- An Algerian judoka has left Tokyo Olympics before his event starts, after the draw set him on course for a possible match-up against an Israeli.
- “We worked a lot to reach the Olympics, and the news came as a shock, a thunder,” he told the channel late on Thursday.
- He pulled out of the 2019 world championships in Tokyo for the same reason.
- We made the right decision,” Nourine’s coach Amar Ben Yaklif was quoted as saying in Algerian media.
- The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has dragged on for decades, with tensions flaring again this year as confrontations in contested Jerusalem triggering cross-border clashes.