When Jose Mourinho arrived in Turkey, the world seemed to stop for him. A sea of yellow and navy filled the streets, drums roared, flares lit the skies, and chants of his name shook the city. He was not just a football manager, he was hope incarnate, a promise of glory. He raised his hand and thousands reached back. It was triumph, it was theatre, it was power at its peak. But months later, when he couldn’t deliver on his promises, his departure told a different story. No drums. No chants. No banners. Just silence. Mourinho, once lifted like a...

 Belarus freed 52 political prisoners on Thursday, as the United States announced it was lifting some sanctions on the isolated country’s national airline. Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has been repeatedly slapped with Western sanctions both for its crackdown on human rights and allowing Moscow to use its territory in the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Its president, Alexander Lukashenko, has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and hundreds of people, including dissidents, opposition figures and journalists, are behind bars. But for more than a year, Lukashenko has sought to mend ties with the...