Portugal: Pitch refurbished to celebrate Ronaldo in hometown opens to public

The coalition government has launched a €49 monthly travel ticket to help ease the cost of living and promote the use of public transport. How revolutionary is it?

Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal has reportedly offered Lionel Messi a mind-boggling contract. Reports claim that their offer to the Argentine World Cup winner is worth $438 million (€400 million) per year. That offer is more than double what his longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo is earning playing for Al-Nassr.

On Wednesday, the Florida Board of Education banned the teaching of gender identity and sexuality throughout all grades in public schools, expanding a nearly year-old legislative ban on such lessons for younger children. The rule change is championed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who once said that "Florida is where woke goes to die".

Inside Stuff with Martins Oloja is back and in this installment of the show, the multi-award-winning journalist with The Guardian Nigeria takes a look at why the Buhari-led Presidency is afraid of the Public Procurement Council.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday.⁣

Cristiano Ronaldo became the world's highest-paid athlete after his move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr nearly doubled his annual playing salary while PSG duo Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe round off the top three, according to Forbes.

A new opinion poll has found that over half of the Japanese population is of the opinion that the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) should not become involved in fighting if China invades Taiwan.

In mainland Europe's westernmost country, water is becoming scarce. Still, Portuguese politicians continue to focus on economic activities that consume particularly large amounts of water, activists say.

Feminists and human rights activists in Lebanon are speaking out against attempts to impose increasing restrictions on their lives in the name of "conservative values". This follows an attack on a woman at a beach in the southern city of Sidon, when an Islamic cleric and his followers told Mayssa Hanouni she didn't have the right to wear a bathing suit there before getting violent.

A Russian missile attack has killed ten in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, officials say, while the death toll in the Kakhovka dam disaster has also risen.

Maria Corina Machado was set to run for the president of Venezuela against Nicolas Maduro in 2024. Officials said the ban was triggered by her support for US sanctions and Maduro's rival Juan Guaido.

Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that the Saudi Pro League is “better” than the MLS. The Al Nassr striker says he has no plans to join his long-time rival Messi in the MLS or return to a team in Europe.