Israel's furious military response to the atrocities committed by hamas on 7 october is about to enter its fourth.Here are the factors that have reshaped the map of the middle east's most contested territory over the past hundred or so years:
There are many geopolitical trends to look out for in 2024.Physical map of iraq, map of turkey, dubai map.Physical map of the middle east.
7 and israel's ensuing war in gaza.April 4, 2024 9:30 am utc updated ago food supplies are airdropped by the uk armed forces to civilians, amid the ongoing conflict between israel and hamas, in the northern gaza strip april 1, 2024.
Interactive map showing where the total solar eclipse of april 8, 2024 is visible—with local times and average cloud cover for any location.Israel's war against hamas in gaza is dominating the start of 2024 in the middle east, but the fallout from the war will also shape the region once the fighting eventually ends.As thousands of rockets have rained down on israel, the country has been relying once again on the iron dome.
Tue 6 feb 2024 03.40 est first published on tue 30 jan 2024 09.56 est.
What's At Stake In The Top Leagues: Titles, European Places, Relegation Battles
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Tyson Fury delivered a lackluster performance vs. Francis Ngannou in October, but "The Gypsy King" appeared in far better shape during Friday's weigh-in at 262 pounds ahead of his undisputed heavyweight championship fight vs. Oleksandr Usyk.
England's Fury was 277.5 pounds when he was floored by the former UFC heavyweight champion, a split-decision victory in a non-title bout. Fury's 262 pounds are his lowest since he defeated Otto Wall in September 2019 at 254 pounds.
Usyk, meanwhile, weighed a career-high 223.5 pounds. His previous high was 221.5 pounds when he defeated Anthony Joshua in the August 2022 rematch. They were both shirtless and wearing pants (there is no weight limit for heavyweights in boxing.)
After the fighters tipped the scales, Fury and Usyk engaged in a heated shoving match on the stage at the outdoor BLVD City in Saudi Arabia's capital.
"I'm ready to rock and roll," Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) said. "Fireworks tomorrow night. I'm going to knock that f---er spark out. I'm coming for his heart. That's what I'm coming for. F--- his belts. I'm coming for his f---ing heart."
Saturday's meeting (noon ET, ESPN+ pay-per-view) features ESPN's top two heavyweights (Fury is No. 1) and also two of the 10 best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Fury is No. 10 on ESPN's list; Usyk, an Olympic gold medalist, is No. 3.
The former undisputed cruiserweight champion cleaned out the 200-pound weight class and then went on to collect the WBA, WBO and IBF titles with a pair of wins over Joshua.
Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs), 37, will be competing at heavyweight for the sixth time. He's coming off a ninth-round KO victory over Daniel Dubois in August.
"Don't be afraid," Usyk said he told Fury, 35, during their faceoff. "I will not leave you alone tomorrow."
Usyk, who lives in war-torn Ukraine, said he's able to stay calm in the face of Fury's antics because "if I will be nervous, I will not win." Throughout the promotion -- the fight was originally scheduled for Feb. 17 before Fury suffered a severe cut in sparring -- Usyk has laughed off Fury's attempts at mind games.
On Saturday, Usyk will face a far tougher task: handing Fury his first loss. Usyk has defeated elite big men before, such as Joshua, but never someone with the size and skill of Fury. Fury is listed at 6-foot-9 with an 85-inch reach. He's also able to box from both the southpaw and orthodox stances.
Usyk, a southpaw, is 6-foot-3 with a 78-inch reach. This is the first undisputed heavyweight championship fight since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in November 1999. Both were in the front row at the weigh-in, alongside heavyweight greats Evander Holyfield and Wladimir Klitschko, whose brother Vitali is the mayor of Kyiv.
Fury will put his WBC and lineal championship on the line. Fury has been boxing's heavyweight lineal champion since he upset Klitschko in 2015.
