for anti-flooding infrastructure had been siphoned off by private contractors to build substandard infrastructure – and in some cases, none at all.

The Philippines is regularly hit by typhoons and other tropical storms, and flooding remains a perennial and often deadly problem.

The corruption scandal has set off mass protests across the Philippines, including a demonstration on Sunday that drew 500,000 people to Manila.

Next time you’re driving the Grapevine and nearing the forest of oil rigs on the outskirts of Bakersfield, look for a six-story guitar.

That would be the Hard Rock Casino Tejon, whose opening on Thursday brings industrial-strength Indian gaming — and some Hollywood pizzazz — to a territory better known for cowboy hats, farmland and petroleum extraction.

The Tejon casino stands in the rural community of Mettler, near the convergence of Interstate 5 and State Route 99 — “a stone’s throw away” from Los Angeles, suggested Hard Rock Casino Tejon President Chris Kelley.

In effect, the casino is a $600-million bet by leaders of Hard Rock International and the Tejon Indian Tribe that they can grab a central role among the many Indian casinos in Southern California.

The property is the first full-scale gaming and entertainment destination in Kern County.

(Makenzie Beeney Photography for Hard Rock International)

A wind sculpture at the entrance of the casino.

(Cristian Costea for Hard Rock International)

The draw? Most notably, 150,000 square feet of gaming space — including 58 table games and more than 2,000 slot machines — putting it among the largest casinos in Southern California, on par with many along the Strip in Las Vegas.

And, of course, because this is a Hard Rock venture, there are pop music artifacts on display. Among them: the blue hooded velvet mini dress Sabrina Carpenter wore in her “Please Please Please” music video, signed guitars from Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt, Beck’s tambourine and Natalie Cole’s orange high heels.

The casino also includes four restaurants serving Asian street food, tacos, pizza and American comfort food (especially Nashville hot chicken) — and a bonus feature. At select hours, Kelley said, staff will put up a divider to create Deep Cut, a fancier “speakeasy restaurant” that will emphasize steak and seafood.

“This is something no other Hard Rock Cafe has … a restaurant within a restaurant,” said Kelley, leading a tour in the days before opening.

Live-action table games include blackjack, craps, roulette and baccarat.

(Makenzie Beeney Photography for Hard Rock International)

Plans for the second phase of the project will include a 400-room hotel and spa on-site, along with a 2,800-seat Hard Rock Live venue designed to host concerts, sporting events and ultimately make Kern County a premier destination for travelers and fans. Officials declined to share a timeline for this next installment.

Though its global empire began with a London cafe in 1971, Hard Rock International has been owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida since 2007. The company’s native ownership was “a major influence” on the Tejon tribe’s decision to team up, said Tejon Tribal Chairman Octavio Escobedo III. Hard Rock Casino Tejon is owned by the Tejon Indian Tribe and is managed by Hard Rock International.

For the Tejon tribe and its 1,523 enrolled members, the casino amounts to a new chapter in a saga full of challenges. In the 1850s, the Tejon were included in the creation of California’s first Indian reservation — which was then closed by federal officials in the 1860s. More than a century later, in 1979, the tribe was omitted from a U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs list of formally recognized tribes — an apparent mistake that took decades to correct.

When the Tejon did win federal recognition in late 2011, gaming plans materialized quickly. By late 2016, the tribe had set in motion the acquisition of the casino site.

The restaurant Deep Cut is billed as an “elevated steakhouse experience.”

(Makenzie Beeney Photography for Hard Rock International)

For the tribe, Escobedo said, the long-term picture likely includes developing a residential community — which the Tejon haven’t had for more than a century — as the tribe aims for “financial sovereignty.” Though he declined to specify the amount of money that would require, he did say “it’s going to take a tremendous amount of financial discipline to achieve that.”

So far, things feel promising. Escobedo said 52 tribal members have signed on to work at casino jobs and “I’d love to see that number double over the next year or so.”

Long before the Seminoles bought control of Hard Rock International, the tribe pioneered Indian gaming in the U.S., beginning with a bingo hall in Hollywood, Fla., in 1979. Through further investment and legal victories rooted in tribal sovereignty, tribes in 29 states across the U.S. have built hundreds of gaming operations, which together gross more than $40 billion yearly.

Beyond its possibilities for the Tejon tribe, the arrival of the casino means about 1,100 new jobs for greater Bakersfield, which lost a beloved entertainment venue in August when Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace closed after 29 years.

Owens, who died in 2006, was a longtime resident of Bakersfield and proponent of the gritty “Bakersfield sound” in country music. Besides artifacts from pop music, rock ’n’ roll and Tejon cultural history, Kelley said, “We are going to have some Buck Owens memorabilia. It just wouldn’t be right not to.”

Sarr has four goals in his past three appearances and is already close to matching his tally from last season – 12 goals across all competitions.

Palace signed Sarr from Marseille for a fee of about £12.5m in 2024 in an attempt to replace winger Michael Olise, who had joined Bayern Munich that summer.

That is a piece of business that now looks incredibly shrewd, particularly with Eze also leaving the club this year.

Boss Oliver Glasner called the former Watford forward “an important player” for the club.

“It looks like he is dealing really well with this – we know when he has pace, he is really good,” the Austrian said.

“He has such great runs, such great finishes. I remember, more or less, the same finish he had against Brighton [last season].

“He had the same finish against Arsenal in the FA Cup [last season]. He is the one with the pace, and more runs in behind, the most sprinting difference. It helps he creates space for the others. He has done really well.”

The Conference League has been won by an English team in two of the past three tournaments and Palace are among the favourites to add their names to that list this term.

After a shock defeat by AEK Larnaca at Selhurst Park last time out, Glasner said the victory in front of their home supporters was much needed.

“I hope it won’t be the last,” he said.

“The first time you always remember, there was a great atmosphere. I think everyone enjoyed it and goes home pleased with the result and the performance.”

The Football Association has charged Crystal Palace with misconduct after supporters held a banner depicting Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis holding a gun to midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White’s head.

The banner, unfurled during the 1-1 Premier League draw at Selhurst Park in August, read: “Mr Marinakis is not involved in blackmail, match-fixing, drug trafficking or corruption.”

Marinakis has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to such allegations.

The FA has charged Palace with failing to ensure that supporters did not behave in an improper, offensive, abusive or provocative way.

The English Football League has criticised the “undermining” of the Carabao Cup after it was forced to compromise on the date of Crystal Palace’s quarter-final because of fixture congestion.

Palace will now face Arsenal in the last eight at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, 23 December at 20:00 GMT.

The other three quarter-finals take place the previous week but the Eagles’ commitments in the Uefa Conference League – they host Finnish club KuPS at Selhurst Park on 18 December – has left them with four games in nine days.

Palace host Manchester City on 14 December and are away to Leeds on 21 December, either side of the KuPS game.

A statement from the EFL was critical of the “expansion of European cup competitions” which it believes was “implemented without adequate consultation with domestic leagues”.

The EFL said it had “shown a willingness to compromise” but scheduling conflicts are “now entirely unavoidable”.

“To continue making endless concessions only serves to undermine the reputation of the EFL Cup,” said the statement.

“It also challenges the traditional scheduling of the English football calendar and strength of our domestic game.”

Uefa’s European calendar now stretches across 10 midweeks, rather than the six of two seasons ago, with the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League each given a standalone week for exposure.

It has caused a huge logistical headache, with the third round of the EFL Cup having to be seeded and played across two weeks to keep clubs in the Champions League and Europa League apart.

Palace boss Oliver Glasner said last week it would be “irresponsible” if the club were forced to play two games in three days.

The EFL said it shared the “frustration and concern” of managers and players concerning the congested programme which deprived clubs of the “necessary time for preparation” and ability to “field their strongest line-ups” in the EFL Cup.

The Premier League recently blamed the increased number of European fixtures for there being just one game on 26 December in the English top flight.

Boxing Day fixtures have been a long-standing tradition in English football but this year the only Premier League game will be Manchester United’s home match with Newcastle United (20:00 GMT).

FANCY a bit of the royal treatment? I know just the, er, palace.

The Mazagan Beach and Golf Resort on Morocco’s north-west coast is regal in both size and design.

With its dreamy arches and soaring ceilings, traditional Zellij tiling, tree-lined atrium and central courtyards, this five-star wonder is truly fit for royalty.

Inside, everything smells of rich orange blossom. You could get lost here. In fact, you want to.

In the early Noughties, the country’s King Mohammed VI wanted the fortified city of El Jadida, a Unesco World Heritage Site, to be emblazoned on the tourist map.

The Mazagan, from the same luxury Kerzner hotel group as Dubai’s Atlantis, The Palm, has helped him achieve this.

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It is drawing an impressive crowd.

Pop princess Paloma Faith stayed here with her family this year and Moroccan golf star Ayoub Lguirati — winner of the first Arab World Professional Championship in 2023 — often plays the resort’s beachfront course designed by one of the sport’s greats, Gary Player.

Oh, and now I was there.

The 500-room Mazagan is so grand that it is home to one of North Africa’s largest casinos — and one evening, my friends and I joined the guests trying their luck on its 37 gaming tables, 80 roulettes wheels and 370 slot machines.

Good news for risk-takers is that the casino stays open 23 hours a day, so this hotel almost never sleeps.

But as amateurs, we didn’t fancy losing a king’s ransom on Blackjack, so moved on to the 1940s-themed Studio 42 lounge bar next door which is swathed in royal-green velvet drapes.

It has live music at weekends and serves glam cocktails including a homemade rosé liquor and gin concoction for £10, or local beer from £5.50, so is a sure bet for a nightcap or two.

When it came time to hit the hay, my ocean-view room was similar in its grandeur to the rest of the hotel, with traditional metal hanging lanterns, dark-wood furniture, and a bed that could fit a family of four.

Thankfully, 80 per cent of the rooms are connecting, so parents do not have to share with little ’uns.

Even with the balconette doors to my room closed, I could hear the inviting roar of the Atlantic Ocean.

It is safe to swim here — there’s a lifeguard during the day — but you can also rent paddle and bodyboards, or make the most of the swell with surf lessons.

Even in late September, temperatures in El Jadida can reach 30C.

Animal-lovers will enjoy a trip to the Mazagan’s farm, which has goats, cows and chickens. Its beachfront stables are immaculately maintained and the horses and ponies have shiny, glowing coats.

Riding on the beach has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember, so on an unusually grey afternoon I climbed on to a palomino-coloured mare called Rosa and headed for the shore.

She trotted along Haouzia Beach, steadily swerving the incoming tide, as I sat back — nay, upright — to enjoy the view. The next day, for something more fast-paced, our group zoomed along the sand — thankfully flat — on quad bikes.

The Mazagan also has laser games, go-karting, paintballing, a 22ft climbing wall, archery, a gym, and pickleball and tennis courts. There are daytime clubs for both kids and teens, too.

But a holiday in Morocco calls for a spot of haggling in the medina — and just the place for that is Casablanca which is the country’s largest, most cosmopolitan city, just an hour’s drive from the hotel.

Built in the early 19th century by the French, the New Medina is smaller and less chaotic than its walled older counterpart but just as authentic.

We find everything from artisan teapots and pottery, leather bags and hand-woven Berber rugs, to stalls piled high with native olives for a fraction of what we would pay at home.

Casablanca also has a striking mix of religious buildings, owing to its colonial history.

Many of these, such as the monumental Hassan II Mosque on the city’s promenade, offer guided tours.

Arabesque carvings

The Hassan II Mosque is a gem — with the world’s second-tallest minaret at 689ft and an elaborately decorated prayer room which can fit 20,000 worshippers.

As is customary if entering a mosque, we removed our shoes.

Our guide then recounted tales of its craftmanship as we quietly admired the stonework, arabesque carvings, Murano glass chandeliers, and titanium doors weighing several tonnes.

For many Brits, though, Casablanca will conjure memories of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman’s 1942 film — although the wartime classic was actually filmed in Hollywood.

Disappointed to discover Rick’s Cafe from the film did not exist, an American woman opened a replica bar, with grand piano and Moroccan hanging lanterns, in the Old Medina in 2004.

“Of all the gins joints in all the towns”, to quote from the film, this one was well worth walking into for a boozy pit-stop on the way back to the Mazagan.

But, of course, there’s nothing wrong with spending a week simply lazing beside the resort’s lagoon-style pool, having treatments in its award-winning spa and eating and drinking like royalty in its 13 restaurants and bars.

The Market Place evening buffet offers an abundance of local and international dishes, from salads to saffron slow-cooked lamb, shawarma and a wok station.

Or the hotel’s jewel in the crown, the dimly lit Bushra restaurant, serves up Middle Eastern dishes and a live band to its impressively receptive diners.

Sat under gigantic brass chandeliers and dramatic drapes, even the grannies sang and clapped cheerily between mouthfuls of hummus with beef fillet, grilled jumbo shrimps and the most tender slow-cooked lamb.

Just like the flavours, the service is five-star — waiter Wafae deserves mention.

But I had my favourite-ever starter in Sel de Mer.

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The nautically-themed seafood restaurant has an extraordinary signature dish of blue lobster salad with fennel remoulade and mustard jus. At £26, it is not cheap, but lobster never is.

I could get used to living like a queen.