Month: August 2024

In a small auditorium in the seaside capital of Trinidad and Tobago, Christopher Columbus and other colonial-era figures came under scrutiny late Wednesday in a lengthy debate punctuated by snickers, applause, and outbursts.

The government had asked residents of the diverse twin-island nation in the eastern Caribbean if they wanted the removal of statues, signs, and monuments with colonial ties.

One by one, people of African, European, and Indigenous descent stepped up to the microphone and responded.

Some suggested that a prominent Columbus statue be placed in a museum.

Others requested it be destroyed and that people be allowed to stomp on the dusty remains.

One man encouraged officials to round up statues of colonial figures and create a ‘square of the infamous.’

The majority of the more than two dozen people who spoke, and dozens of others commenting online, supported the removal of colonial-era symbols and names.

“It’s an issue about how after 62 years of independence..we continue to live in a space that reflects the ideals and the vision and the views of those who were our colonial masters,” said Zakiya Uzoma-Wadada, executive chair of the islands’ Emancipation Support Committee.

Trinidad and Tobago is the latest nation to embrace a global movement that began in recent years to abolish colonial-era symbols as it reckons with its past and questions if and how it should honor it as demands for slavery reparations grow across the Caribbean region.

The public hearing was held just a week after the government announced it would redraw the nation’s coat of arms to remove Christopher Columbus’ three ships — the Pinta, the Niña and the Santa María – and replace it with the steelpan, a popular percussion instrument that originated in the Caribbean nation.

Others pushed for further changes on Wednesday night.

“What the hell is the queen still doing on top of the coat of arms? Please let us put her to rest,” said Eric Lewis, who identifies as a member of the First Peoples, also known as Amerindians.

Trinidad and Tobago was first colonized by the Spanish, who ruled it for nearly 300 years before ceding it to the British, who governed it for more than 160 years until the islands’ independence in 1962.

The colonial imprint remains throughout streets and plazas in Trinidad and Tobago, with a statue of Christopher Columbus dominating a square of the same name in the capital of Port-of-Spain.

Despite its neglect and the square named after it, the island’s National Trust calls the statue “one of the greatest embellishments of our town,” but many disagree.

The debate was scheduled to continue soon in the sister island of Tobago, with the government having received nearly 200 submissions overall so far on what it should do.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ended his three-day tour of West African nations aimed at boosting cooperation in controlling irregular migration from the region to Spain’s Canary Islands, with a meeting with Senegal’s president in Dakar.

Following the talks between Sánchez and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the pair held a joint press conference where the Spanish Prime Minister repeated his support for circular and regular migration between the two countries.

Sánchez also announced that they had signed a “memorandum of understanding,” allowing them to expand and improve their cooperation on circular migration, as well as incorporate new sectors such as training and capacity building for Senegalese workers who move to Spain.

Sanchez said that migration is “not a fairy tale” but is necessary and “convenient for the countries of origin as well as for the countries of destination”.

“I am talking, and I stress once again, about orderly migration, because irregular migration is directly a hell that leads to extreme situations of exploitation,” he added on Thursday.

Sánchez began his tour on Tuesday in Mauritania, where he said Spain would renew cooperation between the two nations’ security forces to combat people smuggling.

He visited Gambia on Wednesday and met with the President Adama Barrow, stating afterward that the two countries had agreed to work together on security, as well as on opportunities for legal, temporary migration.

The three coastal African nations have become the main departure points of migrants trying to reach the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago located close to the African coast and used as a stepping stone for migrants and refugees trying to reach continental Europe.

More than 22,000 people have disembarked on its shores since January, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry, more than double the number of irregular arrivals for the same period last year.

The Champions League gets a fresh look with more teams playing for more prize money from more games against more opponents. The draw was held Thursday.

UEFA has long been pressured by club officials to deliver more from the marquee event in club soccer and it settled on a new single-standings league phase to replace the traditional group stage.

The first new Champions League format since 2003 promises almost everything Europe’s wealthiest and most influential clubs wanted.

There are four more places in a 36-team lineup; at least eight games each instead of six; Champions League games scheduled in January for the first time; a prize money rise of at least 25% to a minimum 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion).

The matchups

The new-look competition will feature a series of rematches of recent finals.

Among defending champion Real Madrid’s opponents are Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund. The Spaniards beat Dortmund in last season’s final and Liverpool for the titles in 2022 and 2018. Madrid will host Dortmund and travel to Liverpool, though the match dates are not confirmed until Saturday.

Manchester City also gets a Champions League final reunion — hosting Inter Milan which it beat to win its European title in 2023. Bayern Munich will host Paris Saint-Germain in a rematch of the 2020 final that the German giant won 1-0.

How does the new format work?

Out goes the traditional group-stage format that the Champions League used for 21 seasons.

The 32 teams would be drawn into eight groups of four each playing six games. Teams played each group opponent home and away from September into December. The top two advanced to the round of 16. A separate draw was made for each knockout round of home-and-away games until the single-game final.

In comes a single-standings league — 36 teams each playing eight games against eight different opponents through January. Teams get a balanced schedule facing two opponents from each of four seeding pots.

The top eight in the standings go direct to the round of 16 in March. They will be seeded in a tennis-style tournament bracket with no separate draws for each round until the final. The 2025 final is at Bayern Munich’s stadium.

Teams ranked ninth to 24th go into a knockout playoffs round in February. The bottom 12 teams are eliminated.

In the playoffs round, teams ranked Nos. 9-16 are seeded in the draw to play second legs at home against unseeded teams Nos. 17-24.

Why change such a successful competition?

The simple answer is clubs wanted more money.

The Champions League showcases the highest quality play in world soccer. It has let UEFA steer billions of euros (dollars) of prize money raised from global broadcasting and sponsor deals to clubs who pay the highest transfer fees and salaries.

Those clubs also wanted to play more of what they regarded as prestige games against a bigger range of high-quality opponents.

The group stage, clubs said, became too repetitive with only three opponents and lacked drama. More games against stronger opponents would be more valued by broadcasters, viewers and new fans worldwide.

Their leverage over UEFA was potentially launching their own breakaway competition. Indeed, then-leaders of the influential European Club Association in early 2021 were negotiating Champions League reform with UEFA and also plotting their own Super League.

The Super League was launched by 12 Spanish, Italian and English clubs in April 2021 and failed within 48 hours amid a backlash in England by fans and threats of government legislation.

Still, the Champions League format shaped mostly by rebel Super League clubs was broadly approved one year later by UEFA and will kick off next month.

What are the upsides and risks of the new format?

The 36 teams are guaranteed more money and brand-building exposure to a global audience. Players should get more higher-quality games to accelerate their development.

The extra games — 189 total in the competition compared to 125 for the past two decades — can confirm the Champions League as the pinnacle of club soccer.

Two extra match rounds in January gives the Champions League a new foothold in the increasingly packed soccer calendar. Though, could it overload players after many looked fatigued at the 2024 European Championship, and ahead of FIFA launching its month-long Club World Cup next June?

Eight of the Champions League round-of-16 teams will have played 10 games to get there, compared to just six in the old format. Europe will send 12 teams — 11 of them playing in this Champions League edition — to the new FIFA club tournament, each playing at least three and up to seven games in the United States next summer.

Will the extra prize money be spent wisely? Spiraling spending on player transfers has slowed in this European summer, though top players’ salaries still escalate.

Mid-ranked clubs in top domestic leagues, plus leagues in lower-ranked countries warn of the Champions League creating a bigger wealth gap in European soccer and driving more competitive imbalance.

What are people saying about the new league?

“The need to play regular matches in Europe is a need from the clubs, it’s not a need for UEFA.” — Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA deputy general secretary

“Fans, meanwhile, will be asked to spend more time and money following their team time and money which many simply do not have” — Football Supporters Europe, UEFA’s recognized fans’ liaison group

“For us, playing as many European games as possible is one solution to have a good mood for our fans, our players and financing our club” — Serhii Palkin, CEO of Ukrainian champion Shakhtar Donetsk

Floodwaters have swept through many communities and villages in northern Sudan over the past two days, resulting in the deaths of dozens and collapsing hundreds of homes.

According to Sudanese Civil Defense spokesperson Qureshi Hussein, 31 people have died so far in the north of the country due to the floods.

Yassin Abdul Wahab lost his home and was forced to build a makeshift shelter for his family.

“People are sleeping in the streets, and the situation is very bad,” he said.

“We are currently working on building a shelter for the family using materials from the collapsed house,” he added.

Heavy rain and flooding across Sudan this month has impacted more than 317,000 people, officials said.

Of those impacted, 118,000 people have been displaced, exacerbating one of the world’s biggest displacement crises due to the ongoing war in the country.

Tuesday marked 500 days since Sudan plunged into war after fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.

Nigeria hired German coach Bruno Labbadia on Tuesday to lead the men’s national soccer team in a bid to get its flagging World Cup qualifying campaign back on track.

“The appointment is with immediate effect,” said Mohammed Sanusi, the general secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation.

The 58-year-old Labbadia has been out of work since April 2023 when Stuttgart fired him after failing to arrest its slide to the bottom of the Bundesliga.

Nigeria is second from bottom in its 2026 World Cup qualifying group after failing to win any of its opening four games.

The Super Eagles drew 1-1 with both Lesotho and Zimbabwe in November last year before Portuguese coach José Peseiro led the team to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations. Nigeria lost the final to host nation Ivory Coast in February.

The NFF promoted Peseiro’s assistant, Finidi George, to the top position in April after the Portuguese departed, but the former right winger was unable to improve the team’s fortunes in World Cup qualifying.

George oversaw a 1-1 draw with South Africa followed by a 2-1 defeat in Benin in June. George then reportedly resigned after not being told of the NFF’s plans to appoint a technical advisor to oversee his work. The NFF did not publicly acknowledge the resignation.

Labbadia only oversaw two wins from his 12 games in charge of Stuttgart during his second stint at the club — one each in the league and German Cup.

His successor, Sebastian Hoeneß, ultimately saved Stuttgart from relegation and led the team to a club-record points total last season.

Labbadia previously coached Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg, Hamburger SV, Bayer Leverkusen and Darmstadt. As a goal-scoring forward, he helped Bayern Munich and Kaiserslautern win Bundesliga titles in the 1990s.

Labbadia’s first two games in charge of Nigeria will be in 2025 Africa Cup qualifying against Benin and Rwanda on Sept. 7 and 10, respectively.

Despite strained relations following last year’s coup in Niger, Nigeria and Niger have signed a new security cooperation agreement. Announced by the Nigerian army on Thursday, the accord aims to bolster regional stability and security.

“Both parties reaffirmed their commitment to resuming and strengthening collaboration for regional stability and security,” stated a Nigerian army communiqué following the signing of the memorandum of understanding by defense chiefs from both countries in Niamey, Niger’s capital, on Wednesday.

The coup in July 2023, which ousted Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, strained relations between Nigeria and Niger and caused divisions within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The coup raised concerns about efforts to combat Islamist violence in the region.

ECOWAS had threatened military intervention in Niger if diplomatic efforts to restore the democratic government failed, prompting Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali to withdraw from the 15-member bloc in January. These countries criticized ECOWAS for not aiding in their fight against Islamist violence and subsequently formed the Alliance of Sahel States with a military agreement.

Niger, though reducing its participation, remained part of the Nigeria-led Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) fighting Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region. The new agreement signals Niger’s intention to re-engage actively in security cooperation within the MNJTF framework, according to the Nigerian communiqué.

Senegalese Foreign Minister Yacine Fall met her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Thursday (Aug. 29).

During the bilateral meeting in Moscow education, investments, and energy, were high in the agenda.

The dire security situation in the Sahel was also discussed.

During a joint press conference, Lavrov reiterated Russia’s readiness to provide military support.

“Russia is ready to assist Senegal and other African countries in strengthening the defence capabilities and improving the anti-terrorist readiness of their armed forces and special [task] services,” Lavrov said.

According to Russian news agency Tass, Yacine Fall called for mutually beneficial cooperation in the sphere of mineral fertilizers and exchange of technologies.

A Russia-Senegal business forum is set to take place in october.

Uruguayan football is in mourning. 27-year-old player Juan Izquierdo died Tuesday (Aug. 27) at a hospital in Brazil five days after collapsing during a game.

On social media, his club Nacional, and former clubs expressed their “deep pain” and extended their sympathies to Izquierdo’s family.

Sao Paulo’s Hospital Albert Einstein said in a statement that he passed away following “cardiorespiratory arrest associated with his cardiac arrhythmia.”

The player was hospitalized last Thursday (Aug. 22) after he collapsed before fulltime in a Copa Libertadores match in Sao Paulo.

Copa Libertadores is the equivalent of the Champion’s League.

Consequently, Uruguay’s first- and second-division football leagues were postponed last weekend.

The career of the defender began in 2018 at local club Cerro.

His athletic form and sharp tackles caught the attention of Mexico’s San Luís in 2021, but he quickly returned home.

Izquierdo was one of local Liverpool’s best players in the historic campaign that led the team to a Uruguayan league title in 2023.

He was married and had two children.

Six Polish students and a lecturer from the Warsaw University who were detained in Nigeria during protests there have been released, the Polish foreign ministry said Wednesday. They are in good health and will be returning home this week.

The ministry’s spokesman, Pawel Wronski, said the seven Polish citizens have had their passports, laptops and belongings returned and were staying at the university campus in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, waiting for the trip back.

The seven were in northern Nigeria to take part in a program to study the Hausa language. They were detained earlier this month in the state of Kano during a political protest, allegedly for carrying Russian flags, Nigeria’s secret service said.

Officials in Poland, which has frosty relations with Russia, said that was unlikely and that the whole situation was a misunderstanding. The seven were held at a hotel in Kano while Warsaw was actively seeking their release.

“Our students were at the wrong time at the wrong place,” Wronski said, urging people to be cautious when traveling to distant locations.

Wronski said the ministry posts warnings and advice to travelers on its website, including a warning about the Nigerian state of Kano, where it described the political situation as being “quite complicated.”

Pro-Russian sentiment is rare in the Central European nation, which has bad memories of suffering under Russian rule in the past. Polish society is today deeply critical of Russian aggression in Ukraine and strongly backs Ukraine.

The protests in Nigeria saw thousands, mostly young people, rally against the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation and against alleged bad governance that has stifled development even though the country is a top oil producer.

In several northern states, a few protesters were seen waving Russian flags, a trend that until now was only common in Africa in coup-hit countries where pro-Russian sentiments are growing off the back of coups by militaries severing ties with the West.